- "Your concern for the meaningless lives of lesser beings hampers you. You invite your destruction as well as theirs by trying to save them."
- — Malasik to Kalja Sairu Leidias
Very little is known about the Darksider who calls himself Malasik. An unassuming-looking man who is able to effortlessly blend into a crowd thanks in part to his plain looks and nonthreatening demeanor, it can be easy to underestimate him when compared to others of his rank. A former Sith Lord of the Sith Empire, he is also known in some circles as Darth Cogito.
Malasik is perhaps one of the most dangerous Darksiders currently alive; a mass murderer with the blood of millions on his hands. Even though he’s rarely killed people face-to-face, his actions have been the cause of several notorious massacres including Vorzyd V.
He remains in hiding since the end of the War of Darkness, but few can take comfort from that since he does his best work unseen…
Personality[]
Malasik is a very calm and collected person and doesn’t seem to let anything upset him much. He’s also completely ruthless and without a trace of compassion, caring little for what happens to other people, even if said people are supposed to be his allies. Although he prefers to avoid fights, this doesn’t mean he’s a coward, as he will willingly put his own life on the line if he feels such an act is needed.
Skills[]
- "Malasik. I don't know much about what he does, but he's supposed to be one of the cult's real geniuses, in the same league as Garix and Sivter. Some of the cult's knights have this expression: the Garix-Malasik Gambit. It's a reference to a hypothetical holochess game. It basically means that you're only catching the edges of things going on over your head."
- — Ashin Varanin
Unlike many other Darksiders, Malasik doesn’t favor overt combat or showy powers, instead he refers to himself as a “sociological architect” which means he’s responsible for inciting riots on otherwise peaceful worlds. Perhaps the best known example of his work was the Massacre on Vorzyd V.
Force Powers[]
Not much is known about Malasik’s command of the Force, but he is undoubtedly skilled in mental powers. In fact, he has claimed that he helped to refine the Cult of Shadow’s infamous Mind Twist and even demonstrated that he could bypass it.
Lightsaber Forms[]
Due to the nature of his preferred work, Malasik rarely finds the need to use his lightsaber in combat. Although well practiced in Form V, he has admitted that he can’t compete against true duelists. On the occasions when he is forced to fight, Malasik will generally favor a reverse grip Shien stance, with the blade pointed down instead of up. In practice however, he reserves his weapon for quick and efficient one-strike killing blows. If a duel becomes protracted, he’ll usually retreat instead of continuing it.
History[]
- "My special talent is having a knack for knowing how people – how their minds – will react to certain stimuli and events."
- — Malasik to Darth Trayus
Early Life[]
About the only thing known about the early history of the man named Malasik is that he came from the planet of Arda-2. This can’t be entirely confirmed since there are no birth records for a “Malasik” in the planet’s history, but it is the first place where his name appears. It’s suspected that he changed his name long ago for unknown reasons, but if so, it was done unofficially since there are no documented records of the change. Malasik himself has said his place of birth is Arda-2, but such a claim can only be taken at face value without any evidence to support it.
A Tale of Two Empires[]
The first time his name is documented off of Arda-2 is in Imperial personnel records, which indicate Malasik was working for the Destabilization Branch of Imperial Intelligence. His appearance within Imperial Intelligence is something of a mystery as there are no records of him undergoing any academy training prior to it; however it’s been speculated that Malasik may have secretly been one of Palpatine’s Dark Side Adepts and was specially placed there at the Emperor’s decree.
There aren’t any records of Malasik’s actual activities within the Destabilization Branch, but his time there seems to have lasted from 0 ABY to 4 ABY until his departure shortly before the Stenax Massacres. It’s unknown why he left, but tangential evidence seems to suggest that Malasik was behind the massacres somehow since the Stenax attacked both Imperial resources and Arda-2. Notably, Malasik’s departure and the Stenax Massacres occurred after the Battle of Endor, which had happened earlier that same year.
The following year shows that Malasik had joined the Sith Empire under Darth Kren and Norik Kun. While a member of the Sith, Malasik rose to become a Sith Lord and claimed the title of Darth Cogito to reflect his preference as a thinker rather than a fighter. Little to nothing is known about Malasik’s time in the Sith Empire other than the fact that he left when the government collapsed following Kun’s death at the hands of Sion in 14 ABY. Rampant speculation follows as to why, but perhaps the most popular theory was that Malasik was secretly working for Rashael Koss to engineer the fall of Kren and Kun so that Koss could become the next Dark Lord of the Sith; Malasik simply left once his job was done.
Regardless of the circumstances revolving around the fall of Kren and Kun and the rise of Koss, Malasik himself didn’t stick around to be part of Koss’ new regime. What is indisputable is that Malasik soon joined a fledgling Darksider organization that was beginning to make a name for itself - known as the Cult of Shadow.
The Cult of Shadow[]
- " When I joined the Cult of Shadow I never imagined Sivter would come so far in so little time. I thought I was just using him and his insane goals to further my own social experiments; little did I realize it was the reverse…"
- — Malasik to Darth Trayus
Oddly enough, more is generally known about Malasik’s time in the Cult of Shadow than his time before it. Unlike a lot of the higher-ranking members of the cult, Malasik was neither recruited by Sivter or a holdover from the Cult of Dragon Masque. He instead sought the cult out and joined up on his own volition, believing the cult’s goals were compatible with his desire to create more social experiments. He never truly believed that Sivter would be capable of fulfilling the cult’s goal to plunge the galaxy into chaos.
Sivter, on the other hand, immediately recognized Malasik’s unique talents and essentially allowed him to do what he did best. While a lot of Malasik’s early contributions to the Cult of Shadow are unknown, he did apparently help refine the Mind Twist that the Shadow Keepers gave to every member and became one of their more notorious attributes.
As Sivter’s War of Darkness began to pick up momentum, Malasik’s abilities were utilized on larger scale projects as he readied whole planets to riot if given the right signal. He worked for years manipulating the populations of certain planets so they would be properly primed to behave as Sivter wanted if desired. The galaxy first became aware of the true scope of Malasik’s handiwork after the Inner Circle Dark Lord Vok Ruvege triggered one of these planets, Vorzyd V, in an attempt to force Jedi Master Kalja Sairu Leidias to give in to the Dark Side. Ruvege’s gambit ultimately failed, but 500 million people out of the planet’s roughly two billion ended up dying in what would become known as the Massacre on Vorzyd V. Among those lost that day were the friends and family belonging to Elena Connor.
However, no one knew yet how the Cult of Shadow had achieved such a feat – or of Malasik’s role in it.
That would change.
Alsakan[]
- "Blast it! In one stroke she’s undone all my work!"
- — Malasik referring to the actions of Kalja Sairu Leidias
Threads[]
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Story Threads