Summary: Khryden sees an opportunity and Jaesa is tested.

Also, some violence ahead. But come on, it's Star Wars and you can't have lightsabers without a lightsaber duel or two. Plus, there's a moment of dark side bloodiness.

Chapter 4: Battles and Tests (Belsavis, Part II)

Jaesa edged her way along the wall of the temple-esque prison cell, focusing on her stealth. Their planning would be for moot if she flickered into view anytime soon.

The walls were populated with alternating thick columns and large praying statures. The cell size seemed a bit overkill for a singular Sith, Darth or not, but Jaesa had to appreciate the designs carved painstakingly into the stone. Darth Ekkage floated in the middle of the room, held by a stasis beam. Jaesa's gaze swept over the area just enough to note available cover and places where Ekkage's line of sight was broken. She stealthed over to a carved out cranny next to a giant statue and knelt next to it, unclipping her doublesaber hilt from her belt and holding it at the ready. If there was anything she had learned in her travels as a Sith Lord, it was that fights came fast and furious, especially when they were not expected.

Hunkering down by the statue, Jaesa almost didn't notice Lord Melicoste entering the chamber. He hovered around the chamber's edge before striding up to Ekkage's floating form and pressing a few buttons on his datapad, deactivating the beam and releasing Baras' sister. Jaesa felt a flash of dismay that was quickly overridden by a spark of exhilaration as their enemies doubled in a matter of seconds. She didn't foresee a problem in dealing with these two as long as the Jedi held up his end of the bargain.

If he didn't, well, then the upcoming battle would be that much more exciting with the addition of a troupe of commandos.

"My lord," Melicoste was saying, "you are freed."

Jaesa rolled her eyes. It seemed that some Sith, like most Jedi, had a penchant for stating the obvious.

"Rage! Wrath! Vengeance!" Ekkage snarled out loud, prompting Jaesa to wonder about the condition of her sinuses. "I need outlets! I have been dormant for too long!"

A flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye made her turn her head and she witnessed Khryden arriving onto the scene, quickly slipping behind one of the thicker pillars and waiting patiently like a vine cat for his chance to strike.

Darth Ekkage stalked to the center of the room, then turned on Lord Melicoste predatorily. "Had my brother sent anyone else, I would have used them for target practice. But you are the first face I see outside my imprisonment and for that I am grateful." She hissed softly to herself. "Why did it take Baras so long to discover Belsavis? He must be getting weak, the fat piece of scum."

"Baras has been busy, my lord," Melicoste said, bowing. "He has ascended the Dark Council and aims to be named Voice of the Emperor with your help."

Darth Ekkage stilled and Jaesa tensed. The Darth's lack of movement made her nervous of what was going to happen next. She gripped her lightsaber hilt more firmly and strained to hear the next bits of conversation.

"Sounds like he has everything under control," Ekkage tapped a long pale finger against her opposite wrist. "Except for one thing."

Lord Melicoste paled under the dim lights of the cell. "My lord?"

"If my dear brother and you have everything under control, then where are my assassins?" Ekkage's face morphed from slight mistrust with the undercurrent of bloodlust to full on rage, sending out a wave of emotion from her position.

Melicoste spread his arms as if pleading innocence. "I sent my commandos to release them. Do you sense them?"

Darth Ekkage swung around and began to pace perpendicular to the other Sith. "Before you arrived, I felt them. They were freed, but someone turned them against me."

Khryden chose that moment to make his move, stepping clear of the pillar and immediately commanding attention. "It was surprisingly simple. They were called to serve a greater master than you."

Fury twisted Ekkage's face. "Melicoste, you incompetent! You've been followed! Deal with this intruder and I might not kill you myself."

Amusement radiated from the Wrath's imposing form and his voice took on lighter, conversational tones. "Why wait? He'll only get in your way, and failure is an offence punishable by death. I wouldn't want the distraction of his presence."

Darth Ekkage paused, tilting her head and digesting Khryden's words. "How right you are, whoever you may be. You will tell me as soon as I finish this business."

Behind her, Lord Melicoste sensed his imminent peril as the words passed her lips and ignited his red saber in preparation for the Darth's attack. He flinched as Ekkage spun, hands outstretched, and failed to bring up his crimson blade in time to deflect the torrent of Force lightning that exploded from her fingers. His screams echoed throughout the cell, rebounding on the high ceilings and fading moments after his smoking body fell limply to the ground.

