The waves of darkness pulsed uncontrollably through Luke Skywalker, at 65 years of age, he'd felt the darkside in many different ways, but this made them all pale in comparison. He could feel it infecting him, drawing him in and fully taking him over.
His understanding and control over the Force earned him the title of Grand Master of the Jedi, but he couldn't control the anger and hatred flowing through him, and part of him wanted more, needed more, begged for more. He looked over and saw the lightning sparking and crackling through his fingers, wanting to be unleashed, wanting to inflict pain and death - and it felt good. Too good.
Glancing past his fingers, Lukes eyes narrowed on the dark figure ahead; only dark wasn't the right word, it didn't feel strong enough. Looking closer, he tried to make out the details, but only saw a haze of blue Force energy rippling in every direction. He knew on a deep level that this was wrong, but he couldn't control it, or more precisely, he didn't want to control it.
Dropping to one knee, he begged, "Teach me more master. Please."
The figure stretched a chiseled humanoid arm towards him, and the ripples intensified to a bright blue wave, shooting towards and encasing his whole body in the energy, and something ancient and incredibly powerful erupted inside of him. A power unlike anything he'd ever imagined, so much lost knowledge, and with it the darkness completely took him over.
Embracing every aspect of the darkness, the figure's plan erupted in pure clarity. He was going to start a war, a terrifying war that'd reach every aspect of the Galaxy, no system could hide from it, and none could come close to stopping him. The fog around him flashed, and a moment later he was standing next to a figure, watching a line of millions, possibly billions of beings lining up in front of a scanner. Above each was a reading of their Force sensitivity.
Without whimper or argument, each of the beings formed into separate groups, and in a flash of pain and betrayal, the group without any Force sensitivity ceased to exist.
The fog surrounded him once more, and the groups disappeared, replaced again with just the dark figure. It's voice sounded familiar, but one he hadn't heard for quite some time, he said, "It's the only way to ensure peace and control."
None of it sounded wrong, every word felt true and accurate, they needed to exterminate every conscious being that wasn't Force sensitive. There wasn't any option, the Galaxy needed this, it was truly the only way.
The familiar voice continued, "I'm coming back into this realm soon, and I'll need your help, I'll be weak and unable to fight off any attacks until I recover my strength. Protect me Uncle Luke."
The dark face cleared into immediate clarity, Anakin Solo, his dead Nephew, stood looking down on him. Looked looked up in astonishment, and saw behind the eyes, it wasn't Anakin. The presence inside the being wasn't Anakin, it was something beyond powerful, something using his Nephew's body for it's own uses. And Luke would protect that being with everything he could. He nodded and replied, "My lightsaber is yours. Everything I am is yours."
...
Feeling the droplets of cold sweat dripping down his cheeks, Luke sat bolt upright in his bed, he'd felt consumed by visions before, but this was something else. He'd wanted everything the figure wanted, needed to help, needed to be part of, of genocide. His stomach violently churned, and Luke needed to concentrate hard to avoid expelling its contents over his bunk. The revulsion at his thoughts were...
Luke took a deep breath, and called onto the Force, letting it sooth his frazzled nerves, and fill him with the reassurance and warmth it provided. He felt his heart slowing to a normal pace, and took a few more deep breaths, feeling everything return to normal. It was a vision, and the future was always in motion, the idea that he'd join with Anakin to commit genocide was ridiculous. Only, as he relaxed, more memories flashed to the surface.
He knew exactly where this being was going to be reborn, Yavin 4, directly on top Exar Kun's destroyed temple, and they didn't have long before it happened.
Without warning, another wave of fear erupted into his mind. His son Ben was now a Jedi Knight, but fear seemed to have ratted the young man to his inner core, Luke thought for a moment that he might have been reacting to the emotions radiating from himself, but the fear was too strong, too extreme. Did he just have the same vision? He'd never heard of two people sharing the same vision before.
Luke stepped off his bunk, only to see his com unit flash an incoming call, Corran Horn; but before he could answer it, another three separate icons flashed up, all Jedi Masters. Luke connected them all in a call, and watched as four holo's flashed up in front of him. Saba Sebatyne hissed, "Thiss one has had a vision."
Luke nodded gravely, then said, "Was it Anakin?"
The Barabel hissed something incomprehensible, and Jaina Solo Fel replied, "It looked like Anakin, but it couldn't have been. I could feel a presence behind the eyes that wasn't Anakin, it was a darkness that Anakin never had, even at his worse, Jacen never felt that evil. And it made me. Made me..."
