Darth Verraeter

Crisan Kenobi Solo or Darth Verraeter was a male human/Chalactan and a former Jedi Knight. He became a Sith Lord after having a disagreement with his Master and formed a new cult named Der Hintergedanke.

An heir to the Kenobi Solo name, he proved to be the only one known who fell to the dark side, besides Destrum Kenobi Solo. His actions would prevent future Kenobi Solos&mdash;not to mention many other Jedi&mdash;from choosing his path.

Early Life
Crisan was born on Ossus in the year 1,100 ABY to two Jedi, one a human and the other a Chalactan. At the age of five, he was taken away to be apprenticed by the Mhingxin Jaorl Okim. He was a quick student and learned to use lightsabers very efficiently, and was taught the basics of Form X, because he wanted to continue the trend of all Kenobi Solo's taking on the form of their ancestor.

Unfortunately, Crisan's parents would die facing off a rogue Mandalorian group headed by the newest man to claim to be the rightful Mandalore Luroin Vevlin. This was kept away from him at first by his Master, and when he eventually found out, it weakened the bond they had towards each other.

Corellian Troubles
His relationship with his Master would be threatened again, after he had been apprenticed to him for eight years, when a dissident group of Jedi had founded their breakaway Sith group, a popular trend in the Darkness era. Jaorl was assigned by the Council to establish communications and negotiate the release of the planet Corellia.

With a major Core world out of their control, the Republic was desperate. They were spread out more than they could sustain as was, and they couldn't possibly send even a small taskforce to Corellia. On the opposing side, the Jedi had even less to work with, but they were bound by the new laws to help the Republic before their interests. So the two embarked on the Mission to Corellia.

Crisan and Jaorl proceeded to Corellia discreetly and managed to find that the dissidents had their headquarters in Coronet, and the general population was for their takeover! Crisan was ordered to await Jaorl's signal to attack and stay at their landspeeder until then.

The spirit, stubbornness, and recklessness of the Kenobi Solos, unfortunately, was very powerful in young Crisan and he disobeyed his Master as soon as he was out of sight. If the Sith were there, he wanted to kill at least one of them. The Jedi would proclaim his name among the greatest of Jedi in later history for his actions that day, or at least that's what he wanted to think.

Sneaking into the new palace constructed for the Sith, Crisan made his way to finding a Sith to kill. He was met by a Shownarri/human female, who revealed herself as a Sith. Crisan ignited his lightsaber and attacked, but he was hopelessly outmatched by their more mature and better trained Sith.

Instead of killing the brash apprentice, the Sith began to talk of how Crisan should join them. She felt Crisan's anger and knew of his lineage. Crisan asked for a name and she gave it to him, her name was Leeah Raklec and she was the daughter of an important Jedi, just like him. Her father was Riol Raklec, the man responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocents in a biological attack on Ruul a couple of years ago.

Horrified, and yet, at the same time curious, Crisan asked what was so bad about the Sith. She replied that the only drawback was having people like him come after them for wanting to take away their rightful places as leaders of the Galaxy.

Further conversation was disrupted by his Master falling through the window and crashing through another leading straight down into the streets below. He was about to rush to help him, but Leeah stopped him and asked him to consider what she had said. He did, and went through his family's history, starting at the beginning. In it all, he found none of the Kenobis turning to the dark side, yet their lives could have been better, in his opinion, if they had succumbed. If that were the case, then maybe his parent's could be alive.

He was going to say that he had agreed to join them, but he was stopped by some outside force, pardon the pun. The outside force turned out to be a Force ghost, but not one he had been expecting.

"Hello, Crisan. My name is Jacen Kenobi Solo, I am a descendant of yours from times past. Normally my father would be here to mess with you, but we were able to deter him for the moment. The choice you are about to make is one of hardest ones ever faced by a Jedi Knight. I urge you to reconsider your answer."

- Jacen

"But why? What has being a Jedi ever done to help us at all? We shouldn't be listening to their stupid, serene answers to life. I for one am turning our family name around to the way it was supposed to be."

- Crisan

"What if it is already the way it's supposed to b&mdash;Oh, what now? Oh, no, not him again."

- Jacen

Bewildered, Crisan looked around to find who Jacen was talking about. He found the source when he saw the ghost of another Jedi from the past: Nathaniel Kenobi Solo.

"Well, what are you waiting for, Crisan? Join the Sith and prosper."

- Nathan

"Do what?!? What? Huh?"

- Jacen, Crisan, and Leeah

"You heard me, Crisan. Join the dark side, restore our lost honor. I'd suggest the man that killed your parents first. But what do I know? I'm a kriffin' Force ghost. Probably should be doing something better. Later. Come on Jacen, let's talk about this privately."

- Nathan

"Indeed we will, father."

- Jacen

Astounded, neither Crisan, nor Leeah spoke for the next minute. In the confusion, Jaorl had been able to find his way back into the building.

Seeing his padawan, he grew angry and demanded an explanation. Crisan replied that his Master was good for only one thing: being the first Jedi he killed. Before Jaorl could react, Crisan flung him out the window he had just left with a combination of force lightning and push. He turned to Leeah and said that he wanted to meet with her Masters, he wanted to make it official: a Kenobi Solo was to become a Sith.

