Chapter IV: The Great Jedi Purge
From An Evolution in RP :: Database
Known for her strong independent nature and empathic abilities she had been approached to be part of an investigation into the outer rim. Seldom traveled by the majority of Jedi, rumors had been circulating of a Dark side menace. Such rumors weren’t spread lightly and whatever the cause the council had deemed it worthy of investigation. Naema was one of five Jedi selected to investigate the claims.
Naema herself had been a gifted Jedi who did not come from a Jedi family; she was an orphan from Corellia but with an abnormally strong grip in the force, she was also an isolated individual who didn’t talk to many save for her Jedi master Reedu Gantuk. Despite her quiet and timid personality she did have a strong sense of confidence about her and she certainly knew how to take care of herself, as a result she was knighted at the young age of 23. At this tender age, she was one of the most promising knights in the order, this above all else made her one of the first candidates to investigate the mysterious rumors circulating in the Outer Rim.
Naema had been gone for a time close to 4 months when she confirmed the potential presence of a dark sider working a small region of space in the southern quarter of the galaxy. With the help of the other Jedi they refined the investigation to the planet Nar Shadda, the planet itself was a one of the most corrupt places in the galaxy far beyond the reach of the Republic. Posing as “business entrepreneurs” the Jedi moved among the populace gradually realizing the rumors were far more substantial than first thought.
A Dark Jedi by the name of Hes Darksky had been feeding off the populace, scraping an existence off Nar Shadda by posing as a minor crime lord. It was made worse when Hes, who kept his identity secret, was discovered to be an Anzati. Anzati did not eat as most other creatures do but instead feed off the life force of other beings, coupling this with his dark side power Hes had started controlling individuals as minions to expand his corruption further across the planet. If it continued and Hes managed to eventually spread his “cult” off world there was no telling what damage Hes could reap on the unsuspecting Republic.
The Jedi in their investigation though had unwittingly in turn revealed their own identity to the Anzati. Before word could get out the Jedi were overcome by Hes’ and his cultists, Naema however somehow escaped the situation fleeing back to the surface of Nar Shadda.
Naema hid out for several weeks trying to convince various crime lords of the greater evil growing below them, Naema however was taken for a fool and on many occasions had to go on the run to avoid capture or assassination from Cultists and Crime lords who didn’t like the message of panic Naema had began to preach. Naema however in time found she wasn’t the only one to escape from the clutches of the Dark Jedi, drifters and outcasts began to confirm her story and under Naema’s guidance a militia was produced to combat the growing cult threat..
Naema began to find her feet again and with it planned to ambush Hes as he went out to “recruit” a small gang who had ventured too close to the Dark Jedi’s holdings. The Anzati however sensed Naema’s approaching presence and countered the ambush throwing the Jedi and her allies into disarray. In the ensuring fight Hes battled his way forward to reach Naema. The Dark Jedi brought down Naema in the hopes of turning her into a minion herself but as he began to feed upon his prey Naema’s militia rallied and with a previously unseen strength surged over Hes, slaying the dark Jedi before he could completely drain Naema of her life energy.
Naema was taken away and lifted up as a heroine among the underclass of Nar Shadda; physically she eventually recovered but to those who had come to know her knew part of her had been lost in the attack, which soon became painfully obvious by her change in attitude and loss of memory. Her friends held her close, as she became something of a guardian to the defenseless on Nar Shadda, in return they taught her how to live and survive outside in the real world. Naema gradually saw the world as a darker place as she experienced it via the position of the underclass on Nar Shadda, her training slowly being worn away to be replaced with a pessimistic and harsh view on the true way of the universe.
In time Naema renounced her title as a Jedi and went rogue working as a sometime bodyguard and assassin to anyone who could pay. The Jedi order had sensed the group rejoin the force with Naema among the missing of the order, presumed dead and not seen now for several years...
The Senate had become such a morass of bureaucracy that it was nearly choking on its own saliva. For the Jedi to even bring up their belief of the Dark Jedi’s existence they had to have Senatorial sponsorship to be brought before a committee that would assess their claims before mentioning it to the main Senate body for a possible investigation. They had the Senator to sponsor them to the Committee on Interspacial Law, which would be the governing body in such an event as the emergence of vigilante Dark Jedi; that Senator was Nila Wyn, the same Senator who asked the Jedi to investigate the corruption of the Senate, which lead to the deaths of Lorus and his team.