Jaina's voice trailed off, replaced by Corran, "You wanted to join him, help him, his goals felt like yours?"
Nobody wanted to answer, but the looks surrounding him let him know that they all experience the exact same vision. Looking down at his com unit again, Luke saw several more call requests, slowly building up. Saba hissed, "This one feels like a hunt on Yavin, I wills leave now."
Jaina said, "Master Sebatyne, whatever this is, it's beyond any of us alone."
Luke nodded, noticing even more requests popping up, he looked at the other Masters and said, "I agree, but we can't let this Being cross realms. I'm calling an emergency meeting, we need to act fast."
The Masters nodded as Luke set to work. The vision seemed unlike anything he'd ever felt, or wanted to feel, and judging by the names appearing on his com unit, it'd spread wide and far. Possibly to all the Jedi? Everywhere?
...
Looking at the enormous forest or Yavin 4 surrounding him, Darth Plagueis felt unease creeping through his whole being, he couldn't say he feared it, but it was curious. He'd spent so much time in isolation, close to 80 years. All the time he'd been studying the Force, immersing himself in it, manipulating it, and making it's will his own. He'd been tempted to take another apprentice, but his last one had ended badly, with his own death in fact.
His desires had become far more in depth than a standard Sith, the pursuit of power and control didn't interest him anymore. After defeating death itself, the idea of controlling others seemed petty, true power came from understanding the Force itself, and in that regard, he had no rivals. Which is why he found it curious that he felt at unease. He'd learnt long ago how the conscious Force was controlled, for it to try and make him feel unease was, well, curious.
Floating effortlessly over the uneven forest floor, Plagueis cleared the trees surrounding him, to look on the destroyed temple of Exar Kun. The life of the forest still refused to grow over the mounts of stone and rubble, so he knew the essence of the ancient Sith Lord was still there, patiently waiting for his time to return. Plagueis wished he could have met Kun during the height of his power, it would have been a sight to see. Sadly, that'd never happen, Kun was merely a ghost of his previous self, and it wouldn't be long before Plagueis sent him to the other side once and for all.
Landing on uneven stones, he felt the unease swell up inside him, this was definitely curious. What was the Force trying to achieve, or was it Kun?
"Kun. Show yourself."
Nothing happened. Not that he expected it to,Kun had spent the last 4000 years hiding, and waiting,he wouldn't be stupid enough to show himself to the first being who showed himself and called his name. Kun probably wouldn't care if it took another thousand years for his next time to come around.
Looking behind him, Plageuis guided the massive bacta tank through the foliage, and set it to a stop at the direct center of the temple, he took a few steps over the uneven stones towards the tank. Then said, "You've been sustaining yourself for millennia on the stolen force potential of an entire species. The idea that a couple of Jedi Apprentices calling a small amount of light energy could destroy you is laughable."
Still no response. Plageuis had read up on all the internal documents that the Jedi published about the early days of the Jedi Academy, and Exar Kun was one of the more memorable figures. He'd then done some flow-walking and watched the events for himself. Exar Kun never evolved into something more than a Sith, even over the time he'd been hiding, the want of power and control never left his mind. It was sad really, that lifespan should have evolved Kun into something unbelievably powerful, but he just sat waiting for his time to whisper into the ears of a susceptible mind.
Still, it'd make it easier to manipulate the old consciousness. He reached down with the Force and floated up a random rock, letting it drop into his hand. He said, "Or maybe the Jedi Apprentice Corran Horn destroyed you by blowing up these rocks?"
It lasted for maybe a millisecond, but the ancient Sith slipped, he allowed the fury inside him to penetrate the cloak he'd been hiding behind. That was all Plageuis needed, snapping out like a spider trapping it's prey, he encased the essence in a Force bubble, cutting it off from anything in the outside world. With his existence betrayed, Kun didn't try to hide himself anymore, the malicious rage tried radiating from the bubble, but couldn't.
The image of the Sith appeared inside the bubble. It looked impressive, like something to be feared and respected. The image said, "If you think this." The dark and deadly eyes scanned across the invisible bubble, "Can hold me, you are greatly mistaken, I am the Sith Exar Kun, nothing can hold me. And when I am free, I'll..."
Plageuis held up a hand to silence the spirit, he said, "I find it strange, that after 4000 years of existence you can do nothing but make idle threats. You've got the Force potential of an entire race inside of you, but you fear true death so much, that you only use it to sustain a withering shell of yourself."
