Alright guys, this is chapter three and from here on out updates will occur every other sunday. Just a reminder that last weekend's double upload was not normal, I simply managed to get two chapters done in time, I don't regularly, though, on the flip side, I do have a single chapter on the long side for you guys this weekend. Anyway, all that business stuff is out of the way, let's get to Ullara Avdune and Zaliza Vyvan joining Phanza Attam and the forces of the Sith Grand Duchy of Taaszon as they defend against the separatists and their invasion.

Secrets of The Outer Rim.

Act I.

The Last Days of The Jedi Order.

Chapter III.

In The Defense of The Sith.


I felt conflicted.

I knew that I should have told Master Avdune about Phanza trying to corrupt me through the Force. I was well aware that this was clearly an attempt to turn me over to the Dark Side as a member of the Sith. I felt uncomfortable and betrayed that I put so much time into getting Master Avdune and the Jedi Council to see the Grand Duchy of Taaszon as a state in need rather than a Sith state only for their representative to spit in the face of my trust by immediately doing what all Sith do. At the same time, I knew that revealing this would only lead to more conflict. Master Avdune, out of well-intended concern for my, would report this incident to the Jedi Council and the Chancellor and this whole alliance would be torn up as a result, all because of Phanza's own selfish actions. I suppose that she would deserve it too, but I did not think that her actions condemned her entire people. Perhaps all of these Sith from Taaszon really were like her, but no one deserves to be massacred by hordes of battle droids - not to mention the fact that, as Phanza pointed out, the last thing we needed was for the separatists to discover bases beyond known space - we do know where the two systems Phanza revealed are, but we don't know how much the separatists know. Ultimately, I still wanted to help both for moral and pragmatic reasons, therefore, I decided that I couldn't tell Master Avdune or anyone else about Phanza trying to tempt me to the Dark Side. I tried not to think of her lies about the Chancellor and the Jedi Council deceiving me, after all, they were just lies. They had to be.

"Are you alright Commander?" Warlock asked as I almost literally ran into him in one of the hallways of the Sage. I was walking around aimlessly, not wanting to spend any more time in my quarters than I had to after being harassed by a Sith there. I came to my senses as I realized that I had gotten to the clones' quarters, standing in the corridor separating their rooms from the mess hall. Venator-class star destroyers were massive, triangular craft with a long hanger section along the central length. I wondered if anyone ever explored the full interior of a ship like this. I don't think that the Jedi have, in fact, I don't think we've ever fully investigated the situation with the Clone Army to begin with, effectively, we got an army of millions of adult clones, star destroyers, gunships, tanks, and weapons of all levels of warfare out of thin air and, along with them, a new planet joined the Republic. The fact that the Clone Wars began the moment the clones were deployed in battle doesn't help, we never got the chance to look back and analyze all of this. I trust Commander Warlock and his squadron with my life, but they age twice as fast as a regular human would and I know that the math simply does not add up, the Clones, the fleets, all of it came long before there was any actual need for them and the Jedi allegedly responsible is dead. These men are perfect companions for the Jedi, but their origins are highly dubious. The fact that Chancellor Palpatine gave himself the power to commission an army just before the Grand Army of the Republic arrived suggested he knew more about it than he let on, so perhaps he was less than truthful with us, but Phanza implied a greater deception, making her statement a half-truth at best.

"Yes Commander, my apologies, I was distracted." I admitted meekly. I was lost in my own head over the messages Phanza sent me, I was playing exactly into her hands. Phanza Attam was a smart woman and she knew that I was not going to turn to the Dark Side easily, however, by telling me these lies, she has made me paranoid of my own allies, laying the seeds for a barrier between myself and the people I should hold closest to me - my fellow Jedi and our allies in the Republic. I was conscious of what she was doing but I was made even more miserable by the fact that I didn't have a way of fighting that without potentially leaving eleven systems at the mercy of the separatists. I sighed, Phanza may have her schemes but for now it is best to keep my eyes on the true enemy - Count Dooku, General Grievous, and their separatist droid armies - rather than trying to create a new one in the form of Taaszon.

