Eternal Nightmares

[Nykoria Tallis]

Nightmare 1​

The clouds of smoke and ash obscure my view, eclipsing the sun itself. My azure blade sears through the darkness ahead, but it converges and seals itself again in my wake. Occasionally, I have to circle around a stream of lava, but I don't feel the heat; only the overwhelming cold all around. A giant wall ahead of me crumbles, as if expecting my arrival. I charge into the breach, ignorant of the dangers around. My goal is in the bunker up ahead, its back built into an ashen mountain.​

As I make my way in, the door opens, leading me into my family's apartment on Coruscant. It looks almost the same as I left it... But something is off. It's as if the colors themselves are less vivid. I reach out with my senses, hoping to find anyone inside. Silence in the ears and in the Force is my answer. A familiar voice rings in my head: confident, even impartial to a degree, but no less menacing because of that.​

Nothing awaits you here but death.​

 

[Nykoria Tallis]

Nightmare 2​

The clouds of smoke and ash dissipate before my azure blade, but the darkness remains. In the distance, I see a pyramid-like building amidst a smouldering plain. As I rush towards it, a red cloudy wall appears behind the pyramid. I circle streams of lava, until eventually I reach my destination. The red wall turns out to be a gas giant; the smouldering plain isn't that of Sullust... It's Yavin IV. The pyramid—the last Jedi Temple in the galaxy.​

I look around, desperately trying to find any survivors. Then I see her: Izel Thral, struggling desperately to lift an immense rock that is about to crash the Vratix under it. She looks to the side—no doubt towards her Padawan whom I can't see—and yells at him to run. I reach out, struggle with all my essence and connection to the Force, but I can't do anything as Izel is buried under the rock. As her light is snuffed out, something inside me dies.​

Then I see Nara Allam, just walking away from the temple. Despondent and exhausted, she doesn't seem to care about what has just happened to Izel. As I rush towards my last remaining friend, I hear a finger snap. Nara's Jedi robes catch fire, yet she continues walking away. When I grab her by the shoulder, Nara turns into ash, carried away by the wind. Somehow, I know she has just found peace. Whatever that means.​

I turn around, to see the reason for all of this. You never forget the mask or the cape. The Eternal speaks, but the voice and words aren't his. The voice belongs to the late Grandmaster Oota Boan, and the words are of Councillor Oren Zapan and Master Hannibal Grayza. Hypnotized, I find myself unable to raise the blade even a little bit for defense. The lightning strikes me, as I receive my lesson in humility.​

This terminates the Jedi Guardian program. Next time, give it your A-game.​

 

[Nykoria Tallis]

Nightmare 3?​

It is okay to love, but when the time comes you must learn to let go.
That is why you failed on Sullust.​

The Jedi get rid of attachments by "letting go". I heard the Sith do something similar.
To "let the past die", they might kill those they care for, if they have to.​

The Jedi have are no different from the Sith. We have opposite colored weapons.
And we disarm people with a smile instead of just openly killing them.​

Jedi: preaching peace and bombing your enemies into submission.
Driven by fear.

If we are to build up our strength, it should be to protect and not to destroy.
We do this to preserve life, not to seek out the Sith and attack them head-on...​

We cannot abandon this home. It would be a signal of weakness.
Together, through word and sword can we defeat the Sith.​

Worrying about strength? Seeking victory through power?
What does that make you, Jedi?​

Prove me wrong, Kori. You will be a part of this motion.
That means you have to defend it's morality.​

We fight for the living and the greater good.
If you wish to fight for the wrong reasons,
you will fall to the dark side.​

The Sith alone are our enemy. Not the people they force into battle.
If it comes down to a war, where do we draw the line?​

​

 

[Nykoria Tallis]

Much later | Nightmare 4​

The heavy chains clang as my bare feet take a step, after step, after step... The floor is cold, stony, and wet. Even the air is thick and hard to breathe in. Only the dim torches light my way through a dark corridor of some derelict temple. I had seen places like that before: on Ontotho, where I had fought Alyse Ti'Varnus; and here, on this wretched planet where the Sith had brought me. It's called... Denon. A part of me yells that the planet looks and feels different, that it doesn't make sense. Yet deep down, I know it does.

They finally bring me to my destination. It's pitch-black in here. And then I feel a very familiar presence and voice: "Look at you, Nykoria. You're Sith. You're all Sith, through and through." The accusation hits right home, knocking out what little air I had in my lungs. "N-no..." that is the only thing I manage to squeeze out of my throat. "You truly think so?" the voice chitters in amusement. "Are you not cohorting with the one right now?" I finally recognize it, but refuse to believe it. "Izel..." I plead for the Vratix to listen, but I know it'll fall on deaf antennae. "All the while the Jedi are laying their lives. Look at what you've done!"

The emerald glow makes it nigh-impossible to keep the eyes open. I cover them with cuffed hands. When my sight adjusts and I dare to look, the light catches out a table. On it, I see three heads. The tall head of Councillor Sada-Nau Tin stares at me with an accusatory gaze, promising peace in death. The second head stares and expresses nothing, for it is a helmet. One covering the head of Ranger Captain Roland Rook. The third head belongs to Councillor Maxims Tionson. He looks at me like at a naughty child, but with a kind smile nonetheless. Then suddenly the smile turns into a smirk, and he winks at me with his robotic eye.

The emerald hue glows brighter, catching out more figures standing behind the table. I recognize Councillors Hannibal Grayza and Oren Zapan; Talak, the Jedi who had planned the first attack on Sullust; a Cathar I hadn't met, but heard so much about; a dark-skinned human; numerous familiar faces of initiates who had trained under me on Ajan Kloss, and whom I had failed to protect. "You are no Jedi," Izel concludes triumphantly. Then one of the Padawans repeats it... Then another. A few moments, and everyone—even the severed heads—are repeating the same words over and over again. "You. Are. No. Jedi." "You're a Sith."

Then, suddenly, the glow shifts from emerald to bright blue, making me yelp in pain. Another familiar voice behind my back comments in a mocking manner: "And a Sith always gets a shiv." My eyes look down on my body covered in rags, I see a plasma blade protruding from my heart. In a moment, it gets extinguished with a snap-hiss, and I fall to the ground.

Even though the blade has been extinguished, the glow hasn't changed color back to green. In fact, it grew stronger. So as I wreathe on the ground, I can finally see the face of my assailant. Nara Allam. She seems so sure of herself, and also disgusted, as if she had just swatted a fly. "What are you looking at, Kori? This bad pun ain't mine." That is the last what I hear before the Light in me fades...

And then I wake up.​