A/N: Alright new story. Have fun reading!
Ashoka lied in bed starring aimlessly at the ceiling out of boredom and anticipation. Soon the Republic task force she was with will exit hyperspace next to a Separatist controlled planet. Heavy resistance is expected. This would've been just like every other mission she had been on except for a few key differences. First off her master, Anakin Skywalker, wasn't with her because he was too busy with another battle to join so instead Ashoka and Master Eeth Koth will be leading the attack. Secondly the planet they are about to attack is Korriban, the birth place of the sith. She remembered what her master told her about the planet from his own experiences. He said it was a dry, lifeless, and desolate world that has a deep connection with the dark side and was abandoned many millennia ago. Recently the Separatists have taken control of the planet even though it has little to no strategic advantages or resources. The Jedi Council believes that the planet must be seized from the Separatists in order to keep its dark secrets away from Dooku and the other self-proclaimed sith. Which is why they entrusted the task with one of the council members, Eeth Koth, and Ashoka happened to be free at the time and was assigned to the mission as an extra precaution.
Ashoka was just about finally fall asleep when her communicator went off and quickly snapped her out of it.
"Padawan Tano we are approaching Korriban. Report to the bridge immediately." Eeth Koth said through the communicator.
"On my way Master Koth." She replied before getting out of bed. Ashoka clipped her lightabers to her belt before leaving her temporary quarters.
The bridge of Eeth Koth's flag ship was full of movement as Ashoka arrived. Clones were running all over the place to get to their battle stations. Master Koth stood at the front of the bridge with his arms folded behind his back and his eyes closed.
"Master Koth." Ashoka said standing right behind him.
"Padawan Tano, are you ready to begin?" He asked without facing her or opening his eyes.
"As ready as I'll ever be master." She said with a shrug of her shoulders.
"I can sense your unease. You must keep a clear mind in battle if you are to lead. A distracted leader is a distracted army." He said giving her some words of wisdom and advice.
"Yes master." She said. Even though she won't admit it, she was feeling unease but it wasn't from the upcoming battle or Korriban. There was something else bothering her. She didn't know what but she put it in the back of her mind since she was about to be in a battle.
"Sir we are dropping out of hyperspace now." A clone lieutenant said to Koth. Koth finally opened his eyes.
The white lines outside of the ship turned back into white dots as the three Republic cruisers exited hyperspace. Through the bridges main view port, Ashoka could see the dead red planet that was Korriban. What she didn't see were Separatists ships.
"Where are they?" Ashoka asked referring to the Separatists.
"Lieutenant, I want the entire area scanned. Leave no stone unturned." Eeth Koth said with a figure of speech. The clone lieutenant saluted him and went over to a group of clones and passed on the order.
"Something's amiss. Our intelligence confirmed the Separatists have a base here." Koth said ominously which sent chills down every ones spine.
"Maybe they abandoned the planet." Ashoka suggested.
"Possible but not likely. This is most likely a trap." Koth said. Then the clone lieutenant returned to Koth's side to report.
"Sir we've scanned the area and there are no signs of the Separatists ships. Also we've scanned the base on the planet's surface and there no signs of life form or droid presence."
"This is very strange…" Koth said. Ashoka was thinking the same thing.
"Master Koth we should send someone to the planet's surface to investigate the base. We may be able to find clues as to what happened to the droid forces." Ashoka said.
"An excellent suggestion Padawan Tano, take your starfighter and go to the outpost. I shall remain here in case the Separatist return." Eeth Koth said while turning to face her for the first time
Ashoka bowed slightly before leaving the bridge. When she got to the ships hanger she found her trusted astromech and friend, R3-G1 aka Regi, working on her Delta-7 star fighter.
"Fire up engines Regi, we're going to the planet's surface." Ashoka said.
The droid let out a series of beeps that only she and her master could understand. It's something she had picked from being around her master's astromech, R2-D2, all the time.
"Ya I know. There's definitely something going on down there, all the more reason for us to investigate."
R3 let out another series of beeps that sounded protestant.
"I don't want to go down there any more than you do but we have to. Besides master Koth has given me an order which you have to follow as well." She said finishing the sentence with a smirk.
A long exaggerated beep came from R3 which resembled a long sigh of defeat. Ashoka climbed in the fighter along with R3. She took off from the hanger bay and headed towards Korriban. As she got closer to the planet she felt something through the force. It was the same something that was bothering her earlier. To her it felt like a dark presence but it was very small, barely noticeable. It was more of a whisper than a presence. Ashoka wondered if perhaps someone was disguising their force signature but if that were true, she thought, how come she was able to feel it before she even got to the system. She then took a deep breath and cleared her mind.
