Dawnbreaker Episode Split Destiny/Part 3

CHAPTER 7

"You wish to deny me guidance over my charges in the bowels of your beast?! Waaah... that shall not come to pass!" - Scrambler muttered to herself in her crazed whisper, grim determination clearly audible in it, after her link to the Geyrin's main computer was cut, and the dedicated comm channel scrambled.

Disconnecting from the neural interface she was using, the Cathar rose from her seat, and went out of the chamber she was in - a small, abandoned auxilliary maintenance station at the landing platform their Escort Shuttle had landed before. Stepping out into the night, which posed no problem for her feline eyes, fully capable of night-vision and partial IR spectrum, Scrambler could see a few maintenance personnel going about their businesses. As she walked over to the shuttle, she thought:

"The slayer needs me... Waaah! Her destiny must not end there! Not now... not yet! I've seen it... I must go to the beast myself, and assert my rule over its electronic mind again. Waaah! None shall stop me!"

Stepping up the shuttle's ramp, her line of crazed thoughts abruptly ceased, as her fledgling equilibrium managed to re-emerge, but her determination remained the same as she entered the cockpit, and addressed the pilot, who was on-station there since the landing. As he turned in surprise, Scrambler began without preamble:

"The adversaries have disrupted my cyber-interface to the Geyrin's main computer, and disconnected the dedicated communications channel. The mission is in danger. I can no longer connect remotely. You will take me to the Geyrin so I may re-establish the connection at the source." - in a flat monotone.

"You're crazy! You think we can just get to that ship without being shot down by their defenses? I guessed something was wrong when the boss didn't call in with a status report... but there's nothing we can do if they've cut us off! Now get back and keep trying to patch in... maybe you'll make it." - the man retorted.

The Cathar remained standing in the cockpit archway, before she repeated:

"You will take me to the Geyrin. I cannot re-connect by remote anymore." - her monotone remaining unchanged.

The pilot scowled at that, rising from his seat, and growling in annoyance:

"Look, kriffin' nutcase, I told you it's impossible! Now get out of here and do your job, and don't bother me anymore!" - stepping close and shoving her roughly away, that she almost fell sprawling to the deck.

Scrambler stumbled, before hitting the shuttle bulkhead hard with a yelp of pain, as the pilot laughed with glee and closed the cockpit door. For a moment, she just stood there, rubbing her shoulder where she hit the bulkhead, sadness and pain in her eyes at the pilot's bullying attitude toward her, a single tear sliding down... before her madness took over again, and the pain turned abruptly to white-hot fury.

With a chilling half-scream, sobbing uncontrollably in rage, she ran to one of the shuttle's maintenance consoles, and quickly connected her neural interface, beginning to type rapidly at the console. She accessed the shuttle's life support system, and began to drain the atmosphere from the cockpit, after sealing the doors...

"What the..." - the pilot began, as a soft hissing sound of displaced air began to echo through the cockpit.

As he began gasping for air, he ran to the doors, trying to open them - only to find them sealed, as the air continued to drain. He began to bang on the doors in desperation, as seconds passed... before he happened to glance at the passenger space camera monitor, seeing Scrambler gazing directly at the camera with an expression of absolute rage on her tear-smeared face, still rubbing her shoulder. Realizing what was happening in a flash, he stumbled to the intercom, beginning to plead in desperation:

"Look, I'm sorry!!! I... didn't mean... that! Please, let me... out!" - he screamed, continuing to gasp for air.

However, the Cathar woman just stood there, gazing at the camera, ignoring the beseeching of the pilot from the intercom speaker, as her rage and loathing combined with the madness still ruled her actions. As the pilot began to suffocate, his pleas becoming frenzied, some of the rage she felt began to wear off, and she was actually starting to think clearly, her equilibrium once again partially restored.

"Perhaps I do not want to go so far as to kill him for what he did... and I believe he received the message." - she thought, reluctantly stepping back to the console and inputting a new command while she wiped her eyes.

The cockpit doors opened, and the pilot stumbled out, gasping for air, collapsing to the deck in the doorway. After he had recovered slightly, he looked up at the Cathar:

"I was a jerk, Scrambler... I'm sorry." - voice still exhausted, but steady.

She looked back at the pilot for a few moments, before nodding, and speaking in the flat monotone she used while she was in control:

"Apology accepted. Will you take me to the Geyrin? The mission is in danger."

The pilot nodded, getting up.

"Sure... you're right. We can't just sit here and do nothing! Won't be easy to land without getting shot down, but I'll think of something... maybe they're so busy fighting off our team that they won't be paying much attention to external sensors! Alright, let's go..." - getting back to the cockpit and taking the pilot's seat, while Scrambler took the other.

As the shuttle lifted off, the pilot turned to the Cathar woman:

"I'm curious... would you have really killed me like that for what I've done?"

Scrambler glanced at him, as if she was about to answer, but didn't, an unreadable expression on her face, before simply turning forward again, with a soft sigh.

The pilot grimaced at that, before turning forward himself.

"Guess I don't want to know..."

SOMEWHERE ON MON CALAMARI

Rising up from his seat at the table inside the small, abandoned motel, a man wearing a purple and black robe, similiar to the kind Force-users wear, made his way to the door. He was right by the sea, and a heavy rain had just fallen. Stretching out through the Force, he still could not sense either of them.

Exiting the motel, the man quickly blended into the crowd. He knew he had to do something to get the RTSE to come to this area. But what? His orders did not specify.

As he walked amongst the civilians, he could sense the fear in their hearts. He didn't blame them, either. He would be frightened too if something like this were to happen to his homeworld.

Coming to a junction, he looked around and instantly found what he was looking for; sitting on the corner was a New Republic outpost. It looked like it was still active, too. It had a large sensor array at the top, so it must be an important structure. Surely destroying this would get their attention, and maybe even Darkon himself would notice.

Knowing what he had to do, the man's pace quickened as he walked toward the building, pulling up his hood. A lightsaber flew from his pocket to his hand as he stepped to the door. Looking behind him, he saw that there was a small shed blocking his view of the street. That also meant that people on the street couldn't see him. But by now the Republic officials inside had to be alerted to his presence. He needed to work fast.

He activated his lightsaber, and a dark purple blade emitted from the tip. Driving the saber into the sealed door, he began to carve his way in. Stretching out through the Force again, this time inside the building, he could sense three NR Soldiers waiting for him. Two were Riflemen, and the other was a Demoman. He could sense the Demoman near the door. He must've been placing bombs on it.

As the door was cut open, the man leaped back, and Force-pushed the door off its hinges. An instant later, twelves sticky bombs exploded, revealing the three men.

Force Speed - The man sped himself up immensely, and charged toward the three. The Riflemen got off a combined 1 shot before they were mowed down. Doing a sideways flip, he landed in front of the Demo, and ducked an empty bottle to the head. Almost amused, the man sliced the bottle in two, then jabbed his lightsaber into the Demo's heart, killing him.

Looking down the hallway, he could sense more troops running his way. Seeing a staircase to the left, he sprinted towards it, but then saw a small platform, probably used for cleaning windows. Getting an idea, the man deactivated his lightsaber and leaped to it, and waited.

45 seconds later, a flood of Riflemen entered the hallway in a bunch, not in any particular formation. They saw the door, the three dead bodies, and the slash marks.

"Call Command!" - the lead officer ordered as he and a few of his men stepped forward to inspect the bodies, "The Sith have found us!"

"Yes Sir!" - a trooper responded, then went over to a terminal on the wall.

"Commence lockdown! He might still be here!"

"Sir! There's nobody here..." - one of the Riflemen said from the back.

"Split up and find him! We'll kill that bastard and dump his body in the sea!"

There was a collective cheer at that statement, as several troops broke off down the hall. But the man could sense that the officer was not as confident as he looked. He decided to strike.

Leaping down, he landed behind the trooper at the terminal, and drew his lightsaber again and cut off his legs before he could react. The others in the hallway spun around.

"KILL HIM!" - the officer roared.

He never got the chance. The man threw his lightsaber, which hit him right in the throat, killing him. Leaping to avoid blaster fire, he retrieved his saber, and beheaded another trooper. Sensing a quick opportunity, he used the Force to bring down several ceiling panels, crushing several more troops.

Grazed by a shot to the leg, the man did not make a sound. He rolled to his left, faked right, and slashed another across the heart. Finding himself at the end of the hall with the survivors at the other side, he came up with another idea.

Force Lightning - Three bolts of the dreaded power flew from his fingertips and struck 3 of the 5 surviving men, knocking their weapons from their hands. Sprinting forward again, he took a direct hit to the arm, but shrugged it off for now. He leaped above the men, and spun like a top, his saber below him. Like a spinning saw, all 5 simultaneously had their heads severed.

The battle was over. The man had won. But he still had a job to do. Calmly walking up the stairs, not sensing anyone else in the base except for the command crew, he made his way to their signatures.

Entering another hallway, he sensed fear in their hearts. They knew he was there. But they didn't know where. He did not sense any weapons on any of them, so this would be easy.

Walking to the door, the man politely strolled in and stood in the middle, seeing the 3 crewmen cowering in the corner.

"Who- Who ARE you?" - one of them asked.

"I'm not a Sith," - the man responded in a gravely voice, then raised a hand.

Force Choke - All three crewmen had their air supplies cut off. Within 25 seconds, the pressure on their throats had killed them.

Lowering his hand, the man now turned his attention to destroying the base. He remembered passing a weapon locker, so he walked back out to the hallway, and up to it. The locker was large, large enough to store three of him in width. He saw mostly ammo, but he did see several high-powered remote bombs.

