Location: Abeloth's Planet, deep inside the Maw Cluster of black holes.
The heat was everywhere; omnipresent and pervasive. The Sun that hung in the sky poured it onto their backs. The volcano that lay below, pumped it into the soles of their feet.
Lando Calrissian, had been on a hundred jungle planets; all with a thousand variations of the same trees, flowers, and soil. This place...
This place stood alone. There was an ancient grandeur that permeated everything, animate or otherwise.
He had been in orbit of this world, years earlier. Back then he had no desire to step foot here. From all accounts the ecosystem, was a complete perversion of nature, controlled by an ancient evil.
Things were different now.
Abeloth had been... Destroyed? Abyssed? Who Knew?
Wherever she was, she wasn't here. The plant ecologically had returned to something more recognizable.
That being said, Lando still had no desire to be here.
Lando Calrissian, the man who always played it safe, had left that safety back at his base and had made the perilous journey here because of "Him"!
Veradun!
He had been dragged here because, as always, it was a "necessary step", to stand up to the GA and the Jedi. Veradun was always convincing him, that Luke needed to be stopped! He had convinced him, that they needed some kinda "insurance", just incase the plan went sideways. They would find that "insurance" here.
Lately, Lando felt like a ship, whose course had been locked in by persons unknown. A course of destruction and ruination...
He thought he knew who had laid in that course...
Vestara! Of course it was her! And Ben for Protecting her! And the Jedi, for Playing Gods, and the GA...
"We're here !" Said Malgus
With his thoughts caught in this reoccurring feedback loop, Lando hadn't been paying attention to their Journey or destination. But, they were indeed there.
This planet was known to everyone, as Abeloth's planet, but the truth of the matter was that it belonged to beings far older and powerful.
"The ones" had called this world home, over 100,000 years in the past. They had resources here that defied belief, yet were nonetheless real. Resources, such as the Font of Power and the pool of knowledge. Being closely involved in the fight to take back Coruscant from Abeloth, Lando had been fully briefed on the Ones, and Abeloth, and Abeloth's planet. He knew the Jedi were looking for Mortis, and The Mortis Dagger; a weapon that had killed the ones and had the power to kill Abeloth. But he knew they would never find it. The strange realm of Mortis had died along with the family that had lived their. The Dagger was lost forever.
That Dagger was lost forever!
But on this strange planet that had supernatural founts and pools, he expected to find the raw materials need to construct another.
Lando stood at the edge of a river of a lava, sweating profusely and doing his best to brace himself against the barrage of heat pouring from the stream of fire. Beside him, stood Malgus; upright and confident, completely oblivious to the unforgiving climate they found themselves in. As if he had been created for this specific moment, he confidently strolled up to the rivers edge. Kneeling down, he plunged his droid hand into the molten sludge and pulled out a fist full of lava. This was, of course, no ordinary lava, just as the pool contained anything but ordinary water. The force flowed from it and through it; raw and untamed. It was a thing of beauty to Malgus. He hoped, It would be a thing of nightmares for Luke Skywalker.
Location: Tendrando Arms Secret Base below the surface of the planet Socorro. The next day.
In a long forgotten store room, deep underground on a long forgotten planet, the dark council met.
The True Dark Council.
Malgus stood in the middle of the room holding the reconstructed Mortis dagger. Surrounding him, were 5 YVH Droids, each one sporting a crimson pyramid in it's chest. Lando had proved to be a valuable asset indeed. It was, after all, Lando's wealth, that financed Malgus's efforts to find the 5 remaining specialized holograms such as himself. 3 had been been installed in Sith training spheres just as he had been. The other two were found, hidden, in ancient Sith locations.
Despite there being pockets of Sith throughout the galaxy, Malgus had found those Sith to be wanting.
Those standing before him were from the old stock. True, in their current form they lacked the full power of the force, that they once enjoyed in life. But their minds, their experience, their drive, were from a bygone era.
And Malgus was under no illusions as to their intentions and loyalty. These were Sith! They deferred to no one. They would at some point try to betray him. He himself, felt no loyalty to them.
He did, however, need them. They would serve one of two purposes: Fodder or support.
"What are you waiting for Malgus?" The question was bellowed from Darth Vannis.
"You have the Dagger, you have Lando's command codes! Why is he still alive! Have you lost your nerve somewhere along the millennia?"
Malgus glared at Vannis as his pushed down the desire to decapitate the fool, for no other reason, then to silence any more stupid questions.
After the internal storm passed he spoke: "As far as anyone is concerned, we don't exist. We have all Lando's resources without becoming targets of the GA or the Jedi. I plan on taking advantage of that fact as long as we can."
Mehkis spoke up: "Besides, until Lando's people have constructed bodies of flesh and blood for our use, we will not be able to fully harness the power of the force."
Darth Marr stood behind Malgus. Although all the droid bodies inhabited by the the holocrons were similar, they were not identical. Darth Marr's appearance in particular conjured up images of the past. His face looked more like a Sith spawn mask than a droid's visage. His entire frame was the colour of dark charcoal, with the exception of his shoulders, which were large rounded armoured plates, the colour of bright red blood.
"We appreciate patience Malgus, but sometimes, fruit left on the vine too long, begins to rot." Said Marr."
Malgus, knew this was going to happen. These Sith had been reborn. After thousands of years they had bodies and a clear objective. He had anticipated this.
"Lando dies, the moment we have Skywalker!" He said, with an authority none of them dare to dispute.
