Lightside Sith 018

“This isn’t going to work.” Kaine muttered darkly. 

“Trust me. I haven't failed you yet.” Qui-Gon calmly replied, folding his hands into his robes, adopting a relaxed posture. 

“Easy for you to say, dad. As an intangible ghost you don't need to be worried about being torn apart.” Kaine spat. 

“Then as we discussed. Have no fear, I shall be quick.” Qui-Gon comforted. 

Kaine took a deep breath, and took one last look at his surroundings. Circling him was a tightly packed group of hundreds of giant lizardmen. Savrips were notorious throughout the galaxy as being amongst the strongest bipeds possessing some intelligence. A frequent character in videogames, card games, or the insignia of a band of mercenaries trying to act tough, their reputation was well earned. They were a favored slave race, often finding themselves in gladiatorial arenas, or serving as bodyguards. Some learned ones knew galactic Basic, but that was a rarity. In essence, they were like slightly less intelligent Wookies. Averaging a 500+ year life span, it was mildly surprising that the Savrip people never integrated into galactic society. That is, it would be surprising if the Corellian settlers didn't see these hulking 13ft lizardmen as monsters to be shot on sight. 

Learning about their history from Qui-Gon, he felt sort of bad for these indigenous inhabitants of Ord Mantell, and wondered if it would be worth it to try recruiting them to the CIS? Ord Mantell was a Republic planet afterall. Imagining these tanks bum rushing Worlport was certainly an idea. 

“Today please.” Qui-Gon sighed in exasperation. 

Kaine rolled his eyes, then upon focusing on a certain point, felt his spirit leave his body, and become an ethereal ghost. Qui-Gon, meanwhile, took control, acting like a puppeteer. 

When he first arrived, Kaine had said a few ‘words’ that were more like a song, copying what the elder Jedi said. However, his enunciation was horrendous, and they both agreed to let the Jedi do the talking. 

“Hoh hoh hoh hoh hoh, la la la la la, lol lol lol!” Qui-Gon sang in a deep voice, mimicking a similar cadence to that of Dooku's grandeur. 

“Tay tay'a, tay'a ah!” A hulling albino lizard guy covered in scars fiercely questioned, and pointed a wickedly sharp blade at him. 

“Qui-Gon, this isn't looking good-” 

“Hoh hoh hoh! Vuni vuni'na.” Qui-Gon said, boldly placing his forehead against the tip of the blade so that a small drop of blood began to fall along its edge. 

A deep hush came from the surrounding people, and not a peep could be heard. 

“Rong rong, Qui-Gon Jinn, hoh hoh!” The grizzled lizardman dropped the blade, a stunned expression flashed across his face. 

“Rong rong Tyko Bass.” Qui-Gon murmured, and before he could say anything else, he was captured in a tight bear hug. 

Kaine couldn't feel any pain, but judging from Qui-Gon's-his-bulging eyes, this certainly qualified as a hug of love. 

From what he could tell, Qui-Gon was confirming Kaine's relationship to himself. He surmised that this must be an old friend that the Jedi had saved in the past. 

The elder man then went on to have a conversation for a good while. Whilst they spoke, Kaine once again tested the limits of this ghostly form. This time, he had been prepared, and grown stronger, so the swap wasn't as draining as before. His [Ghost Summoning] skill also attained a new level, granting him new insights into this Force Bond between himself and Qui-Gon. 

Phasing through walls, and some of the aliens, he found that he didn't have teleportation powers, and could fly slightly faster than he ran. Waving his hand, he tried to move something with [Telekinesis]. It was an old rusty tin cup. The metal rattled like it had been hit by a stiff breeze, but otherwise, remained unmoved. By his estimation, it would take multiple uses of this skill, or pushing/pulling something at the right angle to make it move. However, just this one push made him feel drowsy, as if he had gone on a long plane ride, or drive, and the second he returned home, he had to go back out and shop again. 

To conserve energy or even generate more, he tried pulling upon the Darkside, thinking about the anger he felt at the things he encountered during this mission. This time, when he tried moving the cup, it was yeeted across the overgrown office he was in, and flew a distance of about 10ft before losing its momentum. This time, the energy withdrawal felt even more intense, and he entered into a sort of sleep mode where his consciousness became blurry. 

After an unknown amount of time had passed, he opened his eyes to see the blue ghostly glow of Qui-Gon. 

“How fortunate you are to have a companion like me.” Qui-Gon said in an unamused tone. “Tapping in to the Darkside like that while I was speaking with Tyko not only endangered your body, but also jeopardized the entire tribe, as dark emotions permeated the air. If I hadn’t acted quickly enough to disperse this malaise, they would have devoured you.” Qui-Gon lectured like a disappointed parent. 

“Do we have the dataslate that Durge requested?” Kaine asked, unwilling to feel guilt at the reasonable Jedi's admonishment. 

A Lightside Sith wasn't afraid to stare into the abyss! Right? This time, however, no system notification of LP arrived to reinforce his treacherous thoughts. 

“Perhaps I've spoiled you too much, young Renstar. There is much potential in you for good. Do not mistake my kindness for charity. Your death would free me from this prison. Think more before you act.” Qui-Gon forlornly stated in a pitying tone before fading away. 

Sighing in frustrated annoyance, Kaine found himself on his back in a well maintained, if not ancient metal office. In his right hand, there was a data engram, whilst in his left was a folded piece of paper. 