Grabbing them and walking back into the command center, the man sat himself down at a terminal, where one of the now deceased officers had not logged out of. He quickly found the base's schematics, and zero'd in on the 4th support pillar. It was the only thing stopping the building from falling into the sea.

20 minutes later, the charges were set, and the man was within a safe distance. Pulling the detonator from his pocket, he pushed the button.

The charges exploded, loudly, tearing through the quiet mid-afternoon day. The pillar gave way, and what was left of the building collapsed over the ledge of the cliff and into the sea.

Ignoring the civilians screaming in terror, the man knew he had accomplished his task. He pulled out his holocommunicator, and set it to standard. This way, it would be easy for an organization like the RTSE to track him down.

But there was still one more thing he had to do: He reached into hsi pocket, and pulled out the security holograms, showing him tearing up the troops. What he wanted the public, and eventually any RTSE agents on the planet, to see was the purple lightsaber. He knew they used crimson ones, and he knew that no Acolytes were in the area.

He walked up to a security officer, and handed him the tapes.

"I believe these may be of some interest to you." - he said, then walked off, back to his motel, to wait for the RTSE to find him.

Meanwhile, Lord Darkon's infiltrator craft had landed to a secluded location within the lower levels of the capital, and he had reached the spot where Deathstrike went in search of the mysterious Recluse. By now, the rebellion had already reached a fevered pitch, and the entire capital had become an active warzone, as the riots were spreading. On his way, he had encountered more than a few skirmishes and firefights between the Mon Cal security forces and the rebels, lending a hand to the rebels when opportunity presented itself, but still remaining focused on his intent to find his apprentice - whose Force signature had abruptly ceased to be detectable only minutes after she was incapacitated by the Recluse.

Finally, he reached the place. Looking around, Lord Darkon couldn't see or sense any signs of battle, which surprised him more than a little:

"It would seem my apprentice had been taken without a fight! Possibly she was incapacitated before having an opportunity to react... which means the mysterious Force user is powerful indeed. But I don't sense him anymore... not since I had landed. It is almost as if he knew I would come..." - he thought grimly.

Searching the immediate area, ready for anything, Lord Darkon found Deathstrike's ligtsaber, rolled into a shallow drainage pipe... which she likely dropped when rendered unconscious. He picked it up, then assumed a meditative posture on the ground, attempting to see back through the Force, and divine precisely what happened.

In a murky haze of Force regression, the situation unveiled itself in his mind's eye...

''An overhead perspective... Deathstrike walking cautiously up the escalator into the small clearing, her lightsaber out but not ignited. As she reached the top, she looked around, before exclaiming:

"Show yourself, Recluse!"''

However, Lord Darkon's vision abruptly dissolved at this point, as if a Force effort was made to specifically block any attempt to see what happened then. It resumed only a few seconds later...

''Deathstrike suddenly collapsed unconscious to the ground, dropping her lightsaber, which rolled away. A short, robed figure approached her unmoving form, and raised one short hand - before both of them simply vanished where they were, leaving behind only an empty patch of ground, and a discarded lightsaber.''

Lord Darkon snapped out of the vision, breathing heavily.

"What in the name of the Sith happened?!" - he asked himself aloud.

"I have NEVER seen a power such as that... to use the Force to simply fade out of existence, and take someone with you! He is clearly powerful indeed... and he could have taken my apprentice anywhere by now. But I doubt even such a power would allow him to travel off the planet..." - his line of thoughts was interrupted as a commlink sounded from his belt.

"My Lord, the Advance Guard has disabled the shield generator facility. We are prepared to send the first wave of landing craft with the ground forces on your order!" - Admiral Zavron's voice came in.

Forcing his misgivings aside for the moment, Lord Darkon replied in a calm voice:

"Proceed, Admiral. The capital city is first priority, and the seat of the Mon Cal government here. When we'we seized the city, subduing the rest of the planet will prove easier. Our troop commanders are to coordinate with the rebels once groundside."

"Acknowledged. Should we conduct bombardment of the major Mon Cal military bases?" - Zavron inquired.

"Only those located outside major cities, Admiral. The rebels will be of assistance with those inside the cities, and an orbital bombardment of the city would not exactly inspire trust in them." - Lord Darkon replied.

"Yes, my lord. We've also detected a number of other underwater installations, which will be hard to reach with our weapons... request permission to dispatch more commando teams to seize or destroy them." - Zavron asked.

"That can wait until later... I don't want to spread our forces too thin at this point of initial takeover. After our control is established, there will be plenty of opportunity to deal with the leftovers at our discretion." - Lord Darkon rejected the proposal, before suddenly adding:

"Have there been any craft attempting to leave the planet in the past hour?"

"Negative, my Lord... we are conducting continuous active scans of the planet surface and the surrounding space. However..." - Zavron hesistated briefly.

"However WHAT? Admiral, reluctance is not a trait I find desirable in those I put my trust in!" - Darkon snapped.

"Yes, my Lord... our main sensor array had been damaged in the battle, and we've been only able to use standard scanners. Without a deep sensor-probe scan---" - as Darkon interrupted impatiently:

"... a sensor-stealthed vessel would have likely been able to slip past you at this point. I see." - abruptly closing the channel before Zavron could add anything more, thinking grimly:

"So it's safe to assume Deathstrike had already been taken from the planet. Whoever that Force user is, he is capable... and elusive. And also DEAD when I find him! I only hope my apprentice still lives... but I have faith in her abilities. She will find a way to let me know where she is! For now, there is nothing I can do in that regard but wait..."

Sensing that one of Deathstrike's Acolytes, Margos, was relatively close, still in his hideout with the rebel Zabrak woman, Lord Darkon sent him a Force message to join him.

An hour later...

The RTSE invasion forces had landed in full, and were sweeping across the capital, battling the reeling Mon Calamari forces and the leftover New Republic troops and officers, capturing any outpost or security station on their way. As the Mon Calamari began fielding their heavier ground assets, more RTSE landing craft arrived, carrying ground tanks, walkers and additional troops, while squadrons of Gavran fighters were providing air cover against the combat speeders the Mon Cals have also employed.

Meanwhile, Lord Darkon and acolyte Margos had found the last Acolyte, the one Deathstrike left in the co-opted apartment.

"Master... I take it the invasion is going well?" - the Acolyte spoke, bowing deeply as the three met in the lobby of the building.

"Reasonably. I am pleased by your mission's success." - Darkon replied, before adding:

"Deathstrike will not be joining us. An unknown Force user had taken her from the planet."

Both Acolytes looked at their Master in shock, before Margos finally exclaimed:

"Another Force user, Master? How is that possible?! I haven't sensed anything..." - before Darkon interrupted.

"No, you have not, Acolyte, for your connection to the Force is insufficient for that. But it did happen! For now, I want BOTH of you to keep this to yourselves. Am I understood?"

"Yes, my Lord!" - both answered.

Darkon nodded, then continued quietly.

"In due time, I shall find her, wherever she might have been taken. And Margos..." - he added ominously, turning to the acolyte:

"Yes... Master?" - Margos muttered, guessing all too well what this might be about.

"I can sense your anger at being abandoned in the garrisson. I can sense your desire for revenge against my apprentice for that!" - Darkon growled.

Margos took a step back, beginning hastily:

"My Lord, I would never..." - as Darkon held up a hand.

"Of course you would. Any True Sith would be angry in the same circumstance! This matter shall be between the two of you, and no-one else - when my apprentice is found."

Margos was literally wilting with relief.

"Yes, Master... it is our way!"

"Indeed." - Darkon nodded, before adding with a slight smile:

"Though I doubt you will hold the upper hand in the battle, acolyte... but we shall see." - as he could suddnely sense someone looking down at them from the third level lobby.

Looking up, Darkon saw the little boy from the apartment staring down at the three of them. The second Acolyte, following Darkon's gaze, stepped close and whispered:

"We had to take cover in that apartment... and Deathstrike had sensed Force potential in the boy. She made the offer to induce him into the Sith to the boy's father, among other things."

"Yes... I do sense his potential. What was the father's response to my apprentice's offer?" - Darkon asked.

"I don't think he was decided on the matter. I got the impression Deathstrike would talk to him again. Will the boy be taken with us, Master?" - the acolyte asked.

Lord Darkon considered briefly, before shaking his head.

"No. This matter was on my apprentice's initiative, and she will be the one to continue it. Anyway, we have larger things to deal with now, and our ranks of disciples are quite full at the moment. For now, call in a medical unit from one of the landing craft and have the boy tested for midichlorians. Don't tell him or his family why."

The acolyte nodded, heading up and pulling out his commlink.

On the other side of the city...

"Commander SU412, we've just overrun the defense checkpoint!" - a report came in a filtered voice on the helmet commlink of one the the RTSE troop commanders, leading a small platoon and a few light combat speeder bikes in an assault on a nearby building.

"Acknowledged, 731. Move in! We'll cover you!" - the commander replied, dismounting from his bike and motioning the five other troops with him to take positions around the entrance to the building, where a few of the Mon Cal security had taken cover.

A dozen more Mon Cal corpses lie sprawled around the entrance, evidence of an intense battle fought only minutes before, accompanied by a few dead RTSE troops, as well. As Sergeant SU731 and his detachment used a shaped charge to blow the door, 412 and his men were covering them. The doors blew inward, and the RTSE troops piled in...

"Contact!" - one of the troops sounded out, as sounds of blaster fire began to stutter.

SU412 motioned his squad to follow, as he led the way inside to join the first squad, now engaged with a half-dozen Mon Cal defenders. As soon as he entered, he saw one of the other troopers killed. Snapping up his blaster rifle, 412 took down the Mon Cal officer who fired the shots, then crouched for cover, as the rest of the troops moved in behind him, also taking positions. Two more of his men were down by then, with three Mon Cals, as well.

