Dark Jedi: Sith History #7
Darkside@forceacademy.com

The New Order

The extinction of the Sith race after the destruction of Yavin IV by the Republic brought peace to the galaxy. The forces of evil had been vanquished, and with the Sith gone, the Jedi knew that the dark side would never again challenge the light.

They were wrong. The Sith had vanished, but they had not been forgotten. It was only a matter of time.

About two thousand years before the beginning of the Galactic Civil War, these ancient Sith teachings were discovered by a powerful Jedi Knight. Like Exar Kun and Ulic Qel-Droma and others before him, he thought he was strong enough to withstand the temptation of the dark side. Delving into the mysteries of the ancient Sith empire, he was sucked into the trap. And as he grew more and more powerful in the use of the black arts and dark side of the Force, he grew restless.

Why should the Sith not rise again? Not as a race, but as a dark side cult, dedicated to studying these ancient mysteries? He had visions of a new golden age of the Sith, dominated by dark side Jedi and ruled by him alone.

This dark Jedi then began to act out his vision. Recruiting Jedi and apprentices and swaying them to his views, he built the beginnings of his secret empire. One day, he told them, the Sith would appear to the light side Jedi and conquer the galaxy.

But that day was not to come. In his haste, the dark Jedi overlooked the fact that every one of the Jedi that he had swayed also had their own visions of a grand empire with themselves as supreme ruler. As in the Sith Empire of old, this destroyed them. Feuds and warring broke out and in a great holocaust of dark Jedi against dark Jedi, every one of the new Sith were destroyed.

Except for one. One Jedi, whether by trickery or by his control of the dark side of the Force, had survived. As he surveyed the wreckage around him, he vowed that never again would this happen. He would continue the Sith legacy, as the first dark Jedi had hoped, but in a different manner. From now on, there would be no huge band of followers ruled by one lord. From now on, there would only be two: a master and an apprentice. The master would teach the apprentice and when the master died, the apprentice would become the master and seek out a new apprentice. Thus, the Sith would live on, shadowy, unseen but everpresent, ever watchful, a phantom menace for the Republic and Jedi to reckon with.

This dark Jedi took on a new name, calling himself Darth Bane, the first of the Sith. Decreeing that every Sith should take the title "Darth," he began training his first apprentice. After his death, that apprentice then took the title of Sith Master and continued his legacy.

And for two thousand years, the Sith flourished unknown.

Be mindful,
Darth Moor
darthmoor@forceacademy.com