Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of the property created by George Lucas and Lucasfilm LTD. Celeste and Faei are my own creations.

Chapter 1

In the Beginning

Long ago, before the rise and fall of the Old Republic and the Rise of the Empire, they existed. One of the greatest empires to rule the stars - The Rakatan Infinite Empire. Harnessing the power of the Dark Side of The Force they ruled over trillions of species and created vast technologies to control and enslave these species - The Star Forge - among others. But their greatest creation was hidden away before their extinction. A device that if it had been activated, could've possibly prevented their demise.

That was many thousands of years ago, and the Rakatan species has long been extinct. But their last great creation stil exists. Hidden away on a world that was once theirs, the device waits to be found...

xxxx xxxx

An ancient Jedi prophecy speaks of the one who will destroy the Sith and bring the Force into balance. Before the fall of the Old Republic, it was believed that Anakin Skywalker was the Chosen One. It indeed seemed that way after the Battle of Endor, where Anakin slew his master, Emperor Palpatine before he himself perished aboard the second Death Star. But quickly after the fall of Palpatine and Vader, Lumiya, one of Vader's Dark side Adepts, took the mantle and title of "Dark Lady of the Sith" and began her own Sith rule, thereby continuing the Sith legacy. She went on to turn Anakin's grandson, Jacen Solo, into her Sith Apprentice. He called himself Darth Caedus and started the second Galactic Civil War.

Even when Caedus was defeated in combat by his twin Sister, Jaina, aboard the Star Destroyer Anakin Solo, the Sith lived in secret on Korriban. Under the rule of A'Sharad Hett, now known as Darth Krayt, the Sith Order thrived, once again driving the Jedi order to near extinction.

Krayt died by the hand of Darth Wyyrlok on Had Abbadon, after the Duel with Cade Skywalker and Celeste Morne possesed by the spirit of Karness Muur, severly injured him. Death was not permanent as Krayt was resurrected and returned to reclaim his throne on Courscant.

His reign came to an end as Cade Skywalker and his allies mounted an offensive on Courscant, killing the Dark Lord and ending the Sith reign over the galaxy.

The Galactic Federation Triumvirate was formed in the wake of the Sith defeat and the Sith were forced to retreat into the shadows of the Deep Core under Darth Nihl, a new battle strategy being formed.

Peace was quickly achieved in the galaxy and while it was a relief to many, it did not last.

It did not take the Sith long to infiltrate most major governments and in just over a decade Darth Nihl sat in the throne on Coruscant, the Jedi and allies sent into hiding again.

Nihl was ruthless. Any supporters of the Triumverate were executed publicly and with the support of his modified version of Krayt's Sith Troopers the Federation millitary was soon under his full control.

The rest of the galaxy, not wanting another war and having been inflitrated by the Sith, quickly bowed down.

Abandoned and alone, what was left of the Jedi and Federation went into hiding and began to consolidate what little of their forces remained.

As Cade Skywalker said when

the order to abandon Courscant was given,

"We need a miracle..."

xxxx xxxx xxxx

Seventeen years ago, one hundred and forty three years after the battle of Yavin IV and five years after the Sith defeat on Courscant.

Few Sith came here anymore. With Lord Nihl's plan to infiltrate the galaxy, he felt that Korriban was too dangerous of a place to go, since the Galactic Federation kept a fleet in orbit at all times and did not allow any force sensitives onto the planet's surface. Anyone going down was screened and all ships inspected. Believing that Korriban was the most likely place for new Sith to rise, they weren't taking any chances.

But there were always ways around the blockades and sensors. It was a chance that he felt was necessary if the one they had come to call the "Child of the Sith" was to be raised to be the future ruler of the One Sith, she needed to be exposed to her roots...

-Catacomb tunnels under Korriban-

A little girl ran down the narrow tunnel, the dark brown rock lit only by a glow-rod that she carried. Her bright blonde hair shimmered in the light. She was excited to be down in the catacombs that had once been used by the old Sith Order. The new order, formerly ruled by the now dead Darth Krayt, and now ruled by Darth Nihl, hadn't bothered to take most of the artifacts when they abandoned Korriban. It didn't matter much to her what they were. They were new to look at and she was away from the palace on Odik II.

The small girl was trailed by an older woman she knew as her mother, even though the two of them didn't look anything alike, not even the same species, but it had been confirmed that they were related by blood.

