Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Star Wars movies, TV series, books, comics or games. I don't own Gundam Seed or Gundam Seed Destiny. They all belong to their respective creators and/or copyright owners. I make no money from this story. It's not for sale or rent.

Imperial Knight

=IK=

Prologue: Welcome to Korriban – it's still the same kriffing hellhole

I was hoping that I would never have to set foot in that hell-hole again… I should have known better. Ever since I ended up in this never sufficiently kriffed up universe it has been one horror after another. Every hope I tentatively held on had been viciously crushed. Every shred of morale I once had were gone – buried alive under enough crimes to hang me a thousand times over if I was back on Earth.

I glared at the rust-colored glowing sphere visible through the cockpit's window.

Korriban. The place, which broke me. The place where I chose to become an unrepentant monster. The only positive thing about this come-back was right here, next to me. My pilot was terrified – as befitting any sane man who had to cart a livid Sith anywhere. The waves of terror that came from him were positively delicious.

Not good enough to raise my thunderous mood. The heavy cloak of the Dark Side that was draped over the world below us, no matter how welcoming it felt, wasn't enough either.

A cold shiver ran up my spine. My skin became aflame with phantom pain. It was almost as if torrents of Sith lightening were wracking my body once again – lighting my nerves on fire and draining my life-force. The latter was much worse than the actual physical pain… The ironic thing – that particular torture actually had a point. Once Sith lighting or direct drain of their life-force weakened an acolyte sufficiently, it made it easier for them to do the latter on either conveniently provided victims or each other. We had to learn fast when the alternative was becoming an empty husk.

Oh, we learned all right. I could still remember clearly the first person whose life-force I had to drain to survive. I closed my eyes for a moment.

That was a mistake.

=IK=

Suddenly I was back in hell. I was looking at the face of the closest thing I had to friend – Ankia Feliz. She was a cute lithe thing – a heart shaped sculptured face, huge expressive emerald eyes and too nice to make it in that hell-hole. Ankia was the only person on Korriban I was reasonably sure wouldn't stab me in the back on a whim and that was saying a lot about her character.

She was my only friend here in hell.

Her face was frozen in a rictus of pain as our "teacher" had fun torturing us. Ankia was a special project for a lot of the Sith supposed to educate us – she was stubbornly refusing to let go of all her principles and do everything she was ordered to. Instead of making an example of her, Darth Jensol – the maniac heading our class – wanted to break her.

We all thought that it would be just another day in hell.

We were wrong.

Jensol had been in a particularly foul mood for over a week. That day he was pissed off enough to no longer care about breaking Ankia. Jensol had been frying us with Sith Lightning for over an hour, when he decided that we were ready to actually learn something.

We were all glaring pure murder at the tall bastard, when he surprised us.

"Bravo! Finally!" The sick kriffing bastard thing in the guise of a man applauded us. "I can feel your hatred. Splendid." I was sure he was smiling under his black featureless mask.

He waved his hands at us. The Force screamed a warning but none of us was in a state to avoid the attack we knew was coming. My muscles convulsed and I screamed in pain. I could feel pieces from my very essence being torn away and absorbed by that monster.

This time I could actually see twisted lines of energy connecting me with Jensol. There was a whole damn forest of the damn things – the live force of the damned bastards who were dumped in the Academy with me.

The attack suddenly ceased.

"You're all dying." The Sith's voice had become silky – almost pleasant. "If any of you pathetic fools still harbors a shred of hope that we still need all of you – forget about it. Three days ago the Empire and those cowards in the Republic signed a cease-fire. We no longer need a bunch of useless slugs to bolster the ranks and throw at the kriffing Jedi and their lapdogs. You all know what that means, right?" The Sith was beaming under his mask, I was sure of it.

That explained why he had been in a foul mood for a week. We knew that Jensol wanted to go back to the front-lines instead of deal with us. That hope had been dashed… along with any chance most of us had of making it out of here relatively intact and sane. With the war on temporal hold, the Sith wouldn't need every half-backed apprentice to bolster the ranks. They could concentrate on quality – one of their biggest advantages at the start of the war, though one that was mostly lost as the casualties mounted and the Republic's resistance became more and more fanatical.

