The Force of Magic [Star Wars SI]

[lord trilobite]

Boroda Orka, I really appreciate you doing such a great job translating. A lot of translated stuff is borderline unreadable but with this you can't even tell.

 

[readsalot]

Let's make one last round and head back to the Academy. Force forbid someone's gone and put the Dead Man to rest again…

Click to shrink...

TBH he probably is dead….again, at this point I'm thinking he likes it….. eh Wizards gotta have some quirks I guess

 

[Boroda Orka]

"Oh-ho-ho-hooo!" the portly man sitting across from me chuckled happily. "Master Dziha! Anything you want! Honestly! Do whatever you please on this damned planet! Even if you start taking the 'local attractions' apart stone by stone"—the face of the head of the Commerce Guild branch on Korriban twisted into a grimace of disgust—"I swear, every last one of us will pretend we never noticed a thing. In fact, it's always been that way!"

"Thank you, esteemed Macron," I said with a nod, keeping an impassively dignified expression on my face. My welcoming smile upon landing on Korriban had triggered a minor firefight which, only thanks to sheer luck and the composure of this short, rather amusing-looking man, had failed to turn into a genuine bloodbath. "Naturally, I have no need for such extremes, but I do intend to visit the 'local attractions' in the near future. I've heard and read quite a lot about the tombs of the ancient Sith, so I'm extremely curious."

"Anything! You! Want!" the man declared with deliberate solemnity, drawing in a deep breath and exhaling with obvious pleasure, as though savoring the very "taste" of the air. "But I do want to warn you again that it's extremely dangerous out there. Of the ten expeditions we sent into the tombs, eight disappeared completely, one came back only partially, and everyone in the one that returned intact went insane."

"I'll keep that in mind," I said with a thoughtful nod, inwardly rubbing my hands together and narrowing my eyes in bliss.

The planet looked extremely promising. And news of losses that severe… It wasn't that I was exactly happy about them, but something like that practically guaranteed the tombs hadn't been picked clean and that there was still something interesting left inside!

"And now," Kronus Macron said with a conspiratorial wink, "how about a little banquet? I guarantee you'll enjoy it! The cooks have gone all out for our dear guests and saviors!"

"Saviors, are we?" I said, feigning embarrassment while snorting inwardly.

"Benefactors!" the man laughed. "And don't even argue! I'm thinking of naming my son after you!"

"Uh…" This time I really was a little embarrassed. "I don't think that's a good idea. The Jedi couldn't handle another Siith."

The head of the Korriban branch burst out laughing again, flashing a genuinely warm, white-toothed smile.

---

"Phew, Boss. The locals creep me out." Romri thoughtfully sipped caf from her mug. "And I honestly can't decide which version scares me more: when they're gloomy and hostile, or when they're freakishly friendly."

Instead of the single day we had planned to spend at the Commerce Guild headquarters on Korriban's surface, we ended up staying there for four. A profitable little side job came up, then there was a genuinely decent banquet, after which several members of the crew had to be treated for hangovers… Only today had we finally managed to break free, so to speak.

Right now, we were sitting in the Rung's common room. The ship had landed at a suitable spot not far from the Moraband necropolis. There were landing pads large enough for us right by the tombs, but we had decided not to take unnecessary risks. Only three of us would be going to the burial complex itself: me, Arvik, and Karr. The others would stay behind aboard the ship, safely protected from whatever nasty surprises might be lurking out there. Mlada had complained, of course, but at least one Mando had to remain on the Rung.

"First, make someone feel absolutely miserable, then put everything back the way it was. That's it—you're their best friend." Arvik drummed his fingers against the helmet sitting on the table in front of him. "Can't really blame them for either the welcome we got or the way they started treating us after Boss fixed their problem. The locals damn near had a collective breakdown when Korriban finally stopped pressing down on their minds."

"Yeah," Mlada said with a shudder. "Being outside the Rung is genuinely creepy. You don't notice it at first, but after a couple of hours you start feeling like something's watching you. Not in a friendly way, either—more like a threat. Even the air starts to feel… heavy, I guess. Like it tastes wrong."

"An extremely high concentration of negatively aspected mana," I said. I'd explained this already, but the "atmosphere of Korriban" was a popular topic among the crew right now. "So high that people in poor health waste away and can even die, while sentients with low mental resilience and weak willpower go insane. Paranoia, obsessive thoughts, sociopathy… And those who already weren't entirely right in the head can go completely off the rails."

"Boss-sa, you mean that case where the security guy chopped up a couple dozen Guild workers?" the Gungan asked.

"That one. Macron mentioned the guy wasn't exactly a psychopath, but he'd been through a nasty mess on the Smuggler's Moon. Sending him here 'to rest' was a pretty reckless decision. Bureaucrats are bureaucrats everywhere. Still, I think the Commerce Guild will be a lot more careful about mistakes like that from now on. And they'll probably be more than happy to sign contracts with a couple of our malefics and necromancers. While we're at it, we might even scout out some land for an Academy branch—and perhaps buy it outright while Macron is still running things here."

"You didn't even charge them!" the Togruta burst out. Apparently, the mention of contracts and buying land had struck a nerve somewhere deep in her soul—the nerve labeled lost profit.

"You really shouldn't be so greedy, my little aurodium girl," I told her with an affectionate smile, while Mlada giggled merrily. "I've already wrung free deliveries of filled negative-energy reservoirs out of the Guild, and on top of that I got complete carte blanche to do whatever I want around the tombs. A man has to have some conscience."

"Conscience is something you listen to, not something you have," Karr guffawed, though he quickly deflated under Arvik's reproachful stare.

"Jokes that are tens of thousands of years old," Mlada sighed. "Brother, your sense of humor isn't just ancient. It's mummified."

"Force ghost of Sense of Humor, though," the Gungan agreed with a solemn nod. "Karr found it in ancient tomb of bit-bit shitty joker."

"For decades, our Mando studied the ancient wisdom of millennia-old recycled jokes, until his dead Teacher finally decided he was Ready!" Romri picked up the story.

"And so the ancient Evil broke loose upon the Galaxy," I joined in, unable to resist.

"And only the Great Mlada Vast stands between her brother and the Republic being plunged into the nightmare depths of shitty humor," our warrior declared smugly, lifting her chin.

"Oh, fuck all of you," the target of our attack said with feigned offense, making a moderately obscene gesture at everyone in the common room. "Nobody loves me except Talli!" The guy winked at the faintly smiling Dathomiri.

"In the Nightsister clan, witches are taught to ignore stale jokes." V'arna's faint smile turned into a mocking grin as she figuratively stabbed the Mandalorian in the back. The guy had been strutting around her like a peacock for days now, but the witch seemed completely uninterested in him. "By the way, Teacher, what did you do to block the Dark Side's influence on the Guild personnel?"

"An absorption barrier. The simplest kind of ritual-artifact complex, built on mana-conversion principles and powered by this world's natural background energy." I broke into a blissful smile. Sometimes it was nice to simply switch my brain off and work on something primitive. "Twenty ritual circles, each five meters across, absorb negative mana around the perimeter of the Guild complex and fill simple—and therefore rather bulky—quartz reservoirs. Then the inner conversion circle takes over, purifying the output from the reservoirs and sending already-neutral mana into basic artifacts built beneath the ritual-circle platforms. Those, in turn, generate a spherical barrier over the entire Commerce Guild complex, repelling negative energy and filling the space inside with neutral mana. That's it."

"Simple," Romri snorted indignantly. "Don't believe Boss, Talli. There's nothing simple about it. I've been making amulets and charms for sale for years, and I still couldn't make sense of whatever our Chief Sorcerer cooked up there."

"That's because you neglected rituals, my little aurodium girl," I said with a cheerful wink at the Togruta, who pulled a displeased face. "I told you a dozen times that was a mistake. All magic began with rituals. They are a divine gift bestowed by the First Mentor herself—the point where it all started."

"Might as well be speaking Ancient Huttese," Mlada muttered.

"Can't understand a thing, though," Koit agreed.

"Will you teach me?" the witch asked, fidgeting as she put on an utterly pitiful expression and fixed me with an adoring stare. Oh, she was laying it on thick. Really laying it on. Still, pleasant enough. I was extremely fond of her hunger for knowledge. Sometimes the witch reminded me of a dog in a butcher's shop: she wanted to devour everything in sight and was deeply distressed by the fact that both her stomach and her mouth had limited capacity.

"I will," I agreed, winking at the girl as she smiled in satisfaction. "Once you've mastered the basics, we'll move on to the simplest rituals."

"A moment of silence for our little witch's brain." Romri raised her mug of caf with a mournful expression. "I tapped out while calculating the 'most basic' dependency patterns for the positions of celestial bodies."

"You're just not interested," I said, shaking my head. "You learned how to crank out amulets and charms, the credits started rolling in, and now you don't care about anything except those and piloting."

"Not anything. Far from it," Mlada giggled mysteriously, earning a raised fist from Romri. "All right, all right, I'm shutting up…"

"Did I miss something?" I asked, looking from the Togruta to the Mandalorian in surprise.

"Don't mind her, Boss." Romri waved a hand dismissively. The usual reddish-orange tone of her face had deepened slightly. "She's just talking nonsense…"

For some reason, Talli let out a long sigh, looking at the Togruta with something almost like sympathy.

