Time passed all too quickly. Two years came and went in the blink of the eye. After Darth Cognus sensed her old apprentice, Darth Millenial, from across the galaxy, she scolded him, and banished him from their camp on Ambria. Dedecus had bought a tiny building on Hutta, where he could fly under the radar. Young Dedecus had become far stronger in the force then he'd ever been two years ago. He knew that the day when he must challenge his master Cognus to a duel for the title of Sith master was fast approaching, and he'd decided that when it did he would teach his master a new way. He'd show his master that the cycle of student killing master needed to end the order could become stronger with unity, which he will show her by sparing her life when the time comes.

Dedecus was deep in thought and said to himself "...But is being honorable and showing master this new way for the order my only reason for wanting not to kill her? She is cruel and ruthless...but at the same time she shines brighter than any star in the galaxy. I wish to show her I can care the mantle of the Sith and her I'm ready to lead us both into a new order. I...I think...no I know this feeling is a longing for her the feeling called love. This cannot be love." Canderous remembered how the Sith, like the Jedi, must be wary of romantic attachments. They weaken the resolve. Dedecus opened his eyes, stood back on his feet, and started walking out of his mediation room. He'd just returned from another venture to find more sith relics powerful in darkside energy. The day earlier he wanted to clear his thoughts as he prepared himself for the confrontation with his master. Meditation had not calmed him down however. Despite the immense power and resolve Dedecus wielded, Cognus was the master. Even in his youth, Dedecus had never been afraid of overwhelming challenges. His training as a Sith taught him to act more prudently, as he had to always keep Bane's plan in mind.

"Feeling doubt are we, youngling? How pathetic, I shall say it again, HOW DARE YOU CALL YOURSELF SITH?" The all too familiar voice of Darth Nexus holocrons' guardian said from within Dedecus' relic room. After Dedicus had killed the FALSE Prophets of the Dark Side he realized he truly had great potential. Lord Bane had never once thought to use Nexus holocron for the wealth of information it truly had. This was most likely from Bane's hate of Nexus. But Dedecus saw past this. he knew that Nexus had to have found countless sith artifacts vastly powerful in the dark side. No doubt, across the galaxy and since Bane erased all traces of him from the orders history, the only one who possibly know where they all were would be his holocron.

"I am more sith then you ever could hope to be." Once again, Darth Nexus taunted Dedecus. Dedecus decided he has had enough of the taunting. He yelled "SHUT UP NEXUS, if you don't, I shall destroy your holo matrix and finish Lord Bane's mission to erase you from history." Dedecus started at the small blue phantom of Darth Nexus as he walked through his relic room. The room was not massive but in no way small and after two years of extracting old sith relic locations from the holocron. Dedecus was now a master collector, with sith artifacts from wall to wall. Nexus had been a gateway through his knowledge, he'd been able to find clues to other relics ancient sith and dark jedi scrolls, masks drenched in darkside auras, and ancient pre lightsaber war blades. His latest addition was his prize he'd ripped away from a cult of unworthy dark side worshippers. This was by far his strongest relic, it empowered Dedecus in the force more than any other of his relics.

"You can't get any more of secrets young one." This "pretender" made sure his truly worthy secrets were "his" and only his alone. "You will have to make do with your latest victory prize", Nexus continued: "ah, the irony. This is truly the best of your finds and you cannot use it properly. Your lack of double blade training is obvious. the blade of Exar Kun is wasted on you." The guardian said to Dedecus again while laughing at the hilarity about not being able to use such a deadly weapon. Dedecus telekinetically shut off the holocron, having listened of enough of Nexus.

"I might not be able to use this blade to the fullest, but I swear once I become Dark Lord of the sith, I shall train an apprentice. you shall be worthy of it. Until that day it shall remain in my collection."

