Before - Legends Dark Tales Lost: The Original Six - Complete!

FORWARD

As the approach of many years has passed since I have posted anything unique to the Boards, I thought to approach some of my long, on going work from a different perspective. This is largely a thought process, something that has been thought over, processed, and put to digital print at times, over the course of a few years now. Largely it was first done as a prologue to the Gessa Saga, but I felt it was too meaty and deserved its own fate. Since it had been so long since I wrote anything that had little or nothing to do with the alternate universe I am currently playing with, I plunged ahead, and after some time I created a work that related to my other works, but had a weight all its own. For my old readers I hope you welcome it between volumes of the Gessa Saga, and for new readers this may be the first of many 'thoughts' in its own series that may continue on depending on a great, many things in my life.

I cannot help it: the posting or the lack of future works: that is how life works.

Yet rest assured this story is already complete. It is time to post it.


ON THE STORY STRUCTURE

I haven't done a story where there is a non-participating character before. You must imagine me telling the story, as if I had heard it from somewhere and was so captivated by it I told whoever comes across my path. The structure is that of a storyteller, which I have often portrayed myself more than once on the Boards. Think in terms of 'The Hobbit' in the telling, but not the tone, mind you.


ABSTRACT

Often lost, unintentionally, in our postings is the lack of history to our contributions to the Star Wars mythology. It is not a requirement, but some do wonder where, how, and why some people or events in your stories managed to get to that point BEFORE the shooting beings. Depending the story and characters I have done determines how far back in the past I go. SW itself is a galaxy of stories that do not have to touch upon the lore, and when you consider the opportunity to tell an alternate tale to it the galaxy only gets bigger. I always recommend a complete history of your main characters thought of before you write your story: you may have a story from it in doing so. And you don't have to give the biography of the character in the first planned story, but with it in mind you can plot ahead on what to do next in the story, or in the next one. Trust me: more detail will come, you don't have to think it all.

This story is dubbed one of the 'Dark Tales Lost' because it represents a deeper explanation of events much later than I have ever posted or mentioned. Its best described a story from the past born from a story from the future: paradoxical perhaps, but you will often find in literature nothing is truly written in order. It could be said if I didn't tell it, it would be 'lost' to all else.

It's about the Sith, or rather a closer look into part of the Gessa Saga universe, or rather before the Gessa Saga was in story-form existence. My long time readers will recognize the terms used in it, but even then they will be stunned to learn the new information in this. Do not fret, new readers: there will be no need to read the Gessa Saga in whole to understand 'The Original Six'. I only hope you enjoy it, all of you, and thank you.

NOTE - I don't own Star Wars. This is an Alternate Universe story. It may contain sensitive content for some readers: a warning I give even if this was a children's novel.

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DARK TALES LOST:
THE ORIGINAL SIX

Before the Dark Times, when death was much, much simpler, the Sith War had raged throughout the galaxy, at times seemingly setting every planet on fire, at times so silent people would forget there was ongoing holocaust that had lasted for thousands of years. Much of these lulls in action as the military would call them were largely strategic by the enemies of the Republic, the Sith, who had started this terrible war due to large factions of the users of the Dark Side of the Force being wronged by those who shared in their previous inc

 

Interesting start. Love the clothing... and the fighting!

 

Thank you, Delight-ful, and it is so nice to see you again.

Here's some more:

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Sel looked back at the approaching figure who had killed the Sith Lords and noted he or she shared in the same taste of clothing as the Sith who owned Exe Bizarous by nerve hold. Dressed in black leathers that were expertly wrapped, their faces covered enough to barely their eyes could be seen. The one who brandished swords spoke as a woman to both unsuspecting males, ?I bade you to come alone Exe Bizarous. How difficult was that to understand.?

Exe Bizarous tried to speak, but he found the attempt only made the pain worse. A kind chuckle came from his tormentor, and the female behind the hood mused, ?What?s that, she can?t hear you. Do speak up, master of parlor tricks, your Greater demands you answer her!?

However, neither female?s attentions were on the tortured Exe Bizarous. Their attention fell on Harnash Sel. When Sel had heard the female Sith?s voice and choice of words, he assumed his position in life relative to their position of their lives. He dropped his head, and he fell to his knees again, and remained very still and silent. He barely heard the rustle of leather although he could see one of the women?s boots in his line of sight.

?A Lesser,? noted the female, ?who knows his proper place. He is true to his Nature, knows best that to live is to obey me.? Her gloved hand grabbed Sel?s chin very hard and slowly she made him look up at her covered face. Her hand, however, lost its vice hold on his jaw and it then carefully stroke his head, pushing back his hood. ?As you know, Lesser, by our Nature, I was to allow Exe Bizarous to torture you and kill you as he saw fit. You may speak.?

Sel was not as nervous with her as he was with Exe Bizarous. ?Just as I know you may torture and kill me at your leisure, my Greater. I may grovel and beg, but that will be by instinct, for I know you will not have compassion whether it is you or he that does it. For now, I know my role: I grovel before you as your slave.?

She picked Sel up by the shoulders with both hands. She said to him, ?I am the Hone of Xulm.? Sel sucked in a breath, which made her demand with narrowing eyes, ?Do you believe me to be a liar.?

?N-No,? stuttered Sel. ?I?.I am sorry, I have doubts. I do not mean to have them.?

?No fear, Lesser,? assured Hone, ?I will restore your faith in Nature. Whet.? She looked towards her female common-part. ?Release the Dark Jedi Magician.?