"Very well Commander Vyvan. General Avdune has requested your presence on the bridge." The purple clad clone trooper revealed, his helmet in his arm, revealing his bald head and the lightning bolt tattoos on his temples, mirroring their placement on the helmet. We walked together to the lifts. I could talk to Commander Warlock without worrying about ancient feuds between Jedi and Sith, he knows that the separatists are our enemies, Taaszon is at least an ally temporarily, and that the Republic is the home we shall defend to the last man, beyond that, the rest was merely interesting facts. Warlock, just like the other clones, was designed to think of battles first and foremost, he is bred to be preoccupied with whether someone is a friend or a foe first and foremost, the rest is secondary to that. The Force was something no clone would ever experience and they had to be glad that almost all Force users were on our side and, because of that, they don't know much about the Jedi and the Sith other than the former is their ally and that the latter is our eternal enemy.

I couldn't imagine being a being bred for warfare, I never wanted these horrors to become mundane. Truth be told, as much as I wanted to help the people of Taaszon, in any other scenario I would have rather been in my quarters on Coruscant than heading into battle. The fact that we were protecting eleven systems from the scourge of the Clone Wars and potentially reconciling with an ancient enemy kept me going even though I knew that Imperius Prime was just going to be another Felucia. I sighed, it was going to be tough but we got through Felucia and we'll get through this. I turned to Commander Warlock, with men like him at my side, I knew that I would survive Imperius Prime and that we would save this world. But what would happen if the clones and I had to depend on their world to save us? We were willing to put aside our feud with the Sith to save them but would the Sith do the same for us?

"Master Avdune," I bowed while Commander Warlock saluted her, we gathered around the holoprojector at the rear of the bridge. I glanced over down the cockpit to see the light of stars and planets distorted into the blue patterns of hyperspace. We were still on route to Imperius Prime but I suspected I was here because we were about to reach the planet. My suspicions were revealed to be correct when Master Avdune summoned a projection of the planet. The world was a very active one with geothermal activity resulting in volcanic activity all over the surface, bringing warmth. Rivers of lava were surrounded with jungles or cities, providing warmth and power to an otherwise frigid world. Ice, jungles, and lava - Imperius Prime seemed to be a bizarre world but in a galaxy of diverse and exotic worlds, it didn't stick out too much. The world was surrounded by a series of rings, this gave an element of depth to the three Margraviate-class Super Dreadnoughts and their support ships protecting the world.

"The Sage, the Tython, and the Coruscant Temple will join the space battle over the gas giant Kallig, but before then, they will drop us off over Imperius Prime. We shall take gunships down to the surface and join the Taaszon forces against the separatists. Their fleet should repel the separatist ships over the world but, even if they don't, we have the cover of the rings. Separated from their air support and facing both our clones and the Sith forces, the droids should be pretty straightforward to eliminate." Master Avdune explained, it did indeed seem like it was going to be an easy victory, easier that Felucia perhaps, however, the fact that the Sith, a faction that has always been known for arrogance, does not believe that it can defeat these droids alone. That makes me weary, there has to be something that we're not seeing, the separatists must have greater numbers that we're anticipating for the Grand Duchy of Taaszon to call for aid. I turned away from the holoprojection and turned towards the cockpit window. My instincts told me there was something more to this and I wanted to see the space battle over Imperius Prime with my own eyes rather than judging based on estimations. Perhaps this invasion represented a greater Sith feud rather than just a straightforward invasion. I didn't know, but there was something going on here that we weren't privy to yet.

We emerged out of hyperspace to find three black triangular Margraviate-class Super Dreadnoughts with a hanger in the center - the split design made the whole craft appear like a much larger version of a Jedi Interceptor, but there was more than a passing resemblance to our Venator-class star destroyers as well - I wanted to assume that this was coincidental but that seemed like quite a bit of a coincidence. In any case, these Super Dreadnoughts were supported by smaller triangular ships called Despotate-class Destroyers, with five destroyers for every Super Dreadnought. This was a rather impressive fleet but, much like I had predicted, the separatist fleet was impressive too. I counted two Providence-class Dreadnoughts, six Munificent-class frigates, and four Lucrehulk-class battle stations. This was far more than we were expecting - we had been expecting perhaps three Munificent-class ships and a couple of Lucrehulk stations, but this was indeed more than a regular invasion fleet. Count Dooku...or perhaps his mysterious Sith master, had been playing on massacring the so-called true Sith for a long, long time before this. Something tells me that these Sith were a loose end that had to be taken care of before a massive separatist strike to end the stalemate of the war. Now, more than ever, we had to ensure a Sith victory, if for no other reason than to spoil separatist plans against us.

