Chapter 9: Copy of treatise on Sith Alchemy

As I sat in the archives, once more nose-deep into the Sith Language primer as I attempted to push my way through Spindrall's papers, I realized that self-preservation instincts and common sense tended to be hit or miss among Sith. They can also be situational.

When the training droids go "Dark Councilor mode," acolytes immediately abandon the training halls in droves. The only reason people died to that anymore was that they were either too slow to react or they were shoved into the metaphorical meat-grinder by another acolyte to buy time.

The point was: Sith tend to be a hell of a lot more cautious when something was obviously out of their weight class. I'm talking "flashing neon signs" kind of obvious here. The smart ones avoid said risks or manage a clever solution through guile. The dumb ones just apply more force.

Mind you, sometimes the dumb ones were lucky enough to have enough power to steamroll their problems. Which implied a lot about some of the Empire's leadership.

Sith have a tendency to poke at "things man was not meant to know" with startling regularity, overriding the instincts of otherwise surprisingly sensible Sith. I mean, I completely understand the desire to grab as much power as you can get your hands on. I'm doing it myself just to survive. I just believe in taking proper safety precautions first.

Like making sure I'm both pronouncing and translating something correctly before I ever consider trying a spell or ritual with potentially horrific consequences if bungled.

Case A: This dumbass.

Everything had been all nice and quiet. Nobody was bothering anyone else, just content to ignore each other. Then he came in. Human because of course my own species had to be the one to set my benchmark for stupidity.

I didn't pay attention much to his appearance so much as the way he carried himself. The arrogant swagger in his step, the air of "I'm so much better than you plebians," etc.

This was unfortunately common in acolytes that managed to survive a year. Well, them and the Imperial nobility. I wasn't sure which one he was.

Anyways, he plopped himself down at a reading table with a book. Yes, a physical book. Those are things here.

Everyone in the room perked up for a moment as all of us felt something in the Force as dumbass decided to try something out. Sith Magic, as it turns out. Due to my studies, I could hear the exact moment he screwed up and why.

He mispronounced a word.

I didn't know what the original intent of the spell was, but I'm fairly certain it wasn't supposed to do what it did. Violet semi-ethereal tentacles burst out of the pages, latched onto his face, and pulled him into the book. All in the span of a split-second, short enough that he didn't have time to scream. If I hadn't been watching him, I would have missed it completely.

I had no idea where the hell he went, but I didn't think I wanted to find out.

The archives were silent for a moment until a meek looking male Twi'Lek scuttled by, only pausing long enough to pick up the book. Part of me wondered if the two had been part of the same training group. If so, there might have been some sabotage involved.

Everyone else soon went back to their own reading as though nothing happened. It was almost comedic how apathetic people were to random death in this place. That said, I wasn't much different.

I glanced to my companions to see their reactions.

Garsh was visibly perturbed, his facial tentacles twitching now and then. It was possibly the most emotive that I'd seen him so far.

Gaarurra was giving both the book and the Twi'Lek now holding it a wary look until they were out of sight. He was a Wookiee of simple tastes and didn't have much interest in the more esoteric uses of the Force, though he did have a healthy respect for them.

Good to see that my acquaintances were of the smart variety. Sith Magic wasn't a toy, nor was it something I would even consider glancing at without a master of the art overseeing.

Now drawn out of my reading, I scanned the room, quickly locking onto familiar green skin. Tails was ensconced in one of the darker corners, her hairless brows furrowed.

My empathic senses weren't the greatest, but her frustration was obvious. I couldn't quite see what she was reading from where I was, but it was clear that she wasn't understanding it.

Other books were stacked on her table haphazardly next to a datapad. The one in her hands was quickly added to the pile with a snarl. She picked up another, though she only thumbed through the first few pages before discarding it in disgust.

Either she was looking for something specific and wasn't finding it or...

A Twi'Lek in Sith territory was practically guaranteed to be a slave and probably for far longer than I was. The probability of her being taught to read was astronomically low.

It was an opportunity.

The muscles in my legs bunched as I leaned forward to stand up, but I stopped.

She sauntered into the room. She was dressed in the same dark robes that the rest of us were, though she had shucked the outer robe to reveal taut, well-earned musculature. Confidence oozed off her, though I sensed that she had good reason for it, unlike that other acolyte. Every sense I had screamed danger.

Dark-tainted eyes locked onto mine for a moment, a smirk playing across her lips. Frowning, I settled back down into my chair.

It was a missed opportunity.

Yellow Eyes quickly seated herself across from Tails. While the latter was wary, she didn't brush off the human woman.

It seemed that I wasn't the only one playing this game. Like me, she was determined to not be a lackey. I'd managed to pull Gaarurra and Garsh into that role without them seeming to realize it.

She was also smart enough to realize what I was doing. No matter how much she trained, three on one odds made it more likely that she would fall. The same could be said for me and she knew it.

So it was a race to see who could recruit the best of the remaining group.

When her eyes slid towards me again for a split-second, I smiled back, putting a not insignificant amount of malice in the expression.

Challenge accepted. May the best Sith win.

...

