Death of a world. Death of a man

"Edranus." Her voice was soft, whispering into his ears with a gentle course of her breath. Edranus sat up and looked into the eyes of his loving wife. Her smile glowing happily, she laughed as she watched him sit up from the bed. It was morning of another glorious day on the world of Onderon. "I'm hungry. You said you were going to cook this morning."

Edranus stretched and yawned as he slipped out of bed. "Right, right." A gentle breeze tracked through their small home and it was cool. Edranus received a chill but continued to walk on. "Feels like winter is coming."

"Probably." Karen shouted as she bundled back under the covers. "Have you thought about what I said?"

Edranus opened the cooling unit and grabbed a basket of fresh eggs. "What do you mean?"

"The war efforts. Have you thought about it?"

Edranus sighed. "I've seen enough battles to know that we shouldn't volunteer for a lost cause." Dropping the eggs in boiling water, Edranus turned and walked back to the bed. "Besides, that Jedi Revan can't be trusted. Anyone who would defy their own order … seriously, you can't expect that type of person to be a good leader."

"But you haven't heard Revan talk." Karen sighed. "Dozens of outer colony worlds have already been conquered, and the Mandalorians are pushing inward. The way Revan is talking, the Mandalorians could turn at us any day now."

Edranus laughed. "If the Mandalorians turned toward Onderon, they would face the Republic, and we will not bow like the outer colonies have. Those Mandalorian brutes wouldn't stand a chance."

"Revan also talked about that." Karen added. She shifted on the bed and gazed out the far window. "Revan thinks that the Republic would not be ready for such a clash; that we aren't ready. As a soldier in the Republic forces, I would have to agree. Revan thinks that only Jedi support would help win such a battle."

"Karen, I've been in the service as long as you have. You've seen our power, our ships. Do you honestly think that the Republic would loose to the Mandalorians?" Edranus ran his hand down Karen's back, studying every curve.

"Revan makes a strong point. If we don't stop them from wiping out the outer colonies, nothing will stop them from attacking Republic worlds. Their numbers grow larger with every battle. We shouldn't underestimate them. Revan said…"

"Revan, Revan, Revan!" Edranus huffed. "Is that all you care about? If Revan's actions are followed, it will only lead to war. We have no proof that the Mandalorians will attack first." A sharp whistle echoed from outside the window, and Edranus raced to see what it was. Karen leapt from the bed and stood at his side. "This can't be happening."

Beyond the gaze of their eyes, and several miles in the distance, the city burned. High above the city floated dozens of Mandalorian battle ships and hundreds of fighters. The Onderon Capital was under full scale assault. Karen and Edranus then heard the wail of their communicators from across the room. No doubt it was their call to report to duty. Karen raced to the com, but Edranus gripped her quickly.

"Don't answer!"

"What?" Karen questioned.

"This was a sneak attack, and most likely all of the planetary defensive will be wiped out first. We need to get off world and report to the Republic battle group. If we make contact now, our communications will be intercepted by the enemy."

"You didn't grow up here, so I don't expect you to understand." Karen slipped on her uniform and gripped her helmet and side arm. "The Republic presence in the quadrant is weakest. There aren't any battle groups this far out. Onderon is on its own, like always." Karen raced to the door as Edranus ran ahead, blocking her path. "I'm going to go and fight with my people!"

"You are a Republic Officer, Karen." Edranus tensed up and began to pull rank. "That call is for us to meet up with our battle group, and then wait to see what our orders will be. You swore your loyalty to the Republic, and I'm taking you with me."

"I will not abandon my home!"

"We'll come back, you know we will, but for now there is nothing we can do!"

Karen stepped toward her towering husband and kissed him. "Than I hope you come back soon. This is my home, and I can't leave my old friends to face this threat alone. Yes, I joined the Republic efforts while I lived on Taris. Yes, I swore my life to you and to the Republic. But I will not leave the world in which I was born." Karen pushed passed Edranus forcefully. "Go and get the battle group. Make them come. Onderon has always been in the shadow of the Republic and they will not hurry here. It's up to you." Karen raced off, jumping into a speeder and headed toward the burning capital. Edranus contemplated following her, to protect his wife, yet he knew what she said was right, the Republic wouldn't come.

He had to go. He had to bring the battle group. He could have forced Karen to stay, yet he knew her well enough to know that she would have never forgiven him. No, all he could do was run away and bring the fleet back with him. He looked up and into the sky as dozens of red orbs began to burn toward the ground; streaking toward the outer areas of the city like flaming meteorites crashing into the atmosphere. It was a chilling sight.

"Basilisk War Droids." It was true. The legend of the Mandalorian attacks was all true. Edranus grabbed his gear and raced through the kitchen toward the back door. He caught a glimpse of the boiling eggs and pushed out the door. In the field behind the small home was a small Republic shuttle, on loan from a high ranking friend within the fleet. He had borrowed it so that he and Karen could go away together. He climbed into the ship and powered it to life.

