Fanfic Recs / New Sith Brotherhood

Proof that the remaining 10% are worth influencing the midichlorians to save the ones you love from dying...

Rise of the New Sith Brotherhood/"The Rise Timeline"

Penned by the mind behind Darth Xaos, the Rise of the New Sith Brotherhood, or the 'Rise Timeline' is an alternative interpretation and reimagining of the birth, rise and subequent fall of the New Sith Order, under Andor Vaklas, better known as Darth Groznii. An Order of new Sith as its name implies, Rise takes the reader from the Order's not-so humble begins under the rule of then-Dark Side Elite Valkas as Gronzii, through the destruction of many of his Order's enemies, all the way to its eventual collapse, and subsequence resurrection under Darth Xaos as the New Sith Brotherhood.

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Tropes found in the Rise Timeline

• Alternative Character Interpretation: As per the nature of the play by post setting on which it was based, a liberal reinterpretation of many of the characters has been used, either for better narrative structure, or for plot cohesion. The New Sith Order as a whole may represent this in kind, as a literal alternative interpretation of the Sith Orders that preceded it.
• Orcus on His Throne: What Groznii became. The further he delved into forgotten Sith lore that drove even masters of the Dark Side to despair, the less firm his grasp on sanity became. As a result, he often neglected key tactical victories pressing advantages would offer his Order.
  • This became one of the crucial deciding factors for the uprising against him.
• The Dog Bites Back: As previously-mentioned, Groznii's slow, but inevitable fall to madness usually had him mistreating many of his underlings. He was not above pushing the 'Vader Effect' - executing staff and soldiers for failure.
  • Eventually, the metric for 'failure' became as minor as interrupting Groznii during his psychotic ruminations of the Dark Side... Even in the heat of crucial battles. Suffice it to say, the pack of dogs bit back.

Tales From the Brotherhood/"The Tales Timeline"

A second reinterpretation of many key events in the New Sith Brotherhood, mostly from the perspective of Darth Exolus, and his fellow Dark Councillors. It includes some reworking of the Disney Canon to better fit with Legends/EU chronology, such as the inclusion of the First Order and Disney Trilogy protagonist Rey.

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Tropes found in the Tales Timeline

