Telos

Planets have histories. That is one fact that no one in the galaxy would deny. Every planet, even those that are uninhabited, had natural occurances, both disasters and restorations, that happened upon their surfaces.

Few planets in the history of the galaxy have a history as complex, tragic, and uplifting as that of the planet Telos. During the Great Sith War, the planet, once teeming with life and covered with urban development, had been bombarded so completely that little was left on its surface. For the next few years, the Old Republic strived to restore the planet; however, the infighting between the two groups hired to do the job made it an impossible task.

With the coming of the Jedi Exile, the planet seemed doomed. The destruction of the planet's only fuel source - the mines on Peragus - caused despair among those on the orbital city. Without fuel, the city would eventually crash into the planet's surface, doing nearly as much damage as the orbital bombardment had. However, the Exile managed to secure fuel for Telos at a reasonable price from Vogga the Hutt.

But Telos's troubles were not yet over. The Sith Lord Darth Nihilus, in his quest to feed his own ravishing hunger, assaulted the planet soon afterwards. The Exile once again returned to aid the planet, killing Nihilus and destroying his flagship.

After this time, the planet prospered, once again teeming with life and becoming a major tourist attraction for several millenia. But in the era leading up to the Galactic Civil War, trouble once again came to the planet. Famine struck in 94 BBY, and a civil war broke out in 49 BBY. The Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn was instrumental in saving the planet in the latter troubles.

Another struggle occurred just a few years later, though, as the Dark Jedi Xanatos, son of the man Qui-Gon had killed to end the previous war, returned to Telos and attempted to turn the planet upside-down in his quest for personal power. His reign was short-lived, though, as Qui-Gon returned with his Padawan, Obi-wan Kenobi, to end both Xanatos's reign and his life.

It would seem that Telos had seen enough trouble, and that in all fairness the planet should prosper from that time on. But it was not to be. Other industries moved in and raped the planet, stripping it clean of resources and polluting it. During the Galatic Civil War, Telos became one of the targets for the Kwymar Suppressions. A wounded stormtrooper sergeant then in his insanity slew every living being in Anglebay Station, one of the last remaining stations on the planet. It is a planet of few inhabitants now, as its once lush forests are plowed under, and its cities are a wasteland. It is a hangout for criminals and the dregs of society. And it is a training ground for the Sith.



Wasteland surrounded her. Her shuttle lay behind her, not quite in ruins, but definitely in need of some work. That was the problem with landing on a devestated planet. Those dust clouds that continually rose up were not good for a ship when a small hill lay right behind them. Especially when the ship's instruments were malfunctioning.

So this was Telos. A forsaken wilderness. Mira snorted. She had studied the place for a few days before coming here, going through the archives on Xa Fel, but they had prepared her for a pristine planet. Apparently that archive hadn't been updated in a while. When she had arrived, she had almost thought she was on the wrong planet. That would have been a trip. To be sent on a training mission only to make a navigational error and land somewhere else.

The planet reminded her of Korriban. She'd only been to the ancient Sith planet once, but she remembered well the harshness of its surface. It was so different from her native Dathomir. The one was full of life; this seemed full of death. But no matter - she was a Sith now, and the path to power was through the death of others. That was the way it was.

With that in mind, she started her trek towards the city, or what used to be a city. Now it was mostly a ruin. A hangout for criminals, if the archives were in any way correct.



Two hours later

The main city of Telos didn't really have a border. The buildings sort of faded into the ground; there was no point at which you could say that the rubble stopped and the countryside began. But the smell indicated that you were getting close. Like something rotting in a sewer.

Something other than the smell occupied Mira's thoughts, though. It was that pervading sense that someone was following her. A lot of someones, actually. They stayed out of sight, but she could feel them nonetheless. Therefore, she was not surprised when a man - a large man - stepped out in front of her. She stopped, staring him defiently in the eye.

He chuckled, and the low timbre of his voice rumbled through the ruins. "So, we have a stray pussy come in from the wastes, eh? Wonder what pussy's gonna pay us to pass?"

Four other men emerged from the shadows. Criminals, Mira thought. Too stupid to realize that not every woman is a defenseless animal. They've showed themselves much too early. She continued to stare at him, not speaking. She already knew where this was going, and she wanted to be ready for it.

