FALLEN JEDI
The Dark Acolytes
Before the Empire established its own order of dark side adepts with Inquisitors and Emperor's Hands, a progenitor of such a concept was found in the Dark Acolytes, dark side users who answered to the beck and call of Count Dooku, head of state of the Separatist Confederacy. Comprised of former Jedi and other dark side users, the Dark Acolytes served as the Separatists' answer to the Jedi. While they did not match the Jedi Order in terms of numbers, they were nonetheless formidable foes.
Asajj Ventress
The most prominent of Dooku's acolytes was Asajj Ventress. Her origins are a tangled web of conflicting accounts that historians have yet to fully unravel. It was originally believed that she was a native of the planet Rattatak, born into the Ventress clan and raised to become a warlord. Later sources indicated that she was instead born into the Nightsister clan on Dathomir before being sold to the Siniteen slaver Hal'Sted in exchange for security and later raised on Rattatak.
A consistent element in both these accounts was that Ventress was later found and trained in the ways of the Force by Jedi Knight Ky Narec. Together, the Jedi duo defended the people of Rattatak from such figures as the Vollick warlord Osika Kirske. Narec would eventually fall in battle, sending Ventress spiraling down a path to the dark side. This path would later lead her to meeting Count Dooku and, after impressing him with her skills, becoming one of his chief lieutenants.
From the onset of the Clone Wars, Ventress served as a prominent leader of Separatist forces and developed a rivalry with such Jedi as Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Some of her encounters with the Jedi resulted in her apparent death, such as her first clash with Skywalker on Yavin 4, only to resurface alive and well later. After learning of her origins, Kenobi convinced himself that Ventress could be redeemed and brought back to the light, though his efforts were ultimately futile.
Ventress's ultimate fate, just like her origin, has yet to be fully discerned by historians in light of conflicting data on the Clone Wars being found. Initially, it was believed that Ventress had perished during the Battle of Boz Pity, although records recovered from the rescue craft Bright Flight that Ventress had in fact survived her allegedly fatal wounds. Conflicting resources instead say that Ventress had been abandoned by Dooku at Sullust and briefly rejoined the Nightsisters before turning to a life of bounty hunting. Some historians have tried to make sense of these conflicting reports by suggesting that Ventress had either returned to or been captured by Dooku after her stint as a bounty hunter while other suggest that her abandonment at Boz Pity and Sullust had been conflated. Regardless, Ventress's true fate remains unknown and likely will for some time.
Tol Skorr
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Padawan Lost: The Story of Sidirri
Cynical historians often make glib remarks about stories repeating themselves over the course of the galaxy's exceptionally long history and such a comment can certainly be made about the story of Sidirri, a Jedi youngling who was sent on a path of darkness following the execution of Order 66.
A member of the Soaring Hawkbats Clan, which had produced such Jedi as Dooku and Sifo-Dyas, Sidirri and her fellow younglings were being taught by Jedi Master Du Mahn on Bogden 3 when the clone troopers stationed there received the order to kill all of the Jedi. While Master Mahn was gunned down by the troopers, Master K'Kruhk managed to evacuate the Hawkbats from Bogden 3 and escape into the unknown.
Stopping on a remote jungle moon, the Jedi survivors had a rough encounter with pirates before relocating to the planet Arkinnea, where they discovered Jedi Master Zao. The blind Veknoid Jedi sensed the distraught Sidirri felt as a result of everything that had happened to her in the past few months and did what he could to calm her emotions. His efforts were ultimately futile as Sidirri gave into the dark side and used it against the local militia on Arkinnea, believing they had killed Master K'Kruhk. Even after the Whiphid Jedi Master resurfaced alive and well, Sidirri ended up fleeing the hidden Jedi temple that K'Kruhk later established and Master Zao took pursuit of her, neither of them ever being seen again by K'Kruhk or his fellow Jedi.
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Desann and the Reborn
Desann hailed from a world that was unfamiliar with the Force, leading him to be shunned for his strange, "magical" abilities. He was eventually found by a passing trader, who recognized his Force-sensitivity for what it was and brought him to the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4. Upon finding himself among people with powers like his, Desann became resentful of the fact that he was no longer "unique" and took out his anger towards his fellow students. When his aggressive nature took the life of another Jedi, Desann fled from the Praxeum to escape retribution.
