The Dark Child
Part 1: Vey's Hunt
D'enn was a beautiful world.
That was Vey Ilo's first thought as she stepped down from her ship. She sniffed the air, and reached out with the Force.
A beautiful world, yes, but very dangerous as well, deceptively dangerous.
Her mouth became a grim line.
The perfect world to hide him.
Though it had been discovered some sixty years ago, colonization efforts had been slow. Though lush and green and possessing a wet, temperate climate. D'enn had no real resources to speak of, no ore or chemicals to mine, nothing of note to feed corporate expansion, or enrich the wealthy. Not enough to attract the colonial offices back then, during the so-called, age of peace and expansion. Then had come the Sith return to Korriban, and for a time, colonization efforts had shut down, all resources had been shunted to push the invaders back.
Decades of war that had shook the galaxy to its core, ending almost a thousand years of peace.
The coming of cold war changed D'enn's fate. The Treaty of Coruscant forced the Republic to look out again, looking to expand, and replace the worlds lost to the Sith by the treaty. This place was one of them, a paradise world for humans to grow and multiply, replenishing the ranks after years of brutal losses.
The colonials had moved too fast, they hadn't really taken the time to get to know the world, and cursory scans had missed some of the planet's less…positive traits.
Vey could feel those traits now, trying to burrow into her cells. A fierce microbial lifeform that infested in the lungs and brain, causing violent rages and insanity in fully developed human minds.
Thought not human herself, she could feel the creatures entering her lungs, they filled the air of this world. She called upon the Force and easily dispelled them.
Once they were gone, she took another deep breath, cocooning herself in the light. Protecting herself from further attack.
Yes, on the surface, to a human, this world looked perfect, and was just out of the way enough that the more devious might think it beneath the notice of those were in power.
That is why they had come here, she realized.
To raise him in secret.
Why SHE had come here now.
It had taken months of searching, meditating on the Force, and chasing leads and ghosts. The people she sought, survivors of the Sith Cult known as the Sith Brotherhood, were understandably skittish.
The return of the Sith Empire on Korriban had changed the lives of these vile sects. Many dark side cults had their own philosophies and agendas. The Imperial Sith limited those beliefs, tried to reabsorb them into their ranks, and…failing that…
Exterminated any dark side practitioner that might oppose them.
The Sith Brotherhood had been formed almost three centuries ago by Exar Kun and his apprentice Ulic Quel-Droma. A blending of Krath philosophies and old Sith Empire ideology. It had attempted to undo what the Great Hyperspace war had done, and restore the so-called golden age of the Sith.
The cult had mostly been wiped out after Exar Kun's defeat, but several of its members remained. One had even tried to take over the Jedi order some twenty something years after the war ended. A retainer who called himself…Darth Haze, or something to that effect, who perished at the hands of a Jedi hero Zayne Carrick.
Vey smiled.
She had met Zayne, only briefly, a good boy, who grew into a good man.
She shook her head.
It was a shame that humans were so short lived.
She could have used his help right now.
The cultists she sought today were not Force sensitive themselves, but they had dedicated their lives to restoring one who was. The survivors of the brotherhood had come to revere Exar Kun as a prophet, and sought his return with a zealousness that even went beyond the capabilities of the modern Sith.
Vey had heard rumors, that they had succeeded, in a way.
A child had been born almost thirteen years ago. One conceived using blood samples stolen from the long-lost enclave on Dantooine. Exar Kun had trained there as a padawan, and had sought medical attention there, more than once.
The Sith acolytes had hidden that blood away, preserved it for centuries. These cultists were too weak to be dark lords themselves, but they could understand Sith texts, and their limited power could use Sith Alchemy.
She had traced the last of them, these fanatics here. If what she was feeling was true, if they had not prepared themselves, they were likely dead as well.
Of course, the microbes didn't kill everyone on this world.
Final reports, before the colony fell, suggested that the children were unaffected by what was happening. The last one dated six years ago.
The boy would have been seven, protected by the development of his own body.
Vey pursed her lips in thought.
Common wisdom suggested that she, and the Jedi, should have left this world alone. If Exar Kun's new body was here, it would die when it reached maturity, but Vey…she…she couldn't risk it.
She couldn't let it go!
So many friends had died back then, her own master, Odan-Ur…murdered by Kun himself.