"Seems that the cat's got pretty pussy's tongue, boys," the man said. "Well, we can exact a fee in other ways." He began to move closer, reaching for her chest. "Let's see what she's got under here."

Then Mira moved, faster than most humans could. She grabbed his arm, twisting it into an arm bar that had him on the ground before he could blink or even scream. She spoke softly. "I don't think so. I think that you're going to let me go without any trouble, eh?"

But the man wasn't beaten. Her arm lock wasn't perfect, and with a simple twist he had broken the lock and rolled away. The vibrosword that had been hanging on his back came out, and he said, "I guess we'll have to do this the hard way."

Mira smiled and reached in her boot. She pulled out a long, cylindrical hilt and held it at her side. "You have no idea what you're getting into," she replied.

As the man moved forward, the emerald-green blade sprang into existance and sliced through both sword and neck, severing the man's head. Before the others could move, two more had been struck down by the thrown weapon. As it landed back in her hand, the final two members drew their blasters. "Oh, please," she said as they fired.

Vaulting over the shots, Mira landed behind one of them, slicing him from crotch to head. He fell to the ground in two pieces as she reflected a blaster bolt back at the last gang member. He too fell, shot through the head by his own weapon.

Mira looked at the dead men and snorted. "Idiots," she commented, then began making her way into the depths of the city.

As Ben's freighter descended into the planet's atmosphere he wondered how many people were still alive on the surface. The planet looks to be a complete ruin from space. He still wasn't sure, however, that this was the exact planet of his dreams. It had taken him a long while to go through all the planets in the database on his pad, until he found the right one that matched his vision.

Looking out at the clouds rushing by, Ben recalled the practicing he had done in the days of flying here. He had taken up residence in the cargo hold again and practiced fighting imaginary enemies. At first it was a little hard to weld the weapon and Ben was very glad that it was not a real lightsaber. If it had been, he would have probably already killed himself after striking the ship's bulkheads a few times.

Ben learned that reading about using a lightsaber and actually using one was very different. Lightsaber fighting was an art, an art that took years to hone. He could not help to master it so quickly. In his mind, his only hope was to practice more or if possible, find a jedi knight to help him train. He petted his blaster at his side and knew he could use it as a last resort. Ben had never killed a person before and wondered if, when the time came, he could actually do so to save himself or others.

The clouds around him and his ship finally dissipated and Ben's mind snapped back into reality. He had to now first concentrate on landing. Ben guessed that he could set down anywhere, since no controller had contacted him. He had proceeded to the spaceport marked on his computer, but that facility looked to have been destroyed some time ago. As it was, Ben was moving to set down just outside the city. He planned to lock up the ship and explore the city on his own time, or what was left of it.

Once the spot was located, Ben set the ship down and made sure it was secure. He moved to the rear and picked up the bag he had prepared. IT held a few days supply of water and food just in case something happened. Ben checked his blaster and saber before taking one last look around the vessel and moving to set down out the ship's ramp onto the dusty, debris covered ground.

As he moved away towards the ruined city, Ben heard the freighter's ramp close and seal up.

The smell got worse. The city seemed to have no actual sewer, or else the entire place was the sewer. Refuse sat in the streets, and animals and children came out to play in it. It was both disgusting and pitiable at the same time.

Interesting, Mira thought. How is it that I can still feel pity? Aren't the Sith supposed to be governed by hate? Ithron is. Why not me?

In truth, Mira still had not allowed herself to be consumed or even controlled by the Dark Side. Her Jedi training had not completely departed her, much as she would have liked it to. She hated the fact that she wanted to help those children despite knowing that whatever illness they contracted would either kill them or make them stronger. It was the way of life.

Which was why the Jedi were so screwed up. They saw life as something to be treasured. They saw illness and pain as something to be avoided. The Sith saw it as a training method, a way to increase one's skills and abilities. It was the path to knowledge, which would lead to power and victory. And it was reality. The Jedi couldn't sit away in their ivory towers on Naboo and hope that the galaxy would right itself while avoiding the pain and suffering currently existing. If they weren't going to do something about it, what good were they?

