- "I will defy everything. Reality, war, misery. Even the limiting construct of time."
- ―Liu Van Dae
Liu Van Dae was a Jedi who desired to purge the entire galaxy of the dark side. First brought up within the New Jedi Order under the tutelage of Luke Skywalker, Liu grew to idolize the fallen Omancor Crask, who had challenged the Dark Jedi Brotherhood in 30 ABY and died doing so. He was most noted for altering his ship's hyperdrive and using the Force to manipulate time travel, a rare but possible phenomenon in the galaxy. Traveling from 50 ABY back to 33 ABY in order to execute Muz Ashen and subsequently end the rise of the Brotherhood, he was later killed in 35 ABY by Taigikori Aybara during the Invasion of New Tython.
History
Child of Order
- "If you could go back in time and stop all the bad things from happening - the Empire, Darth Vader, the Yuuzhan Vong Invasion - wouldn't you?"
- ―Liu Van Dae as a young boy
While Liu's existence is one that draws skepticism and inspires many theories, his background is fairly straightforward. Born in 25 ABY to a noble family on Commenor, the boy showed Force potential at a very young age. It was around this time that members of the New Jedi Order had begun scouting for possible padawans on the planet, and Liu's parents agreed to send their son off to Ossus to begin his Jedi training along with several others at the recently constructed Jedi Academy in 36 ABY.
Liu, while showing great prowess in lightsaber combat, had other things on his mind. He felt suffocated and helpless against the very concept of time itself. Told to muffle his fear of death and old age for the sake of his studies, he wished to study time and its movement, hoping to find a way to use it to his benefit. Light side influences would later curb his ideals to match the needs of the impoverished, oppressed, and needy. He believed that if there was a way to travel back in time, he would do so, in order to revise the chronology in order to halt the uprising of the Dark Jedi.
His teachers began to worry about his obsession with the past and did their best to direct his actions toward present situations. First assigned to confront cruel warlords in the Outer Rim, Liu was summoned back to Ossus in order to participate in the Second Galactic Civil War in 40 ABY at only the age of fifteen. What he saw in battle would only further his fanatic resolve.
Crask's Legacy
Omancor Crask, Liu Van Dae's influence.
Never before had Liu witnessed such harsh environments, ill-treated populations, and horrid carnage until he fought in the war at such a young age. He saw many of his fellow Jedi die while battling against their enemies, and he began to grow more and more reclusive to the galaxy at large. When news spread that Jacen Solo, known as Darth Caedus, had died, Liu fought hard to stave off depression and hopelessness. The Jedi Academy on Ossus was said to have remained empty for some time after the war, but the young Jedi was in fact sealed off in the Academy's libraries, fending for himself despite the absence of his superiors. It was there that he discovered Omancor Crask within the archives.
Crask had endured a tumultuous existence, having dealt with the dark side firsthand before deciding to purge the galaxy of all Dark Jedi. A journal from a rogue Jedi declared that Crask had died on Antei while challenging an organization known as the Dark Jedi Brotherhood. However, Liu was shocked to discover that the New Jedi Order had put aside this information due to the Civil War and perhaps personal hubris, not wishing to give due credit to a man who had gone from the light side to the dark side and threatened the stability of the Order.
Enraged by the Jedi's lack of perception and judgment, Liu decided to become a loyal follower of Crask's philosophies and legacy. He would become a poacher of Dark Jedi, traveling across the galaxy with others to eliminate the threat of the Brotherhood. But the Brotherhood was only becoming stronger. Several warlords and conquerors had taken over worlds and systems, all under the allegiance of their dark sovereign. Often, Liu would hear homage given to one known as the Lion of Tarthos, and he was determined to discover who that was.
Defying Time
Muz Ashen, Liu Van Dae's target.
- "It was like the stars lent themselves to new, unnatural light. Ribbons of cosmos turned into rivers. Rivers became nothing but white. And then, I traversed time entirely."
- ―Liu Van Dae's notes
In 45 ABY, a war-hardened, stubborn Liu had painstakingly studied the history of the Brotherhood and its growing presence in the galaxy. He had learned that the true name of the Lion was Muz Ashen, who he fully blamed for the turmoil brought upon the people. No matter how many Dark Jedi he killed, it seemed that nothing could stop the influence of the dark side. Ergo, the cause of such power had to be eliminated. The question was how, seeing as Ashen had grown to become one of the most formidable Dark Lords of the Sith in the galaxy.
