fan fiction scrollNew Beginnings.

 Atton RandCanderous OrdoExile (Female/Dark Side)

3953 years Before the Battle of Yavin

Prologue

Red and Silver light flashed as Lady Rayna Fenris and Darth Sion dueled to the death. Sion’s pale gray, cracked, and scarred body moved in unnatural ways as Lord Sion moved fluidly under the dark side of the Force. Wearing only black pants and boots from the waist down, Sion’s dark eyes narrowed as he tried to get an advantage over Lady Fenris. Realizing that Rayna Fenris was using her instinctual Force Comprehension power (allowing her to quickly learn the Force and Lightsaber Combat form of her opponent), Lord Sion constantly switched his form to keep Fenris off balance. Rayna’s short brown hair flowed wildly as she fervently blocked Sion’s blows, and her dark black robe flowed fluidly with her movements.
Lady Fenris, whose face showed the corruption of the dark side, also narrowed her yellow eyes and quickly began to understand how Sion attacked and continued to draw Sion into her feint. Lady Fenris thrust her silver lightsaber forward, and Lord Sion parried the move by slashing up. Rayna used the upward motion of his blocked blade to her advantage by swinging low and cinging the right leg of Lord Sion. Lord Sion focused and channeled the pain to combine with the hatred and anger he was already using, and allowed it to fuel the dark side of the Force flowing through him as he unnaturally hurled his body into his right for a right downward slash of his crimson blade. Lady Fenris brought up her sideways turned silver blade to block, and their blades locked. Lord Sion unleashed a wave of the Force at Fenris, who flew backward five meters, as well as a short storm of Force lightning to follow up. Rayna was caught off-balance and off guard with several thousand volts of electricity flowing through her. She could feel the electricity following all of her nerves which lit up, and the air smelled of scorched hair and flesh as her brown hair was cinged with the heat and her scalp was burned. Fenris allowed the Force to sustain and heal her as she flew back into the fray and allowed an apparent opening to show while she adjusted her stance to the Force potency combat form allowing her to do twice the damage in her Force attacks as she was at about half of her energy. At this apparent critical moment, Lord Sion leapt in the Ataru Lightsaber form and brought his single bladed red lightsaber in a downward arc for the killing blow with his bio-mechanical left arm. Prepared, Lady Feris brought a wave of the Force to bear against Lord Sion, sending him flying backward 20 meters. Caught off guard, Sion landed hard on the ground and wanting to end the battle quickly, Lady Rayna Fenris reached into the Force and drew upon the dark side to lift Lord Sion up and crush him with the Force.
The sickening sound of Lord Sion’s bones breaking into a thousand pieces echoed through the large room they were battling in. Suspended in the air by what felt to him was a large vice squeezing and bending his body backward, Lord Sion struggled to breathe. As his broken bones punctured his organs, especially his lungs, he struggled with each breath. He lost feeling in his body as each vertebrae up his spinal column to the base of his skull, snapped under the crush, which caused Lord Sion to bend backward unnaturally further snapping his spinal column in several places. Lord Sion drew upon the dark side of the Force to try to heal him, but the pain was to much for him to concentrate as his skull was fractured further, sending shards into his brain. He adjusted to allow the Force to sustain his heart for an hour. Sion’s heart, pierced in a dozen places, ceased to beat after that hour, when his brain finally shut down at his mental exhaustion, thus breaking connection with the Force and the multiple snaps in his spinal cord took its toll. Lady Fenris brought the rest her Force reserves to bear as she tightened crush even more by allowing more of her hatred into the move until she heard Sion’s death rattle being forced out of his mouth; still not quite trusting Sion was truly dead she held the crush and squeezed even tighter until his body became fluid for another five minutes then released and slammed Sion’s lifeless body like a crumpled rag doll to the floor.
The life Force of Lord Sion self-resurrected and healed his body this fifth and final time as he got up and then fell to to the floor on all fours, “I will not fall. I cannot die,” Lord Sion said.
