Slave Friend

As I stand at the foot of the Citadel and look out at the stunning spires of Kaas City I am reminded that much of what the Empire enjoys and takes pride in has taken the hands of many slaves to build. This is something we Sith take for granted. The slaves fit a function in the natural order: they have proven themselves fit only for manual labour, to build and maintain our cities and settlements, to handle hazardous materials, to keep clean our homes, to mind our children, and to see to our…more base needs. My attitude toward slaves is something quite different compared to the attitudes of my peers.

Following the incident with the vornskr pup I found myself mostly shunned by friends and family. It is a wonder to me that I was not entirely turned out from my father’s house…I may have the pleas and promptings of my mother to thank for that. I could see that my failure stung her the most for she continued to love me inspite of my failings. It was from her that I learned that love cannot so easily succumb to the leanings of broader society. Any loneliness that I felt could only be assuaged by playing with the children of household slaves. These children were required to work just as their parents were, though the work they did was not particularly skilled or physically challenging or dangerous. I thought it interesting that slave families were allowed to remain together; when I saw that it encouraged a certain order and when there was the possibility of using a slave’s family members as “leverage” should they ever get notions of attaining their freedom the reasons for allowing their families to stay together became clearer.

As is the way with children of all sentient species very often the immersion of play has a way of dissolving class and racial barriers. I did at first find myself playing the role of “Sith Master” in those first play sessions. My playmates were a human girl named Kaz and a Twi’lek boy named Sten. They were understandably shy and very reserved around me and I’m sure that my superior attitude was quite intimidating at first. After some time though we became more familiar with eachother and I eventually found myself engrossed by the heart to heart conversations they would often have between bouts of climbing trees to build forts or kicking around Dromund Kaas “glow balls”. How easily I found myself in the position of awkward one when they started asking me about my feelings and what I thought about this or that.

I spent many years with these friends of mine, never letting on how much I cared for them, for my position was to be one of superiority in the eyes of my elders; even if my superiors and peers did view me with disdain they still felt that my station was higher than that of slaves. In fact it became a joke amongst my friends to be all “Master and servant” when adults were around and something much more free when they weren’t.

It was with great pain that we were eventually separated. My father, in another fit of disappointed rage upon learning of the true nature of my friendship (he walked in on us sharing laughter when we were teenagers) denied my request to keep “my slaves”. He sold my friends into hard labour (which broke my heart as-well-as those of their family members)and sent me to a very strict “cadet” camp that focused on training “willful” types into becoming Sith Warriors. I learned then to hide my true feelings, to lie if need be, and I learned to truly hate my father…a hatred that helped me survive that camp and inspires much greatness in me today.

I will now treat my own “slaves” and those of others as they wish to be treated for some truly are disturbed by the notion of not being in a position of subservience while others have a more free spirit. I will not let this side of me show, but I will lie about my true feelings in front of my “superiors”. I dedicate myself to the search for my childhood friends and I swear to buy their freedom either with credits or with my lightsaber…I hope that they are indeed still alive.

I do love this dark city, I love the rain that pours down on it and I love the lightening that powers it…and I remember that some slaves like the Twi’lek female who has come to “watch my back” are also deserving of love.