Star Wars: The Heart of Darkness

[Imperial Overlord]

The cantina door slid open, letting in a blast of bitterly cold wind and a flurry of snowflakes. A huge form emerged from the shadowy entrance way, the dim lights of the bar illuminating her form. She was big, even by Trandoshan standards. She wore a dull grey flight suit, which undoubtedly kept her warm enough to function in Marna Theos's bitterly cold climate. A meter long vibroblade and a squat and heavy blaster pistol hung from her belt and a huge rifle was slung across her back. All eyes turned to her.

No sane Trandoshan would come to the miserable ball of rock and ice that was Marna Theos unless the business was urgent and there was very little about this planet to compel that kind of urgency. Really, only one thing came to mind and that was bounty money. The Trandoshan's size and arsenal tended to reinforce that impression. Someone was in deep bantha poodoo.

Even the waiter droids, which were badly damaged and clumsily repaired and refurbished protocol droids, go the message. They hastily got out of the Trandoshan's path. Most of the customers went back to drinking. A few handled their glasses nervously.

The Trandoshan approached the bar, which gave the customers a very good look at the duralloy plate in the back of her armour and the sheer size of the rifle. It was nearly a meter and a half long, with a thick barrel and dual magazines. It looked like the perfect choice for hunting rancors.

The Trandoshan spoke with the bar keeper while observing the room behind her in the mirror. Rath finished his drink and got up. He was slim man, about average height with dark eyes and dark brown hair. His skin was on the light side, but Marna Theos didn't see much sunlight. He wore a heavy duster over a red sweater vest and a cream coloured shirt. Thick light brown trousers were tucked into the tops of heavy ice boots. He wore a gunbelt over the duster and a vibroweapon with a seventy centimeter long blade slung over his back. He was heavily armed, but not unusually so. Not on Marna Theos.

He slid across the room to a table where three men were sitting. The two closest to him were dark skinned and scared. Both were shaved bald and the one on the right had a prosthetic left eye. Scars marked their faces and their hands. The wore dark leathers over heater vests. Rath didn't need to see their weapons to know they had several.

The third man was short, also bald and clean shaven, but pale and corpulent. He was maybe one meter sixty-five and well over one hundred kilos. He wore suit of heavy black velvet that probably contained a heater layer. His piggy eyes glared at me. "I don't want company."

"Sure you do," Rath replied, taking a seat. "With me in the way, that Trandoshan can't get a good look at you." He glared at the spacer, but didn't say anything. "And you don't want that. He's obviously a bounty hunter and you have a big price on your head."

"What do you want?" he asked. His muscle was probably thinking of how to get me outside and out of sight so they could dump my body in a convenient snow drift.

"Money," Rath said simply. "Easier to get paid for transpo that getting whacked by your guards going for bounty money. "Say ten thousand credits for passage to a world of your choice, after we ditch that carrion eater?"

"That's steep."

"Death's steeper."

"Your plan?"

"We walk out of here, now, together, like a captain and his passengers. I have a distraction planned. Before the Trandoshan can think up an ambush. We get in my ship and we fly away."

"If he tracks us?"

"He won't," said Rath confidently. "I'll lose him in a series of random jumps. My ship is very, very fast when it hits the other side of light speed. Then I take you wherever you want and I get paid."

The fat man's eyes glittered. "Deal." Rath got up and the other three men rose. Rath made a discrete hand gesture. At that moment the drink in the hand of the walrus-like Aqualish splashed on the Trandoshan. The Trandoshan turned towards the Aqualish and let out a loud hiss.

The Aqualish have a hard earned reputation for being a bellicose species, but no Aqualish with luck bad enough that it landed him on Marna Theos would want any part of a Trandoshan, let alone a Trandoshan who was working her way towards the two and a half meter mark. He quailed in the face of her fury. She hissed again and took a step toward him. Rath and his clients exited the bar unseen as the confrontation unfolded.

The wind was bitterly cold and the clouds obscured the sky. The squat dome and cylinder style buildings of the town/mining settlement were scattered around half-hazardly. No one loved Marna Theos enough to invest much time in planning settlements. Everyone wanted to leave this frozen rock, not stay, preferably with a fat paycheck as compensation for spending time in hell.

The snow was twenty centimeters deep. Rath fished out snow goggles and a mouth respirator mask from his pockets. His clients did likewise. "Follow me," he yelled over the howling wind. He lead off straight ahead.

The other three followed him to the outskirts of the small settlement. The spacer began climbing a small, snow covered rise. "My ship's just on the other side."

He crested the top and started on the way down. The other three followed him, the two bodyguards checking behind them. The ship wasn't much to look at, resembling a rounded brick with stubby wings an angled front that contained the cockpit module. "Doesn't look like much," grunted the fat man.

"It's not supposed to," said Rath. They were getting close now. In a few moments the spacer would deactivate the security system and let them inside. The muscle would let him make the jumps and then kill him and space the body before reaching the final destination. Rath would lay ten to one odds on that being the plan.

He stopped at the edge of the boarding ramp and turned back to his clients. He extended his hand. The blaster in the cyborg's holster jumped seven meters to land in Rath's hand. The other thug lunged for his weapon. Rath shot him twice in the chest and he toppled over.

The fat man reached for his own blaster as the other thug dived in the snow. The fat man's gun leaped into Rath's other hand. A high powered blaster bolt struck the second thug in the back. The spasmed and lay still. A shadowy figure descended from the top of the ridge, a huge blaster rifle in her hand. The SSlanna emerged from a snow flurry with what approximated a grin on her face.

"Took you long enough," said Rath. "Gotcha," he said to the fat man. "Pero Galt, you can either come nicely or we stun you and drag your overfed ass into a holding cell anyway. Be thankful we found you."

"And why should I be thankful that it was you?" the fat man said bitterly.

"Because someone else might have been working for the Exchange."

"You aren't going to sell me to the Exchange?" he said incredously. A sliver of hope flared within him.

"Correct," said Rath. "The Republic is paying more."

[Darth Raptor]

You write Star Wars well. Then again, you write everything well, so it's to be expected.

[Imperial Overlord]

You write Star Wars well. Then again, you write everything well, so it's to be expected.

Thank you.

[Kartr_Kana]

Interesting start I look forward to reading more.

Oh and I must agree with Darth Raptor you write Star Wars very well

[NovaSolaria]

Interesting, however not sure if you aware of this but on fanfiction.net there is a story with same title there as well.