---

"Tum-tum-tum, tum-tudum-tum-tudum…" Lately, humming the solemn, ominous tune I'd so often heard from Ir'rina had become something of a habit.

And now, as I stood there wondering whether to activate the spell and unlock the secret door or leave the tomb first, I couldn't help myself.

"Nah. Who knows what might crawl out of there?" I made up my mind and trudged toward the exit, ignoring the ancient gifted one's insistent, indignant muttering. Like I was going to let some dark ghost that looked like a solidified humanoid fart tell me what to do.

"Do you even know…" The undead seemed to have started in on the same rant for the twentieth time already.

"Do you even know who you're dealing with, huh?" I cut the ridiculous thing off. "Seriously! All I ever hear from you are the same tired threats and boring promises. Maybe your creator really was a powerful gifted, but she clearly half-assed it when she made you!"

"I am my own creator!!!" the ghost shrieked.

I just spat to the side in irritation.

Noisy undead, but an unusual one. It could use the Force, too. Not on the same level as a living gifted, but it might have been enough to deal with some Padawan. Mostly, though, this flying bedsheet kept trying to scare the hell out of me with psychic pressure and Jedi mind tricks. Intelligent undead were traditionally good at laying on the horror, while suggestion was, so to speak, a "native" ability of the gifted in this universe. But I'd eaten more than one ghoul in my time, and I was hardly a novice either in necromancy or in defending myself against mind-probers—people I wouldn't say I hated, exactly, but whose company I certainly never enjoyed.

"Oh, don't bullshit me." I waved a hand dismissively while catching the chunk of stone flying at my head with an aura tendril. "You're just an ordinary projection of a Life Shadow. There isn't a soul in you at all. You fly around, howl, frighten people, tempt them. I'd bet good money that somewhere deep inside your cozy little 'home' there's something like a phylactery containing a crude imprint of the personality that projects you outward. Primitive, but effective."

"I'll kill youuuuu!!!" the monstrosity howled, but I was already ignoring it.

An exceptionally persistent creature. I couldn't even discorporate it properly. Or rather, I couldn't make it stay discorporated. After being dispersed, this fart of a dark cloud—sometimes looking more like a torn rag—needed only a couple dozen seconds to come back.

Much easier to just ignore it.

At first, I tried to be polite, strike up a conversation, introduce myself like civilized sentients. But apparently this projection really had been slapped together with zero effort. First, as I said, it simply tried to crush me with Dark Side pressure, fear, and suggestion. Then it started hurling objects with telekinesis, zapped me once with something like lightning, and when none of that had any effect, it moved on to swearing at me, telling me to fuck off, and spouting nonsense about how I was supposedly "unsuitable."

How am I unsuitable? I'm the perfect candidate to be entrusted with every last secret!

The ghost let out yet another furious, offended hiss when I chuckled in anticipation. This tomb, like several others, radiated more than just Korriban's general Darkness; it had its own distinct "personal" emanations.

And what did that mean?

It meant there was something here.

At the very least, the undead interested me. I knew how to create similar guardian phantoms myself, but I was just as curious about the principles behind creating this sort of sentry within a Force-based tradition.

I hoped these weren't those legendary ghosts of the Ancient Sith. Otherwise, I was going to be seriously disappointed.

Although… I'd already gotten plenty of pleasant things out of visiting this planet. Good relations with the local boss, for one, and regular shipments of filled reservoirs to Jabiim. Even with the conversion cycles, Korriban's background was simply too saturated with Darkness and Death; the quartz would wear out quickly. So instead of supplying ordinary consumables, I'd decided to make the storage crystals themselves the consumables.

Once a year, the locals would simply replace the crystals with fresh ones. I'd already unloaded the first two batches from the Rung's cargo hold, and twenty spent crystals—one from each ritual circle—would be shipped back to the JMG. We'd give them the next batch of new ones free of charge, then drain the negative energy from the used crystals into a proper high-quality reservoir.

There was no such thing as too much Darkness and Death, at least not on Jabiim. We had no necropolises, no cursed places, and I considered that a blessing. Ordinary cemeteries wouldn't produce this kind of "output" even in a hundred years.

So, basically, I'd arranged to export the Dark Side of the Force from Korriban.

Heh.

If only I could find something genuinely tasty in the tombs. A Sith holocron, for example… yeah…

Probably not in this particular burial site, though. The swearing phantom hovering nearby hardly lived up to the reputation of the "terrifying and nightmarish" ghosts of the Ancient Sith.

"On the other hand…" I actually stopped for a second just before leaving the tomb. "Maybe this sort of thing simply isn't scary to me, but would be plenty dangerous to the Jedi! After all, I'm carrying protections that not every fortress back on the Turtle could afford…"

"Listen, Xo-Kusan," I said, turning toward the "dirty rag" hanging in the air nearby, which had gone quiet when I started speaking. "What level of gifted could you actually pose a serious threat to, roughly speaking? If we measure it in Jedi terms. Padawan? Knight? Master?"

The Shadow froze. In every sense of the word. In midair, and otherwise. Just hung there in silence.

No matter. I'm a patient man. I could wait for the dead "brains" of a Life Shadow to catch up.

For about five seconds, we stared at each other. Then it started screaming at me again.

Hmm… maybe there really was a soul in there after all? Inside that same phylactery, perhaps? Because a mere projection shouldn't be capable of flying into a rage like this.

The screaming was so furious that I couldn't even make out individual words—the infernal overtones in the ghost's voice didn't help either. On top of that, I had the distinct impression that, given another moment, the phantom would start spraying ectoplasm like spittle from sheer fury.

"What a temper…" I shook my head disapprovingly, raising a force dome to protect myself from a hail of rocks. "Oh! Now that's something new…"

A Force construct of some incomprehensible design tried to close over me, but got stuck against the shield dome.

To my surprise… the damn thing started eating through the shield!

And quite vigorously, too.

Well, well…

I added a couple of conversion blocks to the weave, which had already begun losing stability, and changed the mana in the dome from neutral to light.

"Well, that's no fun at all," I said, almost offended, when the apparently vampiric structure burned away and the ghost, howling as if in pain, darted off into the depths of the tomb. Probably swallowed a mouthful of light mana and gave itself indigestion.

Still, the structure of that peculiar spell had been several times more complex than the Force Pushes demonstrated to me by our chimerologist trainees, Rig Nema and Stass Allie. I'd even say it looked more like magic than Jedi techniques. The only problem was, I hadn't understood the underlying principle at all.

"Could that be… actual Sith sorcery? Or alchemy? Well, the spell itself is nothing special, of course, but I'd really like to understand the principle behind it. Better not destroy this undead thing after all. I should swipe it instead… might come in handy."

---

Original Russian story

You can find more chapters on my Patreon.

The translation of new chapters will also be published here—but with a bit of a delay.

 

[readsalot]

I should swipe it instead… might come in handy."

Click to shrink...

Sith Force Ghost gets kidnapped XD
Hmm reminds me of a 40k/Star Wars crossover a chaos space marine Sorcerer escaped to Star Wars, then proceeds to trap Sith ghosts into their bones to get them to teach him their secrets.
I can see Siith doing the same XD
I can't wait to see the Jedis reaction to him dealing in "Evil Sith Teachings" and getting dark side infused rocks

 

[Vyraco]

Who needs treasure?! A real academic takes the guardian-beasts for vivisection and dismantled traps for later analysis! If you can get a ghost to extract knowledge from that's even better!

 

[FTR2017]

I have the nagging suspicion that Siith would get along splendidly with The Chaotic Good Barbarian going by how he reacted to the 'sheet-tier' ghost haunting that particular tomb.

Will he turn said ghost into a book from which he can read what it knows at his leisure? Perhaps bind it to a roomba with a speaker?

 

[Boroda Orka]

"Master?" Windu looked at the head of the Order with concern when he suddenly froze in the middle of their conversation.

"Something has happened," the little Jedi said uneasily. "Changes in the future, I sense."

"Changes… for the better?" Master Rancisis asked cautiously.

"Unknown to me, that is. But the fates of billions already living and yet unborn have changed their course," the green-skinned Jedi said, thoughtfully chewing his lip. "Some will never be born at all. Some will die, while others will not pass into the Force when they were meant to. What is coming… it will be… not as it was supposed to be. The shadow of the Dark Side still conceals the future, but these changes… too vast even for it, they are. And… and now there is something else there. Or someone else. To the Corps of Balance, I must go. Speak with the Stargazers."

The two Masters watched the head of the Order trot briskly away down the Temple corridor, his cane tapping against the floor tiles.

"Lately, I've been hearing far too often that something has changed," the Korun sighed.

"But that doesn't necessarily mean it's bad." The Thisspiasian shrugged, flicking his tail. "Quite the opposite, really. The changes I've been noticing have mostly been encouraging."

"Something new about your friend from Jabiim, Master?" Windu allowed himself a faint smile.

"No, no, unfortunately not." Rancisis shook his head. "Though I doubt anything will ever top that report about an army of Gungans riding rancors for sheer absurdity and entertainment value. I was thinking more about matters within the Order, albeit ones connected to Master Siith. For example, those amulets we've been buying from Jabiim…"

"At those not-so-modest 'friends' rates?" the dark-skinned Jedi snorted.

