Chapter 10

Sauron and the Reborn Lord

Yavin IV was a moon of the great red Yavin Prime. Hung forever in the skies of the moon, like the many other such spherical objects that rotated around the gas giant. Sharing some of its heat with all the moons as a system in and of itself. The distant star of the System, also named Yavin to some confusion, would all the same grant day and night cycles to the many moons that rotated around Prime. The rotation of the moons did not inherently mean freedom from the bright red looming edifice of Yavin Prime, however.

This night Yavin Prime hung high above and burned ever crimson red. Shining through the dark canopies of the jungle with varying dimness of reddish hues. Sometimes smoldering and bright, other times dim and distant. Depending on where one would stand. As night had generally fallen across this particular face of a very old and very storied moon of the galaxy. Thick jungles coated the continents of Yavin IV. Water abounded, and allowed for the creation of rivers, lakes, marshes and various wetlands or swamps. While boggy and humid jungles made up the majority of the moon's surface save for some more temperate zones at either pole. No season truly changed Yavin. The moon was too close to Yavin Prime. Creating a sort of endless summer, with bouts of spring, and rain was always in abundance at varying times.

Many beasts roamed the surface of the moon. Many smugglers and odd travelers and perhaps every once and again historians and artifact hunters would come. Yavin IV acted as a planetoid off the usual galactic lanes well enough for layovers and stops for the unseemly of the galaxy during their travels. While the many ruined temples of ancient Sith even now called to the historically needy or greedy. The thrill of not knowing what predatory eyes fixed upon you from the jungle caught many a foolish traveler in its snare. The stakes of managing to uncover hidden tombs and passageways to discover Sith secrets duped just as many. Yet, for all its life, the moon reeked of death.

Sauron stood in command of the witch's body. It remained as it had been when they had traveled with Grievous to the Geonosian homeworld. A necessary and welcome pit stop of sorts along the way to the fourth moon of Yavin. Much had to be discussed involving the leftover toys Sidious had begun the creation of in his final days. The rat himself deep...deep in the dark upon Bâlmírdan. Sauron had spent many hours with Sidious unknown to all but the witch. Screams echoed. Teeth gnashed. Gushing wounds opened and the splitting of vocal chords abounded. Eventually secrets were spilled. Much the same as blood. There were more than enough bodies to be used when needed. The Shadow Ring retained the fallen would be emperor's essence. And there was so much left to be learned of him.

The Death Star had been one such secret. A quaint fancy. Only the mind of mortal beings could fathom the creation of something so massive to become that destructive. The uses for the machine, the weapon were totally and utterly simple and easy to formulate in simple minds. For Sauron, however, its uses were...more nuanced. Should it come to final completion it would be a testament and but one more addition to the great host already underway. This was discussion for another time.

In discussion with Sidious, bound by his newest fleshy cell, Sauron had come to know more of the newcomer now being kept in comfortable imprisonment within Mardorithil and the shadow of the seven mountains that made up Sauron's palace and fortress. Grievous had transferred Thrawn onto the planet, and the blue skinned alien, had been taken to one of the many empty and quickly built manors. Kept under constant guard and ordered to await the time when he should be summoned to discuss matters as he understood them. The man seemed amenable, according to Grievous, and the welcoming rasp of the wraiths. The Chiss, according to the Nazgûl, seemed off-put by their darkly cloaked presences. As Sauron had so engineered.

Ah, but Sauron did not only learn of Thrawn's past dealings with Sidious. This Outbound Flight incident and the death of many Jedi. Some of the inner workings of the so-called, Chiss Ascendancy, and Thrawn's unique manner among the often times secretive species where the rest of the galaxy was concerned. So too did Sauron learn of these 'Far Outsiders' as they were called. Ships moving in the furthest reaches of the Unknown Regions. Whispers of beings conducting warfare with strange weaponry. Setting up what amounted to a beachhead far away from the 'civilized' portions of the galaxy. Amusing themselves with fighting the oddest and least known civilizations within the galaxy for their own distance and lack of communication with the Core, the Republic and even the Confederacy. Sidious had seemed most displeased by their coming. Interlopers. Their full nature not yet known, but Sauron foresaw they would need to be dealt with, and in the conduction of his own plot and designs these rabble were most unwelcome. Upsetting his Order. With time, and discussion with Thrawn, Sauron would tend to the matter. The Confederacy would tend to the matter. He swore it.

