AN: I must apologize for the length of time it took to actually upload this and to do so I will offer a brief explanation of why it took as long as it did. To start with my computer a while back suffered a memory issue and purged a select number of files, including documents containing a decent number of my story materials and drafts, including my backups that I keep of those select materials. Basically I had to rewrite this chapter again and that prospect threw me off for a long time but none the less I figured you all deserved to actually have this continued and so here it is.

The next chapter in Heir of Darkness also as a little bit of a 'bonus' I have made this chapter a little longer then usual.

I hope it was worth the wait, also I want to thank all of those who have reviewed, followed and favorited since the last upload.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Star Wars.


Heir to Darkness Chapter Four: Resolve Strengthened by Ice


Asuin System, Hutt Space

Asuin, Imperial Base Camp

14 ABY, 11 Weeks Since The Battle of Korriban

They had arrived in system to this frozen hell nearly four standard months prior and in that time he had learned much about this icy world. There was no native population on this world save the fierce and war like beasts that had harassed them initially upon their arrival. There was little to nothing of value upon this rock, nothing that would deem it worthy of anything resembling an actual colonization effort from any and all within the galaxy. Which played into his hand perfectly, no he wouldn't be disturbed this deep into Hutt Space which had given him the time he needed. Time to reflect, to look back upon what he had observed, had learned and of course to expand upon that with further study and research.

Knowledge was key in his endeavor he sought the secrets, the mysteries of the old Sith and he would have them. It would have been so easy to fall to the endless rage after the failure of Vjun and its secrets and the mastery of the Sith that eluded him but he had in his mediation in the days that followed stumbled upon a hint, a potential tidbit of information that clawed at him. Within the archives of the Jedi, within those halls of knowledge and learning he had recalled a brief bit of information he had gleaned so long ago when he had willingly served the Light, the Jedi, the Republic. In his trek across the galaxy in pursuit of Taven he had of course learned of many worlds drenched in the power of the Dark Side, strong with the Force that were potential targets but in preparation for his journey to Hoth he had studied other words of like environs.

That was how he had learned of Asuin, a planet located deep within Hutt Space on the border of the Outer Rim. Its entry into the database was sparse, a handful of old maps, geological survey information, all of it decades old, dreadfully out of date, even its star lane maps were some subject of concern given their age but none the less it had one interesting characteristic. It had been subject to an interesting mission done by the Jedi decades before, the then Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker had traveled there along with his master one Obi-Wan Kenobi during the course of the Clone Wars. This site of battle surely could hold something of value and given that it was so farr off the proper galactic map he knew it would provide a measure of obscurity to his destination. Both to the Jedi and Republic both, while he cared not if hunters pursued him or not, this early into the battle between him and the galaxy proper could not be allowed to devolve into a situation he could not control and thus he had come.

To Asuin, to Hutt Space, to the place he knew he could find at the very least some mild answer to what he so desperately sought after.

The months he had spent here and focused his resolve to a honed blade, he was as ready and able as he could ever hope to be and while this planet had bore none of the darkness that had prompted this sojourn it had in its place offered guidance. The Dark Side may have held no sway over this rock but it was present all the same within the bestial minds and acts of its inhabitants. The Wampa. These creatures were rudimentary in their intellect but all the same had served as adequate test subjects. He could feel their rage, their feral minds beckoning to him even from across the camp site located as he was within the prefab shelter complex that had been constructed upon the planet at their arrival.

Yes. The darkness came easy to these beings, in that way he supposed...they were blessed compared to other lifeforms, they were given a small glimpse, a taste of what a being intoned with the darkness could accomplish, even if they did not possess a proper connection to the Force they like all other life were subject to it. Were molded and shaped by it. They had given him a test model of just what he could do with the stave, he knew of what Tavion had done with it, siphoned and stole power from dozens of locations across the galaxy.

