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PROLOGUE

Olederadi, fifty-four years after the Battle of Yavin

He should have acted sooner. If only his cowardice had not prevailed. Had he not seen this outcome? Had he not seen the sacrifice that he needed to make. Why had he been unable to accept what the Force had in store for him? Why had he not been able to throw himself into his destiny? Had those thirty years of solitude and reflection taught him nothing? If only he had not been such a coward. Kye Nareac, now only charred remains, Sharad Bark, his unmoving chest still smoking from the wound that had ended his life, Celia Othi, whose body now lay in a lifeless heap. They could still be alive had he acted sooner. All those who had died this day could have been alive had he only had the courage to accept his fate.

But enough. No more waiting. No more fears. No more hoping that he would be shown a different way. He stepped forward, reaching into the Force. He glanced around at his remaining comrades, making sure they would be able to prevail through his sacrifice. How few of them were left now. Of all the Jedi who had began in this struggle against this menace only Jacien remained. He was indeed a child of the Force. Of all the great Jedi who had died this day only Jacien still stood strong. Saolin Feng laid, barely moving, blood still pouring from where his arm used to be. Tarae Leehl rose unsteadily, her clothes smoking from the barrage of Dark energy that had assaulted her. Of all them, only Jacien remained untouched, though he could not fight the menace for much longer.

All eyes focused on the one who they fought. Aelitou. Self-proclaimed Sith Lady and now imbued with the maleficent power of countless Sith Lords of old. Dark energy surged off of her, threatening to drown any who maintained contact with it. It was intoxicating. It called to him, urging him to give in to its lull as he had so many times in the past. He had to fight it. He had to remain free of its influence. Especially now. It would take all of his willpower, all of his resolve to do what needed to be done in order to defeat Aelitou. Once, she had been his greatest accomplishment; now she was his utmost failure. If not for his training of her this war would never have begun. If not for his training her in the ways of the Dark Side countless lives would not have ended so needlessly. He had to be the one to end this. This sacrifice would leave her vulnerable, enough so that Jacien would be able to destroy her and end this bloodshed.

All he had to do was sacrifice himself. All he had to do was call upon the brightest Light of the Force. In the end, Light would chase away the Dark. With his sacrifice, these long-dead ghosts of ancient Sith would once more be banished into the Netherworld of the Force, never again to plague the living. All he had to do was fully give himself over to the Light and triumph over the Darnkess. He knew what the cost would be. He knew that he would not be able to carry on in life after this decision. But hadn't he always known? Hadn't the Force for years know whispered to him of his fate? And hadn't he shied away from his destiny when at any time he could have ended this misery? Takiden, Shivia, Galagri, Rantoth, Muchian and Ulic Kedrima, Plo and Dotina Bark. All of them had died because of his cowardice. But no more. It was time to embrace his destiny. It was time to accept his fate. It was time to insure that Aelitou would never end another life. It was time for him to finally make up for all the evils he had committed. From when he first felt the Darkness on Tartania all the way to the murder of Azarp Bark above Sullust. It was time to let go of all the Darkness that still tainted his soul. It was time to finally do the right thing. It was time to finally follow the will of the Force rather than pursue his own desires. It was time to truly be the Jedi Reesa had always said he would be.

It was with that thought that Nioman Dokoora finally accepted his destiny.


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Brought to you by Caleb's Fanfiction Creations

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All Star Wars characters and events belong to Disney

Everything else probably belongs to me

As much as I'd love to I don't actually make money off of this, lucky readers!

