Star Wars Invasion: Episode II, Chapter Ten

CHAPTER TEN

Carnor Jax sat before the altar that housed the sarcophagus of the Dark Lord Freedon Nadd, his legs crossed in a meditative pose. Looming over him and the altar was a tall statue carved in the ancient Dark Lord's likeness. The sculpture's cold, expressionless eyes seemed to bore into Jax's, but the Sith apprentice managed to avert his gaze.

Taking a deep breath, Jax closed his eyes and allowed himself to fall into the Force. Two days ago, his master had brought him here to Dxun so he could delve into the ancient teachings of the old Sith, just as they had done earlier on Yavin 4, exploring the tombs of Naga Sadow and Exar Kun.

He began to wonder where and how his master had learned of these ancient Sith Lords and the worlds connected to them. He knew that Palpatine and Darth Vader couldn't have, for they were bound to the Rule of Two. Could Darth Vorath have taught her? But then why did he not bring her into his Sith Order like he had the former Dark Jedi Jerec?

Jax cleared his thoughts. That was not of his concern. Lumiya was his master. It did not matter how she came across her knowledge, as long as she passed it on to him when it was required of her to do so. And perhaps, one day, he would have enough knowledge to overthrow her and continue the cycle of the Rule of Two.

One day, he thought. Yes.

But not today.

*  *  *

Lumiya walked through one of the many corridors within Freedon Nadd's tomb, the sound of her boots hitting the stone floor echoing throughout the chamber. All around her, she could feel the dark side of the Force radiate from the walls of the tomb. She could feel the faint presence of those who had once walked through the very hallway she now went through. Ever Darth Bane himself had once walked in her footsteps.

With each step she took, Lumiya hoped to disturb a slumbering ghost, one of a Sith, so she could gather more knowledge than even a holocron could grant her. But deep down she knew that was highly unlikely, for Freedon Nadd's spirit was banished into Chaos more than four thousand years ago.

At the same time, she could not help but ask herself, Is it worth doing this? Is it worth retracing the steps of all of the Dark Lords before me- including Bane, Palpatine, and Vorath- only to ultimately fail?

Perhaps it was not...and perhaps it was. 

Perhaps instead of using the knowledge of past Sith Lords to ultimately rule the galaxy, she could instead the use the knowledge...to balance it. 

It was said that Anakin Skywalker brought back balance to the Force by killing Palpatine and putting an end to his machinations and regime. With the demise of Darth Sidious and the fall of the Order of the Sith Lords, it was believed that the Sith- and evil itself- had been purged for good.

Until Darth Vorath revealed himself, and the Imperial Sith War followed in his wake.

Because of this, Lumiya, as well as the Jedi Order, was beginning to doubt whether Anakin truly was the Chosen One. When his son Luke sacrificed himself to help defeat Vorath, those doubts seemed to have had faded.

But Lumiya still wondered, what exactly was the balance of the Force? Was it truly purging the dark side of the Force? Or was it an equal balance of both dark and light?

Since Anakin's sacrifice clearly did not completely restore balance, Lumiya believed it was the latter theory. She would try building a Sith order large and powerful enough as the Jedi Order. But instead of living together in endless conflict, they would live in relative, quiet peace.

Peace is a lie, said a voice in her head, echoing the tenants of the Sith Code. There is only passion.

"Yes," she whispered back. "But since when did even passion give us absolute victory?"

"And since when did peace become the answer to everything?"

Lumiya spun on her heels to see a tall humanoid male standing at the end of the hall behind her, covered in an ebony cloak, its hood concealing his face.

"I knew I would find you here," the stranger said, his voice as cold as the tomb's stone walls. "Sith always tend to revisit the same places."

Lumiya's hand hovered towards the hilt of her lightwhip, which hung from her waist. "And who might you be?"

"Does my identity matter? It's not as if you're going to live long enough to remember it." The stranger gave a nonchalant shrug. "But I suppose I will give you a name, so that, in the last few moments of your life, you will know who had killed you.

"My name is Shadow."

He seemed to notice Lumiya reaching for her lightwhip for he then chuckled. "Ah, yes. I have heard of your unique lightwhip. Quite a rare weapon, having not been sighted at least since the days of the Clone Wars."

"Indeed," Lumiya muttered, eying the man carefully as she removed the lightwhip from her belt. "How do you know of the lightwhip? Are you a Jedi?"

Shadow shook his head. "I am not a Jedi...and I am definitely not a Sith."

"Then what are you? Are you from another Force-using organization? The Jensaarai, perhaps? The Prophets of the Dark Side?"

The cloaked man let out a chilling laugh. "I am none of those things yet more."

From behind his cloak, he pulled out two swords, one long, the other short. Both crackled with blue, electric energy. In response, Lumiya activated her lightwhip, it's long, flexible, yellow blade emitting from the hilt like a serpent's tongue. As she readied herself in a defensive position, she saw Shadow's emerald eyes with malice as he spoke.

"I am Death."