That was a question Mira had asked herself for years now. Ever since the disappearance of her Master, Corran Horn, she had wondered. They did little to alter the path of the galaxy, opting rather to allow it to stumble blindly through its wars and to allow its citizens to be ravaged, beaten, murdered, and robbed. And still they did nothing. The Sith at least had focus, they had numbers, they had will, they had power. And when it came down to her base desires, Mira wanted power.

Not the power of some Sith, though. She didn't want menial power that could lift rocks and affect one mind, though she didn't refuse it. She wanted the power to affect great change, the power to set the galaxy straight again, to achieve peace, to end the fighting and unite all citizens and factions in one common goal and under one ruler. If that ruler were her, so be it.

But such thoughts and desires were weighty for an apprentice. Mira was still but a learner, and not the most promising at that. The recent duel with Ithron had proven her relative weakness. Much hard work would be required to achieve her goals, but she hoped this mission would be the start.

She was still not sure why Master Jas had sent her on this mission. She could feel the life around her, both the criminals and their prey, the hunters and the hunted. Perhaps there was something her that he wanted, or perhaps somthing that he wanted her to learn. Either way, standing at this crossroads was not the way to do it.

"Excuse me, Lady," came a voice from below her, interrupting her thoughts. It was a girl, no more than five years of age, covered in sewage. "Lady, my toy fell down the sewer. Can you help me?"

So. Apparently Telos did have sewers. Mira looked at the girl and softened for a moment. She pitied this poor wretch, this girl who probably should have been dead already. Most likely several of the gangs had already taken advantage of her. Then she realized that pity had once again invaded her mind. She nearly screamed with the anguish as she fought the light that existed in her. The girl took a step backwards, but it was too late. Green-white light flashed, and the child fell, cut in two by Mira's blade.

Mira ran, her mind astir with her problems. The two natures within her bickered and fought for control. On the one hand, she felt pity for the girl she had just killed and for her parents, who would soon be grieving their loss. She felt pain at the thought that she had just ended an innocent life, the life of a child whose only crime had been to approach her and ask for help. On the other hand, she had caused pain, and through that pain could draw power. Was this the connundrum of the Sith? Power only through the pain of others?

She fled through the streets, these questions and others whirling through her mind and giving her a headache. She needed to find somewhere to sort these problems out, and she needed to do so quickly. Still she ran, her legs tiring but her mind going as strong as ever.

She spotted a tunnel leading down and turned in. She quickly scanned ahead with the Force, searching for life. None seemed to appear, so her pace slowed a tad. She still had no answer to anything she asked, so after a brief walk, she sat down in a small crevasse in the tunnel wall, closed her eyes, and relaxed, trying to either resolve her questions or cast them from her mind.

Several hundred meters ahead of her, a small droid extended a scanner. A low beep emmitted as he picked up Mira's vitals. Another arm extended, this one holding a transmitter, and a high frequency signal was sent out. A third arm, gripping a modified droid disruptor, emerged as the droid began floating slowly towards the girl hidden in the rock.

For any decent human being the sight of this now devastated city would be cause for sadness. The sight of mass graves and half buried decomposing bodies, however, was heartbreaking for Ben. He had witnessed destroyed and rubble before, but never to this effect. Something so tragic had happened on this planet and the galaxy seemed to have just abandoned it. The how or why this could happen was not important anymore, but Ben wondered if anyone could survive on this planet.

As he wondered deeper into the city, stepping over massive pieces of buildings, and thought about the people that had lived here before the whole world crashed down around them. Beings with families and ambitions had vanished and were no more.

From past experiences he knew some must have survived. Someone almost always survives, it was just a matter of luck and being in the right place at the right time. Those graves couldn't have built themselves, so it stood to reason that people may still be alive in this dreaded place, or at least had been alive long enough to morn their dead.

Ben moved on, determined to look over the city in the hope of finding at least someone still living. He put his hand over his mouth while letting out a quick cough. It was getting harder to breath with almost each step he took towards the city's center. The smell of the rotting dead, mixed in with waste from ruptured sewer lines, made it hard to continue, but Ben willed himself on.

Within the emptiness, silence, and despair of ruined city, laugher was a very strange sound to hear indeed. At first Ben could not force himself to believe his ears. How could there ever be laugher in a place like this? As he advanced up the large hill of debris, however, that was the exact sound he heard, getting louder and louder with each step.

