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Complete Article: Darth Vexatus
Transcluded Pages: Part One - Part Two - Part Three
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Broken (29 ABY – Present)
The Final Chain (29 ABY)
- "Let go . . . you are more than crude matter . . . embrace your destiny . . . break the final chain . . . let the Force free you!"
- ―Darth Maestus
Vexatus in a coma after his defeat at Lehon.
With his body unable to contain the destructive energies unleashed by the Heart's sundering, Vexatus unconsciously severed the connection between his mind and his physical being, following Maestus's voice beyond shadows into the currents of the Force itself. To those fleeing Urati Kazinal, it was as if the Betrayer had been slain and his spirit sent to the netherworld; in reality, his mind was plunged into a madness beyond death, forced to fight the long tormented spirits he had consumed for control.
Some days, perhaps even weeks, it is impossible to say how long exactly, after Vexatus's mind vanished beyond shadows, his sister, Xora, arrived on Lehon, having finally hunted him down after he left the dark side miasma that had shrouded him at Orian. But instead of the revenge she hoped for, Xora found an empty burnt out shell. Despite not even sure if her brother was still alive, Xora could not bring herself to leave him the way he had left her; she recovered his body and returned to the Galactic Alliance Star Destroyer Silent Chariot, flagship of Jedi Master Renko Yast, who was battling the remaining Vong and Ssi-Ruuk still holding out in the Shiritoku Spur on the borders of the Outer Rim Territories and Wild Space. Xora vowed that if and when Xanos recovered, she would see to it that he stood trial for his crimes.
On the surface, Xanos's body still seemed alive, however his mind was catatonic—brain dead. Xora, Renko, Taraeis Alaviel and Tradis Caelen debated what to do since there was no longer any Jedi Temple to return Xanos to, and Renko had no wish to jeopardise the safety of Eclipse Station. The situation became more complicated when Xora's health began to fail. Renko sensed the hand of the dark side and concluded Xanos had placed a curse on her. Back beneath Mount Kazinal, Xanos had unknowingly reached out to his sister and forged a Force bond that now leached away her life to rejuvenate his own. Renko may not have been aware of the full nature of the bond, but he certainly recognized that it would also kill Xora if Xanos were to be killed. So Renko did all he felt he could: he placed Xanos's body in a bacta tank and pledged to find a way to make Xanos undo the curse. As the weeks came and went, Coruscant was liberated, and the war neared its close; but Xanos remained sleeping, while Xora's health continued to deteriorate.
- "Our name is Kazinal, for we are many."
- ―The Lost
The tormented spirits freed from the Heart of the Force, known in Rakatan as Kazinal, the Lost Souls.
Trapped beyond the veil, Vexatus's mind continued to battle the lost souls set free when the Heart of the Force exploded. During this time, his influence on the physical realm was limited to a base urge to survive, a hunger, as seen by his latching onto Xora's life energy. Beyond shadows, time and space did not seem to have any meaning, and his reach stretched to others he had been closest too, in particular those who bore the same Mark of the Wanderer he now carried. Across the galaxy in Orian, the freshly knighted Cyrus Raze, Kharon Daragon, and Jaspen Kraitus, a Jedi refugee trapped on San Korinar who for reasons unknown also carried the Mark, all came under psychic assault by the waves of darkness emanating from within the void. Throughout the system, there were miscellaneous reports of people going missing and unexplained bombings. Events peaked when Cyrus unknowingly took part in an unsuccessful assassination attempt on the senior clan elders at the Dystopia nightclub. However Vexatus was too lost among the souls he had devoured for even Daragon to discern the signs for what they truly were; instead, Daragon was certain the source of the attacks was none other than the Dragon, Shan Long. Daragon covered the attack up and offered Cyrus a reprieve if he journeyed to the still Vong occupied Antei, to Kalekka Tower, former home of the now deceased Trevarus Caerick, where he was convinced Cyrus would find the answers they both sought.
The sword at the heart of the visions plaguing many who had once been linked to Darth Vexatus.
Back on the Chariot, Xora's health was critical and she had been placed in a tank alongside her brother. Renko had rigged Xanos's body up to a host of life support apparatus to avoid him dragging Xora into the netherworld with him were he to pass away. As the months wore on, members of the Chariot's crew began to experience unexplained black outs similar to those that had affected the residents of Orian. The madness spread while Renko and the other two Jedi continued their operation to mop up the last few Vong who had refused to lay down arms and surrender even after the fall of their empire and their social order's total collapse following the death of the Supreme Overlord. Crewmen spoke of warnings about the voices written on the walls in blood, or seeing ghosts in their reflections in the refresher; it was a short step before some were jettisoning themselves in escape pods to escape the horrors trapped on-board. Renko did what he could in search of answers, meditating to drive back the darkness, but with the HoloNet down and the Jedi still scattered across the galaxy until their new academy on Ossus was completed, there was no help to go to and nowhere safe to take Xanos's body. Each time something happened, Renko considered jettisoning both Xora and Xanos into the nearest sun; but each time, he felt something hold him back, be it his Jedi compassion or something else. So all Renko could do was wait, and hope the evil devoured itself before it devoured them all.
