The Return of the Sith

[Adena Tadrro]

After breakfast, Adena was dismissed to her quarters until her new "Master" was to summon her for training. She wasn't the least bit nervous about it. More than anything, she was uncomfortable. The black bodysuit she wore was as annoying as hell. She didn't know who picked it out, but she sincerely hoped it was Sivan and not the Dark Lord himself. Either way, it was way too small across the shoulders for her. She had sat without complaint through breakfast, but by the time she had returned to her quarters, she had determined the gods-be-damned sleeves would have to go.

Shedding her bodysuit completely, she dug her nails into the seam at the shoulder and pulled, tearing the sleeves off all the way to the collar. She kept the high-necked collar intact; it looked good on her. Fastening the collar and unzipping the front a little, she felt much better, much more free. Tossing the discarded fabric aside, she dressed, sank down onto the edge of her bunk beside the reinforced transparisteel window, and looked out at the ruined landscape.

She had brought so little with her from Yavin. Most of her belongings were on the Purgatory, which had been left in the jungles near the Academy. She knew her astromech would keep it locked up and safe, but she knew she'd have a hard time getting it back. Try explaining that to the Jedi when they moved back into the temple. They would feel her arrive when she was still in orbit. There would be an entourage of Jedi waiting for her, ready to kill her on a whim. "No, honestly. I just want to pick up my ship. I couldn't use your refueling station, could I?"

Adena doubted it would work.

She opened the single bag she had brought. In it was a small makeup kit, a couple face coverings, a few bladed weapons, her extra nightgown, a medpack, and a tool kit. Snapping open the tool kit, she withdrew a small arc welder, meant for fixing small rents in metal. She rolled it through her fingers, then put the rest of the kit away, leaned her back against the viewport so she had ample light, and then fired up the welder. She turned it on as high as it would go, watching it hiss out barely-visible blue flame, and then she snapped it off. The metal nozzle was glowing with the heat. With a sigh, she rested her elbow on her knees and pressed the superheated metal against the bare flesh of her shoulder. The pain was so intense it almost reached a whole new sensory level. She could almost See her pain. But she leaned her head back and relished in it, breathing slow and even, letting her pain become both personal torment and pleasure.

She drew the old dark side symbols Zakeri had taught her to recognize long ago, burning it into the soft skin of her shoulder, down her arm. The smell of burnt flesh and smoke filled her nostrils as she fired up the welder again and again to keep it hot, marking herself as one damned. She scorched the markings into her flesh from shoulder to the top of her hand, and then she switched arms, starting on her shoulder again. All she knew now was pain, but her Sight was clearer, sharper, each breath she took deeper, with more purpose. As she hurt herself, her mind was on one thing only: This pain pales in comparison to the pain Luke will feel before I kill him.

Without warning, Zakeri shimmered into existence beside her, making himself visible for the first time since Yavin. There was a smirk on his black-skinned lips. "Are those dark side symbols you're marking your arms with?"

She barely gave him a glance. "So the dead can read."

"Yes, well, even the dead are literate. I can't write, though, it's rather hard to grasp a stylus." His smirk sharpened and he sat down on the bed beside her. "So what does that say, anyway? You've picked an unusual combination of characters."

Working on burning a strange mark into the back of her hand, she answered, "It's Sith for 'shut the hell up and leave me alone.'"

He chuckled. "I can't do that, Adena. Not after your promotion."

"Promotion?" Her voice was low and husky with the pain as she turned the welder off.

"You're the apprentice of a Sith Lord! This is fantastic, my beautiful Miraluka." He was beaming at her in a way she had learned to associate with trouble. "I can't believe it, the woman I trained, now a Sith apprentice..." He stood and began pacing. "Tell me about them."

"There's not much to tell. Corran Antilles gives me a headache, Niobe is a brat, Sivan is... bizarre, Sythis is one of the strongest Force-users I've ever met, and Luke... well, you and I have discussed him before." She stood and went to the holomirror. She adjusted her Sight to seek out the energy projections and could just make out her own image, the smoking characters scorched into her arms.

"You look sick, do you know that?" Zakeri said. "Your skin has turned an ashen gray color. And the skin where your eyes should be is turning almost... black." He shivered. "You are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. The dark side makes you even more so."

"I could care less what you think of me." She fastened her lightsaber to her belt and dug in her back for her makeup kit. Pulling out a vial of black face paint that she hadn't used since fighting for Zakeri, she rubbed some over her face, right where her eyes should be.

The ghost of her dead master shuddered. "Now you look like you're decaying... It's enthralling."

"Zak, why are you here?"

"There's a problem. Sivan. You'll need to take care of her eventually, you know that." He smiled.

Adena sighed. "You're not my master anymore, Zak. Stop trying to tell me what to do."

"But she's opposition now! Joining her makes you her enemy! Don't think she won't kill you if you gain Sythis’ favor! You must kill her before she kills you..."

"I do not care about Lord Sythis' favor. I do not care how competitive Sivan is. All I care about, my sole reason for being here, is to learn absolute power so I can destroy Halcyon." She shot him a heartfelt glare that she didn't need eyes to make him feel. "And that's all. That's all it is."

"But... your potential!" Zakeri's teeth flashed in a snarl. "You could be one of the Dark Lords! You could best Sivan in a heartbeat, you could tear her apart!"

"Sivan does not interest me! And it would do you well to shut up about it."

"Say you kill Halcyon! What then, Adena? Who will you run to? Where will you go?"

Turning slowly to face him, she squared her shoulders and answered, "I'll go to the grave, Zakeri. Save me a place in Hell."

He stared at her for a long moment, and when a solid knock sounded on her door, he vanished. Adena sighed, turning back to her window, and folded her screaming arms. "Enter," she called, unlocking the door with a thought.

She felt Corran enter, watching him open the door behind her without turning her head. He stopped immediately, stricken immobile by the smell of burnt skin and hot metal. When she turned and he saw her arms, his face darkened in surprise.

Adena arched one eyebrow. "See something you don't like, Antilles?"

He stared at her for a moment before evading the question. "Master Sythis is asking for you now."

Without a word, she stepped past him and into the corridor, her bare feet silent against the stone. Her abrupt departure made him hesitate before shutting the door to her quarters. She didn't need him to tell her where Sythis was. She could feel her new master's presence like a cold beacon inside her head.

Behind her, Corran said, "Sythis seems impressed by you."

She watched him through the back of her head as they walked. "No, he doesn't. Sythis isn't a man impressed by anything." Her voice was cold. Why shouldn't it be? Why should she feel anything for this Corellian? He still gave her a headache, anyway. "If Sythis feels anything for me, it will be greed."

"Greed?"

"We are pawns, Antilles. Just little tiny pieces in Sythis' great game. We are material possessions, objects. If anything, he'll feel greed, because the more of us he collects, the easier it will be for him to reach his goal."

Corran smirked. "As if you know what Sythis' goal is..."

She rounded on him. "I don't recall ever saying I did, Antilles." Her voice was a harsh whiplash. "I can find Sythis on my own. Leave me be."

He looked startled at being dismissed so rudely, and then he stopped. She continued walking without him, not looking back.

Adena found Darth Sythis waiting for her in a room that was both very private and very secure. The stone walls were as cold as ever, but there was something about the room itself that felt a little personal to him as well. She walked through the open doors and closed them behind her without touching them, then stopped before the dark lord, just within what she felt he might consider his personal space. She had to remind herself to bow, and she did, bowing deeply at the waist even though her heart wasn't in it. "My Lord."

"Adena." He either didn't notice her use of the title "Lord" instead of "Master" or he had let it slide. There was a ghost of a smirk on his lips, but his eyes were cold. He surveyed her up and down, his gaze stopping at her arms. "Those are new..."

"I thought them appropriate, my Lord." She gave him a small shrug.

"And what do they say?"

She couldn't tell if he knew and was testing her, or if he couldn't understand it. "It's personal," she said at last, a small smile on her full lips. "Both the words and the pain of it is a constant reminder."

Before he could answer, Zakeri whispered in her head, "If that bastard can't read what's on your arms, then he's not half as educated as you are..."

Adena scorned Zak in her thoughts, but her face remained perfectly neutral. It didn't stop Sythis, however. He folded his arms and gave her a dangerous look. "Another presence follows you wherever you go, Adena. You'd best tell me who this stranger is."

She swatted at the air as if batting away an annoying winged insect. "His name is Zakeri. He was my first master."

His voice grew even more stern. "And you follow him still?"

She laughed at him, an arrogant sound. "That Zabrak bastard? Hardly. If you can find a way to get rid of him, by all means, do tell me."

"You know, you could just ask." With a sigh in her head, Zakeri's presence left her.

Sythis sensed it. His glittering eyes were secure on Adena's face. She could feel his gaze on her, eying her graying skin and the paint on her eyes, which made her look like a human with empty eye sockets. Then he began to walk slowly to one of the windows, his luxurious silver-blonde hair sifting in the wake of his passage. "Tell me, apprentice... How good are you at mind games?"

She folded her aching arms, intensifying her Sight. She wanted him to feel it. "That depends, my Lord, on what game we're playing."

Another smirk rose to his lips, barely visible through his cold demeanor. "Let me be a little more specific. How good are you entering other people's thoughts?"

"Better than anyone you'll meet," she answered, walking right up beside him as if they were old acquaintances. "I could get inside your head if I really wanted to."

Sythis laughed, a cold, dark sound. "Don't make idle boasts, apprentice. Overconfidence is a common weakness. Look at Halcyon."

"Don't you compare me to him!" she snapped, her mind lashing out. "I am much better than Halcyon! Shall I prove it to you?!"

"Yes." He laughed at her anger, folding his arms. A smug look crossed his lips. "Why don't I test you?"

"I am your apprentice, Lord," she snapped, a challenge in her voice. "Test away."

With a broadening smirk, he rounded on his heel and went to a large seat much like a throne against one wall and sank into it, both arms resting on the arms of his chair. "All right, apprentice. Tell me what I'm thinking."

Adena went still beside the window, focusing her Sight on him alone. She saw he had full mental walls up, walls that made the hulls of the most impressive Star Destroyers look like tin cans. She drew on the Force, blocking out everything in the galaxy except for those mental walls, and she did the same thing she had done to Halcyon when she had pulled his memories out of his head. She caressed those mental barriers, nudged them, prodded them, searching for the one hairline crack of insecurity that would allow her access into his head.

Seconds became minutes, and there was nothing but silence. Sythis did nothing, just watched her with eyes like ice, and Adena was motionless, staring at her master with an eyeless gaze that he could feel. Minutes became an hour, and still Adena was patient, striving, reaching, testing those walls that were so real to her Sight they were actual barriers in her mind.

After an hour of stillness and quiet, she found what she was looking for. A little insecurity, a little weak spot in that endless barrier of his mind. She honed in on it immediately, like a proton torpedo that's found its mark, and she began to pry. She took it very, very slowly so he wouldn't feel it, the most miniscule mental movements, reaching, pushing very gently, narrowing her Sight to See inside his head, peering through the crack like a keyhole in an ancient door. And then laid out before her was a flash of a landscape before reality fell in around her as she turned her Sight onto Sythis' physical form and said, "Your homeworld was almost pretty, my Lord."

Sythis raised his chin and regarded her for a very long moment. Then he smiled, a smile as thin as a razor's edge. "You took too long, apprentice."

"But I saw it, didn't I?" She folded her arms, smirking. "Besides, patience is a virtue."

Without warning, Sythis burst from his chair. "Patience is a Jedi virtue only! You don't have time for patience, especially with what I've planned for you! Do you understand?"

Adena's head snapped to the right as if she'd been slapped. Her cheek stung. She reached up with her hand and touched her cheekbone, and her fingers came away bloody. He had put so much hate behind the word Jedi that it had become a cutting edge in the Force. Sucking the blood off her fingers, she pulled on the Force and closed the wound in her cheek. "I understand, my Lord," she answered. Her voice reflected her nervousness at his show of anger; she squared her shoulders to find her strength.

"You think I don't know where you came from, Adena? You think I don't know how the Jedi corrupted you?" A red aura of hate formed itself around Sythis' body in Adena's vision as he strode to her. "For every time you fall back into some foolish Jedi mentality, you will bleed for it, do you understand that?"

She raised her chin, refusing to show weakness. I have no weakness! "I understand perfectly, my Lord."

"Good."

Adena surveyed him for a moment, waited in silence until the glow around him faded, before she decided it was safe to speak. "You said you have something planned for me. Am I to know what that is?"

"Yes," Sythis answered, and he gestured. "Walk with me. I have something for you."

Unable to help herself, Adena grinned, falling into step beside him as they headed out into the corridor. "For me, my Lord? That's terribly sweet of you, but I didn't get you anything."

"You will," he replied, and there was a dark grin on his face. "You will get me exactly what I want."

He led her a long ways through the Vjun fortress to another personalized room, still cold and forbidding. There, he picked up an old stone box and extended it to her. "You're going to need this."

Adena took it and almost dropped it -- it was far heavier than it looked. Grabbing the slick, black stone box, she spared Sythis a quizzical look before opening the lid. The lid grated open on stone hinges, revealing a very beautiful, very old amulet inside. Her eyebrows raised in surprise, she looked back at him and frowned. "It's beautiful... Not my birthstone, though."

He almost smiled, but otherwise ignored her comment. "This, my Miraluka, you will need to keep with you at all times. Learn to use it as a focus for your power, both physical and mental. You will need it for the task at hand."

"But what is this task?"

"Tell me... Does the name Darth Nihilus mean anything to you?"

Adena's eyebrows went up again. She knew that name quite well from her lessons at the Jedi Academy, but her cheek still hurt so she decided not to bring that part up. "That name means a lot to me... Nihilus was a great Sith Lord. The Ravager of Worlds, the Drinker of Life..."

"A great Sith Lord, he was." Sythis met her eyes, and she felt a terrible weight and purpose in his gaze. "I am going to teach you something now, Adena. I am going to teach you something in a language you may not understand. Either way, you will learn it, you will learn it exactly, and combined with the focus of your power in the amulet you carry, you will raise the spirit of Darth Nihilus, and you will give him your orders."

Adena was a woman of amazing self-control, but she gasped and almost dropped the box again. "Raise Darth Nihilus' spirit? And control it?" A fire ignited deep in her gut, a want, a lust, a desire that consumed her almost immediately. Ideas flashed through her mind. The things she could do to Halcyon... The power she could control... She let out a shuddering breath and grabbed the necklace, draping it around her neck. It was cold and heavy against her skin. Raising her Sight to Sythis' face, her hunger consuming her, she had to fight back the urge to pull him into her arms. "Teach me, Master," she begged, acknowledging his true title for the first time. "Teach me everything. I will do whatever you ask of me, Master, whatever it is that you want. I am your servant, your apprentice, and your weapon. Use me, please, for whatever ends..."

A dark smile spread on Sythis face, perhaps the first true smile he'd ever revealed to her, and it was filled with wicked thoughts and darkness. "I will," he answered, resting his hands on her shoulders. "Now listen very carefully to what I say, and repeat it back to me. This is just the beginning."

[Split Infinity]

Split decided to continue his exercises for the duration of the trip to Vjun. There really wasn't much else to do in the confined space of the ship, what with Geo focusing on his own training and the other two planning for their arrival. A clear and controlled state of mind was the most important thing for all of them now. Between the four Jedi they possessed a myriad of strengths and abilities that could be used as effective tools against Sythis and his new minions, weapons to bring forth the downfall of a rising threat.

Master Baké had spent most of his time with Split focusing on strength and endurance exercises. After studying various lightsaber forms and techniques in the academy's archives, Split had found something that caught his eye. Ataru, more commonly known as the fourth form, blended the use of speed and acrobatics to engulf the opponent in a frenzy of quick and light blade attacks. It focused more on acquiring a strike of any kind as opposed to fatal blows. The quick pace of Form IV kept the opponent on it's toes and proved able to wear down any unprepared enemy.

The learned form was paired with parts of other basic technique to create a truly stupendous combat style. Split's most recent training had consisted of building stamina and endurance, as well as strengthening his agility and speed. All of these components would make him a quick and unpredictable opponent in the most dire of situations. Master Baké had told him that the form would take time to learn, but Split knew it was what he wanted.

***

63... 64... 65...... 66........

Each pushup was done with ruthless efficiency. This was his second set in the last two hours of personal training, and he was already able to notice a significant self-improvement in his performance. As his training continued each exercise became easier and easier. After finishing his last set of one-hundred pushups Split helped himself up from the floor and toweled the sweat off of his arms and face. His cheeks were flushed red and his arms ached with a pain that he was able to gently ease from his mind. Laying his bottom half on the edge of his bed, he began his last set of sit-ups, this time counting down from one-hundred. He hadn't even gotten to ten when the ship's intercom interrupted him.

"We just been cleared to land. I'm bringing us in now..." Ranzen's voice announced through the speakers.

Before ending his training Split pounded out ten more sit-ups and rolled off of his bed. He quickly dressed himself in his tunic and robe and headed towards the cockpit. Geo was already there along with Ranzen and Jade at the ship's controls. Split eased his way in behind them and gazed over the back of their seats at the planet in front of them.

"So that's it, huh?" He asked rhetorically. The others gave him silent nods as Jade logged the ship's landing coordinates into the computer. Split braced himself on the head of one of the seats as the ship began facing itself in the right direction.

***

Ranzen brought the ship down gently on their designated landing pad and shutdown all systems before they departed. He lowered the boarding ramp while the others grabbed what they needed for the trip. The four Jedi met at the bottom of the ramp ready to travel lightly and departed for the village. To all of their luck the rain had ceased for the time being, but there was no telling when it would start up again. Ranzen started them up at a fast pace at first so as not to waste time, but they slackened the pace the closer they drew to their destination. Jade followed Ranzen, and Geo followed Jade. Split pulled up the rear and jogged forward until he was level with his Master.

"Master Baké?" Split asked, keeping his voice quiet enough so the others wouldn't hear.

"What is it my Padawan?"

