A long time ago in a galaxy far, far, away…
The combined forces of rebel commander Lux Bonteri and Darth Maul's Mandalorian armies had just won a victory against an army of Ghosts on Nar Shadaa and prevented the destruction of every force user in the galaxy at the Ghost's hands. Now, as Maul went on his way again with his forces, since the mutual threat to him and the surviving Jedi had been successfully thwarted, Lux rushed back to the medical center where he left his wife, Ahsoka Bonteri… which is where he made a heartwarming discovery…

"I'm a father! I'm a father! Yea-ha! It's a girl! It's a girl! It's a girl!" Now, Lux was not normally one to freak out. But he was so happy. Ahsoka gently held their newborn daughter in her arms. Ahsoka agreed to let Lux think of a name for their infant child. So, Lux called her "Mariah. Mariah Bonteri."

Now, Lux and Ahsoka had to be on their guard as they raised their daughter. Their last attempt to do so ended in the tragic death of an adopted son at the hand of the sinister agents of the evil galactic empire. They made a choice and decided to raise Mariah on the planet Onderon, which had somehow managed to remain somewhat peaceful, even in this dark time. But as Lux was making his way with his family to their ship, a man approached him. He wore the clothes of a king, including a large, golden crown upon his head. He had a beard and his black hair reached down to his shoulders. Behind him came a girl and a boy. They were also dressed as of royalty. The girl around the age of sixteen and the boy around the age of eighteen.

Lux had heard stories from Albennel IV's current residents, the order of the eleven, about a group of ancients from that planet called House Morrow. He figured, from the description he was given, these must be it. "Let me guess." Lux hesitated for a second then asked, "King Alcander and his children. Am I right?"

The man replied, "Indeed, Senator Bonteri. These are my children, Ronith and Abigail. You have heard of us?"

Lux replied as he gave a slight bow, "I wasn't born yesterday. Welcome to Nar Shadaa... or what's left of it, anyway. Big battle happened recently. Long story."

"It is larger than I had anticipated." the king says."We have been...dormant for some time. When we arose from Sleepy Caverns we discovered a city had grown on our home planet. They are rather hostile to us. But we discovered that you are the only off-worlder with authority there."

"Oh. That's right. I am. Tell me exactly what happened, if it's not any trouble."

"To make sense of it we must go back half a century. At that time we had many castles upon the Lost Hills. But then the Rodians - the ancient inhabitants of Albennel IV - found a way in and defeated us. Therefor we fled until we discovered the Sleepy Caverns. After some time we realized we did not grow inside the caverns. So I suggested we stayed there until the next generation of Rodians died off so we could make peace. But then one of our own left us. We recently went to look for him when we found the city on Albennel IV - it was not run by the Rodians. They did not welcome us. Now the members of the Marrow family are spread across the galaxy. Three groups at least."

Lux rubbed his chin and said, "So you want me to reason with these people and ask if they'll accept you back in?"

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble," Alcander answered.

Lux replied, "I should like to get to know you a bit first, so that I can be sure I can trust you. I hope you don't mind. You see, I don't trust as easily as I used to."

"I understand," Alcander said. "And I must admit...not all of House Morrow is trust worthy. But they obey their leadership."

"Thank you for understanding." Lux gave a slight bow again.

Alcander went on and said, "The day before we emerged from the Sleepy Caverns I had a vision. One of light. But one the same day my brother had a vision. One of darkness. There shall never be complete light in this galaxy, but there shall never be complete darkness either. Some say there cannot be one without the other. That is simply not true... but there will always be mistakes made. Therefore, we must do all we can to ensure that the mistakes harm as little as possible."

"Agreed." Lux, soon after this point, went on his way, with his family, to their ship.

Lux and Ahsoka made their way back to Onderon with their infant daughter and quickly set up a room for her, upon getting to their little house. But on the very first night of taking care of her together, as parents, trouble already started to brew. The corrupted Knight, Absolam Morrow… being the cousin of Javin Morrow… snuck into the house and made his way into the nursery. Then as he hovered over Mariah's cradle, he quietly muttered to himself, "Mariah. It's ironic just what your name means…" Then he lightly tapped her forehead with his finger… secretly bestowing upon her a powerful curse that would slowly corrupt her mind as she grew older. Unless it was lifted, somehow, she would be completely seduced by the darkness and evil, by time she reached the age of full maturity.

