Deep and layered are the schemes of the Dark Lord Sidious, Sith Master and architect of the fall of the Republic. Perceiving in young Anakin Skywalker a strength as yet unseen among even the greatest of the Jedi, the Sith Lord engineers elements into his plans, rich in contingencies, that might either turn the troubled Jedi to his own purpose, or else destroy him altogether. One such element is the dark Force warrior Asajj Ventress.
Found by Sidious' apprentice Count Dooku on the harsh world of Rattatak, Ventress is recruited into the service of the Sith. Gaunt and bitter, the wiry assassin is trained in the Jedi arts, but her heart is a cold, blackened stone, scorched by resentment against the Jedi who abandoned her and hardened by the cruelties of her brutal world. In a savage gladiatorial contest, Ventress displays lethal excellence. Her remorseless slaying of her competitors, either with precise lightsaber strokes or cruelly innovative wielding of her ample Force powers, impresses the Sith, though Dooku himself tests her to determine the true depth of her resourcefulness and mastery of the darkest applications of the Force. Ventress is provided with a ship, new weapons and a purpose - to destroy Anakin Skywalker - a task to which she takes with glee.
Though Dooku is confident in his new assassin's abilities, Lord Sidious knows that her victory or failure is immaterial. Ventress, for all her Sith aspirations, will only ever be a tool for him to wield and throw away. She will either kill Anakin, removing one more Jedi impediment to his own ascension, or through death by his saber, she will move the youth ever closer to the Dark Side and assist Sidious' acquisition of him as a disciple.
