The final battle commences!

Virulous entered the turbo lift standing in front of and facing Zash. Her hood was pulled back, and she held her armored skull cap and mask in her hand. The youth stood next to her. Finally, Khem Val squeezed into the lift. By necessity, he had to kneel in the cramped lift, and the others were all squashed into each other.

Virulous could see the discomfort on Zash's face and giggled.

"Too close," Virulous said, laughing, "I know."

Zash merely shrugged, rolling her eyes.

"You know, Lord Zash," Virulous started to say.

"That's Dark Lord, to you," Zash said, sternly.

Virulous ignored her and continued with what she wanted to say.

"The dark lord intended to leave no Jedi for you to slay. You're lucky that you came up when you did. You'll have your chance to show your qualities in battle. I look forward to showing you what I can do, too."

Zash was furious and said what needed to be said.

"You'll pay for your insolence, runt!"

Nox intervened.

"Lord Virulous, you shouldn't be so obvious with your taunts. You're causing her to lose face in the presence of her apprentices. I almost feel bad for her," Nox, told his apprentice, chuckling.

Then Nox turned his head to face Zash.

"Lord Zash, Lord Virulous is not the same woman she was when you last saw her. Lord Virulous has successfully conducted the Force Walking ritual. She isn't the same anymore, and she is strong."

Nox enjoyed the shock that very briefly registered across Zash's face, after hearing that. Zash remembered Virulous' words on Nox's starship, on the way down.

"I have Arus' knowledge, her wisdom, and her cunning. I'm not the same as before."

"With some exceptions, your people are so rude, Lord Nox!" Zash said, with some frustration.

"Well, Lord Zash, we are rivals, after all," Nox explained.

The turbolift doors hissed open, allowing Khem Val the chance to extract himself from such a confined space. The others also felt great relief as they once again were able to space themselves out.

"Oh! I can breathe again!" Virulous exclaimed, as she exited the turbolift.

Zash seethed in her fury and vile hatred as she exited the lift behind Virulous. The look Zash gave at Virulous' back hid nothing of her vile disgust and hatred for the petite Sith lord.

She could not help but stare as the short and nasty woman donned her matte black armored skull cap and mask and pulled the hood of her black robes over her head. When Virulous spun about, looking for the boy, Zash could see that it seemed as though her face had been swallowed by a black void under the hood of her black robe.

Zash was so focused on Virulous that she hadn't noticed that Nox stood behind her. One of her two apprentices, however, corrected that problem.

"Dark Lord, may I recommend that we take the right flank against the Jedi?"

"It's as good as anything else," she replied, veering to the right, and out of danger from an attack from behind.

Nox could tell that Zash was rattled, even if she remained defiant.

Meanwhile, Khem Val led the procession of Sith lords down the wide red stone hall and around the corner towards the antichamber. As Nox stepped into the large waiting area, he noticed a lack of bodies and his followers, Eviscerous, Calaverous and their apprentices quietly waiting for Nox and the others.

"Dark Lord," Eviscerous began, "they have barricaded themselves in the Dark Council chamber. The doors are welded shut."

Nox detached his sabrestaff from his utility belt, igniting both ends. Then he activated his personal shield generator.

"Steel yourselves! The final battle commences!"

As his strike team ignited their weapons and activated their shield generators, Nox reached for the durasteel doors, welded into one, and with The Force wrenched the doors off of their tracks. Holding the doors in midair like a shield he walked forward into the Dark Council chamber, Khem Val and Virulous walked on either side of their master, and the boy, Lennell Juuntos, trailed behind Virulous.

As soon as there was enough space, Eviscerous and his apprentices squeezed passed behind Khem Val on Nox's left and took up the left flank. As Zash did the same with Calaverous on the right, Nox used The Force to shoot the deformed durasteel doors at his enemies ahead of him. The Jedi dodged, ducked and otherwise avoided getting hit with the door as it crashed at the far end of the Dark Council chamber.

One of the Jedi spoke.

"So, Darth Nox, himself, has come! Was that your doing? What was that Dark Side technique that you used to kill so many in a single attack?"

The Dark Council chamber resided at the top of the mountain sized pyramidal temple. Nox had been silently looking up at the apex of the giant pyramid, at the shattered stained glass pyramidal cap, and at the climbing ropes dangling into the council chamber. Next he swept his eyes across the chamber floor, littered with the bodies of dead Imperial and Republic soldiers. He spotted a few dead Jedi, and a couple of dead Sith lords, but he couldn't tell which of them was Arkous.

