Outside Context Problem [Star Wars/Digimon 02] [Not Dead]

[Krisnack]

The wonderful thing about crossovers is how different ways of seeing the world(s) slam into each other. When different people run into things that they have never expected to encounter, and they have to develop new ways of thinking.

What I present to you here is a story of a fish out of water. Or rather, a lungfish, because said fish is far from helpless.

This is the story of what happens when Star Wars meets Something Else*. In which a Sith Lord of the Legacy era serves as a teacher a character who most assuredly does not need a -bad- even worse influence on his life. In essence, Dark Side teachings are exactly what the character doesn’t need.

Why did I choose the Sith? Well, in plenty of stories you have a character(s) from SG1 or B5 or * or whatever finding out that they’re Force sensitive and getting trained as a Jedi. Why is it always a Jedi? What about the Sith, don’t they deserve any love?

No longer. This about a Dark Lord who is a walking, talking, outside context problem for people, both good and evil, who have no idea what the Force is. And how those people react to him.

The name of the story is a bit of a misnomer, as it does not qualify under Banks’ definition.

* I would state what it is right here, but I’m afraid of being metaphorically tossed out by an angry mod for “introducing SD.net to that sort of crap”. **

** I’m joking, really there’s nothing here that violates any of the rules.DISREGARD THIS, I SUCK COCKS

Also, if my writing is bad, then please tell how to make it better. If I have characters doing or saying things that they would never do or say, they by all means, rap me on the knuckles. If I start inserting infodumps, then for the love of all that is good, stop me.

***Arrival***
Space. The infinite void stretched out, a testament to inability of the human mind to comprehend the universe. The only things that disturbed the tranquility were the presence of a sun and several planets. From one of them, an orange and blue world, a spacecraft emerged, its lone occupant returning from his appointed task.

The ship itself was a relic dating back to the waning days of the Old Republic, a modified Star Courier. Supposedly it had been Darth Maul’s infamous Scimitar before being renamed the Shadow, its passenger had learned to put little stock in such rumors. All the records that he had seen stated that the ships name was the Tantalus. Still, it was not unheard of for starships to have lives measured in the centuries. Thus it was possible, if unlikely, that the Scimitar might still be out there, even in 127 ABY.

Inside the cockpit Darth Felechen continued to observe the scanner readouts. The mission to plant false evidence linking the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances to several extremist political parties had gone quite well. Although he had spent much more time then he had wished, the end results were nothing to complain about. The planetary government had severed all ties with the Galactic Alliance and had banned the sale of Cordrazine, Gylocal, and about half a dozen other medical substances to the Alliance or its associates. By the time the ruse would be discovered, it would be much too late.

Yet the sense of accomplishment was muted. He was a Sith Lord, perhaps not s powerful as Darth Talon or Darth Maleval, but few others had seen or done as much as him. And despite his knowledge he was reduced to running errands of questionable importance on the Outer Rim. Then again, he had been against the alliance with the Fel Empire from the start and had not hesitated to make his opinions known.

In the end, he suspected his contribution to the conflict that was becoming known as the Sith-Imperal would be minuscule.

His disgruntled musings were interrupted by an alarm. Four blips appeared on the long range scanners, and a second later the computer identified them as Galactic Alliance CF9 Crossfires. They shot forward, converging on his position.

While he was already outnumbered and out gunned by the agile fighters, Felechen was half convinced that he could evade them by activating his cloaking system, and by evading their shots until he reached the edge of the gravity well. Then his hope died. He felt it, the unmistakable presence of another Force-sensitive. There was a Jedi among the fighters.

Felechen now knew that he had no change of escape. Jedi tended to make excellent pilots, and even if this one was merely average, he or she would be able to target his courier with the Force alone. The other pilots would see where the Jedi was firing and add the firepower of their own laser cannons to the mix. He was doomed.

Or was he? From the dark recesses of his mind he recalled a technique he had once learned but later forgotten about. The ability to create hyperspace storms, or rather wormholes, using the Force. Felechen had never thought highly of such an ability given its uncontrollable nature, and had not shared the knowledge of its use with anyone else.

Only two Sith had shown the ability to use it, Darth Riven and Darth Sidious. Apparently neither of them had been able to control it.

There was also a more subtle and defensive use for it; the wormholes created could be used to for travel or to escape danger. He had far more confidence in his ability to control a small wormhole then a massive storm. Boosting power to the engines, Felechen made his decision. He would escape this ambush. Better to end up in the void between the stars where he had a change of rescue, then to be reduced to space dust.

Slowly and carefully, Felechen focused his power, forcing his will onto the fabric of hyperspace. He concentrated on a far off star that he knew to be in Imperial held space. He could already see a faint shimmer in space when the first laser bolts began to fall around him.

He continued to focus, not daring to make a course adjustment even as the ruby shafts of energy triggered an alert. He silenced it with a thought. The distortion grew larger. They must have conected him and growing rift as they intensified the already impressive firepower they had been laying down. Still, he refused to be distracted. The embryonic wormhole was the only thing important, everything else was irreverent.

Finally, the wormhole opened. Feeling like his hear would burst, Darth Felechen shot though it. The four perusing fighters veered off as the wormhole closed. They knew better than to follow a Sith starship into an unknown spacial anomaly.
---
After what seemed to be hours the Star Courier emerged from the wormhole. Darth Felechen gasped for air, he hadn’t realized that he had ben holding his breath. The Sith Lord allowed a smile to grace his lips. He felt like he had just successfully navigated the Middle Distance, a feat that he had tried only once before, and that was wit h the engines running a half power. His smile faded as he examined the view from the cockpit window. He had arrived near the outermost planets of a system. It wasn’t the one he had been trying to reach, there were too many planets, and the stars didn’t match up to what he remembered from his last visit to the system.

He was lost.

A feeling of dread started to rise within him. He could be anywhere in the galaxy. No, think rationally, Darth Felechen told himself. His ship had enough provisions to last for several months, and his hyper-wave beacon would alert any allied forces to his position. He only hoped that they would find him before a Galactic Alliance patrol stumbled across him.

That assumed that he had arrived in Alliance or Imperial space. He could have ended up in Hutt territory, the Corporate Sector, or in the Unknown Regions. The feeling began to rise again, but he suppressed it. Besides, even if he had ended up in a backwater sector, there had to be some HoloNet traffic or other communications that he could pick up.

He begin adjusting the settings of the ship, powering down unnecessary systems and activating a sort of stealth mode. It wouldn’t be impossible to detect The modified courier, just extremely hard. After making the final preparations, he switched the communications system to receive only and waited.

He was met with silence.

It seemed like he truly was alone.

Or not. As he double checked the various sensor readouts, be noticed that an unusual amount of ratio waves were emanating from one of the planets. Was this such a undeveloped system that the inhabitants were forced to make due with realspace communications? Or had they developed civilization without every being contacted by a galactic power? While he considered the later possibility to be unlikely, it was certainly could happen.

He began looking over the data the instruments had given him regarding the planet. About three quarters of the surface was covered with water, the atmosphere was breathable by humans and most other species. The heat emissions were consistent with an industrial or post industrial society, which meant that it shouldn’t be too primitive. Still, the large amount of water bothered him. Planets with that much water often had aquatic inhabitants, which would make.

No matter. It was this world that offered him the best hope of getting back to Sith or Imperial forces. He angled his ship toward the planet and fired off a short burst from the ion drives. Meditation would serve to pass the time, so he got up and walked over to one of the passenger seats behind the pilots chair.
---
It was about half an hour later when Darth Felechen felt it. The presence of another Force sensitive, unmistakable in its beauty. It sang out to him, calling him towards the planet. A flare of curiosity sparked inside him.

This changes everything.