“Get up, Sith Lord, and I will prove to you that can die,” Lady Rayna demanded, as Sion stood clutching his side.
“Why… Why did she choose you? What makes you able to defeat me, defeat me here?” Sion asked.
“Because I was able to turn away from it. And you could not,” Rayna responded.
“It is not possible to walk away from such things unscarred. To keep living when the universe dies all around you,” Sion emphatically answered.
“If that is what you believe, then you lie to yourself,” Rayna countered.
“The Force is who I am – the dark side fills me. It is what I am,” Sion declared.
“And Kreia hates the Force, even as she wields it. If the Force is what you are, then that is what she despises,” Rayna replied.
Lord Sion did not say anything, he was thinking about Rayna’s last statement as Rayna continued, “It is the truth, Sion… you feel it. Let go. It is not such a terrible thing.”
Lord Sion paused, thinking again as his will and belief were eroding under Rayna’s Dun Möch and he didn’t resist this time, “Kreia, she will try to break you, to teach you to see how far someone can fall.” Accepting the truth in Rayna’s words, He finally surrendered his control. Feeling himself slipping into the Force, he turned to Rayna with his final words in a death whisper, “Her weakness… is you. She has done all this… all of it… for you,” He paused then forced his last words out, “I am glad to leave this place… at last.”
With that, Lord Sion stood and like the previous five times to self-resurrect himself, he did so releasing his lifeforce into the dark side of the Force, and his body collapsed on the floor of the large hall inside the Trayus Academy on the battered surface of Malachor V. Outside of the Trayus academy, the never-ending lightning storm raged over the jagged and broken surface of Malachor V. Lady Rayna Fenris turned and entered the elevator and descended to the core of the Trayus academy. Stepping out of the elevator, she took in her surroundings. There was a central platform with curved spires that formed a type of bowl, but the spires that ringed the peremeter of the platform were pointed at the top and did not complete the arch. Entering the central platform, the three walkways led under a gothic archway cut in the center of three curved spires. The walkways stretched over a deep yawning chasm that led to the core of Malachor V. In the center of the circular platform was Darth Traya a.k.a. “Kreia”.
As Lady Fenris approached the central platform, the old woman clad now in a black robe with the cowl over her forehead, asked in her old galactic standard accent (British baroque to you dear reader), “At last you have arrived, is Malachor as you remember?”
“Malachor has not changed… only you have,” Fenris said.
“Indeed. Perhaps it is merely your perceptions of me that have changed. It is strange that you believe Malachor has not. But it has always been timeless to you, this place. And words have always been inadequate for the horrors that took place here,” Darth Traya stated.
“This academy here won’t last, Kreia. I can activate the mass shadow generator again,” Rayna threatened.
“More talk of machines,” Kreia scoffed, “If you would end Malachor then do it! But it will not be a victory for you.”
Kreia contnued her scoffing rant in the tone she used so often when teaching Rayna on the journey that led them here, “You may hold Malachor in your grasp, but I hold the answers to your past and future in mine.” Black atrophied eyes narrowed as she seethed, “Would you destroy us both before learning them? If so, then do it – for you have already failed me.”
Rayna declared, “If I had to, I would. You have to be stopped.”
Kreia calmed down, “I know. But there is more than death in this galaxy, and you shall not find it easy. It was difficult to draw you here, but it had to be done. This place is your last test.”
Seeing some confusion show on Rayna’s face as she still did not understand yet, what Darth Traya was talking about, Kreia enlightened her, “It is a graveyard of the past, where you lost everything. It is the dark place in your mind that still echoes of failure. Now we shall see if you can overcome the weight of Malachor… and silence the echoes that beat from its heart.”
Rayna offered, “There is much I must ask you.”
Kreia answered, “You no doubt have many questions. I would be a poor teacher if I did not give you the answers you seek now, here.”
Lady Fenris was caught off-guard and considered the wisdom in that a little more knowledge would be helpful. Then asked, “Why did you destroy Atris?”
