Star Wars: The Sith Resurrection Part VI: Death to the Sith

[JediMaster12]

Tavaryn emerged from hyperspace in good time. He awoke feeling alert and ready to do battle. He guided his ship into a stable orbit above the planet and looked at the surface. His navicomputer gave him information that might as well be old news. He sat back and looked out the window. Recognizing Garrick's ship, he activated his comm. "It seems the mountain is eager to great the river. How goes it Garrick?"

[CommanderQ]

The Comm activated, and a familiar voice came through.

 

"It seems the mountain is eager to great the river. How goes it Garrick?"

 

He smiled underneath his helmet, "So it seems, Tavaryn! Su'cuy Gar!"

 

The map of Tavaryn's position just came up.

 

"I'm doing quite well, just waiting for our Imperial friends to show up..."

 

He looked at Tavaryn's position closer.

 

"So, I see you are on top of things, if you'll forgive the pun..." He said, referring to the fact that Tavaryn had come up directly above the Capital-Ship.

 

 

 

 

Admiral Velerc stared out from the Nebula.

 

One of his Lieutenants stepped next to him.

 

"Sir, they seem to be unaware to our presence. At least, that's what the analysts are saying, are sensors are down, due to the Nebula."

 

Velerc sighed, "They know more then they show....be ready, we move in 10 minutes. Only observe for right now."

[Alkonium]

Reyvan carefully leapt out of the way of the falling debris, and had heard enough to know that a laser blast had caused it, but not enough to determine where it came from.

 

"Good, try to sneak up on him." Komad suggested to Kurt, maintaining his distance from the mysterious hermit.

 

"There is something else we are looking for: a lightsaber. If you will not give us the holocrons, will you at least let us have that?" Kalla asked, still trying to be diplomatic about the situation.

[Cyborg Ninja]

Kurt nodded his head and moved ahead of Komad. His HUD blinked for a second and three yellow dots appeared on his screen. He knew the two dots in front were Kalla and Tonatius. The third dot was Komad. As he moved a little closer a green dot appeared on his HUD. He must have never met this figure before and therefore was considered neither enemy nor friend. He crouched down and began to walk slowly. For some moving in armor would cause noise but not for Kurt. His armor was like a second skin to him, he learned to be quite sneaky with it. He began searching the place pointing his gun in various directions. The green dot moved closer to the center of his HUD. He stayed put for a few seconds, looking down at the two below. He shifted his gaze back to the mysterious figure. All he could see was the back of the figure. He aimed his rifle at the figure but did nothing more. He would wait for either a signal or for the figure to make a move. His breathing began to slow, and his heart rate dropped. He was now as silent as the very floor he stood upon.

[Jedi_Man]

Taylor talked to Sam'kil, she and everyone else on the ship had stayed.

" Sam, we've got a problem. The Republic ship you blew up, it sent a distress signal to its allies. It specifically mentioned us." She said.

Sam'kil cursed under his breath.

"Righty then, Arm the cannons, ready the escape pods, make sure everything is good. Then, lets see if we can change our transponder code, we need to be a different ship fast." Sam issued the orders smoothly.

[JediMaster12]

Tavaryn gave a hearty laugh. "Yes on top is right." He maneuvered his ship to land on top of the ship and snapped into place with the landing claw. "Literally on top. So what's the deal with this planet? I heard about a Jedi of some years but that's about it. What have you?"

 

**********

 

Master Komad, he can sense you through the Force. Tonatius ahd sent the warning through the Force, hoping that Master Komad heard it. He stood right by Kalla, giving a comforting presence to her.

 

Ahead was the strange hermit. He looked straight ahead, no emotion on his face. He said, "If we cannot have one, than may we have another. Good faith is has been shown."

[Master_Archon]

"You may be able to sense us though why you call me a Jedi is beyond me. Yet can you sense those that have masked themselves within the Force or cut themselves off completely?" The strange sword wielding fellow asked.

 

"I can't sense everyone through the Force, those that are skilled in masking their presence and those that are weak beacons in the Force I have some difficulty with, but then again, detection through the Force is only one way of finding people, I have my natural senses, as well as the ability to sense the intentions and wills of others," Vector told him bluntly.