"Phanza has not been entirely honest with us." Master Avdune said, the Mirialan narrowing her green eyes ever so slightly. I raised an eyebrow at her, asking a silent question. If Ullara was referring to the greater separatist numbers, then I can't blame Phanza Attam for that, this war would have gone a lot more smoothly for us if we could predict separatist numbers in advance. However, the answer began clear when the Sith fleet unleashed its arsenal. Purple laser blasts filled the skies as the Super Dreadnoughts opened fire, next, they opened their hangers. The main hanger at the center and the two smaller hangers on either side unleashed an armada of ships. Lead by Ravager-class Sith Interceptors came Bisector-class Starfighters, Devastator-class Super Starfighters and Terminator-class Bombers. Between the barrage of purple laser, the armada of ships, and the cover provided by the planetary rings, the Sith fleet clearly had the advantage. This was a show of force on their part as much as it was on the separatists. Nevertheless, the separatists had more ships and thus, once the shock of how powerful these Super Dreadnoughts were wore off, the separatist fleet fought back. Our fleet was not needed here, they would continue on to Kallig with the knowledge that the Venator-class ships were not equivalent to these Sith ships as Phanza had assured us, meanwhile, we would go to the surface to see how the Sith forces fare on land. The Grand Duchy of Taaszon did not have the numbers to face the Republic or the separatists, but they had deadly technology to narrow the odds and they were using this war as an opportunity to show that off to the galaxy. Master Avdune was right, Phanza was not entirely honest with us.

"No, she has not." I admitted, now increasingly skeptical about the trust I put into the Nautolan who has called in Republic resources for a fight at the edge of the galaxy, a fight that we question if they even needed help with. This came after the Nautolan had already tried to tempt me to the Dark Side. I had a bad feeling about this...this all seemed like an elaborate ruse to mark the return of the true Sith.


The situation on the ground was hellish. Snow fell on our gunships from above while the heat from the lava below scorched their underbellies. The heat powered the planet's cities and allowed for the jungles to exist, but it also produced a hellish theater of warfare. The jungles eventually gave way to reveal a battlefield, all the trees and plants had been blasted away by the droids and the Sith forces fighting it out. Our help would end the stalemate...eventually, but, in doing so, we would only cause more damage and scar more of this once beautiful jungle on a planet that is otherwise frigid snow and ice juxtaposed with deadly hot lava. The LAAT gunship touched down and our AT-TE walkers joined the tanks of Taaszon. Ullara activated her green lightsaber and both of my purple blades sprung into life as we leaped into battle, joining the various red, purple, orange, and yellow blades of the Sith.

Phanza Attam was leading the battle, launching red Force lightning from her fingertips while blocking lasers with her curved-hilt red lightsaber with its black core. The exotic weapon matched her features as she fought ferociously, the apprentice of this Grand Duchess Voytana herself - I wondered how much Phanza knew of her master's intentions, I knew that it was our duty as Jedi for Master Avdune and I to learn as much as possible about this faction. Thus far, all that we have learned presents them as far more of a threat than Phanza implied, this third strongest faction in the galaxy was not nearly as behind us as we had been expecting. Their population was clearly their only limiting factor, something confirmed even more as one of their Ballista-class Heavy Battle Tanks exploded the droid's battle lines. Phanza Attam took this opportunity to order an attack and Master Avdune ordered us and the clones to follow her. Purple and blue lasers on one side were exchanged with red lasers from the other side before lightsabers arrived to turn the tide.

I found myself fighting alongside Ruumshi, the orange-skinned Zabrak guard with her electrostaff, as we tore into the separatist lines. I swept the feet off of a Super Battle Droid before smashing it with a Force-amplified kick to the head. I then came around and swung the lower blade of my weapon across a number of B1 Battle Droids, allowing me to come face-to-face with another B2. I was about to rip the Super Battle Droid apart when I saw it get electrocuted. The droid fell over, revealing Ruumshi and her weapon. The Zabrak did indeed fight well and I suspected that, if she had the Force, she would fight with a double-bladed lightsaber just like I did. Shame that being born outside of known space has made her a victim of the Sith.

The two of us turned our attention to one of the last remaining AAT separatist tanks - our walkers and the Sith tanks had done a good job at thinning their numbers but this one was cowardly, hiding behind the wreckage of the others that had been in the first line.