He forced himself to quicken his pace and move up the unstable mountain. When he finally stood at the top and looked down, Ben could not believe the sight. The surrounding area was still filled with the rubble of collapsed buildings and small ponds of dirty waste sewage, however, there, off to one side, were two children. These kids, a boy and girl, neither older than ten, ran around laughing and playing some sort of game. Among all the devastation and death, they seemed oblivious, lost in their own world.

There had to be others, Ben decided. Kids, as young as these, could not simply survive on their own in a place such as this. They had to have parents and if those were alive, others must be as well. It was at this point Ben realized something he should have a while ago. He was a jedi and jedi could sense other beings. His power could be used to locate others within the city.

He had been practicing with the skill for a few days now, but had still not perfected it. That was in space, however, so it might be completely different on this living planet. Ben took in a deep breath and closed his eyes slowly. He opened himself to the force and felt the familiar tingles run over his body as the power swept through him like cool water in a stream. It relaxed him and strengthened him almost instantly. The feeling was something he enjoyed very much and knew it was tempting to always use it.

Ben cleared these thoughts from his mind and started to concentrate. He could see or more like feel the earth around him. The planet was hurt or dieing in some places. In these places, the force was very weak, but he let these areas move from his mind. Ben needed to concentrate on strong force signatures.

He pushed the "bubble" around him out further and further, feeling it get more and more difficult as the distance increased. Drawing more and more on the force around him, Ben could finally feel the two children. They were strong presences and radiating light. He did not know how, but he could tell they were innocent and could almost sense their happiness and joy with just playing together.

He shut his eyes tighter and pushed the field out further. There were others out there, adults and children. As he located one person after another, the doubt within him almost vanished and he let himself go. The force stretched out for him searching for anyone alive. It was becoming easier now as he let the force do the work for him, as his Master had taught.

His mind was interrupted when a sharp sense of pain and then anger jabbed inside it. Ben stumbled forward, too surprised to hold his footing. The large slab of rubble he was standing on pitched forward and off its center of gravity, sending Ben tumbling down the large hill as pieces of debris followed him. The whole mountain seemed to collapse around him as he rolled down towards the bottom.

Ben landed in a hep at the bottom and just before a large chunk of debris struck his head, he remembered where he had felt the presence of hate and anger like ones he felt a few seconds before. He thought about the Sith temple on Almas and about the possibility of a Sith being on this planet. It was at that point that Ben, for the second time in so many weeks, fell unconscious.

As all planets have histories, so they all have their dangers. As far as the planet Telos was concerned, most of its danger resulted from the criminal element on the surface and from the harsh conditions of life outside (and sometimes inside) the main city. Other dangers existed, though, dangers that were in some ways more frightening than the criminals.

Four thousand years earlier, in the time immediately after the end of the Jedi Civil War, a number of droids were created as Jedi hunters. They were given skills that would allow them to stalk Jedi and weapons to bring them down. The first of this HK series eventually came under the control of Revan; however, a newer line of droid, the HK-51 series, followed. Many of these HK droids were destroyed by the Jedi Exile, but not all.

During the time of the Exile, several of these droids made their way to Telos hunting the Exile. Several were killed, but others retreated below the city's surface, deciding to bide their time and wait for the Jedi's return. The Exile never came back long enough for them to accomplish their mission, so for four thousand years they waited in the sewers of Telos. Now, it seemed, their time was at hand.

These droids were built to last. They had coopted maintanance droids to perform routine check-ups on them and re-oil them throughout their stay in the sewers, allowing them to remain in near pristine condition. Criminals who ventured into the sewers found themselves killed or captured by these droids, who took their weapons and continually modernized their killing techniques. Sensors and other equipment had been taken from other droids and integrated into their systems, keeping them modern.

Now, four of these HK-51 droids sneaked up the corridor towards the surface. One of their sensor droids had indicated that a female human had descended into the depths, and the basic profile matched that of the Exile. Perhaps they would now be able to fulfill their mission.

Mira sat in her niche, considering the questions in her brain. There were no clear answers, just a struggle. Her Jedi training told her that her actions were wrong, yet she knew that to help the child would have been to allow the child some sort of power over her, which she could not allow. Perhaps she could have simply walked away, ignored the child, but then she would not have gained power over the child or her parents through the child's death. Yet, in a way, hadn't the child gained power over Mira by causing this conflict?