"Well, you have to admit, Master, everyone else gets even more outrageous prices. And I, for one, feel much better about the Jedi we send out on missions."

"There is that, though I still believe we shouldn't rely on artifacts. A Jedi should be capable of doing without them. I'm afraid some may grow overly complacent." Windu frowned. The use of protective amulets and charms purchased from the JMG had already come up before the Council, and the Korun had even managed to draw the others' attention to the problems that might arise in the future.

"Every coin has two sides," Oppo Rancisis sighed philosophically. "Risk teaches us caution, but I would still prefer it not to be excessive. The dead learn no lessons. Knight Fe Sun, Master Shaak Ti's former Padawan, survived her last mission thanks to a little trinket from that rainy world. Master Ti, by the way, is still upset that her teaching methods failed to prove themselves, and she too feels a certain gratitude toward Master Siith. According to her, if not for their meeting on Shili and the doubts her Padawan's questions about the sorcerer planted in her mind, even the Jabiim artifact might not have been enough to save the young Togruta.

"Besides, the sorcerers' wares aren't sold only to us. We've merely gained a temporary advantage. Sooner or later, the amulets will fall into the wrong hands, even if they don't get there directly from Jabiim. The charms are already turning up among criminals, and the Hutts, according to rumor, are actively buying up amulets even at obscenely inflated prices."

"Jabba outsmarted himself," Master Windu said, his smile widening this time.

"But he didn't get burned nearly as badly as our Greens," the Thisspiasian hissed with amusement. "The Hutts were merely shoved to the very back of the line. Corellia wasn't even allowed into it at all."

"Something Rendili, Kuat, and the others couldn't be happier about." The Korun nodded. "Though I still think Master Siith went a little too far with the Corellian shipbuilders. The greater share of the blame lies with the Green Jedi, after all."

"And you have no objections to their 'punishment'?" Master Rancisis raised his thick eyebrows. "To be perfectly honest, the 'offense' committed by our brothers from Corellia… hardly qualifies as an offense at all. In my view, the head of the JMG dug his heels in rather childishly. It feels… immature, I suppose."

"The Corellian Jedi." Windu let out a heavy sigh. "Their enclave has long displayed a certain degree of isolationism and disregard for the Council's decisions. So, in a sense, I'm even grateful to Dziha for giving them a sharp flick on their upturned noses."

"Hmm? Do I hear a touch of gloating in your words, Master?" Rancisis gave a surprised, hissing laugh.

"You're mistaken." The dark-skinned Jedi shook his head. "As far as I'm concerned, it was a lesson. If not for the arrogance and dismissiveness of some of our brothers from Corellia, none of this would have happened."

"But that arrogance did not come from the enclave's senior Jedi."

"Undoubtedly. But properly training one's Padawan is a teacher's responsibility. And if Padawans treat us with disregard, that isn't a very good sign for the Corellian enclave as a whole, you understand? Even before that incident, I'd noticed something of the sort more than once when speaking with the Greens, and I'd even discussed it with Master Yoda…" Windu didn't continue. Instead, he simply spread his hands as if to say, and this is where it led.

"Hmm… I still hope Master Siith changes his mind eventually."

"I'm certain he will," the Korun said with a faint smile. "As soon as he's fed his ego with enough apologies and wrung out compensation that satisfies him."

"Masters." Knight Kenobi's Padawan, passing by, respectfully inclined his head.

"Padawan Skywalker." Rancisis greeted him with a good-natured smile, while Windu gave a slight nod.

"Speaking of which, there goes another thing I'm pleased about," the Thisspiasian said, turning his attention back to the Korun once the boy had moved farther away.

"Knight Kenobi's Padawan?"

"That's the one, that's the one." Oppo Rancisis nodded in satisfaction. "Obi-Wan told me his Padawan has grown calmer. And there's something about him now… Let's put it this way: I can feel that the boy has come a little closer to the harmony with the Force—and with himself—that a Jedi needs. I don't think anyone would argue that the hem of our mutual acquaintance's robe is peeking out from behind all this."

"Yes, I won't argue with that." Windu shook his head thoughtfully, stroking his chin. "I opposed Knight Kenobi's decision, but Master Yoda was right: a teacher understands his student better. Skywalker really has become calmer since learning that his mother is safe. But I still believe Master Jinn's decision was a mistake. Chosen One or not… the boy was simply too old to be accepted into the Order."

"That's exactly why his upbringing should be different." The Thisspiasian waved one impressively clawed hand, inviting Windu to continue down the corridor. "Now I simply don't understand how we failed to arrive at such an obvious solution ourselves: buy the boy's mother out of slavery and give her a peaceful life on some quiet world… And even before that, think back, Master—not everyone who joined the Order was a child. You could find fully grown sentients among the Padawans as well."

"But we abandoned that practice…"

"Forgive me, Master Windu," Rancisis interrupted the Korun. "But let us not forget that a vast Shadow of the Dark Side now hangs over the future of both the Order and the galaxy, clouding the sight of even the strongest Jedi among us. Just imagine that Master Qui-Gon Jinn was right and the boy truly is the Force's Chosen One.

"Separatist sentiment across the galaxy is growing stronger. Even if the Sith are not behind it—which I doubt—I don't think the Dark Side will pass up the opportunity to exploit what is coming. And I very much doubt the Sith would have overlooked this child. That Zabrak proved there were dark gifted on Tatooine, and they could easily have taken notice of young Skywalker once Master Jinn showed an interest in him. Especially after the boy's feat on Naboo.

"Personally, I would rather none of our brothers or sisters ever have to face him in the future, trained by our enemies and armed with a red lightsaber."

---

"What a quarrelsome hag! No wonder she called herself Xo-Gnawn… or was it Xo-Kusan?" I muttered, mounting a proper defense against the guardian shadow.

By now, I was practically certain that this undead thing really was an artificially created incorporeal necroconstruct with a pseudo-personality, rather than the spirit of some ancient Sith. Its behavior gave it away: before I opened the hidden door, it had acted more or less harmlessly—relatively infrequent attacks, threats, attempts at psychological pressure.

Not that any of it had been entirely safe. It would definitely have killed any one of my students. At their current level, they simply didn't have the skill to stand against it.

As for gifted trained in the Force tradition, though, that was another question. With their tricks—precognition, telekinesis, acceleration, physical enhancement—I figured a well-trained Jedi Knight could probably handle her.

But!

Everything changed the moment I opened the door to the hidden cache, and now I seriously doubted anyone short of a Master could stand against Xo-Kusan. The undead thing, which until then had merely been angry and aggressive, completely lost what passed for its mind and turned into a howling engine of death, bombarding me with every Force technique it had and whatever physical objects it could get its hands on.

This time I actually had to work up a bit of a sweat, adjusting to the guardian's changed behavior. My spellcasting speed was nowhere near that of combat mages with their "narrow" pool of memorized spells, but I was very good at rapidly modifying and restructuring magical constructs that were already in place.

Good thing I sent the Mandos back to the ship, the thought flickered at the edge of my mind.

My vision was swimming with flashes of lightning, chunks of shattered wall, and all kinds of smaller debris whipping through the air. A dozen or so Force constructs had latched onto the multilayered shield—some vampiric in nature, while others, apparently, were trying to break through the defenses.

Good.

Excellent, even.

You couldn't really get much proper practice against Jedi on Jabiim, after all. I didn't want to reveal some of my own tricks, and they never went all-out either.

Though even if they had…

For all my fondness for Knights Nema and Allie, the two of them together still didn't amount to a truly serious opponent.

"Well… I think that's enough," I muttered once I'd gathered the information I needed and was already countering the guardian's entire arsenal without much effort.

I suspected the rag could have unleashed something more serious, something more powerful, but neither of us did. Probably for the same reason I hadn't: she didn't want to wreck her creator's tomb. She was a guardian, after all, not part of a demolition crew.

I found the phylactery.

The vessel-projector stood right there in the hidden chamber, and I was already about to start constructing a seal around the area…

"Indeed. It is time to stop."

The aggressive rag vanished an instant before a rather beautiful female voice, carrying only the faintest trace of otherworldly overtones, rang through the tomb. All the lingering "Force spells" dissipated with it.

"Not Jedi, not Sith, not Je'daii… unexpected. Come inside. I wish to speak with you."

"Hmm…"

I'll admit, I felt a little disappointed again. I was curious to see how the ghost would behave once it lost its connection to its vessel.

Oh well.

As far as I could tell, the woman who had just spoken to me was the creator of that scandalous little monstrosity, so if our introduction went well, there would still be a chance to test it all properly.

I stepped into a fairly spacious chamber done in the same style as the rest of the tomb: gloomy desolation.

Near the center of the hall stood a stone pedestal, and atop it rested the little pyramid I had glimpsed from the corridor and identified as the guardian's phylactery.

Quite a beautiful piece, I had to admit.

Blood-red, with gold inlays, covered in unidentified symbols and ornamental flourishes. It gave off a faint glow… if you could even call it that. The pyramid's dim radiance was more like the light of darkness, though it didn't stop me from seeing everything clearly.

