<font color="#77A8C1">There are two views on where power lies in the Force; it’s either in the light or the dark. Most don’t know which is true, until they’ve touched both.

With each passing day, Kanbal felt more and more out of place among the Jedi and in their temple. He slowly was ostracizing himself from everyone, including his now former Master. The visions he had been having since his first day of instruction, after his Force jump mishap, had haunted him since. He bothered to tell no one, dismissing them as a temporary affliction. But it slowly became clear to him that these visions were in fact brought on to him by allowing himself to open up to the Force. The only way to suppress these visions was to stop using the Force. It became too much for Kanbal one afternoon, after some lightsaber combat instruction. That night, he decided it was time to end the training, for the sake of maintaining his sanity. But getting off planet without the Jedi knowing would be a challenge.

He lacked a personal starship when arriving on Naboo. His only possessions that he had brought with him were his clothing and his swoop bike. He didn’t have close to sufficient funds to even put a down payment on a personal transport, or even to purchase a ticket. Theft was the only plausible solution. Even with a rudimentary control over the Force, Kanbal was sure he could easily take a ship. Theed’s spaceport was moderately busy during all hours of the night; someone was always naive enough to leave their ship unguarded for the night, thinking Naboo in general was free of crime. Unfortunately, one of those naïve spacers was about to discover this assumption to be incorrect.

Dressed in the black flight suit he arrived in, Kanbal left from his apartment in Theed for the spaceport. The roar of his swoop through the street was sure enough to awake someone, but Kanbal did not care about the welfare of these people anymore. The wind through his shortly cut, dark brown hair felt good, like the old times. His body and mind melded with the swoop, making them like one organism, undoubtedly a result of his training. He could feel it respond with the slightest course corrections he made. It was an amazing feeling that was cut short by his speedy arrival at the spaceport; he must of have been going faster than the realized.

The spaceport was partially craved into the cliffs of the Theed Plateau. The mammoth building that housed most of the ships was well guarded on the outside at night, and even more so on the inside. Kanbal pulled up to the fences of the spaceport, studying any features that could be exploited. The solid, black iron fencing posed more threat then they looked to the normal being, having electricity running through them (very low tech), but Kanbal was no normal being. With the Force as his ally, Kanbal leapt over the fences with a graceful back flip, and a soft landing.

Kanbal neglected to take note of the spotlights that were sweeping the duracrete field, which was for overflow. Sped along by the Force, Kanbal ran towards the building. There were several docking arms for commercial transport to land at, unload, load, and take back off. With what little time Kanbal had, he judged the docks to be 35 meters off the ground. Without second thought, he made the jump, and landed silently on the dock.

The roof of the building had a few ships on it, a Xiyitar-Class Transport surrounded by half a squadron of modified Z-95-AF4 Headhunters. Kanbal could sense a maintenance crew scurrying around the ore hauler. The Headhunters were left relatively unattended, open for the picking. Dashing across the roof, on a light and swift foot. Kanbal approached the nearest Headhunter, and quickly leapt into the pilot’s seat. When he fired up the engines, the maintenance was thrown into alarm. The Headhunter had barely enough time to run through start up procedures before the whole spaceport was alert.

The replusor jets lifted Kanbal into the air just as guards started their sprit along the roof. Slamming the accelerator forward, the Headhunter started it ascent for orbit. Kanbal quickly called up the nav computer interface; it was only a matter of moments before the Naboo Royal Security Force’s fighters would be following him. His mind froze; were was he going? In that moment of hesitation, Kanbal failed to anticipate the shots being fired on him by the silver and a yellow N-1 Fighters. With a last second roll, Kanbal dodged most of the shots fired, but did get hit, but shielding absorbed most of it.

Kanbal’s job just became harder by ten fold. Not only did he need an escape destination, but also he had to preserve his life if he were to escape. Rolling left and right in the atmosphere put serious strain on the Headhunter and on Kanbal. As Kanbal and his pursuers headed for the vacuum of space, Kanbal entered what seemed to him like a motley set of coordinates. Spinning around, almost in orbit, Kanbal got behind one of the Nubian star fighters, and without concentration or aiming, Kanbal let loose a hail of blaster fire. The N-1 created a brilliant fireball that Kanbal flew out the other side of.

Before the other fighters could realign, an indicator light on the control panel winked out, notifying Kanbal he was out of the planet’s gravity well. Being fired upon again, Kanbal twisted out of the way. Two fighters in the back of the group mimicked him; they were flying closer than was safe. Kanbal reached out with the Force, and pushed one fight, but with no avail. The pilot corrected quickly, and came out to a safer distance from his wingman. Kanbal closed his eyes, deepened himself in the flow of the Force, concentrating on the fighters. He shoved them together, using his frustration as fuel. His eyes snapped open form the shock he incurred. He heard the scream of the pilots before they died. With that scream, it felt like a piece of him died with the pilots.