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2369737/1/Heart_of_Darkness

[Imperial Overlord]

Interesting, however not sure if you aware of this but on fanfiction.net there is a story with same title there as well.

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2369737/1/Heart_of_Darkness

Not really surprising. The title isn't that original . . . and Feil has a 40K story with the same title as my other Star Wars story. This seems to be a pattern with me.

[Imperial Overlord]

SSlanna stepped into the cockpit and sat down in the over sized seat on the right. Rath looked like a child in the seat to the left. "How's our passenger?" he asked.

"Resting comfortably," she hissed. She reached up an flicked a pair of switches on the roof of the cockpit.

"These Trandoshan sized seats are really growing on me," said Rath. He adjusted the power flow on a console in front of him.

"Midget seats are bantha poodoo," said SSlanna.

"Why do you think the Republic wants him so bad? They're outbidding the Exchange and considering he hijacked Exchange smugglers . . . ."

"Don't know. Don't care. Money is good. Hunt was good."

"A creature of simple pleasures, eh." The repulsors powered up.

"Humans over complicate things." The Shark rose into the air and retracted her landing gear.

"The guns are decent, CZ-55s, but we won't get much for them," said Rath. "Market's flooded." The Krath War. The Mandalorian War. The Jedi Civil War. The Dark War. One after another, each one battering the Republic and eating away at the foundations of civilization. Each one requiring more weapons and soldiers and ships and droids and each one spilling more of them into the galaxy at large as planets burned and economies crashed. There were places where you could get a good blaster for the price of a decent meal.

"Good for hunters. We buy more than we sell," said SSlanna. The Shark angled nose up and flew into the sky, piercing the veil of clouds as the ship headed for the edge of atmosphere.

"Always finding that silver lining," said Rath.

"What are you talking about?" hissed SSlanna.

"Saying on my homeworld," said Rath. "Don't worry about it." The Shark broke out of the atmosphere and into hard vacuum, heading towards the darkness of interstellar space. "Activating nav computer. Calculating the jump to hyperspace."

"Main engines engaged," said SSlanna. "Powering up hyperdrive."

Rath reached out for the hyperdrive activation rods. "Nav coordinates coming in. Five, four, three, two, one. Mark." He pulled the rods down. The stars turned into streaks of light and the Shark vanished into hyperspace.

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A woman sat crosslegged in the center of a meditation chamber. Sunlight streamed down from the windows at the top of the dome, bathing the whole room light and warmth. She wore a dark red hooded robe that obscured her face. She wore a tabard of heavy black armourweave fabric over the robe. She raised her head suddenly, revealing pale skin and full lips. A veil hid her eyes. She rose and exited the chamber.

She walked down a corridor with scarred and battered walls to an open air garden. Seven padawans were tending the plants, meditating on the Force, and repairing the battered walls. She stopped to examine the fountain at the center, which had been painstakingly restored by many hands. It was perfect. With time and loving care some wounds could be healed. Even her own.

A tall, well built man with dark brown skin entered the garden from another corridor. His head was shaved bald and he wore no facial hair. Behind him walked a woman not much shorter than he was with her blond hair tied in a short braid. The both had the athletic build and confident strides of born warriors. "Master Marr," said the man, "I sensed you might be looking for me."

"You are correct Tulok Dren," she said. "Your sensitivity to the Force is most impressive."

"Thank you Master Marr."

"I sensed a disturbance in the Force. A convergence point in the lines of possible futures."

"Then perhaps you should deal with this personally Master."

"I do not think so. There are other critical points, including this refuge. Your sensitivity to the Force is great and I trust your wisdom. Take your padawan and go to Arvek Station in the Multa System. Do as you feel is right."

"As you command Master. We will leave immediately."

"May the Force be with you."

[Kartr_Kana]

Keep it coming this looks better and better!

[The Grim Squeaker]

Ah, some KOTOR era fun. With ice bitten lizards . Looks interesting (Like yes, allmost all of your stuff does )

[Imperial Overlord]

The Malice drifted through the void far from the light of any sun. From her massive engine block to her beak-like prow the Derriphan class frigate was two hundred fifteen meters long and clad in heavy armour. The original design was ancient, from when the original Sith Empire had clashed with the Republic and been defeated. Darth Revan had modernized and resurrected the design, producing a nearly unending stream for his warfleets. They were highly automated, allowing a crew of two dozen sentients to operate them with the aid of droids. They had swollen Revan and Malak's fleets and inflicted terrible losses on the Republic Navy.

Some had survived Malak's fall and the subsequent battles between rival Sith and Republic. Malice's master had demonstrated strength, brutality, and a ruthless drive to survive that had seen him through the ebb of Sith fortunes. Now he knelt on the floor of his meditation chamber in front of a blue tinged image of a robed and armoured warlord.

"What do you wish of me, my master?" asked Kanarr Hest. He was a big man, light skinned with a shaved scalp and powerful build. His strength was tremendous, fueled by the Dark Side of the Force and his own hatred and anger. In battle he used the Force like a war maul to batter his foes while pressing them furiously with his lightsaber. Those that stood between him and the right hand of his master would join his victims. He was sure of that, just as he was sure that his blood would never drip from the knife. He had a destiny and none would thwart it.

"Kanarr Hest, you must go to the Multa System and retrieve Pero Galt from Arvek Station. One of my agents informs me that he has been captured by bounty hunters. The Jedi will soon be informed, if they haven't been already. Bring Galt before me alive and I will make you my shadow hand."

"Your will, my master." Inwardly Hest exulted. Finally, the moment to rise himself above the rest of the herd had arrived. He would no longer be one of a small army of partially trained adepts, but a a full initiate into the greater mysteries. And then, then he achieved his destiny.

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Rath tapped his foot against the worn rubber mat that covered the decayed decking. "What is taking them so damn long?" he asked. "They have more than enough to verify his identity and have taken more than enough time to do it three times over."

"Patience mammal," hissed SSlanna. They were at the reception area of Arvek's Station security section. There were a half dozen worn and scarred chairs, none of them large enough to accommodate a huge Trandoshan. Across from Rath there was a large desk with a skeletal protocol droid manning it. One of the illumination panels overhead was flickering off and on again several times a second.

"Maybe they're stalling."

"Of courssse they are sstalling," said SSlanna. "No one likess to part with that many creditss. You are being paranoid. The bounty wass big, yess? Republic bureaucratss must get permission to pay. Much money. Assess must be covered. If they wanted to detain uss, they would detain uss."

