Chapter One
Somewhere in the dense forests of Onderon.
"Eight years later and it's still as inhospitable as it always was," Ja'neel mused as dove out of the way of the creature's massive fist. It had been some time since Ja'neel had last encountered a terentatek, but his distaste for them hadn't changed over the years. The massive creatures usually only grew to a height of about three and a half meters tall, but this particular specimen was anything but usual. An elder of its kind, judging from the length of the pincer-like horns protruding from the corners of its mouth, this terentatek stood nearly five meters tall. The Zabrak, not even two meters tall, was utterly dwarfed by the monstrosity.
Size wasn't everything, however, in battle situations. It was obvious to Ja'neel that he was the faster of the two. He could see the matron's wide, sweeping strikes long before they happened. He had come here for a challenge, though, and he intended to have one. The Zabrak clipped his lightsaber hilt back onto his belt, and removed his shirt. He stared straight into the eyes of his adversary, and goaded it onwards with the Force.
The terentatek was happy to oblige to his request. Dropping down to all fours, it charged at Ja'neel with surprising speed. Surprising, that is, for someone without the aid of the Force. Ja'neel waited until the last possible second before jumping up into the air, somersaulting, and landing on one of the curved horns protruding from the creature's mouth. Its eyes, small in comparison to the rest of its body, turned towards him, and it let out an ear-shattering roar that seemed to shake the forest in which they fought. The creature bucked its head wildly, attempting to toss his tiny foe from its head. Ja'neel, unable to keep his balance, was tossed into a nearby tree.
The sudden and powerful impact caused the Zabrak to black out for a brief moment. As his vision recovered, he couldn't help but notice the immense creature barreling straight for him. "Kriffing Onderon," he swore, gathering the dark side of the Force. The terentatek's deadly horns were only meters from him when he unleashed this power. The air around Ja'neel became black with an odd cloud, and this cloud shot outwards with blinding speed. Anything organic by this cloud seemed to disappear, destroyed utterly by the might of the dark side of the Force. This included, of course, the terentatek. Ja'neel stood up, exhausted from unleashing such a powerful wave of Force energy.
"A shame," muttered the Zabrak, staring at the smoking hulk of bones that was once the teretatek. "I had planned to end this creature with my own two hands." He picked up his night-black shirt, tossing it over his shoulder. Despite the presence of pestering insects in the air, Ja'neel preferred to feel the air on his bare torso. The very wind of this planet seemed to breathe the Dark Side; he basked in its security as he strode towards the nearby ruins.
"Just as I left it," muttered Ja'neel as he caught sight of the entrance to the tomb. The entrance itself was typical of any Sith burial site: a simple stone doorway with a large boulder blocking its entrance. The boulder for this particular tomb, however, had long been removed. Nostalgia washed over the Zabrak, flooding him with memories of the first time he laid eyes on this place. He had been just a boy then, scared and confused, an outcast because of his abilities. Back then, he neglected his abilities out of fear for what they could do, but now he knew better. His connection to the Force was not a curse, but a blessing. When he had been trapped here, nearly a decade ago, his knowledge of the Force had been nearly non-existent; the juxtaposition of the "before and after" images that flashed into his mind forced a chuckle from the Zabrak.
Shaking off the flashbacks, Ja'neel stepped through the ancient doorway, entering the tomb. The atmosphere immediately felt familiar to him, as if he hadn't been away for ten years. "Just as I left it," he confirmed. But it was true. The tomb hadn't changed at all. The Zabrak ran his hands across the cracked stone wall. His hand reached a deep scar in the wall that was much darker than the stone that surrounded it. There was no doubt in his mind that it was he that had caused this. "Lightning was foreign to me back then," he mused, "but now it is a reflex."
He kept walking, ignoring some of the pointless rooms in the tomb that had long since been robbed of whatever treasures they once held. Finally, Ja'neel caught sight of the room he had come here to see: the real treasure room, the room that once housed the Holocron from which he had learned the ways of the Force. He noted with amusement that fragments of the wall that had once barricaded him inside this room, broken down on that fateful day ten years ago, still littered the ground outside the entrance. A feat of this magnitude had struck terror and awe into Ja'neel's mind when he had witnessed himself perform it; now, it was no more impressive to him than the simple act of levitating an object. Shaking off the past, Ja'neel took his first step into the room that had been his home for more days than he wished to recall.
