6102 BBY.
Rain fell on Corriz City, and beyond the window another slave was dying of hunger. The city devoured life and weakness, but it offered a chance to climb from the bottom. I was in my well-furnished apartment; the city militia barracks lay nearby.
The body I wore bore the name Kreso Nal — heir to House Nal, alchemist of the one hundred and twenty-third generation. The current head of the house, Tritos Nal, held the title of Sith Lord — the highest rank in the Sith Empire.
Twenty years, and I still cannot determine one thing: am I alive? Reincarnation in a distant galaxy had been an unpleasant experience.
At least I was born a pureblood Kissai. The entire Empire could field no more than a dozen purebloods, and most of the hybrids were the product of reforms brought by the Dark Jedi.
Before my reincarnation in this world, I knew of the Sith Empire. Certain details only became clear now.
Start with the genesis. The first pre-Republic Sith Empire formed through the unification of Korriban's tribes under King Adas, who received the title of Sith'ari — the Lord. In 27,700 BBY the Infinite Empire of the Rakata invaded Korriban, attempting to enslave the Sith.
King Adas led the war of liberation. The Empire repelled the invasion, seized Rakata ships and hyperdrive technology — but the king himself died in the final battle.
The Sith had never been a people of common origin, and unity had always been in question. The death of King Adas left the throne empty, while local warlords hungered for Rakata technology.
The unified state collapsed. War ignited between clans on Korriban. Can one imagine wars that last for thousands of years? The Empire lost most of what it had inherited from the Rakata.
Order was restored only by 6,900 BBY, when the caste system and slave-based production were firmly established. For better or worse, Dark Jedi arrived on the planet.
War against the Kissai followed, but the invaders offered freedom to the slaves, who seized the opportunity. The Dark Jedi's victory dismantled the caste system. What came next was hybridization.
Twelve humans compelled nearly half the population to participate in experiments. The first children died. Each iteration produced better results.
The original caste system divided four closely related Sith races.
My caste — the Kissai — practiced alchemy and sorcery; King Adas was the one who allowed us to defeat the other clans. We have five fingers, red or violet skin, and mildly pronounced dermal ridges on the face.
Below the chin ran vestiges of predatory ancestors — four small, short tendrils that assisted in communication. Additional tendrils grew above the brow, though here sexual dimorphism was evident.
The male brow tendrils were composed of bone tissue covered by skin; in females, the tissue was primarily cartilaginous. The length of these tendrils was a clear indicator of female hormone influence.
The ears were pointed but fairly close in shape to human ears.
Our hair was most commonly red or black, our eyes almost always yellow — with exceptions in albinos and carriers of recessive ancestral genes.
Unfortunately, even before hybridization, we had been the smallest group of tribes by population.
Our nearest relatives were the Zuguruk. They handled construction and technological development. Five fingers, pointed ears — but red or black skin and strongly developed dermal ridges on the cheeks.
Two thick tendrils ran down the full length of the face, hanging below the chin. The male tendrils were noticeably longer than the female.
Black hair and yellow eyes predominated among them.
The Zuguruk adapted to hybridization best of all, but this resulted in the entire caste becoming hybrids. Now one can only study specimens preserved through alchemy.
Our distant relatives were the Massassi.
The most warlike and populous caste across the Empire's worlds — they waged war and comprised 30% of the population. Three to four fingers on each hand, pointed ears, and skin exclusively red.
Their facial ridges were the most pronounced and somewhat chaotic. Cheek tendrils, brow ridges, chin ridges — they possessed every feature we had.
Some individuals had tendrils on their skulls or elongated ears. Another trait was the random body tendrils that had not appeared in my caste for thousands of years.
The Massassi resembled the other pureblood Sith castes in appearance, but their skin was dense and their physical strength far exceeded that of the Kissai.
The last caste was the Grotthu — though those Sith have now been entirely absorbed into the hybrid population.
Our sector originally held only Herglics, Mrlssi, and humans — far fewer than the Sith. Consequently, the weakest of our kindred Sith races became slaves.
Now the Empire is forced to purchase slaves in enormous quantities, and recent Dark Jedi reforms allowed the Grotthu to shed their slave status.
The primary trading partner of the Sith is Alsakan, whose worlds operate on xenophobia and the principle of human dominance. They sold us Twi'leks, Mon Calamari, Gamorreans, and Wookiees.
Humans were the primary slave race, but other species had long since ceased to be a rarity.
Sith-born slaves are nearly nonexistent today, but they once comprised 65% of the Empire's population.
These degenerates were Sith — but our ancestors had applied alchemy to them for millennia. The result was three fingers per hand, which made fine motor work impossible.