Turning his attention back to the task at hand, Kanbal terminated the sublight engine, and engaged the hyperdrive. The six remaining fighters fired at the Headhunter, but the blots hit nothing but vacuum as Kanbal was launched in the unknown.</font>

The boy had talent; that much, Xireon gave him.

Talent, wrecklessness, and a certain desire for more. A lack of contentment with what he had, and a desire for more; more power, more knowledge, more skill. Sometimes, simply more; an unwitting yearning for something unattainable, but also unknown. Kanbal Stian was walking a dangerous path, one which had surely perterbed his Jedi Masters...

...a path which lead into the womb of the Dark Side.

The seed had always been there. The seed which was within all those destined to become servants of the Dark Side, one which prospered and fed off of the Force. It was a seed which had drawn Xireon Jiren halfway across a galaxy, seeking it's beckon call, a dark whispering through the Force. A man with as much innate talent and aptitude as Kanbal possessed, and as much frustration, gave off a palpable homing signal in the Dark Side.

Especially when Leia Organa Solo, always the careless homing beacon herself, lead Xireon right to him. Oh, yes, the Jedi woman hadn't a clue... but when such a powerful Jedi Master and a promising prospect for the Dark Side met, it was an event which a Sith as powerful as Xireon couldn't possibly ignore. He'd followed them to Naboo, unseen, unnoticed. There, he'd watched Kanbal carefully--and, when necessary, disrupting the young man's thoughts with his own dark energy just enough to nudge him toward the Dark Side without being noticed.

Xireon's presence had been easily masked in Theed; with so many talented Force users in the area, Xireon was just an annonymous blip on the radar. That, and, of course, the fact that the Xiyitar-Class transport's hull had been stacked with ysalamiri. The small, worm-like creatures had masked his presence from the careful inspection of Kanbal Stian, while the Achrions--dark, masked, cloned soldiers wearing black replicates of the Royal Guardsman uniforms--patrolling outside had casted enough of a foreboding sense in the Force to keep Kanbal away.

One of the dark armored Achrions entered the bridge of the Xiyitar Transport quietly. Xireon sat in the Captain's seat, facing the main viewport silently. The Force-sensitive Achrion knew his master could sense him; thus, he bowed, even thought Xireon did not turn.

'My Lord.' He said, his voice monotone and sinister through his suit's speakers. 'The Ysalamiri have been placed in the cargo hold.'

"I know." Xireon responded.

'My Lord, I cannot question you,' Began the Achrion, but Xireon cut off his speach with a wave of his hand from behind the chair. Of course the Achrion could not question him; the fanatically loyal clones did as they were told.

"But, you are wondering why we informed no one before leaving Xa Fel, why we took this transport without requesting it, why we are even now not intending to return it to the Naboo Sith Order?"

'Yes, My Lord.'

"Because," Xireon said, turning, a sinister grin upon his face--a face which was a reflection of that of the Jedi Master, Gash Jiren. "My memories of the life of Gash Jiren tell me that he ascended to the height of his power only when he abandoned the structured life of a Sith Order. He joined with Recon Klain, and together, none could touch them."

'Pardon, My Lord, but I do not understand--'

"Then quiet yourself, and listen. Kanbal Stian is different; special. Just as Gash Jiren was... if I bring him before the Naboo Sith Order, he will be lost to me. Those fools have lost sight of where power truly lies; within the Force, not within mechanical machinations."

'Yes, My Lord.'

"I, not the Naboo Sith Order, will mold Kanbal Stian into what he is destined to be. You have extrapolated his last known course, I trust?"

'Of course. Shall I enter the co-ordinates into the navicomputer, My Lord?'

"Yes. Yes... lift off as soon as we can."

<font color="#77A8C1">The escape would certainly send alarm through Naboo and the Jedi Order, and possible a search team to retrieve him. A rogue Jedi on the loose in the galaxy could only have dire consequences. Kanbal spend the duration of the hyperspace jumps in the claustrophobic confines of the cockpit mediating. Through the Force, he could see the repercussions of his action: families broken, friends lost, and a new force in the galaxy that would need to be reckoned with. All laced with dark overtones. He felt like a weight, heavy in the dark side, was pursuing him and ready to engulf him.

