Darth Bane was a legendary Dark Lord, who
lived roughly 1000 years before the battle of Yavin. Leading the Sith order into a new
age, he was pronounced by many as the Sith’ari, a prophesized hero of the Dark Side, who would
destroy the Sith Order, only to rebuild it, stronger than before.
Born on the poor and desolate Outer Rim Planet of Apatros, he was named Dessel, though his
alcoholic, abusive father, would often call him Bane, referring to his son as the Bane
of his existence, blaming the boy for all his own failings. With Dessel’s mother having
died during his delivery, the boy was left to suffer the scorn and cruelty of his father
and his father’s friends for many years, none aware of young Dessel’s powerful Force
sensitivity and his untapped potential. At age 16 Dessel became a miner for Outer Rim
Oreworks like his father, working in hazardous and back breaking conditions, mining cortosis
ore for the Republic and other clients of the company. Though the work was difficult,
it shaped the young man, who was already tall, into a large, muscular figure, with his natural
force abilities, protecting him from danger, and strengthening his skills and stamina.
Despite working to provide for himself, Hurst continued to abuse his son, and at the age
of 18, Des at last had enough, standing up to his father and challenging his authority.
As a result the young man was beaten near to death, and as he lay in bed that night,
enraged and suffering in pain, Dessel began to imagine the death of his father, picturing
a hand squeezing his heart. In the morning, Hurst was dead, with Dessel unknowingly having
killed his father through the use of raw and undeveloped force power. As the years went on, Dessel learned to stand
up for himself against the other miners and focused his efforts on working as much as
possible, to pay off the ever mountings debt owed to Outer Rim Oreworks.
Yet as Dessel sought his freedom, and thought about his future, many of his coworkers continued
to hate him, a sentiment instilled in the miners by Hurst, before his passing. And so
it was that 5 years after the man’s death, Gerd, an old friend of his deceased father,
drunkenly attacked the man hoping to jab out his eye. Yet Dessel received a Force premonition
during the fight, and was able to turn his head in time to bite off Gerd’s thumb, defeating
the drunken miner. Despite his claim of self defense, Dessel was suspended for several
days, and so went to the local Cantina, where he could make some money gambling at the Sabacc
table, to make up for what he would lose during his time out of work.
Again Dessel unknowingly used his force powers to help him win both in gameplay and in manipulated
his opponents, insulting them and mocking their beliefs. His dark side aura even began
to influence the spectators and when he won the high stakes final round against a young
Republic Ensign, in a near miraculous way, the crowd was at the point of rioting. It
was only when one of Dessel’s only friends, Groshik, the owner of the Cantina intervened,
that the situation relaxed, kicking everyone except Dessel out of the bar and closing shop
for the night. Yet the opponent Des had bested in Sabacc,
would not forget what happened, and as Des made his way home, he was attacked by the
Republic Ensign who pulled out a viroblade and attempted to kill him. Again using the
force to sense what would occur, he was able to stab the man with his own weapon. The Ensign’s
2 Republic friends who were watching, ran, and Des knew they would report to their leaders,
and would return in force to arrest him for murder. Without witnesses, a self defense
claim would do him no good, and so unable to return home and unsure what to do, he returned
to the Cantina, and sought help from his friend Groshik. The bar owner used his contacts to
send Dessel on a Rodian ship out of Apatros. Knowing he would be wanted by the Republic
everywhere he went, Groshik arranged for him to join the Sith Army which was currently
fighting for the New Sith Order, also called the Brotherhood of Darkness, against the Jedi
and Republic forces. Assigned to the Gloom Walkers, Dessel’s
innate force abilities made him an excellent soldier, rising to the rank of Serjeant, earning
the respect of his men, and leading them through a number of chaotic and savage battles.
Yet while Des was their leader on the field, Lieutenant Ulabore was the ranking officer,
and despite having little operational control, he often took credit for Gloom Walkers victories,
receiving many commendations and awards for their success.
However, during the battle of Phaseera, Lieutenant Ulabore ordered the Gloom Walkers on a suicide
mission, simply because he was afraid to confront his Sith Lord superior, explaining that a
simple adjustment to their plan would save many lives.