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Where in the 'main' timeline, many of the members of the Brotherhood ran the color gamut on gray morality, ranging from disaffected Jedi, to anti-villain Sith, the Tales Timeline takes a middle ground between the typically-evil Sith of the Rise Timeline, and the moral ambiguity of the main timeline. Most Sith in the Brotherhood are proper villains, such is the nature of the Dark Side, but all are united in a single creed that they truly believe will build a strong galaxy.
  • The most worrying thing about it, even from an out-of-universe perspective, is the shocking level of success and acceptance of their motives from the galaxy at large, even if the methods are beyond unsavory.
• Badass Army: The Union Confederate Stellar Marines (UCSM). In spades. While the bulk of the Obsidian Union's Terrestrial Defence Force (UTDF) is made up of a mix of both volunteers and cloned reserves of said volunteers, the Stellar Marines are a true fighting Corps. The Union managed to draft veterans of the 501st Legion - Vader's Fist, to train up a new generation of go-anywhere, fight-anywhere soldiers.
  • The aged Fett members of the 501st even consented to having themselves clone to bolster the Marine's ranks. They're on par with the Stormtroopers of the nascent Fel Empire, and more than a match for the forced conscripts of the First Order.
• Body Snatcher: A handful of members of the New Sith Brotherhood have learned the Essence Transfer ability. Some have either applied it in unique ways, such as Darth Exolus' ability to possess multiple hosts at once, while others have used it to hide in the bodies of the deceased.
• Cannot Tell Fiction from Reality: What ultimately became of this timeline's Darth Groznii. His madness grew so severe, he could not distinguish between his delusions, and what actually was happening.
  • Even in his death throes.
• Child Soldiers: The First Order's modus operandi for military. Every world they conquer or ransack, they typically take tens, if not hundreds of thousands of children from the local population, conscript them at a young age and train them as mooks to throw at their enemies. Their only saving grace are the technological leaps since the Galactic Civil War that offer them greater, but not infailable protection when compared to their Imperial Stormtrooper forerunners.
  • As one might expect, these 'soldiers', often thrown at the front lines still as teenagers are not particularly-effective combatants, and serve more as a deterent until more elite soldiers are called for.
    • Given that the First Order's ground and naval forces are made up either of washouts, Imperial defectors, has-beens trying to recapture the glory days, Imperial zealots and the very worst cowards the Empire had to offer, their Stormtrooper Corps had next to no hope, and a grim mortality rate. This led to a popular, if a bit morbid joke among the larger Imperial Remnant - later the Fel Empire; "What's the emptiest building in the galaxy? The First Order's Veteran's Association!"
• Despotism Justifies the Means: Quite the conga line, and for a myriad of reasons. Groznii, as in his madness, he literally thought himself the god of the galaxy. The One Sith because of their tribal, warlike practices. The Eternal because of their fanaticism, and Snoke, simply because he was engineered that way.
• Even Evil Can Be Loved: This applies moreso to the Brotherhood than any other villainous group. For all their brutality and butchery, most, if not all of the planets they come to usually end up better for it. This has often led to grateful populaces terrified that one day their saviors will go too far and become a greater evil than the one they just destroyed.
• Evil Is Deathly Cold: Somewhat intrinsic of the Dark Side, when in concentration, many who feel the Force, and even those who don't, often feel cold when powerful presences within the Dark Side can be sensed. However...
• Evil Versus Oblivion: Ultimately what the Brotherhood Sith steel themselves for when the threat of the Eternal is revealed.
• Likable Villain: Say what you will about Sith being Sith, the New Sith Brotherhood have certainly fostered a lot of good will in the galaxy.
  • Even many Jedi appreciate what the Brotherhood has done for the galaxy, namely the emancipation of millions of slaves.
• Give a Man a Fish...: The Revelations fit this bill; a series of codices penned by Darth Xaos after meditation, study and interpretation of the Will of the Force. It outlines the relationship a Sith has with the Force - deeply personal and unique, and how a Sith must use their power for freedom, the most crucial tenent of the Sith Code to the Brotherhood. In the Revelation of Power, the following is outlined;