"I'm afraid that coming here was a bad decision. Not for all of you, but for me. I fear that my lack of expertise might jeapordize this mission. I... I don't want to be a liability, Master." Split said, his tone solemn. Geo didn't have to look at Split to sense his sincerity over the matter. This was his first real mission so-to-speak, and it was natural that he felt doubtful.

"Split, you need not worry. You are far more ready than any of us were at that point in our training. I'm very proud of what you've accomplished and even more proud to have you as a Padawan." Split turned his gaze to the ground, trying to hold back a smile. "It is comforting to me that I don't have to worry about you. I may have lost your sister, but I can see that you hold true to the Light. I can only hope that you remain undeterred in your path to Knighthood."

The two picked up their pace as they lagged behind the others. "Now dwell on this no more Split. I feel that you made the right decision. If and when you confront your sister I know you will possess what it takes to set her right." Split flinched at the mention of a confrontation with his sister. All of his time during their flight to Vjun was spent hoping that she had not fallen too far.

No, he told himself, she hasn't had enough time to have fallen completely. He would find her, and he would bring her back; this he promised himself.

I'm coming to get you.

***

Vjun wasn't much for scenery. In many ways it was quite the opposite of Yavin IV. There were no jungles, no animals, no humidity; instead, there were jagged hills and rocks, scarred surfaces, and grey skies. The absence of life. Much of what existed here had been absorbed by the extreme connection this planet held with the Force. It seemed like all of the life had been sucked out of the atmosphere, but Split could easily sense the tangible Force essence that dwelled all around him.

Ranzen stopped at the top of the hill and waited for the rest of them to catch up with him. Ahead of them lied the village, no more than four-hundred meters away. The building were all made of some type of rock that looked partially eroded by its frequent exposure to the acid rain. Luckily for them the village was large enough that they wouldn't draw attention to themselves as they would in a smaller area. Their arrival marked not the end of their journey, but the beginning of something entirely different. There would be time for rest, but that time would need to be used for focus and preparation. They were about to face one of the most daunting powers still in existence, a man who would not give up, not negotiate, and not take mercy.

Split knew he would take note of that when he danced on his grave.

[Niobe Freelight]

"Again." Sivan barked from across the training ring, her back facing Niobe and the small audience of Noghri guards. A long vibroblade hung from her hand barely brushing the ground. Niobe held one identical to it but had it positioned towards the ceiling in a ready position. Sivan drew one deep breath to focus herself before turning around and matching her blade with Niobe's. With one small nod the pair went at it for their fifth consecutive sparring match that morning. The Mistress had pulled Niobe from the table directly after their little morning meeting and begun training without delay. Niobe felt both fatigued and hungry, but she was forced to push these thoughts out of her head as she danced around the circle blade-to-blade with Sythis' apprentice.

It was obvious that Sivan wasn't performing at full capacity. Doing so would mean the death of young Niobe and the loss of one of Sythis' potentials. Instead, Sivan played a defensive role, allowing Niobe to thrust and jab and only blocking and parrying in return. This taught Niobe how to search her enemy for weaknesses and gaps in their defensive posture. Correct analysis of an opponent meant that she could exploit their weakness and take advantage of the smallest error.

Correct analysis of an opponenet meant that you would win.

Niobe came in hard from the side but was met with the ferocious force of Sivan's blade. Unphased, she used the impact of the block to spin her the opposite direction in an attempt to catch Sivan's exposed leg. To Niobe's disappointment, Sivan's blade was there mere milliseconds before hers.

"Do not expose your back to the enemy." Sivan lectured, continuing to block Niobe's thrusts left and right. "It leaves you open for attack and is more often than not completely unecessary in a duel." She did not expect the girl to know things like this or to achieve any type of direct hit, neither big nor small, during their weapons training. The exercise was for learning to open up your emotions and read your opponent. When Niobe could do that, they would move on to a more intense program, but for now, they would spar incessantly.

The Noghri watched intently as Sivan began purposefully leaving small openings and lapses in defense in attempts to draw Niobe in. To Sivan's delight, Niobe was able to accurately lunge at each opening as Sivan relaxed her guard in certain areas. Pleased with Niobe's progress, they continued with this for several more minutes before stopping.

***

"Good." Sivan said, lowering her blade back to the ground. Niobe loosened her stance and let her blade fall down as well. "I hope you have a firm grasp on what I was trying to teach you with this exercise." Niobe gave a small nod, but Sivan ignored it and continued anyways. "When on the offensive it is most important to gage your enemies strategy, form, and technique. Every opponent you face will be different, and you will only have one fight to figure out how they are different..." Niobe soaked each word in silently. "The quicker you are able to do this," Sivan continued, "the quicker you are able to defeat them."

Sivan pointed at Niobe's right hand where her vibroblade hung loosely. "I noticed that you began our duel using your left hand?" Niobe looked down at her blade and back up at Sivan, nodding. "Why is that?"

"I-I've always been able to use both hands. The same goes with blasters." She looked down at her hands again. "I suppose I like the idea of being able to use the other hand as effectively when the other gets hurt." Sivan couldn't help but allow a small grin at this. With a flick of her wrist, a third vibroblade launched into the palm of her hand. She presented it to Niobe handle first who took it immediately.

"My Master has ordered me to see to it that you get the proper training in lightsaber construction and forms. I've been debating over a few forms that I've deemed fit for you, but now..." she eyed the two blades in Niobe's hands, "I think we may try something a little bit more experimental." Niobe swallowed hard and brought both blades up into a ready position, mirroring Sivan. "The style that I am going to begin teaching you has not been practiced for quite some time. It may require assistance from the Dark Lord himself."

Niobe shifted her stance nervously as Sivan continued. "The style we will begin with is the sixth form of lightsaber combat. It focuses on neither offense or defense but rather a large spectrum of techniques. In a sense, it combines aspects of all earlier forms into one, allowing you to demonstrate a wide range of abilities." As Sivan talked, Niobe strained to follow as she explained. "From here we will begin teaching you the art of Jar'Kai, a Niman style. This employs the use of two sabers at once. But we must start with the first step of course. We will repeat the same exercise, but this time I want you to use both blades."

Sivan shifted into a battle stance and rose her blade to face Niobe.

"Begin."

***

Niobe laid with her back against the wall, resting all of her tired muscles in blissful relaxation. The audience of Noghri had already dispersed and left the young Jedi to herself. Sivan had been summoned out of the room in the middle of their training and ordered Niobe not to move. It hadn't taken Niobe long to learn to listen to what Sivan had to say.

The past few days had been exhilarating. Niobe had managed to get more training than she did sleep. Both her body and mind felt exhausted, but somehow she was still able to go on. Something inside of her thirsted for what Sivan had to offer. Knowledge, Experience... and Power. These three things were coveted by Sythis and all of his apprentices, new and old. These three things were what made them feared beyond all reason.

Since their arrival on Vjun, Niobe had seen very little of Luke and Adena. Not that she cared, but she found it odd how different the atmosphere was from back at the academy. Training was not done in classes or even small groups in the castle; everything was done one-on-one. Niobe enjoyed the individual attention. She was already able to learn more in her short time with Sivan than she had for any amount of time on Yavin IV. Efficiency was important with these people, and Niobe couldn't agree more. Nodding her head back against the wall, she managed to enjoy what little time she had for rest and relaxation.

***

Sivan slid through the door and motioned Niobe to come with her. The two marched down the castle's corridors, and the trip immediately felt familiar to her.

They were going to see Lord Sythis.

"Any idea what this is about...?" Niobe pondered out loud.

Sivan continued marching, never breaking her gaze, her stride, or the awkward silence that hovered between them after Niobe's query.

Niobe took that as a "no".

[Ranzen Elara]

What lay at the end of the trail wasn't much of a village. Nestled in a secluded valley, the tiny hamlet consisted of perhaps more than a dozen shops and a score of crude peasant huts made of stone. The two-story structured shops occupied the head of the village, facing an unpaved road lined with stone hovels. A modest inn resided at the opposite end of the road, as though the town's founders had been determined to place as much distance as possible between them and the castle that was far ahead in the distance.

Bast Castle. That must be where the Sith reside and Corran is hostage... the Jedi Master thought to himself. He waited a few more seconds until everyone had caught up to him at the top of the hill. The village slumbered beneath the light of Vjun's partial sun, its narrow streets damp and deserted. The morning had long since come and gone, but oddly all of its people had retired for the day.

Or are hiding inside their hovels scared to death... Ranzen nodded to his entourage to follow him on the road that led into the village. He noticed ahead doors were bolted, windows were shuttered, and every light was extinguished. The hanging signs of the tradesmen blew in the cold Vjun wind. Only the faint glow of the inn's light ahead disturbed the shadows that lingered over the quiet hamlet. The rest of his party also gazed down upon the village.

"Is this the place?" Jade asked archly. Like the others in their party, she wore either garments or surcoats that wouldn't give them away as Jedi in order to keep their subterfuge intact. "Hardly seems like a welcome area."

"You may be right, Jade," Ranzen replied, nodding. He pulled his poncho tighter around him as a chilly wind whipped around. "But we need a place to rest after our long journey from Yavin. I don't think attempting a rescue while tired from a long hyperspace trip will help much. We also need to form a strategy."

The Jedi Master leaned to address Geo. "Stay close to me, they may be watching us." He gestured to Split to follow them closely. "We're heading in."

The foursome travelled through the main road of the village. Lumas flared to life behind the second-story windows of the shops, where the craftsmen and their families dwelt. Muffled voices whispered out in alarm. Stone shutters opened briefly, then slammed shut again as shocked villagers glimpsed the strange party walking into their town. "Maker help us!" a frightened Bothan exclaimed. "They've come from the castle again!"

Ranzen came to a halt in the market square before the row of shops. The upper stories of the stone structures jutted out over the storefronts below, obscuring the sky and to protect from the acid rain.

"Seems they don't take too kindly to strangers." Geo observed, raising an eyebrow.

"Who goes there?!" A grizzled watchman, possessing more duty than sense, came running toward them, raising a blaster rifle before them. Split tugged at Ranzen's poncho and pointed.

The Jedi Master turned to face a haggard human and raised his hands in surrender. "Please! We mean you no harm." He nodded to the structure ahead. "Our ship is in for repairs at the spaceport and we need a place tonight. We wish to seek rest at that inn ahead."

"Then you are not strangers from the castle?" The watchman's voice fell silent as he got a better look at the party in front of him, which consisted of only two men, a woman, and an adolescent.

"No, were are not," Geo answered. "As my companion stated, we only wish to seek shelter for the night. We will leave the next morning."

The guard lowered his blaster rifle and spoke gruffly. "Come with me, then..."

***

Ranzen emptied his travel pouch on the lumpy mattress in the room they rented for the night. Despite appearances, this was the guest suite the inn had offered to the four. There was a certain odor that hinted that animals had slept in the same room, probably to keep the room warm and partly to protect their owners from what was out there. Jade knelt beside another mattress and tried to rest from their long walk. Geo and Split were deciding on who would sleep on the floor and who would sleep on the mattress.

After a minute, the Jedi Master found what he was looking for and activated it. A holochart blossomed into three dimensions in the palm of his hand. He had layouts of the castle and its nearby village, culled from the holopics the YV-666 freighter had secretly taken as it flew overhead toward the spaceport.

"Jade, Geo, Split, we need to study these and plan a way to get inside it." He leaned in close. "The only trail I see here is--"

The gravel outside the door crunched.

Ranzen took up his lightsaber from under his clothing and quickly put away the holoprojector in his tunic. His thumb hovered over the controls set in the hilt. He should have sensed someone coming, but he had allowed his ability in the Force to be cloaked to avoid any detection by the Sith. Still, I should have checked our surroundings. Frell that I did not think of it! The Sith may already know we are here and are going to ambush us! Split quickly approached the door and threw it open. The Jedi Master flicked the button and the green light pierced the dusty air. The grizzly watchman jumped for a second and dropped his blaster rifle.

"Don't kill me!" he pleaded. "I mean you no harm!"

"What do you want?" Ranzen snapped. He nodded to Geo and the Jedi Knight pulled the old man inside and sealed the door, leaving the rifle outside.

"Are you Jedi?" A glint of hope suddenly appeared in the watchman's eyes. "Please. I must know. I am not a spy. You have my word that I say nothing about all of you."

"We're from Skywalker's Academy," Ranzen answered. He turned off the energy blade and slipped the lightsaber back. He could smell the cloying musky scent on the man's clothes. "And you haven't answered my question."

"I had to know who were you folk. It's my duty." The old man said, pleading for understanding.

"Understandable," the Jedi said. "What is your name?"

"Terin... are you here to liberate us? Against that... man? The Duke?" the man asked. "Please, help us. He is evil." Jade sighed. Already the Jedi could sense she had no interest in helping them.

"We're here on a rescue mission. We believe who we seek may be locked up in the Duke's castle." Ranzen wanted to help them, but he couldn't see how. They were only two skilled Jedi, an apprentice, and an adept. They would need an army to achieve something of this caliber, but he could only offer hope. "If you help us get inside, I can see that the New Republic comes to liberate this place."

The old man stood quiet, then nodded slowly. "Tommorrow, we bring supplies to the castle from the spaceport. The freighters come in the morning to unload supplies for the Duke and we take them up. You can come with me as helpers and I will get you in," he whispered. "In return, you will take me with you so I can voice to the New Republic what is happening here."

Ranzen looked to the others in the room. Geo finally gave a nod of agreement.

"Very well, Terin," the Jedi agreed, furrowing his head.

"I will come for you in the morning then," he said, and forced a smile. "You will need a change of clothes. What you wear will give you away as strangers and not villagers. I will bring them with me and we will head to the spaceport." The man backed away and opened the door, quickly leaving the premises.

"Well, it seems we have a way inside," Geo stated matter-of-factly.

"I hope he doesn't betray us," Jade said aloud. Her eyelids felt heavy and she rested on the bed, bracing her elbows on her knees, letting her head rest in her hands.

"There are always risks," Ranzen retorted. "For now, this is the best plan we have. We now need to rest."

A good night's sleep. He might have a better idea in the morning when Terin stopped in. The Jedi Master dimmed the luma on his side of the bed and his eyes closed. Images of the Academy, his students practicing passing a ball by thought alone, a nice hot bath, food he trusted to be clean... all danced in his head before he drifted away.

[Darth Sythis]

The private conference chamber of the Dark Lord of the Sith hid deep beneath Bast Castle, many feet below even the lowest dungeons and cellars of the ancient structure. The vast chamber was dominated by an elaborate mosaic floor in which faded patterns decorated it. Each pattern on the floor bore the different symbologies the Sith had used in past, the most recognizable being the etched symbol that Exar Kun wore on his forehead during the Great Sith War.

Ordinarily, silence ruled over the somber chamber, which was seldom visited by the inhabitants of the castle, but tonight, on the occasion of the Indoctrination, the room held the entire New Sith Brotherhood along with various other Serennoian dignitaries and the Noghri. These guests gathered just inside the entrance of the chamber, before the granite steps leading down to the lowest floor, where Darth Sythis himself waited at the center of the circle of patterned Sith hieroglyphs. Torches flickered in the arched alcoves lining the walls. An etched plaque, displaying the following words, was mounted in the wall above the Dark Lord:

Fear leads to anger.
Anger leads to hate.
Hatred leads to power.
Power leads to victory.

Darth Sivan stood at Sythis's right hand. She had been granted the honor of assisting the Dark Lord in this most sacred ceremony of indoctrinating their newest disciples into the Sith order. She shivered beneath her tight leathers, both from the chill of the chamber and in anticipation of the momentous event ahead. Excitement at the prospect of the Sith expanding, for the first time since the deaths of Sidious and Vader, was leavened by the sobering realization that she would now have to compete for power among these new servants of her Master, once they were accepted. That burden rested with Sivan alone.

Corran and Adena, the new candidates to be absorbed into the order, observed the distinguished company that had assembled to witness the Indoctrination. Clad in their finest armor, the Noghri and Serenno delegates chatted softly among themselves as they waited for the ceremony to begin. Niobe, Sivan's pupil, stood amid the other guests, a bored expression on her face. Luke Halcyon stood alongside the young woman, a frown plastered on his.

A hush suddenly fell over the assembly as Lord Sythis addressed all present. The hood of his dark robe covered his head, hiding his pale countenance and long hair. A lightsaber resided in his belt.

"Members of the New Brotherhood, honored guests," he began with a rasp of his voice. "Beyond these venerable walls, in the outer galaxy, petty despots of the fallen Galactic Empire and the New Republic have constantly warred for planets and power. Warlords and governments come and go in an endless and brutal calvacade of conquest and usurpation. In contrast, we of the Sith Order have remained in the shadows observing. Why is this?"

The other conspirators, Noghri included, answered in unison: "To bide time to gain power from the galaxy!"

Lord Sythis nodded in acknowledgement. "The Sith of the past and present-- Kun, Sidious, Tyranus, and myself-- have bided our time hiding in the shadows of the galaxy to find the opportune moment in pursuit of absolute power. Why?"

"To bring order to the galaxy!" The response echoed within the sepulchral confines of the darkened chamber.

"Just so," Sythis confirmed. "The Jedi Order have failed in keeping peace along with their New Republic. When Darth Sidious was in power, all was at peace and there was order. Once more, the cycle must repeat itself; that is the way of things so that order is maintained in the galaxy. Once more, the Sith will rise up. The dark side of the Force offers unimaginable power. And why?" This time, his hooded cowl turned to address the two figures who stood in front of him.

Adena was irresistibly drawn to Lord Sythis's piercing gaze, despite her lack of physical eyes, and answered her Master: "Because the dark side is stronger than the light."

"And the weak deserve their fate." Corran interjected after her response.

"Excellent, my apprentices," Lord Sythis smirked under his cowl. "Now is the appointed hour. Soon, both of you will serve under the power of the dark side and aide in the rise of the Sith once again."

"Let the Indoctrination begin!" Sivan announced in the chamber.

