The Rebel Faction

The pain had been intense, the sorrow doubly so. He had failed his Lord Maim, he had failed to die in his place. The Dark Lord was gone from the physical and, it was all his fault. No one would change his view on the matter, no one but the Dark Lord himself. Sadly though, Silk could no longer feel his presence, his dark touch.

He should have been with him, not half-way across the galaxy at this facility but, he had his orders. The situation would have be different had Silk been there, had he only been able to reach Lord Maim in time. This was not the wish of Lord Maim, however. Silks' unflinching loyalty to Dark Lord Maim was well warranted...

"You will stay, Sovereign Protector. You will stay and you will do as you are told."

The voice still burned in his skull, those last words and commands. Utterances from parsecs away directing him towards this facility, instructing him in its' use. How he wanted to be by his Lords' side, fighting and dying for him if the need called.

The very last touch he had felt from his Dark Lord in these few days had come with those words and then... nothing. Where the power of his Lord had filled him, Dioan Silk now felt only emptiness and longing. He had lost his direction.

This was not a life that he could live. Silk was too close to Maim, too close by far. Where others of the Royal Guard could continue on he could not, so dependant on the touch of his Lord was he.

Was this punishment or a test? There had to be a purpose to Silks' positioning, there had to be.

Darkness had welled up inside him and, not the darkness he knew but one of sorrow and loss. So overwhelming was the urge that Dioan Silk, most revered among the Sovereign Protectors, gave up. He had simply, quit.

Then, in the seemingly unending darkness, something stirred. Slow at first, but growing swiftly, a red-hot hatred welled up like bile in the gut of the guilty. As if a wave, it hit him... purpose.

Those who had wronged his Lord would pay, they would pay with their lives and the lives of those dear to them. Each being involved would share the same fate, the fate of a Sovereign Protectors wrath.

Plotting and scheming, Silk had slipped into a silent meditation much like his Lord often did when contemplating a course of action. It was in this trance that the voice spoke again...

"Sovereign Protector... Your time of loss is over. Now hear my command..."



Hours later he departed the planet aboard a transport, bound a unknown destination. Lord Maim was always in control... He'd never forget that again.

Deactivating its cloaking device, the Sith Infiltrator Dark Journey, began a slow and deliberate approach to an unknown and isolated region of Korriban. Emerging like a black spirit in the night, Sedriss gazed at the barren terrain that lay before him, scrutinizing every detail with his fierce blue eyes. If not for the knowledge of Korribans history, he would have considered it a wasteland.

Removing his hood, the young sith flexed rippling muscles that were barely contained under his flowing black tunic. Reaching in to his cloak he accessed the datapad he had brought, memorizing the details and coordinates it held.

The Valley of the Dark Lords. How long have I searched he thought to himself.

Extending his force powers into the unknown regions ahead of him, Sedriss probed for signs of danger and treachery. Through his studies, he had learned that a myriad of dark creatures roamed this planet; leftovers from a long dead empire and the products of Sith alchemy.

The journey was difficult and tiring for the first several miles. A immense weight seemed to be pressing down on his spirit, discouraging him from continuing. He encountered massive labryinths of razor sharp rock and bottomless gorges. The long journey gave him time to reflect on what had brought him here.

Years ago as a dark knight to Master Brakiss, Sedriss had grown strong in the darkways. Known as a man of no patience, he excelled in combat and alchemy, using his powers for one purpose; the extermination of the jedi order.

During his training his master had explained about Korriban. He told of the tombs of the Dark Lords of the Sith and their minions. He showed holocron images of the fateful duel between Naga Sadow and Ludo Kressh over the title of Dark Lord of the Sith. The images had astonished the young sith forcing him to seek more and more knowledge of the place.

Other images, ones that inspired him to come here hovered in his mind as he crossed a difficult stretch. He could visualize the tombs of the Dark Lords that were located inside steep and jagged cliffs of stone, each carved with the grim visages of ancient Sith Lords and the echoing rock chambers, where the mummified remains of the Sith Lords lie in crypts carved with Sith hieroglyphs. He longed to see the giant crystal spire where tortured spirits, souls of vanquished jedi, forever doomed to torment were trapped.

The images vanished as Sedriss realized his folly. The power of the dark lords remained a threat to all who disturbed them.

I must maintain control or risk the fate of Exar Kun. he thought.

He thought of the dying words of Master Brakiss.

Go to Korriban you must. Prepare the way for the Dark Lord of the Sith. Your destiny it is.

Making his way through a long narrow canyon, sedriss began to notice trickles of pebbles and dirt cascading down the canyon walls. A loud roar echoed through the canyon like some massive beast on the trail of some unlucky victim. Quickly turning his gaze upward he saw the immense rockslide plummeting towards him.

The dark lords mean to be bothered he thought grimly

Using the dark energy flowing in his veins, he flooded the muscle cells in his legs, allowing the midichlorians to harness and focus the raw energy. Concentrating he lept to a small outcropping high above, barely escaping the assault.

