I am happy to announce, that this story is back! There are some cool and interesting things I have planned for Primus. I hope there are some of you still interested in this.
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Primus looked around. He was currently on Rakata Prime and still had something to complete. He rose into the air using the Force. He floated higher and higher until he saw half of the planet at once. From that height, he couldn't make out small details, but that didn't matter. He had long abandoned the need to see with his eyes. All he wanted to know, he already did. Years ago, when he was... younger, Primus used the Force to create a planet. The planet Veritara was made, and from that, the Veriteans emerged.
To do that, Primus had to use all of his power at the time and gathered galactic dust and energy to create Veritara. He combined it with his own energy to basically become the planet's father and the Force its mother. Now, after so many years had passed, he had grown a 'bit' stronger.
Primus spread his arms and took control of the planet. From the monstrous Star Forges sucking energy into them from the stars, over the large buildings on the ground, to the smallest of grass stems, Primus locked everything. And a moment later, everything started to dissolve into small dust particles and rejoined the rest of the galaxy. The ground dissolved, and all the materials used for construction were returned to their original state of entropy. The gravitational and other fundamental forces were momentarily in disarray until Primus solved the issue and calmed everything down again.
After a bit over a day, Rakata Prime, the homeworld and origin of the Rakata, disappeared from the galaxy as if it had never existed in the first place. Seeing that everything was completed, Primus nodded and pushed through space-time, leaving that spot.
.
In the Tython system, the remaining bulk of the Rakata had arrived. Predor Skal'nas had set his eyes on the infinity gate located on Tython and, for that purpose, had captured Daegon Lok and Xesh. Daegon Lok told the Rakatan leader what he saw in his vision that day when he entered the Chasm of Anil Kesh. He told him about the limitless planets and how it seemed as if he were falling. That's what Skal'nas wanted; he wanted access to the Infinity Gate to travel the galaxy and find a cure to his species' disease that slowly took away their Force-sensitivity. What he didn't know was that it wouldn't matter. Primus had decreed that all Rakata would die, and that's what would happen.
"Daegon Lok, understand that this battle is a mere diversion to my true goal. The Chasm! I will go there, and you will lead me, and then I will get access to the Infinity Gate," Skal'nas said.
"You are so arrogant to think that you are the strongest here. But don't worry, your eyes will be opened soon," Daegon Lok said, earning a kick to his ribs from the Predor.
"Such arrogance, even in the face of defeat. You stand at my feet and are about to lick my boots, and yet you claim to be the strong--"
With their army in retreat from the Rakata on Ska Gora, the Je'daii had returned to defend Tython, their home and the temple of Anil Kesh.
"You want to jump into the chasm? I'd be glad to help. I'd even give you a push," Daegon laughed.
This earned him another kick from the impatient Predor.
"Arrogant Je'daii! You will tell me the secret way that you found your way into the chasm!" Skal'nas demanded.
"...No... no... this is not my vision... this is not what I saw, what my master told me!"
"Enough of this, we depart to Tython."
.
Je'daii fighters culled the Rakatan ships until they fell from Tython's skies like rain. But the fighting continued on the ground as the Rakatan soldiers clashed with the growing unbalanced Je'daii order. The dark sabers, as the Rakatan had introduced, and Daegon Lok pushed the Je'daii to create, only worked through the use of the Dark Side. This was something a large part of the Je'daii Order didn't like and preferred to stay close to Ashla, the light.
Python reacted to the massive energy released by all the deaths. Force storms formed, and the grounded trembled. What none seemed to know or remember was that Tython was special because of its unique origin. It reacted to any form of change in the Force, and this negativity and death, as well as the growing division amongst the Je'daii, were influencing it. And not in a good way.
The Je'daii had known war, but nothing like what they experienced at that moment. There was no balance left, only the Dark Side and those who refused to use it, and therefore didn't help. Force storms ripped at the sky, making Tython rock and split, as it reacted to the violence.
Through the dark chaos that raged, one of the Je'daii by the name of Shae sensed a more intense mote of darkness. One that she knew.
"Xesh!"
She recognised the signature as the former Force Hound of the Rakatan Predor. Her feelings for him were strong, making her fly towards him, into the chasm. Daegon Lok had brought Predor Skal'nas and Xesh deep into the chasm beneath Anil Kesh by secret passageways, avoiding the battle raging above.
"This is it? Yes, Yeees... I can feel the energy crawling upward!" Skal'nas said.
"I sense a barrier within the chasm, my Predor. They call this barrier the chaos wall. It is where Je'daii are driven mad," Xesh said.
