Chapter 1
It's only the beginning…
"Joran, wake up…Joran!"
Joran Sol sat bolt upright, his body drenched in a cold sweat. This was the 4th night in a row; Joran could not find rest in the deep vastness of space. Every night the same dream, a dark shadow would form in the shape of a man and beckon him to Korriban, promising power and glory beyond imagination. At this moment Drako, Joran's brother, burst into his cabin…"Joran, we need you on the command deck, now!"
Joran rolls out bed, still stiff from another restless night, "Figures! You two couldn't fly this thing if it was on auto-pilot!" It was well known throughout the core worlds that Joran was the best pilot on Corellia, if not throughout the entirety of the Core Worlds. "I'll be right down, just let me get dressed."
"You better hurry, something big is about to happen." At this he turned and sped off down the corridor towards the command deck.
Joran put on his dark green and sliver robes, typical of all Jedi of Corellia. He pulled his electrum lightsaber, with krayt dragon pearls spiraling up the hilt, out from under his pillow and clipped it to his belt. Taking a few precious seconds for himself, he remembered the moment his Jedi Master, his friend, gave it to him. He could not but help but miss his former master, who had passed away in his arms not but 2 years prior. But that was the past, and the present begged his attention. He ran off down the corridor to the command deck of his modified Corellian YT-1300 the Black Shadow. Not the standard jedi starship, but his personal favorite nonetheless. Taking the extra freight and passenger space and putting in a bigger power generator allowed him to create more shielding and attach more heavy weaponry, not to mention the state of the art cloaking system he had personally installed, this is of course where it got it's name.
As he runs into the cockpit he enters upon a scene of chaos, Drako was arguing loudly with Joran's wookie friend Katirr, "What do you mean we can't go anywhere?! Slow down! What are you trying to say?" Katirr, who was hard to understand on a good day, was growling at such a decibel and at such pace that if Joran and Drako were not in fact Jedi, who had harnessed the ability of Beast Language, they would have not been able to tell what it was exactly that he was yelling.
"We are caught in some sort of tractor beam!" Joran tried everything he could think of to try and get them out of the tractor beam, but nothing seemed to work. His mind was racing, never before had he been in this predicament, and he shouldn't have been with all the credits he sank into the Black Shadow.
At that precise moment, a Sith Interdictor cruiser un-cloaked itself in front of them. "Shit…" Was the collective thought coming from the three helpless friends at that moment. It was far too late to run; they were being continually drawing closer and closer toward their impending doom. A chill traveled down Joran's spine, he felt something, something he had never felt prior to this moment. It was as if all the blood in his body had become suddenly still throughout his veins, the air seemed to thin, the deepening black of unconsciousness crept into the corners of his eyes, and he collapsed. Knowing none of the dark things that were soon to come.
Noticing his fallen brother, Drako reacted quickly and put his brother in a secret compartment he had installed into his cabin in case of boarding situations such as this one. No sooner had he closed the compartment, that there was a loud noise and the ship shook violently…it was time.
The power was cut form the ship and the two remaining companions sat and waited in the dark of the ship, waited for what they knew was coming. Drako could sense something, a growing evil in the back of his mind, he wanted to scream, he wanted to run, everything he learned in training was suddenly lost to him and for the first time in his life he was afraid. He was right to be afraid, for suddenly in front of his eyes was Darth Terrak, the only surviving apprentice of Darth Nihilus, the Dark Lord of Hunger.
When Drako looked into those shallow orange eyes, he did not even think of defending himself. The very presence of Darth Terrak stole all hope from Drako's soul, all the happiness from his life…he wanted to die. He collapsed into a heap on the floor, his energy drained from him. He was ashamed of himself; he did not want Joran to find him like this, a pitiful heap on the floor. The Dark Lord felt this weakness…and fed on it. Turning every thought of Drako's against him, he slowly broke the young Jedi's will. "Do not fight what you have already accepted in your heart to be true," Terrak was relentless, "you were mine the second I looked into your eyes." The Dark Lord dug deeper into Drako's soul, finding secrets; chaos, ignorance, emotion, but deepest of all was jealousy. "Ahh, yes. The older brother, Joran I believe? He always was the strong one wasn't he? The smartest, the bravest…the best."