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And now, I proudly present:

THE JEDI EXILE:

NIOMAN DOKOORA

Part I: The Jedi Years

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Chapter 1: Top of the Class

53 years before Revenge of the Sith

Nioman Dokoora, twelve-year-old Jedi Initiate, had just passed the test that qualified him to be chosen as a padawan by a Jedi Knight. He wasn't at all surprised and was sure no one else was either. As it was, he and his two best friends, Mace Windu and Sora Bulq, were, without a doubt more talented than anyone else in their age group. If a Master caught Nioman thinking like that he would be berated for arrogance but to him it was perfectly evident. He had received plenty of grudging praise from Battlemaster Tor Difusal, maybe not so much as Mace had but Nioman believed that had more to do with Master's Difusal's poor opinion of him. He didn't know what about him bothered the Master, and most others if he thought about it; he wasn't rude to them and he didn't outwardly look down on the other initiates. But that was just a fact of life that Nioman had become used to, even though he didn't understand it, nor did he believe it was at all warranted.

Nioman, Mace, and Sora had moved away from the bustling crowds and were busy relating their achievements to one another. Mace recounted how he had dismantled all of the training droids and forced Master Rancisis to duel him so as to get an accurate gauge on his ability. Sora told of how he had lifted Master Yaddle's seat during telekinesis testing but had lost concentration at the delighted grin the Master had assumed, only for Yaddle's chair to crash to the floor, leaving the Master somewhat less pleased than before. It was no surprise, really, that the three of them had become great friends as they achieved far higher scores in everything than their peers. They were not at all surprised when Masters Yaddle and Difusal, the facilitators of the test, gave them all top scores. The three boys had no doubt they they would all be picked as padawans by the end of the month. Dozens of Jedi Masters, even some of the top names in the order, had taken an interest in them, it was only a matter of who would get to them first.

"Don't be so proud of yourselves," said a voice behind them as they exited the testing chambers, " Those scores aren't any higher than what I received."

It was Tyrone Dooku, Nioman's least favorite Jedi. Padawn Dooku was nineteen, he had been apprenticed to the greatly acclaimed Thame Cerulian, but, for unexplained reasons, was handed over to Master Yoda for training. Despite being six years their senior, Tyrone seemed to never pass up the chance to bother the trio. Nioman didn't know what Tyrone had against them, he would have thought it was envy but he had heard how Tyrone was basically idolized by the High Council, which Nioman didn't understand at all. How could the Council, supposedly so wise, be so mistaken with Tyrone. Nioman had wanted to confront the Jedi Order's ruling body over this issue but Mace had talked him out of it, saying how it wouldn't do them any good and how, at such a critical time in their training, the last thing they needed was a bad reputation with the Council.

"Go away, Tyrone," warned Sora, "Just because your scores were this good doesn't take away from the fact that ours are as well."

"Tut, tut," chided Dooku, "Is that pride I hear. You know that the Jedi Council says about that."

"I could go in there and inform Master Yaddle that you are preventing us from achieving our true potential because your jealous of us," threatened Nioman, earning a sharp glance from Mace, "you know what the Council says about jealousy."

"Jealousy is the path to corruption, a trait of which a Jedi has no use," said Sora, quoting Master Yoda.

"Fine, complain to Master Yaddle," encouraged Dooku, "But remember what happened the last time you whined to the Council. It only tarnishes their opinion of you. And at this crucial stage of your life...well you wouldn't want not to be chosen would you?"

"You're a conceited bastard," scorned Nioman.

"Oh, dear. That isn't something you would want one of the Jedi Masters overhearing."

"Maybe I don't care," said Nioman, reaching for his lightsaber.

"Nioman," Mace pleaded, "Don't do this, not now."

Nioman looked around and, to his shock saw the tall, horned figure of Master Difusal approaching them.

"Ah, Tyrone," the Master said as he neared the four young Jedi, "congratulating the star initiates, I see. Good, they could use your example."

"That's hardly-" Sora began before his mouth clamped shut. His eyes widened as he turned to stare at Mace, whose attention was still on Master Difusal though Nioman could see the Korun's fist closed behind his back. Wow, using the Force to shut Sora up, that was impressive.

"However," continued Difusal as if there had been no interruption, "Tyrone, I must request that you go now to my sparring quarters, I have some time away from my duties that would be well spent honing your skills."