"I got you covered Commander! Take them down!" Warden yelled as he sprayed the droids in the area down with his rotary cannon. This gave Ruumshi and I the opportunity to take down the tank. I sliced through the hover floor of the tank with one of my purple blades before disarming the droid tank with the other blade. I sliced its barrel in half and left it immobile with two moves, allowing Ruumshi to force open the top hatch and electrocute the droids inside. The AAT was done, but there were many, many more separatists to deal with. Ruumshi pounced at the droids from up above and I jumped over the wreckage we created to join her. Spinning my saberstaff as I landed to decapitate a number of B1 battle droids. Warden body-slammed a droid before throwing his overheating rotary cannon at the next, fighting with dual pistols while waiting for his primary weapon to cool back down. Fortunately for him, the all too familiar arc of a number of droid poppers signaled the arrival of Wishlist and the others. Wishlist ran over to Warden and handed him a can of coolant spray that he decided to carry into battle simply because he could while Warlock, Williams, Winch, and Witchcraft covered him, using the tank as cover. They advanced as a squadron of Sith soldiers joined them in using the tank wreckage as cover - even the clone troopers were wary around these Sith.

The droids responded by calling in their heavier units - droidekas and crab droids joined the battle - they were growing desperate. The droids knew that they were separated from their starships and, by now, were outnumbered. Battle droids are cheap and individually useless, the whole point of these droids is to overwhelm us with great numbers. B1s were to be the mass produced cannon fodder while B2s, destroyer droids, and commando droids were the real hard hitting units of the separatist army. These heavier units added depth to the conflict, but they would not change the fate of this battle.

Wishlist threw two flares into the crowd of droids, distracting them. This cleared the way for Warden to provide covering fire which in turn allowed for Winch and Williams to strike the crab droids from above where their armor was weakest, meanwhile, Wishlist and Warlock got to work on the droids. Wishlist handed his Commander a droid popper and they each gently rolled the EMP grenades into the droideka's shields, allowing them to be electrocuted. Winch was about to scale the final crab droid and take it down when Witchcraft sniped it dead. The clones were a loyal squadron and they did their job like no other, I was proud to serve alongside them, even if the reality of war means that any of us can die at any moment.

"Reinforcements incoming!" Witchcraft warned as another group of AAT hover tanks crossed a stream of lava. The lava had the side-effect of super-heating the metal of the droid tanks. The droids knew that there was no retreat and it seems that there is a tactical droid here ordering them to inflict as many casualties as possible no matter the cost as those tanks would never be usable again, however, due to being literally red hot from hovering over the lava, we would not be able to scale them as we had previously. The way I saw it, we had two options - the first was to hope that we still had enough tank shells or grenades left over from the infantry battle to take them out from a distance or wait them out until the heat burns through them. I came out of cover and blocked as many lasers as possible with my double-bladed lightsaber to buy us as much time as possible, however, in the corner of my eye, I could see that Phanza marched out of cover as well. I watched the Sith as well as I could while still deflecting the lasers.

The red-skinned, black-tattooed Nautolan raised a single hand once again and unleashed that red Force lightning. This time, however, the effect was far, far more spectacular. The first tank she hit was electrocuted and it shorted out, but that wasn't the end - she chained her lightning from tank to tank until all of the separatist reinforcement tanks were shorted out and done for. One in move, she had done the impossible. I didn't know whether I should be awed or terrified but I didn't exactly have the chance to contemplate it as we charged at the separatist infantry. I rose a hand as I was running and Force pushed a number of B1 battle droids back into the lava, there they were melted down by extended exposure to the heat. Jedi and Sith alike deflected bolts, struck with the Force, and cut down droids, clones and Sith infantry alike blasted their ranks to pieces, and, together, our combined forces repelled the suicidal droid attack.I took a deep breath before sitting back and pulling my knees close to my chest, trying to ignore the death all around me and trying to block out the presence of so many Dark Side users near me - yes they needed help and I wanted to help them, but, to a Jedi, their presence was downright toxic in the Force if they weren't concealing their power. I felt vulnerable to temptation, seduction, and calls for violence. Anxiety and fear ate away at my Jedi calmness and serenity. I was on the side of Phanza and her Sith, but she and her allies were making it harder and harder to support her...perhaps Master Avdune had been right all along.


