CHAPTER TWO
Luke had lost track on how long he had been walking with this mysterious man, who had yet to give him his name. After what felt like month after month of camping, they finally arrived at a majestic temple that words could not even begin to describe, for Luke had never seen anything like it.
"Where are we?" he asked, doubting he would get an answer.
To his surprise, the man turned to him and said, "This is the Temple of Ashla, the essential core of the light side of the Force."
Before Luke could inquire further, he saw a robed being emerge from the temple. They gave a nod of acknowledgement to the man and gestured for him and Luke to come in. Luke and the stranger followed the being into a purely white hall, draped with curtains imbedded with the symbol of the Jedi Order.
At the end of the hall was another being, clad in robes as white as the halls, and carrying a staff with a simple crystal ball at its tip. When he turned to face Luke and the other man, Luke saw a long, white beard that went down past the being's chest.
The robed man smiled. "Welcome back, Master Qui-Gon Jinn. I see you have brought company."
'Indeed I have, Master Bendu," the man known as Qui-Gon said. "Gather the others. I believe the time has come."
Eyes widening slightly, Bendu turned to another robed being and whispered something to them. The being nodded and walked away quickly. Mere moments later, the being returned with three others, all of them with raised hoods.
"Revered masters of the Order of Ashla," Bendu announced. "You have been called for this gathering as we have a very special guest tonight: Luke Skywalker!"
At this moment, the three newcomers removed their hoods and Luke could not even gasp at the sight of their faces. Standing before him was Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, and Anakin Skywalker.
* * *
One year it's been, Darth Vorath thought. One year, and yet no Jedi has been found to recover the forbidden knowledge of the Tedryn Holocron.
Many time had Lords Nemesis and Ravage attempt to find a Jedi temple, with little to no luck. And even if they did find a temple, the next problem was to getting into it. Vorath had finally decided to call off the search and find another way to activated the holocron.
But how? Vorath asked himself. How do I uncover the information hidden for so many years?
Frustrated, he tossed the holocron to the side and began meditating on the situation. In his mind, it felt as if the ghosts of the past were whispering to him the answer, but he could not make out what they were saying. Suddenly, one of the rarest experienced occurred: a vision.
A young Jedi Knight, lightsaber in hand, stood before a mighty fortress, with a man clad in black at its gate. The Force seemed to shift from this conflict of light and dark...
Vorath awoke from the vision and stared into the darkness before him. Deep in his hear, he knew that the moment he had just witnessed was drawing near. But slowly...
* * *
"F-father...?" was all that Luke could say. Here was his father, in the flesh, standing right before him. Nothing like this had ever happened, not since the moment he removed Darth Vader's mask from Anakin Skywalker's face. Words could not describe how he felt.
Anakin smiled at his son. "Yes, son. It is I. While it is good to see you, it is also unfortunate to see that you have died."
"Oh, no, he's not dead," Qui-Gon said with a chuckle. "Watch."
In the blink of an eye, Qui-Gon took out an emerald-colored lightsaber and slashed it across Luke's torso. To his surprise, the weapon went right through him and he did not feel anything.
"See?" Qui-Gon siad, putting away the lightsaber. "He is still mortal. Nothing can kill him in this dimension."
"Then he is the one," Bendu murmured. "The one to help us defeat Ra-Sal and the Sith Gods."
Luke raised an eyebrow and looked from Bendu to Anakin. "Uh, who are we talking about? What are the Sith Gods?"
Anakin glanced at Bendu, who gave him a nod. Turning back to Luke, the elder Skywalker said, "I can not explain it all, but I can tell you the basics. The Sith Gods are, as their name suggests, omnipotent beings that have lived since the dawn of time. The first of them was known as Valtheran, dark side incarnate.
"Descending from him were twelve others, each representing an element of the dark side of the Force. The first of these twelve was known as Ra-Sal, the god of darkness. For a time, the Sith and Jedi entities lived in complete balance, and ruled the world of Praetus."
"But it didn't last, did it?" Luke asked. "It never lasts..."
Anakin nodded. "Valtheran grew jealous of the more respected Light-sided gods and killed their leader. This sparked a war between the gods and it lasted for years, decades, probably even centuries. However long it was, it did not end until a warrior known as Dai Bendu confronted and defeated Valtheran. The Dark Lord was sealed away while the others were banished."
"So how did they escape?" Luke asked. "And what is this place?"
"I don't know how to answer your first question," Obi-Wan interjected. "But I can tell you that this is Praetus, which was once an actual planet until it was somehow pushed beyond the realm of life."
Luke looked around. "So this is the afterlife?"
Anakin chuckled. "No. Only certain Force-sensitives can reach here. Anyway, we have other things to do."
"Indeed," Obi-Wan said. "We can not stage an attack on Ra-Sal's army just yet, for we are few in number. However, we can find a way to sneak into their ranks."
"We can?" Luke said. "How?"
Obi-Wan smiled and nodded to Anakin. The legendary Jedi Knight then swirled his robes in a flash of light. When the spectacle ended, Anakin was now in Sith-like robes, yellow eyes replacing his blue ones.
"Due to him having been a Sith Lord for a time," Obi-Wan said, "Anakin is able to summon a small portion of his darkness and use it as a disguise."
"Then what?" Luke asked."What do we do once we're within their ranks?"
Anakin grinned. "Watch and learn, son," he said, heading for the temple's exit. "Watch and learn."
* * *
"You have a plan, my lord?" Darth Nemesis asked Vorath as he and Ravage walked into their master's chamber. Vorath turned to face them and nodded.
"Yes, I known now who to search for," he said. "Toah Jarsan."
Nemesis rose an eyebrow. "And who is this Toah Jarsan, and how do you know him?"
"That is none of your concern, Lord Nemesis," Vorath said sharply. "All I want is that Jedi Knight brought here, alive."
"Lord Ravage and I shall search for him, master," Nemesis said, bowing. "It will be-"
Suddenly, Vorath strode over to the Sith Lord and seized him by the neck. Through clenched teeth, the Dark Lord growled, "Why should I entrust you to a task such as this one when you have failed me many times in the past?"
Nemesis could only sputter. Enraged, Vorath threw him into a wall and pushed back Ravage with the Force. "No," he muttered. "When your failures became a habit, I took it upon myself to train a third apprentice. This man...I found him in exile in the Outer Rim. From what I gathered, he is a clone of one of Darth Vader's secret apprentices..."
A man in dark armor stepped out of the shadows, eyes filled with hate, but his face as calm as it could be.
"His name is Starkiller," Vorath said. "And if he finds Toah Jarsan, he shall become a full fledged Sith Lord."
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