Darth Bane: Chaos (Book 1)

Darth Bane: Chaos (Book 1)

Dramatis Personae

Bardin Jusik, Former Jedi Knight, Mandolorian, human (male)
Captain Shining Armor, Captain of Celestial Guard, Unicorn, prince, married to Princess Cadence, Equestrian (male)
Commander Gess, Commander of Sarlacc Company, Clone, Human (male)
Darth Bane, Sith Master, Dark Lord of the Sith, Human (male)
General Etain Tur-Mukan, Jedi Knight, Human, (female)
Kooren, Twi'ilek, Exile (female)
Lowbacca, Wookie (male)
Princess Cadence, Alicorn, princess, married to Captain Shining Armor, Equestrian (female)
Princess Celestia, Alicorn, princess, Co-ruler of Equestria, Equestrian (female)
Princess Luna, Alicorn, princess, Co-ruler of Equestria, formerly known as Nightmare Moon, Equestrian (female)
Qordis, Twi'ilek, Mandolorian (female)
RC-1031 Bor'ven, Republic Commando, human, clone, sniper and medic, (male)
RC-1028 Des, Republic Commando, human, clone, demolitions expert, (male)
RC-4093 Niner, Republic Commando, human, clone, Squad Leader, Sergeant, (male)
RC-7628 Sev, Republic Commando, human, clone, Technical expert, (male)
Twilight Sparkle, Unicorn, Element of Harmony: Magic, Equestrian, (female)

Part 1: Path of Destruction

Chapter 1

Location: Everfree forest/ Equestria

A single lavender colored unicorn with a purple mane that had a single pink stripe, trotted through the dark forest. The young unicorn, known as Twilight Sparkle, personal protege of Princess Celestia, and the Element of Magic, was searching the forest for an ancient artifact that had been lost many centuries ago. She had read a book written by the famous Starswirl the Bearded, that had contained cryptic comments of an artifact in the Everfree Forest that contained immense power, and knowledge. But that was all it contained, that and what the artifact was called; a Sith Holocron. Twilight had no idea what a Sith Holocron was or what it did, but she did have a hastily drawn sketch of the artifact from the book. And so the unicorn went in search of this artifact, alone.

She was scared. Twilight feared this dark forest, but her curiosity, and her pathological need to know everything about the world around her, drove her to keep searching. Twilight had been searching for about six hours and she was growing hungry and tired as Celestia's sun started its decent towards the eastern horizon. As she was about to quit for the day and head back towards Ponyville, there was the sound of a crash. Startled, Twilight turned towards the source of the loud noise and stared at the bush that had produced the noise. After a minute a white rabbit jumped out and then hopped away. Breathing a sigh of relief, the purple unicorn stepped forward to check how the rabbit had caused so much noise. Using her magic she brushed aside the branches and looked beyond the bush. What she saw made her jaw drop. She saw a metal contraption that was easily twice the length of her friend Applejack's barn, and just as tall. The paint had long since eroded away, but with what little remained it appeared that it used to be black. As she continued to stare she realized that it was old, very old. Unlike the old castle that lay in the center of the Everfree Forest, grass, moss, and vines refused to grow on it, or anywhere near it. As if this ancient piece of machinery was to sacred to grow on.

As she hesitantly stepped forward, Twilight heard a loud hiss and a ramp slowly descended from the large contraption. Curious, she walked towards the ancient machine, wondering what it held inside. But the young unicorn was disappointed. For all the large artifact contained was and empty space. As the unicorn turned to leave something drew her attention to the back of the cavernous space. There she found a small pyramid that slightly glowed a deep purple. The pyramid appeared to be made of some sort of crystal that Twilight didn't recognize. She didn't have time to study it, for she heard a deep and slow breathing. Turning towards the sound she used her magic to cast a spell that bathed the large area with light. Laying not two feet away from her was a large figure. It was massive, easily five times her height if it had been standing up, it probably was at least taller than Princess Celestia herself. The creature wore a black cloak over what looked like black armor that covered his chest and abdomen. It had on black pants and black boots that went up to its knees. It's face and neck were uncovered though, revealing tan skin, a bald and hairless face, and it's muzzle was pushed in, giving it a flat look. As she continued to study the creature, she saw something that intrigued her. On the very ends of the creature's forehooves were ten appendages, five on each hoof. Covering these appendages was a pair of what looked like gloves that had meen modified to fit its hooves. And like the rest of the clothing, they were a deep black. As she continued to stare at its hooves, the creature breathed again, deeply and slowly, but this time it sounded labored, like the creature was in pain and had trouble breathing. Thinking quickly, Twilight pulled out two parchments of paper, a quille, and a container of ink. Writing down her first letter, she told her assistant Spike, who was just a baby dragon, to send the second letter to Princess Celestia. Once she was done, both letters dissapeared in a flash of purple light. Now she just had to sit and wait. As she waited, her attention was drawn to the purple pyramid. Reaching out with her magic she picked it up.