Then after Absolam did the foul deed he came to do, Lux Bonteri grabbed Absolam from behind and started to pull him away from his daughter's crib. "Not on my watch, you don't!" Lux thought Absolam was here to try and kidnap his daughter, and wasn't aware of what just happened. But then a wrestle began between the two men. Mariah woke up crying… but then Ahsoka came in and froze Absolam in mid-air, using the force.

As Lux's bodyguards came to drag Absolam off to the nearest prison, on Onderon, the black knight shouted, "Gah! I am disgraced! I have brought shame upon my reputation as a knight! But mark my words, Bonteri… That won't stop my father from coming for me!" As he was hauled off to jail, Ahsoka and Lux did their best to soothe their daughter back to sleep… unaware of the curse that she'd just been plagued by.

The next day, Lux was at the prison where his militia were keeping Absolam Morrow, ready to interrogate him, when a long line of knights galloped towards the prison. Each row had three horses with the obvious leaders on top. The one in the middle had a long, grey beard and a crown upon his head. The one to his right wore primarily black clothes with a top hat and a red cape. The one to the left wore common Templar armor. Lux ordered his men to stand down and wait while he went to try and negotiate with these visitors they appeared to have, knowing why they've come. But, in the back of the knight's ranks, several trebuchets could be seen being put up. More lumberjacks that came in behind began to make battering rams as well. They clearly had no intention for negotiation. Seeing this, Lux decided to take a big risk. He went to fetch Absolam and bring him out to one of the wall ramparts. Lux's men, meanwhile, got in their defensive positions and manned their modern artillery for siege defense. "This guy must mean a lot to them, if they think they can out gun us with outdated weapons," they said among themselves. Then several archers marched up onto a hill next to the prison and prepared to attack it.

Then Lux appeared on the wall rampart with Absalom as a human shield. "Halt!" He yelled to the enemy leaders. "You will be willing to negotiate with me for his freedom... or he dies!" Lux didn't enjoy killing people... especially unarmed prisoners. But, unlike the Jedi, he would do what he had to do.

The old man, the master of the Templar, and the odd "gentleman" dismounted and approached nearer the wall. "What beef haveth you with thy son of Morrow?" the old man said back.

Lux answered, "He was caught in the act of attempting to kidnap my infant daughter. That's why I feel he needs to be imprisoned... or at least kept on a leash of some sort."

"He belongs to House Marrow," said the Templar. "He has recently attempted to take over a nation. He almost succeeded. We have been looking for him ever since. Therefore, we shall take him off your hands."

Lux replied by saying, "Just promise me he'll be kept away from my family."

"That can be arranged." the man with the top hat said. "Just give him here and we will go about our business."