Nox wondered how many Republic troops had successfully evacuated before he had arrived. He had also been using this time, inspecting the damage, to concentrate on the Force for another attack.

Nox looked back down at the Jedi, when he was ready.

"It's Sith sorcery," Nox finally replied with a sneer, "Did you like it? It's funny you should ask me about it. Have another sample of it."

Nox blasted the Dark Council chamber with a wave of Dark Force energy. The Sith and Jedi had guarded against the attack, but it took a great deal of effort to defend against it. It was a much greater attack than what he'd done far below in the great lecture hall.

The attack seemed to have a greater effect on the seven Jedi, than on the Sith. They seemed to strain greatly under the onslaught. Nox and the others with him heard the armor-clad bodies of Republic troops crash onto the black polished plate metal floor behind the daises on which the twelve seats of the Dark Council were elevated. The dark lord signaled for Eviscerous and Zash to attack the surviving Republic forces, hidden from view, from their respective flanking positions.

"You've wasted your strength trying to protect the minds of those troops," Nox announced, finally understanding why they seemed so taxed.

The sounds of blaster fire and lightsabers cutting into armor filled the chamber. Two Jedi from either flank of the Jedi's position dashed behind the daises to engage the Sith and to help defend the surviving Republic troops.

"My people will kill those whom you've worked so hard to save," Nox told the remaining three Jedi before him on the chamber floor.

"Boy. Stand by the door, and watch."

"Yes, Master," Lennell said, bowing before running back to the damaged entrance of the council chamber.

At that moment, something very interesting caught Nox's eye. He blinked and scrutinized one of the Jedi even closer. He spoke to Virulous when he was sure.

"That Jedi on the left, Lord Virulous. Take a close look at him."

"Yes, Dark Lord. What about… It's that knight on Nar Shaddaa. Ostoni Hahn is here," Virulous said with realization.

"He's yours, Lord Virulous. Avenge yourself and regain your honor."

"Khem Val, quickly change places with me," she asked the monster.

"If we do, our enemies will know that we have a plan," the monster warned.

"The Jedi on the left is mine. The dark lord has given him to me," Virulous returned.

"Very well, our master wills it. I shall take the one on the right, instead," Khem Val assured her.

Nox gave the Dashade a sidelong glance.

"That was too considerate of him. He intends mischief to frustrate her," Nox thought to himself.

"Thank you, Khem," Nox said to the Dashade, taking the monster by surprise, "This is important to me as well."

"My master knows me well, and has bound me into cooperation. Ha! I shall take no liberties, Master."

"Thanks again, Khem," Nox said.

The fighting behind the Daises had ended. From the far end on the right, Zash, her two apprentices, and Calaverous and his apprentice had emerged. On the left, Eviscerous and two of his three apprentices had emerged. Their visages filled with fury.

"So, Lord Eviscerous has lost one of his followers," Nox observed.

Suddenly, a very powerful sense of doom struck Nox. He spun about and executed a powerful Force Push attack. Two Jedi seemed to materialize as they flew back end over end, crashing onto the black polished durasteel plate floor and tumbling across the metal plate floor a few more meters before coming to a stop.

Lennell, twenty meters away at the doorway, was caught by the diminished power of the blast of Force energy and went flying into the antichamber. He scrambled to his feet and limped back to the doorway.

One Jedi died when his neck snapped as he struck the metal plate floor headfirst. The other Jedi struggled to get to his feet, and staggered his way to the doorway where Lennell suddenly realized that he would be confronted. He looked to his betters and found that while Khem Val and Virulous kept their eyes on the three Jedi in front of them, Nox simply stood there, watching the boy and the Jedi approaching him.

He knew then, that his master was not going to save him. He was on his own. Lennell activated his captured lightsaber and took on a very basic combat stance. His heart raced as the Jedi approached.

"Young man," the Jedi said in the very strange accent of a Republic citizen, "you are very brave, but you have to know that I am far stronger than you. Please, step aside, and let me pass."

"I cannot," Lennell said, his voice shaking, "My master is watching. I cannot fail."

The Jedi reached his hand towards the youth.

"Sleep, youngling."

He became amazed, and then disappointed as he watched the youth shake his head to fight off his Force Persuasion technique. The Jedi didn't want to kill the youth, but he was running out of options, and the youth was determined to stand his ground.

Lennell looked past the Jedi at Nox. His master had not moved from that spot and continued to watch, stony faced, at the drama unfolding at the doorway.

