After a single long day of travel Darth Cognus awoke from within her ships cockpit, as it pulled its self out of hyperspace in orbit around the frozen gem of the galaxy Illum. She gazed at its majesty for several moments taking in the unique comet blue and gray colored landscape of the planet, and the large frozen field that made up its planetary ring. It was as always truly mystifying, however outer beauty no matter how captivating meant nothing to Cognus, even before she had become sith it meant nothing. But what was truly beautiful to Cognus about this almost barren, frozen wasteland, riddled with massive and deadly Gorgodons. Was the fact that it is, and has always been a focus point in the force its self. The jedi discovered it eons ago, and much to Congus rage after doing so they monopolized it's great resource which was its near endless supply of natural forming lightsaber crystals. "The jedi are to great of fools and cowards to use the force the way it was meant to be used. They fear the true power that is gained by enslaving the force they run and hide in the temple they built here like the cowards they are. They are unworthy to even set foot on this sacred point in the force." Cognus thought to herself as she began bringing her ship in for a landing on the planet. As she did she saw part of the immensely massive temple erected by the jedi order a thousand years ago to harvest the crystals both on and under Ilum's surface, the temple distrusted her to no ends. As she punched in and began her ships landing Cognus dipped her head back onto her driver seat and thought of her reason for seeking the planet out. She knew that in the past days it had called to her and after her last powerful vision of the future she would either find the man from her vision here, or find their location here. Of this she was completely sure of there was no doubt for Cognus knew the dark side was guiding her.
Cognus landed her ship on a frozen landing pad coated, and hidden by a raging blizzard. The pad clearly hadn't been used since pre-republic time, and was chosen on purpose to avoid any chance of detection by the jedi stationed at the Ilum crystal temple. "No not yet it is not time for us to meet quite yet jedi scum...it might never be for me? But I can promise you that regardless of if and when I fall, you and your pathetic precious Republic shall feel the cold, dark, heel of the sith crushing your throats before succumbing to your ultimate fate." Cognus said after climbing out of her ship, flipping her hood back on over her horned head, with a thin layer of force energy to block the blizzard from touching her. She walked for several hours through raging snow, up frozen hills, and though iced caves until finally settling up in a dark unfrozen cave. There she after crating a fire for warmth sat down cross legged and began to meditate searching for her sign from the force of where to keep looking for the man from her vision.
Several hollow moments passed before the sound of thumping, deep footsteps ruffled through the snow. Cognus knew she had attracted company they were not strong in the force so they couldn't be jedi...but they were also too strong to be ordinary residences of Illum. After ruling out the only most likely options, and feeling their animalistic rage, and bloodlust through the force Cognus smiled a horrible grin before the first massive Gorgodon came running into her cave. The creature ran straight up to Cognus and sniffed the air around it to find her being forced to do so do to the poor vision, but heighten sense of smell and hearing its species suffered and were gifted with. It stood 3 meters tall off the ground, it ground its massive claws and long pointed tail across the floor as it continued to look for Cognus, its bushels of thick black fur flowed as it searched. Cognus feared nothing from the creature so was not frightened when the monsters other pack mates came blazing into the cave each one beginning its own search for her after roaring at the top of their powerful lungs echoing of the caves walls.
Cognus used a thick but still undetectable blanket of darkside energy to cloak herself from the creatures as they searched for her. She waited to strike searching herself for the leader of the pack wishing to kill it in front of the pack to demoralize them. Soon she found the pack leader whom was a 4 meter tall giant of a gorgodon, with one scared eye and several lightsaber burn scars around its massive body clearly from fighting and killing jedi masters and padwans alike in the temple. After finding the leader Cognus made herself known she let the leader roar and pouch on her. She made no motion to dodge the hulking monster as it came at her. She only stood there and created a layer of force energy so no bones would be broken, and allowed herself to be trapped in the gorgodons unique way of killing full body hold. The sound of the pack grunting and roaring for their leader to bring in the kill was apparent as he attempted to suffocate Cognus. After deciding now was the time to strike them at the packs highest sense of victory Cognus blasted the pack leader off of her with the force, and laughed as he got back up and bolted at her for another go. She danced around the witless creature, for minutes always blasting it into a wall, or throwing rocks at it to anger it before finally in one last attempted whipping out her lightsaber. Then with its burning crimson blade, it severed the back of the leaders' spinal cord not killing it but paralyzing it making it a harmless predator at her mercy. The rest of the pack after seeing their leader be defeated used what little intelligence they had to realize that if they're leader couldn't defeat Cognus they stood no chance, and ran out of the cave screaming. A few of the pack remained and Cognus made short work of them.