Lux went back inside and then out the main gate with Absalom Morrow. Then he unlocked him from the iron chains binding his hands, as soon as he was within reach of the men who had come there. "Here you are." As soon as Absolam was free and he left with the man in the top hat… named Aalock Morrow. The Templar then suddenly rammed into Lux with his shield then brings his sword back for a second blow. The trebuchets began firing upon the prison. "Shields up!" yelled Lux as he tripped the Templar with a motion of his feet. The Templar fell, but attempted to do so with his sword over Lux. Thankfully, Lux was quick enough to roll over away from that. The shields around the prison walls and towers went up and the cannons returned fire on the trebuchets destroying each one they hit in a single blast. But magically generated shields suddenly came up before many trebuchets can be destroyed. At the center of each shield there can be seen men with very little armor…. more of a robe… and short swords. Lux got up and backed away a few steps from the Templar, before shooting at him with his blaster and rushing back inside the castle. "I guess this means we're at war with house Marrow," he said. The Templar blocked the shots that would have hit him with his shield. He then retreated to the rest of the army. At the flank of the fort the archers attempt to fire several flaming arrows. Their fire was soon returned with a heavy spread of lasers which downed many of the archers shooting at them. Then a few Y-wings flew over the bulk of the opposing army and dropped bombs on the foot soldiers before firing torpedoes at the trebuchets to get past their shields. The archers ran for cover and the rest of the army spread. Several smaller shields appeared in the middle of the army, however. In the shield they could see more of the robed men, battering rams, and as many knights as they could fit in. They began marching to the gate. The shields, unlike the technology of most of the galaxy, seems resistant to anything but flesh and the things flesh is touching. Lux rubbed his chin and said, "Hmmm. They're more advanced than I supposed." The knight's army reached the gate and started to smash it down with their rams. Lux did something with the power generators in the main control room of the prison, then casually took his men with him and exited the prison through way of the back door. Then the front gates burst open and the knights swarmed inside to take it. However, the time bombs in the power generator room that were previously attached to the main reactor suddenly went off and the whole fortress exploded… destroying the entire enemy force that went inside it. The remaining forces of House Morrow that didn't go inside the prison that was now destroyed…. including the three who were in the front originally… and Absolam… went back and regrouped.

Lux went on to a nearby cantina to look for a Bounty Hunter to hire. He didn't usually deal with mercenaries to do his handiwork for him, but in this case, he felt as though it were the best move to make. He came across a not well known but somewhat crafty female Bounty Hunter who was recently widowed and left with a 1 year old toddler to care for. The recent death of her husband, who was a rogue Jedi while he still lived, was brought about by a necromantic Mandalorian named Ridric. But that's another story. Her name was Aria Marr.

Lux spoke in a whisper to her as he leaned on the wall in back of him, "Psst! Hey, would ya care to do something for a politician like me?" He did his best to sound kind of suave and shady, so as to come across as a typical person who WOULD hire a bounty hunter. Normally, this attitude was totally unlike him.

She pulled out her gun and pointed it at him. "Depends. What is it?"

Lux put his hands up in the air calmly as he said, "Allow me to explain... It seems I have a surprisingly formidable new enemy. Actually, I have an army of them. But our subject is this one among them... Absolam Bar Aalok Morrow. The story is that he tried to kidnap my daughter a night or two ago. But when I had him justly sent to prison for it, this happened..." Then he told her about the attack on the recently destroyed prison.

"I see. What do you want me to do about it?" She kept her blaster pointed at him.

He went on by saying, "I want you to do some spying on him and his family, House Morrow. Find out what you can about their military technology and tactics... and maybe their weaknesses. They may look like they're a bunch of primitives stuck in the medieval days of yore when knights rode around on horseback, but don't let that fool you. They have ways of making it so that you HAVE to fight them head on, if you get on their bad side."

Aria asked, "And how much for you paying me to stick my neck out in this, Bonteri?"

"20,000 credits. 5,000 plus that much if you exceed expectations."

"Bonteri, I have done a lot of things in my life, crazy things. But spying... I do not do. I did it for House Thul. Never again. I know when not to stick my neck in the heap of trouble."

Lux started to slowly back away. "Alright, fine. In that case, I'll ask someone else. Hmmm. Maybe I'll ask a MAN to do this for me. Eh?" He said this tauntingly, as if to challenge her. Normally, he didn't act like a sexist either. But he was kind of desperate… and very new to dealing with bounty hunters. "Heck. I could even go, myself, after all." Aria clenched her free hand into a fist and glared menacingly. "Did I offend you?" He said with a bit of a smirk.

"Don't test me!" She snapped at him. "You don't know my reasons." She fired a warning shot past his ear with her blaster.

"Ooh. So there IS some fight in you. I like that." He said, not actually meaning to flirt. "So... perhaps you can put that fight to better use. How about I DOUBLE the promised price on that mission I had for you earlier? Maybe even triple it? 60,000 at least 75,000 at most. Fair?"

"I don't know," she replied.