"Young man," the Jedi pleaded, coming to a stop within striking distance of the boy, "please, don't make me kill you. You have your whole life ahead of you. There doesn't need to be any more bloodshed. Let me pass, in peace."

The youth thought back to the grizzly killings he'd witnessed in the training hall far below, fearing for his own grizzly death. He thought of excuses he might try for stepping aside, when something in the young man's mind clicked. He remembered one of Overseer Ragate's lessons.

"Peace is a lie. There is only Passion," the young man said, and then returning his eyes to the Jedi, added, "You probably killed all of my classmates, and my instructors."

Looking at the dead Sith, Jedi and troops in the council chamber, the boy said with a bit of anger in his voice, "You want peace? You want peace, but you killed all of my classmates and teachers! This isn't your world! It's ours and you came here and broke all of our statues!"

The Jedi tried to reason with the youth, but Lennell was having none of it.

"Overseer Ragate was right! You Jedi are liars!"

With that, the boy attacked the Jedi, which the master lightsaber combatant easily deflected, and used Force Push to gently knock the boy back. The youth rose to his feet and attacked again, the Jedi used Force Push on the youth a second time, knocking him to his buttocks.

"I'm sorry, brave young man," the Jedi said, raising his weapon to strike.

Once more, Lennell looked at his master. Nox had not moved from that spot. He watched to see what the boy might do. Lennell tried a Force Push attack, but the Jedi easily overcame it, and swung his weapon down. As the Jedi looked down at the boy on the polished metal floor in front of him, he became greatly surprised as a deep red and searing hot beam extended from and then retracted into his chest.

The Jedi knew he was dead. He had just enough strength left to finish his strike, but rather than kill the boy, the Jedi deactivated his weapon and sank to his knees.

"You have a stout heart, young man," the Jedi struggled to say, gasping painfully for air.

Nox, standing behind the Jedi, swung his weapon horizontally, down in front, decapitating him. The dark lord of the Sith, a hard look in his eyes, briefly locked eyes with his accidental apprentice, then wordlessly turned about to casually walk back to join Khem Val and Virulous.

Lennell shaking like a leaf, couldn't help but let tears stream down from his eyes. He experienced a curious mix of emotions, terrible fear, gratitude, tremendous relief, and great disbelief. His life had been saved by his master, and he had stood up to a Jedi.

Yet, Nox's cold eyes told the boy that his master was not satisfied with his performance. He would have to do much better.

Eviscerous shouted from the far end of the council chamber.

"Get on your feet, young man! Dust yourself off, and continue to guard that doorway!"

Suddenly, the enormity of what he'd done struck him. Lennell had actually participated in a battle, which resulted in the death of a Jedi, because he'd defended his position. His heart swelled with pride, as he sprang to his feet, suddenly energized.

"Good," Nox thought to himself, "He's gotten over his fear."

The Jedi watched as Nox sidled up to the Dashade monster, and the petite woman.

"It seems that we have been…," Nox was saying, loud enough to be heard from several meters away.

"… interrupted," the dark lord finished, standing behind the three Jedi, reaching for the sage Jedi Master standing in the middle. The three Jedi invaders leapt away from the dark lord, and spun about to face him. Nox's hand grazed the Jedi's side.

The Jedi Master landed on his feet but fell backwards onto his backside. His side was wracked in searing agonizing pain. He used The Force to help mitigate some of the pain, and scrambled to his feet.

Zash shook her head, once, in amazement.

"How is he getting past my defenses?! He is fooling my eyes, and I don't understand how!"

Like everyone else in the council chamber, she thought that Nox stood between The Dashade and his apprentice, but was greatly surprised, both times, when he suddenly appeared behind Lennell's opponent, and when he suddenly appeared behind the three Jedi.

She watched as Khem Val and Virulous, both greatly startled into action, crossed paths as they dashed for the other two Jedi, who now had their backs to Nox's followers. However, that condition did not last very long. The two Jedi turned again and rushed towards Khem Val and Virulous.

The Jedi Master continued to face off against Nox. He concentrated, hard, on The Force, and allowed a wave of Force energy to pass through his mind, clearing his thoughts and refreshing the vision center of his brain.

As such, he found Nox behind him again. The Jedi Master turned about and issued forth an explosive Force Push attack. Nox, being the closest took the brunt of the damage, flying end over end towards the exit. He crashed onto the durasteel plate floor and tumbled several meters before coming to a stop in a heap.