"They aren't going to let me fly out of here." Instantly the proximity alarm began to chirp in the cockpit. Getting away was not going to be easy as he watched numerous Mandalorian fighters begin to streak towards his ship. Yet they quickly fell under fire from an opposing force.

The communicator echoed to life. "Lieutenant! This is Captain Win Tau' of the Onderron Captial Air defense Unit. I got a call from your loving wife that you were going to get the Republic and bring back support. We will guard your in system exit."

Edranus smirked softly. "Confirmed, Captain. Keep those fighters off my butt till I'm air born. I can make do once I'm in the sky."

"Understood. I'm sending six fighters to your aid. That's all I can spare. The majority of my battle wing is in combat over the capital. Good luck, Lieutenant. We don't know how long we can hold out."

The communication ended and Edranus finally received a green light from the ship's computer, all systems were charged and ready. He quickly lifted off, and was escorted by all six fighters. They quickly hit orbit and was intercepted by a small wave of Mandalorian fighters, yet they quickly blew through them.

"Those Mandalorians aren't really known for their aerial combat skills, Lieutenant. It's on the ground that we're having trouble." Echoed the lead fighter pilot. "You are clear to jump out of system. Hurry back!"

"Roger. I'll be back soon." Edranus replied. "You are free to disengage and return to combat. Happy hunting down there boys." He watched as the six fighters banked and returned to Onderron as he powered up the hyperdrive. "Karen… I'll be back. I promise."

- - - - - - - -

"What do you mean we won't engage?" Edranus fumed over the com channel. Beyond his port side wing were dozens of Republic Cruisers, Capital ships and Battle ships. "Onderron is being obliterated. I counted sixteen ships upon exiting system. General, we have the numbers to assist them …."

"Lieutenant, we can not advance into this fight without fully understanding what motivated the Mandalorians attack. The Onderon government has always been aggressive toward nearby colonies not within the Republic, and we must be sure that this is not a 'skirmish' between them."

Edranus glared at the screen of the General. "General Karath…"

"Dock and then assume your duties, Lieutenant. That's an order."

"That's a political statement. My wife is there… I won't leave her. I can't abandon her!"

"We all must obey orders, Lieutenant. The Republic ordered me not to interfere unless the Mandalorians made progress deeper into Republic space. I'm sorry, there's nothing we can do. If you attempt to leave this battle group, I will be forced to launch a fighter wing and shoot you down. Dock, Lieutenant, and fight with us when the time comes. You will avenge her death soon enough…"

"She's not dead!" Edranus screamed as he slammed his hands upon the console. "You're telling me to stand back and watch her die! I can't do that, General."

In the background of General Saul Karath's bridge, Edranus could hear the communications officer reporting. "General, we've lost all communications from Onderron."

Saul Karath exhaled and replied, "Lieutenant, don't do anything rash. Dock with the ship, and I swear you will have your revenge."

Edranus buried his head into the console, sobbing uncontrollably, and in his ear he could hear a voice. It was soft like a whisper yet as soothing as it had been only several hours before.

"Karen?" He whispered. He looked up into the bloody form of Karen as she reached out and gripped him.

"Follow Revan…Revan will lead you. Revan will end this war and avenge my death!"

Nihilus rose from his sleep with a frightening wail. His mind shattered from the images of his past. The room shook violently as his anger swelled within him. The Republic and the Jedi had failed her. They left her to die. Revan had betrayed the quest to destroy the Jedi Order, no one could finish this battle except for himself, and Nihilus was tired of doing nothing. He stood from his bed and reapplied the mask that concealed his twisted and rotting flesh.

He approached the door to his room and braced against the wall. The image of his wife's face was once again vanishing from his memory, leaving him without the passion he once had. Now, he was left only with the hunger and the anger against the Jedi. For three months he had been having this dream. For three months he had been listening to Traya's pointless dribble about the balance of the Force, none of that mattered anymore. Her words were not going to lead him to power or to the destruction of the Jedi.

Nihilus opened the door and stepped through and was greeted by Mana. He froze.

"Why is your mind so troubled?" She questioned within his mind.

"Mana…." He could bear to say no other words. He looked away and began to leave her ghostly image behind. She was another image that he could not escape. Haunting him daily and reminding him of his heartache, his pain, his purpose for fighting and the man he once was.

"Your path is simple, my Lord; crush them. Crush them all!" Mana added as he walked away. She then vanished, returning to the dark corner of his shattered mind.

The echoes within the Force haunted him even when he was awake. He could see the life forces of all the dead Force wielders that had crossed his path. Including Sebrani's sister. She said nothing, as she had no place within his Dark Aura, she simply appeared and vanished from time to time.

This was his world, watching the echoes of the dead urge him to new power, and to feed. His hunger became greater by the day and soon even the other students within the Trayus Academy began to flee from his presence, yet they obeyed his orders without question. Three months of training and talking, and all he had to show for it was a deeper sensitivity to the living Force; and all of the death it contained.

Nihilus walked into the training room as several fresh students trained against each other with Vibroswords. Traya quickly spotted Nihilus as he entered the room and she ran toward him.