At the last, Sauron discerned a partial word from the pained shrieks and cries from a broken Sith Lord retained in the crumpled body of a feeble goblin snaga.

'Vong.'

Republic Intelligence had been working on the matter. Quietly of course. However, with that institution's apparatus in disarray and being broken down to be rebuilt by the Republic, that left any such knowledge lost to both Sidious and Sauron. Save but for one being potentially, Armand Isard. Held in maximum security captivity by the Republic even now. A man Sauron knew had to be dealt with, but given this latest development, now more importance had to be placed on the man.

Once again, with time. For now...now was a time for something else. Another matter entirely, though one that, with the right outcome, Sauron could fathom being of great aid in what was to come in the safeguarding of the playing field. The orchestration of his own rise, and the betterment for all. Stood along a marshy wet plot of grass, the Dark Lord in the visage of a human somewhere between man and woman; perhaps both and perhaps neither, he tilted his worn head up. A great pyramidal structure, rounded at its bottom with jutting square slabs at its halfway point, rising up after as a cone to a great tip laden in overgrowth and moss. Such a thing was not the first of its type Sauron had seen since his coming to the forested moon. But, this one...the Force undulated more strongly here than elsewhere.

There was something strange about this one. Glaring eyes observed them in the dark. Yet, through the dark they burned hotter than even what glow of the daylight star punctured the blackness. Long...long had he moved through the dark. Long had he screamed, never able to ruin his throat, for he no longer had one. No one heard his screams, but for the others in the furthest distances of the in-between. They were so far, yet somehow they could hear him, and they them in turn. None really offered anyone anywhere anything. They all, and himself included, were far too wrapped up in their own affairs to care what babbling, what cursing and what snarling took place in the deep and dark places of the galaxy, where few tread and even less happened.

Yet, now this was something different. Quizzical 'eyes' as best could be described watched them move. Had for some time since their coming to his moon. Their spirit was not like those of the others who came and at once filled his spirit with hope...and then in the next dashed all hopes and dreams. None had come to the moon who were sufficient. All of them either went beneath or beyond the sweet spot of usefulness to him. Some were too strong in the Force, and in his weakened state...he could not make use of them, and their defenses kept him at a distance. Others were too weak. Incapable of hearing his call. Sure, some would perceive whispers. Some would sleep and awake with a start! Wondering if the horrors he had imposed on their dreams had been real, before they managed to center themselves in the waking day and ignore him from beyond. None met that oh so necessary sweet spot. Strong enough in the Force to be of use. Weak enough within it to be susceptible to his commands, his...possession even.

This one was different. From the moment they came to his moon he had seen in them something he doubted anyone else who could use the Force saw. For, the plain he inhabited was different. Special. A place between places. Yet, the Force roamed even here. A different sight was allowed. Not even the Miraluka could see things as he now saw them, so he would wager. Both the sentient and the non-sentient had presences here. Certain levels of luminosity or oiliness where their connection to life was concerned. Innate or boldly evident connections with the Force. One way or another it left their mark on them, and they left their mark in turn. The endless connectivity of the Force at work.

"Hmm…" He grumbled, as it were. The presence moved through his temple, the old Great Temple. Their footfalls echoing both in their space and even more so in his. Their form shifting and hard to actually pin down as to what it was, and is. He followed after them. His form a wisp of smoke. No need for legs, no need for stepping. Something akin to the motion of an arm, now that flicked upwards and something akin to a hand ran underneath something like a chin. Thoughtful a posture and familiar a pose. Gleaming eyes fell on this one's movement. Watching them sweep left and right, and back around. Looking and looming in the temple that, like all the others had been his...were still his.

"Perhaps…" His voice uttered in a long rasp unheard by any but those in the far dark. They were not known to care. You had to scream for them to even acknowledge your presence if they did at all.

"Perhaps this one could be of some use?" He dared hope and wonder to himself. "I have never seen one such as this. Luminous, and the Force...pulsates. Others have come before with such...a mark on the Force. Yet, something...I cannot say for sure, is different."