Khem Val, Virulous, and their two Jedi opponents were also knocked off of their feet, but were not as greatly affected. All four quickly regained their feet, but the Jedi surprised Nox's followers when they leapt high over them both, and ran for the dark lord.

Nox was delirious as he scrambled unsteadily to his feet. He prepared to face off against the two Jedi. Nox shot a quick blast of Force Lightning against the two Jedi, as they were almost on top of him. His two assailants, however, easily caught the lightning with their weapons, as he'd hoped.

The entire front of his body stung mightily from getting slapped with a compressed wave of kinetic Force energy, but he bore with it, performing a spinning attack with his weapon, forcing the two to jump back.

To everyone's great astonishment, especially Nox's, the youth had somehow managed to get behind the Jedi. He pierced one of them in the back. However, the youth's captured lightsaber did not pierce the Jedi's heavy armor deeply enough to kill his enemy. The Jedi performed a vicious back kick that sent the boy flying. Khem Val leaped up into the air and caught the boy. The monster Dashade then chucked the child towards Virulous, as he landed and then rushed the Jedi.

"That one is mine, Khem!" Virulous shouted at the Dashade.

However, Khem Val was already on top of the Jedi, swinging his massive, savage vibrosword down on him. The Jedi blocked the attack with his lightsaber, and attempted a Force powered front kick. Khem Val, however, caught the Jedi's leg in his huge hand, which easily wrapped around his knee. The behemoth immediately swung him around, like a child's raggedy doll, and launched him towards Virulous.

Virulous shoved boy to the side, and reached her hands towards her foe, tumbling in the air towards her, blasting him with a tightly focused blast of kinetic Force energy. His leg exploded at his thigh, within his armor and the armor, itself, shredded like very thin metal foil.

The Jedi screamed in sheer agony as Virulous dodged to the side, avoiding her enemy as he crashed, messily onto the black polished metal floor. The Jedi's lightsaber clattered tumbled and spun as it got away from its wielder. Virulous used Force Push to send his weapon further out of her enemy's reach.

She carefully approached her enemy, screaming, squirming, and agonizing on the council chamber floor. He removed his gauntlets, and then reached for his medi-aid kit. She watched him extract a kolto injector, but before he could administer a dose, she used The Force to wrench it from his hand.

"Please, say you didn't forget me, Ostoni Hahn, you Jedi filth."

Virulous watched as the Jedi had closed his eyes. She could tell he was concentrating on The Force and guarded herself, preparing for any tricks he might perpetrate against her.

After a short while, the Jedi opened his eyes again. He seemed to her that he was at peace.

Virulous "Tsk-ed" disgustedly, then said, "I suppose you could have done without the kolto injections.

"I am trained in the ways of The Force, after all," the Jedi told her, then asked, "We've met before?"

"Just how many petite, female Sith lords have you fought?" Virulous asked, becoming annoyed.

The Jedi smiled at her, and Virulous realized that he'd been having a bit of fun at her expense.

"I remember you. If it weren't for your master, you'd be dead," he told her.

"Yes. You're right. I would be dead," Virulous candidly confessed, then said, "I wanted you to know something about our last fight on Nar Shaddaa."

The Jedi made as if prepared to listen closely.

"When you fought me, I had been terribly injured. I had suffered from terrible burns all over my body. My face and scalp had been burned, and I was bleeding. I was in terrible pain."

"That is awful," the Jedi told her, sympathetically, adding, "If I had killed you then, I would have ended your suffering."

"Yes," Virulous agreed, truthfully confessing, "I truly suffered."

"You couldn't kill me, though. You had the absolute advantage, but you failed to end me quickly. You were too weak to destroy me."

"You're master saved you. Did you forget?"

"It took a long while before my master finally arrived to save me. You were too weak to overcome me in the time we fought. You couldn't overcome me in my weakened state."

Virulous pulled back her hood and removed her skull-capped/mask.

"My master rewarded me. He paid for my surgeries and therapies. I made a full recovery because of him."

"It's too bad, that the surgeries and therapies could not remove the evil in your heart," the Jedi told her, "The Dark Side twists what was once a beautiful face. Your hatred and the Dark Side mars your face, making it into a visage of depravity."

This greatly angered the Sith lord. She replaced her armored cap and mask, and pulled the hood back over her head.

"I've had my say," she told the Jedi, adding, "Now it's your turn to tell me your story."