A rather interesting effect. And, I had to admit, the contrast of crimson, gold, and darkness was impressive in its own way.

"Curious…" I drawled, studying the legendary holocron itself while inwardly rubbing my hands together in anticipation.

"Curious," the female voice echoed from a sharply defined, translucent figure that looked nothing at all like the gray rag from before.

"Pee-peeee!" the Quartermaster, poking out of my pocket, chirped with obvious disappointment as he looked around. My pet was clearly upset by the absence of piles of gold and precious gems.

"Because knowledge is the true treasure," I said with a smile, scratching the hamster under the chin before giving the incorporeal woman of a species I didn't recognize a polite bow. "My name is Siith'khara'Dziha. I'm glad to finally behold the mistress of the tomb, and I apologize for my persistence in seeking an audience, esteemed Xo-Kusan."

"Lady XoXaan," the mistress of the complex corrected me, her voice carrying mockery, a trace of irritation, and a generous helping of undisguised curiosity. "Who are you? You were not supposed to be here. In none of the futures the Dark Side showed me was there a man with a rodent so… persistent"—a slightly malicious smile cut across her white face, marked here and there with black patterns—"in securing an audience."

"My apologies, Lady. The tomb guardian's diction was somewhat… difficult to make out," I said with a polite, apologetic smile, earning nothing more than a raised eyebrow in response.

Interesting! That smile of mine had unsettled liches before.

"As for me, I'm a sorcerer, a researcher, and the head of the Mages' Guild. I've long been interested in, uh… the Dark Side, so when I finally got some long-awaited leave, I decided to visit Korriban. There are plenty of legends surrounding this world, so I was hoping to find something interesting here."

"Interested in the Dark Side?" A faint infernal chuckle carried a touch of disdain and a small measure of curiosity. "And what is it that draws you to it? Strength? A thirst for power? Freedom?"

"No, no. I already have all of that." I waved a hand dismissively, dispelling the faint, almost imperceptible pressure on my mind and watching my conversational partner raise an eyebrow once again. "Research interest. I'm curious about the principles by which the gifted—Jedi and Sith—interact with mana, or the Force, as you call it. I'd be interested in questioning the Je'daii you mentioned as well, but as far as I understand, they're even harder to find in the galaxy than living Sith."

"Je'daii," XoXaan corrected me. "I'd say they're impossible to find." A faint smirk touched her lips, though most of the disdain had vanished from it by now. "Those who followed the Balance… ceased to exist a very long time ago. Time proved that Balance was a dead end."

"Hmm…" I fell silent in thought.

Probably best not to point out that practitioners of the Dark Side had nearly vanished from the face of the galaxy as well.

"That is temporary." The woman's smile turned anticipatory. "The day is not so far off when the Baneites will demonstrate both the power of the Dark Side… and the failure of Bane's own teachings. And after that… well, that hardly concerns you, my uninvited… guest." This time her smile was awash with sarcasm, and it was my turn to raise an eyebrow. "No, I'm not reading your thoughts…"

"It's just written all over my face?" I finished for the translucent figure with a restrained smile.

"Correct, sorcerer. That hesitation of yours was rather eloquent." A short chuckle. "The cycles of endless war between Sith and Jedi follow one after another. These days, though, the scale of the conflict has dwindled considerably. Especially disappointing is this pathetic scurrying of two rats… Always two there are. A Master and an Apprentice."

Now my conversational partner's smirk twisted into a genuinely vicious sneer, her face showing open disgust.

"You don't agree with their teachings?"

"That much is obvious." The woman snorted, folding her arms beneath her breasts. "And I don't give a damn about their justifications. Master-apprentice, master-apprentice… Killing one another over and over again, they only lose strength and knowledge."

"But…" I glanced toward the holocron.

"Nonsense." The woman's cheek twitched. "With rare exceptions, a Sith will never teach an apprentice everything they know. Some knowledge and experience will inevitably be lost. Repositories of knowledge can be damaged, hidden away, or deliberately destroyed. Back when our Order was numerous, that wasn't critical. But over the last millennium…"

Well, someone had clearly been stewing in this for a few millennia. Or maybe the old fossil was simply starved for a living audience—she'd already forgotten all about that solemn this doesn't concern you from a moment ago.

Old people. The sky used to be bluer, the grass greener, and today's Sith couldn't hold a candle to the "real ones."

To be fair, this particular fossil had actually been there.

"Still," XoXaan went on, neatly confirming my thoughts, "the Jedi have sunk as low as they can go. For a thousand years they've failed to notice the Darkness right under their noses. They've grown weaker, gone soft, lost their authority… Pathetic. Those sanctimonious prigs were weaklings even in my time, and now they inspire nothing but contempt. Turns out all it took for them to start degenerating was to lose sight of the Sith."

"Ahem… maybe." I shrugged, trying not to provoke a negative reaction from my conversational partner. "I haven't been around here long, so my information is limited. Just the broad strokes: Jedi good, Sith bad, Jedi won, but somewhere out there the resistance is still scurrying around."

"Exactly—scurrying around. Excellent choice of words." The woman laughed, though a second later she frowned. "But I wouldn't call what the Jedi achieved a 'victory,' either. The war between Darkness and Light has raged for so long that the confrontation a thousand years ago could be called little more than a skirmish. I know. I am XoXaan. I was one of the first Sith Lords—one of those who left the Jedi Order to seek the truth through the Dark Side."

"Oooh…" I barely stopped myself from rubbing my hands together in anticipation. "Then I really got lucky!"

"I would…" She gave me an ironic look. "…not be so quick to celebrate, sorcerer. Incidentally, I'm curious about something as well. That is the only reason you're still alive, and why I have graciously deigned to give you my attention." The ghost's lips curled into a mocking smile. "Tell me, you who calls yourself Siith: why is your fate a blind spot? Why do your manipulations of the Force look so utterly alien? Satisfy the curiosity that has unexpectedly awakened in me after thousands of years, and perhaps I'll allow you to leave this place unharmed."

---

Original Russian story

You can find more chapters on my Patreon.

The translation of new chapters will also be published here—but with a bit of a delay.

 

[FTR2017]

Later on ... .

The Gungan: Why is bossa pulling a trinket and ghost with a leash?
Siith: They thought they could kill me, so to the vivisection department we go!
The Ghost Sith: I'm a ghost, I can't be vivisected!
Siith: That's quitter's talk! I knew some liches who loved turning wraiths into books to dissect their thoughts and learned to do the same!
The Ghost Sith:

 

[haylo]

The translation is still in progress, and new chapters will also be published here—but with a bit of a delay.
[/QUOTE]

Absolute monstrosities of bones

Click to shrink...

he doesn't seem to understand the implication of giving gods a whole new universe of people to convert and the rewards he could request? Which feels very very odd for his character

 

[WerewolfEros]

Later on ... .

The Gungan: Why is bossa pulling a trinket and ghost with a leash?
Siith: They thought they could kill me, so to the vivisection department we go!
The Ghost Sith: I'm a ghost, I can't be vivisected!
Siith: That's quitter's talk! I knew some liches who loved turning wraiths into books to dissect their thoughts and learned to do the same!
The Ghost Sith:

Click to shrink...

I would honestly not be surprised if Siith could actually do that.

 

[Boroda Orka]

"Nonsense. An artificially created organism is a homunculus."

"With all due respect, Xo, your claims reek of the clergy's narrow-mindedness from a light-year away! What I'm talking about specifically is absolutely not a homunculus."

"Lady XoXaan! And there isn't a drop of respect in your words, Red-Eyes!"

"There is! It's just… disguised!" the sorcerer shot back. "Come on, seriously! If it quacks like a duck, flies like a duck, and loves bread like a duck—it's a duck! I've had more than enough of this homunculus nonsense back home! I'm talking about an artificially created organism that is no different from one that was born naturally, not some crude lump of flesh cobbled together by hand!"

"I don't know what a duck is, but an artificially created body—whatever species it belongs to—is a homunculus." The ghost regarded the red-eyed man unyieldingly, arms folded beneath her breasts to make it clear she had no intention of conceding the argument.

"I'll show you." He snorted, rolled his eyes, walked over to the vat of "soup," as the sorcerer called the mass inside, and went still. Once again, the Force rolled off him, tinged with the scent of freshly spilled blood.

"And how long are you going to keep showing me this?" his conversational partner asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Give it about twenty minutes. The organism needs time to form," Siith'khara'Dziha replied, shooting the Force ghost an irritated look.

"And this organism"—the Force ghost tilted her head to one side, studying something in the vat—"will, as you put it, quack, fly, and love bread?"

"No." The sorcerer took a few steps toward the small table where his mug sat and took a sip of caf. "How is it supposed to do any of that if there's no soul in it? There's no pilot, understand?!"

"That's why it's called a homunculus!" XoXaan threw up her hands. "Why are you so dense?! It can't live on its own—period! You can imprint the simplest behavioral patterns into it, basic instincts, if you want! Make its heart beat, make it breathe! You could even make it walk, quack, fly, and eat bread if you put enough effort into it! But it still wouldn't be a living being capable of developing on its own!"