As soon as she did, the pyramid glowed brightly and a small projection of what looked like a miniature version of the creature next to her appeared above the pyramid. Twilight stared in awe, she had seen nothing like this in her life. As she stared the figure began to speak. It had a baritone voice, that was menacing, and had a quality to it that Twilight found disturbing.

"I am... Darth Bane... Dark Lord of the Sith.."

SEVERAL DAYS LATER

Sudden awareness flooded into the Dark Lord's body. He could feel the dark side of the force course through his body. Without opening his eyes, the Dark Lord drew on the dark side to feel his surroundings. He felt five sentient beings within fifteen meters, and about another thirty within fifty meters. And just as suddenly as he had expanded his awareness he drew it back in. Every single one of them was atuned to the Force, and one was tainted by the dark side; bur even then, the power that tainted the last one was faint, as if it was a forgotten memory. This could only mean one thing... Jedi. Snapping open his eyes, he took in the world around him. He layed in a small bed that was to small for him. The floor was made of wood, as were the walls, which were covered in bookshelves, and in turn the bookshleves were covered with books. Like the rest of the room the ceiling was made of wood. To his left was a small window, and to his right was a large door. Standing in front of the door where two white equines, with electric blue hair, and wore minimal gold colored armor. Drawing upon the dark side of the force, he sent a wave of dark side power. The equines, caught unaware, were thrown against the wall, and then through it like it was tissue paper; they didn't even have time to scream as virtually all of the bones in their small bodies were broken. Getting out of the undersized bed, the Dark Lord stretched. When he was satisfied he stepped through the holes he had made in the wall. On the other side was a hallway. To his right, the hallway extended and there were many more doors. On his left was a staircase that led down. Turning to his left he headed down the stairs.

He was probably halfway down when a single, white equine in gold armor ran up the stairs and right at the Dark Lord, a primitive sword in it's mouth. With speed that seemed impossible due to his heavily muscled and tall body, the Dark Lord grabbed the equine by the head, the palm of his left hand on it's chin, and his right hand resting on the back of the helmet that the equine wore, he twisted his hands in opposite directions. The equines neck snapped with a sickening crack.

Dropping the now dead body, he continued to walk down the stairs, where he was greeted by two more equines. Raising his left hand, force lighting flew from his fingers and hit the equines, electrocuting them and burning their fur and skin. Looking around the room in grim silence, the Dark Lord saw an open door that led to a kitchen and a other door that more than likely led outside. Before leaving the room he expanded his awareness once again. Right outside the door were about three dozen more force sensitives standing right outside the door. Kicking down the door, he drew his lightsaber, the familliar weight settling in his hand. The lightsaber, the weapon of choice among both the Jedi and the Sith, was a weapon that, when activated, would project a solid beam of light anywhere from half of a meter two two meteres in length, that could cut through virtually anything in the galaxy. The Dark Lord's blade, like most Sith, was a blood red.

Stepping through the broken door and into the fading sunlight, he took in the scene before him in and istant. Standing before him, were thirty six of the armored equines, eighteen of them were the same as the ones inside the building, but the remaining ones were a dark blue/grey with black armor and dark hair. He noticed that there were three basic types of the equines, ones with horns, ones with wings, and some had neither. Standing behind them were three more, but these ones were different. The first one had white fur, with multicolored hair that waved in a nonexistant breeze. It also, unlike the others had both wings and a horn. It was also taller than the others and would come up to his upper abdomen. The next one was shorter the the white one, had midnight blue fur, had a royal and navy blue colored hair that also waved in an invisible breeze. Like the other, this one also had both wings and a horn. The last one was shorter than any of the others, had lavender colored fur, with purle hair that had a single pink stripe running through it, and only had a horn.

He took all of this in in a moment and debated what to do. They had to have been trained by the Jedi, if not now, then sometime in the distant past. The light side was to powerful here to be mere coincidence.

"We come in peace." the large white equine asked. By the sound of the voice, it was a female. It's voice had a regal, and kind, yet firm quality to it.

"Peace is a lie, an opiate to appease the masses." the Dark Lord replied. The white equines brow furrowed in confusion.

"Who are you?"

"I am Darth Bane, Dark Lord of the Sith." Darth Bane said.

"Where does thow come from Darth Bane?" the midnight blue pony asked.

"I am a Dark Lord, that is all you need to know."