"Nihilus! I have not summoned you here!" Traya moved as quickly as the Force would carry her ageing form. Yet she arrived at his side to late.

Nihilus stretched out his arms, and began to drain the Force from all of the new recruits. The twenty students all writhed in pain as the Force was ripped from them. They then slumped to the floor, nearly lifeless, and completely deprived of the Force. He had let them live, but now they were simply mindless puppets.

"In order to fight a war, we must first build an adequate army!" Traya shouted at Nihilus. She glared up at him, and he glared back at her from behind the darkness of his mask. "I know that your hunger grows and you must feed, but you must learn to maintain control of it. These Force wielders had potential!"

"Adadlienobid radrad adfae raeadfadad… into this war." Nihilus replied in his typical tone of scratches. "You have been telling us that we will attack the Jedi soon. Yet you have yet to let us go and attack. We know where they cower, we know where they hide. Let us go and crush them once and for all. And then we shall destroy the Old Republic and make it new."

"You are still thinking only with brute strength. The Jedi are not as stupid as you think they to be. We must wage this war from the Shadows…"

"Yes, your 'Shadow War'. How long will we listened to your plans, yet not see action?
The longer we wait the greater the Jedi's numbers become. We must strike, now, before they recover from Revan's disappearance. The remnants of Revan's Sith Empire are still at our disposal. We can retake what remains of the fleet and with it…"

Traya cut in. "And be systematically destroyed. With such a large brewing force, the Jedi will slip into our numbers and cut us off from the inside. No. If I have taught you anything, you must understand that to win this war we must first kill the Heart. And the only way to do that is to get deep within the Jedi boundaries. We destroy them from the inside out, just as they would try to do with us."

Edranus turned and began to walk away. "No longer shall we linger in your shadow. The Jedi can not stop me or Sion. We will take this war to them, without you."

Traya could not let her prodigy escape her grasp, and knew that a display of power would ease his aggression. She reached out and lighting exploded from her fingertips, striking Nihilus in the back. He stumbled forward, but only a step.

Traya felt that her attack did nothing to change his mind. "I am the Master and you are my student. Do not let that escape your head. I will not let you jeopardize what I have been working toward, or throw away everything I have built. That was nearly a trickle of my power, and if you attempt to diffuse my plans, then next time I shall not be as lenient." She bluffed. She had used all of her power to simply get his attention. A normal Dark Jedi would have died instantly from her Force Lightening, but Nihilus was far beyond normal.

He slowly turned and glared at her, "Very well, Master. We shall play by your rules." Nihilus showed her no respect, and simply walked away. Traya knew instantly that he didn't believe her bluff.

If Nihilus ever turned on her, she would be powerless to stop him.

- - - - - - - -

One year later.

The plan was simple, at least in Traya's mind. Simple to execute, yet patience would be the key to success. Somehow, she had stayed Nihilus's loyalty for a full year, and quenched both Sion and Nihilus's appetite for blood. She had begun her 'Shadow War' earlier than planned, yet so far every mission had been a success. Dozens of Jedi had fallen under Sion's blade, and Nihilus was quick to devour their power. Yet this latest plan would be tricky, and a cunning mind was needed to fulfill it.

Traya had her doubts that her two pupils could successfully achieve the goal of the mission, yet she had no other option. If the plan was successful, then the heart of the Jedi Order would be eliminated.

They had to kill Jedi Master Dorak.

Jedi Masters Vrook Lamar and Zhar Lestin would be shaken by this act, because the Chronicler carried the knowledge of the Jedi Order itself. Traya knew her target well, and that of the Jedi Masters, Dorak was the weakest in combat, but his Force power was well off the chart. Killing him would be an aggressive blow to the Order, and shake the very core of their defense. The Jedi Order paid little attention to the death of a few Jedi Knights, but the death of a Jedi Master would surely shock them. Jedi Knights were wasteful, their duty to the Force was justice and if it meant death then they would honorably accept this; but no one would accept the death of a Master.

As their tiny shuttle accelerated toward the central Republic world of Tatooine, Traya pondered if she had planned this course of action wisely. She had brought only twenty Sith Assassins with her; mere pawns to deal with Master Dorak's bodyguards of four Jedi Knights. Yet what worried her would be the reaction of both Sion and Nihilus. They had easily killed numerous Knights, but to face a Jedi Master for the first time would be new to them. A Jedi Master was not to be underestimated, even when they seemed defeated, a Jedi Master would find new resolve and fight on with renewed strength.

Traya had to reassure herself. "Sion. Tell me your approach to this action." She stated as she approach Darth Sion; his wounds had grown more extensive, his build and demeanor darker, and his control of the Force much sharper.

"I will overwhelm my opponent with my skill with the blade." His voice groaned. "I will not fall in battle, yet I will use this to my advantage and catch the Jedi off guard. He will wound me and turn his attention away, and this will be his undoing."

Traya, pleased with Sion's answer, turned to Nihilus. "And you?"