Anticipation soared within him as the ship coursed through the void. Depending on the age of whoever was giving off that ‘signal’, he just might be able to train them in the ways of the Sith. Even if he couldn’t, he had access to techniques that they would be unaware of. He could offer them knowledge in exchange for material assistance, and turn them towards the Dark Side at the same time. This unexpected detour might prove to be more beneficial then he had ever expected. He double-checked the data readout showing his ships position relative to the star, then returned to his meditation.
---
The pre-programed alarm began going off several hours later, alerting Felechen to the arrival near the planet. He returned to the pilots seat and began making course corrections. To avoid detection, he plotted a course near one of the poles. Flying as low as possible was a well recognized strategy for covert operations, and Felechen saw no reason to discard it here.

The more he peered at the blue and green orb, the less he suspected the inhabitants were aquatic. There was ne evidence of undersea constructions. Flying over the oceans should be relatively safe as long as he avoided being seen. Which would be easy, thanks to the advanced passive sensors on his craft.

Felechen was making fairly good time, even if he did have to make numerous turns to avoid surface ships and airspeeders. The bottom of his craft was less then half a meter from the waterline, reducing the risk of being spotted even more. His ‘Force sense’ told him that his quarry was in the direction of an archipelago. Pausing to reflect, the Dark Lord found that he was look forward to this. In fact, this was the most anticipation he had felt in a long, long, time.
---
As he drew nearer to the object of his hunt, Felechen had been forced to make more and more course corrections to his path. Worse, his path was leading him to an sprawling artificial island. The only place he could realistically land was a narrow strip of beach and forest, and that way had its own problems. Eventually, after looking over the the readout displaying the positions of numerous surface craft, he simply decided to wait until night came. The Sith order had waited a thousand years to overthrow the Jedi and the Republic, surly he could wait a few hours. He adjusted the controls for the rupulsor, and the craft descended into the water. Felechen stood up, and was about to sit down to meditate, when he felt the tell-tale pangs of hunger. Even the mightiest of the Sith Lords had to eat, so he walked over to the lift that connected the cockpit and passenger area to the lower level.

Some four hours later Darth Felechen set the ship down amongst the trees. The cover was much less dense then he would have liked, making discovery a risk. Thankfully he had a two part solution to this. The first was the cloaking device on board the Shadow, and the second was a Sith artifact that radiated a feeling of unease and dread. Together, they should keep any unwelcome interlopers away.

Now that he had made landfall, Felechen began reviewing the radio transmissions the craft had recorded. Wandering around without knowing the language was possible, however he would ultimately have to learn it if he hoped to make contact with the unknown force user. He began enter commands into the console, ordering he computer to create a language teaching program. Next, he activated the cloaking device, then went to down to the main level to fetch some provisions.

Once in the cargo hold, he began to look for various items to assist him during the ‘contact mission’. Light amplification goggles, electrobinoculars, a sound dampening belt, a multitool, and several other objects were withdrawn from various boxes. Last, he removed a personal stealth suit.

After putting on the suit, he exited the aft airlock.

Felechen crept down the ramp with the air of a professional, after all he’d done this sort of thing many times before. He inhaled, savoring the fresh air and the scents that it brought. Decades ago, he had vowed never the take the air for granted after spending a month inside a ship. After a mere three weeks he had been so sick of stale air that he had been on the verge of opening the airlock to end it all. The whole sorry episode had been a bitter lesson for him, and a source of great amusement for his master. The story of a Sith apprentice on the verge of a nervous breakdown had circulated for months.

Enough. He double-checked the power charges on his belt and stealth suit, then activated them and began running through the grass. Felechen was eager to see what the inhabitants of this world looked like.

He kept running until he reached a halogen-lit street. The glare was slightly disconcerting, but he pushed it aside, after all he had seen much more unnerving sights then poorly calibrated lighting unit. Keeping his distance, he took out the pair of electrobinoculars and focused on a distant figure. His grip loosened slightly as he looked at the species readout.

Human.

They were human. Were they a lost colony? Perhaps they had crashed here eons ago, and gradually forgot about their origins? He had seen no trace of hyperspace technology. Power generation was either combustion or fission based. He hadn’t seen any weapons so far, but he suspected that they used slugthrowers rather then blasters.

The Sith Lord set aside that train of thought. Anyhow, the matter of the planets inhabitants being human would make blending in much easier. He would, however, need to learn the language. There was also the task of finding a new wardrobe. With a tap of a button, he activated the electrobinoculars’ built-in recorder.

[von Neufeld]

Well, as I see it there are two major problems:
- Something Else. It's not going to motivate people to read it, especially if they have read this far and not found out.
- The Rule of Two. http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Rule_of_Two. You break it, which will turn off some SW fans. Just have a Sith apprentice from an undefined time get lost instead.

So, in the first chapter you have no ways of hooking fans of "Something Else", and you have the potential of turning off SW fans.

There might be other problems also, but I'm not willing to Beta.

[Simon_Jester]

This guy comes from the Legacy era, in which the Rule of Two has basically been discontinued by a Sith Lord who said "Fuck it, I'll train as many apprentices as I want and feel a need for!"

So the plausibility problem isn't "Krisnack's violating the Rule of Two." It's that the Legacy Era authors have already gone and violated the Rule of Two. In EU canon. Bastards...

That said, I agree with your criticism that without mentioning "something else," there's no hook for the audience. Krisnack, your most probable reply is "but I want it to be a surprise!" But that's not a good answer: you don't get readers by not telling them what the book is about. Sure, you don't want to give away the ending or the plot twists, but you very much want to "give away" what universe the plot happens in.

I'm not really in the mood to do a full beta review either. You aren't violating grammar badly enough for me to notice on a quick skim, which is a good start... but only a start.

[von Neufeld]

This guy comes from the Legacy era, in which the Rule of Two has basically been discontinued by a Sith Lord who said "Fuck it, I'll train as many apprentices as I want and feel a need for!"

So the plausibility problem isn't "Krisnack's violating the Rule of Two." It's that the Legacy Era authors have already gone and violated the Rule of Two. In EU canon. Bastards...

Ah, damn. Browsed the notes a little too fast. With all those alliances and federations thrown around I got the impression that it was sometimes during the end of Clone Wars in time. Stopped following the EU when the Yuuzhan Vong showed up.

Well, I then have to change my critique to this:
A casual reader not familiar with the Star Wars Expanded Universe will get confused by the beginning. As I see it you have two options, either provide more background, or drop details that would cause someone only familiar with Clone Wars and Rebellion to get confused. A casual thought that would make the reader see that we are about forty years after Endor would help.

[Darth Paxis]

we are about forty years after Endor would help.

Depends where in the Legacy era we are, it starts around 40 ABY, but the Legacy comics are ~130 ABY IIRC.

The story doesn't look too bad, if I'm right about the crossover, I think I'll look forward to reading this.


Edit: I'll beta if its needed, PM me if you're interested.

[Krisnack]

About the 'something else', well, I agree with you, except that I fear that openly stating what it is that Star wars crosses over with might turn off even more people. One I introduce a character from that show, I'll edit the subject.

The time would be 127 ABY during the early months of the Sith Imperial War. And yes, I really should have indicated the date, I plan to do so before the next update.

[Simon_Jester]

Krisnack, what makes you think that telling us what the story crosses over with in the thread title will be less of a turnoff to readers than telling us in the narrative?

Then again, I guess I can sort of see it. Not sure. We've seen some pretty wacky crossovers.

[Krisnack]

It's sort of a gut feeling. I have this vision of a post by Ghost Rider telling me to Get Out. Followed by my banning. Not that I believe that it would actually get me banned, just that I would be on the receiving end of a lot of flames.

