Vaukel was in the training room, giving his lightsaber a few swings and flourishes as he moved across the mat. The newly recovered knight had a smirk on his face as he pulled off a few tricks that he remembered how to do, from simple ripostes, to tossing his lightsaber into the air and catching it, then swinging it around with two hands.

Vaukel deactivated his lightsaber and clipped it to his belt, he looked down at his hands and smiled as he opened and closed them.

"Damn, I feel great," he said to himself.

Looks like someone's back to their full strength," said a voice.

Vaukel turned around and saw Daralec approach.

"I don't suppose you heard the news," said Daralec.

"Kayla and those… Hunters were deployed to the frontlines first," said Vaukel.

Daralec nodded.

"…She'll be safe, right?" asked Vaukel.

"Of course, she will," said Daralec, "she'll likely be paired with either some infiltrators or others hunters."

"Good," said Vaukel.

"…Which kind of brings me to you, Vaukel," said Daralec.

"Hmm?" he asked.

"My master was wondering if you'd like to accompany us when the main fleet is ready to move out," said Daralec.

Vaukel went quiet for a moment.

"…I don't know if I can," he said, "I got finished surviving one war, I don't know think I'm ready to be dropped into a new war."

"Don't think of it as a war, Vaukel," said Daralec, "think of it as… Liberating the galaxy. You of all people should know Vaukel, the Republic can't be allowed to rise again; if they do, we'll be right back where we started."

Vaukel didn't say anything.

"But if you really want to stay out of this crusade… We won't force you," said Daralec.

"Thank you for understanding," Vaukel said as the boys shook hands.

Daralec turned and headed for the door. Vaukel got ready to resume his personal training when he spoke up.

"Wait!" he called out.

Daralec stopped and turned around.

"…When you say liberate?" asked Vaukel.

"…Let's head to the mess hall, this may take a while," said Daralec.

/\/\/\/\/\

Location: Belsavis

Kayla donned her new armor and examined herself in the mirror. Aside from her apprentice robes, which lacked any sort of armor, thanks to the head of the Erusian Dragon she brought back, her new robes came with much more armor and provided much greater defense.

Her hunter armor consisted of a black chest guard to protect her vitals, a blue top, brown armor woven pants, arm-length black padded gloves, boots, hip plates that also came with a waist cape, and to top it off, she had a specially made black visor that snapped itself into place when she placed it over her eyes.

"Can't hurt," she thought.

Kayla grabbed her vibroknife, her blaster pistol, and her newly constructed lightsabers, then she gave one last exhale and shook off the rush of anxiety. The last time she went on a mission with actual teammates was back when she was an inquisitor.

"Hopefully my new team won't try to kill me," she murmured as she went to go meet them.

Kayla headed to the hanger bay and saw her new team was waiting for her.

First was Shokan, a ginger-haired, blue-eyed, male Vulxiks just like Kasiya. He was wearing similar hunter armor like Kayla, however, he opted to have light brown and sand-color armored robes as opposed to her black, blue, and brown. Shokan's armor also lacked the hip plates and waist cape that Kayla's armor had, and he had a pair of light armored gauntlets.

The second was Juzem, a white-haired female Miraluka. She was wearing a deep v-neck bronze armored battle dress with tan armor woven greaves, boots, bracers, and a hooded jacket.

The last one was Nikron Marrsade, a dark-skinned, brown-eyed male human. His armor appeared similar to Shokan's; however, his armored robes came with a hood.

"Hey, hey, you finally made it," said Shokan.

"Sorry, I was… Just nervous, this is my first mission being with a team in a long time is all," said Kayla.

"Mission anxiety, eh?" asked Nikron, "been there."

Kayla looked at the shuttle her teammates were standing by.

"What's this?" she asked.

"It's a Stratos Shuttle," said Juzem, "this is what we're going in."

"This is a shuttle?" asked Kayla, "seems kind of small but…"

"Attention all hunter teams deploying to Belsavis, please board your shuttles now," the helmsman said over the PA system, "repeat, all hunter teams deploying to Belsavis, please board your shuttles now."