 

"There is something else we are looking for: a lightsaber. If you will not give us the holocrons, will you at least let us have that?" The female Jedi inquired.

 

Vector mused to himself for awhile, and then spoke in a more neutral tone than he had been, "Ah, a lightsaber you say, I found that with the holocrons, I had no use for it, and I felt the taint of a Jedi on it, so I simply left it alone, only activated it, oooh, maybe three times at most during my stay here."

 

"I will take you to the lightsaber, if you so desire," Vector told them, motioning them to go down a small path into the ruin's interior.

 

"If we cannot have one, than may we have another. Good faith is has been shown." The strange fellow said again.

 

Vector simply looked at him with a somewhat confused look. "I don't know if you want something, or you're on deathsticks, but if you're trying to say something about the lightsaber as well, I'd appreciate basic, not philosophical bi-speech," Vector said rather angrily.

 

"Now, if you want the lightsaber I suggest you follow me, and tell your friends they can come too," Vector said, pointing to his surroundings suggesting he knew that others were around; he turned making his way into the ruins, whether they followed or not was up to them.

[Chevron 7 locke]

"I was removing it, the Dark Side taints Jedi worse than anyone, or at least it can from such a powerful influence as this holocron is. I was trying to hide my presence so as not to distract anyone unnecessarily with the frequent ground tremors on this planet, everyone has to keep on their toes, yes?"

 

Alriana narrowed her eyes at the force user. Something here was off...The woman was obviously good at conceling herself in the force but something about her was slightly..wrong.

 

"My name is Pahro Utonula, also known as P to the rest of the galaxy. I thought I was coming here on an archaeological expedition in order to get material for my next show, but here you are! Would you mind sparing a few moments for an interview?"

 

"Not at this time...no. I need you to carefully hand over the Holocron. These things are not only dangerous to Jedi but to all Force-users. They can twist you...shape you into something you are not."

 

"I can sense the cold on you. You have just recently awakened from cryostasis. Even archaeologists and reporters can be sensitive to the Force. From what era are you, exactly, Jedi?"

 

"I will answer your questions in due time...But first we must gathere all of the Holocrons I left behind here...and my lightsaber."

[Tysyacha]

"Very well," replied Pahro. "I will help you search." In the meantime, she decided to pretend that she was distracted enough to absentmindedly "forget" she was still holding the holocron of the Sith Lord. As she stepped over piles of rubble, both of the intentionally- and unintentionally-formed varieties, the "reporter" put on a very good show for the mysterious, previously-frozen Jedi woman. After all, it was not completely a charade. Pahro was smart enough to know that the best lies were half-truths. Any fool could spot a bald-faced falsehood, but it took skill (and luck) to call out a half-truth on its face. This one? She wouldn't catch it.

 

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

 

Meanwhile, Andirrul decided not to change coordinates for Jatalra. She would let Pahro deal with the more menial aspects of collecting intelligence on the Jedi. As for herself and her crew, they would refine their skills on Nar Shaddaa. It was a planet formed for secrecy, as the wet Jatalra had been.

 

Once they had landed, the first place the Dark Lady went was to the musty, dusty warehouse-court of Doja the Hutt. He was a distant descendant of the infamous Jabba, and he had his great-great-great-great-grandfather's shrewd instinct for bounty hunting. Did he have any slaves or prey in stock?

 

"This Jedi scum costs ten thousand credits," Doja drawled. "Total weakling."

 

He'll do, mused Andirrul. He's barely even a Padawan, but he'll do.

[Alkonium]

"Thank you." Kalla replied, following the hermit into the ruin. "He's got a point, you know. I don't know of anyone else, even among Avalonians, who talks like you do. Not that I mind that much." She told Tonatius as they were walking through the ruins.

 

"Stand down. It looks like Kalla doesn't need our help after all." Komad told Kurt. "We should join them anyway." He added, entering the ruin. "I am Jedi Master Komad Kaltas. We understand your attachment to the holocrons, and we make no further attempt to take them from you." He explained to Vector. "I'm glad my daughter was able to a find a diplomatic solution to this."