Darth Sythis nodded to Corran and Adena, and whispered, "Kneel now before me and recognize your Master, the Dark Lord of the Sith."

"Yes, Master..." both replied in unison. They knelt before the robed figure. The amulet, given by Lord Sythis, rested on Adena's chest and glimmered slightly.

"Well done," the Dark Lord replied softly. "Now repeat the words of the Sith:

Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me. "

The indoctrinates chanted the words as a matra and remained quiet when they finished.

"Now let the sacred rite proceed!" Sivan declared.

Drawing the hood back and exposing his pale visage, Darth Sythis casted his yellow eyes downward to Corran and drew his lips back into a corpselike grimace. "For your pledged loyalty to me, the dark side, and the Sith, the name of Corran Antilles now... no longer has anymore meaning for you." He raised a calloused hand over his head and rasped loudly. "Henceforth! You will now be known as Darth Ceveir!"

Ceveir closed his eyes as something within him died and he embraced his new role. "Yes, my Master. I am thy servant to command."

Niobe licked her lips, and even Sivan's mouth pulled back into a demonic smile, as she witnessed the fall of Corran Antilles and the rise of Darth Ceveir before her very eyes. Luke's frown merely deepened.

Ignoring the crowd's estoric reaction, the Dark Lord now turned his gaze to Adena and repeated the same decreed: "For your pledged loyalty to me, the dark side, and the Sith, the name of Adena Tadrro no longer has anymore meaning for you." He raised his other hand over her head and rasped loudly. "Henceforth! You will now be known as Darth Saevita!"

Darth Saevita held her breath in awe, then whispered. "Yes, my Master. I am thy servant to command."

The Dark Lord nodded with satisfaction as he sensed his disciple's acceptance into the order, then announced. "Rise, Darth Ceveir and Darth Saevita. You are now servants of the dark side and the Sith Order."

As they both rose to their feet, whispers arosed from the assembled crowds, albeit with a half-hearted huzzah from the Noghri. Sivan's throat tightened with emotion. Ceveir was now one of them. By this time tommorrow, Lord Sythis would have him dispatched on an assignment to serve the order and she hoped he would be at her side to accompany.

"The Indoctrination has ended," Sivan informed the audience, "and my Master requires privacy with his new servants. You may all return to your various duties and assignments, except Niobe and Luke." Her hand gestured to them. "Join us..."

One by one, the delegates, the Noghri, and their associates filed out of the chamber in a measured and dignified manner. Only the members of the Sith order and their pupils remained behind to await instructions from their master. Darth Sythis waited until the last of the attendees had departed before he spoke.

"The time now comes for the Sith to act," he announced. "Let us now see to your assignments, my servants." Sythis rose a finger and a holoprojector behind him activated. Within seconds, the planet of Naboo and an image of King Tymen stood before the members of the Sith order. Sivan gazed at the projections, waiting for her master to give instructions. Although anxious to accept any mission from the Dark Lord, she was apprehensive as well. Who knew what she would be assigned to do? As far as she knew, her master may give her a most important-- or a most petty task.

At last, the Dark Lord spoke, and his servants gave him their attention. "The King of Naboo believes the Sith have been vanquished with the death of my prior servants, Ludovic and Callista, and his planet freed from our influence. I will prove to him that he is wrong. In fact, my resolve has never been stronger," he informed them, his bony hand rising to the images behind him. "Tymen will soon know that his role in serving us was merely delayed, but never forgotten. His treachery will now be paid with his blind servitude to us."

Saevita felt the Dark Lord's gaze upon her. "You, Ceveir, and Luke will travel to Naboo and gain control of their king and his government. Saevita has now the knowledge to summon the spirit of Nihilus to control Tymen himself, and she will be able to do our bidding through him, without question." Sythis said. He trailed his gaze to the tall Corellian next to her. "You will then order the king to grant Ceveir complete power over his armies as a general. No one will then dare to question the King of Naboo without being dealt with brutal force. Luke will enforce Ceveir's power as a hidden executioner of any who dare to resist-- officers, politicians, or delegates. You will silence them without remorse. Show no mercy. Serve them well Luke, and I will grant your title of Venemous when you return."

"Yes, Master," was all he replied.

"Good." A grimace appeared. "Tommorrow morning, a supply freighter will arrive from Naboo at the spaceport. You three will supervise the unloading of its contents, then assume control of its crew. Upon arrival, Saevita will pose herself as a member of the Jedi Academy, since no one knows you now serve under us, and request an audience with the King. Ceveir, as a member of the squadron who liberated his planet, will certainly be allowed to accompany her. Keep the subterfuge intact until you have a private moment with Tymen. Then unleash Nihilus upon him."

"Is this clear, my servants?" the Dark Lord's raspy voice croaked from behind the strands of long hair trailing over his face.

"Yes, my Master," all said in unison.

"Good. I will provide further instruction once this is accomplished."

"And what of us?" Sivan interjected, her voice unmistakably impatient. "My student and I await your command."

Yellow eyes, sickly and penetrating, stared out from sunken sockets as Sythis turned his gaze to her. Strength and authority radiated from his commanding presence. Sivan detected no trace of infirmity in his manner.

He dismissed her outburst with a wave of his hand. "As for you, dearest Sivan, training will continue with Niobe until she is formidible in the ways of the dark side. Teach her next the construction of her new lightsaber and her skills in using it. Once she is ready, an assignment will be given to both of you to accomplish. If your student is successful, I will grant her indoctrination for a title."

She kneeled to him, then casted a piercing stare to Niobe to do the same. She conformed.

Sivan lowered her head. "Yes, my Master. I will teach her."

"Good. Leave us then. Gather the tools needed and forge a crystal for her new lightsaber. Once she is ready, I will dispatch the both of you," he assured her.

"It shall be done." She rose and her turbulent gaze drifted from her peers to her student. "Niobe, come with me. There is much to do." Both figures exited the chamber.

Sythis now turned to the three. "The time begins now," he said ominously. "Gather your things for your journey tonight and rest. Tommorrow begins a new era for the Sith. You are dismissed..."

[Darth Sivan]

Pondering on the events that happened back at her master's chambers, Sivan felt a jealous pang as she thought of Ceveir and Saevita taking the full lead on the Sith's most important move upon the galaxy. Why would her own master entrust these two to head something this crucial in their plans? Worse of all, Saevita was part of the Jedi Order once. How could she ever be trusted? And Ceveir? Well, thinking of him pricked Sivan even more. Ever since his arrival, her Master had been giving him more attention than he deserved, as if he would be the next heir to their order.

She felt betrayed, but with Ceveir now becoming one of them, those feelings were replaced by a longing for something very new and different from what she always craved before.

Opportunity.

But first, she needed to concentrate on her student. If she became as formidable to be a part of their order, she would use her as part of her agenda, but it would all depend if she could find the coorperation in Ceveir. A little playful seduction and manipulation couldn't help to steer him into her own plans. It would be her little rewarding moment.

Sivan continued to stare at the small furnace, as if doing so could hurry the process. Inside, the red synthetic crystals for Niobe's new lightsaber cooked at incredible heat and pressure, hot enough to melt plasteel, intense enough to collapse durosteel into liquid. And yet from a few feet away, except for the red operating diode, you couldn't tell the furnace was on, except by the tinge of odor that resembled a blaster discharge of ozone. It had been working for hours and the little diode had finally began to blink, the indication that the process was in the final stage of completion.

The Sith were always known to make their own synthetic red crystals because it created a somewhat more powerful blade than the natural blue or green crystals found on sparse planets that the Jedi favored in using. The Sith also favored red as a symbol for passion. It was not uncommon for them to supply their acolytes with synthesized red crystals, but in this case, Lord Sythis insisted that his apprentices created their own crystals by forming it within the furnace, focusing all their blinding rage, aggression, and malice into the gems. By doing this and channeling their Force energies through it, which in turn shaped and modified their internal properties, a completely functional lightsaber crystal was created.

The Hand of Sythis watched Niobe in deep meditation within the Force, channeling the dark side and picturing the crystal in her mind's eye and forming it to her own will, her eyes sealed tightly. The workshop Sivan took her student was located within the lower levels of the castle. Ceveir had been here yesterday repairing his own weapon as she noticed the parts he discarded on the workbench-- power cells, reflector cups, and blade length adjusters.

For now, the Sith Mistress wanted to keep it as simple as possible. She'll grant Niobe the freedom to make her own lightsaber hilt when the time came. Even so, completing one was still not easy. If Niobe failed, the hilt would explode and she would be vaporized in an instant. Already, the majority of the lightsaber was already completed with the help of her teacher-- all that was needed was just the primary focusing crystal which was being created.

"Remember my student, let your anger flow through you. Your hate will make you strong. True power is only achieved through testing the limits of one's anger," Sivan lectured.

"Yes, Master," she answered, her eyes remaining shut and her face twisting into a scowl as she focused. The diode blinked one last time and the furnace shut down automatically. Niobe opened her eyes and breathed deeply. The lesson and her constant focus had taken a lot out of her. Sivan opened the small door of the furnace with a flick of her wrist, then took a pair of tongs to remove the heated red crystals. She dipped them all into a gelid vat to let them cool.

"Good, Niobe," she commented, observing the red synthetic gems in the vat. "You have shaped them accordingly. Now to see if they will align and focus when you finish your hilt." She glanced to the workbench, which hinted to her student to continue and finish her weapon. Niobe sighed in frustration for not getting a break in her lesson, but willed to get her project completed. She sat at her workbench and continued, following the instructions of her teacher...

~~ * ~~

Niobe took a deep breath. She stood in the center of the room, the workbench and other furniture scattered a few feet away, just in case. She held her completed lightsaber in her hands. She had assembled it according to Mistress Sivan's direction; everything should work-- if the crystals were aligned in order. Sivan had instructed the Force needed to be channeled to align them correctly within the emitter matrix. Only then, would the lightsaber unleash its red energy blade or explode in her hands.

Sivan stood a distance back, watching.

"Now is the time. Activate it." She curtly ordered.

Niobe let her breath out, took another one, held it, and pushed the activation stud.

The lightsaber activated; the red energy blade extruded to full length, just under a meter, and began to hum with a sinister power. It gave off a crimson gleam that was quite bright in the well-lighted workshop. Niobe grinned wickedly and let her indrawn breath escape. She waved the lightsaber experimentally. It had a good balance, maybe even better than the one she played with back on Yavin. The young student drew herself up into a ready stance, slid forward, and swung through a series of downward cuts, alternating from left to right and back.

"Excellent!" Sivan praised. For the first time, she actually felt pride swell up within her to see her first student achieve the next step. Perhaps this teaching business wasn't so bad after all. At least she didn't fail by seeing Niobe vaporize in front of her. Her face lit up with wicked glee. "Now test it."

The young woman whipped the blade down at a forty-five-degree angle at a workbench. The humming blade crackled and sheared through the metal furniture and left a smooth cut. She grinned again and relaxed her fighting stance, holding up the blade to show her master. Sivan approached and held her right hand near the blade. No sensation of heat. That was good. It meant the superconductors were working.

"You have done well, Niobe," she remarked. "Your skills are almost complete for such a short period of training. I am quite impressed."

"Thank you, Mistress Sivan." Her eyes gleamed wretchedly.

"Now to test if your weapon is good in combat," Sivan announced without warning. Her lightsaber quickly leapt into her hand and activated. The Sith stepped in fast and cut at her student's head. Niobe blocked, and her teacher attacked again, circling the humming red blade in a second cut at the young woman's side. Fast, but again a block. Sivan next lunge came from the opposite side as her blade flashed in a large half circle. Her student parried and riposted, angling a slash at her master's head.

Sivan blocked and stepped back a meter, out of range, energy blade held over her head, point angled down.

"Most impressive, child." Her eyes narrowed and glanced at a work stool behind her student. The object came to life and leapt up to strike her in the back. Niobe sensed the danger and stepped back to shear it in half. Pieces of it clattered to the floor. Sivan moved in and feinted for her neck. She parried off her attack, and both master and apprentice circled, exchanging blows with their crimson blades.

"Good, my little girl..." she chided. Sivan found an opening and without warning thrusted out her palm. The Force slammed against Niobe's chest and she flew back, her body landing hard on the stone floor and stopping a distance away from her.

"But you still have much to learn..." Sivan lowered her blade and deactivated it. "Remember, rage channeled through anger is unstoppable. Remember our code: There is no fear, there is power. There is no death, there is immortality. There is no weakness, there is the Dark Side."

She pulled herself into a sitting position on the floor, an indignant expression on her face. "Yes, Master Sivan..."

The doors of the workshop parted open. Lord Sythis appeared in the doorway, a scowl plastered on his pale face. Sivan and Niobe kneeled in obeisance to their Dark Lord.

"Has she completed her lightsaber?" he questioned. "Is her skills complete?"

"Yes, my Master," Sivan answered. "They are complete."

"Good," he curtly replied. "The hour approaches for rest. Tommorrow, there is much to do. Both of you return to your quarters. Niobe's training will continue in the morning."

"Yes, my Lord."

~~ * ~~

Dismissing her student to her room, Sivan stealthily crept up to the upper areas of the castle. No one noticed her as she took care to keep a safe distance from the guards and the other servants, until she finally reached the doorway of Ceveir's quarters. She wanted to congratulate him.

She tugged on the zipper of her tight black leathers and eased it down to the middle of her chest, then chimed the room.

[Corran Antilles]

Ceveir, newly appointed Sith Lord, nodded to Halcyon and Saevita, giving them the soundless order to leave to their rooms without him. All of the people, who attended at the ceremony, had sensed his change. The light side, that had been in him still before, was gone. His aura now like a dark ocean at night, the beacon extinct. Ceveir’s calmness just emphasised his new-gained powers. His team-members... No, that was a term out of another life... his inferiors accepted his command without question, while Darth Ceveir waited for his own Master.

“My Lord,” Ceveir addressed Sythis, who was leaving the chamber. “Could I have a word with you?” The Lord of Serenno showed a patronising smile, like a father to his favourite child. “Of course, my apprentice. What is your concern?” The Corellian bowed his head submissively. “I want to thank you for the honour you conferred upon me. And I have a request...” Sythis rose an eye-brow. “A request?” Ceveir looked up now, his eyes darker than before. He hesitated as he searched for the right words. “You have still the lightsaber of my Grandfather, you took away from me as I arrived. As well at the two sabers, belonging to my Grandparents, which are part of your collection.” Sythis nodded. “That is true.” Ceveir’s voice was firm. “As their rightful heir I am asking you to hand them back to me.” Anger flashed in Sythis’ eyes. “What makes you think, that I should give them back to you?” Ceveir held his gaze. “I belong to the brotherhood. My loyalty is yours. So I thought, that you would like the irony that I would use their Jedi weapons to slay down the enemy of the Sith.” Sythis’ smirk returned. “No.” His answer was short, definitely. But the younger Sith Lord didn’t accept it. “But, Master, please...” With a gesture of his hand Sythis stopped him. Ceveir’s throat seemed to close. The Force choke lasted just a few seconds, but it was enough of a warning. The Lord of Serenno released him again. “I said no. And don’t tempt me, Ceveir. Darth Sivan is waiting just for a mistake of yours. Don’t let that be your first one...” Ceveir stared at his boots. “My Master, I apologise for my lack of respect towards you.” Sythis nodded satisfied. He turned around, walking away from the younger man. Ceveir waited until the head of the brotherhood, his Noghri bodyguards in tow, disappeared around the next corner. Then he started to curse, retreating to his own quarters.

The door of his suite closed behind him. Finally he was alone. Corran took a deep breath as he did let the walls of his disguise fall down. His hands were shaking as he tried to relax. Keeping up the appearance of being a Sith for so many hours, took more of his strength than he had expected. Corran lied down on the bed, staring at the ceiling, incapable to rest. He was unused to practice his Force skills non stop. His body and mind were drained, all energies gone. Corran tried to stop trembling, gathering his last reserves. Finally he was able to close his eyes, but a piercing ache was throbbing in his temples. Too exhausted to numb it with Force-healing, Corran surrendered to the pain. This time he was gone too far. The path to the Dark Side was a one-way track.

Corran awoke from a dreamless sleep. His chrono told him that he had slept for some hours. Slowly he sat up, his head felt dizzy like from a hangover. But his strength had returned partly, so Corran cleared his mind with some help of the Force. Finally he could think about a plan. Going to Naboo was his best chance for escape. Luke wouldn’t be a problem, but this Adena, or better Darth Saevita as she was called now, was an unknown quantity. But Corran trusted in his skills. Since he started his training five years ago, he had shown his superior fighting style. He was no easy opponent and he knew it. But the situation was too essential, too dangerous to handle it smugly. Some reinforcement would be great, but there was nobody inside this castle he could trust. Or maybe...?

Cross-legged he sat down on the floor, preparing himself for his meditation. They had appeared before as he needed help. Maybe this time he could call for them. His Grandfather and Molly were both disembodied entities, but nevertheless their support could tip the scales. Corran reached out with the tendrils of the Force, searching them. First there was only a big nothing, but then he felt a familiar being. He smiled, knowing that his plan was working. But it wasn’t Molly nor his Grandfather, whose voice he heard in his mind. Corran, I’m here... He frowned, murmuring. “Jade..?” A sound from the door broke his concentration. The connection was lost. “Frak!” Corran growled as he jumped up.

A surprise waited for him as he opened the door. Sivan, her zipper half open, leant in the door frame. “Good evening, Ceveir.” She purred almost. Corran frowned, but then he returned into his role. “Sivan, what a pleasant surprise.” He couldn’t help but glance at her cleavage. An evil version of his lopsided grin appeared on his face. Sivan noticed it with a satisfied look, accidently rubbing her body against his as she walked into his room. Now it was Ceveir again, who asked: “What do you want?” Sivan ignored his question, filling two cups out of a carafe, the servants had placed on the table earlier. With a seducing smile she handed one cup of expensive wine to him. “I’m here to congratulate you, Ceveir. And to celebrate.” Ceveir took a sip from his cup. “Celebrate, hmm? And you are my present?” His eyes were attracted again by the view she was offering. “Maybe. Or you are mine.” Sivan answered flirtatious, running a finger along his jawline. Ceveir tried to ignore her touch. “Well, but I like to unwrap my gifts by myself.” He remarked, commenting on her zipper. Sivan smirked as she replied. “And I prefer my gifts silent.” With a smooth motion she pressed her lips on his. To his own surprise he was returning the kiss.