"Celeste" Talon spoke firmly and with no emotion. The girl stoppped and looked up at her. Her mother was tall, her skin was marked with tattoos earned in ritual combat and inscribed personally by her former master.

"Yes, mommy?"

"Do not wander too far ahead"

"I won't, mom" Celeste promised the way every child does. Celeste's mother, former hand for Darth Krayt and now hand for Darth Nihl, Darth Talon, looked down at her daughter. Noticing the little Human/Twi'lek hybrid girl's desire for adventure in her bright green eyes.

Celeste was about to turn five standard years old and begin her training in the ways of the Sith. Something everyone had noticed was her ability in the Force. She had not even begun formal training and she was already exhibiting Force abilities, such as moving small objects without too much thought. Talon knew that this was of because who her father was, a fact she dared not share with anyone. Only Darth Krayt knew who he was and that knowledge had died with him. Now the only person who knew of her true bloodline was Talon. Darth Nihl had not yet inquired about the child's lineage, but Talon was sure that her daughter would be of much interest to him when he found out.

She may be a loyal Sith warrior, she maybe loyal to her master, ready to die for him at any point and loyal to the Sith cause with no thoughts otherwise, but after she had given birth she had found herself caring about this child. It was something she couldn't explain. Something she had never before experienced.

"CELESTE! Come here" Talon said, shifting her Lekku as she walked

"But mommy, there are some cool statues over here"

"I said come here" Talon's eyes burned and she pointed to her side

"But mommy..."

"Celeste" Talon repeated. The little girl lowered her head

"Coming mom" she said as she walked back towards Talon. As she walked, one of the statues caught her attention. "Ooooh, look at the jewel" she said, fascinated and turned to look at it, Talon still calling for her attention. As Celeste approached the statue, she reached out for it and it began to shake as the invisible tendrils that were her unconciously reaching out to grab the statue took hold and began to pull it, and the wall behind it, out towards her.

"CELESTE!" Talon called, reaching out to her daughter, but it was too late.

As the wall fell out, a large rock came crashing down from the ceiling, right near the girl. Celeste panicked. Talon lunged at her, trying to grab her out of the way, but as Celeste screamed in terror, she instictivly tapped into her dormant force abilities and sent a shockwave of energy through the tunnel, throwing Talon back to the ground

"MOMMY HELP ME!" she cried out as more rocks fell all around her, she covered her head as a rock fell on her head, knocking her unconcious. Talon rose to her feet and lunged again, but before she could reach her daughter the ground underneath Celeste gave out and she fell down the chasm, into forbidding darkness. As that happened, the rocks above the hole fell down and blocked off the passage even further.

Talon grasped her side, a small rock having pierced her side and reached out to where the rocks had fallen and her daughter had fallen through

"CELESTE!" she called out, but recieved no answer as she pulled rocks out from the pile.

xxxx

Celeste awoke in a dark cavern, her sides splitting and her head felt like it was about to explode. As she opened her eyes and tried to look around, but it was too dark to see clearly. Too dark to barely see at all. Too dark to see her hand in front of her face. The air was stale, but breathable

"Mom?" she said aloud, but recieved no reply. Fear began to take ahold of her and she began to tremble.

She stood up as best as she was able, but she had a hard time feeling her left arm from her elbow down. Grasping her arm, she moved forward in the darkness

"Hello?" she called out, trying to see if anyone was near where she was. "Is anyone there?" she called out again. And again, no reply other than her own echo.

She tried to make her way forward, or as far as she could tell which way was forward, she quickly remembered that she had an minature glowrod in her pocket. Reaching for it as she walked, she tripped and fell to the ground once again. As she stood back up, she reached forward, trying to gain her balance. When she placed her left hand down, she felt metal. Cold metal. And she could almost feel a presence in wherever she was. She couldn't explain any of it. But something told her that there was someone in the room with her.

"Hello?" she tried again. No response.

She raised her hand up higher and used her other hand to light the glowrod. When she tried to light it, nothing happened. But as the hand that touched metal rose, she felt something different. Not metal. Not anything like that. She leaned on it harder and heard a loud click. Startled, she looked around and saw nothing other than the forbidding darkness.

Then slowly, the room began to light up. Not very quickly. But Celeste was soon able to make out the outline of her own hand. Then the bit of blood on her hand that she quickly realized had come from her lips. She could also see the bruises and cuts that dotted her skin. Her dress was torn in several places. Then, as the light got brighter, she was able to see the whole room, including the way she had come in. She turned around to see what was making the light.