"Advance!" - he issued a short command.

"Yes, sir!" - 731 replied, as both squads began to move forward in a half-crouch, a barrage of blaster bolts preceeding them.

The Mon Cals began to retreat, one more falling, before the rest vanished down one of the side corridors, clearly planning to take cover deeper in the building. The RTSE troops followed relentlessly, taking a few losses, until the last pair of Mon Cals was cornered in one of the rooms. SU412 motioned his troops to hold back, as he took position by the doorway, unclipping a frag grenade from his belt pouch and tossing it inside. Three seconds later, the battle was over, with the last two Mon Cals shredded by the grenade.

"SU412 to mission control: objective secure!" - the commander reported to his superiors.

Getting an acknowledgement, he motioned his troops to move back out of the building. However, as they were passing by one of the Mon Cal corpses, one of the troopers pointed at something lying beside one of them:

"Sir! Look at this..." - the trooper exclaimed, crouching and picking up a pair of datacards.

"Let me see that, Private." - 412 said, approaching.

The trooper handed him the cards. Taking his datapad, SU412 inserted one of the cards into it's reader.

The datacard contained a security recording, of a mysterious purple-saber wielding man slaughtering the Republic troops at one of the outlying outposts on the city outskirts. The second card showed the man setting charges, with the clear intent to destroy the entire facility, before the recording abruptly ended.

"Interesting..." - SU412 mused, before opening a channel to Control again:

"Sir, we've just retrieved a recording indicating unknown presence in the city! A Force user, wielding a purple ligtsaber, who apparently destroyed one of the outlying New Rep outposts."

"Understood, 412. We've just got a report from Scout Group 17 that a mysterious individual was spotted near the Residential Sector. He wasn't with the rebels, or the security forces, and the scouts indicated he didn't look like a civilian. Your squad is to converge to the location and investigate! We're transmitting coordinates..." - the voice of the controller came back.

"Yes, sir. SU412 out." - the commander closed the channel.

CHAPTER 8

Fifteen minutes later, his platoon had arrived to the Residential Sector, to the vicinity of the motel the mysterious man headed to.

"Spread out and watch for more Mon Cals! Two of you, with me..." - SU412 issued the orders as the speeder bikes entered the alley with the motel.

The alley was deserted, but the number of rebel and Mon Cal corpsed lying around indicated that the place was a battlezone only a short time ago. Dismounting from his bike again, with the two troopers, he motioned the rest to continue patrolling the alley, while the three of them began a building-to-building search...

The man, having given an assist to the rebels a short time ago, sensed RTSE troops nearby.

"They must be looking for me..." - he thought.

Looking out the window, he saw the three scanning the buildings, and decided to lend them a hand.

"Come to the motel," he said in a Force message to 412.

SU412 was just leading the way out of the first building, as the Force message reached him.

"What in blazes..." - he muttered, his step breaking briefly.

"Sir?" - one of the two troopers with him asked, helmet tilted at a quizzical angle.

"I think someone knows we're looking for him... are there any motels in this sector, 213?" - 412 asked.

"Stand by..." - 213 muttered, reaching into his belt pouch for a layout map of the city they were given prior to the mission.

"Yes, sir, three confirmed. One is in this alley, fourth building from the left." - pointing at the building.

SU412 nodded, starting toward the indicated building.

"Advance. Weapons ready, but do not engage without my order, Corporal. Keep your eyes open." - he said, the two other troops falling behind him.

The man, knowing he would soon have company, pulled up his hood to conceal his face, and put his lightsaber back on its clip in his pocket.

Taking out his communicator again, he set it to open, so it would appear on any scanners, and hopefully lead 412 and his squad right to him.

As the three troopers entered the motel lobby, they saw no-one except the receptionists, a short, stocky Twi'Lek. Motioning the other two troops to hold position, SU412 approached him.

"I didn't do nothin'!" - the Twi'Lek stammered, clearly intimidated just by the sight of an armoured trooper approaching.

SU412 replied in a purely officious tone:

"No-one implied otherwise, civilian. Have there been any recent arrivals to the motel in the past hour?"

"Ah... y-yes. Hold on, let me check..." - the Twi'Lek answered, still nervous, while consulting a computer terminal in front of him. Finally, he continued:

"There was a strange man arriving just over half an hour ago. Wore a hood, and some kind of robe. I thought he could have been one of yours..."

"His room number?" - 412 inquired.

"Number 43, fourth floor." - the receptionist answered.

"Thank you. Carry on." - the commander replied, already motioning the other two troops to go to the motel elevator.

They emerged on the fourth floor, before 213 suddenly stopped:

"Reading a faint comm signal, sir... coming from room 43."

"Acknowledged." - 412 replied, as the three took position around the room doors.

Motioning for the other two to stay alert, SU412 pressed the call button next to the door, before speaking:

"This is RTSE Containment Patrol 63. Is anyone inside?"

There was a long pause, before the door seemingly opened by itself, revealing the man standing in the doorway, looking at them.

"Welcome, RTSE forces. I have been expecting you. Please, come in." - he said, not in the friendliest voice of all time, but the best he could do, as he stepped back into the room.

SU412 grimaced to himself beneath his helmet, more than a little unnerved by the entire situation, and the man's statement that he was "expecting" them, thinking:

"Not sure I like this... but orders are orders!" - stepping just inside the room, while the other two troops stayed outside, keeping an eye on the situation.

"We have recently recovered a security footage of an unknown individual matching your appearance destroying one of the New Republic occupied outposts on the city outskirts. Are you the one?" - 412 asked in an officious tone, doing his best not to let his anxiety show.

"Yes, I am." - the man said, his friendly expression now turning into a cold, buisness-like approach, "And I have a job to do. I am here on my Lord's behalf."

"The RTSE is in danger..." - he added ominously, his voice practically void.

The other two troops tensed visibly at the statement, and the sudden change in the man's voice, shifting the grip on their weapons.

SU412 stayed silent for a moment, thinking:

"This could be a little out of my league..." - before briefly turning to one of his men:

"Corporal, get Control on the line and tell them that we've found the unknown individual. And that this sounds like something Lord Darkon himself might be interested in."

His subordinate nodded, already turning to speak into his helmet commlink, while SU412 turned back to the man:

"Are you some kind of special agent, then?" - he asked, still keeping his voice officious, despite the increasing anxiety.

"Lord Darkon is who my Lord needs to speak to. And yes, I am an 'agent' of sorts." - the man confirmed.

As SU412 was about to say something, his subordinate cut him off:

"Sir, Control says to bring him to the forward command post. They'll inform the Admiral about this once we get there."

"Understood." - 412 replied, some relief evident in his tone, thinking:

"At least I won't be the one to deal with this anymore..." - before adding to the man:

"You heard, agent. We're to escort you to the forward command post. Follow us, please." - stepping back out of the room and motioning with his blaster rifle for the man to follow.

The man, not saying another word, followed.

The troops escorted the man back out of the hotel, where a command speeder soon arrived to meet them, and transport the individual to the forward command post, now established in the former Mon Calamari government center, which the RTSE had seized in the past hour.

Upon arrival, 20 minutes later the man was brought to a holo-terminal, where a holoprojection of Admiral Zavron soon appeared to address him:

"This is Admiral Zavron, personal military advisor to Sith'ari Lord Darkon and in command of the Blood Sanctum. I am told you claim the Reborn True Sith Empire is in "danger", and that you come on behalf of your master, who wishes to address the mighty Lord Darkon. So let's start in order - who exactly are you, what sort of "danger" are you referring to, and why should Lord Darkon have any interest in meeting with this "master" of yours?" - in a no-nonsense, businesslike tone, glaring at the man.

"My name is unimportant." - the man said, glaring back at Zavron.

"The RTSE is in danger from an old enemy given a new lease on life, Admiral. You must know who I am referring to." - he said bluntly, not showing any emotion at all, a part of his training.

"Alone versus your numerous enemies, plus the ones this old foe brings with him, the RTSE would stand no chance. Eventually, you would be forced into outcast. The Master has forseen it. But, should the RTSE gain a powerful ally of its own, like my Lord is willing to provide, together, we would be able to overthrow our enemies and restore peace to this long-since war-torn universe."

The man's answers were clearly elusive, but his tone of voice told Zavron that there was some truth to what he was saying.

Zavron was silent for long moments at this, studying the holgraphic rendering of the man in front of him, before he responded.

"I see... well, that certainly sounds like a most generous offer from your Lord!" - he began, the sarcasm very evident in his voice, before continuing:

"And what does your Lord stand to gain from this - collaboration? For that matter, who IS your Lord, and what is he the Lord of? We Sith are not in the habit of dealing with people who refuse to state their identity." - Zavron finished, not the least bit convinced yet, before adding confidently:

"As for our enemies, the Jedi, and the New Republic, rest assured, we can deal with them without your help!"

"Ah, but can you deal with the Shadow Empire with a reborn Gatekeeper at the helm?" - the man asked, his voice now bitter and cold.

"The Gatekeeper has many powerful allies now. To name just two, the TEC and a large part of the Imperial Remnant under the control of his father, who happens to serve the Gatekeeper, which, with his help, has refocused itself and is now looking more like the Galactic Empire of old and less like the Imperial Remnant of today. And obviously you remember the TEC, the faction you practically destroyed last year. With the Gatekeeper's help, they too are redefined. They now are completely rebuilt, and their technology stands toe-to-toe with your own." - he continued, his voice rising.