"So you say."

"Which one of uss is the old hand at thiss?"

"Right. You win."

"Excuse me, master, mistress," said the protocol droid. "The authorization for the payment of funds has arrived. We should have your money shortly."

"Ssee?"

Rath threw up his hands. "You are right. You're always right. You are the personification of truth and wisdom."

"Glad you appreciate me."

"I do." The door slid open and two people wearing Jedi robes walked in. One was a Human male tall, bald, and dark skinned. The other was a human female almost as tall with a thick blond braid. The bounty hunters exchanged glances.

"How may I help you Master Jedi?" said the protocol droid obsequiously. "We are honored to have you on Arvek Stationa and we have a full range of services available for your graces. If you need-"

"We would like to see Pero Galt," said Tulok Dren. He turned to eye the bounty hunters. The Trandoshan was an calm pool within the flow of the Force. She was a huntress and she hunted, without much in the way of malice or anger. She was doing what was natural for her and she did it without cruelty. That was as it should be and the Force neither shone nor darkened around her. The other though . . .

He as a maelstrom of turbulence and darkness. His passions flared and ebbed and flared again. His connection to the Force was strong, very strong. Could he be one of the half trained dark side adepts that the Sith had unleashed upon the galaxy. Perhaps.

"Master," whispered Janna. "The Human . . ."

"Yes," said Tulok softly. "Keep an eye on him. Don't let your guard down."

A young man wearing the dark grey and red uniform of station security walked out into the reception area. He did a double take when he saw the Jedi and then turned to Rath. "Approval has gone through. We should have the credit transfer ready shortly."

"About time," he said. The Jedi were making him nervous. He really, really, didn't need Jedi trouble.

"How can I serve you, Master Jedi?" the officer asked.

"We're hear to see Pero Galt," said Tulok Dren.

"But we only received him a few hours ago. How-. Oh. Uh, please follow me." The Jedi walked around the counter and down a corridor, following the officer. "We have a couple of drunks in the cells and him." He stopped at a door. "This one."

"Please open the door," said Dren.

"Um, well procedure is that I verify your identities. Actually, I should have done that earlier."

"Quite alright," said Dren and handed the security officer a metallic cylinder. The officer inserted it into the reader on his belt and then hastily returned it.

"Thank you Master Jedi."

"Your welcome," he said with a smile. The officer opened the door and the Jedi stepped inside. The cell was plain and stained in several places, but clean. Galt slid to the far side of the bunk as he saw the Jedi. "Pero Galt," said Tulok Dren. "Five months ago you hijacked a Republic vessel in the Meenus Corvas System. It got out a brief distress call before the message was obscured by jamming. You have no idea how much trouble you're in. Tell me everything about that ship and what you found on it and you might begin to dig yourself out."

"That ship," cursed Galt. "That ship has been my ruin! Do you have any idea of what it has cost me?"

"It's about to cost you a lifetime in a Republic prison if you don't start cooperating," said Tulok Dren. "Where is the Ebon Hawk?"

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On the bridge of the Malice the stars rushed back into being. "We have exited hyperspace," said a junior officer at the sensors. "Getting a firm reading on Arvek Station."

"Bring the drives to full power," said Captain Vreed. "Stand by to raise shields. Sensors, give me a reading on that station."

"Displaying on secondary tactical display," said the sensor officer. A blood red wire diagram appeared on a secondary screen, displaying the disc shape of the station. Attached to it was a three hundred hundred fifteen meter long vessel that bore a strong resemblance to a hammer. "Hammerhead class cruiser is docked with the station sir. They're powering up their reactors."

"Lock missiles and fire on the Hammerhead. Starboard guns, suppress the station's launch bays." Vreed's eyes flickered to the nightmare that was standing behind him. Kanarr Hest said nothing. So far so good.

Three missiles streaked from Malice's forward launchers, blazing through space as they closed in on the Hammerhead. The Republic ship's guns began to fire as the missiles closed. One vanished in a ball of flame. The other two became explosions of light and fire as the struck the vessel's flank. Three more missiles were launched into the void as cannons on the Malice's flank opened up on the docking bays.

"Station's shields are holding, Hammerhead is disengaging umbilicals."

"Station's quad guns are targeting us. Damage to shields is minimal."

"Direct hits on the Hammerhead. Heavy damage to their shields."

"Turbolasers are engaging. We are being bracketed." The ship shook with the impact of Republic turbolasers.

"Forward shields failing." Vreed turned to eye his superior.

"Continue the attack," the Sith ordered. Two missiles vanished in a hail of cannon fire. The third struck home in a flash of light.

"Their shields are failing."

"Forward shields have collapsed." The ship shuddered as explosions burst along the massive armour on the Malice's bow. Three more missiles flew towards the Hammerhead. One missile took direct blaster hits and blew apart. The other two hit the Hammerhead amidships. A huge fireball blossomed in space which sent huge chunks of the hull spinning off into space as the Republic cruiser broke in half.

"Continue to suppress the docking bays," ordered Hest. "Have the assault teams prepare to board."

[Ekiqa]

Slight nitpick.

It's MalAk, not MalEk.

Otherwise good.

[Imperial Overlord]

SSlanna took the data cylinder with the credit transfer from the droid. "That is payment in full Mistress SSlanna," said the protocol droid. "I hope that it is to your satisfaction."

An alarm began to screech. "Oh dear!" said the protocol droid. "The station is under attack!"

Rath bolted out of his seat and ran for the door. SSlanna was already ahead of him. "Jedi," cursed Rath. They both ran through the corridor. They didn't need to exchange words to figure out a plan. They already had one. Get to the Shark and get out of here before the station was blown to pieces.

The station shook as the broadside volleys from Malice hammered the docking bays, pushing the shields toward overload and making a fighter launch a form of suicide. The station's quad laser cannons opened up on the Sith frigate, but even it's weak retrofitted shields were strong enough to repel the shots of a few anti-fighter batteries.

The docking bay shields collapsed and blast doors slammed down shut. Scarlet energy bolts slammed into the massive doors, blasting them apart in showers of white-hot debris. A small pod was launched from the Sith ship's side as the last pieces of the blast doors spun away into space. Thrusters flared and the pod flew into the wreckage strewn bay.