One would think that this temporarily peace would be a good thing for us.

We knew better. Jensol was many things, though idiot wasn't one of them. He was too smug if the news was good for us. We could easily feel that through the Force.

At that moment I hated the Republic for suing for peace almost as much as Jensol.

"I need no more than four viable apprentices from this class." Jensol sounded giddy. "There are thirty of you right now. Only ten would leave this room for the next part of your training. If you want to make it – start draining the life force of your competition." He waved a gloved hand at us.

His attack came before the Force could scream in warning. My skin was afire as dark purple, almost black tendrils of lightning scalded my body. I screamed myself hoarse before Jensol ceased his fun. I could feel my strength waning with every passing moment.

"Begin." He ordered imperiously.

I blinked in confusion as the Sith's distinctive voice cut through the red haze that had fallen upon me.

So this was how dying feels – I was laying curled in a ball on the cold stone floor of the training room. My strength was gone. I had no doubt that even a kitten could beat me right now.

I almost smiled. Dying wasn't so bad. Not for someone in my position. It would be a release from this hell. Even if I ended in an actual hell, it wouldn't, couldn't be much worse than this, right? I closed my eyes and for a moment I was at peace.

"We made a deal. You don't get to give up because it's too hard." A familiar woman's voice sounded in my head. Suddenly I was somewhere else. "No matter what… Didn't you say that? You have a job to do."

I wanted to scream in frustration. I just wanted for everything to end.

My perspective shifted. I saw the woman I loved be manhandled then shot in the stomach on the bridge of her own ship… before it was blown to bits by a massive energy beam.

I could feel it through the force. This was real – no deception… even if I barely remembered the woman in a familiar uniform who just died in front of my eyes.

"What is this?!" I hissed. I felt a part of me dying as I watched her be blown to pieces.

"You made a deal, soldier boy. A boon for a shot at second chance."

I was away again. This time I had a great view of the Earth as the massive wreck of a destroyed colony plunged through the atmosphere. Hundreds of nuclear missiles struck it, though they managed little more than shattering its outer layers and vaporizing a miniscule portion of the kilometers long structure.

It struck somewhere in the pacific – near a small island chain I think.

The world spun madly and it took me a few moments to comprehend what I was seeing – time passing on a fast forward. An enormous explosion vaporized a significant chunk of the ocean. It threw a tremendous amount of debris in the atmosphere and created the greatest tsunami Earth has ever seen.

Then there was the tectonic instability caused by the impact. It made hundreds of volcanoes – old and new – erupt.

I watched Earth die.

"You made a deal, soldier boy." The woman repeated.

I was back in the cockpit of the Dragon as it was caught in the wake of the CYCLOPS device. I felt my blood boil before I died. I felt myself die through the Force.

It made me afraid.

"What would it be?"The woman asked.

"What is this madness?! What's the point?" I screamed in my head. "Why did you set me on this path?! Why did you send me in this hell?!"

"Why? We both have a price to pay for another chance… and I need a Sith to achieve my goals in this universe. Make your choice. Who do you value more? The woman you love? Earth? Or these people in a galaxy far, far away? Tell me commander Veil of the Earth Federation, what will you chose?"

"Damn you!" I roared. Fury and hatred filled me. Despair embraced me and I was afraid of what I saw. Of what I experienced and knew to be true.

"Curse me as you will. I deserved it." I could feel her smile. "I know what you'll choose. As you do, too. Even now, even in this hell… You're afraid. Scared that the future you know is coming to Earth will be happen again. Afraid for your little minx of a captain. Afraid to die again."

The fleeting feeling of peace was gone. All I felt was fury, hatred, fear… and love for a woman I could barely remember. What the hell was happening to me?

Soft fingers cupping my face. Wet lips crashing upon mine. The faint scent of roses from her favorite soap…

"You always knew..." I hissed. Memories exploded in my mind - of another world, another life.