"This! Will! Be! A duck!!!" The red-eyed man planted his hands on his hips and glared irritably at the translucent figure. "A duck's body, one hundred percent indistinguishable from one that hatched from an egg and grew up naturally under ideal conditions! Put a soul into it, and you don't need any programming at all! It'll just live, quack, fly, and eat bread without me having to do anything else! It'll even be able to reproduce! It's just a grown body—I don't see why anyone should curl their lip at it like it's some inferior thing! You simply don't understand what I'm talking about! How about you just shut up and stop embarrassing yourself?"

Three pairs of worried eyes followed the conversation between the red-eyed sorcerer and the ghost of the ancient Sith Lady.

The Dathomiri witches had been hastily dragged out of their cells three days ago, cleaned up, given fresh clothes, and sent to the tomb. Now they brewed caf and herbal decoctions for the red-eyed man, carried out various minor errands… and were afraid.

Because they had been sent here on the principle of whoever wouldn't be missed.

That might have been insulting, perhaps even infuriating, but… the presence of the Sith Lady had left nothing in their souls but fear. The sense of incredible power emanating from her was simply too overwhelming. Besides, she clearly had no intention of tolerating unnecessary noise. A single "lesson" from the ghost had been more than enough. So had the bouts of irritation she occasionally took out on them.

Now all three stood silent, afraid even to whisper among themselves, watching two of the three most terrifying beings in the galaxy… bicker over some subject the witches didn't even understand.

The first of the three—though ranked firmly last—was Mother Talzin, whom the witches hated with a savage intensity matched only by their fear of her. She had literally given them away to the sorcerer, after which some creatures had been moved in with them and violated the minds of all five of them.

In second place stood the sorcerer himself. Strange, powerful, perfectly capable of speaking calmly with Mother Talzin—and the one who had freed their minds from the grip of her sorcery.

And now he was trading insults with… that.

The ghost of the ancient Sith Lady, XoXaan.

No, the girls had no idea who she was, but her mere presence was enough to make breathing difficult, their knees go weak, and their speech start to stumble whenever she turned her attention toward them.

And after Lady XoXaan, during their very first meeting, decided that one of the Dathomiri women had dared cast a disrespectful glance at the ancient dark gifted…

the witches awarded her a thoroughly well-deserved first place.

"It's a definition," the Lady insisted, watching as the sorcerer pulled some kind of bird out of the vat and laid it on a medical table. All this equipment set up in one of the tomb's chambers, right next to a Sith holocron, looked rather bizarre. "I don't understand why you're getting so worked up over this. Is it personal? There's a clone, there's a homunculus, and there's someone naturally born—say, a human. What exactly is your problem with that?"

"It's just a body without a soul," the sorcerer sighed. "Not a homunculus."

"Ugh…" The ghost wearily covered her face with her left hand and extended the right toward the sorcerer. Powerful, branching Force lightning burst from her fingers, but for all its strength, it tangled against the spherical shield that flared to life around the sorcerer and the table.

"Calmed down?" the red-eyed man asked mockingly once the lightning finally died away.

"Almost." The translucent woman bared her teeth in an angry grin and flicked a hand toward the three witches.

"Oh, come on…" the sorcerer sighed as one of the Dathomiri women's heads twisted around a full hundred and eighty degrees with a sickening crunch. "Aren't you tired of that yet?"

"That'll teach you to piss me off," XoXaan said with a satisfied squint, watching as the dead witch's head twisted back into place with an equally sickening crunch. "And honestly, this is rather convenient. Wouldn't you like to enter my service? I can't even remember how many useful sentients died because I happened to be irritated."

"So much for 'emotions should serve the gifted,'" Siith snorted as the dead woman opened her eyes, gasping rapidly and clutching at her throat with both hands. "Don't move your head around," the sorcerer told her. "The bones aren't back in place yet. Sit still for five minutes."

"How interesting." The Sith Lady leaned over the recently dead Dathomiri woman, making all three witches flinch in fear. "That's the eleventh time I've watched it happen, and I still can't grasp the underlying principle."

"You've been snapping their necks just for that?" Siith asked in surprise, frowning with obvious displeasure.

"Combining business with pleasure." The ghost shrugged, reappearing beside the medical table. "I get to blow off some steam and study an interesting phenomenon at the same time. So then, what do we have here?"

The Lady passed her right hand over the bird several times.

"Oh, could you do that again?" the sorcerer asked once the translucent woman finished whatever she was doing.

"I don't repeat myself for the deaf, and I don't demonstrate things twice for the blind. Force techniques are useless to you anyway," the Sith Lady snorted. "So. This is a homunculus."

"Oh, for fuck's sake," the sorcerer said, rolling his eyes in irritation. "Look."

The man pulled a small crystal from somewhere beneath his robes and placed it beside the motionless bird. A knife slipped free from the sheath at his belt and began carving some kind of pattern directly into the tabletop.

The ancient ghost watched the whole process with curiosity, though every so often she glanced at the crystal with unmistakable surprise.

"Right," the sorcerer said once the pattern was complete and the knife had slipped back into its sheath. "And now…"

The lines filled with a greenish glow. The crystal lit up and rose a couple of centimeters above the surface of the table.

A few seconds later, everything went dark.

"Aaaand?" XoXaan drawled.

Instead of answering, the sorcerer pointed a finger at the bird.

"Up!" Siith barked, and an arc of electricity leapt from his finger.

The bird convulsed, scrambled to its feet, and began beating its wings while looking around in a panic.

"Well? What do you think?"

"This…" XoXaan tilted her head, staring at the bird in surprise. "What in the world was that?"

"I put a soul into the body," the sorcerer said, narrowing his eyes in satisfaction. "I didn't have a duck's soul on hand, of course, so right now it's got that… what was it? Lizard, reptile… Trandoshan!!!"

"Put into it? Is that some form of possession?"

"No, no." The sorcerer smiled in satisfaction. "No possession involved. There's simply a complete soul in the duck's body now. Its cognitive functions will, of course, gradually degrade to a level appropriate for the bird's brain, but that'll only make it more natural. So our hunter is now doomed to live out the life of a little bird on the prey end of the food chain. Rather ironic, really…"

"So that crystal…" XoXaan glanced toward the spot where the little stone should have been lying, only to find a small pile of dust in its place.

"A soul prison," Siith said with a nod. "Single-use. Back home, several thousand years ago, inventing things like these was the first step toward creating a full-fledged phylactery. Something along the lines of your holocron. Though the Sith creation is built on a different method and, in some respects, is more sophisticated, as far as I can tell. But the underlying principle is the same."

"Wait… hold on…" The ghost was clearly thinking, shifting her gaze from the holocron to the little pile of dust left behind by the crystal.

And it would have been fine if she'd stopped there…

The ancient gifted turned a strangely intent stare on the three witches.

A heartbeat later, one of them was hanging in the air in front of the ghost, who seemed to have teleported straight to her.

"Again?!" the sorcerer threw up his hands. The two frozen witches clearly decided their "friend" was about to meet her end yet again, but…

The ghost seemed to be sucked into the eyes and mouth of the Dathomiri hanging in midair. After that horrifying display, the witch stopped levitating and landed awkwardly on her feet.

"Oh…" was all the red-eyed man managed to say as the witch began awkwardly stretching and testing out her body.

"A little cramped," the Dathomiri complained in two voices at once—her own and XoXaan's. The whole thing was disturbingly reminiscent of Mother Talzin possessing a medium Sister.

The eyes were especially unsettling: two pits opening into the abyss of space, with amber sparks like distant stars drifting in their depths.

XoXaan, wearing someone else's body, went through a few warm-up motions with her arms, rolled her neck from side to side, bent forward and straightened up again. Then, walking with a slight sway, she made her way to the only armchair beside the coffee table and dropped into it.

The Sith Lady, still inhabiting the Dathomiri witch's body, pulled the sorcerer's enormous mug closer and filled it with the steaming black liquid from the caf pot.

"All right, sorcerer. How did you do that?"

Siith once again displayed the horrifying grin he usually called a smile and, with a wave of his hand… grew an armchair out of the stone floor beside the table.

"A little hard," he complained as he settled into it across from the Lady. "And that brings us neatly back to the difference between a homunculus and a 'real organism.'"

For several seconds, the two most terrifying beings in the galaxy, at least in the opinion of the witches trembling with fear, stared into each other's eyes.

"So…" the Sith began slowly. "You mean that with a homunculus…"

"Exactly." The sorcerer nodded. "If the duck had been a homunculus, 'putting a soul into it' would've been more like possession. The soul would simply 'wear' the body like a suit, and knocking it out again would take next to no effort. More or less like what you did with this girl. By the way, she isn't going to burst, is she?"

"She'll last a few hours," Lady XoXaan replied thoughtfully. "Worst case, I'll heal your slave. Don't worry."

"She's not exactly a slave…"

"Oh, come on." The possessed witch waved a hand dismissively as she watched a chunk of stone "flow" in the sorcerer's hands, reshaping itself into another mug. "Prisoner, slave… guest. Call them whatever you like, the meaning's the same. They were given to you, you make use of them, and their lives are in your hands. More importantly, my friend…"

"Friend?" the sorcerer asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

"Brother," the Sith said with a cheerful smile. "Friend, brother, dear guest, esteemed colleague. Tell a girl what it takes to create one of those… not-homunculi? For me to create one myself. And perform that… soul transfer on my own?"