Kayla and her team boarded their shuttle and sat down. Once they got settled, the automated pilot played a holo-message for them that was sent by Master Johnric.

"Kayla, Juzem, Nikron, Shokan, you four have been assigned to hunt down a splinter group of individuals who served under the Emperor before his fall," said Johnric.

Johnric pulled up the list of targets.

"They call themselves, 'The Sith Imperium', once members of the Emperor's Shadow Guard, Saber Guard, and Imperial Acolytes, these individuals saw a chance to claim the throne and they took it by coming here," said Johnric, "intelligence is unsure of what drew this group of dark siders to the planet, however, the High Master Hunter has a sneaky suspicion of what might've drawn the rogues out this way. Find them and end them."

The transmission ended. The automated shuttle pilot fired up the engines and the began to lift off with the other hunters who were onboard their vessels.

"Ever been to Belsavis before?" Nikron asked Kayla.

"Huh? No, I was never deployed to the Outer Rim," said Kayla.

The shuttles took off and headed towards the planet. Kayla looked outside and saw the jump ship take off.

"Hey! Where'd they go!?" she screamed.

"Oh yeah, one thing we forgot to mention about these kinds of missions, Kayla," said Nikron, "when hunters are deployed to the field, the only people who will be providing support is all of us along with any possible outsiders."

"Not to mention any other hunter teams we run into," said Juzem.

"Wait, so are you telling me…" Kayla started to say.

"From this moment forward, we're on our own," said Shokan.

Kayla swallowed.

"Hey, don't worry, it could be worse," said Shokan.

"Yeah, half of the other hunters will be dropped on planets where a lot of the fighting is going on," chuckled Nikron.

The shuttle entered the atmosphere.

"Five minutes until we reach our destination," said the automated pilot.

Kayla looked out the window again. Though it was faint, she could see a few of the other shuttles breaking off into the distance and head to their designated locations.

"Warning, entering hot zone," said the automated pilot, "all hunters, prepare for flyby deployment."

"Flyby?" asked Kayla.

"Sounds like there's a bit of a fight going on down below," said Shokan.

"I can sense them," said Juzem, "the empire seems to be in a fight with a rebel cell."

"Computer, what's the cell down here on the planet?" asked Shokan.

"Scanning… Identity confirmed, Rebel Cell 'Chainless Revolters'," said the automated pilot.

"A rebel cell, hidden on this planet?" asked Juzem, "this is going to complicate things."

"Hardly a surprise that rebels would be hiding here," said Nikron, "it is a prison planet after all."

"In my experience, if a rebel cell and a group of imperials with dark side support are here at the same time, it could only mean one thing," said Kayla, "there's Jedi…"

"I thought a lot of the Jedi were wiped out, why show themselves now?" asked Nikron.

Kayla got up.

"Let's find out," she said.

The hunters got up and broke off into groups of two, moving to each door.

"Beginning countdown in… Five… Four… Three… Two…," said the automated pilot.

The light turned green. The doors opened. The hunters jumped and dove towards the drop zone. Kayla went to go put her visor on while she was falling but decided against it.

"I'm not ready yet," she thought.

The paired hunters landed. Shokan and Kayla touched down in the imperial side, while Juzem and Nikron landed in the rebel side.

"What the hell!? Reinforcements!?" exclaimed a stormtrooper.

"Hey, who the hell are you guys?" asked another stormtrooper.

Kayla and Shokan drew their lightsabers and ignited them.

"Your worst nightmare," said Shokan.

Shokan impaled the closest stormtrooper with his bronze-colored blade and pulled the next one over, taking his head off with one clean swing.

"More Jedi! Kill them!" barked the stormtrooper captain.

The imperials started blasting, Kayla and Shokan got right to deflecting and cutting down the imperial forces.

"I thought all hunters were required to go into battle with a saberstaff," Kayla said as she deflected several shots and impaled two stormtroopers.

"We prefer the term 'recommended'," Shokan said as he deflected five shots and jumped at a stormtrooper, slicing him across his chest.

