Prologue: Fall of the Dark Lord

"Krotuss..." a deep whisper echoes, "Krotuss, 'tis time. Long ago, you swore to me! You swore to protect me, but now there is another...A Jedi walks among us!"

Aboard his massive starship, the dark lord of the Sith, Krotuss Vass, attempted to appease the screams in his mind. The dark side was strong with him, but he felt as though he were constantly struggling with it for control. It was an empty, fearful emotion within him, whose void could only be satisfied with a constant gain of power. Krotuss was an average-sized Zabrak male, whose crimson skin and black tattoos made him seem even more menacing than usual. He gazed out at the galaxy he now ruled, but his confidence was beginning to wane.

"Lord Krotuss," said an Imperial Officer as he quickly approached and saluted his ruler, "We've arrived, my lord. Korriban awaits your decent."

"I'm well aware that we have reached my destination, Officer Nordock," the Sith hissed angrily but with a calm gaze, "You would be wise not to interrupt me when I'm deep in thought."

"Yes, my lord," Nordock immediately apologised, "It won't happen again."

"No," Krotuss replied as his anger grew violently, "No, it will not."

The tyrant raised his left hand, clenched his fist, and dark force energy swept over the officer like a plague. Nordock's face grew extremely old, and it was as if time itself had advanced on him at an accelerated rate. His hair turned into a thin, white substance of decay, and just before it fell off entirely, Nordock's eye sockets imploded like two collapsing stars. As the entire deck of crew members watched in horror, Nordock became nothing more than a pile of decayed flesh and bones, and Lord Krotuss seemed to somehow grow younger than before.

"Yes," the voice hissed again, "Such delicious life force! I must have all of it...I need all of it..."

Ignoring the voice in his head, Krotuss made his way to the dispatch shuttle, and descended to the Restored Sith Academy on Korriban. His small shuttle was fast for its size, yet it lacked the power to reach speeds high enough to brave the sandstorms familiar to Korriban's surface. Yet despite his teeming hatred for this barren wasteland, he had proudly destroyed the Jedi Order, and restored the Sith Order once more. No matter what apprentice the Academy's supervisor wanted him to see, Krotuss believed that no sith would ever accomplish what he had so many years ago. Finally, he approached the massive, dark temple, and landed his shuttle in the western docking bay, which faced a deep valley littered with tombs.

"So this is the Academy they constructed for me," Krotuss said mildly, "I suppose it will do for now."

Meanwhile, inside the academy, the entire student body had gathered for a mandatory meeting, which was called by the supervisor. Among them were masses of apprentices, padawans, and older students that hadn't yet mastered even the basics of the dark side. However, no youngling was more doted upon than Nores Kree, who was a rare, Darminian Zabrak, and a descendant of Darth Maul. He even resembled the ancient Sith Warrior slightly, but his appearance seemed even more menacing than his ancestor.

Next to him were his two goons; a Neimoidian by the name of Kardol Shrata'al, and a Trandoshan known as Kod'lock. While they were nothing special, for some reason being around Nores made them seem a bit more dangerous. Away from the main tables, and trying to avoid notice, was a truly powerful Human male named Malik Kajil. So far as was known, Malik was the only one to ever face Nores in the training arena, and live to talk about it.

The New Sith Order decreed that every combat excercise would be met by real-world standards, and as such, padawans were immediately taught to use light sabers after learning to craft one of their own. This made Malik an exceptional student in the eyes of most of the masters, but it also made him both a threat and a target for Nores Kree, who despised him for it. Nores seemed both jealous of Malik, and threatened by him, but Malik simply wanted to survive, not surpass. As the students settled into their seats, the supervisor approached the front of the crowd, and used the force to amplify his voice into a loud, booming echo.

"My proud padawans and apprentices," he began, "This is a proud day for the New Sith Empire. This is the day when one of you will be chosen to stand at our Dark Lord's side, and rule alongside his greatness. It will be that Sith's honor to learn all the knowledge that Lord Krotuss has to offer, and leave their mark on the Galaxy at large."

The entire student body was as silent as death, and as the supervisor finished his introduction, Lord Krotuss himself appeared before them. There was an overwhelming sense of fear issuing from most of the students, and Krotuss began to scowl. The stench of a Sith's fear disgusted him, and even the voice in his head was hissing and gagging. Slowly, he approached the mass of students, and felt his own dark energy rising in anger.

