Prologue - The Chosen One
Anakin stood on the balcony overlooking the night. The waterfalls flowed and the rivers crept by. He had a drink in his hand, but it was untouched. His thoughts lay on more philosophical matters, and yet how realistic it was to what was happening in the galaxy, or at the very least would soon.
"You requested me?" Varus asked.
Anakin motioned for his former pupil to stand by him. Varus was still in his wedding tuxedo. The party continued on in the mansion behind them. Padme had given them a quiet place for the event, and only some people were invited. All the same, it was an event that was not meant to be kept quiet. Anakin counted thirty people.
"Did you enjoy it?"
"No." Varus replied without hesitation. He stood by Anakin and leaned against the railing. "I dislike parties or being under a spotlight like this. Ahsoka does too. She says its more for everyone else. I don't claim to understand."
"Ah, well. The process is to be married, then to celebrate later. And don't think this is the goal here. Marriage is about the journey. This is only the starting point. That is what this is. It is just not considered that why on the holotube."
"Hm… Did you really ask me out here to ask if I was enjoying a party with… dancing?"
Anakin smirked, "No, I know you hate dancing."
"Damn straight."
"What I asked you out here for was to ask you questions about… your Sith training."
Anakin watched as Varus's face grew deadly serious. Not to say lethal or dangerous for him, but the subject he wanted to talk about was one with a deadly variety. And most likely not the best place for a wedding night, but Anakin had some things to discuss and decided to get started on his plans the next morning.
"What do you want to know?" Varus asked.
"Was there more to your Sith training then what you personally learned? Like… is there areas you never delved in that you at least know of?" Varus nodded. "Okay. Can you tell me?"
"There is lots." Varus shrugged.
"Well, the reason is because… I want to have an idea of how depraved and filled with hatred the Sith are allowing themselves. How far are they going. If I am going to bring balance, I need to have an idea of how bad it is they are being taught."
Varus was silent for a long moment. "There is a great deal Nihilus did not teach me. He, being little more than an psychotic presence in the Force, held little value in a lot of teachings. He strayed more towards the Jedi code, in his mentality, though his actions and techniques are Sith origin. My skills in lightning and Void are obvious enough, and are where I was trained most."
Varus continued, "But there are things I read, things I heard in holocrons, that give me chills to remember, and not for the same reason as Void. Nihilus is an absence of emotion, and his teachings reflected that. He still explained the general Sith things, so that I can touch on."
"Please proceed."
Varus breathed in deeply. "There is one technique on enchanting weapons. It is very ancient, used on metallic blades rather than plasma ones. You kidnap people, torture them, and kill them while they are in pain. The more pain the better. You then bathe the blade in it and instill the Force into the blade as you do it. When you pull it out, it is bathed in the hatred of the Dark side. That's an example of alchemy."
Anakin gulped. It was along the lines of what he feared.
"There is more in the alchemy area. Things that delve into cannibalism, sucking blood, or draining life energy in a way very similar to the Void, but is reliant on pain. Then there is necromancy."
"Necromancy?" Anakin gasped. "As in raising of the dead?"
Varus shook his head. "Not exactly resurrection, but rather being… a kind of puppeteer to empty husks. The last I heard, the Sisterhood delved into it. Ahsoka told me how you guys tango'd with one of them in the Clone Wars. Lady Vashj? No… whoever the woman it was under Dooku."
"I know who you are talking about."
"Well, then there is enhancement. It is the most basic Sith technique, and used the most. Even I do it, and the Jedi delve into it as well. The Sith, however, delve into it in such a way that it can give you a massive boost temporarily, but will destroy you in the process. Its partially why you will see some with black marks all over them. Its bruising and can't be healed naturally. The ability to move faster, jump higher, attack stronger is very tempting and can be overused. The way the Sith do it… it feels like a drug. You feel above everyone else, so you never want to stop. A typical Sith will use Force Enhancement even when they aren't doing anything just because it feels good."
"I see why they hurt themselves. It's like steroids."
"Just remember that the Sith you are used to seeing aren't actual Sith. They are fallen Jedi or Dark Side users in general. Sith is a culture and nation. Anyway, then there are some who combine arts. There is one Sith Nihilus told me about… A um… Sion? Nihilus and Sion worked together under Darth Revan in the Triad. He combines alchemy with enhancement and necromancy in a way to keep himself immortal. He is the only Sith to be older than Valkorian."
"Are you serious?" Anakin whispered.
