(Prologue)

Though it had been decades since that awful night in the Wastes, the events of the past few days, which were far too similar in nature to that moment where he had first stepped into darkness, granted him a clarity that was almost as if it had been only yesterday since his mother had died in his arms.

For instead of embracing the strong, gentle woman that had always comforted him after suffering their master's displeasure, his mother had been transformed into a bruised, and broken creature whose spirit had remained strong enough for the chance to bid one final farewell to her son.

And even though his body had largely been robbed of its ability to feel nothing but pain ever since Mustafar, he could still feel the calloused, but gentle touch of his mother's hand as she struggled to express her feelings for him.

And as he had struggled to retain control of his emotions, the gurgled laughing of his mother's butchers overcame the numerous lessons that Kenobi had tried to teach him about control, and thus for the first time in his life, he not only touched the Dark Side, he welcomed it.

For with its power coursing through his still intact body, he had killed all of them. The men, the women, and the children.

And while he told Padme that he was disgusted with his actions, mostly in order to try and prove to himself that he was still worthy to be called a human being, let alone a Jedi, the satisfaction he gained from that murderous night in a twisted way reminded him of why he had wanted to become a Jedi in the first place.

To protect those who could not protect themselves.

Yes, he could not deny that his actions had been motivated by revenge, but before Sidious had taught the benefits of embracing these feelings instead of casting them aside, he believed that he was doing the planet a favor by eliminating a group whose cruelty could equal that of the Hutt clans.

And despite the amount of time that has passed since that night, he was currently facing a situation that made him experience the same, albeit slightly muted, emotions that he had experienced when he had seen his mother chained like an animal.

For like the inhabitants of Tatooine, the people of this….society viewed these loathsome raiders as below the concern of anyone who didn't dwell in a largely populated settlement.

And like the Tusken Raiders, these Goblins were more dangerous, and more depraved than their appearance would suggest.

Ferocious in numbers. Gifted with a base cunning that could spell certain doom for those that did not treat them seriously.

And perhaps the worst of all, a penchant for a specific type of cruelty that had always earned an instant execution for those under his command.

Despite their bipedal gait, these child sized beings were animals. And he would enjoy slaughtering them like animals.

...

First rewritten chapter. Hopefully it corrected some of the errors that I sadly missed when I first wrote it.

I do apologize for the long wait, but been pretty occupied by my Harry Potter/Helluva Boss story.

But I am hoping that as I continue to rework this story, my enthuasim for it will grow to the point where I can more or less pick up where I left off.