To Liu, the answer lay in time travel. He asked an ally of his to give him an old starfighter that he could tinker with, in order to experiment with the nature of its hyperdrive. As a child, he had read that a faulty or strangely modified hyperdrive could propel unexpecting pilots into the future, especially if they encountered black holes. His goal, however, was to alter the hyperdrive so that he could travel into the past, back to where Ashen had been a young boy so he could kill him easily. Liu determined that the Force could guide him in his work.
After five years of intense work, in 50 ABY the then thirty-five-year-old Jedi was ready to test the fixed hyperdrive of his starfighter as well as dip into his Force prowess in order to initiate the travel. Setting coordinates to an undetermined time, Liu propelled his ship at unspeakable speeds. Of course, seeing that he had no way to properly calculate exactly when and where he would end up, he himself was disoriented when he appeared close to the Minos Cluster, bobbing along through space.
He had successfully gone back in time, a truly remarkable and nearly unheard of feat. But he had not traveled far enough. The year was 33 ABY, three years after Muz Ashen had become Grand Master of the Brotherhood, and the Dark Jedi, though far less influential, still had a powerful presence within their dominions.
Taigikori Aybara, shortly after his encounter with Liu Van Dae.
The frustration that Liu felt upon hearing of the year he was now in was understandable, but he was not willing to give up. He knew of a moon called Lyspair that housed artifacts and holocrons of great knowledge and power, things he could use to his advantage to fight a younger Ashen. Liu piloted his ship toward the Shroud, using his keen Force abilities to navigate the dense nebulae covering the Antei system.
What he did not know was that the Dark Jedi awaited his arrival. Liu's travels had sparked the attention of Dacien Victae, who delivered his findings to Taigikori Aybara, the Headmaster of the Shadow Academy at the time. Taigikori enlisted the Iron Throne's fleets to protect Lyspair, to ensure that Liu could not enter the Dark Vault. But Liu, no matter what he knew, was still prepared. He breached the lines of naval defense and landed unscathed on Lyspair, cutting through set up droid legions to get to the Vault. He managed to break through the security networks of one of the safest and most protected facilities that belonged to the Brotherhood, but not without being confronted. Taigikori managed to reach Liu before the Jedi could retrieve any of the artifacts, and a duel commenced.
After removing Taigikori's tongue and lower jaw with his lightsaber, Liu was about to kill the Headmaster when he finally beheld the Grand Master himself. Enveloped by panic at the sight of his enemy, the Jedi escaped, boarding his starfighter and attempting to flee Anteian space. Ronovi Tavisaen, Praetor to Taigikori, was ordered to shoot down Liu from the Fallen Spear. At the sight of Liu's ship going down in flames, Brotherhood forces declared him dead.
Ji, High Councillor of the Acolytes of Odan-Urr.
The Dark Council, upon studying the archives, scratched their heads when it came to the notes on Liu. Given that he was a grown man, not a child, any documents of his birth in 25 ABY made no sense. Whether or not they believed that the archives were incorrect, there was no way to fully research Liu, his background, or his affiliations.
Liu, however, had not died as the Dark Jedi had once believed. Despite the damage to his ship, he was able to set coordinates to the Yhi system in the Esstran sector, where he jumped into hyperdrive and re-appeared in orbit around the planet of New Tython. His starfighter subsequently crashed on the outskirts of Menat Ombo, where he was retrieved by Jedi Councillors and medically tended to.
Within the halls of House Odan-Urr, Liu was first introduced to Ji, the High Councillor of the Acolytes of Odan-Urr. The Councillor maintained communications with a Jedi known as Michael Halcyon, who was attempting to evade assassination attempts concocted by the Dark Jedi Brotherhood. Liu agreed to assist Ji in his endeavors to strengthen the light side house, which as of 34 ABY was in the palm of Muz Ashen's hand. He was skeptical of the Gand's agreement to stay within the dominion so long as it belonged to the Brotherhood, but upon observing Odan-Urr's meager fleets and lackluster forces, he realized just how critical the situation was.