Shattered fighters rested on the scorched deck near the dead bodies of the flight crew. A dozen droids were scattered around the bay, mostly squat astromech models. Retrothrusters flared, killing most of the pod's forward velocity as clawed feet deployed and seized the deck with a magnetic grip. The pod jerked to a halt and the front end blew open. A dozen Krath war droids leaped out.

The were a basically humanoid design that originated in the Empress Teta system. The technology they employed was outdated, but functional. They had slender, skeletal bodies with large oval heads. They were clad in tough durasteel armour and armed with a wicked hand blade and a pulse wave pistol. Modern, longer ranged blaster weapons had mostly replaced archaic pulse wave weaponry, but the older weapons packed almost as much firepower as their blaster equivalents. The swarmed through the depressurized bays with shocking speed.

Emergency back ups kicked in, kicking in a back up atmosphere shield and repressurizing the bay as the war droids divided into two groups to assault the adjacent launch bays. Grey clad flight crew and red suited pilots were grabbing arms from lockers and taking cover behind ships and equipment. They were being joined by station security wearing helmets and yellow striped red mesh armoured jackets.

A door in the side of the docking bay slid open and a half dozen Krath war droids sprung into the chamber. The Republic troopers opened up with blaster pistols and carbines. Red bolts scorched holes in the wall and sent chips of hot metal flying. The Krath droids were quick, dodging toward covered as they closed. Glancing strikes heated and scored durasteel armour, but did not penetrate. One droid fell with it's torso blown open from two direct hits. Blue-white pulse wave bolts flew from the Krath droid's gun hands.

A pilot and a deckhand fell. Two more Krath droids were blown apart by Republic fire and then the survivors were engaged in hand to hand combat. A Krath droid ran a security officer through the chest with it's blade while burning a hole into a pilot's chest. A fusillade of blaster fire at point blank range from a security officer's carbine turned another war droid to scrap as the third decapitated a pilot.

The remaining two droids would have been blown to scrap if they had been the entire assault force instead of the vanguard. Four humanoid combat droids were following up in the Krath's wake. They opened fire with short barreled assault blaster rifles as they advanced. Behind them were more combat droids and Sith soldiers, armoured in silver and black.

Outside, Malice pulled alongside Arvek station and extended a boarding tube. Cutters on the end sliced through the station's hull and it disgorged a squad of battle droids to secure the other side. A pair of of Sith troopers followed, accompanied by a quartet of light bending distortions in the air.

Four dark adepts in black fiberweave armour preceded their master onto the station. Kanarr Hest wore blood red plat armour under a dark cloak. "Kill everyone except for Pero Galt," ordered the Sith. "Bring Galt to me."

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Galt was gaping like a fish when the alarm sounded. "The station is under attack," said Tulok Dren. "Janna, raise the Repulse."

"Yes master." The Jedi took out her comlink. "Janna to Repulse. What is the situation? Repulse, come in. Repulse?" She turned to Dren.

"No answer," he said. "That isn't good. Bring him." The Jedi Knight strode out of the sell.

"Come on," said Janna. "Your odds are better if you come with us."

"Excuse me," said Dren as he accessed the droid's terminal.

"Why certainly," said the protocol droid. Dren's hands flew over the keyboard. Data streamed down.

"The Repulse has been destroyed," he said. "A Sith ship is attacking the station. I expect boarding parties will be deployed soon."

"What do we do master?" asked Janna.

"We need to secure transport and that means the docking bays."

"That will be one of the first places the Sith attack," said Janna. Galt's eyes bulged.

"Yes," said Dren. "We'll have to fight our way there, secure transport, blast free, evade the ship's guns and survive attacks by interceptors long enough to reach hyperspace."

"Just leave me in my cell," said Galt. "I'll take my chances with the Sith."

"That would be most unwise," said Tulok. "Not that the decision is yours to make."

"Damned Jedi."

"I am not interested in the favorable opinions of pirates. Janna, stay close to him and defend him."

"Yes master." She grabbed Galt by his tunic. "Come on."

"No."

"No? Are you crazy?"

"Going into that gun battle is crazy. I'll tell the Sith whatever it is they want to know and take my chances. I can be useful to them and they don't care if I'm a pirate. I'm not going with you."

"An unfortunate choice," said Tulok Dren. "We can't allow the information you possess to fall into Sith hands."

"I'm an unarmed man. You can't kill me."

"You're a pirate, a thief, a smuggler, and a murder. It's unfortunate that you will be deprived of your right to a formal trial, but under the circumstances it is understandable. I'll make it quick."

"Wait! Wait! I'll come with you."

"I thought you might see it my way."

[Stuart Mackey]

Nice chapter....bit short though.

[Imperial Overlord]

Rath and SSlanna raced down the corridors of the aging station. "Taking control of the docking bayss will be a priority for the Ssith."

"I know," said Rath. "But they'll concentrate on the military launch bays, not the civilian births." He was just ahead of his Trandoshan partner, heading toward the T-junction ahead of them. "If we're fast-" he dived back down the corridor. Blaster bolts flickered down the corridor ahead of them. "Sith droids!" he yelled.

SSlanna unlsung her blaster rifle as Rath got to his feet. She detached the magazine that fed into the rifle's side, but left in the one that fed from the bottom. She took out a ammunition clip marked with a blue strip and inserted it into the gun. Rath drew his vibrosword, eighty centimeters of hardened alloy that was the deadliest melee weapon short of a lightsaber. He flicked the activation switch and the blade began to vibrate. He reached inward and let his anger and his rage spill out like a tidal wave. The Force flowed over him and for a moment he was a force of nature, not a man.

Two battle droids came around the corner and opened up with their rifles. The vibrosword spun in Rath's hands, the Force flowing around him. The blade intercepted both streams of bolts, the Force helping to scatter and diffuse the packets of galvened particles when they impacted the blade. SSlanna fired her rifle over Rath's head, sending a projectile to strike the wall in front of her. It detonated in blue-white flash. Ropes of electricity crawled over the droid's bodies as the ion pulse overloaded their systems. They crashed to the deck.

Rath let out a long shuddering breath and deactivated his vibrosword. Black scorch marks marred the metal, marking where he had blocked the blaster bolts. "Thiss iss bad," hissed SSlana.

"Yes," said Rath. "Got a better idea?"

"No."

"There is an upside," he said with savage joy in his eyes.

"And that iss?"

"I'm going to get to kill a lot of Sith."