So absorbed in her reasonings was Mira that she nearly missed the danger sense that sent a tingle down her spine. Only her quick reactions saved her life. She leaped out of the crevasse towards the opposite wall just as blaster fire filled the area with light. Her saber flew to her hand and ignited as she hit the other side of the tunnel. Pushing with her feet, she flipped back towards the entrance, dodging the red bolts of energy that had tracked her leap.

As she flew, she took stock of the situation. Four droids (hostile protocol droids?) surrounded her little niche, pouring a constant stream of blaster fire in her direction. Their blasts were accurate, striking where she had been only miliseconds after she moved. No time to think; only time to act.

Time seemed to slow. Mira rotated in the air and swung her blade, slicing through the head and torso of one droid, rendering it into useless metal. A bolt glanced off her saber and struck the chest armor of another droid, knocking it to the ground. She landed, feet planted, then rolled forward, slicing through the legs of another droid. A backswing silenced it.

The blaster bolts were still tracking her, so she could not remain still for long. She ran for the tunnel walls, getting halfway up and pushing off, flipping towards the two remaining droids. Red energy filled the space around her, but simple pushes with the Force allowed her to evade the bolts. One clipped her cloak, but nothing more serious than a burn through the cloth.

She landed behind the droids, who whirled to face her. Reaching out her hand, she Force pushed one into a wall, then whirled and sliced through the other's blaster rifle. The droid kept coming, attempting to grab her and squeeze her to death, so she swung again and sliced off it's head.

The last droid was on its feet by now. It raised its rifle to fire, but Mira was moving once again. She rolled around it's legs and stabbed backwards with her blade, sinking it to the hilt in the droid's torso, effectively destroying its servomotor. She pulled her saber out and whirled, slicing off the droid's head as it fell.

Mira stood there for a moment, surveying the scene. Not too bad for less than a minute's work. Still, the sewers were apparently not safe. So she headed back for the surface. The droids had done at least one good deed; they had managed to clear the questions from her mind. They would probably come back later, but for now, she could continue exploring the city.

A nudge was what it took to wake Ben up from his own world of darkness. Everything instantly snapped back into place and the fall came back to him as a dull throbbing in his head. He let out a groan and stirred slowly, opening his eyes, but only seeing a blurry mess. One blink brought two shadows into view, letting Ben know he wasn't alone.

He pushed himself up slowly and sat in the debris around him. Slowly and a little painfully his vision began to clear and he could see that the two figure around him were the children he saw earlier. Ben ran his hand through his hair and smiled slowly.

"Thank you for your help. I guess I got a little clumsy."

The two kids giggled and smiled at him. "Yeah, didn't your mommy tell you to always be carefully?"

Ben laughed and felt his head throb even more, causing him he groan again. "I guess I should have listened huh?"

"Your not from here are you?" Said the little girl.

"No, no I'm not. I flew in on a ship, I'm looking for someone." Ben stood slowly and adjusted his bag and coat.

"Who are you looking for?" Asked the boy this time.

"A woman, possibly dressed like myself, in robes. I think she is also not from this planet."

"Does she have one of those too?" The girl smiled and motioned towards the saber hilt at Ben's side.

Ben looked down and nodded slowly with a smile. "Yes, she should be. Have you seen someone like that?"

The kids looked at each other and then back at Ben nodding quickly. "Mmhmm I think we did! She went that way those. She seemed mean, didn't even say hello to us."

Ben ruffled the girl's hair gently and smiled. "Well I'll be sure to tell her that when I see her. Thank you so much for your help."

Ben stopped and pulled his bag out. He unzipped the top reached inside to take out some food rations and chocolate bar. There was no use saving it for himself when these kids were around.

"This is for you both for your help." He handed the food to the kids and smiled. "I hope to see you both later on. For now, however, I have to run and find that woman."

He said his good byes and turned in the direction the kids had pointed. Ben took off in a jog, being careful not to fall again. This area did not have a single living soul that he could see, but in some places he could see footsteps, a line of them. As he jogged deeper into the city, Ben realized that if he opened himself to the force it could guide his actions.

This became apparent after his mind pushed him around certain corners. There he found the foot steps. Around another were a group of dead bodies, something Ben was not expecting. It was clear they were killed with a lightsaber and so from that point on, Ben knew a force user was on planet.