It was a large device. It stood a good fifteen meters tall. It's outer layer shined, only small spots of dust spotted the outer shell. It stood on four struts, then had a large, disc-shaped base with four pylons extending out to the top and an opening in the center where a large sphere of blue light shone out. Celeste tried to pull her hand away from where it was resting, she guessed some kind of keypad, but the more she pulled, the more her hand stayed stuck.

The keypad lit up and began to send a line of light up her left arm, snaking towards her body. Celeste panicked and began to scream as she tried to pull away from the device, but the more she struggled the more the device's grip held on. The beam wound it's way around her entire body. She continued to struggle and scream, but the beam held it's grip on her.

She soon found the beam slacking and slowly releasing it's grip on her. But as that happened, she saw an image in her head, an image of a group of aliens, tall, with large heads and large eyes on either side. They were standing over the device that currently had Celeste in it's grip.

Then the image dissappeared.

Celeste began to struggle again, trying to break free of the device again. And again, it resisted and tightened further.

As she felt an energy tendril begin to wrap around her neck, she screamed and once again instictivly drew from the well of Force energy that permeated her lineage and encased herself in a bubble of pure Force energy, forcing the tendrils to release from her. The last thing Celeste remembered before blacking out again was the sound of falling rocks and her own screams.

xxxx xxxx

The first thing she saw when she awoke were stars. Panicking, she bolted upright, only to see the edges of a transparisteel window. She sat up and looked around, seeing that she was in some sort of medical bay.

"Hello?" she said aloud. The door opened and a man walked in. He showed signs of age. Celeste immediatly backed up against the wall, her eyes wide

"Hey, it's ok. I'm not gonna hurt you" he said in a calm voice

"Who are you? Where am I? Where is my mommy?" she said all in one blurb

"Woah there, that's a lot of questions. I am Jerad Olak, Captain of this ship, for starters. Guess you could say I saved your life"

"Where is my mom?"

"Well, little lady, I don't know who your mother is, but any half-decent mother that I know wouldn't leave her kid lying in the middle of a desert looking like you did"

"What?"

"We were on a delivery run for the Triumverate, out to one of the more remote outposts, when we found you lying in the middle of desert. Not sure how long you'd been lying there, but you weren't in good shape" he said

"My mom wasn't there?"

"No. I don't know where she was. Or even who she is, kid. What's your name?"

"I'm Celeste"

"You got a last name?"

"Last name?"

"You know, your family name?"

"Not as far as I know. You need to take me back I want to see my mom"

"Do you know where she is?"

"We were in the tunnels"

"Tunnels?"

"The ones under the surface. My mother keeps telling me that I need to learn about my heritage so I can fufill my destiny, whatever that means"

"Who is your mother, kid?"

"The others called her, Talon. I think" Celeste said as she swung her legs over the side of the diagnostic bed. The man's eyes widened slightly

"Talon? I've heard of her and I don't think that she is any kind of mother. No offense, kid"

"But she is my mommy. She told me so herself!" Celeste insited

"If you say so" Olak said, trying not to sound sarcastic

"How old are you anyway?"

"I'm four!" she stated proudly, a large smile on her face.

"Well, Miss Celeste, welcome aboard the Star's Legacy"

"You aren't taking me back?"

"No. I'm doing you a favour. We had all hoped they got rid of the Sith for good. If there were more Jedi they could get rid of those bastards before they start another war. Damned fools"

"What's a Jedi?"

xxxx xxxx

"And you are quite certain, Darth Talon, that the girl is dead?" Darth Nihl spoke to Talon as she kneeled down in front of him back in the Sith Fortress.

"I am. After the rocks fell, I stopped feeling her presence in The Force. I have not picked up on it since"

"How does this make you feel?"

"I serve you at your whim, my lord. I feel no differently"

"But she was your daughter"

"She was"

"And?"

"She was born Sith. Had this not happened she would've gone on to be a servant of my lord. Would have surpassed and replaced me to fufil her destiny of providing the Sith with an Emperor"

"This does not bother you?"

"It is the way of the Sith, my lord. I slew my master on the order of Lord Krayt when I was finished my training. It is the way it works"

"Very good" Nihl said as he walked away, but stopped short "Who was her father?" he asked. Talon rose to her feet

"Cade Skywalker, my lord"

"Ah, I see. Then we have lost a great opportunity to realize Lord Krayt's vision"