It has changed little during the last visit upon its surface during the Galactic Civil War. Predators native there can still be a threat.

Occasionally, his mind drifted to his pilot...

The Force is strong with her...and she carries a lightsaber...but I must be prudent if I question her...

Rye had sensed a haunting pain within Kitiana, one that fuels the darkness in her. To ask about it now could prove disastrous for him.

And yet she helps me even if she may not receive a reward for it. Perhaps...should I show her the ways of the Light Side of the Force? Should I train her? Am I even ready to perform such a thing?

A new wave of questions emerged from those thoughts, and Raye reached deeper into the Force to find them...

A beeping on her control panel brought her back to reality and looked back at Raye.

"We're about to arrive"

--------------------

"The planet is very much deserted," he said to Kitiana, keeping his eyes ahead. "But over the centuries, forms of wildlife would have developed on its surface. Whether they are dangerous or not, we must keep on guard."

And with any luck, that's the only signs of life we find down there...

Part of her simply wanted to see the different creatures that may inhabit this planet, and another part of her wanted something to attack. She loved to fight, it exhilerated her and she knew everytime she did fight, she could only get better.

She then nodded abot the Jedi Temple, and took manual control of the ship. Upon skimming the ground she found a space almost completely devoid of anything to land the ship. The Jedi Temple lay about 100 meters to their north. Upon landing she turned in her chair and stood.

"We are here."

--------------------

Yet, throughout the devastation, Raye still felt the Force on the planet. He closed his eyes and stood there, taking in its presence...

It still remains strong...after all these centuries...

"Kitiana," he began, his eyes still closed. "Do you feel anything on this planet? A sense of familiarity...that you have been here before?"

"I do not believe I have ever been here. Though it does have a strong sense about it...it's odd."

Her eyes scanned the area and fell on the Jedi temple. Perhaps she could also find some answers in there. Why did her father consider them and Jedi enemies? Who were the 'sith' that her father had told her about?

--------------------

"This is the believed location of where the Jedi Knights first emerged in the galaxy. You feel what those Jedi felt on this planet; the Force has not diminished here."

"This was a battleground during the Great Sith War, where the surface was wiped clean when the Cron Cluster went nova. But, as you can see, some remnants still stand..."

He looked back to Kitiana. "The Force runs strong within you. That is why you feel familiar with this planet...you feel the connection between yourself and the forgotten memories of Ossus."

"Great Sith war? What happened during that war?"

She walked beside him now toward the temple. Curiousity about the past ran through her mind over and over, amidst other images that she couldn't seem to get from her mind.

--------------------

"Both had once been Jedi," he continued as they entered the temple, "But submitted to the path of the Dark Side, and followed the ways of power instead of peace. Many lives were lost because of their war, and planets were utterly devastated..."

Inside was a hallway, lit up from the moonlight penetrating through the building. Cracks had formed along walls, rocks and boulders had formed where parts of the structure had collapsed. Yet, it was still possible to press on...

"In the end, Ulic rejected the Dark Side, though at a heavy cost, and led the Jedi to the main Sith base where Exar Kun was located. A hard-fought victory was gained there, Kun was banished, and the Great Sith War was over."

And if what I have discovered was true, they weren't the true Sith at all...

Raye looked to Kitiana. "It is always the same for the Dark Side...it always leads to death and destruction...and it is always in the end that death and destruction consumes those that follow that path." He looked at her for a moment, studying her...

I believe it's time I ask this...

"I was told Sith and Dark Jedi are different..."

She stopped looking around and looked to him as he spoke of death and destruction.

"Well if that is what they choose to do than it is their choice. There is nothing wrong with power.
As for my lightsaber, I constructed it. Where else would I get such a weapon?"

--------------------

The Jedi then made an abrupt turn down another hallway. "...that corrupts absolutely. When it comes to the point of robbing people of their freedoms and liberties, to ensuring only your will is to be obeyed, power can become evil."

"And as for the Sith...the Dark Jedi have only sought to take their name and no more. But there are some things I have discovered about the Sith, the actual race itself, in the Outer Rim that I wish to explore more about..."

If I can find what I'm looking for...

"And your lightsaber...where did you learn to construct it?"