The Jedi, on his back, looked up at the opening at the top of the pyramidal ceiling of the Dark Council chamber, where the stained glass cap had been destroyed to facilitate their escape. He watched as the wounded Jedi Master and his friend, both leapt up to the opening, escaping to the exterior at the very top of the temple. He opened his mouth to speak.

"Times up. I'm not interested anymore," Virulous told the Jedi, blasting him in the chest with a blinding bolt of Force Lightning.

The Jedi, whose back had been badly scorched with Lennell's captured lightsaber, knelt beside his master. He helped to remove the sage's gauntlets, spaulders, and his cuirass. Then, using a utility knife, cut away his master's tunic, revealing his torso and his arms.

The young, but powerful Jedi was taken aback by what he saw. His master's side was blackened in a horrid bruise that was still quickly spreading. Tears on the skin were appearing at the oldest parts of the ever spreading black bruise. Blood and puss oozed from the tears.

"As you can see, Jeras," the sage Jedi Master said to his subordinate, "I'm finished. You must make good your escape."

"I can carry you, Master," Jeras said, with conviction.

"You don't have to call me Master anymore," he told the newly minted Jedi knight, adding, "You must escape. Tell the Jedi Council about Darth Nox. He has re-awakened the ancient and Dark practices of Sith Sorcery. He is a danger that must be ended."

"Master…," Jeras began to say, but was cut off.

"They are coming! Flee while you can! Leave me here! Nothing can save me!"

Jeras was hurt by his old master's harsh tone with him, but he sadly acquiesced, giving a single nod.

"The Sith have lost their emperor, but he kept them ignorant of their powerful ancient sorceries. Darth Nox will spread this knowledge, and then we shall be plunged into a very dark era of insanely powerful and insane Sith lords. This must not happen again, Jeras. We must not allow this to happen again."

"Yes, Master."

"Go, Jeras. They've gathered the nerve to follow us up here."

"Goodbye, Master," Jeras said, fighting back his tears, fighting to suppress his emotions.

He stood on the sloped grade of the red stone mountain-sized pyramid and bowed solemnly to his former master. Then, with the hot desert winds sweeping over the surface of the red rock, he faced downward and used The Force to speed him down the slope of the pyramid.

"What do you think, Darth Eviscerous?" Nox asked, looking up at the opening at the very apex of the council chamber.

"We took too long to follow them up. They may have set up their ambush," the Sith warrior replied.

Zash, Calaverous, and even Khem Val nodded agreement, as they too looked up at the opening.

To Zash's annoyance, Virulous spoke. Her voice was strong, decisive, and not timid or demure, as she once was. She was forced to look at Virulous with different eyes, now that she knew of Virulous' new found power. Nox had revealed that the once demure and soft spoken woman had succeeded in her Force Walking ritual to absorb and integrate the spirit, mind, and will of a Force ghost.

"If we all jump up at once, they won't be able to take us all out," the petite woman shrouded in black declared, adding, "We will be able to quickly overcome them."

Khem Val was the first to comment on her idea.

"If you are ready to die, then let us both jump up," Turning to look at Eviscerous, the Dashade added an invitation, "If you are ready for more glory, then jump up with us."

"Lord Khem, you honor me greatly!" Eviscerous replied, grateful for the monster's deferential treatment. He knew that the Dashade monster surely considered him to be food. Eviscerous added, "I and my apprentices shall be honored to join you and Darth Virulous."

Turning to Virulous, Eviscerous said, "After what I witnessed, I can say that while you may be small, your command of The Force is not to be underestimated. You are strong!"

Virulous bowed her head gravely in acknowledgement of the compliment.

"Then get going," Nox said to the three.

Zash watched as most of Nox's followers jumped up through the opening. She returned her attention to Nox who was left alone, except for Calaverous and his apprentice. She found Calaverous' smiling facade aimed at her. He said nothing to her, but she knew he had a lot to say.

"We are finished here, Lord Calaverous. Return to your lord's side."

Calaverous' smile widened, as he bowed respectfully.

"It was a pleasure to fight alongside you, Dark Lord. I've learned quite a lot watching you fight," Calaverous said, adding, "Darth Nox was wise to ask you to join us. You are strong!"

Zash was surprised by the compliment. She almost took pleasure in it until Calaverous continued speaking.

"As strong as you are, I am heartened to see just how much stronger, my lord, Darth Nox is. I just don't see how you can stop his ascent to the throne. You really just ought to join his cause. You could only profit by it. I'd rather exchange pleasantries with you, and extract Dark secrets of The Force from you, than to be ordered to take you out. However, you seem to be choosing poorly in your opposition to Darth Nox's rise to the throne."