Master Lorus apprentice, the Jedi Knight Aeria Voru, was sent with a delegation of aides to speak before the Inter-Spacial Law committee. The task was not an easy one, not in the least. Aeria had to convince 5 Senators that there was enough evidence to warrant that the Jedi deaths on Thyferra had been at the hands of Dark Jedi and they must be hunted down for the safety of the galaxy. Aeria had been chosen because her emotions best held the fears of the Jedi Council and they thought her best able to convey those fears to the Committee. The problem was, the committee housed 3 of the Sinister Six, the collective of corrupt Senators under the control of Black Sun, who also now controlled the Dark Jedi. Convincing those three to allow for the passage of orders to hunt down and destroy the Dark Jedi would be nearly impossible.
As Aeria learned, it was not nearly impossible, it was completely impossible. The committee, at the direction of Edwis from afar, turned the accusatory eye towards not the Dark Jedi, but the Jedi Council. Sora Sone, the chair of the InterSpacial Law committee, accused the Jedi point blank of having their own Jedi killed in an attempt to bog down the 'good' senate in needless and baseless meetings. She threatened the Jedi Council with punitive limits on their ability to function if such claims were brought again.
Aeria saw through the Ord Mantellians ploy and went immediately to the offices of Edwis Josdon at Coruscant Centre, knowing he was behind the ruling against the Council. She burst into his office and in her anger threatened to wipe out all of Black Sun if that's what it took to clean up the Senate unless he lessened his grip on the good people of the galaxy. Unfortunately for Aeria, and the Council, Josdon was running holo-recorders as a security measure in his office. The video was 'leaked' to the public and the Jedi were painted in a very negative light.
An emergency session of the Senate was called to deal with the growing 'terror' of the Jedi; by narrow margin a motion was carried that called for the disbanding of the Jedi Council, the arrest of Aeria Voru, and the surrender of all Jedi weaponry to the Armory Commission within 48 hours.
The Jedi realized that the Republic needed massive reform if it was ever to lead the galaxy as it should and they declined the Senates orders on all counts. Forty-eight hours later a warrant for the arrest of all associated with the Jedi Council was issued. A bounty of 100,000 credits was placed on the head of every known member of the council, save Aeria who received one quarter of a million credit bounty. Hunters the galaxy over came to Coruscant in hopes of securing but a single Jedi for themselves. Only two were successful, and only then with great effort, but the Jedi were forced to flee from the city-planet in hopes of remaining alive.
Edwis used this opportunity to put his new Dark Jedi duo into action. Their mission, to 'hunt down and destroy the Jedi,' hunt they did. They used the Dark arts to track individual Jedi from planet to planet until they were able to eliminate them, one by one by one. The Jedi could not congregate for fear of drawing attention to themselves, so they had to split up and attempted to blend into the populace of several planets. The Dark Jedi weren't alone in their hunt, the bounty hunters were also doing their own work, and once they managed to track a Jedi to a city, they contacted Edwis who sent in the Dark Jedi to finish the job. It proved profitable for all involved, except the Jedi.
Their numbers dwindled from dozens down to a handful.
The Dark Duo separated and eliminated Jedi after Jedi. With every kill their anger became stronger; their power became increasingly more volatile, and their hatred of the Jedi more realized. The problem throughout the whole ordeal was that every Jedi death was attributed to various members of the council and not ‘evil’ Jedi. This was just how Josdon and the Dark Jedi wanted it. Recognition would only hinder the process, but working in the shadows and having the blame placed elsewhere was exactly the thing that would bring about a quick end to the pitiful lives of the Jedi.
Quick was an understatement.
The Council was now all but gone, the remaining members met in secret, to debate the future of the Order and the Republic. They vowed to support the good part of the Republic and remove the the evil tumor that had infested and corrupted it. To do that, they would need much in the way of help. The Jedi spread the galaxy over in order to hide and also to help where they still could, but the main goal of their mission was to seek out new candidates for training however.
It was a goal that was imperative if there was a future for the Jedi, and the Republic.
The Jedi were now being hunted as the Senate crumbled. Turmoil reigned.
