Star Wars | Rise of the Sith Empire

The Darkness That Dwells Within

Having defeated the sith trainees and the two sith masters both Grogu and Xander had embarked on their journey back to Tatooine. Ervok the traitor who was among the jedi had been secretly aligned with the sith and had plans to attack the Jedi temple on Tatooine. "Master I never thought that Ervok would be a sith." Xander said as Grogu was controlling the ship. "Neither did I my Padawan, neither did I." Grogu replied to his student as he too was saddened to know of Ervok's betrayal to the Jedi. Despite many things Grogu and Ervok were good friends and had been through many battles together. "I'll go check on him." Xander said as he got up. "Young one, remember, do not give into the temptation of anger." Grogu said as his student walked out of the cockpit into the hallway and made his way towards the storage area where Ervok was tied. "Hello young Skywalker." Ervok mocked Xander. "Why?" Xander asked. "What?" Ervok questioned. "Why did you betray us?" Xander asked. "Why shouldn't I? I, Ervok the great, I alone fought 60 stormtroopers without a scratch, I Ervok destroyed an entire troop ship with the force, I Ervok the great alone liberated the planet of Calgemesh and what do I get in return? RESTRAINT! I AM A LIVING LEGEND! I DESERVE POWER, RESPECT! BUT NO! I GET TO TEACH YOUNGLINGS HOW TO USE THE FORCE!!" Ervok yelled in rage as his eyes were now of a different colour. He stared at Xander with rage. Xander kept a cold face and stared straight into the eyes of the jedi now turned sith. "Yet you fell at the hands of a Padawan." Xander said as he stared even more intently into Ervok's eyes. "Pathetic." Xander said as he was walking slowly towards Ervok. "What do you think you are doing?" Ervok asked as Xander was giving off a hostile feel. "Weakling." Xander said as he got even closer. "Xander?" Ervok said but it was as if Xander was possessed. "Dissapointment." Xander said as he suddenly grabbed and ignited his lightsaber and stared deeply into Erovk's eyes. Ervok knew this was his end. Xander slowly took his stance and Ervok for the first time in years felt terrified as if he were a child put in front of a monster.

"XANDER!" Grogu yelled as he put his hand on the hand in which Xander had his lightsaber in. Xander suddenly snapped out of his trance and he looked at Ervok then looked at Grogu who had a concerned expression. "Master." He said as he hugged Grogu and tears fell from his eyes. Ervok sat there in fear and disbelief. The coldness he felt. The fear he felt was like nothing he had ever experienced in his entire life. "Go drink some water." Grogu said as Xander walked to the food bay. "S...s...so it-it really is t-t-true. He really does sh-sh-share the bl-l-lood o-o-o-of V-v-v-Vader." Ervok said as he was shaking in fear. "Yes. But unlike him, he has control." Grogu said but deep down he knows how dangerous Xander truly was. The evil that exerted from Xander at that moment and the coldness, the dark freezing void he felt from Xander was truly terrifying. Not everyone knew about the tale of the Skywalker blood. Only a few Jedi Masters and Rey knew the true history of Xander and the constant thought of Xander turning into a Sith was always there. The majority thought that no matter what Xander would eventually fall like his ancestor. But Grogu believed in the child he had raised. "If only everyone saw what I see in him." He thought to himself as he left the traitor.

Across the Galaxy.

Darth Krelis was on a Galactic Alliance ship and was slaughtering guards left and right when suddenly he stopped and stood still. He felt it too, the evil presence. "So it is true. The great Darth Vader does have a living descendant. This should be interesting." The sith said in a very evil tone before he sliced a guard in half. He got into his ship and flew to a distance before he opened the hatch and stood on top of his ship in space. He then used the force to destroy the large ship as he crushed it with ease. He got back in to his ship and flew off. Performing one of the crazy miracles one could do with the force. Krelis then came back down and set the coordinates to Kef Bir, where the remains of the Death Star were. He turned on the autopilot and sat in Meditation. He dove deep into the dark side of the force. "Yes, we shall meet soon, very soon."