Shokan sent a stormtrooper flying into the makeshift barricade with Force Push.

"Besides, such a weapon is only effective in terms of shock and awe against opponents-whoa-who have no counters against it," he said, ducking low as a stormtrooper fired on him.

Kayla connected her lightsabers into a staff and did a quick twirl.

"Well, he's not entirely wrong," she said to herself before rushing over to a group of stormtroopers.

Meanwhile, Nikron and Juzem were cutting down rebel soldiers left and right.

"Wait, wait, wait… I-I don't understand, you guys are supposed to be Jedi, we thought Jedi helped the weak, we thought they helped those who fought against the corrupt," stuttered a rebel trooper.

"…Do we look like Jedi to you?" asked Nikron.

The trooper opened his mouth to speak, but Nikron choked him out without even batting an eye. Nikron turned and deflected five shots from more rebels and swatted a thermal detonator away with Tutaminis, then he grabbed the rebel who threw the explosive and slammed him into a tree, snapping his spine.

Juzem moved through the battle zone, using a combination of Form III and Form IV to cut down one rebel after another with swift, deadly precision. A rebel trooper took aim and tried to land a few well-placed shots, but Juzem switched her lightsaber to her other hand and performed a flourishing block, sending the blaster bolts flying and striking numerous nearby rebel soldiers, then she hurled her lightsaber at the man and stabbed him in the chest.

Nikron cut down two rebel troopers with swift, powerful cleaves, the shimmering yellow blade sliced through his opponents like a hot knife through butter; without losing momentum, Nikron drew his blaster pistol with his offhand and fired three shots at a couple of rebel troopers, taking down two and forcing the third one to duck for cover.

"Someone's trying to call for reinforcements!" Juzem called out.

Nikron's eyes went wide, and he got on the comm when he sensed where the individual was.

"Kayla, Shokan, a stormtrooper is trying to call for reinforcements, take 'em out," he said.

"I got it," said Shokan, "Kayla, cover me!"

Kayla nodded and raced over to the other hunter, covering his back as he made a beeline to imperial who was about to rat them out. Shokan hurled his lightsaber and impaled the stormtrooper through the back, then he pulled his lightsaber back into his hand.

Kayla, who was watching Shokan's back, saw five imperial heavy troopers move up and fire on the duo with their rocket launchers. Kayla sent the projectiles flying in every direction with a perfectly timed Force Push. Shokan, sensing the heavy troopers, reached out with the Force.

"Your friends are rebel spies," he said.

The heavy troopers flinched for a second, then they dropped their rocket launchers and looked around frantically.

"Who are you people!?" one of them cried out.

Kayla watched in shock as the heavy troopers turned on their allies within seconds.

"Hey! I can't do that," she whined.

"Come on," Shokan said with a chuckle.

Kayla and Shokan resumed their swathe. Kayla separated her lightsabers and glided through a line of stormtroopers, she cut off the leg of the first one and stabbed the second one in the chest, she threw her offhand lightsaber in the chest of the third trooper, then she killed the fourth one by deflecting two shots and sending them right back at the man.

Shokan, who was following behind her, cut off the arm of one stormtrooper and pulled Kayla's offhand lightsaber into his hands after he threw his own lightsaber into another one's chest.

"Kayla, catch!" he called out as he tossed her weapon back.

Kayla, who was in the middle of blocking a hail of blaster bolts from five heavy troopers, jumped back into the air and caught her offhand lightsaber, then she connected her weapons into a staff and created an amethyst energy shield as she spun her saberstaff around herself, all while closing the distance and kicking the closest heavy trooper in the face with a flying kick, then she elbowed another one in the face and cut off the leg of the third trooper.

"You actually fought alongside these guys?" asked Shokan.

"No," Kayla said as she kicked a heavy trooper with her back turned and knocked him down with a roundhouse to the jaw, "I wasn't exactly a fan of them growing up."

"Well, they can't aim with a damn," Shokan said as he deflected a shot back at a stormtrooper without turning around.