Des, unwilling to lead his soldiers into a slaughter, knocked Ulabor unconscious and
took command of the unit. They instituted the revised plan, and were successful in their
mission. It would be during this battle, that Dessel would temporarily be blinded by a flash
grenade, only to gain force sight, able to continue firing his weapon, seeing his targets
through the force. When the triumphant Gloom Walkers returned
to their camp, Lieutenant Ulabore was waiting with military police, who arrested the Serjeant,
taking him to be court martialed. Though many in the Gloomwalkers were ready to fight for
him again, including a young sniper named Lucia who began raising her weapon in his
defense, Dessel shook his head, ordering them to allow his arrest, once again saving their
lives. Des was brought before the Sith Lord Kopecz,
who rather than punish the man, praised him for his many victories with the Gloom Walkers,
and informed him that he was a Force Sensitive. Lord Kopecz, sensing the great potential in
him, invited the former miner to enrol in the Sith Academy on the Sith homeworld of
Korriban, where he might be trained in the ways of the Dark Side, so he too might one
day join the Brotherhood of Darkness as a Sith Lord. Dessel, shocked by the turn of
events, saw in his offer a chance to start a new life, unhindered or haunted by the struggles
of his past. And so agreed, following in the Sith tradition of choosing a new name for
himself and his new life. Remembering his childhood and the cruelty of his father, he
chose the name Bane and made his way to the Sith Academy.
When Bane at last arrived to Korriban and the Sith Academy, he found that he was at
a disadvantage, with most of the students having been trained in the ways of the dark
side from an early age. Yet Bane was determined to see his potential realized and so dedicated
himself completely, learning under the instruction of Sith Masters like Lord Qordis and Kas’im,
while spending his free time In the Sith archives, studying the history of their order and the
teachings of ancient Dark Lords. As he rose through the ranks, he was encouraged
by his teachers to abandon his studies of the past and focus entirely on the teachings
of his Dark Lord instructors, and so he did, becoming noticed by many, as someone to look
out for, and a potential rival to Sirak, widely regarded as the most powerful student at the
Academy. But Bane’s rise to the top was aprubtly
halted after a pair of sparring matches with Fohargh, of the species Markuth. Bane lost
his first match, and was about to lose the second, when he let out a powerful force wave,
launching Foharg back then proceeding to use a force choke to squeeze the life out of his
Markuth rival. Bane had killed a fellow student, an act strictly against the rules of the Academy.
Yet when he went to Lord Qordis for punishment, he was instead praised for his strength and
resolve, and was even rewarded, with private lessons from the Academy Blade Master Kasim.
Yet despite this sudden rise in prestige, Bane faced a moral dilemma. He now realized
it was he, who killed his father, so many years earlier, through his raw force power.
He grew afraid of his own strength and this doubt chipped away at his connection to the
Force making him unable to channel anything more than a small trickle of force power.
Panicking at the thought of losing his rank, he challenged Sirak to a duel, hoping that
his powers would return, once confronted with serious danger. But they did not, and Sirak
utterly destroyed Bane, leaving him a broken mess on the Sparring grounds. Bane had lost
everything, he was ignored by his fellow students, dismissed by his teachers, with all special
instruction and favoritism gone. To Bane’s surprise, the answer would come
from a former Jedi. Githany, the beautiful former apprentice of Jedi Master Handa, who
turned to the dark side. Once arrived at the Academy she instantly became a top ranking
student, and a potential rival to Sirak. She also became the ally of Bane, finding him
in the Sith Archives, and striking a deal. She would teach him what the instructors taught
her, while he in turn will share all his insight into Sirak. She also taught Bane some altered
Jedi techniques that slowly allowed him to regain his connection with the force. He learned
that it was his doubt and apprehension that was draining his power. And that only when
he was ready to fully embrace the dark side that his true potential might be realized.
Githany and Bane also began to develop feelings for each other, but given their dark side
nature, never trusted each other enough for a serious relationship.
