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Dahar Raikanda

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    Taris

    in The Galaxy

    Posted

    Dahar woke up in a startled fashion from the dream he just had. Things were all jumbled together, all the power players in his life spinning in a torrent, but he was nowhere to be found. It seemed as if he had excommunicated himself from the galaxy. But why?

     

    He took a deep breath, almost as a reflex, and beckoned the Force to nourish him. Having spent decades as a servant of the Force Dahar knew it inside and out. Suddenly the Dark Side came swirling into his being. He had opened the floodgates a few months ago and now it came to him on command. The visions in his head calmed and reality quickly rushed to him.

     

    He turned over in his bed to see the beautiful blonde hair of his apprentice, Allison. She sluggishly turned to him, put her hand on his face and asked, "Is everything alright, Atlas?"

     

    The Force swirled through him at the mention of his new name. Yes, this was who he was, and this was where he was supposed to be. Call it mental illness, or perhaps some sort of brain aneurism, but he was a different man than he was before. Often the voices and visions would lie to him. They reminded him of how his friends has betrayed him, how his own mentor tried to kill him. Atlas believed these things and over the past few months had learned to harness his anger. The Dark Side had awakened him to new ideas and new abilities. His trip to Korriban had strengthened him.

     

    "Everything is fine, my love, get me a cup of water, would you?" Allison leaned over and kissed his neck before she got out of bed and went into the other room for water. Atlas sat up and looked at his surroundings. He was home. The humble hut that he had spent years in before was now the base of his new operations. He looked out the window to see his children scurrying about the yard. Atlas was teaching all of them, honing all of their force abilities, and opening their eyes to new truths. "Live! Love! Burn! Die!" he shouted out his window to the younglings preparing for their day.

     

    "Live! Love! Burn! Die!" A group of students responded with a raised fist towards Atlas.

     

    He had no need for the Jedi anymore. He trusted his friend Sheog but that was the only real connection he had to the Sith. No friends, no enemies, nothing to do except exist. The Dark Side, the Light, he allowed both of them to pour through him and taught his students to do the same. They no longer looked at him as a Jedi Master, but as their father. The Family was strong, focused, and Atlas still made an effort to produce medicine for the nearby village. Allison returned to him with the cup of water. She sat down next to him on the bed, looking out the window. Allison was his most prized student, the only one he would call apprentice. Someday when his inevitable non-existence came to be he hoped that she would continue the Family.

     

    "Master, I love this place, thank you for bringing us here." she laid her head down on his shoulder and let out a deep exhale.

     

    "Remember, everything is temporary." He looked deep into her eyes, "Live. Love. Burn. Die."

     

    She gazed back, as if speaking to his soul, "Live. Love. Burn. Die."

    Korriban

    in The Galaxy

    Posted

    Allison scurried back to her room completely oblivious of what was going on around her. Many of the heavier presences had left Korriban. The Dark Side still hung over the planet but the oppressive signatures of the Sith Masters had shrunken. She tried to remember her breathing exercises as she rushed back to the slave quarters. Her friends were happy to see her. After all, when a Jedi child was summoned by the Sith they often did not return. But Allison had returned and brought a surprising tale to her fellow padawans of how the Jedi Grandmaster had come to save them. There were more than a few dozen of them, 44 to be specific, and they listened with eager hope to news of their potential rescue.

     

    ---

     

    It was a few days before the heroic Master Dahar finally came for them. He was led in by two armed guards who departed after his arrival. It was now only Jedi in the room, although he didn't look much like a Jedi anymore. His face had taken the tint that Sith so often develop, and his cloak wasn't one of the Jedi, but jet black with crimson red trimmings. After he knew the guards were out of ear-shot he crouched down and beckoned the children around him.

     

    "My dear, dear children. I'm so sorry it's taken me this long to get to you. I had to make them think I had come to switch sides. But I promise you, I will get you out of here." Allison stood by his side, attempting to press herself into an apprentice-type role. Even in these circumstances she knew what happened to padawans who were never picked up by a master. "As I explained to Allison, your captors have fitted you all with explosive devices set to detonate if you leave. Normally this would make escape impossible. However, I have discovered an old friend working here for the Sith, a scientist who owes me a life-debt. His loyalty is without question, and he is going to help us. I will be bringing you one by one to see him and remove the explosives."