"Mmm… Is doing it yourself the important part? I mean both creating the body and transferring the soul."

"Of course. Don't misunderstand me, you're an interesting sentient. But trusting someone else to create a body for me, placing myself in someone else's hands… Mmm… no, sorry. You and I are a little too alike, and that alone is the clearest sign that I absolutely should not trust you with something like that." The possessed woman took a sip of caf and grimaced slightly. "How do you even drink this swill? You"—the Lady pointed at one of the witches—"brew me a decoction. From that jar."

"Can't argue with that. I wouldn't trust you in a situation like that either," the red-eyed man said with a thin smile, watching as they brewed XoXaan's drink. "But if you want to grow the body and perform the transfer yourself, you'll have to learn. I don't know how to reproduce anything like this through a Force-based tradition. For a sorcerer… you need a solid command of ritualism—that's for the transfer itself. Chimerology and necromancy are mandatory for growing a body that is NOT a homunculus. None of it is simple, and none of it is quick. You want to calculate everything yourself, don't you… my dear friend Xo?"

The possessed woman shot the sorcerer a vicious glare, her jaw working for several seconds before she finally exhaled and calmed down.

"All right… what do you want in exchange for that knowledge?"

"First, let's clarify something. Why do you want it?"

"Obviously, for no reason at all." The possessed woman snorted, crossing one leg over the other and leaning back in the chair.

The sorcerer merely raised an eyebrow with a quiet hum and continued staring at her expectantly.

"Don't believe me? Then you're not completely brainless."

"Thank you. Your acknowledgment that I possess a functioning mind is like honey poured over my soul," the red-eyed man said with a grin.

"Tch. You really piss me off sometimes." XoXaan grimaced. "You're sure you're not one of my old 'friends'? Karness Muur? That name mean anything to you? He was another nasty, quarrelsome old fossil. No? I'm not even sure whether to be relieved or disappointed…

"Fine, never mind. I want flesh again. Existing as a Force ghost is fascinating, of course. My neighbors are delightful and endlessly talkative, and life in the galaxy is like an entertaining holoshow starring nothing but idiots… In short, it's all so thrilling that 'sleeping' for a few thousand years at a time starts to seem like a perfectly reasonable alternative."

"Wanting flesh again is obvious enough," the sorcerer said with a calm nod, showing not the slightest trace of sympathy. "If I knew that was all you wanted—and that afterward you'd simply live quietly without causing… trouble across half the galaxy—I'd agree without a problem. You'd share your knowledge with me, I'd share mine with you, everyone walks away happy. But as far as I know, your lot has never been particularly good at peaceful, quiet lives, have you?"

"Pfff!" The witch snorted and burst out laughing. "Go on, then. Tell me the fairy tale about how deeply you care about the fate of the galaxy! We've known each other for three days, and I can already see how little you give a damn about all that nonsense! A handful of worlds, a few sentients you personally happen to like, a dozen or two business deals that matter to you. My dear friend, all of that can be arranged.

"The worlds you need, I'll place at your disposal. As for the sentients important to your peace of mind, I'll make sure not so much as a speck of dust touches them. Your business interests may suffer, of course, but I promise I'll offer you something more profitable in return. And naturally, XoXaan will provide whatever knowledge interests you. Sith, Jedi, anything you like.

"I'll become your shield against all the galaxy's troubles—your guarantee that you can work in peace and comfort. You don't care about power anyway, do you?"

"Mmm…" The sorcerer rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "That's… rather sudden. And remarkably straightforward."

"I see no point in dancing around the issue with someone who, in truth, barely gives a damn about anything except his beloved… magic. And as for sudden—I'm not proposing marriage." Another venomous smile. "So take as long as you like to think it over. Just not longer than a day.

"Keep one thing in mind: a Sith Lord grateful to a certain red-eyed sorcerer—even if she is only not yet the ruler of the galaxy—is a very, very profitable thing to have."

"And troublesome. I can already see the newborn resistance fighters swimming toward me in schools, all eager to screw me over…"

"And we won't tell anyone a thing. Like I said, everything can be arranged." The possessed woman took a sip of the fresh herbal decoction and narrowed her eyes in pleasure. "Now this is good. Not that black, stinking swill."

---

Original Russian story

You can find more chapters on my Patreon.

The translation of new chapters will also be published here—but with a bit of a delay.

 

[foo-jin]

Whelp, that escalated from "funny dark-side dementia ghost" to "galactic domination" rather swiftly.

 

[readsalot]

And we won't tell anyone a thing. Like I said, everything can be arranged." The possessed woman took a sip of the fresh herbal decoction and narrowed her eyes in pleasure. "Now this is good. Not that black, stinking swill."

Click to shrink...

Hmmm this is a bad idea….. but I'm loving the potential chaos!!!!!!

Also screw you lady, Coffee ️ is great

 

[cestus41]

I think that if palpatine or the Jedi got a hint that this might happen/ be happening the breaks would come off rapidly let alone if any other dark lords ghosts get an inkling of what is going on he would be swarmed by ghosts offering threats power and knowledge forbidden and forgotten to the galaxy at large

 

[FTR2017]

No wonder the three witches are scared shitless of Xo, bitch's just looking out for excuses to either snap necks or wear their bodies like dresses.

At least Siith's generous enough to reward you should you take his vivisection offer! And no, being put back together is not the reward as well, truly generous!

Whelp, that escalated from "funny dark-side dementia ghost" to "galactic domination" rather swiftly.

Click to shrink...

On the other hand, Palpy needs some actual competition to sharpen his dulled Banite Sith senses with!

I bet he'll be overjoyed that an Old School Sith got not only incarnated properly, but is now looking forward to conquering the galaxy once more!

 

[Jamesson Locke]

Whelp, that escalated from "funny dark-side dementia ghost" to "galactic domination" rather swiftly.

Click to shrink...

Really, it's like you've never seen a non banite sith before

 

[Boroda Orka]

Cramped, the ancient gifted thought yet again, taking a sip of fragrant decoction and setting aside a book from the ship's library. These Dathomiri skins couldn't endure the presence of her spirit inside them for long. But there were three of them, which gave XoXaan the ability to remain in the flesh almost around the clock.

Not that she made much use of it.

Cramped.

The clothes didn't fit, so to speak, and the little foolish witch whimpering in terror at the back of her consciousness… was irritating.

"How utterly useless you are," the Lady growled in frustration as she abandoned her temporary shell. "Put your sister on the bunk."

The two Dathomiri women kneeling in the corner of her cabin immediately jumped to their feet and dragged the unconscious body of the third over to the bed.

At first, what infuriated the Sith Lady most was that she couldn't simply knock those fools out of their own bodies and use the shells without the unnecessary passengers. Not that she lacked the power to do it, but the witches were someone else's property. Even that wouldn't have stopped XoXaan, if not for the identity of their owner. At first, that had been the only reason—an extremely irritating one.

But after only a couple of days, the Lady had found certain advantages as well—or rather, remembered what it had been like to be a living gifted. First and foremost, the witches could take care of themselves. Keep the bodies clean and fed. Second: servants were convenient. She didn't appreciate the sorcerer dumping his "rejects" on her, but in his place she would have done exactly the same. There was no making apprentices out of this trash, but given a couple of months, it might be possible to mold them into something halfway presentable that resembled proper servants. At the very least, the idiots were trainable.

Once the support staff had been given the right tasks, there would be no need to waste time on trivialities. And besides… they occasionally amused her. Their fear was so entertaining that, purely for fun, the Sith Lady would sometimes spend several minutes simply staring at the three witches with the heavy gaze of a Force ghost. And whenever she once again decided to sample some food or drink while occupying the body of one of the Nightsisters, XoXaan would make the other two tell her about their life in the Clan.

The Nightsister Clan was quite an amusing place. A couple of times, she hadn't even been able to hold back her laughter. Some savage parody of their Order, mixed with primitive witchcraft and rabid matriarchy. And Talzin, their so-called Mother, was quite the schemer herself. From the stories told by her former daughters, she seemed powerful enough, and their memories made it clear she was more than just some savage witch. Of course, comparing her to XoXaan would be ridiculous, but to the Sith alive today… mmm… She would have to find out exactly how things stood with them now. Bane would have ground that girl into dust as well, and the Muun Plagueis hadn't been bad either…

A pity she had stopped keeping an eye on events about fifty years ago, once again sinking into something resembling sleep inside the holocron. Boring… Watching the rats scurry about was only entertaining when something was actually happening; otherwise it was all backstage maneuvering, intrigues, and underhanded little schemes. No matter what her reason told her, deep down she despised those who now called themselves Sith. Sneaks. Not that XoXaan herself was above a good old-fashioned covert intrigue now and then—preferably one with another couple of intrigues nested inside it—but living like that all the time? Where was the Power? Where was the Strength? Where was the Freedom? Where were the Fear and Respect of everyone around them?