Seeing progress, Bane reached out to the Blade Master Kasim, asking that he begin their private
lessons again. Kasim agreed, and with the combination of teaching from the Archives,
Githany and Dark Lord Kasim, Bane once again found his power. Though he continued to hide
his true strength form his fellow students, Bane was rapidly moving beyond them, grappling
deeper questions than the mere race for rank. Through his studies of the past he learned
that Sith Lords once used the title Darth, but Dark Lord Kaan, leader of the Brotherhood
of Darkness, had forbidden the title, because it implied domination and elevation, which
would encourage in fighting and political maneuvering for power. The Sith custom, of
apprentices killing their masters, and Sith civil wars had doomed their order in the past,
preventing them from ever completely destroying the Jedi Order.
And so the Brotherhood of Darkness did away with those tradition, making all Sith Lords
equal, including Lord Kaan, who led by consent, and not force. In this way they hoped to reform
the Sith Order, so that united they might at last defeat the Jedi.
Yet Bane did not agree. More and more he began to see the Brotherhood as flawed and craven.
Seeing the true Sith as Masters of the Dark Side, unrivaled and unmatched. Equality is
a lie, and victory belongs to the powerful. Bane was now ready to face the man he hated.
He challenged Sirak and easily bested him, leaving him as he had been, humiliated and
broken. Bane was then congratulated by Master Kasim
who gave him a curved hilt lightsaber, that once belonged to his own Master Sith Lord
Na’daz. In giving this gift he also told Bane, of how he had killed his master to test
his own strength, to see if he had truly surpassed his instructor.
This story along with the history he had learned, allowed Bane to begin formulating a new path,
the Sith Order might need to embrace. Already feeling as though the Academy had nothing
left to teach him, Bane was confronted by Lord Qordis, who was outraged that he had
defied instructions, getting private lessons and learning from the archives. When he demanded
that he stop his lessons immediately, Bane left the Academy, going on a journey to commune
with Dark Side, in the Valley of Dark Lords, where many ancient Sith had been buried.
Yet he found nothing, suggesting to him that the Dark Side energy was weak because the
force disapproved of the Brotherhood of Darkness. When he returned to the Academy, he learned
that Lord Kaan had ordered the elevation of Academy students to the rank of Sith Lord,
so they might join in the great battle of Ruusan, being waged between the Brotherhood
of Darkness and the Jedi Army of Light. Bane was then lured to the Archives where he was
attacked by Sirak and Githany who had conspired against him. Yet Githany changed allegiance
back to Bane at the last moment, and helped him kill Sirak and his minions. Githany desired
for Bane to join her in their mission to Ruusan, but Bane refused, believing the Brotherhood
was a perversion of the Sith. Realizing that his path lay elsewhere, he
declared himself Darth Bane, stealing the ship of Lord Qordis, and travelling the planet
Lehon in the unknown regions, to search for ancient temples that might increase his power.
Once arrived Bane immediately felt the strong dark side energy of the planet, which led
him to find the Holocron of Darth Revan, a powerful Sith Lord from thousands of years
in the past. He learned much from the ancient master, and
as he learned of the ancient sith, Bane grew more and more convinced the Brotherhood was
fundamentally flawed and needed to be destroyed. The New Sith Order, in turn was growing concerned
with the threat Bane might pose, and so Lord Kaan sent Blade Master Kasim to assassinate
the self-proclaimed Darth. Though Kasim nearly defeated him, Bane was
able to send a force wave that collapsed the temple, burying Kasim beneath the rubble,
killing his former master. Bane then sent a message to Kaan to inform
him of Kasim’s death, and to provide plans for a thought bomb, a special dark side power
discovered in the Revan Holocron that might aid the Brotherhood in defeating the Jedi.
In truth, Bane knew this weapon had the potential to destroy both the Sith and Jedi orders.
He then travelled to the planet of Ambria where he awaited his former ally Githany,
and as expected, Kaan allowed Githany to fly to Ambria, in the hoped that her connection
to him might provide an opening for his assassination. Githany, aware she might not defeat Bane in
a fight, coated her lips with poison, kissing Bane several times during their encounter.