"That moment is near! The trap is ready to be set!
I need two of you to go to imperial space.
One of you will capture a Jedi Knight, and the other one... will kill a Jedi Knight.
"I will go!" Growled Darth Thanaton.
"I...!"Declared Vannis. "...Will kill the Jedi."
Malgus nodded, officially setting his carefully made plans into motion. He gripped the dagger's handle hard, feeling the force coursing through it. At that moment, he was granted a vision.
He was surrounded by smoke and fire. His hands bore no weapons. Looking down, he saw... Luke Skywalker, screaming in pain; the dagger protruding from his leg. He knelt down, soaking in up all his pain and terror. Then, grabbing the hilt, he pulled the blade out of Skywalker's flesh. He raised the dagger, holding it in both hands... and then... The vision ended, leaving Malgus standing in the centre of the council. Still gripped in his hand was the dagger. Gripped in his heart, was the unshakable belief that the force was guiding him to the Sith's long awaited destiny!
Location: Deep underground the Planet Exocron
It had been a journey months in the making. Luke hadn't t been just sitting around the lake house on Naboo, waiting for the next disaster to unfold. He had been spending the majority of his time, in one of two pursuits.
1)Reaching out with the force to detect any unbalance
2)Educating himself
The later objective was required in order to fulfill the former. As the Jedi's Grand Master, he had educated himself on the ways of the Light side.
But he was the head of a new order.
The knowledge of the dark side would not be poisonous to him as it would a Jedi.
It wasn't just because Luke had proved himself to be a man of great integrity at heart, but also the fact that he no longer could wield the force as a weapon. He had come to this realization when his lightsaber would no longer stay activated in his hands.
No, there was no danger of Luke be devoured by the dark side.
The Aing-Tii saw the force neither as dark or light but as an all encompassing spectectrum; a rainbow.
Luke had rejected this concept when he first heard it years ago.
But his circumstances had changed and his eyes had been opened.
And now…. He was thirsty. Thirsty for knowledge. And he knew the one place in the galaxy the could quench that thirst.
Jorge Car'das, was a man who had been obsessed with gathering information. It didn't matter if it was a recipe for famously horrid rootleaf stew, or the ancient sith force technique of essence transfer, he had it all in his massive library.
Jorge had been dead for decades at this point, and before his death he had his library sealed away inside a mountain on the planet Exocron.
From Naboo it would take 2 weeks of Hyperspace travel to traverse the hazardous region of space Exocron called home. Then it would take who knows how long to drill through solid rock to Car'das's secret lair. Luke had a better Idea. With a little help from Carde, he was able to procure the exact coordinates of Car'das's buried fortresses.
Then it was just a matter of deep meditation. In his mind he found the Planet, and with a little more effort he found the mountain. He took the mental picture of the mountain and changed it, till it appeared transparent. Inside he could see, no, feel the chamber.
Locking onto the location, he used the force to employ a technique he had been taught several years earlier, by the Aing-Tii monks. He visualized himself inside the mountain fortress, and then unleashed the force like a burst dam. In a "Pop" of displaced air, Luke had disappeared from his room on Naboo.
And with a crackle of energy and another pop of air displacement, he found himself inside a dark room. The air was stale and had the distinct smell of moisture and soil.
A few heartbeats later, a grid of small glow rods activated through the entire region, exposing the vastness of the room. It would have easily fit several Lake houses inside of it. Instead on houses, however, the cavernous chamber was filled with radiating rows of shelving housing data cards, holocrons and commercial database storage units. Luke looked around in amazement.
"Hello my friend!" A man called out from behind him. No, not a man. A Hologram.
"My Name is Jorge Car'das. And You… If I were to guess I would say you are… Luke Skywalker? Or Maybe not. I cant imagine anyone but a Jedi Grand Master having the ability or the desire to reach this storehouse of knowledge. Nevertheless, You have earned the right to be here. Therefore…" The hologram spread its right arm in a sweeping gesture and continued. "All the information found here is yours… Please! Use it! Cherish it as I have for many years. He looked at Luke for a few moments and then he bowed his head and said: "Until the next life my friend!"
Carde had assumed that it would be appropriate for Luke to access this massive Library, but it was nice to hear holographic Jorge confirm that assumption.
It took a lot to overwhelm Luke Skywalker, but the sheer volume of data gave Luke a moment of pause. Just a moment, and then…
He began to employ another technique he had learnt; this one, much more recently.
Examining all that data, module by module, was out of the question. It would take probably hundreds of years just to flip through all the files, never mind reading them thoroughly. Taking them out of this place was also an impossibility. The tunnels leading towards the surface were buried with millions of tons of rock. No, there was only one way.
With legs braced, he reached out with both hands.
Nothing seemed to happen at first. But then…
Wisps of blue energy began to emanate from the rows of data racks. The wisps soon became bright tendrils, rushing… into Luke. He was absorbing it all. The onslaught grew more and more intense. Luke felt as if he was the eye of a hurricane. All the while his mind was being populated with unfathomable amounts of new information; several lifetimes worth. Species, planets, technologies, ideologies, arcane force techniques… it all now resided in his memory, as if it had always been there.
He was so caught up in the experience that he was oblivious to what was happening around him. The tendrils of energy had evolved into swirls of blue flame. They raged on in intensity and speed until everything inside the chamber disintegrated in a bright flash, leaving the room dark and empty, except for the still glowing scorch marks on the walls and ceiling.
And as for Luke….
He was nowhere to be found…