[Cyborg Ninja]

"Yes sir" Kurt said as he stood up.

 

He lowered his aim and the rifle now rested in his arms. He followed after Komad and entered into the ruin. He had never been in this place before, he felt slightly unwanted. This was a place that belonged to force users after all. After Komad spoke Kurt decided to introduce himself as well.

 

"Master Sergeant Kurt Krovak, Republic Super Soldier. I too am glad there was no bloodshed."

 

Kurt wasn't sure what to think of this hermit. He carried a lightsaber and lived here but he didn't seem like a threat to the group. Still Kurt was slightly uneasy about this man. He didn't like that fact that he didn't know where to go but this hermit did. He also wasn't a fan of him being right in front of Kalla and Tonatius. Kurt walked slightly faster to catch up with the young Kaltas.

 

"Good to see you're alright ma'am but to play it safe, I'd like to be right behind your new friend here in case he gets any ideas."

 

Without another word Kurt moved in front of the two and placed himself behind the hermit. If he attacked the hermit would have to go through Kurt to get to the jedi and he would prove himself to be hard to get past.

[Jedi_Man]

Sam'kil was in the sparring room, testing his skills against an automated drid, not the best of opponents. They were nearing Nar Shadaa, if the Republic Ship (Hint: Alkoniums) wished to catch them, it would have to use Warp Speed, which the ship probably would, at which point, more than likely, they would already have changed their ship to a more... Neutral look. The ship would be renamed the Trafalger, and be painted to look closer to the Clone Wars ships of the same class and similar shape. Hopefully, all before the Republic got here, but that was up to the Force.

[Chevron 7 locke]

"I will help you search."

 

"Before we go...I need you to hand over that holocron. I will detain you if necessary if you refuse to hand it over."

 

Alriana narrowed her eyes.

 

"Hand it over. That thing belongs with an experienced Jedi Master who can acess the gate keeper."

[Tysyacha]

(OOC: I'm going on vacation to Wisconsin with my family starting tomorrow, and I will need someone to take over Pahro Utonula and Andirrul until the 11th. Thanks for your help, and I'll try and post as much as I can today! )

 

Force! I knew this one, my intended bait, would not give up so easily! Either I shall have to give up the prize that my Mistress is after, and which she needs in order to conquer the Jedi completely, or...I have something else stowed away in my pack... She carefully removed a diamond-encased device that appeared remarkably similar to the holocron, so much so that it could serve as a decoy, but Pahro knew that decoys would not fool this Jedi, no matter how cleverly-crafted they were. That was why this device was a different sort...one that would start ticking off time in a matter of seconds.

 

"Here," said Pahro, handing over the holocron-decoy. "This should be what you're looking for." Little did the Jedi know that Pahro had activated the device by trying to crush it, and in so doing, activated its defenses. It was a grenade, the tiniest grenade ever known to the galaxy, and it contained a radioactive core. Once it exploded, the one who cradled it would die, and all others in the immediate vicinity would suffer acute radiation sickness for weeks, if not months. After the decoy was safely in the Jedi's palm, Pahro fled, aided by the Force. She ran as if a herd of malraas lionesses were pursuing her, and as if ten Jedi Masters had taken up the chase as well.

 

Fleeing was the coward's way. Nevertheless, it brought Pahro the time she needed to scramble back into her courier's vessel and engage the ignition.

 

Through the Force she aimed to rule, she heard an explosion. Hurrah!

 

The real holocron was hers, and soon it would become Andirrul's. This would surely put her, the Dark Lady of the Sith, forever in the spy's debt...!

 

And she'd pay. Just as the Jedi had, she would pay for dismissing Pahro.

 

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

 

"Relax. There is no poison in this drink, and you are not in Force restraints."

 

Andirrul herself, acting the part of a sluzhanka, a serving maid, brought a glass of Nar Shaddaa's finest sparkling darkberry wine to her prisoner.

 

The Jedi Padawan scowled at her. "I'll never join you evil Sith. Never!"

