The Greatest Sith... That Never Lived
Posted by: Darth Danno 11.08.06 12:01am
CHAPTER I: MEDITATION and REFLECTION
These events take place 13 months after the events in "Dark Lord: the Rise of Darth Vader"

Silence.

Silence pervaded the dimly lit room in which he sat. Recessed lighting cast small shadows across the walls. Outside, the city of Coruscant, now the Imperial City, went about their business. But none of the sounds of the everyday hustle and bustle seeped in here, the room that now held the Sith archives. The Emperor had the entire history of the Dark Lords moved from Korriban to Coruscant. Every tome, parchment, holocron, and writing that had ever been scribed about the Sith now sat within these four walls. Enormous bookcases lined the room from floor to ceiling, with shelves made from the finest trees on Kashyyk. Palpatine spared no expense. "Knowledge was power", he had said. In the center of the room was a giant durasteel table, surrounded by 8 oversized, overstuffed chairs. Each chair was upholstered with the leathery skin from some reptilian beast. It was in one of these chairs that Darth Vader now sat in silence, meditating.

So much had happened since he had given himself over to the Dark Side. The battle with Kenobi on Mustafar. His surgery and transformation from Anakin Skywalker to Lord Vader. Gazing upon the construction of the Emperor's armored battle station. The death of...Padme. He often found himself thinking about her, and the events that led up to her demise. If only she had the vision he had. He had seen himself, with Palpatine's guidance and teaching, ruling the galaxy and bringing balance to the force. Fulfilling the prophesy and his destiny.Through it all, Padme would be at his side. Padme...and their child. He tried not to dwell on that too much, for the loss of his heir only made him boil with rage. The child would have been strong with the force, he knew. Be it boy or girl, they would have grown to become HIS apprentice. Together, they would overthrow the Emperor and their rule would then be absolute. That meddlesome Kenobi changed all that. This was all his fault, he knew. To think, he once held Obi-Wan as more of a brother than a friend. Now he was his sworn enemy. One day, they would meet again. But this time, Vader would have a full grasp on his Dark Side abilities and this time, Kenobi would fall at the Dark Lord's feet, instead of the other way around. Vader would show no mercy, just as Obi-Wan showed none to him.

Yet these were thoughts for another time. Vader's presence in the galaxy was now well known. It is for this reason Palpatine commanded him to...disappear, so to speak. The Emperor wanted to leave everyone with questions as to his new apprentice. Where did he go? Why did he leave? When will he return? What's really going on here? Palpatine knew these ponderances would grow and fester as rumors spread from spaceport to spaceport. This of course would only increase fears and make their new Galactic Empire all the more terrifying, and once the Death Star was completed...

Again, Vader had to reign in his thoughts of grandeur and concentrate on the here and now. Palpatine had sent him here to the Imperial City to study Sith history. To learn what their predecessors did to rise to power, and more importantly, the errors they made to bring about their downfall. For Vader was told that those who didn't learn from their mistakes, were destined to repeat them. He had spent the days of eight standard months in this room, trying to absorb the massive amounts of information contained here. The nights were occupied with lightsaber training and honing his Dark Side powers. After the eight months had passed, he felt his time spent here had been adequate, but the Emperor disagreed, and bid him to return. He then asked Palpatine how long he had spent in his studies. To which he replied, "two years".

It was all here, everything about Marko Ragnos, Naga Sadow, Darth Bane, Revan, Malek, Nihilus, Lord Kaan and the Brotherhood of Darkness, every Sith or Dark Lord that came into power. Some had quite extensive reigns, others...not so much. Vader was surprised that upon his return, he did pick up little bits of knowledge he had not garnered in the first eight months. But there was some information that still eluded him. No matter how hard he searched, he found no more details about a certain pair of Dark Lords that rose to power at the time of Darth Ruin. In fact, what intrigued him most was that their names were the only things mentioned. Not what they did to even deserve mention, nor what happened to them. Only their names...Darth Danno and Darth Mortis.

To be continued...

Darth Danno