"Whatever's down there I'll find it." She spoke to herself.
The fighter entered the atmosphere of Korriban and from her cockpit Ashoka could see the large mountains, deep canyons, and dried up river beds that covered the planet. She also saw enormous statues that were built by the ancient sith to commemorate sith lords that had ruled the planet. The entire landscape was a rusty red color and there was no vegetation what so ever.
Her fighter touched down on the red earth just outside the base. Ashoka got out of the cockpit and as soon as her boots hit the ground she noticed that the gravity on the planet was nearly twice as heavy as the gravity on most other planets like Coruscant or Geonosis. This would complicate things in the event of a fight.
Ashoka studied the droid base from a distance and it looked like every other droid base minus the droids. From the outside nothing looked out of place. She needed a closer look.
"Keep the ship running Regi, we might need to leave here in a hurry." She said and R3-G1 acknowledged with a few quick beeps.
Upon entering the base she found droid bodies littering the hallway. She examined one of the destroyed droids and noticed that it wasn't destroyed by a blaster but by a lightsaber. All of the droids were either sliced in half or crushed.
After several minutes of wondering the damaged halls she came across a large room in the center of the base. The blast doors that kept intruders from entering lay on the other side of the room. More droid bodies littered the room but they were in defense position, all facing where the blast doors used to be. Ashoka concluded that this must be the control room and that the droids made their last stand here. There was still nothing that explained how the droids were destroyed. There was nothing except for the presence she had felt earlier. Ashoka than realized something and she almost slapped her forehead for not thinking about it earlier. She could track the presence and find who or what was responsible for the droids destruction.
Again she took a deep breath and cleared her mind. She isolated the force signature and followed it. The force guided her through hallway after hallway and room after room. The closer she got the stronger the presence was. Eventually the force had guided her to a landing platform at the far end of the base which hanged over the side of a canyon. Sitting on the edge of the platform was a person.
He was sitting on the edge with his feet hanging over the side while starring at the large canyon that the landing platform overlooked. He also had his back towards Ashoka and didn't notice her. Ashoka got both of her lightsabers ready as she slowly and quietly approached the stranger. She stopped just a couple meters away from him.
"Who are you?" She asked the stranger. This startled him and he quickly got to his feet and faced her.
Ashoka didn't know what he was but she did know he definitely wasn't human. He had red skin, black hair, yellow eyes, and he was only an inch or two taller than her. He also looked young as well, around her age.
The stranger stared at Ashoka, studying her. He then noticed the lightsabers in her hands. The sight of the lightsabers infuriated him. He quickly reached into his over coat and pulled out his own lightsaber and ignited it.
"Jedi!" He roared as he charged at her with the blood red blade in hand.
Ashoka had little time to ignite her sabers before his saber crashed into hers. When they did it knocked her off her feet and sent her flying backwards several meters. She performed a back flip in midair and landed on her feet. Again she had no time to react as the stranger relentlessly charged at her swinging his blade furiously at her. She stood her ground this time and pared his blade. He was using a lightsaber form that she had never seen before. Every time their weapons made contact she could feel the ungodly strength behind each strike and she was just barely able to keep up with the aggressive and direct attacks.
The fight dragged on and Ashoka began to feel fatigued. The heavy gravity of Korriban was taking its toll. But her opponent wasn't letting up. The one flaw about his fighting style is that it left several openings in his defenses. The quick and aggressive strikes kept her form striking back but when an opening presented itself she struck. With her shoto saber she swung at his unguarded left side as she blocked his saber with her other lightsaber. She was utterly surprised when he caught her shoto with his bare left hand. She tried to get it free but his grip was too strong and he was pushing hard on her other lightsaber with his own. Seeing no other way to get free, she deactivated both her lightsabers and jumped backwards as fast as she could to avoid being sliced in half.
This time instead of charging at her again he stood their staring at her. He looked at his left hand and noticed it was burned from grabbing the lightsaber. Ashoka was panting heavily and her arms felt like rubber. She saw the anger in his eyes, for some reason, he hated her and she wanted to know why.
"Please tell me why you hate Jedi." She asked. Her best option was to talk some sense into him since she will obviously lose if they continued to fight.
He stared at her for a few seconds with a half angry half confused look on his face. He then responded by speaking a few words in a language Ashoka didn't understand.
"I don't understand." She said and again the stranger looked at her confusingly. That when Ashoka realized he didn't know basic. It was also at that moment that she got a crazy idea that was more than likely not going to work but it was better than the alternative of fighting him.
Slowly she put her lightsabers back onto her belt and then raised her hands in a surrendering gesture. He gave her an are you crazy look.
