Outer Ring. Hyperspace.
751DBY.
13 years before the Mandalorian Purge.
Darth Doom.
I was meditating.
Two ships were flying through hyperspace at the same time.
One of them was carrying scum and my saboteur with the main part of the Doomdroids.
On the second ship, it was just me and a droid acting as a pilot.
This way, I minimised the possibility of interference and could fully immerse myself in the present, even here. In a region where the ship moves faster than light. This hyperdrive is an interesting technology. Yes, there are a number of limitations, but the potential is truly limitless, unlike all the other local contraptions.
My consciousness flew through the Force in all directions, looking for something that might interest me.
At least some hint of a potential object of interest.
I hate relying on chance, but the mystical energy of this galaxy literally screamed to any minimally experienced mage that it was literally a hotbed of surprises and all kinds of 180-degree turns.
Not the best result, which has to be compensated for not by the quality of the effects on the Force, but by the quantity — that is, more and longer meditation.
Previously, meditation did not go well with Dark Magic, and I used it for lighter practices, as well as for my own calmness. As practice showed, the Force was about the same in this regard. The Dark Side was more difficult to access through meditation, and it was less effective than for users of the Light Side alone.
But I had time, and I wasn't going to waste it on fencing training, as the Sith often did. I already knew almost all European styles, and although the local ones were different, they had some recognisable features, so I would be able to predict my opponent's moves if necessary. That is, if I let any of the local amateurs with their light sticks get closer than ten metres to me.
...And it was with these thoughts in mind that meditation brought me news.
Several sources of the Light Side in the star system of the planet I needed — Corriban.
Several faces of different races flashed before my eyes.
Several stories flashed before my eyes. Several recent events — the Force, as always, was selective and random in what it was going to give me, making it clear that it wasn't entirely irrational. It definitely had some kind of guiding will.
But that wasn't what interested me.
It was the fact that a young Padawan, or whatever the Jedi called their apprentices, was meditating at the same time.
She... sensed me. She saw me.
And she was frightened. She lost consciousness. After all, I was incomparably more powerful than her.
But she saw my figure. Our eyes met in the Force. I sensed her unwillingness to meditate, her thirst for action... That she wasn't the most diligent student.
And she... I don't know what she saw. But it clearly terrified her.
One way or another.
She sensed me.
This is unacceptable.
And that means the Jedi must be destroyed. Before she tells the others.
Well,
It's time to test my Force skills and the power of her Dark Side on actively resisting Jedi.
I opened my eyes and immediately connected to the internal communication systems of my armour and the Dumbroids.
"When we arrive in the star system, remove your cloaking devices and simulate a hyperdrive malfunction, then head for the only space station in the system. Request assistance and report the false malfunction..." — I began to explain my plan to the droids.
After all, deceit is also the Way of the Dark Side. Just like adequate planning is the way of a smart person.
Outer Ring. Sith space. Horuset system.
Space station.
When the young Corellian Padawan screamed and collapsed, no one paid any attention at first.
After all, she was serving her punishment for not being able to resist her curiosity and trying to steal a ship from the station and travel to the ancient homeland of the Sith, the main planet of the Horuset system — Corriban, which had been guarded by a squad of Jedi for two hundred years.
At first, it was said that they were mythical Jedi shadows.
Then it was revealed that a Jedi Master of the reformed Order was stationed here, along with a number of Jedi Masters with a strong connection to the Force.
Then only the last ones remained.
And now, in the last few decades, only a few masters and Padawans remain, who show great resistance to the corruption of the Dark Side of the Force in the star system and may become excellent fighters against evil in the future.
Or even... Jedi shadows.
Although these young men and women are sometimes unaware of this, considering this place a refuge for overly emotional students, i.e. a boring and tedious place. By definition. Nevertheless... The guardians of the ancient system of their ancestral enemies were not complete idiots.
If they had taken on the task of guarding a place where their enemies could reappear, they had to be masters with sufficiently high mental abilities.
So, literally half an hour later, her immediate teacher, a member of the Miraluk race, rushed into the cabin where his student was tossing and turning on the floor, touching her forehead with her hand.
He may have spent most of his time sleeping at his post, as he wanted to take a break from the constant whining of his apprentice, who was too lively for a Jedi, but an unexpected sense of danger woke him up and made him check the cameras... On which he discovered the Corellian girl lying down, clearly in pain.