Dedecus over the last few years had been systematically building a power base. He had taken over a group of warlords in a few distant planets in the outer rim. He had traveled extensively in the last few years, even learning several alien languages. The warlords caused themselves the "Rising Tide." They were ruthless, but Dedecus saw this as a way to harm the Republic. If not the republic, he could call upon his gang to eliminate other adversaries. This was exactly what Bane had in mind, pitting enemies against each other until the Sith were ready to take over. The problem was, Cognus also had a power base. She had met a fallen Jedi in the city ruins on the planet Taris. The two of them established a nekghoul colony. The nekghouls were sentient monstrosities. They stood on two legs, but they only had one eye, horns protruding from their heads, and an affinity for the force. Dedecus has taken a few of his elite assassins, and slaughtered the fallen Jedi and her Nekghouls. This happened just a few weeks ago. Cognus' retribution was swift. Despite flying under the radar, Cognus was able to track down over half of Dedecus' assassins, and single handedly eliminate them all. Dedecus knew his master was coming for him. He sent one of his assassins as a messenger to deliver a holorecording to Cognus, who was on Corellia, destroying Dedecus' power base.

Cognus held the glowing pyramid in her hand, and forced it open with the Force. "Behold Cognus, you are now looking at the new master. Your crusade against my assassins is pointless, everyone knows I am the one calling the shots now." Cognus could barely contain her rage. The recording continued: "If you want to attempt to dethrone the new master, come to Quesh, to the old mining facility. It's time we end this." With that, the holorecording closed.

Meanwhile on Quesh, Dedecus had already acclimated to the atmosphere. The planets toxicity was very high, but it was more lethal during the old empire. He took a few inoculation shots just be to safe however. He was standing on top of an old building, which looked like it was about to collapse. He sat there, meditating on the dark side, preparing himself for the final confrontation. He knew the new order was coming soon.

Eventually when Cognus landed, she knew immediately were to find her old apprentice. His dark side aura stuck out like a sore thumb. She just followed the trail. Eventually, Cognus jumped up on the building to where Dedecus was meditating. Dedecus stood up, looking at Cognus, who was wearing her usual black robe. Her hood covered most of her face, except for one, gleaming orange eye. He said to her "You know I had feelings for you at one point. I learned that love can be a powerful motivator. Unfortunately, you don't see it that way. It was your dogmatic and overaggressive personality that led to your undoing Cognus. I will not let you stand in the way of my vision." Dedecus pulled out his lightsaber and ignited it, pointing it directly at Cognus, who happened to be just barely out of reach. Cognus didn't say anything. Dedecus could see that she was smiling, but it was a menacing one. Cognus pulled out her lightsaber hilt and ignited it was well. Cognus' hilt was a complex design. The entire hilt was black, the bottom was blunt, but at the blade emitter, there were 4 spikes surrounding the blade. She held her lightsaber at her side, before quickly striking Dedecus, who effortlessly parried. Cognus was a master of the Niman form, a form which Dedecus was unfamiliar with. Cognus pressed the attack, every movement she did was both effective and deadly. Dedecus was forced to retreat and block. After close to a minute of just defending, Dedecus saw a counterattacking opportunity. Dedecus slammed his weight into Cognus as she was spinning, and then used the opportunity to strike. Cognus immediately parried and picked Dedecus up using the force and slammed him to the ground. The resulting force was so strong, part of the roof collapsed, and Dedecus fell inside. Cognus jumped down after him.