It seemed an eternity as their lips parted finally, both of them were breathless. Corran was fighting with his self-control, important for the role of Ceveir. Sivan watched him, passion in her normally ice-cold eyes. “So the rumours about Corellians being good kissers are true.” Ceveir smirked. “Just good?” She laughed. “I will tell you in the morning.” He felt a force-push, that threw him towards the bed. And with a fast motion Sivan was on top, straddling him. Ceveir realised that this wouldn’t be simple sex, but a game of domination. The winner would be the alpha of the pack. “I’m not that easy. “ he said with a wink. His arms around her he rolled around. Now on top Ceveir looked down on her. She wrapped one leg around him, one hand running along his side. “We’ll see.” She answered. They kissed again, even with more fervour than before. Sivan managed it to use the situation to toss him onto his back again. As he fought to get the upper hand anew, Ceveir... Corran... realised her manipulation.

He broke their kiss, feeling almost sick by it suddenly. “Stop!” Sivan stared at him angrily. “What?!” He pushed her away. “You heard me.” Now back in his role again, Ceveir got up from the bed. “I’m not that easy.” He smiled evilly again as he saw how she tried to hide her frustration. “I won.” He stated. But then he reconsidered the situation. Sivan was Lord Sythis’ confidante. She could be useful. Ceveir stepped closer again, kissing her neck teasingly. “Next time I will choose the moment, lovely Sivan. I don’t think that it’s smart now. Our Master doesn’t trust me fully. And claiming his territory before the Naboo mission will backfire. But when I return successfully, we will celebrate.” He was leading her to the door. “Sweet dreams.”

As the door closed behind her, Corran rubbed his face. In his mind the unfulfilled desire was fighting with the disgust about the situation. But after all the self-control Corran needed one thing: a shower. A long and ice-cold shower.

The refresher’s cold water revitalised his spirit and suddenly an idea evolved in his mind. A plan how to get the sabers of his Grandparents. After dressing quickly, Corran sneaked out of his quarters. At this time of the night the hallways were deserted as he made his way to the chamber, where Sythis was displaying his trophies. Checking that nobody was around, Corran took the weapons, placing them on the workbench. Then he started to build replications of them.

***

It was early in the morning as he placed the copies of the lightsabers, nice empty hulls, on the shelves. They weren’t perfect, but still good enough to fool Sythis hopefully long enough. Hiding his family heirloom underneath his jacket an overtired Corran walked back into the direction of his room. He was just a few meters away from his quarters as he ran into a troop of Noghri. Their leader bowed his head. “Lord Ceveir, we were looking for you.” Corran suppressed his nervousness. “Really? Why?” Again the Noghri didn’t look directly at him. “Lord Sythis was missing you at the breakfast table.” Corran nodded. “Ah, I forgot. I worked out. Give me a few minutes to change into clean clothes.” He lied, then stepped quickly into his room.

After hiding the sabers in a bag he planned to take with him to Naboo, Corran put on a fresh shirt. Checking his appearance in the mirror, he realised the dark circles around his tired eyes. “Great. I start to look like one of them.” He sighed before he left his room to join the waiting Noghri.

[Inestra Shee]

Darth Hydran breathed deeply, looking out of a view port of the Black Moon at Vjun. Finally, she thought. Too long had her Darkened Legions lingered in the Outer Rim, scouring forgotten backwaters for joiners to their cause. Too long had they hidden, afraid, in places unremembered.

But then the one called Darth Onythis had arrived, bearing a message from Darth Sythis. Darth Hydran had only been too happy to oblige to his call, only too happy to come to Vjun. It was time, after months away, for the Darkened Legions to return to the Galaxy.

“Lady Hydran,” her executive officer and most trusted warrior, Lilek, said, “We are prepared to enter Vjun’s atmosphere at your command.”

Darth Hydran turned from the view port to look at Lilek. He was a relatively handsome man, with slicked back blonde hair, piercing blue eyes and a square set jaw. He stood bolt upright at attention, a picture of the perfect officer. The only thing ruining his visage was a series of scars along his forehead and cheek, remnants from a battle long ago.

“We will only bring the Black Moon, Cerberus and Medusan Web into atmosphere, as well as guard ships. The remainders of our fleet stay in orbit, ready for my call. Inform the troops.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Lilek turned and marched off.

Darth Hydran turned back to the view port and looked at her ghost of a reflection. Silhouetted against the black space sky was her image, clothed in form-fitting red and black Stormtrooper armour and a cape. Her hair was pulled back in a tight plait that fell just below her shoulders. Although she was deeply absorbed in the dark side, she was yet to develop the tarnished, skeletal look that many Sith developed over time. Instead, she retained an unearthly beauty.

As she looked at her reflection, she felt the ship begin it’s descent onto Vjun. Soon, they had broken the atmosphere, as well as two other Darkened Legion Star Destroyers. Acid rain pelted their hulls and a barren landscape fell out before them. As to plan, they had avoided the sparse inhabited areas, and had instead chosen a location where they could get to Bast Castle with as little notice as possible.

Nearby, she felt a stir of fear. She turned to a Stormtrooper and said, “Scared, trooper?”

“I served here, ma’am, back in the day,” he replied, his voice echoing slightly inside the wide room. “It’s a dead place now, haunted if you ask me, ma’am.”

“Haunted, hmm?” She said, “Superstitious fool.” She raised her arm, and the trooper started gasping for air.

“There is no such thing as haunted or dead. There is only the Force. Whatever spirits may be here can not harm us, nor will they.” She let her grip go slack and the Stormtrooper, body loose, fell to the ground, gasping for air.

“Next time, trooper, I will not be so merciful.” She said.

“I understand, milady.” He answered, standing and lifting his blaster, which he had dropped.

“Lady Hydran,” Lilek called, marching up to her, “we are prepared to send down our landing crafts.”

“Very good,” Darth Hydran said, turning to him, “We will begin with myself and the Hydra. We will enter Bast Castle and speak with this Darth Sythis. Be prepared with more landing crafts. If this Sith Lord means trouble, I wish to have backup.”

“Understood, ma’am.” Lilek said. He saluted and once again left. Darth Hydran herself marched off, her heels clicking on the floors of her ship, the Black Moon. She entered a large hanger, loaded with modified TIE fighters, X-wings and specialized landing craft, all either stolen or brought along by the defectors from both sides that had joined her growing army.

She marched over to her own landing craft, dubbed the Ninth Head by her elite corps, the Hydra. These warriors were handpicked by the Sith Lady, and were also trained in the ways of by her. These were the original corps of the army, those that Darth Hydran had started with. They were always the first into battle and the last to leave, even if they were rarely seen.

The Ninth Head was already loaded with the Hydra. Some were new recruits to the lady’s personal squad, and some were veterans, warriors from the original Hydra. All were seated and prepared to land, absolute pictures of darkness in their cobalt Stormtrooper armour with the Darkened Legions symbol, a crest of the Empire crowned with snake heads, emblazoned on their shoulders. Some were helmeted, others were not.

“Are you ready?” She asked them.

“Yes, Hydran.” They aid in unison. The Ninth Head lifted off and out of the hanger, engines purring. Soon the craft was on the surface of Vjun, acid rain pelting its top and sides, a sound of drums ringing through the ship. It hovered along, into a planted forest that rose up towards the looming figure of the castle. The pilot manoeuvred it nimbly between the plants until they were at the menacing front gate of the castle, once Vader’s personal retreat.

A Noghri guard, hunched and slightly ragged from the rain, hobbled up to them. “Who are you and what is your business?” He asked in a gruff voice.

Darth Hydran leaned over. “I am Lady Inestra Shee, Sith Lady. Your master called for me.”

The Noghri nodded and opened the gates. As the Ninth Head passed through into a courtyard, the Hydra noticed many more guards about. They took account of every single one they saw, remembering their routes and weapons as they passed.

The ship stopped by a large front door. The Hydra, sheltered beneath an overlooking balcony, leaped out and walked to the doors in formation led by Darth Hydran. The Ninth Head itself was led away by a Noghri to a docking station somewhere in the castle.

The doors swung open and the elite corps of the Darkened Legions entered, their feet beating against the floor as they marched into the dark room beyond.

[Jaden Chanell]

Jaden readjusted her support strap over her left shoulder before she strapped herself into the chair of the cockpit. A number of noises came up from the engines as Jaden relaxed her hands on the controls. The Lambda Class Shuttle ship began to lift off the ground then rotated around till it was faced the darkness of space. The ship cleared the force field then detached its long white wings as it headed toward the orbit of the Vjun.

************************************************

“Hope someone’s home” Jaden muttered to herself inside the cockpit of the lambda class shuttle as it roared over the darkened murky skies of Vjun en-route to the Bast Castle. She had only been there once before, yet those similar feelings of anticipation and excitement filled her body as the ship made its way closer and closer to the castle. This planet was rich in the dark side; Jaden could only imagine the types of secrets this planet contained. The dark side clouds a lot around the galaxy, it was just recently that Jaden discovered one secret of the dark side, this was the new home to the Dark Lord of the Sith. A slight smirk came upon her face “ohhh, the big bad Dark Lord of the Sith” the expression wasn’t meant to escape her thoughts but she continued to ponder about these Sith.

Much of their history is shrouded in secrecy about their cult, however it was known to Jaden that these Sith were very manipulative and were very gifted in the force. She hadn’t known much about them only that the man whom she looked up to as a child was rumored to be one, Lord Vader.

Jaden continued to recall the surrounding Vader events and how much anger filled her when the rebellion began the propaganda about Lord Vader betraying the Emperor on the second death star. Lord Vader was a hero in Jaden’s eyes, a merciless killer, as well as ruthless enforcer. Lord Vader's capriciousness was legendary, silencing officers who disagreed with his rule publicly. She looked forward to the day that she would be given the opportunity to meet Lord Vader, given her record for the Empire. But that day would never come, nothing is like it was. Everything is different now. The Rebels destroyed order, replacing it with constant chaos and civil wars. The Jedi scum have arisen declaring themselves protectors of the galaxy, yet they don’t follow the old creed, going against their own foundations. The Imperial Remnant, instead of restoring order they fight over little bits of power, not realizing the big picture that they are self-destructing. “Places like this reflect the galaxy” Jaden said in angry tone to herself as the ship continued to fly over the terrain until Jaden could clearly see the castle through the protective dark glass on the shuttle.

Many were unaware of the landing pad at the castle, but only a select few who were in the Duke’s good graces were allowed to land on the triangular shaped strip. Fortunate for Jaden, she had accomplished her mission for the Duke, and also had left a number of Jedi alive on Yavin 4 as well. As the ship neared the castle, Jaden could still see the defense turrets as well as the number of battle droids surrounding the perimeter. The ship’s long white wings began to fold upward as the landing gear emerged out from beneath the ship. Within moments the ship made a soft landing on the castle’s landing pad. A light humming noise came from the ship as Jaden shut off the systems and proceeded towards her equipment locker in the back of the shuttle.

A loud screech from the locker came as Jaden looked inside pondering what she would need. The locker contained an E-17D sniper rifle, a dark-grey hooded outfit, a couple changes of clothes, and her lightsaber. “Well it could be worse Jaden, at least these clothes don’t smell like a Wookie…” Jaden said as she looked over only a few items that she had requested placed on the shuttle. She reached only for the grey hooded outfit and slipped it on before closing the locker. She turned toward the exit and pressed a button to lower the ramp.

As the ramp lowered the familiar scent of acid shot into Jaden’s nose even before the ramp finished lowering. Jaden let out a dry gag before relaxing into the scent. “Augh, now smell is that’s worse than a Wookie.” Jaden said as she side stepped on to the metal ramp as it reached the ground. She walked down the ramp noticing that upon landing at the castle the acid rain had begun again. When she reached the bottom she stayed for a moment under the ship protecting herself from the rain, as she slipped the hood over her head for protection.

The acid rain continued to gain pour out from the heavens as Jaden made her way down walkway toward the castle. The rain seemed to intensify as she continued walking taking note of the architecture of the Bast castle before, flashes of lightning began striking down making Jaden refocus on her purpose her. As she neared the large metallic door, the door opened with four grey Noghri armed with different assortments of melee weapons in two rows. They allowed Jaden to enter before then before turning and escorting her into the castle.

Jaden eventually emerged from the dark tunnel into a large room. The room a dim lit room covered in a black marble floor. The room contained a number of items, walkways on both sides of the room going up to three levels, a glass wall overlooking the forest, a number of torches lit by fire along the walls, finally a six meter tall statue of Lord Vader carved in black stone in the center.

Jaden stood in the door way making no eye contact to any Noghri admiring the room. “Go fetch your master and inform him that I have fulfilled my end of the bargain now it is his turn.” The Noghri left Jaden in the room as she removed her hood focusing on the statue. Walking around the statue Jaden let out a slow whistle until she faced the statue’s face. She then knelt down on one knee, looking up at the mask “Your legacy will not die as you have, M’Lord.”

A strong force user is coming, her senses alerted her as she quickly stood back up looking at the direction the force was telling her the figure was coming from. A small gust of wind filled the room leaving an eerie feeling in Jaden’s throat as she waited. Within moments a number of Noghri emerged out of another door outlining the room before an elder man, 6’3 dressed in expensive attire only to be complimented by a curved lightsaber on his hip. His long white hair contrasted by his hate filled yellow eyes. The figure walked toward Jaden with arms bend at the elbow; palms open toward Jaden as a sign of welcome. Jaden not wanting to seem disrespectful bowed at the sight of the Duke of Serenno keeping her face blind to emotion. “It is good to see you again M’Lord.”

The force users in room both stopped for a moment feeling something distant. “What is that?” Jaden said aloud hoping to get reassurance that the Duke of Serenno would know. The presence she felt made her regret her decision of not bringing her lightsaber from the shuttle as her hairs began to spike all over her body. When she looked back at the Duke his face lit up with an evil grin. “It seems that Darth Onythis has achieved his mission.” Jaden looked at him curiously as she felt the presence getting closer. “Come now, Jaden, let us not be rude to our other guest.” The Duke then turned heading toward the source of this feeling as Jaden followed at his side not knowing what to expect...

[Geo Bak'e]

Geo awoke with a sharp start. The planet itself had been giving him chills since the party had arrived, and he was very much looking forward to leaving. Of one of the many things he had learned over the years, Geo knew that if the rain could kill you, chances are that you probably shouldn’t stay there for long. Not that he intended to.

However, Geo knew he needed to get his Padawan back, no matter what the cost was. Niobe was young, with her full potential still a long ways off. In time, he was sure she would become a force to be reckoned with. The problem is, he wasn’t sure who would be doing the reckoning. As a fully trained Jedi, Geo knew Niobe would be capable of many great things. She could easily help solve many disputes for the fledgling New Republic, or help bring it to its knees. No doubt her Sith Master had some subtly ingenious plan to ensure the latter, and today was the day the Jedi began to foil it.

Meanwhile, Geo noticed Split walking back and forth along one of the room’s walls. The Padawan had been pacing since he had woken up, and it was starting to become nerve wracking. Finally, the Knight almost sighed in relief when Split sat down, only to furrow his brow in frustration when the younger man began doing crunches.

“Split…” Geo began while keeping his patience reigned in. “Why don’t you take a break? You won’t be in any condition to keep up if you exhaust yourself now.”

The Padawan sighed but did what he was told, taking a seat on the floor next to his mattress. Geo figured it would be best if he tried to erase Split’s worries, or at least try to calm him down a bit. “Sit,” he said, “We should talk.”

Split did what he was told and had a seat, trying not to fidget. The Knight decided to try to educate his student about the ways of the Sith, and perhaps give him a boost of confidence at the same time. “Split, I don’t doubt that we will confront your sister here on Vjun. I also want you to know something about our enemy, the organization your sister has joined.”

The Padawan merely nodded and listened as his Master continued, “The Sith are…” he paused to think of the right phrase, “…secretive. Too much for their own good. It is said fear is the beginning step to the Dark Side of the Force. A group built on the basis of fear and power will eventually start to keep secrets and stall progress. Sooner or later the Sith will turn on each other.”

Split didn’t seem too convinced, “So, you’re saying the Sith are just going to disappear?”

Geo nodded, “It’s happened before. Quite a few times actually. Exar Kun, Malak, that Sidious person, they all led empires that eventually turned to infighting. This will be no different. We can only hope Niobe does not fall to the Sith teachings completely. But you should know, until the Dark Side subsides, the people who use it will be formidable, in more than one way.”

“How so?” the young man asked curiously.
The Knight shrugged, “In almost every aspect, but as far as you should be concerned, combat will be…troublesome.”

Split merely furrowed his brow, waiting for more details, which Geo gladly gave, “You see, the Sith have something of their own style of lightsaber combat. While fighting, your opponent will throw objects and taunts at you, trying to distract you and make you insecure. The Sith may set you up against Niobe for that very reason. She knows your weaknesses better than anyone.”

Split absorbed the knowledge as it came to him, mentally preparing for the confrontation that was more likely than not going to happen. Geo, however, simply smiled, “Just remember your training. If things start to become too intense, drop back into your defensive stance and try to escape. If you can’t, just keep blocking. If your opponent is drawing on his or her rage, there will be an opening for an attack. Remember, patience is the way of a Jedi.”

Suddenly there was a knock at the door, to which Ranzen eagerly responded. The man from the prior day was there, his arms laden with clothing that would make the Force users look like locals. Upon receiving the garments, the party changed quickly and met the ‘spy’ outside of the inn.

