Merkory Chal'wala

Merkory Chal'wala was a Jedi Knight, and later a Sith, during the Sith War.

Early life
"Mission status?" "I found a young Force-sensitive! Name of Merkory Chal'wala!"

- Kootha Jor making his report to the Jedi council.

Merkory Chal'wala was a Zabrak, born on the planet of Iridonia, a planet in the Mid Rim, in the capital city of Malidris. He was a high born son of the bloodline of Chal'wala, a rich and influential family in Malidris. His father worked as the Zabraki representative in the Galactic Senate on Coruscant, and his mother was a designer and collector of Zabraki art, having amassed a collection of over 2,310 pieces of art, with an overall value of 93,014,786 Republic credits.

Merkory attended the Zabraki school for Economically developed and advanced families, the most expensive, and best, school on the planet of Iridonia, just as his two older brothers had before him. His oldest brother, Morwoworor, was in the Senate, just like his father, and his other brother was in the Republic Navy, so Merkory was the only one of his brothers residentially living at home. Living in the shadow of his older brothers was hard for Merkory as he was growing up, but having them away from home helped a lot.

At the age of twelve, news arrived that his oldest brother, Moroworor, had been killed in a diplomatic mission to Mandalore, to negotiate peace talks with the Mandalorians. His ship had been shot down by Mandalorian War fanatics, just outside of their sector. Reports showed that war was now inevitable, and that the Mandalorians would soon attack. Yet the Zabrak's believed themselves to be above attack, and that the Mandalorians would gain nothing by conquering them, so the order to evacuate the planet was never given. What they didn't realize was that the Mandalorians were only doing it for honor, so they were not immune to attack.

When the Mandalorians attacked, they hit an unguarded planet, and Iridonia soon fell into the hands of the Mandalorians. His father was killed in the aerial assault, as the Mandalorians pulverized the planet with heavy fire first, destroying large sections of Malidris. Merkory was now on a Mandalorian controlled planet, and therefore had to comply by Mandalorian laws. He was instantly assigned to a position as a distributor of food in the various shelters in Malidris. His mother was working in the destroyed sections of Malidris, and when the Republic forces finally confronted the Mandalorians above Iridonia, in the First Battle of Iridonia, the various projectiles ad blasts from the battle above wiped out a large portion of the city, Merkory's mother, like so many others, was killed, just before the battle ended.

It was then that Iridonia swapped hands, with the Republic winning a key battle overhead and taking control of the planet. Many Jedi, including Kootha Jor, were dispatched to Iridonia as a garrison, but also to help the Zabrak's and, unofficially, to search for force sensitives. Wandering the streets, grieving for his lost family, Merkory encountered Kootha Jor and his small group of Jedi. Jor instantly saw the force sensitivity in him, and took him to one side, to speak to him. Merkory thought that he was just another Republic soldier, albeit a nosy one, who was interested in him. Jor quizzed him on all aspects of his life, focusing on the grief that he felt for his parent’s death.

When Jor found out that he didn't feel any lust for revenge on the Mandalorians, he told him about his suspicions of Merkory's force sensitivity, and asked him if he would like to become a Jedi, and leave the planet. Merkory's response was to shrug and accept it, knowing there was nothing left for him there anyway. However, despite his devil-may-care attitude, he desperately wanted to help other people through his position, which was one of the key reasons that he joined.

Jedi Training
"Merkory Chal'wala? I remember him....excellent pupil, one of my finest Jedi!"

- Eldorio Recounting to Terpi

That very same month, Merkory left the only planet that he had ever known, a rich and easy life and a fortune behind, all to become a Jedi. Instead of being taken to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, Merkory was taken to the Jedi Enclave, on Dantooine. There, he was first introduced to his new master, Eldorio, by Kootha Jor, the Jedi Knight who had discovered him and personally made a point of taking care of him on the journey. A young Merkory was taken into the council chambers, where his force sensitivity was assessed by all the masters of the enclave, before they found him strong in the force, and promptly took him to his new master, the wizined old Cerean Eldorio.