Suddenly, Kayla felt a bell go off in her head; she threw her saberstaff at Shokan.

"What the-"

But he was cut off as the saberstaff deflected an oncoming weapon… A disc saber!

"What the?" he asked in confusion.

Kayla frowned, seeing the disc saber return to a familiar foe… A familiar foe, who was not too happy to see Kayla.

"You died!" roared the Inquisitor.

"My fate was exaggerated," said Kayla, "…Kallani."

The Kallani gritted her teeth and charged. Kayla charged as well, and the girls crossed blades.

"Kayla-Aw crap," Shokan muttered as he found himself facing against the last group of stormtroopers.

"Shokan!" Nikron called out.

Shokan turned after deflecting a blaster bolt.

"Nikron! Juzem!" he called out.

"Hang on! We're coming!" Nikron called out.

Kayla separated her lightsabers and met Kallani's assault head on.

"We heard about what happened between you and Lord Vader, and we thought he finally wised up and killed you after you showed your true colors," Kallani hissed as the girls locked blades, "you're going to wish that he really did kill you, Kayla."

"The only thing I'm wishing for…" grunted Kayla.

She broke the lock and jumped forward, driving her knee into Kallani's gut, and kicking her hard in the face, breaking the inquisitor's helmet, and revealing her short black hair, slightly pallor skin and piercing yellow eyes.

"Is that you guys were wiped out before I returned home," said Kayla.

"Oh, I bet you would," hissed Kallani, "just like Lord Vader's other 'child'."

Kayla had a shocked look on her face.

"Wait… Other child?" asked Kayla.

Kallani let out a battle cry and lashed out, rushing, and swinging on Kayla like a mad woman, pushing the young hunter on the defensive. But when the girls locked blades…

"KAYLA DUCK!" barked Shokan.

Kayla ducked and Kallani took a stormtrooper helmet to the face, knocking her back a few steps, then she went flying after taking a flying kick to the chest from the Vulxiks Hunter.

"Nice throw," said Kayla.

"Thank you," said Shokan, "Nikron and Juzem have the rest of the imperials occupied."

"Good," said Kayla, "that means we can have our way with her."

Kallani wiped some of the blood off her nose and activated her other blade.

"Who is this other child of Lord Vader? Is it someone like me?" asked Kayla.

Kallani smirked.

"It doesn't matter," she said, "because you won't be around long enough to meet him."

Kayla sighed.

"If I had a credit for every time someone from the Inquisitorious predicted my doom," she thought.

Kallani locked her ring together, then she began her attack. Kayla jumped over her and stuck the landing, then she swung at Kallani from behind. Kallani blocked her attack and started to advance on Shokan, all while keeping herself and her disc saber in a constant spinning motion every five to ten seconds to keep both hunters off her. When Kallani locked blades with Kayla and Shokan, Kallani spun her disc saber to throw them off, then she threw her disc saber at Kayla, forcing her to guard up; but Kayla's guard was broken from the impact of the oncoming weapon, allowing Kallani to send her sliding back with Force Push after she pulled her disc saber back into her hand.

Shokan pounced and went for an overhead chop, prompting Kallani to whirl around and guard up; however, she was unprepared for her Shokan's power blow to knock her disc saber out of her hand.

"What the-"

But Kallani was cut off as she let out a scream, feeling Shokan take off her entire left arm. Kallani stumbled and dropped to one knee, clutching her charred stump.

"DAMMIT! DAMMIT, DAMMIT, DAMMIT!" she screamed.

Kallani shot a nasty look at Shokan and attempted to lash out with Force Choke, but she found herself being choked by Kayla. Shokan swung and took the Inquisitor's head off, ending her life.

"Nice teamwork," Kayla said as she walked over to Shokan and gave him a high five.

"Hey, don't go trading back pats yet," he said, as he turned around, "we still have some stormtroopers to ki-"

Shokan fell silent. Nikron and Juzem were seen standing over a pile of imperial corpses… With an imperial officer in binders.

"…Oh," said Shokan, "right."