“I never destroyed Atris, she destroyed herself. I merely stripped away the illusion, and brought her truth. Her teachings could not be allowed to continue. And like Malachor, she was a part of your past, unresolved. She needed to be something you could confront – and defeat, one last time.
“It was part of your training. Part of what was needed to make you complete. And there must always be a Darth Traya. If not her then me. One who has been betrayed, to betray in turn,” Traya paused then continued, “She loved you, you know, as one loves a champion. You were all that she could not be.”
The last statement struck a cord within her as that piece of the puzzle fell into place, “She never mentioned such feelings,”she stated.
“Yes… it is all that is left unsaid upon which tragedies are built. More echoes, traveling through the Force,” Drath Traya answered.
Rayna felt the weight of this loss on her heart, and realized she inadvertently killed one who loved her in cold-blood by drawing him to a place where he was easily slain by Kreia, and this was just as bad as the weight of her decision to force Visas to suicide herself on the Ravager. Also felt, was the loss of her brother Urias at the end of the Jedi Civil War – the death which she felt in the Unknown Regions – which occurred at the fall of the Jedi Academy on Dantooine.
Pushing those thoughts aside Lady Fenris asked, “Why have you done this?”
Darth Traya sighed, “It is said the Force has a will, it has a destiny for us all.”
Traya continued her discourse, “I wield it, but it uses us all, and that is abhorrent to me. Because I hate the Force. I hate that it seems to have a will, that it would control us to achieve some measure of balance, when countless lives are lost. But in you… I see the potential for the Force to die, to turn away from its will. And that is what pleases me. You are beautiful to me exile. A dead spot in the Force, an emptiness in which its will might be denied.”
“If you hate the Force, why do you use it?” Rayna asked.
“I use it as I would use a poison, and in the hopes of understanding it, learn the way to kill it. But perhaps these are the excuses of an old woman who has grown to rely on a thing she despises,” Kreia said.
It dawned on Rayna, “you manipulated me all along.”
Lady Traya’s discourse began, “Yes, always. From the moment you awoke, I have used you. I have used you so that you might become strong, stronger than I. And I used you to make those who had wounded me reveal themselves, so they could be killed by the Republic.”
Rayna interjected, “So you used me to get revenge on Sion and the others.”
Traya continued, “I used you keep the Lords of the Sith from condemning the galaxy to death with their power unchecked. I used you to draw them to Telos, where they could be, at last, fought and killed. I used you to reveal Atris’ corruption, so that her teachings could be ended before they began. I used you to gather the Jedi so they could be destroyed.”
Rayna asked the question that presented itself, “Why me?”
“Perhaps you were expecting some great surprise, for me to reveal a secret that had eluded you, something that would change your perspective of events, shatter you to your core? There is no great revelation, no great secret, only you,” Traya answered.
“But there are other Jedi you could have chosen,” Rayna stated.
“No, there were not. In times past, and in times future, there are Jedi who will stop listening to the Force, those who will try to forget it, but maintain unconscious ties. And those, as in the past just as I, who have had the Force stripped from them. But no Jedi ever made the choice you did. To sever ties so completely and so utterly, that is leaves a wound in the Force,” Traya said pausing then continued, “It was a mistake to try and make you feel it again, I see that now. There is no truth in the Force. But there is truth in you, exile. And that is why I chose you.”
“What happens now?” Rayna asked.
“The apprentice must kill the master – if you do not, I will kill you. If I do not, then all you have achieved will be as nothing, as empty, and as violent as Malachor itself,” Traya challenged.
“Then let’s finish this,” Lady Fenris said as she activated her lightsaber and blasted Lady Traya with a wave of the Force that sent her backward 5 meters. As Traya staggered up Rayna reached into the Force and crushed her. Traya opened herself to let the dark side flow through her and sent a wave of the Force back at Fenris who flew back and then was hit with a storm of Force lightening. Lady Fenris, shaking off the powerful discharge of electricity, focused on her attacker instead channeling the pain into her hatred as she dug in and unleashed the fury of the more balanced Niman lightsaber combat form, while Lady Traya utilized Soresu. Rayna was surprised at the strength and finesse of her former master, as Traya let her prowess of Soresu make itself known.
