[Star Wars 01] • [Darth Bane 01] • La Voie de la Destruction

_Once the Sith order teemed with followers. But their rivalries divided them

in endless battles for supremacy. Until one Dark Lord at last united the Sith

in the quest to enslave the galaxy—and exterminate the Jedi. Yet it would fall

to another, far more powerful than the entire Brotherhood of Darkness, to

ultimately realize the full potential of the Sith and wield the awesome power

of the dark side as never before._

Since childhood, Dessel has known only the abuse of his hateful father and the

dangerous, soul-crushing labor of a cortosis miner. Deep in the tunnels of the

desolate planet Apatros, endlessly excavating the rare mineral valued

throughout the galaxy, Dessel dreams of the day he can escape—a day he fears

may never come. But when a high-stakes card game ends in deadly violence,

Dessel suddenly finds himself a wanted man.

On the run from vengeful Republic forces, Dessel vanishes into the ranks of

the Sith army, and ships out to join the bloody war against the Republic and

its Jedi champions. There, Dessel's brutality, cunning, and exceptional

command of the Force swiftly win him renown as a warrior. But in the eyes of

his watchful masters, he is destined for a far greater role in the ultimate

Sith plan for the galaxy— _if_ he can prove himself truly worthy.

As an acolyte in the Sith academy, studying the secrets and skills of the dark

side at the feet of its greatest masters, Dessel embraces his new Sith

identity: Bane. However the true test is yet to come. In order to gain

acceptance into the Brotherhood of Darkness one must fully surrender to the

dark side through a trial by fire that Bane, for all his unquenchable fury and

lust for power, may not be strong enough to endure . . . especially since

deception, treachery, and murder run rampant among the Sith disciples, and

utter ruthlessness alone is the key to survival. Only by defying the most

sacred traditions, rejecting all he has been taught, and drawing upon the

long-forgotten wisdom of the very first Sith can Bane hope to triumph--and

forge from the ashes of that which he must destroy a new era of absolute dark

power.