"Can't you?" The Force rumbled and he froze. The darkness of the void stirred around him, and he felt as though his being...for the first time in millennia jolted! His eyes, those simulacra like eyes of his spirit widened, and the being turned...turned to face him.

"For a spirit, you are quite loud."

"How...how did you...you hear me?!"

"Yes. Loudly, and clearly." The being answered him. As they did the surrounding room seemed to become clearer at once. The stones turning from shadowy representations, to that which had definition. Mossy laden green between long untended stones. The rising heights of the ceiling in carved square slabs, and the broken or uprooted rocks here and there where many a fool before and before further had long searched for artifacts to merely find dirt.

"I...I am...impressed…?" He spoke it as if a question. Perhaps it was one? One meant for himself. His spirit churned with power of his own. Wrapping himself in defenses. Even now calling on the Force for defense against the unknown. The Dark Side whirled and wrapped about him. His edifice like that of a man of great shadow. Only baring the outline of the man he had once been.

"None have...seen me before." He continued as the unknown being looked at him squarely. Unmoved and seemingly unimpressed. "I have walked among these stones, well...perhaps walked is a strong word. I have existed among these stones, and the great jungles and swamps of this moon for many long years. Never has anyone outright perceived me! I am impressed." He plastered a smile onto his morphing face.

"It's rather easy in this state for me!" A voice...alike and unalike the being spoke. He searched about the room and did not find a third.

"Who said-"

"Over here!" They spoke again. Clearly more defined, a woman's voice. Then, as she called to him, he turned and beheld the astral outline, like a Force Ghost, pop into being before his eyes, stood to the right of the being proper. She had plastered about her semitransparent form, a smile. Eyes, even whilst without full definition glinted like the waters under the beating sun. Her body, in the form she projected, athletic and slender. Her arms folded over her chest. A form...not too dissimilar from his own, but for lack of the darkness he cloaked himself in.

"And...you are?" He asked of her, and she was quick to grin and bow her head in greeting.

"You can call me Vica!"

"Vica…" He repeated.

"Yes! And this one here...well, he can speak for himself." She swept her arms to the being. Cloaked and shaped in such a manner as to make defining who or what they were as a human or near-human, difficult. Yet, the Vica woman used the term 'he.' So that was a starting point.

"I see...and you are?"

"A distant traveler." The unknown being answered him. The woman's astral form repressed a roll of her eyes, as they appeared, and merely refolded her arms over her chest, the being, the occupant, whatever have you, within the body she seemed tethered to stepped nearer to him. He recoiled slightly, but planted himself where he was after.

"It...has been some time. A long long time in fact since I have had the chance to speak with anyone. Beyond whispering in the ears of the odd traveler. Many have come and gone."

"None quite like me." The unknown being knowingly replied.

"Fair." He answered.

"And, before." The unknown one continued, cocking their head. "You said I could potentially 'be of use.' What did you mean by this?"

"Ah…" He chortled and shrugged. "Well...I have been trapped in my current state for...as many long years. Many a fool comes to my moon and thinks they can utilize trinkets, items, stores of knowledge and relics they may find to gain power. Some come looking for these things to sell them for credits I assume. The same case either way. I must languish here and watch them. Vultures picking at the scraps of what I, Sadow and the Massassi left in our wake."

"Then, you are?" The being desired to know. He, for his part quickly wagered whether or not he should say. He was unsettled, quietly and within his own spirit, by the perception this being had within the Force. Only one incredibly strong could pierce the veil so easily. Or otherwise have ability and skill enough to do so. Would that bode well if he should become angered? What if they were to come to blows? In all honesty, boundless and formless, he saw no good reason to not share his nature and being. What else had he to lose? Even powerful as this living creature could be, he was essentially already dead.

"Very well!" He threw his arms out at his sides. A whirl of some cloak made of pure darkness fluttered about his form. "To both my servants and my enemies, I am Exar Kun! Dark Lord of the Sith, leader of the Brotherhood of the Sith, and...sadly, lingering spirit of Yavin IV." Exar bowed his spiritual form. "A pleasure." He finished cordially. Whilst the astral woman seemed giddy at his name, all but bouncing, the living creature hummed and nodded.