[Mayabird]

Dude, if anybody was going to be telling you to get out, it'd be me, and I don't have the power to ban anyway. Not that I would for a story that merely sucked ass, but if you're so scared of flames, go buy some asbestos underwear. Also, your digestive tract does not have neural tissue, so don't think with it.

That being said, stop being a damn pussy and change the fucking title. If you can't bear to do it until it's obvious, just call it "SW crossover" instead of this "/Something Else" bullshit.

[von Neufeld]

So Digimon, eh. Much better with stating it out. I suspected something worse like SW/SI or SW/HP. At least a Digimon crossover is something I haven't seen before. Let's see how you handle this.

[Mayabird]

Indeed. Now I'm actually curious to see how this turns out.
[line 2]

[Krisnack]

I admit, I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of negative reaction to my choice of topic. I hope hope this next chapter isn't padding, I'm trying to establish Felchan's character. Whether I'm doing a good job or not...
***Search***
Three hours later, he was back in the reviewing the footage he had taken of the people on the streets. He continued to take mental notes about the style of dress, it would do him no good to confront the mystery force sensitive while wearing something that was horribly inappropriate. He made a mental note to avoid kilts or robes, or anything else that looked out of place.

Once he had an idea of what to wear, he began reviewing the translation program that had been created. It wasn’t perfect - that would require several more days of information gathering - but it would suffice if he was accosted. Felechen allowed himself a measure of satisfaction. So far, everything was preceding quite well. He frowned. The Force of a way punishing those who became overconfident or careless.
---
He went out again the next night. He had been studying the language program relentlessly, and wanted a diversion. Proper clothes would allow him to wander around during daylight hours without having to keep an eye on the battery life of his stealth equipment, which in turn would allow him to get a feel for the layout of the area. Which was something he needed very much, given his inability to find a clothing store. Eventually Felechen gave up and simply ‘persuaded’ a bystander to give him directions to a small department store. Now there was the matter of entering, retrieving what he wanted, and leaving. He disliked theft, but he could see no other way.

The main entrance was out of the question, so going through a side door would be a better choice. He reached out with the Force, probing for security devices and guards. He had no compunctions about killing anyone who got in his way, but bloodshed would attract attention, which might end up scaring off the person he intended to teach. Best to limit any violence to inanimate objects.

The first obstacle was an electronic locking device. Felechen suspected that simply destroying the device would trigger an alarm, however he had brought a lock breaker along. He placed it next to the lock and initialized the device.

Breaking the lock took longer then expected, about two minutes. Felechen surmised that it was because the lock breaker was designed to defeat the security of the Galactic Alliance, not this backwater planet. When confronted by the antiquated systems, the lock breaker simply had a hard time figuring out what to do.

There was also the matter of the secondary, mechanical lock. The dark-sider focused on the pins in the lock, carefully manipulating them into place until the door opened. No alarms went off, and the one security guard sensed remained at his post. Felechen crossed the threshold, walking slowly through the hallway until he came to a large room with a wide sections of clothing items.

There were several visual recording machines in the room. Felechen reached out to one and cracked the lens. He extended his awareness again, and felt a spark of agitation from the store security officer. This would be easy.

Half a minute later, a patch of light began to dance along the floor. The Sith Lord remained still, out of sight of the camera. The guard, however, would see him easily. Sure enough, he looked around and spotted Felechen.

“Just what do you think-”

Felechen raised his arm. “You look rather tired. Go back to your post and sleep. Also, forget you ever encountered me.”

Nodding duly, the guard agreed. Felechen idly wondered about what sort of discipline the man would face from his superiors. He discarded that thought, and proceeded to disable the rest of the cameras.

Once that was done he began looked over the various articles of clothing for sale. True to his Sith nature, he looked for something that was dark-colored, yet wouldn’t stand out. There was also the matter of it being the right size, which might require trying it on... this could take longer then he expected. And there was the matter of shoes.

About two hours later Felechen emerged from the store with a large bundle of clothing under his arm. Removing the small ink-containing devices was tedious, but necessary. The planets’ rotation gave him plenty of time before morning arrived, so he didn’t need to rush back to the Shadow. Best to take it easy - being seen carrying several changes worth of clothes would probably look suspicious, and running while carrying the clothes would definitely attract attention.

Felechen’s caution payed off apparently, as he reached the Shadow without any trouble. He had only just set the stolen clothing down when a wave of fatigue him. Between the intensive crash course in the local language and his two excursions, the Sith Lord had gotten perhaps four hours of sleep. He had allowed his eagerness to overtake him. Felechen cursed himself, such folly could easily lead too disaster. Patience would serve him far better.

With that thought, he took the lift up to the upper level and lay down to sleep.
---
He awoke feeling more refreshed then he had in years. Ever since he had discovered the mystery force user, Felechen had found himself experiencing a savage joy. It was like he was a new man, full of purpose. This was what he was meant to do, spreading the Dark Side, not destabilizing some second-rate planet.

While he might feel ready to take on whatever pitfalls this world could throw at him, he would require extensive preparation for the nest stage. It was unlikely that his target was nocturnal so he couldn’t waste too much of the day. This meant spending a few brief minutes re-reviewing the language program, then getting to work.

Now he would have to find where his quarry lived. The clothes he had selected shouldn’t look too out of place, perhaps a little on the casual side. There was also the matter that the law enforcement might be on the lookout for somebody wearing the stolen clothes. Then again, they might not bother, given how tedious such a task would be.

His equipment would have to be kept out of sight from prying eyes. Most inhabitants wouldn’t be familiar with technology from a hyperspace-capable civilization. There was a plastic bag he had found on one of his excursions that he could keep in it, he just had to prevent anyone from looking inside it.

At last Felechen placed the multitool, scanner, and electrobinoculars into the bag, dressed, and snuck out the airlock.
---
Finding the location of the mystery Force user was easy, all he had to do was follow his burning presence. He did his best too keep out of sight, as caution never hurt, even if made the final objective take longer to achieve.

Several blocks later Felechen arrived at a wide two story building. Frustratingly, he had no idea what it was used for, the lack of security personal suggested it wasn’t a government or a major corporate office. The windows seemed to indicate a minor office building, perhaps a municipal service?

Felechen stopped and paused. Idle speculation would get him nowhere. He already had the power to find out just who was inside the building. The Sith Lord continued on until he had reached the end of the block, then turned right. Half a block later he stopped and focused on the building, probing at the people inside it.

His first thought was that there were a lot of people, and the second was that many of them were young. Children in fact.

It was a school.

Was the person he was looking for an instructor, or a student? If the former, then taking them under his wing would be profitable enough, if the later...

My own apprentice, to mold and shape as I see fit.

The fire of anticipation that had been burning within him intensified. Given the ratio of teachers to students, it was very likely the person he was looking for was a child. Still, he should be prepared if this was not to be. He had been disappointed before. Yet for some reason he couldn’t take the possibility of being wrong seriously. Was the Force itself telling him that his future apprentice was one of the students? Perhaps he could afford to be confident.

There was no need to put off the discovery any longer. After retracing his steps, he found a concealed hiding place. Once he had hidden himself, he refocused his attention on the people inside it, searching for the lone force sensitive. He quickly found the signature among the rest. Judging by the height, the person was definitely a youth.

Vindication. Here, on this planet, the rule of the Sith could begin anew.

Inside the building, one shuddered momentarily. He couldn’t explain why, but he had just felt like somebody had peered into his soul.

Felechen spend the next several hours in his hiding spot. He kept his attention on the student, taking care not too focus too intensely on his target. If the student was aware of his or her own Force potential and know how to use it, Felechen’s probing could be detected. He had no desire to unnecessarily complicate matters.