Eldorio was heavily experienced in the force, and a respected Jedi Master. He took to Merkory at once who, in return, took to him brilliantly too. Training started then, and Merkory officially entered the order, as a Padawan. Eldorio found his natural ability astounding, and found him to be a brilliant pupil. In his spare time, for the first three years at least, Merkory spent his free time training with his lightsaber, practicing his force power or reading texts of previous Jedi in the academies archives.

Eldorio was pleased at his pupil's progress, and took him on a few starter missions, pretty easy, that increased in skill as Merkory improved. The Jedi Council warned Eldorio not to take him near Mandalorians, for they thought that this may lead Merkory to take revenge, and set him down the path of the dark side. But Eldorio thought differently, and specifically told Merkory to tail a Mandalorian target and capture him, which Merkory did, without any signs of taking revenge. This impressed the Jedi Council greatly, and they deemed him fit to pass to the rank of Jedi Knight.

Knight of the order
"He was an example for us all." "Yet even he wasn't immune to it's call!"

- Eldorio talking to Terpi.

Progressing to the rank of Jedi Knight was a big achievment for Merkory, a spoiled Zabrak orphan becoming a selfless knight of the Jedi Order. He was regarded as a model Jedi, as he followed all the laws and precints closely, abiding by them as if his life depended upon it. He was assigned many missions in his time, the most important ones being the missions on Felucia, where he had to destroy a Mandalorian base, and on Mygeeto, where he had to convince the Mygeetoans to stop funding the Mandalorians, with a little violence involved in their part.

It was not until his mission to Cathar that he gained widespread recognition. The Mandalorians on Cathar had taken prisoner three Jedi, one a master, who they were threatening to kill if the Republic didn't surrender the Cathar system. Merkory was sent to rescue the Jedi from the base, without causing any damage, as the Jedi still maintaned the forlorn hope that they could negotiate with the Mandalorians. Merkory managed to infiltrate the base, but was then captured himself. Escape was hard, as he wasn't allowed to cause damage, but he used the force to project an image of himself in his cell before using his lightsaber to cut a hole in the floor of it. Dropping down into the maximum security cell blocks, he managed to hack into the security system and vent the noxious amnesiac fumes used to power the base. This erased the gaurds memories, whilst knocking them out. He then proceeded to rescue the Jedi and, dressed in Mandalorian Assault Armour, he smuggled the Jedi out of the base and into his shuttle, before returning them to the enclave. This gained him widespread recognition throughout the enclave, and much respect.

Yuthura Ban
"It just makes me wonder.....if he, a model Jedi, was not immune to love, then maybe the Jedi are confused. Maybe it's not a bad thing..."

- Eldorio talking to Terpi. Then the only thing that ever managed to threaten Merkory's allegiance to the light arrived on that very planet, from the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, Yuthura Ban, the beautiful Sleheyroan Twi'lek that sent Merkory's heart a load of new feelings, feelings that he knew that Jedi such as himself should not feel. Yet he was drawn to her all the more for it. When the Jedi Council appointed him to be her guide on the planet, he convinced himself that any relationship that they had would be only as friends, yet he wasn't even fooling himself. Yuthura's smile sent Merkory into overdrive, and very soon they developed a serious relationship, one forbidden by the Jedi Order: love They both felt it in them, and they both feared being discovered, and expulsion from the order, but their feelings for each other were far greater.

On one summer night, they came perilously close to being discovered by Kootha Jor, who they narrowly avoided. It was then that Yuthura told him that they had done things that they shouldn't have done, lied to people that they shouldn't have, and that they were Jedi, and things shouldn't be this way. She told him that she felt through the force that she would yet feel the repurcussions of their actions, and she tearfully told him that there relationship must end. But Merkory couldn't bring himself to let her go. He was madly, deeply in love with her, and he felt betrayed and wronged, and he felt grief far more than that he had felt when his family were killed. It was then that he vowed to leave the order.