"I have found three distinct factions within the Sith infantry itself. The first faction being conscripts, mainly humans but some aliens too, these troops where purple and black armor fairly similar to our clone troopers - an aside, but i think that the similarities in the armor and in the starships suggest that the Sith must have spies within our military industrial complex...perhaps a talk with the Kaminoans is in order. Anyway, the second faction is made up of the Chiss infantry. These blue-skinned, red-eyed aliens form more than a third of the population of the Grand Duchy of Taaszon as a whole and receive some special privileges, one being maintaining their own army. These Chiss units wear white armor with black and purple as secondary colors, additionally, their helmets are open faced. The final faction consists of Mandalorians. These Mandalorians have no stake in the civil war, they had been here in Taaszon for centuries. Their armor varies quite a bit but silver, blue, and red seem to be the most common colors. The Sith infantry is often supported by heavy droids but it seems that the Mandalorians and the Chiss both have a distaste for droids." Master Avdune reported to the Jedi Council, we had given all the information we had, starting with the Sith itself before moving on to their starships and other vehicles before finally ending up on the infantry. I remained silent, having reported all my observations to Ullara beforehand - I've done enough speaking before the Jedi Council lately to last a lifetime...with my social skills, once is already too much.

"Thank you Master Avdune, the more we know about these Sith, the less likely they are to catch us by surprise." Master Windu replied, his mind was still focused on fighting the Sith. In my silence, I had been being quite observant, Master Yoda seemed to disapprove of how belligerent Master Windu was being but the elder Jedi did not object, in fact, he did not say anything. I did not believe that Master Yoda would deceive me and I wish that I could say the same thing about Master Windu. In any case, I would not let one man ruin my view on the entire Jedi Council, especially not because of the insistence of a single Sith. Phanza Attam wants me to distrust the Jedi Council and by even thinking about this, I'm letting her win...unfortunately, I can't quite shake those thoughts.

"Have anything to say, do you Padawan?" Master Yoda finally asked me, curious as to me opinion. Once again, the part of me that was loyal to the Jedi Order wanted to reveal that Phanza Attam had tried to tempt me to the Dark Side, part of me wanted to mention that I was unsettled by all the Dark Side energy here, and part of me did think that these Sith were downright evil and perhaps more dangerous than those supporting the separatists. I didn't do it though, I did not want to see the Jedi Order descend on these worlds to purge the Sith who asked us for help - they were not good people, that much was clear, however, the Jedi will be going down a dark path themselves if we open up another theater of war, one not in defense of the Republic but against a state whose only crime was being Sith. I suppose that there are indeed hints of espionage and their militarization suggests that they may be gearing up for a campaign against the Republic, but we would be the aggressors. A preemptive strike, no matter how justified, is not the Jedi way. To attack these Sith is to betray our principles and I believe it is my duty as a Jedi to do everything that I can to preserve our final shred of being keepers of the peace.

"Nothing more Master Yoda, I reported all my observations to Master Avdune beforehand." I explained away, sticking with my story. Master Yoda grunted in reply, seemingly not believing me but at the same time not raising the issue. I'm sure that Master Yoda would like to discuss many things with me, but that would have to wait until we are in the privacy of the Jedi Temple together...and who knows how long it may be until both of us are in that same place at the same time in this wretched, seemingly endless war.

"Very well then. Master Avdune, Padawan Vyvan, keep us informed." Master Windu announced before ending the holocall. I let out a relieved exhale as Master Avdune turned to me, concern evident in her green eyes. Wordlessly, she ushered me along with her. We walked a fair distance away from the Republic camp and ended up on a peaceful hill side. The jungle rose back up behind us as the clearing ending, two streams of lava flanked the camp on either side - one of those streams had a shielded bridge over it, uniting our camp with the larger Sith camp, though nobody dared be the first one to actually cross that bridge - and, above us, snow fell before melting due to the geothermal heat radiating off of the lava streams. Far in the distance I could see snowy terrain where lava did not flow. Fascinating how something as destructive as lava gave life to this planet. Life that was not yet contaminated by the Dark Side - Imperius Prime may be a Sith world but the dark presence of the Sith sticks out even here...and perhaps it always will.

Ullara and I sat down on this hill and we meditated for awhile, much like Jedi often did together. She reached out with the Force and her light presence was a soothing force here, she was almost enough to drown out the presence of so many Sith so close by. The rule of two was Sith law for centuries as far as the Jedi knew, but these Sith clearly did not follow it and having so many toxic figures not even attempting to mask themselves had a negative effect on a pair of light side users, however, thanks to peace, serenity, and calmness, our meditation grounded us in the light. We received a temporary clarity and peace of mind that would be gone all too soon, but, as long as it was here, Master Avdune and I would both feel better.