She imbued that power among her followers, this particular technique was something he knew he had to learn if for no other purpose then to humor his would be 'paymaster'. He would provide the service he had been given to, until it no longer suited him of course, until the position imposed upon him by fate was retracted. This was how he had spent that month of study, ripping what little connection to the Force these beasts held and siphoning away that power...along with their lives. To this end he had captures dozens, hundreds of them and while the troopers assigned to this task of actually capturing the beasts complained about their duties, they complied and did as he wished. They had no other choice of course, they were bound to him.

They knew their lives depended upon his very whim, and given that he had come to be their overall commander through the act of killing their prior Captain well...it would be obvious to say that they were terrified of his wrath being turned to any one of them. He could kill them, he could kill them as easily as breathing, he could reach out through the Force and simply shatter limbs, organs and tissue as easy as he pleased. The Dark Side answered his call, it was his to command...for now. Yet to rip its secrets from it was no easy task, even with such a foci as the Scepter of Ragnos.

None the less, the research, the information gained here would be critical once he gained access to the full scope of this relic's ability.


As he trudged along through knee and waist high snow pushing aside the falling ice he banished the cold once more with a simple infusion of malice to himself. Calling upon his own inner rage, his hatred to burn away the chill as if it was a flame to the ice. He had grown used to the taxing sensation of calling upon the Force for something as simple as this shortly into their arrival, it was a waste of the mystical energies certainly yet all the same he could not perform his studies if he froze to death on some rock like this. Besides...The Force was no longer a holy thing to his eye, it was no mystical entity that he bowed himself to any longer in service. Now it served him and would forever serve him. Having it used for something mundane such as mere 'heating' while wasteful of a precious resource was not sacrilegious or anything his erstwhile former compatriots in the Jedi would have believed.

No if one was mighty enough to command the Force to serve, then having it serve would be nothing but acting upon what was one's right.

There had always been some satisfaction when it came to the killing, even as a Jedi when he had struck down the various enemies that aligned themselves in his way he had taken his skill in combat, in the ending of lives as a personal endorsement of his ability. He was a warrior, he was good at being a warrior, a fighter, one who stood against all the enemies in his way. Sometimes it had bordered on blood thirst, he recalled the eyes of the other Apprentices and Knights as he recounted stories of his exploits during the few opportunities between missions for the Jedi. They were afraid, afraid of him, of his skill he hadn't understood at the time but...Once he fallen that had obviously been revealed to what it was. He was stronger then them, stronger then all of them.

As if to make this point as he approached the center of the makeshift campsite he noted that two of the troopers that had been idly standing at attention immediately straightened when he passed by them, their posture rigid as if crafted out of durasteel. He could sense their fear, it hung it the air like a shroud as he pushed by them on the way to his destination, yes they were all like this. So unlike the Republic soldiers and agents he had encountered, they had been reassured by his presence, comforted by it.

Fear was infinitely more pleasurable...and useful.

Pushing into the icy enclave, the collection of cages that housed the captured Wampa he stared at their beast like figures and ignorant dull eyes with not a hint of compassion nor remorse. He had been starving these since they had been captured nearly a week before, a few had died but the rest had endured and suffered along with every and all mistreatment, even from their infantile minds, he could pick out the resentment and rage. At him, for allowing this, for enabling this, for him ripping them from their bands and packs, they knew of course who he was, he came by nearly daily to siphon away just a little bit more life, to drain away what tiny fractions of power that lied buried within their veins.

The Wampa of coursed died during this process, their bodies along with their lives cannibalized to feed the stave's power. To feed his power.

He gave them all a welcoming smile as the flap of the tent behind was securely closed, placing him directly in front of the enclosure.

'There's a thrill in dispensing death that makes me feel alive.' Perhaps there always had been and he had just been ignorant of that, awaiting the Dark Side to teach him the truth. Perhaps it was just his latent 'empathetic' tendencies awakening after all he had always been aware of the pain, the suffering he had been inflicting upon the various enemies that had beset him throughout the course of this year. He had always felt it, scream across his mind in battle, feel the last dripping minutes of agony from a dying opponent. Yes he had felt it, he had pushed it aside, suppressed it at one time, now he reveled in it.