Now Zavron's face had taken on a concerned expression, as he remembered the intense war the RTSE fought a year ago, and nearly lost everything. Even though his duties during that time had mostly kept him away from the frontlines, with his long-time rival, Fleet Admiral Rajko, being the one leading most of the RTSE forces, he was involved enough to know how close it had come to disaster. However, with all his misgivings, Zavron still haven't missed the fact that the unknown individual still hadn't told him exactly who does he represent...

"You still haven't answered my question. Who is your Lord, and who does he represent? And what is his advantage in having this alliance with the RTSE?" - he finally said, keeping his voice neutral.

"The Kamen, Remus Von Grath." - the man said, "The Gatekeeper's former Master, and the man responsible for teaching him everything he knows. Remus leads Ekatra Sentinel, the oldest faction we know of still in existance today. Long ago, the Gatekeeper turned to the dark side, and betrayed the Kamen. He fled from our home planet of Titania to another planet in the Mudara Galaxy, Komm, and quickly established the Shadow Empire. We have been warring since the days of Darth Revan, Bastila Shan, the Sith Empire and the Old Republic."

"The Kamen seeks a powerful ally of his own to help us defeat the Shadow Empire, and they're numerous allies, before they destroy us. The SE controls much of the Mudara Galaxy, and more of the Prime Galaxy than you may realize. They are coming here to destroy the RTSE, as the Gatekeeper still holds a grudge against Lord Darkon, one that will not be satisfied until one of them is dead. He also wishes the Kamen dead, along with all the Ekatra, and every one of our civilians, and probably yours, too." - he continued, his voice grim. He paused for a moment, before continuing:

"He has the weaponry to accomplish this task, as well. Although the Uberweapon has been lost, the SE is constructing a third Death Star on Komm, which is nearing completion as we speak. The SE Navy is larger and more powerful than it has ever been before... Do I need to tell you what both of our factions would gain from an alliance?"

Just as Zavron was about to answer, another voice cut him off from behind - Lord Darkon's voice:

"It would truly seem that your Master and I require a face-to-face meeting to discuss these issues, then." - Darkon addressed the man.

Zavron turned in surprise, having no idea Lord Darkon was even back on the Blood Sanctum already.

"My Lord, we..." - as Darkon interrupted:

"I am aware of the entire conversation, Admiral, via the Force. I'll take over from here... there is still a planetary invasion for you to direct."

"Yes, My Lord." - Zavron replied, bowing and moving off, as Darkon took his place in front of the holo-imager.

"Now... I take it you are this Kamen Von Grath's apprentice? For I can sense your power in the Force. And frankly, your presence here is a bit... coincidental... considering that my own apprentice was just abducted by an unknown Force user with a neutral Force alignment - just like yours. Tell me" - Darkon's voice turning threatening - "would you happen to know anything about that?"

At the same moment, one of the side doors to the communications center in the RTSE forward command post had opened, and two Acolytes moved in to stand behind the man, hands on their lightsabers.

"Remus Von Grath has no apprentice. He has not had one since the Gatekeeper. As for your apprentice, Deathstrike, I do believe, I have no idea what happened to her. I have been planetside since before you started your invasion. I LIVE on this planet, Sith'ari Darkon..." - the man said, his voice unwavering.

"Don't even bother having these two attack me. It'll be a waste of they're talents. I am an Ekatra Lord, one of the strongest Force users left in the galaxy that does not hold a coveted position in galactic affairs." - he added.

"And in all your time on this planet, you have not sensed another Force user, when my apprentice and myself have? I find that hard to believe, Ekatra..." - Darkon intoned ominously.

"Oh, I have sensed plenty of Force users. Mostly Jedi passing here from there. Assassinated a few. Left the rest alone. I was in semi-retirement when the Kamen called to tell me you were coming."

With his immense power in the Force, Lord Darkon focused on the Ekatra's Force sense, trying to detect any signs of deception. After a few moments, he spoke:

"Your story rings true... for the moment. Very well, Ekatra. The case you have made to my Admiral is certainly one I cannot afford to dismiss out of hand. The Gatekeeper and I have a... history... though I did not expect to have to deal with him again for quite some time, until after we have crushed the New Republic and the Jedi. Regardless, if his forces are again massing for a new war, an alliance like the one your Lord has in mind would certainly benefit the RTSE. I trust Von Grath has planned a meeting place for the two of us to discuss the particulars in person?"

"Of course. He is waiting aboard his ship for you to decide the destination." - the man said, keeping his tone firm, "Preferably somewhere where someone can keep a record of the conversation."

"Very well. We shall meet in Kril'Dor system, at the edge of the Unknown Regions, in a week's time, when my flagship has undergone repairs. Remote, secluded, and out of the way of prying eyes." - Lord Darkon spoke, before adding:

"As for a record of the conversation, that is out of the question. It will be a private meeting between the two of us, for the matters we have to discuss are too sensitive for any audience."

The man was deep in thought for a few moment, then he looked back up at the grid.

"Very well. The Kamen will meet you in one week." - he said.

Darkon nodded, before addressing one of the Acolytes behind the Ekatra:

"Our guest is free to go about his business unhindered. But he is not to interfere with any of the RTSE military operations on the surface. That is all." - before closing the link, and addressing Zavron:

"I shall transfer to the surface to oversee the change in government, Admiral. You are to take the Blood Sanctum to Ziost shipyards for repairs and refitting. And send a message to the Fleet Operations Annex that I want another battlegroup to reinforce this sector while the Sanctum is away."

"Yes my Lord."

With that, Lord Darkon left the bridge.

SLEHEYRON - ON APPROACH TO THE GEYRIN...

"We'll be in their sensor range in a minute! Now... wish I knew how to come in to land without them shooting us down!" - the pilot said.

"I have a way. We are now close enough for me to use our own sensors to project an interference signal to jam theirs briefly." - Scrambler answered in her monotone voice, still managing to keep her madness under control.

"I see... well, you better do it fast! Less than a minute left..." - the pilot muttered.

Scrambler nodded, and patched her neural interface into the shuttle's sensor control console. She used her direct access to reconfigure the sensor array to start emitting an interference signal, on the exact frequency the Geyrin's sensors used - a frequency she was aware of when she had access to the Geyrin's main computer earlier. In another 30 seconds, the signal was active - just as the shuttle entered the range.

"Finished." - the Cathar said, disconnecting from the console.

"Now we'll see if it worked..." - the pilot muttered dubiously, as he began his landing approach, expecting defence fire to start any second now - but none came.

"Good work... you've got your way with computers, Scrambler, I'll give you that one!" - he exclaimed, impressed.

"Waaah! They are all slaves to their Mistress..." - she croaked back, her madness once again surfacing, but the determination remaining behind it.

"Right..." - the pilot said, with a good-natured grin.

Moments later, the Escort Shuttle came in for a landing at the aft landing deck.

Meanwhile, after taking down a couple more thugs, Boba Fett had just broken his way into Gargonn's throne room - only to find no-one there.

"Not making it easy for me, slug? Good. I don't do "easy" well, anyway..." - he thought, looking around.

Something caught his eye... a barely-noticable trail of slime on the deck, where Gargonn was slithering away. Fett adjusted his Mandalorian helmet's visor to IR sighting, and the trail became more pronounced. Both his blasters at the ready, he followed the trail out of the throne room's side exit, finding himself in some sort of secret tunnel - clearly Gargonn's own private escape route.

"Could be a trap... lure me to follow him, then set up an ambush at some point - those Hutts aren't stupid when it comes to saving their skins! Better to have an insurance policy..." - Fett thought, moving back out of the tunnel, to a small terminal near Gargonn's throne, using the ship's schematics to find out where the tunnel ends.

At that moment, another explosion rocked the ship.

"Looks like Kiara's busy... I'd better hurry up." - was Fett's thought, as he studied the ship layout map.

Finding out that the secret tunnel ends at Gargonn's personal hangar, he moved out of the throne room, and to the turbolift. Emerging on the deck with the hangar, Boba Fett came across a group of eight haggard and mistreated-looking slaves, two of them little more than children, without any guards around - clearly having been reassigned to track down the intruders.

"Contract said no survivors." - he thought coldly, aiming his blasters and gunning down all of the slaves with brutal efficiency, ignoring their cries for mercy, before moving on.

Having found Boomdeath's corpse, and having recovered her charges to use at the breach points, Kiara had just set up and detonated the first of the charges, near the Geyrin's port stabilizers.

"One down... two to go!" - she thought, setting off toward the second breach point.

On the way, she came across a maintenance workshop, where two slaves, one of them barely a teenager, were working on one of the internal scanner access points, under supervision of the two guards. The first of the guards, a Zeltron woman, was killed before even noticing her, while the second, a Gran, managed to snap off a quick shot - as Kiara ducked instinctively to the side, the shot passing above her - before the guard joined his late partner.

"Please... don't kill us!" - one of the slaves cried, as Kiara approached the access point.

"Is that the internal sensor console?" - she asked, ignoring the plea for the moment.

"Well... yes, it is. Why---" - the young slave began, before Kiara cut him off:

"Can you disable the internal sensors from here?"

"No, it can only be done from the master systems array. But we can show you the rough locations of all the people aboard, if you like - just please, don't kill us!" - the older slave offered.

Kiara simply nodded, looking at both of them for long moments, as they began to access the sensor displays, thinking about what Fett said, about no-one being allowed to survive, as per the specifics of the mission.

"Blast it! I really don't want to kill these two... but they'll die anyway when the ship is scuttled, along with everyone else. And a contract is a contract..." - she thought, her professionalism at odds with whatever last traces of humanity and conscience she still had.