Lux quickly stopped play acting and switched to his normal attitude. "Sorry if I offended you. I wanted to see what you were made of... and I did. Ahem. How much WOULD you like?"

"I only don't know because I have a son to worry about. But I need the credits," she replied.

"I'll safe guard him in the same way I'm safeguarding my daughter, now... with your permission, of course." He now had guards placed all around the nursery of his house.

"You'd better, Bonteri. If something happens to him, I swear on the force, I will take you down!"

"I'll double my guards and take extra precautions, then. …. Do we have a deal?"

The matter was settled. Aria went on the spy mission. When she came back to deliver her report, a half a week later, she received her son back along with 75,000 credits… as promised. Now, from what she told Lux, Absolam Morrow had somehow gotten away with assassinating King Alcander and his children. Then he managed to easily get onto the throne of all House Morrow. He was planning on using all the knights in the realm that accepted his rule over them to conquer the system of Albennel IV from the Rodians and the Order of the Eleven…. by force. Lux wasted no time, upon hearing this news. He went straight to Albennel IV's capital to warn the Eleven. His ship came into view of the palace and made a landing on the nearest shuttle platform to the royal council hall.

The entire city seemed more fortified than last time Lux was there. With good reason, too. Over half the council seats were empty and House Marrow had declared war on the Eleven. The Rodians might be posing a threat, as well. A dozen guards rushed to the platform as Lux landed. Lux took a peek out the window to see what the nature of his greeting might be. Seeing the patterns and design of the ship, the men outside stood at ease. They were clearly not hostile. So, Lux marched out and said, "Sorry I'm late. I had to deal with some medieval knights who were... less than honorable, in a way or two that I can think of."

"We have been having trouble with them as well... From what our spies have gathered they are attacking without the king's blessing. An old legend of theirs has supposedly returned and now the House of the Shadows is leading the House of the Warriors against... well... everyone," said a guard.

Lux looked concerned. He somehow felt a sense of loyalty to these people… as if they were his own, rather than a bunch of foreigners who just looked to him for help. "Hmmm. I'd better do some research on them, then. Do you have anything I can read into?"
"Where they came from is a complete mystery to us. It's likely they are the only ones who know...But if the Rodians' claims are true they've been around a lot longer than we have."

"They originally sent me here to negotiate peace terms. But after what I went through over the seediest one among them trying to kidnap my daughter, I think peace negotiations may have to wait a while… until it's all sorted."

"We have heard rumors that the king that came to you has been murdered and his son kidnapped. I'm afraid all sense has been lost in House Morrow...The only hope of redeeming them would be Javin Morrow. But he wants nothing to do with them."

Lux knew Javin from the war with the Ghosts… and figured he knew where to seek him out. "I think we may have to either endure a siege or find him quickly and hope he can be reasoned with."

The guard said, "That is what we had in mind. But we do not know what to expect from them. But they attacked you, right? How is their military?" After Lux described the prison battle in full detail, the man replied, "Then I am afraid we don't stand a chance even on our home ground."

Lux knew he had to speak to Javin ASAP. So, he went off and did it…. But alas, the council of the Eleven received a holo transmission from him a few hours later that said, "I hate to say this, but Javin refuses to leave the place he's at now. It looks like you're all going to die, unless... you evacuate the planet. I'm sending a heavy star cruiser your way to transport you and the Rodians to safety. Have them gather in the fields outside the city walls and ready to leave. This is a matter of survival."

A councilman was present and replied to the hologram. "Senator, many of the residents would sooner die than leave this planet. Its monuments are sacred to some." Senator Bonteri shook his head sadly in disbelief. But he looked down at the ornate jeweled ring which Javin had given him… wondering how it was supposed to help him win the fight that was coming. The councilman continued speaking, "We can only hope that when House Marrow takes the city that they will have mercy on the civilians."

Lux then went in person to speak to the Rodians. He came into their territory peacefully and asked to speak to their leader. "Excuse me. I need to speak with whoever's in charge here. It's rather important."

A Rodian looked down at Lux from a balcony. "That would be me." He said. "What brings you here?"