It was merely the natural outcome of course, natural selection, evolution, he was superior and therefore he would live and the inferior would die.

As he pulled the stave free from his cloaked figure, gloved hands clenching across its dark metallic surface he couldn't suppress the small if cruel smile that crept up his face. As he was recording this for some sort of medicinal posterity he recited the assigned numbers of the test group creatures, one by one, though they did not understand the designations...he did, and this little ritual was for his own amusement at the end of the day after all, he could merely siphon them as soon as he received them but by starving them he invoked fury, animalistic , base but pure and unadulterated. By labeling them, by invoking his sense of 'ownership' no matter how alien it may seem to these beasts, it stirred the fury, the rage, the base desire to control, to dictate, to conquer within himself, this synthesis of rage was beautiful within his eyes.

But despite its appeal, despite its beauty, it would have to come to a end, he had learned nearly all he could from such simple and base beasts, but the research done here would indeed prove itself worthwhile once he moved on to more advanced life, of that he had no doubt.


Two Galactic Standard Weeks Earlier


Light Courier: Raven's Claw

Upper Orbit, Stationary Docking and Refueling Station: The Bounty

Nar Shaddaa, Y'Toub system, Hutt Space

14 ABY, 3 Months Since The Battle of Korriban

"I want my normal fee...plus expenses of course."

"How much?"

"75,000, standard premium." At the incredulous look that must have adorned the weathered Jedi Master's featured the helmeted Bounty Hunter merely rebuked softly. "The Republic is footing the bill isn't it?" He couldn't argue with the rather infamous figure on that one, that'd hardly be a drop in the bucket of the annual trade tariffs and fees taken but a single member body of the New Republic. Though he supposed ultimately it made no difference, even if he had to cover his own expenses he would have paid it off, either in trading favors or hard currency if he could gather that much.

Fett may have been a slew of slurs and a matching dozen to add atop that list but by the same measure. He was the best. His repeated run-ins with the Jedi spoke to that much at the very least, he had by all accounts engaged his former student as well and survived so he was...also uniquely suited to track him to the ends of the galaxy itself. Not to mention he had spent the prior five weeks attempting to track down the renowned Bounty Hunter just for this meeting so, he would pay, regardless of price.

So he would pay, and the tax payers would foot the bill, as was usual. 'Makes me glad I stopped paying them years ago.' His own thoughts chimed in upon the matter.

"Deal, if you manage to find him, just pass on the location you need to do nothing else."

"Of course. It isn't my concern what you do with the information, what you plan to do with the whelp, its merely my role to perform a service and be paid for it."

'Mercenary to the bone.' Despite having had the misfortune to have had to have dealt with this man before his attitude came across if personal if entirely detached from the scenario. It was if he was a droid merely performing a assigned task, there was nothing to give anything away that might have been lurking beneath, his thoughts such as they were, were a mystery but that didn't matter. He didn't need to understand Bobba Fett he needed the Bounty Hunter to track down Jaden.

"Fine. I'll provide a method of contact along with the payment...Fett don't screw this up, we need him found yesterday."

"Just for curiosity's sake...is the Republic going to authorize a proper bounty on Korr?" The outright amusement coming from the modulated voice came across clear as day through the commline and subtle flick of annoyance he killed the transmission.

"You'd just love that wouldn't you?" Katarn spat vehemently at the now darkened viewscreen.


Asuin System, Hutt Space

Asuin, Imperial Base Camp

14 ABY, 14 Weeks Since The Battle of Korriban

He had called for an assembly of the officers that had accompanied him down planetside all those months ago and had been responsible for his day to day operations here, capturing the beasts, locking them away, ensuring that the troops received adequate food stores and protection from the fierce and rather lethal weather, yet but despite those preparations, despite them taking into account what they would be doing out here, it hadn't stopped the casultities, mitigated the majority of them perhaps but not stopped them all from occurring.