"There!" - one of the slaves said, interrupting Kiara's line of thought, pointing at the internal scanner display, which now showed the detailed layout of the ship, with green dots denoting the relative locations of larger concentrations of crewmen and Gargonn mercs, while three smaller red dots denoted the approximate locations of Fett, herself, and Shade, who was the last one of the mercs with them still alive.

"No wonder they're on to us... I have to keep moving!" - Kiara thought grimly, before returning her attention to the two slaves again.

"We've helped you... you won't hurt us, will you?" - the teenager asked, in a pleading voice.

Kiara's face twitched briefly, as she aimed her DL-44 at the two slaves.

"Please..." - the teenager added in a whisper.

For another pair of seconds, Kiara held the weapon at the two, before suddenly lowering it with a hissing sigh.

"There's a lifeboat hatch back down that corridor I came from. The Geyrin's about to get scuttled. Take the boat and get off the ship, then stay powered down so you don't show up on any scans for the next hour or so." - she said, pointing down the corridor.

"Thank you... thank you so much! I don't know ho--" - the older slave exclaimed in a disbelieving voice, before Kiara interrupted:

"Skip it... just get lost before I change my mind." - already turning to move on.

As the slaves' exclamations of gratiude still echoed behind her, Kiara thought:

"Two more or less... won't make much difference to the mission, long as no-one knows they survived."

Landing at the aft hangar deck without incident, Scrambler and the pilot stepped cautiously down the boarding ramp, the pilot in the lead, blaster in hand, with Scrambler, weaponless, staying behind him. As they crossed the landing deck, no-one appeared.

"I don't like this..." - the pilot muttered nervously.

"I must find a shadow from where I may once again subdue the electronic mind! Waaah! A place of seclusion..." - Scrambler hissed, her madness flaring, as she pointed to a side-door at one of the ends of the landing deck.

"You mean some out-of-the way computer access point? Think there's one behind that door?" - the pilot asked dubiously.

Scrambler simply nodded.

"Okay... let's see what's there." - the pilot nodded, both of them heading towards the door.

Stepping through, the two found themselves in some kind of service access area, with a narrow crawlway leading into the bulkhead, labeled // AUXILLIARY LANDING BEACON SERVICE ACCESS //. Seeing the label, Scrambler smiled briefly:

"This shall provide me with means of exerting my will! Waaah... the Mistress shall rule here again!" - eyes blazing with madness, as she crawled into the narrow tunnel, disappearing from the pilot's view.

The pilot chuckled.

"Okay Mistress... you go exert your will, while I keep an eye on the shuttle!" - shaking his head and walking back to the landing deck.

Just as Kiara was planting the last charge at the last of the breach points, a strange hissing sound could be heard from a small grate above her. Looking up, she noticed a thin wisp of smoke emerging to fill the chamber she was in...

"Poison gas!" - she thought, putting one hand over her mouth and running back to the door of the chamber - only to find it sealed.

After a minute, she began to lose consciousness, the gas starting to affect her... before she collapsed unconscious to the deck.

"Hey! Hey, wake up!" - a seemingly distant voice can be heard, as Kiara slowly returned to consciousness. The voice repeated:

"Snap out of it, Valkyrie... come on!"

Shaking out of her daze, Kiara looked around... She was restrained to a rigid metal chair, various interrogation and torture devices mounted at various points on its surface, with the Rodian mercenary Shade in an identical chair next to hers, their weapons piled against the far wall.

"I'd say the mission just took a turn for the worse..." - Kiara growled sarcastically, testing the strength of the restraints. She needn't have bothered, as it felt like her arms were bolted to the chair.

"Tell me about it... one moment I was about to finish routing the narcotics gas to the garrison deck, the next one the comm went dead, and I knew they were on to us! It was only a matter of time before they cornered me, I guess..." - Shade agreed, shaking his head.

"Well, if we don't get out of here soon, things'll get a lot worse for us... when Fett kills the slug and sets the ship's reactor to overload." - Kiara muttered.

"Wait a moment... he would scuttle the ship before we were clear?!" - Shade looked at her incredulously.

"He's a Mandalorian, Shade..." - Kiara growled.

Shade's reply was cut off by the doors opening, and three people walking in - Gargonn's mercenary commander, and two other thugs. Looking at the two captives, he smirked.

"Finally awake, are you. Alright... we can do this the easy way, or the we'll-hurt-you-bad way. Your choice. Who are you, who sent you, and who's the last one in your team?"

Both Kiara and Shade remained silent. Stepping to one of the consoles in the room, the mercenary commander pressed a button - and a massive electrical discharge surged through both captives. The Rodian screamed in pain, while Kiara barely let out a grunt, gritting her teeth. Once the surge was over, she turned her head toward the commander:

"Better hope you kill me with your little toys... 'cause when I get out of this, I'll rip your liver out." - she spoke in a strangely calm, chillingly cold voice, not showing any strain from the torture she just endured.

One of the other thugs stepped close at this, and struck her across the face, while the commander laughed:

"Oooh... I'm kriffin' terrified!"

Shade twitched in his chair, before he began:

"STOP! We'll t---" - before Kiara cut him off harshly:

"Not a WORD to these losers!"

The thug struck her across the face again, harder, a trickle of blood beginning to flow from her nose, as the commander approached too - and planted his right foot hard into Kiara's stomach.

"Say that again." - he growled.

Kiara, barely affected by the blow to her concrete-hard stomach, smirked:

"You have hearing problems? I said you're a kriffin' loser!"

The commander roared, throwing a powerful left hook at Kiara's jaw, hard enough to rock the chair.

"Is that the best you've got?" - she asked contemptuously, then spat directly in his face.

At this, the commander went berserk, beginning to pummel Kiara relentlessly. As the bruises and cuts filled her face, blood flowing freely now, Kiara didn't let a single moan of pain.

"STOP IT!" - Shade yelled, getting a smack across his Rodian snout for the effort by the other thug, as the commander ran back to the console, and released another electrical surge to the captives.

In mid-surge, there was a brief blackout in the room's power, before suddenly, all the lights and equipment depowered, plunging the room into complete darkness.

"What in blazes..." - the commander began.

As the commander and his cronies looked to and fro in confusion, Kiara suddenly felt the restraints were released, with a soft clack sound. Her eyes being oversensitive to light, and functioning best in darkness, she immediately kicked out with both feet, taking the nearest thug in the gut, who doubled over, before Shade strangled him by wrapping one of the wires from his chair around the thug's neck and tightening.

Meanwhile, Kiara was already on the commander, punching him in the mouth, breaking his front teeth, then shoving him hard into the room's wall, as the last thug rushed her from behind, and gripped her in a choke-hold. Kiara stepped hard on the thug's left foot, and there was a soft crack as the thug screamed in pain, releasing her momentarily, before Kiara's right elbow struck into his nose, breaking it. Turning around, Kiara followed through with a devastating left/right hook at both sides of his jaw in quick succession, then a hard uppercut, dropping the thug unconscious.

The commander screamed something incoherent through his smashed front teeth, as he charged back at Kiara. As she turned around, he rushed into her and slammed her to the wall, before throwing a powerful blow to her gut. Kiara briefly doubled over, but also used the momentum to head-butt the commander in the nose. She tried to follow through with a right hook, which was blocked, before the commander reciprocated with a direct to Kiara's nose, this time breaking it. That provoked a brief grunt of pain from Kiara, but also inscensed her further, as she let out a berserk roar and brought her knee to the commander's crotch three times in quick succession, then grabbed his left arm and twisted it hard with both of hers, dislocating it at the elbow, and bringing the commander with a scream to his knees.

"Give me the vibrodagger! NOW!!!" - she yelled to Shade, voice berserk with rage.

"Right..." - the Rodian muttered, just finished with strangling the first thug, rushing to the weapons piled against the wall and returning with Kiara's vibrodagger.

She slammed the commander on his back to the deck, pinning his good arm under her knee, before taking the vibrodagger.

"Told you I'd rip out your liver..." - she snarled in an almost-animal voice, before starting to gut him alive.

Shade had to turn away from the gruesome scene, as the commander's shrill screams echoed through the chamber. With blood spurting everywhere, Kiara was mostly covered in blood by the time she was finished... the commander's screams dying down moments later.

Kiara stood away from the corpse, sheathing the dagger, before massaging her nose with both hands into a semblance of normal position.

"Let's get out of here." - she said, once again ice-cold and under control, walking to collect the rest of her weapons and equipment.

Shade stared at her incredulously for long moments, before shrugging and following suit. Just before they exited the chamber, Kiara stopped by the unconscious thug, drawing her DL-44 and shooting him in the face, killing him.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side." - the Rodian chuckled as she joined him out in the corridor.

Kiara said nothing, only briefly smiling at him, the motion making her vince slightly, her face being a mess of bruises and cuts.

"What do you think this blackout's about?" - Shade asked.

"No idea... but at a guess, I'd say Fett's been busy." - Kiara replied thoughtfully.

A moment later, a throaty alarm sounded out, with an automated-sounding voice:

"CRITICAL WARNING - REACTOR COOLING SYSTEM DESTROYED. FUSION OVERLOAD IN FOUR MINUTES."

She winked at this.

"And my guesses are rarely wrong. Let's get off this ship!"

Meanwhile, Boba Fett was already off the ship, rushing in one of the speedboats away. As he drove the boat, he thought:

"Not quite the way I planned... but it'll do. Couldn't get close enough to the slug to take him out, but he can't get off either... not with the auto-lockdown of the whole ship the reactor overload has caused! Mission accomplished." - before adding softly, as an afterthought:

"Hope the girl makes it out... wouldn't mind workin' with her again." - the brief hesitation in his voice the extent of the sentiment he was capable of expressing.

