CHAPTER ONE
KORRIBAN

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There are three things you need to know before you read this.

One; If you were unfortunate enough to be born into slavery, no matter the planet on which you were born, there was little to hope for in your future besides a master who didn't work you to the bone and beyond. It was foolish to wish for some good soul — Republic or Jedi it didn't matter — to swoop in and free you from slavery. While it had always been this way, it was especially so since the Treaty of Coruscant was signed and the Republic lost some of the power it once had, the Empire forcing them to surrender certain planets that had once been in their territory. Slavery could have still existed under Republic rule but it was rare, hidden, not talked about and under the rule of the Empire, it was all too common. With the latter holding more power in the galaxy now, it was unlikely there was anyone who could do anything to free you from slavery.

Two; Sometimes you had to take whatever chances were presented to you to escape from your chains. It didn't always mean you were going to be totally free, sometimes it meant you were trading the metal slave collar for the invisible shackles of the Empire but a chance was a chance. They didn't come around often enough to justify not taking it when it was handed to you. The illusion of freedom was still better than the weight of the collar.

Three; Lirealla Varedos was not a good person. Perhaps she could have been once, perhaps in another life, but there was no use in fantasizing and pretending when there was nothing she could do to change it. She had been put on the wrong path, taught to believe this was the path she wanted, the person she wanted to become. That path had been set before her long ago and she was too far gone to ever turn back from it. She had been raised in an environment that didn't teach her a distinct enough moral code. Who's perception of what is right and what is wrong wouldn't be skewed by watching someone else get whipped or shocked or both simply because they tripped or wanted an extra roll of bread or even because they had passed out from exhaustion due to being worked too hard? Your parents can tell you the difference between right and wrong all they like but when you grow up seeing the person with all the power doing the wrong things, you might just learn that's who and what you needed to be. Powerful. And evil.

These three reasons put together were why Lirealla didn't hesitate to take the offer to learn at the Sith Academy on Korriban when they came around looking for people who were force sensitive. She was a slave, had been born into slavery and it was all she'd ever known. This recruiter was offering her a chance out of that life, off the planet that she had once thought to be her death sentence. Surely, she had thought to herself, anything could be better than this.

Lirealla had never been on a ship before. Shuttles, carts, vehicles of that nature, sure. Small things that transported slaves or the materials some of them mine, never anything large enough or advanced enough for travel into space, let alone lightspeed travel. Though she kept her composure, kept her face neutral and uninterested — she had heard what a cutthroat world the Sith Academy was, and she knew she had to practice not letting anyone know what she was thinking — she couldn't help but ogle at the view outside of the windows. She had never been off of the planet before— any planet.

When they arrived above Korriban, Lirealla stared out the windows at the red and orange-tinged planet below them. She knew it couldn't be pleasant down there, but she couldn't wait to be under the warm sun. The planet she was from was humid and rainy. There was barely a day from the time she could remember that she had felt truly and fully dry. Staring down at the planet below her now, all she could imagine was a warm, dry heat. The kind that would finally chase away that chronic chill set deep in her bones from years and years of being not quite dry.

She was the only one that disembarked on the platform and she saw a group of others ahead of her, just inside the shuttle bay. From the way most of the group looked, she could tell that they were fellow slaves and the only one that didn't look like a slave was very clearly Sith.

No, she reminded herself, you're not a slave anymore.

"Ah, the last one to arrive is finally here," the man she'd identified as the Sith said as she approached the group. "I hope you don't think you're special. It would be a shame if freedom went to your head, or if you somehow got the idea you didn't need to pass your trials to become Sith."

Though she wanted to roll her eyes at this man's attitude, years of slavery had taught Lirealla better than to do that in front of a superior. She knew that kind of behaviour was only to be done when you were sure you were out of sight.

"Lord Zash has tasked me with sorting through you refuse to find one worthy of being her apprentice, and I intend to do just that," the man continued.

"Give us a chance," Lirealla said. "We can prove ourselves."

"We'll just see about that." As he continued speaking, he started pacing. "Now, the rest of you gutter trash already know your trial. Get going while I bring out latecomer up to speed."

Lirealla bristled at his words but she schooled her face, clasping her hands behind her back so she could ball them into fists without being seen. The others began to file out and a girl with short red hair stopped in front of her.

"Watch your back, friend," she said. "And don't worry. It'll be alright. He can't kill us all."

"A Sith fears no one," Lirealla reminded her.

"Suit yourself," the girl said with a shrug and walked off.

She left alone with the overseer now, so she was careful to not let him see any weakness in her. She wouldn't let him have that advantage over her.