Xesh had been brainwashed into returning to Skal'nas' side as his slave.
"Not just Je'daii. Those without the Force came back catatonic or dead. Droids we sent had their circuits fried. Even the exploratory beam from Anil Kesh can't penetrate chaos. Haha, it is said that the Supreme Grandmaster could venture here, but who knows for sure. Heh... never had a Rakata jump into the chasm before. Like to see you try it... 'my Predor'," Daegon joked.
"Weak-minded Je'daii. You have spent millennia on Tython with access to the galaxy within your grasp and have still not learned the truth. At the bottom of the chasm is an Infinity Gate - The prime gate. It is a portal to all worlds and needs no other gate. It can take me anywhere in the galaxy. Rakatan legends speak of it and the way past the barrier. Xesh, plant in your mind the sigil carved into the Tho You. That and nothing else, that is the key to passage through."
"No! Xesh! Stop him!" Daegon shouted.
"You will descend with me, Hound," Skal'nas said.
"What of Lok?" Xesh asked.
"He cannot escape Rakatan shackles. Leave him to the swarming flesh raiders and his 'destiny'"
.
In Anil Kesh's halls, Ters and Tasha of the Je'daii held a holocron in their hands.
"I am channelling the Force through the holocron to you, Tasha. Can you sense anything?" Ters asked.
"Yes, Ters... yes! A glimmer! It expands..." Tasha said.
On top of the holocron, a figure appeared. The individual was a Kwa, an ancient species that held incredible knowledge but had essentially died out by then. Or so the galaxy thought.
[Greetings to you who managed to open this holocron. You must be quite desperate to resort to this. I am Primus of the Kwa, the last of the Tython Kwa, Master of this holocron. Ask, foolish child, and I might guide you.]
"Master Primus... why is your name similar to the Supreme Grandmaster of our Je'daii Order?" Ters asked.
[It is not just similar, it is the same. I am the one who founded the Je'daii Order. But is this truly the reason you activated this holocron? Are there not other more pressing matters to discuss?]
"So the Supreme Grandmaster has the capability to switch from one species to another?" Tasha asked.
[Not in the way you are thinking. I am unwilling to answer further questions about myself, since I am uncertain how I have changed over the years. Should you so desire, you may ask the current reincarnation of me.]
"Very well. Master Primus. The reason for activating this holocron is the Rakata. They have landed on Tython and are attacking! We seek your wisdom," Ters asked.
[The Rakata have arrived on Tython? How peculiar. However, the purpose of this holocron is at last fulfilled. It is time for Tython to awaken.]
The holocron began to glow brightly, and lightning danced across it, zapping Ters and pushing him back. Tasha, on the other hand, stayed connected to it.
"Tasha!" Ters was worried.
"No. It's all right! I... I understand! Ters! I sense her now... Tython is awake! The Supreme Grandmaster... he's..."
[Bring the holocron to the lowest level of the temple of Anil Kesh.]
"And what then?" Ters asked.
[We shall see.]
.
Meanwhile, Daegon Lok, who had been chained and left above the chasm, was surrounded by Rakatan grunts. They surrounded him and were ready to kill and consume him. But he was ready for them. He had been trained in the use of the Dark Side by an unknown master and had become more powerful in the process. He used Force lightning to kill one of the Rakata and took his Force saber from him, swinging it and killing the herd that tried to kill him.
He was skilled and used aggressive forms to crush the Rakata.
"Yes! That's more like it. This is what I saw in my vision! What my master promised! This is who I am! Invincible! Unstoppable!"
He decapitated Rakata after Rakata, killing them with ease and feeding off their negative emotions. A sudden energy bolt shot past his head, killing a Rakatan who tried to sneak up on Daegon.
"Sek'nos! By the rift! How did you find me here?" Daegon asked.
"I wasn't looking for you. I sensed Xesh in the Force and a rather concerning dark presence, which I thought was you. I came here to kill him," Sek'nos said.
"Get in line. If anyone's killing Xesh, it's me."
"Whoever kills the most Rakatan Raiders gets first strike!" Sek'nos suggested.
"Deal," Daegon grinned.
As they were killing Raiders by the dozen, Shae arrived as well.
"Xesh! Where's Xesh? I tracked him here!" She said.
"Good to see you alive, too, Shae. I also tracked Xesh here- but only found Lok!"
"Xesh and Predor Skal'nas went into the chasm, looking for something he called an Infinity gate! Skal'nas says it's a portal to the galaxy!" Lok explained.
