Corruption
A.N: Timeline Setting: Right after the Rise of the Empire and Order 66
Bleeding.
That was what the process was called. The art of corrupting a kyber crystal. Of filling it with all sorts of negative emotions that an individual had kept concealed from the world for so long.
All of the fear, the anger, the hatred, the animosity.
All of that twisted together and forced into one small crystal.
And from that, the creation of a single powerful entity, one that fuelled the person who used it.
The only issue was acquiring a kyber crystal in the first place. Lucky for him, he already had a pair from his previous life.
The Jedi were not all they were made up to be. Hearing stories about them when he was younger, before his abduction by them, he always saw them as paragons of justice, who swept in at the right moment to save the day and ensure the villains were defeated.
But up close, by being part of them, by being one of them, he had learned the truth.
It was all a lie. A façade. They were no better than the ones the stories said they opposed. They stole children from their families. Indoctrinated them with religious zealotry. Ensured they could not have what many would deem normal in life.
The Jedi forced people to withhold themselves, to become an empty shell that followed orders and rules.
A yes man.
Their strictness yielded results, that much was certain. Many individuals rose to prominence throughout the reign of the Jedi, and all from humble beginnings.
But those that were not so successful, those that were deemed by the Jedi teachers as beings of lower skill, especially in comparison to other Jedi in training, they were cast aside. Forced to work on agricultural projects, rather than continue to train and aim for success.
He could imagine nothing worse than working on a farm, especially when he had trained to fight his entire life.
The Jedi were flawed, there was no question about it. Even from the outside people would see it, but in a way it held a sort of charm. Made them seem more lifelike, and not some sort of deity like organization.
But from within, the flaws were much worse. They had begun to eat away at him, twisting his mind in ways the Jedi had 'encouraged' him not to think.
Someone had needed to say something. The war that waged around them only further demonstrated the flaws of the Jedi. Were they not supposed to simply be monks who upheld peace in the galaxy? Not military generals.
But he hadn't said anything, at risk of being labelled a traitor. No doubt they would have exterminated him if he had done.
So he had kept quiet, keeping all his concerns and opinions to himself. And as he had done that, they had further eaten away at him, changing him.
And then someone had spoken out, or rather, acted out.
Barriss Offee. She had spoken before the entire planet, labelling the Jedi as monsters and traitors, pointing out how they had lost their way.
And he had agreed with it. Every word she had said was true. Maybe now things would change.
But they didn't. As expected, the Jedi covered up Offee's statements with a 'fallen to the darkside' accusation, and had locked her away for interrogation.
But that didn't stop the words from resonating with him, and with various other individuals around the temple. Jedi began to covertly question their masters, and the will of the council seemed more and more corrupt by the day.
And then it had all gone to hell. The temple had been attacked, and the Jedi were slaughtered.
Except for a select few.
A select few that he was no privileged to be part of.
And so now he sat on the cold floor, the various pieces of his former lightsabers before him, and the kyber crystals that had once sung a bright tune.
And now he had to corrupt them.
Pulling on his hatred for the Jedi, his questioning of their beliefs, he focused. In his mind he pictured the crystals, glowing a soft green, and began to change them. He flooded them with his anger, flooded them with his hatred.
Flooded them with his ambition.
And slowly he felt them begin to change. Their presence in the force, once bright, began to darken as they were corrupted.
He felt the energy within them begin to buckle, as the bond between Jedi and crystal snapped harshly. He felt them twist to his new beliefs, felt them begin to radiate with dark energy.
Opening his eyes briefly, he spotted both crystals, now pulsating dark red.
Moving his hands slowly around him, he began to manipulate the force, moving the crystals through the air, suspending them before him.
Then, with another tug, he pulled the various components that made up his new weapon closer. The design had been gifted to him by his new master, and he fully intended to make good use of the brutal design.
Delving deeper into the force, he pulled the various components together, joining them together and locking the two now corrupted kyber crystals within his new weapon.
When an audible click reached his ears, and he felt a rush of power through the force, he pulled back, opening his eyes, and allowing the now fully constructed lightsaber to fall into his clawed palm.
The weapon was heavy. Heavier than his previous blades, but that made sense. This one was designed to overwhelm his opponents quickly, rather than get drawn into a long duel.
The perfect weapon to hunt Jedi with.
