Prologue 1:

Into the Bloody Storm

If you had told Caydkee that his life would be so horrible after joining the Republic military, he'd have stayed home and found a different job to support his wife and child. In the 8 years that Captain Caydkee Khatta'ar was enlisted in the Grand Army of the Republic, his life has gotten much crazier. 2 months into his first deployment, his squad was ambushed by an unusually high powered sith mortar, wiping out most of his squad leaving him and two others very injured and forcing a retreat. One of the survivors didn't make it when they made it back. His third deployment, he was lucky enough to be fighting alongside a Jedi Knight. He always thought the Jedi were amazing, if a little stiff, using some invisible force to manipulate the battlefield. Unfortunately, he was unlucky enough to find a Sith Accolyte. That battle was long and fierce, costing Caydkee an arm and a leg, but also netting him a promotion and a squad of his own to look after. He dreaded that thought. More people to mourn over when they die. Once his robotic prosthetics were in place and he could comfortably use them, his squad was introduced to their new commanding officer, and that's when it hit him like an angry rancor. They're kids! They look like they're barely out of training camp!

He wondered how horrible his luck had to be to get stuck with not only a new squad immediately after losing two limbs, but rookies at that! He knew nothing of leadership, let alone leading a pack of fresh meat in a den of wolves. Was the fleet commander high on death-sticks or something?! Apparently he was because a week after getting aqquainted with his squad, they were given a mission. On Hoth. Oh joy. The big wigs on Coruscant must have it out for him or something.

Through the years of pain and suffering, the only thing that kept him sane was his family. With his wife, Torsyl, and son, Jonadar safe on Naboo (though he did worry about the Gungans a little bit), he knew that the pain was worth it. The Republic was paying him a large sum of credits that he always had sent to his family so they could live comfortably. Torsyl often sent holo-recordings of their son's growth. Hard to believe he's almost ten. Seems like yesterday he was a tiny baby in Caydkee's arms.

Now, Captain Khatta'ar was on his last deployment. He had promised Torsyl that after this deployment, he was done. He would leave the Grand Army of the Republic behind and be with his family living a normal life again. If only he'd known that this deployment would be the worst of them all, and with his bad luck, that was saying something.

When the mission began, he looked out to his company. These kids- no. Not kids. These warriors who fought tooth and nail to get where they are today, he was proud of them. He'd miss them.

================================================================ Six months. Six months of fighting back sith forces for the Republic to claim this planet, Exus as Caydkee learned. Six months of his soldiers fighting exhaustion and borderline starvation as their resources were sparce. Six months of the worst hell Caydkee, Captain Khatta'ar or whoever the hell he is experienced. He's finding it hard to remember the human in him, only recognizing the machine made to follow orders, to kill. This mission was going to be hard, he was already aware of that, but he hadn't expected 78% of Republic ground forces to be wiped out within the first month, nor all, all of their air and space support to be blown out of the sky after two and a half months. How he and most of his soldiers survived this long is anyone's guess. The Jedi assigned to aid in the capture of this planet were no where to be seen. There were unusual storms that plagued the planet; blizzards forming out of nowhere, hail as sharp as a knife and as fast as a blaster bolt, lighting storms that would only circle Republic camps, tidal waves and floods where there was little water, etc. The strangest thing was that the storms seemed like they would actively target Republic forces while leaving sith forces alone.

What the hell kind of storms are these?! The sith don't have the ability to control the weather as far as I know.

He decided to make a move. His company invaded a sith camp, taking no prisoners and getting as many supplies as they can. They were desperate. The best thing to look for would be an off-world comms terminal. Whether they would use it to request reinforcements of to get someone to get them off this god-forsaken planet would be a problem for future Caydkee. They had to find one first. When they had gathered about half of the useful supplies from the camp, they started hearing loud thumping.