"Now, slave, for your trial: There's a hermit named Spindrall who lives in the tomb of Ajunta Pall in the Valley of the Dark Lords. Spindrall's a lunatic, but Lord Zash sees him as some kind of prophet. Once you find him, he will test you," the overseer explained.

"Fine," Lirealla said. "I will seek the insane hermit in the incredibly dangerous tomb and take his little test."

For some reason, he seemed to take some kind of pleasure in her agreeing to go do the trial as if there was ever a choice. Or perhaps, she realized, it was just that he took pleasure in other people doing what he said, regardless of if they had the choice the refuse his orders. Lirealla would make sure to remember that so she knew how to handle him in the future. She was sure that she would have to put up with him for a long time to come yet.

"But there— you know your task. Spindrall lives in the tomb of Ajunta Pall in the Valley of the Dark Lords. Don't keep Spindrall waiting, slave."

Without waiting for anything else, the overseer walked off, leaving Lirealla there alone. When she was alone, she let out a breath, scowling at nothing as she thought on how that overseer had talked to her. She had taken their invitation to get away from people talking to her like that, people thinking they had all the power over her. She had the power now, she was not a slave any longer. She wouldn't let anyone talk to her that way. Not anymore.

Lirealla headed out, passing through the shuttle bay until she exited out of the building on the other side. The valley opened up in front of her, with a large, dark and imposing building on the far side that she knew was the Sith Academy. She figured that this must have been the Valley of the Dark Lords that the overseer had mentioned and the red stone building between her and the academy that matched the stone that the rest of the valley — and likely the planet — was made of was the tomb that she had to go to.

Smiling, Lirealla headed down the stairs to her left, passing a small medical building with a med-droid out front as she turned down the path that led into the tomb. She hesitated as she came to the entrance of the tomb when her eyes landed on the creatures that were lingering around the archway that led into the tomb.

They were, without a doubt, the grossest creatures that Lirealla had ever seen. They were almost like giant worms with eight spindly legs, the front two of which were off the ground, reaching out more like arms than legs, but Lirealla wouldn't be fooled. The worst part about them was their mouths, which seemed to take up the whole end of what should have been their face with rows and rows of pointy teeth.

She pulled the training saber she'd been given off her back and held her thumb over the button on the handle, watching as the two ends lit up with electricity. This would take care of those gross creatures in no time at all.

"A Sith fears no one," she repeated to herself.

Lirealla ran forward, holding the saber out and preparing to swing it. As she got closer, the creature caught her scent and turned towards her, snarling and charging at her. When she was in range, she swung the saber and it caught on the side of its face with the sickening sound of burning flesh. The creature reeled back but recovered quickly, turning back to Lirealla again. This time, she was more than ready to end this and swung at the side of its head again before bringing it down heavy on the top of its head, smashing it into the ground. Then she hit it once more for good measure, pulling back with satisfaction at the remains of its head.

Now with the creature taken care of, she hurried into the tomb, sighing with satisfaction as the heat immediately dissipated now that she was out of the hot sun, but the cooler temperature remained more dry instead of the wet cold that she had grown up with. She could happily go years without having to be on a planet like that again.

At the bottom of the stairs the led in and out of the tomb, she found a small group of Imperial soldiers stationed behind some supply crates that provided them cover. Looking further into the tomb, Lirealla noted that those creatures she had seen outside the tomb were all over the entirety of the inside of the tomb as well. She quickly identified which of the soldiers seemed to be in charge and headed over to him.

"Are you in charge here?" she asked.

"Yes, acolyte. Sergeant Cormun, Fifth Infantry company, Korriban regiment. Can I— can I talk to you?"

"Make it quick, Sergeant," she told him.

"Of course," he said with a nod. "You're one of the slaves Harkun brought in on the last transport, right? Here to prove yourself to the bloodthirsty overseers?"

"Prove myself or die, apparently," she answered. "What's it to you?"

"Well here's your chance to not only show off for the overseers but start building ties to the Imperial military, as well," he began. "I'm here commanding a hard target mission to exterminate k'lor'slugs in this tomb. They're... horrific things. Mouths bigger than your head."

"I know, I ran into one outside."

"They're outside? Blast it."

Lirealla shrugged. "It wasn't that big."

"I've lost three squads of good men fighting them." Sergeant Cormun continued. "They come in packs— they just... they'll swallow a man whole."

"If you're trying to talk me out of going in there, it won't work."

"Understood. I was hoping you could assist my operation while you're in there," the Sergeant said. "The damn k'lor'slugs breed so fast there's no way to wipe them out conventionall. So we started targeting their egg chambers. They went insane. We managed to get explosives to all of the egg chambers, but the k'lor'slugs were all over us before we could detonate them."