"You don't know what you're talking about! Get out of my head!" strained Drako. Who quite suddenly was taken over by an uncontrollable hate for his captors, he found strength in his new found emotion. He wanted to embrace the hate, take in every bit of that emotion. However, he knew this to be wrong, against the Jedi code. This is precisely the reaction that Darth Terrak was looking for.
"You do not disappoint…Jedi." with this, there came from beneath the black mask of the Dark Lord a laugh so dark, so cold, the vastness of space seemed like the warmth of Tatooine's four suns. It chilled Drako to the bone, and he once again sank to the floor trembling. "I desire greatly the power you possess…and one way or another, I will have it."
"I…don't…know…." Drako stammered, unable to muster the strength to even face the Dark Lord.
"Of course you don't know," Terrak bursted with great impatience, "the Jedi would see to it that you would never know such power…such power is threatening to the Jedi, the weak, who do not want to embrace it for what it is."
"What are…talking about?" Drako had tried standing up, but when he looked up and saw the cloaked figure in front of him, he fell to the ground once more.
Darth Terrak was moving closer, "You simple minded Jedi, within you lies the ability to control life!" he yelled, and then sinking to his knees he continued, "To control life is to control the galaxy…in time you will let me know your secrets, or I will break you Jedi."
"I don't…" and with that Drako's vision turned to darkness and he saw no more for some time.
With this the Dark Lord Terrak stood and walked down the loading ramp of the Black Shadow. He was so close now, he would turn Drako Sol to the dark side and learn his secrets and then dispose of him. "Take the wookie to the cell block," he said turning to the closest trooper, "and bring the Jedi to the bridge, we have not yet finished our conversation." As he turned to walk away, Terrak felt angry that the older brother was not with them. That would have truly been a grand find, two of the most powerful Jedi knights in one fell swoop. He proceeded back to the command bridge, thinking about how his master will be pleased regardless at this find, how he will be rewarded. Back on the Shadow, Joran's strength was slowly returning.
Aboard the Shadow Joran was slowly regaining his senses. The warmth was returning to his body, and yet he could not sense anything around him. Joran calmed his mind, slowed his heart rate, and sensed the ship around him. He found the latch and pulled it, blinking in the light as he stepped out from Drako's secret compartment Joran Sol realized he was utterly alone. Yet he sensed so much life around him, he closed his eyes and reached out with the force, he felt Katirr, who was not in good condition. He searched harder now for Drako, combing the ship for any sign of his brother, and yet he could find nothing. The usual strong force energy of his brother was gone. He opened his now tear filled eyes, not wanting to accept what he knew in his heart to be true. He closed his eyes once more, desperately searching for any sign of his brother. Nothing. So many things were going through his mind, and yet being the strong Jedi he was, he cleared his mind once more, centering his focus. 'Anger will get me no where,' he thought to himself 'what's done is done, you can not bring people back from the dead, I need to find Katirr and get out of here, there will be a time for mourning.'
Joran exited the Black Shadow and made his way across the hangar to the computer terminal located just by the door. He used the force to navigate his way through the system and locate Katirr. The computer said Katirr was being held in cellblock CB-23, 'good, just down the corridor,' Joran whispered to himself; he did not want to stir up any trouble if he could manage not to. 'Now I just have to find the controls to the tractor beam…' Joran stared blankly at the terminal; it read that the tractor beam was already down. 'They must not have been expecting on the Shadow leaving anytime soon,' he could not help but feel grateful for this one small sliver of hope. He closed his eyes and opened his mind to the force. He sensed nothing in the corridor beyond. He opened the blast door and made his way down the corridor, with every step he took he felt more uneasy. The ship was cold, not in a sense of temperature, but of feeling. Sith ruins ran along the ceiling down the entire corridor, radiating dark side energy. Joran had studied ancient Sith teachings while at the Jedi temple on Coruscant, much to the dislike of his masters but these ruins he had never seen before. Joran increased his pace, he needed to find Katirr and get out of here.
A few more meters and he was there. He entered the cellblock and quickly rushed the guard, within milliseconds the hum of his lightsaber filled the chamber and with a quick upward slash the prison masters' head rolled across the floor, displaying a look of shock and fear. However, walking up to Katirr's cell he noticed it was locked with a voice print i.d. 'I knew that was too easy,' he mumbled to himself, 'looks like it's plan B!' and with that he thrust his lightsaber into the door, cutting his way through.