Bane was always aware of the poison, but it was only after she left that he realized she
had used a mild poison to cover a more lethal one known as Synox, which was deadly even
to Bane. Soon he became sick managing to stave off
death for a time, killing a farmer’s sons, in order to absorb the father’s anger and
pain, then killing the farmer to gain strength from his death. This allowed him to live just
long enough to find a healer named Caleb, threatening the man’s daughter, until he
agreed to save Bane’s life. Bane left the man alive, realizing his skills
might be needed again someday, and travelled to the planet of Ruusan, where he joined the
Brotherhood of Darkness, teaching them of a powerful force wave they might use at last
destroy the Army of Light. Kaan and the brotherhood agreed, and together they channeled the dark
side, using Bane as a conduit, to light the forests on fire, forcing the Jedi to run into
the open. Yet Kaan disrupted the signal before they could completely destroy the Jedi, fearing
the power he felt building up inside Bane. And so the Sith Lords took to their speeders,
intending to finish off the jedi by conventional means. *Bane then returned to their camp and
alerted the Sith Fleet to break formation, allowing for Jedi reinforcements to arrive,
ending Kaan’s chances of finishing off the Army of Light. Enraged by this betrayal Kaan
confronted Bane, who explained the Though Bomb was the only way to truly defeat the
Jedi. Kaan, believing himself more powerful than Bane, attempted to use a mind trick,
forcing Bane into subjugation. The former soldier turned sith feigned obedience, when
he had actually reversed the mind trick, making Kaan believe Bane was defeated and that the
Though Bomb was how they would destroy the Jedi.
Soon Bane’s plans would be realized, as Lord Kaan gathered all the sith, taking them
to a cave where they would conduct the ritual. Though most of the Jedi fled to planet, Master
Hoth led 100 Jedi to the cave, hoping to trick Kaan into thinking all the Jedi were gathered,
knowing that their presence might convince Kaan to unleash his weapon, destroying the
Sith Order once and for all. And while Githany and Dark Lord Kopecsz began to doubt kaan’s
plan at the last moments, seeing the madness in his eyes and sensing the terrible power
about to be unleashed, they were not able to escape in time to avoid the blast.
The Thought bomb had killed everyone in the cave, trapping their spirits within the area,
to wander restlessly for all eternity. With the Brotherhood of Darkness destroyed,
Darth Bane was last of the Sith Lords. His plans to destroy the Sith order to rebuild
it stronger than before had come to fruition. But before he could truly correct the errors
of the past, he needed an apprentice, there must be 2, a Master to embody the power of
the Dark Side, and an apprentice to crave that power. For all his accomplishments, Bane
new he alone could not defeat the Jedi, and that the reformed Sith Order must have patience,
working in the shadows, one master passing knowledge to a single apprentice, who when
ready would challenge the master, with the more powerful of the two emerging victorious
to take a new apprentice an begin the cycle again. As he contemplated these thoughts, while travelling
through the carnage of the planet Ruusan, he found a young blond girl named Rain, who
had clearly suffered much during the war. Around her, were the bodies of 2 dead Jedi
who she had killed with raw force power. He knew she was something special. He then informed
the girl she would become his student, and with no other options of hope, the girl agreed,
following as Bane had, in the Sith tradition of choosing a new name, she chose her birth
name, Zannah, becoming Darth Zannah, apprentice of Darth Bane.
With the Brotherhood of Darkness exterminated, Darth Bane returned to the Sith camp on Ruusan
with his new apprentice Darth Zannah, killing a number of mercenaries who were looting the
camp, but allowing the final two to run away, seeing no need to kill them.