"You know nothing about me, I am the one and only, Exar Kun, I..."
Plagueis ignored the faceless threats coming from the disembodied spirit, and looked towards the lifeless body inside the tank, and grinned with a pleasure that Kun would never know. He'd devoted everything to understanding and experimenting with the Force, he could increase his own Force potential exponentially, could even bring himself back from death. But one thing had always eluded him, bringing somebody back to life.
He'd cloned people before, given them the same memories and experiences, but they were never the same person. He'd only ever created a new being. What he wanted, needed to do is bring a spirit back from the other realm. But such a thing was unknown to the universe. He'd spent years in meditation/time walking to try and find anything close, but nothing worked. So he needed to figure it out himself.
After his apprentice Palpatine killed him, Plagueis was so very close to becoming one with the conscious Force. He'd learnt before then how to manipulate his own midi-chlorian levels, and to make them do his bidding, and in death, he discovered his link to the midi-chlorians wasn't broken. He'd managed to keep his dead body nourished with the Force, and repaired his body enough to slip back into it, before the draw to the otherside took over, but it was very close, too close.
Weak and defeated, Plagueis managed to swap his body with another before it was cremated, and sulked out to hide, and as watched the decades past him by.
He'd cheated death, but only just. Since that point, he'd devoted himself to finding the methods to returning from the other side. Kun managed in part what he wanted to do, but he'd take death over the shell Kun had become. So Plagueis had begun experimenting, and nothing he'd done to this point managed to bring back the consciousness from the other side.
However, his latest experiment seemed to show hope. Removing the stolen Force potential from Kun wouldn't be easy, and then trapping part of his spirit in this realm, while the other part drifted to wherever it resides would be even harder. But with any luck, it'd create a bridge between the body in the bacta tank, and the side.
The body in the bacta tank he'd created, not using any traditional cloning techniques, but through the Force itself. He'd retrieved some burnt cells from a cremation site on Hapes, and excited the dormant midi-chlorians hiding inside. It'd taken time, and fierce concentration, but he'd convinced the dormant midi-chlorians that the body had never died, and they begun to repair the body, cell by cell. With the assistance of the bacta fluid, the flesh returned, and after years of growth, it appeared not as it once did, but as it would now. Anakin Solo appeared not as the 17 year old he'd died, but somewhere in his 30's, where his body would have naturally aged to since his death.
That seemed curious also, since he'd done nothing to age the body to that point.
But despite all the growth, the brain never seemed to show signs of activity, it just lay dormant, empty. He'd been paranoid a new being would be born with all the growth, but that never seemed to happen.
Still stuck inside his bubble, Kun must have noticed the body floating towards him, and said, "Did you bring me a body?"
Plagueis laughed and replied, "For you? No. What could I possibly learn from that?"
"I know Dark powered that have been long forgotten in your time, I could teach you..."
Plagueis cut him off, "If you had the powers I needed, you wouldn't be a helpless spirit stuck inside a bubble. You'd have been reborn millennia ago."
Kun begun another useless rant.
Levitating the bacta tank closer, he pushed it inside the bubble with Kun. The ancient Sith pounced exactly like he'd imagined, pushing his whole essence into the empty shell, trying to take control of it.
Plagueis told him, "The midi-chlorians don't recognise you, they won't accept you no matter how hard you try. However, they will accept the original. When you see Sidious on the other side, tell him I'm disappointed with him."
And with that, Plagueis plunged deep into the Force, almost becoming one with it. He saw everything on a level deeper than any other, saw the strings holding everything together. He could see the massive potential that held Kun to this realm, and it swirled within Anakin's body. Spotting the individual strings that connected the Sith with the Force Potential, Plagueis begun to snip away at them, breaking the long held links.
Alarm seemed to flow from the Ancient Sith, but he still tried to take control of the body, even as part of his own essence started to slip away. Now came the risky part, would this now create a bridge to the other side? Time would tell.
...
The meeting had been probably the easiest to organise, and quickest. Those close enough to come in person were there within the hour, and the rest synced up on holos. Luke hadn't found a Jedi who the vision didn't extend to, which meant the intention to be very clear. The Force was letting them know about a danger worse than any other in recorded history. And it needed to be destroyed before it could take roots in the Galaxy.
Every Jedi offered themselves to take on this threat, but Luke had ordered half of them away, getting all the Jedi in the Galaxy in the one place wasn't a smart idea. He just hoped half were up to the job.