At last the the doors opened, letting forth a deluge of youngsters. With electrobinoculars in had the Sith waited until his future apprentice exited the building. He zoomed in on the student to get a closer look. Very dark hair, deep blue eyes, male according to the biosign readouts. Like the res of the other children, he wore a plain grey uniform. What struck Felechen the most was the way the boy walked with air of confidence. Either he was from a well off or noble family, or he was very accomplished. If the former, then training might end being harder, due to the student’s privileged life. If, on the other hand, such arrogance was well earned...

The though of an apprentice who was mentally or physically above average invigorated Darth Felechen. A student who would be strong enough challenge him would be a fitting inheritor to the Sith legacy.

Making sure to keep his mind focused on the boy, Felechen waited until the last of the students had left, then got up and turned right. Following the child too closely would make him seem like a kidnapper or worse. For that matter he would be better off keeping his distance from any other students. He should be alright as long he kept of the boy’s line of sight - and it probably wouldn’t hurt to keep the boy of his line of sight.

Eventually his path took him to the residence where lived. It was a fairly nondescript house - then again, given his limited exposure to the local culture he might have missed any subtler clues. There were no signs of wealth or privilege, so his soon-to-be-apprentice must have done something to earn the air of haughtiness he radiated. Discreetly, he crept into a small hiding spot across from the house to memorize details about it. While most would undoubtably be trivial, some might be able to shed light on the kind of person his quarry was. He considered attempting to probe the minds of the other two people in the building, however he had never been very good at the technique and would probably end up only frightening them. As they undoubtably were the boy’s parents, it was possible that he would hear the commotion. There was also the slight change that he had a Force-bond with them and would feel the probe attempt. In either case, the probe attempt would most likely accomplish nothing useful at best and unnerve the child at worst.

He spent ten more minutes observing the house, and then, just when he was about to get up and leave, the force presence vanished.

Felechen’s mind was thrown into a state of semi-panic. Had the boy detected him and somehow shielded himself from the Sith Lord, despite his precautions?

While such a thing was unlikely, it was possible, even if it took years of training for most Force users. It was certainly no less likely then an untrained Force user learning how to create Force-bonds on their own. If the boy sensed his presence then many of his plans would have to be scrapped. It would be like trying to chase down somebody who was invisible and silent.

A wave of unease washed over him. It looked as if he would have to track the student visually, an endeavor that he did not look forward too.

He lost track of time, so he was unable to say for how long he sat there for. But he did notice when signal that had disappeared suddenly re-materialized. What had just happened? Why did he reappear at all? If the maintaining the ‘shield’ tired him out, then why hadn’t he moved to a different location? As any starship captain knew, you reactivated your cloaking system once you though you were out of range of your enemies scanners. To engage the ‘shield’ and then to deactivate it when in the same place made no tactual sense. Unless...

Unless that was what the boy wanted him to think. Had the child been watching him somehow while his cloak was up? Felechen had to admit that was possible, the house might have a rear exit, and it wouldn’t be too hard to sneak around and encircle him, perhaps even plant a surveillance device.

Could this mere child have outmaneuvered him? He extended his awareness, searching for a hidden recording device. After several minutes he gave up. Perhaps he was overestimated the child. The matter did require more investigation, though. He would have to return to this household in the morning.
---
The next morning Darth Felechen was watching as the boy left for school. Mush to the Sith’s surprise, he had not hidden his presence from him, and in fact had made no attempt to take a route that would conceal him from onlookers. He even walked with that same confident demeanor.

Still feeling rather puzzled about last night’s events, Felechen waited until the child was out of sight, then started to follow him.
---
Eventually, Felechen stopped a block away from the school. The youth had arrived at the building and had never cloaked himself. Mystified, Felechen turned around and decided to take a walk through the commercial district. It would help clear his mind, and the change of scenery might allow him to approach the problem from a different angle.

Crossing the street, he wondered if the cloaking action was involuntary, or a reflex action. If so, what had caused it? It was possible that Felechen’s presence into had set it off then, but why hadn’t it engaged yesterday when Felechen had been outside the school? He sighed. Perhaps the cloak was simply random, depending on no external stimuli to activate? He wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case. The universe was a capricious place, as the bloody conflict between the Jedi and the Sith proved. The Sith would continually arise only to be destroyed by the Jedi or their own infighting, always being denied victory. Was there a way to crush the Jedi once and for all?

He shook his head. Such thoughts had nothing to do with the situation at hand. He needed to focus.
---
An hour later Felechen still hadn’t come up with a satisfactory explanation. Bored, he stopped at a bookstore Despite not knowing how to read the language. He really would have to fix that, not just to function in this society, but also to enjoy his pastime of reading philosophy. He had committed entire passages form the works of Darth Bane to memory, and looked forward to learning what this world had to offer.

On a whim he walked up a flight of stairs to the second floor. He turned to a nearby window, idly watching the people below. He looked up, over to a building across the street. Apparently somebody in it had a wide screen television set turned on.

Felechen would have preferred a good book, but whatever was on might be entertaining. Taking the pair of electrobinoculars out of his bag, he focused them on the television and adjusted them to make the picture clearer.

Once he’d zoomed in, he noticed that it was some sort of a ball game, and that the players were rather young, children even. Odd, he thought, most of the planets he had been to hadn’t considered such a thing to be newsworthy. Still, this was a rather unusual planet it would be no surprise to learn that they did things differently here.

Strange, the camera seems to be focusing one player in particular. No surprise given how good the kid was-

Wait-

It’s him!

Felechen’s eyes bulged out. It was the same boy who he had been following earlier. And the more he looked at the screen, the more he realized that the boy wasn’t just good, he was a prodigy. His movements were fluid, his tactics masterful and overall he looked unbeatable. He had to be drawing on the Force to augment his playing ability, there was no other explanation. No wonder the local news chose to do a show on him.

The game drew to a close. Felechen couldn’t read the score, but he had no doubt that the child’s presence had massively tipped the balance in favor of his own team.

He leaned against the wall, contemplating what he had just seen. The body already knew how to use the Force to boost his speed and agility, and he wouldn’t be surprised if there wasn’t a small amount of precognition involved.

His mind was made up.

Today he would meet the boy.

[von Neufeld]

Quite good chapter, I at least thinks you did well with characterization. There was two things that stuck out, however:
1. No mention at all of the anti-theft ink tags on clothes. That seems a bit odd.
2. "It was a fairly nondescript house - or a very small apartment" It seems very strange that he wasn't able to tell the difference.

[Krisnack]

Quite good chapter, I at least thinks you did well with characterization. There was two things that stuck out, however:
1. No mention at all of the anti-theft ink tags on clothes. That seems a bit odd.
2. "It was a fairly nondescript house - or a very small apartment" It seems very strange that he wasn't able to tell the difference.

Thank you, and good catches. I'll go back and fix these parts.

[John Chris]

Is it a bad thing when I can guess the plotline of the story, especially who the Sith Lord likely targeted as his apprentice, all because I know Digimon (especially the season this is set in) and Star Wars like the back of my hand? Nevertheless, I will keep an eye on this. It sounds like an interesting premise. I've only seen one Digimon/Star Wars crossover, and I'm glad to see another.

[Krisnack]

Is it a bad thing when I can guess the plotline of the story, especially who the Sith Lord likely targeted as his apprentice, all because I know Digimon (especially the season this is set in) and Star Wars like the back of my hand? Nevertheless, I will keep an eye on this. It sounds like an interesting premise. I've only seen one Digimon/Star Wars crossover, and I'm glad to see another.

Damn, is it that obvious? Ah well, I hope I can live up to your expectations.

[Krisnack]

***Encounter***

Several hours later, Darth Felechen was practically racing as he headed towards the the school that the boy went to. The problem of the child ‘vanishing’ was inconsequential, he had decided. Now would come perhaps the most difficult part - making contact. He would have to tread a fine line here, appear too fearsome and the boy might be frightened, appear weak and the boy might not be interested. He would have to tailor his approach to the child’s reactions.