"No! We have to stop him!" Shae roared.
She jumped into the chasm, but Lok followed, seizing his opportunity.
"No, you don't. Not without me," he said.
"Lok! This is my fight! Go back!" Shae said.
"You need me! I know how to get through the barrier," Lok said and placed his hand on Shae's head.
He showed her how to use the Force to open the gate and get through to Xesh and the Predor.
"The sigil on the Tho Yor! Focus on the sigil! Keep it and only it in your mind! Skal'nas said it was the only way past the barrier!"
"Argh! Get out of my head! That feels like worms crawling through my mind. I... hate you, Lok," Shae said.
"It's Mind Twist, but a nice one. You can thank me later," Daegon Lok smiled.
.
Further down, Xesh and Predor Skal'nas made it through the barrier by keeping the sigil on the Tho Yor in their mind. The energy storm swirled around and inside Xesh as it wanted to repel him and pull him in, descending him into madness all at the same time. But they finally managed to get through.
"At last!" the Predor celebrated. "The Infinity Gate - a Prime Gate leading everywhere - needing no other gate to complete the journey! Through it lies the galaxy and ultimate power! Through it I will renew the Rakata nd rule the Infinite Empire!"
And just above the barrier, where chaos reigned, Lok and Shae were about to break through, or descend into madness—one of the two.
"Focus on the sigil I've put in your mind, Shae! Command the beast carrying us to obey me now - I will put it into her mind too!" Lok said.
"Get out of my mind, Lok! Get out, or I'll throw you off, Butch, and you can fall the rest of the way! And stay away from Butch!" she said angrily.
"I can feel the darkness in your mind, girl. Good. Good! There is power there. You've gotten darker, tougher. I like it. You can increase your power with anger. Think of how Xesh betrayed you... betrayed a lot of the Je'daii!" Lok spoke.
"He didn't... not deliberately. That Rakata... Skal'nas... has Xesh under his thrall!" Shae argued.
"I can feel your emotions, Shae Koda. Like everyone you love deeply, Xesh has abandoned you! Like your parents did, dying in a battle they should have won, if the Supreme Grandmaster had bothered to show up and help the Order he represented. Like mesh, you gave him your heart, and he has betrayed you, hasn't he?"
A tear escaped Shae's eye.
Finally, they passed the barrier, Lok having managed to manipulate Shae to do his bidding. They arrived at the very bottom of the chasm, where the dormant Infinity Gate lay like a cosmic lake, pulsing with heat and power.
"Skal'nas! It's time, Predor. Time that I killed you!" Lok shouted as he jumped off Butch, the flying beast.
"Away with you, slave! Die!" The Rakata shouted and sent Force lightning towards Daegon Lok.
But Lok had experience with Force lightning and had trained to endure and deflect it using a Force saber. He swatted it away and scoffed at the lack of power.
"You wouldn't know, of course, but I've had experience killing arrogant warlords full of their own pride!"
Lok jumped and slashed his Force saber down, forcing the Predor to block the attack. The power behind the strike surprised Skal'nas as he had never felt like it in his life. But he didn't care about it now; the strange being had told him what he had to do, and he would. The power of the Infinity Gate was to be his, and this insignificant slave couldn't do anything about it. He didn't care about the deal he had struck with the being that killed his Sub-Predor; he would take what he wanted.
"Pathetic whelp. These warlords you speak of were not Rakata, and they were not me! You are nothing, slave. Nothing but meat for my table," Skal'nas roared.
"Force sabers, journeyer's toys. I have nastier weapons with which to play," Lok stated and expressed his immense hatred through the Force, pressing down on the Rakata.
.
On the other side of the dormant Infinity Gate, Xesh fought Shae.
"You should not have followed me down here, Shae," Xesh said and slashed at her.
She dodged his attack and jumped over another strike. Her feelings for him were still present and amplified by the moment.
"You won't kill me, Xesh. I can sense the conflict within you! This isn't you!" She said.
"You were wrong about me. I know who I am. Skal'nas restored my memories - all of them. I know who I am and everything I have done. I was more than a slave. I was a willing participant, destroyer of worlds, bringer of death!"
His rage and desperation intensified as he tried to kill Shae, or so he told himself. He was convinced that his mind was clear and that he knew who he was, not realising that it had been the Predor who had manipulated him and turned him into a slave once more.
"No! I took you into my heart! Now look into your own! I know what you felt! We shared a bond that was real! Don't lie to yourself or me! The Rakata only ever showed you the Dark Side! It was all that you were allowed to see. When exposed to the Light Side of Ashla, you drank of it like a man dying of thirst."