Speaking in scratches and echoes, "Feed. Feed off of his power and crush him."

Traya was not pleased. "No. You will support Sion. We have discussed this. You will mask our presence with your power; hiding our approach. If Master Dorak senses us the plan will fail. Only you have the power to mask our Force Powers from detection."

Nihilus looked away from Traya. "Yes. But I hunger. I must have him."

Traya glared at Nihilus's back as she had a reason to be concerned. "Nihilus, do you believe that Revan would…"

"Do not speak of Revan!" Nihilus shouted as he spun toward Traya. Sion simply watched. "Revan sought conquest through power and dominance! You seek nothing but the shadows, assassinating weak members of the Jedi Order in order to fulfill your own inner goals."

"Is that what you believe?" Traya stepped forward. "That Revan was a brute force tactician seeking power? You know nothing! You know nothing of Revan's ways! All that I have taught you, I taught Revan, and that was years before you knew the Force existed within you."

Sion then voiced, "To believe one with such little power as you, actually taught Revan, is believable. While Malak balanced Revan, you had no balance. This was your failing of your former student. This we learned from you. We have followed you, Master, yet you have no purpose."

"What do you mean; have followed?" Traya questioned.

Nihilus looked away from Traya. "This will be our final mission under your teachings. The Jedi do not fear us as they should. We must awaken the fear within them. Sion and I will finish what Revan and Malak began."

"That is not what Revan started!" Traya argued back, yet her words fell on death ears. "Revan sought to…" her words slipped from her as her body was flung backwards. Nihilus did not lift a finger or look at her, yet his power tossed her without effort. She slammed into the bulkhead at the back of the cockpit, and passed out.

- - - - - - - -

Groggy and confused, Traya awoken and found herself locked in the crew quarters of the shuttle. She slowly stood to her feet, reaching out to the Force and attempting to locate Sion and Nihilus. She could not sense them, Nihilus was masking their location, yet Traya knew what to look for. She looked deeper, not looking for their power but instead she looked for the void, the emptiness within the Force. This emptiness would be Nihilus himself.

"There." She had found him, several miles away and deep within one of the city ports of Tatooine. They had gone to complete the mission without her. She had to escape. She had to go back to Malachor 5. One guard remained on board the shuttle. He was a weak minded Assassin, and would be nothing for her to deal with. Her lightsaber had been removed, but no matter, escape would be child's play. She gave no concern for the Assassin waiting beyond the door, she thought only of how to deal with Sion and Nihilus's treachery.

"Open this door." Traya shouted. The words echoed in the Assassin's ears, though his mind was consumed by Nihilus's will, he could not resist Traya's persuasion. He turned and quickly opened the door. "Mindless brutes. They know nothing… consumed by their emotions." Traya felt a sting in her heart. Again, she had been tossed aside. First the Jedi Order banished her because of Revan's actions, and now Sion and Nihilus. She had foreseen this event, yet nothing could prepare her for it. She gripped her saber from the Assassins belt, and stabbed the mindless Sith in the chest, ending his life.

She staggered to the helm. "Why can I not balance the nature of the Force? Everything I have archived in the past, everything that I have seen in my years of service to the Force, has shown me that the Force seeks to balance itself. Yet the only thing that is true is death. The Force leaves nothing but hatred and anguish." She powered the ship and exited the sandy dunes of Tatooine.

- - - - - - - -

Sion stood from his battle, wounds marking him, and pain once again swelling throughout his form, but he marveled in it. He gripped his saber and attached it once again to his belt. Nihilus emerged from the shadows and folded his hands across his chest.

Sion turned to him, "Are you sure this is best?"

Nihilus screeched, "Your thirst for pain and slaughter has been fed. And soon my hunger will be as well. Master Dorak has seen your power and believes you to be dead, but he has seen my power as well, and knows that I will be a great nemesis to the Force. He will go to the Jedi Order and they will discuss a course of action."

Sion walked toward Nihilus and agreed. "My assassins will follow him. And soon, we will know the location of the Jedi. Their deaths will echo across the galaxy and all Jedi will flee. I will be unknown to them, as they believe my death had occurred. I will hunt them down as you destroy their worlds."

"I will feed. I will grow more powerful as I feed my hunger. You, Sion, shall sweep the galaxy with your Assassins and eliminate the Jedi. We will rebuild Revan's fleet and retake the Galaxy once again. But first…" Nihilus looked upward, sensing Traya's escape. "… we must deal with her."

- - - - - - - -

Traya stood within the lower depths of the Trayus Academy on Malachor 5. She had to retreat, to draw upon the power of the Trayus Core. She knew they would come to this place, to this sanctum of evil. She sensed their approach, undoubtedly they had acquired a ship on Tatooine, and now they were coming back to take what she had built. She sent her students away, telling them to flee or parish at the hands of her two twisted disciples. Though most of her students swore to stand at he side, she easily convinced them that they would die if they opposed Nihilus and Sion.