A new life
"You want a bounty hunter? I can get you a very good one. He don't come cheap, but I assure you he's worth it."

- Anonymous crime lord After making his vow to leave, Merkory secrely fled the enclave, travelling to the industrial world of Taris, where the new Merkory planned to make a use of his force powers by making a living as a bounty hunter. He had heard of a Tarisian leader of the Exchange, Ahita Othar, and he planned on joining the exchange as a bounty hunter. Othar laughed at first, but when she told her best bodyguard to 'escort' him out and he easily killed him, she reconsidered, giving him a test mission to assassinate a Mandalorian on the planet, Orthar Nardo. Merkory completed this mission with ease, and it was then that, donning Nardo's armour, he first started wearing Mandalorian armour, disguising him from all the Jedi that could recognise him.

He started working for Othar from that moment on, doing jobs from small, petty bailiff work, collecting overdue money, to offworld target hunts. In his first year alone, he managed to assassinate three powerful targets, Nandek Territ, the businessman who was planning to sell details of the Tarisian Exchange to other Tarisians. But it was his twelfth and final mission for Othar, the assassination of the Jedi Rempek Noral that was to be Merkory's hardest, both mentally and physically, challenge. He followed the Jedi through the Tarisian upper city, and then into the spaceport, where Noral boarded her ship, followed by Merkory. But she realised that he was following her, and she lost him in the skies over Bilbringi. This led Merkory to follow her through the galaxy where she led him over planets like Mustafar and Raxus Prime. He finally confronted her again in the Ukatis System, where Merkory severely damaged her ship, causing her to make a rash, uncalculated jump to lightspeed, closely followed by Merkory. They came out above Lehon, where they were suddenly gripped by a huge magnetic forcefield over the planet, causing them to make an undiginified landing, crashing heavily on the same beach were Revan would crash just a few years later. By now, the Mandalorian War was over, and the Sith War was in full swing, but Sith were not yet on Lehon. He found Noral injured on the beach, pleading for her life. But it was a job to him, so he mercilessly cut her down before deciding to explore the planet to find a way off.

Revelation on Lehon
"It wasn't until Lehon that things started going really wrong...."

- Eldorio Exploration of the planet revealed to Merkory, as it later would to Revan, that it was a technological graveyard, where many ships had been trapped by the disruptor field. Closer exploration of the planet revealed that it was inhabited by the Rakata, a less technologically advanced descendent race of the Rakata of the Infinite Empire, Rancors and Gizka. After he slew many of those who confronted him on the beach where he landed, and spurned their advances, they left him alone, and he was able to explore the planet in peace. It was on the third day since his arrival that he stumbled across the Temple of the Ancients, and, using his prowess with the force, he disabled the force field around the door. He found the temple deserted, and the lower levels empty of all but an ancient computer, of which he couldn't decode. When he proceeded to the higher levels, he discovered that he wasn't the only one there after all. An unknown Sith had been stranded by the force field, and was using the temple for his meditation. When he first saw Merkory, he had no idea who he was, believing him to be a stranded Mandalorian, but when Merkory drew his lightsaber and attacked him, the Sith knew him for what he was. He recognised Merkory's fighting style, and halfway through the battle told him that he was a former Jedi Master from the enclave, and recognised him by his fighting style. He then proceeded to tell him that it was the Jedi's policy on love that had forced Yuthura to leave him, as Yuthura had confided in him. He then told Merkory that he should take revenge on the Jedi, for taking away his love. Giving in to his rage, Merkory slew the Sith, taking his Sith robes to wear over the armor. Giving into his rage, he had truly fallen to the dark side, and become a Sith. He swore then, on top of the Rakatan Temple, that he would have revenge on the Jedi, killing them wherever he saw them.