She could not risk the potential dark lord surviving, thriving on an unknown world.
She couldn't risk him escaping, and returning to a galaxy at war. A war where the dark side offered great power to those who sought to rule.
No.
She couldn't risk it, and she wouldn't.
She pulled up the hood of her Jedi robe.
She began walking, following the Force.
She reached out with her senses.
If he is here, she thought grimly, her hand drifting to her lightsaber…
…I WILL find him.
She saw the results of the microbe's attacks as she made her way towards the doomed colony. Unburied bones littered the ground where they fell, many skeletons mixed, signs that these people had died tearing at each other like animals.
Vey shook her head.
Could the new Kun feel these loses?
Did…did he revel in the destruction around him?
If so, she might already be too late.
She shook her head.
What ever happened, she was prepared.
Her hand again rested on the hilt of her lightsaber.
I'm ready, she thought.
I WILL do what I must.
IOI
The Ood clan was about to die.
Zhar heard the cries of battle. The Ic clan's warriors had made it through the blockade, hungry to claim the last resources of the Ood.
Ready to claim the last of the little'uns for their own.
Zhar frowned as he looked down at his spear. He was thirteen, and had only just taken the place of leader. Javin, their previous leader had come down with the madness, as all did as they got past the age of fifteen.
Ood's warriors had needed to kill him, to protect themselves and the remaining little'uns.
Zhar had not wanted to do it.
Javin had always protected him, he…he had loved him like a brother.
It had felt bad to end him.
He looked around him, at the remaining warriors of their small clan. A blend of ten- and eight-year-olds, most had no memory of what came before they had been little'uns when the change had come over the adults, and they had butchered each other.
Zhar shook his head.
They had all seen things that no youngling should ever have to see. Having to hide from their parents and guardians. They had needed to hide, and watch everyone go mad.
"Zhar?"
The boy looked down, and tried to put on a brave smile.
"Hi, Amee."
The girl smiled, five years old, she had been one of the last children born in the colony before its final collapse.
Zhar and the other had protected her since then. Javin, and before him Bo, the leaders of their clan had tasked Zhar with protecting her.
She looked at him like he was her brother, even no they had no blood between them.
"Are…are we gonna be okay, Zhar?" the child asked.
He tried not to think of the Ic outside, they would show no mercy in claiming what was here. Javin had kept the peace these last two years, but with his end, and the end of five others of their best, lost to the madness…
…no…Ood would fight, but they wouldn't win.
Not today.
He would probably die, he didn't want too, but he would for Amee. He would try for her, and the other little'uns.
"We will be okay," he lied, "Go back with the others, we will be back to get you when this is done."
The girl nodded and left.
Zhar frowned, hated that he had lied to her, but what choice did he have.
There were no fighters among the little'uns. They were all six years old and under, a few babies had been born, some of the older kids, fifteen or sixteen had managed to have kids before they fell completely to the madness. The medical droids that Ood had taken from the hospital aided in those births, and helped watch over the little'uns.
Ic wanted them too. The food, the water, everything. They had already wiped out the Blu and Rake clans, and absorbed their younger members.
Now Ic was stronger, stronger than Ood.
This fight…it…it would likely be there last.
Zhar was not hopeful.
He was thirteen, soon, he would begin to get the shakes, and then…a year or two on. He would need to be ended too.
It wasn't right, and it wasn't fair, but that was the way things were.
He sighed. He heard banging in the old courtyard.
The Ic were stripping away the last of the barricades.
They would be in here soon.
He looked over his fellow fighters.
Twelve strong, and the small atrium would shield them somewhat, Ic would not be able to surround and swarm them. That gave Ood a small edge, but it was one that he would take.
Zhar's eyes narrowed as he raised his blade.
He thought of father, and of what he taught him.
Be brave Zhar, and never back down from a fight, be like the prophet…
…be like…Exar Kun.
Zhar nodded, he ran his hand through his long black hair, and prepared himself.
They would fight.
They were ready.
He cried out a battle challenge.
FOR Ood!
IOI
She had felt the violence as soon as she entered the ruined colony.
Vey's eyes narrowed.
She used the Force to enhance her speed, and stealth, she moved like a shadow through the ruined streets, and passed by destroyed vehicles.
The Force drew her to an old Food Court structure, it was surrounded by no less than forty teens and older children, screaming rage as they tore down the defenses near the door.
