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Stirring up the ghosts of the past brought back the face of Ulabore, the cruel and incompetent commanding officer who had inadvertently turned Des over to the Sith and set him on the path of his true destiny. But there were other faces, too—the men and women of his unit, his brothers- and sisters-in-arms. He remembered the blue eyes and cocksure grin of Adanar, his best friend. And he remembered a wide-eyed junior trooper, a young sniper named Lucia.

Bane had intelligence and foresight. He had the wisdom and vision to redefine the Sith Order so that it could begin its long, slow ascent to galactic domination. He had schemed and planned for nearly every conceivable situation he might one day find himself in. Yet he had never prepared himself for this.

He knew many of the former soldiers who served in Kaan’s armies had become mercenaries and bodyguards, but he had never considered the possibility of ever running into someone who had known him before his transformation through the dark side. After joining the Sith, he hadn’t allowed himself to wonder or care about what had happened to the people from his past. He had needed to learn to survive alone, to rely on nobody but himself. Attachment to family and friends was a weakness, a chain to bind and drag you down.

Now someone from the life he had worked so hard to forget was standing between him and his revenge. She was an obstacle in his way, one to be easily overcome. He knew he could cast her aside as easily as he had disposed of the guards outside his cell.

Instead, he asked, “Why did you help me?”

“We served together in the Gloom Walkers,” she answered, as if that explained everything.

“I know who you are,” he told her.

She hesitated, as if she expected him to say more. When he didn’t, she continued to speak.

“You saved my life on Phaseera. You saved all our lives. And not just then. You were there in every battle we fought, watching over us. Protecting us.”

“I was a fool back then.”

“No! You were a hero. I owe you my life a dozen times over. How could I not help you?”

At first he thought she was a sentimental idiot, blinded by irrational nobility and spouting foolish drivel. But then he realized what was really going on, and it all began to make sense. She had released him hoping to win his favor. She was after something. That was why she had betrayed Caleb’s daughter—for her own personal gain.

“What do you want?” he demanded, the alarms a constant reminder that time was running short.

“I want … please … I’m begging you … let Serra live.”

Her request made no sense. Lucia’s actions were the only reason Serra’s life was in danger.

“Why? What use is her life to me?”

The woman didn’t answer right away. She was searching for something to offer, but in the end she had nothing.

“Look into your heart, Des. Think back on the man you used to be. I know you turned to the dark side to survive. Becoming a Sith was the only way you could survive. Please, Des; I know part of what you used to be still lives inside you.”

“My name is not Des,” he said, his voice rising as he stood up to his full height so that he towered over Lucia. “I am Darth Bane, Dark Lord of the Sith. I feel neither pity nor gratitude nor remorse. And Caleb’s daughter must pay for what she did to me.”

“I won’t let you do this,” she declared, spreading her stance wide and bracing herself before him.

“You can’t stop me,” he warned her. “You can’t save her by sacrificing yourself. Are you willing to throw your life away for no purpose?”

Lucia didn’t budge. “I already said I owe you my life. If you want to take it now, that is your right.”

Bane’s mind flashed back to his first encounter with Caleb on Ambria. The healer had stood before him as Lucia did now, utterly defiant despite the knowledge he was no match for a Sith Lord. Yet Caleb had known he had something Bane needed; Lucia could make no such claim. There was nothing to stop him from extinguishing her life in a single instant.

He began to gather the dark side, the power slowly building. But before he could unleash it he was hit by a wall