Chapter II: Shatterpoint.

When Harry awoke he found himself strapped down to a medical table in an upright position. A thick leather strap across his chest, his feet locked in binders, a small metal collar around his neck prevented him from grasping The Force and lastly his wrists were bound in a pair of metal binders with extended chains. Chains that allowed him some movement, but cut off just shy of being able to reach the buckle holding his chest down.

After a short moment of confusion his last memories returned with a blast. The Sith attack on Coruscant, killing another person consciously for the first time in his life, Zallows death and grasping the Dark Side of The Force. 'If only I listened to your warnings Master', he thought despairingly. He had been arrogant in believing he had control of his late night experiments. Righteous anger, passion, no matter what you thought they were tools of the Dark Side. Seemingly harmless at first, but stealthily leading you down a road that would make you throw away all pretenses and revel in one's selfish emotions. It had still felt good though, the rage and sense of power he had briefly wielded after Zallow died was unlike anything he had believed possible, 'NO, it was my own hubris that made me fall to the Sith', he thought.

Looking around he could spot two Imperial soldiers standing guard at the door of wherever he was kept imprisoned. Further away in the room a single Sith clad in flowing black and violet robes grinned sadistically at him. "And the Jedi awakes at last", he said as he carelessly threw his legs onto the table. "Wondering what we're going to do to you slave"? the Sith spat the last word out with disgust as he grinned wider.

"There is no Emotion, There is Peace", Harry whispered the first line of the Jedi code like a mantra, mostly to himself, but the Sith picked up on it and let out a snort of contempt.

"Your little code won't save you slave your life is at an end, the only thing you have to look forward to is when your death comes to free you from slavery". The Sith had a wild look in his eyes as his hatred for everything Harry represented threatened to overcome whatever orders had been issued that were keeping Harry alive.

Harry felt he should be more worried, but for some inexplicable reason he felt no fear, at least for the moment. He had seen glimpses of his future several times, and while his future was shrouded in pain and darkness, slavery was not what was in store for him. Trusting his interpretations of the few visions he had seen he felt safe enough to anger the Sith some more, and the words of an old mentor fell in mind. "Death is merely the beginning of the Next Great Adventure, one that we must all embrace at some point", he said serenely as he tried to imitate Dumbledore's calm twinkling stare.

The Sith laughed for a moment before he fell silent. "You're actually serious aren't you? Do you have ANY idea of how slavery is? You'll be broken until you are less than human, not much more than a droid…or a pet", he snarled as spittle flew from his mouth, and Harry noticed the two guards warily edge slightly closer to the door.

"Perhaps", Harry said evasively as he stared into the yellow eyes of the Sith. "But no matter what happens to me, you will not be around to see it", Harry grinned slightly as he finished his sentence.

The Sith roared with anger and flew out of his chair and pressed his face into Harry's personal space, their faces mere inches from each other Harry could see the fear and rage swirl in the Sith's red skinned face and yellow eyes. "What have you seen? TELL ME"! Apparently this Sith though Harry's jesting was a serious vision. Deciding to play along Harry smiled hungrily at the Sith. "You'll die at my hand, by your Master's orders even", Harry glared at him as he drew away in shock.

"You LIE", he shouted as he drew a lightsaber and ignited its crimson blade. Screaming he swung at Harry, but to both of their surprise the blade halted inches away from Harry's neck.

"Did I not specify that the prisoner was to be…unharmed"? A dark mechanical voice called out through the room, and as the Sith stepped sideways Harry could spot the massive form of the Sith Lord who had killed his Master, and nearly killed him. Flanked by two other Sith he cut a menacing pose. Standing at least two meters tall, his chest and shoulders bedecked in heavy plated armour. A black cape hung over his shoulders, and his face was hidden beneath his hood, his yellow eyes and the blinking red lights from his respirator the only details visible under the hood. Yet Harry did not need to see the Sith Lords face, it was burnt into his memory. A shaved head and face lined with blackened veins and skin the colour of pallid rotted flesh, the Sith Lord was a true testament to the immense power and cost of losing oneself in the Dark Side of The Force.

