Duel in the Senate

"As a Jedi Master I have failed him&hellip;now I must face the consequences."

- Vodo-Siosk Baas's thoughts about facing Exar Kun

In the year 3,996 BBY during the Great Sith War, a duel took place in the Senate Hall, between the Krevaaki Jedi Master Vodo-Siosk Baas, and his former apprentice Exar Kun, now the Dark Lord of the Sith. It commenced on Coruscant, in the Hall's Grand Convocation Chamber, during the trial of Kun's apprentice and fellow Sith Lord, Ulic Qel-Droma.

While preparing himself for the next stages of his takeover of the galaxy, Exar Kun was summoned on the jungle-moon of Yavin IV by Mandalore the Indomitable, who arrived imploring the Dark Lord to aid him in rescuing Ulic Qel-Droma, whom the Mandalore had sworn fealty to after a losing to him in a duel on the planet of Kuar. He feared that Qel-Droma had purposely been betrayed during the joint Krath and Mandalorian invasion of Coruscant by his consort, the Sith sorceress and Krath leader Aleema Keto, who had left him stranded and at the mercy of the Jedi Knights. Hesitant at first, Kun agreed to assist the Mandalore, and the pair set out immediately for the galactic capital onboard Kun's starship, Starstorm One. They arrived on Coruscant and stormed the Senate Hall, effectively halting Qel-Droma's already-underway trial. Removing his apprentice's shackles via the Force, Kun next proceeded to mentally freeze the Senate assembly, leaving only the present Jedi of Nomi Sunrider, the Cathar Jedi Sylvar, and Ulic's brother Cay to freely move about. Kun then made his way to the podium and accosted the Supreme Chancellor, whom he berated along with the entire Galactic Senate, before killing him. As he prepared to make his exit with Qel-Droma, the assembly was again halted by the arrival of Jedi Master Vodo-Siosk Baas.

Before the enthralled Senate assembly, Baas confronted Exar Kun and demamanded that he cease his Sith practices. Instead of assenting, however, the Dark Lord offered the Krevaaki Jedi a position in his Sith Brotherhood. Baas promptly refused, and Kun ignited his lightsaber while issuing his challenge as his blade met the Jedi Master's Force-imbued staff in battle. When it was realized that the opponents would remain evenly matched in combat, Kun sought to tip the balance in his favor by revealing his latest creation, a weapon of ancient Sith design: the double-bladed lightsaber. His own mettle now faltering under the strength of Kun's blows, Baas sensed his impending demise as his former apprentice successfully displayed his superiority in lightsaber combat. He prophesied a future meeting between the two of them, where Baas vowed to surely defeat Kun forever. The Krevaaki Jedi then became one with the Force under the power of Kun's killing stroke, being mocked by his former apprentice even unto death. His part in the heinous Jedi Pogrom played, the Dark Lord of the Sith then departed the Convocation Chamber, with Ulic Qel-Droma and Mandalore the Indomitable in tow, off to resume their quest for dominion over the galaxy. Meanwhile, on the desecrated floor of the Senate, all that remained of Master Baas were his robes and splintered staff.

However, Vodo-Siosk Baas' prophesy would indeed come fruition. Some four thousand years later, the inaugural class of Jedi trainees in Luke Skywalker's New Jedi Order would face the Sith spirit of Exar Kun on Yavin IV. With their combined Jedi power, they bound Kun's ghost between the light of two lightsabers, and with the unexpected assistance from the spirit of Vodo-Siosk Baas, Kun was finally beaten as foretold four millenia before.

The Pogrom begins
"Go and strike down your own Jedi Masters! They will suspect nothing&hellip;until it is too late. We will be like a knife in the night&mdash;fast, silent and deadly!"

- Exar Kun, to his Sith acolytes

The galaxy-sweeping Great Sith War had been a tumultuous ordeal for both the members of the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic. In the span of a just year and several months, the Brotherhood of the Sith, led by Dark Lord of the Sith Exar Kun, managed to wreak such havac throughout stars that both the Jedi and the Republic were steadily confounded by defeats in battle. Kun next sought to eliminate the Jedi leadership, and charged his newly-initiated Sith converts with the task of murdering their Masters, a plot that was intended to culminate with the death of Kun's own Master, Vodo-Siosk Baas. The new Sith then departed Kun's stronghold on the jungle-moon of Yavin IV, just as the starship of Mandalore the Indomitable touched down, with the Mandalore rushing out to speak with the Dark Lord. He explained that the premature attack on the galactic capital of Coruscant by Kun's fellow Sith Lord and Krath leader Ulic Qel-Droma, had gone awry. During the battle, Qel-Droma had been imprisoned in a wall of light-side energy by the Jedi, and taken into custody by the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic. Determined to have the former Jedi tried for his war crimes against the galaxy, the only punishment proper in the Chancellor's mind for Qel-Droma was execution.



However, Mandalore believed that Qel-Droma's capture had been the intenton of his lover, the sorceress Aleema Keto, who wrote him off as lost and immediately assumed complete control of their Krath cult. Knowing that the Republic intended on crucifying his master for the atrocities perpetrated by him, Mandalore had no other recourse but to beseech Exar Kun. The Dark Lord had previously warned his apprentice Qel-Droma about a preemptive strike upon the galactic capital, and getting himself was only validation of Kun's words. Nonetheless, Kun agreed to assist Mandalore, as Qel-Droma was still a vital factor to their cause. They boarded Kun's vessel, Starstorm One.