"We just want to ask you some questions." the white one said. As she spoke, Darth Bane was already thinking. They weren't just going to let him walk away, especially after they found out that he had killed five of their compatriots and the fact that there was such an obvious display of force in front of him.

"I am a Dark Lord of the Sith! I answer to no one but myself!"

With a flourish, Darth Bane activated his lightsaber, it's blood red blade casting an eerie glow in the fading light of the setting sun. Without warning, he jumped high above the group of equines, his lightsaber held in both hands above his head. As he landed, he brought it down on an armored equine, cleaving it clean in half. Switching from the aggresive form of Djem So that relied upon brute strength, to the more acrobatic form of Soresu.

It was like Zucca pigs to the slaughter. Not a single one could land a telling blow on the Dark Lord's body. As he stood above the last remaining armored equine, he had left the other three alone for they weren't a threat to him, it shook in fear and tears of pain rolled down it's face as it held the cauterized stump of where it's left forehoof used to be.

"Please..." the equine whimpered pathetically, "...I-I have kids..."

"Those who beg for mercy," the Dark Lord said, "don't deserve it."

And with that, he ended the equines life.

Twilight stared at the carnage in front of her. In front of her, layed the bodies thirtysix royal guardponies. The bodies were lined up in three rows of twelve, all covered with white sheets. Darth Bane, as the creature had called itself, had left, leaving behind a massacre. He, Twilight assumed it was male, had butchered the guards with a sword that glowed a blood red and was probably centuries, if not millenia more advanced than anything the Equestrians could ever make. It cut through armor, skin, and bones like they were melted butter.

As Twillight continued to stare at the bodies, a hoof wrapped around her and pulled her away. She didn't react to the touch at all, but continued to stare. Twilight was in shock, her mind with what just happened less than an hour ago. But there was no forgetting. It would stay with her, it would haunt her dreams, and torture her in her waking moments. Those brief ten seconds, probably the worst in her life, would stay with her, for the rest of her life.

Location: Everfree Forest/ Equestria

Darth Bane sat in a clearing in the forest on the edge of the primitive town. With his legs crossed and his hands in his lap, he meditated. He knew he was somewhere in the deep core; his ship, the Vengeance, was totally destroyed and had been so for many years. After killing his apprentice, Darth Zannah, after she had challenged him to the rank of Master, he had gone after a lead that he hoped would bring him to the location of Darth Aurek. When he finally arrived at his destination, he had arrived in a solar system with a small yellow star and a single planet with a single moon. But the strangest thing about the system was that the star orbited the planet. The planet itself was unremarkable except that there was a strong concentration of the Force. Curious, Darth Bane had guided his ship into orbit to observe the planet. But as he achieved a stable orbit, there was a sudden surge of both dark and light side power that had short-circuited the ship's systems. Bane had worked quickly to reroute the power as the ship fell to the planets surface. The engine and repulsors had restarted, but the ship had fallen too far, too fast, and he wasn't able to pull up enough to avoid a crash landing. After the crash he had pulled himself out of the wreckage, barely alive. The Dark Side couldn't heal, so he had to really on his body's natural healing ability as he went into a meditative trance.

When he had awoken from his trance, he had done so in the primitive village. He didn't know where he was, but he could figure that out quickly enough.

Stars polluted the night sky, but it wasn't an unwelcome sight. Nights like this were common on Datooine, but that didn't take away the beauty of it. But Bardin Jusik didn't care for this. He only concentrated on the job, on the hunt. He could easily see his prey's path through the forest. He wouldn't even need to use the Force for this job. Jusik's prey, an amatuer smuggler, had run off with several hundred thousand credits worth of glitterstim that Qibbu the Hutt was smuggling into Coruscant. No being, but especially the Hutts, liked being stolen from.

So that led Bardin Jusik, Mandalorian Bounty Hunter, mercenary, and former Jedi Knight, to his current situation He carried a Verpine Shatter Gun in his left hand, his Light Saber hung from his left hip, and he had a Verpine Sniper Rifle slung across his back. He had learned to love the Verpine weapons from his adoptive father, Kal Skirata. There was a brief rustle behind him Jusik didn't even need to turn his head to spot the disturbance, the wrap-around vision that his helmet provided. There were many things that he loved about his Mandalorian armor, the protection it provided, the 360 degree field of vision, but most of all, he loved what it represented. It represented a warrior, a culture that could not be destroyed, a culture that had survived thousands of untold years, of war and combat. Nearly every color in the Mandalorian culture had a meaning. Red was for honoring a father, grey was for mourning a lost love, orange was for a lust for life, the list went on and on. Jusik's was a combination of two colors; black, for justice, and a sandy gold for vengeance. Jusik wanted justice for the clones that the Republic was using as its slave army in its war against the Separatists. That was actually the reason why he left the Jedi Order. He also wanted vengeance for all the clones that would never know a normal life. Jusik stood there, waiting for the smuggler to show himself. After a minute the young man, no older than twenty, stepped from the bush, a blaster pistol held tightly in his hands.