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Kanarr Hest stopped suddenly. There were disturbances in the Force. Several of them. A Jedi Knight and something else. Something strong. He addressed his acolytes. "I sense disturbances in the Force. One of them will be with Galt. Sweep to the right."

"As you command my lord," said Zandist Moll, the most senior among them. "If I may be so bold, you may wish to consider deploying the rest of your assassin teams. They may not be able to match a Jedi one on one, but their numbers and stealth give them powerful advantages." He didn't bother to add that they were also expendable. Their extensive combat training combined with their limited Force skills may them very dangerous, but much easier to replace than those immersed in the Dark Side of the Force.

"I have already done so," said Hest. "Even if the assassins fail to kill their targets, they will locate and delay them. They will not survive me." He left unspoken the price of failure. Every Sith adept knew what the consequences were for being weak or failing a lord of the Dark Side.

"Your will," said Moll. He turned and headed right, the other three acolytes trailing behind him.

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Janna fell in behind Pero Galt as she hurried the fat man through the corridors of Arvek Station. Galt was panting and wheezing. "Master," she called out. "I sense something."

"The Dark Side," said Dren. The Jedi Knight was ahead of them, taking point. He spoke without turning around. "Its shroud descends upon us, hiding its agents from our vision. They will seek to strike at us from surprise and when we are weakest."

He jumped to the side and ignited his lightsaber, swinging it as he moved. The blue blade sliced through a distorted patch of air and the top half of a black armoured assassin fell away from his legs. Three more shimmers exploded into motion, revealing the dark blurs of vibrosword armed Sith assassins as their stealth fields failed to completely disguise them.

Tulok extended his hand and the closest went flying back down the hall. The closest swung at him and he parried the vibrosword. His lightsaber flared at the contact point as the cortosis content of the alloy disrupted the particle flow of the lightsaber, causing the stream to become diffuse and significantly reducing its cutting power. Tulok forced the blade to the side and then swung his lightsaber back at the assassin before he could recover, decapitating him. The other one came at him from the right side. The Jedi Knight parried the blade and took a kick to the midsection that sent him sprawling. Janna leapt at the assassin, a golden blade gripped in her hands. The assassin extended his hand and wave of the Force sent her flying. She skidded and rolled down the corridor. The blast would have pulped her organs as well if the Force hadn't protected her from the worst of it.

The distraction had bough Tulok Dren a few moments and for a Jedi Knight who was one with the Force a few moments are more than enough. He swept the assassin's legs out from under him and sprung to his feet to meet the other assassin. He feinted high and stabbed low, burning through the assassin's heart and spine. He whipped his lightsaber out of the assassin's chest, blazing a path of cauterized tissue as he did so, to parry the other assassin's blade.

The assassin stepped back and broke contact with Tulok's lightsaber. Even with cortosis forming part of the alloy, the lightsaber would cause severe damage to the blade after a few moments. Tulok feinted towards the assassin's shoulder. The assassin parried aggressively, trying to push Tulok's blade aside and then strike at the Jedi's exposed body. Instead Dren pushed his blade down, maintaining contact. For a long moment Jedi and Sith strained against each other. Then the Sith's blade snapped. Tulok Dren whipped his lightsaber through the assassin's elbows and torso. The Sith fell in pieces, smoke streaming from the cauterized wounds.

"Let's go," said Dren. "We still have a lot of ground to cover."

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Rath and SSlanna slowly walked down the corridor towards Docking Bay Twelve. They could hear the sounds of blater fire ahead. "I don't like thiss," hissed SSlanna.

"We could wait to try and leave after the Sith have secured the station," said Rath.

"Wass complaining, not propossing to abandon plan."

"Too bad. I was hoping you had a better one." His head whipped around.

"What?" asked SSlanna.

Rath turned back to her, fear etched on his features. "Run. Try to shoot your way to the ship and don't waste any time. I'll try and hold them."

"Hold who?"

"Damn you, you overgrown lizard. Just do as a say! While there's still time."

Three men and one woman walked into the corridor behind them. They wore loose fitting tunics and pants of thick black armour weave. The bald woman and the dark skinned man with jagged black facial tattoos both carried an ignited lightsaber in their hands. The light skinned Zabrak had his hands curled fists and his arms crossed over his chest. The last was a huge human male with a mass of scar tissue covering most of the upper parts of his face and a silver cybernetic prothesises staring out of his blackened eyesockets. His head was shaved bald.

The lips of the bald man curled into a smile. "Rath. Rath Sengar."

"Run!" shouted Rath, his face contorted into a mask of fear. SSlanna ran and didn't look back.

[Stuart Mackey]

Very good.

[General Trelane (Retired)]

Please, sir, I want some more.

[Imperial Overlord]

Tulok Dren's lightsaber danced and spun in his hands. A hail of incoming blaster bolts ricocheted off the blade and flew back down the corridor at the Sith war droids. Several of the bolts scored glancing hits against the droids' armour and failed to penetrate, but more often than not the reflected fire inflicted severe damage on the droids. Already three had been downed and Dren was still advancing. Then he was among them.

Shien was an aggressive style well suited to engaging multiple blaster armed opponents. The bold sweeps of the Dren's lightsaber not only deflected incoming fire, but intersected with the heads or torsos of the Sith war machines. The war droids fell into multiple, sparking pieces as Dren's blade cut through them.

It was not long before the Jedi Knight was thing moving. "Blasters," he said shaking his head. Crude, graceless weapons of such limited utility. Pointless against a Jedi Knight. He flicked his hand and the hatch ahead of him opened, revealing a squad of Sith troopers in silver and black charging down the corridor.

He flung out his hand and struck with the Force. They flew back like leaves in a hurricane, tumbling across the deck. Dren advanced at a measured pace, unhurried and guided by the Force. He swept his saber through the stunned Sith as he advanced through them, slaying them before they recovered sufficiently to defend themselves.

Dren considered the possibility of leading a counter attack and seizing the frigate. There were only so many soldiers and droids it could carry. His presence, and Janna's, would substantially bolster the strength of Arvek Station's defenders.

The glow of a bloodshine blade ended that speculation. It's wielder followed it around the corridor. The blood red armour he wore increased his height and bulk, but the Sith must have been near the two meter mark without it. The Dark Side did not flow around him, it instead encased him like a cocoon or a suit of armour.

"Jedi," hissed Kanarr Hest. "You have brought me my prey. How considerate." He raised his saber into a classic Djem So overhand strike position. "Now you die."