"Lord Malgus, I didn't"- was all the Sith had time to say before Malgus casually threw him into a wall with The Force to silence him.

"So Jedi, we meet again, how do you find our hospitality"? Malgus jeered. Harry just spat towards him, and was rewarded by a slap across his face that nearly shattered his jaw and left him seeing stars. "I asked you a question Jedi", Malgus stated, this time with a much more threatening tone. Harry tried to shake the cobwebs out of his head, but before he could focus a blast of Force Lightning struck him and forced out a scream of pain, as soon as it started it ended but that mere moment felt like an eternity.

"Go to hell Sith scum", Harry rasped out with a grimace, only to scream as Malgus hit him again with Force Lightning. For hours or days, Harry lost count the torture continued. Malgus would ask him questions, seemingly inane and harmless and Harry would reply with a venom laced insult or yet another repetition of the first tenet of the Jedi Code, and action that seemed to aggravate Malgus more than anything else. Eventually though, as was bound to happen Harry's spirit and resistance waned, and even though he could barely feel The Force he could sense that his body was dying from the abuse.

"You are strong Jedi, stronger than any I've faced before, perhaps not in combat ability but certainly in spirit. Why do you continue to resist"? Malgus' voice had almost grown…softer, if such a thing was possible with the voice module that was in his respirator. Harry slowly raised his head to look Malgus in the eyes, and action that required an immense effort of strength as even the smallest movement caused him blinding pain. With another herculean effort Harry managed to utter a few words. "The Jedi will avenge us, together the Jedi and Republic will vanquish your Empire".

Malgus stared at him in disbelief for a second before he roared with laughter. "The Jedi and Republic have abandoned you. With Coruscant as a bargaining tool the so called Treaty of Coruscant was signed, peace reigns", he said those last two words with distaste before continuing. "The Temple has been razed to the ground, the Supreme Chancellor executed, armouries and treasuries pillaged, museums burnt to the ground and your vaunted Jedi order has left Coruscant in disgrace, even publicly disavowed and condemned one of their members when she tried to return to Coruscant to stop us, face the truth Jedi you have lost everything".

'The Jedi left Coruscant? Impossible', Harry thought, but he could sense the truth of Malgus' words. In disgrace the Jedi had left Coruscant…left him and by doing so abandoned everything he and his fellow Jedi who had fought and died on Coruscant stood for. "What…what do you want from me"? Harry groaned in defeat.

"I want you to swear yourself into slavery to the Empire right here and now in front of me".

As soon as Malugs had finished speaking, Harry was assaulted by a series of visions. The first showed him continuing to refuse Malgus, only to be killed. Following his death he could see the Republic fall under the sway of the Sith Empire and Earth itself burning under the assault of giant armoured machines assisted by legions of human shaped droids. The second vision showed him accepting slavery. He would suffer years of abuse, before being forcefully shipped to the Sith Academy on Korriban, where he would win his freedom. By that point he would be so consumed by his hatred that he could see the Republic completely annihilated by his own hands before being betrayed by his followers, and again Earth burning, men women and children being slaughtered in the streets as the army of machines massacred them.

The third vision was the most confusing and showed only a small scattering of images. He could see himself standing over the corpses of the other three Sith in the room beside Malgus. He saw himself stand beside a young man on the bridge of a mighty ship, facing a massive Sith Lord who hid his face behind a blank mask. He could see himself as a beacon of hope as he stood on the observation platform of a massive space station, watching as an armada of ships battled against another armada over the skies of Earth. He saw all of this in the span of less than a second, and stranger still was that everywhere he looked he could see faint lines, fractures that seemed to have no purpose but to exist and with shock Harry realized just what he had witnessed, what he was gifted with.

The visions, and the tiny fractures all of them were Shatterpoints. Shatterpoints could be different things, in the case of an object it showed and inherent weakness, where even the slightest pressure at the right spot could shatter the object. Or in the case of his visions they represented a defining moment in history, a moment that could change the face of the entire universe in the span of a second if he acted upon it, and with a start Harry realized what he had to do.