Back on tatooine

"Now you all must remember the force is not something we use to harm but we use to protect and aid." Rey said as she demonstrated the use of the force to the young jedi that were in training. Despite that she deep down inside was worried about the signs of the return of the sith. "Grandmaster, Master Grogu and Xander have arrived." One of the Jedi said. Rey left the class and soon met up with the master and student. Rey immediately hugged Xander. "Are you okay?" She asked as she was worried. "Yes I am." Xander said in a bit of an embarrassed tone. "Brought you a traitor we have." Grogu said as he used the force to bring out Ervok from the ship. "He was training sith and he too has become one of them." Grogu said. "How could you Ervok? Af-" Rey was immediately interrupted, "You think I deserve this? After fighting the wars I fought and surviving Order 66? I would rather DIE!" Ervok said. "Then you are truly unredeemable" Rey said as the Galactic guards took Ervok away. Ever since the new Jedi Council had been founded many people across the galaxy feared that the new council would do what the old council did and become enemies of the people as spread by the sith emperor before. However the new generation of Jedi were one with the light and most would never deviate. However the return of the sith and that too in unknown numbers was very concerning.

"May I take my leave master?" Xander asked Grogu as he permitted him, Xander made his way to the meditation room. "Is he alright?" Rey asked. "No, he almost fell today." Grogu said as he looked at his padawan walk away. "What we felt. Could it really be true?" Rey asked Grogu. "As Grandmaster Yoda said, the future is never set." Grogu said as the duo walked into the meeting room as they had to discuss this among the council.

Xander entered the meditation room and he sat there. He was very disturbed by what had happened earlier. How he was ready to kill. He had never killed anyone, injured yes but never felt like killing anyone. He closed his eyes and suddenly he drifted off. He found himself seeing images and memories of great pain, anger, denial, fear and vengeance. These memories however were not his. "No" he said. "NO....NO...NO NO NO NO NNNOOOOO!!!" He yelled as he opened his eyes, he saw a light figure walk upto him. He could not move as if he were paralyzed. The light figure walked towards him and put it's hand on Xander's head. "Do not give in. If you do, it's all over." The figure said. Xander unable to move felt tears fall from his eyes. "May the force be with you." The figure said as it disappeared. But for some reason Xander was now seeing images of love, of passion, of protection, purpose and duty. Xander did not know what was happening and was still confused as to who's memories these were. "My padawan we mus-" Grogu stopped mid sentenced and looked at Xander who was levitating in the air deep in meditation. He opened his eyes and fell down on his face. "We must go, there are great concerns regarding the sith." Grogu said. "I understand my master." Xander said as the duo walked away. But Xander still wondered what was that just a few moments ago. What did he just experience, his mind had no words to explain it to himself. All he knew was that the things he saw were very dark yet they reminded him what it means to be Jedi.

Kef Bir.

Krelis had found the place where the last Sith had dwelled. The Death Star. The remains of the once great battle station remained in the oceans of Kef Bir but Krelis was there for another reason. He was there for something which would ensure the survival of the sith in this new day and age. He jumped from his ship and dove into the freezing waters of the moon. He made his way toward the wreckage and managed to pry a door open. To his surprise as soon as he entered the vessel, everything was still functional. "So even after all these years, the dark side still dwells here." Krelis said as he felt strong. He made his way towards a room which was like an archive and there he used the force to find something. Suddenly a box came flying towards Krelis and he opened it. Inside was a Sith holocron. "finally, we shall return."He said but he stopped right before he would open the box. He sensed something, a dark presence. He followed this presence to see a lab and inside he found a cloning lab. He entered and suddenly a lightsaber lit up behind him, "Move and I will remove your head." The voice said. "Well, I come to free you of this confinement." Krelis said as he turned around. "It was I who reached out to you." He said with a smile across his face. "Then it is true, our time has come." The figure said as he and krelis had work to do.