Keldon's Purge, Chapter 1

Ten Years Later...1

Darth Keldon walked through the immensely decorated hallway of the Sith Palace, taking his time as he headed for the briefing room. He took a few glances at the portraits that adorned the walls, not really looking at the elegant artwork.2

It's all crap, Keldon thought as he took a glance at one of the pieces, an over-exaggerated rendition of Zaine fighting a hundred men with just his lightsaber. None of this artwork is valuable. Keldon breathed in and let out a loud sigh as he plopped himself down on a very elaborate couch, pushing his brown hair back, wishing that he was in charge of the whole operation.3

"But of course not, I had to get stuck being in charge of the Purge," Keldon muttered to himself. "If I would have known it was going to take this long, I wouldn't have agreed." For the last ten years, the entire Jedi Order was being slowly wiped from the galaxy. At first it was very easy since all of the Jedi were on Earth. But when Zaine made first contact, the Jedi were able to escape and spread themselves very thin.4

"That bastard screwed it all up by accepting the aliens. If he would have waited just a few days, I would have had them gone."5

Executing such a large, ornate plan needed time to work, and Keldon had managed to wipe out almost every Jedi on Earth. Before the Great Purge, there were almost two million Jedi on the planet, not including any undiscovered Force-users. Within the first year, that number plummeted to less than half a million, and every Jedi had been murdered by Keldon.6

But then an alien race known as the C'thunar landed on the planet, feeling the time was right to introduce themselves. Zaine met with them and forged an alliance with the alien species, and within a couple of days, the Sith Empire had starships. But several ships were stolen by some of the remaining Jedi, allowing many to hide throughout the galaxy.7

Now, nine years later, there were only fifty-three Jedi left in hiding, and it was Darth Keldon's job to find them.8

"I'm loving every minute of this." He reached into his leather jacket and pulled a pocket-watch from it, clicking it open to read the time.9

Guess I better show up at some point, Keldon thought as he stood from the couch, turning and walking to the north, his boots clicking on the C'thunarian marble.10


Keldon arrived about forty-five minutes late, so he just missed the briefing. He walked up to the large door, a quick scan being performed on him to prove that he was Darth Keldon.11

The door slid open and he stepped through, grinning at the near empty room. There were only two people left, Zaine and a Sith apprentice whose name Keldon never bothered to remember, looking at a technical blueprint of some fortress, the huge holographic display lighting like a Christmas tree. Neither man turned until Keldon coughed obnoxiously loud.12

"So nice of you to show up, Keldon," Zaine said smoothly, trying to not sound irritated. The apprentice had nothing to add to what Zaine said; he was merely observing.13

"Better late than never, I always say." Keldon walked across the empty seats instead of using the ramp to get to where Zaine was standing. "Did I miss anything?"14

"Just the mission briefing. You need to start being on time. I don't know why I keep letting you show up late."15

"Gee, sorry Mom. Next time I'll set my alarm so that way I'll know when to show up." Keldon said all of this without losing any of his composure: smooth and casual. His gaze turned to the would-be Sith.16

"So, how's it going..." Keldon paused for a moment, thinking of his name. "Alan? Alex? Alvarez! That's it! How is it with you, boy?"17

"Oh, mercifully great. I'm supposed to accompany you to your next mission." Alvarez stole a glance to Zaine, who nodded in agreement.18

"What mission?" Keldon exclaimed sarcastically. "I didn't show up for the briefing, so by definition, I have no mission."19

"Keldon, you need to finish this operation. As soon as the last Jedi is dead, you can go relax on some planet filled with naked women as long as you want. Until then, I own you."20

"Oh Chris, when will you learn. No one owns me but me, understand?" Keldon's crisp American accent chilled Alvarez. Keldon was one of the few people who still had a clean, un-cut voice with no impression of other cultures press upon it, considering that almost everyone had a bit of an alien tone to it now.21

"Look, we'll talk about this later. Just get your ass to Satoth, now." Zaine said, thrusting a datapad into Keldon's chest. Keldon grabbed it as gravity took hold, Zaine moving away. "Get the job done without losing all of the Dark Jedi this time."22

"Does that include the kid?" Keldon asked, but his question fell upon only Alvarez's ears. "Oh, sorry. You weren't supposed to hear that."23

"It's all right. Being a Sith has it's bad parts, but they don't out-weigh the good."24

"What's good about this? You get stuffed into cramped bunk-rooms where you share your bed with other people. The food sucks and there's no insurance of any kind, so what the hell is good?" Keldon faced Alvarez as he spoke, never once losing his composure.25

"The pay is good."26


"So, you're one of the top Sith, huh?" Alvarez asked as Keldon walked through the expanse hall, trying to get the kid to leave him alone. Alvarez had been following him around everywhere; mess hall, bathroom, library, chattering questions out like faucet.27

"Yeah. I've got the position of Dark Lord, but it meant more when it first happened." Keldon hoped that this would make Alvarez leave him alone "At first there was only myself and Zaine, but then he went crazy and appointed five more and to tell you the truth, I don't like any of them."28

"Why is Zaine afraid of you? I could sense it through the Force that he is scared of you." The kid just kept going.29

"He fears me because even though his Force ability is higher than mine, he can't use it as well as I can. When he turned, the Force excommunicated him, so he had to relearn how to use it. I didn't, so I still have everything I knew as a Jedi."30

Alvarez shut up for a few moments, blissful silence falling on Keldon's ears. But then an actual question emerged from Alvarez's lips."Am I not supposed to know that?"31

"Look, you seem like a good kid. You are what, like sixteen or something? The Force is strong with you, but you can't shut up. Now, go to the training center and practice, you have a big day ahead of you and I don't want you to die. Anyone else, I wouldn't care, but with you, I'll make the exception." Keldon turned down another corridor and as Alvarez tried to follow, a force field blocked his path.32

"Told you, go to the training center. This is a private wing of the Palace; you can't enter here if you're not a Dark Lord of this Sith, so scram." Keldon walked forward, turned left and the golden wall slid open and Keldon stepped through.33