With the camp secured, they searched for anything that might be of value to Bane’s New Sith
Order, including a number of Sith artifacts and manuscripts, as well as the personal ledgers
of Dark Lord Qordis, detailing his various financial accounts and where to find his great
wealth. Afterwards, they Bane took Zannah to the cave
where Kaan had released the thought bomb, and used the opportunity to begin Zannah’s
lessons, explaining the Rule of Two philosophy and allowing her to feel the dark side energy
of the area, bolstered by the restless spirits of those SIth and Jedi who had died, trapped
forever within the cave. However they were soon confronted by Darovit,
the only known survivor of the Thought Bomb,* and the cousin of Zannah, with whom she had
been separated since arriving on the planet. Though they initially embraced, Zannah soon
realized this was not the way of the Sith, and when Darovit threatened to attack Bane,
in an attempt to protect his young cousin, she knew he would be killed, and so used her
force powers to destroy her cousin’s hand, crippling him, in the hopes Bane would spare
his life. Bane saw no problem with indulging her and allowing him to live, since she was
new to the Sith and would take time to properly train. And so the two left Darovit behind,
in pain but alive. Then came time for them to leave Ruusan, and
for Zannah to prove she was worthy of becoming Sith. Bane instructed her, a girl of only
10, to find her own way to the planet of Onderon, where he would find her and begin her formal
training. Bane then left the girl, and travelled to
Dxun, a moon of Onderon, where a Sith manuscript told him he would find the tomb of the ancient
Sith Lord Freedon Naad. Along the way, he began to have hallucinations,
seeing the ghost of Lord Qordis and causing him to crash land on Dxun, destroying his
ship. Bane survived the wreck and made his way to the tomb, where he recovered Freedon
Naad’s holocron, only to be immediately attacked by small black insects, 2 of which
attached to his body causing tremendous pain. Bane was able to escape the rest of the creatures
and through his study of the holocron learned they were known as Orbalisks, and where special
dark side beings that would feed on Bane’s flesh and slowly grow to cover his entire
body, all the while causing intense pain, but in exchange, the creatures would act as
an impenetrable suit of armor, and their dark side aura would allow for increased healing
powers as well as increasing his agility, strength and ability to call on the force.
He also learned how to make a special helmet and gloves to prevent the creatures from expanding
to those regions. After this discovery in the temple, Bane tamed
a Flying Drexxl and rode the great creature high into the moon’s atmosphere, placing
a force bubble around them so they might escape Dxun and fly directly into the nearby atmosphere
of Onderon. Meanwhile, Darth Zannah wandered upon Ruusan,
until finding a small ship with 4 passengers preparing to leave the planet. The strangers
were kind, offering her food, shelter and a ride off the planet. Zannah accepted, and
even considered leaving the Sith Order behind to begin a new life of peace. But Zannah already
knew that Peace was a lie, and so killed everyone on board, commandeering the vessel and plotting
a course to Onderon. Upon arriving on the planet she was attacked
by a group of Beast Riders, eager to capture her and exploit her force sensitivity. But
as they prepared to fight, Zannah sensed her Master approaching, and watched as Darth Bane
flew down from the sky atop his own flying mount, and massacred the beast riders, receiving
terrible injuried in the battle, but quickly recovering thanks to his increased healing
powers provided by the Orbalisks. Zannah and Bane then acquired a ship and travelled
to the planet of Ambria, where they spent the next 10 years training the girl and stealthily
building a vast intelligence network, and building upon the already substantial wealth
they had stolen from Lord Qordis. Unable to been seen in public because of his
Orbalisk armor, when Bane felt Zannah was ready, he began sending her on missions alone,
acting as his agent, in stirring up conflict and chaos throughout the galaxy, supporting
rebellions and revolutions against the Republic, in the hopes of keeping their weakened and
distracted. In 990 BBY, Zannah undertook a mission to
Serenno, where she met a force sensitive nobleman named Hetton. He sensed Zannah’s power and
informed her of his vast collection of Sith artifacts, offering all his possessions and
command of his 8 Umbaran Sith Assassins, if only she would accept him as an apprentice.
Zannah agreed, and brought them to fight Bane on Ambria. But she refused to help Hetton
in his battle against her master, allowing Bane to kill the man and his Assassins.
Bane was so outraged by Zannah’s betrayal he immediately attacked her and nearly killed
her, but at the last moment she was able to explain that she brought them so he would
kill them, so together they might take the valuable Sith artifacts in his possession.
Bane accepted her reasoning and using the information they retrieved, he travelled to
the Jedi homeworld of Tython, and there found the fortress of the ancient Dark Lord Belia
Darzu which taught him how to create a Sith holocron, so he might impart all of his knowledge
to future sith lords. And while Bane was occupied on Tython, Zannah
was sent on a mission to Coruscant, posing as the Jedi Padawan Nalia Adollu, she infiltrated
the Temple Archives, searching for information on the Orbalisks for her Master, in the hopes
of finding a way to remove them, however she soon discovered her cousin Darovit was also
at the Temple, testifying before the Council of the continued existence of the Sith Order.