"I mean you no harm." She said in a sincere voice. The stranger didn't know what she said put he could tell from the tone of her voice that she didn't want to fight. Slowly she walked forward towards him with her hands still raised. She stopped when she was just with in arms reach of him. He still had his lightsaber ignited but when he sensed no hostilities from her he deactivated his saber but kept it in his hand.
"Let me help you." She said. He still didn't know what she was saying but his instincts told him to trust her even though she was a Jedi. Ashoka gently placed a hand on his forehead. The stranger finally caught what she was trying to do and did the same by putting a hand on her forehead. They both closed their eyes and concentrated on each other's mind. Through the force they were able to transmit knowledge from their minds to the other. The process, when done by a master of the force, was painless but the two of them weren't and so the process was very discomforting. After a minute of exchanging knowledge through the force they broke the connection and recoiled from each other.
"Blazes that hurt!" The stranger said now speaking basic.
"You're telling me." Ashoka said rubbing her forehead. "Now that we can understand each other, what's your name?" She said getting to the point.
"Dante… yours?"
"Ashoka Tano." She replied.
"Alright Ashoka tell me why are you here." Dante said.
"I was trying to figure out what happened to the droids. Why are you here?" She asked
"This is my home world. I have every right to be here." He said in a serious voice.
"What are you talking about? No one lives here." She said with a confused look on her face.
"Well I do. Or I did some time ago…" He said.
"What do you mean by that?" She asked now curious.
"It would be easier if I showed you instead of trying to explain it." He said and he walked past her and walked towards the droid base. She gazed at him as he walked past her and a thousand questions filled her head. He stopped just before the entrance and looked over his shoulder.
"You coming or what?" He said and Ashoka snapped out of her thoughts and followed him. Dante led Ashoka through and out of the droid base and they continued to walk until they came upon a cave entrance in a mountain side which was right next to the droid base. They both activated their lightsabers for light as they continued to walk through the deep cavern. As they walked through it Ashoka noticed destroyed droids all over the place but they weren't battle droids, they were excavation droids.
They kept walking for several minutes, following a trail of destroyed droids and mining equipment, until came across a pair of massive double doors that had ancient symbols engraved in them.
"What's behind these doors?" Ashoka asked as she studied the symbols on the massive doors.
"My tomb." He said and Ashoka quickly looked at him with a rather confused and shocked expression.
Dante raised a hand towards the doors and used the force to open them. The doors were very heavy and the ground shook as they were slowly pushed open. Ashoka decide to lend a hand and used the force to help open the doors making it open faster. They both stopped using the force when the doors were fully open.
"Thanks." He said and he led her into the tomb. The tomb was illuminated by crystals that glowed with red hue. The both deactivated their lightsabers since the tomb was somewhat lit. The tomb was one large circular room with a diameter of two dozen meters. The walls were covered with more ancient symbols and markings. In the center of the tomb was an opened sarcophagus which was in the middle of a circle with even more symbols and markings surrounding it.
Ashoka's jaw dropped when she realized what Dante was trying to suggest by showing her the tomb.
"You mean to tell me you were inside that thing." She exclaimed while pointing at the sarcophagus. He nodded in response.
"Just what exactly are you?" She asked. The question confused him.
"Why do you ask? It obvious as to what I am." He said. Ashoka still gave him a look of confusion which told him that she really didn't know what he was.
"Oh I see… I guess I really am the last of my kind." He said in a dreary voice will looking down at the ground.
"What is your kind?" Ashoka asked.
"I am sith. I was born and raised here." He said proudly. Ashoka was shocked to hear this and took a few steps backwards.
"But that's impossible. All of the native sith were exterminated during the Great Hyperspace War which was nearly five thousand years ago." She said. Dante sighed heavily and looked at the ground with a depressed look on his face.
"I know. I figured that out once I had awakened. During my time we were at war with the Republic and the Jedi. The day the Republic invaded our defenseless home world was the day I was put into that coffin." He said.
"So you attacked me because I'm a Jedi?" She asked.
"Ya, sorry about that, I thought you were trying to sneak up and attack me." He said sheepishly.
"It's alright." She said.
Dante walked over to the sarcophagus, placed a hand on it, and again sighed heavily.
"I can't believe I've been inside this thing for five thousand years. It all seemed to go by in an instant." He said while Ashoka walked up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. It comforted Dante to know that she felt sympathy for him.
"It must be tuff being the last of your kind."
"If I hadn't been forced into this dam thing then I could've done something. I could've saved my people!" He yelled while slamming a fist into the coffin. Ashoka could feel his sorrow.
"Why were you forced?" She asked. Yet again he sighed and turned to face Ashoka.
"I was…" He began to explain but was interrupted by Ashoka communicator going off.
"Padawan Tano, do you read me?" Eeth Koth franticly said.
