STAR WARS: RETROSPECTION- Initiation

"Probably really great," Vash says, kicking over a rock. "There's nothing here now."

"Though that may be a good thing..." Rianna says, looking out over the forest. "Still, I want to know what happened. Maybe Rand will actually answer something for a change."

"He doesn't really do that much," Vash says. "I doubt he'll share. Do you know anything about this planet from history?"

That's a good question - does Rianna? She has some knowledge in Jedi Lore...

"This place isn't supposed to even exist. It had been wiped out entirely, or so I had always heard..."

The legends say that the Sith bombarded it until the planet's core ruptured, and that they used it as a training ground at some point. Which seems contradictory.

"In-fighting among the Sith, maybe," Vash says. "Typical of the Dark Side. Rand seems to think he can prevent it."

Rianna just snorts at that.

"Somehow I highly doubt he'll manage that one..."

She pauses for a moment.

"Just what do you have against me, anyway?"

Vash laughs to himself.

"Let's just say Rand's interest in your swordsmanship made me feel... competetive," Vash says. "And now you've beaten me twice. I don't know if I should respect you or hate you."

He pauses.

"You didn't kill me when you had the chance, though."

"I can't help that. One of my friends was his Padawan, so he knew me for a long time. And of course I didn't. Whatever may have happened after...I was still a Jedi then."

"Would you kill me now, if you had the chance?" Vash asks. "You're not a Jedi a now."

"No. At least, I don't think so. I don't like you, and I don't trust you, and quite frankly right now I'm afraid of you. You've already tried to kill me...but you're not the one that I blame for this."

Vash gives a nod that says 'Fair enough.'

"You blame Rand," Vash says. "Normal for a Dark Sider, I guess. Put the blame somewhere else. That's what I do. So does Tanic, and Gallador. I think Arneth and Rand were the only ones that I've known to own it."

"Rand sought this out. I did not."

"The others don't own it either," Vash says.

"Why should any of us?"

"To get some sort of peace?" Vash says. "I don't know. I feel like it stunts us if we just push it off as someone else's problem or fault. I've come to accept what I am, and I'm better off for it."

Vash flexes his shortened arm.

"In a sense."

"What peace is there to be gained? We have no future. We'll never gain power in the galaxy as a whole, or whatever Rand thinks he's going to accomplish. The best we can do is try and survive and I'm not entirely convinced it's even worth it," Rianna snaps back.

"What makes you think we couldn't gain power?" Vash asks.

"What makes you think we will?"

Vash makes the point that people are easier to manipulate into doing what you want than they are to motivate to do the right thing. He believes that people are inherently greedy and self-serving; there's a reason the Jedi have to train so hard and Light Siders without any official Jedi training are a rare find.

He also thinks that the Dark Side makes him stronger.

"We have an advantage over the Jedi," Vash says. "Our fears, our rage... our emotions empower us. They don't have that."

"It's also what will lead someone to ruin. How often in galactic history have Dark Siders ever held power for any amount of time without falling apart because of internal conflict? Does Rand really think he won't fall into that trap?"