Danger.
Ja'neel bent backwards from the waist, his spine contorting to an unnatural angle, just in time to dodge the disruptor blast that blazed across the room. It struck the wall to his left, leaving a smoking hole where the stone once was. By the time the blast had struck the wall, Ja'neel's lightsaber was already in his hand, crimson blade humming, ready to defend against any more of the discharges. But they never came.
What came instead was an emerald beam of energy, slashing for the Zabrak's right calf. Ja'neel cartwheeled to his left, bringing his lightsaber up in mid-air to block the follow-up strike from his assailant. He backpedaled upon landing, attempting to get a view of the dark-cloaked figure. He wasn't given that chance. Strike after strike pounded against the his lightsaber, forcing Ja'neel to fight defensively. He seamlessly transitioned from acrobatic Ataru, which he had used to fend off the previous assault, to the defensive Soresu. Ja'neel wasn't used to being on the defensive, but it did not mean he was an ineffective defense fighter. His crimson blade flowed effortlessly to each of the assailant's intended points of contact, redirecting them so that the follow-up strike would not penetrate his defenses. He had to admit, though, this guy was good. Very good.
The cloaked figure stabbed forward with his emerald blade, attempting to pierce Ja'neel's defense. The Zabrak was familiar with this unorthodox attack, however, and was ready to act upon it. He took a step back, bringing his saber around to slam against the side of his opponent's blade. He forced the blade aside, leaving his opponent defenseless. He slid forward, bringing his left leg around in a high kick that aimed to knock the man out. Ja'neel was genuinely surprised when the figure ducked, charging forward, shoulder lowered in an attempt to knock him over. "Not kriffing likely," he swore as he threw his weight back, nulling the impact. The instant the cloaked figure came in contact with Ja'neel's body, Ja'neel swung his legs over his head, hurling the figure behind him. The Zabrak completed the maneuver by rolling to his feet and pivoting to face the figure, a sense of surprise washing over him as his eyes finally locked with his opponent's. The figure's hood had been loosed during the scuffle.
"Sithspit," swore Ja'neel, and the battle began again. "A damn kid," he thought as he brought his crimson blade up in front of his face, blocking an overhead strike from his now unmasked opponent. "So young, yet his grasp of Djem-So is nearly as good as mine. It's like watching a "How-To" holocron."
The Zabrak's hands were a blur as he fended off the boy's ferocious attacks. He didn't have a problem blocking these attacks; no, he saw them well before they actually came. The problem was that as the battle progressed, his attacks seemed to be getting faster. The boy was drawing power from some source, but Ja'neel wasn't sure what that source was. He needed time to think.
Just as the young boy's lightsaber was about to touch his own weapon, Ja'neel turned his hand, redirecting the attack. His opponent's lightsaber was forced aside, leaving him open for a split-second to a counter-attack. Ja'neel took advantage of this opportunity to slam the palm of his off-hand into the boy's chest. Right as his palm connected with his opponent, Ja'neel let loose a powerful shove with the Force, sending him sprawling across the room. The Zabrak wasted no time in changing the focus of his Force awareness from the area immediately around him to the entire room. As he did so, he noticed an immensely dark and powerful Force presence focused in a small area. He was more surprised to find that this presence was emanating from the boy. Confused, Ja'neel looked over the boy who was just rising from his slumped position against the wall opposite him. His gaze fell upon the boy's neck, from which a shining gold amulet hung. "A kriffing Sith artifact," he swore, bringing his blade back up into a ready position as the boy charged him once again.
Ja'neel took no chances this time. With a Sith artifact on his person, there was no telling how powerful this boy could actually become. The more time he stayed in physical contact with the object, the greater the degree of corruption he would take on. Ja'neel would have to end this quickly. The Force surrounded him like an ocean, engulfing him with its might. He felt what little fatigue he had been experiencing suddenly leave his body. His already near-flawless Force awareness was augmented, allowing him to see the next several attacks the boy would make before he even thought about making them. The boy moved to make an overhead strike in an attempt to cleave the Zabrak in two with sheer power; Ja'neel had already seen this, and held his saber in a typical overhead block. At the last second, he stepped to the side and spun, bringing the back of his hilt to the side of the boy's head. It made a grotesque crack as it connected with his skull, and the boy fell to the floor unconscious; his hilt hit the floor with a clunk, disigniting upon contact
Reaching down, Ja'neel tore the artifact from the boy's neck. He tossed it into the air, engulfing it in a Force grip, and crushing it into oblivion. "Gain strength by your own hand, not by the power of those who have already lost their chance. These artifacts augment the user's abilities one hundredfold; however, to be as powerful as you were now would require you to have a great deal of potential yourself," mused the Zabrak. He took a last look at the unconscious boy before walking out of the chamber. "I have a feeling I will meet him again someday," Ja'neel said as he stepped back into the wilderness of Onderon. "And I look forward to it.
