Chapter 2 The Dark Ones
Throughout the history of the republic there have been many Jedi that have fallen to the dark side of the force. Jedi like Exar Kun, Ulic Kel Drauma, Revan, Uri Pathos, and Aron Kar. Some redeemed themselves by returning to the light while others died in their darkness. More recently a Jedi named Calladen Hart had fallen to the dark side.
Calladen was a former apprentice of Grand Master Jedi Yoda. A powerful Jedi Calladen had been assigned to the archive retrieval unit, a group of Jedi assigned with recovering dark side artifacts like the shattered pieces of Ajunta Pall's sword, the five rings of Tulak Hord, lost sith holocrons and such of the like.
Calladen found the long lost journals of the High Sith Lord Kaan who founded the brotherhood of darkness. Calladen read this long lost journal and became enamored with teachings of Kaan. Eventually he became corrupted and then Calladen fell to the dark side. He convinced several other Jedi to follow him and established the order of the dark ones. Calladen positioned himself on the Republic world of Onderon in an attempt to solidify his power and prepare for war with the Jedi and the republic. On Onderon Calladen used the beast riders to create an army and he controlled the mind of Queen Aseel.
Calladen wore a topknot and kept his face clean shaven. He had lost his left arm in a duel with his former Master Yoda. He was a thin but muscular man, very charismatic. He sat alone in a private study reading his newly acquired journal. The brotherhood of darkness had been very successful in their campaigns against the Jedi and the Republic by like all sith endeavors the empire had fallen. The brotherhood had fallen in one epic battle that destroyed the brotherhood.
("Both the Sith and many Jedi died on Ruusan… So how can the Jedi claim victory…") Calladen thought to himself. This was his fifth time reading the journal and there were several names that stood out to him. The Sith Lords Githany, Kopecz, and of course Kaan himself. Then there was a strange entry at the end of the journal before the Jedi broke the lines and the tide of the battle changed. His name was Darth Bane and this name stuck out because of the title Darth. Kaan had done away with the title because it meant that one sith placed himself above all others, but for some reason this Bane was allowed to take on the title.
After finishing his read for the fifth time Calladen sat back in his chair and scratched his chin. That is when a chime came at his door. There was only one person who would interrupt him and that was his apprentice, Lemen Gor. Gor was a male Zabrak with gray and black skin. Calladen found the young Zabrak during his travels and decided to train him because of his raw force talents.
"Master…" He said dropping to one knee, "Taliha has had a vision in the force… She wants to see you immediately…"
Taliha was another Jedi gone bad her force sight was uncanny and second only to Master Yoda. Calladen had used her attraction for him to turn her to the dark side. She was a real beauty, long white hair, icy blue eyes, and an apple round face. Taliha was very strong in force and had a growing hunger for the knowledge of the dark side.
When Calladen entered the room of meditation she was not alone. Balen another former Jedi was there, the two of them were rivals and Balen was always trying to show Calladen up. They exchanged glances with each other as neither of them were willing to raise their hands against one another. The reason was that for Calladen needed numbers and Balen had exceptional skills. As for Balen he didn't fear Calladen, it was the fact that all the dark jedi followed Calladen without hesitation.
"What have your beautiful eyes seen for me now my love…"
She smiled, but her eyes were closed. "Korriban… we must get to Korriban… something monumental has happened there…"
Balen grunted, "We would fare better trying to storm the Jedi temple itself… Korriban is being watched and not to mention the fact the every powerful Jedi in the order is hunting us…"
Calladen looked at his apprentice, "I too have sensed a great disturbance in the force master… I say we go… Korriban is our heritage the heritage of the sith… and we should not let a small thing like a quarantine stop us…"
"Well said apprentice… spoken like a true fool…" Balen said.
"He did speak well… Something has happened on Korriban and we should investigate…" Balen was about to protest, but Calladen raised his hand. "Only our most powerful members will go perhaps we can even uncover some hidden treasure overlooked…"
Reluctantly Balen agreed and out of the seventy-nine members of the order of dark ones, twenty-three got ready to leave for Korriban. Gor was upset that his master would leave him behind, but once Calladen's mind was made up it was hard to dissuade him.
When the ships came out of hyperspace Calladen had the other ship hide on the dark side of Korriban's moon, while his ship landed on the surface near the valley of the dark lords.