Their skin had shed its red coloring, turning pink, though they retained facial tendrils and Force sensitivity.
Now the caste system is destroyed. A handful of pureblood Kissai remain, along with a few thousand Massassi. All others are hybrids — and not all were fortunate enough to receive an ideal synergy with human genes.
Nearly half the hybrids are genetic failures, saturated with heritable disorders. Crossbreeding two distinct species is difficult; even alchemy requires extensive trial and error.
The defining traits of hybrids are rounded human ears and vivid red skin. Ideal hybrids replicated the tendrils of their Sith half, but most achieved no such perfect adaptation.
Hybrids were named Red Sith. They are now the foundation of the Empire, and Kissai like me are merely remnants of an old order. Sith traditions have changed; human genes are now considered an honorable mark of bloodline purity.
Cultural pressure accumulated, and the remaining Massassi and Kissai voluntarily submit to hybridization. The current Sith'ari was a Red Sith, and clinging to caste purity was pointless.
This handed power to humans who possessed the Force gift and called themselves Sith. They became the core of the Imperial military and shed their slave status.
Red Sith carried human genes, so the Empire had no xenophobia toward the human race. Only Force connection and personal power mattered — but other species had it difficult.
Herglics, Mrlssi, Mon Calamari, Gamorreans, and Wookiees faced severe discrimination. They were treated little better than animals, and the Empire promoted pseudoscience that denied Force sensitivity to "barbaric" races.
Twi'leks were treated somewhat better — they are visually similar to humans or Sith. Trade with Alsakan led to a mass proliferation of brothels, and forced labor in these establishments only increased the race's presence in certain circles.
Free Twi'leks occasionally appeared in the Imperial military, though the occurrence remained rare and peculiar.
Their physiology prevented them from wearing standard Sith or human combat helmets, which tripled their shrapnel exposure compared to normal soldiers. The head-tendrils — a critical part of their nervous system — rendered Twi'leks useless as infantry.
Most free Twi'leks became pilots of small craft. They performed better than Sith or human pilots, but the race's reputation followed them everywhere.
The Dark Jedi had assimilated an entire Empire: in every Red Sith, their genes and legacy endure. The term "Sith" no longer referred only to a race — it was now the name of a ruling caste and the followers of the Dark Side.
The caste system was full of problems, but what replaced it was the chaotic existence born of Dark Jedi doctrine. Security dissolves. Any slave in the Empire can kill its owner and enter the ruling class.
Masters fear their slaves. Slaves wait for opportunity. But slavery as a mode of production leaves the Empire very little time.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
In just two years, commodity inflation had reached twenty percent, and the slave supply was dwindling. Without constant war and a steady influx of forced labor, the state devours itself.
The only connection to the outside world was the Hypergates. The Sith Empire controls dozens of planets, but Gree artifacts survived on only one. Dark Jedi studied the Gates; it always ended badly.
We could not replicate the technology, and other states maintained strict control of the portal exits. Establishing a foothold for external expansion proved impossible.
Our trade partner exploited the situation and dragged us into its war. As a result, the Empire is now nothing more than a mercenary force in Alsakan's service.
In exchange, we receive slaves, technology, and specialists who assist in weapons development.
Back to my status as an alchemist. The Empire has a shortage of such specialists. Sorzus Syn created the Sith Code, and my kin are focused on seizing power as quickly as possible.
Why spend centuries on useless knowledge? It is far more logical to simply take a Force artifact from an enemy who invested resources in alchemy.
That stupidity has already driven my kin to adopt lightsabers — alchemy artifacts are no longer sufficient to arm an army.
The situation with meditation is even worse. It is remarkably foolish to trust a starving dark side of the Force. Sorzus Syn built an institution that produced instruments efficiently and reliably, but my kin decided it was the final word on the matter.
While I meditated, the rain stopped — and an unexpected visitor was already knocking at my door.
I shook my head and looked once more into the holocron. I shut off the hologram, walked to the door, and opened it a crack. A thermal detonator was already in my right hand; the narrow corridor would give no enemy room to avoid the blast radius.
"Kreso Nal?"
The Sith hybrid was trying to see me through the gap, but my entire apartment was one large alchemy artifact. No matter how hard he looked, he would see nothing beyond shifting shadows.
"I am not aware of any fines or violations on my record."
The city guard stopped trying to peer in and left a paper letter on the floor by the door.
"Notification of mandatory military muster attendance."
The hybrid left almost immediately. The Force told me he was afraid of me. I watched the letter on the floor for several minutes, then lifted it with the Force and checked it for poison.
Telekinesis unfolded and read the letter without my hands touching it. Then it ignited on its own and burned quickly to nothing.