It would be dangerous, Lirealla knew that for sure, but she wouldn't let that deter her. What the sergeant had said at the beginning of their conversation was a good point. If she wanted to survive here, she couldn't do it alone. While she couldn't trust her fellow Sith to have her back as they were more likely to put a knife in it to use as their own stepping stool, she could make ties outside of the Sith.

And the Imperial military would be the perfect place to start. If she helped them out with something as simple as this when she was just a lowly acolyte, they'd trust that she could help them and would look out for them when she had more power.

"Sounds like you need some help," she told him.

"Don't underestimate those k'lor'slugs, sir," Sergeant Cormun said. Oh, how good being called sir sounded. "They're... they're smarter than they look."

"I'll remember that," she said.

With that, the Sergeant turned back to his men and Lirealla headed off in the direction that he had indicated the egg chamber was in. The entrance to that section of the tomb was well covered with more of the creatures she now knew to be k'lor'slugs. She had to fight her way through two smaller ones and one larger one that was even worse looking than the small ones with hard spikes coming out of their backs and even more teeth. And that was just to get through the archway that led to where she needed to go.

Further in, there were more k'lor'slugs she had to fight her way through until she finally reached the final chamber where she could tell the horrible creatures had been laying their eggs. The center of the room had nothing but rubble, all of it covered in some kind of gross slime and at least a dozen eggs that were still intact, still growing, and at least a dozen more broken eggs. There were more live k'lor'slugs around, protecting the eggs.

Lirealla charged in, heading for the first of the creatures that she saw and not stopping until all of their brains were nothing but mush all across the room. Knowing there likely wasn't time before more k'lor'slugs came back to the chamber, she quickly identified all of the charges that had been left there and set them to detonate again before making a break for it out of the chamber. She at the top of the stairs when the explosion shook the tomb.

She smiled at her success and started heading back towards where Sergeant Cormun was still waiting with the rest of his men. He stood at attention when he saw her coming and waited for her to reach him. She didn't even have to say anything when she got there.

"I heard the explosions when you set off the charges," he told her. "Outstanding, sir."

There it was again. She really liked being called sir.

"Just remember who helped you out," she said. "And that's all the thanks I need for now."

The conversation concluded and Lirealla headed in the direction of her actual trial, which was the opposite way that the egg chamber had been. This way, she encountered more human adversaries and judging by the way they were dressed, the bags they were carrying and where they were standing, she concluded them to be looters and, well, she really couldn't let that stand, even if they weren't going to get in her way.

After dealing with the k'lor'slugs, the looters posed almost no challenge to Lirealla which was a bit of a disappointment. They charged at her without thinking, likely because they didn't want to be caught and handed over to either the Imperial military or, worse, the Sith, for their crimes. Because they were nothing but thugs, they were no match for her and their bodies lay motionless on the ground in no time at all.

What did they expect, really, when they came into a tomb? Tombs were for the dead to rest, not for the living.

Deeper into the tomb, Lirealla found herself in a chamber that led out in three different possible directions, one of them being the way she'd come in from. She had no map, she had never been here before and so no way of knowing which way she was supposed to go. This wasn't good at all. She wasn't going to let the overseer — had Sergeant Cormun said his name was Harkun? — win as this was surely part of his plan to get rid of her. Send her into a tomb to die by not telling her where she was supposed to go and how to get there.

He was an idiot, she decided. Even the slavemasters she'd once lived under had been smarter than that. You didn't send your workers to their deaths for no reason, if there was nothing to gain. Not unless you had someone to replace them with.

She had already lost good time with helping out the sergeant, she couldn't let herself lose more time by searching each possible route to see if it led to Spindrall. She had to think of some way of identifying which of the two possible ways out was the right one. There were only two options so she had decent odds of just picking the right one, but if she chose wrong, she would lose valuable time backtracking.

What would a Sith do? she thought to herself. You're a Sith now, what will you do?

There was one option, though she didn't have near enough practice in it yet. Lirealla closed her eyes and found that place deep inside that she hardly noticed, hardly used and she focused on it, thinking of finding her way through this trial and showing Harkun that she was there for a reason, that she'd been chosen for a reason, that she would succeed in her trials and rise through the ranks of the Sith.

Lirealla gasped as her eyes shot open, darting to the path that was to her left. It was that way, she knew it. She couldn't yet explain how she knew or how she'd done it, but the way to Spindrall, to completing her trial was to the left. With a smile, she headed down the path to the left.