This icy rock had claimed almost twenty Stormtroopers from his accompanying force of almost six hundred over the course of their stay here, either from the weather, the beasts or them simply disappearing into that icy wasteland that made up the majority of the planet's surface. Still though there was no use blaming any of the men here for those losses, after all they had done as he had requested, prepared for a lengthy stay upon the surface, built the base camp to house their own forces and a captured number of beasts, set up relatively stable communications with their ship in orbit...yes they had preformed their duties adequately, the fault did not lie with these assembled men, but with the troops themselves, they had proven weak and the universe had excised them, that was how life simply was. The strong devoured and ruled the weak, and the weak perished or subsisted under the care of the strong.

Him coming here, to the primary command tent had caused an uproar of fear and dread with them assemblage of officers those he noted with a bit of dry amusement. 'No doubt they believe I am come here to execute a few of them for their 'failings'. Oh yes he had done so in the past, during the journey to this icy hell he had executed twelve Stormtroopers and another six officers for questioning him, failing him, or for otherwise incompetence or dereliction of duty. Only Captain Lindermen had proven exceptional of the Fury's crew, the rest of its assortment of officers, crewmen or assigned troopers stank of incompetence, mediocrity or otherwise poor performance.

Truly the Remnant was infested and rotting from the weight of the masses just as the rest of the galaxy suffered from them. Still though despite the weight of the failings that clung to them, the exceptional could still occasionally shine through, the former XO and newly minted Captain of the Fury had proven as much...much as he had when he had broken away from the Jedi. Yes Lindermen despite being a career military man had not come to his post out of Nepotism or familial connections but out of the weight of his own ability, that was...respectable, even admirable and even he could see the appeal in having such a talented man as a valued piece upon his Dejarik board.

Still though he could settle his own philosophical and introspection at a later time, now he need to be decisive, to be strong.

Though he had some creeping suspicion that the men would be pleased by the news he was bringing, morale sinking lower then a Hutt's slime trail since they had come to the world for those assigned to surface duty, no doubt the Troopers and officers both would rejoice at the prospect of leaving this frozen ball of ice and death behind them. So that would be how he would portray it them to them, to give them a depiction of a astute and worthy leader telling them that they had accomplished their mission, perhaps he could begin applying his 'studies' to his own force soon if this gesture bore fruit.

After all he would not be so foolish and suicidal to gift any being with the Force that could prove a threat to him if they were merely so incompetent and foolhardy with their rage and disdain for him that he could sense merely simmer above their base thought as if it was Caf upon a heating unit. No matter how desperately Flennic wanted his army of 'Force Warriors', no it would be to his detriment, to the detriment of his power, his control if he shared such a gift lightly.

"We are done here, begin pulling out immediately." They had what he had came for, or at the very least as close to what he had come for as they were going to get. His understanding of the abilities of the stave had been dramatically improved not to mention it having perhaps the greatest feast since Tavion had fallen had undoubtedly awoke something within it. The life energies of hundreds of beasts, no matter how paltry and minuscule their impact in the force was taken individually had together as a collective slaked its thirst...if just for the immediate future.

"What of the equipment? The Camp?" One of the Commander's actually had the courage to question. Jaden decided then and there that'd he'd actually humor this question with an answer if for no other purpose then the man had found the grit to actually ask it. Despite the fear radiating off of him he had overcome it and that was he supposed worthy of a modicum of respect if nothing else.