?Yes, my Greater,? said Whet, and she let go of Exe Bizarous. The freed prisoner thought to do something once released, but his recovery was met with the sudden need to hold very still. He felt like he was having a heart attack.

Whet?s gloved hand stretched out and her thumb pressed against the bridge of Bizarous? nose as the other hand held the Mage?s head steady. ?Would you rather move and die of an exploding heart, or would you like me to paralyze you permanently through your nose and have the birds eat you slow??

Exe Bizarous stopped moving and said nothing. Whet moved her hands away. When this was done, in short time, Bizarous? chest eased and he could relax. He was quietly furious, as both Sith and man, that he was treated so. Yet he had to live, for now, with the contempt: no part of him had fully recovered from the painful nerve holds of Whet.

Hone said to the Sith Mage, ?You should respect those better than you, Lesser. You are only a simple title removed from Harnash Sel?s position in life compared to myself and my Whet.?

Sel said nothing, hoping Exe Bizarous was killed by these two before the Sith Mage was given a chance to kill him for being compared to Sel. Hone, on the other hand, turned to Sel and produced seemingly out of nowhere a black rose, which the stem was delicately wrapped in a leather ribbon. She presented this to him and said, ?An apology to your wife. I know you have told her nothing of this meeting. With this rose given to her, as a member of the faithful, I know she will understand.?

?I too will cherish it,? said Sel. He sniffed it, and concealed

 

Alas, the two would not be alone for long. Tight to the ground came a short range atmospheric shuttle that had sustained serious damage to all sides of it. When it landed, and the vehicle much larger than Sel?s starship, and its twin propellers stopped, the air system that kept it afloat depleted for safety purposes. The smell of helium caused the two Sith there to really back off from the thing.

?By the Darkness: the fool?s mad!? declared Exe Bizarous. ?He flew a balloon through the war zone!? As the hatch to the vehicle deployed, the Sith Mage stomped furiously towards the exiting figure; a middle-aged man in black and white. ?You dumb ponstage, what you doing depleting helium here with sparking wires!?

The newcomer eyed Exe Bizarous and dared a look at Harnash Sel. Back and forth he looked between the furious Sith Mage and the frowning yet calm and kind Sith E?oqerst. He asked, ?Are you?.representatives of Amu Caru and Darth Tudan?? He eyed the Sith Mage. ?Clearly your allegiances are defined.?

Exe Bizarous laughed and said, ?Idiot: the battle is far south of here!?

?Oh,? said the newcomer in long thought, slowly peering back at his ruined air ship as the explosions in the skies continued. He turned back and continued, ?I believe there is no direction the battle does not occupy now.?

Sel stepped forth and asked, ?Kind sir, does that mean it has become orbital??

?As I came in, the first of many destroyers stolen from Coruscant had engaged Lord Tudan?s subsidiaries. I was lucky to get through.? He regarded both men again and said, ?So you are not representatives of the warring sides??

Exe Bizarous looked back at Sel, and for the first time both of these men agreed in principal on something. The Sith Mage said, ?I am Exe Bizarous, a loyal member to Amu Caru, and this here is....?

?Harnash Sel,? said the younger man. ?Like us, I believe you were either summoned here, or tricked here.?

The newcomer?s eyes widened, and with the Dark Side of the Force he considered the two before him. Those who felt the Dark Side felt powerful, but also felt paranoid: fear was an emotion of evil, thus it filtered into the mindset of those who used the Dark Force. He found that Exe Bizarous was skilled enough to kill him, but Sel could only kill a fly.

?Grimace Cull,? introduced the man; it made Exe Bizarous snarl in disgust and stomp away; poor Sel looked very confused by this. Cull said to Exe Bizarous, ?Judging by your typical Sith Order response you have heard of me.? The Sith Mage made a rude nose, followed by a rude gesture of thumb placed behind index finger, expressing the backhand. ?Indeed, you have.?

?Shove i with your treasonous words, Cull,? deplored Bizarous with his back still dangerous turned towards him. ?I have nothing to say to the likes of you!?

?And already, I?m for the better because of it,? mused Cull. He turned to Sel. ?And you are of the other extreme. Do I dare ask a stupid question? Are you an E?oqerst??

?I am,? said Sel. ?It is not entirely a stupid question, for I know nothing of you just as you know nothing of me.? He craned his head. ?You know of the Nature??

?I?m a diplomat: I must know a great deal about many things,? said Cull in respect. ?Even within our own ranks.?

Frustrated by the nonsense, Exe Bizarous turned back around and said, ?What is this annoying jive you two keep going on about? Daring to ask stupid questions? Are you serious??

?Due to his beliefs, Mister Sel cannot tell you,? said Cull. ?You see, a dumb question is normally a complete waste of time. E?oqerst do not believe in lowering intelligence or wasting time. If one always knows the answer, then why ask the question even rhetorically. That goes to small talk as well.?

Which was all too true: a true practicing E?oqerst did not waste time in such mentioned regards. If one did know the answer, the need to express the question did not exist. Small talk did too much, such as wasting precious oxygen, precious time, precious energy conversion, and many other things too precious as well as too many to mention. As for lowering

 

The coming of another vessel, much older than anyone could ever remember recalling, flew in low and quick and landed hurriedly next to Sel?s ship. This ship was seen by Exe Bizarous and drove the Sith Mage back to the landing site on a run. Grimace Cull and Harnash Sel held their position as the ship opened and two occupants emerged. One looked like Sel, passing off as a Sith Lord in clothing; the other wearing some very ragged clothing, much like a street bum, but the streets had not prematurely aged the young man yet. The figure in black, on the other hand, was?.strange to the Cull; he was not right at all. Sel, on the other hand, was not so taken aback.