"I read you Master Koth." She replied.
"A massive Separatist fleet has just exited hyperspace over the planet. We are heavily out matched and must immediately leave the system!" Koth said.
"Understood Master we're on our way!" Ashoka said before cutting the transmission.
Back on the Republic cruiser Master Koth was thinking of what Ashoka had just said before cutting the transmission. When Ashoka said 'we' it led him to believe that she had found someone. His question would have to wait as he starred out of the main view port of the bridge at fifteen Separatists star destroyers closing in on the task force's position.
"Turn the ships around and divert all available power to the rear shields. As soon as Padawan Tano is aboard we make our jump to hyperspace." He said to the clone lieutenant who relayed the order to the other two ships in the task force.
Ashoka ran as fast as she could through the cave tunnel with Dante right behind her. He didn't know what was going on but he chose to go with Ashoka to find out. After a minute of sprinting the two emerge from the cave. Ashoka looked up and she could clearly see the Separatists ships opening fire on the retreating Republic task force.
"Padawan Tano where are you!" Master Koth yelled through the communicator. "We can't hold out much longer!"
Ashoka was about to tell him they we're on their way but then she realized that her fighter can only hold one person. She thought for second before responding.
"Master Koth we won't make it in time. Please leave without us." She said gravely. Several moments passed before Koth responded.
"Are you sure about this Padawan? It may be some time before we are able to return for you." He said.
"I'm sure Master." She said.
"Very well, remain hidden and wait for are return. The Separatists fleet will leave once the task force does. May the force be with you." He said and with those final words he cut the transmission and gave the order to jump to hyperspace. From the planet's surface, Ashoka and Dante watched as the three Republic cruisers left Korriban's orbit. Shortly after the Separatists fleet went into hyperspace to follow them.
"Now what?" Dante asked Ashoka. He was completely confused as to what just happened.
"We wait." She said. Ashoka was about to start walking back to her starfighter when something caught her eye. She strained her eyes to see what it was and then she realized what it was.
"We have to hide now!" She said quickly.
"What's wrong Ashoka?" He asked.
"That's what's wrong!" She said pointing at a Separatists frigate approaching them. "They must be here to reestablish their base." She said.
"Is that the enemy?" He asked. Ashoka quickly nodded.
"Then we shouldn't run. We must fight!" He said confidently. Ashoka looked at oddly.
"You're strong I'll give you that but there is no why you can fight an entire frigate filled with a battalion of battle droids." She said trying to talk some sense into him. To her surprise he simply smiled.
"Stand back. I don't want you to get hurt." He said sincerely. Ashoka was about to question his sanity but the determined look in his eye kept her from saying anything.
Dante closed his eyes and concentrated. He dug deeply into himself to summon the power he possessed. The ground began to shake violently as the wind picked up speed. The force surrounded and intensified around him as he summoned even more power. The red earth he was standing on began to crack and small pieces broke off and floated upwards. Ashoka couldn't believe her eyes. She had never imaged such a being to exist. Dante didn't give in to the force, he controlled it. Then Dante's skin started to change. On his red skin, black sith tattoos formed out of nowhere. They covered his arms, face, neck, torso, and legs. Ashoka dropped to one knee to keep herself from falling over from the ground shaking and the powerful gust of wind. Clouds began to form over the Separatists frigate and thunder could be heard from them. Dante raised hands towards the brewing storm cloud that he had created and folded his hands into a fist. At that moment lightning shot out from the clouds and struck the frigate. This continued for several moments until Dante lowered his hands and the lightning strikes stopped. The frigate had massive damage done to it and was just barely able to stay airborne as smoke was emitted from it. A sadistic smile grew across Dante's tattooed face. He wasn't finished yet. He raised his head and roared at the top of his lungs towards the heavens. When he did this a massive bolt of lightning, ten times larger and stronger than the last, struck the frigate and it went directly through it. The frigate instantly exploded once the lightning bolt went through and the wreckage crashed into the ground leaving nothing but an unrecognizable burning heap of metal. The ground seized shaking, the wind died down, and the storm clouds dissipated. Ashoka stared at him with disbelief as he stared at his handy work. He stood there with his back towards Ashoka and continued to smile at the frigate wreckage until and he felt an overwhelming pain throughout his body. He dropped to his hands and knees and spat out black blood onto the ground. He let out a harsh groan of pain as he struggled to keep himself up.
"Dam… these… restraints…" He managed to say before collapsing. When fell unconscious the sith tattoos that covered his body disappeared and his red skin was back to what it normally was.
Ashoka slowly walked up to Dante's lifeless body and gazed at him.
"What are you?" She said ominously.
A/N: What do you think? Thanks for reading.