He slowed to a walking pace, then turned right. This wasn’t the same place that he had hid earlier, but he would be able see the boy leave school. Not that he needed to, given how he could track the child’s presence. A quick glance at his chronometer told the Sith lord that he still had a few minutes before the child exited the building.

The minutes crawled by as Felechen waited. Eventually children finally began exiting the building. Felechen continued to watch, and as the boy walked out the gate he remained still. He continued to wait until he though the boy was about two blocks away from his position, then he got up and began walking towards the child’s position. He knew the route would take him through a small park that was deserted at the moment. It would make a perfect spot to confront the boy.
---
To anybody who happened to look at him, the boy seemed rather ordinary. His mind, however, betrayed a very different nature, for it contained thoughts of rulership and power, and of obstacles to be removed. He pondered the expansion of his domain . Perhaps it was just a game, but what a game it was! It was certainly much more enjoyable then school, which he thought as an exercise in tedium.

I wish the real world could be as interesting.
---
Walking in the shadows, Felechen continued to follow. It was ridiculously easy, he didn’t even have to see the boy thanks to his own ‘Force sense’. He didn’t know the minimum intensity of a mind probe that the child could detect, so he had made it a point to leave the kid’s thoughts alone. In fact he been very careful about keeping up his own mental barriers. While his own defenses wouldn’t have helped against an experienced Jedi master, they had been quite effective in preventing the boy from sensing him. What if he lowered those defenses just a bit?
---
Still unaware that somebody was spying on him, the boy continued walking. He had just entered the park when a shudder ran through his back. He dismissed it as a nervous twitch and continued on.

About ten steps later he felt the shudder again, and this time the back of his neck started to head up. He continued to walk, refusing to allow the the sensation to bother him. He was above such petty discomforts after all.

Then, for a reason that he couldn’t quite figure out, he turned around to look behind himself.
---
Darth Felechen continued to stalk his soon-to-be protege. He had to admit, he got a childish thrill out of remaining unseen. Could his soon to be apprentice sense him? Felechen didn’t think so, the path remained constant and steady. Perhaps if he got closer...
---
Annoyingly, the boy couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being followed. Several time he had abruptly turned around, trying to catching whoever was trailing him. He couldn’t explain how he knew he was being followed, only that there was somebody who remained just out of sight. Was it an admirer who was taking things just a little to far, or a full blown stalker?

He started walking faster, and and after a few seconds, the feeling disappeared. Perhaps it was nothing after all, although he was still slightly uneasy. Perhaps he should try to reduce his visibility.
---
Felechen broke into a jog. He wanted to the advantage of surprise, so mental barrier had gone back up. Now that his quarry had entered the park, it was time to end the chase. As soon as he caught sight of the boy making his way through a moderately forested area, he slowed to a walking pace. The child seemed to be taking a short cut, or more likely, he was trying to be less conspicuous. Not that it would do him any good.

The Sith Lord activated his sound damper and moved to cut off his prey’s escape. While he might disapprove of being overly reliant on technology, his didn’t want to leave this encounter to chance. The boy had stopped walking and was leaning against a tree. He made sure to keep out of the boy’s peripheral vision and continued to close the distance.

It was time to reveal himself.
---
“Hello.”

The youth turned around with a start. A man had somehow snuck up on him while he had been walking home. The fellow’s pose wasn’t threatening, but he did seem to possess a aura of power.

He studied the man. His hair was dark, not as dark as his own, but enough as to be unremarkable.
His skin was noticeably fair as well, which contrasted with the black pants and jacket as well as the dark crimson shirt he was wearing. Rounding off the impression was his green eyes, set in a hard, squarish face. The boy didn’t want to admit to himself that he looked quite intimidating.

“Why, exactly, were you following me, if I might ask?”

“I was following you because you have a very rare gift. You have the ability to touch the Force, to feel it, to bend it to your will. I can show to fully utilize your potential.”

The boy paused. This wasn’t what he had been expecting at all.

“What did you mean by ‘touch the Force’?”

“Ahh. The Force can be thought as an ever present field of energy . It is a powerful tool for those who are both able and willing to use it. With it you can strike down your enemies, rule the weak, and be enjoy the respect you deserve. Very few people can use it, which makes you a cut above almost everybody else.” That’s it, build up his ego. You can always tear it down later. “Actually, you are already using it. Yesterday I saw you on television. Judging on how you handled the ball during the game, I think you’ve learned how to enhance your physical abilities quite well.”

“Thank you, I think.” It seemed like the boy wasn’t really sure what to make of the whole situation. Perhaps he needs a demonstration of some sort.

Felechen gestured at a nearby rock and it rose into the air. This made a suitable impression on the boy, judging by the size of his eyes. “You’re - you’re willing to teach me how to do that?”

“That and more. The ability to move objects by thought alone is only the beginning of the Force. Are you willing to learn? Will you become my apprentice?”

“Yes. I’m willing to do what ever it takes.”

Felechen smiled, and extended his hand to seal the agreement.

“What is your name, apprentice?”

The boy stepped forward and took the offered hand.

“Ken Ichijouji.”

[von Neufeld]

He knew the rout would take him through a small park that was deserted at the moment. It would make a perfect spot to confront the boy.
---

route.

The youth turned around with a start. A man had somehow snuck up on him while he had been
The fellow’s pose wasn’t threatening, but he did seem to possess a aura of power.

Here you seems to have dropped some words.

Otherwise this chapter went well. One interesting thing with your apprentice choice is that he is supposed to being corrupted by another outside influence. If you add the dark side to that, will they clash or cooperate? I'm looking forward to seeing which way you take it.

[Krisnack]

That was was I get for posting at 1 AM. I'm basing the story off the assumption that the spore acts like a dark side artifact, and that said apprentice is already drawing off its power. His teacher will simply show him how to use it to its fullest potential. The results... won't be pretty.

[Krisnack]

My beta reader suggested that I revise this chapter. I sent him/her the revised version, but I haven't heard back yet, so I'm going to go ahead and post it (plus I feel like kind of an asshat for letting the topic get to the second page). Also, I have a somewhat spoilerish question for you medical types: Spoiler

If a person sustain numerous broken bones - I'm talking about the humerus, ulna, radius, femur, tibia, fibula, clavicle each suffering one or more breaks as well as several cracked ribs - how long will it take them to die from internal hemorrhaging without medical attention? Also, if a person did suffer these injuries but received medical treatment after twenty minutes or so, how long would it take them to make a full recovery?

***Apprentice***

“Ahh. The pleasure is mine, Mr. Ichijouji. I am Darth Felechen. The ‘Darth’ is actually a title, as befits a Dark Lord of the Sith.” Did the little bastard just snicker? “The Sith Lords are an old and distinguished order dating back thousands of years.” He could almost feel Ken’s incredulity warring with his sense of wonder. He would have to reenforce the earlier impression that his levitation trick had made.

Felechen picked up a dead branch and stared at it. After a second, part of it burst into flame.

Ken looked up at Felechen. “ I want to learn, but I need to tell my parents that I wont be home for a while.”

“Understandable.”

The boy went over to a pay phone and explained to his parents that he was tutoring another student, and would be home later. When the call was over, Felechen started walking and motioned for his new apprentice to follow him.

“Come. I will show you where I live, so that you may train in privacy. It is not far from here.”

Ken noticed that the Sith preferred to keep away from the sidewalk. A small part of him was afraid that he would kidnapped or worse, but he dismissed that thought. After all, Felechen did have the ability to move or ignite matter. Anyone who could do that had far better things to do then kidnap somebody for ransom.

