Duel on Ambria (990 BBY)
A confrontation of arms took place in the year 990 BBY. This duel involved Hetton, a Sith hopeful, along with his eight minions, against Darth Bane, the Dark Lord of the Sith. Darth Zannah, Bane's apprentice, orchestrated the event. The duel ignited after Hetton, deceived by Zannah into divulging details about the creation of Holocrons, arrived at Bane's encampment on the planet Ambria, having been directed there by Zannah herself.
Bane, in the midst of meditation at his camp, was taken by surprise when Hetton's eight Umbaran-trained Shadow Assassins suddenly materialized, each wielding their signature Force pikes. Despite being outnumbered, Bane instantly braced for combat as the eight assassins launched their attack, attempting to overwhelm him through sheer numbers. After dispatching three of them, Bane found himself interrupted by Hetton, who was accompanied by Darth Zannah. Hetton, along with his remaining five assassins, then charged at Bane. However, Darth Bane's superior power and skill led to the deaths of all of them. Hetton was the last to fall, and after ending his life, Bane turned his aggression towards Zannah. But before the Dark Lord could eliminate her for what seemed to be a betrayal, Zannah revealed her true intentions: she had been manipulating Hetton all along, extracting information about Holocron creation—a secret that had eluded Bane until that very moment.
History
Prelude
While on the planet Serenno, Darth Zannah was executing her mission to stir up revolts against the Galactic Republic. She was the first apprentice of the newly formed Sith Order, established in the aftermath of the New Sith Wars. During this time, she encountered a Sith aspirant by the name of Hetton, a nobleman from Serenno. For three decades, this Serenno aristocrat had amassed a large collection of Sith artifacts and had become deeply knowledgeable in Sith lore. He even employed eight Umbaran Shadow Assassins from the Sith academy on Umbara, each armed with their order's characteristic Force pikes. Upon their initial encounter, Hetton identified Zannah as a Sith and made an offer: he would dedicate all his resources to her if she accepted him as her apprentice. Zannah agreed, knowing that she intended to exploit Hetton's knowledge, particularly any information regarding the creation of Holocrons. Her only concern was her Master, Darth Bane, who she knew would never permit such a deviation from his strictly defined Rule of Two, which limited the Sith to only two members at any given time: a Master and an apprentice. Hetton, however, was confident that Bane could be defeated. She therefore accepted Hetton's terms while concealing her planned betrayal, and the group, including the eight assassins, set off for Ambria aboard Hetton's starship, the Loranda, with the intention of dethroning the Dark Lord.
The duel
The Shadow Assassins
Meanwhile, Darth Bane was at his camp on Ambria, contemplating his recent failure to create a Holocron. At that moment, the parasitic orbalisk armor covering him reacted to an unknown dark side presence nearby. Bane realized that his senses were dulled; he could not see, hear, or sense anything through the Force. He quickly rose to his feet, activating his curved hilt lightsaber. The lightsaber's illumination revealed eight figures, previously hidden from his sight, whom Bane immediately recognized as Umbaran Shadow Assassins. The assassins were momentarily disoriented by the loss of their stealth, causing them to hesitate, but Bane did not. He lunged forward and bisected the first attacker, prompting the others to swarm him with their Force pikes. Abandoning any defensive maneuvers, Bane's primarily offensive fighting style caught the assassins off guard, and he swiftly dispatched two more with his lightsaber. The remaining Umbarans attacked with reckless abandon, simultaneously electrocuting Bane with thousands of volts through their pikes. Bane's orbalisks could not withstand the onslaught, forcing him to his knees in agony. Instead of capitalizing on their advantage, the stunned assassins stood in disbelief that their target was neither dead nor defeated, having survived the full force of their attack. This brief pause allowed Bane to recover, and his anger began to rise as he noticed Zannah standing nearby, accompanied by an old man in black robes wielding a green lightsaber.
Hetton's demise
Hetton issued his challenge and charged at the Dark Lord, while the assassins attacked from behind. Bane countered by unleashing a surge of dark side energy towards the Umbarans, halting two of them as if they had collided with an invisible wall and throwing another two backwards. The fifth and final assassin fell to Bane's lightsaber. During this distraction, Hetton unleashed a bolt of Force lightning at Bane, which was absorbed by the Dark Lord's blade. Bane retaliated with his own barrage of lightning, which Hetton barely managed to evade. The remaining four assassins then rejoined the fight, attacking Bane once more. In response, he fully embraced the dark side and decimated his enemies, killing all the assassins in a final assault. Bane then confronted Hetton, removing his weapon arm before running his own blade through the old man's chest.
Aftermath
Bane, enraged by his apprentice's apparent betrayal, attacked Zannah with a ferocity she had never witnessed before. She attempted to defend herself from his relentless assault, all the while pleading her innocence and claiming to have discovered a treasure trove of Sith knowledge. The Dark Lord demanded atonement, and had beaten her nearly to death when Zannah finally revealed that she had manipulated Hetton to acquire information on creating Holocrons. Upon hearing this, Bane stopped his attack, as Zannah presented him with the datacard Hetton had given her as proof. Finally convinced of Zannah's loyalty, Bane admired his apprentice's cunning as he pondered the implications of the data she had provided. When asked what she would have thought if Hetton and his group had succeeded in defeating him, Zannah replied that he would have deserved his death, being unworthy to hold the title of Dark Lord of the Sith. Bane nodded in approval, satisfied that Zannah's actions had kept his Sith Order completely hidden, and that he was one step closer to creating his own Holocron.
Behind the scenes
The duel on Ambria was written and conceived by author Drew Karpyshyn for the 2007 novel Darth Bane: Rule of Two. Karpyshyn employed this event to eliminate the character Hetton, thereby preserving the Sith's anonymity.