He run for another few blocked and suddenly skidded to a stop as a head popped out from a large sewer opening. A head of a woman, the woman he had seen in his dream.

Mira felt the presence only moments before her head popped out of the sewers. A Jedi? she thought. Here? Why? And why do I not recognize his Force signature? Is he new? An apprentice then. Perhaps I'll get some news. Have to be careful, though. Don't want him to know what I am. Can't let the Jedi know yet.

So, deciding that the benefits outweighed the risks, she climbed out of the sewers. Luckily, the area in which she had been was dry, so she was neither dirty nor smelly. And, speaking as a female, she was glad. The man she saw in front of her didn't look too bad.

By the way he looked at her, her appearance must have had an effect on him as well. He's a teenage boy. Hm. There's an angle I can work. Mira ran her hands over her skin-tight rancor-hide black jumpsuit, smoothing it and pretending to wipe off some dust. She glanced up at the boy seductively.

"Oh. I didn't see you there," she said, taking a step towards him and extending her hand. "So nice to see a friendly face her on Telos. Not many of them around."

Without waiting for a response, she said, "Don't go down into the sewers. It's not very safe down there. Of course, it's not safe up here, either, at least not for a woman."

She smiled. "I'm Mira Tyrel. You're a Jedi, aren't you?"

As the other emerged from the sewer, Ben could see she was more beautiful than she had been in his dream. He couldn't help by be a little distracted by her as she smoothed out her skin tight uniform. That uniform did not help things either. You could hardly blame Ben, however, as he was a teenage boy.

Ben tried to push these thoughts of her out of his mind. He still was not sure whether she was a sith or Jedi, until he was, he would have to stay cautious around her. As she approached him, the decision was made to find as much as he could about her.

He ran his hand over the back of his head and smiled slowly. "It's not that safe for men, as well I believe."

Ben eyed the lightsaber at her side, knowing that until his training saber, this one was very much real. He did not plan to die on this planet.

"I am Ben...Ben Firestar. It's nice to meet you. I am a Jedi, you are correct." He looked over at her again, trying to read her face. "Are you a jedi as well?"

The question. He'd come right out and said it. And Mira still had not come up with a good answer. What was she? Jedi still? Or was she now fully a Sith? Or something in between?

But an answer was required. So she thought quickly. "Ben, eh? Well, Ben, nice to meet you.

"Am I a Jedi? That's a difficult question. What is a Jedi exactly?

"If you're asking whether I follow the limiting Jedi code, whether I shut myself off from my emotions and refuse to use them for fear of falling to this thing called the Dark Side, then no, I'm not. At least now. I used to be a Jedi; in fact, I used to be apprenticed to Master Corran Horn. I'm sure you've heard of him. Pretty famous Jedi Master.

"But I've been out of the Order for almost two years now. No, don't jump to conclusions," she continued, seeing his hand move towards his training saber. "I wasn't removed from the Order; I left it voluntarily."

Ben looked somewhat shocked. "Why would you want to leave the Order?" he asked.

Mira smiled. "The Jedi had withdrawn from the galaxy. They had become an inactive order, more concerned with their meditations and personal growth than actually affecting galactic events. When Master Skywalker found me years ago, the Jedi had an active role in galactic politics, and they actually attempted to keep peace and order. They tried to acheive freedom for all. But look around! The Sith have risen to new heights, heights not seen since the Jedi Civil War. The Empire is in control of most of the galaxy, and even their opposition, the Coalition, is corrupt. And what do the Jedi do? They withdraw!"

Mira was growing angry at this point, more passionate as she talked, but she was still far from giving herself away. "I could not sit by as the galaxy degenerated into anarchy and war. I had to do something. So I left behind the limitations of the Jedi and followed where my heart told me to go."

Ben's hand grasped the training saber at his side. "Are you a Sith, then?" he asked her.

Mira stared at him. "Do I look like a Sith?" she asked. "Tell me, truly, do I feel like a Sith?"

Without waiting for an answer, she continued, "There are many paths that can be taken other than the path of the Jedi, Ben. One of these is the path of the Sith. But even within that path are many routes, and not all of them are evil. Trust me, I've spent the last year and a half researching everything I could find on all types of Force users in the galaxy.