"I will tell Baras, my brother and the future Voice of the Emperor, that you died like a dog," Darth Ekkage snarled, extending a hand and summoning Melicoste's dropped lightsaber hilt to her palm from its place on the floor.

Khryden shifted his stance slightly, widening his base of support, and unclipped his twin saber hilts from his belt, but kept them extinguished for now. "I'm afraid that I cannot allow you to deliver that message."

The Darth looked up from her saber hilt, eyes narrowing. "Who, exactly, are you?"

Jaesa sensed him a second before Khryden did as Jedi Master Timmns strode into the room, looking none the worse for wear. A few slightly singed holes in his robes from blaster fire were the only discrepancies that marred his appearance. "He's with me, Ekkage," the Jedi intoned.

Khryden rolled his eyes, exasperation leaking into the Force bond and Jaesa hid a smile.

Ekkage, for her part, seemed unsurprised. "Nomen Karr's sad little whelp. This is like Life Day. Gather all your enemies together in one little room and kill them all in one fell swoop." She turned her blistering gaze onto Khryden, her voice hardening. "If you're aligned with the Jedi, you're a traitor and a fool."

That prompted a snarl to form on his face and he stalked down the steps, advancing on her. "Fool I may be for trusting your brother for so long, but I am no traitor." His eyes began to glow red with Force rage and he released the full force of his predatory glare. "I am the Emperor's Wrath, unleashed by the Hand. Baras moves against the Emperor's wishes and as such, you and your brother have been marked as enemies."

Ekkage scoffed. "You claim to be devoted, yet you hide behind a Jedi? You claim to be the Wrath, yet you will not face me in single combat? Are you even Sith?"

The warrior adjusted his grips on his saber hilts, but didn't move to light them yet. "This is our single combat, Ekkage. The Jedi will not interfere."

Without looking, Khryden slammed his offhand hilt into his belt and flung out his empty hand. Jaesa could feel the Force twist in the room and cringed reflexively. Master Timmns, focused heavily on Darth Ekkage, was not prepared for the constricting bondage of a Force stasis that froze his limbs in their current position.

His mouth remained free and it warped distastefully. "What is the meaning of this, Sith?!"

Khryden lowered his hand slowly and reconnected his offhand saber hilt with his left palm, never taking his eyes off of Darth Ekkage. "This a duel. One Sith Lord against another." As if moving in sync, they each took a step to their right, and then another, circling each other warily. "This is a pure test of power, the single combat. One that happens rarely because of the underhand tactics most Sith use to acquire power. They would prefer to nip at the heels of more powerful Sith than face them head on."

Jaesa got the feeling that he was speaking more to her than anyone else, but she was mesmerized by the circling that kept each combatant at equidistance from each other. Ekkage's form suddenly shifted, a daring feint forward, and Jaesa stood up, preparing to go assist her master when just a lithely, Khryden dodged and four words echoed deafeningly in her head.

You will not interfere.

The volume made her clasp her ears and cower down. But Master! It is my duty to stand at your side! I cannot let you battle this alone!

His mental voice through their connection softened. I know, and I'm sorry. Ekkage has no idea you're here and I'd rather not give your position away, but I will put you in Force stasis as well if you try to intervene. I accepted this for a reason. Look around. See the blinking lights in the corners? This whole cell is being shown live, likely at one of the Republic outposts and an Imperial listening station has almost certainly sliced them for their own use. This is my first trial as the Emperor's Wrath, to test my mettle against a wayward Darth. If I lose, then I was not meant to be the Wrath. If I win, then it will help cement my position and influence in both the Republic and the Empire. Darth Ekkage is fairly powerful. Defeating her will be a great assistance to bully other lords into submission.

She ground her teeth, frustrated but understanding. Fine. But I will not stand idly by and let you die.

He cut the connection with a tiny nod of his head. As if responding to that subtle movement, lightsabers exploded into action, flying from their hilts and clashing in a shower of red and orange sparks.

Jaesa had seen Khryden fight plenty of times. Hell, she had seen him fight Jedi and Sith plenty of times. But this…this was a dance of death with dangerously precise choreography and lethal results. It started fast, lightsabers spinning in red and orange arcs too fast for Jaesa to see. Ekkage was at a slight disadvantage with her one lightsaber against Khryden's two, but she made up for it by using her talent for Force lightning as another blade, pressing the Wrath's defenses. But Khryden's movements weren't as smooth as they usually were and Jaesa tracked them with increasing apprehension. Her master had only received a few days of combat testing his repaired arm and his jerky movements gave away his weakness almost immediately. Despite that, it looked like they were evenly matched, at least until Ekkage decided to take advantage of her opponent's hesitance.