Holding it up to read, he squinted his eyes. 

‘No way he knew I would react like that, and prepared this ahead of time right?!’

It read: 

I have secured the object of your mission, however, the Savrip upon this plateau are in need. In exchange for their hospitality, I have promised that you will restore the Stellar-energy station. I've inspected the plant, it's in surprisingly good condition. Several fuel cells from the blasters you have collected should be able to jumpstart this device. The Force shall guide you. 

-Jinn 

Kaine furrowed his brow, he hated being used by people, and he hated having to perform a side quest whilst in the midst of a side quest! What next, would he have to escort someone who couldn't move at a fraction of his own speed! 

Whilst he was bubbling with impotent rage, he took a glance at the data engram, and deflated like a popped balloon. Sneaking into this facility without the aid of [Hide Presence] would've been impossible. Besides, even if he didn't have that shroud constantly glitching due to environmental factors, who was to say that the alien biology of those lizardmen couldn't detect him. 

Fighting his way through thousands of opponents single handedly was a little beyond his skillset at the moment. Maybe if he kited them, and fought using ventilation shafts or utilized booby traps, there was a possibility of victory. But that seemed like a whole lot of hoopla. So although restoring power to this station was annoying, he owed Qui-Gon. 

Besides, hopefully this act would come with some bonus LP! Looking out the window of the old office, he saw that the moon was already on its downward dip, and he only had a few more hours to return the data engram back to the bounty hunter! Of course, he could always go back now, but if he did, he could probably kiss any collaboration with Qui-Gon goodbye. Their relationship was tenuous as it was, and he didn't want to rock the boat further. Not to say he couldn't live without or even was unwilling to abandon the ghost, it's just that Kaine wasn't an ungrateful bastard. The Jedi had saved his ass a few times, and he wasn't the kind of guy to return kindness with malice. 

Jumping to his feet, he reached out to the Force for guidance aaand felt nothing. 

“Has no one taught you to meditate?” A voice spawned in near his ear. 

“By the Force, man!” Kaine shouted, and jumped forward like a startled cat. 

“Sit down. Close your eyes. Withdraw upon yourself, and feel the current that surrounds us.” Qui-Gon steadily instructed. 

Kaine let go of his pounding heart, and retracted the lightsaber that had been subconsciously drawn, then, glancing at the Jedi once more, reluctantly followed his orders. 

Sensing the Force was easy, and he had already calmed himself down significantly. 

“Okay. What now?” Kaine asked. 

“Do not grow impatient. Sink yourself deeper into the current. What do you feel? Who surrounds you?” 

At first, nothing happened. Agonizing minute after minute passed, and Kaine became ever more worried that he wouldn't be able to recruit Durge to his team. And when that happened, Dooku would surely enact punishment this time! 

“Focus. Your breathing is too rapid.” Qui-Gon gently spoke. 

Taking in the Jedi's advice, he reigned in his chaotic thoughts. 

Time ticked on, and half an hour later. Kaine sat still as if he were in a trance. 

“What do you feel? Who surrounds you?” Qui-Gon once more repeated himself. 

Kaine struggled to respond, feeling as if his brain would 404 if he spoke. “I feel…hunger, loneliness, desperation…the Savrips, they want…light.” 

“Follow the Force, let it guide you.” Qui-Gon gently whispered. 

Kaine-moving like a robot-jolted to his feet, and with eyes half lidded began to stagger through the power station. There was no line, map, or guidance system like in a videogame. No prompt saying go here. All there was, was himself, and the Force. Even Qui-Gon's quiet reminders evaporated like liquid on a hot day as he lost himself in this ephemeral state. 

Retrieving the power packs from his inventory, Kaine's fingers moved as if they were being piloted by someone else. Pressing buttons, and snapping them into specific spots, it felt like he was constructing a Lego set without consulting the instructions, as if he knew where each and every piece ought to go. 

When everything was in place, he ignited his lightsaber, and placed it above some generator thing, then performing a rapid windmill, the heat from his blade caused a spark. 

Seconds later, a blinding explosion and the sound of crackling electricity met his ears. Flying backward feeling like a donkey kicked him in the chest, Kaine blinked his eyes in confusion, and stared up at a ceiling where dim lightbulbs once more glowed bright with progress. Forcefully leaving that ephemeral state, he brushed himself off, finding he wasn't wounded anywhere, and stared out a window. 

Thousands of 13ft tall lizard people had joined hands, and were singing like that one Grinch song “fa who dore” Welcome Christmas. The sight of these murderous savages coming together like that perplexed Kaine, and he clutched his rapidly beating heart in confusion. 

“Congratulations, young Renstar. Unlike modern Jedi, you have followed the Will of the Force.” 

Kaine didn't offer a word in rebuttal, but the constant streams of +1LP made him smile from ear to ear. 

Maybe he was going about this whole Lightside Sith thing wrong, eh? 

~~~~~~~~

AN: I like to explore the mystical side of the Force from time to time. I love fighting & political maneuvering, but magic should be magical, damnit! There's nothing wrong with wanting to experience that childish wonder. 

Narrator's Voice: Renstar's heart grew 3 sizes that day. 

This is the song I'm referencing: 

https://youtu.be/iIFFcRFPi4M?si=vOr9vY7_Qc4M5hWF