Zannah took her cousin and they immediately left the planet, but their departure was noticed
and the Jedi Order was in pursuit. Upon arriving on Tython, Zannah informed Bane
that their light side enemies were approaching, and ignoring Darovit for the moment, they
prepared for battle. 5 Jedi arrived on the planet, including Masters
Valenthyne Farfalla, Raskta Lsu, and Worror Dowmat, as well as Jedi Knights Sarro Xaj,
and Johun Othone. And though the sith were badly outnumbered,
Zannah managed to kill Raskta Lsu and Sarro Xaj, while Bane killed Valenthyne Farfalla
and gravely injured Worror Dowmat. Yet as Bane prepared Force lightening to elimate
the last Jedi standing, Johun Othone, Master Dowmat was able to wrap Bane in a force shield,
which trapped his lightening as it escaped his hands, reflecting it upon himself and
electrocuting the Sith Lord, who then collapsed, nearly dead.
Zannah, shocked by her Masters fall, quickly killed the remaining Jedi, then taking Bane
back to the planet of Ambria, to find the healer Caleb who saved Bane so many years
earlier. But when they arrived he refused to help them, having sent his daughter away
so no one could ever blackmail him again. Unsure what to do next, Zannah feigned defeat,
and agreed to hand herself and Bane over to the Jedi, if only he would heal her master
and remove the Orbalisks from his body. With her cousin Darovit as a witness, attesting
her fundamental decency, remembering her still as the girl he had once known and loved.
But that girl no longer existed, now there was only Darth Zannah, and when the Jedi arrived
they found the Healer Caleb dead, cut up into a number of small pieces. And when they investigated
further, were attacked by Darovit, wielding a lightsaber, having been driven mad by the
Sith Sorcery of his cousin. The Jedi, believing Darovit was the Sith Master they were sent
to locate, cut the man down, confident they had at last defeated the Sith Order.
Yet Zannah and her recovering Master, were hiding under the healer’s home all along,
and when the Jedi left Ambria, Bane expressed his approval of Zannah’s actions, declaring
that one day she would be powerful enough to kill him, and earn the title of Sith Master. After leaving Ambria, the Sith Lord spent
the next ten years on Ciutric IV, living in a beautiful mansion, continuing Zannah’s
training and their shadow war against the Jedi.
But as time went on, Bane’s relationship with Zannah began to change. Bane, having
noticed the slow deterioration of his body, due to age and the terrible strains he had
placed on his physical form, was beginning to suspect that his apprentice lacked the
courage and conviction of a true sith. Since she showed no interest in challenging him
and perhaps was waiting for Bane to grow weaker with time to make her ascendancy easier, thereby
violating the Rule of Two, which demanded a proper confrontation, to ensure only the
most powerful Sith survived. And so he sent her on a mission to Doan to
investigate the death of a Jedi, while he travelled to the planet of Prakith, where
he found the temple of the ancient sith lord Darth Andeddu, also known as the Immortal
god-king of Prakith. There he killed a number of cultists bound in service to the spirit
of Andeddu, and took his holocron hoping to unlock the secret of immortality.
Although Bane attempted to study the Holocron, Andeddu refused to teach him the ritual of
essence transfer, instead demanding patience and long term study to unlock the secret.
And so Bane used his force powers to invade the holocron with his consciousness, forceably
taking the information he sought. Bane now possessed the knowledge needed, to
transfer his consciousness into the body of another. However this was a dangerous process,
which required a battle of will between the invading mind and host. The weaker of the
two would be expelled from the body, banished forever to the void, from where there was
no return. When Bane returned to his home on Ciutric,
he was attacked by a number of mercenaries and an Iktotchi dark side assassin. Though
Bane killed many before falling the powerful assassin was able to stab him with a powerful
poison, knocking him unconscious. When he awoke, he was in a prison on the planet
of Doan, where a local Princess named Serra ensured he was properly tortured and abused.
