Jim Gallant

An unnatural light filled the worked-stone corridors. Eerie shadows were cast of the Jedi as they explored the tunnels. Lazlo took the lead with Ben in the middle and Mynn taking up the rear. They extinguished their blades but kept them ready for a possible attack. The tunnels forked a few times and a couple tunnels were caved in, preventing further explanation. One direction was available, channeling them into one direction. Lazlo wondered if there was a will behind the cave-ins. His unease grew as they traveled deeper into the tunnels.

He didn't remember these tunnels when he visited Korriban when he was a Padawan learner. He never went into the caverns at all. Master D'Harsis was in the Sith Temple, waiting for Lazlo. But to Lazlo's mind, there was something familiar about the feeling he got here. He felt as if he walked here before. He felt his master's presence. Laz thought it was possible that Master D'Harsis found these tunnels too. In his mind's eye, he could see his master walking along, in search of something. But the tunnels looked different back then. They were darker?

"Mynn, Ben, someone is definitely here," Lazlo said. "In my mind I saw my master walking these tunnels. They weren't lit. Somebody may be waiting for us."

"Do you recognize the feeling, Laz?" asked Jauhzmynn.

"I don't know. I'd swear it's my master, but it can't be possible." Lazlo frowned. "Can't be possible?"

They kept walking. The tunnels were in remarkably good condition, with little dust and no debris, except for the obvious cave-ins. One might suggest they were maintained. According to records, no individual or group lived on Korriban for years. The dread increased in Lazlo's heart. The other two Jedi could sense the dark side of the Force gaining in strength as well. But only Lazlo could discern its character. It felt like Master.

"Good, son. Come to master. Bring your friends. It is time to join me. I will show you things you could never possibly imagine. More power than a man can harness. Lazlo, you can learn the power to manipulate time and space. You can go anywhere, BE anywhere. You will be immune to death. And you will be free?"

Hsan D'Harsis reached out to his former apprentice. "Feel my presence, Lazlo. Come to master?" The old master's eyes glowed with eldritch power.
A moment later, the three Jedi arrived in the chamber where D'Harsis waited for them. With a flick of the wrist, he gestured, and a door slid shut behind the Jedi. D'Harsis, suspended between dimensions, was currently invisible to the group. With a thought, he adjusted his position in space-time and appeared before them.

"Hello, my son," D'Harsis said.

Ben's lightsaber was the first to ignite. Two more joined his a microsecond later. "Who are you?" Ben asked.

"Mynn, Ben, meet my former master, Hsan D'Harsis, Jedi Master." Lazlo slowly stepped to the left to flank his master between him and his friends. Jauhzmynn moved to the right.

"Lazlo, is this how to greet your Jedi Master?" Hsan's face looked pained. "I thought you might be happy to see me."

"Master, this isn't you. You are an apparition of the past. You are not real." Lazlo spoke quietly and carefully, trying to draw his old master's attention.

"I'm sorry, Lazlo. But you are mistaken." D'Harsis smiled condescendingly. "I'm quite real. And I'm not as dead as you left me all those years ago. I've been watching you son." A stool appeared behind him. He sat wearily down. "You would indulge an old man his story won't you?"

"Ben, let's listen to what he has to say," said Mynn. She shut down her saber. Reluctantly, Ben deactivated his blade. Lazlo did the same.

"I see Master Enz, you are quite reasonable. Perhaps we can talk after all." D'Harsis crossed his legs.

"I can sense you're real, master, but something's not right either." Lazlo paced the chamber they stood in.

"Everything is just fine. The Sith have some fascinating teachings. Pity you struck me down before I could teach you." D'Harsis' face contorted in pain. "It hurt a lot, you know. The blade in my chest, burning my heart. But the betrayal was worse."

"Master, you gave in to the very thing we were fighting!" Laz yelled. "You betrayed me by going to the dark side! My training wasn't complete!"

"No, you are right!" D'Harsis interrupted. "Incomplete until you had Sith teachings, to balance out the Jedi's ways. I was once on a diplomatic envoy to the Separatists, to try to sue for peace. Remember when I left you on Coruscant? When I met Dooku again, I remembered how great a Jedi Master he was. We talked for a long time. He mentioned the corruption in the Senate, and the hidebound methods of the Jedi hindering their abilities. The loss of Master Qui-gon as a result. He sent me here to find some old Sith records, ones that could possibly help you. I didn't ever know he was Darth Tyr!@#$, not until much later. He merely suggested I check out the legends, and he was right. And I found more. I found a technique where one can transcend time and space. I learned it quickly and spent years of study in minutes of real-time. I found what I needed for you too. But you were too weak, too young and foolish to see to wisdom! The Jedi were destroying what they were by miring themselves in the politics they were supposed to be above. They lost their focus. Now it's time to bring your focus back. Time to heal you. I used those men to bring you to me. Don't let their lives be wasted for nothing, because you're stubborn?"
"Master," Lazlo sighed, "Seems to me I made it without your cure. I learned a lot after you left me. I don?t need to kill to heal myself. I have what I need." He smiled to his friends.

