Josh, or more suitable, Darth Xeal, rubbed his eyes sleepily, feeling the pull of exhaustion on his body. He was in the Sith Palace and had gotten an emergency call from Keldon an hour ago. He didn't know why Keldon had decided to call a meeting at three in the morning, but no one ever questioned him, not even Zaine.

It's only because he's in charge of the purging operation, Xeal thought as he sat on his chair, trying desperately not to fall asleep. The other five Lords seemed to be in the same position as him. Darth Jasper, known to spend several days training without rest, couldn't even keep himself up. Darth Maydon, the only female Lord, had fallen asleep completely and was snoring lightly. Darth Baine was reading a paper book, a very rare thing to find in the galaxy nowadays since they all took over.

Darth Marek was leaning back in his seat, watching a show on his video pad, the volume very quiet. Darth Cerious, the oldest member by age, was also lightly napping, a bottle of pills resting on his end table. The only ones not there were Zaine and Keldon, who never arrived before the rest showed up.

Xeal was thinking about what else he could be doing when there was a violent tremor in the Force, then the sounds of shouting coming from the hallway. The voices were unmistakable, the higher Spanish tone of Zaine and the deep, booming voice of Keldon. All six of them strained their ears to hear what was happening.

"You can't just go around appointing people that you managed not to kill in a fight!" Zaine shouted, not hiding any of his anger. Xeal could sense a third person in the conflict, and he seemed very afraid.

"Look, I know how much you hate it when I do things on my own, but I could use him," Keldon calmly responded. If there was one thing that drove Zaine insane was Keldon's immeasurable calmness.

It was working overtime now. "Look, I know you have been having some difficulty hunting down the last of the Jedi, but keep using the Dark Jedi we have at our disposal…"

"That is a bit of a problem. All the ones you give me are incompetent and they keep dying. I need an apprentice to help me out with this."

"I forbid it. You can't have an apprentice."

"Oh, so you get one, but no one else can? That seems real fair."

"Jasper is a prodigy. He's almost more powerful than you are. This, See Sorak, is strong with the Force, but not enough for a post as a Dark Lord."

"Then he won't have a post. It's really not that hard." Keldon was beginning to reach a compromise. He was really good at that.

There was a tense moment before Zaine said, "All right, you can have him as an apprentice. But on the condition that he will never get the post of Sith Lord."

"Fair enough." After Keldon said that, he walked through the door with a tall, thin man following behind him. Xeal assumed that it was See Sorak, but he wasn't sure why Keldon like him.

Then Xeal saw his equipment. Sorak had three lightsabers hooked to his belt, but next to them was a very unusual contraption. It looked like a half-meter-long pole, but one end of the pole had a wider edge to it.

"This everyone, is See Sorak," Keldon said proudly, "and as I can see, Xeal here is wondering what this device is. Well, I'll show you." He pulled the staff from Sorak's belt and thumbed a large button on the side. A meter long shaft of light emerged from the larger end as Keldon spun it deftly.

"This is what Sorak calls a bo-saber. I've sent a scan of the blueprints to our techs and they are currently producing them for our use." Keldon continued to spin it around, even as he spoke.

"So, are we going to be trained how to use them?" Maydon asked, amazed at the weapon.

"Yes, we all will be. But only use them whenever you get into a fight with a rouge Jedi. They aren't good for anything else." Xeal noticed that Sorak looked a little sheepish while Keldon was explaining the bo-saber.

He will do well, I can feel it, Xeal thought to himself as Keldon explained how to use the bo-saber in combat.