Joining the Sith
From Lehon, Merkory returned to the galaxy, adamant that he would seek revenge on the Jedi, for what he believed that they had done. But first, he needed to be trained as a Sith. He travelled first to Korriban, where he had heard that there was a Sith Academy, and enrolled there, under the new headmaster, Korren Thor. The Sith Academy had been thrown into civil war a while earlier, when Revan had visited, and the headmaster, Uthar Wynn, had been killed. The academy was still recovering from that war, where the academy had been divided into two factions, those with Korren Thor, and those with his opposer, Dorek Sen. When Korren's faction had finally trapped Dorek's in the entranceway of the tomb of Ludo Kressh, they had massacred them, and slew Dorek Sen for opposing him. When Thor saw the force power of Merkory, he decided to undertake his training himself, as he would be a valuable asset to him should any opposers arise. he trained Merkory in all aspects of the dark side, and was astounded to find such anger and hate in him. Yet Korren soon realised that Merkory was naturally stronger than him, and Thor feared that, should he train him, Merkory would rise up to overthrow him. So he decided to slowly poison him, making him weaker and weaker in the mind, until he would be reduced to a slave. Yet another pupil, Gethor Jan, discovered Thors betrayal, and warned Merkory. Merkory flew, in a great rage, to Thor's chambers, and calling upon his anger and hate, he struck the Sith master down. Merkory then claimed the academy for himself, but Korren's supporters attacked him, and Merkory strode through the corridors, slaying all who opposed him, and crying out: "The Academy is mine! I slew the master, now I am the master!" It was estimated that Merkory slew one hundred and eleven Sith that day. The remaining Sith, unwilling to serve Merkory, fled to the Valley of the Dark Lords. With no one in the academy to obey him, Merkory gave up the chase and left the academy for good. This time, the academy descended into a civil war from which it would never recover.

The Brotherhood of Darkness
Merkory was by no means happy with his prowess in the dark side. He had natural skill, but he felt that there was much more to learn. Yet his short time in the academy was only the foundations for his Sith knowledge. Yet, as far as he knew, since the end of the Sith War, nearly all of the academies had been destroyed by the Jedi. Merkory was stranded on Korriban, with nowhere to go. It was then that an old, stooped and robed man approached him, and introduced himself as The Recruiter. He spoke to Merkory, telling him how his force power had drawn him to speak with him, and he was recruiting for the Brotherhood of Darkness, a Sith organisation founded hundreds of years ago that was the most prestigous and powerful Sith Academy in the galaxy, founded by Lord Kaan. He then proceeded to tell him that it was not like other academies, where anyone with mediocre force powers was accepted. This was an academy for people strong in the force, powerful and filled with the dark side. He told Merkory that, should he want to join, he was to meet him on Ruusan, in the Rusaanian Desert, in a months time. With no other way forwards on his quest for revenge, Merkory promised him that he would be there. In the whole encounter, he had not once seen the Recruiters face.

In a months time he arrived on Ruusan, and proceeded to the flat, dusty, empty Rusaanian desert. He found the Recruiter in the very center of the desert, although, at first, he had no idea who he was. The Recruiter had removed his robes to reveal himself to be a red skinned Twi'lek Sith Lord, who instantly confronted Merkory upon sight. Merkory was powerful and fought well, but the Sith Lord easily overpowered him, and had him at his mercy. Yet he didn't kill Merkory, instead telling him that this had been a test of his skill in the dark side of the force, and that he had only been toying with him. Incensed, Merkory unleashed a storm of Force Lightning, which The Recruiter just managed to block in time, being taken aback by the ferocity and strength of the attack. Merkory then tried to put him into a Force Choke, which he managed for a few seconds, before The Recruiter shook it off. Without giving him time to recover, Merkory attacked again, with renewed vigour and ferocity, tapping into his anger, hate and the dark side. The Recruiter was shocked by Merkory's skill, and a violent battle followed, that lasted for three hours before Merkory finally threw The Recruiter to the ground, his lightsaber destroyed. As Merkory held him at lightsaber point, The Recruiter warned him that, should he kill him, he would have no chance of contacting the Brotherhood of Darkness. Merkory spared his life, but scarred both his lekku, to show his victory, earning him The Recruiters hatred. Grudgingly, The Recruiter led him to the headquarters of the Brotherhood of Darkness, a large building massively strong in the dark side. Upon entrance, Merkory was confronted by two guards, who he, without a thought, force choked to death. He was taken before Darth Dastronomir, the head of the academy. The Recruiter then proceeded to tell him of his force power, and skill with a lightsaber, missing out the part where Merkory had defeated him. When Merkory told Dastronomir of this, he laughed at The Recruiter, calling him a 'weak worm' and a 'tame Kath pup'. Next he commanded Merkory to strike down the Recruiter, but the Recruiter then fired a volley of force lightning at Merkory, which he easily blocked, before decapitating the hapless Recruiter.