Exe Bizarous cared not, approaching the two new arrivals and demanding, ?Are you in use of your ship? If not, thanks.? See, he was walking away towards any battle he could find because taking Sel?s unarmed ship into a combat zone was suicide. The newly arrived ship, though old, sported twin mounted guns under the cockpit.

The dark one did not answer the Sith Mage as he approached the others with his young passenger in tow. He said, ?Well, Harnash Sel, you made it.?

?You know this?.thing?? dared asked Cull. The creature turned and stared at Cull with his Sithian eyes. It made Cull stutter and worry. ?Who are you??

?I am Gaiden the Youngest, Grimace Cull,? said Gaiden. He looked at Sel when Sel gave him a bow. ?I believe you have been expecting my arrival. And to answer for Harnash: I was the one who personally delivered the summons to him. I am also responsible for tricking you here.?

?You?!?? Cull frowned. ?What is the meaning of this??

Gaiden turned towards his ship, and perfectly timed Exe Bizarous was stomping downward in a huff. Without missing a beat, as if the conversation had featured all the previous introduced in this tale, Gaiden said, ?And I dropped a hint to Exe Bizarous? men that a traitor of Lord Tudan would be here to give him valuable information; a deception similar to the one done now to the control systems of this vessel.?

Exe Bizarous grabbed Gaiden up by his cloak folds and lifted the lighter man upward. He threatened, ?Release the controls of the ship!?

?Why would I do that?? asked Gaiden reasonably. An incredibly handsome man, what was startling was his glowing white skin, the contrasting black hair that was just extreme in tone, and the yellow eyes that glowed as any Siths would. But he was peculiar, no question.

?Because if I kill you, I won?t get out of here any faster and I will have not had the pleasure of torturing you,? announced Exe Bizarous.

?Then do what you must,? said Gaiden, acting rather bored. ?I am sure my death guarantees not just your death, Exe Bizarous, but everyone else?s here.?

?See here,? began Grimace Cull, hoping the Sith Mage would let Gaiden down. ?What do you mean by that??

?It is simple: I die, you all die,? said Gaiden with hands held up. ?My Mother has murdered countless many in her long life. What is four more in the eyes of Hone, the Sword of Xulm??

Exe Bizarous looked to the young street bum and demanded, ?And who might you be, fool??

?Bastion Kepler,? said the man with auburn hair and cold eyes. ?And I get this feeling you?re a Sith Lord.?

?If feeling you mean you sense me, whelping, your skills show more novice than promise!? Exe Bizarous shook Bastion Kepler off. ?I am not a Sith Lord! I am a Sith Mage! I could demonstrate the difference to you!?

?You can try,? said Kepler, stepping back, raising his fist for a fight. Cull and Sel stepped back; Gaiden stepped forward with an arm barring Kepler, and a raised hand towards Exe Bizarous.

?I cannot stress the importance of all of us being alive for the next few hours,? said Gaiden. ?Please, Exe Bizarous, this young man wishes to become a Sith Lord and so wants to prove himself. His foolish death will mean all our deaths, I certify it!?

?Oh really,? chuckled Exe Bizarous. He stated the obvious. ?You are just as worthless as Sel here, Gaiden. You cannot stop me.?

Gaiden gave him a smile and said, ?You will be surprised how I have survived these pas

 

A popular misconception was that landing fields were very close to sites of interests. In this case any number of the four beings ? Exe Bizarous most of all ? were disappointed. Gaiden was taking them on a very long trek that included several instances of climbing up and climbing down; he no longer held Harnash Sel?s hand, but Gaiden grunted with glee as he dragged the disgruntled and terribly bruised body and pride of the Sith Mage still being made to hang onto the Stone of Marriage. Sel and Bastion Kepler found that climbing was difficult for them. Grimace Cull was astute in the Force enough to trust his instincts to find the easiest way up for himself. Errantly, Kepler tried to follow Cull?s path, departing from the slow way Gaiden was going by dragging up Exe Bizarous, and Kepler nearly fell to his death several times. Meanwhile, Sel had learned to wait until Gaiden was finished with his ascent, memorizing it, and found the going very easy and less dangerous. It took two more climbs before Kepler followed Sel?s example.

During the journey, the war was louder, the explosions above and afar were numerous, larger, and progressively increasing. They watched ? at least Gaiden did not and Exe Bizarous with numb body could not ? a missile streak across the sky from the east, climb, almost disappear in the heavens, and watched it fall to the west. It struck the landing site from which they came. The explosion was distant, foretelling how much ground they had actually walked, but massive, and the flower cloud lit the dark up like a morning and kept it that way for several long seconds. The atomic explosion sent a shockwave out that only fluttered their clothing when it reached them; far they had traveled, away from danger, from shockwave, from hard radiation, from death.

?The ships!? cried Kepler ?Ah hell, how the smeckle do we get off this rock now!? Harnash Sel and Grimace Cull had to agree; Exe Bizarous was too busy being paralyzed to add to the conversation.

?You will all get off this rock,? assured Gaiden, who paid no attention to the atomic explosion or, in reality, to anyone?s complaints. He just pulled on and said, ?Come along, now. No use in stopping anymore than it is to complain.?

?They must have seen the ships from spy satellites in orbit,? noted Grimace Cull to anyone who was listening. ?Lord Tudan had launched that missile, I know it.?