The fallen Jedi eventually crossed paths with the Empire Reborn, an Imperial splinter faction ruled by Lord Hethrir. The Procurator forced himself to look past his xenophobia to recognize Desann's strength and made the Chistori his second-in-command, putting him in charge of training his Youths. One of these Youths, a woman named Tavion Axmis, would go on to become Desann's apprentice.
In 12 ABY, Desann and his forces set out in search for the Valley of the Jedi in the hopes of attaining its power. This mission brought him into the paths of New Republic commandos Kyle Katarn and Jan Ors, whom Desann used to lead him to the Valley. After successfully taking the Valley's power to turn his followers into the Reborn, Desann launched an assault on the Jedi Praxeum.
While his Dark Jedi kept Skywalker and his students occupied, Desann sought out the Force nexus located beneath the Great Temple. Katarn followed him there and confronted the fallen Jedi. When a plea to return to the Order fell on deaf ears, Katarn was left with no choice but to strike Desann down. Not long after, the rest of the Reborn were defeated and Desann's fleet was destroyed.
Although her master had perished, Tavion Axmis lived on and she decided to continue in his stead. After procuring the Scepter of Marka Ragnos, an ancient Dark Lord of the Sith, Axmis planned to resurrect Ragnos himself and organized a cult dedicated to this cause. Her possession of the Scepter inevitably brought her to the attention of Darth Vorath and his Sith, who convinced her to accept their aid in her plot.
At Vorath's behest, Axmis informed Lord Hethrir of her plans in order to procure additional resources. Despite her best efforts, Axmis' plot to resurrect Marka Ragnos was foiled by the young Jedi Jaden Korr and the Disciples of Ragnos were subsequently disbanded.
Kueller and Brakiss
Dolph was a young student at the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4 when word reached him that his parents had been killed by the Je'har regime on his home planet of Almania. This news stirred a darkness deep within him and Dolph blamed the New Republic's inaction for the tragedy. Seeking vengeance, Dolph used his powers to overthrow the Je'har and take over Almania. Taking on the name of Kueller after a historical Almanian general, the fallen Jedi set his eyes on the New Republic.
Darth Vorath and his Order of Sith were very much aware of Kueller's operations but refrained from intervening. After all, Vorath very much doubted that a novice Dark Jedi would be capable enough to bring the Republic to its knees. Nonetheless, the Dark Lord made sure to have his operatives monitor Kueller and his forces closely.
Not long after taking over Almania, Kueller came across another former Jedi student named Brakiss. A former Inquisitor, Brakiss had been tasked by his Imperial masters to infiltrate Luke Skywalker's Jedi Order. When Skywalker forced him to confront the darkness within himself, a broken Brakiss fled from the Praxeum and eventually crossed paths with Kueller. The Dark Jedi convinced Brakiss to join him in his plot against the New Republic with the promise of revenge against Skywalker and his Jedi.
Ultimately however, the New Rebellion would fail and Kueller met his end at the hands of Leia Organa Solo. Brakiss was able to escape with his life and he fled to the Deep Core, where he was recruited into the Second Imperium splinter faction. At the Imperium's behest, Brakiss established a Shadow Academy to counteract Skywalker's Jedi Praxeum, training a cadre of Dark Jedi along with the Nightsister Tamith Kal.
Six years after Kueller's failed rebellion, the Shadow Academy made its move against the New Jedi Order. Although Brakiss and his Dark Jedi proved to be quite a challenge to Skywalker and his young students, things would take a dramatic turn when Brakiss realized that the Second Imperium had been deceiving him and his comrades all along, utilizing a hologram of the late Emperor Palpatine to create the illusion of his rebirth. When Brakiss confronted the four Royal Guards behind the facade, one of them activated the Shadow Academy's self-destruction mechanism, taking their own lives along with Brakiss.
In the aftermath, the Dark Jedi who had followed Brakiss were either redeemed -- such as his personal apprentice Zekk -- or ended up fleeing into deep space, where they were recruited by Vorath's Sith to serve as acolytes. At the end of the day, this minor boost to his forces was the only benefit Vorath ever saw in Kueller and his botched rebellion.
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