"I'll pay you double... no, triple, whatever Qibbu's paying you, if you let me go!" the young smuggler said, the fear obvious in his voice.

"A contract's a contract." Jusik replied with a shrug as he turned around, leisurely. The smuggler, without warning, fired a shot. Even if Jusik hadn't sensed this in the Force and dodged, the shot would have bounced off his armor. Mandalorian Iron was the strongest in the galaxy. It could deflect a lightsaber and not even have a burn mark on it. But that didn't make the wearer impervious. There were still sections of the armor, though small, that a well placed shot could penetrate. It also wouldn’t protect him from the shock wave of an explosion, but it would still help ward such things.

As Jusik jumped back to his feet, he fired three rounds from the Verpine Shatter Gun. The first shot went wide, but the second and third shots hit the smuggler in the chest. But as he fired the third shot, there was a flash of light and a brief feeling of weightless. Then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, the light faded and he hit the ground... hard.

"Twi... what is that?" said a voice that had an odd accent to it that Jusik couldn't identify.

"I dont know! This wasn't supposed to happen!" said another female voice with a neutral accent.

"Yeah... that's obvious." said another voice that had a tomboyish quality to it.

"Well I would have to say that its choice of colors are... odd." said yet another female voice that had the unmistakable Coruscanti accent.

"Fierfeck that hurt." Jusik groaned as he sat up. Opening his eyes, he saw a stone floor beneath him. Looking around, he saw a number of aliens around him. Most were scared, but all were curious. The one directly in front of him was similar to an equine with lavender colored fur that had a single pink stripe running through it. Slightly above her forehead was a single small horn. Even without his force abilities he could tell several things; first, the being in front of him had tremendous potential in the power of the force; second, the equine was trying to forget something that had happened recently. Moving on to the next one, he saw an orange equine with blond hair and it wore a Stetson hat. The next one had white fur, with purple hair and, like the first, had a horn above her forehead. Next, was a cyan blue equine with rainbow colored hair and it had two wings coming from its back. And standing behind him were six more equines. They all had white fur, with electric blue hair, and minimal gold armor. Two of them had horns, two had wings, and the others had neither. Somehow they carried spears in their hooves, and had swords sheathed at their sides.

As Jusik stood up, the armored equines lowered their spears. Ignoring them, but keeping one eye on them, he spotted his shatter gun lying on the ground next to him. After picking up the shatter gun, he holstered it, and removed his helmet, breathing in unfiltered air.

"Today is proving to be a very interesting day." Jusik said to himself as the equines continued to stare at him.

"Hy! Myname'sPinkiePie! Whoareyou? I'veneverseenaponylikeyoubefore!" said a pink equine, with pink hair and bright blue eyes, as it bounced up and down in front of him. "Oh! Oh! Maybe you're a Mandalorian Mercenary that the author brought here to help even out the odds and he's planning on bringing-" The pinkie equine finally stopped talking when the cyan colored one shoved her hoof in the pink one's mouth.

"Please be quiet Pinkie..."

"Kandosii." Jusik whipered to himself. Kandosii meant classy in Mando'a, the Mandalorian's language. "My name is Bardin Jusik of Clan Skirata. I am what you would call... a Mandalorian."

"Mando... laurian?" asked the lavender colored one, finally getting over its fear of him.

"Mandalorian." Jusik said, more slowly this time. "Anyway... who are you?"

"Well my name's Twilight Sparkle-"

"And I'm Pinkie Pie." the pink equine said, interupting the Lavender colored one.

"Mah name's Applejack." the orange told Jusik.

"I'm Rarity darling." the one with white fur and purple hair said.

"And I'm Rainbow Dash. The most awesome flyer in all of Equestria!" the cyan colored one with rainbow colored hair.

"It’s nice to meet you all but-" Jusik began to say but was interupted when a pair of large golden doors swung open and another equine walked through. This one was taller than the others, about the same height as Jusik was. It had white fur, with multicolored hair that blew in an invisible breeze. This one, unlike the others, had both a horn and a pair of wings.

"You said you were a Mercenary did you not?" the large equine said. It had a female voice that sounded regal and had a kind, yet firm, quality to it.

"Who wants to know?" Jusik replied, as he stuck his thumbs into his belt.

"I am Princess Celestia. Ruler of Equestria. Now are you a mercenary or not?"

"I am."

"Good." the princess said. "I have a job for you."