?Hey Gaiden, being out in the open like this is going to make us targets!? cried Bastion Kepler. He had a fair point. ?Is our destination any closer??

?Yes, it is,? assured Gaiden, who just kept walking. The others just followed, feeling the answer was a positive one.

Six hours would pass; six hours of constant walking. The others would complain, and eventually stopped to rest They would wake up to the reality that Gaiden, still dragging Exe Bizarous, was still walking. They would follow the tracks, they would catch up with a walking slow Gaiden only to have the Sith pick up the pace again and walk faster. Survival was an issue for them, even with water available and present at various places off of Gaiden?s beaten path. Fear of death prevented the burning of fires. Hunger and the energy expenditure of constant walking were having a toll on the travelers, but nothing Kepler or Cull could say swayed Gaiden. Gaiden had stopped talking to them the moment he pulled his black leather flowing mask over his whole face from the crown of his head.

Twelve hours since the journey had begun, Harnash Sel tripped his way to Gaiden?s side and said, ?I know you desire silence. But I am starving and so are the others.?

Gaiden peered at the E?oqerst, sighed, and grabbed some dangling leather from his leather armor. Torn off, he gave it to Sel, and tore another piece off. He stuck it under his hood, and soon Sel could hear him chewing and eating it. Sel looked at his piece, stuck it in his mouth, and found it to be beef jerky. The jerky was skillfully woven into the leather.

Barely a whisper, Gaiden said in violation of the tenants of his faith, ?At anytime, the Sith Lord and the street bu

 

The cave did become a cavern of incredible size and so thick the walls of stone the natural sound of war could not be heard. There was, however, from great light sources straight ahead, the sounds of transmissions running over one another. From time to time, on approach, the comers could here orders be given, demands for supplies or help, and the cheers of victory and the jeers of certain doom. This was nothing compared to the sight of the revealed Hone; mask gone, her face was as hauntingly white as her son Gaiden?s face. The haunting went beyond the face, for her glowing yellow eyes, defying the cold brilliance of her reddish-black hair, revealed her long, difficult, successful, and painful story. She was attractive, no question, but not beyond beautiful, however she would say to you she was not placed in this galaxy far, far away so you may enjoy leering at her. Hone deserves your respect, for only her mind was sharper than her swords and her skill in using them.

The point of reality was not Hone or the transmissions of war, but the torn bodies of two men, each one lying on either side of Hone. Exe Bizarous noted the colors of the one on the left and gasped in alarm, ?Amu Caru!?

Grimace Cull did not see Amu Caru until he noted the very dead Sith?s ruined ceremony and circumstances. He looked to the other body and said, ?And that must be Lord Tudan.?

The look upon Hone?s face was one a mother would give to her children for figuring out a difficult answer. Bastion Kepler said, ?You mean these guys are the generals who started the battle on Korriban??

?The correct view of the matter, young boy,? began Hone evenly as Whet and Gaiden assumed a standing position of guard between her and the shocked group, ?is ?these guys WERE the generals who started the battle on Korriban.? She sat back and basked in the brilliance and the horror of herself. ?I weighed their testicles and found them unworthy.?

?Their balls?? Kepler looked to Sel and asked, ?Tell me she?s joking?? He really wanted to know, because the feeling was the likes of Hone, Whet, and Gaiden did not use metaphors as a means to communicate.

Ominously, Hone said to gain Kepler?s attention and said in truth, ?I do not joke.? She flicked her leg, and for the first time everyone saw the classic paperweight scale that had been mutely standing silent by her chair. It made noise now, clanking down the steps, with very dry blood on the plates. Noting the size of the blood stains on the plates, Kepler put a hand over his crotch.

?You fiend!? dared Exe Bizarous. ?You have killed my Master!?

?Yes, the day before the battle had started,? said Hone unabashed by the Sith Mage?s banter. ?For I could no longer wait for the end of the Sith as we all know it.?

Sel, Cull, Kepler, and Bizarous just threw looks of confusion at one another; Gaiden and Whet, in the know, revealed no shock. Hone stood from her chair and said plainly, ?Allow me to start from the beginning, for in order to do as I command, in order for you to survive the future, you will need to know what no one else does living, and sometimes dead. For I am Hone, the Sword of Xulm the Few, and I have bared witness to many dead days by the hand of my husband, and for this coming, Gaiden, his first.?

Hone began to step down and towards the men. ?In my presence stand the representatives of the last bloodlines of the First Sithian Civilization that had existed on this world Korriban two billion years ago.? This made Grimace Cull and Exe Bizarous cast looks at one another, for what they knew said the Sith were never that old. Hone clarified, ?This universe is older than you know and beyond the comprehension of the science of time. Dare not try to temp me with your knowledge, for it is not only wrong I have myself as a witness to the changes.

?I have lived for a number of those years, which I was born in, I lived in, and I had watched the end of the Sixth Civilization and became immortal at the birth of the Seventh Civilization. Since those times, millions upon millions of years have passed, and this will mark the end of

 

Just a little post....with references to that 'Damn Ocean Story'...

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Hone gestured to Whet and Gaiden, and both of her children again joined the other four. Her hands still out towards the group, she said, ?You six have been chosen to remain in this realm, for you six are descendants of the remaining bloodlines of the First Civilization. The purpose of this is simple: perhaps Grimace Cull is right, that perhaps a peace can be achieved; this time, we shall try with so few of us left behind on this dead world in a much deader universe.