Looking at myself, I realized I was completely naked — not ideal for going outside. Almost everything I own is saturated with dark Force energies, so I had developed a habit of removing artifacts that influenced the mind before sleeping.
Returning inside, I considered how to protect myself against random situations. I walked to the coat rack and took the gray-violet robe issued to me by the Empire.
I fastened the Imperial insignia badge — it slightly augmented Force capability — then pulled on the alchemical alloy guards for my hands and legs.
This clothing confirmed the value of my abilities.
Instead of rank insignia on shoulder boards, a soldier's status and level were defined by the color of his uniform. The Empire has no official military ranks.
The system works differently: soldiers are divided exclusively by function and color.
Black uniform — a cheap fabric costume for recruits with no Force gift. In wartime they occasionally received an infantry helmet, but more often they were simply handed whatever weapon was in the depot.
Gold uniform — indicated Force talent and capability for primary combat duty. These soldiers received full light armor against shrapnel.
White uniform — issued to those who had survived a single baptism of fire. It bore black stripes for non-Force users and gold for Force users. Squad commanders received medium armor, but arms and legs remained unprotected.
Gray uniform — worn by the space fleet and engineers, with the same stripe system. No armor issued.
Gray-violet uniform — worn by specialists essential to the Empire. It could be issued to a seasoned artillerist, an engineer proficient in mechu-deru, an alchemist, a sorcerer, or a pilot. The loss of such an asset degraded Imperial combat capability, so ordinary soldiers were expected to sacrifice themselves for their protection.
When these specialists were required to enter an active combat zone, they received full heavy armor covering the entire body. Better armor than that existed only among Sith Lords, but their value operated on a different scale entirely.
The entire military structure did not apply to Sith Lords, and not every Force-sensitive had the right to bear that title.
The chain of command rested on a simple rule: a soldier obeys their squad commander, and a squad commander obeys the orders of a Sith Lord.
Battle Meditation allowed the Sith Lord to bypass all intermediate officer positions; the structure demonstrated its effectiveness only when a Sith Lord commanded directly.
An army of twenty thousand soldiers, divided into squads of ten, meant Battle Meditation actively manipulated the actions of two hundred commanders who executed the Sith Lord's intent instantaneously.
Soldiers could be recruited from slaves. Commanders were simply soldiers with combat experience. Sith Lords rarely risked their own lives.
All tactical experience accrued exclusively to the Sith Lord. Even if ninety percent of the force died, combat effectiveness did not drop: as long as the Sith Lord lived, the army was at one hundred percent readiness.
Painful to lose thousands of gold-tier soldiers and replace them with black-tier? Yes. The army would not feel it.
Sith Lords maintained private guards operating outside Imperial standards. A group of Massassi in ceremonial armor, for instance, served a largely symbolic role in battle.
Many positions cannot be easily replaced, and heavy armor offered no protection against lightsabers. But the primary problem remained the shortage of new weapons.
The Sith Empire is a slave-holding state, and its inhabitants divided themselves into clans that did not fully submit to the Sith'ari.
Tulak Hord introduced the new color-rank system and stockpiled weapons, but re-arming an entire army is a long and complex undertaking.
So gold and black recruits sometimes received nothing more than basic melee weapons. They would either die or take something from their enemy.
I could afford considerably more than an Alsakan-purchased blaster rifle.
Over the standard uniform I put on my personal anti-shrapnel vest. On it: a holster, thermal detonators, alchemical crystals, and a personal blaster enchanted with alchemy.
As a Kissai, I carried my personal alchemical sword. A lightsaber is more convenient for everyday carry and can burn through thick sheets of metal — but in everything else it is inferior to Sith-forged metal saturated with the Force.
I examined myself in the mirror, opened the door, and walked down the corridor. Slaves passed nearby, cleaning the premises; old building facades bore signs advertising small businesses.
The roads in my city were narrow, and the old district offered no room for public transit. I pulled an electronic datapad from my pouch and called a taxi.
I walked quickly toward the nearest landing pad. In my haste I did not notice the Tuk'ata that had bolted from around the corner — the Force warned me too late, and I already felt the creature dangerously close.
My reflexes outpaced my reasoning. The right hand drew the blaster; the shot struck the unprotected area around the eye.
"Offspring of the Rakata! What are you doing!?"
Only then did I process what I had done. The animal beside me was muzzled and posed no threat. Its owner was approaching with fury in his eyes.
The situation made me press my lips together. I would have to compensate the cost of the Tuk'ata. First the military muster, now this — today was a bad day. The Force itself was hinting that the number of my problems was about to increase.