"The problem with the Jedi is that they don't understand the nature of the Dark Side. The Dark Side is not something outside you, but it is something that resides in every person. The Jedi are taught to suppress that natural ability, that natural power because if used for the wrong reasons, it can corrupt the individual and eventually will destroy them. The Sith, at least as they are today, teach you how to correctly control that power and how to use if in the right way. How to use it for the good of the galaxy."

Ben looked confused. Not surprising for someone who had been brainwashed by the Jedi. "But I've been taught that the Dark Side always causes pain and brings evil. How is it that it can be used for good? Would not even the good then become bad because of the evil means used to achieve it?"

Mira chuckled. "Ben, you're a sharp one. You have just raised a philisophical question that sentients have attempted to answer for millenia. Does the end justify the means, the means the end, or neither? While I do not claim to be a philosopher, my answer would be that instead of the end justifying the means, the intentions justify the means. If your intentions are good, then what you do is not evil."

Ben narrowed his eybrows. "Are you a Sith then?"

Mira smiled seductively. "Am I a Sith? You decide. Come with me, walk with me on this planet, and see if I am that which you define as a Sith."

As they walked through the ruined city, Ben talked with Mira and listened to her words carefully. Most of the time they seemed to make a lot of sense to him, but at others they did not. What she insisted was so ideal, but the galaxy was far from that. Most people were egotistic and cared only for themselves. If these people took control of the force, they would use it for their own gains and become... Sith.

Gazing upon her, Ben thought about whether she was a sith, or if possible just an overzealous jedi that went astray. He knew he had felt a Sith on this planet, but Ben also knew he was far from experienced enough to confirm it was real of not. What he did know, however, was that every day he was learning to trust his feelings more and more and right his feelings told him to not trust this person and be very careful.

"I am not sure if your completely possessed by the Sith ways or ideals, but I feel that there are aspects of the Sith inside you. Some of your thoughts and ideas are sounds great, but are very difficult to implement. I might be young, but I do know that many good people can sometimes be overwhelmed with pain and suffering. This leads them to experience anger and in turn, they will do anything, like you say, to get the righteous goal. But doing everything and anything is a wrong on its own. Will you kill innocent beings to achieve your goal? Will you call anyone that has different views enemy and try to defeat them just because they think different?" Ben paused and looked around all the destructed that surrounded them.

"They Jedi do sit around and meditate a lot, but perhaps sometimes meditation is what is needed to solve a problem. Maybe dilemmas in the galaxy can not be solved with violence. There have to be better ways than just killing and destroying. I believe the Jedi wish to find these ways. I do agree that sometimes actions are required. Perhaps the Jedi have changed their ways, though."

He paused once more and looked over at Mira, looking into her eyes. "The Jedi were disbanded, I do not know if you heard, but they have been. They wish us all to act in the best interested of the galaxy. We are no longer sitting and just meditating. We are all over the galaxy now, trying to solve problems with words... and also perhaps with swords if necessary. The problem with the Sith is that they only think of violence, but that is only a short term solution with many drawbacks. Talking and working problems out is much more permanent."

Ben looked around again as they walked. "It is very possible that all this destruction and death could have been avoided if people just set aside their differences and come together to talk. Their problems could have been solved without the need to fight and die."

As they walked and talked, Mira failed to realize that they were retracing their steps back the way she had come earlier. It was the way she knew best. What she had forgotten was the little girl she has ruthlessly murdered along the way. Ben's thoughts quickly trailed off as he say the girl laying there, cut in half, in the middle of the rubble.

He ran towards her quickly, but knew she was already dead. It was gruesome, but Ben could not look away. There was very little blood around and after a moment of shock, he quickly realized she had been killed with a lightsaber blow. So many questions raced through his head, but it was only one realization that made him jump. Mira was the only one he knew to be on the planet with a lightsaber.

Ben stood up quickly and turn around to face Mira. His Jedi robes swirled around him while his right hand pulled his saber free of the belt. "Is this your idea of good intentions?!"

He opened himself in the force and let it flow through him. Inside his mind he could feel anger and fear and pain. It was all around him in this place. Something horrible had happened in his place and it was laying at his feet. He could not just stand by and let this atrocity take place.