The interior of the building was dark. Dedecus could still smell the harsh chemicals. He was on an elevated corridor, which was very long, but only about 2 meters wide. Cognus withdrew her lightsaber, hoping to conceal herself, but Dedecus knew where she was at all times. As the two quietly tiptoed, Dedecus suddenly drew out his lightsaber again and charged. Once again, Cognus was too experienced. Dedecus couldn't get any offense going, and he knew defense took a lot more concentration. If the battle continued, he would tire. Dedecus spun his blade around so that the blade pointed in the opposite direction of his thumb. The reverse grip was a difficult technique to master. Cognus relentlessly pressed the attack. Dedecus tried a diagonal slash, but Cognus evaded by simply hoping back. She then put both hands on her lightsaber and held the blade behind her back, preparing for a brutal strike. Dedecus knew the reverse grip was no very good against strong strikes, so he switched his grip. Unfortunately, it was too late, Cognus' blade already was in motion. Dedecus grabbed his master's hilt, and then kicked her in her stomach, which pushed Cognus to the ground, a couple meters away. As his master was on the ground, he smirked and then sent out a wave of lighting. Cognus barely had time to shield herself with her dark side force barrier. The barrier was like a box, it protected against various force attacks, but it also required immense concentration to keep it working. The lightning was deflected in all directions, but Dedecus was unaffected by the flailing bolts of electricity. Dedecus remembered what the Wrath had said about an opponent whose defense was impenetrable. "use the force to deflect your enemy's rage, and then empower yourself with your own." The Wrath's words echoed in Dedecus' mind. Then, a lesson from Darth Nox also found its way to Dedecus' consciousness. "the force has physical might, but it can also be used to confuse and terrorize your opponent. A deceptive attack is often the best." Dedecus channeled his rage, and entered the Shien form. Shien was Dedecus' favorite form. He had a natural affinity for it. While he was proficient in both Shii-Cho and Soresu, Shien complimented his physical build, as well as his deadly tendencies. Cognus just got up, but her force barrier was dispelled from all the recoiling bolts.

Dedecus felt like he had finally gotten the upper hand. He proudly said "your powers are failing master. This is the end." Cognus then laughed and said "but my apprentice, I haven't even yet begun to fight." Dedecus was a little unnerved by his master's unshakeable confidence. Cognus then swiftly disappeared, and reappeared behind him. Dedecus attempted to stab her from behind, but Cognus disappeared again. Dedecus recognized this technique. It was a force speed based maneuver. Except Cognus was far faster than he thought possible. Cognus appeared again, this time, slashing Dedecus in the arm, who was far too slow to block. Dedecus clutched his arm, pretending not to feel any pain. Dedecus then positioned himself. He channeled his dark side powers. Cognus once again, in a flash appeared, this time, she was attacking Dedecus from the air. As her blade descended for the final blow, Dedecus parried. Cognus was unimpressed, and flipped onto the wall, and attempted another strike. Dedecus once again parried. Cognus did this several more times. She would appear in a flash, and strike, but Dedecus sensed where she was coming, something he wouldn't have been able to do a few years ago. Cognus realized she was failing, so she prepared a final attack.

Dedecus felt the air around him grow heavy, Cognus sent out so much dark side radiation it was painful to be anywhere near her. She once used her force speed attacks, but this time, she feinted an attack, and then dodged Dedecus' lethal counterattack. Cognus danced around her former apprentice, and eventually got to his back. Back-to-back, Cognus tried to slash Dedecus in half, but Dedecus stopped the hilt, just before it severed him at the torso. Cognus was strong, but Dedecus was stronger. He tried to destroy Cognus' hilt, but failed. Cognus had sent out a force wave, knocking them both on the ground. Dedecus then threw his lightsaber forward. Cognis raised her blade to intercept the flying weapon, but the lightsaber stopped midflight. Dedecus then used a powerful force pull on his master and the lightsaber simultaneously. He flipped in the air, catching his lightsaber, and preparing to end the duel. Cognus sent out a force explosion to save herself. Cognus was visibly shaken, that last attack was expertly executed, and would've killed many powerful jedi and sith. Dedecus ran towards his master, but she outwitted him. She sidestepped, and pushed him against the railing of the corridor. Dedecus could smell the toxic fumes beneath him. Falling down meant certain death. Cognus channeled a large burst of force energy. Dedecus attempted to cut off his master's hand to dispel the technique, but it was too late. Cognus hilt Dedecus in the head with her hilt, and then took her fist full of concentrated energy and punched Dedecus in his stomach. The force was immense. Dedecus felt his body, and the air around him vibrate. The rails broke off, and Dedecus was propelled like a bullet several meters before finally noticing he was falling down. As he looked down he became horrified. He was falling directly into a hole with acidic chemicals. He knew he could only shield himself. He activated the strongest dark side force barrier he could, summoned his rage to use as a shield, and braced himself for impact.

