The Razorclaw continues to speed towards the heart of the Republic in hyperspace, inside the rustic looking ship, Yoda is napping with a blanket over him as he uses the unified seats around the game table as a make shift bed. The Jedi master Jin Wan So'bal stands in-between the corridor junction not too far away and watches the small boy sleep. Tinara approaches him from behind and gets a glimpse of the slumbering Padwan.

"So what's his story? Why is he such a big deal to you and the others?"

So'bal turns to see her looking and now leans against the corridor arch facing her.

"He was foreseen by the elders to be a great Jedi of the force. Some believe he will be the one to bring about solidarity in the Jedi and make us whole again. Some think he might be the prophecy."

Tinara folds her arms and nods likes she's heard of it before.

"You mean...the one to bring balance in the force?"

So'bal snickers a bit and rubs his chin in thought.

"Strange isn't it? I think he is very strong with the force...but somehow I suspect he is not the one as many had hoped for. There is an odd wisdom about the boy, a strange understanding of all things...yet his powers are not as the prophecy has described. Perhaps he is just a prelude to what awaits us...I dunno anymore. I'm tired."

She watches So'bal rub his eyes from exhaustion and walks over to give him a long hug. So'bal seems reluctant to return the affection, but soon gives in and embraces her back.

"I missed you my love." She utters in a whisper to him.

"And I you...forgive me for not returning, but what I thought I wanted...wasn't enough to make me leave forever. I do miss being with you...but I was chosen to be a Jedi for a reason."

The two still embrace with affection and stare at each other as two lovers would. So'bal reaches up and gently brushes the drooping hair away from her forehead; his eyes seem to study her face with great detail and moves his fingers to give her a gentle stroke on her soft cheek.

"I remember that night we shared long ago...you looked so beautiful as you slept next to me. I think it will be permanently burned in my heart forever."

Tinara gives him a kiss on the lips and then rests her head on his chest.

"I wish it didn't have to be this way...but I remember the day you finally understood where you belonged, we all have our places in life, mine is with this ship and doing what I do best."

"Picking up stray Jedi that buy you a drink?" Jin Wan laughs.

She smacks him on the arm with her other hand and giggles. Unknown to both of them standing there and laughing like two teenagers in love, Yoda had been watching the both of them talk as he peered out of his closed eyes. He couldn't believe what he had witnessed, everything this Jedi master or any Jedi had been taught was being violated, and yet the fact that it was these two people he had come to know so quickly didn't bother him one bit. Somehow to him it felt right that they should be so close and that he understood his master's feelings towards this woman. After seeing this, Yoda himself wondered if the Jedi code would be right for him either, to never have a family of his own or even have adventures as his master must have had. Confusing times they were for this small boy, but his thoughts stirred into the force and a sudden sharp pain struck him as he could feel death taking a life somewhere in the galaxy. He sat up with shock and fear, a motion that scared Tinara as she saw him sit up fast. Jin Wan also got a strange look in his eyes and a feeling of utter dread washed over his face as the smitten gaze vanished from him.

"Master Daus...no..." He whispered in horror.

Tinara backed away from him and became curious as to his odd stare.

"What's the matter? What is it?"

Yoda was breathing heavily and almost looked as if he was about to burst into tears. His eyes closed with sorrow as the feeling soon passed as quick as it came. Jin Wan walked away from the woman and held his body with his own arms.

"A tremor in the force Tinara. A Jedi has been killed."

She seemed shocked by that, no Jedi has ever been heard of dying in this day and age, the last such event like that she'd ever knew about was during the great Sith War. She wasn't privy to any deaths of Jedi during the last thousand years as the order has been trying to conceal, no one knew of those random Sith attacks other then the Jedi themselves.

"Who...who was it?"

"My old master..." Jin Wan So'bal replies. "Bin Col Daus."

"How can that be?" She wonders out loud.

Yoda opens his eyes and looks over at the two of them.

"We're not alone."

As soon as he spoke, the ship began to shake and a warning siren began to blare out. On the intercom was Mort, screaming for Tinara and speaking frantically in his alien gibberish.

"Calm the hell down Mort!! What's going on up there?" She responded back into the intercom beside her.

More of Mort's untranslated words came to her as she stood there listening to him talk. Suddenly she dashed to the main bridge without saying a word to the two Jedi left behind and took her seat beside Mort. Pushing several buttons on the console, she took the helm and looked at brought the ship out of lightspeed. As the ship slowed and entered normal space again, a large slender looking black ship rushed by them overhead. It was so close to the small vessel that its hull could have hit them. Looking at the black triangular shaped attacker, they noticed that it was about nearly half the size of their vessel with a massive engine sticking out from the backend of it.

"Who ever it is...they're built for speed." She mutters to Mort. "Small range fighter perhaps? Did we enter someone's space without knowing it?"

"No...it's a long range fighter." The voice of Jin Wan speaks behind her.

Looking over her shoulder, she notices the two Jedi walking into the tiny cockpit and looking at the ship coming around for another assault.