"A pleasure to meet you, Exar Kun. I have read of you and your exploits. A house-less spirit now I see. But, such nature belies what power you still retain." Another knowing statement, and truth. One that Kun's spirit could not help but smirk at. Shrugging nonchalantly and dismissively as he did.

"I admit it. I still wield some of the power I once knew." Exar tipped his head. "Alas for me, it is not what it once was. What you heard before was my open consideration of using you to help finally reform my body. Though now...I think such an ambitious move would prove fruitless."

"Why's that?"

"Clearly you are not so easily controlled, nor deceived." Exar complimented.

"A wise decision." The being hummed. "Though you needn't be quite to sure of your fate just yet."

"Oh?" Exar cocked a brow, in his spiritual simulacra of a state.

"Yep." The woman injected herself as the one in the body they shared paced to their left. "I've heard a lot about you too you know! I've long thought about what the dead Sith of old could do. What they could teach? Who they could teach their knowledge to. And, I'm not alone in that either!"

"Is that so?" Exar wondered. "And to what end would teaching my vast stores of knowledge do for me? I had an apprentice once. It...he, turned out to be a disappointment."

"Ulic Qel-Droma." The unknown one announced knowingly...again. "He was your apprentice at one point. Though, from what records remain it does not seem as though he was a very attentive student?"

"No." Exar agreed with an astral shrug. "Ulic had far too great a personality already long self formed for me to swoop in and truly turn him into a proper acolyte. In the end, he played his part. And I foolishly misinterpreted how much he could be of use." Exar offered truthfully. The unknown being nodding slowly and once more pacing from Kun's right over left. The astral woman popping out of sight and then reappearing of her own will to Exar's left. The spirit eyed her as she stared him over, the same childish awed look in her astral eyes. The Dark Lord motioned away from her slightly. Unused to others being so close, and so...involved with him.

"Well," The unknown one commented in a breathy sigh. "Perhaps it is time we drop all pleasantries and be forward, yes?"

"I welcome such blunt conversation." Exar agreed. "It has been...a very long time since I have had the chance to speak with anyone. Cutting through the idle chatter is welcome. Should I...or shall you?"

"I shall." The unknown one asserted themselves. Exar both appreciated the confidence and power they radiated, while at once he remained cautious and aware of his surroundings. Idle memories of what he himself had done to Freedon Nadd when the old spirit had worn out his usefulness floated back to the fore of his long burdened mind.

"I did not find you on my own. I was led here." The unknown one began. Intrigued, Exar remained all the same, silent. "This here, led me, us, to you." They produced a spherical object held within many folds of robes. Bound about its body was a basket weaved of rope. Simple, but effective in allowing the being to carry what seemed a somewhat heavy object without need of their hands.

"I heard your call from afar. Whilst I myself delved deep into the dark of the Force. It is...new to me. But, you can attest to the power of my essence, my innate spirit. But, your voice is not alone in the song that ebbs and echoes in that dark. There are others. Many in fact. Most of which I would assume to be beneath my interest. Legions who have fallen believing they were destined for greatness, to be callously forgotten on many a war torn world in the long histories of this galaxy."

"In that, I would agree." Exar smiled. Both brows jumping along his face as her averted his gaze. Throwing his hands up theatrically as he did. "So many out there! They think because they carried the title of Sith that they were meant for greatness like you say. Preordained to become Emperors of their own petty states, or conquerors of the galaxy whole! The title of Dark Lord is self attained. Those who cannot and did not attain it, are servile by nature. One can be in service for many long years, but service must with time yield ambition. If one is to be Sith. If one is to take what they want."

"Ambitious indeed." The unknown one nodded. "Temper that thought, however, as I continue."

"Of course." Exar yielded with an astral bow. The woman beside him circled at his back and hummed thoughtfully. Slightly annoying the long spirit-bound Dark Lord who said nothing. The edges of astral lips tilting in mounting ire, however…the unknown one continued then.

"I intend to speak with other longing spirits. Much as you and I speak this very moment. Each one of them I shall give an offer. One of power. Of position, and of what is going to come, with time."

"And what is that?"