Looking at the binders that held his wrists he smiled, then launched a swift strike with his fingers into the sides of both of them. With disbelief written across their eyes the Sith watched as the binders fell to the floor in pieces. Before they could even attempt to draw their lightsabers the Force suppressing collar followed and finally being able to fully grasp The Force again, it was childs play to unlock the strap across his chest and the binders at his feet. Freed Harry allowed The Force to fill him to the brim, rejuvenating his body and bringing fresh energy into his limbs.

He was still unarmed though so he used The Force to vault himself to the other side of the room where he fell into a well-practiced Djem-So stance. Malgus raised an eyebrow curiously as he motioned for the three Sith in the room to advance on him. "Kill him", he said.

One of the Sith who had come in with Malgus advanced rapidly towards Harry with his lightsaber held over his head for a killing blow. Harry focused his sight on the Sith and he could see a big red line that stretched across the Sith's chest, and he smiled slightly. "That's a nasty wound you have there", Harry stated and the Sith stopped in his tracks. Would be a shame if I did This"! Harry stated calmly as if discussing the weather. And the he focused on the fracture that stretched across his chest and 'pulled'. With a terrified scream that echoed through The Force the Sith was torn apart in a shower of blood and organs, and the other two Sith advancing stepped back, horrified by what Harry had done. Harry however saw his chance and immediately went on the offensive. He summoned the lightsaber of the Sith he had killed and ran for the closest Sith, the other one who had come in with Malgus. The Sith fell into the Form III Soresu stance almost immediately, the defensive form managed to protect him from Harry's powerful attacks.

Yet with his new realization of exactly what the tiny fractures he had seen before in his life were he could now focus on the feeling, use the ability consciously instead of how it had been used before, as nothing more than instinct and what had seemed like amazing luck. His ability to see Shatterpoints quickly showed him the single flaw in his opponent's bladework, a flaw that Harry capitalized on, and promptly removed the head of his opponent. Looking to his right Harry could see Malgus continue to stand still, not even having drawn his weapon, the two guards however had their blaster rifles pointed at him, looking to the front again Harry grinned wickedly at the Sith who had been in the room when he woke up. "I told you so".

The Sith screamed, partly with rage, but mostly in fear as he fell upon Harry with the raw acrobatic flurries of Form IV Ataru. His lightning quick acrobatic strikes were extremely dangerous, designed to take out an opponent as quickly as possible, but against someone as well versed as Harry in the art of Soresu or Djem-So it was foolish choice. The Djem-So form allowed Harry to weather the storm, while retaliating with powerful attacks that disrupted his opponent and quickly tired him out. After less than a minute the Sith stumbled. It was an action that took less than a second, a mere misstep that instinct righted instantly, yet that second was all Harry needed to step into his opponent's guard and remove both his arms at the elbow, screaming in agony the Sith fell to the floor.

"Impressive Jedi", Malgus stated. "But foolish, you cannot hope to defeat the entire ship by yourself; there are over two thousand soldiers and a hundred Sith onboard, already on their way".

Harry just shook his head. The choice he was about to make weighed heavily on him, but if he was going to save the Republic and Jedi, his friends and even the Earth itself, he had to willingly sacrifice himself to the cause of the Dark Side of The Force. "I do not intend to defeat you, I intend to join you". The words felt like ash in his mouth, and his mind screamed that he was betraying everything he had fought for, 'It's for the greater good of the galaxy and Earth', he told himself, but it was not providing him any comfort.

Malgus laughed once he heard Harry's wish. "You would willingly become my Apprentice? You who have showed so much hate and contempt towards me; You were hell bent on murdering me in your precious Temple, what changed"?

Harry ignored the whimpering anguished moans coming from the Sith at his feet and stepped closer towards Malgus. "I lay no secret that I hate you, but hate is a powerful tool of the Dark Side is it not? The Jedi has abandoned me and left me for dead, and I was chasing under their rules and regulations long before the attack, I owe them nothing", Harry spat as he focused on his anger and hate to make the words more convincing. Even as he was repulse by his words he could feel the sickly yet sweet tantalizing energy of the Dark Side fill him. Making him want to retch and bask in it at the same time.