"Notice the size of it's engine...it's capable of lightspeed and instant attack." Jin Wan says finishing his observation.

"Well they're definitely ticked off about something...cause here they come again!" She gulps.

The black fighter fires its weapons again and begins bombarding the small Razorclaw as it zips by again. Another ship in the distance comes out of hyperspace and observes the two ships in combat. The golden ship hovers to a dead stop and inside sits the bounty hunter Kelborne.

"What is it this?" He hisses in anger. "No one steals my job."

Kelborne thrusts into the skirmish and attacks the black ship with his mighty twin outboard weapons, the shots are so powerful they nearly spin the black mystery craft out of control. The shadowy vessel manages to recover quickly and begins to return fire on the golden ship; the two now become locked in combat as they try to out flank one another. The damage they inflict on one another is considerable, with fire and sparks dancing all round him, Kelborne tries to stay calm and keep the other ship from destroying him totally. On the Razorclaw, the four members watch with great interest and with surprise. Tinara is amazed that they've suddenly become the battle between two fighters trying to get them.

"If only more cargo was like this...we'd see a lot better passage while others tried to fight for the right to kill us all." Tinara mused.

A beeping noise suddenly came on her console and as she looked to see what it was she slumped back into her chair with a great big sigh of relief.

"Thank heavens...the Calvary is here."

In the distance beyond, five small ships approached them all quickly. The white and red markings on them clearly showed that they belonged to the Republic and were designed to be formidable in battle. A voice now came over the airwaves at them all, as the ships rushed in with weapons armed.

"This is the Outer Republic Defense Force! Hold your fire or we will attack your ships with extreme discretion. Identify yourselves immediately!"

Tinara opened a communication and quickly gave them her status.

"This is cargo vessel Razorclaw zeta two mark four dash nine, requesting for assistance on behalf of two Republic ambassadors currently on board."

As the ships come rushing by them, one stops to stay with them while the others open fire on the others still locked in a heated combat.

"This is an old code you're using whoever you are...." The voice says of the Republic fighter hovering over them. "Who are you transporting?"

Jin Wan now leans down and opens a communication link and replies for her.

"This is Jedi Master Jin Wan So'bal, clearance code gamma x zero five one...priority one passage and escort is needed my good sir."

"Code confirmed...thank you master Jedi, please follow me closely for your protection and prepare to activate lightspeed at my command."

Jin Wan smiles and pats Mort on the shoulder with delight.

"You heard the man Mort, steady as she goes then."

Mort just chuckles lightly and shakes his head, he was impressed by the Jedi's means of getting help with the Republic fighters and did as he instructed. Tinara was still sitting back in her chair looking very relaxed, as if she knew that from this point on, they were safe from all harm. Anyone who dares attack a Jedi envoy usually has to deal with the deadly Republic defense cruisers, fighting them is a lost cause for any species daring such a feat, for the heavily armed ships are the most skilled combatants in the galaxy.

"I gotta hand it to you So'bal, you are a great help in any situation." She smiles at him.

Yoda laughs at her remark and hugs his Jedi instructor, "Doubt not the skill of my Master, for many surprises full of, he is!"

"All this praise is making me light headed, I think it will do my ego no good." Jin Wan says back in a comical manner.

As the Razorclaw voyages with the armored fighter, the other ships still battle one another not so far behind them. The black ship becomes overwhelmed with all the vessels attacking it and quickly makes a jump for hyperspace just as the Republic fighters concentrate their fire at it's engine. As soon as it vanishes, the fighters now turn to Kelborne's golden armored vessel and now surround it with all weapons locked on to him.

"Surrender now or prepare to be destroyed!" The lead fighter commands him.

Kelborne still trying to put out the fire in his cockpit looks at the display screen and sees that he is out numbered. Hissing and coughing, Kelborne reaches over to a large blue-lit button on the upper left side above him and punches it. Suddenly, the underside of the craft opens up a small aperture and a round golden ball drops down out of it like a bullet from a gun. Before the fighters can react to his quick departure, the ship explodes and manages to take out all the fighters surrounding it. The blast wave leaves nothing in it's wake and as soon as the multiple explosions end, all that is left is flying debris of his ship and the other fighters hanging dead in space. The small gold globe continues to speed well beyond the area, as it turns around, we see that Kelborne is inside of it with a large curved window showing us him maneuvering the escape pod. Two small solar wings unfurl from the sides of the pod and expand to catch the solar winds. As it finally starts to gain momentum, the bounty hunter inside looks at his holo-image map and tracks the Razorclaw as it leaves with the Republic fighter into hyperspace.

"I will not fail!!" It hisses in anger.

The small golden pod moves quietly through space as it soon picks up speed in their direction and heads off into the distance unable to jump into lightspeed.