"A new vision for the galaxy. A new design. A Grand One." Easily the unknown being relayed. Exar contemplated for a quiet moment longer. Humming and nodding. He could have foreseen one who radiated as much power as this one did to have ambitions like many a Sith who have come and gone both before and after Kun himself. Yet, there was that fire blazing within them. Unique among any of the oftentimes formless and witless fools who had tread upon Yavin IV seeking fame, glory, and of course, power. Exar even imagined then...perhaps, what he saw of this being was not as they always appeared within the Force? No...rather it made more sense this state within his astral sight acted as a lamp, and he was himself a beetle moth to the proverbial flame. This being of course, had sought him out, and Exar had presented himself so easily, and readily. The statement before...to find others who call out in the dark. A promise to search out other great Lords refusing the call of the void. A subtle threat perhaps? What offer he had to present Exar was not unique to he himself.

"Ah." Exar finally added. Nodding his head. "I understand. Please, continue." The unknown being's eyes, alone along their wrapped face, narrowed, seemingly happy with whatever intonation had been layered within Kun's voice. A quiet understanding cast between beings of ambition and power.

"There is much to be done." The unknown one carried on simply. "Far too much to explain here in one conversation. Far too much to share with, as of yet, unaligned spirits."

"That would be telling, and foolish." Exar agreed to the nod of the unknown one. His astral woman companion coming along Kun's right. Hand under her chin as she observed his full presence. He ignored her still.

"However, much shall I share of my vision should any among these spirits I meet, agree to my terms."

"I am eager to hear them."

"And you shall." They coolly retorted as if a question by Kun. "My offer is to help any and every spirit that so desperately wishes to return to this side of the living world, to do so. By their own means and methods, or mine. As I so can. But, they all must be willing to commit to service, for a time. Do not think I am deluded, Exar Kun. I know of your past. I've read of it and others like yourself. Beings who labeled themselves as Dark Lords, and who attained through outward statement or direct declaration titles like kings, and emperors. To become subsumed by and to another would be quite difficult. However, what is to come is far greater than what efforts were made by you or others in the past, this I promise you."

"A fair point." Exar concurred. "The offer is yet to be given in full."

"True." The unknown one nodded. Then, their spirit erupted! Exar reeled where his astral being stood and the woman grunted a giggle from her maw. Floating back and to Exar's right. The unknown flared as fire at either side that rolled both inwards into a blackened central pit, and back out as churning fire. The facsimile, or perhaps imagined form like that of a lidless burning Eye came to Exar's own astral manifestations. The spiritual plain the unknown one showed himself on seemed to shiver at his presence. The Force trembled and the being at the heart of the fire, as a darkened tear into the Void itself raised blackened arms. At once they were like burned flesh over equally charred bones, and at the next it was armor set upon the presence of a great and terrible man. Power exuded from them as the Dark Side snarled in a manner Exar had not felt nor heard in many long centuries...or perhaps ever before.

"Incredible...power." Exar intoned.

"We are." The woman agreed. "Incredible, and powerful." Exar saw her own astral eyes glint. Memories flashed there and she even shivered at whatever vision came to her mind. Yet, at the same time she reveled in that which their shared body burned. Upon one of the unknown one's hand a luminous light cleaved and carved a pathway along a simple band. A ring. Words etched there that meant nothing to Exar Kun, yet he sensed the Force flow into that ring and then into the body of the being himself, themselves.

Power. Raw and awesome power. Enough to make any man eager for it salivate at the magnificent sight of it. To be so close to it as to feel its burning fire. Power. Power!

"This, is me." The being imposed, their voice booming and baritone. A growl undulating with a regal intonation. "I was known by many names from the world I originated from. I have learned to accept the one chiefly spoken by my enemies, far and wide. Therefore, you may know and address me as Sauron, Lord of the Earth, and so much more to come!"

"I…" Exar began slowly. Lifting his figure back to a full stand. "I welcome you to Yavin IV, Lord Sauron." He addressed wisely.

"To all who I may show myself you are given two options. Join with me in my venture. To reform this galaxy in my image where you will be granted great freedom, great power and greatness beyond compare to which you had before. Show me, and my partner here, what strengths and skills you know of the Force, and the Dark Side." He boomed in total control and confidence. Slit eyes like that of his great form within the pits of his face. The dark shadow looked onto Exar Kun from a station above, floating off the ground before the ancient Sith Lord.