"Master," said Janna. Her blade shone gold in her hands. "We'll take him together.

"No," said Tulok Dren. "We'll get in each other's way in this corridor. Get Galt to safety." Hest began advancing at a deceptively leisurely pace.

"Master-"

"Now." Hest sprung forward, flashing through the remaining distance between them in a burst of Force enhanced speed. Dren parried Hest's blade as the Sith's blade came down. Their lightsabers locked, sending out crackling static. For a moment Jedi and Sith stood frozen, straining against each other with all their might. Then Hest pushed Tulok Dren back. The Jedi Knight hit the deck and rolled away to his feet.

"You are no match for me Jedi," said Hest. "You know this to be true. I will kill you and then dispatch your Padawan and take the prize back to my master. You know this to be true."

He's trying to weaken me with taunts and fear, thought Dren, but I do not fear because I am one with the Force. He raised his lightsaber into a high guard position. "The battle has just begun Sith."

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"Is that fear I see on your face, Rath?" asked Zandist Moll. The maimed Sith laughed with delight. "Forgive the question, you left my optical senses somewhat impaired and the cybernetics aren't quite the same thing as real eyes. Don't worry though. I don't want to kill you." He laughed again. "That would be too quick. Take him alive," he ordered the other adepts.

The Zabrak lashed out with a hammer of Force power. Lightsabers were deadly, but all personal weapons were ultimately no match for the power of the Force. He had no intention of obeying Moll's orders and softening his blows to take Rath Sengar alive. Employing half measures against a trained Force user this strong was a foolish risk he had no intention of taking. The telekinetic blast punched through the whirling storm of Dark Side energy around Rath and struck him hard. The bounty hunter staggered backwards a step.

Impressive, most impressive thought Bardu Suror. Sanda and Markell both rushed forward, their lightsabers raised. The corridor would restrict their movements, but holding off two lightsaber wielding opponents while he and Moll unleashed the Dark Side would be more than the bounty hunter could possibly resist.

"Die!" shouted Rath and with his word came the power of the Dark Side. Sanda and Markell were blasted off their feet and sent tumbling back. The light strips on the ceiling exploded in showers of sparks and the walls groaned under the strain. Bardu Suror rocked back, dazed by the surge of raw power.

Only Zandist Moll withstood the attack unaffected. In the dim light provided by other corridor sections and the bloody glow of the Sith lightsabers his face was a contorted mask of fury. "Get him!" he screamed as he extended his fist and drew upon the power of the Dark Side.

Rath let loose a ragged breath and then felt an invisible vice close upon him. His muscles tensed like steel cables as the grip of the Force grew tighter. Mere strength was useless. He barred his teeth and glared at Zandist Moll.

The Sith Acolyte gasped and chocked, his killing grip falling away as he fell to his knees and coughed up blood. Sengar's strength was incredible. He had abandoned the ways of the Force, he should not have been that strong. It shouldn't have been possible, but somehow Rath was.

Sanda and Markell had regained their feat and lunged at Rath. He raised his vibroblade to meet Markell's overhand swing and kicked Sanda in the stomach before she could strike, sending the Sith woman sprawling. Markell's blade flared where it contacted the vibroblade as the cortosis woven into the alloy disrupted the saber's particle stream. Rath broke the lock by giving ground, saving his blade from the inevitable destruction of prolonged contact with the lightsaber.

Markell scowled, his facial tattoos giving him a ferocious countenance, and followed up with powerful over head and diagonal slashing strikes. as Sanda took up a place on Markell's left a step behind him. If Rath struck at Markell or their blades locked, he would be easily skewered by the bald woman's lightsaber. The bounty hunter continued to give ground.

Suror was almost trembling with rage as he drew upon the power of the Dark Side. Rath was well named, his own fury and power rising to meet and retaliate against direct assaults of the dark side. For a moment he wondered if Zandist realized this and then he resumed the matter at hand. There were other ways, subtler ways, to attack with the Dark Side than brute force telekinetic battles. Ways that Rath might not be so skilled at defending against and responding to in kind.

He sent a wave of despair and terror into Rath's mind. The bounty hunter's fear had been clear early in the encounter, before he had drawn on his anger and hate and the full power of the Dark Side. If fear could again be brought to the fore he would become easy prey.

Rath feinted at Sanda, drawing the Sith woman's saber up into a guard position. Perfect. The move would easily flow into a disemboweling strike across Markell's gut while the big man had his saber raised. Rath would follow through the motion with his whole body, gutting the Sith and evading any immediate counter blows.

Dread flowed into his body, constricting his heart and filling his veins with ice. His brain refused to work. In mid strike, he hesitated. It was just for a moment, but it was a moment he didn't have. Markell brought his lightsaber down to parry Rath's vibrosword. The blades locked. Then Sanda struck at his sword and he was holding two lightsaber blades. For a second the sword held. He pulled back, disengaging from Sanda but Markell stepped forward and pressed him hard.

The overstressed sword was cut clean in half and Rath stumbled back to avoid getting slashed open by Markell's lightsaber. "Cut him to pieces," hissed Zandist. "Just make sure the main piece survives to reach a kolto tank."

[Imperial Overlord]

Tulok Dren gave ground before the Sith warrior's assault, parrying and striking back as he fell back into a side corridor. The Sith carried the burden of armour and was fueled by his passions. A quick, brutal clash was exactly what he wanted. Tulok, on the other hand, was one with the Force. He let it guide his strikes and parries as he traded more ground. The Sith's passion would ebb and the burden of carrying that much armour would tell. He would slip and then Tulok would strike.

The Jedi Knight let the Sith drive him down the corridor with powerful hammer blows as Tulok continued to give ground, parrying and occasionally launching a counter strike of his own. "You are weak Jedi," growled Kanarr Hest. "You and your padawan will die at my hand."

Tulok did not reply, but let the Sith drive him into another corridor. This one was much larger, with one side dominated by massive windows that looked out onto space. They had entered the station's observation concourse. There was much more room to maneuver, a change that favored the lightly clad Jedi over the heavily armoured Sith.

Dren went off the offensive, switching styles from the powerful, dominating swings of Shien to the lightning quick acrobatics of Ataru, slashing swiftly at the Sith's waist and then spinning away and back to strike at Hest's head. The Sith parried in both times, but his reactions were slow. Dren kicked him in the chest, the Force augmenting his blow. The Sith was sent sprawling, but regained his feet instantly.