The speedboat vanished into the night.

Aboard the Geyrin, none of the remaining crew were paying any attention to the intruders anymore, everyone simply trying to escape the ship alive. However, with the lockdown in place, and most of the escape pods and lifeboats destroyed by the intruders, the task was almost impossible.

One deck above their initial location...

"Blast it, this is hopeless!" - Shade exclaimed in dismay, as almost every door they came across was sealed by the auto-lockdown.

"THREE MINUTES REMAINING" - the automatic warning system intoned dispassionately.

"Tell me something I don't know..." - Kiara thought, remaining silent, but the expression of concern forming on her own face, as well.

Her commlink crackled with a sound of a scramble-override signal, before Scrambler's monotone came in:

"Proceed down the rightmost corridor, then take a maintenance shaft at the end to the upper deck." - the Cathar hacker keeping a leash on her madness.

Shade's compound eyes turned a shade lighter, as he exclaimed:

"Scrambler! Am I glad to hear your voice! What---" - as Kiara cut him off, addressing Scrambler:

"You've cut through their interference?" - she asked, her voice betraying only a small measure of the relief she was feeling.

"Affirmative. I have access to the layout map, and can override certain lockdown commands. I will lead you to the main hangar deck, where our shuttle is." - Scrambler replied.

Following the Cathar's directions, Kiara and Shade began to make progress in getting to the hangar deck. After almost two minutes, they were at the foyer outside the hangar deck. A pair of thugs were there, trying to override the door lockdown, before Kiara and Shade took them out, and Scrambler overrode the lockdown. Just as Shade was running to the side door to the maintenance area Scrambler was using, to get her out, Kiara could see three more thugs rushing up the Escort Shuttle's ramp, vanishing from her sight before she could get off a shot.

"BLAST! If they get off, it'll leave us stranded here!" - Kiara thought, taking off at a dead run after them, DL-44 out and ready.

At that moment, the auto-warning system intoned:

"40 SECONDS TO FUSION OVERLOAD."

Kiara rushed up the ramp, just in time to hear a blaster shot, and the death scream of a shuttle pilot, caught off guard by the thugs. Stepping into the passenger area, she could see two thugs about to enter the cockpit, the third one pushing the pilot's corpse out of the chair and sitting down.

She had one of the thugs down before they woke up to the fact she was there, the second one falling as he spun around, snapping off a shot in death reflex. The last one lunged out of the pilot's chair, dropping to one knee and firing. Kiara twisted aside in mid-run, anticipating, and the blaster shot flashed just beside her, close enough to singe her clothes, before she fired two shots, the first one missing, the second catching the thug in the face. Rushing past him into the cocpit, Kiara prepared the ship for launch.

At that moment, Shade and Scrambler were rushing up the ramp.

"20 SECONDS TO FUSION OVERLOAD" - the warning system intoned dispassionately.

"HURRY UP AND STRAP IN!!!" - Kiara yelled back into the passenger bay, as she sealed the landing ramp and powered up the Escort Shuttle's engines.

Seconds later, she kicked in the repulsors, and, not even waiting until the shuttle had lifted fully off the deck, applied thrust to the main engines. The shuttle went screaming off into the night sky.

Gargonn the Hutt and his cadre of three elite guards were still trying to bypass the lockout to his personal landing deck, and the yacht there, when the auto-warning system intoned:

"FUSION OVERLOAD IN 10...9...8...7..." - the guards looking at one another with a hollow expression on their faces.

"...6...5...4..."

Gargonn closed his large eyes, thinking:

"If only I were to see the beloved swamps of Nal Hutta once more... and the life-mate I had chosen there."

"...3...2...1...0"

Deep below the departing Escort Shuttle, a massive detonation erupted, as the Geyrin's midsection detonated, consuming the rest of the disabled ship within moments. As the massive mushroom fireball slowly faded, burning pieces of the vessel sinking into the sea, Kiara's face twitched into a brief smile, as she wiped some of the blood still pouring from her injuries.

"Mission accomplished."

KOMM, CAPITAL WORLD OF THE SHADOW EMPIRE

As the last of the trade ships left Komm for the day, the Gatekeeper stood in the throne room of the partially-constructed Death Star III, looking out at his assembled 1st Fleet. The past year had changed the Gatekeeper. He no longer needed as much protection from the outside world as he did, as some of his burns had finally healed. As such, his new attire, a gray and black Sith robe with a striped mask that tightly fit his face, allowed much easier movement. However, his lungs were not healthy yet, and he needed a partial breathing apparatus to help him.

As he usually did at this time of night, he thought back to his wars with Remus Von Grath and his Ekatra Sentinel, the only faction that, apart from the RTSE, had ever posed a serious threat to him. But something tonight made him uneasy. Maybe it was the way his forces were dominating the ES. It was unusual. He was used to large brawls featuring hundreds of warships, but recently, the ES was sending out fewer and fewer units to fight him. He knew they had them in stock; the shipyards of Titania never ceased production. He knew they must be plotting something. But what?

Putting it in the back of his mind for the moment, he turned his attention to the RTSE, which he had been stalking from the shadows for many months now. He had them practically surrounded, 3 of 4 known pathways out of the Prime Galaxy were SE controlled. The time of his next attack was near. And with the ES potentially reeling, this was the perfect opportunity.

But he couldn't act now. The Death Star III was not yet complete. It was close, no more than a month's time away, but he couldn't afford to take his eye off it. Not even for a second. He refused to wind up like so many Sith Lords before him: corrupted by his own greed and lust for power.

But for now, he needed to get some rest. He abruptly left the room and went to his quarters to turn in.

CHAPTER 9

ORBIT OF CORUSCANT, 3 DAYS LATER

"This is Captain Tiann, commanding the Valiant Forge, requesting permission to dock with the New Republic High Command." - a regal female voice came in on the subspace channel.

A communications officer on the massive High Command starbase replied:

"Acknowledged, Valiant Forge. We've been expecting you. You are cleared to dock in Berth 17."

"Understood. Valiant Forge out." - Tiann confirmed, closing the channel.

An aide approached the doors of Admiral Bel Iblis's office aboard the High Command starbase. Pressing the call button, he spoke:

"Admiral, the Valiant Forge has just arrived. I have the preliminary news from Grandmaster Katarn."

"Come in, Ensign." - Bel Iblis's deep voice replied from the intercom.

The aide entered the room, and approached the hard-faced, ageing Corellian military officer, handing him a datapad with the report. As Bel Iblis leaned back in his chair to read it, the expression on his face became more and more grim. Finishing the report after a few minutes, he turned to gaze out the viewport behind him, deep in thought:

"So... we've lost the Mon Cal sector, with no word from admiral Ackbar ever since. And the Jedi have taken another blow from the RTSE, losing two more of their people. Looks like the RTSE had recovered from the blow we gave them four months ago, and is on the move again! I have to admit - their move was executed with exemplary skill. To perform the takeover of an entire sector without us here having any idea what's going on... most effective. But now, the time has come for us to strike back, and if Katarn has kept his promise, we'll have something the Sith will not expect..." - before turning back and addressing the aide:

"Has the Forge's captain come aboard?"

"Yes, sir... the Forge has docked minutes ago. The captain should be aboard by now." - the aide replied.

"Inform her that I would like to inspect the elite troops the Hapans sent, as well as a first-hand report on Katarn's Battle Meditation Adepts. I want to decide immediately where and how will those assets be best utilized." - Bel Iblis ordered.

"Yes, sir." - the aide nodded, turning to leave.

Half an hour later, Bel Iblis and Tiann were walking alongside the training halls aboard the Valiant Forge, where the elite Hapan Select Commandos were engaged in their daily training exercises. Observing the training through the walkway's transparent viewport, Bel Iblis remarked.

"I must admit, Captain, this is most impressive. Even lacking the Force, I wager one of these could give any RTSE Acolyte a good fight."

Riann smiled, before answering:

"Indeed, Admiral. With their cortosis-laced light battlesuits, providing good protection from lightsabers while not restricting their mobility, and their electrostaves can resist lightsabers as well. Also, they forgo the use of blaster weapons in favour of slugthrower armaments, which have proven more effective against Force users than blasters."

"Also, I can't help but notice certain Echani elements in their unarmed combat training?" - Bel Iblis added thoughtfully.

"Echani martial arts techniques are considered some of the most advanced forms of unarmed combat methods in existence, Admiral. It has taken us a great deal of effort to locate and recruit one of the last living Echani Battlemasters to train our elite troops. Legend has it that ever since the last great Sith War, their people have been in seclusion." - Riann explained.

Bel Iblis observed the actions of the troops a few more seconds, before replying:

"Yes... I'm by no means an expert, but it looks impressive. Still, I know that the Sith also have their own martial arts form - the... what's its name...?" - he paused, before Riann jumped in:

"You mean Teras Kasi? Yes, we have mentioned that to our Echani trainer. However, in his own words: ''"Teras Kasi is a discipline of the body, more than the mind. It is powerful and uncompromising, but lacking subtlety, and unnecesarily bound by the trainee's level of physical conditioning. Echani forms are the opposite, placing observation, re-action, and using the enemy's strength against them, before overt action. The mind comes first."'' Given his honoured rank among the Echani, I assume he knows what he's talking about." - she elaborated, with a shrug.

"Well, only one way to find out, I suppose... and they'll get a chance to do that soon enough." - Bel Iblis said, as they moved on.

"You mean the New Republic has already decided to counterattack?" - Riann asked.