"Young Sith," Krotuss began, "If you feel the overwhelming sensation of fear broiling within your chest, leave immediately," he began, "You will then run and hide anywhere you can, as those who are truly worthy of the dark side hunt you down, and bring honor to this wretched Sith Academy."

For a moment, none of the students moved. Their minds raced with both incredulous disbelief and panic, but soon, the panic took over. To seal the order he had given them, he glared at the first student he felt fear from, and began strangling him with the dark side. He slowly brought the student up to his eye level, and as the young, human male with blonde hair gasped for air, Krotuss hissed where only the boy could hear him.

"A Sith does not fear," he growled as his hand shook violently with intense rage, "A Sith uses fear, he makes it his strength!"

As he finished his sentence, the youngling collapsed, dead on the floor, and all the students who had felt fear began to run wildly in all directions. Wasting no time, Nores Kree and his goons drew their sabers, and were the first of a group of students to strike down the fleeing students. Malik Kajil simply sat in his place, and although he was not afraid, he did not see the point in killing the cowards who had once called themselves Sith. Malik watched as the slaughter continued, and had unwittingly gained the Dark Lord's attention.

As the screams stopped, only a few dozen students remained, while the ground was littered with the limbs and corpses of the rest of the student body. Retracting their sabers, the students immediately sat back down as if nothing had happened, with Malik now alone at his table. Krotuss was curious about him, and approached the supervisor immediately.

"Who is that student over there," he whispered to the supervisor.

"Oh him," the supervisor replied, "That's Malik Kajil, he's a human we found wandering in the desert about two years ago. He's strong in the dark side of the force, my lord."

Krotuss approached, and at first, Nores Kree thought the Sith Lord was approaching him, but grew even angrier as he spoke to Malik first. Malik sat in place, refusing both emotion and eye contact, and cleared his mind as the Dark Lord stared at him. Finally, Krotuss forced Malik to look at him with the force, and stared into his eyes.

"You supervisor tells me," Krotuss began, "that you survived in the desert sands of Korriban, is this true?"

"Yes," Malik said dryly and without hesitation as Vass released him.

"Did you know that it's supposed to be impossible to survive out there for more than a standard day, young one" Krotuss asked.

"No, my lord, I did not," Malik responded.

"Tell me, youngling," Krotuss said loudly enough for all to hear, "How long did you survive in that harsh environment?"

"The force," Malik said, this time with a proud tone in his voice, "The dark side of the force guided me. I lived for six months after..."

"After what," Krotuss hissed, leering at Malik with excitement and envy, "What drove you out into those sands, boy?"

"We were on a starship," Malik answered, "We crashed, I should've died but...the force. It spoke to me, it told me where I could find food and water. The force kept me alive, but only barely, my lord."

"Impressive," Krotuss said, nodding.

He returned to the supervisor, completely ignoring Nores Kree, and they began to speak. After a moment, Krotuss nodded at Malik, and then left the academy. All of the students were confused, even Malik, who was now angry at having remembered his family's demise upon arrival. Despite them dying tragically, they had still gotten their wish, and it would seem even better than they had hoped.

As Krotuss Vass made his way back to his starship, a harsh wind blew over him. Luckily, he managed to get into the small craft, and power it through the young sandstorm before it became deadly. Docking back with the main ship, he arrived on the deck, but then something strange happened. It was the voice! It was screaming inside his head, and was angry with him.

"YOU FOOL! HOW COULD YOU WASTE ALL THAT LIFE? ALL THAT DELICIOUS LIFE FORCE! YOU'VE FINALLY DONE IT! YOU'RE FINISHED!"

Krotuss suddenly clasped his chest, and knelt. The crew aboard his ship was in a panic as dark force energy began to attack the ship itself, and started lashing out violently. While the Imperials fled the flight deck, Krotuss was now nearly face down next to the pile of what used to be Officer Nordock. His entire body felt as though it were being dried rapidly, and he found he couldn't breath. Not only had the dark side abandoned him, it was attacking him, or so he thought.

It suddenly dawned on him that he had never been in control, and that he was merely a puppet for the force; a vessel in which it could reach out into the galaxy. As Krotuss drew his last breath, the flight deck of the ship was crumbled by the intense force energy, and the massive starship hurtled towards Korriban's surface. Just before the massive explosion of the crash consumed him entirely, the last words Krotuss Vass heard were that of the force in his head:

"You fool, you are unworthy of the power I have given you. Hence, I have taken your life force, the way you took so many others! I will find a newer, better Sith to bestow my gifts upon! Someone truly worthy of the title of Dark Lord! Krotuss Vass, you are no more!"