"Nihilus said the guy goes all the way back to the Hyperspace War. Not near as strong as Nihilus, so he is worker than you or I, but he has proven too much for anything to kill yet. He's the Sith version of a roach. He apparently fuels his life with the Dark Side, keeps his broken body held together with the Dark Side, and fuels his power with the very pain he endures. His body is actually cut in pieces, but he holds it together day and night, and the pain of being a giant wound fuels his power."
Anakin closed his eyes and let it sink in. "Is this how far your typical Sith is willing to go just to spite the rest of the galaxy?"
"Not quite that far, no. Sion is the only one to have outlived Valkorian and do it with raw hatred and pain. At least that I know of. There is an entire nation of them out there. I can't speak for them, but as much of what Nihilus learned came from Valkorian directly, I can come close. There is another I remember… a group technique."
"Group?"
"Yeah. The Jedi draw power from the universe, from the Force. Sith build it up within themselves. However Nihilus told me of 'group techniques' where a single Sith will draw on the energy of a group to unleash one gigantic technique." Varus sighed. "Nihilus never said it, but the methodology leans towards mass sacrifice if it is strong enough. Pulling people life eneryg out like they are nothing more than batteries, you know some will be depleted in the process."
Anakin felt like he was going to be sick.
"Are you okay? You look like you're going to pass out." Varus looked at him in concern.
Anakin shook his head, "No, I'm not fine. I'm just… realizing the magnitude of what I have to accomplish."
Varus shrugged, "Well, if it helps, I don't think you can do it completely."
Anakin rolled his eyes.
"No, as in, not all Sith." Varus corrected. "There will be some that follow Valkorian in his hatred, there will be some that might listen if you want to do something about the imbalance, and there will be some that are neutral or take sides for other reasons. I think it is dumb and impractical for you to expect to get EVERYONE on your side. There will be renegade Jedi as well, most likely, because what you want to do is very extreme."
"It is." Anakin reflected. He looked down on his student in wonder. "Who are you and what did you do with my student? Varus is not the wise type." Varus narrowed his eyes at the man and Anakin smiled. "Thanks. You're right, I won't win them all. I may not even win a lot. But if I can win enough of them to start something… to plant a seed and protect it, then that is something."
"But then what about the rest?"
Anakin's composure darkened. "I don't know…" He nodded towards the mansion. "Why don't you return to your party. I've held you long enough."
"Sure," Varus left with a knowing look. "Just let us know when -not if- you need us to pull you out of trouble."
Anakin shook his head in disbelief. Would wonders never cease? He was used to the wise ones being Padme or Ahsoka. But then, if anyone understood Sith, it was Varus.
Anakin knew what he needed to do. The only problem was doing it. It would be difficult… so the sooner he started, the better. He pulled up his datapad and sent a message to Obi-Wan: Gather the masters.
Anakin stood before the assembly. Never before had he seen so many Jedi Master's in one place, and he took a moment to look over them. Many of them were people he recognized. Like him, many among them were promoted to Master in what would have been considered too early before the fall of Coruscant.
Of course, the Jedi Council in the old days did not represent the entirity of the Masters either. They were the rank above master. But this meeting was not about Councils, but about the totality of what remained of the Jedi. So in one sense the sheer fact that Anakin could almost count their number in a galaxy of millions of planets only showed how few they had become. Between the purges of the Triad, the Clone Wars, Nihilus, and Starkiller… the Jedi had become few.
Anakin had chosen Coruscant as the meeting place. Coruscant was desolate and with an atmosphere too thin for breathing, but there were space stations in orbit. The entirity of the galaxy's greatest powers were sharing the burden of reviving the planet. It was a monumental task with an unimaginable cost, but it represented something far deeper.
It represented a common ground. It represented hope. It represented the ancient glory of what the galaxy could be again. Not that Anakin was not also distinctly aware of the politics.
The New Republic had successfully assimilated the Old Republic, and had become a power nearly equal to the Mandalorian Clans. Koj devoted his attention to his people, but was currently working with the Rebel Alliance to root out the Eternal Hand from among them, and form a close allegiance with both the Clans and United System Alliance. The Alliance would become a power equal to the Dominion with its center being Tatooine if the contract carried through.