"Yes. The Senate, on the recommendation of the military, made that decision as soon as the news of the RTSE conquest of the Mon Cal sector reached us. If we dig in, it will only allow the Sith to retain their newly found initiative, and I for one won't allow them the luxury!" - Bel Iblis growled.

Riann smiled at that.

"I see your reputation is well-earned, Admiral... it's no surprise Grandmaster Katarn thinks so highly of you. And I have a feeling this "military recommendation" to the Senate had you involved, as well."

Bel Iblis smiled back.

"Let's just say I may have had some... influence... on it. Speaking of Grandmaster Katarn, please pass on my sympathies for the deaths of Master Horn and his apprentice."

"They died fighting the evil of the Sith... a noble death, at least." - Riann nodded solemnly, before adding:

"The Grandmaster had also sent two dozen Jedi Adepts to aid in your war effort, skilled in the ancient Force art of Battle Meditation."

Bel Iblis nodded, just as the two had entered a turbolift, leading to the deck the Jedi Adepts have been assigned to, and their personal training areas.

"Yes, I've heard he had a surprise for us... what exactly is this Battle Meditation supposed to do to help us?" - he asked.

"Battle Meditation can influence the outcome of battles fought on a large scale, Admiral... at least that's as much as I understand of it. Perhaps one of the Adepts can explain it in more detail." - Riann said, as the turbolift stopped on the destination deck.

After a short walk, the two entered one of the Adept training chambers, where two of the Adepts were just meditating. Both rose to their feet at their approach, one of them, a Togruta, extending a hand.

"Admiral Bel Iblis, I take it? I am Adept Kor'letus, Padawan Third Rank to Master Durron."

"Pleased to meet you, Adept Kor'letus. I am given to understand your peoples' abilities in Battle Meditation will provide a decisive advantage to our fleets as we engage the Sith. Could you please explain the effects of this Battle Meditation to me?" - Bel Iblis asked, taking the offered hand.

"Battle Meditation is an ancient art of strengthening one's resolve and will to fight through the Force. By applying a specific form of meditation, we can inspire our allies, while at the same time diminishing our enemies' will to fight. Historical records from the time of the last Sith War provide an insight into the practical effectiveness of our art, when an inferior Old Republic fleet had managed to overpower a massive Sith fleet, and destroy the source of their power, an installation called the Star Forge." - Kor'letus explained.

"You have records from the last Sith War? 4,000 years ago?!" - Bel Iblis asked, surprised.

Kor'letus nodded proudly.

"The Jedi Archives keep records from almost the very foundation of the Old Republic, tens of thousands of years ago. Some are no longer complete, given to the many setbacks the Jedi had suffered over the eons, but they still contain an untold quantity of data, including the period of the last Sith War." - he said.

"I see... So essentially, this Battle Meditation will give us a psychological advantage over the RTSE, which will translate into combat effectiveness?" - Bel Iblis asked, still not fully convinced.

"Essentially yes, Admiral. Provided your troops actually have the will to fight in the first place." - Kor'letus nodded.

"Of that, I can assure you, Adept." - Bel Iblis smiled.

Their conversation continued for the next few minutes, until Bel Iblis was finally fully convinced. After arranging the transfer of the commandos and Adepts to the select ships in his task force with Captain Riann, the Admiral returned to the starbase, to inform High Command of his decision to launch the counterattack against the RTSE primary border within the next day and a half.

TITANIA, CAPITAL WORLD OF THE EKATRA SENTINEL

Floating above the largest planet known to exist, Remus Von Grath's flagship, the Despair, was dead silent. Aboard, white and purple armored troopers, all exactly the same size and build, went about their duties, as Remus sat in his study, reading up on the Dark Ages to refresh his memory.

In appearance, Remus was terrifying. He was a giant. At nearly seven and a half feet tall and over 350 pounds, he was obviously a very strong fellow. But he was surprisingly mobile, thanks to his relatively light weight. He was fast, quick, and agile.

Remus wore a non-movement-inhibiting suit of heavy armor with a robe attached to the back. His shoulders drew spikes, and his toes had small horns on them.His head was covered in a helmet/mask that completely covered his face. With glowing purple eyes visible from a visor, he looked like some kind of demon.

That's because he was. He was 1/3 Demon, 1/3 Human, and 1/3 Devior. His true origins were unknown to those around him, and they never dared bring it up with him: He was not one for conversation, and he had a ruthless, take-no-prisoners personality.

As he read up on the events he started so long ago, he began to think about his meeting with the Sith'ari Darkon in 4 days' time. He was looking forward to meeting him, and the potential alliance they would form. He was certain that they would be a valuable asset in his war against the SE and their allies, just as he would be to them versus their enemies.

Looking at the clock, he saw that it was just after midnight. 3 days to go. But unlike practically every other creature in existence, Remus Von Grath did not need to sleep. This gave him a huge advantage over other sentient beings in many areas. He was never tired, from a mental perspective at least. Genetic modification did its wonders.

Pulling out another book, Remus read on into the early morning hours.

TATOOINE, THE OUTER RIM

The schorching sun was bathing the desert landscape, ocassionally punctuated with small settlements, and a few bantha foraging around them. Suddenly, a large rusted-looking crawler vehicle came over the horizon. As it drove past, a mouth of a desert cave came into view.

Deep within, Deathstrike lay unmoving on the sand and dirt-covered ground, still unconscious from the intense Force blinding effects the Recluse had applied on her, and then sedated to remain that way for the duration of the journey. Suddenly, a Force message penetrated the haze that was her mind at the moment:

"Awaken."

Twitching slightly, Deathstrike's eyes fluttered open. Slowly sitting up, she tried to stretch through the Force, like she always instinctively did whenever she woke up, to sense her surroundings, but the Force did not stir to her bidding, even though she could still clearly sense its presence around her.

"What's happened to me? Where am I?" - she thought, getting up fully and taking a look around the cave.

Aside from the rocky walls and sand-and-dirt ground, and several tunnels leading out of the clearing she was in, there wasn't much to be seen. Reaching for her lightsaber, Deathstrike discovered that she was also unarmed. As she stood there, trying to remember exactly what happened, it suddenly all came back to her...

"I was searching for that... Recluse, after I sensed his presence through the Force. Somehow, he incapacitated me when I finally caught up with him! Clearly, he took me off Mon Calamari - but where? And WHY?!" - before she yelled into the semi-darkness around her:

"RECLUSE!!! Where have you taken me?! SHOW YOURSELF, COWARD!"

Only the echoes of her shout came back at her, with no response. She tried again:

"Are you afraid to face me?! WHERE ARE YOU?!?" - but no reply came.

With a sigh, Deathstrike walked down one of the tunnels she chose at random, once again trying to stretch through the Force as she did so, and once again to no effect. It was as if her Force sensitivity had been... suppressed... somehow.

"I can't believe he could do something like THAT to me! How is that even possible? To suppress another Force user to the point of cutting off their Force connection? I have heard of techniques like that, from several of the recovered Sith Holocrons the Master had shown me, but those techniques required dozens of powerful Force users working together for a long period of time! Besides - WHY did he do that?!" - was her line of confused thoughts as she walked.

Half an hour passed, and Deathstrike still hadn't managed to find a way out of the cave. At one of the tunnel intersections, she leaned against a wall, exasperated, as another Force message came into her mind:

"It is unsettling, is it not? To suddenly lose the Force, and to have to rely on your own senses to accomplish even so simple a task as exiting a cavern? Something so many Jedi and Sith forget as they become complacent with their power..."

"What is your point, Recluse?! You think I depend on the Force for my strength?! Come out of whichever hole you're hiding in, and face me in battle, and I'll provide a graphic demonstration of how mistaken you are!" - Deathstrike shouted angrily into the darkness, stepping away from the wall again.

"Ah, the limits of Sith thinking... yes, your Master had trained you well in that regard. But how much value are your martial skills to you now? Will they help you find a way out of this cave?" - another message came to her.

"And the reason for this stupid little test?!" - Deathstrike retorted loudly - but no additional response came.

Gritting her teeth in annoyance, Deathstrike set down one of the tunnels again, soon coming to another intersection, and looked around, trying to get her bearings. But to no avail... all the tunnels looked the same to her, without the Force to navigate them, and without a habit to look for subtle details in her surroundings, except when it was necessary to gain an advantage in a fight, or survey a potentially hostile situation. This not being either of the aforementioned circumstances, her instincts were not compensating for the lack of Force sensitivity. Leaning against the wall again, she contemplated the situation. "This is pointless. I have NO idea where to go... If I keep wandering aimlessly like this, I could simply be heading deeper into the cave! Much as I hate to admit this, that coward is correct - I'm not used to something like this! If only I could make use of the Force - just for a moment..." - before she suddenly tensed, getting that unmistakable sixth-sense feeling that there was something, or someone else alive nearby - an instinct finely honed by over a decade of training at Lord Darkon's hands, adding to her natural Nightsister stalking sense.

Smiling tightly to herself, she moved stealthily and soundlessly down the tunnel she perceived that feeling from, thinking:

"Well, Recluse... looks like you don't know me as well as you claim to! Otherwise you would have hidden yourself better..."

Nowhere near the cave, the Recluse was meditating in a small room, a slight, hunched figure, where he sensed Deathstrike's ongoing thoughts. His large ears twitched, as he spoke softly to himself, his speech strangely tangled:

"She understands not... but understand, she will. So the one she is about to encounter will, as well. If kill one another first, they do not."

Not too far from where Deathstrike was in the cavern, another individual was in the same situation as she was. A young human male Jedi, one of Grandmaster Katarn's apprentices, named Jaden Korr, also having been abducted by the Recluse, and asking much the same series of questions Deathstrike did.