With great jubilation, he was received by the Masters, which, to his disappointment, turned out to be a scruffy-looking vagabonds with very little training. The fact they had been able to knock Jaorl out of the building had been pure luck. They were tired from the battle and some could stand only with support from the Force.

Appaled that this was the best the Sith could offer, he ignited his lightsaber and cut down the weakest members of the motley crew. The rest he ordered to follow him. They were mostly the younger, more malleable students their former teachers had taken with false hopes and plans for domination.

"Say farewell to the old ways, my new friends. For they are a hinderance to our true goals. We are too few in number to even combat the weakened Republic. Follow me and I promise we shall rule this Galaxy!"

- Crisan

One of the more bold apprentices, a male Belovian named Su Triaxalike, stepped forward and asked a question.

"And how are you to be different than our Masters? Surely you cannot be that much stronger than them."

- Su

"Spirit, good, you will make an excellent apprentice. To answer your questions: the only information you will really need to know will be this: I am the last descendant of the Kenobi Solos! As to my name, you shall refer to me as Verraeter, for I am a turncoat to the ideals of my ancestors."

- Verraeter

The apprentices were amazed at the news of his lineage and none failed to heed his call from that day forward. He named Su his apprentice and Leeah his second-in-command. He had a plan for dealing with the Jedi, but it would take years of patience on their part, an attribute not usually contributed to Sith.

Unfortunately, Jaorl had survived his latest fall and, angry at his padawan, refused to go back for him and instead left for Ossus to deliver the news. He and the Order awaited his return to the Galaxy as a self-proclaimed Sith Lord, but that day never arrived. Most Jedi forgot about it and focused on other issues, but Jaorl remained stubborn, knowing his apprentice would show up. How right he was, for Verraeter did reappear, but in the most unexpected way of all: as leader of a cult, even though no one knew it was him at the time.

How Do You Skin A Mando?
The years in-between the rise of Der Hintergedanke and Verraeter are mainly shrouded in secrecy. What historians do know is that he made a rare public appearance on Mandalore that was documented only by one woman: a Maltorran Jedi Knight by the name of Trini Fuox. Leeah and Su were able to stop her before she could give her account to the Jedi.

In the years since he had killed Verraeter's parents, Luroin Vevlin had become the newest Mandalore of the Mandalorians. Despite his small stature, he was a formidible warrior and was about to threaten the Republic with his newfound might. The Jedi Council had dispatched a young Knight named Trini Foux&mdash;who was unusually gifted in the art of diplomacy&mdash;to see if they could get the new Mandalorians to ally with the weakened Republic.

The mission was a failure from the start, her ship was shot down as soon as she entered the system and he was captured. Unexpected "help" came in the form of a dark, strong, yet young man who changed Trini's life forever. The man had a group of friends who busted Trini out of prison. She was told that they were there to kill the newest Mandalore, who would cause problems for the Republic in the future. They needed her help to take him down with a minimum of casualties. In truth, they were actually just using the Knight to see if she would be capable of joining their organization.

Trini agreed and found that the newest Mandalore was a bit of a womanizer and slipped into his harem to await her "turn". She waited a week and eventually was invited into his quarters for the night. As soon as she did, however, she locked the doors and asked him to reconsider his position on the Republic. He laughed at her and instead called security in there and captured her again.

Luckily, and unluckily for Trini, Verraeter had decided to quit waiting and entered the man's chambers, lightsabers blazing. He demanded he fight him for the right to be Mandalore. Luroin chuckled and agreed, on the condition they fight it out as true Mandalorians. He asked Verraeter his name and he replied:

"My name is Crisan Kenobi Solo. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

- Verraeter

Luroin began to laugh uncontrollably and eventually spoke:

"So the petty wannabe Jedi is here to avenge his parents? Cute, you'd better start praying, brat."

- Luroin

Verraeter threw him backwards with Luroin's own bed.

"Never associate me with the Jedi ever again. Now, I believe we will be starting an honorable fight. I am ready."

- Verraeter

Luroin stood up and unsheathed his vibrosword, as Verraeter was handed another from one of the Mandalorian security guards. The two men then fell upon each other with such a rage it sent the spectators flying out of the room and into the valley below.

Most were able to safely land on Mandalorian Iiki plants and survived, others weren't so lucky. Leeah, Su, and Trini had all survived the fall, but Trini had run away from them as soon as possible. She knew that she had been doublecrossed and wanted to tell her superiors about the return of Crisan. Unfortunately, the fall had almost sprained her ankle, and she was hobbling to a suitable ship when Leeah and Su caught up with her.

Verraeter had been able to get a swipe at one of Luroin's veins on his hand and the man was bleeding terribly. Verraeter stood back, watching with glee at the man who had killed his parents. He asked for the man's lieutenant to step forward. (The Mandalorians who had fell in the fight had obtained jetpacks and returned to the site. Among them was Luroin's Kerestian lieutenant Gotah Miillk.) With Luroin slowly dying in the corner&mdash;preserved by Verraeter only so that he could view him die as horribly as Verraeter's parents had&mdash;Verraeter pronounced Gotah the new Mandalore and the leader of his soon to be formed army. The Mandalorians would take the agenda of their new leaders and hide for the next couple of years, awaiting the day for glorious battle and the fight for lost honor.