Bellowing, Kanarr Hest charged. Tulok Dren smiled and met it.

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Rath backpedalled from the oncoming Sith. He threw the useless hilt and broken blade of his vibrosword at Markell's face, but the tattooed Sith raised his blade and parried. The ruined weapon came apart in a shower of sparks and hot metal. The action bought Rath a few more moments.

The bounty hunter's retreat had carried him back to a corridor intersection. Rath pulled a hard left and managed to just avoid getting cut from crown to crotch by a blow from Markell's saber. The two Sith followed their prey around the corner as Rath drew his blaster pistol.

It was a Mandalorian AP-4 heavy blaster pistol, a model designed to have a heavy punch and a high rate of fire, incorporating features from a half dozen different weapons. The Mandalorians were technological pragmatists, incorporating and absorbing useful technologies into their war machine as they overran worlds and sectors. It hadn't allowed them to defeat the Republic, but it had helped the aggressive warrior society put up a good fight despite the disparity in numbers. Rath used the weapon not for its Mandalorian mystique, but for the same reasons Mandalorians did. It did its job very well.

Markell raised his saber to parry the blaster bolts, step forward, and sever Rath's limbs. Sanda was just behind him and in the process of stepping around her fellow Sith to gang up on the bounty hunter. Rath shot at neither of them.

A pair of cyan bolts struck the wall just in front of Markell at head height, blasting large craters in the wall in explosions of sparks and white-hot debris. The Sith flinched from the bombardment of shrapnel and the force of the explosions. For a moment, his stance and his parrying ability were compromised.

The next bolt hit him in the right shoulder and the fourth in the right side of his chest. Armourweave saved him from having massive wounds blown in his flesh and instant death, but not from severe injury. Smoke rose from the large impact points and the Sith fell with a burned lung, internal bleeding, and crippled shoulder.

Sanda lunged ahead to strike, bringing her lightsaber down to sever Rath's right arm. The bounty hunter's left came up, Markell's lightsaber flashing through the air to land in his palm. The bloodshine blades clashed and locked, millimeters away from Rath's flesh.

His right hand still held the blaster and Sanda's blade was locked. Rath pulled the trigger. Sanda grunted and almost folded as the blaster bolt hit her in the gut at point blank range. Rath pushed fired again, hitting her in the sternum. The Sith staggered back, somehow still on her feet. Rath pushed her blade aside and shot her in the neck. She fell.

Rath holstered his blaster and spun the lightsaber in both hands as Zandist Moll and Bardu Suror turned the corner to find him standing over the bodies of their colleagues. Colleagues, not comrades or friends. Sith had neither. "Not a bad blade," said Rath. "Grip needs a little work. Thanks for rearming me. I've missed having a lightsaber. This brings back old memories, doesn't it?" he said, his voice dripping with false camaraderie. "A bunch of dead bodies, you, me, some other guy, Korriban, me with a lightsaber? Remember?" He paused for a moment. "This time I'm not in such of a hurry and I'll make sure of you. I'm going to take more than just your eyes. I'm going to take everything."

Zandist drew his lightsaber as Rath charged. Suror held out his hands and struck with the Dark Side. Rath snarled, his face becoming a bestial mask, and gestured with a clawed left hand. Suror fell staggering back, but Rath's charge was disrupted. Zandist swung his blade at Rath's head. The bounty hunter parried and the blades met in a clash of static. "You're going to lose," said Rath. "Just like the last time."

"You should have stayed," said Zandist. "You have no idea how powerful I've become, how strong the Sith teachings have made me. You're just an half trained whelp who got by on crude strength. Now feel the full power of the Dark Side." A wave of Force power threw Rath back down the corridor. The bounty hunter tumbled to his feet, his lightsaber held out before him.

Bardu ignited his blade and moved forward to back up Zandist. He was strong with the Force, but a mediocre duelist. He found having to actually settle a fight with a lightsaber detestable, but this vermin was proving very troublesome. Zandist extended his left hand and a cascade of purple lightning flowed down the corridor toward the bounty hunter.

Rath tried to parry the Force Lightning, catching most of it on his blade. Some of the arcs struck his forearm and agony shot through his body. He tried to push it away and mostly succeeded, but both the strain and pain was intense. "Who dies now Rath?" Zandist shouted. "Who is the victor and who is the victim?"

Rath gritted his teeth and reached out with his remaining power. A thermal detonator detached itself from his belt and zipped through the air a few centimeters above the floor. Bardu saw the explosive race towards him and reached out with the Force. Halfway between renegade and Sith the thermal detonator exploded.

The flash temporarily blinded everyone as a blast wave of superheated air knocked all of them down. A haze of vaporized metal floated between them from material detonator had consumed, leaving a gaping empty space that lead into the rooms above, below, and beside the corridor as if the hand of a god had simply removed the intervening section of corridor entirely while leaving the rest of the station untouched.

Rath recovered first, having already been using the Force to repel dangerous energies. He could hear the sounds of metal feet advancing over the decks. The battle was one sided enough without combat droids being added to the mix. He drew upon the Force to strengthen him and protect him as he jumped down through the haze of superheated air and into the chamber below.

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The Jedi dodged the Sith warrior's charge with inhuman speed, striking as he slipped to Hest's left to flank him. His blade grazed the Sith's chest armour, sending up sparks and burning a deep gouge in the plate. Hest bellowed as he spun, swinging his blade in a diagonal arc down at Tulok but the Jedi wasn't there. Dren sprung up above the blade and stabbed at Kanarr Hest's helmet. The Sith just managed to parry in time. Tulok touched down and kicked at the Sith's knee. Kanarr took the blow on his armoured thigh. Their blades clashed high.

"Jedi, I will crush you," hissed Kanarr.

"You'll have to get a hold of me first," said Dren. The Jedi broke the lock before the Sith could overpower him and spun into an attack on Hest's right side. Hest parried the blow and raised his saber to smash through Dren's guard, but the Jedi was already moving out of the Sith's range.

"You can't run for ever, little bug," said Hest.

"Are you sure about that?" asked Dren. "Your breathing sounds laboured? Are you getting tired already?"

Hest charged with a roar, ready to strike at Dren if he dodged to either side. Instead the Jedi Knight went up and over the Sith, flipping through the air to land easily on his feet facing Hest as the Sith spun around. Hest extended his left hand. "Enough games Jedi. Now you die."

