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If Astaroth had been told, years ago when he started his training, that he would fall in love with a Republic spy, talking to him about the Jedi and their ideals, to the point he would reconsider his vision of the Force and his attachment to the dark side... he would never have believed it.
He was Sith. He knew that, and there were never any doubt about it. Even today. That word was still defining him. But somehow, the definition had changed. His philosophy, too. It didn't feel like his teachings on Korriban anymore. It was different. He was different.
“Do you think the light side is... superior?” he suddenly asked his lover.
Theron looked up from his datapad, clearly not expecting that turn of the conversation.
“Huh, what?” he simply asked, still not sure he heard right.
“The light side...” The Commander sighed, “I know you're not a Jedi, but... you've been raised like one, you've learned about the Force... Do you think the light side holds superiority over the dark side ?”
It was a genuine question. For the past years, the Sith lord had been reconsidering his position about the Force. He saw it more grey than he used to, and understood now it was more complicated than just... the Good and the Bad.
Seeing Theron was still confused, he continued. “I used to think that the light side was weak, inferior. That's what I've been taught. That the dark side held power, and with it, domination. And a sentiment of superiority that, let's be honest, is one of the main characteristics of my kind.”
“Ahah yeah, you mean, how the Sith are pompous bastards?” laughed his fiancé.
“Something like that, yes.” He smiled, but he was still asking seriously.
“I don't know... I learned about the opposite, and then, I met you... but like you said, I'm not a Jedi, I don't know if I can be of much help... To me it doesn't seem like there is superiority on any side -Master Zho would kill me if he heard me-, that it's just a never-ending war... And that as long as Jedi and Sith try to prove superiority over one another, innocent people will get caught in the middle. “Light side”, it sounds so... pure, I guess ? But it is used to kill too. So no. I don't think it's better.”
Theron had a point. Astaroth could see that too ; the pointless fighting, the destruction, the innocents dying, the millennial conflict that opposed sides that had more in common that they would admit... With the Alliance, he tried to change that... but he didn't know if he could.