"I am here to help you Zaliza, all you must do is ask." Ullara quietly assured me as we exited our meditation - I managed to calm myself down, but while meditating together, for that moment after my master had achieved inner peace and before I did, my troubles read clear as day within the Force. I knew that Master Avdune had good intentions but I didn't think that she could help me, she was only so much more experienced than me and she had only so much wisdom, she has taught me everything that she knows but I don't know if she has anything more for me. I love her as a person and I am honored to have learned under her, but right now, she's not the kind of master I need and that's not her fault. The Jedi could not possibly be prepared for the ancient Sith of all people to make a return and for one of them to take a direct interest in me, unfortunately, Phanza seems perfectly suited towards corrupting a Jedi and there is nothing that I can do to fight that. Pleas for help would merely doom the people of Taaszon and the Jedi alike while I would never get the help that I actually needed.

"I know master, I know." I quietly admitted to her while torn apart by mental turmoil. All I wanted was for the Jedi Order to help the people of Taaszon repel the separatists, perhaps that could lead to some sort of dialogue between the Jedi and the Sith, but instead, I've found myself questioning my Order, questioning my Republic, and, all the while, I have no way of helping myself escape from the influence of Phanza Attam and the Dark Side without basically incriminating her because I cannot trust the Jedi Council to differentiate between me asking for helping and me putting the Sith on trial. I don't care that Phanza Attam is trying to corrupt me to the Dark Side as long as I can put her lies to rest and receive motivation on the Light Side of the Force, but the more belligerent elements of the Jedi Council will use this as the bait they've been looking for to pounce on these Sith. I shook my head and tried to focus on the here and now, once again assuring myself that there is no way that the Jedi of the Republic would be deceiving me. Perhaps Master Windu was somewhat hypocritical and belligerent, perhaps Chancellor Palpatine was power-hungry, but that is no reason to doubt the Order and the Republic that I've devoted my life to.


Phanza Attam sat meditating in front of the Ultimate while her companions quietly went about their business. They were nominally here to protect her, however, after the stint she pulled against those separatist tanks, I'm not sure if she needed much help. Ruumshi, the orange-skinned bald Zabrak who fought alongside me during a brief period of the battle, shot me a soft smile while she and Avoine, her human counterpart, sparred with deactivated electrostaffs. Ceyla Ordo, the silver and black armored Mandalorian was seemingly making adjustments to her wrist mounted gauntlet - adjustments that coincidentally lined up her flamethrower with my Master and I - the Mandalorian was not going to strike at us unless given the word, but she was more than capable of inflicting massive destruction at the drop of a hat. Finally, the protocol droid, HK-107 ominously watched over our arrival, as if he was more than capable of taking on a Jedi. These warriors were certainly more at ease now that we were meeting on their territory, albeit territory under separatist assault.

"Welcome Jedi." The Nautolan opened her large glossy black eyes and flashed a pleasant smile, a beautiful smile on a beautiful face, but that face was attached to an awful person. Her skin was a slightly different shade of red than mine and the purple of my eyes was closer to the glowing color of my lightsaber rather than the darker purple of her black and purple robes, but I was not one to overlook the fact that my own complexion and my choice in lightsaber matched the color of this Sith faction. I know that it meant nothing, I know that I should be above mere aesthetic nonsense, but now that I've seen it, I cannot unsee it. Perhaps I could hope that Phanza Attam was just targeting me out of aesthetic similarities and that there was nothing more drawing her to converting me, however, the fact that she specifically targeted my grievances with the Jedi Order and the Republic suggests that there is more to this. At this stage, I could not discount the possibility that, somehow, these ancient Sith from the Grand Duchy of Taaszon have been spying on me. It would make sense, the similarities between Republic vessels and their Sith vessels is indicative of a strong possibility of espionage - however, inside, I knew that there was more to this than mere spying.

"Lady Attam...you called us here." Master Avdune replied, it wasn't a question. Ullara and Phanza were clearly not getting along but given that my master's suspicions about Phanza turned out to be more true than not, I was no longer going to fight this. As long as my master does not start an actual fight against Phanza or ends up compromising our mission to help them. The tension was thick but it deserved to be thick - whether Master Avdune knew it or not, Phanza wanted to rob her of her position as my master and turn me to the Dark Side, I knew that, Phanza knew that, and Ullara was at least suspicious of it. I was uncomfortable, Lady Attam was strong with the Dark Side but I could feel an almost invisible streak of it within Ullara as well - she was kept in check by her own Jedi conditioning, however, the primal part of her personality wanted to strike down Phanza right now and prevent the fall - despite the fact that Phanza would no doubt fight back along with her companions and, even if we did somehow win that fight, we'd have started a war while on enemy territory. I shook my head, there would be no battle, a Jedi must be above her base instincts and while there was a violent want within her, Ullara was not actually going to do anything about that. As young as my master is, she's still a model Jedi.