Of the three unaligned acolytes, I wanted Tentacles on my side the most. He had a technical aptitude that the rest of us lacked. Until he was secured, there was a very real danger of him reprogramming the factotum droid to murder me in my sleep.

Unfortunately, he was proving incredibly difficult to pin down for a talk. He spent very little time in the room he shared with Spikes, almost the bare minimum needed for sleep. Sometimes not even that. When he wasn't sleeping, the Nautolan disappeared to somewhere in the academy.

I tried to stay up one time to find out where he was going, but he still managed to give me the slip. I caught him in the archives once, but he darted off before I could approach.

Spikes and Horns stuck close to each other and didn't interact much with any of the others. Despite their start, they were getting bolder. I even saw them brave the main training hall a few days ago, watching each other's backs. Despite the recent loss of a limb, Horns had quickly adapted to his prosthetic.

Oddly, the male Zabrak seemed to have a strange sort of camaraderie with Garsh, though I wouldn't count either of the siblings as allies yet.

I couldn't force any of them if I wanted their cooperation free of an eventual knife in the back. Instead, I would have to wait for an opportunity to draw them in. Patience was a virtue that few Sith ascribed to, but one that was necessary now.

However, I couldn't keep my studies on hold.

Now I found myself braving Korriban's sands again. My timing was poor as a wind storm came through, though I came prepared. I was protected from the worst of it by the bulky outer robe I now wore and my face was protected by a scarf and a pair of goggles.

Normally, I would have taken a speeder. However, the sand would have quickly clogged the engines, so I decided to cut out the middle man and set out on foot. Garsh and Gaarurra stayed back at the academy to continue their own studies, but I wasn't too worried about being out here alone.

I managed to time this trip to coincide with Yellow Eyes' own expedition into the Valley of the Dark Lords so I wouldn't have to worry about her working behind my back for a little while. Well, more than usual.

I grimaced as the wind battered at me, stinging at the bits of skin not covered and whipping at my robes. The only reason I hadn't toppled over was that I was enhancing my physical strength with the Force.

I finished translating Spindrall's papers a few days ago. Turns out, they were a copy of a treatise on Sith Alchemy authored by Ajunta Pall himself, transcribed by Spindrall. Now, the art itself has come a long way since his time and a lot of stuff in the notes were likely outdated, but it was a treasure nonetheless. However, I wasn't touching it with a ten-foot pole without someone overseeing it.

Hence why I was trudging through a fucking sandstorm.

My foot slipped, nearly sending me tumbling headfirst down a sand dune. I cursed vehemently but managed to regain my balance.

Yellow Eyes had proven herself to be an apt social butterfly, tapping into the academy's rumor mill to keep tabs on the major players while also building up a small support base of her own. I needed something to even the odds.

Sith Alchemy could be that edge. A remarkably flexible discipline limited by only breadth of knowledge and imagination, but one that required extensive ground work.

Though Ajunta Pall's treatise was incredibly detailed, I still needed a teacher to avoid making a horrid mistake. With Yellow Eyes' ear to the ground, I couldn't risk asking around without making it painfully obvious what I was doing. Fortunately, I didn't need to.

Out of all the staff of the academy, I only knew of one offhand that might have a background in the subject and might be willing to help. But I would need something to get his attention first.

In the distance, I could see the vague outline of the towering statue of Marka Ragnos. I cleared the sand off my goggles for the thousandth time, spying a cave opening in the nearby rock wall. As expected, it was pitch black inside. There were many hidden nooks and crannies on Korriban, hiding one horror or another.

I had a glow-rod on my belt, but I didn't reach for it. Instead, I quietly knelt at the mouth of the cave and closed my eyes, remembering a half-forgotten lesson from a world I once thought was fiction.

'Now, in your mind, reach out, listen for my breathing. Not the sound of it, but the life behind it.'

I listened, tuning out the howling wind behind me as I listened for the breath of my prey. I listened for that necessary cycle, providing fuel to the life within the cave as it slept.

'Imagine its energy, its texture, in tandem with the breathing – and then, in your mind, step back from the image, and see what remains.'

The first thing I saw was the air, being drawn into powerful lungs before being distributed through an equally massive circulatory system. A heart pumping blood. The tingle of electricity as nerves fired.

Slowly and piece by piece, the cave seeped back into sight dyed in black, gray, and white, despite my eyes remaining closed. After all, it was a giant esophagus, pulling air into its belly. In this lightless world, I saw my prey.

A massive alpha Tuk'ata hound, slumbering as it waited out the sandstorm. It was alone but well-fed, a testament to its strength.

Tuk'ata were intelligent creatures and were occasionally even capable of coherent speech. It made them deadly predators capable of being threats to even Sith. But they remained just as vulnerable as other beasts.

Without stirring from my position, I reached out for its sleeping mind with the Force.

Its eyes flickered for a moment as I slowly shaped a barrier around its primitive mind, a cage around its instincts. At my urgings, it would see me as a friend and master instead of a meal.

Had it been awake, my attempt would have easily failed as its rage would shatter the fragile cage.

After agonizing minutes, the last lock snapped into place as my hold was established. I allowed the beast to continue sleeping as I settled to wait out the storm.

I had my offering for Lord Renning.

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