 

"Did you hear that?" She turned to Tyrannus. "That's what they all say, isn't it?" She watched as the young man, thirsty as he was, took a sip. "There is no shame in drinking when you need a drink. We do not intend to kill you."

 

"Then how is it you intend to break me? Torture? Mind control? Combat?"

 

"Such techniques are crude," replied Andirrul, "and they behoove none of us. What good is a soldier primed for immediate betrayal of their superiors in this fashion? We seek those who are strong, but we also seek those who still retain their sense of logic. How did the Jedi treat you, young Padawan?"

 

"Very, very well. Unlike you hatemongers." Andirrul knew that he was lying.

 

She also knew an ancient commoner's saying: In vino veritas...

 

Suddenly, she heard the metal door to the main hold of the ship hiss open. "Mistress Andirrul," Pahro cried, prostrating herself. "I have a gift for you."

[Chevron 7 locke]

"Here, This should be what you're looking for."

 

Alriana looked down at the holocron and then looked up only to see the reporter fleeing as if a Zakkeg was after her. Alriana slowly looked down at the Holocron in sudden understanding.

 

It's a trap!

 

She quickly launched the thing away with the force, she only managed to throw it around seven feet away from her before it exploded.

 

Alriana was unprepared for the wave of radiation that accompanied the explosion and dropped down to her knees and promply began to get sick.

 

That...woman will pay.

[Tysyacha]

"A gift?" asked Andirrul. "Show me, spy." Pahro stood up, opened her rugged and tear-proof archaeologist's backpack, and produced the glowing holocron.

 

For a moment, the Dark Lady of the Sith was startled beyond belief. "Where did you get this?" When Pahro revealed that she had acquired it within some ruins on Jatalra, her Mistress replied, "Very...very good. You have pleased me this time, and I can only hope that you continue to please me further." She slipped a note for a half-million credits into the other woman's meaty, greedy palm. "Take your money, beskar digger," she said, "and leave me. I shall have you know that this holocron is millennia old--perhaps dating back to the days of the Old Republic--Revan's time, and afterward! I must spend some time alone."

 

"Excuse me?" Pahro was incredibly angry, feeling slighted and ashamed in front of the Jedi Padawan and Tyrannus as well as Andirrul. "I also killed a Jedi, or at least sickened her and her weakling friends with radiation! It took a grenade that looked exactly like that holocron to distract them and allow me to make my getaway. I want more than credits, Dark Lady. I want a promotion as well--to be made second-in-command to you, your lieutenant!"

 

Andirrul winked. "We'll see what Wrath thinks of your little proposal."

 

Pahro's bowels turned to water. Would she be able to defeat him in combat?

 

She thought not. "I...withdraw it, Mistress. I shall duly accept my pay."

 

The spy exited, and Andirrul returned her attentions to the Padawan. She sat with him, drinking the darkberry spirits herself, and learned that he had only just progressed beyond the rank of Youngling, despite his age! What had made him so slow to adapt to the Jedi ways? Combat was his weakness.

 

"I can remedy that," Andirrul sneered. "What is your name, young Jedi?"

 

"Lukas Wraight," he replied, his last name sounding like rate. "I am strong in the Force, and yet so weak...Why haven't you killed me already?"

 

"We do weed out the weak and feeble," Andirrul said, "but you are not weak. You are only untrained, and in time, you will become as powerful as any."

 

"Will you help me prove to my Masters that I'm fit to become a Knight?"

 

Andirrul laughed. "They'll never take you back if they find out you're with me."

 

Lukas sighed. "I know. Then--will you help me get my revenge upon them?"

 

"That I can do," said Andirrul, "for I have been yearning for it myself..."

[Master_Archon]

"I am Jedi Master Komad Kaltas. We understand your attachment to the holocrons, and we make no further attempt to take them from you." He explained to Vector. "I'm glad my daughter was able to a find a diplomatic solution to this."

 

"I too am somewhat relieved that nothing pointless came of our encounter, but do not think that because I am aiding you that I view you as friends, nay, I hardly trust you even now," Vector told the Jedi, his eyes roving back and forth in the dark passages of the ruin interior.