This was of little help. Dedecus fell inside, and Cognus could hear his screams from below. A single tear escaped her eye, and fell along the right side of her face. The screams seemed eternal, but it hadn't even been a minute yet. Cognus began to silently cry as the screams didn't stop. The lone tear had become a stream from both eyes. Eventually, the screams stopped. Cognus stood there for several minutes, and then walked away, unsure what to do.

Dedecus had emerged from the pit. His body was horribly burned. His flesh had boils over it, his looks were completely gone. His face was deformed, his fingers were disfigured, but he continued. He knew the only way to survive was to use that technique. Nox mastered a form of extreme healing. It could cure dozens of mortally wounded within a few minutes. Dedecus used whatever strength he had to cover himself with a purple and green aura. He could feel his pain subside, but he could also feel himself losing energy. He kept the technique going as long as he could. After several minutes, he was done. His burns were mostly gone, but the side effects were obvious. His skin had turned a pale yellow, and his whole body felt like it had aged 100 years. His vitality was gone, but he was alive. This meant he could still kill his master, for what she did to him.

Dedecus retrieved his lightsaber, which was damaged, but luckily was still functioning. He jumped up to the corridor above, and then outside the building. To his surprise, he saw Cognus just standing there, as if she knew. Dedecus didn't have anything to say. He ignited his ligthsaber, and then charged Cognus. This was risky, as his guard was wide open. Cognus could've blasted him again with another powerful force technique. Then something happened with surprised them both.

Cognus walked towards the charing Dedecus and kicked his lightsaber out of his hand. Dedecus immediately used force pull to retrieve his weapon. As he did Cognus grabbed it again, and placed it Dedecus' hand. The hilt was pointing towards' Cognus' stomach. Both master and apprentice were unsure of what to do. Cognus ignited the lightsaber, impaling herself as Dedecus looked in disbelief. As Cognus fell to the floor, she looked at Dedecus and said in an unusually quiet voice. "I love you too. Don't make my mistake." Cognus tried to say something else, but it was too late. She had stuck several vital organs. Dedecus sat there, shocked. Now there was only one sith. He had barely survived, and was permanently disfigured. The jedi were still strong, and a significant portion of his power base was destroyed. He felt he had lost everything.

After several hours of letting reality settle in, he stood up. The day had become dusk, and the colorful sky had begun to fade. He laid his master on her back, and spread her arms out. He then thought to himself. "This is what it means to be a sith master. You must cast aside all desires for the sake of the order. While love is a powerful motivator, it must never cloud judgment." Dedecus knew that from this day forward, he would be a master sith. There was nothing else for him. Cognus had taught him many valuable lessons. It was this moment when it crystallized for him. Cognus did love him all along. She didn't visibly return his affection because she cared for him too much. She knew he was to be the master someday, and she would risk her life to see that happen." It was this moment that Dedecus regained his resolve, and felt more empowered than ever.

As Dedecus flew off of Quesh, he contemplated his next moves. He was going to get revenge on the Mandalorian clan that banished him. He then would have to train an apprentice. Dedecus refused to let his apprentice kill him. He had learned so much, and could best serve the order if he remained alive until the force claimed him. He touched down on Corellia, his new permanent home, and headed toward his private building, on the outskirts of Axial Park.

Epilogue-

"Hello, rising pupil of the dark side, I am Darth Dedecus. I was the apprentice of Darth Cognus, and heir of the Banite lineage. I was born as a Mandalorian, but eventually became a powerful sith master. I decree that from his day forward, the Rule of Two will be modified. The master must always continue to learn dark side secrets, so the apprentice will not kill him or her. The apprentice will now only become master after the master dies of natural causes or an accident. This doesn't undermine Bane's Grand Plan. The master and apprentice must unite as one unit, not being involved in undermining the other. This is the best way to accelerate the Grand Plan. My apprentice and I will not live to see the end of the republic, but the next descendants of our lineage might, and I intend to do everything in my power to crush the republic and it's covert tyranny. I have made several other holocrons. I have some which show force techniques and lightsaber maneuvers. Others are about my life before becoming sith, and my interesting relationship with Darth Cognus. This is my legacy. I am Darth Dedecus, true Master of the Sith.

"I think I understand master, where should I begin?"