Darth Zannah - The Art of Deception - Prologue

Star Wars
Darth Zannah
The Art of Deception

By JAM4077

(Based off of the Darth Bane Trilogy by Drew Karpyshyn.)

PROLOGUE

Within the Outer Rim territories' Esstran sector lies a region is known as Sith Space. Within this region lies a desolate world of red sand and numerous mountains and canyons. Before the desolation of war-ravaged the landscape, it was the capital world of the region. Today, it is commonly known as Moreband. But to the Sith and the many cults they've inspired through the centuries, it's known as Korriban.

This visit to the ancient homeworld of the Sith was a first for Darth Zannah, the reigning Dark Lord of the Sith. She stood upon the stone floor of the lightsaber training area of the Sith Academy that was built by the Brotherhood of Darkness. Her dark robes and curly blonde hair was soaked from the planet’s thunderstorm, and she savored the pain and suffering from the battle she had just fought as beads of rain rolled and cooled her fair skin that she allowed being exposed to the elements. Zannah’s yellow Sith eyes stared down at the body of a Zelton that was once known as Khan. Khan's red-skinned, tattooed body was covered with blisters and burns from the fierce battle.

Flashes of lightning and bangs of thunder intensified without warning or reason; at least to those uninitiated in the ways of the Force. Zannah could feel the dark side of the Force come alive again from deep within the Korriban’s core and straight through its atmosphere. It started as a small ember, but it was growing fast, turning into a raging inferno. The feeling and power of the dark side soon reminded Zannah of the dark side energies that were contained within Lake Natth of Ambira, where she had spent ten years of her Sith training under the guidance of her master, Darth Bane, the creator of the Rule of Two. She took this sudden awakening in the dark side as a sign of Korriban’s way of celebrating the death of the last remnant of the pollution of the Brotherhood of Darkness.

Soon, Zannah felt the dark side of the Force swell up inside her very being, a feeling that excited her and, yet, frightened her simultaneously. This power was so strong that she felt that she would lose herself to it. Suddenly, small voices and whispers from those who long since been dead, the voices of the Ancient Sith Lords, reached out to her through the Force, each one applauded, praised, and knighted Zannah as the true Dark Lord of the Sith.

Zannah, in her bliss, couldn’t help but wonder if this was the great power that her master was searching for before he discovered the Holocron of Darth Revan on Lehon. She opened up her eyes and stared at the dark stormy cloudy sky; catch a brief glimpse of a lightning bolt dancing across it. A smile of ecstasy appeared across her face, savoring the sudden rush of the dark side. Zannah’s gymnastic built body was lifted into the air and the storm’s great wind blew around her. Zannah took it as a sign that the dark side of the Force was making Zannah its property, as she made it her own.

Slowly and reluctantly, Zannah returned to herself. The voices of the Ancient Sith Lords faded back to the shadows. She landed firmly on her feet and the winds died down. Khan’s body was nowhere to be seen now, probably somewhere within the abandoned city of Dreshdae. Zannah was more than happy to let Korriban’s elements and wildlife have their way with it if it weren't for the Jedi.

Right now, the Jedi were going from system to system that Khan traveled to find him and bring him in to face justice for his many crimes. It was only a matter of time before they showed up here. Luckily for Zannah, the Jedi would take their sweet time in getting here. By the time they showed up, Zannah would have found the body and damage it enough to hide the true cause of death.

Afterward, Zannah would head to Dromund Kaas to find the Library of Darth Nox, which she hoped was still undisturbed since its conception. Any information she could get her hands on would help further the Sith's pentagram of vengeance and strengthen future Sith Lords of the Bane line, including Zannah's apprentice, Darth Cognus. Whether or not it would be enough for Cognus to overcome her was something only time will tell. It was inevitable. It was the destiny for all those follow in Darth Bane’s footsteps.

But Zannah had a secret that could change all that if she wasn’t careful. In four years since Darth Bane’s death, Cognus, like Zannah, was a firm believer in Darth Bane’s Rule of Two and was always on the lookout for any sign that her master had broken the Rule. Naturally, Zannah did the same for her apprentice. Zannah’s secret would seem to Cognus as a violation of the Rule of Two or as a means to prevent her from achieving mastery of the Sith. Or as a means of subverting Darth Bane’s designs and establish so form of a monarchy within the Sith. Even if Zannah were to explain her actions and results of those actions, it would make little difference. In the end, it would bring about their inevitable conflict sooner than anticipated.

Zannah was determined not to let that happen, even if it would cause her more pain. With the power of Sith sorcery, the abilities that helped her infiltrate the Jedi Temple and hid the presence of her and her master from the Jedi, Zannah would hide her impending motherhood from Cognus and her precognitive abilities. This also meant that Zannah would have to hide her pregnancy from those she interacted with on an almost daily basis on Ciutric IV, but that wasn't a problem.

As she made her way out of the academy, Zannah felt the all too familiar feeling of morning sickness come over her. She didn't feel the urge to vomit, but she knew it would be a matter of time. With each step she took, the Dark Lord of the Sith rubbed her still flat belly. Through the Force, she sensed the new life that was growing within it. It was too early to tell if she was carrying one child or multiples. All she knew that this new life was conceived by the most unusual circumstances between darkness and light.