 

"Master Sergeant Kurt Krovak, Republic Super Soldier. I too am glad there was no bloodshed." A man slightly less prevalent in the Force spoke up. Vector didn't respond, he simply grunted and kept moving, sensing the man move up behind Vector, perhaps in an act of mistrust.

 

"Here it is," Vector said, stopping in the middle of a dark passage, he lifted his hand and began reaching out through the Force. He would not go further, for going any further would take the Jedi into a place that Vector did not want them in, so he simply retrieved the lightsaber from the position they were in now. Only moments later a rather old, but well maintained lightsaber came hurling out of the darkness, landing firmly in Vector's hand. "Tell whoever you give this to, that they're welcome, seeing as I've kept it clean since I got here," Vector told them, handing the lightsaber over to the female Jedi, seeing as she was the most peaceable one out of the bunch.

 

Just then Vector's head perked up, his senses detecting some distant thing. "Somethings wrong," he stated urgently. "Someone has damaged the ruins, and.....Someone has left, their dark intentions are quite prevalent now," he said, closing his eyes as if seeing something they couldn't. "They tell me someone has been hurt, or worse! And....Something evil has been taken!!" Vector nearly shouted, his anger surfacing, anger that he had not felt since his Sith days.

 

Vector hastily made his way back up the dark passages, leaving the others behind, but shouting back to them, "I suggest you follow so as not to get lost!"

 

**********

Vector came racing out of the ruins, replacing his lightsaber's power cell, which he had retrieved on his way out; making his way to the disturbance, but what he found when he got there was only the remains of something that belonged to the ruins, and an incapacitated woman, he didn't feel the darker presence anymore, from what he could tell it had left. This caused Vector to grow furious, throwing his Phrik Gauntlet off of his hand and onto the ground in a fit of frustration at the prospect of such a dark thing leaving Jatalra to fall into the hands of who-knows-who. What angered him further was the fact that whoever got the dark thing, would end up coming back, and that would bring a wave of others too, his newfound home would no longer be his own anymore.

 

Vector sighed, concentrating on his thoughts, and making his anger subside. He would need to save his anger for another day, the day he found the one who tampered with his home.

 

He paused, looking at the ill woman on the ground, she had the taint of Jedi stink on her, but it was different, and old, as well as familiar. She reminded him of, the lightsaber, but there was something else, something comforting to him that he normally didn't feel from Jedi, it was the feeling of....The holocrons? Yes, she had the same feeling through the Force as the holocrons, and more distantly, Jatalra itself. Vector felt somewhat differently towards this Jedi, she did not bring up his instilled disposition towards Jedi, she had, after all, been in touch with Jatalra like himself after all.

 

Vector made his way over to the woman, putting his lightsaber away, he crouched down, lifting her into a sitting-type position, he put his hand to her forehead. "Sickness....From something foreign, and vile," Vector said aloud to no one in particular. "She was sick before as well, that isn't good, she was already weak," He said, moving his hand over her mouth, and then making a cone-like shape with it.

 

"This should expel some of the deadlier sickness," He said, using an old Sith technique that drained out life force from other living beings into himself, he instead directed the drain into one portion of her body, thus only draining the sickness, into himself. When the deed was done he shook his head and grunted.

 

"She won't die now, but she still needs medical attention," he said, looking around to see if any of the others were around, so that he could hand her off to them to take her back to their ship for treatment.

[JediMaster12]

"Certain words can reveal intention as much as they distract," Tonatius replied, "But there are others who are far worse at the double talk and play on words. Lengends speak of the ancient monks who sought out areas with high concentrations of Force energy and swore to guard them. The stories say that they could see thousands of years ahead to those who were to visit those places. Some were places like Hoth, Dagobah, Nar Shadaa, all sorts of places. They keep them safe until the one that is supposed to be there comes."

 

"But that could take years!" Andros replied as he came out of the brush followed by his master.

 

"Indeed but our people are long lived. Literally. True we can die of disease and warfare and even a broken heart but I suspect it is something unique among our people," Jun-la explained. "Now I suggest we keep up with our host."

