Felucia was a world of life. Everywhere one looked, they would find only plants. Sentients appeared to be rare, but they were almost just as common, merely camouflaged to blend in with the surroundings. Regular outsiders would not be able to notice them, but they were constantly there. Most sentients that wandered onto the planet were welcomed with what the locals called "the outsider treatment." Several tasks would be thrown at any sentient who touched the surface of the planet, and they would be unknowingly observed. If at any point, the outsiders showed weakness, the local people would kill them. When one was enduring the outsider treatment, bows were always drawn so that a failure could be killed in an instant. For years, this tradition had kept the Felucians hidden, separated from most of the galaxy. They had met their match when they met the Jedi Master.
Shaak Ti had fled to Felucia after the slaughtering of the other Jedi. When she had landed, she was as emotional as a Jedi could ever be. The Felucians had planned to give her the outsider treatment, being ready to kill her at any moment. What perhaps they were even unaware of was that they shone like beacons to her. Felucians were naturally Force-Sensitive, though by this time they had only manifested this ability in a very limited sense. Shaak Ti felt each and every one of the Felucians examining her, and also felt that they had not reached their fullest potential.
In what was perhaps one of the most powerful techniques known to her, she transferred all of her negative emotions to each Felucian examining her through her own mindpower and caused them to manifest as physical pain.
That was the end for the outsider treatment. Shaak Ti had passed with flying colors. The Felucians lay on the ground, literally writhing, only because she wanted them to. They learned to love Shaak Ti over time, and even made her their leader. Shaak Ti knew, though, that they had only submitted to her originally because of fear. Whatever trust, whatever friendships came later, were a direct result of that initial fear. The Jedi had taught her that fear was an agent of the dark side, that it was something to be avoided.
So began Shaak Ti's acceptance that perhaps the Jedi Code did not provide all of the answers.
There were techniques within the Force that the Jedi had considered for centuries to be aligned with the dark side. Force Lightning, for example, was a way of channeling the sheer power of the Force to inflict harm on another human being. This was a direct violation of the Jedi Code, and Shaak Ti would never have normally dreamed about learning the art.
Yet throughout the history of the Jedi, all of the Renowned Knights had utilized supposedly "dark" Force powers. Revan was famous for his Lightning, and the sheer sight of it was often enough to send his opponents dashing in the opposite direction. Revan was also famous for saving the Republic not once, but twice. Meetra Surik, also known as the Exile, or the Rebuilder, had given her contribution in a time much like the one Shaak Ti was living in now. Darkness was needed to survive. When considering Surik, however, one had to remember that she was under the influence of a Sith Lord called Darth Traya. Yet, Surik had rejected Traya and continued to use these powers for the light side.
Shaak Ti had never looked deeply into the art of conjuring Lightning, but she had heard rumors. It was sheer, channelled hatred, according to Jedi who had fallen and turned back. Hatred was a violation of the Jedi Code, but the more Shaak Ti considered this, the more hypocritical she and the rest of the Council seemed. The Jedi, despite what they would say to enemies and even to themselves, hated the Sith. They hated power. Above all, they hated the dark side.
What would happen if Shaak Ti, instead of channeling hate at a specific individual, channeled her deep hatred of the dark side?
This took months of planning, months of careful thought. Shaak Ti knew that she would have to balance this channeling of hate, the sheer embodiment of the dark side, with love, the only true emotion of light. Love, though, was not easy to the Jedi. They had always been taught caution alongside it. A good portion of her planning was deciding on what an acceptable way to feel love would be. Above all, though, she knew that the killing would have to be followed immediately by remorse, the only true redeeming act.
Finally, one day, Shaak Ti knew it was time to try for real. She wandered into the woods, keeping her Jedi senses open for simple forms of life. Eventually, she came upon a Gizka, a small creature considered virtually worthless in the galaxy and on Felucia. Shaak Ti used her calculated emotional plan, and found that she had been successful. She had killed the Gizka, and felt regret at the loss of life she had caused, as all Jedi who were forced to kill were expected to feel. The only difference was that she had used a different weapon, a much more dangerous and horrible one.