After killing the rest of the pack in the cave Cognus felt a surge of power she had gotten from the kills. The anger, and fear the creatures felt at their ends had fed her, and made here stronger in the darkside then she had ever felt in months. Then while feeling this Cognus used the leaders still living form in a sith alchemy blood ritual, combined with the immense amount of force energy in Illums air to provide herself with another vision from the force. "Admittedly not what I had been hoping for but as those jedi fools always say the force works in mysterious ways. I now know where to find you my future enemy or...apprentice a most interesting location indeed no wonder I could not locate you before?" Cognus said out loud to herself after being given the exact location of the man from her dream.
Canderous had been lost for days since leaving his fellow ship wrecked comrades camp. Try has he might he could not find their camp every time he believed he'd found it was only fate playing a cruel joke on him awarding him with either a dead end, or proof that he was going around in circles. He could not sleep if he did he made himself wide open to attacks from more of the jungles predators to attack him which they did. He had almost completely drained the power pack on his blaster and was steadily reaching the end of his hope that he'd find the camp or some kind of way off this damned jungle planet from hell. Because he couldn't sleep his mind had plenty of time to think but alls he could think about was what he'd done when he'd blacked out. What had happened? What was that surge of power he'd gotten from the feelings of anger and hate? How was it powerful enough to kill that massive monster without him so much as having fired a shot from his blaster? And the most plaguing question of all in Dedecus mind..."How do I do it again?"
After more hours of dreadfully dark thoughts, and finding more cruel jokes from fate once again Canderous finally stopped in a wide jungle clearing, doing so in response to the pincher trap he'd fallen into by more of the worm monsters. He was surrounded on all sides by the beasts with absolutely no where to escape from. As a warrior and hunter himself Canderous knew that his end was coming, but like a true Mandalorian he didn't run from it he brandished his blaster and shouted: "I DO NOT FEAR YOU CREATURES I AM MAND'O I DO NOT RUN FROM MY ENEMIES I FACE THEM!" He then began shooting at the worms, he'd nailed a number of them perfectly in their weak spots before the blaster died and they swarmed him. As he saw the monsters massive teeth he felt his ending nearing, and in that millisecond thought of his past once more, and how a life of honor and living by his peoples customs had ultimately betrayed him to this fate. He became furious, he became hateful, and most of all he wanted to make those fools he'd once called his family pay for betraying him. As the raw feelings of hate took him the same power from earlier flowed through him making him stronger, only this time he did not black out. This time he did what he thought was natural, and with an invisible force blasted all the worms off of him destroying dozens of nearby trees and impaling some of them on them. He stood back up tall, reached his arms out and again with the invisible force willed bunches of broken tree and sharp rocks into the air, and then straight back down into more of the worms. Canderous looked around at the carnage and saw most of them had fallen to whatever power had taken him over, and that he'd survive...until in his moment of victory he let his guard down, and one of the worms came blasting out of the ground from under his feet. He had no time to react before it flung him up into the air and then smacked him back onto the ground in a steadily growing pile of blood.
Everything began to get blurry for Canderous as the worm came towards him, he could somehow feel the creatures anger, and hate for him for killing its friends. Then Dedecus looked straight up with his now yellow red eyes and saw the worm go in for the kill or at least he would have if not for it being incinerated in a colossal stream of flowing electricity. The worm fell to the ground as nothing more than a burnt charred husk. After seeing this Canderous was shocked when he saw a black hooded figure walk towards him out of the clearing smoke. He felt something...dark about the figure in the hood but at the same time oddly breathtakingly intriguing. His body ached all over but that did seem to matter to the figure for they somehow lifted him up off the ground and into a few feet floating in mid air. He then heard the figure say after examining him: "Yes...you are indeed powerful that much is for certain...however you lack control or even awareness of your powers. You need someone teach you what real power is and how to harness it, you'll do perfectly...I am the only one here for miles you shall die unless I help you. If not from the wounds, then from the beast venom coursing through your veins, you will surely die. If you wish to live you must swear your loyalty to me, and give your life to me as my apprentice I leave the choice to you?"
Canderous didn't know what to say to the figure he was dumfounded...but he did know that if what they said was true, he'd be dead very soon. He was forced to make a decision either die a pitiful death here on this force forsaken planet...or give himself to this hooded master as their loyal apprentice. Neither option seemed very good to him but then the thought occurred to him if he died here he'd never be able to take his revenge on those whom had betrayed him and that angered him. He made his choice this person was powerful and if they could teach him what power was then he'd gladly give himself to them. He nodded to the figure before blackout from the pain.