 

Tonatius followed shoulder to shoulder with Kalla. He whispered, "I don't know about you, but I can't sense anything from Jun-la. No hint of the Force, nothing."

 

*********

 

Tyrannus watched as Andirrul messed with the Jedi Padawan. He wore a semi bored expression as he watched. He had already passed the word onto the Rashikians and hordesmen to make their way to the planet with the specific goal of capturing one of the Kaltas children. Karaka will certainly have a good time with that.

 

Tired of lounging he stretched and said, "So you've converted a Jedi whelp. Broken him, no. As he is, even under your guidance, he won't be fit to stand up against Kaltas and Kath hounds."

[Rexraptor2000]

Two force users, a Jedi and a Sith, battled in a deserted alley on Nar Shadda. Red and blue sabers clashed as each exhausted a number of techniques and tricks to try and gain the upper hand, though it was abundantly clear that each was still just a learner. As opposed to normality, the Jedi showed too much aggression in his technique and the Sith showed too much caution in hers. The Jedi was the one who actually started the fight and the Sith had simply been defending herself in reality, which all might’ve struck Urzvox Mech as a bit odd if the large, ancient Krogan actually gave a damn. He had simply allowed the battle to rage on to this point, satisfied to sit back at a distance and watch. However both of the combatants were showing signs of tiring and waiting any longer might mean watching one of them die. That would not fly well, considering that his bounty required them both alive.

 

Mech nodded to Ulim and the ten foot tall Sanheili fired off a round from his sniper rifle. The round missed them but the noise it created could’ve easily been mistaken for a cannon going off and was enough to catch the two duelers off guard. The Jedi looked in their direction and before the Sith could move to cut him down, Terror pounced from above and had her pinned to the ground in seconds. A precision strike from Terror’s tail took her lightsaber out of the picture and the Jedi actually let down his guard for a moment. He must’ve assumed that they were there to help him, though all pretense of that faded when the next sniper round took out his lightsaber hand and left on the ground screaming in pain. The Sith only struggled for a moment before Terror smashed his head against hers and knocked her out cold. When Mech and Ulim walked up to the Jedi, he gave them a look of hatred.

 

“You will let me go.” The Jedi said with a waved of his other hand. In response Mech handed that hand and literally bit it off, now leaving the Jedi screaming with two bloody stumps.

 

Mech spit out the hand in disgust. “Humans always do taste aweful.”

 

“We will need to bandage those stumps if we do not want the Jedi to bleed out.” Ulim stated, though like Mech he really didn’t care for the Jedi or Sith.

 

The man looked at them incredulously and shouted “What?! I’m not a Jedi, I’m a Sith you moron! The girl’s a Jedi! Take her!”

 

The response to this was a rifle butt to the face that knocked him out and gave the three freelancers a moment of peace. Well, two of them. Terror just looked at the two force users with a hungry, drooling look as Ulim and Mech bandaged the stumps of the now confirmed Sith and tied both targets up. Once that was done, Ulim slung both on them over his shoulders and they left the alley. They were going to their employer now: Doja the Hutt.

[Cyborg Ninja]

Kurt watched and turned as the hermit took off in the other direction. He gave Komad a nod and followed after him. The hermit was very fast and agile for that matter as they moved out of the ruins. Kurt looked to see the frozen jedi out cold on the ground. The hermit did something to her to prevent whatever had happened to her.

 

"She won't die now, but she still needs medical attention,"

 

Kurt placed his rifle on his back and gently picked up the jedi up. He waited to see if the jedi were coming as well.

 

"You don't strike me as the helpful type, why did you help her?" he asked giving the jedi a chance to catch up.

[Alkonium]

"We should get out of here. There's nothing more for us retrieve, and they're probably waiting for us back at the ship." Komad pointed out, motioning for everyone to make their way back to the ATT.

 

"You're right, but what about my brother? Anything from him?" Kalla asked. She could probably sense Andros herself, but Tonatius' senses were probably better attuned to the Force. Spotting Alriana, she said to Tonatius, "Here, help me carry her to the ATT."

[Chevron 7 locke]

Holocrons...Holocrons...Holocrons....