"That you'll get the job done?" This time her voice was serious. Regretful even. "That you'll throw away your principles, trample your morals and become a monster if it's what would take to protect the few people precious to you? That's why I rescued you and gave you a second chance… and now a third. You're like me. You know it's wrong. Yet you'd do it anyway. You would burn the whole god-damned galaxy to protect a handful of people who matter to you. I'll ask again. What do you chose?"

At that moment there were no more lies. No illusions. I knew what would happen. What could happen. That it was wrong. How many people would I need to sacrifice, no, to murder in this galaxy to give Earth a chance? To save Natarle?

I was a soldier, for a time at least. I knew the reality of war. The consequences. The choice to sacrifice some lives here in order to save more over there. I knew what was the right thing to do – to just die and potentially doom Earth. Because as a Sith… I was likely to destroy more lives than people had ever lived on my homeworld. Looked from that side, the choice should have been simple. A no brainier.

The woman who sent me her knew better. She knew me better. In the end I was a selfish man. In the end I cared more for Natarle, for my friend, for Earth more than everyone living in this accursed galaxy.

I looked at my hands. They were already stained with blood.

In the end, the decision was surprisingly easy. Who knew that making a deal with the devil was such an easy thing?

"Damn you! I'll live!" I roared.

"Good. Fare thee well, my wayland knight. I'll see you on the other side once it's all said and done." I heard approval in her voice and I hated her for it.

The alien presence vanished. I was back on the cold stone floor. My strength was almost all gone.

"Will you? Live that is?" Jensol sneered at me. "Prove it, trash!" The Sith roared at me.

I grit my teeth and grabbed the Force with what little strength I had left. I poured all my hatred, fear and self-loathing in it. All my fury. The Dark Side enveloped me like a snug cloak. I could feel it… It was happy at what I was about to do. I could almost hear it whisper in the back of my head – it was encouraging me. As if taking another's life in order to survive was the most natural thing in the world. As if it was something to be proud of...

I concentrated in the closest presence in the Force and turned my head towards it. My eyes met Ankia's emerald orbs. I could feel that most of her life-force was gone. She sent me a pleading look.

For a moment we looked at each other. Ankia didn't want to die. She wanted me to help her. She wanted me – her only friend in this hell – to save her.

I was barely able to raise my right hand and grasp her shoulder.

Ankia sent me a look of gratitude.

For a moment I felt sick at what I was about to do. At the betrayal.

I pushed those emotions away until there were only my fury and fear left.

Ankia's eyes widened as she comprehended at what was about to happen. She gave me one last, accusing look before I reached through the Force and tore away what little life-force she had left.

I screamed as the Ankia's energy washed over me and soothed my burning nerves. I screamed at the pointlessness of it all. Of the sheer waste. Because of the monstrous path I chose to walk on my free will.

"Good. You may actually cut it. Let this be a lesson for you all – there's no place for friends, pity or mercy in our world. It's kill or be killed. There's no fairness. No justice – only power and those strong enough to grasp it." Jensol crooned at us.

I barely heard him as I stared at Ankia's body. Her soft skin had become parchment. Her emerald eyes – empty dust filled voids. Her long red hair – patches of dry straw. The shoulder under my fingers crumbled to dust.

What little decency had survived in my cold heard up until that day shriveled and died. I glared at Jensol. I knew that my eyes were shining with sickly yellow light in the twilight of the training room.

The Sith gave me an approving look and waved at the rest my classmates who were still alive.

I was weak. That's why today happened. That was something that had to change, now.

I turned towards my closest classmate, a Zabrak teen called Hold. He had just finished draining the life of a human teen – Olen, I think. It didn't matter any more. The Zabrak met my gaze and recoiled. I glared at him and raised a hand in his direction. The Force jumped to obey my wish. I reached through the distance separating us and tore at his life-force.

=IK=

I opened my eyes and found myself strapped in the co-pilot seat of a shuttle descending through Korriban's upper atmosphere. Kriff this place. No matter what people said, it couldn't have changed that much from my time in the academy a decade ago. Kriff Jensol too for sending me back here. Kriff his acquaintance who had called a favor and insured that I had to come back.

Kriff me too for not being strong enough to murder Jensol and take his place!