They swarmed over Bane's consciousness, cleaving to his still-whole identity like parasites attaching themselves to a fresh host. The keening spirits enveloped him, clutching and clawing at his sanity as they tried to drag him down with them into their dark abyss.
Bane tore free with contemptuous ease, shredding the already frail and tattered spirits as he cast them aside, and let his mind drift back to the surface. An instant later he was free, leaving behind the prison from which the others would never escape.
He let his hand drop from the oblong sphere as he took a step back, satisfied at what he had learned. There were no ghosts haunting him; Kaan was no more. Not in any real sense. The figure he had seen at the Sith camp had been nothing but a delusion conjured up by his own wounded psyche.
"Are they trapped in there?" Zannah asked. She was staring at Bane with an expression of both awe and terror.
"Trapped. Dead. It makes no difference" he answered with a shrug. "Kaan and the Brotherhood are gone. They got what they deserved."
"Were they weak?"
Bane didn't answer right away. Kaan had been many things- ambitious, charismatic, stubborn, and in the end a fool-but he had never been weak.
"Kaan was a traitor," he said at last. "He led the Brotherhood away from the teachings of the ancient Sith. He turned his back on the very essence of the dark side."
Zannah didn't reply, but she looked up at him expectantly. The role of mentor was a new one for Bane; he was a man of action, not words. He wasn't used to taking the time to share his wisdom with another desperate to learn it. But he was smart enough to understand that the lessons would have far more meaning if his apprentice could figure out some of the answers for herself.
"Why did you choose to become my apprentice?" he asked, challenging her. "Why did you choose the way of the dark side?"
"Power," she replied quickly.
"Power is only a means to an end," Bane admonished her. "It is not an end in itself. What do you need power for?"
The girl furrowed her brow. Her Master already recognized this expression as a sign she was struggling to come up with an answer.
"Through power I gain victory," she said when she finally spoke, reciting the final lines of the Sith Code she had learned only a few hours earlier. From her tone it was clear she was trying to work through her limited understanding of the dark side to arrive at the answer Bane wanted.
"Through victory my chains are broken…" she continued, slowly searching for an answer just beyond her reach. A second later she exclaimed, "Freedom! The dark side sets us free!"
Bane nodded his approval. "The ledi shackle themselves in chains of obedience: obedience to the Jedi Council; obedience to their Masters; obedience to the Republic. Those who follow the light side even believe they must submit themselves to the Force. They are merely instruments of its will, slaves to a greater good.
"Those who follow the dark side see the truth of their enslavement. We recognize the chains that bind us and hold us back. We believe in the power of the individual to break these chains. That is the path to greatness. Only if we are free can we reach our full potential.
"The belief that an individual must not bow down before anyone or anything is the dark side's greatest strength " Bane continued. "But it is also our ultimate weakness. The struggle to rise above those around you is often violent, and in the past the Sith were constantly at one anothers' throats."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Zannah interjected, "The strong will survive and the weak will die."
"Weak does not mean stupid," Bane countered. "There were those with less power, but more cunning. Several apprentices would band together to take down a powerful Master, hoping to elevate their own position among the Sith. Then they would turn on one another, making and breaking alliances until only one remained-a new Master, but one weaker than the original. This survivor would then be taken down in turn by another band of lesser Sith, further weakening our Order.
"Kaan recognized this. But his solution was far worse than the problem. Kaan declared all the followers of the dark side-all the members of the Sith Order-as equals in the Brotherhood of Darkness. In doing so, he betrayed us all."
"Betrayed you?"
"Equality is a lie" Bane told her. "A myth to appease the masses. Simply look around and you will see the lie for what it is! There are those with power, those with the strength and will to lead. And there are those meant to follow-those incapable of anything but servitude and a meager, worthless existence.
"Equality is a perversion of the natural order!" he continued, his voice rising as he shared the fundamental truth that lay at the core of his beliefs. "It binds the strong to the weak. They become anchors that drag the exceptional down to mediocrity. Individuals destined and deserving of greatness have it denied them. They suffer for the sake of keeping them even with their inferiors.
"Equality is a chain, like obedience. Like fear or uncertainty or self-doubt. The dark side will break these chains. But Kaan could not see this. He did not grasp the true power of the dark side. The Brotherhood of Darkness was nothing but a twisted reflection of the Jedi Order, a dark parody of the very thing we stood against. Under Kaan the Sith had become an abomination."
"And that's why you killed him," Zannah said, thinking the lesson had come to an end.
"That is why I manipulated Kaan into killing himself," Bane corrected. "Remember: power alone is not enough. Patience. Cunning. Secrecy. These are the tools we will use to bring down the Jedi. The Sith are only two now-one Master and one apprentice. There will be no others."
Zannah nodded, though something still seemed to be troubling her. "What happens if I fail?" she asked, glancing toward the thought bomb. "Will you destroy me, too?"
Bane's answer was cut off by a shout coming from one of the nearby passages.
"Rain! Rain, you're alive!"
A boy sprinted out of the shadows, no more than a year or two older than Zannah. He had dark hair and wore the black armor of the Sith. A lightsaber hilt was clutched tightly in his right hand. Despite these warrior's trappings, it was immediately obvious to Bane that this child posed no threat. The Force was barely alive in him. The power that burned so brightly inside Zannah was nothing but a dying ember of gray ash in this one.
"Tomcat!" Zannah shouted, her face lighting up with joy. She took a step forward, extending her arms as if she wanted to hug him. Then, as if suddenly remembering the presence of her Sith Master, she pulled up short and clutched her hands to her chest.
Oblivious, the boy kept coming. He didn't register her sudden change in mood; he hadn't even noticed the two-meter-tall figure looming in the shadows behind her. There was something pathetic about him, a desperate loneliness in his voice and his eyes that turned Bane's stomach.
"I'm so glad, Rain," the boy gasped as he skidded to a stop in front of Zannah, reaching forward to hug her. "So glad you're-"
She stepped back and shook her head, causing his words to catch in his throat. The happiness in his face vanished, replaced by a look of hurt bewilderment.
"I… I am not Rain," Bane's apprentice said, rejecting her childhood nickname and all it symbolized. "I am Zannah."
"Zannah?" A look of confusion crept across the boy's face. "Your real name? But why?"
Fumbling for answers, he finally tore his gaze away from the young girl and noticed Bane standing motionless in the background. His bewilderment became comprehension, and quickly turned into righteous rage.
"You!" he shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Bane. Then, as if suddenly remembering the weapon in his hand, he ignited his lightsaber. "You stay away from her!" he screamed. "I will fight you!"
The boy knew he was overmatched. He knew he had no chance to win a battle against a Dark Lord of the Sith. Yet he chose to stay and fight anyway-the actions of a complete and utter fool.