The Darkness within us all [WIP], An Alternate Universe fanfic rated PG-13

[Fish_Bash 2.0]

April 25th, 2005

Prologue

"I've found it Valeb! I've finally blown through this crust and reached the Burraf Mine! It's just a matter of time until we locate some Kaiburr crystals!"

"Good, Fynn," a voice said from the communicator, "I knew we were close. Stay put, I'm coming down."

Fynn was amazed that Valeb was willing to get his hands dirty at all. Valeb didn't seem too willing to survey the land or to place charges either. Lucky for him that he paid the right miner to get the job done! I'm the best miner in all of the Expansion region, let alone this small planet. I got us here, so there's no reason to wait for Valeb to make it down here. It will take him half an hour! Kaiburr crystals are a rare find -- even for the Jedi. If we really do find some, I should be able to hide a few from Valeb and retire on the spoils! As long as I find anything to give to Valeb, he'll be happy. With that, Fynn eagerly placed more detonators and prepared for the blast.

The explosion easily blew into the Burraf Mines. Fynn knew he had a short amount of time, so he quickly slipped into his harness and grabbed his supplies. "Jackpot!" Fynn said as he approached the opening into the mine. "The magzonite flares won't even be necessary." About 65 meters below, Fynn could see a crimson glow eminating from the far end of the cavern. Sure, it was quite dark still, but Fynn has mined for 15 years. He could easily see all he needed to. Fynn made sure his line was secure and leaped from the hole into the cave. The harness slowed his decent considerably, but he was still moving quite fast. After about 30 meters he felt the decent slowing greatly. "Great! I am not going to have enough line!" With that, Fynn winced in pain as his slack ran out and he was painfully jerked to a halt. Looking down, Fynn decided that there were about 8 to 10 meters to go before reaching the bottom. He had to do it. "This is going to hurt." Fynn said, and detached the cable from the harness. Fynn barely had enough time to regret his decision before slamming into the rock floor with his left side. Pain enveloped him. As Fynn picked himself up he muttered to himself ,"These crystals had better be worth it." and groaned as he removed a small cutting laser from his harness and limped toward the source of the glow.

As he turned a bend in the cave he saw the largest formation he has ever seen in all his 15 years as a miner. A smile came to Fynn as he began cutting into the formation.

As he touched the crystal, he felt the throbbing in his left side subside. "Amazing. This crystal must be extremely valuable. I'll have to keep one for myself." Fynn said, staring into the beautiful, flawless crimson light.

He then heard something rustling from the opening of the cave and rushed back around the corner to see who...or what it was. Fynn saw Valeb standing at the top of the opening, looking at him. "I told you to wait for me" Valeb remarked coldly.

"Just in time, Valeb! Let me collect some more samples and I'll come up to meet you! I can use the magnetic cable I have in my belt to attach to the harness line here and pull myself up!" Fynn said, hoping to be able to stash some crystals from Valeb before he knew exactly how much he had found.

"Congratulations, Fynn" Valeb said, dryly, "you have proven not to be a waste of my time. I'll kill you quickly for that." With that, Valeb jumped from the opening 65 meters in the air and landed in a crouch about 5 meters from Fynn. The rock floor cracked under the force of Valeb's landing.

"Valeb, don't...please..." Fynn muttered, still reeling from the free fall Valeb just took. "I don't know what you are, but please...it is yours." Fynn said as he extended his left arm that was holding the Kaiburr crystal fragment.

Before Fynn could fully extend his arm, Valeb had already ignited his lightsaber and sliced off his arm at the elbow. Fynn roared in pain as Valeb continued the offensive.

Before Fynn's severed arm hit the rocky floor, Valeb thrust his leg forward and kicked Fynn in the stomach, causing him to be thrown backward into a nearby stalagmite. The impact with the stalagmite broke three of Fynn's ribs and ruptured some vertebre while the actual kick ruptured some internal organs. Fynn was already doomed to death. Fynn was struggling just to keep conscious and to catch his breath. He could not even beg for his life. Valeb bent over and picked up the Kaiburr crystal from Fynn's lifeless arm.

"I can feel the power surge from this small sample, the formation must hold amazing power. This sample will substantially improve my lightsaber's power." Valeb said, staring at the dying Fynn as he took apart his lightsaber and inserted the crystal into the curved hilt. "Now, I promised you a quick demise, didn't I?" Valeb said as he walked toward Fynn, igniting his lightsaber once again.

"P-P-Please..." Fynn blubbered "...don't kill me! I am not a threat to you!"

"A threat?" Valeb stopped in his tracks and laughed audibly, "you were never a threat. Each life I send from this existance is but another lifeforce that I can control. You are merely a form or nourishment for my power, Fynn...nourishment for me." Valeb explained as he slashed diagonally left to right, cutting through both Fynn and the stalagmite he leaned on. "I can finally begin my work!" Valeb said as he walked toward the glowing corner of the cavern.

[Fish_Bash 2.0]

April 27th, 2005

Chapter 1

"Dacen, wake up! We have to move!" screamed Sarn. "They have discovered us -- we must flee!"

Dacen was on his feet with his lightsaber in hand in an instant, but no sooner than those words were uttered, blaster fire began peppering the mountain side.

"Move!" Sarn yelled and pointed up the mountain. Dacen immediately began running as fast as he could. After 15 meters or so, he looked back to see where the blaster fire was coming from.

"Sarn, what are you doing?!" Dacen yelled. "We need to stick together!"