•••••••••••••••••••

The black mysterious ship struggles out of hyperspace and soon heads for a dark nebula that has a single orbiting shadowy moon orbiting around it. The craft descends into one of the massive gaping craters sticking out of it, a desolate looking dead moon full of such massive bombardments that it is clear to see why no one occupies it. Deep within the dark and forbidding caves within, the ship soon lands on a small outstretched landing pad that looks made completely out of the rock that is attached to inner cave on the side of a massive cliff. As it finally comes to a rest, the lower half of the ship opens a small ramp that shows a shadowy figure in a dark robe stepping off of. The person continues to walk beyond the craft and into the old cave that looks just as mysterious as the rest of the dead moon. As soon as he comes out of the long corridor that leads inside, a single blue spotlight shines down on the person as he enters the large empty room. Standing high above him are four figures dressed almost similar to him, two with only half cloaks and black fitting attire and the other two in cloaks just as he wears. A voice shouts from the group and clearly it is that of Darth Bane.

"You stupid fool!" He says in anger. "How dare you expose us like that!! Did I not say that no more Sith are to show themselves in public? Did we not all agree on this matter?"

The robed individual standing in the glaring spotlight pulls back his hood to show himself. The hardened eyes of Darth Kanos stared up at them all and pointed at the old man with fury.

"I do not take orders from the likes of you!! Something had to be done to end these Jedi...what do I care for this foolish quest of yours of a mere Padwan? This is a waste of our time and our powers to focus on one single child!!"

Darth Bane shook his head and sighed with disappointment.

"So you chose to go alone and take the glory for yourself. How typical...and unfortunate."

The other Sith around him nodded with agreement and looked down at the man. The first half cloaked individual in the shadows spoke out to him and scolded him for his actions.

"Bane is correct to be angry with you Lord Kanos. This disregard for our unity is clearly a break from your pact with us. To attack the Jedi without our permission is grounds for disassociation."

The other beside him standing in the same darkness folded his arms together slowly as he too lashed out at the disobedient member.

"Now the Jedi will see we are still in great numbers and come looking for us. Did you even bother to hide your ship's trail from entering this space? We could be swarmed with Republic ships at any moment thanks to you."

Kanos laughs at them all and stands defiant, "They didn't follow me Lord M'Tarken...so spare me your concern. I did not break anything we agreed on when joining...perhaps Lord Bane has by hiring a useless bounty hunter instead of our own Sith. That twit almost got me killed out there...I was close to ending those fools if he hadn't shown up."

Bane tapped his cane lightly and looked at the others around him.

"It is true my friends. I didn't want to waste anymore of our Sith brethren to seek out those Jedi, it has cost us too much to get this close and fear of being discovered too soon made me decide to use that creature for our goals."

The cloaked figure standing beside Bane raised its tentacle like arm and gurgled out its reply at their leading group member.

"You have not acted without reason Lord Bane. We knew of your plan of seeking out this bounty hunter and felt it a wise course of action. There shall be no punishment for you, but there must be an open consult of such further activities from this point on. If the Sith are to be strong again, we must be of one mind and of one agenda."

The old man bows to them all and smiles with delight, "I thank you my Sith brothers, I shall...as always...heed to your wisdom. Now that this subject is over...I suggest we deal with the one who has betrayed us all."

All of them nodded and looked down at him in disgust. Darth Kanos continued to laugh and shout defiantly at them all.

"My clan was the best out of all of you! How dare you cast me aside...did not my Sith protect you from harm during the great wars? Was it not I who discovered the one we could implant into the Jedi order to spread chaos?"

Bane laughs evilly, "No you did not. I discovered the one who now turns the Jedi on each other...a slow and painful process that only the strong in the Darkside of the force could bide their time and wait for it to infect. You're clan no longer matters anymore Darth Kanos...for you are it!"

Entering the room comes Darth Gaul, with only a few meters between him and Kanos, he bows to them all and gives them a salute to their greatness. Lord Kanos backs away from Bane's Sith and takes out his lightsaber. The activation of his lavender blade causes Gaul to activate his sword as well. As the two give each other long nasty gazes at one another, Gaul moves forward first and attacks Lord Kanos swiftly. The Sith master counter attacks his opponent with ease and the two start to match each others movements as if they were both too good to out do one another. As Gaul backs away and prepares for another attack against the Sith Lord, Kanos chuckles out loud and looks up at the others watching above.

"Is this the best you can do? No single Sith can destroy me...not even your pathetic servant Lord Bane!"

The old man lowers his cane and jumps down to Kanos's level. The force guides him down and gives him the strength to survive the jump. With a dead serious look in his red face, Bane stares the man down and sneers at him.

"Do not underestimate the powers of the Darkside!! Not even my own..."

Kanos is stunned the old man could move so quickly, the look of fear now is very much on his face as he watches Bane raise up both hands at him and utters his final words.

"Goodbye Kanos...time to join your clan."

Massive bolts of energy shoot out from Bane's hands and strike the man in total burning pain. Dropping to the ground and folding in his legs with total anguish, the man screams and twists with agony as the destructive power of the Darkside rips through him. The others high above now all join in as they too use their evil powers to destroy one of their own. Darth Gaul lowers his sword at his side and hangs his head to look away from the never-ending flashes of the electrical power of the Sith burning the man to death.