They broke apart a moment later, similarly breathing hard, and returned to circling each other. Everything up until now had been feints and tests, each fighter measuring their opponent's reactions and reflexes. With lightsabers held away from their bodies and at the ready, the two looked like alpha gundarks trying to scare the other into submission.

"What's the matter, Ekkage?" the Wrath chuckled, form glowing the slightest bit red. "Getting tired? How old did that little stint in a Republic prison make you? Or maybe you're just getting weak."

The assassin Darth snarled. "Weakness has no place in the Sith Empire. And today you are the one getting culled!"

She leaped forward, buffeted by the Force and brought her lightsaber in a downward arc on Khryden's head. He reacted, bringing both of his fiery orange blades in an X over his head, and stopping her strike where it landed in a hiss of plasma energy. Too late he recognized her feint and left his stomach wide open. Malice warped her corpselike face as she shot a torrent of purple lightning straight into his chest. Catching the brunt of it, the Wrath's form shuddered and twitched as the electricity robbed his body of movement, his face screwed up in pain.

With a yell, his eyes flared bright red as he called upon his Force fury, breaking the stun and shoving Ekkage away with a Force push. The Darth picked herself up with a low chuckle as Khryden shook out his trembling muscles. "You will have to be quicker if you want to beat me, child."

Her opponent flicked his lightsabers towards her, sending them spinning through the air like scythes. Darth Ekkage ducked out of the way of one and deflected the other and they snapped back to the warrior's waiting hands. An animalistic growl preceded the Wrath's devastating Force leap, his feet impacting the ground and sending tremors radiating outwards. Ekkage stumbled, and the Wrath struck. His twin sabers moved with chaotic grace, but whatever move he performed, the assassin had a riposte ready.

They broke apart for a second time, breathing even harder. Sweat gleamed on their faces, but neither of them were critically injured. Ekkage's robes were torn around her legs, showing burns, and Khryden sported a shallow gash on his arm, but neither of them let up. Jaesa watched with rabid fascination as burns seemed to just appear on their bodies because their blades were such a blur. But that didn't stop her from wincing at each injury Khryden sustained, as each slice scorched through cloth and thinner areas of his armor and seared the skin underneath. The Wrath's actual armor gave him the advantage over Darth Ekkage's cloth armor now that both were slowed by injuries and their reaction speed leveled out to be nearly the same. However, he was slowly gaining the upper hand, even with his handicap. He had maintained the same pace throughout the fight while sapping Ekkage's endurance with its length and both of their reserves were nearing empty. Jaesa could see him digging deep into his internal well of determination and rage, siphoning only what he required as he needed it. So invested was she in the duel that she sensed the final attempt at tipping the balance of the fight through the Force before it happened.

In a flash of purple sparks, Ekkage threw out a single lightning bolt, then pressed her attack, swift movements of her lightsaber interspersed by jolts of Force lightning. Though not as strong as the lightning she threw at the beginning of the fight, getting hit would still mean pain and the temporary loss of reaction. At this point in the battle, anything could tip the delicate balance of winner and loser.

Khryden's face was set with concentration, gradually giving ground against Ekkage's assault as he blocked each one of her strikes with flagging intensity. One moment they were matched stride for stride, and the next, his repaired arm flinched and Khryden was stumbling backwards, pressing a forearm to his side as smoke from the wound wafted past. His heel bumped the base of a statue and they stopped suddenly in their tracks. One unmoving fiery orange saber was pressed to the assassin's red, and the other was strategically placed to catch the stream of lightning she channeled with her offhand. The Wrath's face was set with concentration and accented with lines of pain.