She had failed. She had failed to do what she believed was the will of the Force. She sat in meditation, seeking a deeper understanding of everything that had happened in the past few years, but also to draw upon the dark power within the Trayus core. Had she been wrong about Nihilus? Was strengthening his aggression, and twisting his mind to enhance his power, the correct path? Something within her echoed the memories of the man Nihilus once was, a man that exemplified balance. He was not Light nor was he Dark, he simply existed between the force. But because of his loss and pain, he was twisted by darkness once again. She had missed something within him… within the man Nihilus once was. But in the Trayus Core she could look back on his life, to see where she went wrong in her quest to use his power for herself.

It was here that Revan began the search for the Star Maps and eventually found the Star Forge. It was here that Revan's true goals began to grow. It was here that Darth Traya was born, and the understanding of her former student began.

Traya felt them looming throughout the academy; divided yet approaching. They were coming from separate paths, but she sensed them both. Her students had arrived.

She stood and walked to the center of the mysterious room. The dark claw like pillars which encircled the core, made for an almost stage to end the division of students and master. Traya knew she could not win, yet she would not give up to them.

Sion entered from her left, walking across the bridge with an aggressive glare. He sought to give her pain, it was all he knew. Traya dug deep and pulled the power of the Trayus Core within herself. Would it be enough?

Then, as if on queue, Nihilus walked in from the right path. Gracefully he walked across the bridge, a shell of a man that once had dreams and ambitions; yet now haunted by the deaths of those he allowed into his heart. His path to mastering the darkest of the dark arts was stained by the deaths that echoed in his shattered mind. No longer a man, no longer alive, and not fully dead; Nihilus was nothing. He existed between life and death. He was between this world and the next. His flesh, shrouded in darkness by a thick layer of fabric, was decaying and held together only by the image of what his former form was. He did not need food, he desired no water, he only craved power, and his hunger knew no limit.

Traya did not dare to ask the result of their mission, she knew that talk would reveal nothing, or stave off the inevitable. She stood firm, drawing in the power of the Trayus Core.

She faced them both, ready and poised for combat. She summoned a barrier to resist any Force attacks, and watched as Sion powered on his Saber. The red glow of his blade paralleled her own, as she turned it on. She glared at her former student and waited for him to attack, yet it was a wasted gesture.

Her Force shield collapsed. Her power quickly escaped her and in one continuing move she was flung to the far wall. Nihilus had ripped her power away from her in one swift gulp of his insatiable appetite. He had to use considerable more Force because of the Trayus Core, but he was not denied the victory of feeling her power being added to his own. Traya prepared herself for the impact and slammed against the stone pillar. Her body filled with pain and she reached out for her lightsaber, pulling at it with the Force. The saber merely twitched and rocked from side to side. It was just beyond her natural reach but she was in too much pain to grab it. Sion loomed over her, gloating and trembling with the excitement of causing her more pain. The force had left her, devoured by her student, and she was powerless to stop them. Not even the added power of the Trayus Core was enough to help.

Sion gripped her by the face, lifted her up with one hand, and slammed her head into the pillar. He drove his knee into her stomach, knocking the breath from her. She stumbled forward, but he gripped her instantly, catching her before she fell. He then lifted her and punched her across the face, sending her frail form onto the floor. Pain swelled from her, and as Darth Traya began to loose consciousness, she could only glance once more at the looming presence of Nihilus as he merely watched Sion enjoy himself.

She passed out, knowing that only death awaited her.

Nihilus walked closer to his former master's unconscious side. Sion gripped his saber, ready to deal the final blow, yet Nihilus waved him off.

Sion lowered his lightsaber and looked to his accomplice. "You show compassion now?"

"We will no longer follow her, but she is still needed." Nihilus echoed. "Exile. Into exile is where she will go. She will watch, and she will see that our way to power was correct. We will let her live, so that she will know her failure."

- - - - - - - -

After many days of waiting, the time had finally come. Sion's Assassin had reported the location of the Jedi Order, and their patience had been well received. The repairs to the Ravager were complete, although only certain sections of the ship were useful, and Nihilus once again sailed the stars. The onetime Republic Capital ship was now his base of operation, in order to oversee the rise of his power over the galaxy. The crew consisted mostly of Sith troopers; troopers he had found scattered about the remote system attempting to escape Republic patrols. But his command crew was much different, he could only fathom to have truly trust worthy followers, as he did not want anyone too close to him. He selected several troopers, drained them of their natural human life force, and enslaved them to his will. His command crew existed of mindless figures, and obeyed his every command.

Nihilus stood upon the deck of his ship, glaring through the colossal forward viewport, and waited as they strode toward their target; the Miraluka world of Katarr. Sion approached his side as the world grew larger before them.

"This is the world that my spies have reported from. The secret Jedi Enclave is here, and by now they know you are coming." Sion stated as he gazed ahead. "They will be ready for you. You have not masked your approach."

"Yes." Nihilus answered. "From here we shall part. Follow the will of Malak, if you must. I shall follow the way of Revan. Through power, we will establish order and the death of the Jedi. But mostly, I must feed my hunger. The galaxy will now bow to its new Sith Lords."