Malgus looked at Harry with interest before nodding slightly. "Perhaps you have what it takes to become the greatest of us after all, prove your dedication to the Dark Side and kill this pathetic wretch", he pointed to the whimpering Sith still at Harry's feet. Looking down at the pathetic form Harry shook his head. "Killing one of my torturers will prove nothing, sell him as a slave so that he may live with his shame", even as the words escaped his mouth Harry raged at himself for his foolishness. "You speak the truth, I have a greater test for you", he turned to one of the guards and whispered something to him, "Sit down, your test will arrive shortly".

Harry nodded absently and sat down in a meditative position, trying to focus his rage into being a weapon of fine control like a precision rifle rather than the destructive uncontrolled musket it usually was. Malgus must have sensed the rage flowing through Harry for he simply nodded at Harry with approval. A few minutes passed before Harry could sense the approach of four individuals. To Harry's dread it turned out to be two children none of them above the age of ten. Both of the children looked up at him with pleading eyes and to Harry's horrification he realized that he knew who both of these younglings were, he had spent some time with both of them, offering them some guidance in matters to lightsaber combat. The guards who held them by the scruff of their neck released their hold at Malgus' signal, and both children launched themselves at Harry in a desperate hug, crying "Harry, help us please".

"There is your task Jedi, kill them and take your rightful place at my side". Harry swallowed slightly. When he made his choice he had accepted the fact that he would probably have to kill innocent people, but he had never expected it to be so soon, yet he knew that if he hesitated he would be punished again, and the younglings would still be murdered or even worse turned into Sith themselves, steeling himself he pushed both of the children away and with cries of denial the fell to the floor. Looking into their hopeful desperate eyes he could feel Malgus straighten slightly as he watched with interest. He dug deep inside himself for all the hatred he could muster, an easy task considering how much he hated Malgus for forcing him to do this, how much he hated himself for choosing the path of the greater good, his hatred for The Force even which had granted him the ability to see what must be done, and with a snarl of rage he twisted his hands violently, and his mind screamed how much it hated himself as two sickening cracks sounded as the necks of the younglings snapped like twigs and their bodies tumbled back to the floor like puppets whose strings had been cut.

Harry was briefly aware of Malgus clapping as he stepped towards him, and still feeling as though his body was on auto Harry noticed that he had fallen to his knees before Malgus. Snapping back to reality Harry realized that tougher choices still awaited him, but he had passed his first test, so he bowed his head in supplication to Malgus. "It is done…my Master", he said softly, even as he swore silently that if it was the last thing he ever did he would see Malgus destroyed by his own hands. "You have done well my Apprentice, now before you can truly become a Sith, you must choose a name for yourself". Harry looked up at Malgus and down at the abandoned lightsaber that lay on the floor which when activated would emit a blade the colour of blood, that inspired him to choose an ancient name from Earth, a name that was used for the blood God in an ancient pagan religion. "My name is Baal My Master". Malgus nodded slightly in approval as he ignited his lightsaber and brought it carefully down at Harry's shoulder slightly singing his brown robe. "A good name, now rise Baal, Warrior of the Sith".

Harry rose slowly to his feet, stumbling slightly as his body reminded him of the ordeal he had been through now that he was no longer grasping The Force, and the feeling of rot that was still in him, even though he was no longer consciously grasping the Dark Side, yet another reminder that the path he had chosen would have great costs. "Your old life is gone. You are now Sith, your skill with the Force and lightsaber are impressive but your training is far from complete. Once you have healed you will receive personal instruction from me in lightsaber combat until I deem you ready, once ready you will go to Korriban for further training", he glanced at one of the guards before speaking again. "See to it that Baal is take to the medbay for healing, and make sure there is a fresh wardrobe of…appropriate attire for him when he wakes up". The guard snapped off a salute before he and one other threw Harry's arms over their shoulders to support him as blackness once again claimed him.

AN:

Sorry about the wait guys, RL has been hectic but hopefully I'll have another chapter up soon. As always tell me what you think, and I'm still on the lookout for a beta so anyone who wants the job need only to tell me in a pm or review.

Cheers

Tellie571