At Orian, steps were under way for the reclamation of Antei from the Yuuzhan Vong, and Cyrus was assembling a team who would head into the Shroud ahead of the main force as an advanced reconnaissance unit, but in truth charged with a mission of the utmost importance to him and his consul. However, both men were fast losing their grip on reality, plagued with visions of a blinding, white hot sword, silhouetted against the rise of a third sun on the horizon, shortly before all three stars fell into themselves to become black holes. The two were not alone; inmates at the Cenota Facility once linked to Vexatus such as Vallen'dere also began experiencing the same recurring nightmare, many scratching at the durasteel walls of their cells with their bare fingernails, some rubbing their digits down to bloody stubs until they were bare bone. The madness seemed contagious, echoing out from all who spent too long around those who had been struck down first. An expedition to the frozen tombs on Inos 42 saw the team led by Vexatus's former apprentice, Macron Goura, encounter a mad dark side adept named Curwen Sunei, who proclaimed the end of days was nearing and that they would all bow down before "The Sword" before it was over. But for now, Daragon still remained blind to the truth, convinced that everything happening bore the telltale signs of the hand of Trevarus Caerick. Putting two and two together, Daragon came to the most logical assessment based on the facts available to him, concluding that Shan Long had not consumed Caerick as they had first believed—and getting it completely wrong.
Apotheosis (30 ABY)
- "I am voice to a thousand voices; the one of many; all and nothing; space and time; the stars and the heavens; celestial; I am Vexatus."
- ―Vexatus after finally becoming one with the spirits he had absorbed on Lehon nearly two years prior
Darth Vexatus after his reconstruction.
More than a year and a half after Lehon, Xora finally passed away. With her life energy, the entity that had once been her brother wrested control from the maelstrom of spirits trapped within its bodily vessel. However, as much as the entity now calling itself Vexatus had once been Xanos Zorrixor, it was the summation of the souls caged within; in place of an individual consciousness was an unholy union, of which Xanos himself was as much a prisoner as the others, for that much knowledge was too much for a mortal mind. All too late, he recognized Vexatus as the darkness he foresaw decades earlier but had mistaken for the Yuuzhan Vong, and in his quest to save the galaxy had now unleashed an evil that fed upon the Force itself. Instead of becoming one, Xanos was condemned to eternal purgatory—the gates to the netherworld closed forever—what remained of him trapped with the spirits from Lehon, powerless to escape the hole that hungered still in its drive to become one with the Force.
To be completed. (Xora passes away. Vexatus joins with Kazinal. Crew go crazy. Renko decides to end it. Taraeis says no. Tradis gets possessed. Stabs Taraeis. Renko flips out. They duel. In her last breaths, Tara snaps sense into Tradis. Both wounded, Renko and Tradis head to the medlab. Tradis loses it again. Renko pleads with him. Tradis blasts Renko. Ambiguous if Tradis lives or dies; he maims himself either way. Silent Chariot left drifting lifeless. "Vexatus-Kazinal" left floating forever in a tank.)
(Silent Chariot encountered by Ylith. "Vexatus"'s survival revealed. Simultaneous with events of GJW9. Cyrus possessed. CNS vs Cyrus battle. Cyrus-Vexatus's death. Xanos seeks way to destroy Vexatus forever.)
Personality and traits
Darth Vexatus is self-reliant, manipulative and constantly wary of the intentions of others. Vexatus is the product of a life that has been dominated by loss and betrayal. He first fell to the dark side out of revenge but later became obsessed with obtaining more power to free himself from the oppression of the Force.
Unlike most Sith throughout history, Vexatus does not care about ruling an empire or conquering the galaxy. He aims to master the ritual once attempted by Exar Kun to escape his mortal body and ascend to the status of a god by becoming one with the dark side. Vexatus considers the half-existence most spirits settle with a failure and resents the idea of becoming one with the Force only to become a slave to its will.