But in regards to Coruscant, things were shaking up. The Mandalorians claimed ownership because history proved that it was originally theirs thousands of years ago, and they took on the greatest economic burden of restoring the planet. While the Republic claimed Coruscant by claiming it was never truly lost. A small colony was found deep in the planet that had survived Nihilus and the loss of air by sealing themselves tight and recycling everything. The colony was found with its own greenhouses (the sun was able to reach them), its own recycled air, and its own recycled water. It was a thriving persistent colony within Coruscant's infrastructure, and they hailed allegience to the Republic.
Anakin feared a war was on the way between the Mandalorians and Republic, but he also knew the nature of the war would be between lawyers. The Mando'a and Republic were too closely tied as allies, and with reasonable leaders, to raise arms against each other. Plus Anakin was comforted that Canderous was keenly aware of Valkorian. He was preparing everything he had for that war to come. He wouldn't risk everything over a planet.
The glass on which Anakin stood showed the surface of Coruscant, and before him were his fellow Masters. Many were in holograms, as the meeting time was too sudden to allow transport. Many also didn't show at all, but Anakin was fine with it. He wasn't here to get the Jedi united per say, but to get the majority into a movement.
"My fellow Masters, hear me." Anakin said. "I come to bring a warning and a thought for you to have, but first, allow me to tell a story. Here, on Coruscant, the Jedi took the greatest blow we have suffered. Here, we were scattered. The Sith, under Nihilus, invaded, and Nihilus destroyed us. We fled, and in our escape I came to be in the possession of the mask of Nihilus. Being the Chosen One, I was immune to the nature of power, but at the same time I could not stop him. He could have gone on to continue his dark work, but he did not. He contented himself with hiding behind me, allowing himself to be caged.
"The question of why he would do it taunted me for years, and I would not receive my answer until recent days. But during this time, the clones of Starkiller were hunting Jedi in seeking me. As it turned out, they were not after me, but after Nihilus, who they knew was contained by me. They were after him… whether to kill or obtain his power… I could not say, and so I decided to take Nihilus to the one place where I believed he could be truly contained. By the Clans. So I struck a deal to capture a terrorist group in return for my appeal."
"A bit of a side-quest, it would appear you took. Is this relavent to your story?" A Master questioned.
"It is, I assure you." Anakin nodded. "Because it was there I encountered my first Prior."
There were murmers among them, and Anakin allowed silence a moment before continuing. "What I encountered is a man who possessed foreign, dark Force energies, and who could pass those same energies on to a man who was not Force sensetive. This Prior… I would come to meet Priors a few times, many times in league with the Starkiller clones, and yet their nature illuded me. They possessed power over the Void, that which is the absence of all life. Neither the Dark Side nor the Light.
"And It was in one of these encounters that I came to learn what they wanted." Anakin breathed in deeply. "Their dark master, who gave them their power, seeks to become a god by killing the Force and replacing it."
As he expected, this sent them into a frenzy. Well, as frenzied as a meeting of Jedi could be. They expressed disbelief and the rediciulasness of it. Yet the one thing they could not deny was that Anakin was telling the truth. Or, at the very least, he believed it. He was not lying.
"Can you validate this claim?" One Master asked.
"The only other witness to his words was a child." Anakin said. "I understand this is difficult to believe. How can anyone seek to kill the Force? How can anyone replace it? How can anyone seek to truly become a god? I didn't believe it. I found it to be the claims of a madman. But as I would come to learn, the Force itself was moving and had a champion."
"What did you do?"
"In this instance, I am not referring to myself, nor any Jedi. This one was a man who worshipped the Force with no rules placed upon him, no code, and no lessons. He is a man who had a relationship with the Force. Nothing more. He learned by listening to the Force. He learned of the Force by seeing what it wanted and what it did not want, and by being humble, and by reflection. In many ways, I hold him to be even wiser than the wisest among us." Anakin looked over them. "His simple wisdom would have humbled Master Yoda. This man, was also filled with hatred. Because as it turns out, he is a Ghorfa."
The Masters did not react. "What is a Ghorfa?"
"That is exactly the problem." Anakin explained. "The Ghorfa were the people of Tatooine, and we, the Jedi, made an agreement with the Hutts to wipe out a 'rebellion' in return for medicine. We called them beasts, we called them monsters, and they were not. They are a people who have been pushed into a corner for generations. The seeds of pain, of desperation, have long been in them, but we dealt the killing blow. In turn, this man had the seed of hatred planted in him.
"Then how can this man be the champion of the Force?"