After base camp was set up the dark ones gathered around Taliha as she cast her senses out to the surrounding area. "The ancient sith have been awakened… Death surrounds the old outpost…"
Calladen kissed her on the cheek, "Spread out…and be careful… Korriban is still a dangerous place…"
"Everyone remain in contact…" Balen said adding to Calladen's orders.
As the members of the dark ones walked the surface of Korriba they felt as if they were being watched. Calladen's footsteps led him to the old sith academy. It had been built, then destroyed and rebuilt again over the centuries. The last sith of Korriban followed the teachings of High Sith Lord Kaan. As he approached the old entrance there was a feint red light but when Calladen got close the light was gone.
There was static over the com, "Cal… I mean Lord Calladen you better get over here we found something…" It was Balen on the com.
Calladen felt a disturbance in the force and the feeling he was being watched was even stronger. When he arrived he gasped at a recently built village that had been laid to waste by the dark side of the force.
"This was…"
Calladen cut Balen off, "I know I sense the power…"
"Are we sure we want to find the person that did this…" Another asked.
"If he will show us the path of true power…" Calladen said.
Everyone grew quiet as Taliha closed her eyes, she felt the bright light of the Jedi getting closer. "The Jedi are here… We need to leave now…"
Balen pulled Calladen to the side, "If we are to take up the mantle of the sith I say we stand and fight…"
Calladen looked at Balen knowing why he would suggest such a thing, but Taliha said. "I do not know how many Jedi are coming, but it is quit a few to create the light I saw…"
Calladen sighed, "I have been longing to cross blades with a Jedi, but I will not risk my far seer in a fight with the jedi…" He spun towards a veru muscular Twi'lek. "Shivel… Plant explosives over the rubble to the city I do not want the Jedi to see this… Zussa…" Zussa was a female Gamorrean. "Take Sar and Meno when the opportunity presents itself get to the ship with Taliha and return to Onderon… Tell Wade to cover your run…"
Taliha plaed her hands on her hips, "And how will the rest of you escape…"
He smiled, "Zussa leave us two long range shuttles… The rest of you will remain with me…"
As they carried out Calladen's orders Taliha kissed him one last time before joining Zussa. A republic long range shuttle touched down on the planet just as the rubble of the city was scattered in an explosion. From the long range shuttle emerged ten Jedi. All with a reputation in the order and all worthy of the title Jedi Master though none of them had the title.
"Calladen You and your friends need to surrender…"
Calladen and the others laughed, "Jedi Maven right… I have heard many things about you… I will give one chance to leave so that you can fulfill your dreams of being a master…"
Maven unhooked his lightsaber, "A Jedi dedicates his life to serving not gaining titles…"
Balen grunted drawing his double edge lightsaber, "Spoken like a true puppet of the Jedi…"
"Enough talk now die…" Serk said, he was a rodian of the dark ones.
Both sides charged each other screaming with their lightsabers ignited. The Dark Ones outnumbered the Jedi by eight. It was two to one and in the first wave of attack Calladen killed one Jedi swinging his dual swords of blue and green. None of the members of the dark ones had red blades. As the crystals used by the sith to build lightsabers were extremely rare and only a true sith knew where to look for them. Maven was a deadly swordsman as he had already killed or wounded five dark ones already. He leapt over Balen for his real target was Calladen.
Calladen stood over a Jedi getting ready to kill her when his right blade was blocked by Maven. Calladen brought his left blade to bare against the seasoned Jedi, but Maven simply repositioned his blade without breaking the block of the first blade while intercepting the second. Maven spun to the ground sweeping his leg for Calladen's feet, but he jumped up and went into a series of blows that would give Yoda a run for his money. Maven never faltered in blocking both blades whether they came at him from different angles or at the same time.
Balen had another Jedi in the grip of the force choke, when he noticed that Calladen was open for attack from behind. He threw his victim into Calladen's back to see what would happen. The Jedi he released immediately saw the opening and tried to attack Calladen from behind. Instead of killing Calladen the Jedi was stabbed in the lower chest area.
Balen looked around, only he, Calladen, and another were left. Balen figured that he and Calladen could probably win even after he lost the other dark jedi, but he also saw this as an opportunity to get rid of Calladen and become the leader of the Dark Ones. He unleashed a force wave and used the distraction to get to the ship and off he took leaving Calladen by himself.
Calladen was surrounded by five Jedi and even with all the anger he could summon it was not enough to defeat five very powerful skilled Jedi. He was considering surrendering to them when he heard a voice in his head. ("Do not surrender… I can help you this once, but you must flee…") There was a bright red flash, a blinding light that made the Jedi cover their eyes. Strange to Calladen he could still see and made his way to the ship the Jedi arrived on and took off.
