Preface:
The Clone Wars had been raging for nearly twenty-six standard months. The Galactic Republic had lost more ground than it had gained, but with the death of Sev'rance Tann at the hand of Jedi Master and General Echuu Shen-Jon the tide turned. The Jedi master went into exile and the Republic forces gained the upper hand for awhile, but before long, the Confederacy of Independent Systems developed new weapons under the command of the Kaleesh Cyborg General Grievous. Neither side could gain any ground. Dozens of fleets containing thousands of star ships blasted and pounded each other into oblivion. As the battles continued, multitudes of aliens from the Unknown Regions flooded into Wild Space and the Outer Rim Territories, seeking sanctuary from a mysterious and deadly enemy. Before long, news of this enemy, an alien alliance known as the Covenant, spread throughout the entire galaxy. The senators sued for peace between the Republic and the Separatist, asking that negotiations resume. Reluctantly, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine re-opened Negotiations with Count Dukoo but neither side could come to any agreement of terms. As the negotiations continued, Republic and Confederate fleets float across from one another in a very tense standoff for weeks. No progress was made and the Jedi took the time to search for the Dark Lord of the Sith called Darth Sideous. Suddenly, out of nowhere a massive fleet of completely unfamiliar war ships, bigger than any had ever seen, appeared and destroyed dozens of planets, killing trillions of innocent people, both Republic and Separatist. Immediately, the Confederate leadership, against the will of Count Dukoo accepted all terms and pledged their fleets to the defense of the galaxy and the Republic.
Chapter 1
Assajj Ventress moved disembarked from her shuttle flanked by four EG-5 Jedi Hunter droids. Dromuund Kaas' skies flashed and rumbled with a dark side storm so powerful that it covered the entire planet, a result of the rule of one of the most powerful Sith Lords that had ever ruled in recorded history. For several moments, she simply stood, basking in the power that saturated the planet. After a few moments, she stepped off, leaving it to the EG-5's to keep up with her. Ahead was a great citadel, now empty save for the trappings and memories of an ancient and utterly lost empire. Ventress snorted ever so slightly, wondering why her master, Darth Tyranus had sent her here instead of on a mission of assassination or sabotage that would aid in their rise back to popularity and power at least in the Confederacy of Independent Systems if not in the galaxy as a whole. Considering the new, very powerful enemy, it would take only a small amount of the right pressure and some political leverage from their inside source to put Lord Tyranus, Ventress and any of their other servant into positions of very great power. Instead, here she was looking for some old Sith Lord's holocran on a planet that bordered the unknown regions. With a wave of her hand, Ventress opened the doors. Inside, it was dark. Very dark. As they stepped in, one of her guard droids spoke, "Mistress, our sensors are picking up a large number of unidentified life forms in the three very large rooms."
Ventress subconsciously reached for her twin lightsaber hilts she kept attached to the back of her belt. The droids around her followed her example. "What three rooms are they?" she hissed just audibly enough for their audio receptors to be heard. A whirring noise came from inside one of their heads as they accessed the information and replied, "It would seem a hanger, a library and a training and recreation room."
Ventress unclipped here two lightsabers and moved forward without a noise. Here four guards followed without even a clink on the duracrete floor. Before long, they came upon a sliding door that had been blasted aside in ages past. Slipping in quietly, Ventress sensed many life forms of an unfamiliar nature. Peeking from behind a fallen pillar, she saw a large group of Covenant aliens of many different kinds. The majority were either the squat little creatures called Unngoy, or Grunts and the jackals, a tall reptilian bird thing. Also in the group though were the tall sinewy Sanghali also called Elites. She even saw two massive Hunters. What were they doing here? Right about now, she wished she had more than four Jedi killer droids with her. Moving quietly from cover to cover, Ventress gathered information as she went. Suddenly, she noticed an ancient terminal against one wall. Moving with all the stealth of a highly trained dark Jedi assassin, she pushed a button. With a very low hum, it began to operate. Pulling out a datapad, she sliced the system and began to download all the information that it held. Something hissed by her ear and slammed into the wall. She ducked instinctively and turned. They had been spotted and the Covenant were firing their strange plasma and projectile based weapons at the. In a single motion, she and her droids drew their lightsabers and deflected another salvo. Suddenly, Ventress sensed something and ducked, spinning out of the way. She heard a hissing woosh of an invisible energy weapon swinging over her head. With the power of the force, she sensed that three cloaked individuals that were trying to kill her. Closing her eyes, Ventress fell into the force and fought her attackers. They were strong enough that using a lightsaber one handed nearly got her killed as their blows powered through her defenses. Thinking quickly, Ventress leapt away to gain some room and hooked her lightsabers together at the pummels, making an s-shaped saber staff and switching to the more defensive Shien lightsaber form. Her eyes still closed, she could sense every movement of the three creatures that engaged her. In the back of her mind, she heard three of the four EG-05 droids slashing there way through the other Covenant troops. The fourth must have gone down. One of her three attackers leapt over her and attacked from behind. They were as skilled as many a JedI knight she had fought - and killed. With a swift and deceptive movement, Ventress swung her front blade at one of the creatures feet, only to catch it in midair with the back end of her blade. She expected the created to be cut clean in half. Instead, the air shimmered around it and when she opened her eyes, she saw that it was an elite in black armor wielding and energy sword. Cursing mentally, Ventress leapt away again, force pushing all three of her opponents away as she did. If all three had personal shields, then she was in trouble. Turning, she was about to call her four droids, only to see them in pieces surrounded by grunts and jackals. One of the hunters were dead, the other looked as though he was seriously injured with green gore streaming from long cuts. Fear suddenly began to grip Ventress as strange pink crystal projectiles and bursts of green plasma streaked toward her. It was clear that fighting was no longer an effective method of success so she fled. Using the force to call the datapad to her hand, she ran as fast as her force augmented legs could carry her, a pale blur in the half-light of the temple. After several minutes, she slowed down to a normal speeded jog. Though she could hear her pursuers, she knew that she would be gone before they caught up with her. As she approached the door, a large elite in strange armor materialized out of thin air as his cloak turned off. His armor was gold and silver and he carried an energy sword in each hand. Ventress stopped and drew her weapon again. In a deep, almost majestic voice, the Elite spoke in basic, "You an abomination to the Forerunners' memory and an infidel to the prophets of the Covenant. Do you have any last words, human female?"
Ventress just curled her lip and said, "I am a dark JedI assassin and you have already spoken your last, creature."
With a doubles snap-hiss, Ventress's saber staff came to crimson life and she leapt at her enemy. The Elites own weapons hissed into life and he stood his ground. Shortly into the confrontation, Ventress realized that she was in serious trouble. This Elite was strong enough to back aside her strongest blows and defenses. Pretty soon, he was pushing her back the way she had come, getting within an inch of killing her with every swing. Thinking fast, she used the force to try and through him to the side and run fast him to her ship. Instead of flying into the side wall, the Elite merely fell over heavily onto the ground. Leaping over his prone form, Ventress bolted for the blasted door. Her heart nearly stopped when she saw what was left of her ship smoking in the long deserted street. Suddenly, she heard the sound of a weapon discharging and felt herself hurled forward. She felt hot blood coming from her burning back and felt life ebbing from her. As her eyes clouded over, she saw the Elite standing over her with a very odd weapon in his hands. It was a small arm of some sort. As she faded away, the creature said, "I am the Arbiter of the Covenant and you were not worthy of my skills, human."