Trini had been killed in the fight against Leeah and Su, but not before recording what had happened into a random datapad. Luckily for historians, this was the datapad of Bablek Roain, a male Shaliz'Na and a friend of the Kenobi Solo family. He had been sent to Mandalore under specific orders from someone known and told to leave his datapad in a specific spot for a day. He had returned the next day to find the message, along with a new one: don't tell anyone until the time comes.

As it was later found out, agents of Nathaniel Kenobi Solo, known as the Avenger's Knights, had acted under his orders to tell the man to do as he did. The reasoning behind this was very vague, but it is said that this, and many other acts by Verraeter are what caused his descendants to forsake his view of the Force.

It was also known that during this period of time, he began a romantic relationship with his second-in-command, Leeah. Eventually, the two married in a private ceremony on Corellia, the Der Hintergedanke's headquarters.

The Cult
Besides the attack on Mandalore, Verraeter's history until he turned up in Nar Shaddaa with over two hundred trillion converts is a mystery. His cult was growing by the day and the Jedi were beginning to investigate the cult, based on the suggestions of Jaorl, who suspected that his old padawan had returned as the leader of the cult.

The Order knew that it had started under humble conditions on the isolated world of Aaris III, where they gained willing converts in the Aaris. This brought them into a minor conflict with the Evtcisite Empire, but they quickly ended it by signing a nonaggression pact with the Evtcisite Emperor. In the pact, they agreed to leave Evtcisite space when they held enough power to take down the Republic. They were temporarily given control of small portions of the Empire.

They soon gathered the rest of the Kathol Sector under their control. (Corellia was still under their control, but the major players involved were trying to spread their religion to the Outer Rim, where the weak-minded were abundant.) The Elrood Sector was soon to follow, with the cult eventually expanding to Hutt space. It was there that rumors of Verraeter's existence were circulated. This was when it became common knowledge throughout the cult that Verraeter had begun training the Dark Acolytes.

Gotah's Mandalorian forces and the newly-formed Hintergedanke Crusaders were training in the Outer Rim for the coming war between them and the Republic and, in so doing, eradicated the peaceful Ruhig of Ruh in a fleet exercise. Reports of the attack were kept secret, and, due to their isolated existence, no one would challenge that.

The battle was viewed as a success by the Sith Lords in charge, more specifically Verraeter, who knew that his fleet was better than anything the poorly-managed Republic could muster. The only thing standing in his way was the Jedi. The guardians of the peace were impossible to destroy in the past it seemed. Always one or two escaped and brought down the Sith or whoever had purged them. And even though the Republic and Jedi weren't exactly on the best terms possible, they still had a sizable fleet protecting Ossus, so Verraeter decided to do the next best thing.

Verraeter decided to take Exar Kun's lessons to heart and told Su to go to Ossus and convert as many of the younger Knights as possible to their cause, but he couldn't reveal who was in charge just yet. After finding that the people who were taking away their apprentices were hoping to exploit them, the Jedi Council at the time made a motion that banned the cult's presence from Ossus.

A legal authority within the cult, a male Tefauan named Arol Ytikkiin&mdash;who had converted early into the cult's start, as he saw a way to integrate himself in a place where he could get rich quick&mdash;asked Verraeter personally for a lawsuit to be filed. Verraeter agreed, intrigued at the idea that the Jedi might be sent out by the people who needed them the most.

Arol took the case to court and won, the cult was deemed to be a legal religion within the Republic now, and therefore, they received special consolations for the discrimination and were allowed to preach their documented word throughout the Republic. Any military or Jedi action against them was considered a violation of their civil rights and the Jedi were helpless, their authority diminished by a bribed Holwuff judge.

After investigations by Jedi and Republic forces following the Crusades, it was found that the judge had been bribed by a Kurtzen Senator named Zuplaa&mdash;who was a secret follower of the cult&mdash;who had also been acting under the orders of a mysterious Yn.

Jaorl, meanwhile, had had enough. He knew that his former padawan was behind this for sure, and he would do anything to stop him, even take down the Republic if he had to. In the aftermath, Verraeter was noted to have laughed when he heard the news, almost to the brink of insanity.

You Were Supposed To Destroy the Sith, Not Join Them!
Jaorl managed to slip away from Ossus through some old contacts and shipped out to Hutt Space&mdash;Verraeter had finally come out of hiding and had heralded the recent court case as a master stroke of genius by the followers of the true way. He has also proclaimed that the Jedi were not really their true enemies, but that they were merely misguided by principles and ideals that fell short of what the Galaxy needed. This further enrage Jaorl, and he landed on Ylesia, the new headquarters of the cult.

As soon as he arrived, he was beset with servants and other workers to please him. He was introduced to his new suite on Ylesia and was told that Verraeter would meet him in a matter of minutes. Jaorl, puzzled, didn't know what to do, so waited in his new luxury suite for Verraeter to come.

Jaorl waited for thirty minutes for Verraeter to appear, when he did he apologized to his former Master for his lateness. Jaorl replied that he didn't mind that Crisan had taken so long, he would kill him regardless. Enraged at being referred to by his former name, Verraeter declared that he would have let Jaorl leave the planet alive, but since he had referred to him by his name, he wouldn't see the light of day again. Both Jedi ignited their lightsabers and jumped towards one another.