"Hey, Milly... Padawan... Apprentice... Milly..." — repeating, he carefully ran his hand over her forehead and then the rest of her body, feeling his apprentice with the Force.
It appeared that she had no physical injuries, only something wrong with her head... Something painful. But for now, the Corellian native was unable to cope on her own with what appeared to be some kind of Force vision. The eyeless Jedi was about to heal his student with the Force when his comlink sounded, signalling an important call.
"Oh, you... Force..." — the man groaned. "What do you want, Valey? I'm a little busy here!" — he said sarcastically into the activated communication channel.
"Norman, there's a ship... in the system. Unknown construction and... Judging by everything, it's lost its hyperdrive. Completely lost it. The pilot is panicking and has already tried thirty different distress signals, even the ones that are only used in escape pods... Poor guy. Anyway, get over here. We'll meet you there. The rest are already here." — At that moment, the comlink emitted the consonant sounds of the other Jedi on the station, who were clearly excited by the ship's arrival.
After all, there was so little of interest happening at the station, which was already rumoured to be useless among the Order's leadership, that even the Jedi couldn't help but be curious.
"I can't, Valey! I have a student here who has some kind of Force vision..." — The miraluka tugged irritably at his cheek, beginning Force Healing, the effects of which were almost immediately noticeable — his student's dazed gaze became more or less coherent.
"And right before a damaged ship entered the system..." — Don't be silly, the station commander, surrounded only by Jedi, sank into thought. "Interesting. But I don't sense anyone gifted on the ship. Only one humanoid..." "And... Probably a droid... I'm not sure, Lai'sa isn't either." — clearly frowning on the other side, said the same as him — the Jedi Master.
"Is the ship close?" — asked the Miraluka, turning his head slightly from the comlink to his student. A completely useless gesture for a member of a race that sees only with the Force and has no eyes, but one inherited from their human companions.
"Yes, it will dock soon. We can't abandon an intelligent being..." — judging by the rustling of clothing coming through the communication device, the Jedi shrugged. "Besides, there are seven of us here, not even counting your lovely apprentice..."
"She's not cute, she's just unusually restless. Even though she herself refused the temptations of three Sith holocrons!" — feeling both pride and shame for his apprentice, the Miraluka said.
"You're sometimes too..." — came a resigned sigh from the other side.
"Quiet. My student has finally come to her senses." — The Jedi interrupted his old acquaintance and turned to his Padawan: "Student... What happened?"
"Te-a-a-acher..." — whispered the trembling apprentice, her whole body shaking and covered in sweat. "Help... Help me... It's scary..." — Her meaningful gaze suddenly turned panicked, and the Force, imitating its mistress, rebelled violently in the Padawan's body. "Help! Help! Help!" — The girl shook her frozen teacher violently, although in this state she was more like a small, very small, and very frightened girl.
"What..." — the master tried to interrupt his student's stream of words, but was immediately cut off by it:
"I saw it! I saw it!" — clutching her head with both hands, she began to shake it violently with remarkable speed and the same slight tremor. The young Jedi's eyes darted frantically from side to side, giving the impression that she was mentally unstable. "There... There! Evil! Terrible, insidious evil! The Dark Side... The planet... It... It's resonating!" — The Corellian girl began to mumble incoherently and clearly unwell, her lips suddenly dry. "That... It's flying here! Evil itself! The planet is evil! The man in steel! The man of death! It's flying here, no, no... No-o-o!"
Shocking the Jedi, as well as everyone who heard the conversation on the comlink, the Padawan screamed loudly and fainted.
"The ship has docked..." said Valey, desperately trying to understand what had happened, not noticing that the only living inhabitant of the ship had entered the station and that instead of a squad of Jedi, he was met only by droids.
Droids... Which, a moment later, turned into compressed pieces of scrap metal and sparks flying from wires on the cameras.
The cameras that had filmed the entire process in detail followed suit.
But the Jedi were not concerned. They had a much more important problem on their hands.
A problem that suddenly enveloped the entire station in the Dark Side. A problem that sent shivers down the spines of all the Jedi, even the most experienced masters.
What young Milly saw.
On both sides of the communication channel, the sounds of lightsabers activating rang out.
However, the Warriors of Light did not cease to fear the Darkness. After all, it was not for nothing that they had guarded the star system that served as the source and focus of this very Darkness, the Dark Side of the Force, for many years.