Calaverous then waited for what she had to say.

Zash was scandalized.

"How dare you speak to me in such a tone!"

"Quite frankly, Dark Lord, I think Darth Nox would just as easily accept you as an uneasy ally as order your death," he said, as his smile transformed into a hostile scowl, either way, I'm waiting for orders from my lord about what to do about you."

With that, Zash realized that Nox's follower had paid an empty compliment about her strength, and that he believed himself capable of taking her out. This thoroughly infuriated her.

Nox finally spoke, before the sharp and bitter exchange of words, between Zash and Calaverous, would provoke one or the other of them into attacking.

"Darth Zash."

Zash stiffened, realizing again how precariously her life rested in the balance.

"Yes, Darth Nox?" she replied, testily.

"Thank you for your assistance, here. You've fought well, as should have been expected, especially with that beautiful strong body that I found for you," Nox said, reminding Zash that she still owed him for bringing her out of that technological mind prison, and reminding Calaverous that Nox had brought a long dead Sith lord back from the dead.

"I have not forgotten that you've brought me back from beyond The Force, Lord Nox, but I am freed from your bonds. I am your equal on the Dark Council."

"Yes," Nox agreed, "On the Dark Council, but will you accept me as your sovereign, when I ascend the Imperial throne?"

Zash was cornered, but she refused to be strong-armed into yielding to her former apprentice.

"If you convince a majority of the Dark Council, then I won't have a choice. Will I?"

"You're correct, Lord Zash, but think of the rewards if you supported me from the start?"

"Rewards?!"

"My ascension is inevitable. Virtually everything will be mine."

"I hurt," Lennell said in a tiny and weak voice.

"Give me Lennell," Zash said, "and I'll give you my support."

"How badly do you want to kill Lord Zash, Lord Calaverous?" Nox asked his follower.

"I am only held back by the thinnest line of discipline, Dark Lord! Your word, that she is our ally, is all that stays my hand," Calaverous said, his voice shaking with great passion, "Give me leave to slay your enemy, oh Dark Lord!"

Nox opened his mouth to speak, but Zash forestalled him.

"Let me think about this, Darth Nox. I must weigh everything out! Even if you think he is weak, I know he is not. Darth Marr is the alternative choice for emperor!"

Nox shook his head as though disappointed at an obstinate student's poor choice. However, he gave her a moment's reprieve.

"Very well, Lord Zash. I'll let you think it over, but don't wait until it's too late to decide. In the meantime, go down and speak to General Riiy'enni'sansa. Tell him that I want him to accelerate his search for explosives planted by the enemy within the temple. Give him leave to search the Dark Council chamber, the antichamber, the other side chambers, and the turbolift shafts."

Zash looked as though Nox were speaking a foreign language.

"His core name is Yennis," Nox said, but when he saw that this explained nothing to her, he added, "The Chiss general we spoke to before beginning our assault on the Jedi."

"Oh! The Chiss!" Zash said, finally realizing whom Nox referred to, adding, "Yes, fine. I'll say something to him."

Nox watched her leave the Dark Council chamber. It seemed to him that she was in a hurry to escape his presence.

When she exited the chamber, Nox walked towards Lennell, laying on the metal plate floor, whimpering, clutching at himself and weeping in pain.

"To be quite frank, I'm amazed he's alive after that kick, Dark Lord," Calaverous said of the boy.

"So am I, Lord Calaverous. So am I," Nox replied, vowing to himself, "I'll have to ask him how is it that he's not dead."

Nox crouched next to the boy and looked at him for a bit before aiming one hand towards Calaverous and his apprentice, and the other at the boy.

Calaverous and his apprentice both felt their lives quickly leaving their bodies. They tried to escape their traitorous lord, but instead collapsed to the polished metallic floor. Calaverous looked up at Nox when he felt the drain on his life come to an end. He turned to his apprentice and found him still alive and gasping for breath as heavily as he was.

Nox stood from crouching beside the boy. He walked to where Calaverous struggled to get up onto his feet. Nox extended a hand towards his follower, and Calaverous reluctantly took it, allowing Nox to help him to his feet.

"Did you understand how I did that, Lord Calaverous? Can you replicate it if the need arose?" Nox asked of him.

"I did, Dark Lord," Calaverous replied, furious at the dark lord, but he restrained himself, keeping his anger in check while adding, "I'll be able to use that technique, if the need arises."