Standing from his seated position, he ran his hand along the hilt of his new weapon, finding the ignition switch for one of the blades, and thumbed it on.
A bright beam of red flared to life, illuminating the room he was in and flooding his sense.
He could feel the raw power of his new weapon, ready for the kill.
The door behind him opened suddenly, revealing another like him.
"Our Masters have summoned us brother."
And with that she turned and left the room, leaving him to his thoughts.
No longer was he a Jedi. That period of his life was over.
No he was something more. And he was ready to finally make his name known throughout the galaxy. Ready to make his mark on history.
His former name was dead. He was no Jedi anymore.
He was the Eighth Brother, and he was looking forward to completing his training for the first time in years.
Author's thoughts
So a rather short one shot I realize, but they can't all be long now can they. Still, I think this one serves its purpose well. Hope you like it.
Now, before we go any further, yes, I have seen the most recent rebels episodes, so I know what has happened. That being said I will not be talking about it so to avoid spoilers for any who haven't seen it yet. I will most likely give my thoughts on rebels as a whole after it has finished it's final run of episodes, and once everyone has had time to see it, that way I avoid spoilers. Also, it goes without saying that if you see an episode before I get the chance to, then dont spoil it for me. If you do... well... Thrawn can still fall down stairs. That being said if you do want to know my feelings right now, feel free to PM me about it and I'd be happy to give my opinion.
Now to counter that I have good news. I have finally seen 'The Last Jedi', so I am spoiler free from that. Much like 'Force Awakens', it was a good movie, but I still have criticisms against it. I see why so many hate it, but I'm not too bothered by it to be fair. It was a good movie, not necessarily the direction I wanted, but then I'm not the film writer am I. :)
Anyway, next one shot will be Sabine going to rescue her father from prison with the help of Ezra.
As normal, comment and speculate at will. Speaking of which:
LukeDude: No need to worry about your absense. We all have our own things to do sometimes.
Glad you've been enjoying the one shots so far. They are fun to write, but I think I prefer to serialized story method of writing over this. Still, I will push on. Lots to tell after all.
The 'Target Profile' one is my favourite as well. Thrawn is great to write for, especially in such a unique way. And I couldn't not include Eli Vanto at some point
Vader's one shot hurt to write. I wanted to bring across his inner dilemma regarding Ahsoka, showing that he wants her by his side, but that another part of him is angry with her. Hopefully it worked.
Maul and the cave was tricky to write, as it had to be different from Ahsoka's vision, but have the same sort of meaning.
And the treatment of scars was fluff for the sake of fluff. I was going to do Sabine and Ezra in it, but I didn't want to be too predictable, and wanted to do something for Chopper. :)
Travis Middleton: Glad you liked this look at Thrawn's analytical nature. He strikes me as the sort of person who would spend forever just watching his opponents before making any move against them, hence what this was supposed to represent. Still, he is also open minded enough to know when to work with his foe, hence the message to Eli Vanto.
SLE's fave guest: I'll admit that the comment made about Zeb is a little dig at the writers for rebels. Zeb hasn't had a proper episode since the Lasat based one in season two. (Honorable Ones is a Kallus episode in my opinion, and Warhead is a mix of AP-5 and Zeb). Shame really, cause Zeb is awesome.
The one shot was sort of timed as a way of looking at the crew before the remainder of rebels airs. I'm not expecting them all to go, but at the same time I kinda want some of them to.
cousinxcaps: Glad you enjoyed this chapter. Thrawn is perhaps the most unique imperial commander, and dare I say, the most dangerous asset they have. (yes, even more so that Vader)
As for your request, as much as I like the idea, unfortunately the 'Liberator' was destroyed in this AU during the Siege of Atollon. But hey, you never know, I might retcon it somehow into existence. :)
FossilQueen1984: I'm glad you enjoyed this Thrawn centric chapter. I wish we could see his perspective a bit more, especially in regards to his opinion on the Ghost Crew, hence why this one shot was written.
Chopper is pretty much immortal, so I had to play on that a bit. Plus it was Thrawn's rare attempt at humour.
Cranky Paws: Eli Vanto was the best character in the Thrawn novel, in my opinion. Poor guy just got dragged along with Thrawn with no rest in sight. So yes, you can expect to see Eli in this story at some point, in one form or another.
Mysterious Guest one: Thanks, glad you enjoyed Thrawn's research. Hopefully you like this one too. :)