     

    The children gazed at him with reverence. He had become their savior from certain death. Over the course of that day he did as he said he would, bringing each one personally to visit the scientist Lord Ishmeicitty. One at a time the children were anesthetized under the guise of surgical explosive removal. Each child left the science wing with some minor stomach pain and the confidence that they'd be able to escape. Each child also left the science wing with an abdomen full of remote explosives.

     

    The last child to go with him was Allison. As he accompanied her to surgery they talked, "Allison, you've been so brave through all of this. You will make a strong Jedi Knight someday. When we return to Tython I am going to take you as my own apprentice." Those carefully crafted words solidified her unyielding loyalty to him. Not only had he saved her from the Sith Hutt but now he would give her a life as a Jedi.

     

    In the operation room Atlas stood over her as Ishmeicitty prepared the young girl's surgery. "Is this the last one, Master Atlas?

     

    "Yes. But the explosives won't be necessary with her. A simple tracking device will do. And..." Atlas moved a finger to her face, pushing up her lip to expose a few teeth. Such a pretty little mouth he thought to himself. "A thorough teeth cleaning..."

     

    ---

     

    It was the day after their collective surgeries that Atlas returned for the final time. The temple was beginning to clear out as Sith forces, Lords, and Masters were being called away for something of no concern to him. He entered again with two armed guards, this time they remained. They stood for a moment behind the Force Master but then with a clench of his fists they both grabbed at their necks. It took only moments for them to pass out from lack of oxygen.

     

    "Come children! This is our only chance. Follow me, and quietly!"

     

    The group journeyed surprisingly undisturbed from their holding place to a hangar. A transport ship waited in the seemingly abandoned bay. Atlas ushered the children into the cargo hold. He informed them that they'd need to hide there for the short journey back to Tython in order for him to be able to successfully steal the ship.

     

    He shut the door with force and quietly walked over to the hangar's entrance. The two guards he had seemingly incapacitated appeared from around the corner. "I am aware that your master, Lord Sheog, has been called away on business. Inform him that I have left with my tools. The ship will be making a series of carefully calculated hyper-jumps. Be sure to trace me with the utmost detail and upload the path into your database as soon as I reach my destination. You can tell Sheog it's a token of my gratitude for his... hospitality."

     

    The guards bowed as Atlas walked back to the ship. He entered through the main door and soon found himself at the helm. The ship exited the hangar, the atmosphere, and then blasted into hyperspace.

    Korriban

    in The Galaxy

    Posted

    Dahar left the room with his new acquaintance and began to traverse the halls of the temple. His Jedi robes normally would have drawn attention, although his growing Dark Side presence combined with Sheog's protection allowed him to move about freely. He reflected on everything he had seen. Originally the disgruntled Grandmaster had come here under the promise of fun. That was the word Sheog had used. Yes, the feast was fun. It was also fun for Dahar to learn of his fondness of fine teeth. He glanced down at the young female padawan walking with him. She certainly had... pretty teeth. He wondered if perhaps a girl of twelve was too young to have these thoughts about. Irrelevant, he was having fun here. But it seemed to him that Sheog was the only one out of the Sith who knew how to have a good time.

     

    The other Sith reminded him all too well of his former Jedi companions. They all took themselves very seriously. They demanded respect, and bowing, and silence. It reminded him of the royal families back on Adumar. It was something he had left behind because he didn't want a part of it back then, and it was the same reason he had left the Jedi. Dogma. The Jedi Order, the Sith Order. Order, order, ORDER. It seemed that none of these Force wielding sects appreciated that the galaxy was nothing but chaos. Even death was an illusion, only claiming those who didn't know how to hold on to life after their bodies had perished. But Dahar knew how. And now, in the realm of those mad scientists that he had heard of who worked for the Sith, he would be even better equipped for immortality.

     

    His first pressing order of business was what to do with the girl. Sheog had instructed him to use her and he didn't want to disappoint his host. The girl had memories of him as a Jedi, as a respected Master of her Order, and he was going to use those memories to achieve his goals. The two walked the halls and conversed.