The landing zone that Ja'neel's fighter had created was roughly 200 meters –long and wide—of flattened grass. Crossing from the forest into this area, Ja'neel's gaze locked onto his bland, gray fighter. He noticed a black outline moving under the belly of his ship. A spark flashed, and the figure rose to his feet, popping open the cockpit.
As the cloaked figure was popping the canopy open, Ja'neel was already sprinting towards his ship. Halfway to the ship, Ja'neel could hear the whirr of the engine as it warmed up. Leaping towards the ship, he focused on the figure in the Force, attempting to rip him from the cockpit with a powerful tug of the Force. Much to his surprise, the energy he exerted seemed to halt before the figure, reorganize itself, and change direction towards Ja'neel; this time, however, it had more power behind it than before. Only having a moment to react, Ja'neel threw a barrier of Force energy around him, causing the returning Force energy to dissipate before it reached him. Completing his jump, Ja'neel landed lightly on the nose of his fighter, raising his head to meet the eyes of his assailant. The young man smirked wryly as he climbed out his seat onto the nose of the fighter. He waved his hand back towards the cockpit, pushing the ignition in: the ship rocked as it rose into the air. Both combatants drew their lightsabers simultaneously, and the crimson blades clashed with a flash of sparks. Ja'neel transitioned immediately into Soresu, blocking and re-directing all of the figure's swift, aggressive attacks. Noticing an opening, Ja'neel moved forward quickly, sending a kick to the back of his knee, forcing him to collapse. Taking a split-second to gather his bearings, Ja'neel looked down at the ground, which was now several hundred feet below them. While his opponent was struggling to his feet, Ja'neel flipped over him, landing in the cockpit. He flipped a switch, extending the landing gear and causing the ship to begin to lower itself back down.
The assailant, by this time, had risen awkwardly to his feet, favoring the leg Ja'neel hadn't crippled with a kick. "I admire your persistence, boy, but you'd be foolish to try and stop me," Ja'neel said. He got no reply, other than an attempt at a beheading. Ja'neel's hilt flew from his belt to his hand, activating as it did so. The sabers collided and Ja'neel found his hand being pushed back slightly; the boy had the advantage of gravity on his side. Thrusting his free hand forward, Ja'neel unleashed a Force Push that sent the man skidding along the nose of the ship, and toppling over the side. His hand grasped the end of the ship in a desperate attempt to hang on. A sickening crack resonated as Ja'neel's heavy boots shattered most of the bones in the boy's hand; the force of the boot pressing down on his hand, however, prevented the boy from falling.
"You are strong, boy. Your potential is great, but you'll never realize it on your own. You need a mentor... a guide... a Master. Allow me to extract from you every last drop of power that the Force has deemed you worthy of one day possessing. This is your choice: allow me to train you in the ways of the Dark Side, and together we will one day unite the Sith under my banner. You will stand by my side as my apprentice, and answering only to me. The Rule of Two we shall follow; all others will be pawns in our galaxy-spanning game of chess. . However, if one of these pawns who, like you, has been gifted with knowledge of the Force, happens to challenge and best you, your title will belong to him. Like you, my apprentice, these "Dark Jedi" will crave power. They will train their entire lives, honing their skills, with the goal of one day taking the title of Dark Lord of the Sith. You must have this mentality as well: if I am weak and foolish enough to let my guard down, you must kill me. If you do not, then you are not worthy of being a Sith.
"Or, boy, you can end it all here. I can lift my foot and let you hurtle to your death. Choose now."
It was not a difficult decision. The boy's eyes glistened as he listened to Ja'neel's words: his apprentice he would surely be.