"Of course, Master Difusal," said Tyrone with a little bow as he strode off to do the Master's bidding. Nioman had to hold back a grimace at that little display. Difusal wasn't even Tyrone's Master, so why was he doing Master Yoda's job? Oh yes, because Tyrone was such a star in the Order, the greatest since Master Cerulian and all those other praises that every Jedi showering him with. Just disgusting.

"Padawans," Difusal said, finally addressing Nioman, Mace, and Sora, "you have all done well, I must say. Mace, you score in the leadership department was perfect and you two each did quite well yourselves. However," he warned, his features becoming more stern as even his posture straightened, "you must not let that pride give you false confidence and mistaken ideas of yourselves. You have strong abilities, yes, but that doesn't make you better, nor does it mean that you contain no flaws. Tyrone is a perfect example of someone in your position who handled the pressure in the best possible way. In fact, if you ever have concerns I'm sure he'd be willing to help."

"Somehow I doubt that," muttered Nioman.

"Nonsense," scolded Master Difusal, his arms crossing as he all-but-glared down at Nioman, "Padawan Dooku has always had a willing heart and never hesitates to pass on his knowledge to others."

At that, even Mace raised his eyebrows in disbelief but none of the initiates said anything. Sora, Nioman suspected, was still being restrained by Mace while Nioman, despite his longing to protest what the Master had said, knew speaking wouldn't do him any good.

"I'm sure we'll all keep that in mind," said Mace, his face twitching a little.

"Good," said Master Difusal, "that more like it. Now I have an appointment to meet. Keep out of trouble."

The boys shared looks ranging from Mace's skepticism to Sora's bordering on outrage. Nioman tried to keep himself calm. If he was going to get angry over something it needed to be an issue of more importance than this. Still, he couldn't believe Tyrone had the Masters so enchanted by him. How in the Force did he pull that off? Nioman wished there was Jedi Master he was comfortable enough with to bring up the issue but that wasn't going to happen, especially on the subject of Tyrone Dooku. Most likely, he'd just receive a reaction like the one he had gotten from Master Difusal.

Deciding it was best not to discuss the issue in public, three boys returned to their quarters, wondering what the coming days would bring. The next few days would decide who their Jedi Masters would be, one of the most crucial times in any Jedi's life as one's master would have a substantial role in shaping the sort of Jedi he would become. Maybe he was being selfish, but Nioman wished that an influential Jedi master would choose him, maybe even someone on the High Council. Many well-known masters had taken an interest in his and his friends' progress. He felt that they deserved masters would have the ability to unlock his their full potential. If they had that, Nioman felt there was nothing stopping them from becoming the greatest Jedi of the century. Was that pride? He didn't know. Jedi weren't supposed to be prideful of their abilities but right now Nioman didn't care. Nothing could stop him, he would show Tyrone Dooku who the better Jedi was. He would humiliate the arrogant padwan in front of the Council if he could. He would be the greatest Jedi ever and nobody would stop him.

A/N: I hope you liked the prologue. As I'm intending on making this a series you will probably not actually see that scene for a very long time but still...one of the best ways to start a story is with something like that. As for the chapter, I know it was short (especially compared to the 3-4,000 word long giants I have been writing recently but it is a good way to set up the characters and does hold a bit of foreshadowing for Nioman eventual fate (as in this book, not the series itself. Also, Dooku's first name, Tyrone, was taken from Candace Marie's Different Destiny and Twist of Fate.

For more exciting info visit my profile or visit the "Discussion for the world of Different Destiny and related stories' forum that Candace and I are now hosting.

Any sort of feedback is appreciated, whether as a review here or on the forum. Good, bad, and ugly (though preferably good XD)

And I am taking story suggestions though I will probably not do anything involving the main Star Wars characters, for that ask my good friend Candace Marie (though she is bogged down in her own stories right now)

And make sure to check out Candace's stories, they're great. Especially Transcending Tyrannus, which is the life story of Dooku and where you can get a more...sympathetic view on him.

Sorry for what may be a contender for world's longest author's note, it wont happen again. And please keep reading, the story only gets better from here.

Sincerely, Caleb's Fanfiction Creations.