She headed first down a set of stairs, then down a long corridor to another set of stairs. At the bottom of ths set of stairs was another corridor, but this one much shorter and leading to an open chamber. At the end of this chamber, up on an elevated platform, a man in robes knelt at what must have been an altar surrounded by larger than life statues of deep red stone. Spindrall. It had to be.

On either side of the room leading to Spindrall's platform, there were training dummies, tents and who must have been other acolytes training there. She paid them no mind as she strode towards the stairs that led up to Spindrall.

When she reached the altar that Spindrall was kneeling at, she noticed that it was not just any old altar, but there was an old and nearly crumbling casket set there. She remembered for the first time what this place really was. They didn't call it a tomb for nothing.

"Slave," Spindrall greeted her, finally getting up and turning to face her. "Welcome to my humble hole. You are here for your trial, yes? Learn the ways of the Sith from a doddering old man in a tomb. And hopefully to return to your master with the mark of my approval."

"Yes, my lord. That's right," she said.

"Of course it is. I know the way of things of the surface," he told her. "But before I answer either way, you must pass a trial of blood. Survive, and I will teach you what I know."

There was her answer about what the other acolytes in the room were there for. Spindrall turned and knelt back in front of the casket, not giving her any further instruction. Lirealla turned and started heading back down from the platform, assuming she would have to fight — and likely kill — one of the acolytes in the room as her trial of blood. That was fine by her, she'd had to fight her way through here already, what was one more?

As she reached the bottom of the stairs, all four of the acolytes there turned to face her, stopping what they were doing. She worried for a moment that meant she would have to fight all four of them, but dismissed that. Surely that wouldn't be the case. Surely they wouldn't send an untrained acolyte into the tomb to fight four trained acolytes. The Sith may not have dealt in fairness, but they didn't deal in specifically stacking the odds against you, did they?

She got her answer when all four of them walked towards her, slowly beginning to circle her. They all had weapons that were closer to a real lightsaber than what she'd been given, but instead of the traditional blade of a lightsaber, it looked like more of a cross between what she'd been given and a lightsaber. A circular blade, if you could call it that, with four pieces sticking out of each side that glowed with what could only be extreme heat. It wouldn't cut through her, but it could do just as much damage.

Don't let the blades touch you, she told herself.

The two acolytes in front of her pulled out their blades first and Lirealla sized them up slowly. No one moved further, so that told her that she would have to make the first move. That was fine by her.

Of the two in front of her, Lirealla decided to go for the one on the right first and pulled out her own blade as she charged. The acolyte was ready for her and swung as she got near enough. She swung her own saber up, changing her grip on it so that when it made contact with his blade, it made it bounce back at him and strike him in the face.

As he fell back, crying out in pain, the second acolyte charged at her. She ducked under his first swing and jabbed the electrified end of her own saber into his stomach. He made to swing down at her again but she sidestepped so that she was now behind him. She swung her saber into the side of his head, letting the heavy end make contact before she pressed the button to electrify it and holding it there until his body dropped, still spasming from the shocks.

Lirealla took his blade so that she now had two weapons, turning back to the first acolyte, who was just beginning to push himself back to his feet, now with an ugly burn across the center of his face. He seemed to have learned his lesson from his first attack and didn't swing at her this time so she swung first with her saber, coming around from the left. He went to deflect with his blade and she took the opening to come in with her new blade, striking him on the side of the head.

Just like before, she held the blade there as it burned through his skin, watching him until he fell limply to the ground.

Turning around, Lirealla half expected that to be it. But she was not entirely surprised when two more acolytes pulled out their blades. She heaved a sigh, rolled her shoulders and adjusted her grip on her two weapons so that she would be prepared.

From there, the three turned to four which turned to six all in a blur. Then there was a moment of quiet as Lirealla was left panting and surrounded by the dead bodies of the six acolytes who had tried and failed to kill her. A trial by blood, she thought. Funny. None of them bled.

Lirealla turned her attention back to where Spindrall was still kneeling up on the platform and stepped over the bodies blocking her way to get back to him. She climbed the steps with heavy limbs, exhaustion from the fight slowly starting to take over. There was no doubt that she would sleep good that night and she was looking forward to it.

"Excellent," Spindrall praised her, standing and turning to face her again. "These former acolytes wanted nothing more than to earn their second chance for glory by killing you and taking your place. But your desire proved stronger, and their blood became the mantle of your victory. Well done — but you are not Sith yet."

"What do I have to do next?" she asked.

"Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, power. Through power, victory. Through victory, my chains are broken," Spindrall told her. "This is the Sith Code. Commit it to your heart, and you will have the strength to crush your enemies. Do you understand?"

"Of course," she said. "I was born to be Sith."