Terin was quick to lead the group through the village, using the covered paths between buildings. Finally, they casually approached the equally dilapidated spaceport, not wishing to draw attention to themselves. Once they were there, a small group of villagers was drawn around a large freighter, waiting for the hatches to open so they could get to work. Soon enough, their unspoken request was answered as the loading ramp dropped down, allowing the villagers to enter to retrieve the supplies they needed.

However, something wasn’t right. Geo could sense an unusual concentration of the Dark Side in the spaceport. There was definitely something lurking. Then it hit him; not something, someone. Looking off to a distant corner of the hangar bay, Geo saw what he was looking for, three strangers just…observing. What disturbed him more was that the Dark Side seemed to flow from them, as if they were rivers that couldn’t be dammed. Looking around him, the Knight saw that Ranzen, Split, and Jade had noticed, too. Something told Geo that they weren’t going to make it to Bast Castle. At least not yet.

[Jade Seye]

Corran. Jade recognized him instantly. What she had not been prepared for, was Luke Halcyon, standing alongside him. Luke had been with them on Nar Shaddaa on their quest to find Corran’s love, Molly, but left the quest to take an injured member of the group home to Yavin IV. Now he, along with the female also standing with them, exuded Dark Side Energy. And Corran was not being held captive as Jade had assumed would be the case. The three stood together, as allies.

Jade looked away, troubled by what she saw. I came to rescue him, not fight him.

Ranzen frowned. “Corran has fallen to the Dark Side,” he commented sadly. “It flows through him as it flows through the others.” Turning away, he began to lead the group closer to the freighter, assimilating them into the mass of villagers who were unloading the vessel. “Keep yourselves cloaked,” he warned.

For Jade it proved to be not so easy a task. She could feel the bond between herself and Corran, and it tugged at her now that he was so close. The Force adept still didn’t quite understand why it was she who had this strange connection to Corran, but her senses told her that his link with Molly was no more. She is gone. Jade was sure of it. After all we went through... This saddened her even more, though she attempted to conceal it.

Suddenly she remembered. “I told Corran I was here,” she began, then halted as all heads abruptly turned in her direction.

“What?” Geo whispered harshly.

“Last night. I... felt him reaching out. I wanted to–”

“–you have ruined everything!” interrupted the bearded man. “Endangered us all, and Niobe as well. Foolish girl!”

Jade chose not to respond to that. “He knows I am here and yet they do not attack. He may have thought me a dream, or a vision. He did not inform the others.” The Force Adept looked downward, in concentration. “Something is – different. He is not like those with whom he stands.”

The pulling sensation grew stronger within her, and she realized without looking that the trio of apparent Darksiders was slowly making their way toward the ship.

“You were saying?” asked Geo sardonically, raising an eyebrow.

But it was Terin they should have been worried about. He had become increasingly agitated during the course of the conversation, and now, following the Jedi Knight’s quick glance toward the approaching group, he promptly panicked. “You mustn’t let them find you!” He choked out, unaware that he was blowing their ‘cover’ – broadcasting their position loud and clear with his emotional outburst.

Jade quickly reached out, laying her hand on the man’s shoulder and sending soothing energies to calm his mind, while attempting to shield him at the same time though she knew this to be fruitless.

Jade...?

The open sending caught the Force Adept by surprise, and she froze, her blood running cold as she slowly turned toward the approaching trio. Then she realized the contact hadn’t been open at all – it had only seemed so through the bond. Corran’s face, in clear view now, was like a rock, hardened features with hooded eyes encircled by shadows. But his eyes themselves told a different story... and so did the bond. Corran?

The Corellian paused, fifty meters distant, and the other two flanking him also paused. Corran’s face had remained expressionless but now the female of the group frowned, her sightless gaze nevertheless seeming to pick the other Force users out of the crowd with ease.

“What have we here?” she asked. And smiled.

[Luke Halcyon]

“Darth Saevita and Darth Ceveir, well that’s just great, their goes my only shot for an ally” Luke thought as he entered his room. Luke flopped himself on his bed. “Now what am I going to do?” Luke thought.

“You always have a friend in me…Luke” the cold snakelike voice cut through Luke like a artic breeze.

“You, what are you doing here? I thought I had you caged?” Luke thought to himself.

“You did, but just like you I got out, it’s not easy keeping secrets from your own mind you know.” The hissing laughter that followed angered Luke. Luke took a calming breath “We cannot keep this up any longer, one or both of us have to go” Luke said out loud.

“Agreed, and I have the perfect spot to make the change.” Venomous said as Luke’s eye’s went wide, and he felt himself falling, falling into blackness, and when he landed on his feet, Venomous was standing in front of him. Neither moved; neither spoke. They stared unflinchingly into each other’s eyes. Surrounding him, hidden by shadows, Luke could sense an alien landscape. He could tell from its pull that it was big, yet at the same time not large enough to contain the two of them. He wanted to look down and see it, to understand this strange ambiguity, but he couldn’t afford to do so, not even for a second-for a second was all it would take to lose his purchase on this precarious balance of power. One blink of an eye and he could be dispelled into the darkness altogether, never to return-and he had no intention of ever allowing that to happen. This world was his, and he would remain like this for as long as it took to ensure that it stayed his. It was just a matter of time. All he had to do was be patient, be strong. Soon, he told himself. It will all be over soon. Just another moment …

But that moment seemed as long as the blackness around him was deep. It was a moment that stretched back to the explosion that first gave birth to the universe, and forward to the time when eternity would turn all the suns cold. It didn’t matter, though. He would endure a thousand such moments to ensure that the world did not fall to Venomous.

“I will not succumb Venomous, I am Luke Halcyon, and I am a Jedi. Like my grandfather before me.” Luke thought determinedly

The slow sly slither of thought came back “And I am Darth Venomous, Dark Lord of the Sith, I will not succumb, either.”

With that Luke’s mirror image finally moved; his hand went to his side and removed his lightsaber. The light from the blade revealed something of their surroundings. To one side there was a dry and rocky ground that stretched out forever, and to the other there was a chasm of terrible blackness, an emptiness that pulled at Luke, drew him to the edge of the precipice upon which he stood. He could tell by Venomous’ gaze that he felt the tug as well. One wrong move and either of them could fall into an embrace of eternal nothingness, leaving the darkened world to the other.

The two advanced slowly toward one another until the two bubbles of light from their lighrsabers touched, Luke having ignited his own blade now, and they were standing face to face. Then, in unison, the two blades rose into the air and came down sharply at the other’s head. They connected in midair with a deadly crackle, sending sparks arcing into the darkness.

Luke felt something sweep over him, as though a deep-ocean wave had just rolled by. He didn’t dare to look around for fear of giving Venomous the advantage in their duel. His world consisted of nothing but those brown eyes and the harsh humming of two lightsabers striking each other in imperfect synch. Fatigue ground painfully at every muscle in his body, but he wasn’t about to give in. He was determined not to allow his place in this world to be usurped.
Parry.
But something had changed, and now primal instincts were whispering to him, warning of the dangers that this change would bring. He couldn’t afford to allow himself to let his guard down. Whatever that deep-ocean wave had brought with it, she had to regret it as a threat.
Lunge, parry.
Did you feel that?
Although the voice came from his opponent, it reminded him too much of his own voice.
I felt it, he replied, stepping to one side as Venomous’ red blade swung past.
Do you know what it is
Luke sensed Venomous’ uncertainty, and his hands gripped his pommel a little tighter.

No he said, taking the lightsaber in both hands and bringing it down at Venomous’ head. Venomous blocked it easily, as though he’d been expecting it. The lightsabers remained locked, crackling menacingly in the quiet. Then Venomous leaned in closerwitha nervous half smile, and his brown eyesfixed Luke through the glow of his weapon.
Something’s coming, he whispered.
Luke desparately wanted to look around, he felt as if the small of his back was on fire. A hole burned there from the stare of an unnamed something that was gradually drawing nearer. But how could he fight it if he had to take his eyes off Venomous to do it?
Backpedal,block,sweep
Venomous lept away, lightsaber poised defensively.
We could fight it together he said.
Luke’s body went cold as suspicion flushed through him. Why should I want to do that?
[i]It’s either that or stand here while it picks us off---first one, then the other. It would be as easy as hunting mynocks.
Stab, deflect
He fought hard, fending off not only the lightsaber but his own suspicions. Ally himself with Venomous? That was tantamount to giving in! He had been subsumed once by Venomous, and he only regained control cause Venomous collapsed from exhaustion. Luke couldn’t rely on that happening again, he was on his own.
Slice, Duck, swing
A voice called out to him, carried on a dark wind that blew from the shadowed lands around them. It called his name, but stretched out over many agonized and tormented seconds, as though it were coming to him from far, far…away.
Did you hear that? he asked Venomous, beginning to feel truly frightened.
I heard it. Venomous’ voice was colored with relief. It’s calling you. It doesn’t want me.
Why me? Luke demanded angrily, slashing viciously at Venomous three times in quick succession. Why not you?
I don’t know. Venomous’ amusement was touched with uncertainty. He retreated with a jump that took him five meters away from Luke.

But you know it will come for you afterward.
kick, advance

At least I won’t have you at my back to worry about when it does!

Again the voice boomed out of the shadows, sounding like the first rumble of a hurricane just hitting land.
Its not honorable to keep your back turned in a fight, Venomous said Nor practical

I can only face one enemy at a time Luke responded, forcing Venomous away with a series of aggressive blows. He moved like he’d never moved before, dazzling even himself with the power and force of his strokes. He was like Ranzen, filled with the force, burning up in a white and brilliant fire.

The image brought with it a reminder of why he was fighting, those Venomous had betrayed in his name. He attacked even more viciously then before. But in the end, all he succeeded in doing was deadlocking with Venomous. Eye to eye, barely centimeters apart, lightsabers crossed between them, they stared at each other frozen. He heard the voice call his name again, and this time it felt so close that he could swear that it was breathing on the back on his neck. Without thinking he swung his saber backwards and turned to look. Darkness was gliding around the two combabtants like a fog, but to one side it was parting, and pale light shone through the gap.
No! I won’t let you kill us!
Venomous flung Luke away from him and ran into the fog. Surprised, Luke fell,but in one force assistant jump was up and bounding after his doppelganger. Whatever was coming from the darkness, he didn’t want to face it, not knowing exactly where Venomous was.

Luke bent backwards at the waist to avoid the attack from his mirror image, balancing on his heels, he used the force to right himself.

It’s here!
What is?
The Shadow!
Luke look around but saw nothing. He and Venomous were momentarily united by their mutual fear of the thing that had come for them. Luke felt the blood drain from his body and his strength begin to fail him, he was tired of fighting. If he let go now, he could join his family in another world, another place, maybe, if the verse would forgive his transgressions.
You could help me fight it, venomous whispered close to his earStand and help me kill it.

How?...Luke started

You fought before, Venmous said. You fought against me, you are strong.

Luke shook his head. He wasn’t a warrior at heart. He’d tried to be, but it had cost him dearly.It had cost him his family.
I was never strong enough to destroy you he said I could only bury you.

You weren’t trying to destroy me Venomous said You were trying to destroy yourself
Luke wanted to deny the accusation. But the scars in his soul burned true of Venomous’ argument
And you know that I can never let you do that Venomous said.
Why not? Luke asked, his face flush with shame
Because I don’t want to die with you. We are bound together you and I, this is a fate we must accept. Venomous said, surprised at his own words Don’t you think I would give you the death that you desire if I could? Venomous continued But we are bound together, I see that now, surely you must too! I could no more live in this body without you than you could without me. I cannot grant you the gift of peaceful death without embracing it myself-and I am not ready to do that.
Luke felt his world shifting around him. He wanted the words to refute Venomous’ claim, but in the end the words never came.
This can’t be happening was all he could manage in a way of defense.

It is Venomous said and you, no we, we must accept it

Luke stared hard at his once dark clone, and just shook his head. I can’t…

then you leave me no choice

Venomous took two steps back and raised his lightsaber horizontally in front of him. Luke tensed in anticipation of a blow that never came. Instead Venomous’ blade flashed upward, spinning high into the blackness and casting a bright red light across the surrounding landscape. Openmouthed, Luke followed the lightsaber’s path in fearful silence. As the blade came down again, Venomous reached out to catch it. Luke could tell instantly that venomous had misjudged the descent, but he seemed incapable of calling out to warn him. He just stood there mutely watching on as the crimson red blade slashed Venomous’ hand and then clattered to the floor. Then from somewhere far away, almost smothered by a terrible, blinding pain, Luke heard himself scream.

Realization flashed like the lightning in the sky across Luke’s mind. He and Venomous were mirror images of each other fighting to the death. What one did to the other, they did to themselves, the information becoming more real the more he looked at the identical wounds on their hands. The only difference, was that they were flipped, right to left and left to right. If he defeated Venomous, then he would defeat himself in the process. Neither could win!
Both combatants rose, leaving their cauterized hands be, they each called to their lightsabers, and both flew to their hand leaving blue and red streaks behind them.
I’ve run for too long Luke whispered
They both turned towards the shadow creature advancing towards them, and Luke finally realized what it was that was chasing them. He thought of his loved ones, his father, mother, sister, Jaide, and the daughter that he never met. All met their fate just because he was a part of their lives. All paid the ultimate price…for him. This grief emanated from the shadows around him, and he stood with Venomous, and raised his lightsaber to the thing that had tormented him for so long…his guilt.

We can only beat it together Luke said as the Shadow creature advanced on the horizon towards the two force users.
And yet I don’t want to lose who I am
I don’t want to lose who I am either, and I hate this place, this is a horrible miserable place Luke responded
This place is all I’ve ever known, this is where I lived. This is where you had me. I had no body, no senses, nothing to call my own. There was just me, trapped in this darkness. It was like a nightmare from which there was no hope of escape. At times I thought I might go mad. In the end, though, I began to surface, and with me came my suffering and torment. The torment that has been affecting you all this time, the torment that created that. Venomous said pointing to the shadow creature coming to destroy them both. It took me years to figure it out. As I recovered you weakened, and it soon became apparent to me that I didn’t have to stay in this nightmare forever, I could make my way out at certain moments of weakness, like when you got angry. Boom an explosion of emotion, and there I was, but you were always there to reel me back in. Like when I killed your master. He deserved it, and you know it, and yet you carry this great guilt as if you did something wrong. It felt great and you know it. But occasional bouts of consciousness’ weren’t enough for me, I wanted so much more, and so I started fighting back. I wanted you to experience this miserable existence, and take your place. But then something happened; your guilt came after both of us! My torment was your torment, and your guilt became my guilt. And impossible as it seems, Luke, we’re stuck with each other. We either live together, or we die together. There is no in between, I see that now. Venomous said turning his back to the shadow creature, and towards Luke.

No there has to be another way Luke said trying to split his attention between the giant creature of shadowy death and his darker self.

There isn’t Venomous’ voice was firm and inflexible. Your hand is proof of that. Cut me, you bleed; Kill me, and you die.
Luke glanced at the wound Venomous had inflicted on himself, and then at the blood seeping through the cauterized flesh from his identical wound inflicted upon him as if by magic. Although the weight of Venomous’ words fell upon him like a fleet of Star Destroyers, he knew that he spoke no lies. There was no point denying it anymore. His mind was inextricably linked to Venomous’, tangled together like roots of trees-and they had been ever since his parents had died. There was no way to cut one without injuring the other. They were conjoined twins, connected in the one place a laser scapel could never reach…their minds.
So what are we? he asked Jedi, Sith?
We’re both and we are neither. We need to accept this and embrace this hybrid creature we have become. We need to merge, Luke, we need to become one. Venomous said
But who will I be? Luke asked
You’ll be someone new…someone strong Venomous answered

Luke couldn’t talk any longer. He stared into the shadows around them, the guilt-creature had hidden in one of them. Was this had they were going to “embrace” each other by killing this creature. Somehow that felt wrong, felt dark…and yet there seemed no other way! A cry shouted out from the darkness. The shadow-creature, his guilt, was calling out to her again. She couldn’t understand the words, but the sentiment was there in its tone.
My guilt calls out to me he said
You have nothing to feel guilty for! Venomous insisted
Everyone who I’ve ever loved is dead, and I’m alive.
[i]Do you think that’s what your accused of? They are not the words of your guilt, Luke; they are your own words!
How do you know what I’m feeling Luke asked
How do I know? Haven’t you been listening to a word I’ve been saying? We are one in the same mind!
Luke recoiled in revulsion at the idea, although he knew it to be true.
You’ve been punishing yourself, punishing us Venomous said and it has nothing to do with their deaths, or not being able to prevent them.

Then what?...

Venomous just looked away and said You feel guilt not for their deaths, but for your life. For having gotten on with it. It’s not that you are alive, it’s that you’ve learned to live and survive without them. It’s that you’ve healed, and you don’t think you should have yet.
Luke wanted to deny it, but couldn’t, he knew this to be true.
You have to let go Luke. There is no shame in that. The time has come to stop grieving. You have already stopped…you just don’t know it yet. That’s all.

Bitterness clouded Luke’s vision. He hated Venomous for reveling the truth, and threw his lightsaber hurling into the darkness to prove it. And as it cut through the darkness he could feel his grief ease and part; he could feel a sense of awakening.
I know what to do now. Luke said calling his lightsaber back to his hand.
The shadow creature appeared in front of them again, and this time the shadows parted revealing himself as a child, as he had been years ago, when he was innocent.
Let’s kill him! Venomous said taking Luke’s hand in his own, leading him towards the child in a deathstrike move.
No Luke said simply and halted in his tracks. No, I mustn’t, we musn’t to kill him would not cure my grief it would compound it. To kill him would send me to the dark side. But that’s what you wanted all along, that’s why you clouded my sight. Venomous said nothing, and seemed infinitely smaller then he’d been seconds ago. You spoke the truth when you said we could never be separated, but you feel that if I embrace the dark side then I will become aprisoner of these shadowlands, allowing you to become the dominant personality. Luke began to circle Venomous blocking the child from him. Venomous snarled and tried to pull away, but Luke held fast, their slick blood soaked hands tried to slipped through but his will was strong. He would not let go. Luke just shook his head I would sooner we both stay in this place then unleash you upon my world.