("I will kill you Balen…") Calladen thought to himself.
"Balen isnothing…" A voice said from behind as the ship went to lightspeed.
Calladen spun around in his chair and standing behind him was a force ghost of the dark side. "I know who you are… You are Kopecz of the brotherhood of darkness…"
"Yes I was…"
"Tell me what happened… why did the brotherhood fall…"
"Darth Bane happened… When he first joined the order his skill was worthy of all the masters… But he struggled with embracing the dark side completely… Too bad none of us saw him for what he truly was…Eventually he surpassed all the students in the academy… Along with his growing power came his ambition and arrogance… When he left for the unknown world of Rakata he became Darth Bane… I faced him there on Rakata… His power was too great for me to overcome… When I died the dark side power of Rakata allowed me to take an incorporeal form… I watched Darth Bane trick Lord Kaan into using the thought bomb… Bane destroyed the brotherhood and came up with the rule of two… Now he will come for you… A Muun by the name of Darth Plageuis… Obey him learn from him… then destroy him and the rule of two… Then the brotherhood will live again through you…"
Kopecz began to fade away and Calladen was about to say something when his ship was ripped out of hyperspace by the force. "The Jedi have found me… but how…" His ship was hit by an ion missile that disabled his ship. It got suck into Dantooine's gravity and plummeted to the planet surface below. Calladen ejected before the ship hit the ground and ran into the great plains to face the Jedi when they landed.
"You have no where else to run Calladen surrender…" Maven said.
Calladen ignited his lightsaber and that is when all five Jedi were grabbed in the hold of the force choke. There was a blinding flash of force lightening that killed them all. When Calladen looked up a Muun was standing among the corpses of the Jedi.
"What is your name human…"
The Muun was six feet nine inches tall. He wore the robes of a sith lord as Calladen had seen sketches from Kaan's journal. "My name is Calladen Hart…"
"I am Darth Plageuis… I am the Lord of the Sith…" Plageuis could sense great anger and a lust for power in Calladen. "I sense great anger in you Jedi…"
"You sense right master…"
"You will refer to me as lord… you haven't earned the right to call me master…"
"I want to learn from you my lord, tell me what to do and I will do it…"
"I have heard rumors of a sect of fallen jedi called the dark ones…"
"Yes.. I founded them my lord… We all long to learn the ways of the dark side… I am or was the leader until I was betrayed…"
"In order to prove yourself worthy of being my apprentice… You must destroy what you created…"
"But why… with you to lead the dark ones will be invincible…"
Plageuis smirked and turned his back on Calladen, but as he walked away he said; "A true sith gives himself to the dark side completely and that means destroying and betraying that which we care for… A sacrifice must be made…"
Calladen was left alone with his thoughts, he was told by Kopecz to obey Darth Plageuis no matter what, but destroying his allies especially Talahia was appealing. At the same time he wanted revenge on Balen and he wanted all of Plageuis' secrets. His desire for revenge outweighed his love for Talahia. After deep meditation to build his anger and hatred Calladen left for Onderon.
The members of the Dark Ones were gathered together in the main auditorium to discuss Balen's nomination as leader of the Dark Ones. "I am the strongest and the most powerful… Now that Calladen is dead… I am leader… let those that challenge me do so in the tradition of the old sith…"
"Your ascension is rather convenient and circumspect…" Talahia said.
"It is best for us all…"
"You have always coveted Calladen's power… You will be the doom of us all… I have foreseen it…" She pointed at Balen. "Follow this fool and you will die…"
"And who should we follow…" Jamen asked yelling, "…you?"
"Calladen would have wanted it… but if not me then Sar should lead us…" Sar was a Devarian.
While the Dark Ones argued amongst themselves a lone ship landed in the camp of the Beast Riders. The ramp lowered and to the surprise of the gathered riders Calladen walked down the ramp. They escorted him to the thrown room of the Leader of the Beast Riders Grasun Dore.
"There is a rumor going around that you were dead…"
"As the leader of the beast riders you should not be given to rumors…"
Grasun smiled, "What happened…"
Calladen took a seat. "I was betrayed by the Dark Ones… They left me to die at the hands of the Jedi…"
He offered Calladen a goblet filled with wine, "That sounds like Balen…"
"You are correct… How long do you think it will be before they turn on you…" Calladen watched Grasun's facial expresions as he drunk from his goblet.