?My Gaiden would have been the only one of you six allowed to journey to the next Civilzation, but I have chosen him to represent the line of his Father in this realm. He is my Youngest child, my last with Xulm, and so with heavy heart and soul I bade him well.

?Whet, here, my Hand, comes from the union of Xulm and another. Though Human, and diluted in spirit, I consider her faithful to the ways of our people, and so promises to continue our kind here. She will also continue the legacy that fighting is not always swords and technology. Superior technology is no match for superior skill.?

She looked past her first chosen two. Hone said, ?Exe Bizarous is the descendant of the Sorcerer Dambanuk, the founder of magic on Korriban. Your line is proud in both magic and ego. Unlike the others, you have a great deal of work to do in terms of spreading your line.?

?Spreading my line?? quizzed Exe Bizarous. She frowned, of course, because he was supposed to already know what that meant. ?Why would I want a brat??

?Because I order it,? said Hone. ?Or I will kill you now. This is your destiny, Exe Bizarous. I do not care how you do it, but you will make children. You do not need to raise them. You do not need to marry. Just get it done.?

Hone looked to all of them and said, ?This task requires a way for all of you to reconstitute the Sith race in the hopes that when we emerge from the doors, we encounter our welcomed kind again. Do as you see fit to achieve this: I raise no objection under the Nature. But we are getting ahead of things needing to be discussed and clarified.?

Hone turned to Harnash Sel and said, ?Your family has been the most faithful to Xulm?s faith and to Xulm himself even if you have not realized it. You will have two duties, given to you for you are a Lesser, and I a Greater is making you have them.? Sel bowed in acceptance. ?The first is obvious, to continue your line, which you have already through your wife. I implore you to continue in that track. The second is that you will be the caretaker servant of Xulm himself.?

Harnash Sel looked sick, turning his full attention to the floating orb beside him. Xulm drifted to him and forced itself into one his hands. In turn, Sel clutched Xulm with both hands before him. To say you were to hold the founder of your faith?s existence in your hands would clearly almost make you faint. Sel nearly did as the audacity and the importance nearly stopped his young heart.

?Dear Hone, please, this is burden?.I find myself not worthy of,? choked Sel. Xulm was heavy in his hands, both figuratively and literally. ?I am a Lesser: I should not have such a burden.?

?Xulm has chosen you, Harnash Sel, the descendant of Zev?a?tath the Awakened,? said Hone. Sel looked at her in horror on this news. ?He honors you for your faith in the Nature, just as he honors you for being from the line of a warrior that had nearly matched him in war. Be at peace in the Dark Side, my Child: you have nothing to fear from fear.?

Sel did not look any better: he peered at Xulm as if he was an atomic bomb. Meanwhile, Hone stood before Grimace Cull and said, ?You are a descendant of the First Sworn Emperor. By right you should be the ruler of all of Korriban.?

?Me?? said Cull in disbelief. ?Me, Ruler of Korriban, from the Suel??

?By right, yes, if life and Xulm were both fair,? said Hone. ?Your desire to negotiate for advantage is an ancient one. When Xulm defeated your ancient and thus ended Korriban the first time, he felt the poetry of decei

 

Hone turned away, walked up the steps, and sat calmly as Kepler, Cull, Sel, and Exe Bizarous looked at one another with many questions still in their eyes. Hone, on her stone throne, said to them, ?The idea is, you Four of Six that do not understand, is that our return will be rushed if one of your six determines how best the Sith can find peace in this galaxy. There have been times millions of years had passed between Xulm?s actions, and there have been times only ten years had passed. When our return was sooner, the Dark Side of the Force was at its strongest, felt by all in the universe. In contrast, and you should feel it, the Dark Side wanes terribly in Death?s grasp. The power of Nature is not easy for any of us to grasp as it once was. As I said, instead of a slow painful death, I will institute a quick and painful one.?

Exe Bizarous said, ?If what you say is true, then the death of Korriban will only weaken the Dark Side more.?

?Precisely,? said Hone. ?Our great numbers lack the power of the Spiritual Force, the third Force that has been ignored by Lords, Masters, and Wizards; the Witches know, but know better than to act the way they do now with it. That is because the Jedi do not believe in the Spiritual Force; those Jedi became Dark Jedi and brought their translucent view of the soul with them! All is without passion or thought to them; pure emotion, but too greedy in wanting that as well as power. We do possess that which many believe we don?t: love, compassion, sensibility, and kindness. The Dark Jedi sought to purge that from the Sith, and they did succeed. We can go on and on about this, but?.have you not paid attention to each other in the days that passed getting here??

The group frowned and looked here and there. Hone said, ?Each of you also represent what is wrong with the Sith as it is now. Each of you, the extremes of Sith weakness. I can line you all up, starting with Harnash Sel, and to his right Gaiden, and to Gaiden?s right Grimace Cull, and then so on to Whet, to Exe Bizarous, to finally Bastion Kepler at the end of the spectrum.?

Hone was right, you know: each one, even her relations, were different approaches to life, thus different approaches of how one or a whole political entity for example tackled any problem before them.

Harnash Sel is a pacifist who gave in to his fear of death and gave his rulers his only son to fight for something he did not condone.

Gaiden is passive, but aggressive in times of need, as he demonstrated against the likes of Exe Bizarous with his powerful Force artifacts.

Grimace Cull was more of a realist than Gaiden as Gaiden was to Sel, but Cull thought more, and in turn talked more, than fought, which at times was detrimental to his fellow Sith.