Death and Legacy
Liu Van Dae and Taigikori Aybara's final duel.
Liu was present on New Tython at the time in which Brotherhood forces invaded the planet. Still hellbent on killing the Grand Master himself, he maneuvered through the besieged Jedi units and stumbled across Taigikori, now equipped with a metal jaw. Liu had no choice but to begin another duel against the Headmaster, not knowing that the fight would be his last.
Liu Van Dae's death at the hands of Taigikori Aybara.
Perhaps not even realizing, Liu succumbed to the same temptations of hubris as the New Jedi Order, something he had scoffed at earlier in his life. In his confidence that he would surely defeat Taigikori, he did not sense the dagger that his enemy was drawing. The Jedi was killed by a vicious stab to the throat, which punctured his jugular vein and promised a slow and painful death. He was burned on a ceremonial pyre by the remaining Jedi of Odan-Urr, and Ji spoke of his admiration toward Liu before the Gand died later in the same year.
Since Liu's death, various members of the Brotherhood have attempted to understand how he, a thirty-seven-year-old man at the time of his demise, could have been born in 25 ABY. Some theories suggest that he used the Orb of Passage, once kept by the Jedi Order, or that he dabbled so strongly in the Force that he managed to manipulate time itself. Forces were even sent to various systems in an attempt to discover Liu's younger self and kill him, but he was never found. No matter what theories abound, from time loops to altered timelines to predetermined actions and decisions, Liu's life and accomplishments remain enigmatic and unrepeated to this day.
Characteristics
Appearance
Liu was a tall man, standing at approximately 1.87 meters, with sandy blond hair and dark brown eyes. He was well-toned and agile, regarded as a masterful swordsman who presented grace and dexterity while fighting. He tended to don a long cloak in his travels, and several scars were visible on his face and cheeks. His nose, having been broken several times in combat, was slightly crooked after different attempts to mend it.
Combat
Liu mastered the Ataru lightsaber form at a fairly young age at the expense of other forms and arts. As such, he proved to be extremely acrobatic in battle, capable of dodging barrages of blaster shots and even the quickest and most cunning swings of a lightsaber. His most favored tactic was feinting, appearing to lose ground against his opponents before approaching them at an undeniably quick speed and raining several blows upon them.
Not one to use blunt weapons or blasters, Liu did occasionally have daggers or knives on his person. As a Jedi, he was interested in dealing merciful deaths, although with Taigikori he proved to be uncharacteristically cruel by disfiguring him before attempting to deliver the coup de grâce.
The Force and Time
It is theorized that Liu was so immersed in the Force that he could play with time itself. While the theory does have merit, it is worth noting that Liu was also a practical man in terms of mechanics and construction. He had built his own lightsabers - one green and one blue - on his own with minimal Force usage. Therefore, it is fair to assume that Liu was guided by the Force in his modifications of his ship's hyperdrive, but also that technology played a part in his traveling abilities as well.
More than anything, Liu considered himself to be a servant of the light side. The Force was his teacher, giving him insight into various elements of the galaxy. He refused to give himself much credit for his own work, even if the Force was not entirely involved. As such, he liked to claim that the Force was in charge of his fate and the decisions he made to become a Dark Jedi poacher and the potential murderer of Muz Ashen. He even once declared that he had seen a vision of his defeat of Muz Ashen before he set off to kill him, though that vision never became reality.
Personality
Liu was known to be an obsessive yet devoted Jedi, constantly pestering his mentors with his many questions and thoughts about the galaxy, life, and time. He was curt yet pensive, aggressive in battle yet calm and even witty in civilian settings. Non-Force sensitives who knew him found him to be very sociable and easy to talk to.
Beneath a gentler exterior, however, was a broiling pit of passion and determination. Liu occasionally would become manic in his studies, never satisfied until he was able to perfect what he had sought out to do. His extreme sympathy toward the less fortunate, despite his noble background, led him in his resolve to fix the galaxy's past in order to better its future. In the end, to use a tired cliché, curiosity indeed killed the cat.
Trivia
- Liu Van Dae was created by Taigikori Aybara and Ronovi Tavisaen to serve as a main antagonist to the Shadow Academy. It was determined that Liu would be killed off in the Tenth Great Jedi War storyline, decided by Taigikori and Muz Ashen.