"Do you now?" Hsan Snarled. He raised a hand. Jauhzmynn and Ben were lifted into the air with the Force. Lightning shot out from D'Harsis' fingers and wrapped the two in a cocoon of destructive energy. With his other hand, he shot it out at Lazlo and Force-pushed him into the wall, holding him there. Lazlo's lightsaber fell to the ground, dropped from his hand. "What do you need, Lazlo?" D'Harsis asked conversationally. With a gesture, the lightning increased in intensity, causing Mynn and Ben to writhe and scream helplessly. He crushed Lazlo tighter into the wall, making it hard to breathe. "What do you need? I can give you everything Master Enz here can. And I've been a master far longer than she?" D'Harsis looked at the two Jedi held in midair. "What can she possibly give you? And look at young Skywalker. Certainly not his grandfather?" He sneered, turning to Lazlo. "You are no match for my powers. I've studied for thousands of years, practiced techniques far beyond your understanding. I'm not even feeling a strain now, and I'm over twice your age. What can you possibly possess that I do not already have tenfold?" He laughed quietly. "Maybe I need a better apprentice. One who wouldn't betray me. One with no fear."

Lazlo began to feel asphyxiated. Black began to intrude on the periphery of his vision. All he could do was to barely breathe. His old master's eyes bore into him like a dagger. He closed his eyes. He let his mind drift, and he let go of the pain in his body. He thought of the years on Charibdys, living in exile as a healer for the local nomads. He thought of meeting Master Luke Skywalker for the first time, how kind he was, and thoughtful. He thought of the time he spent with Mynn, on many missions: The Valley of the Jedi, searching for Master Windu, fighting space pirates on the Corellian Run, aiding the refugees during the Vong War. He thought of how much she taught him, how she cared for him. Completed his training, though knighted so long ago during the Clone War. Opening his eyes, he saw Mynn's face looking at him. Though there were tears of pain, there was peace and acceptance in her eyes. It hit him then, and a flood of energy poured into him. Lazlo shrugged away D'Harsis' hold on him. With a gesture, he placed an energy shield between his friends and his old master. He walked up to D'Harsis then. Surprised, horrified, D'Harsis reached for his lightsaber. Jauhzmynn and Ben fell to the ground, hurt but alive. Green and blue blade clashed. Master and Apprentice, Sith and Jedi Knight battled. Thrust and parry. Riposte and block. Years of battle experience and training confronted each other. Years of evil and corruption. Years of sadness and loss. D'Harsis fought ferociously. Lazlo fought peacefully. D'Harsis attacked and struck at every nerve Lazlo had, taunting him and twisting every memory Laz had, preaching failure and weakness. Lazlo countered with Mynn's teachings, teachings of patience, faith and love. Every memory of failure or death that D'Harsis projected, Lazlo returned the thought with a lesson learned and the victory gained from the loss. Each lightsaber strike D'Harsis attacked Lazlo's soul. Lazlo took every attack and bore it. Soon, D'Harsis ran out of energy, and Lazlo was as yet unaffected. He twisted D'Harsis' lightsaber out of his hand. With a Force-push of his own, he knocked the old Sith down.

"Do it," D'Harsis screamed. "Kill me! You?ve earned it boy!"

"You'd like that, wouldn't you, Master?" said Laz. The blade of his lightsaber centimeters from D'Harsis' face, Laz could merely thrust and end his life. "I have a better idea. I'm taking you to the Jedi council. They will decide your fate."

"I will die before I see your precious council." D'Harsis gestured. A click was heard. Explosions rocked the room, and debris fell around them. Lazlo shut down his saber and used the Force to protect his friends from falling stones. "But I must finish you?" D'Harsis reached out and his lightsaber flew to his hand. Igniting his blade, he swung his blade. But a stone struck him in the face. His strike went wild and missed. A further avalanche of stone buried the old man before he could react.

Running to his friends he quickly used the Force to revive them and get them up and moving. Mynn and Ben got up and followed Laz out of the chamber, running down the tunnels back to the entrance. Turning corners and dodging heavy rocks, they eventually made it to the entrance. They quickly crossed the stone bridge, nearly falling and tripping most of the way.

They got through most of the cavern when a major cave-in fell among them. A rock struck Mynn's head and she fell with the rocks. Laz turned to check behind him and saw her partially buried in stone. Ben stopped and yelled, "Mynn!"
"Get to the ship Ben! I'll get her!" Rocks fell around them. "Get it fired up! This whole canyon is collapsing!" He ran to Mynn. Her legs were covered in hundreds of kilos of fallen stone.

Lazlo examined her. She was still breathing. Great, just a little rock now? He concentrated deeply on the pile of stones on her legs. He didn't want to lift them. He just wanted to shift them a little, so he could free her legs. Mynn stirred. "Get out of here," she whispered.

"As soon as I got you free we will." Lazlo responded. "I'm trying to concentrate, now hush!" Tears ran freely down his eyes. Not now, after all this. Not yet, he thought.

"Let me go?" she mumbled. Her hand reached up to Lazlo. A rock struck her hand, pushing it away from Lazlo's face.

Lazlo could feel the rocks loosening around Mynn's legs. They were both broken but whole. He continued to concentrate, ignoring the noise, the dust and the pain in his body and his friend's. A stone struck his head, nearly knocking him unconscious. He wrapped his arms around Mynn's upper body. Then suddenly, he felt that her legs were free. He quickly pulled her out of the pile of stones. Mynn screamed and clutched to Lazlo with spasms of pain. With the aid of the Force, Lazlo lifted Mynn in his arms. "C'mon?"