Whet took to matters at the behest of his ancestor Hone, a good soldier she was, and lethal in both mind and body, yet it lacked a quality of the spirit to what she did; sometimes she enjoyed it too much.

Exe Bizarous was what one expected out of a modern Sith ? a Lesser Sith if you will ? with equal parts bluster and destruction, sparring no mercy for his enemies and all before him fall and all behind him obey, which at the apex of his conquests it did not matter if he was the last Sith standing.

Bastion Kepler was all about survival given his economic status, but it made him all action and no thought, truly he was a blaster with a mind of its own, firing whenever it suited him, taking up or dropping causes as it only benefited his misguided sensibilities.

This, of course, raises the debate where Hone was to be placed in this ravel; clearly she was no more passive than Harnash Sel, and not evilly clumsy like Bastion Kepler. Her words were a dare for any one of them to place her; no one had the courage to do that ? be thankful this is a story of long ago, and your opinion of her could be kept to yourself.

Kepler held up his hands and insisted, ?I just got into this mess.?

?It does not negate how you feel,? said Hone sternly. ?All of your extremes, from too peaceful to too lustful, has had an affect on th

 

The hours passed, and little happened. As much as everyone desired to know what was happening, and Exe Bizarous felt he lead the way in that curiosity, all they needed to do was go close to the entrance of the cavern and hear the escalation. Deep inside where they were they heard nothing. Near the entrance, by the end of the day, the war outside sounded like rain falling hard.

Conversation was kept to minimums based primarily on the before-mentioned points of existence Hone had so easily pointed out, and in which I too had pointed out. The absence of Hone, Whet, and Gaiden left the other four to fend for themselves. Harnash Sel remained fearful and alone in his room, with Xulm as his long quiet company, neither communicating with one another or with anyone else for the most part. Exe Bizarous, of course, kept to himself and did the most trips to the entrance to check on the progress of the war. Grimace Cull and Bastion Kepler spoke regularly, and in the beginning the Sith Diplomat showed the street bum how to use the Dark Side of the Force. Kepler progressed well, from feeling and interpreting the Darkness to hovering the heavier boulders in the chamber.

Everyone, however, grew more intense in the three primary emotions in the Dark Side as the zenith of Katlas, Korriban?s impossibly very close, eternal full moon that shined always on the night side, was drawing near. Each one of them felt like a condemned man, I tell you now. Each felt not the responsibility given to them, but the reality of what was going to transpire. This was a measure of what truly was what made one really evil, mind you. Sometimes we misconstrued evil by the acts one does without ever thinking about it: it?s fair to say those who do such things did not think about it either. Happens all the time: man kills his neighbor over tools, had regrets soon afterwards, confesses what he did, faces the consequences. Oh no, it does not give reason and full justification for such acts of evil, just that some people take such transgressions and make justifications for their own moral superiority. In some cases, such moral creatures are far more immoral than the criminals that had done the despicable acts.

See, in their own selfish way, they were evil, and something far more evil than them told them of a great evil action. Even in such evil men, evil in their own way, they desire a certain quickness to their actions, each based on their moral view of survival. This is a great mechanism, actually, but only if these men could control the act of evil, which none of them could not, and by the end of this story would not.

Someone like Harnash Sel would question their beliefs in the Greaters having such power, but as a Lesser, as less of a man compared to the others, he could only complain in silence to this horrible thing he did not want to happen and because afterwards his family will be vulnerable to the Jedi and the galaxy.

Bastion Kepler, on the other extreme, hardly cared for anyone but himself, but you see he had gotten a taste of Dark Side from Gaiden, and more of a taste from the likes of Grimace Cull. Kepler was like any professional destitute that accepted too much of the stereotype others he despised had assigned to him: he accepted what was given to him and damn nearly all the consequences. Such reasoning was fine if the deaths were quick and painless with regrets explained away by drugs, booze, or sex. For Kepler, however, his supply of the knowledge of the Dark Side of the Force, much like food and water and money, was about to be cut off to him. His mistrust in everyone else just built up and built up on that fact, and soon he was no longer interested, ironically enough, in Grimace Cull?s teachings.

By that time, when Kepler stormed back to his quarters, he discovered Whet was there, waiting for him. The woman closed the door behind him and announced, ?Hello, Bastion.?

Jumping, Kepler?s tension made him throw a punch. Whet caught the punch, controlled the wrist, and began using Kepler?s clenched fist on Kepler. Kepler was taught by Whet how it w

 

By the next day, Exe Bizarous and Grimace Cull kept to themselves about their wild night of passion with the Sithian women that came to them, while Bastion Kepler didn?t stop talking about it. Harnash Sel kept to himself, on the other hand, and as expected everyone left him alone. He did a lot of praying in his room; sadden that he could not stop himself when it came to an act of lust. He would never realize the power of the rose he consumed or Hone?s planned trickery, for Hone did what she did for more than the reasons she told him. Even now, the guilt in Sel was festering: one day it would consume him enough to forgo compassion.

As mindful as Hone is in her logic, she knew what she did was wrong to Sel, but she did not care: it was important to the survival of the species. Sel, on the other hand, only had the courage of his convictions and little else. He knew, or he thought he possessed the will, he had the power to stop it: all he had to do was kill Hone. He did not and worse there were times he enjoyed it, and even worse yet he felt even more compelled by the magic of the rose he consumed now to do her bidding. He knew his daughter would not have to be put through such a terrible ordeal like he just been put through, but the consumption of the rose made certain regardless that Sel?s burden was to become her burden like it or not; in fact as hard as he tried to tell himself not to go through with this, the magic of the rose ordered him. Hone?s murder of the Sith race made this certainty certain, but the rose would define Sel?s daughter?s role in it. In that, in all of this, Sel cried knowing Hone was right about it all. He could not and would not tell his family what he could not prevent; in the extramarital sex he did desire, and in the death of the Sith. Hone knew what was truly in his heart: a passion long suppressed by duty.