Katirr opened his eyes and saw a figure silhouetted against the light from outside, gathering the strength to speak he growled, 'just kill me please, no more of your games. Just let me die.'
'I think you have the wrong idea old friend,' Joran smiled at his half-dead friend, 'come on Katirr, we need to get you out of here, the ship isn't far…do you think you can make it?'
Katirr was overcome with sadness, 'they took your brother! They took Drako! I heard him screaming…they were doing terrible things to him. Joran, I think Drako is dead…' His voice trailed off to nothing and he stared at the ground.
'I know this Katirr; I have felt it through the force. But now is not the time grieved; we need to get out here. This place is truly evil. Can you make it to the ship?' Joran was growing ever more mindful of a dark presence on the ship and it was causing him to be anxious. 'Katirr we need to move NOW, can you make it?!'
'Yes, lead the way Joran,' with this Katirr stood up with much effort and limped to the entrance of his cell.
They encountered no resistance down the corridor back to their ship, it was almost as if it was a ghost ship, a cold, dark evil drifting through space into eternity. However when the reached the hangar the alarm was raised! 'Prisoner escape from cell block CB-23. All hands to stations. All hands to stations.' Said the voice of the intercom.
'That's our cue! Let's get the heck out of here before they bring that tractor beam online!' Joran yelled, as he ran up the loading ramp to the Black Shadow. He ran down the corridor to start up the system and turn on the automated turrets in case any sith squads were close by, hopefully not. With a push of a button the engines roared to life, 'just a few more seconds, come on baby don't let me down now', Joran pleaded with the Shadow. And with that all systems were green for go. 'Katirr! Strap in! It's gonna get bumpy!' Joran piloted the Shadow out of the ship's hangar and out into open space. 'Katirr, I need a hyperspace route to Coruscant, we can lay low there for awhile.' With the coordinates punched into the navi-computer the Black Shadow made the jump to hyperspace.
Darth Terrak turned away from the window on the viewing deck of his ship, Trail's End. Having just watched the Jedi Knight Joran Sol jump into hyperspace, and out of his reach, he picked up the officer on duty by the neck and sent a wave of dark energy through him, crushing his lungs and snapping his spine in two. He cast the limp form of his former officer aside, disgusted with the lack of ability in his crew. No matter. He had the brother, and he now planned on making every lasting second of this miserable Jedi's life a living hell.
As he arrived at the Jedi's cell he asked, 'Jedi, do you know what I have just seen with my own eyes?' Drako just stared at the Dark Lord, a fire burning in his eyes. Terrak simply smiled back, 'I just saw your "friends" jump into hyperspace! Leaving you alone, so alone…'
'That's not true, my brother would come for me, you wait and see, you are as good as dead, Sith.'
'Such faith is lost in them him, and if that is what you are holding on to, then it will be your downfall.' Terrak was simply toying with Drako now feeding of his emotions and using them against him. 'He has left you for dead, in fact I believe he broke that beast of yours out of containment, but could not find the heart to find you. You…are…alone' whispering these last words into Drako's ear sent him over the edge.
'No! You are lying! He wouldn't…he can't…'
'But he did, Drako…he did' Darth Terrak was tightening his grip on Drako's spirit, 'I can show you how to wield the power inside of you, I can show you how to become more powerful than your brother could ever possibly imagine. Learn the ways of the Dark Side show your brother the kindness he has shown you…death'
'I'll never turn! I would rather die!' Drako screamed at the Dark Lord.
'Ah, I will make it my personal agenda to see that your wish is granted.' Grabbing Drako at the neck, he sent dark energy through the Jedi's body pulling at every molecule in his body. Drako felt as if he would certainly be torn into a million pieces. Between the screams of agony however, he was still defiant. Terrak sent another wave of energy through Drako's body, it was too much for Drako to handle and his body collapsed to the floor, void of any energy. 'And so ends our first lesson…discipline.' He said speaking to the apparently lifeless body laying on the cell floor, 'it shall begin again tomorrow…my new apprentice...'