"Recluse? If there's supposed to be a point to your abducting me, I wish you could just say what it is, instead of giving me these meaningless riddles!" - he snapped irritably.

Unlike before, a response came through the Force to Jaden this time...

"No riddle is meaningless... except the riddle of one's mind. Be mindful of the shadows, for you shall soon face a riddle of survival..."

Jaden shook his head.

"What does THAT mean?" - he muttered to himself, moving on.

Once again trying to stretch through the Force, Jaden tried to sense something - anything - that might have some bearing on this last cryptic message from the Recluse, but to no avail. The Force did not come to his bidding. Yet somehow, the ominous tone of the message unsettled him...

Coming to a tunnel intersection, he looked around. Recognizing the pattern of rock on one of the walls of a tunnel he was in earlier, he proceeded down the opposing tunnel, which he did not recognize yet.

"Good thing all those years living in Coruscant Undercity have taught me a thing or two about navigating labyrinths of tunnels. I sense a breeze... the cave exit can't be too far by now." - he thought, encouraged, walking down the tunnel.

Just then, a slightly darker shadow than the ones cast by the cavern's diffuse semi-lighting seemed to pass behind him...

Spinning around, Jaden looked back the way he came, searching the tunnel behind him, but seeing nothing out of the ordinary. After a dozen seconds of listening hard, he shook his head and moved on.

"Must be my imagination..."

"That can't be the Recluse... I distinctly remember the figure that came at me there! It was short and hunched, non-human. So who is he? Perhaps some minion of the Recluse?" - Deathstrike thought, after she caught a glimpse of Jaden Korr when she darted behind the tunnel entrance he turned into.

"I need a closer look..." - she decided, waiting another few seconds, then following Jaden into the tunnel, moving soundlessly like a shadow, staying close to the dark tunnel walls.

In a few seconds, she could see Jaden again, now having reached another intersection, and looking around. Noticing a slightly more illuminated spot next to him, Deathstrike picked up a small stone nearby, lying on the ground, and threw it in that direction, past Jaden, while at the same time taking a half-dozen rapid steps toward him, counting on the stone's clatter to conceal any sound she might make in the process.

"Huh?" - Jaden muttered as a soft clatter could be heard two meters to the left of him.

He approached the spot, and noticed a small stone, just finished rolling to lie by the side of the tunnel wall. As he crouched down to pick it up, the amplified illumination of that position showed Deathstrike more detail...

"A Jedi!" - Deathstrike thought, noting the brown-blue half-robe the man wore, and an empty lightsaber snap-flip holster at the belt.

Suddenly, her hand was itching to have an assassin throwing knife in it, as she glowered at Jaden's back, contemplating the perfect position this was for a stealth kill. Instead, she detached from the wall and started silently toward him.

As Jaden straightened up, looking at the ceiling, thinking the stone had fallen from there, a hard blow to the side of his neck sent him reeling into the wall, nearly knocked out. The combat training Kyle gave him kicked in, and he took two quick steps forward, denying his unknown assailant a chance to follow through with a second attack, focusing past the stars in his head, before spinning around and adopting a combat stance...

...just in time to see the sole of a bootheel coming at his face. Snapping both hands up, he blocked the attack with cupped palms, before finally getting a good look at his assailant - a slender, athletic looking woman in a revealing leather outfit, a multitude of Sith-style tatoos and markings covering her face and body.

"Now I see what the Recluse meant..." - was his fleeting thought.

"Are you prepared to die, Jedi?" - Deathstrike intoned ominously, momentarily pausing her attack, and glaring at him.

"I was about to ask you the same question - Deathstrike." - Jaden replied in the same voice, instantly recognizing her face from the New Republic intelligence reports he was privy to, keeping his guard up.

She flashed a predatory smile.

"Well... you seem to have me at a disadvantage, Jedi. Not that it matters - I don't bother to know the names of those I kill!" - suddenly crouching low, and sweeping her left leg to take Jaden off his feet.

Jaden anticipated, hopping upwards, before snapping his right fist toward Deathstrike's nose as she straightened. She deflected the blow with her left palm, while taking the opportunity to land a quick snap-kick to his ribs, then spinning around in a backspin kick at his temple as he staggered sideways with a moan of pain.

However, Jaden was ready, and he ducked the backspin kick, catching her foot as it passed above him with both hands, then striking out in a direct-hammer kick at her chin with his right leg. The kick connected, and Deathstrike's head snapped briefly backwards, skin split slightly at the chin. Thinking she was dazed by the powerful blow, Jaden followed through with a direct one-two combination at her nose and temple, hoping to end the contest right there...

...but he underestimated Deathstrike's endurance, as she stepped back in a flash, not looking dazed at all, only an eager smile on her face, blocking the first attack and grabbing his arm during the second, before pulling him close and planting a powerful knee strike diagonally upward into his solar plexus, an identical move to the one she used to kill General Rieekan.

Jaden's training allowed him to anticipate the attack, as he tensed, hardening his upper stomach muscles, and mostly resisting the lethal attack. However, the blow was still painful and debilitating, depriving him of breath, as he fell to his knees.

"Nnngghh..." - he groaned, as Deathstrike snapped both arms back, fingers tensed and curled together, about to make a finishing move on him, a dual tiger-claw stab to both sides of his neck.

As her arms flashed forward, Jaden snarled, focusing past the numbing pain below his chest, as he managed to grab them both by the wrist, centimeters before they connected with his neck, before letting himself drop backwards to his back, pulling on Deathstrike's arms, using his left leg as leverage to flip her above and over him, sending her flying to slam into the tunnel wall two meters behind.

"Ooff!" - Deathstrike howled as the impact sent a sharp spike of pain through her left shoulder, where she impacted the wall, then fell to the ground.

As she scrambled back to her feet, the pain in her shoulder did not recede, an indication that at least a hairline fracture was made somwhere inside it, her entire left arm twitching slightly. Jaden was also on his feet, breathing heavily in ragged gasps, and holding one hand over his chest.

For long moments, they simply gazed at one another in silence.

"So..." - Jaden began, his voice strained from the numbing pain in and below his chest.

"So..." - Deathstrike replied, voice no less strained as she had to support her left arm by the right one to ease the escalating pain in her left shoulder.

"I see your reputation... is well-earned, Sith." - Jaden groaned, smiling slightly despite himself.

"My master had taught me... well. And I see that not all the Jedi... are pathetic." - Deathstrike hissed back, returning the smile, despite her best efforts not to.

"Well... maybe we should, you know... postpone... our diferences for now? At least until we can figure out a way out of this cave, and exactly where the Recluse has taken us." - Jaden suggested.

"You know about him?" - Deathstrike asked, though it didn't come as that much of a surprise.

"Yes... I was on Denon, on a mission for Master Katarn. A day before I was supposed to return, I went to sleep that night... and awoke here, just about an hour ago." - Jaden explained.

Deathstrike nodded, replying:

"Not very dissimilar experience from mine..."

"Except how could the Recluse be at two places at once? Denon is almost halfway across the galaxy from Mon Calamari! He must have an accomplice of some sort..." - she thought, before adding:

"Any idea what he might want with us?"

"I was receiving periodic Force messages from him, with rather cryptic content... at least I thought so. This last one warned me about a riddle of survival - and I guess I just solved one!" - Jaden replied, before asking:

"Did he suppress your connection to the Force, too?"

"Yes... or I would have found a way out of this miserable cavern long ago by now!" - Deathstrike muttered irritably.

"Oh, that's the least of our problems." - Jaden remarked confidently - "I was just on my way out when you ambushed me, you know!"

Deathstrike stared at him for a moment, surprised, before asking:

"You mean - you can navigate this labyrinth without the Force?! How? All these tunnels look the same to me! The only way I was able to track you is because I'm trained to do so... among other things." - deciding not to say anything about her innate Nightsister stalking sense.

Jaden nodded.

"Oh, simply a matter of watching for minor details. Spending most of my life on Coruscant, I've learned my way around tunnels of all kinds." - before adding thoughtfully, but with a trace of condescension:

"You mean... you had no idea where to go until you encountered me, Sith?"

Deathstrike glared at him, before turning away, and hissing softly in an annoyed tone:

"That would be one way to state the circumstance - Jedi." - practically grounding out the last word.

Jaden laughed briefly at that, before speaking:

"Well... feel free to join me, then! I would hate for you to get lost..." - walking down the tunnel again, still holding his chest, but already speaking easier.

Again glaring at his back, Deathstrike reluctantly followed, her shoulder now fractionally less painful, thinking, her irritation with Jaden mixed with grudging respect:

''"You... are INFURIATING!!! Grr..." ''

Once she caught up, she spoke:

"What is your name, Jedi?" - in a neutral tone.

"Jaden Korr." - Jaden replied shortly, using the same tone.

"I still plan to kill you later, Jaden Korr... slowly!" - she stated, the ominous sentence in sharp contrast with her suddenly lighter tone, giving him a quick grin.

"You're welcome to try, Deathstrike..." - Jaden replied, grinning back.

Minutes later, the two found the cavern entrance, an intense blaze of sunlight penetrating into the cave at that point. Stepping out, they found themselves gazing down an immense golden-yellow sea of sand dunes, with no landmarks of any kind as far as the eye could see.

Shading her eyes while she took a long look around, Deathstrike commented sarcastically:

"Well... this might pose a slight problem."

"Wisdom, there may yet be, in them both... but still, understand, they do not." - the Recluse muttered softly, stopping his meditation, and retiring to sleep, with one last thought:

''"But they haven't killed one-another... a promising beginning!" ''