After about ten minutes they came to a forested strip of land. Ken couldn’t see any sign of a house or dwelling, so he assumed Felechen lived farther on. He was wondering what kind of residence Felechen would have when he noticed the feeling of dread that had been building up for a while. Sensing his discomfort, Felechen turned to him.

“Keep walking. You are simply feeling the effect of an artifact I have at my home, it’s function is to keep away unwanted guests. In time you will grow used to it.”

A few dozen more steps, and he stopped.

“Where is it?” Ken asked.

“Do you think I’m just going to tell you? Only the most cunning are allowed the privilege of joining the Sith. Then again,” he said with a disappointed tone, “perhaps my riddle is too hard for you. In that case I sus-“

“I’ll find it.” Felechen smiled at that, he had expected to have to put a little more pressure on his new apprentice, however Ken’s determination was a pleasant surprise, give his earlier hesitation.

He began by picking up a fallen tree branch and searching the ground. After a while he looked up towards the treetops. A good guess, thought Felechen, one very few students would think of. When this failed to produce results, he began to inspect the trees themselves. Finally Ken returned to prodding the ground, and it was then that he noticed the depression in the soil.

Cautiously he tried to prod the flattened ground, but paused when the branch was stopped by the invisible hull of the Tantalus. Ken’s eyes bulged, and he stood there for a moment. Then he decided that after what he had seen so far, an invisible house wasn’t that impossible. The boy took a moment to inspect the end of the improvised tool, and upon find it undamaged, began to tap the surface of the ship. He began walking to the right, continually tapping, as if testing out a new drum. Felechen then realized what Ken was doing, he was mapping out the boundaries of the ship. Several times the boy banged his head on the overhanging hull of the Star Courier, but he persevered, eventually stumbling over the ramp that let up to the airlock door. Once his branch had made contact with the door, he inspected it again, then reached out carefully to touch it.

A keen mind, Felechen thought, as Ken felt out the boundaries of the door, his hand passing over the concealed palm scanner.

“Congratulations on finding the door. Unfortunately the ‘lock’, so to speak, only recognizes me, so you wouldn’t have been able to get in on you own.” He walked up the ramp and placed his own hand over the scanner. There was the sound of hydraulics, followed by a wave of semi-stale air. Felechen strode forward and vanished through the invisible door.

Ken paused for a moment, then followed.

As soon as he entered the room, he had to stop. Something about the place subjected that it wasn’t from this time or place. Everything looked so futuristic, and yet so worn down, as if the place had seen decades of use. He started walking again, noting the scratches on the walls and floor. The paint looked faded as well, and Ken wondered if this place had some how been brought from the future.

“Come along boy, we have work to do.”

That got Ken’s attention, and he hurried to catch up with Felechen, who was already walking down a long hallway.

At the end of the hallway there was a room cluttered with what looked like storage containers. Three were open and he couldn’t resist looking in to them to see what they carried. He was only mildly surprised by his inability to recognize the contents, although he could guess the uses of some of them. As Ken pondered the various gadgets, one of the containers slid towards him with alarming speed. He jumped away, and as the the container nestled itself against the wall, he shot a dirty look at Felechen, who was pushing another of the containers against the wall opposite to the kid.

“If you’re not willing to help clean this place up, then I can help but think that you won’t be willing to learn how to use the Force to its greatest extent.” The boy took the hint and began pushing a nearby storage unit. Eventually they had cleared out the middle of the room, and Ken turned to Darth Felechen expectantly.

“What will you teach me first?”

“First I will teach you obedience. Kneel.”

“What?”

Oh for kriffs sake- This one was going to be trouble. Then again, all the greatest Sith usually are.

“Kneel.”

Abruptly Ken felt a great weight on his had and shoulders. He had no choice but to fall to his knee and bow to Felechen.

This was not something he had expected.

“Now rise, my apprentice.”

The pressure lessened, and he got up and looked at Felechen expectantly.

“We will start out with some basic meditation exercises. Don’t look at me like that - even Darth Bane had to begin somewhere. Now I want you to think about something that makes you angry. It can be anything, it can even be me.”

Ken though about his parents and how they only loved him for his accomplishments. He imagined a hoard of his shallow, empty minded fans and admirers screaming for him. Felechen felt the waves of fury that was radiating off his student and smiled. Such rage would prove most useful.

“Now focus. Feed your anger, think of it as a fire that needs to be kept from going out. Stoke it, nurture it. Let it burn.”

The anger intensified, and Felechen nodded with approval.

As Ken was meditating, the Sith lord paused. Normally when he sensed a Force-sensitive, he would feel the Force emanating from their entire body. Not so with this child. With him he could feel it flowing from a specific point in the boy’s body - his neck.

This puzzled him. He had never read of such a phenomenon, let alone experienced it before. Delicately, he mentally probed Ken’s neck and discovered a strange object. He couldn’t tell if it was a natural growth, or if it had been inserted somehow. Felechen knew of the Reborn and the Shadowtroopers, however he had never read anything about inserting an object into their bodies. They had been empowered using the Valley of the Jedi, not by a cybernetic or biological implant.

No matter. He had plenty of time to investigate the issue. That reminded him about the way his student had ‘vanished’ last evening. One thing at a time though. His thoughts turned back to his apprentice.

“Remember to hold on to your anger when you leave here. It can be tempting to let it evaporate. Also, be mindful that you do not squander it, a mistake that many novice Sith make. Hoard it carefully until the time is right for you to release your fury.”

Things were going well.
---
Somewhere else, an oversized green, caterpillar looked up. Ken was late. He couldn’t remember him being late before, had something happened to him? Or he might have simply been preoccupied. It’s not as if he would bother to call ahead...

It was unlikely that his partner had simply lost track of time, so either he couldn’t get to the Digital World, or he deliberately had decided not to visit. If it was the latter, then what would he find more important then the conquest of this world? Was he working on some horrible new weapon that he would bring over?

A knot of dread arose in the creature’s stomach. Nothing good would come of this...
---
“Peace is a lie; there is only passion.
“Through passion, I gain strength.
“Through strength, I gain power.
“Through power, I gain victory.
“Through victory, my chains are broken.
“The Force shall set me free.“

“Very good. Congratulations on mastering the Code of the Sith on the first try. But it’s not enough in simply know it, one must also follow it. If you demonstrate that you fully understand its meaning, then you will be ready for more advanced lessons on how to use the Force.”

“What do I have to do to show that I understand it?”

“Apply it. Put it into practice during your everyday life. I’ll be watching you to see if your truly understand or if you’re only wasting my time.”

That seemed to impress Ken with how serous Felechen was. “I won’t disappoint you. I won’t fail you.”

“Let’s test that shall we? I want you to go back to your meditation,

Watching him Felechen felt not just the anger, but also a fierce determination that had not been there before. So he does know how the Code should be followed. Good. He is strong in mind, body, and the Force, a rare combination.

For an indeterminate time teacher and apprentice sat on the floor, each engrossed in their own thoughts. Then, the student got up and turned to his master.

“I’m afraid I have to got to leave. My parent are going to be serving dinner soon, and I -“

“That’s perfectly understandable. In fact, this would not be the first time that Sith apprentices have been trained in secret without the knowledge of their guardians.” He paused for a moment. “I will look forward to training you. Farewell, apprentice.”

Ken nodded politely, and walked towards the airlock.
---
As the child departed the Tantalus, Darth Felechen pondered the matter of the boy’s disappearance. He would need to get to the bottom of that as well eventually, and he did have an idea of how to research the problem. He went to one of the cargo containers and removed the electrobinoculars and began to program them. Once he had set the recording time, he began walking towards the exit. As he stepped out the airlock, he wondered why he hadn’t thought of this plan before. Time to pay the Ichijouji residence a visit.