"And who are you to say what is right or wrong? The stronger you are, the more power you posess. And those that are weaker need the stronger to lead over them. Sometimes, the weaker need to be sacrificed."

She paused and looked down. She sounded more like her father and it only angered her. He did nothing but betray her...She shook her head of her thoughts and answered his next question.

"I learned from my father...years ago."

--------------------

"The 'weak' exist due to circumstances beyond their control, or anyone's control in fact, yet they have as much right to live freely as do all beings in the galaxy. I believe the strong exist to protect the weak; that they are given the power they have to guard and defend those who cannot defend themselves, and secure the freedoms of those that have none."

"And I believe I can say what is right or wrong in this...for I have seen the corruption power causes if used selfishly, and the joy it may bring if used to help others instead..."

"Perhaps what you say is true...let's just continue on, and try not to bring up my father again..."

She started walking again, not sure exactly where they were headed, or if they were even headed in the right direction that Raye wished to go.

--------------------

Much anger there when I mentioned her father.

They kept walking for a few more feet until Raye halted in front of a door. It's control panel was already destroyed, but there was more than one way to get through this obstacle...

The Jedi lifted his hand towards it and summoned the Force to open it. A few seconds passed and the door slid open into a large room, filled with even more wreckage piled in the center.

Raye took a step inside and looked around. "There must be one still in here..."

"So umm...what exactly is it you are after in these ruins?"

Her clear eyes peered at everything she picked up, and if it didn't seem to fit the description she simply tossed it aside. The objects that seemed to fit the description or objects she simply found interesting she set infront of her.

--------------------

"Ah, it's only a bit larger than a fist...you should be able to sense it through the Force if you touch it..."

"This that holographic storage device? It fits the description..."

--------------------

"Greetings, Jedi.", it said, with a calm and peaceful tone in his voice. "I am Kuron Tybil, Gatekeeper of this Holocron. Do you have a question for me?"

"I do."

She thought a minute about how to phrase her question best to get the answer she desired.

"Tell me. What happened between the Jedi to split them into the Jedi and the Dark Jedi?"

Raye had given her an account about how Exar Kun had used his force powers to gain power, but there was something else to the story. From what she understood from her father the Jedi also did something to the Dark Jedi to make them such enemies. Was her father telling the truth, or was it another lie?

[ 03-19-2005 01:58 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Kitiana ]

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"Here."

She then stood and walked to the back wall of the room. Her arms were crossed across her chest as she stared at the wall. She could still hear Raye and the holocron, but she wasn't in the mood to talk to him just yet.

--------------------

"Master Tybil, I would like to know more about the history of the Sith, the real Sith, the species enslaved by the Dark Jedi when they were banished."

There was a short pause as the holocron analyzed the question. "I'm afraid that this holocron, as well as the others that reside in the Jedi Archives, are unable to give information about the history of the Sith peoples. We only know that they were a rather primitive people that the Dark Jedi took advantage of and ruled over them. Of anything else, we have yet to discover."

Raye frowned at this. "Then perhaps you can tell me about a race known as the Yuuzhan Vong?"

Another short pause. "No information exists regarding that name." The hologram responded.

Damn...this isn't good...

"Well, then...," Raye begun, "Where could I find information regarding the Sith?"

"You might be able to find them among Sith holocrons. Might. There is great risk involved if one seeks their holocrons..."

"Yes, I'm aware of that, Master Tybil."

The hologram gave a slight nod. "Search the burial world of Korriban, then. Many secrets still lay beneath the desolation of that planet..."

Raye bowed his head. "Thank you, Master Tybil. You have answered all of my questions." The holographic figure bowed in turn.

"May the Force be with you..." Then the image faded, and the light of the holocron dimmed. Raye pocketed the device within his robes.

We will need this if we have any hope in re-establishing the Order...

"Good. Shall we depart for Korriban, or would you like to rest here a while?"

Whether stayed or left didn't matter to Kitiana much, though she did wish to go to Korriban. Her father had mentioned that planet once or twice....if only she had listened to him a little more.

--------------------

"I have other duties I need to attend to...I had been fighting in the Outer Rim for years; much has happened in the galaxy I need to know about."

Raye remembered what he had been told on Sullust. "I must know what happened on Yavin IV, and what has become of the other Jedi."