Meanwhile, the Council had discovered that Jaorl had escaped to Ylesia, and, not wanting a diplomatic incident, sent a squad of Jedi, led by the Gutretee Weaponmaster Daffle, to Ylesia to make it seem that Jaorl was truly acting by himself and so the Jedi wouldn't be fined in any way by the Republic. Daffle was the Weaponmaster of the Order, primarily because that he was immune to blasterfire and couldn't be taken down easily, which gave him immense freedom in battle to choose the Form he wished to use.

Verraeter amazed Jaorl with his newfound abilities. The man was truly the heir of the Kenobi Solos if he was to be qualified alone in power! Jaorl's lightsaber strikes barely did anything to deter or disturb him, while Verraeter continually pushed his former Master backwards into a corner. Jaorl force pushed a pillow into Verraeter's face and escaped out the window. He was later quoted as saying I really hate running gags.

Verraeter, embarressed at the fact he had been stopped by a pillow, called in Leeah to come in and finish the job, but he was informed by their private doctor, a female Sulituan named Crol Omomox, that she was in no condition to do anything at the time. Confused, he instead called out Su and another of his Acolytes, a male Uukaablian named Ylio, to do what she couldn't.

Su and Ylio responded immediately, and caught Jaorl as he tried to escape on the ship he had come there with. They were also joined by other Sith Acolytes such as Eabuhka Semii, a female Zeuolin; Fyty Romalot, a male Tikiarri; and Lep, a male Glarsaur. Outnumbered, Jaorl was reinforced when the Jedi taskforce arrived.

Many of the Jedi there besides Daffle were major members of the Order. There were six in all, minus Daffle. The first and second were Vebyy, a male Ebruchi and a Council member; along with his padawan Ferma, a female Mimbanite. The third and fourth were Iki, a female Y'tras and also a Council member; along with her padawan Oqwenja, a female Solem. The fifth and sixth were Quarmy, a female Inchichtok and a famous Jedi pilot; along with her padawan Emvip, a male Thennqora.

The Jedi quickly rounded up the deragnged Jaorl and were about to leave when he struggled out of his bonds and went towards Verraeter's location. The Sith Acolytes went after him and were about to stop him when Iki and Emvip both got inbetween them and Jaorl. They were as determined as him to bring down the cult, they had heard reports of what they had done from members of their families that had been near the cult. Iki cut down and killed Fyty, the first casualty of the day.

The Sith interpreted this as an attack and called for reinforcements, and their help came in the form of Verraeter. Jaorl snapped at the sight of Verraeter and attacked his former padawan, while Verraeter used force lightning to stop him in his tracks. Daffle moved to duel Verraeter as many more of the Sith Acolytes entered the fray. The first Jedi fell, Ferma, and they regrouped at the ship. They pleaded for Verraeter to reconsider what he was doing, but the sly man merely said that as of now, the Der Hintergedanke had declared war on the Jedi Order for their unprovoked attack on their stronghold.

The Jedi's heads sunk, but they knew that the only way out alive was the destrcution of the majority of their assailants. Jaorl was administered sedatives and placed on the ship by Oqwenja, while the rest of the Jedi stood their ground. All of the padawans were told to prep the ship for launch and leave immeadiately. With heavy hearts, the loyal apprentices did as their Masters instructed and left them behind. They were able to escape the planet, seemingly because Verraeter wished for them to relay the news that the Crusades had begun.

More Sith Acolytes kept arriving by the minute, not to mention that the Mandalorians and Der Hintergedanke Crusaders had just returned from another fleet exercise. Outnumbered, outgunned, and outsmarted, the Jedi formed a circle and began chanting. Bewildered, Verraeter was transfixed on the images in front of him. What were the Jedi trying to do? The answer was terrible indeed, for the Jedi had a single trump card, one that was sure to make this skirmish very Ruusannic, quite literally.

Almost too late, Verraeter realized that they were making a thought bomb. He ordered the Acolytes to retreat, while he sent several less than enthusiastic soldiers to disrupt them by penetrating the bomb, making it go off prematurely, and less likely to be a problem he couldn't contain.



The soldiers were able to penetrate the thought bomb and get inside its interior. They had strapped several grenades to their sides just in case the Jedi decided to retaliate, what they didn't know was that Verraeter had grafted the grenades to their clothing and planned to use them as "martyrs" and suicide bombers. He hoped to use their deaths as a catalyst for his followers to "realize" that what he had said from the very beginning of their campaign was true: that the Republic and Jedi would have to die if they didn't repent.

Verraeter watched in "horror" as the men inside the thought bomb ignited their grenades and killed the remaining Jedi in a very explosive ending. Other witnesses corroborated his story later on, proving that the men had martyred themselves to protect the Sith and had been destroyed by the Jedi inside the thought bomb. They also attested that Verraeter was able to contain the majority of the blast, causing no casualties or injuries.

Finally finding a way to declare war on the Jedi without Republic interference, Verraeter assigned many of his Acolytes new positions as Generals and Commanders of the Crusaders. He also found out that the reason Leeah had been unable to help him earlier was the fact that she had just been given a doctor's notice: she was pregnant and told to relax for the next couple of days. Verraeter, full of glee at the news, went to the hospital and hugged Leeah, he said that he had a surprise for her, one that would be beneficial to the both of them.