"My assassins and spies are now spread throughout the galaxy, and soon we will find more Jedi to destroy." Sion turned and walked from the bridge. With him walked several Sith Assassins. Nihilus turned and began walking off the bridge as well. He descended toward launch deck and boarded his lone shuttle, where several Sith Troopers awaited him. He looked to them as they prepared to board the shuttle.

"Adaread lkadna ada adnardare." His words did not register to them. He lifted his hand and waved them away from the ship. They obeyed. He chose to fight this battle alone.

"My lord, we are willing to serve if you wish it?" The lead Sith stated. Nihilus looked to the man in battle armor and remembered another Sith Trooper that had agreed to follow him. His name was distant now and hard for Nihilus to remember; a memory of a former life that was no longer important. Nihilus lifted his hand, gestured no, and turned to the shuttles ramp. He exited the Ravager's launch deck and descended to the surface of the Katarr world.

- - - - - - - -

Traya awoke, riddled with pain and sitting at the helm of a free floating shuttle. She was in space, orbiting the shattered world of Malachor 5. She was alive, they had spared her life, but she did not know why. She examined her surroundings, checked the ship's systems and her clothes; her saber was gone. No matter, the Force within her was at a very weakened state, yet she could still summon some power. Though she had been severely weakened she knew she could once again grow strong, but a lingering thought etched her mind, why? Why should she regain the power she had lost?

The Force had done nothing but cause her pain, and taken everything away. Perhaps her enemy was not the Jedi or the Republic. Perhaps her enemy was the Force itself. She examined the controls, the tiny ship did not have hyperdrive, meaning that her choices of sanctuary were limited. Returning to Malachor after being obviously 'exiled' was not wise. Yet something appeared on her scanner. It was a ship; a freighter, and it was hailing her.

"Unknown shuttle, do you copy?" Came a familiar voice over the comm.

"That voice. I know that voice." She couldn't motivate herself to answer.

"This is the Ebon Hawk, to unknown shuttle. Do you copy? Is anyone there?"

"The Ebon Hawk?" Traya reached out to the communications controls. "This is …. Kreia. Revan… it has been some time." Traya had called upon her former name, her Jedi name, once again as she glared toward the freighter barring toward her tiny shuttle.

"…Master Kreia? Yes. Yes it has been some time."

- - - - - - - -

Several hours passed; several hours of walking and wandering around the lush world of Katarr. It really was beautiful, even to Nihilus's dark eyes. He could feel the swelling of the Force around him, and it was swelling his hunger by the second. Yet there was something pulling at him, something was making him doubt his actions. He walked alone, across the lush fields beyond the cities, but even in this area he felt as though he was being watched. He constantly looked around, searching for someone or something that wasn't there. What was this feeling he was having? He felt nothing, saw no one, but still he could feel something, as if distant eyes were peering into him.

He walked on, heading toward the location where the spy had located the Jedi Enclave. They would be there, waiting, most likely behind a trap. No matter, they would all die under his grasp, and their power would be his. Yet with each step he took, he continued to sense that something was watching him. He focused, and there it was, something distant, a presence that was hiding itself, and watching his every move. This creature or person was able to see him from great distances through the Force. Was this an ability he was unaware of?

Nihilus pressed his Force into the onlookers gaze, shutting off this vision, and undoubtedly causing it great pain. Perhaps whoever was watching him was a Miraluka. Sion had said they were a world of Force Sensitive's.

"If they truly are Force Sensitive… then they are threat to our plans. They will always know where we are. However, if they are Force Sensitive, then they are also my prey." Nihulus pulled his cloak tighter around him, lavishing in the idea of feeding off all the planets inhabitants.

"They are innocent!" A voice cut across his mind; a familiar voice. He turned and at his side stood Mana. It was not her, yet an Echo of what she once was, a memory calling out to him through the Force. "Innocent."

"Mana… I must feed." Nihilus replied. His hunger called out to him and he watched as Mana's image faded. Her face was sad, filled with pain. He couldn't bare the image and crumbled to his knees in grief.

"Mana! Karen! I can not forget them!" He shouted in a tortured barrage of scratches. "What has become of me?" Surrounded by the Force, yet resisting the will to feed upon it, Nihilus found himself struggling with the persona that once formed his core.

Edranus was trying to break free.

There was a gentle rustling at his side, someone was moving toward him. Nihilus snapped to attention and glared at the swinging arm of a Jedi wielding a lightsaber.

"Attack now while it is confused!" Dozens of Jedi Knights exploded from the high grass and charged. Had his mind been twisted by the Jedi? Was the vision of Mana simply a mind trick?

His memories had been used against him, or so he believed, and that was motivation enough to regain his determination. He watched as two lightsabers lowered toward him, he dodged them easily. Pathetic. The Jedi sent low ranking Knights to deal with him. He would hummer their stupidity.

Nihilus drew his lightsaber and cut the two men down with one swing. He then looked to the field of Knights before him. He waved them forward, daring them all to attack. They obliged.