 

Alriana felt like she was going to be sick for a lifetime when she finally regained some sense in her body.

 

"Where...are my holocrons? I need them...back"

 

And then she promptly got sick again.

[JediMaster12]

"You may be certain Master Komad," Jun-la said, "Yet the ancient one that lives here will remain until his charge comes." She began to survey the land as she watched Tonatius and Kalla help the Jedi.

 

Andros looked at his father and asked "Father, we have found the trail of the Triumvirate. Should we not follow it?"

 

**********

 

"He masks himself," Tonatius replied as he went to help Kalla with Alriana. "No doubt his master taught him. It is an old technique perfected four thousand plus years ago." He lifted Alriana with ease and began muttering soothing tones in Avalonian.

 

Slightly along the water's banks the willow sleeps

In secret though she presently weeps

For that which has gone away

Yet her hope will last for many days

 

Tonatius sang this gently tune and it was picked up by Jun-la who began singing the reply, My hope soars from the seas

Until my soul is set free

I wait as the day passes in burn

Waiting for the return

[Tysyacha]

(OOC: I'm back, everybody! I had a wonderful time on vacation!)

 

Andirrul glared at Tyrannus. She did not utter a word, feeling that doing so and answering him would be far beneath her. If she would have spoken, she would have cried, Fool! I always have a plan...always, always. You don't see it yet, but you will, and when you do, it will be far too late. It was at times like these that the Dark Lady of the Sith yearned for the ancient Rule of Two. Wrath would understand. She would talk of this with him later. For now, however, she had a former "Jedi whelp" to send on his first mission as a Sith. It would not only be his first mission, but his first...

 

"Fallen Jedi are one thing," she told Lukas Wraight, "but Sith are another. The former go into exile and commonly join new careers if they don't become Grey Jedi. What is one tenet of our code--our ancient code, which not even that slime-ridden Tyrannus cares about anymore? Through passion, I gain...?"

 

Lukas hazarded a guess. "Power?"

 

"Not yet. Passion gives you strength, and strength gives you power. Power gives you victory, and through victory, your chains are broken. The Force shall free you." She gazed at him. "You'll understand in time. For now, where are we, Wraight?"

 

"Nar Shaddaa."

 

"Specifically the Refugee Sector--both of us can tell by the smell. Even after all these thousands of years, this is still Nar Shaddaa--the galaxy's cesspit, second only to Nal Hutta. Listen. What do you hear?" Some distant shouting had caught their attention, as had the burgeoning crowd ahead.

 

Andirrul leaned close to Lukas' ear. "I want you to kill the most dangerous person here. Sense him, or her, through the Force. Do not return until you've come back to me with the body. In a crowd like this, stealth will be key. If you cause any chaos or send the crowd into a panic, then you will fail."

 

Lukas saluted. "Yes, Dark Lady." He crept forward into the mass of bodies.

 

"The end is nigh!" cried the grizzled old man haranguing the crowd. "Turn away from your vices, your crimes, and your selfish desires! A dire reckoning is coming--not from the Jedi, or the Sith, but the galaxy itself!"

 

Lukas waited, sensed his mark, ignited his lightsaber, and deftly stabbed him in the back. With one quick move, he pretended that the man had merely fallen and he himself was only offering assistance. The crowd let him part, more intent on the old man's words than on one "Jedi whelp", and he carried the body back to Andirrul. "It is he," Lukas announced, "who was lethal."

 

Andirrul smiled darkly. "Indeed. Do you know why?"

 

"He was the only one in the whole crowd intent on bringing that reckoning."

 

Her breath caught in her throat in a hard rasp. The Force is strong with this one...stronger than I thought. "Yes. Did the Force tell you that?"

 

"It did."

 

The Dark Lady took a sharp dagger out of her belt, which she kept for killing fools, pawns, and sudden attackers, and slit the corpse's left arm open. "See that?" she asked. "Wired with explosives. Vomit if you must." Lukas did so. Next to the muscle and bone were, indeed, explosive devices. This man was a "suicide demolitionist," as they were all called in the holovids these days.

 

"Now. The reason I had you kill him was not to prevent the threat he posed, but to see if you could sense it and then turn it to our advantage. What's our next move?"

