Shia Cruze

Even the faintest light shines brightest when surrounded by darkness... ~ The Dark Woman

Shia Cruze is a woman of many talents and, until recently, few ties. She was originally trained by Master Alene Onais of the Jedi Order. Her allegiance to the Order, however, was short lived. After the disappearance of Master Onais, the Order appeared to crumble to the point that There (is) no difference between the Jedi and the Sith as Shia put it. That and her love for Qymaen jai Sheelal, aka Dark Lord Grievous caused more tensions within the Order.

As a result, Shia renounced her title as Jedi Master, choosing to follow her heart rather than the Jedi code.

Early life
Shia was born on the backwater planet of Tatooine. Her parents ran a garage, fixing everything from Droids to Speeders. It's no surprise that the young girl started to develop a talent for repairing machines. Blasters, droids, it didn't matter. Shia had a mind for machines, and a safe home to explore it with. However that didn't seem to be her only talent. There was this... feeling around certain customers. A lot like Deja vu... which also happened often to the young one. She never really took notice of it. Why should she? Shia still had her whole life ahead of her. Which is true... just not as she pictured it.

While picking up supplies, an 'accidental' explosion of the garage killed both of Shia's parents. The future warrior watched the building burn to the ground. In less than a day, she was left with nothing. No family, no home... No more ties to that desert wasteland of a planet. Thus no reason to stay. Cruze started planet jumping, getting whatever jobs she could. It was on Coruscant when she finally hit a snag. Seems they didn't take too kindly to her Captain 'borrowing' a few supplies.

Apparently it's a bad idea to be associated with smugglers.

Luckily the young Cruze had been completely unaware of the Captain's business. Add that to the fact that a Jedi was present for the exchange, and you get the second luckiest day in her life. Leading to a new chapter all together.

Path of the Jedi
At the time, joining the Jedi seemed like the best possible way to help the Galaxy. Aiding the Senate with treaties between worlds, defending borders, seeing the galaxy... Shia moved through the ranks at an admittedly unremarkable pace, growing in wisdom and power even after she reached the level of Jedi Master. All of which she owed to her Master, Alene Onais and her friend, Fel'rol'oglor.

Though, even with this, there probably wasn't a decision that Shia regretted more than joining the ranks of the Jedi. Hypocritical murderers, with apparent superiority complexes. Their actions in the Kalee/Yam'rii incident caused the deaths of thousands, which could have easily been prevented. Without the Gray Jedi, Onais, to guide the council, the Order fell farther from it's own Code. Shia voiced her opinion on this numerous times, but her words fell upon deaf ears. It wasn't until her path crossed with the infamous General Grievous that Shia finally decided to act on her views.

Betrayal
Shia, like all of the Jedi of the Order, had heard of the bloodthirsty cyborg. The ruthless killer, heartlessly slaughtering innocents. When Cruze heard others tell of him, she could sense hatred brewing within them. Yet another sign that the Jedi Order was crumbling... To be honest, Cruze had a hard time picturing a creature that could bring so much pain and suffering to other lives. That is, before she first saw him. But even then, she didn't have that gut reaction. That was the one time that Grievous was fighting alongside Grandmaster Mason Fett... He refused to fight her. The General protected her when Mason's anger caused him to attack his fellow Knights. When their fighters crash landed on Tatooine on a later date, Grievous fought against the sand people with Shia. He carried her through the desert to safety... The Jedi Master had never known that kind of devotion before. The Order had betrayed her time and time again while Grievous had never raised a clawed hand against her. She couldn't say that for the majority of the Order.

Making her choice between him and the Jedi easy. If only she had known the cost before hand... not that it would have truly made a difference.

It was on Kalee, Grievous's homeworld, that Shia made her decision fully known. Mason Fett and Jasten Macala were waiting for them, determined to save Cruze from becoming a 'Sith puppet'. In the process, however, they slaughtered many Kaleesh warriors. Warriors, whose only crimes was protecting their planet from an apparent threat. The newly recruited Sith became convinced of the Orders shortcomings with this act. The Grandmaster of the Jedi was slaughtering innocents? That's more than a little contradictory.

And the preverbial straw.

Shia tried to talk Mason and Jasten out of attacking the duo. To stop and listen for once in their lives. The Jedi had convinced themselves of thier righteous actions, and that this was the best course of action. That, of all the people in the universe, Shia needed to be saved from herself and no amount of reason would sway their decision.

