Part 38 (1/2)
”You're mocking me. ”
”Because you deserved to be mocked, boy. You are naive and sheltered, thanks to the nonsense your Masters have fed you. The true face of the universe frightens you, and you fall back on that nonsense to explain your fear. Only a child closes its eyes when frightened. Look around you and grow up. ”
s.h.i.+gar felt his hackles rising, even though he knew Darth Chratis was trying to get exactly this reaction from him. ”You can't deny that the Sith stole Cinzia Xandret from her mother. That's what led us here. ”
”Lema Xandret was brilliant and mad. She is the one to blame, s.h.i.+gar. Or Stryver, for not letting the matter rest. Or you. ”
”Me? What did I do?”
”It was you who brought the matter to your Master's attention. ”
”Stand back. ” s.h.i.+gar activated his lightsaber. Darth Chratis was getting entirely too close. The red of his blade matched the lava and the sky above. It looked to s.h.i.+gar like the whole world was turning to blood.
Darth Chratis stopped five paces away, a contemptuously amused expression on his withered face.
”Blame the Emperor for all your troubles, if you must, ” he said. ”Blame the Empire as a whole. Given the chance, would you explain to all of them how they have been so very wrong? Would you address the Sith, and the ministers, and the troopers, and the spies? I fear they wouldn't listen to you, not even the people you might imagine to be on your side: the oppressed, the disenfranchised, the dissidents. There are fewer of them than you imagine, you know. And to the rest you are the enemy-you and your Jedi and your Senate. They curse your name just as you curse ours, for the loved ones they've lost at your hands, for the goods stolen by your privateers, for the many hards.h.i.+ps they've endured. You'll never win them over with your words, with your nonsense, so you'll be forced to kill them all. How does that sound to you, Padawan? Do you fancy yourself the greatest ma.s.s murderer in the history of the galaxy? If not, perhaps you should, for that is the path you are heading down. You and the Emperor-no different at all. ”
”You lie. ” s.h.i.+gar backed away, even though Darth Chratis had made no physical move. The weight of his words was threat enough.
”That empty litany will not protect you now, boy. Not from yourself. ”
”We fight you because you are evil. Because you are slaves to the dark side. ”
”All those billions and billions? Would that the Sith were so plentiful. ”
”You have seduced them, twisted their thoughts. They obey you because they fear you. ”
”Is the Republic so different?”
”We have laws, safeguards against abuses of power...”
”We have laws, too, albeit different ones, and the Emperor is the ultimate safeguard. There can be no miscarriage of justice under his rule, for his word is law. Where is your precious justice on Coruscant? How has the Republic benefited from your leaders' inept fumbling?”
Something blossomed in s.h.i.+gar's mind like a flower: a flower of certainty, growing strong and sure in the darkness of the hour. He felt as though years of history had condensed to this moment: the reappearance of the Empire and the Mandalorians; the sacking of Coruscant and the fragile treaty that restored it to a greatly diminished Republic; the Annexation of Kiffu and the subjugation of his people.
It boiled down to him and Darth Chratis ”You are the source of every bad thing that's happened to the galaxy, ” he said. ”That's why we have to fight you. War is inevitable, just like people say it is. There can be no lasting peace with the likes of you. ”
”You are more like us than you care to admit, ” Darth Chratis snarled. ”I am offering to save your life, boy. Join me as my apprentice, and I will open your eyes for good. There can be no peace because peace is the lie. Strength comes only from conflict, and for there to be conflict there must be an enemy. That is the truth that lies behind your Masters' teachings. Acknowledge it, embrace it, and you will understand why you can never serve them. ”
s.h.i.+gar steadied his lightsaber in a tight, two-handed grip.
Darth Chratis's deep-set eyes glittered. The tip of his lightsaber didn't move a millimeter.
s.h.i.+gar watched it closely, waiting for the first blow to fall.
The Sith Lord laughed, a dreadful cackling sound all at odds with their circ.u.mstances.
”Do you think I intend to kill you now, boy? You forget: we have a truce. Unless you plan to attack me, and I am forced to defend myself...”
”I ought to attack you. Any kind of alliance with the Sith is flawed at its heart. Master Shan should never have agreed to it. ”
”It was her suggestion, remember-and see how it has trapped you? Obey me and the truce holds. Attack me and the truce is broken. ” Darth Chratis chuckled. ”Which is it to be?”
s.h.i.+gar wavered on the verge of acting. He could feel the need for it simmering in every muscle, every nerve. The Force was ready. It filled his veins like lava, burning hot.
He thought of Larin saying, You're thinking too much.
His lightsaber moved as though of its own accord, sweeping forward into Darth Chratis's reach with an almost delighted hum. Their blades clashed together once, twice, three times, and the Sith edged back a step.
”Yes, excellent...”
s.h.i.+gar didn't let him talk, pressing him with another combination of moves, staying light on his feet for the inevitable responses, feeling with every instinct, every breath, what must be done. They danced together along the lip of the crater, in full view of the surviving members of the attack force. No signals went up; no word to disband the alliance; comms were down, so the joint a.s.sault of Sebaddon went on.
Darth Chratis rallied with a series of bold, vicious strikes that cost s.h.i.+gar the ground he had made, and more. He struck back only with his blade, knowing that he would lose if the duel descended into a free-for-all of telekinesis and other Force powers. That was inevitable. His only hope lay in Darth Chratis making an early mistake, giving s.h.i.+gar an edge. Even then, it was going to be hard. Sith didn't die easily.
Neither do Jedi, he told himself, even as sweat trickled into his eyes and he tossed his helmet away, the better to fight unhindered.
”You are growing weary, ” said the Sith Lord. ”Your resolve is weakening. I can feel it. You know that you will never beat me this way. Your only hope is to reach into your heart for the anger that we both know is there. ”
”Anger will never rule me. ”
”Think of the Grand Master. Think of your homeworld and all who died there. Tell yourself that I killed them, and seek the strength that knowledge brings. ”
”You had nothing to do with Kiffu. ”
”Didn't I?”
s.h.i.+gar fought on, matching Darth Chratis blow for blow. The red blade took three centimeters off his braid. He scored a line across the Sith's right shoulder.
”You cannot fight without the dark side. ”
s.h.i.+gar silenced his thoughts and feelings. He was only the blade. He was only the Force.
”You cannot win without the dark side. ”
Darth Chratis sent a wave of lightning across the gap between them. s.h.i.+gar tried to catch it with his lightsaber. The shock coursed up the blade, into the hilt, and from there into his right arm. It burned like acid, much more powerful and insidious than the blast Eldon Ax had hit him with on Hutta. It didn't just hurt. It ate at his resolve, telling him to fight fire with fire, to use the Sith Lord's own weapons against him in defiance of his own Master's advice. If he didn't, he would surely die.
s.h.i.+gar fell to his knees, the beginnings of a scream whistling through his clenched teeth.
Why didn't she warn you? The whisper of doubt in his mind had a voice now. Your Muster is famous for seeing the future, so why didn't she tell you this lay ahead of you?
Because there was nothing she could do about it. That's why. Her teachings are weaker than those of the Sith, and she knows it. She knows that the Jedi will lose the war that's inevitably coming. She knows the Emperor will win. By keeping this secret from you, she has killed you.
She lied to you, just as the High Council has lied to you. They don't care about justice. They are corrupt and weak.
All you have to do is turn your back on them, and you will live.