Lady Fenris allowed the Force to increase her speed masterfully and she switched her stance from the balanced Niman to the more potent and powerful Shien/Diem-So. Rayna let out a bloodcurdling howl as she brought her blade down on Traya’s crimson blade with increasing ferocity. Though she was moving extremely fast, she was very careful not to get too close to the edge, lest she fall into the core. Rayna slashed left and right, and while Traya deftly blocked each parry of Rayna’s. Their blades struck each other furiously while they sought to wear the other down. The blinding speed of Rayna’s silver blade moved left and right, and thrusted, while Traya blocked each move with matching speed. Yet the age of Traya was beginning to show as Rayna began to overpower her master. Traya could not keep up the pace that Rayna had set, and was beginning to make mistakes. Seeing an opening, Rayna Fenris exploited it and opened herself to hear the Force sing to her from the dark side and again reached into the Force to crush Traya. Lady Traya’s bones snapped as Rayna drew her hatred and anger into the crush. Sensing her to be critically wounded, Rayna dropped Traya like a rag doll who crumpled to the ground.
The Dark Lady Traya allowed the Force to strengthen her as she rose and healed herself. Rayna deactivated her silver blade, as Kreia deactivated her red one, “Yield Kreia. You need not die.” Rayna was down to about half of her Force reserves, and this lull allowed the Force to recharge her.
“If you do not kill me, I shall end you. Strike me down, end this,” Kreia seethed panting.
Rayna also breathing heavily calmed her breathing, and reactivated her lightsaber in the Shien salute, “Then prepare yourself, I shall make this quick.”
“Good…” Lady Traya commended as three independently controlled violet lightsaber blades appeared in a masterfull display of Lightsaber defense saluted horizontally in Soresu as she continued, “you have strength. But you have yet to learn the full extent of power.”
Rayna studied Traya’s stance under her instinctual Force comprehension, and realized Traya was utilizing the more aggressive Telekinetic Lightsaber Combat instead of Saber Defense. Knowing she could quickly be cut down if she got too overconfident or tried to take them on all at once, Fenris sent a wave of the Force to clear them from her and allowed the Force to increase her speed as she ran on one of the walkways to the other side of the chasm, with the three lightsabers lined up in single file on the walkway. Lady Fenris turned and faced the first one and made short work of it by crushing the hilt with the Force, while the second one was enroute with the third close behind. She blasted the remaining two with a storm of Force lightning, and engaged in combat with both of them quickly making short work of them by seeing an opening, Rayna executed a move which sliced the remaining two lightsaber hilts in half..
Rayna Fenris went back to the central platform and Kreia gasped, “It is done, it is done, at last it is done. You are greater than any I have ever trained, and by killing me here you have rewarded me more than you can possibly know.”
“You spoke of the future,” Rayna Fenris stated
“Many things I see at the end. Revan once came here and departed for the Unknown regions. Will you follow him or take your own path? It would have been better had he not told her, but she was always strong-willed that one.” Traya said.
“What of my friends?” Rayna asked.
“You travel with them for so long, yet you do not know them still,” Kreia scoffed at first then softened, “feel them through the Force, feel what they feel, hear their thoughts and know them, as I fought to know you. They were the Lost Jedi, you know. The true Jedi, upon which the future will be built. They simply needed a leader, and a teacher.”
“Tell me of Mira?”
“She will continue to hunt life, but it will have a new edge to it – she will become a predator. Her life will be a long one, filled with battles and conflict, but in the end, bounty hunters will come for her… as she came for them. She will die on Ord Mantell, her death a badge of honor for her killers… before they, too, meet their end.
“What of Madalore?”
“Many battles does that one have left in him… as Revan intended. A general needs and army, as he needs those he trusts. And Canderous is a loyal beast, no matter how much he is broken upon Revan’s will. But you know this.” Traya answered.