"Yes, I did." Lady Attam stood up and smirked right in Ullara's face, trying to provoke her. Master Avdune stood her ground and did not fall to her violent temptation - she was a Jedi and Jedi are not the ones to start fights - in any case, Phanza continued once she was done trying to rile my master up "You two shall join me on a mission to Acina while your clones, under their own commanders, crush the separatist positions to the west of Zavros City. My forces will strike to the east, so you don't have to worry your little head about us being a bad influence and those troops of yours."

Phanza wanted us to board the Ultimate and journey to Acina, the moon of New Ziost. We would be alone with her while the bulk of our forces would remain here where they were needed. I didn't like that we were leaving behind our clones, however, I understood what Phanza was trying to accomplish. She would frame this as an opportunity to build trust between the Republic and the Grand Duchy of Taaszon, meanwhile, I imagine that she'll take the opportunity to continue and try and corrupt me to the Dark Side. She was more than capable of arbitrarily picking two Sith to do this mission with her, however, we could use this to our advantage just like Phanza would try and use this to her own advantage. Phanza Attam told us that she is apprentice to Grand Duchess Voytana herself - this mission is our best chance at learning about the leadership of this Grand Duchy - we shall learn how the government works, perhaps how centralized authority is, and maybe learn more about Voytana herself. We would have to board a Sith vessel alone and outnumbered to do this, but I don't think that Phanza is going to harm us. The Grand Duchy of Taaszon is not weak, but they are not quite strong enough to fight the Republic alone; they need this alliance - I'd imagine that they intend to conquer separatist worlds to increase their power base using this alliance - and she wants to turn me into her apprentice. Master Avdune and I are too important for the Sith to kill, that ensures our safety.

I turned to my master and wondered what she was thinking. She had crossed her arms and her expression was clearly suspicious, however, she did not reply - that was a good sign, that meant that Master Avdune was actually thinking about it - my assumption is that her main problems were leaving the clones behind and boarding a Sith vessel, the same problems that I had been juggling with. That was a good sign as well, that meant that she would likely reach the same conclusion as I did, that we were too important to be disturbed. I tried to tip the scales by giving off encouraging thoughts and silently telling Master Avdune to do this, but I had no idea whether or not this actually had any effect on her, nevertheless, she did eventually see reason and either came to the same conclusion as I did independently or bended to my silent pleas. We would board this Ravager-class Sith Interceptor and journey to Acina in hopes of learning more about this Sith state.

"Alright Lady Attam, lets go save your people." Master Avdune promised, the two women shook hands and we boarded the Ultimate.


The entrance ramp of the Ultimate lead to a hallway which in turn opened up to a large central chamber. It was an octagonal chamber centered around a full-sized holoprojector. To the left and right were engine rooms along the swept forward wings. The large cockpit was directly ahead but staircases on either side lead down to the long nose of this ship. Master Avdune and I would later learn that down there was the captain's bedroom, the crew quarters, and other personal rooms. Behind the holoprojector room was the cargo hold and, beyond that, the final and main engine room, one that included the hyperdrive itself. On the outside the ship may have a superficial resemblance to a Naboo ship - appearing like a more aggressive, angular, and militarized version of one - but the inside was configured very differently. I suppose this could be explained away as mere coincidence, however, the resemblance between Sith starships and Republic ones overall is shocking and I fear that the whole incident can not be explained away so easily.

The Sith are clearly spying on us, that is an established fact, after all, they know all about the Republic and the separatists while we are only just now learning about them with the separatists seemingly only knowing a bit more. The separatists may not know much, however, their fleet over the world and the fact that the Sith called us for help suggests that the separatists not only want their worlds for strategic reasons but that they also want to exterminate this Sith civilization. These Sith are not allied with Count Dooku and his master - the so-called pretenders - and Sith feuds are hardly unheard of. It has been awhile since I've gone through the Jedi Archival data on the ancient Sith but this would hardly be the first time one faction of Sith has utterly destroyed another - in fact there are numerous instances where Sith infighting allowed numerically and strategically inferior Sith forces to overpower Republic forces. So, a case of Sith infighting this may be, however, even that answer didn't entirely sit well with me, I wanted more than just my assumptions, I wanted to find out anything and everything I can about the Grand Duchy of Taaszon and I wanted to ensure galactic peace, preferably by reaching a conciliation with the Sith and bringing them back to the Light, though I'll settle for a peaceful coexistence - of course, most people, Jedi or Sith, would dismiss that as completely impossible, but I would argue that it is our duty as Jedi to at least try.