The alarm, signaling the end of the final jump, broken Kanbal out of his trance instantly, and restored him to where he had physically been for several days. He awoke refreshed and alert, starting his revision from hyperspace. The hyperdrive whined down, and the starlines became points of light in the viewport. A lone, desolate looking planet lay before him, curling an inviting finger. Readings listed it having standard atmosphere, standard gravity, a variety of ecosystems, and no signs of intelligent life. It was untouched and unspoiled by the corrupt society of the greater galaxy. Satisfied, Kanbal began the landing cycle. </font>

"Ironic, isn't it?"

'Pardon, sir, but what?' Asked the Achrion by Jiren's side, unmoving. Inhuman.

"The great Jedi Organa Solo... so powerful, and yet, powerless to change one student's destined course of action?"

'Yes, sir.' The Achrion replied, with a tone which denoted that he really didn't understand. Though the cloned Chiss soldier had access to the Force, it was a false access; a fraudulant one. One imbued upon him by the Force Crystals of Galak Fyyar and the Valley of the Jedi, on Ruusan... a Force access which had granted him power, but not insight.

Similar to the Jedi. Organa Solo, so powerful, but so blind. Insight, was the only true power; everything else was fleeting. What Grand Admiral Thrawn had failed to realize, what Gash Jiren failed to realize, was that even the most powerful warrior in the universe would meet his end. It was the ability to foresee one's own shortcomings, and prevent that end, that gave true power.

In the end, everyone who did not was a slave to death.

Kanbal Stian would not be a slave to death.

The Xiyitar-class freighter emerged from hyperspace, into the bleak expanse of a single-starred system. The gloomy planet which lay before them hung majestically before the craft, even as one of the bridge's alarms stuttered briefly.

'Master Jiren... we detect another craft in the system.'

"Transponder signal?"

'It reads New Republic, sir, but the craft is unarmed... I believe it to be a benign exploration craft.'

Xireon was silent for a moment. "Kill them, and send a single fighter to the third-closest system to here. Have the craft send a signal to Corellia, masked as if from the craft, describing their distress."

'Yes, Master.'

"Then prepare me a fighter. I will descend to the surface on the co-ordinates Stian landed at."

'Aye, sir.'

<font color="#77A8C1">Kanbal cruised through the atmosphere, with minor bumps along the way down. Reentry was never fun, even on commercial liners. This was the first time he'd ever reentered in his own personal craft, but with the Force as he ally, it was as smooth as an amateur could make it. Finally, he pasted over the spot that felt right to him.

With a hiss from the repulsor jets, and the whine of the engines shutting down, Kanbal peered out the polarized, transparisteel canopy at what was going to be his home for quite some time. Popping the canopy open, Kanbal lifted himself out of the cockpit, and jumped to the ground. His feet hit the moist grass with a solid thump. The sun was setting in the east due to the planet's retrograde rotation, and it was getting cooler. Kanbal, although, did not feel the effects of the dropping tempatures yet, but when nightfall came, he would be wishing he brought warmer clothing.

Reaching out with the Force, Kanbal could feel the life around him. Emotions flowed from everything he touched. It was amazing to Kanbal that there was a great concentration of life around him, yet all that was visible was the plants. He reached out further, trying to indentify all of what he was feeling. Gundarks roamed the woods, hidden from conventional sight, allow with an animal with the rough make up of a rancor. Kanbal reasoned it to be an off shot of the gentic line. He wanted to be like these two formitable preditors, felt, but not see or heard.

There was one more formitable preditor Kanbal could feel, but it was high in the sky above him. Looking up into the starry sky Kanbal could see a flashing light moving decending. The feeling of the dark weight grew as Kanbal saw it coming closer.</font>

The craft cut smoothly through the atmosphere, the hull becoming incandescant as the oxygen-rich atmosphere began it's cycle of friction against it. The fighter rushed toward the surface, and Xireon slowed it's descent, glancing at the computer.

"Life signs?"

'High.' The monotone voice replied.

"Find humanoid signature. Human."

'Found. Co-ordinates...' And the computer rhymed off a set of directional indicators, a numerical list which Xireon's agile mind recorded to memory. But he did not descend to that point, instead lowering the fighter into the deep forest. He set it down smoothly, opening the hatch of the CloakShape -- the same fighter his father piloted -- and stepping out, onto the dark, dank undergrowth of the humid jungle environment.

Xireon's lightsaber dangled still at his belt as he moved away from the fighter, the presences of unseen but terrified predators and prey all around him. With cunning and speed, he leapt into the bushy growth of the nearest tree, ascending the thing until he emerged above darkness of the forest, in the fading twilight of the world's approaching night.

The clarity afforded him by being free of the pervasive presences of the forest allowed him to quickly locate Kanbal -- and mask his own presence from him.