Quzique
The planet Quzique was a jungle world discovered in the year 552 ABY by a Buzchub entrepenuer Qud'e. It was later formed into a resort planet for the rich and famous, more specifically the Republic Senate. The Jedi were also known to be a constant guest of the resort, as they were tired from trying to repair that which didn't want to be repaired. That made it the perfect target for Verraeter.

He had grand designs for the world&mdash;it was to be the site of his proposal to Leeah, their marriage, and honeymoon all in one. He was informed by Crol that not only was his soon-to-be wife pregnant, she was bearing twins. But Verraeter kept his grandoise plans away from Leeah, intending it to be a big surprise.

Just given leave by the Jedi Council, several adventurous Jedi Knights had decided to vacation on Quzique around the time of the attack. They included Ojol, a female Daan; Xokphe, a male M'ust; Iwqwe, a female Yatir; and Yiunab Aablao, a male Coway. The four were the best of friends, but the coming battle would test the limits of their seemingly endless camaraderie.

Verraeter contacted a terrorist cell he had allied with on Quzique&mdash;the terrorists wished for the resort world to be under the hands of the Ol and Bri, the native species of the world&mdash;and told them to ready themselves for the battle. He also ordered Gotah to scout out the planet's defenses for one last time. He came back with a report that a Republic taskfleet was waiting in a planetary system nearby, more specifically the Vlao system, which contained the hitherto unknown Republic stronghold on Vlao itself.

Congratulating Gotah on his discovery, Verraeter planned for the attack to occur with not one, but two fleets. He commissioned the Der Hintergedanke War Council to instruct one to attack Quzique directly, forcing the Republic to follow them, but he told the other to attack the hidden Republic base, causing the Republic to split its forces trying to figure out what had happened. He also informed the Council that one of them had turned traitor and revealed to the Republic that they were planning on attacking Quzique. He turned to Eabla, a male H'drachi, and announced that his plans would have succeeded, had he not gotten greedy and sent a risky message to the Republic asking for more credits.



He told the man that traitors weren't tolerated in his new Empire. Eabla replied by saying that Verraeter was a turncoat himself. Verraeter force crushed him and walked away, telling the Council to inform the troops to get ready for battle. Quzique was about to fall.

Verraeter entered the Quzique system guns blazing, destroying a small Republic fleet stationed to protect the planet from pirates. The Jedi on the surface took notice and debated on what their course of action was. Yiunab and Iwqwe wanted to stand and fight, while Xokphe and Ojol just wanted to find a place to hide. They finally compromised to spilt up to try and find a ship.

Meanwhile, the Republic fleet orbiting Vlao had been warned by a distress call from the planet's defense force and had left for Quzique. The second fleet Verraeter had sent went into the system following their departure and laid waste to the secret base on Vlao, leaving no survivors.

Verraeter had been able to contact the terrorist cell on Quzique and encouraged them to attack in the open now, since it was basically a route anyways. The terrorists had worked behind the scenes to destroy the planet's shield generator and had succeeded and, emboldened by their success, they began to kill several of the Senators vacationing on the planet.

Verraeter, true to his nature, then betrayed the only possible resistance the planet had left in the terrorist cell, none survived. The Republic fleet had just entered the system when they heard the cries of the Vlao base. They soon realized that they were surrounded and outnumbered. Desperate, many attempted to make kamikaze runs against the cult's vessels, but they were mainly destroyed before they could get anywhere by the cult's starfighters.



Meanwhile, the Jedi on the surface had successfully found a ship to depart the planet with, but they soon found themselves surrounded by the Crusaders. Hoping and praying for a safe exit, they were the only people to escape the planet. The rest had been captured and interred within the cult's new Abrion Major Prison. The Senators who survived were implanted with Yuuzhan Vong slave seeds, generously provided by the cult's chief scientist, Fero Mal, a Yuuzhan Vong dissident who wanted to help the cult.

Verraeter used this oppurtunity to propose marriage to Leeah, which she accepted with amazingly fast enthusiasm. They were wed by minister Gozzle Fenbek, a male Jin, in a ceremony that had all the important members of the cult in attendance. In a couple of months, their children were born: Shawnel Kenobi Solo and Jeeane Kenobi Solo.

With the Republic Senators under their control, the cult now had become a major part of the democratic process of the Republic without anyone knowing any better. The Jedi suspected that they had agents in the Senate, but they could never bring compelling evidence to prove their suspicions. Verraeter was slowly but surely becoming the strongest man in the Galaxy.

Alliance?
During the turmoil of the Darkness era, Eriadu had seceeded from the Republic along with several other nearby systems to form the Eriadu Confederation. The loss of Eriadu had been a severe blow to the Republic, but a tremendous boon to Verraeter and the cult. With the Confederation's sizable fleet added to their own, they would be two-times as strong.



Verraeter began talks with them to incorporate them into the cult, but he was secretly planning to takeover by holding the Confederation's Chief of State, Jamar Tarkin, hostage until their demands were met. Unknown to him, his plans were being countered by the equally-unknowing Confederation, which had secretly allied with the Jedi in the war.

Verraeter's top diplomat, a female Armalat named Hebblei, worked together with her counterpart on the other side, a male Bpfasshi named Torla, to broker an agreement between the two states. But another group of saboteurs were waiting for the apropos moment to show their faces. It appeared that the Avenger's Knights had a rival organization named the Traitorous Ones and they were bent on undoing what the Knights had set in place. All four groups would collide on Eriadu, except no one would know of the clash between the Avenger's Knights and Traitorous Ones.