Venomous tried again to pull away, but Luke just held fast and said It’s time. I’m tired of being lost
The ragged edges of their wounds sought each other and sealed as though it had never existed. Luke gasped at the unsettling sensation, and heard Venomous do the same. He watched with alarm as their entwined fingers melted into each other, as though their skin had wrapped around both hands, binding them together. Luke met Venomous’ eyes and recognized the horror he saw there. Then the two of them stared as the lumpy knot of flesh that was their combined hands began to spread along their arms. Luke could see the bones moving beneath, testing their new environment. Then the knot began to move up their forearms, drawing them closer. Venomous continued to try and fight it, but Luke refused to relent-even though he shared the Sith’s fear and revulsionfor what was happening to them.
There’s still time to change your mind! Venomous screamed We don’t have to do this!
Your wrong, we do have to do this…it’s the only way Luke replied. Despite his determined words, they didn’t ease the dread tightening in his chest. While he knew this was the only solution, he didn’t quite know what the final product would be. As the knot moved up their bodies, mergeing them slowly, the two began to realize what was really happening.
The good and the bad Venomous said
The light and the dark…we must UNITE!


Back in bast castle, Luke’s body was hovering in the middle of his room, arms outstretched as if he were on a cross. The droid that Corran had sent to alert Luke to come and join them for the mission briefing came in and saw this. Before it could report the scene or even ask if Luke was ok, a massive telekinetic blast filled the room and blew everything in it against the walls with great force. When the droid’s sensors came back online, he saw Luke standing in the middle of the room his eyes wide open.

“Are you alright Sir?” the droid asked as it approached the force user.

Luke simply turned and said “Yes, actually, for the first time in a long time…I feel like me again.”

The droid just blinked it’s visual receptors “Well, that’s excellent sir, um, master Ceveir would like you to report to the hangar bay for departure instructions.”

“Sure, I’ll be there in a bit.” Luke responded dismissing the droid. “Right, ok, I remember now, I’m in Bast castle, and the Sith are on the rise. I have to play along for now, and see what their plan is.” Luke grabbed his black cloak and grabbed his grandfather’s lightsaber and one of the Sith sabers. Using the knowledge of Venomous that was now a part of him, he began to channel the dark side of the force just enough so that anyone reading his signature would sense it. He headed towards the hangar bay to meet Ceveir and Saevita to begin their mission.

[Darth Sythis]

Morning had come fast to Bast Castle on Vjun. Already, events began to turn like the cogs of a well-oiled machine, all manipulated by the dark side under control of the Dark Lord of the Sith. Darth Sythis, the leader of the New Brotherhood of the Sith, had awakened his servants to attend to breakfast, their last meal on Vjun. Saevita, Ceveir, Sivan, and Niobe spent the last moments together with their master until the meal's conclusion, then were dispatched to attend to their mission and duties.

Sythis allowed Ceveir to send a servant droid to rouse Luke Halcyon from his rest. Sivan was again sent to attend to Niobe's training for their upcoming future mission, which would be revealed when the time came. Darth Saevita and Ceveir gathered their things, then made their way to the hangar bay to man an airspeeder to take them to the spaceport in the lower valleys. There, they awaited their final accomplice, Luke, to join them.

And now, at this very hour, his servants had arrived at the spaceport, but the Dark Lord sensed more coming. And arriving.

Ah, the mission has been accomplished. My disciple has found her fleet. Excellent. And Jaden has returned to our fold. I sense her now as she enters. It was time to get re-acquainted. The Dark Lord could sense many questions from her. Much curiosity. Lord Sythis made his way to meet her. Yes, indeed many events were congealing together into his final plans. This was just the beginning of it.

As a celebration of the Sith made of metal and stone, the main audience chamber of Bast Castle was a daunting achievement. Designed by Lord Vader and situated in the heart of the castle, it was a cathedral of pure darkness, a place to worship and salute the dark side of the Force. Towering and vaulted, it would have constituted an imposing enclosed space on any ground. The sculptures that decorated its high walls, many commissioned by Emperor Palpatine himself, were designed to make an indeliable impression on all who looked upon them. Like the vast open space in which they were set, they were intended to impress upon visitors the inevitability of the Sith rising once again. Within its tomblike aura, the black stone statue of Darth Vader was centered in the room; its overall result was to humble, to shrink, to reduce in stature any who passed through.

Flanked by his Noghri guards and servants, Lord Sythis entered the room and observed Jaden near the stone visage of Vader. She respectfully bowed and offered greetings to the Dark Lord.

Ah, now she comes as well... he sensed. “It seems that Darth Onythis has achieved his mission.” Jaden looked at him curiously as she felt a presence getting closer. “Come now, Jaden, let us not be rude to our other guest.” He extended a thin, skeletal hand to her. "Be at my side and welcome Lady Shee." Jaden complied.

A beautiful woman with striking features entered the parting doors with her entourage, striding along coolly, taking the room in, her face betraying no clue to what she might be feeling. Also flanked by the elite corps of her Darkened Legions, they followed her without comment. The place was an absolute and unapologetic celebration of the dark side, an embracing of darkness that was almost loving. To almost anyone else, the sheer scale of it was nothing less than mind-boggling. The Sith Lady's mind was not easily boggled.

A fusion of fiery pepper and thick honey, her voice reverberated in the open room, gesturing at the imposing surroundings as she advanced deeper into it. "Lord Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, once called this home." She pointed to the imposing statue of him. "And now it seems the Sith have reclaimed it once again. Magnificent, isn't it?"

"It is. Now, welcome, Lady Inestra Shee. I am Darth Sythis. Or within the galaxy, Malkav Sythis, Duke of Serenno. It pleases me that my servant has found you. It pleases me more that you have accepted my offer in joining us in our cause," the Dark Lord's voice rasped from his cowl. His bony hand rose to his right. "Inestra, this is Jaden, one of my newest servants to join us." The dark-skinned woman nodded in respect to her.

"Come, join us. Leave your escorts here," his voice commanded, "there is much work to do."

Lady Shee gestured to her escorts to leave, then continued on with her new host as the Dark Lord waved a hand and a door hissed open by itself. The side passage emptied into a circular grotto that was as austere as the previous portion of the castle had been adorned with. Lord Sythis took the lead and turned a slow circle. Jaden and Inestra stood inside the doorway through which they had entered. There was no sign of anyone else.

"What is it you wish, Lord Sythis?" Inestra inquired.

Darth Sythis looked around sharply. Behind them, the doors closed, shutting them away from the guard's view. A relay was switched by the invisible tendrils of the Force and a holoprojector was activated. This room was the private command chambers of the Dark Lord himself. A sharp blue image of Naboo appeared.

Peering at the figures in front of him, the Dark Lord nodded to the women. "This is Naboo. It was once in the possession of the Trade Federation until their failure. Two of my servants had also perished here." Turning, Lord Sythis passed a hand over a display among many that was set in a control panel. The image shifted to the spaceport of Vjun. "My new servants are now in the process of boarding a ship to take them there. Upon arriving, they will assume control of their King and his military. No need to know of details how."

He glared to Inestra. "Once this is accomplished, I will need you and your ships to accompany me to Naboo to safeguard it once and for all. Contact your military fleet and inform them that I will be coming with you, once my servants have informed me of their success. For now, you may stay here as my guest."

Jaden stepped forward, announcing herself that she wanted to speak. The Dark Lord smirked behind his cowl and rose a finger. "Ah, Jaden. I was coming to you. I know what you seek. You seek knowledge of our history and more training. I can sense this."

"Yes, Lord Sythis," was her curt reply.

"It will be granted," was his curt response. "Once my servants have departed for Naboo, you will join Sivan and Niobe in training and I will show you our past history when the time comes. For now, you are also my guest and my servants will grant you quart--"

Eyes shutting tight, the Dark Lord of the Sith flinched as a mental ripple tore through his mind. Doing everything possible to locate it, he quickly realized it was a disturbance in the Force. Sensing it growing, he probed harder then casted his sunken eyes to the holoprojection of the spaceport.

Of course. The Jedi were here to stop his servants from leaving. They were quite clever to keep themselves cloaked from them all this time. Now they have failed.

Another relay was triggered. Seconds later, the image of Darth Sivan appeared before the threesome in the chamber. The dark-haired woman kneeled to him. "What is thy bidding, my master?"

"Sivan, there is a disturbance in the Force at the spaceport. See to it that it is dealt with. I sense the Jedi are here. Take your apprentice with you and aide our servants down there."

"Yes, my master. It shall be done." The image faded.

Lord Sythis turned to the pair. "This incident need not concern you. Go and attend to your needs. There is much work to be done before we leave."

[Inestra Shee]

Lord Sythis turned to the pair. "This incident need not concern you. Go and attend to your needs. There is much work to be done before we leave."

Darth Hydran nodded her head to the elder man. “Yes, my Lord. I thank you.”

Darth Sythis turned to her. “One of my guards will guide you to your quarters. Is there anywhere that your troops will stay?”

“My Hydra will stay by my side, Lord Sythis.” She answered.

“Indeed,” he replied, before turning opening a door and letting in the Noghri. “Take Lady Shee and her troops to her quarters. We have business to attend to later.”

A Noghri guard nodded and strode forward, past Inestra to another door, beyond which were the Hydra. He opened it and led Darth Hydran through. The Hydra fell into formation behind her as they were led up flights of darkened stairs to a large door with a keypad beside it. The guard opened the door and allowed the Sith Lady to enter before leaving.

Inestra Shee quickly added a passkey to the door before taking a true look at the room beyond. It was elegant, in a sleek and streamlined kind of way. The bed was low to the ground, and its head board and bedside tables were made of a dark wood. The walls were dark grey, with new-looking tapestries hanging on each wall. There was a small table near a window, which had a chair sitting beside it. On the table was a dark sculpture of Darth Vader, carved from dark stone. There was a door on the far wall, which presumably led to a bathroom, and a door on the wall with the window, which led to a walk in closet.

At the foot of her bed was a large chest, which she had brought with her. Servants had probably carried it from the Ninth Head to this room. Inside were several changes of clothes as well as some of her more precious possessions. The chest itself was made of old, black, semi-petrified wood, with designs carved deep in to its thick wood. These designs were of many creatures, including snakes, rancor, horses, lions and birds, surrounding a large sun-symbol. The chest had been stolen during one of the Darkened Legions raids, and Darth Hydran had taken it as her own.

She strode over to the chest and tapped a code into the lock she had had added to it after she had got it. The lid opened silently and revealed the objects inside. Inestra Shee stood and proceeded to take of her armour. She expertly removed the cape, before proceeding to the actual armour itself. As she removed the pieces, she placed them in the chest, in a section reserved for them. The only thing she didn’t put in the box was her light trident, which was folded into a more compact size for easy carrying. This she laid on the bed.

Soon she stood in the room in only the black undersuit of the armour. This clung to her skin, revealing her curves. She quickly unclasped her hair from it’s braid and shook her head to loosen it. She then proceeded to enter the washroom, light-trident in hand.

She laid the weapon on a counter beside a sink and activated the refresher. She then slipped out of the undersuit and stepped into the refresher, letting the water run down her spine over her tattoo. This was the first real shower she had had in six months. The three and a half minute showers in the Outer Rim did not truly get her clean, and she hadn’t had time to wash her hair in almost a week.

She savoured the refresher, and had to pry herself away from its warmth. She wrapped herself in a thick towel and entered her room again. She opened her chest again and pulled out a pair of long, black boots, comfortable black pants and a sleeveless black shirt. She put on her new outfit and went into the chest again, pulling out an extravagant necklace. It was a metal choker, forged into the images of entwining snakes, their heads meeting at her throat. Their eyes were tiny red crystals, glinting menacingly in the light of the room. It was made out of the remains of her first lightsaber, the Sinister. It had been broken long ago in a horrendous accident and she had gathered the remaining pieces and had salvaged them into this necklace.

She also put on long, black arm bands, which reached from her wrist to elbow, and a belt, which she hung her light trident off of. The leather of these final additions shined.

Darth Hydran looked at herself in a mirror. Her black hair was long and clean, falling in waves past her shoulders. Her eyes were focused, her skin clean.

The Sith Lady took one last object out of the chest: a comm link. She opened the communications and said, “Lillik.”

Her officer’s voice answered her, “Yes ma’am?”

“Prepare to move out,” Darth Hydran replied, “we will be accompanying some friends to Naboo in a short time. We must be pre pared for our guests.”

“Of course, ma’am.” Lillik said.

“I also want escort squadrons prepared, as well as weapon systems online.”

“Who will these guests be, milady?”

Inestra grinned. “A Duke shall be riding our ships, Lillik. A Duke.”

She could almost hear the shock in his voice as he spoke. Almost. “A Duke?”

“That’s correct. Now I have matters to attend to.”

“Alright, madam. Your will is done.” The link closed.

Darth Hydran stepped out of her room, past the Hydra, who instantly followed behind, their armour clinking as they marched. She came to a Noghri guard and ordered, “Take me and my troops to the Training Room. We have some practice to do.”

[Adena Tadrro]

The spaceport hanger smelled of oil and hydraulic fluid and heat from the slowly-cooling engines. The woman who had so recently been Adena Tadrro watched the hooded and cloaked villagers and was unable to keep from feeling a sense of authority. It was the first time she had set foot outside the castle since their arrival, and the title of Sith Apprentice was a weight she could feel on her shoulders. It was not a bad thing, but when she looked down upon the throng of petty villagers unloading their cargo, her head was filled with thoughts about how easy it would be to terrify these people, how effortless it would be to tear them apart with only her mind. The things Sythis had taught her... Oh, he had made her into a weapon. He had made her into so much more than she could've ever hoped to learn.

Absent-mindedly, she fingered the amulet around her throat. It hung cold and heavy around her neck, a comfort now. She knew everything she needed to summon the spirit of Darth Nihilus, and only she and Sythis had that knowledge.

She was wrapped completely in her cloak, her hood drawn up, only her eyeless face exposed. The rest of her was hidden from sight. She was clad in the bodysuit Sythis had given her, the sleeves still removed, but she had removed the back of the suit as well. She had spent the night before in preparation for her "emergence" from the castle as Sythis' apprentice, and to honor her master's knowledge, she had branded a whole new set of dark side glyphs into her back. That had proved much more difficult, but she had created two columns of glyphs by fashioning the runes out of metal, heating the metal until it glowed red-hot, and then quickly spacing them out on the floor and lying right down on top of them, pressing her back down against the heated metal. The pain was beautifully excruciating, and pulling the hot metal pieces out of her skin once they had cooled was even worse, but the end result was exactly what she wanted -- dark runes in two columns down her spine, from her shoulder blades to the very small of her back.

Also, her raised hood hid what she had secured to the top of her head, ready for wear -- a light metal mask fashioned to look exactly like Darth Nihilus' own. She had devised a way for it to stay securly on her face simply by pressing it there. When she had shown Sythis her idea, he was almost delighted by it, and relished in her adoration of the late Sith Lord.

She was pulled from her thoughts when she saw one of the villagers watching her. The hood shadowed most of the face, but it was easy to tell by the angles of the cheekbones and the curve of the mouth that it was a woman. Something about her didn't ring right with her, so she reached up into her hood, took ahold of the Sith mask, and slid it down over her face, then walked with sure strides towards the woman. "What have we here?" she asked, the corners of her blood-red lips quirking into a smirk. She stopped before her, folding her arms. "You're a pretty little thing."

The woman stared at her for a moment, then bowed her head low. "Madam."

"No, no, I think 'Mistress' would be the proper title for a petty villager like yourself." Saevita furrowed her brow and leaned close. Inside herself, she knew something was wrong with the woman in front of her. "Tell me, woman... Where are you from?"

"The village, Mistress." She bowed her head; her eyes were gleaming, without fear or trepidation.

"Really?" Saevita grinned then, her teeth flashing white in the blood-red of her mouth. "Then why don't you have the local accent?"

Before she could investigate further, there came a sudden pull in the center of her mind. Saevita's head swung around to the left. A headache grew in the center of her mind. When she drew on the dark side to make it fade, she felt it.

No, no, no... Something's not right!

She furrowed her brow beneath the mask, studying everyone. She pulled on the dark side a little more and could definitely feel it now. The Force was present among them. Or at least, some of them. She selected a cloaked figure in general and pushed her Sight through the cloth of his hood, ignoring it completely. His aura and the shape of his face were unfamiliar. She looked at someone else and did the same thing, pushing her gaze past material things, but again, she saw no one she recognized. She made her way through the villagers, searching for something she didn't understand, when all of a sudden she felt a sudden pull within her mind.

A villager had looked at her, but was turning his face away as she turned towards his. She took a step towards him, watching him as he bent down to pick up another crate. She could tell it was a male by the width of his shoulders and the way he carried himself, but there was something about his movements that were very familiar. Too familiar. She felt a sudden plummeting feeling in the pit of her stomach. No... No, it can't be... Not here... Swallowing hard, she took a deep breath and pushed her Sight into the shadows of the stranger's hood. There was a shield up; a subtle shield, but a shield nonetheless. Her eyes wandered down and she could see, hidden inside his cloak, the form of a lightsaber. A wave of dread crashed through her, and then she began making her way towards him.

He tried to turn away, tried to make it look casual, like he didn't see her coming and was trying to duck aside, but she hurried to him and grabbed his arm. She poured herself into the touch and pushed through his mental barrier. The light side of the Force hit her like a burning pain in the center of her mind, and she found herself staring into Ranzen Elara's face deep in the shadows of his hood.

She gave a shuddering breath, surprised at the ache in her chest. "No..."

His eyes widened when he realized who was underneath the mask. "Adena!"

Unable to control herself, she bared her teeth in a snarl. "I won't answer to that name!" She saw his hand move under his cloak for his lightsaber and she reached for her own where it was secured against her thigh. "Don't do it, Ranzen... Oh, Gods, please, I beg you, don't make me raise a blade against you!"