They will pay for this treachery he screamed aloud

Despite his defiance, a sense of doom entered into his mind, taunting him and threatening him to give up his quest. Regaining control, he realized it was far too late to turn back now. He slowly made his way further North for what seemed like an eternity. Darkness gave way to a soft illuminating light, revealing a setting that both astonished and terrified him.

An immense valley loomed before him bathed in the pale red light of dusk. Sedriss saw two rows of ancient sith temples adorned with statues of ancient beasts long dead. This was the resting place of the dark lords of the sith and it radiated with power, beckoning Sedriss to come closer.

As he did he saw two lone two citadels guarding the entrance to the forbidden valley.

The Temples of the Guardian he thought

Relaxing his mind, he looked at the temples more closely. A dark presence hovered near but whether it was friend or foe Sedriss could not discern.

As he moved closer he saw the source of his uneasiness. Located near the first temple was a lone being. It was diificult to see detail but he stood transfixed on the long red robes, flowing gently in the breeze. Finding his lightsaber, he moved ahead with caution ready for the fight.

<img border="0" src="http://mywebpages.comcast.net/steviebee/SithWitch.JPG" align="right">The soft winds kicked up the eternal sands that had collected on the outskirts of the Valley of the Dark Lords for centuries, resting only when the ancient spirits within allowed it. The dank smell of death in the air lingered as a reminder of the dangers that had past, and those to come. Her billowing red robes flowed against her slim figure as she stood in silence, her tender eyes bearing only on the man that approached from the Temples of the Guardians. His lightsabre remained within his iron fist, unignited but ready for a fight. Her stepd were slow, and disalarming as she stepped down the ancient stone stairway of the first temple on the left; The towering structure of which had stood the tests of time for well over five thousand years.

Her pale white face confronted him, nothing more than fancy makeup. With a click snap-hiss she ignited her lightsabre. "Lord Sedriss..." her soft voice spoke above the gentle breeze, her robes coming to rest at her sides. "I've been expecting you...."

The red of her lightsabre continued to linger at her side, the man before her seemingly suprised that she had come to know his name without a single word spoken between them. "Don't be so suprised..." she exclaimed casually, a soft grin appearing across her black lips. "We're Sith, remember?"

Moments later, a shrill foul smell permiated the air around them, a smell that lingered for thousands of years, yet remained painfully potent. The smell of the ancient Guardians of the Temples, spawned from the ancient alchemy of the Dark Lord Naga Sadow. She leaped forward, rolling on the ground, and then springing forward at Lord Sedriss, the snap hiss of his lightsabre coming fourth, but minutes too late... she struck forth....

The blue beast that had so silently approached behind him shrieked in pain, and slumped dead at the ground, it's intestines spilling out onto the dry sand benieth him.

"I advise you to prepare yourself, Lord Sedriss. Korriban is more heavily defended than you would suspect." Extending her hand, she continued. "Adriana Quinn, at your service." She took a step forward, dusting a few particles of sand from her crimson robes, looking back briefly. "Coming?" A faint grin smeered across her lips once more. The two figures continued into the heart of the Valley of the Dark Lords, Khaki, Obsidian, and Crimson colors dancing around them, each temple holding a unique, yet uniform architecture. The first temple, the Temple of Exar Kun loomed before them, the blazing sun rising slowly over the horizon. "Welcome to oblivion...."

The High Priest made his way now into the valley. The creatures and guardians parting before him and standing far aside of he who rules, protects, and controls them each. His mind was focused, but it still easily detected two outsiders to this place. Two.. Sith, yes they were Sith but they were still outsiders.

Maim turned to the guardian who now escorted him.

"Take this body to the Somir Temple. I shall be there shortly."

With that, he strode off in the direction of the two he had sensed. First he sensed them separately and now they were together. A pain hit him as one of the valley's guardians perished. He grew angry with those who would slay the rightful protectors of this place. Who were these Sith to assume so much? Who were they to destroy what he had created.

Deep blood red robes swirled around the High Priest as he moved silently across the valley. His robes were inlain with both gold and blood writing in an ancient, and almost dead, language. A language which most of the Sith could not even read and even fewer could correctly speak.

The Dagger of Talshida lay dormant at his side. This weapon, which would answer only one master, had a will of it's own. Within the weapon itself was held the soul of a long dead Priest of the Sith. He was known as the gatekeeper. The physical form of the weapon could not be controlled by the Force, but only by commanding the soul within it. It was not only the symbol of the true High Priest of the Sith but it was the key to many of the hidden secrets of this valley and of many of the other troves of hidden knowledge hoarded by the leaders of the Sith over the eons.

Soon the High Priest stood before a temple which never should have been built. A temple to the fallen Exar Kun. He was weak, and allowed the Jedi to destroy him utterly without planning for the future. He was nothing more than a Jedi turned down the Dark Path. He was not born to be Sith and would never truly have been so. His grasp on the Jedi teachings of his master held him still, even in the end.

The High Priest approached the two with the stealth that only he could posses in this place of sacred darkness. His mind wrapped around them and the place they all now stood. He spoke, slowly and with purpose.

"What is your business on this sacred planet, brother and sister of darkness?"