They were low ranking and stupid.

Nihilus lined them up, taking on one at a time. His movements were subtle, yet blindingly fast. He struck one and instantly moved to the next; stepping forward and over each body that lay at his feet. When that last of the dumb Knights had fallen, Nihilus chuckled at their futile attempt. He turned and instantly drained the Force from their dieing forms. They truly where weak, and barely placed a dent in his appetite.

"Seventeen Knights!" Master Dorak shouted from the side. Nihilus turned and glared at the Jedi Master that he had let escape several days before. "We must end this creature's course!" Six more Jedi master suddenly surrounded Nihilus and he clipped his saber to his belt. "I have seen his power! It is as I told you all! Do not let him consume your power!"

The seven Jedi Master's split. Four held their sabers, while the rest seemed to focus upon the Force. They meant to end him, yet they did not fully understand his power. Nihilus was completely encircled, trapped by the Jedi Masters. Three of them began to tear away at his mind, and attempted to rip away his connection to the Force. Nihilus thought he was ready for them, and eager to consume their powers, but seven Jedi Masters was not going to be an easy task. Had he gotten in over his head.

He stumbled to his knees, attempting to block the masters out of his mind. Nihilus gripped his head as layers upon layers of his memories began to collapse.

"My love." It was Karen's voice, reaching out to him.

"My lord." Mana's voice was calling to him.

In unison they both spoke, "Let go."

Edranus was loosing himself as his essence was being torn from within him by the Masters. Yet the darkness that was Nihilus only seemed to grow stronger. Edranus stopped fighting, stopped resisting the power of the Jedi Masters and allowed them to tear away his mind.

Master Dorak continued to focus. "This is not like before. Something is not right. I was able to subdue him then, but now… it is … as if… NO! What have we done?" Dorak broke free of his trance and sprang toward Nihilus's knelt form. He drew his saber and lunged, but Nihilus rose and gripped Master Dorak's blade hand. "Kill him! Kill him!"

Dorak shouted in a panicked frenzy as his power was pulled from him. His eyes rolled backward as a ghostly red haze began to swell within Nihilus. Dozens of Force attacks pounded against Nihilus, yet he completely ignored them.

"The power. The power!" Nihilus felt the Jedi Master's power filling him, every pore swelled with power and he embraced it. "More. More!" Nihilus shouted, but to the other Masters, it was a roar of darkness unlike anything they had ever heard. The heart of the man that once beat within him had stopped. Every shroud of compassion and humanity had been torn away by the Masters; they did not know what they were up against. They thought that Nihilus was nothing but a man wielding the Force, yet what they had done was the opposite of what they sought.

The master had hoped to subdue the mind of the man, inflicting his mind with great pain and killing him, but all they had done was tear away the humanity that the Darkness had latched on to. Without Edranus, the Darkness that was Nihilus became unbound.

Master Dorak's decade body fell to the ground as Nihilus looked to his next target. A master sprang toward his back; too slow. Nihilus spun, gripped the master's chest and instantly took his power. The dark red haze expanded further, casting a shadow of evil all around the remaining five Jedi Masters.

The power was unbelievable. He wanted more, more of them to kill, more of them to die. He wanted more of them to fill his hunger. Another charged, and perished. Two more then fell under his grasp, filling him even more, swelling his power beyond measure. There truly was nothing better then the power of the Jedi Masters, and as Nihilus faced the last of them he could only hope to savor every drop of his power.

He faced Jedi Master Zhar Lestin. The Twi'lek Jedi held his saber high, and proud. He did not blindly race forward, after watching all of his fellow Masters fall, he patiently waited and studied.

"You are darkness, hate, lust and greed." Lestin stated with a slight tremble in his voice; not from fear but from sensing the dark aura swirling throughout Nihilus. "But once you strike me down, you will see that you have lost everything. What you were will be gone, and you will never regain it." Lestin leaned forward, and cautiously weighed his options. "Turn back now, you can still regain your humanity."

Nihilus glared at him ferociously, craving to devour him, yet wanting to savor it slowly. He saw three images before his eyes. In the center was, Master Lestin. But at his side were too familiar images; Mana and Karen. He did not feel any Force powers coming from them, and even though he had just felt their presence moments ago, he was loosing them from his memory.

Lestin charged, swinging his blade upward and striking Nihilus across the chest, but the darkness could not be wounded. Lestin jumped back keeping out of Nihilus's reach. Nihilus ignore him for a moment as Mana and Karen walked toward him. He felt something, something fade within him, a tiny speck of light. Was it an Aura, a Force Aura that he felt? He looked behind him, ignoring Master Lestin completely, and watched as three tiny white orbs floated away. They were something from the Force, something that was once within him. Nihilus felt that it was something from his past, yet he felt that it could have been something far more important.

Lestin took advantage of Nihilus's momentary loss of focus. He brought his saber down upon Nihilus's shoulder, but a red spark of energy swelled between his blade and Nihilus. Lestin jumped backward as Nihilus turned and gazed at him. It wasn't his lightsaber, it was his aura that had shielded him. Lestin had to think of something quickly and backed away several feet, giving himself room to think.