Serra was the daughter of the Healer Caleb, who had been sent away to Doan where she met
a prince and fell in love. But upon hearing of the brutal death of her father, she set
out for revenge, hiring the Iktotchi, and imprisoning Bane so he might feel the pain
and anguish he had caused in so many others. However Bane refused to cower before her,
embracing the pain and mocking her further. He also admitted it was not even he, who killed
her father, refusing to give her any closure at all.
And while Serra was enraged, unsure how to proceed, events soon spiralled out of her
control. Luccia, a royal guard to the princess, her best friend and advisor, had also once
served with Bane, years earlier in the New Sith Army, where the Sergeant then known as
Dessel had saved Luccia and the rest of her company a number of times. Believing she owed
the man a life debt, she arranged for him to be freed, then confronting Bane and asking
plainly that he spare the Princess. Bane hesitated, remembering the woman from
his past, perhaps unsure what he might do. However that moment, is when Darth Zannah
arrived, killing Luccia and attacking Darth Bane.
Having learned that Bane sought immortality, a direct violation of the Rule of Two, she
knew it was time to confront her master. And after her investigation of the Jedi murder
on Duon, she discovered a dark Jedi named Set Harth, taking him as her apprentice, before
tracking down Bane, to challenge him and take his mantle as Master of the Sith.
And while Zannah had attacked Bane at a moment of weakness, when he lacked even a lightsaber
to defend himself, he managed to fight her off long enough to collapse the roof of the
building allowing for his escape. As he prepared to leave the planet, Bane was
approached by the Iktotchi assassin that had captured him, who knelt before him, presenting
his lightsaber, and having sensed his power, asked that she be made his new apprentice.
He accepts her, and she rose as Darth Cognus, apprentice to Darth Bane.
But now 3 Sith Lord existed in the galaxy, an unacceptable proposal to the founder of
the Rule of Two. And so he headed for Ambria, sending a message to Zannah that she might
meet him there to have their final confrontation. Set Harth, had betrayed Zannah and escaped
Duon with the Holocron of Darth Andeddu, eager to begin his own private journey into immortality.
And so Zannah came alone to Ambria, and met her master. Both Master and apprentice agreed
that the powerful Darth Cognus, would stay out of the fighting, pledged to serve whichever
of the two emerged victorious. And so they fought, with Darth Bane quickly
gaining the upper hand in ligthsaber combat. Realizing she could not defeat him in that
way, Zannah called upon her Sith Sorcery to break his mind, but Bane was ready and repelled
the attack. Zannah’s last attack called up dark side tendrils which would destroy
anything they touched. However this effort required all of her concentration, leaving
her vulnerable to direct attack. And so Bane maneuvered around the Tendrils, raising his
lightsaber high about to strike down his apprentice, when a wild tendril suddenly cut off his arm,
blinding him with pain causing him to collapse, his body defeated. Yet with his final strength
Bane summoned his knowledge of Essence Transfer, and unleashed his consciousness from his body,
attacking Zannah’s mind in a battle of wills. Bane’s body was burnt to ashes in the ritual,
and for a brief moment, Bane nearly took control of Zannah’s body, only to be ultimately
defeated, his consciousness pushed out of her mind, exiled into the void.
When she rose the former apprentice declared herself Darth Zannah, Master of the Sith Order,
and while a small portion of Bane’s influence remained inside her, it would be Darth Zannah
and Cognus that would continue Bane’s legacy. For the next thousand years, the Sith Order
was guided by the tenets of the Rule of Two, with many future Sith learning from the lessons
of Darth Bane, embracing his philosophy and using stealth and patience as their weapons
of war. Eventually, Darth Sidious and his apprentice Darth Vader, would realize Bane’s
dream, destroying the Order of the Jedi, collapsing the Republic government, and creating an Empire
ruled by the Sith. And while this dream would not last many years, with Sidious and his
apprentice killed during the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, the influence of Bane would continue,
with future Sith Lords like Darth Krayt, discovering his holocron, learning from the legendary
Sith Lord, and even warned that his Rule of One philosophy would lead to his ultimate
downfall, and the Rule of Two was the only true path for the Sith.