The mysterious leader of the Knights eventually found out about the other group and alerted members of the organization to go to Eriadu and destroy the other group's attempts at sabotaging his work. He also instructed them to warn Verraeter as discreetly as possible about the Jedi trick. It was later revealed that the Traitorous Ones had manipulated the Jedi and Confederation to work together and had planned it as the battle which would end Verraeter's life, giving their leader a second attempt at galactic domination.

Verraeter was indeed warned and had brought an entire fleet from the frontlines to compensate for the coming Jedi attack. He succeeded in kidnapping Jamar and held him for ransom. The Confederation refused to meet his demands, as expected, so he revealed his true plans: he had sent agents into each and every one of the Confederation soldiers' homes to plant bombs that would detonate simultaneously should they attack him. Taken aback, they agreed to his demands, forcing the Jedi to reconsider their plan of attack, but yet another group managed to force a battle over Eriadu: the Senex-Juvex Lords had decided to help the Jedi, but only to eventually take over the Republic following the defeat of the cult.



With six different parties involved, many historians later called the battle a very confusing one. With so many loyalties changing by the nanosecond, it was very hard for someone to keep track of what was happening.

The Confederation sent its ships to support their new "allies", as the Jedi joined their new "allies" in battle against each other. The Jedi and Senex-Juvex force was outnumbered, but the sheer ferocity of their assault sent many Der Hintergedanke ships to an early grave. Verraeter used his Mandalorian fleet to counterattack this while he entered into battle meditation, trying to marshall his troops to victory.

Meanwhile, on Eriadu itself, the Avenger's Knights and Traitorous Ones engaged the other in a battle that decimated the capital city. The Traitorous Ones held the advantage, as they had more Force-sensitives on their side, and, eventually, the Knights were forced back. Many reported cackling from an unknown soruce during the entire skirmish, dampening their spirits as a result. Unfortunately, the Knights were pinned up in an abandoned store and were about to be completely encircled when the Traitorous Ones stopped their assault, they had found what they were looking for: a Force nexus on Eriadu created during the Dark Wars.

The leader of the group began to start chanting, envoking the Sith Lords who had come before them to help in the ressurrection of their leader. Their cries were heard and a bolt of dark energy enveloped the area, leaving a crater where the Traitorous Ones used to be, but there was someone there and he was laughing.

The leader of the Knights' forces recognized him almost immeadiately as Nat-ahn Mandrex, the father of Nathaniel Kenobi Solo and a man who had come close to conquering the Galaxy hundreds of years ago. Nat-ahn obliterated the remaining Knights and demanded his son to come and face him, because he knew that he was still alive.

Verraeter, meanwhile, had been successful in repelling every assault since the first with ease. The allied forces of the Jedi began to falter and retreated into hyperspace, or so it seemed, for the Jedi and Senex-Juvex Lords had decided to join a combined Jedi/Republic attack on Corellia, the former headquarters of the Der Hintergedanke.

Counterattack
Several years before the start of the Crusades, a group of Sith had taken control of Corellia, but, thanks to the actions of Verraeter&mdash;who at the time was still known as Crisan&mdash;they were brought down. He kept the planet as a base he would utilize later as a staging ground for assaults in the Core. Unfortunately, the Republic had blockaded the system and prevented him from coming in.

The one thing they had failed to do, however, was to actually invade the planet itself, as they feared the populace would revolt, because they favored the new regime over the weak Republic. After their failure to take Eriadu, they set their sights on Corellia, hoping to rid the Core of Verraeter's influence.

The first battle went almost without any problems, but after Verraeter had heard of the assault, he went along with a large battlefleet to the Corellian system to remove the Republic from his soon-to-be capital planet.

He quickly eliminated the Republic's fleet, but soon learned that they had only been there as a distraction: the real menace was on the planet below, forcing the untested Hintergedanke Crusaders to prove their worth on land. Verraeter sent his Mandalorian shocktroops as well, and went with Hehreins to retake their capital planet.



The allied forces of the Republic were deeply-entrenched on the planet, but luckily for the cult, the citizens of Corellia were doing their best to help their rulers. For over an hour, both sides were locked in a modern version of trench warfare. One side would send a group of attackers out to gain ground, but they would be repelled and driven back to where they were.

Verraeter quickly grew tired of the battle and sent Hehreins and Su to take the leader of the Republic resistance, a male X'ting named X'male Graler, out. They found out that he wasn't anywhere near the battle, but was instead directing it from a mag-lev-train located on the other side of the planet.

Hehreins and Su split up and he ended up following one lead, while she went to another. Hehreins' course proved to be the correct one and she told her husband of the development. Verraeter sent several Mandalorian raider vessels to pick her up and they left to find X'male.

Hehreins directed them to Coronet City, the site of the Der Hintergedanke's origins. The assault vessels dropped her off on the mag-lev-train and went off to make sure there weren't any fighters in the vicinity planning on killing her.