"Gods, Adena..." His words sounded pained inside her mind. He reached out and brushed fingers over the skin of her arm. "What have they done to you?!"

"I... I did it to myself."

His eyes widened in the shadows of his hood. "In the name of the Force, why?"

"I'm a Sith Apprentice now."

She saw his hand moving towards his lightsaber again, and she stepped closer, grabbing his shoulders, a woman pretending to scold the "villager." "Don't do it! Don't make me go for my own lightsaber, don't make me fight you! I can't hurt you, Ranzen, not even now. I won't."

Out of the back of her head she saw Ceveir watching her closely, and with an inward cry she bent down, grabbed the crate at his feet, and shoved it into his arms. "Go," she said under her breath, "just go! Get back on the freighter and stay under cover! You'll be safe there, I'll make sure nobody finds you..." In his mind again, she said, "They will kill you if they find you! Please, do as I say, I don't want to see you hurt!"

"Adena--"

"It's Darth Saevita!" She pushed him towards the freighter, yelling at him like she scolded the other man. "Get out of my sight, don't let me see you again!" "I'm begging you with my whole heart, do as I say!"

"Adena," he said softly, "I'm not alone--"

She stared at him, and then his words sank in. Jedi are here! She whirled around, her eyeless gaze plunging through hoods in search of a familiar face. Frustrated, she reached out and grabbed a passing villager, ripping his hood back. A stranger stared back at her. She turned to the next and grabbed them, revealing again someone she didn't know. Then she caught another's arm and when she tore the hood back, an unflinching Geo Baké was staring back at her.

She heard Luke's voice shout up a warning cry of "Jedi!", but it sounded as if it were coming from a great distance. Ranzen was at her back, and Geo facing her. The old man wasn't going anywhere near his lightsaber, he was just staring patiently at her, his face placid.

Feeling cornered and afraid, she turned back to Ranzen. A lightsaber ignited somewhere. Shouts went up from the villagers and they scrambled for the cover of the freighter. Lifting her masked gaze to her former master, she whispered, just barely audible over the growing din of a fight swelling behind her, "Are you here to kill me?"

"No," Geo said, behind her. "We're here to save you."

"Save me?" She could feel her anger mounting, a rage burning deep in her stomach. "Do I look like I can be saved?!"

"Anyone can be saved," Ranzen said gently.

Saevita sidestepped away from both of them and swept her cloak open, showing her lightsaber at her thigh. "There is work here that I need to finish, Ranzen. And you must forgive me, but I cannot stop now."

Ranzen's lightsaber sped into his hand, but his stance hadn't changed. "You don't need the dark side, Adena. Look what it's done to you -- is it really worth it?"

"You don't know what I can do, Ranzen!" She laughed; a crazed laugh. "It's incredable! I can raise the spirits of the dead!"

"You don't know what you're dealing with," Geo tried. "Please, Adena, come back with us, and-- Split, no!"

A fight had broken out. Saevita's 360-degree vision allowed her to see it out of the back of her head. Luke was dueling like he had something to prove; Corran was only half-visible behind his blurring blade. Now she saw Split rushing towards her from behind, lightsaber blade flashing. She whirled with a dancer's grace and flung her cloak off her in the same movement, hurling it behind her, right into Split's face. In the moment that he batted it away, Saevita ignited her own blade and raised it to strike him down--

Another blade met hers, and she turned her head quickly to see Geo had intercepted her blow. "Forgive me in turn," he said gently, "but I cannot permit you to harm a fellow Jedi."

With a roar, she pushed Geo's blade away and slashed at him, forcing him back. She saw Split behind her, running towards her, but his master raised his hand. "No, Split! Stay back!"

She heard Ranzen's blade ignite. Forgetting everything else, she turned and saw he was about to leap into the fray and defend his fellow Jedi. Teeth gritted tight, Saevita drew on the Force and jumped, propelling herself up into the air and over others' heads, landing directly in front of him. She brought her blade around slowly, slow enough for him to block, and his eyes first widened in surprise, then narrowed in disappointment. "I thought you weren't going to fight me," he said.

"I'm not," she said in his mind. "But I won't let you fight with the others. I won't let you get hurt."

"You are either with us, or... Or you're against us."

"I've always been with you, Razen. I always will be." She straightened, dragging her blade back and forth along his, spitting sparks. Once again, he tried to duck around her, and once again she stopped him.

"If you are with me," he grunted, pushing his blade against hers, "then come back to us! Fight with us, we could overthrow these Sith!"

"I am a Sith," she whispered, hissing the words through the mask, jerking her blade away and slashing at him with it. He batted her blade aside and stepped in close, but she knocked him back with a mild Force-push and advanced, catching his blade again. "I will always be a Sith. I will never be a good Jedi, Ranzen, I can never be as perfect as you are."

"I'm not perfect, no one is... Please come back with us."

"I can't do that," she answered. He lunged forward, slashing at her, and she caught it and threw it back. "I will only fall into darkness again. I'm weak, and I know it. But I can promise you this." She whirled, knocking his defense aside and slipping close to him, their crossed blades almost hitting her chest. "When I do all that I need to do, there will be nothing left for me in this life. I promise you that I will call you again, and when I do, I will tell you where I am, and you may come find me and kill me."

"I won't kill you," he answered firmly, pulling away as not to hurt her with his blade. He advanced on her again, bringing his blade high and swiping it down, letting her defend herself with a simple block.

"You have to," she replied, dancing with him. "I would kill myself, but I'm afraid of dying alone."

In truth, everything was going quite well. Her efforts at blocking Ranzen was enough to make it look like they were thoroughly dueling, which would be enough to keep Ceveir and Luke from noticing she had no intention of hurting him. Also, their mental conversations gave them both the look of utmost concentration, which provided the illusion they were both trying to best each other's thoughts. She was covering her own tracks; holding her own for this long against a Jedi Master might also improve her standing with Darth Sythis.

"Adena, you have to move out of my way. I must defend my fellow Jedi. If you're not going to fight me, then help me!"

"I don't give a womp rat's ass about them! If they will, my Master's plans for me will be ruined, and I can't let that happen."

"If you don't care about them, why do you care about me?"

She spun her weapon in her hands, keeping him from passing her. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

A sudden, sharp crack brought her attentions behind her. Something had pushed Luke and Ceveir into a pile of crates, throwing them onto their backs. Luke she couldn't have cared less about, but Ceveir would be worth saving in Sythis' eyes. She whirled around and put distance between herself and Ranzen in one movement by vaulting into a one-handed backhandspring. With the Force behind her, she poured all her speed into her legs and moved so quickly in front of Ceveir that she seemed to just appear there.

Geo Baké's blade was coming straight for her; she blocked hard with one hand and pulled Ceveir to her feet with the other. She heard Luke shout for help and blatantly ignored it, jumping at Geo and the apprentice at his side.

She rained most of her blows at Split, the lesser-trained of the two. If she could would or even kill Split, she knew Geo would falter, and dispatching the old man wouldn't be a problem at that. She'd managed one good swing that burned a hole through Split's pants leg, but before she could strike his actual leg, she sensed Ranzen sprinting up behind her.

Saevita sprang into the air, twisting once as Ranzen passed beneath her, his blade meeting empty air. Landing behind him, she let him turn and face her before attacking.

"I won't let you harm them!" he shouted in her mind.

"Don't fight me, Ranzen!

His eyes darkened, intensified, as he struggled to keep himself between his fellow Jedi. "Tell me why you won't harm me."

"You are my ideal, Ranzen Elara. You are everything I want to be and will never attain. No one cuts down their own dreams, even when they know they'll never make it that far."

He held his blade cracking and sparking against her own, staring at her for a moment. "You're no Sith."

"Maybe, maybe not. But I've got to try."

[Corran Antilles]

Everything happened so fast and suddenly that Corran felt disoriented for a moment. The energy of the force-push had pressed the breath out of his lung first and then Saevita had pulled him up again as if he was a lifeless puppet. Now she was fighting against Ranzen and that older, bearded Jedi, obviously the teacher of the young boy who was joining their duel. The kid attracted the majority of Saevita’s fight. And Corran understood her plan. Weakening the group with the loss of their youngster. More like a reflex Corran had his double-sided lightsaber in his hand, the red blades ignited. Luke, who stood on his feet again too, appeared next to him, his own weapon ready. “We need to do something, Ceveir.” He addressed Corran. But the Corellian hesitated.

“Ceveir?” Corran heard Luke’s voice again, knowing that the younger man expected that he would lead the fight. But Corran just watched closely. Even when it had been just seconds, they appeared like hours to him. Like the slow motion replay of a shockball game, he saw the movements of the combatants. For the first time since days Corran restored his balance in the Force, using best of both sides. He knew somehow how everybody would move next, even before the fighters knew themselves. Especially the kid was an activated datapad, ready to read. Your Master needs to teach you blocking your feelings. Corran felt sympathy for the younger one as he caught his thoughts. Your sister embraced the dark side voluntarily. Better run. But nobody better than Corran was aware of the close bonding of siblings. Then he realised that Jade was watching him. The aura he saw around her was sizzling almost as she prepared herself to use her adept skills to decide the fight. Their eyes locked. Corran wanted to tell her, that he was no Sith. But it was too dangerous to let down the walls he had build around his feelings. So he hoped that she would know it simply.

“Ceveir? What are your waiting for...? Oh, frak it!” The impatient voice of Luke sounded through the hangar and in a flash he jumped forward, being the distraction Saevita was waiting for. As the older Jedi turned to block the new attacker’s onslaught, her lightsaber slashed down. Noooooooooo!!! somebody screamed in Corran’s mind as he dived into the fray. Saevita’s blade was stopped by his own, just a few centimeters in front of the boy. “Traitor.” She hissed, her eyeless face distorted with rage. “I thought you would prefer a challenge instead of slaying children.” Corran smirked evilly. Their blades produced a rain of sparks between them. His physical strength gave him an advantage as Corran used his weight to lean against the connected sabers, pushing Saevita backwards.

As the female Sith stumbled, Ranzen appeared next to Corran. Without any words the two fighters co-ordinated their motions like they had done before. A long time ago as it seemed , back then on Korriban. Knowing that there was no use for a deception anymore, Corran’s mask disappeared. He felt the wave of relief from the Jedi, especially from Jade, but also the anger and hate of the Sith about his betrayal. “Traiiiiitooooorrrrr!!!” This time it was Luke screaming. Corran whirled his lightsaber around but something else than his blades stopped his former friend. The smell of ozone filled the air as a lightning hit the durocrete in front of Luke’s feet. Everybody, but Jade, was stunned. She smiled slightly. “There’s a storm front coming.” Corran couldn’t but grin. Never underestimate a force adept. Jade wasn’t wielding a lightsaber but nevertheless she was a weapon herself.

The ancient fight between Jedi and Sith stopped for the fraction of a second. Corran knew the old light side teachings about fighting only for defence, but this time it wouldn’t work. “It’s now or never.” The Corellian took the lead, attacking Saevita. Ranzen understood. He followed the balancer into the battle, even when he was using a less aggressive fighting style than his companion. The older Jedi Master and his student didn’t hesitate with confronting Luke, while Jade was covering them with her forces of nature, ready to strike.

Fighting Saevita, Corran was surprised how strong that woman was. It had been five years since Corran had started his Force training. Permanently enhancing his skills in the different fighting arts of the light and the dark side, combined with his martial arts knowledge based on his CorSec past, Corran had been arrogant enough to believe that there would been only a handful of other force users, matching his ability. Now he realised that Saevita was one of them.

Her rage, supported by the dark side energy of Vjun, made her to a more powerful opponent than he expected.

"Damn you, Ceveir! Damn you to the nine Corellian hells!"

[Jade Seye]

He didn’t turn. This thought kept repeating itself in Jade’s mind as the wind picked up around the battling group, steadily increasing in strength. Corran didn’t turn. Her hair whipped about her face, yet somehow never seemed to obstruct her vision, and she discarded the billowing peasant’s cloak she had borrowed, letting it fall to the platform. So far, they had for the most part disregarded her, either due to her lack of obvious weapon or her shielding ability. She gazed up toward the murky sky, drawing on her affinity with nature to strengthen her. On this planet, that continued to prove difficult, as the dark side was more powerful in this barren land.

But Jade had other abilities. The communication that had taken place between the masked one known as Saevita, and the Jedi Master, Ranzen, although not entirely clear to her mind, had nevertheless not escaped her notice; neither did their seeming unwillingness to harm one another. She expanded her mind to encompass the entire group, stretching her senses out through winding tendrils of Force to make herself hyper-aware. If a droplet of sweat fell, she would know it. Briefly she let her mind touch Corran’s, and sent her deep feeling of relief through the link they shared, not in words but in raw emotion.

A crash of lightning came down with a loud crack: the darksider she remembered as Luke, using Saevita’s original plan, had managed to wear Split down enough to land a death blow to the young student. Both Jedi leapt back in unison as the bolt struck Luke’s blade just before it made contact, pinning him to the spot until the energy subsided.

I could finish this so easily, the Force adept realized morbidly, as lightsabers began clashing together again. One pinch of a heart valve, one burst blood vessel in the brain... But her senses, washing over the fighters and rolling back to her in waves now, told her beyond the shadow of a doubt that both of these self proclaimed Sith were redeemable. They were fighting themselves even as they battled the Jedi and Corran. Like I did, once. Jade knew that if she could crawl out of the pit of darkness that had been her previous life, anyone could.

Suddenly, blaster fire erupted from the perimeter of the makeshift battleground – they had been surrounded by Noghri guards as the battle raged. Almost without conscious thought, Jade’s hands went out, and a ripple of Force energy bent the light around her, expanding toward the reptilian aliens. Red particle beams dissipated mid-air before ever reaching their targets, and the light-bending ripple passed harmlessly outward through those closest to her, only to increase in intensity as it reached the Noghri, sending them flying backwards through the air.

Before they could all hit the ground, Jade had rushed to Split’s side, tugging him from the duel with Luke and moving him into a protected position behind her to let Geo fight the darksider alone. “I think you have done enough,” she answered his surprised expression, before he could ask the question. The boy was clearly exhausted, and she could see evidence of a near miss on a charred portion of his pants leg. He had done an admirable job, but she would not allow him to be pounded relentlessly as the perceived weak link, when Geo was far more capable, especially without the added worry of protecting his Padawan.

“I can still fight!” Split protested, his voice ragged.

“I know,” Jade answered. “But they are using you as a pawn. I have made the fight more even,” she added, glancing toward Corran and Ranzen as they continued to battle Saevita.

Ranzen caught her gaze almost immediately. “We must retreat!” he shouted over the din. Saevita’s lightsaber sliced down through the air just then; he blocked it right in front of his face, then pushed it away. “We must warn the Academy and the New Republic of this threat!”

The effect of this statement was to cause the darksiders to fight even more zealously than before. Retreat? If we run now, they will cut us down...

But Ranzen was already attempting to break away from the duel he shared with Corran, leaving the balancer to continue the fight alone. Corran’s red, double bladed lightsaber blurred in a circular motion as Saevita’s blows rained down upon him in earnest, now that the one she refused to truly fight had abandoned the battle.

I can’t believe it... Jade thought, alarmed at the turn of events. What had been a match in their favor had suddenly changed dramatically as the too-focused Jedi Master broke into a run for the ship they had arrived in, on the next landing pad. My ship. Where does he think he can go without me? “I have to stop this,” she said aloud, seeing that Geo and Corran had not been able to so easily break away from their duels to do what Ranzen had ordered. Gathering the living Force around her, she briefly touched their minds to warn them of her intention, and to promise they would be unharmed.

Then the lightning came. Again and again it struck, blinding, deafening, mere centimeters from the combatants. Corran and Geo slowly began to break from the fighting as each bolt grew dangerously closer, scoring the ground around them with black pockmarks, and Jade was finally able to pull them even farther back using the Force, to join Split behind her.

“Go! I’m right behind you,” she called, as the thunder subsided to a threatening rumble above. The scent of ozone filled air all around them; the buildup of electricity was palpable. It needed only to be drawn together, focused...

Saevita, understanding now, turned her attention finally to the Force adept. “Nice trick,” she commented, and Jade could sense the woman’s grin even under the mask. “I have a trick for you.”

With that, she lifted her arms to chest level, and Jade could see evidence of recent ritual scarring. She felt a gathering sensation from the woman, and braced herself as a shockwave of piercing white light erupted directly from the palms of her hands, accompanied by a peal of thunder all its own. Not again, Jade thought as the Force energy struck her directly in the chest.

Luke took this opportunity to advance toward her, his lightsaber raised. “I’ll finish her off,” he snarled.

But Jade didn’t go down. This wasn’t Force lightning; she realized, but something else entirely. Something Saevita couldn’t quite control. Rather than fight against the assault, the Force adept tried to take in as much of the energy as she could withstand, just as she had done with Exar Kun, inside her mind, all those months ago.

Luke hesitated in his advance as Jade’s eyes closed in concentration, her fists clenching. The rumbling in the dark sky overhead transformed into a physical rumbling, the very ground beneath them beginning to tremble as the Force adept channeled every bit of the darksider’s energy through her body into the ground.

A fissure opened up in the duracrete directly in front of Jade, and shot toward Luke with the loud gravelly sound of rock grating against rock, widening as it traveled along the hangar floor. He dove to one side to avoid it, and it then snaked its way toward Saevita, who also took evasive action to avoid falling into the ever deepening crevasse, leaping upward onto a pillar that threatened at any moment to topple over onto on the now heaving ground. Her hand shot out again toward Jade, this time clenching into a fist, and the Force adept felt her stomach suddenly twist painfully, as if someone were attempting to rip it from her body.

Her reaction was immediate and instinctive, as she reached out with her mind to find something of her own to twist, cutting off oxygen to the brain...

...when she realized they were no longer alone.