My master went towards the cockpit to try and discreetly raid the navicomputer for information about the Grand Duchy of Taaszon while I went into the cargo hold to get to the rear engine room - the idea was that she would try and get information off of the navigational systems while I would check the hyperdrive directly for clues - we were hoping to find the other systems ruled by Voytana and her Sith.

I slipped into the cargo hold and was about to head into the rear engine room when I heard Phanza Attam talking with Ceyla, that Echani Mandalorian woman. Realizing that they were heading this way, I pretended to focus on a large stone tablet written in what I could only assume was the ancient tongue of the Sith. I wouldn't be able to get to the hyperdrive, but at least I could distract our Sith would-be allies long enough for Master Avdune to do her job. The tablet was not the only object in this cargo hold - I counted at least five Sith holocrons throughout the room, a locker filled with various weapons - blasters and melee weapons alike, and various crates of supplies, however, the tablet was the one that it made the most sense for me to be looking at, especially since Phanza Attam believes that I am susceptible to the Dark Side. I will use her own desires to corrupt me to buy my master time to score a victory, however small, for the Light Side of the Force. I heard two pairs of feet enter the room and from the corner of my eyes I saw Phanza Attam come up to me on my left while Ceyla positioned herself to my right, between me and that weapons closet - we were not enemies, but both the Mandalorians and the servants of the Sith have fought Jedi and the Republic for millennia, it is in her blood to be paranoid around Jedi and it is in her nature to want to kill me. I did not like it, however, I could understand it.

"Ah, I see our little Jedi friend is a snoopy one, is she not Ceyla?" Phanza Attam seemed playful in a somewhat psychotic and rather unsettling way, in any case, I doubted that she was actually going to hurt me at all. Ceyla, the coming together of two great warrior cultures in the form of the Echani and the Mandalorians, to her credit, merely grunted in reply, not wishing to play along, I, however, did by feigning embarrassment. I'm not sure how convincing my acting was but it was enough to get Lady Attam to continue on her mockery "Well well well, if you must know, this tablet comes from The Tomb of Marka Ragnos on the ancestral Sith world of Korriban. This tablet tells the Sith Code...listen closely Jedi. Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken! The Force shall set us free!"

"How could you possibly say that peace is a lie?" I scoffed, only a being that lives and breaths for warfare, carnage, and slaughter would be so foolish, so callous as to dismiss the very concept of peace! Peace existed for centuries before the Sith returned during the Invasion of Naboo and since their return they have destroyed the peace and plunged the galaxy into suffering. It is the fault of the so-called pretender Count Dooku and his master that the Jedi have fallen from keepers of the peace to warriors, it is the fault of the Sith that I must leap into battle everyday and shrug off the deaths of countless of my clone friends, and despite all that, a Sith, albeit one innocent in this particular case, has the nerve to tell me that peace is a lie? Peace is only a lie because the Sith insist on making it a lie!

"There is no such thing, little Jedi. The Republic strongarms worlds into joining them and the Jedi not only let it happen but actively support it, the Republic dismisses worlds with actual grievances who wish for independence as separatists, and all the while, all across the galaxy, even on your so-called core worlds of Corellia and Coruscant, crime wars rage on and on. You claim to be a peacekeeper but you cannot even ensure peace in the lower levels of the very planet where your temple sits. So tell me, is peace really a lie after all?" Phanza Attam challenged me. I gulped, these weren't lies, these were terrifying truths...and if this was the truth, could I truly deny that the Republic and the Jedi were deceiving me?

I shook my head and left the cargo hold while the red-skinned Nautolan sorceress smirked...I had to hope that Master Avdune had better luck with the navigational charts, because I went to the back of the ship hoping to secure a victory for the Light Side...instead, it feels like the Dark Side has only gotten stronger.


Alright guys, I hope you enjoyed these three first chapters in a two week period but from here on out we're going to a biweekly update schedule. Next weekend I shall post chapter twenty-four of my Europa Universalis fanfiction Legacy of the Romans and only the week after that will I return to this story. I will be posting the first ten chapters of this story all in a row and then I will decide whether to post chapter eleven of this or chapter six of my Old Republic story The Armored of Berserkers which is about a Sith Juggernaut. Let me know what you want!

Ciao!