The Jedi rushed to meet the threat.
There.
Darth Doom.
After crushing another pair of Jedi — and therefore reinforced and highly advanced droids — I just shook my head.
There was no information about such machines in the Sith records. And they were very interesting... Interesting solutions in the field of motorisation, the overall design was also entertaining and worthy even of my hand... And in general, their entire appearance did not just hint, but literally screamed that they were designed to confront gifted users of lightsabers, which in essence was almost always the same thing.
No wonder I got openly obsessed and disabled several of them in a relatively gentle way. Then I'll study them and see what I can add to my Dumbots, which are currently just prototypes, not particularly capable of opposing the Gifted, in particular the Jedi.
I have never often used reverse engineering, because all the other inventors' pathetic creations were nothing compared to mine... Except maybe Stark could do something... But this galaxy works on different principles. And here it would not be shameful to try something foreign if it is really worth it.
Turning the corner of the station, I used the armour systems to estimate how long the ship would be able to generate interference. The Jedi must not realise that their station was under attack.
No, not the locals.
The locals are doomed.
The ones in the rest of the galaxy. The ship's systems didn't pick up the outgoing signal, so there's a chance they don't notify their brethren from, um, the big land very often. And they certainly didn't do it as soon as a damaged ship appeared in their detection zone.
Remarkable carelessness.
Incredible stupidity.
I don't like fools, and killing them again would only clean up the gene pool. Not just humans, but other races as well... Although, I've heard that the Jedi like to practise celibacy or something like that these days. Incredible stupidity, considering that the ability to use the Force is usually inherited.
The Jedi have once again shown their teachings to be utterly unpresentable.
I didn't expect anything else from those who don't possess my magnificent intellect...
"Don't you get it yet?" — I laughed contemptuously as another batch of droids with lightsaber-like weapons rushed towards me.
For a moment, an idea flashed through my mind.
More paranoid than practical. Should I pretend to be a fierce, powerful, but completely impractical Sith? The way the Jedi portray them now — the mon-kalamari told me about those I should report if I encountered them.
It would be amusing, at least.
The Dark Side flowed through my veins, filling every cell of my body and giving me a false sense of omnipotence. Yes, there were no familiar demons in the Force. But their role was played by the mystical energy itself, one side of which, like the side of a coin, along with incredible powers, deceived every second. It gave power, but not as powerful as most foolish fools claimed and felt.
With this, it deceived perfectly.
Had I not encountered the cunning of demons, I might have fallen into the trap of this indestructible part of the Force... Then, of course, I would have taken revenge, because no one could treat Doom like that, but... I learned to be cautious in dealing with the Dark Side. I began to act not rashly, but as I had once studied Dark Magic — with understanding, with feeling, with deliberation. I did not want to fall into some trap, as I once did with Mephisto, falling into his web and losing my face due to his truly diabolical explosion.
Nevertheless, the distortions of the Force that tore the space in front of me and the droids worked perfectly. Anything that does not strengthen you directly has a worse effect on your will, and therefore this technique of the Dark Side — the Sphere of Oblivion — worked perfectly.
Creating a small and quickly fading semblance of a real Black Hole, the Spheres of Oblivion maximised their gravitational pull, drawing everything around them towards themselves and tearing it to pieces with powerful streams of the Force that manifested as a dark haze and disappeared, no longer supported or fuelled by the power of their creator — me.
And how beautifully these droids flew apart with this technique — too strong and too stable for normal Force actions... A sight to behold!
"And yet... Interesting compensators..." — I nodded slightly as the Force Push sent the droid tumbling backwards instead of flying through the air like a broken doll. "And the alloy is no less interesting... Could it be beskar and frik?" — I commented on the squeak as my second hand clenched into a fist and tried to squeeze the droid into a ball.
But it only crumpled and tried to break free from the invisible grip.
The frame isn't bad either, since it can withstand something that would have crushed an entire shuttle.
I must study this!
This will definitely come in handy...
"Secret passages? Not bad." — I reacted to the droids that jumped off the ceiling, hovering sharply in the air and immediately thrown back.
I don't know how good these Jedi machines are against lightsaber fighters, but against pure Force users, which is what Jedi are supposed to be according to all the canons, and not fencers, they were useless. Even an attack by a dozen of them is useless... Just like now!
