Darkness Rising

Coruscant, a sprawling world of towering skyscrapers, billions of people coming and going, and no one notices the one man who walks alone along a dark alley with an intent to take over the universe. That man is the beginning of a new era, a man who has wiped out scores of his own kind as well as those who would oppose him. He is changing the Sith to become the ultimate power in the universe. They were never meant to be seen, they were never meant to be heard, they were supposed to be masters of the shadow. To be Sith was to incite fear without ever being seen, and to change the world without the world even knowing it. Recently the Sith had become weak and exposed, Bane put an end to their ill formed rule and is now reforming the sith to follow the old ways, the ways which the Dark Lords of before had conquered with. Darth Bane now sets out to shake the very foundations of the universe as it is known today, no one today will even begin to understand what he has set in motion.   

Bane never grew up as a Sith. He was inducted much later and in that time his hatred grew and along with his power. To Sith, power in the force was fueled by passion and emotion, to embrace them would strengthen your power of the force. When Bane was made an apprentice, he used emotions to fuel his power, and with that he crushed those that stood in his way. While he was learning how to be a Sith, he came across writings of an older generation, a generation who nearly took over the known universe with only two Sith, a master and an apprentice. Bane sought out this old lost knowledge, and through this came to realize that "The Rule of Two" was the only way the Sith could be triumphant and that the current horde of Sith was misled. With his goal of reform in mind, he tricked the other leaders of the Sith to use an ancient ritual that would supposedly take out the Jedi who were opposing them. Bane knew the true effects of the ritual they were going to use, it was a bomb that would suck the souls of any and all who could control the force and entrap them for eternity. Unknowing of the treachery, the bomb was released and in one fell swoop, Bane had brought the Sith and the Jedi down.

Bane, now the last remaining Sith Lord has come to Coruscant to further his knowledge, and the knowledge he needed resided deep within the Jedi temple unseen for centuries. Bane continued to walk on at a faster pace, as he was meeting with one of his contacts who had the information needed to infiltrate the Jedi temple. As he passed by a cantina one of the more rowdy patrons yelled out.

"You don't look like you're from down here, it's dangerous walking alone through the back alleys of Coruscant," As he spoke Bane could see four men approaching him from multiple directions. If there were not so many witnesses Bane could have dispatched them with much ease using his lightsaber and the force, but Bane needed to keep a low profile if he was to make to the temple unsuspected.

"I would not move any closer if I were you," Bane stated coldly.

"It's five against one why should we listen to you," the Zabrak thug said as he still edged closer.

"If you cooperate this would be…" another thug started, but didn't get the chance to finish as Bane crushed his throat, the man collapsing to the floor without another sound. When the first thug went down, one of them pulled out a vibroblade and made a lunge for Bane's chest. Bane whose reflexes had been honed by years at the academy and years mining cortosis saw it coming and maneuvered one of the other thugs in between him and his attacker. The attacker realized much too late that he couldn't stop the knife from sinking into his comrade, and while he was still dazed Bane knocked the man out. With only two men of the five left standing, they took a chance and made a break for it. Bane had no intentions on going after them, as he had more important matters to attend to.

Bane walked away knowing that he would be bothered no more, kept going until arriving at the predestined location for his meeting with his contact. Down here there was no sunlight, there was only the streetlights and the lights of the hundreds of glowing signs. For some it would be hard to see, and somewhat disorienting, but for Bane there was the force and he could use it to see what his eyes could not. And with this power he could see his contact waiting.

"You're late, I have lots of other business I need to attend to." Replied the humanoid figure covered in a cloak. Most sith would have cut a person down for a remark like that, but Bane needed his information and he didn't want any complications to his plan, it made life easier that way.

"Ran into some thugs, have you gotten the clearances?"

"Of course."

Anxious to get this done, he took what his contact had given him and without further notice, disappeared into the dark shadows that surrounded the twilight zone. After studying the identity he was given, he set a direct course for the spires of the Jedi temple, and while he had no fear that he would accomplish his task he did fear that if he was discovered the Jedi would mark him as a threat and arouse themselves from the stupor they were falling into. Bane's whole plan for the Sith to take control of the universe depended on secrecy. And so under the name of Sepp Omak, he walked up to the entrance of the temple.

The temple dominated the skyline, built out of huge slabs of marble, built to safely house the Jedi of the universe. Bane walked right up and entered through the gates without any problems, and he swiftly moved to the archives room to recover what belonged to the Sith in millennia's previous. The Jedi paid him no notices as he walked their halls, he had masked his presence with the force and his cloak covered enough of his orbalisk armor to not stir any suspicion. The orbalisk armor was a just as good as it was bad, it provided a nearly impenetrable armor and gave him greater power of the force along with greatly increased regenerative power. On the downside, it stood out and had to be covered and because it was made of parasites it caused constant pain. To remove them would cause almost certain death as they would release neurotoxins into the host body. Today Bane would be looking for any information on the removal of orbalisks and any other sith secrets he could find such as long forgotten rituals. Bane got into the archives and took out as many items as he thought he could get before the alarms would bring the entire temple to him. As he was on his way out he came across a group of four Jedi.

"You! Come here." One of the Jedi called to Bane. As he had no other choice Bane walked over, his hand lowered to be closer to his lightsaber should he need it.

"I need someone to do my work, you will do as I command," the jedi stated while attempting to assert his dominance over Bane with the force.

"I will not bow to you or anyone else," He replied coolly.

"I think you need show some respect to those above you," The four advanced on Bane.

Bane knew he wouldn't have much time to fight them, but he had not been able to unleash his full potential in a long time. Bane watched them edge closer and slowly removed the hood covering his face. He grinned at the shocked look on their faces, and said to them, "You truly have no idea who you are dealing with."

And with that statement he ignited his blood red lightsaber; the familiar hiss was like music to his ears. Using the force to propel himself at an inhuman speed, he slammed into the first Jedi with such a force that it broke several ribs. Upon seeing how easily Bane dispatched one of their own, the three remaining Jedi pulled closer together as to attack him as a cohesive group. Bane sent bolts of violet lightning from his fingertips into the group and one of them didn't block it in time. The smell of burning flesh was in the air, and the man's screams reverberated off the walls. The two rushed at Bane hoping that they could overwhelm him, before they too met the fate of their comrades. Bane met them in combat, and his mastery of the blade was equal to if not greater than their combined might. Flashes of red and blue splayed across the walls as they continued to battle, and the continually hiss and frequent collisions of the blades were all that could be heard. With some deft handwork he moved past the guard of one of the jedi and smote him across the chest with his saber. Now there was only one left, and he poured all his power into the force of his blows. The Jedi had no chance, and was quickly disarmed of his lightsaber. With one fluid motion, Bane decapitated him and sheathed his lightsaber. With one final look back at the other end of the hallway, he walked out into the streets of Coruscant.

Bane boarded onto his private starship and began his ascent out of the planet's atmosphere. Once he was in space, he activated the hyperdrive and set a course for Ruusan. Upon walking away from the cockpit, he saw the Coruscant News broadcasting the robbery of the Jedi Temple. Bane smiled to himself, and went to go study the ancient Sith holocrons for anything that might be useful in his plight to take over the universe. As he watched the projections from the holocrons hoping they would make this venture worth it, while none of them shed light on how to get rid of the orbalisks one of them showed him something very, very intriguing…     

Song: Graveyard Disciples – Black Label Society