"Good," Nox replied, "Then you have learned a Dark Force healing technique from me. You can use it to save your follower's, or anyone else's, life. However, as I am certain you could tell, it can come at the expense of someone else's life."

Calaverous, hearing this, was struck with the realization that Darth Nox had just shared a Dark secret of The Force with him.

"Thank you, Dark Lord!" Calaverous said, bowing deeply towards Nox and nearly losing his balance. He was still recovering from the harrowing experience. "I am deeply honored that you have shared this Dark secret with me and my apprentice!"

"I plan to reward you with credits, Lord Calaverous, but if I were to elevate you to Darth, what name would you choose?" Nox asked.

"I would keep my name, Dark Lord," Calaverous said, hoping this was not idle chatter from the dark lord.

Nox nodded, smiling.

"When the others have returned from their hunt of the escaped Jedi, I shall hold the ceremony to elevate you."

Calaverous, dropped to his right knee, planting his right fist onto the black polished metal floor, his apprentice joining him.

"Thank you, Dark Lord!"

"Dark Lord," Eviscerous' voice sounded from high above, "The Jedi Master lays dying and the younger Jedi has run off. Darth Virulous has run off after him. What do you want to do with the Jedi Master?"

"I'll have words with him," Nox replied. Turning towards, Calaverous, he said, "Look after the boy."

"As you say, Dark Lord," Calaverous replied, solemnly.

Nox walked towards the center of the chamber floor and looked up at the opening where the missing stained glass pyramidal cap had once topped the massive temple. The dark lord gathered himself and then sprang upward, using The Force to launch himself fifteen meters. He then used The Force to move himself horizontally, from over the opening, and came down onto the sloped sunbaked, windswept, red stone surface.

Khem Val, Eviscerous and his two remaining apprentices had been waiting. They led Nox down the slope seventy meters to where the Jedi Master lay.

Eviscerous commented his deep surprise as they arrived to where the dying man lay, "Stars above! That bruise has already spread nearly all the way across his chest and abdomen, and in such a short time!"

"Perhaps, Master," one of his apprentices surmised, "if we removed his boots and leg armor, we'd see that the bruise is also spreading down his legs."

"Are you still alive, Jedi?" Eviscerous asked the dying man.

"It is a shame!" Khem Val lamented, "The meat is ruined!"

Nox could see that the bruise had also spread onto the man's upper arms.

"Give him a few shots of kolto. I want to ease his suffering so that I might converse with him."

Eviscerous pointed at one of his apprentices and then pointed at the Jedi. Immediately the Sith lord complied, giving the Jedi Master four doses. The effect was almost immediate. The agony had left the dying man, and he opened his eyes to regard Darth Nox.

"I know you didn't do this out of kindness, Darth Nox," the dying man said, "but I thank you just the same."

Nox pointed to the vista in front of the eastern face of the pyramid on which they stood. For many tens of kilometers, the long rows of ancient giant statues lay in ruins. The two ancient red stone obelisks, which had once stood at five hundred meters high, near the base of the pyramid lay in broken ruins.

"Did it not occur to you that any chance of ending the war soon was thrown away with this act of wanton vandalism?" Nox asked the dying Jedi sage. Nox continued, "I planned a quick series of brutal campaigns to retake the worlds we'd lost to you, and then offer an end to the war."

The Jedi looked up at Nox after looking at the ruin the Galactic Republic naval forces and heavy infantry had perpetrated in their overzealous conduct of the raid.

"Now I am forced to conduct a long punitive war of pointless destruction and mass death, as I reign terror and death from orbit over many Republic worlds," Darth Nox told the Jedi, adding I have no other choice, our honor demands it. Then, pointing at the destruction again, he asked the dying Jedi, "How else did you think this would end? What were you thinking? Why did you do this? What did you expect to accomplish with this?"

Nox watched as realization and sadness seeped into the Jedi's peaceful facade. The Jedi realized what a terrible mistake had been committed in going after Darth Arkous on Korriban. He began to wonder about Jedi Grand Master Satele Shan's judgment.

"Why did she guide us down this path? Was there something that she saw, but didn't tell us?" the Jedi sage asked himself.

Whatever her reasons, he could only mourn the outcome. Whereas the Sith had, up to this point, conducted the war with great restraint, sticking to military and strategic targets and attempting to capture worlds whole, now they would seek to obliterate entire civilizations in a punitive war of unleashed evil vengeance. Trillions would die, and their worlds wouldn't even become battlefields. They'd only become bombing ranges.