Hehreins then entered the mag-lev-train and was about to get to the general, when his Jedi bodyguards&mdash;Vool, a female Mordageen and Caba Len, a male Yapi&mdash;ignited their lightsabers and prevented her from reaching him. The two were expert duelists and Hehreins was more into guile, but she felt the presence of Verraeter guiding her hand and she soon found the two Jedi on the floor, dead.

X'male wasn't far behind, but he had something that could stop Hehreins' assault: a ysalamir. Without the Force by her side, she couldn't deflect the general's blaster bolts as well and even found that Verraeter was unable to reach her and help. But she wasn't defenseless, she pulled a blaster from her belt and fired a shot point-blank into the general. The ysalamir was soon to follow and she breathed easily again.

Without their leader, the Republic's forces were routed and a great many prisoners taken. The Force-sensitives were taken to secret facilities within the Stic Correctional Facility and the rest were carted off to Abrion Major, where they would be placed with surge-coral.

Of All the Days
Back on Ossus, Jaorl Okim was undergoing stress therapy and was even being considered for mental testing. He had been fooled, betrayed, and humiliated by his former padawan and he wasn't very happy about that. A quartet of Jedi guards were assigned to protect him from himself, but mostly to prevent an escape. Their names were Holafax, a male Hig; Xyplafo, a female Psadan; Vemno, a female Yvarema; and Zautrew, a male Tholian.

Jaorl was able to trick Vemno and Holafax into to setting him free and he took their lightsabers, leaving the two without a weapon to defend themselves with. When the Council learned of what had happened, they stripped the four of their privileges for a while and sent them to the planet Elom&mdash;which had become rich in Force energies following a minor skirmish there between another rogue group of Sith and the Jedi&mdash;to rethink their duties to the Order.

Flabbergasted as to what they should do next, the Council sought out Moh-Dan-Iy, a male Chikarri and the best friend of Jaorl. Unfortunately, he had gone missing sometime near the beginning of the war for unknown reasons. Some suspected Verraeter had killed him to hurt his former Master even more. This was disproved when Verraeter sent a female Mon Calamari agent named Qeizik to relay that he had done nothing of the sort. This astonished the Council, for no one but they themselves knew of the plans to seek out Moh-Dan-Iy. There was a traitor on the Council, and they could be the person standing next to them.

Before they could deal with the traitor, they sent word to Jo'hl, a male Tof bounty hunter. He was one of the best the Galaxy had to offer, as he was a former Mandalorian soldier and had almost a hundred percent rating in getting his targets. He found some information that Moh-Dah-Iy had gone to Kile II, but realized that it had been falsified to lead any potential searchers astray. Eventually, though, he caught up with the recluse on Ze'he'brathay, a Nagai colony world.



Jo'hl was quickly captured by the native Nagai, who were traditionally the enemies of the Tof, and brought before Moh-Dan-Iy, the new ruler of the Nagai Alliance. However, Dark Acolytes of Verraeter had tagged him to Ze'he'brathay and reported their findings to Verraeter. Seeing a kindred spirit, Verraeter sent Hebblei and Arol to discuss an alliance. It seemed Moh-Dan-Iy had grown tired of the Jedi's inefficiency at weeding out the enemies of the Republic, and had allied himself with the Nagai to restore peace throughout the Galaxy by conquering it.

Verraeter also began feeling a massive tremor in the Force that seemed to be coming from Ilum. What he didn't know was that a duel had been fought there by two very powerful Force users. The end result of the battle caused a massive fluctuation of Force energies and the amount of the planet's crystals seemed to have grown overnight by over forty percent. Fascinated by this new development, and the prospect of gaining a sacred Jedi planet to his cause, he sent a massive fleet to secure Ilum, while he dealt with the Nagai and the Jedi taskforce that had recently retaken Acktundo from the cult. He also had a group of Dark Acolytes tailing Jaorl, so that the maniacal Jedi could be stopped before he did something drastic.

Moh-Dan-Iy was initially not going to side with the cultists, but he soon changed his mind after he learned of the specieanatarian accords that had been drafted by the cult as a way to prove that it would be avoiding the mistakes of xenophobic empires in the past. He soon signed a treaty acknowledging the cult as the friends of the Nagai Alliance.

With the Nagai Alliance now at his side&mdash;not to mention the Mandalorians, Hutts, and Eriadu Confederation&mdash;Darth Verraeter and the Der Hintergedanke seemed invincible. It was rumored that legendary Nagai general Po'l'frei'd'ere&mdash;also known as the Scourge of the Unknown Regions&mdash;would be given control over a newly-crafted Eighth Fleet, which would be manned by members of all the races represented in the cult. Only four new threats would show up to attempt to tear the future rulers of the Galaxy from their throne, but they would come later on. Verraeter set his sights on reacquiring Acktundo with his new allies.

Jaorl, meanwhile, had clung to his sanity through the Force and had located the next target of Verraeter's plans after Acktundo: Calox III, a major Republic shipyard and refueling station. The planet also held a Jedi Academy which had broken ties with the Council, who still wished to use valued Jedi teachings and morals to deal with Verraeter. They, on the other hand, had decided to use a completely unorthodox method, or making the Masters present train a group of younglings and padawans into Jedi Assassins to take down Verraeter. Jaorl soon found his way to Calox III and waited patiently for his former apprentice, of which he had grand designs for his revenge.