Darth Vexatus remains loyal to Trevarus Caerick out of mutual interest. Caerick is the only person he trusts and despite his power Vexatus begrudgingly still feels compelled to kneel before his Master as apprentice. Caerick may not possess the same level of raw power but his knowledge of the Force is almost unparalleled and Vexatus remains fearful of the secrets he still keeps hidden and continues to believe there is much more to his Master than he lets on. Vexatus knows without Caerick he cannot fulfill his ambitions but that one day he will be forced to battle his Master to decide who will rule in the Force’s place.
Vexatus is a firm believer in the Rule of Two though this was not always the case. Vexatus was driven into the thrall of Trevarus Caerick because he offered him power the Star Chamber would have said forbidden for an apprentice. Caerick’s willingness to disregard the rules drove a wedge between Vexatus and the rest of the Brotherhood. However, Caerick never outright told Vexatus what to believe, having always left it up to his apprentice to discover the truth on his own. When Vexatus was betrayed by the Star Chamber over the coming of the Yuuzhan Vong he turned his back on the Brotherhood, at long last embracing his Master’s beliefs. When he obtained the Holocron of Darth Maestus and learned the history of the Rule of Two it sealed his views. Vexatus now believes the Brotherhood must be destroyed along with the Jedi Order for there to be any hope of bringing order. To some extent he is no more loyal to the Sith than he is to the Jedi, considering his only true allegiance to be to his vision of a galaxy without light and dark.
Having been betrayed by those closest to him, including his sister and his former apprentice, he expects the worst from people and gives no better in return. Vexatus sees all those around him as tools that can be used for his own ends. As a gifted seer, his mind is constantly on the future and he manipulates people like Dejarik pieces as part of plans that may not come to pass for years. Vexatus is quick to betray others, having no true allegiance other than himself and after deciding the Brotherhood was doomed was quick to leave Antei to rot. He believes in the survival of the fittest and will rarely intervene where lives are threatened unless to further his own ends, believing helping people only makes them weaker.
Due to his experiences Vexatus is not one for relationships of any kind. In one sense he is very much a Falleen because he considers himself above impulsive behavior and is coldly logical and methodical in his actions. However, he believes compassion is a weakness and uses his species’ pheromonal talents only as a means to influence the weak minded. Unless Vexatus is actively seeking something from someone he normally comes across as detached and aloof, almost as if his mind is only partially in the present.
Powers and abilities
Darth Vexatus has always been strong in the Force, having drawn on it instinctively several times during his youth. His lust for greater power has defined his adulthood and Vexatus has become increasingly lost to his own hunger. Vexatus has spent most of his time as Trevarus Caerick’s apprentice searching for the means to become one with the dark side and believes he has finally found the answers in the Holocron of Darth Maestus. It is Vexatus’s ultimate goal to ascend to the status of a god and dominate all life.
It was perhaps inevitable with one of the most gifted seers in the Brotherhood as his Master that Darth Vexatus would develop the ability to look into the future. Vexatus was always gifted in sensing the immediate future but first began experiencing visions after he fully embraced the dark side as a Master. Unlike Caerick, Vexatus lacks control over his visions and they generally come to him as intense and vivid dreams. Although Vexatus often sees further into the future than his Master his dreams are usually unclear and it is not uncommon for there to be more than one interpretation.
As one of the three people in the Brotherhood who worked to unlock the secrets of the Holocron of Tulak Hord, Darth Vexatus is a gifted duelist. Darth Vexatus utilizes the Force and agility more than brute strength and has not mastered as many Forms as some others but his knowledge of the Jedi Arts is almost unrivaled. There are few opponents who can surprise him in battle and Vexatus does not considered his own lack of training in the use of more exotic weapons such as double bladed lightsabers to be a weakness.
Vexatus experienced untold horrors at the hands of the Yuuzhan Vong while in captivity. His bionic eye was replaced with an mqaaq’it implant, allowing him to see naturally again for the first time in years. The implant sees things differently to a normal eye, though Vexatus claims he can no more explain it than he could explain color to a creature without eyes. The Yuuzhan Vong also inserted a tizowyrm into his ear to converse with him which remains imbedded inside his ear. Vexatus has begun to develop some form of symbiotic relationship with the creatures although he has yet to understand it.
Darth Vexatus does not consider himself the true Sith Master for no reason. He has spent his life forever in search of answers. His quest for knowledge has seen him delve into the darkest mysteries of lost Holocrons and teachings. Having strived to take the Force further than all but a handful throughout history, Vexatus has an understanding of the Force that surpasses mere shades of light and dark. Vexatus believes he will find the answers he has long sought on the planet Lehon where he believes his visions have shown him finally transcending life to become a god.
However, his visions have been known to be wrong before...