The sith at the camp called for reinforcements, because of course they did. Nothing was ever easy. As the sith approached, there was a drop in temperature, and the distinct scent of blood filled the air. Much stronger than the scent that would roll off of a soldier. Caydkee grabbed his binoculars and found the highest point in the camp. As he looked out towards the sound, what he saw made his blood run cold and his face pale. There was a small army, a goddamn army approaching his small company. Leading the charge was what looked like a Sith Accolyte. He had long white hair but he looked young. What really cought Caydkee's eye though, was the giant ball of blood that was floating above the Sith.

The Sith locked eyes with Caydkee, and the blood started splitting off into hundreds of smaller balls. Then thousands. The balls started forming into spike like shapes and hardened faster than anything he'd ever seen before. The storms... He didn't have time to finish that thought before a barrage of icy blood spikes launched toward the camp. "GET DOWN!" Was all Caydkee could manage to say after recoving from his shock.

The barrage lasted for several minutes while the soldiers were taking cover. Caydkee kept his eyes shut. He couldn't bring himself to look at the inevitable carnage. When he finally opened his eyes, what he saw horrified him. Half his men dead on the ground, the other half wounded, at least a third of that were wounded enough to cause worry. His company was now a fraction of it's previous size. Just who the hell is this guy?! He was able to effectively wipe out over half of my men in a manner of minutes. It was then that he realized something. That wasn't a Sith Accolyte. That was a Dark Lord.

Caydkee had only heard stories of Dark Lords. They were high ranking members of the Dark Council. Quick, cunning, efficient, and extremely deadly. They could wipe out a platoon of Jedi Knights with little effort. Was this planet really such a high value target that they needed to send a Dark Lord?

His thoughts were interrupted by one of his men scrambling out of the building. "Sir, I found the comms terminal and set the signal. All you need to do is activate it!" he said.

"Good job. Now get to cover and stay down. I don't know when another salvo of those spikes will come for us." said Caydkee as he shuffled towards the door. He was afraid to leave his men alone but he needed to call reinforcements. Once he was inside, he ran towards the terminal and activated it.

As it came to life, he began to hear thuds, screams of terror, and something akin to glass shattering. Hang in there guys. I'm getting help. He contacted the closest Republic space station "Mayday, mayday! This is Captain Caydkee Khatta'ar, ID code 9B25015, requesting immediate reinforcements be sent to the planet Exus, 5th sector, 46 clicks northeast of Louqui. A small army of sith troopers have us pinned and my soldiers are beind wiped out by a Dark Lord! We need reinforcements!" he screamed into the terminal.

A voice came back through the terminal; "Acknowledged, Captain. We're contacting the Jedi council as I speak about how to combat the Dark Lord and we'll be sending a fleet your way as well as the 117th and 537th divisions. Just hold out for as long as you can and we'll get you out of there. I gotta say, I'm surprised. We all thought all Republic forces on Exus was wiped out. Good to know you're alive, Captain. Now try to stay that way. "

A wave of relief hit Caydkee as he heard the response. We're getting out of here! I'm going home!

It didn't take long for Caydkee to notice the silence. It was eerie, unnatural, and cold. The kind of silence that follows... death...

He ran as fast as he could back outside, only to be horrified at what he found. All of his men, dead. Blood pooling around them. How?! The 310th division was revered as one of the strongest, and they were wiped out in a less than a day! It was then that he heard a voice.

"I assume you're the commanding officer of this company? If so, then you really need to upgrade your training program. They were helpless against my ice spikes." as a manic smile slithered onto the Dark Lord's face. Caydkee paled. They didn't even give this guy a challenge...

"Now you might be wondering who I am. Well aside from the obvious anyway. I'm a Dark Lord. Darth Storm, fifth seat on the Dark Council. And you my friend, are Captain Caydkee Khatta'ar!"

"How- how do you know my name?" the Captain was almost frozen in fear. This was someone who took out an entire company of Republic troops in minutes, and he apparently knows who Caydkee is.

"I've heard of your accomplishments and your string of bad luck. I must say, you have quite the willpower to keep going after everything's that's happened to you. Tell you what. I'll give you an offer."