Jaesa was too far away to hear them speak above the humming of their lightsabers, but she read enough off of Khryden's lips to know that he was offering her a quick death if she knelt before him now. Jaesa reached out with the Force towards her master, drawn into the coil of pain, hatred, and determination that festered in his chest. The agony of the deep burn on his side fueled something else that was beyond pain. There was something potent and dangerous about it that she was drawn in to and the closer she looked, the less she wanted to look away. That molten core that he drew upon was unlike anything she had seen him use before and it drew her in rapidly. While before his power had been bright gold and flaring crimson, this swirling fire was thick and dark, colored by black and blood red, and had an aura of such intense domination that it promised victory in every sense of the word if only you used it and gave in and used it to crush your enemies and bathe in their blood and lick their bones and used it to sever... Jaesa felt nothing but rage and the desire for bloodshed so strongly that her mind nearly shut down except for thoughts of death and destruction. With that power, she could be invincible. She could rule the galaxy and no one would be able to stop her. Her body trembled, unused to such temptations of infinite power and ease of genocide. She wanted to rise and embrace it, but her feet stayed rooted to the spot.

[You promised not to move!]

A part of her mind shouted out, protesting.

But the power, such power…

[Stay! You promised!]

Promises are nothing when you have ultimate power.

[Resist…]

It was calling to her, the opaque darkness. She should respond. She needed to.

[Control!]

[Control it, Jaesa Willsaam! Prove your strength!]]

[The dark side is nothing without control!]

Her rebellious body froze, halfway out of her hiding place. Two sides of her mind warred against each other while her glassy eyes beheld the battle.

Ekkage's rebellious reply was cut off by a sudden explosion of pure strength. Khryden's body blazed with a sludgy aura of black and deep red and the assassin was thrown clear across the room, smacking against a statue with a loud crack. The warrior's eyes were completely black and expressionless as he stalked slowly to Darth Ekkage's fallen form as she cowered on the floor, numerous wounds forgotten.

"No," the assassin whispered, her eyes bulging. "Such power…such darkness!"

Khryden didn't respond, only cocked his head eerily and slowly raised his main lightsaber until its tip was humming next to her throat.

"I gave you a chance," he intoned, his voice lacking all inflection and emotion. "Now you will die here in indignity. I am the Emperor's Wrath!"

Ekkage's face twisted in horror as Khryden dropped his sabers, extinguishing them before they hit the floor, and reached out with both arms. His hands clenched into fists in the air and pressed together, the black and red aura concentrating around them.

Terror filled Ekkage's eyes as she felt her body being raised from the floor until she was floating in the air a foot above the ground. "Baras will avenge me!" she shrieked.

Khryden merely blinked void black eyes at her, then wrenched his fisted hands apart. With a meaty ripping sound, Darth Ekkage's head separated from her neck, gore and bits of flesh flying everywhere. Her head and decapitated body hung in the air, blood dripping into a growing pool on the floor.

Pain split Jaesa's head and she sagged back against the wall with a cry, clutching her temples.

"And so the will of the Emperor is fulfilled," he declared, releasing the two pieces of what used to be Darth Ekkage and letting them flop to the ground with a wet sound. Raising an open hand, shadowy tendrils shot out to every corner that housed a little blinking light and with a twist of his wrist, every camera in the cell crunched into a ball, effectively cutting off any audience they might have.

"Show's over," he muttered, sounding like his normal self.

His aura flared and his knees buckled, bright crimson fighting against sludgy black and red. He landed hard on his hands and knees, shards of cracked stone digging into his palms and sending jolts of pain to his desensitized brain. His face contracted and his eyelids squeezed shut, the pain of controlling the darkness almost akin to the pain of allowing it to take over. Slowly the agony faded until it was concentrated on his wounds and the Emperor's Wrath straightened, brushing off his hands and arms, and retrieving his sabers. He compartmentalized the pain of his burns and flexed his right hand, checking for any sign of damage to the cybernetics underneath his skin. His eyes were clear and his aura was once again unstained.

Jaesa, he called. Can you hear me?

Her only response was a pain filled shriek in his mind and he staggered from the force of it. Panic immediately welled up in his chest. Was it too soon? Had he misjudged her progress? Maybe she wasn't ready to embrace the darkness so completely. He focused on her presence through their bond, sending reassuring pulses. Oh stars help me if I've destroyed her…

Furious at himself, he mentally tamped down his initial panic. Get a hold of yourself, man. Where's your objectivity? If she concedes, she's weak and she'll die. If she's strong, she'll survive. That is the Sith way.

Saying it didn't help the twisting concern in his gut, though.

Come on, Jaesa. You can do this. I know you can.

Jaesa couldn't hear a thing. Inside her brain, a battle raged, her against the all-encompassing darkness. The power was tantalizing, and in a way she was still tempted. But she knew that total surrender to the dark would crush her, and so she fought. It was like trying to contain a thousand creeping vines, all with a will of their own and the dedication to get out. And that wasn't mentioning the fact that each time she tried to grab a vine, it burned her skin with flesh-eating poison. It seemed impossible and she was losing faith. Was this even possible?