Shaak Ti also found the practice applied to other supposedly dark powers. Barely a week after mastering Force Lightning, she mastered Force Choke. Force Drain, Force Plague, and Force Scream came shortly after that. All of her practices continued to be on semi-intelligent lifeforms, never on a sentient. She had brought down rancors, great birds, and other huge beasts with her abilities, but killing a sentient would be much, much harder for any Jedi. If she could, she would have held these powers in reserve for the rest of her life, only wielding them as a political weapon, as threats.
Fate would not allow it to be.
Xarla was a male Felucian, and had been the head of the tribe that Shaak Ti had conquered before she landed. All Felucians had an affinity for the Force, but Xarla was different, exceptional in more ways than one. Shaak Ti had taken him as her personal apprentice, and even led him into the crystal caves of Felucia to build a lightsaber. His was a bright green, exactly the same shade that Master Yoda had wielded. Before Shaak Ti had taught him the Jedi Way, he had been nothing but the leader of a backwater tribe desperate for influence in the area.
He turned to guerrilla warfare against a neighboring tribe with more profitable trading alliances. Many of their wagons had been stripped clean, and Xarla had even formed a blockade of all of their trade routes on their eastern border. This allowed him to demand tribute payments, which he would then trade off to the neighboring tribes for weapons, food, and luxury items.
When Shaak Ti had taken over, she had ended the trade embargo. Now, the other tribe had almost recovered its former wealth and was on the brink of war with Shaak Ti's. He had wanted to kill Xarla, but had learned of a new leader. Instead, he demanded that Shaak Ti meet him in a field of battle, where a fight to the death would ensue. The winner would take leadership of both tribes.
Shaak Ti knew that assuming the mantle of the other tribe's leader was a political and economic masterstroke. While this tribe would be able to get by without the trade, several other minor tribes in the area were dependent on it. If Shaak Ti took the other tribe, the rest would swear unconditional loyalty to her. However, within a few years, there would be rebellions. There was only one way to stop these rebellions before they started: to demonstrate a strong affinity for the Force.
She would have to kill the leader of the other tribe, Bayur, with Force Lightning, the most impressive display she was aware of.
This would be a direct violation of the Jedi Code. Ending another life for personal gain was a crime that was almost unforgivable. Yet, she had long ago made the decisions to try and unite these Force Sensitive people against the Empire. Bayur was the key, the first step to success. What had Master Windu called them? Shatterpoints?
Also, she had come to the conclusion that the Jedi Code was only a partial truth, a flawed answer.
So it was that Shaak Ti came to be in that field, surrounded by both tribes and the leaders of Bayur's partner tribes. She slew him within seconds, and one by one, the leaders had submitted to her, dethroned themselves, and given in to her leadership and rule. Shaak Ti decided that a governorship would work best, and left local leaders in charge, appointing Bayur's son as governor of his tribe.
She also turned her tribes into cosmopolitan peoples. There were many warships left over from the last battle on Felucia, in which Shaak Ti's friend Aayla Secura had lost her life. Many of the Felucians proved adept at piloting, others at operating the cannons, and others still at utilizing the land vehicles. She trained them to understand Galactic Basic as well as Huttese, Rodian, and even Shyriiwook for good measure.
Shaak Ti had seven tribes under her command, and was not planning on bringing any more under her banner until it was necessary. Xarla, however, turned to diplomacy to turn other tribes to their cause.
It was a fateful day, barely a year after the attack on Coruscant. A runner came back from a tribe that Xarla had been negotiating with for quite a few months. He held two things: a message and a head that had once rested on the shoulders of a faithful apprentice.
The message was to inform Shaak Ti that any more diplomats sent would be killed and any presence on their borders would mean war. She gave up on expansion campaigns, whether military or diplomatic.
The Force was to give her another chance, though. Barely a week after the death of Xarla, a ship crash-landed on Felucia, carrying an old Padawan named Maris Brood. She had just barely began her training, and Shaak Ti knew that she would surely fall to the dark side if not properly trained. Maris Brood became a Padawan to Shaak Ti.
The arrival of Maris Brood was a sign of greater things, for Maris had news that was about to send her new master on an adventure, the first time she would enter the Empire since the collapse of the Order.