Gaiden fetched Harnash Sel suddenly, the youngest of Hone?s children saying, ?It?s time to go, Brother.?

Sel cringed on the word ?brother?. He made sure he had everything, including Xulm ? what an uncomfortable fact that Hone?s husband was in the room to ?watch? what was done ? and quietly stepped out of the room one last time. Gaiden stopped Sel, noting the Human Sith?s pale color nearly matched his white skin and said gently, ?I am sorry.?

Sel said nothing; if he did, and as a man he hated to cry but if he did speak he was going to cry. The guilt was just that tremendous, along with the frustration, and within him was an anger and rage for what had happened that any Sith Lord would have craved for power. This rage was born from the fact Gaiden just revealed, in no words, that he knew exactly what his mother Hone had done. Never had Sel felt so compelled to hit anyone, but he stayed his hand because it was Gaiden, whose sympathy for him was genuine and his yellow eyes, so like his mother?s, showing compassion and mercy and not uncaring malevolence.

?Come now,? said Gaiden, taking Sel?s hand like he had done days before and he lead him towards the others in the grander chamber. There was Whet, Exe Bizarous, Grimace Cull, and Bastion Kepler. Hone was no where in sight; Sel had no good opinion in regards to her at the time.

?Hey, there?s the peace lover,? squawked Kepler, who was just fully enlightened by the Hone Experience. ?Wondered if you were alive. Don?t I have a story to tell you.?

Sel could guess, but Whet saved him from the horror of last night. ?Stow it! We have to leave right now. Running is our only option.?

?If the rush is needed, why not have land speeders?? questioned Cull reasonably.

?Because we have to avoid detection as much as possible,? stressed Whet. She practically chased Gaiden away to look Sel over. The master fighter did a once over and gave the man a good whack on the chest to wake him, which was followed by a blaster being pressed into his hands. For a fleeting moment, Sel thought to press the barrel of the blaster under his chin and pull the trigger. The moment passed because, in his logic, he gained nothing.

Whet turned around and said, ?We cannot control

 

Bastion Kepler was up first and he took stock at everyone around him. They were just stirring about or not. He just assumed the worst, and he said, ?Whatever, guys, I?m out of here!? Since he was so close to a great life, he was not going to save anyone else but himself. In his heart he felt he had to run, and he had to run now!

Whet shook her head and scampered to her feet. Something that ?felt? like a crack to her made her look up. The shell that surrounded Katlas, that was once Katlas? top layer, broke up and scattered away from it, and those large pieces shattered into smaller pieces, and those pieces into even smaller pieces. These pieces could be seen by the naked eye as the star shone them. Against the laws of physics, these pieces broke orbit from Katlas. They headed for ships.

They headed fast for Korriban.

?Fly! FLY NOW!? Whet shouted at the others who were too slow in getting up. ?GET UP! WE HAVE SECONDS IF NOT MINUTES! RUN!? She turned and ran inside the moment a fighter crashed right into the Sith Lord?s ships and destroyed them upon impact. It jarred the others immediately into action.

Not everyone.

Gaiden was getting up when he noted Harnash Sel was still unconscious. He had to run over Exe Bizarous to get to the E?oqerst and tend to him. Grimace Cull staggered for the doors, but Gaiden cried out, ?Here! Help me here!? He watched Xulm, fully reformed, drift toward Sel and find a home in his pouch. ?CULL!?

?All Sith for themselves, young one,? said Cull, throwing a salute. ?Take care of yourself.?

Gaiden knew Cull was right, but he helped Sel up anyway. He dragged the man to the entrance of the hidden landing bay. He spotted Exe Bizarous along the way, he too was out, and shouted in the hopes of waking him, ?I CAN?T SAVE YOU TOO, MAGE! GET UP, NOW! THE APOCALYPSE IS AT HAND!?

The Sith Mage was very still. Gaiden got Sel deep into the crawlway and set the man down as he was coming to. Gaiden slapped Sel to get him stirring and plead, ?Wake up, Harnash! You must wake up! Hell is nearly here! You need to get to your ship!? He could hear the others starting up their ships. ?Please, hurry!?

Gaiden turned away from a now conscious Sel and ran hard to get back outside. He did not look up; what he would have saw would have made him stop. The black pieces of Katlas were cascading and finding targets in the higher orbits. Departure from Korriban was going to be disturbing, he knew, because of it. He had to hope everyone took the horizons to escape, for there the wraith of the Titan Eclispeshame would not have reached the day side that quickly. But on the day side it would not matter; the wraith would reach it within the hour, and by the second hour all that was within the realm of Korriban would be lost.

Reaching Exe Bizarous, Gaiden went to rouse him, but instead the Sith Mage stabbed him in the chest. That act was in one fluid motion, timed appropriately by the convenience of Gaiden in the process of three actions. The Force guided the Mage?s blade home, driving it perfectly through the seam in Gaiden?s leather-wrap armor.

Gaiden stood there in complete shock as Exe Bizarous looked up at him and smiled. ?Did you think I have forgiven you for humiliating me, white skin??