Vey was horrified.
A children's war, she realized, survivors of this catastrophe, fighting over the scraps of this world.
She sighed.
Is this your doing, Exar?
Are you leading these poor souls, stealing their innocence.
She didn't sense the dark side among them, not strongly as it would be in a young adept. She did sense courage and grim determination within the structure, those living there, holding a line. They were preparing to make a last stand.
Vey wouldn't allow it.
This fighting, it would end.
She drew her lightsaber, and marched forward.
Whatever the dark side had wrought on this world, it was done.
A Jedi had come.
This war…was over!
IOI
Something had changed.
Zhar felt it, though he wasn't sure exactly what it was.
The Ic attack had been smaller than expected, their forces divided.
Only eight had entered the Ood's home, and they were slow to advance.
They held back, waiting for the rest of their forces.
Those forces…didn't come.
Outside he could hear cries of anger and shrieks of fear, and beneath that, a strange hum.
Zhar shook his head.
There was a roaring in his ears, like waves crashing against a shore line. He remembered that sound from holos his mom had once watched.
This felt different though, louder, and only in his head.
It was then…that he saw HER!
A single figure in a brown robe, wielding a bar of emerald green light!
Zhar's blood ran cold.
His…his parents had spoken of such beings.
JEDI!
They snatched babies, and destroyed the prophet's followers, stopped him from saving the galaxy.
Zhar watched as the Ic tried to engage her. She stopped five with a wave of a hand, freezing them in place. Three more she threw back with a simple upraised palm.
The green blade wove back and forth, chopping through ax and spear.
None could touch her.
None.
Finally, the Ic broke, they ran screaming from the field, out through the doors, and into the night.
Quiet descended on the Ood's home, only the sound of breathing, and hum of the Jedi's weapon.
Zhar was frightened.
Had the Jedi come to harm the little'uns.
No!
NO!
He wouldn't let that happen.
Yet, did they have the strength to it?
His strongest fighters, Bo-Jay and Rickon were at his side, maybe they could…
Before he could order a charge, and attempt to kill the Jedi he heard a voice behind him.
"Zhar?"
"Amee get back!"
The little girl ran out, ran to him.
He dropped his spear took her into his arms.
"Is over, are we safe?"
Zhar held her, as he looked at the Jedi.
He didn't know.
He shook his head.
He wasn't sure.
IOI
It's really him.
Vey recognized him immediately, his face had been burned into her memory.
Exar Kun!
He lived again!
It was a face of a boy, but the features were the same, the nose, the mouth, the eyes…
She frowned.
Wait.
The eyes were different.
Where was the cold arrogance that had once burned there? Where was the curl of the lip, that sneer that had defined Vodo's old apprentice.
The boy…didn't have it.
Vey might have advanced on him if not for the little girl.
Exar threw down his weapon, and held her, trying to push her behind him.
Again…Vey didn't know what to say.
Why was he not ordering his followers to attack her, perhaps even fling the girl at her as he fled.
The boy didn't do anything like that, he stayed where he was, holding the child. She was scared. Vey could sense it.
The boy was scared too.
Exar Kun…was afraid?
Vey…she…she didn't know what to make of it, any of it.
Where was the Sith she had sought out? Where was her master's killer?
The boy wasn't him, he had his face, but…
It wasn't him.
She reached out with the Force. She could sense the boy, his Force potential very high.
She sensed courage, and caution. She sensed fear, but it was contained, he had it under control. The other children looked upon him, she sensed trust, she sensed loyalty.
And he…was…was loyal to them
Impossible!
She had come here to destroy a Sith threat. To stop it in its infancy.
She tried to look into the future, but possible futures swirled around like a hurricane, and in that moment, she saw him.
He sat in his favorite chair, his robes of royal purple covering her aged form.
Her master, she saw Odan-Urr.
He looked upon her with tired eyes.
"What shall you do now, padawan?" he asked.
"I…I don't know."
The long dead Jedi made a snuffling sound, a sound of amusement for him, she remembered it well.
He met her gaze.
"You are no executioner, Vey. You should not have tried to become one."
Hearing him say that, hearing his words…
Vey Ilo, one of the oldest living Jedi Masters…felt shame.
Her master was not wrong.