"I'd best set to work... this will be the night of a true metamorphosis for Kanbal Stian."

And unlike the foolish Organa Solo, Xireon would achieve true power. Kanbal's heart, his soul, would belong to the darkside, and so, belong to him.

Kanbal's ambition would be his fall.

From the forest, into the clearing, rushed a single predator. Large, dark-skinned, rancor-like, the thing was an imposing figure against a backdrop of the still-falling darkness of the planet's night. It approached Kanbal from behind him, quickly alerting the adept apprentice to it's presence, even before it let loose a feral roar.

There could be no doubt it was a threatening creature, one seeking Kanbal's death.

Bearing enormous claws, it took it's first swipe at the comparatively small Jedi. And, unseen, Xireon Jiren sat in silence at watched.

With the smallest of smiles playing across his face.

<font color="#77A8C1">Kanbal turned quickly to meet the creature's gaze. A bombing roar almost knocked Kanbal off his feet. He could feel the anger and uncertainty in the beast. Its wrinkled nostrils flared with every breathe. Kanbal could feel the creature's muscles being to recoil, so Kanbal did the same. Anticipating the attack, Kanbal leapt high into the air, performing a back flip, and avoiding the death blow.

The creature advanced on him, coming in between him and his ship, his weapon, his escape. The creature's large arms, and tiny hind legs, pushed it forward; getting closer to taste the fear of its victim. This time, the creature leapt at Kanbal, and successfully captured him under a hand. Kanbal could feel all his bones creek, and the ones that fractured sent shots of pain racing through his body. Rage began to fill every chord of muscle in Kanbal's body.

With a violent scream, and an amazing amount of Force energy, the creature was flung backwards, landing on the Headhunter. The impact ignited the fuel, setting the creature ablaze. As the flames grew, tounges of fire leapt towards the forest. Some landed on tree tops, and quickly spread through the canopy.</font>

As the forest began to burn, Xireon set to his dark work.

Before Kanbal's very eyes, the rancor shrivvled, shrinking down to human proportions. Slowly, the thing was reduced to nothing more than an average human being -- a young man, with dark hair and a muscled physique...

The visage of an average pilot. And somehow, in that moment, with a burst of intuition, he knew it to be one of those who he'd killed over Naboo.

The horror grew visibly on Kanbal's face as he continued to stare at the thing. No words escaped his lips -- only a started shout as yet another presence appeared, as if from nowhere, behind him. He twirled, spinning about only to stagger back again. In front of him, stood Organa Solo. His Master, whom he had abandoned...

And yet, it seemed only a pale shadow of the Leia Organa Solo he'd once known. A deep sadness was in her eyes, as she shook her head at Kanbal.

"Kanbal... what have you become?" She said, gesturing at the flaming trees. "Look at the life you are destroying, and have destroyed! In your own greed, you have become no better than the monster you thought you were slaying!"

Kanbal's eyes blazed with fire.

"Your ambition to be more than you were has destroyed all this!" The apparition said. "You have failed me, and failed your responsibility as a Jedi... your ambition has ruined you!"

<font color="#77A8C1">Something was not right about Organa Solo. Kanbal saw her standing there, lecturing him on what destroyed him, but yet, her presence in the Force was lacking, greatly lacking. With an indifferent gaze, Kanbal seached for the words.</font>

"Organa, you cannot being to fathom what destroyed me," <font color="#77A8C1">he started with obivious disgust for his former master,</font> "I'm capable of so much. You wasted time in my training with needless repetation. I bored of you lessons. And you promised me you'd help me understand the Force. YOU PROMISED ME!" <font color="#77A8C1">Kanbal could feel the rage and hatred swell inside him,</font> "Ever since I arrived at the Temple, I've grown more and more confused about what the Force is and why it chose me! YOU PROMISED TO HELP ME UNDERSTAND! You ruined me Organa, you did."

The visage only smiled at Kanbal's anger, frustrating him further. "But Kanbal, don't you see? You've killed me... killed me here, and now, in this place. You've taken the lives of so many -- and that blood, Kanbal, that blood is on my hands."

Organa Solo, or the apparition resembling her, suddenly appeared sad, almost regretful. Only for a second -- only long enough for Kanbal to hate her for failing him. Then, she smiled again. "Why do you hate me, Kanbal? Search within yourself. You know the reason.

"You have all along.

"You are not a Jedi. You never have been. You destroy, and destroy, and destroy. When you are not appeased, you are only driven to more and more destruction. You destroy those around you, those who care for you, those who want to help you. You destroy them all." The visage drew her lightsaber.

"As you will now destroy me."