"To you, Exar Kun, I shall grant at first Lordship over all of the Yavin System. It shall be yours under my umbrella, and that of the power beyond which I hold in my hand as a master bares the strings of its puppet. The world, its resources, its beasts, anything of it, is yours. More shall come where loyalty and ability show what is due. You shall be set up like that of a King! Lord over Lords, high among the circles of power I ordain the creation of!" The Force rumbled and the fire about the darkened form flared. A heat that Exar could feel even whilst astral! A feeling...long forgotten that washed over him and made his spirit flare. Even with just the passing touch of such raw power.

Exar Kun lifted his hands and closed both into fists in his spiritual simulacra. Tilting his head back up he nodded. "And what is the other option?" The being...Sauron, his presence morphed and the Force quaked darkly, as though laughing at the words yet unspoken.

"To be annihilated! To be cast into the void that even now calls to you. I cannot allow one who now knows so much to roam free. Even whilst as a spirit." So honest, and so easily spoken. Exar didn't, in this moment, and within the quiet of his own thoughts, imagine this Sauron could not do it. Here at last was an end to Exar Kun! Here now after millennia in waiting for a chance at freedom, and to feel the wind upon his body, and the marshes under his boots – here now without the heat of the stars and the cold of chilling ice was to be his end. By a being he had never encountered before. One who held in their spirit such power as to make this one time Dark Lord of the Sith all too aware of his lacking presence. Exar Kun...he was many things. Had been many things. Stupid? He did not like to think so.

So why must it be his end? Service to another? Where reward was offered, and their power seemed all too real? There was stupidity in allowing the sniveling weakness of pride to guide one's actions. Then there was the true strength of intellect. Taking what chance is given, what power be at hand...and seeing what can become of your service at a later time. Perhaps a chance? Perhaps not. Foolishness was not survival until such a point. Especially by one's own actions or words.

Exar Kun dropped onto his left astral knee. His head bowing in obedience and subservience. His right astral arm slid over his right knee and his cloak of darkness whirled in the spiritual winds, the hurricane, thrown up by Sauron.

"I bow before you, Lord Sauron! I would be foolish to not take that which is so easily and readily given! If I can be returned from this state...given body once more, I swear that I shall...share with you all knowledge which I can offer of the Force. Whatever I can teach I will. If, as you say, I am given control over Yavin, over all of Yavin, and more, I promise fealty, for as long as we can afford alliance."

"Wise and careful wording." Sauron's voice rumbled. Exar smirked unseen, as the Lord from another world...upon another plain called his fire back within himself. A snapping of power thrummed the open air, as it was. Leaving the waking living world to return, everything once again slightly out of focus, just beyond Exar's clear and total comprehension.

Sauron stepped forward and the woman, Vica, beside him.

"Yes!" She jumped. "A Sith Master! One of the Dark Lord's of old!" She was like a child. Utterly starry eyed and intent on Kun's knowledge. Both endearing and...dreadful. Imagining what teaching them, namely her, would be like…

"Rise, Exar Kun." Sauron bid, and Exar did as instructed. Both beings, men, looking into one another's eyes, of flesh or otherwise. Sauron raised his right hand, with open palm aimed upwards.

"Have you idea how you may return to a body of flesh and blood?" Direct, and immediate. No questions, no dawdling. Exar could only grin! A broad and genuine gleam to him as his own spirit, and the Force whirled in abject glee! Whatever this being may have been, and whatever Exar had managed to get himself into; this moment...long had he waited to be Reborn! The directness of this Sauron, it soothed his spirit and made him cackle in all ways but openly. His spirit shivering in barely restrained joy.

"Oh...I have long thought of a means to use the Force to recreate my body! With some...minor adjustments. Wounds of old stripped from my body. Newly born, as though from the womb."

"What need you? You need only ask, and I shall acquire it."

"You are...too kind, my Lord!" Kun grinned on. "Nothing too terribly hard to get. Power is what I need. More of it. More than what my current state can grant me. If you but share your strength, er, direct it that is, not hand it over." Exar assured. "There is an ancient obelisk deep within the temple. Not this one, but another. Where I once committed the ritual that separated my spirit from my body. There, I believe a sufficient concentration of power would be enough. Otherwise...we would need quite a few bodies. Willing or otherwise."