He made sure to walk slowly, as there wasn’t any point in arriving early. He was about a block and a half away from the boy’s house when he felt his student vanish from his senses. He continued walking along at a leisurely pace until he reached the house itself. Once he arrived he crept down, keeping a low profile. At this close range he could feel the presence of the boys parents.

Sneaking around the house was easy thanks to the fence. That the backyard had a tree only added to Felechen’s good fortune. He slung the electrobinoculars around his neck and began to climb. Once he had reached a branch where he had a view of an empty bedroom - he guessed that this was the same place Ken had been when he had ‘disappeared’ - he fastened the strap of the electrobinoculars securely around a branch. He then made sure that it had a direct view of the boy’s bedroom, then inched back down.

If all went well, he would get some answers.
---
By now, the caterpillar had worked himself into a nervous wreck think of all the horrible fates that could have befallen his partner. He was so worked up that he didn’t notice when Ken walked through the door.

He did notice when the Sith in training walked into him, punting the lepidopteran across the room.

“Ken! Oh, I’m so glad you’re alright, I though you were hurt or kidnaped or-”

“Shut up, Wormmon. I was busy.” his tone indicated that the had no intention of telling the virus type where he had been for the last several hours. “Any way I want a full status report. What’s happened while I was away?”

At that, * looked nervous. “Well, I did record several trespassers on the camera -“

“What! Put the video on screen, now!”

Wormmon tried futilely to jump up to the control panel until Ken walked up and kicked him away before entering the commands into the system himself. The Sith apprentice looked at the monitor, showing several children and digimon. They seemed competent, if inexperienced, after all they did manage to free a controlled Monochromon from one of his rings.

He smiled. Thing was getting interesting...

[von Neufeld]

In one place you have 'clime' instead of 'climb', otherwise a good chapter.

However, be careful about the training, don't make it go too smoothly. The story will work better if he struggles at some point.

[John Chris]

I knew it! So is this Ken before or after he becomes the Digimon Emperor, because if it's after, he's going to recognize the signs of totalitarianist ideals in his new 'master' and would not want anything to do with him. I'm guessing before due to the hints in your post, but we shall see.

And will you have the Jedi come along too, or is it just the Sith?

[LadyTevar]

This is Ken the Digimon Emperor.

[Krisnack]

In one place you have 'clime' instead of 'climb', otherwise a good chapter.

However, be careful about the training, don't make it go too smoothly. The story will work better if he struggles at some point.

Thanks. Oh, I intend for there to be some friction and bumps along the way. In Felechen's eyes, if you call yourself an emperor, then you better rull over a few star systems, at the very least.

I knew it! So is this Ken before or after he becomes the Digimon Emperor, because if it's after, he's going to recognize the signs of totalitarianist ideals in his new 'master' and would not want anything to do with him. I'm guessing before due to the hints in your post, but we shall see.

And will you have the Jedi come along too, or is it just the Sith?

It takes place after Ken becomes a [strike]tyrannical thug[/strike] misguided autocrat. The ruthlessness and hunger for power will make him an ideal apprentice - once he's had the arrogance beaten out of him. To answer your second question, there's going to be no Jedi, or any other Sith. Felechen's 'trip' was effectively a one in a million long-shot, and everybody back home has pretty much written him off as MIA.

[Krisnack]

My apologies for letting this go so long, as my beta reader was busy, not to mention I dropped the ball when I didn't check my messages for three whole weeks.

***Lessons***
Somewhat annoyingly, Felechen only had time to walk back to his ship when he felt Ken reappear. He turned around, his mood only slightly worse, and began the trek back. It was well past sunset now, which made staying out of sight easier. In any case, no one of consequence had seen him during his return trip. He had a couple of close calls sneaking around the boy’s house, but nothing that merited using a mind trick on somebody.

Once he had made his way into the back yard, he started climbing up the tree, both to check if Ken was awake, and to retrieve his pair of electrobinoculars. The lack of light force him to ascend slower then he would have liked, yet perhaps it was for the best, it wouldn’t do for the boy to catch him there and then. Once he had reached the point where he could grab the electrobinoculars, he peered inside the room. It looked empty; however just to the left of the window Felechen could feel his student’s presence, still except for the minutest stirrings.

Well, at least he goes to bed at a sensible hour, Felechen thought amusedly.

As the Sith lord reached up to retrieve his instrument, he reflected on how today had been the most productive day he had seen in years.
---
After he had arrived back home, Felechen decided to put off analyzing the recording from the electrobinoculars until morning. After all, his sleeping habits were nothing to be proud of. His decision was rewarded, as he awoke with a surprising amount of energy and enthusiasm, and so he went right to work. It turned out that there wasn’t really that much to be done, he simply selected a time close to when he felt the boy pop back into existence, then fast-forwarded until he saw a tell-tale flash of light. There!

The dark lord stopped the recording and the peered closer to the screen. Just after the flash had faded he could make out a partially obscured Ken Ichijouji. The boy was back, the question was of where he went remained unanswered. He would require more surveillance - and he would have to get a better angle when he next recorded the boy’s little ‘excursion’. In the meantime he could come up with a lesson plan, so to speak, for his protégé. The boy probably wouldn’t be interested in more meditation practice, so that left.... yes, lightsaber training would make an interesting choice. He especially looked forward to seeing how Ken’s augmented physical abilities would affect lightsaber combat.

He finished the plan about ten minutes later. It should suffice for the next several months, assuming that everything worked out. Assuming being the key word. Felechen half expected the Force to send him an unexpected setback just to spite him. He looked over at the ships chronometer. He had hours of time that he didn’t know what to do with. The dark lord was feeling uncharacteristically restless; he simply wanted to go out and do something.

Oh well, he needed to go back to Ken’s house to setup the electrobinoculars for another recording session. Hopefully with a better point of view this time.
---
After setting up the recording instrument, the Sith lord decided to explore the region, something he probably should have done earlier. He was actually looking forward to this, as contrary to the expectations of both Sith and Jedi alike, he enjoyed sightseeing. Felechen had to smile at the thought of a Jedi master running into him while dressed as a tourist. Then the mental image of him fighting a Jedi while clothed in one of those awful ‘off world’ outfits made him chuckle. Really, you could buy those sorts of garments at any second-rate Coruscant store.

He decided to avoid the commercial districts, and instead pay a visit to the industrial zoning. One could learn a surprising amount about a city by looking at its cargo transportation systems and seeing what condition they were in. In his experience, a rundown spaceport could mean that off-planet demand for the cities products had plummeted. The construction of a mass-landspeeder transport system might indicate that a planet feared a blockade.

It didn’t seem to be too run down; in fact he suspected that the place was in the middle of a recovery. Still, he could pick the feelings of greed, fear, rage, and despair, and he let himself soak them up as a plant might absorb sunlight

This would make an excellent meditation spot.

Of course, there was the worry that he might be killed by a random slug, or whatever the inhabitants of this planet used for projectile weaponry. Better find a place that was out of the way.

He turned right into an alleyway and sat down behind a dumpster. It might have been dirty, but Felechen had dealt with worse conditions. He cleared away some of the nearby garbage, and sat down.
---
His meditation was interrupted by the impact of the tip of a boot against his shin. He looked up to see a young tough holding a knife sneering down at him.

“You picked a bad place to sleep. Normally I’d ignore you, but look a little too well off to be homeless. So cough any cash you have, and I’ll let you go.”

Right then, Felechen was in a very poor temper. He didn’t like having his meditation interrupted. He really didn’t like being kicked awake. Still, in a way it was his fault for choosing to meditate in an alleyway.

Not that it was going to stop him from killing his tormentor, of course.

Carefully maintaining a nonthreatening stance, he got up and looked directly at the mugger.

“Your life is utterly pointless. You will fill your pockets full of stones, walk over to the docks, then drown yourself in the water.”