"Abandon it, we return to the Fury." The resources expended here had been put to good use. While the sensors and other temporary shelters and prefabricated equipment were valuable ultimately there were nothing compared to the knowledge that had been gained, not to mention that packing up the camp would require time, time he could ill afford to lose, this stage of the venture had already proven far longer then he was entirely comfortable with, he had sat stationary upon this world for nearly 90 days already, he could ill afford to linger over much longer, no doubt the Jedi would be coming for him fairly soon, especially given that there location was hardly a secret, every few weeks they received a hail from the Fury informing them yet another group of smugglers or privateers had jumped into the system and been engaged and destroyed, with so many dead pirates and mercenaries tied to this system, yes...the clever could put together something was operating out here, it was time to pull out and start over somewhere else.

He'd have loved if the Fury could have captured a ship or two, a few dozen actual sapient samples that he could attempt all of his various examination of the Stave with yes, that'd prove useful and thankfully allow him the ability to bypass the process of testing it upon Imperials. Something he had considered but had deemed it not worth the potential fallout at this juncture, yes he could write it off to Flennic but it would strain his new found position with the Remnant and shatter the control he was gleaning little by little over the Fury's crew. They obeyed out of fear now, immediate, base and primal but it was not true control, not true power.

No what he needed was something that would forever secure his position, forever ensure that he was a figure, a being of reverence, authority...power. The ancient Sith, those newly Fallen Jedi had conquered Korriban, overcame its bestial and base inhabitants and in turn were made immortal, worshiped as Gods as they still lived. He too would need to find his place within the greater galaxy, but it would have to come from a place of power and positioning, so yes he'd hold off on experimentation of the Fury's crew at the current juncture and would only turn to that route if it came to it...or it proved more convenient. All the same though the loss of the various pirates and smugglers undoubtedly would begin to raise attention, if it had not already and where attention shone upon him...

The Jedi, the Republic would not be far behind. Yes sooner or later there would be a engagement, a confrontation, but he had held off on it thus far, by clinging to the Outer and Mid Rim, Imperial Space, still though sooner or later the distance would close...

He could ill afford a full blown war with the New Republic, not yet, not without securing his own position and ensuring that only victory could come from the confrontation. Yes, he would not provoke such response until he was certain he'd win, just as he only assaulted Korriban due his knowledge that he could and would best all the Dark Side cultists and Jedi alike, Katarn had been the only wrench in that particular plan, the one thing he had not accounted for...he would not make that mistake again.

Time to test the stave on something more potent, more powerful then mere Wampa.

He had just the ideal testing ground for it as well.

After all, it was were Palpatine had fallen once and for all, were the all but Invincible and Immortal lord of the Empire had died. Where better to resume his hunt, his search for ultimate power, unlimited power...then where the supposedly strongest Sith Lord in recorded history had fallen? It was such rudimentary and remedial knowledge that he was surprised Tavion during her own tenure with the Stave had not traveled there...though perhaps its affiliations had given her pause.

Onderon, that Inner Rim World, technically a member of the New Republic but all the same, the risk would be worth the potential reward.

Yes, Onderon unlike Vjun would be were he would lay claim to his destiny and wrest it away from all those who would seek to limit or chain him. He would overcome all obstacles, all weakness, all those who stood in his way would be trampled, the wise would lay down at his feet and beg for pardon. With his success he ensured he would become the most powerful Darksider in all of Galactic History, stronger then Jerec, stronger then Vader...stronger then Palpatine. All he desired would then be his, all the strength, all the knowledge, all the might in the universe at his beck and call.

The Force itself would yield to him and Onderon would prove it.


AN: As I said in the closing author's note of the prior chapter this is the start of the hunt for Jaden Korr by the Jedi and his own beginning of unlocking the full secrets of that little toy he has come into possession of. I plan to focus around equally on both sides of this hunt and try to convey an accurate and descriptive picture of events as they stand.

With all that said I do hope you enjoyed what you read and you continue to turn into read what I put out, despite the lack of speed with which I upload unfortunately. Anyway I do not want to have this become a massive author's note so I will just cut it off here with this.

Thank you for reading and I hope you turn in next time- Reborn Akatsuki