Khryden's voice echoed in her mind, reiterating the most important and repeated lesson he had taught her. Control. That is the key to ultimate power. Power is useless without control, else it will control you.

Control, she told herself, gritting her teeth against the pain. Control it, dammit!

She bore down on the vines of shadow with renewed passion, beating them back away from her mind. But the poison still burned her hands and she resolved to try a new tactic.

The Force is mine to command. And if I say I can use it inside my own head, then I can!

Gripping the ten vines closest her with Force control born of her passion to succeed and desire to dominate, Jaesa shoved them violently back. But they just came at her again and she hissed in frustration.

I need somewhere to put them.

Almost as soon as she finished thinking the words, a shadowy purple holocron appeared in front of her.

Perfect, she thought grimly. Come at me, you bastards.

Containing the tentacles that reached out to her, she angled her hands, redirecting their ultimate power into the holocron. To her surprise and elation, the vines contacted the holocron and were immediately sucked in. Working quickly, she repeated the process of containment and deflection into the holocron, whose appetite for the shadowy creepers seemed endless. With a wordless yell, she confined the last of the writhing tentacles and sent them to the holocron, and her mind fell blessedly silent.

Jaesa's eyes shot open and she gasped, losing her concentration over her stealth and staggering on suddenly weak legs. Strong arms grabbed her waist, propping her up, and she nearly jumped out of her skin. Twisting around, she gaped like a fish at her master. Everything seemed so surreal, especially after what had happened. And for that matter, what had happened? She felt different, strange. Like there was an undercurrent of electric power running underneath her skin.

Setting her face, she poked him hard in the chest. "You, mister, have a ton of explaining to do. I want reasons. Now."

She barely noticed his eyes—his eyes, not the black pits of death—furtively searching hers for any signs of madness before he pulled her into a bone crushing hug, blocking out the spike of pain that resulted. Jaesa was ashamed to admit that she squeaked indecently, but less ashamed to admit that she liked this. A lot.

"Oh stars, you're alright," he murmured in her ear, almost shaking with a combination of pain, relief, and fatigue. "I never would have forgiven myself if you had gone mad. I'm so proud of you. So proud. And happy."

"Gone mad? Me?" She eyed him with borderline concern for his mental state. "When? When was I in danger of going mad?"

His hands slid to her jaw, cupping her face tenderly for tense moment before sliding them down to her shoulders, as if reassuring himself that she was really there. He blinked his eyes shut for a second, breathing calming breaths, then dropped his hands, nodding. "Questions. Right. I will explain what I can in a few minutes. That fight with Ekkage tired me, and we still need to deal with him." He gestured towards the floating form of Master Timmns, who looked very disapproving and very put out. "I can't hold his stasis for too much longer."

"Then talk to me. What happened during the fight with Ekkage? I think I blacked out, but you…changed."

He idly let his gaze drift to the ground behind her left shoulder, nodding distantly. "I channeled pure dark side energy to become one with the dark side to defeat Darth Ekkage."

"You…became…the dark side."

"I became a manifestation of it," he corrected. "There's a difference. I released the control I usually have on it and invited it into me. It promises ultimate power, at the price of your body. Using it infrequently enough slows the degradation, but you've seen what it does to organics. It makes humans wrinkled and corpse-like. Frequent usage does that to you. Used too much, and it will consume your body. Used sparingly, it can be a great asset in times of need."

"And me? My head felt like it split open when you channeled the dark. I had this weird dream when I blacked out, but it felt so real. I…was nearly overcome."

His face broke into a rare smile. "But you weren't. And that makes all the difference. It is an old ritual for apprentices when they're ready to become Sith Lords. One I discovered during my own apprenticeship when I was thrown headfirst into the dark side. The apprentice comes into contact with pure dark side energy and is responsible for surviving. It's do or die."

Her mouth gaped. "Wait. Does that mean—"

Jaesa's words were sharply cut off as Khryden's head whipped around, just in time to see the Force stasis on Master Timmns fade. The Jedi landed lightly on the balls of him feet and folded his arms, looking very cross.

"Besides the fact that you lied to me and went back on your promise, locked me in stasis for the fight and made me unable to affect the outcome, I am most disappointed that you killed her. We could have locked her away again!"