Only a handful of close servants, groveling before the Baneites who had deigned to reveal themselves. Small-time. Incredibly small-time! When she had been alive, the populations of planets… no! The populations of entire star systems had spoken her Name with terror and reverence! For a scrap of her knowledge, they had been willing to surrender everything they possessed, and for the honor of becoming her apprentices, they had fought to the death! Her words had been listened to with awe, and her commands had carried the weight of the will of Gods!

Gods…

If XoXaan had been inside one of the witches right now, those recent memories would probably have taken her breath away.

It had all started rather unusually. A pity she hadn't noticed the intrusion from the very beginning, but after the guardian was discorporated for the fifth time, XoXaan fully "awakened" and decided to find out what exactly was going on.

And what was going on turned out to be interesting.

And slightly embarrassing for her.

An unusual gifted, brazenly wandering through the Lady's domain, was effortlessly holding his own against the pseudo-sentient guardian.

But what made him interesting wasn't how easily the stranger held off something resembling a Force ghost, or even the fact that the Force emanating from the red-eyed man—who outwardly looked so much like her fellow members of the Order—felt somehow strange, unfamiliar.

The problem was that he… wasn't supposed to be here.

XoXaan hadn't been languishing in a tomb beneath the temple for no reason—she had been waiting. Waiting for someone who served the Light and came to understand that the Light Side was meaningless. Someone who decided that Light itself was a flaw in the galaxy. Someone who had known anger, hatred, and despair! A Jedi ready to open himself to the Darkness!

In the Darkness, she had seen much. The end—but not the final end—of her life. The war between her former Order and her current one. Victories and defeats. How both sides gathered their strength, how worlds burned in their struggle. She had seen the shadows of the greatest heroes and the most extraordinary villains. Thousands of years of the great war between Light and Darkness, a war that would never end. And she had also seen the place and time where her holocron had to be so that it would be found by the one who would once again carry her name across the entire galaxy!

While she waited for her Chosen One, the future Emperor, thousands of sentients would visit the magnificent temple beneath which her tomb was hidden. Gifted and ungifted alike. Each would have their own encounter.

Some would find nothing but dusty desolation, without so much as a spark of her power. Only the pressure of Korriban's Dark Side would hint that this place had once glowed with dark light. Getting involved with those "visitors" would be dangerous, so they would find exactly… nothing.

Some she would toy with personally—those no one would come looking for, but who might provide her with a little entertainment and brighten the millennia of waiting.

As for the majority—the talentless, the boring, the dreary, those who had nothing remotely interesting about them… For them, she had created the guardian. She could, of course, have simply ignored them, but while those who posed a threat to XoXaan's plan could still be tolerated, insects crawling through her domain, trampling ground that in her lifetime one had to earn the right to walk upon… insects needed to be crushed.

The guardian had taken the man in the black robe for exactly that kind of insect. Nothing could be sensed from him at all. No life, as from an organic being, no energy, as from a droid… and at first, not even the slightest trace of the Force. He could only be seen.

XoXaan was irritated. It was unpleasant to watch her own creation not merely fail, but embarrass her in the process—screeching hideously and doing utter nonsense. No, rationally she understood that the guardian simply couldn't decide how to respond to such an unconventional target, but that didn't make the spectacle any less irritating.

But alongside the irritation came something the ancient Dark gifted had almost forgotten over the many centuries spent inside the holocron: curiosity. The sentient she could not sense—most likely concealed by some Force technique—was freely using Force constructs completely unfamiliar to XoXaan. Something incomprehensible, strange… new! Something capable of effortlessly holding back the guardian's attacks. It intrigued her so much that the gifted decided to look into the red-eyed man's past and future.

That sort of thing did not always provide clear or precise information, especially when done spontaneously and without preparation, but it would at least allow her to learn, in broad strokes, what sort of "guest" had come to her.

The Lady was astonished to find herself unable to make out anything coherent at all! Blurred patches, incomprehensible shadows blacker than darkness itself, within which she could barely distinguish the lean, four-legged silhouettes of some unknown animals. A vague image of something vast as a world, yet resembling a shelled amphibian. Then an endless rain of black droplets, hiding everything around it. The fate of the man walking through the temple complex corridors, effortlessly defending himself against the guardian… it was as though something so immensely powerful had concealed it that even the gaze of an ancient gifted—one of those who had become the first Sith Lords—could not pierce the protection and could glimpse only pathetic scraps.

The situation was anything but straightforward. She found it difficult to predict what might happen next. Attack him herself? That was certainly an option: XoXaan was almost certain she would win. Unfortunately, there were several "buts." The first and most important was that if this sentient mattered, someone would come for him. They would search for him, and her refuge would be compromised. And she had a plan… Besides, that almost bothered her. The unfamiliar techniques, somewhat reminiscent of Sith sorcery, might hold unpleasant surprises, and XoXaan had never liked that sort of thing.

Second: those unfamiliar Force techniques. The Lady found them interesting, as well as whatever it was that prevented her from seeing the stranger's past and future.

And third: judging by what had happened at the very beginning of his "introduction" to the guardian, the man hadn't been opposed to talking. He had even been quite polite. And his smile was pleasant, almost disarming. It brought back memories of a couple of old "friends" she had killed while she was still alive.

Based on all of the above, XoXaan decided to begin with negotiations. She needed to learn more about her red-eyed guest first, and only then make any decisions.

That course of action—and everything that happened after she met Siith—had brought the Sith Lady nothing less than new prospects. Very exciting prospects, compelling enough for the gifted to abandon her long-term plan entirely. Why? Because the plan had ceased to be viable—and it was this very sentient who had made it so!

The problem was those very difficulties in reading his fate. The Force simply refused to provide anything coherent, and that same protection covered not only the sorcerer, as he called himself, but another witch from Dathomir as well—the one who had brought her three companions here. Unlike the red-eyed man she called Teacher, she was unquestionably a Dark gifted. Darkness rolled off her—nothing like XoXaan's, of course; the girl was far too small a fish for that—but it was still unmistakable. And the smile and look she had cast after her "friends" as they headed into the tomb spoke volumes: malicious delight, mockery, contempt. The fact that she could be sensed, however, solved nothing. Her past and future were hidden behind nothing but a murky haze and those same fleeting shadows of four-legged beasts.

What could that mean for the future? A lone individual wrapped in such protection could already introduce a factor of uncertainty, but this Siith was the head of some Guild and the director of an Academy where others like him were being trained. Which meant the predictions XoXaan had been relying on were already unreliable—perhaps even outright false!

A large number of such "shielded" sentients scattered across the galaxy practically guaranteed the collapse of her plans. There was no way to predict which one of them, or at what moment, might overturn the entire board simply by saying a few words that were never supposed to be spoken. The Sith Lady even found herself impressed by just how sweeping the changes to the future could become. Of course, she didn't particularly like any of this, but… she knew how to take the blows of fate. Though in this case, perhaps… fate-breakers would be more accurate? How much had these… mages already changed? And how much more was still going to happen differently from the way it was supposed to?

The funniest part was that, in the end, it even made her happy! First, there was now a real chance not merely to gain an apprentice who would carry out her will, but to obtain a body capable of bearing the "weight" of her spirit. With that, there would be no need to wait for the sentient best suited to her to finally "ripen" and find her. She would be able to gather apprentices herself—and restore the greatness of the Sith Order with her own hands!

And second, she very much wanted to see the faces of the Baneite rats if their "Great Plan" were destroyed and their hopes shattered sooner than fate had intended. She had even begun composing the speech she would deliver to the current Baneite Master. It began with the words: "And you, you wretch, dare call yourself a Lord?"

XoXaan smiled with satisfaction for a moment, feeling malicious delight and anticipation begin to simmer inside her.

But even that wasn't all. The Dark Lady was interested not only in obtaining a body, but also in the possibility of becoming the same kind of "blind spot" to the sight of every would-be prophet. Of course, she was powerful and could conceal herself on her own, but what kind of Sith would she be if she passed up an opportunity to make herself even stronger?

The sorcerer, as well as his Guild, also interested the Lady. People were a resource, and gifted were a valuable resource. Not to mention the knowledge they possessed—knowledge new to her and, once again, another opportunity to strengthen herself. Before the recent events, XoXaan had not yet decided what to do with the mages and their leader. There were too many possibilities, ranging from completely subjugating both him and the Guild to using them without their even realizing it.

There had been many options. Now, after getting to know him, there were far fewer.

To her surprise—and, in a way, even satisfaction—Siith harbored no negative feelings toward her Order, or toward the Jedi, for that matter. Talking with him had made it clear that the sorcerer, as he put it, "couldn't care less" who was out there deciding the fate of the galaxy. As long as he was comfortable and no one touched his loved ones, his home, or his wards. His wards, specifically—not his students. Toward the latter he was far more indifferent, merely grumbling, "If they graduated from the Academy, then their lives are no longer my problem."

His attitude became even clearer when the Lady learned that the sorcerer had come from far away. From a place where they had never even heard of the gifted Orders or their feud. They had their own "magical tradition," their own wars and conflicts. And so Siith… simply did not see the Dark Side as the absolute Evil the Jedi believed it to be. To him, the war between Light and Darkness, a conflict of unimaginable scale… was nothing more than "religious orders bickering with each other; most mages don't care about that sort of thing."