Nihilus glared at the Jedi Master, extended his hand and pulled the power out of him. Lestin dropped his saber in shock, not suspecting that Nihilus could take his power from such a distance; he was sure that Nihilus needed to have physical contact. He fell to his knees and watched as the Force flowed out of him.

Nihilus began to realize that he was trembling, his body flowed with power, yet it was not enough. "More!" He hissed.

He expanded the dark red haze that engulfed him, extending it around him and beyond the valley where the corpses of the dead Jedi lay. He felt the Force within the cities, villages and towns nearby. The world was his basket to feed, and without the restraint of his former mind denying him his feast, he began to consume the Force of the entire world.

Nothingness consumed all.

With his arms lifted, the ground shook wildly, screams carried on the wind, buildings began to crumble, trees and vegetation instantly died, and the world surrendered to his gluttony. He did not stop until there was nothing left. The Miraluka people could see his swirling darkness expanding outward, and there was not escaping it. Like a tsunami, Nihilus's hunger washed over the world, destroying and consuming everything in its path.

His body pulsed as he regained control. His feast had ended and the world was now gone, reduced to nothing. The Force was wiped away, and ingested within his bottomless appetite. There was nothing of the world left, no life, and an entire race had become eliminated. Yet there was a faint echo of the Force fading nearby. Nihilus was curious to know what could have survived his lustful hunger, and began to walk towards it. For miles he trekked across the barren landscape; devoid of movement, sound, and life. His mind was numb to the void which was once a beautiful wolrd, and he stepped over mindlessly over teh dead; decayed corpses of young and old. As he entered the shattered remains of a city, he spotted the source of the weakening Force Aura; a woman in the distance. A young Miraluka woman was clinging to what little life she had left.

Filled and somewhat satiated, Nihilus found no need in draining the woman's remaining power, but instead realized that she would serve a much greater purpose. Thanks to Sion's information, Nihilus knew that the Miraluka could see through the Force and sense it. His hunger would return again, and with the young Miraluka woman at his side he could find powerful Force weilders to consume. She would prove to be a most valuable asset to him.

Nihilus stepped over several yards of debris and made his way toward the young woman. She lifted her head and watched as the terrifying dark persona approached her. The form was hollow, empty, and radiated with darkness. She reached out into the Force wishing to call for help, yet she felt no one; none of her kin were alive. She was alone, broken, and filled with the nightmare that had just happened around her. She felt the death of her family, friends and all of the Mirluka around her. In a way, the outcry of death was too much for her, and she wanted to die. She pulled herself from beneath a pile of loose rubble, thinking that perhaps she could hide from the dark form that was approaching, yet there was no need. Her body was riddled with pain and her Force powers had been weakened. She waited to see what the mysterious figure was going to do.

She lifted her head back, glaring upward from the ground, and into the eyes of the dark figure as he stopped before her. Nihilus stood over her in silence.

- - - - - - - -

Revan stepped into the shuttle after T3-M4 had finished several repairs to its Hyper-drive. Revan was leaving the Ebon Hawk in the care of Master Kreia.

Revan paused at the top of the ramp. "Did you feel that?"

Kreia nodded, "Yes." She walked back to the base of the shuttle and watched as Revan looked outward into the dark sky of Malachor. "It was most likely the result of Nihilus. Only he could and would silence so many Force wielders in such a short period. Will you go to stop him? Only your power can hope to… "

"No." Revan stepped into the shuttle and looked back down toward Kreia. "I'm not needed here to clean up your mistake. I go to face the true threat to this Galaxy. There will be another that will come to face Nihilus, I have seen it. And heed my words, Kreia. We have discussed much in this short time together, and much will befall this region. Nihilus is powerful, a true threat, yet for a moment I sensed something familiar within him. Something I have not felt since… Edranus? Did you know a man named Edranus?"

"No, but our paths did cross briefly."

"I knew that man. I had … high hopes for him." Revan thought aloud. "I wish I knew what became of him. Yet, I can not remember why I remember him."

"I can assure you, that man is now dead." Kreia coldly added.

Revan nodded and gazed out into the dusty plains of Malachor 5. Revan climbed into the empty shuttle and took off toward the unexplored regions of space. Kreia looked down to T3-M4 as the tiny droid turned and climbed the ramp into the Ebon Hawk.

Kreia thought upon the words of her former, and greatest student. "There will be another…" Her search would begin again.

The End.

-Continue the story and see the fate of Edranus/Nihilus in the Xbox/PC Game"Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords"

Note: So ends the tale. I had HUGE problems posting this to FFnet, so sorry for the delay. I hope you enjoyed it, and look for a Sebrani spin off in the future. Did you think I had forgotten about her? Oh no, my favorite little Cathar isn't done quite yet. And with Tredmond and Devin at her side, I have a feeling that her future will be shaky.

Again, thanks for reading and your time. Be blessed.
-Soulguard