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Brotherhood - SW Blade
The Dark Jedi Brotherhood had fallen into disarray. An unknown force of pirates, possessing Force Powered Artifacts, had come into Brotherhoods territory and been an almost unstoppable force.
Clan Taldryan, along with the other six Jedi Clans, had suffered defeat after defeat from this unknown enemy. Several members of the house of Ektrosis had fallen under sway of some of the artifacts; both captured and created, and had been removed from action.
Rumors of a powerful Jedi Master, seeking destruction, began to come up. Some whispered the name of Zoraan, a former Grand Master of the Brotherhood who had been exiled, as the one behind the whole plot. The rumors may have been true or not, only a few had actually seen the mastermind and lived to tell about it.
Now was the time of chaos, not only for the Dark Brotherhood, but for the entire system. Taldryan was ordered to join the other clans on the planet of Eos, the homeworld of the Dark Jedi Council, to try to find a way to defeat the Shadowy Man.
The rivalry between the clans was a secondary issue as they fought for their very survival. Old hatreds had to be put aside as they needed to work together. This is that story as told by a Tetrarch of Hex, a Phyle in Ektrosis…
Jedi Hunter Blade was still recovering from his captivity. He had come under the control of a powerful Master and was compelled to abandon his clan. During a combined mission, a team of Obelisk Warriors, rescued Blade and recovered artifacts for the Krath research team to study. If not for the strike team led By Shaithis, Blade would more than likely have been turned to the other side or dead.
Now he was recovering on Eos, with the help of Jedi healers and a good supply of Bacta. The more activity he was able to do the better he liked it, nothing was worse for him than to be bedridden and useless. He was constantly under guard by Xander Drax, a Tyro from Hex Phyle, on the off chance he ran.
Blade sat reading up on the progress reports from the research teams. He was very proud of his phyle to carry on while he was recovering. They had made huge jumps in their knowledge since he had last been a part of the team. Now they knew how to counteract most of the effects and were able to bring a few of the Dark Jedi back into service. They would need everyone when the final battle came, looking at the roster, Blade noticed some names missing.
He had always tried to take care of his team. It was a loss to see any of them gone, but in war you expect losses. The names he noticed were gone included Marcus Taeleon, a novice he had as a Tyro in two separate battleteams. That was a shock to him as well as the name Vance Farahal, whom he had never really gotten to know.
On the up side Quinlon Vos, a Tyro who had been infected was recovering well. He had come into contact with one of the facsimile artifacts early on and had gone on a stalking spree of the Proconsul Sharad Hett.
Other news was not as positive. The pirates were making advances in a few other sectors, mostly in Lyarna and Coronada areas. It looked like the Brotherhood was going to have to pull out of there because of the rushing onslaught. The tactical importance of the two systems was almost nil. They were not set in any of the major routes or had any resources of importance. It was a mystery why they had decided to fight so fiercely over that area.
Blade knew somehow deep down that those planets were very important and he decided to figure out why. He looked over at his constant shadow, Xander, and decided that it was a good idea.
“Come on Xander, we need to go see Sharad,” Blade got up and headed towards the door with Xander right behind.
They made their way to Sharads quarters and rang his door buzzer. The sounds of shuffling came from inside as well as a few mumbles. Blade knew that Sharad and Anga Salinas were an item but he didn’t expect them to be playing during the day.
“What?!?” Sharad yelled out the intercom.
“Are you busy? I have to discuss something with a member of the House Summit. Since the counsel is away and Alanna is still recovering from her exposure, it falls to you. It won’t take very long,” Blade shuffled his papers to his other hand and waited.
“Ok just give me a minute,” Sharad finally opened the door and let the two dark Jedi in.
“Now what is important that it couldn’t wait for another thirty seconds?” Sharad asked eliciting a laugh from the refresher.
“Well I was going over the research material and noticed a few odd things. One the Lyarna and Coronada systems, I have a feeling about them. I just feel that I need to go there, with my team of course and discover what makes them so important. Second, I need to get out of here,” Blade had a smile on his face at that comment. Sharad knew that Blade had to keep active; the time he was spending cooped up in the hospital bed was driving him crazy.
“Okay, but Xander here is your constant Shadow. If you start to wig out, anymore than normal that is. He has my permission to shoot you,” looking at Xander,” Only on stun. Got it?”
“Yes sir,” Xander replied.
“The only thing is that you will have to wait until after the Dark Council makes their announcement. So just be patient,” Sharad then slammed the door.
“Well he was very polite now wasn’t he,” Xander remarked.
“Actually he was. I have been around for a while and that was actually downright friendly for Sharad. Usually he throws you into the wall or something,” Blade had to smile at that.
“Well lets go and see what we need to get to be ready to go,” Blade turned with a flash of his robe and was gone.