His face fell to a gentle pose and Gaiden remarked, ?No. I only thought you would have had the wisdom to wait for your vengeance. Duck.?

Confused, Exe Bizarous then watched a small craft crash into the entrance of the landing site. Both he and Gaiden were thrown clear from the explosion, and were separated.

Inside, the new wreck threw Harnash Sel towards his ship and towards conscious reality. Everything came back to him in the aftermath of the explosion, and he turned immediately after standing up towards the tunnel. ?Oh no, Gaiden!?

Helpless, Sel looked for the others and noted their ships were rising up. Sel?s whole body ached, and honestly he had no other way to communicate to his departing allies ? he dared not call them friends: calling them allies was in itself a stretch. Gaiden on the other hand has always been a kind fellow t

 

All the pilots that comprised the Original Six, as they would be call in lore, experienced the same problem but at different times; the first to depart in space; the last to leave in the upper atmosphere. Eclispeshame removed the first conformed layer of the moon Katlas upon its birth, and so when it cracked off the planetary body it created an asteroid field comprised of transformed, living rock from the size of a pea to the size of a mainline destroyer. The debris itself was deadly to strike. When it broke apart it made more hailnites for ships to run into, and hailnites to fall upon the surface of Korriban. What hailnites did not destroy immediately it consumed and grew and splintered and spread. The race to the day side for all who departed was a close race, but eventually even that way would not be safe. In short time, the night side of Korriban could not be navigated.

Katlas was once again eclipsed, only this time by the choking clouds of hailnites falling to the surface, joining with what had already fallen. The spread was quick and adjoining; that which had not consumed flesh just formed a dead, black crust upon the surface that was not safe to walk on, fall on, and sleep on. That which did consume the living began to merge with other great pieces, and the third forms of Eclispeshame was born: great giants of brutal strength and horrid shells, smelling of rotting fleshing, and booming with nervous laughter. These creatures of Force and evil would grow against the remained as it consumed the remained. Nothing and no one was spared the suffering and the death of this Titan, this natural creation of the Force. As with all Titans before it, Eclispeshame was incredibly efficient, and in time all there is left is the giants fighting amongst themselves to consume one another as no life could be found on Korriban. It would take a few years, but eventually Korriban would be approachable again, and the Titan and its remains would be cast against the drying breeze.

All the while as this all happened, the doors in which the Titan had come from had long since closed. So you know, Hone lead what Pure Sith that were left through the door after Eclispeshame was fully unleashed. Once inside, the doors were closed. Time has no meaning beyond these doors. Indeed, when the Dark Side was returned to its full malevolence in the galaxy, these many Pure Sith would return, and find that although seconds may have passed to them, years have passed for us.

That?s a story for another day.

=========

The remains of this tale will either make you happy or angry. I guess it will depend on which side you are on in the Jedi-Sith conflict, whether you are good or evil, whether you have taken a side ? and believe me when you don?t take a side YOU ARE to the benefit and detriment to someone, and apparently you are prepared to live with the consequences so don?t come crying to me when you don?t like them. Anyways, as they say, there is too much to recount, but so much to say. I guess it is best just to do so as follows, and perhaps answer that one question on your lips: why is this tale important?

Let us start with someone not covered in greater detail in this story: Xulm. He is older than anyone can ever imagine, but how did he come to be, where did he come from. His legend was only told by those who knew him in their lives, not by the man himself. Indeed, Hone ? the second Hone who was once Serdia Hoay, which the port city of Serdia on the planet Corellia IS named after by that, too, is another tale for another day ? was correct when she said Xulm was the First Titan.

When Xulm was ?born?, he was not born in the traditional sense. In the First Civilization, there was an old tradition among those old ancients which they prayed and made wishes upon a giant stone tablet mysteriously discovered in some cavern in the middle continent. One day, a gentle couple who could not have children prayed to the stone tablet; the woman placed her hands on the hand impressions in the stone; they fit her hands, and the tablet opened before them. When this hap

 

Wow. That's a comprehensive who's who list. Well done.

Luna!

 

Many thanks, Delight.

This did start off as a prologue to The Black Heart, but after much self-deliberation I re-wrote some of it and made its own story, but of course it still has its links to the Gessa Saga. As you can see, my alternate universe just keeps expanding based on what is given to me.

As any reader of the Gessa Saga remembers, they can recognize the links. There was more to this story, but it is continued in another tale.

FORWARD!

 

FORWARD! and Ramble on!

 

Arness "Dizzy" Arnes' namesake has become One with the Force.

James Arness, actor, May 26, 1923 ? June 3, 2011. Better known for his role as Marshall Matt Dillion in both the radio and television version of "Gunsmoke", he was also Zeb Macahan in the "How the West Was Won" television miniseries.

Arness contributed to sci-fi movies as well: he was the original Thing in the original 1951-version of "The Thing" (better known as "The Thing From Another World" now since the John Carpenter remake). At 6' 7", he was a rather imposing cowboy, but a really imposing evil alien. One of my late Father's favorite actors: he liked him in anything, especially "The Thing". That was why long ago, when Dad was alive, I chose Arness as a namesake for Dizzy; also because Dizzy, although neither tall or imposing or the hero you didn't order out of a slew of them that existed in the Gessa Saga, was a cowboy that carried his own sense of honor and soul of wit.

Ever FORWARD, James! Your job is done here.........

 

Great job! I liked it.

 

Thank you, General_Farid, for reading!

I do appreciate your time and compliment.

 

PUNT!

 

POOF!