Nox knew that the Jedi were baited by Keeper. They'd been tricked into going after Darth Arkous, as he had asked of his spy chief, but the dark lord didn't expect this to happen.

"I swear, I'm going to have words with Keeper when I see him again!" Nox vowed to himself, still undecided on how he would deal with his spy chief. He didn't know whether he would execute him for his terribly gross lack of judgment, or if he would simply give his spy master a severe tongue lashing.

"Darth Arkous was a military prodigy," the Jedi began his confession in answer to Nox's inquiry, "Commanding several navy groups and army groups, he has done tremendous damage to our forces, and has hurt the Republic strategically. Our economy is in chaos, because of his well thought out strikes on our industries. We find ourselves finding it harder and harder to keep our fleets and armies supplied with badly needed hardware.

"When you rescued the Makebi peoples, your benevolent actions revealed the true size of your naval forces. We realized just how outmatched our navy was. In the meantime, despite the fact that we outnumbered his forces, Darth Arkous led a small portion of ever deteriorating Imperial forces and still dealt quite effective damage to our own fleets.

"When word reached us that Darth Arkous had been elevated to the Dark Council to the Sphere of Military Offense, we realized that his reach and effectiveness would be nearly limitless. He would have, under his command fully half, or more of the Imperial military. He would be able to expand his successful campaigns to a much wider theater of operations.

"We had to stop him. We had been tracking his movements, with many opportunities to take him out, but this is where the Jedi Council decided to take him down."

The Jedi turned his profoundly saddened eyes towards Nox and confessed, "I wish we hadn't had struck here. It wasn't the Jedi Council's intent, nor was it mine, to do all of this. We should have thought this through better, but…" The Jedi's voice trailed off.

Nox added to the theater, saying, "You've robbed us of our greatest strategist. He was a fair target, but by destroying our holiest temple, you've struck at the core of our pride as Sith. We cannot let this go unanswered."

After Nox was sure the Jedi had nothing to add, he asked, "How do you want to die?"

"I'm at your mercy," the Jedi replied, knowing he would receive no mercy, "Do as you wish."

Nox looked at the Dashade, "Khem?"

The monster waived his hand in a dismissing manor while shaking his head in the negative.

"I don't know what my master has done to this meat, but it is disgusting."

Nox took an injector from his medi-aid kit, knelt beside the Jedi and administered the whole syringe, all eight doses of the military grade stim shots.

Very shortly after, the Jedi became agitated. He began to writhe and moan in agony. The pain was becoming worse by the instant. In a short time, the man lay screaming, barely able to move because the rot had spread to most of his body, and it was agonizing to move what muscle fibers yet lived.

Nox smiled and nodded his satisfaction.

"Your suffering is an allegory of what I will do to the Galactic Republic, Jedi filth."

The dark lord walked up the slope of the pyramid, leaving the suffering man behind. His followers walked up the slope, trailing their dark lord.

"And hear I thought the dark lord had gone soft when he asked the Jedi's suffering be ended," Eviscerous said aloud, adding, "The dark lord has quite decidedly corrected that misunderstanding!"

Actually, Darth Eviscerous wanted to put the man out of his misery, but he dared not intervene. The party of Sith lords hadn't gone ten meters when they heard the scraping and clattering of metal on stone. They all turned to watch as the Jedi slid and tumbled down the slope of the pyramid.

He grunted and yelped each time his body painfully struck the rock surface, leaving a trail of blood and puss as he rolled and bounced his way down the slope. Eventually, the tumbling became worse as his tumbling descent accelerated and his head struck the rock surface a few times. His head had finally hit hard enough, to finally render the Jedi unconscious. The Jedi continued like this, breaking bones and scraping flesh from his body. He'd died long before his broken and rotted body had finally reached the bottom of the pyramid temple.

When the Jedi had stopped screaming and grunting, Darth Nox and the others jumped into the opening at the apex and down into the Dark Council chamber below.

Darth Nox looked around the chamber floor and found Arkous' body. He walked to it to take good long look at it.

"If the Dark Council had voted my way, you'd be alive and the temple would not have been defiled," Nox shook his head in disbelief that things had turned out the way they had. "The lengths one would go through simply to gain the Imperial throne."

Darth Nox turned about and marched briskly towards the council chamber doorway, which was missing its doors.

"Let us return to the command post. We have retaken the Temple of The Sith. Now, we must round up any stragglers who'd fled into the desert and bring them to the field prisons. After that, I will address the galaxy."

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