Chapter 1

Yavin IV

10 years after the creation of the Empire

Darth Taegous sat upon the very top of the tallest Massassi temple, meditating. Reaching out with the Force, she could sense every life-form around her, from the woolamanders swinging through the tall jungle canopy to the swarms of piranha beetles hovering by the water hole. She could sense their intents; the woolamanders searching for food, constantly alert for the dangers of carnivorous sintrail rats, the piranha beetles waiting for something to come imbibe water so the beetles could swarm and eat.

Obtaining mental contact with the animals on Yavin IV was a simple exercise, a warm-up. Slowly, Taegous moved outward, sensing the microscopic chunks of rock and metal in orbit, the other moons, and then the gas giant Yavin itself, a turmoil of swirling superheated gases and the rare corusca gems that were formed by the intense pressure and heat towards the center of the planet.

Carefully, she probed the gems with her mind, feeling for one small and flawless. A gem about the size of a knuckle would do nicely for her purpose. She sifted through the thousands upon thousands of gems spinning around in the planet's atmosphere.

Eventually, after an unspecified and uncalculated amount of time, she felt the speck in her mind, the sharp, curved edges of a perfect corusca gem. Carefully following its sporadic orbit, she reached out and carefully grasped it in the invisible fingers of her mind. She sat like this for the next fifteen minutes while she dragged the gem through the harsh atmosphere of Yavin and through the much milder atmosphere of her jungle moon home, Yavin IV.

Finally, she grasped the crystal in her hand.

She examined the crystal; the hundreds of facets glittered in the light of Yavin's sun, casting a rainbow of colors across her arms and face. The gem itself was a rich orange-yellow, and it fit just perfectly in her hand. It was a bit larger than she would need for her purpose, but that was easily fixed.

She pictured the crystal in her mind, and then imagined the crystal splitting smoothly in half along the natural planes of the crystal. She heard a sharp crack! and, looking in her hand, saw two identical, perfect crystals.

The two crystals would actually be more useful than one, now that she thought about it; two gems could be used to create a bi-crystal lightsaber, which was able to extend to more than twice its length at the touch of a button, if constructed properly.

Cradling the two precious gems in her hand, Darth Taegous stood and worked the cramps out of her back, neck, legs, and arms. She had no idea how long she had actually been sitting there, and for all she knew it could have been days. At any rate, she was extremely hungry and wanted to get back to her stone room inside the temple so she could rest and begin her lightsaber.

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After eating a select group of fruits found outside the temple, Darth Taegous returned to her room inside the temple. The room itself was a clutter of various items; mechanical pieces she had scrounged from one of the store rooms littered one corner, a plain and small cot she had found took up another, and along all the walls were various items she had collected over the years.

Come to think of it, how old was she? Darth Taegous could remember being either three or four when she first came, but after that…

Thirteen, maybe? Fourteen?

It was of no importance, however. She stepped over to the block of stone she had been using for a desk and surveyed the mess of wires, pieces of metal, and various tools she had been piecing together slowly for weeks. It was her lightsaber, and the only piece left to add was the crystal case.

For the next day, she sat creating the crystal chamber, tweaking the systems to work with two crystals, and testing various switches. If this didn't go completely right, it would explode as soon as she turned it on.

Finally, though, after hours of work, the finished lightsaber sat gleaming on the table in front of her. It was the silver pieces that reflected the evening light, although the lightsaber hilt was primarily black.

The only thing left to do now was turn it on.

Every muscle in her body was tingling with excitement as she slowly reached out, flipped the switch that would turn the saber on, and…

The characteristic hum of a lightsaber filled the small room and echoed off all the walls as a brilliant crimson blade erupted from the hilt of the lightsaber.

Darth Taegous was mesmerized. She had never actually seen a lightsaber except once before, on the day that lying Jedi had said he would take her to be trained…

Darth Taegous gritted her teeth angrily and turned the small knob on the side of her lightsaber that would lengthen the blade. She remembered just in time to point the lightsaber into a wide area of open space, and the blade leapt out, lengthening from the normal four feet of blade to an impressive nine.

Turning the knob back to normal length, she reluctantly switched off her lightsaber. The sudden quiet and dark was interrupted when a cold chill entered the room and the voice of Exar Kun spoke to her.

"So, my young apprentice, you have constructed your lightsaber."

"Yes, my Master," said Darth Taegous, dropping to one knee.

"I think, then, that it is time you test it," replied Exar Kun, his dark shape appearing in the room, "A small group of smugglers seems to have landed about two kilometers to the west of this temple. I think you'll find that you remember them well…"

Darth Taegous did remember them well. They were the smugglers who had attacked the ship that she and her parents were traveling in, who had thrown aside the bodies of her mother and father as if they were trash and stolen everything in the ship. She remembered them as if it were yesterday and she could still see her mother's blank, dead eyes.