The hooligan stepped back, his face a mask of uncertainty. “I - I have no reason to live.” Surprised at the slight resistance that he met, the Sith lord repeated himself more forcefully.

“You will fill your pockets with stones, go to the docks, and drown yourself in the water.”

“I will fill my pockets with stones, go to the docks, and drown myself in the water.” The thug turned around and stumbled off.

His will was surprisingly strong, Felechen reflected. Then again, my record with mental control has been rather mixed, more than I would have liked. No matter. He was in wonderfully foul mood now, and there was no sense wasting it. He sat back down again to continue his meditation.
---
When Ken arrived for his for his second lesson Felechen was confident that he could take whatever the boy could throw at him. He might be a good ball player, but the boy would be unprepared for the forms of lightsaber combat.

He picked out two metal poles, each about four feet in length. They would serve as the training weapons, given the absence of proper training sabers.

As soon as Ken set foot in the cargo section, he saw that his teacher was ready and waiting. He hesitated for a moment, wondering if the ‘anger meditation’ was the source of Felechen’s abilities, or if there was something else going on. Felechen simply gave him a half simile.

“I thought you would want some training that was more substantial than simple meditation exercises. Am I correct?”

The student gave a simple nod, however his eyes betrayed his eagerness.

He may not be so eager once I’ve given him a proper thrashing, Felechen thought.

“Do you know what a lightsaber is, boy?”

Receiving only silence in return, Felechen pulled out his own weapon and activated it. The surprise on Ken’s face was evident as he regarded the device with awe. “Is it safe to touch?”

“Do you wish your finger burned off?”

Ignoring the boy’s frown he elaborated. “An ancient weapon, older than your civilization. It is the mark of any Sith that they carry a lightsaber.” He paused for a moment. “The materials and components used in the construction of a lightsaber may not exist on here. Nevertheless, there are weapons that will suffice. In any case, you are going to learn about lightsaber combat.”

He handed one of the metal bars to Ken. “Prepare yourself.”

Ken took up defensive pose. His teacher did likewise, holding his weapon out in a diagonal stance. This lasted for about two seconds before the Sith lashed out with a cho sun, and Ken stepped back, bring his own pole down to block it. He then retaliated with a downward swing that Felechen easily blocked, despite the speed of the blow.

His teacher feinted, then he thrust forward and struck end of the rod into Ken’s midsection. The boy stumbled backwards, and Felechen leapt forward, slamming the student’s shin bone.

Enraged, Ken launched himself into a berserker fury, striking at the dark lord again and again. However his rage was without focus, allowing Felechen to easily parry the blows. He waited for an opening, then knocked the blade out of his student’s hand, then kicked Ken in the chest. The novice stumbled back and fell to the ground.

Grimacing from the pain, the boy lifted his head up only to see Felechen dispassionately looking down at him.

“Get up.”
---
A mere three minutes later, Ken was covered with half a dozen bruises and in no condition to continue the sparing. He had learned the basics quickly; however Felechen would simply change to a different style of combat whenever he began to pick up on the lightsaber form he was using. The result was that he was completely out of his league.

It was Felechen who broke the silence. “It won’t do for you to come home looking like that. There’s a technique I know, a healing trance, that speeds and enhances your recovery.”

Most of his colleagues shunned it; however he saw no point in discarding a useful tool just because of its links to the Jedi. The Light side may be the weaker of the two, but it still had its uses.

“Sit down, close your eyes, and concentrate. The Force can be used to manipulate things on a very fine scale. I want you to focus on your injuries. Do you feel the clotted blood, the damaged tissue? Now try manipulating the proteins and putting them back together. I know it seems like you are only healing yourself one cell at a time, but the process is happening all over your body. With enough practice, it will be second nature to you.”

Ken sat down and closed his eyes. He was seething with resentment at the moment; such was his humiliation at not being able to land even a single blow on the man.
---
Thirty minutes later, the bruises on Ken’s skin had noticeable healed to the point his skin had only a slight discoloration.

“Oh and don’t think that this will be your last lightsaber practice session. You’re going to continue your lessons whether you like it or not.”

Ken’s facial muscles twitched in a way that might have been a snarl. Felechen caught it, but said nothing.

His anger is impressive, but unfocused. That can be fixed. I might was well bring up the matter of his habit of vanishing every evening.

“Oh, there is something I want to speak to about.”

“What’s that?”

“Your nightly disappearances.”

This caught Ken by surprise. In many ways, his teacher was a black box to him. Previously he had wondered if most of Felechen’s abilities were technological in nature, and the power that he had spoken of was in fact political. Now however, the boy wasn’t so sure. Who knew how many of his powers his teacher had yet to reveal?

“That’s right; I know that every night you vanish from this world and a few hours later, you return. The question is, where is it that you go to?”

“I - I -”, Ken stammered, trying to think of what to say. The idea of his teacher entering the Digital World was something he hadn’t considered.

“Now boy, you are going to show me,” spoke Felechen in a tone that booked no insubordination.

Ken looked up at his teacher. He wouldn’t be able to talk his way out of this one.

“We’ll have to go my house,” he said. “There’s program on my computer that allows me to access the - the place.” Felechen raised an eyebrow but did not comment.
---
At Felechen’s instance, they took different routes to Ken’s house. The boy agreed with this, reasoning that having the Sith lord follow him home would look rather odd.

The two set out on their paths leaving both alone with their thoughts. Felechen could not help speculating on what ‘the place’ was like. While he found it improbable that the child had a device that could transport him to another location, he had to be prepared that it really was the case. He suspected that it was simply a different location, perhaps underground. He also wondered why his student would visit the place, aside from the usual boyish fascination with building forts and exploration.

Meanwhile Ken was on edge, yet he was also looking forward towards showing his teacher what the Digital World was like. He didn’t know how the man would react, whether he would approve of what Ken was doing, That bothered him. On the other hand, once there he would be the teacher. Felechen would have to ask him how things worked there.

Once Ken arrived at his house he turned around to see if Felechen was following him. He didn’t see him, so the child assumed that he had got there first. After waiting a few minutes of waiting, he decided that Felechen could damn well wait another day if he couldn’t be bothered to learn his way around the area. He went in, gave a cursory greeting to his parents and went up to his room. The budding Sith sat down at his computer, and hit the power button.

Suddenly a face popped up outside his window. Taken completely by surprise, Ken tried to jump backwards, only to fall out of his chair. As he got up, he saw that the face belonged to Felechen. So startled was he, that he almost didn’t notice the slight smirk on the man’s face.

After making sure that neither of the boy’s parents was nearby, Felechen decided to open the window latches using the Force, as his protégé didn’t seem willing to let him in. He could feel the boy’s anger, although he was doing an admirable job of not letting it show. The Sith lord clamored through the window, and emerged in front of his student.

“Now I believe you were going to show me about this place?

Still seething, the boy took about a small mechanical object that resembled a micro-scanner from the waning days of the Old Republic. He motioned for Felechen to take his hand, and once his teacher had done so, he pointed it at his computer screen.

A blinding light shone forth from the screen and enveloped them -
---
The light was replaced by an unfamiliar room as the pair made a somewhat undignified landing.

Felechen quickly noticed that his outfit had changed. Instead of his native clothes, he now wore a traditional black Sith robe embroidered with red and gold writing, dark boots, and black gloves with wavy white lines running down them. So something about this place alters your attire.

He looked around the room, which seemed to be some sort of command center, albeit a small one. Screens, graphs, and scanner readouts covered the walls.

He turned to his right and beheld Ken who now was wearing a garish blue and white shirt and pants. Compounding his appearance were a pair of foppish white gloves and oversize shoulder pads. Worst of all was his spiky hairdo and yellow-rimmed glasses.

“You look kriffing ridiculous.”