Lux spoke as diplomatically as he could, "I came to warn you of impending danger. House Morrow is looking to come back and wipe you all out along with the eleven, very soon. My men and I are getting ready to fight them. May I request something of you? Either lend us your aid or do not hinder us while we meet them at the sleepy caverns in battle. That is all I ask. Your aid or your promise of non-hindrance. Either way, you'll be doing us both a favor."

The Rodian patriarch replied, "We do not fear House Marrow. My father destroyed them after a hundred years of war. They have grown weaker as we have grown stronger... Mind you, Albennel IV is ours. The Eleven cannot simply take our land like House Marrow did."

"I believe we can settle things between you and the eleven after the battle. All I ask is that you at least promise not to hinder us. Albennel IV is yours, tis true. But if you had the strength or the wits to drive House Morrow from the palace, perhaps you could help us to insure that you will KEEP what is rightfully yours."

The sly old alien agreed… "Hmm. Very well. We will aid the attack on sleepy caverns," … but he did NOT promise that he wouldn't hurt the eleven.

"Thank you." Lux gave a small bow and went to prepare for the battle at the entrance of sleepy caverns.

The next day, Lux's men and the militia of the eleven were at their battle stations at the sleepy caverns. Lux's men had built a small fortress at the entrance to the caves that would protect them and give them cover as they shot and fired at any knights that came out. Meanwhile, as the eleven's forces fixed their bayonets, some portals opened up and the armies of House Morrow started leaking out. Rank upon rank of Knights in shining armor that were ready to wipe out all who opposed them. But then as the battle began and shots were fired, the Rodian speeders came from behind the eleven and started shooting at both them and House Morrow. Lux tried to say to them, "Wait! What are you doing? This is madness! You and the Eleven share the same enemy!" But the Rodians wouldn't listen. Thankfully, yet another army showed up to stop the Rodians in their senselessness. Javin Morrow came out of Hyperspace with Princess Aiko's kingdom backing him up. As that small Starfleet began to stop the Rodians, Lux remarked, "I've not seen anything like this before. This is… a battle of FIVE armies!"

Then Absolam came out from behind a tree and started attacking the Eleven with his sword. Lux looked at the situation, took out his black glass spear, and went to meet Absolam in battle… FACE TO FACE. A savage duel began… and it lasted about a minute and a half before Absolam grabbed Lux's spear by the handle. Lux, however, yanked the spear back and cut a slit through Absolam's gauntlet and a bit into his hand. Absolam yelled in pain but then got mad as he raised his sword to cut down at Lux. But before Absolam could deliver the blow, Lux had buried the axe blade of his black glass pike into Absolam's gut. The Dark Knight fell to the ground. The Wound wasn't exactly fatal, but he was clearly out of the battle.

Lux then went to face the onslaught of Knights that was getting too big to manage. That's when he thought to see what the ring was for. He put it on his finger and displayed it to the enemy forces with a determined and unafraid expression on his face. Then the sky went dark and frightened noises of panicked Knights could be heard over the continued blaster fire of the eleven's forces and Lux's men. Apparently, this magic ring caused House Morrow to lose its power…. Making them vulnerable to the far superior weapons technology their magic would otherwise be defending them from. Then, within minutes, the noises calmed down and Lux put the ring away again. The battle was over. Lux's men and the Order of the Eleven, with unexpected backup from Javin's allies, had won the day and saved the planet.

Despite this being a victory, Absolam's body was missing… and never got found. So, he was still alive. Javin looked sadly over all the carnage. But then he asked Lux if Absolam had successfully touched Mariah Bonteri's forehead. When Lux thought back to that night and answered with a yes, Javin told Lux what had happened. He also told Lux how the curse could be lifted. "Wait until she reaches the age of reason. Then, if there is something Mariah does not have, give it to her as an act of love. That should lift her curse." Lux nodded, gave back the ring Javin had let him borrow, and went on his way back to Onderon. His family would be waiting there to greet him.

Upon getting back to the house, Ahsoka Bonteri greeted her brave husband with a kiss.

THE END.