The trial of Qel-Droma
A a cadre of Sith Massassi warriors accompanied Exar Kun and Mandalore the Indomitable as they burst through the doors of the Galactic Senate Hall, in time to see a shackled Ulic Qel-Droma being judged by the entirety of the assembly presided over by the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, and his former allies, the Jedi Knights. In the presence of the appalled Senate, the Dark Lord freed Qel-Droma of his shackles through the Force, and in another astonishing gesture, used his Sith powers to mentally render the entire audience paralyzed, save the present Jedi and the Chancellor. He then ascended the podium in the center of the convocation chamber, and was attacked by the bewildered Chancellor, whose own futile attempt to defend himself caused Kun to bore his fingers into the cephalopod's cranium and hold him aloft, while mentally forcing him to repeat Kun's words as though he were a puppet. The Chancellor mimicked Kun's harangue as the Dark Lord laid out his plan for rule of the galaxy by restoring the fabled Sith Empire, completely denouncing the Republic as well as professing its obsolescence in the grand scheme of that campaign. Kun then dropped the dead Chancellor in a pool of his own blood before a petrified audience, and collected the exonerated Qel-Droma, Mandalore, and his Massassi, with intentions of leaving. It was then that the Sith were yet again waylaid by the arrival of Kun's former teacher, Vodo-Siosk Baas. The Jedi Master's demands that Exar Kun relinquish his contemptuous actions were quickly refused by the latter, who instead tempted Master Baas with considering a dalliance with the dark side of the Force. Baas would never submit himself to the Sith teachings, a proclamation that was answered with the ignition of Kun's lightsaber. With all other options exhausted, Baas readied his staff, and battle ensued.

The duel
"This is not the end, Exar Kun. You and I will fight again&hellip;perhaps not for a long time, But I will defeat you. " " Words. Go on to your higher plane, teacher. The galaxy is mine now."

- Vodo-Siosk Baas' last words with Exar Kun



Exar Kun regarded his former teacher and remembered his previous loss against Baas' greater skill as he battled relentlessly with his blue blade; Baas, however, dueled with his Force-imbued staff, ready to prove yet again that it was more than a match for any lightsaber. All the while, the Senate assembly remained captivated by Exar Kun's spell, and the Jedi halted by the Mandalore and Kun's Massassi warriors. Master Baas was effortlessly holding his own against the Dark Lord, dismissing his taunts each time Kun spewed one forth of his profound Sith accomplishments. Neither opponent gave any quarter under the strength of the other's blows, and try as he may, Vodo-Siosk Baas was unable to best best Exar Kun, nor could he convince him to renounce the dark side and end his campaign of galactic destruction.

Irritated by the Jedi Master's tireless begging, Exar Kun decided to take the contest up a notch. To Baas' surprise, Kun twisted his lightsaber hilt, and produced from its opposite end an identical blue blade: he now dueled with a double-bladed lightsaber. Master Baas was unprepared for the unique weapon, and the Sith took full advantage and pleasure in raining down blows upon him. The Krevaaki Jedi's defenses could no longer withstand the assault; thus, Baas knew the duel was already lost to him, and he humbled himself to the Force. Then, with prophetic conviction he told Exar Kun that he would some day defeat him, maybe not now, but one day and forever. Comletely oblivious, Exar Kun bade his former Master farewell in true arrogance, and crashed the final blow down on him, cleaving his staff in two. There on the Senate floor, the great Vodo-Siosk Baas became one with the Force. Only his Jedi robes and the splintered wood of his cane remained.

Aftermath
"The Senate members may think they are running things, but they are only acting in a shadow play. We are tired of serving their weakness, and we will work toward our own ends from now on. The Sith Brotherhood controls the galaxy."

- Exar Kun, Dark Lord of the Sith

The Dark Lord of the Sith Exar Kun and his apprentice Ulic Qel-Droma strode triumphantly from the Senate Chamber, Mandalore and Massassi warriors in tow. Enraged by the the death of Bass, who had also been her teacher, the Cathar Jedi Sylvar attacked Kun, but quickly fell victim to a violent Force push, courtesy of the departing Kun. The Sith bid their Jedi enemies farewell on the chamber floor to mourn the loss of Vodo-Siosk Baas, leaving Nomi Sunrider, Cay Qel-Droma, and Sylvar cradling his robes and broken staff in grief.

Indeed, the Great Sith War had been a tumultuous time for the Jedi. Across the galaxy, Exar Kun's Sith servants were also attacking their respective Masters, striking them down to make way for the great Sith destiny foretold by Kun. With the threat of the Jedi Masters removed, the Brotherhood of the Sith revitalized their efforts against the Republic, whom they intended to crush under the renewed onslaught of their Sith war effort.

Legacy
Vodo Siosk-Baas' prophecy to Exar Kun would indeed come to pass, many thousands of years in the future. At the new Jedi Praxeum established on Yavin 4 by Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, Kun's disembodied spirit began to harass Skywalker's Jedi trainees while they trained in the ruins of Kun's ancient Massassi Temples there. When the students banded together to confront Kun, the ghost of Master Vodo-Siosk Baas appeared, and assisted the trainees in vanquishing Kun's spirit forever.

Appearances

 * Tales of the Jedi: The Sith War 3: The Trial of Ulic Qel-Droma
 * Champions of the Force

Notes and references
Duelo en el Senado (Gran Guerra Sith)