Star Wars

What's the difference between a lightsaber and a glowrod? A lightsaber impresses girls! Jacen Solo, age 14(shortly before he cut off Tenel Ka's arm in sparring practice) HE HAD MADE A FEW MISTAKES. CAEDUS COULD SEE THAT NOW. He had fallen to the same temptation all Sith did, had cut himself off from everything he lovedhis family, his lover, even his daughterto avoid being distracted by their betrayals. He could see now how blinding himself to his pain had also blinded him to his duty, how he had begun to think only of himself, ofhisplans, ofhis destiny . . . ofhisgalaxy. Self-absorption. That was the downfall of the Sith, always. He had studied the lives of the ancientssuch greats as Naga Sadow, Freedon Nadd, Exar Kunand he knew that they always made the same mistake, that sooner or later they always forgot that they existed to serve the galaxy, and came to believe that the galaxy existed to servethem. And Caedus had stepped into the same trap. He had forgotten why he was doing all this, the reason that he had picked up a lightsaber in the first place and the reason that he had given himself over to the Sith, the reason that he had taken sole control of the Galactic Alliance. Toserve. Caedus had forgotten because he was weak. After Allana had betrayed him by sneaking off theAnakin Solowith his parents, his pain had become a distraction. He had been unable to think, to plan, to command, to read the future . . . tolead.So he had shut away his feelings for Allana, had convinced himself that he was not really doing this for her and the trillions of younglings like her, that he was doing this for destinyforhisdestiny. It had all been a lie. Even after what Allana had done, Caedus still loved her. He was her father, and he would always love her, no matter how much she hurt him. He had been wrong to try to escape that. Caedus needed to hold on to that lovewhateverit cost him, to cling to that love even as it tore his heart apart. Because that was how Sith stayed strong. Theyneededpain to keep the Balance, to remind them they were still human. And they needed it so they would not forget the pain they were inflicting on others. To make the galaxy safer,everyonehad to suffereven Sith Lords. And so there would be no angry outbursts when he confronted the Moffs over their unauthorized adventures, no demonstration killings, no Force chokings or threats to have his fleets attack theirs, no intimidation of any sort. There would be no consequences at all, for how were they to know of the worrisome things he had been seeing in his Force visions latelythe Mandalorian maniacs and the burning asteroids, his uncle's inescapable gazeif he failed totellthem? Whether blunder or master stroke, the taking of the Roche system was as much his doing as the Moffs', Caedus saw now, and he was beyond punishing others for his mistakes. Starting today, Darth Caedus was going to rule not through anger or fear or even bribery, but as every true Sith Lord should, through patience and love and . . . pain. Caedus finally crested the winding pedramp he had been ascending and found himself looking down a long tubular tunnel coated in the gray-yellow foamcrete the Verpine reserved for their royal warrens. At the far endguarding one of the shiny newbeskar-alloy blast hatches that had done absolutely nothing to stop the Remnant's aerosol attackstood a squad of white-armored stormtroopers. Their gray-striped shoulder plates identified them as members of the Imperial Elite Guard, and the two tripDenning, Troy is the author of 'Star Wars', published 2008 under ISBN 9780345477460 and ISBN 0345477464.