From hidden passages and directly at me, nine Jedi droids of the same green colour and with light sabres of different shapes and types rushed at me. I even saw something similar to a gleff — a double-sided light sabre.
"What are you against the power of the Dark Side?" — I snorted contemptuously at the clearly intelligent but silent droids.
It is very difficult to sense the mind of a machine in the Force, but if you have a high degree of self-awareness, it becomes much easier.
Completely shedding the disguise of my own powers, I opened myself to the Dark Side raging in this star system. It had definitely been building up for millennia... Millennia of generated power... Oh yes, if only all this could be directed, used... What prospects were opening up before me!
Worthy of Duma, no doubt about it.
The Dark Side raging inside me finally found an outlet. Small, narrow holes began to appear, from which it began to burst out in a giant stream of water, desperately trying to expand the exit zone. But the steel vise of my will was stronger, and instead of losing control, only the brightest Lightning Bolts of Power burst out of my fingers, their brilliance forcing me to squint at first.
However, the result of this simple but powerful attack concentrated on the Dark Side sealed the fate of the machines.
Insufficient insulation played a nasty trick on them.
Possessing all the properties of real lightning, the Force Bolts simply burned all the delicate electronics of my opponents, which allowed them to move with such phenomenal agility... Which did nothing against me — the one who was fuelled by the very atmosphere of this star system, the one who dealt area damage constantly and was completely unfazed by damage.
With my armour, I'm not afraid of depressurisation, the ship is nearby... But the Jedi might not fare so well.
Stepping over the sparkling droids, I squinted and scanned another one with my armour systems. More massive... And clearly better armoured.
This one needs to be captured more or less intact... So no Force Lightning. ...However, the Force push I sent at the droid officer was almost instantly intercepted by a Jedi who ran straight at him and literally absorbed the neutral Force charge I had put into the push — constantly using only the Dark Side is not good. It can undermine even the most perfect mind — mine.
"You did it, D-24. Retreat..." — exclaimed the Jedi, apparently the leader of the squad, waving to her droid, the former officer.
Since the appearance of the Jedi was only a moment of surprise in battle for me, and not completely unexpected, then...
New Force Lightning bolts, only more scattered and widespread, headed straight for the Jedi squad that had rashly rushed out... Most of them managed to stay on their feet, sharply exposing their lightsabers, filled with the Light Side of the Force, to this Dark Side technique, which... accumulated the charges of its eternal enemy and scattered them straight into the plasma, feeding it.
Come to think of it, whoever came up with this method of blocking the negative-filled Lightning Bolts is a genius. Not only to defend themselves, but also to enhance the power of their technological weapon... What a pity that the creator has vanished into thin air, leaving behind not even a name... I could try to find his legacy and, of course, use it for my own needs.
"But... It won't work against the power of the Duma!" I exclaimed confidently, increasing the pressure of my power. Like anything that absorbs energy and disperses it at the same time, such a system could simply be overloaded.
My connection to the Force was clearly stronger, the potential of my mind, which had been linked to Dark Magic for decades, was much higher.
Therefore, in this situation, I simply pressed forward with brute force, relying neither on finesse nor careful calculation. No, sometimes it was necessary to act as harshly as possible.
"A reflection of the Force?" I chuckled in surprise when the Force lightning bolts began to... bounce back at me. "Not bad."
"You... won't... defeat me..." — the Jedi leader of the squad practically whispered through her teeth. She was clad in armour and wore a mask that hid her face but was clearly Jedi-themed. "Sith!" she finally spat out furiously, her squad joining forces to reflect my weakened Force Lightning.
"Not bad, not bad at all, Jedi." — I twisted my lips into a mocking smile, clapping my steel palms together. "How many of you are there? Nine? Eight? And only with that many were you able to repel my attack... I take back what I said. You are feeble-minded nobodies, complete weaklings, incapable of..." — interrupting my mocking and mostly spontaneous Dung Mooch, the leader of the Light Side enthusiasts lunged towards me.
She literally crushed the metal where she lunged.
As expected — not bad.
But I didn't engage in a barbaric clash of light swords, even though I had a good opportunity to do so.
I simply caught the Jedi rushing towards me with streams of the Force... And threw her over me, sending several reflexive bolts of Force Lightning after her, which, surrounded by my own Force, she was unable to completely deflect and dropped one of her blades with a cry.