     

    "You know who I am, don't you child?"

     

    "Yes..." the girl spoke, still choking back the terror in her voice, "I know who you are."

     

    "Do you know why I am here?"

     

    The thought had certainly crossed her mind as this was no place for a Jedi Master to be. "No."

     

    Dahar let out a fake sigh, as if she had failed some sort of test. With the disappointment of a Jedi teacher in his tone he asked, "What is your name, padawan?"

     

    "Allison," she managed to choke out, "Allison Gold."

     

    "Allison, I am here to complete a mission. One of the young Jedi you have been imprisoned with has managed to escape, to return to the council, and to inform us of your captivity." In truth there had been no escaped Jedi, in fact, Dahar wasn't completely sure there were other padawans here. But it seemed unlikely that the Lord of Gluttony would bother to steal only one Jedi padawan. "I've uncovered information disguised as a guest of the Sith. Each of you has a tracking device implanted in your spine that will explode if you try and escape. We need to remove those first before we do anything else. Go back to your friends and tell them that I am here and to be ready soon."

     

    It was a bit of a stretch to believe even for a child. Dahar didn't even bother to explain the plothole of the escapee not exploding. But the effort it took for an experienced Master of the Force to influence the mind of a young padawan was minimal. She believed him, and scurried off, not even questioning why she was being allowed to return un-escorted to her holding area.

     

    -----------------------------------

     

    Dahar continued on alone. Lies and deceptions had never been tools of the Jedi, but they were very easy to use and yielded impressive results. Such was the way of the Dark Side; quick, powerful. With a bit more walking he arrived at the science wing. After consulting with a droid at the desk an old man came shuffling out. His age seemed unnatural. He was a human well over one-hundred but still carried himself with determination. His eyes carried the taint of a Sith Master who had been relying purely on the Dark Side for a lifetime.

     

    "My name is Lord England Ishmeicitty. I am the director of this laboratory. Lord Sheog informed me that you would be coming. How can I help you, Master Jedi?" he said the word "Jedi" with the respect that he would offer an equal but the disdain he held for his most hated enemy.

     

    The word wounded Dahar the same way. "That title means nothing to me anymore. Please, just call me..." Dahar thought for a moment. You know what they say about first impressions, "...Atlas." It rolled smoothly off his tongue. He liked it. A small but noticeable shift took place deep in his being. He had left behind his old identify marking the first step in a true transformation. The Force approved. He felt the Dark Side stronger than ever before. It was opening up to him, allowing him entry to a world of power that he had only glimpsed before. The energy swirled around him and passed through every breath. It took root in his hatred. His loathing for his former brothers was so strong that he had now denied his old self. The Dark Side gave its blessing.

     

    "I am in need of your expertise, Lord Ishmeicitty. I am planning an extremely dangerous mission with a large chance that this body I carry may not return. I don't plan on waking up in one of the many Jedi cloning facilities that hold vessels for me, I would like to wake up here. But..." Atlas's imagination started to light up. He knew of the many horrors Sith scientists were able to fashion. "Well, I'd like to leave the details up to you. This is your field of expertise, your artwork, and I'd like my new body to be your canvas. Keep it similar, if you can. I'd like to look myself. But see if you can make it a bit more resilient. You know, imbue it with the Dark Side and stuff like that."

     

    Lord Ishmeicitty cracked a wicked smile. He loved an unrestricted opportunity to do something unholy and unnatural. "Master... Atlas. I do have to warn you that this process will alter your midichlorians in a way that calling on the Light Side, as I can sense you still do from time to time, will become much more difficult. There has to be some balance and if you want a body forged in the flames of Darkness you can't expect to be a friend of the Light."

     

    Atlas nodded, "That will be fine, my friend. I believe we are on the same page."

     

    Ishmeicitty took a sample from Atlas and gave it to the droid to bring into the lab. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

     

    With a simple blink Atlas's eyes made a Skywalkerian change from brown to a deep sickly yellow. It was the first physical manifestation of the Dark Side taking hold of the former Jedi Master.

     

    "Yes... do you have any experience with children?"

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