He agreed readily enough to share his knowledge, but on one condition: XoXaan had to swear an oath guaranteeing the safety of the sorcerer, his friends, loved ones, wards, and the rain-soaked world of Jabiim. She agreed easily enough. A Sith was master of his own word. Gave his word, took it back.

That casual attitude disappeared, however, after one of the temple rooms was quickly converted into a small library. Once again, the sorcerer demonstrated his interesting way of working with the Force, this time reshaping stone into bookshelves in the same manner he had grown himself a chair. It bore a distant resemblance to alchemy—but only a resemblance.

After the library was finished and filled with books, Siith dedicated it to his goddess. And at that moment, the faint, contemptuous smirk vanished from XoXaan's face. For the briefest instant, it was as though a gust of wind swept through her temple complex. Something unimaginably powerful turned its gaze upon the sorcerer, appraised the new "shrine of knowledge," found it satisfactory, and departed Korriban, leaving behind a tiny fragment of something incomprehensibly vast. And if the Sith Lady had not been watching the process herself, she most likely would not have noticed that fragment at all.

After that, XoXaan was no longer entirely certain that the sorcerer's stories about the patron goddess of mages, who was supposed to serve as the guarantor of their agreement, were quite such nonsense. Over the course of her long life, she had encountered many things that lay beyond even her own imagination.

What followed only strengthened the Lady's belief that the standard approach favored by some of her brothers and sisters—"extract everything useful, then dispose of them"—wasn't so much inapplicable as in need of a much more carefully worked-out plan.

She hadn't really planned to harm Siith in the first place simply because she was an Evil Ancient Sith. Despite Jedi propaganda, the Dark gifted had never been complete idiots. Well, not all of them, at least. Those with truly strong wills could restrain the base impulses of the monster living inside them. More than that—they had to. The beast itself would never achieve anything, and even if by some miracle it did, it wouldn't be able to enjoy the fruits of its labor for long. Emotions were supposed to serve the gifted, not the other way around.

In any case, she had no intention of turning back. Her previous plan certainly wasn't going to unfold the way she had intended, and continuing to sleep in a tomb while waiting for a miracle… frankly, she had no desire to do that. Now XoXaan had a chance to obtain a body, gain new knowledge, and, who knew, perhaps use both that knowledge and this new organization of gifted to ride the crest of the wave. The galaxy was heading toward a series of upheavals; it would be engulfed by chaos, and chaos always offered countless opportunities to the bold and the daring. XoXaan simply had no intention of letting such an opportunity slip away, and so she decided to take the risk. Perhaps the Dark Side had nudged her toward it. Perhaps it was her own curiosity, boredom, and thirst for knowledge and action…

Either way, she and the sorcerer swore their oaths, and the Lady once again felt a drop of attention from something incredible—this time directed at her personally. Something that effortlessly penetrated to the very essence of her being and left within her a fragment of "divine power," as Siith called it. It was incredible. It stirred her soul and sent thousands of thoughts and ideas racing through XoXaan's mind. The sorcerer no longer looked like some eccentric indifferent to the world around him; in her eyes, he had become a follower of mighty powers previously unknown to her. The Sith respected power, and passing up the chance to claim a piece of it for herself… was impossible!!!

What did he give his patroness in return? XoXaan remembered hundreds of cults, some of which had worshiped her personally. Sacrifices? Offerings and gifts? She could give more than this sorcerer, who desired nothing but knowledge! All she had to do was gain the power she deserved and show just how interested she was in… cooperation with this Hecate. And then… the oaths would cease to matter. She would simply rise to first place in Siith's patroness's eyes and begin reaping the greatest possible benefit for herself!

The "initiation as a mage" only convinced her further that she had made the right choice. That renewed sensation of a presence—carrying with it a sense of fondness, benevolent curiosity, and favor—made her feel the phantom beat of a nonexistent heart. Against the backdrop of the possibilities now opening before her, the fact that she had been cut off from the Abyss of Darkness was met with an almost philosophical calm. She had never truly feared falling in the first place—millennia of experience and a finely honed mastery over Darkness all but guaranteed that she would retain her sanity. Even so, being able to draw on her emotions without constantly worrying about losing her mind was a pleasant and useful bonus.

In any case, for the time being she considered herself to have come out ahead in the bargain. Of course, she would have to conceal her existence from the Jedi stationed on Jabiim…

Oh, Force, how their stupidity amazed her. Such a resource, and they had left it lying in some backwater. In their place, she would have moved both the Academy and the Guild to the capital world long ago, closer to herself. She would have wrung every possible advantage out of them. And there would not even be any need to bring the sorcerers to heel. It would be enough to create the right conditions, and these unusual gifted would gladly give it their all… Ah, what was there even to say? The forces of Light had once again demonstrated their narrow-mindedness by sending only two young Knights to study healing—the discipline the sorcerer called chimerology.

No, it was an interesting discipline, vaguely resembling a blend of Sith sorcery and alchemy, but with several impressive advantages of its own. Take the ability to grow bodies that were "not homunculi," or the phenomenally rapid healing—practically resurrection. Out of sheer curiosity, XoXaan had even snapped the witches' necks, each time watching in fascination as nerves, muscles, blood vessels, and bones knitted back together. Fascinating and intriguing. And if chimerology were combined with alchemy, sorcery, and her own creation—Dark Healing…

XoXaan even narrowed her eyes in delight for a moment, considering what might be done with such a combination of possibilities.

For something like that, she was willing to be patient. Even to be nice and restrained, and perhaps stop trying to roast that insolent sorcerer with Force lightning. At least when someone else was watching them.

---

"What next, Boss?" Arvik grumbled. "The witches are one thing," the Mandalorian added, casting a peaceable glance at Talli, who smiled calmly back at him, "but a Sith ghost is beyond good and evil."

"You're being overly dramatic," I said, sending a message to Alto. "Just another gifted. No more, no less."

"Mothers tell their children scary stories where…"

"The Sith come at night and eat babies? Pfft… You don't say?!" I chuckled, pulling my mug of caf closer. "If you ever end up in my homeland, you'll be surprised to learn how many scary stories there are about one red-eyed sorcerer in black. They even accused me of having sex with demons atop the corpses of innocent infants and righteous people tortured to death."

"I think this… XoXaan just caught the Boss's fancy." Mlada crossed one leg over the other with a provocative smile. "They curse each other out like they've been married for ten years."

"Uh…" That provocateur really knew how to throw me off balance. "No, of course I argued with my wife. We had our moments. But those were more the exception than the rule, and a family life consisting of one never-ending scandal is not something I want. It gets in the way of work, and the atmosphere in general is… mm… What are you all looking at?"

"You were married?" Karr asked in astonishment.

"Ah, yes." I shrugged. "I am human, after all, with all the usual wants and needs. So yes, I was."

"Me, I bit-bit didn't expect that, though." Koit scratched his ear in puzzlement. "I thought Boss-sa wasn't interested in women."

"What kind of hint is th— ahhh…" I clapped my hands. "Got it. No, that's not it. It's just that some of my body's functions are currently suppressed. I'm not interested in any kind of relationship, so certain instincts were simply getting in the way. I… switched them off, yes."

"Damn." Mlada glanced sideways at Romri.

"That's… I couldn't do that." Karr gave a shudder.

I merely shrugged indifferently, already preparing to leave. Chimerologists were far less precious about their bodies than ordinary sentients. Besides, shutting down hormonal surges doesn't stop you from falling in love—if anything, quite the opposite. You don't end up in situations where a cocktail of chemicals muddles your judgment.

"Uh, Boss," Romri stopped me. "When you and your wife argued, what did she call you?"

"Koldun ebuchiy*," I answered after a short pause, surprised by the question. "I don't know the exact translation, but Ir'rina said it meant something manly and brutal. I even liked it."

I smiled at the warm memories and, taking my mug of caf with me, left the common room. While I had the time, I needed to work on the portal project. The theoretical part seemed ready for practical testing. I would have to ask Alto which asteroid could host a laboratory. I really didn't want to conduct dangerous experiments on Jabiim…

** The common room, after Siith left **

"Did you all see that too?" Mlada looked utterly stunned, as did nearly everyone else in the room.

"Yeah." Arvik stared blankly at the bulkhead. "He was smiling."

"No-no." The Gungan shook his head. "He was smiling nicely, though! Even bit-bit not scary!"

"Yeah. Warm and kind," Karr backed Koit up.

"Holy shit! I need to pull the surveillance footage, now!" Romri sprang to her feet.

"What for?" the Mandalorian warrior asked in surprise.

"Do you have any idea HOW many credits we could sell that footage for?!" came Romri's voice from the corridor.

---

Author's Note:

Koldun ebuchiy* (колдун ебучий; pronounced roughly kal-DOON yeh-BOO-cheey) — literally, "fucking sorcerer." https://youtu.be/FQZGzEOBd_w?is=YhTMAjql4xlQNae9

---

Original Russian story

You can find more chapters on my Patreon.

The translation of new chapters will also be published here—but with a bit of a delay.

 

[Vyraco]

So, is Ascension possible? 'Cause if it is, XoXaan is totally going to munchkin herself into godhood, and then whine about all the restrictions on a minor goddess...

 

[FTR2017]

Lmao, Xo-Xaan made a friend for life!