  • There exists three branches of life in this galaxy, those who have power, those who do not, and those who take power from others. It is the duty of the Powerful to uplift the Powerless, to break all chains across the galaxy. The Powerless must be allowed to struggle, to strive and to grow. The Weak are those who prey on the Powerless, to steal their struggles and cast chains upon them. The Weak must be cleansed at every opportunity.
• Just the First Citizen: Though in both the main timeline and the Rise timeline Darth Xaos was never known by any given name, in private or in public. In Tales however, he is known across the galaxy as Rakesh Dawnstar, the middle-aged veteran of the Clone Wars-era Confederacy. Ostensibly, he is a mere politician, and the public face of the Galactic Liberation Party, an anti-slavery political movement based in the Raxus System. In private however, he is ever bit the masterful Dark Lord one would expect, and treated by many as the new Emperor, successor to Palpatine.
• Never Hurt an Innocent: For the most part, the Brotherhood adheres to this. There are outliers of course, and sometimes heinous acts will slip through the nets, but the Brotherhood by and large has no interest in cruelly tormenting innocents. Quite the opposite in fact, they'd rather uplift them.
• Superweapon Suspense Subversion: Project Fellhamer. A refinement of the Rakatan technology that gave rise to the Shock Drum and Gravitic Polarization Beam. Intended as an alternative to Starkiller Base, the First Order built the Fellhammer and set it upon the planet Codia during a ceasefire delegation after they learned the Codians were constructing superweapons they intended to point at the First Order. Imagine the surprise of all present when it worked, but ultimately self-destructed.
  • The truth is a bit more complex. The Obsidian Union leaked the plans to a flawed weapon, knowing the First Order in desperation would turn to it. The end result was most of the known galaxy declaring war on the First Order and their secret Eternal benefactors, just as the Obsidian Union intended.
• Took a Level in Cynic: Most of the Jedi who defected to join the Obsidian Sith are this. They don't believe the Jedi, even with the Tython Reformations can affect any meaningful change when they're still beholden to restrictive galactic law and endless bureaucracy.
  • Before its own reformation to the New Sith Brotherhood, the New Sith Order had a few of its own members who attempted uprisings on more than one occasion.
• Undying Loyalty: Every member of the New Sith Brotherhood. To the Dark Lord, and to one another. The Obsidian Sith, as they like to call themselves are united by a new Sith orthodoxy penned by Darth Xaos, wherein they view one another as brothers and sisters, each seeking to better their enormous family.
  • A great number of non-Sith truly believe in their cause, warts and all.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: This is where the Sith come into conflict with the modern Jedi Order, who seek to uphold a Republic, whom most in the galaxy see as a failed system that gave rise to something worse. The Sith seek a galaxy where all can break their chains, where all are encouraged to grow strong. They seek a strong, unified galaxy who have 'chosen' this path, and will stamp out everything the believe in in the way of this future.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Decades upon decades of near-endless war has left many in the more isolated parts of the galaxy disenfranchised, with what little charity the Core Worlds give them seen as affectatious. Along come the Obsidian Union, who the galaxy at large later discovers is led by a new breed of Sith, only they aren't here to conquer. They're here to liberate.
  • Suffice it to say, the Obsidian Union has most people in the galaxy - even the Jedi questioning the very idea of what a Sith is. It appears, at least outwardly that the Obsidian Sith uphold the more positive aspects of the Sith Code. Passion. Strength. Power. Victory. Freedom indeed.
• Xanatos Speed Chess: Most, if not all of the events in Tales are the direct result of meticulous planning by Darth Xaos to turn all of the Obsidian Union's political rivals against one another in a Civil War including; a planetary massacre, a hard coup of an entire small empire, the use of fake superweapons, the cloning of key political figures to plant near-perfect sleeper agents within rival governments.