From all corners of the Galaxy, Jedi Apprentices, Knights & Masters dropped everything and set course for the Yavin system. He'd ordered them to wait until enough numbers to arrive to take on this threat, but still, he couldn't shake the feeling that they would be too late. He'd crammed as many could fit into the Jade Shadow, and while Leia & Han did the same with the Millennium Falcon. Setting off as fast as possible towards the Moon.
The unease erupted into a magnificent fear, pulsing through his own body, and urging him from his actions. Very curious indeed. The Conscious Force really didn't want him doing this, which meant he was onto something good. It was working.
The anguished scream coming from Kun now seemed distant, and weak. The last of his essence still held onto the body, but the rest had crossed over. Now he just need to hold it in place, and wait for the original owner to come back. Once he knew it was possible, he could create similar bodies of his own, and could follow the same route back to this realm. He could do anything, be anything, and never truly die. He'd be immortal.
He couldn't say how long he waited in fierce concentration, pinning part of Kun to this realm, time didn't seem to matter, space around him like nothing.
When it happened, it happened fast. Like fierce bright lightning, an immense spirit surged through what was left of Kun, and when it arrived, the last of Kun dissipated into the unknown. Plagueis tried to follow the path, retrace the route he'd need to take, but it happened too quickly, and he got nothing. Anger swelled up inside of him, and he wanted to hurt something, anything.
Opening up his eyes, he looked down at the body he'd spent years trying to build. It'd be a good start, he could feel something there, but it felt weak, powerless. He could destroy it in an instant.
Stepping to his feet, he looked down at the body. It'd begun to move, stretching out inside the tank. Extending a hand towards the body, he let rip with an intense form of lightning, far more powerful than the traditional Sith lightning. He'd developed a way to blast through anything, rip through durasteel, lightsabers, and flesh.
Only a moment before the energy struck, a single hand smashed through the glass, and stood in the path of the energy, and...
His attack did nothing, the energy seemed to just flow into him, not so much as a burn appeared on his hand. Something weak and powerless couldn't stop that, he couldn't even stop that sort of power. What he was feeling wasn't accurate. Very curious.
He let his hand drop, and watched as the glass flung back, and the figure sat up, thick bacta fluid dripping from his sandy brown hair. Plagueis locked eyes with the new body, and asked, "Who are you?"
The body spat out a mouthful of bacta fluid, and replied in a far too even voice, "Anakin Solo."
Anakin didn't seem to be coughing, or fighting any ill effects from the transition. But still felt weak and powerless. Anakin said, "You did well recreating my body. Thank you."
"What can you tell me of the other side?"
Anakin eyes scanned the surrounding forest, looking for something, he said, "That isn't what you want to learn. If you promise me your help, I'll teach you what you really want."
"And what is that?"
"True immortality."
Plagueis's eyes widened, he'd never voiced his fears to anybody, he nodded wordlessly. Anakin continued, "They've arrived, and I'm not sure which of my abilities will work. They are mostly theory."
Plagueis's scanned the surrounding with both the Force and his own eyes, he couldn't see anything. Or feel anything. Anakin said, "I'm going to try and talk them down. If you sense fighting, meet me in the Millenium Falcon."
...
Luke was too late, the being had been born, he'd waited too long. It wouldn't live for much longer, the darkness seeping from the body was without scale, it wasn't Anakin. He expelled an unconscious command to the 60 Jedi with him, and surrounding the temple. Go.
He Force leapt forward, landing on the destroyed temple, and saw the naked body of Anakin Solo, he stood unarmed, and defenseless. With his arms wide. He looked unthreatening, but everything inside him told him it was a lie. Jedi of every Species jumped from their hiding places, and landed, surrounding the Being.
Luke called out, "You have no right to be in that body, it's an insult the the boy who once owned it."
Anakin replied, "It's me Uncle Luke, everything you are sensing is a lie. You can't trust it, the vision was a lie."
"The Force doesn't lie." Luke replied
"Your understanding of the Force is so limited, the Force itself doesn't lie, it doesn't think, it just is. The Conscious Force is different, but right now, it's not controlling what you're feeling. Something else is doing that, which you are not prepared for right now."
Luke shut his eyes for a moment, and opened them, revealing a fierce determination, "Everything you say it meant to corrupt. I can't let you leave here."
With that, Luke thumbed his Lightsaber, and stepped forward. Countless other beams of light flashed to life around him. Luke raised his above his head, and leapt forward, swinging it down towards the unarmed Being.