"Good. Then go," Spindrall said. "Return to Harkun and nurture your hatred for him. And use your fear of him to grow stronger. He may raise his fist to strike, but it is Lord Zash who determines where the blow will land."

"But who controls Zash, I wonder," she mused.

"When you know the answer to that, you will have power over both your masters. Now go! Leave me to my rest."

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Lirealla made it out of the tomb near the entrance to the academy with only a few skirmishes with looters and remaining k'lor'slugs. Though exhaustion made her want to find a patch of shade and curl up there to sleep regardless of it was just a pile of sand or an old rock, she had long since learned how to push through exhaustion to keep working and besides that, she couldn't wait to see the look on Harkun's face when he saw that she had returned successful.

The stairs that led into the academy were tall but Lirealla walked forwards anyway, beginning the long climb up them. At the top, just inside the building, there was a man who beckoned her over. After correctly identifying her once again as one of the slave's Harkun had brought in, he gave her directions to Harkun's office and she set off in that direction.

She couldn't help but marvel at everything as she made her way into the Sith Academy. The ceilings seemed to stretch all the way to the sky, with long banners of red that hung between monumentous statues of what must have been Sith from the past, looking down on new generations.

Out of the entrance hall, everything became even more impressive. A large statue, not of any one person but a narrow pyramidal shape took up the center of the room, taller than the second floor balcony that stretched around the room. On the front side of it that she could see, there was a swirling pattern that, upon closer inspection, actually made up many faces in various expressions. Twisting in agony, shouting in anger, a terrifying glare and more.

It took some of her remaining strength, but Lirealla pulled herself away from admiring everything, turning down a hallway on the right that led away from the main room, following it all the way to it's end where she found Harkun's office. It seemed that she was the last to arrive once again, as the others were all there already. She would surely hear about that once again but she decided that her excursion for Sergeant Cormun would be worth it.

"Ah, the last one," Harkun said as she entered. "Always the latecomer. Now we can see what the hermit thinks of you slime."

Harkun appraised them all for a minute.

"Hm, Acolyte Kory," he said, facing the redheaded girl who had spoken to her when she arrived. "Step forward, please."

"Yes, overseer," she said, stepping forward as commanded but looking nervous.

"You are a weak, pathetic roden and even a lunatic like Spindrall can see this. And that means—"

Harkun stretched out a hand and purple lightning shot from his fingers, striking Kory. The girl cried out in pain, her body contorting in pain. Then her body dropped to the floor and the most she moved was because of the lasting spasms from the shocks. As Lirealla stared at her, the most she could feel was disappointment that she would now be the only girl left standing among the rest of the male acolytes.

"Meet our newcomer, Ffon Althe," Harkun continued as if this was just tossing out last week's trash. "This is real Sith strength, and he will tear you apart and crush your bones, slaves."

The overseer was talking about someone who, though he hadn't been with them in the shuttle bay, Lirealla recognized his hood and coat as someone she had seen walking away just as she had been arriving. The person under the hood was a Sith Pureblood, which was likely what was causing Harkun's overzealous flattery. The red-skinned and red-eyed species were where the Sith religion had originated, everyone knew that, but Lirealla also knew that it didn't mean they were the most powerful. The Emperor wasn't a Sith Pureblood and he was the most powerful Sith, after all.

"Look on him!" Harkun continued. "No connections left in the world, but pure Sith blood! This— this is Lord Zash's future apprentice! Not filth like you!"

"We'll see how tough he is out in tombs," Lirealla said, looking on Ffon with disdain. "Alone. With just me and my blade for company."

Harkun glared at her but she only smirked back at him. She was getting under his skin with her disrespect for Ffon. Good. The more he hated her, the more power she had over him.

"Dismissed, all of you. Get yourselves settled in your bunks and report back to me first thing tomorrow morning."

With that, he dismissed them with a wave of his hand and Lirealla gladly turned away from him. At the end of the hallway, there was someone waiting to show them to where they'd be bunking. As they got to the doors, Lirealla was held back from the rest and shown to the next door down, the female dorms, as it were. She entered to a silent, empty room and made her way to the bunk furthest into the room, settling down on it heavily.

Though her stomach grumbled at her lack of food in hours, Lirealla's limbs were heavy from all the fighting she'd done that day. Though she was sure that more fighting was sure to come in the days and weeks that were to follow, she could wait until the morning to eat and so laid back on the bed.

It was soft, to her surprise. As she stared up at the bottom of the bunk above her, she couldn't help but feel surprised at the comfort of the mattress she was sleeping on. She had expected discomfort like the cots she slept on back home, not anything that would actually be comforting and not cause her to ache as soon as she woke up in the morning.

Home, she realized. That planet was not home to her any longer.