Khryden dropped his hands from her shoulders, turning to face the Jedi. The Wrath rolled his shoulders, as if working out soreness, and fought back a wince at the spike of fire from his side. "Now there is no chance for escape, no chance that another would chance upon this spot and free her. Death is more certain. Admit it, it is better this way."

Timmns paced slowly back and forth as he digested the Sith's words. "The logic is sound," he conceded, "but it still feels wrong. I hope you realize that in order to succeed at all against your former master, you'll have to switch things up. Not be so predictable. Else he'll be able to foresee your every move."

"And counter it," Khryden muttered, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

The Jedi stopped pacing and raised his chin defiantly. "Now what's to become of us, Sith? Do we part as friends or as enemies?"

The Wrath turned to his apprentice, his voice formal. "Jaesa Willsaam, servant to the dark and all who embrace it, are you prepared to face your final task as a Sith apprentice?"

A little thrill shivered through her spine. Something special was happening. She didn't quite comprehend it yet, but she could sense certain violence in her future. "I am, master."

"You have proven yourself worthy to me, your master, and you have excelled in your study of the dark. You have learned almost all I can teach you both in combat mastery and Force techniques, Sith history and politics. Your rage knows no bounds and with the control that mastering the dark side has given you, you stand a chance of surviving in the Sith hierarchy. I have deemed your apprenticeship satisfactory and therefore give you one last test."

He spun sharply on his heel, locking eyes with Timmns and speaking the next words directly to his face. "Kill the Jedi Master, and I will judge you to be worthy of the title of Sith Lord."

Having sensed Khryden's intent through the Force, Jaesa wasn't as surprised as Timmns was when the words came out. Almost as if she was merely an observer on her body with the ethereal rush of accomplishment she felt, a harsh smile curled her lips and she unclipped her saberstaff, holding it ready at her side as she stalked predatorily towards the Jedi, pausing when she was twenty paces away.

"Finally," she breathed, angling her saber hilt into the ready position and moving her thumb to the ignition switch. She let her emotions thrum through her, savoring the moment.

The Jedi shook his head. "Was this your plan all along? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad Ekkage was…dealt with…but I didn't think you'd be so quick to waste a potential resource."

Wait, Khryden murmured in her mind, and she paused in her movement, thumb hovering over the button on her lightsaber hilt.

"And you know me so well?" he called out loud. "You've been researching me? If you have, then you must have realized that I never afford Jedi the same leniency I award Imperial personnel." His tone grew sharp with grief and rage. "Jedi ripped my family apart, or what was left of it. Was that in your little dossier? How they chose to save my brother from slavery and not me? It was because they sensed darkness within me. They told themselves it was too tainting to warrant risking their rescue operation, no matter how we pleaded with them. They tore my brother from me, kicking and screaming, and never bothered coming back."

Jaesa was stunned. She knew the basics about his family, but this was news. That's what fueled his lack of mercy and utter rage at all Republic Force-users they encountered. Jedi took his brother and left him to die in Imperial slavery…

The Wrath shook his head, the rage on his face fading into jaded disgust. "But it happened a long time ago. If you know that, believe me when I say this isn't personal. I like you, Jedi. You're objective and dependable. But your dedication to archaic ideals that doom everyone in your vicinity has placed you in my path."

"You've evidently thought about this," the Jedi said quietly. "Is there nothing I can do to atone for my fellows?"

"Perhaps." Khryden calmed somewhat, fingering his mainhand hilt with a devious glint in his eye. "I ordered my apprentice to murder a Jedi Master. If you were no longer a Jedi Master, then we could talk."

Timmns' face twisted. "You are asking me to renounce the title of Jedi."

"And the doctrine, and the mindset, and the robes…stars, the robes…" He shook his head with mock sadness, the distaste was plain in his voice, and Jaesa wrinkled her nose through her self-satisfied smirk. Those robes were pretty horrid. "I could go on. Don't let it be said that all Sith are mindless killers." At this, a sardonic smile curled his lips. "I am giving you a chance."

"I suppose it would be too much to ask just to let me go without animosity? What kind of a choice pits violence against the death of ideals? It is no choice at all, I say."

The Wrath clasped his hands behind his back. "Then you doom yourself. Jaesa?" He turned to his apprentice, meeting her sparkling eyes with the cold fury in his own. "Kill him."

A cruel smile curved her lips.

"With pleasure."