“I hate it when he does that,” Xander had to almost sprint to catch up.
The next few days were a blur for Blade and his team of Jedi. They were making final preparations to get underway when Blade’s comlink beeped.
“Blade, get everybody down to the main chamber. The council has called a meeting of everybody,” Sharad then hung up with out waiting for an acknowledgement.
“Alright everybody, this is what we have been waiting for. Let’s go,” Blade began to herd them to the door.
They joined the other one thousand two hundred and fifty five Dark Jedi in the chamber. The main audience chamber was mad much like the old Imperial Senate on Coruscant. It had different tiers connected by walkways. At the center of the chamber, a plateau like pedestal sat. It was from here that the Dark Jedi Council would make their major announcement. Blade thought, like many of the other Jedi, that they were going to just let the Pirate forces have the areas that we had lost. There were other opinions about what the announcement was to be but that was one of the more prevailing ones.
As the last of the Jedi had finally made it into the chamber and took their seats, a trumpet sounded and they all rose and bowed as the Council entered the chamber.
“Greetings, my Dark Jedi Brethren. I come before you today to make an announcement of enormous importance to all of us. Today, as most of you know has not been the best day of the Brotherhood; we have lost many and much. The systems of Lyarna and Coronada have been overrun by pirate forces under the command of a powerful Dark Jedi master. The hour is late my brethren, night is upon us. The differences that have so long divided us must be cleansed. Old hatreds and rivalries must cease to be if we are to survive. From this day forward where once stood seven, now stands one,” Firefox took a sip of water and then looked around at all the assembled Jedi. This was the moment that would decide the fate of the Dark Brotherhood. If the massed Jedi decided that they couldn’t get over their age old differences then this was the time they would show it. “I am hereby forging the Alliance of Seven.”
The chamber erupted with shouts. Never before had an idea such as this been suggested. It seemed ludicrous to even ponder; the hatred between some clans and houses was sometimes extreme. House summits began to get their members quiet so the Grand Master could continue.
“AS of now, you will share all information about our enemy. He is a common foe to all and we will need everything to beat them. We have discovered that, indeed it is Zoraan. He has escaped death and returned to get vengeance on the whole of the Brotherhood.”
The meeting went on for hours, some houses threatened to secede from the Brotherhood. Some even when so far as to begin to walk out of the meeting.
“I HAVE HEARD ENOUGH!!!” Firefox amplified his voice using the force to make himself heard over the roar of the Jedi.” This Bickering WILL end, NOW!!!”
The sudden quiet was almost overwhelming. After so long hearing arguing voices, raised in anger, it seemed to Blade that he had almost gone deaf. Now most of the bickering Jedi began to take their seats once again as Grand Master Firefox began to speak again.
Blade began to turn his attention inside. He was focusing on starting a healing trance to strengthen his body. Blade could feel the force running thru each cell, revitalizing him and keeping him awake.
The meeting was finally over and all the Dark Jedi were free to go their separate ways, each pondering their future. Blade, with his ever present Tyro, wandered back to where Taldryan had set up their temporary home. He walked down the corridors and reached the research labs where they were studying the artifacts that had been recovered.
“Anything new?” Blade asked.
[Not yet, we have just finished reading the books I recovered,] Skorbacca said, translated by his little translator droid. [Hopefully soon.]
“If you learn anything, I’d like to know okay?” Blade then decided to go see how Alanna was doing. She had fallen after touching one of the amulets they had recovered. She had been seeing visions of death, fire, and the destruction of the Brotherhood. She had even seen the man behind the plot; his name was Grand Master Zoraan.
Grand Master Zoraan had thought to have been killed after he had committed mutiny and tried to take the Brotherhood out of the Emperor’s Hammers territories. His crew and him had high jacked the Imperial Star Destroyer Subjugator and made a run towards an unknown destination. It was only thru the efforts of Grand Master Jac Ae-Sequiera Cotelin, that he was defeated. Jac Had used and Interdictor to bring the Subjugator back to real space and then disabled it. Upon boarding the ship, they had captured Zoraan and he was presumed to have been summarily executed. Somehow Zoraan had come back.
Blade knew all of this; however he had never seen Zoraan in person. He had been way before Blade’s time in Taldryan.
Twenty Years Later…
Blade sat behind his large desk, covered with paperwork and other assorted thing that made a clan run. It had been a long time since he thought of the beginning of the Alliance of Seven. He was just a lowly little Krath Tetrarch back then. He had lost almost half of his phyle to pirates and Zoraans forces. The clans had come out stronger than ever and no force in the known galaxy was strong enough to challenge them.
Blade happened to glance at the old holo that sat on his shelf. It showed the early days of his running the Hex Phyle. Eleven Tyros and one Tetrarch smiling and posing, not knowing that before too long from that moment, they would be forever changed.
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