Dastronomir then assigned him to be trained by the Sith Master Feskoro, so that he could progress in power with the dark side. Feskoro was an old, male Chiss member of the Sith Council. He was extremely powerful in the dark side, but also, at times, quite mad. When he was sane, he was a powerful Sith Master, yet he often had times when he would be struck by madness, and would lash out at anyone around him. This included Merkory, who was very careful around him. Yet Merkory learnt much from the old Chiss, and created a double bladed Sith Lightsaber for the very first time, in the crystal caves of Ruusan. Feskoro found Merkory to be a powerful pupil, who spent his free time reading ancient Sith texts or practicing his lightsaber combat. Feskoro noticed Merkory's lust for revenge and power, and made sure that he never had any practice at fighting him with his double bladed lightwhip. When Merkory finally completed his training, he had grown greatly in power and strength. He came before Dastronomir, fully trained, who then instructed him to kill Feskoro, as part of his final test. Without thought, Merkory attacked, but he had no experience battling a double bladed lightwhip, and this, coupled with Feskoro's prowess, had him at a disadvantage. The old Sith then had one of his fits of madness, and this allowed him to reach a higher level of dark side prowess, unleashing the most powerful force storm that Merkory had ever seen. Merkory fell to the floor, his face scarred, but, enraged, leapt up again and attacked the elderly Sith so violently that he was soon overpowered, and Merkory slowly tortured him with force choke and lightning, to punish him, before killing him at last. Dastronomir had watched, impassive, up to this point, but when Merkory started torturing the old Sith he laughed loud over the battle, until Merkory slew him, truly joining the dark side.

Return
The first the Republic ever heard of Merkory's return was of a powerful Sith, calling himself Darth Vires, attacking Jedi in the outskirts of the galaxy, and stalking them on their missions, but whenever they sent Jedi or soldiers to investigate, he mysteriously dissapeared. Merkory constantly preyed upon the Jedi, before he found out from one that he tortured, that the enclave on Dantooine had been destroyed in the Sith War. He had heard that the enclave had been rebuilt, but many of the masters had leaft. This meant that the academy was largely unprotected, so Darth Vires set off at once to attack it. Boarding his ship, he flew to the enclave, landing in a farm which he promptly destroyed, killing the inhabitants. He knew that, even without the masters, there were still too many Jedi to take on all at once, so he realised that he had to draw them out in groups. Razing farmsteads, he left a few survivors to carry the message back to the enclave. At first, the council only sent one Jedi, who Vires easily killed, and they started sending more. When they sent a team of ten, he tricked them into travelling into a Kath hound filled gorge, where the Kath hounds weakened them, before launching numerous frag grenades into the gorge, before wiping out the survivors. Finally, the enclave sent a master.