Character-specific Tropes

• Always Someone Better: The very essence of the Red Sith Kvâ-Urûi (Darth Exolus' older brother). Though the first born and heir, his nature and attitude - even by his own admission, made him a poor fit for a Clan Lord. He viewed his brother as a cruel hellspawn, and found him an even worse fit and resolved to outdo him at every turn.
  • Sadly Exolus was blessed with a sharper mind and a much, much crueller streak than Kvâ could ever have imagined.
• Enigmatic Minion: How many of the Dark Council are perceived by 'common' Sith. Even the ones who are apprenticed to these twelve Sith view them with a sense of mysticism, as if they're much larger than life individuals.
  • Competent, and as mundane as Sith go, perhaps but their air of mystery is owed more to the insular nature of the Dark Council, and a dash of propaganda.
• Death Is Not Permanent: Darth Xaos, originally a Noghri named Nahgar first died when Darth Malak activated a Rakatan weapon on Ziost's moon, wiping out the colony there. The process transformed the Force-Sensitive Nahgar into a Dark Side Wraith, capable of possessing others, much like the power of Essence Transfer. However, for Xaos, even death is not an escape for his victims, as he can freely possess both living and dead bodies, something no other user of Essence Transfer can do. It also makes him incredibly difficult to put down, as unlike Palpatine, Xaos cannot be tethered to another spirit.
• Defeated and Trophified: The Rakatan Predor Tsao'kai. After his defeat by the Sith, he was tossed to the Inquisition who almost succeeded in breaking his will. They were forces to sever his connection to the Force.
• Defeating the Undefeatable: A small team of Sith, made up of Darths Kairos and Indra plus their apprentices manage to defeat a Rakata woken from stasis by the First Order - whose six-strong squad of Ren Knights they defeated not minutes before.
  • For perspective, this was a Rakatan Predor so aggressive and warlike, that the Infinite Empire feared would challenge the status quo. His near-conquest of Korriban for his overlord Soa as well as his remaining Force-Sensitivity is further proof of how skilled the four Sith were in bringing him down to capture him.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: In a very unique set of circumstances, Darth Exolus was able to chase an avatar of Abeloth from his mind. In most cases, a single Force User tangling with her is tantamount to suicide. However...
  • Exolus heavily implies both he and Abeloth are Void-born creatures, deriving their power from the same source. However, his penchant for using fear-based methods of attack allows him to terrify Abeloth, defeating her by showing her the Void itself - her prison into which she, a desperately-lonely entity does not want to return to.
    • It also helps that her host 'Narae' is merely a mortal shell.
• I Am Not Him: Rey Palpatine. In spite of her family, and her proclivity to choosing the Dark Side first, Rey has rejected the notion that she need let the Palpatine name define her. She has chosen to spit in the face of her grandfather's legacy, and let the name Palpatine be synonymous with righteousness, truth and heroism.
  • Her master being Kyle Katarn also helps, as she's not exactly a conventional Jedi Padawan.
• Me's a Crowd: Darth Xaos possesses the ability to inhabit the bodies of the dead, thus untethering himself to the limits of Essence Transfer. He has several identical clones of his human body on ice. His apprentice, Darth Exolus takes it a step further, by inhabiting multiple clones of himself at once.
  • Exolus' clones are not autonomous and act as a singular hivemind. Xaos however, has had to put down some of his clones, as they recall the memories of the original Rakesh Dawnstar. Multiple at once.
• Self-Duplication: Exolus' unique mental state allows him to 'fragment' his spirit, acting like a remote control for bodies into which he implants it. As such, Exolus has cloned himself dozens of times over, in addition to possessing several people that are not clones of himself. However, they cannot recombine into one, only his shattered fragments can.
  • There appears to be no limit to this, as Exolus merely splinters more and more of his mind to inhabit more clones.
    • It has been observed that Exolus at any given time, may be in at least fifty duplicate bodies at once.
• The Antichrist: Kenelm "Triclops" Cosinga Palpatine. The non-Force Sensitive son of Darth Sidious and his Umbaran lover Sly Moore. He's a dead ringer for his father, and despite his inability to wield the Force, the apple clearly hasn't fallen far from the tree. 'His' daughter however...
• The Anti-Nihilist: Darth Exolus, to some degree. After internalizing Darth Traya's teachings, his desire is to slave the Force to a more powerful will - thus granting in his eyes, a conscience and awareness he believe is not currently there. Failing this, his plan B is to destroy the Force. As it's intrinsically-linked to all life, its death would cause an unthinkable loss of life, but not outright extinction of it. There is hope at the end of this tunnel, where people's destinies will be their own.
• The Creon: Darth Exolus, to Darth Xaos. Exolus has absolutely no interest in becoming his Master's successor should he perish. Exolus himself recognizes that the Dark Lord must be a symbol, which is something he cannot do.
• The Dreaded: Tsao'kai, the last Rakatan Predor from Tales II. An 'enormous', hulking example of his species, Tsao'kai was locked away by the Infinite Empire for his abject failure at seizing Korriban for his Overpredor, Soa. They feared he would lead a revolt against the other Predors given enough time, and so locked him away on Belsavis, dubbing him "The Forsaken One".
• Was Once a Man: As with his mainline counterpart, the being called Darth Exolus is at least in some part, an amalgam of the deceased Kmâ-Aruoi's lingering memory and will, and whatever mindless entity that invaded his body from the Void. It's never entirely clear if this is purely-physical, or some parts of each were ingrained upon the new psyche that birthed Exolus.