Alledged Fall
Shia, unlike many of the sith before her, didn't fall easily... or at the very least willingly. Though she claimed an alliance to the Sith Order, many of her actions were reminescent of the Jedi ways. Her reluctance was one practically unseen in a Sith. And a Sith Empress, to say the least. Due to Rimaldo Lerak's change of heart, Cruze had been appointed to his post within the Empire, as it's figurehead of a leader. Right alongside the military figure Lord Vader.

Time and time again, the Empress allowed the Jedi to escape her grasp... Mislead the Empire in order to cover up a shipment that the rebel's had stolen. Though she would proclaim that she was, in no way, a Jedi, her actions were leaning more towards the light than the darkside... something that her allies were beginning to note. She felt incapable of escaping her Jedi teachings, and repeated clashings with the Jedi Master Fel'rol'ogler were not helping matters. She was torn between the world she believed in, and her love for the General, and for a long while the love triumphed. She had never been happier in her life before she met him. Before she could be beside him. He was her beacon in the dark.

But eventually, the inner Jedi that she was trying to kill won. Soon after Rimaldo Lerak's death, news spread in the Order of his son Saturnis. This caught Shia's attention, but she couldn't explain it. That boy, she knew, would be caught between the two Orders. Both prepared to do whatever was necissary to keep him out of the hands of the others. They would force a choice upon him. And if it was not with the Sith, they might just kill him on the spot. Many considered him too dangerous to live.

And with such reasoning she donned her Jedi cloak once more. Taking the upmost precautions she followed her love to Felucia without his knowledge. He did the dirty work for her. Tracked down the kid, began his speech on the glories of the darkside... and Satunis did probably the smartest thing a Lerak has ever done. He bolted. Fled from the darklord.

And right into Shia's hands.

She pulled him aside, careful to avoid her love. She offered the boy a choice... the one thing she was never given. A choice, between the Sith, the Jedi... hell, any path he chose. With her connections, she could make it happen. Being an Ex-Jedi and current Empress has it's perks. Though, true to his colors, the Lerak chose power, and asked for Cruze to train him, because, '...the darkness surrounds you, but you are not like the Dark Lord, you arent here to corrupt me...'"

To which Shia remained true to her Jedi training... or her feelings of inadequacey as a Sith....

''I am a sith, but it is not the master that corrupts the student, Saturnis, it's the lessons. I could teach you the most powerful attacks there are. I could teach you how to destroy matter with a thought. '' But what good are these things without the restraint to control them?

''I have never taken an apprentice for the Sith, and I will not start now. I will not start with you."''

Whether she thought this would convince the boy or not is unclear. However, it speaks clearly towards her feelings on the matter. She had never passed a padawan for the jedi, or taken an apprentice for the Sith. The lessons, in Shia's opinion, are something that you are constantly learning, and relearning through out life. And with the Sith, she couldn't seem to let go of her roots. The lessons would not stick. She could be the most ruthless strategist, the deadliest assassin... but it meant little when she also sent supplies directly into the Rebel's clutches.

How could she teach a lesson that she herself hasn't learned?

In fact, during her entire sith career, there is only one Dark Act worth noting. The Imperial triumph over a backwater jungle world and it's sentient jungle.

The Burning of Felucia
During the Great Sith War, Cruze's old ally and friend Fel had convinced the Jedi Order to protect a Sith Zealot named Bane. He and his rule of two threatened to destroy the Sith in it's entirity.

Something that even Shia's views on balance could see as a threat.

While most of the sith raced after the Mandalore, Kin Roth, Cruze decided to take a risk. Knowing that Fel'rol'oglor would keep the Zealot close to him, for the sith's protection, Shia traveled to the Jedi Master's home world of Felucia. It appeared to be the only planet where the Mushroom amphibian Jedi would feel comfortable hiding an ex-Sith Lord. And the Empress's instincts were right. She arrived on the planet alone, simply to speak to Fel... but like so many of her allies from the past, he had given up on her. He simply wouldn't listen to reason, even as she struggled to keep her cool.

In turn, she gave up on him.

Without remorse, she called her love, Grievous, to the planet, knowing that the Zealot was stored somewhere on the surface. Fel drew sabers against her in Jai'kar fashion and challenged her... and Cruze fought mercilessly against him. During this fight of former allies, Cruze called in an air raid... which the sentient jungle fought off to the best of it's ability, but the flaming wreckage caught the dry underbrush on fire. The started an unprecedented wildfire on Felucia that nearly covered a quarter of the main continent.

The wreckage could be seen from space.

By the end of this battle, she had slashed Fel's saber in half, melted his eyeball out of his head, and watched him fall into a sarlacc pit while his jungle home blazed around them.