Acktundo, however, required some heavy ordinance to get retake, as the Jedi were deeply-entrenched and even the Mandalorian shocktroopers were repulsed by them. Several Dark Acolytes fell as well and Verraeter began to rethink his position on what to do with them. His questioning was answered by one of his most trusted advisors in the department of Sith Alchemy and sorcery, Finster die Hexe, a male Ierian. He told Verraeter of an ancient Sith power known as Force Cloak, which concealed either the user or an object the user wished to hide in a state of becoming one with the light, or in the cult's case, into the darkness of space itself. Intrigued, Verraeter called for an immeadiate pullback, and all of the cult's forces "retreated" to their ships, where the Sith Masters came together to create the illusion that they weren't there.

The ploy worked and the Jedi had fled the planet in their ships, after several days of scouting the region to make sure the Sith had truly left, and were about to jump into hyperspace when the Masters discontinued the Force power, showing themselves for the first time in almost a week. The Sith fell upon the Jedi like a pack of Bha'lir, and gutted through the middle of the Jedi's fleet. Disarray soon swelled the Jedi forces, which gave way to multiple captures and deaths. In a matter of minutes, the cult had destroyed a Jedi taskforce that would have caused thousands of casualties had they continued fighting on land. For his part in the ordeal, Finster was promised his home sector and its rival sector for his own personal holdings following the war's end.

Verraeter then set his sights on Calox III, which had been invaded shortly before his victory at Acktundo by Hehreins. She had also brought their children along, so they could begin to teach them the ways of the Sith, even though they weren't even a year old at the time. Verraeter sent word ahead of his future arrival, but it never reached its intended target, as Hehreins had sent another message to her husband: Jaorl had kidnapped their children and was planning to kill them unless Verraeter came in the next day. Outraged, he pushed the engineering team to the limit, but it wouldn't be enough to come there by the deadline, so he began meditating in his quarters, gathering the strength to ghost to an unfamiliar place.



He eventually garnered all the strength he needed and proceeded to ghost to Calox III. As soon as he arrived, he found his wife destitute, he tried to reassure her, but she told him that she had failed him. Verraeter replied that it was he who had failed her, as he hadn't been training her as much as promised. Realizing that both had equally wronged the other unintentionally, they embraced and Verraeter went to the Rosso Montagna Mountains, which was the location where Jaorl had sent his last transmission from.

He saw Jaorl in the distance, weilding his children in his hands, ready to drop them at an moment's notice. Verraeter then Force jumped to the peak of the mountain Jaorl was on, while the other pretended to drop Jeeane. Jaorl told Verraeter that he would end his children's lives, just as Verraeter had ended his life by discrediting him before the Council many times. Verraeter replied that Jaorl could drop them if he wanted, he no longer cared, as his true target was Jaorl, and besides, his wife was young, there was no telling how many children they could have to replace the lost ones. But it was all a bluff, as he intended Jaorl to think that they truly were worthless to him; in reality he would have gladly given himself in their place.

Jaorl, preplexed at the development, forgot what he was doing and accidentily dropped Jeeane and Shawnel. Verraeter ghosted them away, however, as he had used the time he had spent talking to Jaorl to locate their specific genetic codes for ghosting. Amazed, Jaorl moved away from his former apprentice, horrified at what they had both become. Jaorl implored Verraeter to rethink what he had done and join the Order again, but he was interrupted by the arrival of a group of Jedi Assassins who had blown their cover. Verraeter quickly ghosted Jeeane and Shawnel away, so that he could deal with the new threat without any limitations.

The Assassins had blown their cover because of the fact that they couldn't hold back their glee at finally killing the greatest threat the Jedi had at the time. The leader of the group, a female Xan named Niaethel, challenged Verraeter to a duel, but soon found herself lying on the ground&mdash;the victim of Verraeter's Force Crush. The other Assassins were outraged at this, and they ignited their lightsabers as they fell upon Verraeter with a vengeance. Jaorl, however, did not get involved, as he was contemplating how to redeem his former padawan.

Personality & Traits
At a young age, Verraeter was very skilled, yet reserved at times. He was also brash, a true Kenobi Solo&mdash;a walking contradiction. He used the Force as much as he would his legs and arms, causing him to be almost considered a "cripple" when he was in a situation that placed him in an area where he couldn't feel the Force.

When he turned to the dark side, he felt almost invincible, but always reminded himself that pride had always been the undoing of the Sith Lords before him. He constantly made himself check to make sure he wasn't leaning towards being too proud.

He also became a talented military commander and was viewed as a great leader by his subordinates. Another quality he possessed was the ability to make enyone back down if he wanted them to. This is said to be the reason why no assassination plots against him have ever been recovered, everyone was either too afraid, or too loyal to do so.

He was also noted as being among the finest lightsaber duelists of his time. Even his most hated enemies would say that the form he used very closely resembled Nathaniel Kenobi Solo's in technique. They even went as far as to say that he could have even fought Nathan to a standstill, however&mdash;unfortunately for the gamblers&mdash;such a battle never took place, so historians argue on whether or not he was on par with his ancestor. During the Reaver War, Nathan was quoted as saying, Meh, argue all you want, it ain't happening.

Behind the Scenes
Verraeter is German for turncoat.

The quote he uses when he first meets Luroin is a variation of Inigo Montoya's quote against the Count Tyrone Rugen in the movie Princess Bride.