She deflected his strike and used Force Push to create distance to converse with him, rather than fight.
"No matter what the Rakata have done to you, I know that at the core of your being, you are not Xesh, the slave... You are Tau. Choose your own path! You are more than just a Force Hound. If Skal'nas tells you differently, then he is a liar."
While the fight between Shae and Xesh was one of truths and lies, of understanding the self and seeing through the fog of lies, the fight between Daegon Lok and the Predor Skal'nas was one of pure hatred and desire to gain power.
Daegon Lok used Mind Twist on the Rakata and entered his mind.
"AAAHHHH! What is... this?" Skal'nas asked.
"Me. Crawling around in your mind. Do you like it, Rakata?" Lok asked.
However, things suddenly changed. Drastically.
"Welcome," Skal'nas said and grinned.
"Oh no... no!" Lok said in panic.
"Oh, yes. Become me. Enjoy my memories - all the deaths in the Force that I have experienced. I devoured some of my victims as they died. Taste what I am and despair, little Je'daii."
Daegon Lok witnessed the deaths and was forced to relive everything the Predor had done. He tasted the flesh of his victims and the emotions he felt as he killed and devoured them. The sadistic nature of the Rakata and their deep connection to the Dark Side was... corrupting him further.
"Let go of me! Let go of my mind!" Lok screamed.
"Too nasty for you, slave? I'll release you," the Predor said and stabbed him.
He looked across the battlefield and saw Xesh fighting with Shae. He was disgusted and enraged that he had been interrupted.
"Hound! Stop playing with your kill! Finish her! We have work to do!" he commanded.
"You stand at a crossroads. You can be Xesh, the Hound, the slave... or you can be Tau, the free man. Bound to the past, or open to the future. It is your choice!" Shae shouted.
Their fight was interrupted by a rumbling and release of massive amounts of energy coming from the Infinity Gate. The Predor had turned it on.
"Yes! The gate is mind to command! My weapon to shatter worlds! I am the Infinite Empire and the galaxy belongs to me!" Skal'nas roared.
.
Tasha and Ters had finally made it to the lowest level of the temple of Anil Kesh.
"Master Primus. We have brought your holocron here as you asked. Now, please, we need to know why," Ters said.
[The appearance of the Rakata on Tython has triggered the specific sequence I installed millennia ago in this holocron. It would appear that the Je'daii Order has failed, and it is time to awaken the Tho You. For this to happen, though, a Je'daii who still represents balance.]
"What do you mean the Je'daii Order has failed, Master? What is happening?"
[The arrival of the Rakata could only happen if the balance was broken. The natural habitat and the power of the Je'daii Order should have repelled them, and if not, the Supreme Grandmaster should have easily dealt with them. The fact that he didn't tells me that he allows this to happen. Therefore, the Je'daii Order has deviated from the balance.]
"That's impossible. The Je'daii Order can't have failed. There are still those of us who are in balance and practice it. Why would the Je'daii Order be considered a failure?" Ters asked.
[That is something you have to ask the Supreme Grandmaster. Now, a Je'daii Seer would normally be required for this. But are you still in balance, girl? I feel your emotions, you are conflicted. So what will it be?]
"Master Primus, I am no longer a seer - nor a Je'daii. The Rakatan Force Hound Xesh blinded my eyes and blinded me to the Force..." Tasha said.
[Blinded? I wonder what my reincarnation has been teaching you children. Blinded is not the same as severed. The Force flows through all living beings, and it flows through you still. To think that you didn't realise this... how sad. You can be reunited with the Force so that you may awaken the Tho Yor, but it will cost you your mortal shell.]
"No! There must be some other way. Use me!" Ters said.
"No, Ters. You are not a seer. If there was another way, I know Primus would tell us," Tasha said.
[Well...]
"What? Is there another way?" Ters asked.
[There is another way, sure. By tapping into your connection to the Force, you can align your spiritual self with the Force and awaken the Tho Yor that way.]
"That's great! Let's do that!"
"Wait, Ters. I sense that there is more," Tasha said.
[Indeed. You would need enough power to awaken and then power all the Tho Yor on your own. The cost of the power this would require is not something you have access to. Not even slightly. Moving a planet would be easier.]
"Moving... a planet?"
"It's alright, Ters. This is our darkest hour. Je'daii are fighting and dying to save Tython. All are doing what they have been called to do. How could I do less?" Tasha asked.
"I will miss you, Tasha Ryo."
"In the Force, we Je'daii are never apart, Ters."