"Because that is exactly what the Force intended to use. It took him to the Eternal Hand, and told him to join them. Told him to embrace his hatred and see how far it can go. He did. He embraced his hatred. He joined the Eternal Hand. He saw their master…" Anakin breathed in deeply. "And in so doing, he claims he saw the very heart of hatred. He was saved from his hate and humbled himself, and this man told me this: I cannot hate you, Jedi, for I have looked into the very heart of hatred, and have seen an abomination. Compared to what I have seen, my own hatred is nothing.
"This man, while being in contact with this Abomination, would come to learn a few facts, the most important detail being a man it feared. A man named 'The One'. We saught out The One, and from The One, we learned the nature of the Abomination, the leader of the Eternal Hand, the nature of a creature that would seek godhood and the death of the Force.
"The Abomination was born with the name Valkorian… and he is a creation of the Sith a thousand years ago. When we wiped out the Sith, those that survived left with the seeds of hatred. Like the Ghorfa, they were pushed into a corner. Like the Ghorfa, they turned over to their hate to the extent of sacrificing their own lives in a ritual to create a 'Champion of Vengeance'. They created Valkorian with a singular purpose: To have revenge. And more than that, that Valkorian has, in his mission, been patient and found a way to extend his life a thousand years.
"It was after this that I came to understand. Nihilus had hid because he was afraid. He was afraid of Valkorian's agents. The Eternal Hand were sowing chaos in the galaxy, and still are to this day, in the name of Valkorian. Valkorian is not seeking vengeance directly, but is preparing. Valkorian was the one who told the Mandalorians to wage war with the Republic with the promise of help! Valkorian corrupted the Revanchist and sent them back at us as the Sith Triad! Valkorian gave Nihilus his power! With Valkorian's corruption, Palpatine started the Clone Wars to split the galaxy! Valkorian cloned the Starkillers to hunt Jedi and kill the Sith that were no longer with him! Valkorian sent the Eternal Hand to create chaos!
"HEAR ME!" Anakin yelled. "The seeds of hatred, of genocide, are what we planted! You may think in your hearts that Valkorian, and the Sith that follow him, are fighting as barbarians. BUT THEY ARE FIGHTING ON TERMS WE STARTED! We bombed their planets to dust a thousand years ago! We created the war! And so I say now that the war is coming soon! Now that we know of him, Valkorian cannot hide in shadows and lies! But… nor can we sit by and think that we have nothing to be guilty of. Truly, those of us here did not live in those days, but we have the responsbility to bearing the weight of it all!"
"And what do you suggest, that we war with them and make this weight worse?" Someone questioned in disbelief.
"Despite it all… we have no choice." Anakin admitted. "At the center of the Sith lies a core of hatred, of rage, that exists at everything. Valkorian's hatred is pointed at the very heart of the galaxy, at the Force. The Sith are reviving and have grown around him with his word, with his law as the foundation. Yes. We will be at war, but I say we do it to blot out the core. To take out the festering heart of rage that is feeding them words."
Anakin hesitated, this next part would earn him many enemies. "But we cannot do that without first going after our own heart. The Jedi Council committed a crime, and they tried to cover it up… not by denying it, but rather saying it was the Will of the Force. They made it so that we have no need to feel guilt for it, that guilt is just a part of the Dark Side. Love… Not just love for family, but for strangers, is evil. This 'code' of harmony, of calm, of peace, of feeling nothing and not reflecting… is what created Nihilus. This is what the Jedi have started to become."
Immediately there was yelling, and Anakin put his hand out to be heard. "Listen! No, listen! Nihilus was a man without guilt! He felt nothing! He was a monster without compassion! Without love! Without caring! If he had the slightest guilt, a human part of him that had a proper emotional standing, he would have been found out and cast out! But he was allowed to exist and prosper as a Jedi because his sociopathic nature made him out to be the perfect Jedi! This is what our Code seeks to create!"
Anakin threw his coat over his shoulders and stomped his way through the rain. The puddles rippled under his furious steps and he pressed forward to return to his ship. Obi-Wan hurried to keep up with his pace as Anakin had a head start on him. Anakin stomped his way up the ramp and Obi followed him up. "Ani!"
Anakin responded with cursing. "Barbarians! Vagabonds! Uncouth curs! Close-minded! Hateful! Spiting pigs of bigots that fell off the wagon and hit their heads when they were two! Their mothers didn't-" At this point he broke into Huttese and seriously started to hiss what he really thought. Obi-Wan felt his ears burn at more than a few of the words being muttered.