 

"We tell the old man to watch his mouth, and then show him the devices?"

 

"Hardly, naive one! We take the body back to the ship and examine it. We set our droids to making bombs out of a few of our more willing pawns. Living ones, that is. No one expects an explosive to lie within flesh of an official-looking officer these days. It's always the dishevelled ones that get pegged."

 

Lukas bowed to her, and the two returned to the docked Phantasm.

 

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

 

Pahro Utonula was thin now. Thin and muscular, and tall, with a perfectly oval-domed, bald head. She had spent her half-million credits to go "under the laser", with the results absolutely astonishing. No one would be able to recognize her as the portly P from years past. She had done and learned all she could from being the "Voice of the People". Now she could wear any wig, don any disguise, even that of a male foot soldier. Spies needed to do such things, and she was sure Andirrul would be pleased.

[Rexraptor2000]

Of all the species in the galaxy he had encountered in his near millennia and a half of living, Hutts were at the top of Mech’s hated list. He viewed them as obese slugs that were always looking for ways to screw their associates over while they profit, and while all of them were not in fact ruthless crime lords and not all crime lords were Hutts, they were the most common he had dealt with and it didn’t make it any less annoying when Doja tried to cheat him… again.

 

“I ask for the whole and well Jedi and Sith brought to me and you bring me one missing both hands and the other with amnesia. You also destroyed both of their lightsabers.” Doja spout while he ate from a jar of wiggling creatures.

 

A wicked grin spread across Mech’s face as he crossed his arms and chuckled. “You should choose your next words carefully slug.”

 

He was alone with Doja in the warehouse courtroom, save for ten guards armed to the teeth and a slave girl. He was unarmed, his weapons taken at the door, and every one of those guards had their weapons trained on Mech. The two force users were tied up and unconscious on the ground in front of Doja. In every way it seemed like an empty threat, yet coming from the Krogan it forced them all to take a step back. It was only Doja who was unfazed.

 

“You dare come into my court with two broken packages and then call me a slug?!” Doja roared angrily. “Here are my words: I will only pay a quarter of the bounty.”

 

As soon as those words left his mouth hell broke loose. Terror burst through the ceiling above two guards and caught them completely by surprise, disemboweling one with its tail and severely mauling the other within seconds. Ulim activated both of his energy swords as he decloaked among three guards and decapitated two of them before impaling the third. Mech grabbed a blade hidden in his forearm threw it at a guard. The man hadn’t hit the guard yet before Mech had taken another guards rifle and beat him to death with it. The remaining three guards were dealt with by Ulim and Terror while Mech walked up to Doja and his slave girl.

 

“You should have chosen your words more carefully.” Mech said as he lifted the weapon and pulled the trigger, only to realize he had broken it beating a guard to death. “Terror, it’s feeding time.”

 

Terror leapt at the Hutt excitedly and began to tear it to shreds in a very gruesome manner as Doja screamed for mercy. The slave girl screamed for a few moments before Mech grabbed her head and held it up to his face. “Shut up.”

 

The girl stopped immediately and Mech set her back down as Ulim walked up to them. Ulim looked on as Terror gorged itself on the Hutt and said “Though I don’t object to killing the slug, we probably should have gotten some credits from him first.”

 

“He never intended to pay us in the first place. Doja was going to have his guards shoot me in the back as soon as I accepted the reduced amount. He should’ve tried sooner, but he likes to play with his food.” Mech stated. Ulim then cut the chains that bound the slave girl to her master. “Still the abolitionist?”

 

“The Empire tried to break my people like they did the Wookiees, but you cannot break the spirit of a true warrior people.” Ulim replied as he watched the slave girl run away and out of the warehouse. “Doja has family. How do you propose we deal with them if they want revenge?”

 

“They won’t. They may be family, but they also won’t mind that his business will probably fall on them.” Mech responded turning to Terror, who was almost done consuming the Hutt. “They also won’t want to go after anything that has the stomach to eat a Hutt. The most we can expect is an assassin or two before they decide that vendetta’s are just not good for business.”