"They're here?" Darth Taegous's head snapped up, a dark light gleaming in her green-gray eyes, and she replied darkly, "I will leave immediately, my Master, and they shall pay for what they have done."

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The light in the sky was just beginning to fade and Yavin's mass just beginning to fill the sky when Darth Taegous silently crept up outside the smugglers' camp. These men called themselves smugglers, but they were really pirates inside.

Peering through the dense foliage of the bushes, Darth Taegous watched as the men sat around a portable food synthesizer and laughed as they ate. She recognized the two humans and the Rodian, but she didn't see the Aqualish. He'd probably been killed. Darth Taegous smiled as she thought about him dying a painful death somewhere.

As they began to laugh anew, she quietly stepped out of the bushes, careful not to be seen. For a good ten minutes, she just stood there, her hatred growing. How could these men throw away the lives of people just for the profit? How could they sit here and laugh now, at the very site where they had destroyed and looted a certain Corellian freighter ten years before? How could they just sit here and laugh

Stepping forward again, she made sure that her self-constructed boots made a definite crunch on the dry leaves that sat upon the ashes of her past. The Rodian was the first to notice, turning his head towards the sound. He leapt up, the twin sensory organs atop his antennae-like appendages on his head swiveling toward her, and drew his blaster.

The two humans leapt up shortly after they saw their companion rise, and removed their blasters from the holsters on their belts. One of the humans, the taller of the two, spoke first.

"You can put down any weapons you may have now, because they sure as hell aren't going to do you any good against all three of us. What do you want?"

Darth Taegous laughed, a cruel sound that sent shivers down the spines of the smugglers, even the Rodian.

"You really don't know? Tell me, do you remember a certain time around ten years ago, when you crippled a Corellian freighter and sent it spiraling down toward the ground? If I remember right, it was matte-black, an older model… let's see, now. Yes, and I'm quite certain that you discovered three passengers: two humans from Kessel and a Jedi." She spat the last word like a curse, bitterness etching her face.

The shorter human began to speak, but Darth Taegous cut him off. "You do remember, it's no use lying. I can sense it in your feelings." The smugglers- no, pirates- paled, gripping their blasters even tighter than before.

The short one swallowed, mustering his courage, "You're a Jedi, aren't you? What, have you come for payment? You seem a little young to be on this mission alone. There's another, isn't there?"

"I hold no connection to the Jedi!" Darth Taegous yelled, and at once she grabbed the Force and used it to rip the blasters out of their hands. "Both you and the Jedi ruined my life! You have no idea what I went through because of you…"

At this point, the shorter human turned around and tried to run back to the ship. Before he got more than two feet, a resounding crack! echoed through the forest and the human fell limp, tongue lolling out. Darth Taegous had snapped his spinal column, but he wasn't dead. Not yet. She would finish him… later. His sins would not go unpunished.

At this point, both the taller human and the Rodian were shaking like wet leaves in a rainstorm. The human was as white as a ghost, and was on the verge of collapsing.

"Who are you?" he whispered, involuntarily taking a step back as she came closer.

"I" Darth Taegous said, removing her lightsaber from her belt, both the Rodian and human's eyes following every move, "am a certain little girl, left to die on a lone jungle world, after my parents were mercilessly killed in a pirate raid by apparent smugglers and then had their bodies thrown aside like so much trash."

She lit the blade, and at the sight of the crimson flame both pirates fell to their knees. With a cold smile, she placed the end of the blade at the Rodian's neck, teasing like a cat with a mouse, then faster than a fleeing voorpak cleaved him from shoulder to thigh.

Then, turning to the humans, she said coldly, "The merciless deserve no mercy."

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From the temple, Exar Kun smiled. His apprentice's training was going well, and soon she would serve only the Dark Side of the Force. He could feel her cold rage as she cut down the smugglers with merciless efficiency, as her actions and feelings sent dark ripples through the Force.

Yes, soon she would be all his, and they would together discover a way to bring back his ruined body…

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Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, and all Star Wars content except for my OC Darth Taegous (me!) is (c) Lucasfilm Ltd. George Lucas owns everything.

Kavek: Thank you for reviewing and reminding me that this story existed! I completely forgot about it after school started again, but now the first chapter is finally up!

Author's Note: I'm not sure if anyone's still reading my Jumanji story, so until I get confirmation that I do still have readers, I'll just be working on this in my free time (that I'm not watching Full Metal Alchemist, heh…) along with maybe my Dungeons and Dragons story. I don't like my Jumanji story at all anymore, and those stupid rhymes are so kriffing hard to come up with that I'm not sure I want to continue it. If anyone is interested in continuing or re-writing it, just contact me- you can have it. I'm hoping to get the next chapter of this up sometime within the next week or so- if it gets to be longer than that, kick me and I'll start writing again.