Calladen led a hundred beast riders on foot to old sith ruins on Dxun where the dark ones were stationed. The defense grid had already been shut down by Calladen who snuck into the base via secret passage. When the guards tried to stop them they were killed by Calladen himself. Calladen and the beast riders entered the base with swords drawn.
"We are under attack!" A human man yelled, but he was decapitated by Calladen. There was a war shout from the beast riders as the doors to the amphitheater opened to the charging members of the dark ones. Despite the fact that the beast riders outnumbered the dark ones two to one they died four and five at a time. Calladen dashed left and spun into a Twi'Lek cutting him from right shoulder to left hip. He flipped over another cutting her head off.
"Calladen! What is this madness… Why do you betray us…" Sar asked holding two lightsabers, one blue the other green.
"Balen betrayed me on Korriban…"
"Then have him killed why do you turn on us all?"
Calladen charged the Devarian and after five moves he took of his right arm. "I have found a new power…" He replied stabbing the Devarian in the chest.
Talahia dispatched a beast rider then she killed another a woman this time. When she turned around she was stabbed in the gut by Calladen. "Why?"
"Because my lust for power is greater than my love for you…"
Balen was surrounded by five beast riders. He spun into one taking his head off, as the second rider charged him he swept his feet from under him. The third rider tried to flank him with a thrust but Balen caught his sword hand and cut it off, with a spin he decapitated the Rodian. Now armed with two weapons Calladen kicked the second rider in the face and stabbed him with both blades. He twisted his swords backwards stabbing the last two riders.
"Balen…" Calladen screamed, "It is time we finished our business you and I…"
"Come face me if you dare… Coward!"
They charged each other, the energy blades of their lightsabers flashed, crackled, and hissed as they struck. They danced around each pushing each to the limits of their lightsaber skills. The two of them were evenly matched when it came to lightsaber combat, but Calladen was stronger in the force. He threw out his hand unleashing a force wave , Balen left his feet, but he went into a role when he hit his back and came up on his feet. Balen screamed and ran off in fear that Calladen would use the force to kill him.
Calladen took a look at the dead bodies littering the floor of Freedan Nadd's tomb. Most of the dark ones were dead, "Clean up here, I am going after Balen…" He said to Grasun.
Balen had made it to the hanger where he began to power up a shuttle to leave. He was moments from escape, but the as soon as the power came on the ship lost power. It had been sabotaged. He cursed and decided to try another, but it too was damaged.
"You can't escape Balen… Time to become one with the force…"
"Then face me like a true swordsman… Do not use your power…"
Calladen smiled extending his hand into a claw, he grabbed Balen by the neck in the force, choking the life out of him. "You have always been a fool Balen… Power is meant to be used…" Balen's neck broke and he fell to the ground dead. Calladen left the tomb via his secret passage way. He stood on a hill watching the base, he took a remote from his robes and pressed the button killing the beast riders and any survivors of the dark ones.
As Calladen made his way to his star ship a chime went off in his robe. It was a transponder, when he reached his ship Calladen placed the device in the holo-receiver. An image of Darth Plageuis appeared, "I knew you would succeed…"
"How did you know?"
"I am a sith lord… I have been watching you ever since I left you on Korriban… I am transmitting my coordinates to you meet me here…"
A week later Calladen arrived on the ice planet Mygeeto, where a large mansion sat by the valley of hythok. Calladen landed his ship in a private hanger. Darth Plageuis awaited him in a private thrown room. Plageuis sat on a black marble thrown with a Hiss dragon at his side. The creature growled as Calladen approached the thrown and took a knee.
"I smell death on you…" The thrown room was dimly lit, but very spacious, with marble floors and durasteel walls. Ancient art work lined the walls, art work thought lost or destroyed by historians.
"My lord as you commanded I have done… I have destroyed the dark ones…"
Plageuis stood and walked down the steps until he was standing over Calladen. "You have bathed in the blood of those you called allies, friends, and lover… From this day forward Calladen Hart is no more… You shall be known as Darth Mantus… Arise my young apprentice…"
"Thank you my master…" He looked up into the eyes of the Muun lusting after all his sith secrets. "When shall my training begin master…"
The Muun smirked, "It begins now…" there was a rumbling sound of thunder, "…And here is your first lesson." There was a flash of light as force lighting leapt from Plageuis' fingertips. The blast wasn't strong enough to kill him, but it did cause Calladen to shake violently as he was on the floor writhing in pain. Plageuis smiled and left Mantus where he was.