The first short story explains how Finis Valorum survived his death from the Republic comic to appear in my stories. The second one is my expansion on the backstory of a minor canon character who had a major role in my story, taking place between Destiny Episodes III and IV
VALORUM II
The once and former Supreme Chancellor fell to his knees. His plan had worked perfectly. Perhaps too perfectly.
During his ten years of seclusion and retirement, Finis Valorum had studied the history of the Old Republic, both before and after the Ruusan Reformations, as well as the accomplishments of his ancestor Tarsus. Clearly there had to have been something he was doing wrong as Supreme Chancellor, or else Queen Amidala would not have called for a Vote of No Confidence.
It was during his researches that something entered his mind, caused by a recurring theme in the historic records: the Sith
Nearly a thousand years ago, shortly before the Ruusan Reformations, the New Sith Wars ended with the Seventh Battle of Ruusan, which saw to the eradication and apparent extinction of the Sith Lords. That is, until eleven years ago, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn was killed by a warrior who, according to his surviving apprentice, was a Sith Lord.
This made Valorum wonder, if Qui-Gon's Killer was indeed a Sith Lord, were there more out there? Was the killer a Dark Lord... or merely a pawn? And if it was the latter, who was the master and what was his or here whereabouts?
Whatever the answers were, Valorum had to make a move, for he saw it was more than likely that a politician as corrupt as Palpatine or Viento could fall to the doings of a Sith Lords. After having observed Palpatine's activites, such as the passing of the Enforcement Act, and having heard of Senator Seti Ashgad's mysterious vanishing, Valorum decided it was time to make his re-emergence.
The moment he did so however, he knew instantly that Palpatine would make him a target of some sorts. Thus, after presenting a tirade on Palpatine to the Senate through his friend Senator Organa, Valorum decided it was best to leave Coruscant and disappear from the galactic population. But he also knew an assassination attempt would likely be made, and so he hired someone to act as a decoy. Using his retirement funds, he acquired the means to alter the decoy's appearance to look like himself and to alter his own appearance.
And so, while the false Valorum was killed by the assassin, the real one sneaked onto an AA-9 Coruscant freighter and left the Core Worlds region for good. He had made his final stop in the Esstran sector, on a world so remote that no one, not even Palpatine, would be able to find him.
There was only one flaw to his plan: he had landed on a planet so remote, hardly anyone had any knowledge on it. If they had, he would have known of the planet's inhabitants....
One of the five-cloaked men standing before him unleashed another blast of lightning. "State your business here," he said coldly.
Valorum tired to speak but his body was too weak that he couldn't even move his mouth to form words.
"He's dying," another one said. "He seems very stressed and it doesn't look like he's eaten recently."
"All the more reason to kill him and end his misery," a third one said. "Finish him, Argor."
"Wait." The three men turned to look at a fourth one of their member. "I believe he can be of some use."
The third man sneered. "Don't be preposterous, Cronal. He's a non-Force sensitive. What possible purpose could he serve?"
A small, mirthless smile broke the otherwise-emotionless face of the man named Cronal. "You would be surprised."
Before the others could protest, Cronal pushed past his companions and grabbed Valorum by the arm, just as he slowly drifted to sleep.
* * *
"You are awake."
The words were less a statement and more a command. As such, Valorum's eyes fluttered open immediately. From what he could tell, he was laying in near-complete darkness, with the only light being a dim lantern hanging over his head. He tried to move but realized that he couldn't feel his body at all.
"Where am I?" he demanded. "What have you done to me?"
"I have fixed you," Cronal's voiced replied. "I noticed that your body was failing, and since mere food and water would not replenish your energy enough to prevent your death, I decided to... improvise in order to preserve your life."
"What kind of improvisations did you make?" Valorum asked warily.
"To put it in layman's terms? I've added some extensive cybernetic implants."
Valorum tried to gasp, only to find that he somehow couldn't. "You've turned me into a cyborg?"
"You could say that," Cronal replied. "In short, I mainly placed the cybernetics into your internal organs to keep you alive. But I've also given you a suit of armor to keep you moving... and a helmet to conceal your visual appearance; the minor lobotomy did not go well."
"Wouldn't a hood have sufficed?" Valorum snarled. "I don't plan on making any public appearances in the near future."
"Perhaps it would have," Cronal said. At that moment, Valorum felt a helmet slowly slide over his head. He surprisingly felt it easier to breathe in.
"What about your words earlier?" he then asked. "About me serving a possible use."
"I simply needed a good reason to whisk you away," Cronal explained. "The others would not understand what specific purpose I needed you for."
"And what would that be?"
A cold chuckle echoed throughout the room. "Tell me, Finis... have you heard of the Sith?"
EULOGY OF A HERO
Senator Izrin Arapto sighed as she took the podium. Standing before her, thousands- perhaps millions- of people awaited her speech on the passing of the late Chief of State, Jenssar SoBilles.
Clearing her throat, the Senator of Duro finally spoke. "Jenssar SoBilles was born in the decades proceeding the Clone Wars. His father, Hanssar, served as Senator of Duro for many years, under Chancellors Darus, Frix, and Kalpana.
"During his time as senator, Hanssar wished to stop the plague of corruption that had weakened the Old Republic and restore the golden age originally established by Tarsus Valorum. When Tarsus' descendent, Finis, was elected, he held hope that he would accomplish just that.
"But with the Trade Federation crisis and the Invasion of Naboo, Hanssar's hopes were dashed and only further trampled when Chancellor Palpatine declared himself Galactic Emperor. It was at that moment that Jenssar decided to honor his father's memory by starting a resistance movement on Duro and later joined the Alliance to Restore the Republic at the behest of Mon Mothma and like-minded Rebels from Sullust and Corellia."
Izrin paused for a moment, staring misty-eyed at her written eulogy, before continuing. "It was during a battle to liberate Duro that I met Jenssar SoBilles. Immediately, I was inspired by him to fight not just for Duro and the Republic, but for the galaxy itself. Even after our defeat, my inspiration turned into admiration and we developed mutual feelings for each other. After the Battle of Endor, we were wedded on our liberated homeworld."
Silence briefly hung over the room until the aging Duros woman finally found her voice. "When Jenssar was elected Chief of State of our New Republic, he had finally reached the position from which he could fulfill his father's dream. And for the next fourteen years, he did just that."
Izrin held back a sob as she said, "Until he was found dead in his office two weeks ago. But his death will not be left in vain. Our current Chief of State, former Chancellor Finis Valorum, has promised to make up for his mistakes he made more than fifty years ago, and ensure that the Empire and their Sith allies will be defeated once and for all.
"And it is with that, and a sorrow heart, I leave you."
Izrin stepped away from the podium and allowed a mournful silence to engulf the room.
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