Obi-Wan shook his coat and hung it. He took up Anakin's off the floor and did the same with it. He closed the ramp and went after his former-student. Anakin had just left everything behind in his mindset to get to the pilot seat, where Obi-Wan found him. Ani was not piloting the ship, but he fiddled with buttons and turned knobs. Sitting in the pilot seat and having his hands on gadgets calmed him, but at the rate in which he was flipping a switch back and forth, Obi was half-afraid he would break it clear off.
If he broke the on-switch, that would be bad. Those are important.
"I'm sorry they didn't listen." Obi-Wan spoke out of sympathy. He took up the co-pilot seat and leaned back with a sigh. "I won't say I told you so, but you had to know that your words would not be taken well."
"Yeah, well it's the truth!" Anakin exclaimed. "I'm the Chosen One! When does that title start to mean a damn thing? Does it mean something when I am done and they can go 'oh! You're the chosen one! Command me! Guide me!' when it is no longer necessary? What kind of bullshit is that! If I am going to guide anyone, it has to be before its over!"
"They don't think you are a guide, they think you are there to kill Sith and bring the Light to harmony."
"Well congratulations!" Anakin snapped. Obi-Wan knew he wasn't angry at him, so he didn't take it personally. "They got what they wanted! I'm going to be killing me some Sith in the coming war, but wait! THAT IS STILL NOT WHAT THEY WANTED! 'Oh, yes! Let's not make war! But. But. Let's not make peace either! Let's just stick our heads in the sand and look more into how we are going to give a drowning man a glass of war!"
"I think you mean 'water'."
"In this case, its both." Anakin muttered.
Obi-Wan leaned forward and looked his former student in the eye. "The thing you have to realize, Ani, is that you are not a prophet. You don't speak directly with the Force on a regular basis, nor do you have divine knowledge, nor are you the son of a god. The son of Plageus in a ritual, yes, but not directly a demi-god. What you are is a champion of the Force… a person with a destiny to accomplish something with your own two hands. Not to be the mouth-piece to proclaim destiny, but the one to take it with his own two hands and make it turn."
Anakin looked to his master, and his rage diminsihed. He nodded slightly and sat back to look out the window and watch the rain fall. "Would have been nice to have some help though."
"Let's be fair, do you really want help from people who don't share your agenda or ideal? People that have their own agenda's?"
"Probably not."
"You have me, you have your students, you have your family." Obi-Wan chuckled. "For that matter, your family grew massively, and your own siblings have more strength than all of the Jedi combined. Do you really need a bunch of old farts to turn destiny?"
Anakin frowned. "That is what worries me. Valkorian was the firstborn of Plageus. He is not just a Sith, or a Sith Lord, but might as well be a Sith Champion, a titan, a demi-god in his own right. I have no doubt that I am the Force's champion, you are right. But something I have considered… is that prophecy and saviors and heroes are only as powerful as what they are made to accomplish. Gods only intervene when they have to… so for the Force to intervene personally to create me through possibly the most powerful Sith to have ever been born… then how much greater is Valkorian?"
"Think about it." Anakin continued. "We are talking about a person so powerful that 'power' is something he can hand out freely to his followers like chump-change. Something worthless to him because he has ascended so far that to him… we are insect. What he gave his Priors is just scraps. Crumbs. Bits of power he had no more use for."
"Perhaps it was a gamble and he gave his Prior's more than he can afford?"
"No. No, no. Valkorian is cautious, manipulative, intelligent. Not a gambling man. He wouldn't have lasted a thousand years and orchestrated a dozen wars if he was a gambler."
"I think he is." Obi-Wan argued. "He clearly knew of Plageus, and if he is as well-informed as you make him sound, he would have heard of the prophecy. But he never stopped Plagues from creating you. It might be that Plagues stayed where he has all these years to hide, and Valkorian may never have ever found you. Let's admit, some slave kid on Tatooine is not the first thing you think of when you think of Arch-Nemesis."
"Gee. Thanks." Anakin replied flatly.
Obi-Wan smiled in amusement. "But we have still looked at years where Valkorian could have found you. The Jedi publically declared you Chosen One. You have been vulnerable. If Valkorian truly wanted to kill you, he would have sent his agents long ago. No… I think he is a gambling man, and I think he is also has a flair for the dramatic. Because either he is ignorant of you and isn't as powerful as you make him out to be, or he is and is waiting for you. The Chosen One versus The Abomination. It has a very theatrical appeal to it. Almost something that Sith-boy of your's would have spit out."
Anakin chuckled. "I don't doubt that… Let's hope the Force's little gamble pays off then."