[General Trelane (Retired)]

Mmmmm, that was mighty tasty. And for dessert?

[Imperial Overlord]

Zandist Moll looked over the edge of the pit and into the floor below. The thermal detonator had destroyed the lighting strips and cut the power lines, plunging the lower level into darkness. It reminded him of the caves of Korriban. In fact, it was far, far too much like Korriban again.

"What are you waiting for?" asked Bardu. "We need to go after him."

"Droids," said Zandist, "descend and pursue the target."

"We aren't going after him?"

Are you crazy? Chase him down there? Again? No. He didn't say those things. A Sith who showed weakness was not long for this world. "Our master's orders are to acquire Galt, not hunt down renegades. It's obvious Galt isn't with him. This isn't our mission."

You're afraid, thought Bardu Suror, but perhaps he's right. The renegade is powerful and resourceful. Leaving him to the droids might be best. "Right," he answered, reaching out with the Force. He extended his hand, drifting slowly to the left. "There," he said, pointing through the wall. "He's that way. And not alone. He's with someone strong in the Force."

"It isn't Rath," said Zandist. "Probably the Jedi's Padawan. As Hast does for the master, we shall do to the learner."

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An explosion sent two Sith troopers tumbling over the wreckage strewn deck. SSlanna swung her rifle around and fired another rail charge at a group of Sith taking cover behind a half-junked fighter. The rail charge blasted a large hole in the fighter's skin and sent chunks of metal flying. SSlanna raised the barrel slightly and fired again, this time sending the rail charge over the top of the fighter to impact on the far wall. The blast wave knocked the Sith down.

She couldn't tell if they were stunned or more seriously injured. She didn't bother checking and instead lowered her point of aim sent two more charges into the deck near the Sith. The explosions tossed their bodies around li. She ejected the rail charge clip and slammed home a new one .

Sith war droids entered the battered and scared docking bay from a connecting corridor. The Trandoshan bounty hunter thumbed a switch on her rifle and sent a crimson blaster bolt into the lead droid. The high energy bolt blew through it's plastron and fried it's circuitry. Sparks flew from the gaping hole in its chest and it toppled. SSlanna blew the head off the next droid as blast bolts flew through the air around her. Two bolts blew craters in the equipment cart she was using as cover and another grazed her arm, burning through her armoured suit and her tough hide to inflict a minor but painful injury.

SSlanna hissed and unleashed a flurry of blaster bolts that blew the remaining two droids apart. Silence reigned over the docking bay, broken only by the faint sizzling of circuits. The air was heavy with the smell of ozone and burned flesh. The bounty hunter cautiously stepped forward. She had almost reached the Shark, but in hindsight she really should have turned right instead of left at that last junction.

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Lightning poured down Kanarr Hest's arm, crawling over his hand and fingers before leaping through the air to strike at the Jedi Knight. Tulok raised his lightsaber to intercept the deadly Sith lightning. Lightning struck the saber, crawling up and down the blade. Dren gritted his teeth with the effort as he drew upon the Force to repel the darksider's attack.

Hest took a step forward. Then another. "You are weakening Jedi. You are no match for the power of the Dark Side."

"Then . . . why . . . aren't . . . I . . . falling?" gasped Dren. "Why . . . don't you . . . come closer?"

Hest ceased the punishing exercise of channeling the deadly Sith lightning and stepped forward, swinging his lightsaber with both hands. Dren parried. Their blades locked. "Bad idea Jedi," snarled Hest. Under his armour the Sith warrior was soaked with sweat, but he was not about to give up. He had reserves of strength; of hatred, rage, and malice that would see him through to the end of the fight. He drew upon the Dark Side and surged forward.

Dren couldn't equal his brute strength. The Jedi didn't even try. Instead he rolled back with the shove and easily regained his feet, going on the offensive with a quick high and then low cuts. The Sith blocked furiously and retaliated with a powerful horizontal swing. Dren stepped back and out of the way of the saber.

The Sith advanced. Dren struck low and then high, the Sith parrying each time. The Jedi kicked Hest in the chest, knocking the Sith back. Dren was one with the Force, he could feel its ebb and flow and where it would bring him. The moment had come and he moved with it.

He struck again, an aggressive high strike that kept the Sith's saber up. Their weapons clashed momentarily, ruby and sapphire and then broke apart as Dren drew back and struck again with another high hammer blow which the Sith then parried. Dren accelerated, a Force driven blur and struck high again as he moved towards Hest's flank. The Sith raised his saber to catch Dren's blade, lock the sabers, and crush him through sheer brute force. He caught nothing but air.

Tulok switched off his lightsaber a moment before collision. There was nothing for Hest to catch. The Jedi, Force accelerated to a barely visible blur, darted around the Sith warrior's flank, already shifting to deliver a powerful diagonal stroke that would cut Kanarr Hest in half. The Jedi's blade ignited as he began the stroke. Hest was pivoting, but he would never bring his lightsaber into position in time.

Violet lightning lashed out from Hest's hand and struck the Dren into the chest. The Jedi was flung screaming across the deck. Dren drew upon the Force and shielded himself from the worst of the lightning's effects, drawing in a ragged breath as he tried to steady himself. Kanarr Hest had other ideas. He brutally yanked his hand back.

Dren flew across the hall and smashed into one of the huge windows. Hest yanked his fist down and Dren was violently thrown to the floor. Another motion and he was bounced against the window again, leaving behind a smear of blood. Then he was hammered against the ceiling and smashed into the floor. He groaned and tried to pull himself up.

"No Jedi," said Hest. "It is over." Lightning poured from his hands, pouring into the Jedi's body. The Jedi's bones shown through his flesh as the Dark Side energies tore into him and then Tulok Dren let loose a terrible wail. Hest poured it one with all of his might and then released his hold upon the Force. Charred meat fell to the deck. "Through victory, my chains are broken."

[Kartr_Kana]

A nice force battle that was!! I look forward to reading the next installment.

[Crazedwraith]

Yowsers, that's got to smart.

As good action as this is. I'm still not sure whats going on as far as the plots concerned.

[Stuart Mackey]

That was good.

[White Haven]

Wraith, it's the opening stages of a IO fic. At this point, nobody ever knows what the hell is going on, they just know that it involves people getting their asses kicked in increasingly cool fashions.

[LadyTevar]

Padawan will meet up with Rogue. Rogue will reluctantly take Padawan with him.


Since this is a IO fic, no sex will get involved