"Then we should get to work." Sauron prompted. Motioning his worn hand towards the entrance of the temple he had come through. "The sooner you are returned, the quicker you shall see. I am a Lord of Gifts. And if it does not work, you will have all the bodies you could need."

"Really?" Exar bowed and threw his arms out at his side. "You are indeed kind, beyond kind, my Lord!" A little adulation that did not go refused. As the three of them, Exar Kun, Vica, and Sauron made for one of many temples upon the jungle moon of Yavin IV.

…

Idle eyes upon the fourth moon of Yavin, if at the right place at the right time...or perhaps wrong depending on one's point of view, they would have seen that night a terrible green light burst through the clouds of night! All of which bent and then circled outwards cast back by howl and scream as arcane and profane an act was committed where Sith Alchemy was concerned. A scream called out as fell wind upon the moon's surface. Sending bird or beast into temporary flight as winds churned up cast a burning seethe across the lands! Not for the first time did Yavin IV's foliage begin to burn beyond this temple Millennia ago, another ritual set the forests ablaze. Burning all the moon near to the point of lifelessness...though unlike the last time the fires were doused by waters from above, and the zipping of many ships overhead.

Laughter rung out, both hearty and deep from within a dark and long forgotten room. A naked body rose from upon wobbling legs. Stood then before an obelisk etched along its four blackened sides with ancient Sith runes. A language nearly as foul as the Black Speech readily spoken from Sauron.

The Dark Side cried out in revelry, but was contained by Sauron. To not give mind nor call to those strong in the Force beyond the Yavin System. Those who could idly look into the dark as he had.

Those ships that dropped water upon the rising fires were but the first wave. The second came and coming with them were many dozens. Carrying hundreds, and then thousands of battle droids of the Confederacy. Setting up garrison. Creating a new base from prefabrication. The droids set to work clearing the forest from many temples. Clearing the way for days and days to come. Construction droids alongside them. At hand to repair the ruins. Make the temples rise as stone pillars to pierce the skies once again. Homages and structures that teemed with power, and purpose. Testament to the Lord, the King of Yavin.

In orbit over the moon, and throughout the system ships of greater size would be put in place to defend the System. To block any would be Republic force should they so foolishly dare to go so deep into the Gordian Reach as Yavin was. The great symbol of the CIS upon each and every one of those warships. Unseen as the cloaked skeletal frame of General Grievous did as Lord Sauron requested of him.

A Reborn Lord Kun would speak to Sauron for a time. Making mention of a so-called 'Golden Globe.' Housed within remained many thousands of spirits. Those of the Massassi servants, the children that is, of those who gave their lives to him and the separation of his spirit from body thousands of years prior. All of them wanting release. Yearning for it.

They were his.

In days, and in weeks on, once more a Dark Lord stood as Master upon Yavin IV, and a legion of crimson skinned iterations of a long thought dead race stood at attention, and bowed in obeisance. Hunting, training, and at last, worshiping the Dark One with emblem stamped upon his brow.

The Dark Lord of the Sith, Exar Kun had returned, and with him, the Massassi warriors.

But one more addition to Sauron's base of power. And, though he would leave, he would do so understanding more of the Force then when he had arrived. As the palantír reached out and found another mind gnashing in the dark.

Exar Kun was his, and united with him in this cause. More yet awaited, and Exar Kun would in time come to know his Lord more than before. To know Sauron was to revere him, and at the same time, tremble in fear before him. The way of all things to come.

L's Note: Can you all imagine that Lord Kun had a lot of fun writing his favorite Sith Lord?! O_o

Lololo, all kidding aside, Exar Kun may be his favorite Sith Lord, but Sauron is THE Dark Lord. That said, I hope you all enjoy, and review as usual! We will return to the Shire soon, don't worry. Just making you all wait I suppose. ;)

Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing and reading through the many issues of Fanfiction right now. Hopefully they get things back in order...at some point. As usual if you note any grammatical errors, feel free to point them out to me, or ignore them!

Till next time!

-L

Edit Note: Edited/Updated 11/27/2023