[Darth Sivan]

Goggles tight around her face, Sivan and her apprentice, Niobe, raced into the desolate spaceport of Vjun in their speeder bikes, the pedestrians in their pathway quickly moving to avoid being struck as neither reduced speed. For a moment, Sivan's fury at sensing Ceveir's betrayal through ripples of the Force blotted out everything-- reason, sight, the world. When the red cleared from her vision she was already approaching the docking bay where the battle was taking place. Already, she could sense the dark side of the Force working with her fellow darksiders, but there was one she sensed was using the weather to her advantage. She felt a streak of the dark side in her as well.

But first, I will condemn Ceveir to his death and the rest of the Jedi with him... His betrayal in the Force had hurt her. All this time he played them all for fools. Now he would pay.

Sivan signalled Niobe to park her speeder-- she would lead on foot and aide Saevita and Luke, who were still holding their ground but eventually would lose it, especially with the Force adept using the weather. Sivan could sense Saevita in trouble, then noticed the cracks along the floors. This one had to be stopped.

Parking their speeders, they were already on the move, pounding across the pavement straight for the battle group. She scurried into the docking bays, moving low and fast and working her way toward the main docking bay where the fight was being held. The Sith Mistress swung around the corner of a double door and abruptly stopped, melting back into the duracrete walls. There inside were Luke and Saevita combating the Jedi and the woman Force-user. She could sense this one had expected her. No matter, she would confront and finish her off.

She turned to Niobe. "I will take this one. You will find your brother and eliminate him if he does not join us. I sense one of the Jedi has retreated away, so the odds are in our favor."

"Yes, Mistress," Niobe nodded, her hand slipping into her dark robes to pull out her lightsaber.

"Go now!" Sivan hissed. Niobe's dark figure raced out into the fray to search out her brother.

The Sith Mistress emerged from her hiding spot and faced her enemies. One of the Jedi had left, Luke was engaging Ceveir and an older Jedi, while Saevita confronted the Force adept. Sivan could sense Niobe's brother not too far away, but left that problem to her apprentice to correct.

"Saevita!" she growled. "Leave this one to me! Search and destroy the Jedi who have left for the docking bay!" Jade and Ceveir turned to encounter Sivan standing there with lightsaber brandished and ignited with its red energy blade sizzling in the air.

Saevita lifted her lip even more at the realization they had the upper hand, creating an exaggerated sneer. "They won't escape, Sivan." When she stared her sightless face toward Ceveir, she lifted her chin arrogantly. "You won't be able to save them all, traitor."

Sivan nodded and lifted a finely shaped dark eyebrow to the woman with honey-brown hair. "The dark side I sense in you, my pretty... why keep up this conflict anymore and join us instead? You would be a much better asset than this traitor." Her voice was full of smugness.

The Sith could sense the elements in the air and the ozone tingling within the Force. A bolt of lightning crashed down and struck a few feet away from her.

"Stay back!" Jade warned. Ceveir forced-pushed Luke, then spun to face Sivan with his double-bladed lightsaber. Geo rushed up to the challenge but was held back as Luke once again pressed his attack. Jade and Ceveir would have to face Sivan alone.

"It's over, Sivan. As soon as we escape, the galaxy will know the Sith have returned and we will stop you."

Sivan's mouth stretched into a dangerous, mocking smile. "You cannot stop us nor the dark side... traitor." The palm of her hand lanced out and the dark side of the Force smashed into Jade's chest like a battering ram, sending her flying to the other side of the bay. Fueled by pure rage and her desire to purge the Jedi, even as much as killing Ceveir for his betrayal, her retaliation was vicious, even for a Sith.

"NOO!" growled Ceveir and he lunged forward to attack. Sivan's blade met his and they began to dance. Their energy blades grated against each other as the Sith pressed her attack, fueled by pure rage. She didn't care if she got hurt-- there was little anyone in this galaxy could do to her physically that would equal what Ceveir had been done to her emotionally with his betrayal. That utterly callous attitude came with certain advantages: if she took a blow, it didn't matter; if she hit Ceveir so hard she hurt herself, she didn't feel it. A flurry of strikes, a series of rapid-fire attacks and parries, and it would just be a matter of time when an opening would present itself. She would then have the pleasure to sink her crimson blade into the traitor's chest.

"I sense the bonding between you and her, Ceveir.." she hissed, keeping her face carefully expressionless. "How dare you... after all we shared."

Ceveir only grinned more widely at her. "Your emotions have clouded your judgement about me, Sivan. Didn't your master teach you about letting your emotions getting the best of you?" he reminded her. Their blades suddenly crossed and held steady as they stared into each other's eyes.

"We'll see who's emotions will get the best of each other when I kill her...," she sneered. Her fingers gripped the lightsaber's hilt, trembling with anticipation, with the urge to kill. The metal warmed in her grip, thrumming with the energy bleeding off her lightsaber. "After I kill her, you will be next. I swear it."

"Not if you get past me!" Ceveir said quickly, then resumed their dance. A bolt of lightning suddenly rained down and struck behind the Sith. Sivan's eyes narrowed until they were nothing more than slits as she looked past her nemesis. Jade stood behind him and had regained her stance. She was once again calling down upon the elements to help the Jedi... and Ceveir. Another bolt crashed down and Sivan nearly avoided it. Her gaze was piercing and the hint of a sneer tugged at one corner of her mouth. She knew how to end this.

Suddenly, Ceveir raced to press his attack on the Sith, while Jade tried to summon another from the skies above. Sivan's gaze shot to the source of another incoming lightning bolt, then Force-pushed the traitor toward the course of it. The bolt struck mere inches away from him and the flash of pure light blinded Ceveir, just enough to keep him distracted. Sivan turned her attention to Jade, who merely stood with mouth agape in shock that she could have been the cause of Ceveir's death just now.

Without a word, Sivan brought her red energy blade up and spun it expertly in the air in an outright challenge with Force-speed. Jade's eyes widened and pushed off to the side to avoid her strike. The Sith's teeth drew back in a grimace that was nothing short of vengeful and her face contorted with hatred as the tip of her blade sliced into Jade's thigh. The Force adept cried out in pain as she gripped her leg and fell upon the dirt, the wound quickly cauterizing from the lightsaber's blow. The pain had severed her connection with the weather.

Sivan spun and stared at her, her face twisted with more hatred than she had ever seen even as she realized she was looking death in the eye.

"Time to die, bitch..." Sivan turned her blade and brought it down for the killing blow. Ceveir's blade whipped forward to meet hers to block it. He had denied her again! In a final act of rebellion she spit at his face. "Damn you Ceveir, to all of the galaxy's hells..."

His eyes narrowed, then he slapped her, smashing his own hand against her cheek with the power of the Force-- she flew back and fell onto the ground. Without opening her eyes, Sivan began hauling herself back up, ignoring the agony across her face. When she opened her eyes, her gaze didn't meet any others. Ceveir had grabbed Jade and ran off to the docking bay where the other Jedi had retreated.

"I will find you Ceveir!" she promised as her fingers touched against her burning cheek, the sound of her lightsaber still humming in the air.

"I will find you..."

She took to the chase again.

[Luke Halcyon]

“What are you doing?” Luke thought to himself as he dodged Geo’s thrust, but only by a hair. Rolling away, Luke came up in a crouch and blocked the follow up blow by the older Jedi. “Oh right, staying alive.” Luke answered himself.

“Defend yourself Traitor!” Geo said drawing his staff back for another round of blows. “Well at least Corran was distracted by the other fighters; I don’t know how much more of them both I could have taken.” Luke thought as he parried three quick strikes from Geo’s staff. “And I think Geo’s gotten better since he fought Venomous.” the thought entered his mind as he blocked 6 times in quick succession. The lightsider seemed to be determined to end this day with Luke on the end of his staff, as if reading Luke’s mind Geo lunged forward trying to skewer him. Luke dodged letting the force staff’s pole slide along his flank, and elbowed Geo in the nose. Geo fell back, and Luke followed up with a force push, sending the Jedi 30 feet away.

“You may have technique, but I’m still younger and quicker.” Luke said to Geo as he landed. Luke didn’t advance on Geo, instead turning away and activating the comlink behind his ear. “R1-9 come in.” he said to his droid co-pilot back at his ship.

“Oh Master Venomous Sir, how may I serve thee.” The culture accented robotic voice said through the com.

Luke almost cringed at the things he had done to 9 the past few weeks. He reminded himself to give him an oil bath when things calmed down. “Uh, hi 9, it’s me Luke, I need you to start the ship up and home in on my signal.”

“Oh Master Luke sir, I’m so glad your back, you had me very worried. Just the other day I was telling the Edge’s hyperdrive how I knew you’d come back to me. I just knew it I did. And here you are, I told that hunk of junk that I’d be right…I can’t wait to see the look on his digital face when I tell him.”

“9, will you just do it.” Luke said as he turned back just in time to block an incoming strike. Luke blocked hard to the right, then in the next instance found his blade on his left after Geo had spun around with great speed and tried to catch Luke off-guard. Back in the ship 9 ran through the corridor’s yelling “Thank the maker, for my true master has returned.”

“Geo spun again, his force staff drawing back only to be brought down hard on his opponent, Luke blocked the blow overhead, and Geo landed a solid kick to his face. Luke fell back to the ground, but recovered quickly by backward somersaulting to a crouching position. “You hit pretty hard for an old guy” Luke said standing.

“Age is merely a number to one who travels with the force. Unlike you Sith who manipulate the force as a child, we Jedi live with it, meld with it, and merge with it. This is an experience you will never live long enough to know, for I will make it my mission to see that you pay for the crimes you’ve committed against the Jedi. Luke seemed to absorb the words for a moment. Unlike Corran who could switch sides and be welcomed with open arms by his friends, Luke had no friends to rejoice at his crossing, his safe return from the dark land. All that would be awaiting him would be a trial, and possibly death for Venomous’ crimes. “No, I will clear my name and stop the Sith where the Jedi could not, I will stop their plan from within, and then I will have redeemed myself.” Luke came to this realization as Geo charged him again, Luke managed to side-step the older Jedi and draw his second green blade. He whirled them in the air, and caught Geo’s force staff with one blade and sliced at Geo’s head with the other, it was an obvious move and one Luke knew Geo would easily dodge. “I have to make this look good, so the Sith believe my loyalty to them.” Luke thought as another bow from Geo’s force staff was blocked. Twirling his saber’s in front of him, Luke advanced on Geo, spinning around and slicing at the older man with blade after blade as they circled his body in their deadly dance, Geo blocked one after another, but Luke could see the Man’s energy waning. As Luke force pushed Geo away into a nearby wall, he glance over to Corran and Sivan battling away over the fate of Jade on the ground, and wondered if he had confided in Corran, would things now be different. Luke shook his head, “No, no what if’s Luke, just what to do now.” He scolded himself as Geo bounced back from the wall, and leaped forward his staff clashing with Luke’s twin blades. The two men stood there, the brilliant blades of light that were their weapons of choice were locked together, spraying sparks everywhere. Their hands inches apart, the energy of the force crackling in between.

Luke force pushed against the Jedi, but the older man was his equal in strength. Sweat beads started to form on both their foreheads. “One day Geo, I’ll show you just how wrong you are about me.” Luke said to him as a roar fill the battle field. One could sense the amount of force energy building between them. Each other trying to push the other out of the saber lock, each man his teeth clenched and muscled tightened, with an almost explosive use of the force the two force pushed through one another and hit their targets equally throwing them to the opposite sides of the battle field. The two warriors skidded to a stop. Luke saw Geo recover and the other Jedi start to run towards the hangar bay. As the roar of the Freedom’s Edge’s engine’s surrounded the combatants, Geo was distracted momentarily and Luke took advantage of the distraction and force jumped to the landing gangplank that was being lowered for him. He made the jump easily, and yelled into the cabin, “9, fire on the Jedi with aiming program 459.” Luke said, and immediately heard the reply in his com. “But sir, that targeting algorithm was damaged months ago, you remember that it…” “…Do what I say 9, please” Luke said force jumping back to the battle field where Geo tried to spear him as he fell, but by using the force to force push himself in the air and flipping he landed 20ft behind the older Jedi. As Luke spun on his heel to face his adversary, he heard the distinctive whine of his underside gun heating up. Soon the air would be filled with white hot bolts of hard light. It looked like the Jedi were already starting to retreat. Luke's blaster's, even as the targeting algortihm governing them had a five foot error path added into it for helping him lead targets. "Don't worry guys, I'm still here and I'll stop them."

[Split Infinity]

Split always hated being right.

He was no Jedi; he was a liability. What he hated more, however, was the fact that he had made a point of this prior to the battle in the starport. Geo dismissed his concerns, but now they were back, and they were laughing in his face.

Luke and Saevita had begun pounding him into submission the instant the fight broke out. Not only did this put his own life in danger, but it also endangered the lives of the Jedi stepping in to protect him. The worst part of it all was that he needed them; he needed help. He felt weak, useless, and above all foolish. These were the thoughts that flooded his mind the instant he hit the ground. Jade's fissure had narrowly missed him knocking himself and several others off of their feet. The gaping maw now produced nothing but blackness causing the floor of the spaceport to look like ripped paper.

Split rolled to his side and lifted himself from the ground. Dust and gravel poured off of him as he re-ignited his saber and surveyed the result of Jade's wreckage. He attempted to open his senses and focus on everything that was happening around him, but he was far too exhausted. Too much was happening too fast. Corran had turned sides, Ranzen was ordering a retreat, Jade was throwing lightning left and right while Sivan fought back with complete and utter vigilance. Focus was no longer an option.

He had to take action.

His thoughts were interrupted as the deafening roar of a ship's engines came overhead. The sight of the ship was enough to cause a momentary lapse in the battle. All eyes pointed to the sky in that moment, and through squinted eyes Split saw Luke leap aboard the loading ramp of the ship that Split finally recognized. Freedom's Edge. The ship that brought not only Luke but two other passengers to Vjun. The ship that took Niobe down a path that he feared she may never return from. Split scanned the crowd once again.

"C'mon..." He thought, continuing to broaden his senses. His field of vision stretched even further, taking in all of his surroundings. "Where are you, Ni--"

...Snap-hiss...

"Looking for me?" Niobe asked mockingly.

Split pivoted on his foot, finding himself face-to-face with a familiar hooded figure. Her voice was edgier now than he had remembered it; no doubt the result of whatever filth she had picked up during her stay at the castle.

"Niobe. Cute cloak. Can't say blacks your color though..." Split retorted. Niobe raised one hand and threw back her hood revealing a paler than usual face and a piercing glare. Split stared in awe at the twisted image of his younger sister that stood before him now. "What have they done to you?"

"Alot more than anyone at the academy cared to do." Niobe raised her lightsaber into the basic neutral position and motioned for her opponent to do the same.

Split merely shook his head. "I won't fight you, Niobe. I'm here to take you back home."

Niobe couldn't help but laugh at him. "Home?" She began moving forwards. "The academy is not my home. It never was, and it never will be." The two were now only a few feet apart. "Now raise your lightsaber or I will strike you down where you stand." Hesitant to let himself die without a fight, Split raised his saber to match his sister's. Something in her voice was telling him that she was not kidding.

"I'm sorry that it has to come to this." Split said solemnly. In the back of his mind he knew that she would be beyond reasoning. Niobe had always been quick-tempered, stubborn, and free spirited. He knew well enough that the Dark Side would only help those traits flourish. His only hope was that she would come to her own senses.

The first move was made by Niobe who lunged to the right. Her blade struck hard against Split's, and she used the remainder of her momentum to push it down and bring her left leg around into a roundhouse kick. Split was nearly knocked down as her foot collided with his jaw. She was quick... surprisingly quick. Split focused and took a deep breath. He had already taken quite a beating from the other Sith, and it was taking all of his strength to try and push the fatigue out of his mind. He feigned a strike on Niobe's right side and doubled back around to hit her exposed area. She managed to narrowly meet his blade there before attempting to counter it with a move of her own. The two continued to dodge, block, and parry each others attacks, both waiting for their opponent to expose themselves for a hit.

They were too evenly matched for their own good it seemed.

***

Niobe swept hard at Split's legs but hit nothing but air. He had already anticipated the move and leapt into a backflip before she had swung. By the time he landed Niobe had already corrected herself and lunged forwards. Split parried this attack to the right, grabbed her forearm, and elbowed her hard in the throat. The blow managed to knock her off balance and onto the ground. To her disappointment, Split was already above her before she could recover. His lightsaber pointed down to where she laid on her back preventing her from any type of escape. All except one.

"It's over..." Split began, struggling to catch his breath. "You can't win."

Niobe spit hard at him. "Then kill me." Her eyes didn't decieve her words, but Split was in no way about to kill his own sister.

"I'm afraid I'm not going to satisfy that request." Split said, switching his lightsaber off.

"That's too bad..." Niobe whispered, a mischeivous grin spreading across her face.

"Why's that?"

"Because you had your chance!"

WHAM!

The piece of durasteel slammed into Split with unparallelled force sending him toppling over Niobe and onto his stomach. His entire left side, including his arm was pinned under the heavy slab of concrete, completely numbed. Niobe, triumphing over her own victory, quickly rolled onto her side and retrieved her lightsaber. She picked herself up and crouched next to her trapped brother who moaned in pain. Mockingly, she grimaced a bit and knocked on the concrete. "Sounds like you might be seriously hurt..." Split attempted to pull himself free, collapsing in a fit of coughs. "I could help ease the pain by killing you now of course. But what would that say about my morals?" She shook her head disappointedly. "No. I think I'll bring you home with me. I know some people who would love to meet you."

"N-Niobe..." Split groaned, almost as inaudible as a whisper. He was barely able to speak, much less move. The numbness in his arm brought forth fears that he might have broken something. His thoughts, however, faded to blackness as he began to black out.

She stood now to her full height and watched as her master, Sivan, and the other Sith pursued the Jedi on foot. The sight couldn't help but make her smile. Another victory for the Sith... she thought to herself. Sivan will be pleased.

"Save your breath, brother. I have a feeling that you are going to need it."