"What kind of offer?" Caydkee was wary. He knew not to trust a sith.

"It's simple really: you join the sith empire and I let you live! That's a pretty good deal, if you ask me!"

Caydkee looked annoyed. "No. My loyalties belong to the Republic. I will never join the sith."

"Are you sure? I can tell you that the Republic isn't all it's cracked up to be. Haven't you noticed the corruption already seeping its way in? The Council members who still indulge in slavery, or actively selling their people to bounty hunters?"

Caydkee threw away his fear in favor of anger. "YOU LIE!" he screamed as he charged Darth Storm. Yes, he knew it was dumb, but he wasn't gong to let some jackass talk bad about the Republic.

As soon as he was within five feet of the Dark Lord in front of him, he found himself flung back towards the wall. He knew about the force, had seen it in combat. Now that he was on the other end of that, he didn't like it very much. He groaned in pain as he stood up only to be forced back to the ground. Yup. Definitely slapping the next Jedi he sees. As he was on the ground, he noticed something under his hand. He decided to keep it hidden for now.

"You know, as fun as it has been playing with you and your troops, you need to know the truth and I need to get back to Dromund Kaas, one of my subjects is pregnant with my kid and I actually want to be a good dad." Dath Storm told Caydkee before beginning to approach him, igniting his lightsaber, the blade a deep crimson red.

Darth Storm approached the downed soldier and looked at him. "You wanna know how I know I'm not lying? Because the council Representative for my homeworld, Alderan, sold me. The sith saved me."

Those words held more power over Caydkee than they should have. He began thinking of his entire military career, only now noticing things that went unnoticed otherwise. All of his horrible deployments, the damage he'd sustain on each one, the amount of soldiers he lost. It was then that he realized something: he didn't have bad luck at all, the Republic sent him and several others on suicide missions and it was by his good luck that he survived. This was why there were no reinforcements sent to Exus after the first month, despite there being a good amount of Republic troops remaning on the planet at the time. What Caydkee did't know, however, was the reason for the Republic to abandon it's soldiers. What's going on?! Why is the Republic abandoning the people loyal to it?!

"Do you understand, now? Do you see that your trust was misplaced?! Do you see the evil that is the Republic?!"

Groaning, Caydkee looked up to meet the sith's eyes. "You may be right. My trust might actually be misplaced. But you still slaughtered my men, and I can't let that stand." he said, smirking as he revealed the thermal detonator that was hidden under his hand, its timer almost at zero.

Caydkee knew this wouldn't be enough to kill the Dark Lord. Not by a long shot. But he knew that catching him off guard with a powerful exsplosive would weaken him enough for the Jedi and the Republic to finish him, if they were actually coming that is. He forced himself to trust the Republic one last time as the explosive went off.

As bright light filled his vision, he started seeing flashes of his memories. Of his time with his wife, instantly regretting that he wouldn't be able to keep his promise. He laughed bitterly when he remembered the time they were in a bar on Nar Shaddaa and got so drunk they started singing space pirate shanties. He smiled sweetly and sadly at the memory of their wedding. That smile growing wider at the memory of the birth of their son. He had a lot of regrets, and not being able to be there for his son was definitely one of the biggest, but all in all, he had a good life.

As he was reaching the end of his memories, something new popped up. An image of two boys, twins by the looks of it. One of them had white hair, much like the monster that was infront of him a moment ago, though he looked kinder and calmer than the Dark Lord, and the other had midnight black hair. Both of their sets of eyes were mismatched. Their faces actually mirrored eachother well. Who are these two? I don't know them but they seem so familiar.

As the darkness approached him, he figured there was no use in dwelling on that thought. Whoever they are, I wish them a good life. May the force be with you, always.

And with that final thought, Caydkee passed on. The Jedi and Republic later came and finished off a very weakened and very pissed off Darth Storm and pushed back the sith troopers. When Torsyl was alerted of Caydkee's death, she was a wreck, but she vowed to raise their son the best she can.

Thus ends the story of a war hero and a war lord, and begins a new story.