Disguised as a farmer, the master travelled out into the Dantooine grassland, and drew Vires into their trap. Vires did fall for it, and instantly attacked. the master then threw off his disguise, revealing himself to be Vires' old master, Eldorio. Although Vires was heavily shocked, he didn't let it show, and attacked. Vires couldn't see his face beneath the armour, but, as the fight escalated, Eldorio managed to slice the face part of the armour off, revealing Merkory beneath. Eldorio was shocked, and tried to return Merkory to the light, but Merkory wouldn't be swayed, saying that he was Darth Vires now. They fought ferociously, but Vires was much stronger than the aged Jedi master, and he soon defeated him. Holding him at lightsaber point, Vires prepared to kill his former master. One last time, Eldorio begged for him to return to the light, but Vires refused, saying that the dark was more powerful than the light ever was, or will be. Eldorio then told him that, if he was truly the Sith lord he claimed, to strike him down, but Vires couldn't. Angrily, he strode off, sparing Eldorio's life and leaving the planet.

Return to Lehon
On his ship, Vires realised that he wasn't the Sith he should be, that he had spared the life of one of the very people that he had sworn to destroy. He swore to himself that it would never happen again, but he needed time to meditate, and to hone his skills in the dark side. He decided to return to Lehon, and to use the Temple of the Ancients as the place where he could hone his skills, and meditate on the dark side. Returning to Lehon, he landed on the very same beach again. Remembering him from his previous visit, the Rakata left him well alone.

For three years Vires remained at the temple, meditating through the morning and honing his dark side prowess throughout the afternoon. His skills improved dramatically, and soon he held power that many, Sith and Jedi alike, would kill for. He decided to test this when he attacked a Rakatan Hunting Party, in the woods on Lehon. He killed them all easily, so he proceeded to destroy their village. he attacked In the dead of night, using the force to make the door blow up, and, when the guards rushed to confront him, he easily slew them. He laughed as he destroyed the settlement, massacring the Rakatan inhabitants and slaying their leader. As they tried to flee, he used the force to kill them one by one, honing his force powers the whole time. He then proceeded to destroy the settlement, using the force to collapse it all, before roaming the wreckage to find survivors, which he instantly killed. There was only one he spared, a young Rakatan orphan named Lorcrim. It is unknown why he rescued this Rakatan, although it is widely assumed that it was because he felt great force power in him. he took him away from the wreckage, and tested him.

Apprentice
He tested Lorcrim for force powers, and found him to be strong in the force. When he questioned Lorcrim in more depth, he found that Lorcrim possessed the natural cruelty of the Rakata, and was strong in the dark side. He took him on as his apprentice, and trained him for another three years in the Temple of the Ancients. Lorcrim turned out to be a powerful student, naturally cruel and strong, prefering brute strength to the force, but he was very adept in the force. Vires had found someone to help him on his quest for revenge.

When Lorcrim completed his training, Vires needed proof of his dark side power. He instructed him to destroy another Rakatan village, alone. Lorcrim accepted, and travelled to a large village north of the temple. He easily destroyed it, mercilessly and cruelly wiping out all who stood in his way. Darth Vires now felt that his training was complete, and it was time for revenge.

For his revenge on the Republic, the Jedi, and all who had wronged him, Vires needed an army. The Sith were all dead or in hiding since the Republic won the Sith War, so Vires needed to think of others, powerful and cruel, merciless and loyal, who would serve him in his war. Having seen Lorcrim's personality, he decided upon the Rakata. Using Lorcrim as an envoy, he asked for all the tribes to unite, to reclaim the Infinite Empire, and to claim the galaxy for themselves. Many joined him, and those who spoke up were soon quietly killed. The Rakatan tribes united, and Darth Vires had gained an army.

Planning for the war
Lehon had many crashed ships on, and the Rakatans set about taking them apart and remodelling them. Unfortunately, the Rakatan's didn't have enough ships, and some were missing vital parts that the Republic would charge huge amounts of money for. Darth Vires took Lorcrim into the main galaxy, into Mos Espa spaceport, and hired twelve smugglers, using a mixture of threats and bribes. It took three years, but they did finally get the ship parts, and, returnibg to Lehon, they started resurrecting the destrpyed ships. The Rakatans, having had no prior experience of technology, were pretty poor at first, but they improved dramatically, their natural instincts shining through.