Sarn, who already had his lightsaber out deflecting the shots away looked toward Dacen and motioned his head up the mountian. Dacen refused and began running back toward the fight, igniting his purple blade as he ran.

The campsite was now in flames from the blaster fire and Sarn stood in the middle of them, deflecting the blaster bolts into the ground with his green lightsaber.

"I told you to go up the mountain!" Sarn scolded as he deflected yet another beam into the ground in front of him.

"I'm not leaving you, Master!" replied Dacen. "I know I can help you!"

"Helping me is not necessary! I can't protect you if you won't listen to me. You must learn to listen to me, not to merely hear me."

"Sorry master" Dacen spouted back as he deflected a blaster bolt away, "but you look like you can use some help! We can't even tell what is firing at us yet, or how many there are."

"I can. They are war droids! A small group of them!"

At that the blaster fire ceased. Four war droids began advancing quickly up the mountain.

"Dacen, you deflect any fire that comes your way downward and into the dirt. Do you understand?"

"Yes, but why not direct the fire back into them?"

"Trust me." Sarn said as he Force jumped down the steep slope and over the war droids, slashing one of the offending droid's heads off on the way.

Sarn landed behind the three remaining droids who were already firing at Dacen and quickly used the Force to push the blasters toward the ground in front of them. The ground began to give, and with a well placed push of the Force the loose dirt began to fall. The landslide picked up the three droids and began washing them down the mountainside. Sarn quickly jumped back to Dacen, avoiding the wave of rock that was coming his way. Upon landing next to Dacen, Sarn gave another push in the Force to the ground, gathering more soil for the landslide.

"Why did you do something so complicated, Master?" asked the confused Padawan.

"The Nikto, Nogukai must have discovered our presence. You know, former smugglers turned arms dealers are not htat trusting. He must have scout droids out here scouring the landscape."

"But why the landslide? You could have easily defeated those droids, Master."

"You must learn to survey your surroundings completely, Dacen." Sarn said, pointing into the valley. Dacen looked into the valley, seeing rubble and a heavily damaged building at the foot of the mountain.

"That is where ythe droids came from. Using their own destructive nature, I used them to eliminate potential threats to us that may come later. That building is a droid factory. A building full of droids building droids. No one was injured or killed, and our obstacles have fallen. You must remember to use your enemy's destructive nature against itself."

"Yes Master." Dacen said, humbled by his Master's wisdom.

"Don't stress about such things, Dacen. You will learn from your mistakes quicker if you do not linger on them. Now, try to focus on the Force. You must always be sensitive to it's call. It will never lead you from the path."

"Yes Master." Dacen said with a grin on his face.

"And cut that out! What did I tell you about calling me Master? I told you, formality has its place, but out here it does not belong." Sarn said has he put Dacen in a headlock, rubbing his knuckles on his head. "Now, go gather what is left of our supplies and let's look into this droid factory."

"Okay Sarn." Dacen said as he slipped through Sarn's grasp and lightly punched Sarn in the arm.

"Get over there!" Sarn said playfully. Dacen ran to the charred and in some places still burning campsite, sifting through the remains.

Watching Dacen, Sarn couldn't help but to think of his own training. The days of feeling lost on a new world where everything is strange. The life of a Jedi is accepting the fact that you may never receive thanks for your help -- that you will never have a family of your own outside of your Master / Padawan relationship. You may never fully reach your potential in the Force either.

The Jedi are celebrated among the masses, yet when the celebration is over the Jedi are forgotten. They are permitted to go back into their Temple and meditate until called on again. There is no wonder so many Padawans leave the Order -- or worse, join their enemy and walk a darker path. If the Jedi sense your connection to the Force, then that person will live a life of servitude to the Force.

The Council is needed, but the children do not have much of a choice in the matter. At such a young age, the children are confused as to what a Jedi's life consists of. We are defenders of the weak, yet are we any better than slavers? Ultimately we train children who are mistaken about the life of a Jedi. By the time they discover what a Jedi's life really is they are already assigned a master. The Padawan is living the life they are destined to live, but no one likes feeling trapped. Many become disillusioned and desire to be free. They believe that power is the only thing that can give them the freedom they have never had. I/ve been in many "in-escapable" situations in my life, but none were as "in-escapable" as the path of the disillusioned Jedi. They just want freedom from their life of service. They want to live their own life. That is the curse of the Force. It sustains us, but we are forever a servant to it, bending to it's will. The Force guides us and will protect those who submit his or her life to it. The Jedi, however are truly the most un-escapable of traps. One can't fall from their true path any more than they can cheat death. Perhaps all living things are enslaved to the Force. Perhaps the Council realizes this and are yielding to their role in this life.

"Thoughts for another time." Sarn whispered to himself as Dacen was approaching.

"Are you alright, Sarn?"

"I am fine." Sarn immediately answered, giving a programmed response.

"We must prepare ourselves, Dacen. I feel that what we face inside this factory will reveal a great deal of what we will encounter in the near future. Be ready."

"I am ready." Dacen replied in an equally programmed tone.

"Then we move in. Stay close. I think we have more things to worry about than these war droids. Those who are looking to destroy may be dangerous, but they always turn that destructive nature in on themselves. Those who are looking to create are much more dangerous."

"Shall we go now, Master?" Dacen said, unclipping his lightsaber from his belt.

Sarn nodded and both jogged down the mountainside toward the valley.

[Katana]

Glad you transplanted this froum your journal.

[Fish_Bash 2.0]

Yeah. Soon to be another chapter.