She had come here…to kill a Sith, no…not a Sith…
…a boy with the potential to become a Sith, or a Jedi, given the opportunity.
She…had come here to commit murder.
She looked into her master's eyes, he had been murdered by Kun, she knew it to be true. Yet, there was no anger in him, only a sad acceptance, and curiosity.
He wondered what his apprentice would do.
She could kill Exar, but she would have to kill the rest of these children too. She…she didn't want that.
She…she didn't want to see fear or pain in the little girl's eyes, the girl that Exar was holding. She…
She could almost feel her master's gnarled hand on her shoulder.
"You came here to end a threat, Vey. So end it.
The old master stepped back, and towered over her, as he had done in life.
"Tell me, padawan, what shall you do?"
"I shall do as I must master," she replied.
"I will do as I must."
IOI
Zhar watched her, this Jedi, this monster.
Yet, he didn't sense a monster, he sensed a being…as confused and as scared as he.
Zhar let go of Amee, he gently guided her behind him.
He didn't reach for his weapon; he didn't wish to provoke it.
He held up his hands.
"I am Zhar," he called out, "I speak for the Ood clan."
The Jedi nodded, and deactivated her weapon, the emerald light vanished into her hand with a hiss.
The Jedi removed it, her hood.
Zhar stifled a gasp.
He expected a monster, some sort of withered thing from his nightmares.
The Jedi's face was…young, maybe a few years older than he, but the eyes…
He blinked.
The eyes seemed, ageless, and now they were focused on him.
The Jedi bowed.
"I am Vey Ilo, of the Jedi Order."
She gave him a gentle smile.
"I would like to help. If I can."
Zhar was not sure how to answer, he had been told…
He shook his head.
Those things had been told to him years ago. He had not really understood, only felt fear.
He was not a little'un, now. He was the leader of this clan.
He would not show fear.
He would not give into fear.
Who ever this Vey Ilo was, she was not a monster.
He looked passed her, passed the broken barricades.
He sighed.
"They will return, the Ic," he said.
He shook his head.
"We will not survive another attack.
"Then you should not remain here," Vey answered turning, "I have a ship nearby, how many are you now?"
Zhar almost didn't answer, but…what did it matter now?
"Twenty-eight of us, including two infants."
Vey nodded.
"My ship can hold that many. This world…it is sick. I can take you to a new one, where you don't have to worry about fighting over scraps, a place where you can be safe."
Vey put her hands into the sleeves of her robe.
"I will not force you, any of you, but if you wish to come to safety. I promise to take any and all who will come."
Zhar looked at his friends, Bo-Jas and Rickon met his gaze and nodded.
They knew about ships and the Republic, but had not seen one in years. If there was a chance…
Zhar looked at the Jedi, he…he didn't really trust her, but she wasn't lying.
He could…sense when someone lied.
"We need to gather the little'uns, he said, when that is done, we will come."
Vey bowed again.
I will stand guard here, make sure you are not attacked again.
Zhar nodded, he didn't say thank you, he didn't need to.
She…the Jedi, already knew.
He was curious, he had seen what she had done. It…it had been amazing!
Could she teach him to do those things?
He was afraid to ask.
Maybe, when the clan was safe, he…he would talk to her.
Maybe he could ask her.
Maybe, he thought.
Maybe.
IOI
Vey watched as the boy led his people back to gather their things.
Again, she could almost sense her master's presence…
…his approval.
She was no killer.
She should not have tried to be.
She was, and had been for centuries, a teacher.
In the last fifty years she had trained two students, two students she was proud of…
Could…could she make it three?
She would not offer her teachings to a Sith, but the boy…Zhar…he was not a Sith.
He was NOT Exar Kun!
He was potential, raw and untapped.
She could help him.
She would help him.
She wasn't a murderer, she couldn't kill him, but…she could teach him. She could show him a better path.
Take the weapon of the enemy, and make it, not a weapon, but a friend.
She had done it once, with her last apprentice.
She could do it again.
It would be risky. The council would not agree, but what choice did she have?
She wouldn't kill him, and she wouldn't risk the Sith finding him.
No, this was the way.
If he asked her, she would teach him.
She would do what Vodo had failed to do.
She would make things right.
The boy…would become a Jedi.
If he asked.
She smiled to herself.
All he needed to do, was ask.
She was ready, the only question…
Was he?