"Not so fast," I grinned, looking down at the other Jedi.
The most powerful Force Push was as simple as a bow — the most common cow-like creature in the galaxy.
The Jedi tried to weaken it, to draw out the Force... But the aggressive Dark Side, now participating in this Force technique, threw the Jedi away. With all their might, they forced them to roll across the floor and become entangled with each other.
"No," I said firmly as the Jedi, who had regained her senses, tried to rush at me from the other side.
However, instead of the Force technique she expected, a charge flew at her from the centre of my palm. A blaster-like device was installed there, but instead of a plasma bolt, it released a voluminous plasma circle, looped and created in the image and likeness of lightsabers.
And the latter, in turn, are much more difficult to deflect. Even with two blades, the masked Jedi wasted precious seconds fighting the blast, during which I managed to use Force Wound on the already lightning-damaged part of her body.
"A-a-a-a-a-a-a!" — there was something in her cry of pain... Meditative. Hmm... Could the Dark Side be breaking through her will? Not that I take pleasure in the suffering of others, but... This is not a good sign. I'll have to think about that.
"Decided to remember that you're Jedi, not lice-ridden gizzies?" — I asked the other Jedi who had managed to untangle themselves, reignite their lightsabers, and cautiously advance in a semicircle, forming some kind of collective defence technique.
Ah yes, the Half Moon of the Force. A neutral technique, even somewhat Sith, if you believe the current views of the Jedi... Stupid superstitions, but at least modern Jedi seriously believe that a technique that allows you to take power from one gifted user and transfer it to another user who is under attack and thus distribute a single attack among multiple users of the Half-Moon of the Force... Maybe it's Sith!
"But... That's all?" — I said disappointedly, my cheeks twitching nervously at the Jedi. "Then you are doomed to learn the power of Darth Dohma!" — I raised my voice, simultaneously holding back the leader of the temple guards who was trying to move forward with a more powerful and prolonged discharge of Lightning. I clenched my other hand and began to direct hundreds and hundreds of pieces of droids, walls, floor, and ceiling at the Jedi.
They weren't particularly dangerous to the Jedi in their formation, but no one likes having a droid's leg flying at their face. They would reflexively try to chop it off with the almost all-destructive blade in their hands... And in doing so, they would momentarily weaken their overall control over the Crescent of Power.
And that would allow me to use Sith magic.
The Spear of Hatred formed instantly.
And as soon as the Jedi from some aquatic race managed to deflect the droid's torso, which had been accelerated to hundreds of metres per second using Ballistokinesis, a spear of pure darkness flew at him, splitting the Jedi's head in two.
"Kri'van!" several temple guards shouted at once, who, unlike me, felt the death of their comrade in the Force extremely painfully.
But I was only strengthened by the emanations of fear, pain, and loss that had settled in the station's atmosphere... All the negative emotions of intelligent beings only fuelled the Dark Side. And in the Horuset system, the concentration of its power...
Even a weak Sith would become stronger for a while here.
And the Darth himself...
"The score is open, ha-ha-ha!" — I laughed deliberately from under my mask to further enrage the Jedi and make them lose their concentration with such disrespect for the death of their foolish comrade.
It would be wonderful if one of them fell, or rather, turned to the Dark Side.
Then I could cover my tracks... Who knows what happened in the Sith home system, right? The Jedi was influenced by some spirit and killed his comrades, but couldn't handle his own power and died ingloriously.
For the same reason, I will not take a fallen Jedi as a student, or even an apprentice. I don't need fools who want to kill me. Only those who will be loyal to me to the very end. The fall of such Jedi must be controlled by me, and they must go to the Dark Side voluntarily, for what the Light will never give them. Not in a fit of rage.
I don't need crazy berserkers as my subordinates.
But it would be better to raise acolytes of the Dark Side from scratch and use them to distract the Jedi... Create a great enemy and hide in its shadow until I gather my strength... A good plan. Feed them a few Sith artefacts that are useless to me, and everything will be wonderful.
Yes, excellent, I'll do that...
But first things first.
"Try this..." — and once again, a cool sensation of the great power of the Dark Side ran through my limbs, concentrating along their entire length and filling them with the Magic of the Force.
It's time to show them something interesting. Something deadly interesting.
***
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