“The Mandalorians?” Rayna asked.
Traya answered her, “The Mandalorians will die a death that will last millennia, until all that remains is their code, their history, and in the end, the shell of their armor upon the shell of a man, too easily slain by Jedi.”
“And Atton?” Rayna asked.
“Atton will keep his murderer’s heart. Many deaths shall he cause in the dark corners of the galaxy – always hunting, always finding prey. He shall grow hungry in a galaxy where there are too few Jedi, and it will consume him… but I shall say no more.
“The Disciple?”
“He will…”
“The Republic?” Rayna asked.
Traya began, “The Republic will fall, as it always has, a fall that will take millennia. Telos shall recover, and Czerka shall make it a place for machines and sciences, it will run smooth and cold like a machine. But it shall not forget the time that Saul Karath orbited it and brought fire to it. It shall learn to defend itself against war, and it shall never again be caught defenseless.”
“Dantooine?” Rayna asked
Traya paused took a breath then continued, “Dantooine shall lie in ruins, as was intended when Malak’s fleet brought death to the planet. Its surface will become home to nomads, and primitives, who will walk upon the ruins of the Jedi Enclave and not know upon the histories they tread.”
“Nar Shaddaa?” came the inquiry.
“Nar Shaddaa shall persist as it always has, but there will be a heart to the world where there was nothing before. Where once the lost and disposed were trapped there, now they will struggle and grow. From despair shall come hope,” Traya said.
“Onderon?” Rayna asked.
“Queen Tallia will have a long reign…”
“Korriban?”
“Korriban shall be as it always has. A graveyard for the darkest of the Sith Lords, still whispering within their tombs. It shall always be a source of evil, spawning threats throughout the millennia. It, like Malachor, brushes the edges of the empire that waits in the dark. And like Malachor, the Sith have forgotten it… for a time. They will remember, Revan knew this.”
Traya continued, “I would have killed the galaxy to preserve you. I would have let the galaxy die. You are more rare than you know; what you have taught yourself cannot be allowed to die. You are not Sith. Not truly. And it is for that I love you.”
“What of Bao-Dur and the droids?”
“Their paths are unknown to me. Even the small one – who waits for you outside this place – I sense has one last journey for you.
“Revan came here, where did he go?” Rayna asked.
“You must go where Revan did, into the Unkown Regions, where the Sith, the True Sith, wait in the dark for the great war that comes. Perhaps you shall go there with him and do battle at the end of all things,” Traya stated.
“What of you?”
“Instead I remained here… (gasp) and now show others the way.”
“Rest now Kreia, your time is over,” Rayna said as Darth Traya, former Jedi Master Kreia collapsed in a death gasp. Rayna picked up her lifeless body and cast her over the side of the platform and said, “Let the core be your grave,” she said.
Meanwhile G0T0, the interrogation droid, held Bao-Dur’s remote hostage and said in his deep tinny voice, “The General doesn’t want this shadow generator activated. I cannot have her succeed as I need -”
HK-47 and his freed HK-50 droids arrived and interrupted G0T0. “Statement: You will not succeed.”
“Ahh, you have arrived HK-47,” G0T0 (floating sphere, interrogation droid) turned to HK-47 and saw the HK-50′s, “Capture him and take this remote prisoner.”
“Statement: You will not harm the little droid.” HK-50 #1 said as G0T0 moved to target HK-47, and the HK-50′s opened fire and destroyed G0T0.
Striding forward, HK-47 said to the remote, “Statement: you are now free, activate the generator, so we can get out of here.”
The Remote activated the sequence, and the planet began to rumble and shake violently as the generator was activated. The droids made their way to the landing platform of the Trayus Academy where the Ebon Hawk fell from its precarious crash landing and joined the others who were already boarding. With all on board, Atton rose the Ebon Hawk and hovered it near the platform in the Trayus Core for Lady Rayna Fenris to board.

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