Kherine moved through the hanger, barely noticing the salutes, bows, and greetings that the maintenance personnel and droids gave as he passed. Limmdul and Khem Val followed, silent and imposing as ever. The entry ramp was lowered, and Kherine made his way up, as he hoped, his protocol droid, 2V-R8 was nearby. "2V, prep the ship for takeoff."

"Has there been a change in plans, master?"

"No. Just prep the ship." He heard the ramp hiss closed just as Limmdul and Khem entered. "Vette," He said into his commlink, "Wherever you are, and whatever you're doing, stop it and get ready for a bumpy ride."

"Uhh, okay... thanks for the warning... I guess."

Kherine made his way to the cockpit and took the pilot's seat. Limmdul seated himself in one of the passenger chairs and Vette appeared in the co-pilots seat just as he finished pre-flight preparations, some of them could only be completely from the cockpit. Behind him, 2V-R8 spoke up.

"Master, may I be so bold as to remind you that we have no clearance from flight control. The chance of a mid-air collision is 10 to 1."

"Sometimes I really want to throw that thing out the airlock." He was sure to speak loud enough that the droid heard him. The Sith Interceptor lifted off the floor, sending ground personnel and droids running, then rapidly spun 180 degrees. Kherine slammed the accelerator forward and the craft lurched out the hanger, immediately having to dodge an incoming supply ship, then a troop transport. For the briefest of moments he thought they wouldn't make it to the traffic lane of the shield that protected Sobrik, but after executing three turns that would have made his flight instructors cringe, he made it through. As soon as the red glow of the shield was behind them, Kherine slammed the accelerator again. Several voices were screaming at him through the ship's commlink, and he stared at the device in annoyance for a moment before switching it off.

Once the ship reached a high orbit, Kherine finally slowed it to an acceptable cruising speed and switched on the auto pilot, leaving the ship to hover Sobrik with the cockpit facing the planet. Kherine released the controls and leaned back heavily with an exhausted sounding sigh.

"That felt completely necessary." Limmdul said as he stood and left the room.

Vette leaned forwards and shook her head. "I didn't think Limmdul was capable to sarcasm. What was that all about anyway?"

Kherine was silent, and just when Vette was about to leave in exasperation, he said, "When I was a boy, I raced speeders. The sheer velocity and danger of it made me forget about my troubles, at least for a while. It seems that holds true today."

"You never struck me as the type to have a troubled childhood."

"I'm sure it was nothing compared to yours." Kherine chuckled, "And I'm not trying to make a comparison. My father owns one of the moons of Dromund Kaas. Well, not the entire moon, but the surface of it. The Empire owns the mineral rights and everything more than one-hundred feet under the surface."

"Must have been rough."

Kherine smiled. "There were days." He said seriously. "Being Force sensitive is not unheard of in my family, but it's rare. It put a lot of pressure on me, even when I was young. Being good was not good enough, everything had to be perfect. Sometimes speeder racing was the only way I could break free. If no one was around to race me, I would race myself."

"How?"

"I saved holos of my speeder runs, if I was alone I would replay the footage."

"Rich kid problems."

Kherine swiveled his chair around to stare at her.

"Not the best time?"

"By now, I wouldn't expect anything else."

Vette grinned. "So, do I dare ask what happened that made you feel the need take us out here?"

"I lost a lot of troopers out there, and the people that they died fighting were not Republic soldiers forced into combat, or battle droids programmed into it with the push of a button. They were just people who hated the Empire and were willing to sacrifice their lives to fight against it." He could tell from the look in her eyes and the way her mouth was set that Vette badly wanted to make another sarcastic quip, but somehow she restrained herself. "My father taught me that the Empire stands for unity and order. Hundreds of worlds united in a single cause under a single leader."

"That's never the impression I've had of the Empire."

"Yes. I realized that the same day I reached Korriban." He rubbed his eyes and pushed his hair back with a single hand. "Instead of senators and planetary governors squabbling for power and influence it's the Dark Council and dozens of sith lords... and conveniently, the Emperor, the one who is supposed to unite us, has decided to make himself absent."

"At the risk of bringing on some kind of sithy fit of rage, why are you fighting for the Empire."

"No sithy rage, Vette. You don't ever have to worry about that from me. But in answer to your question, the Empire is a broken machine, and when a machine is broken, you don't throw it away, you fix it. And the best way to fix something is become part of the problem and correct the problem from within. That is how I convinced Limmdul to join me." He paused for a moment before saying, "Sometimes we have to walk in darkness in order to see the light."

"Well, you never cease to surprise me."

"I'm not foolish enough to think that I can do it on my own, but I am ideally placed to do it. I am the son of one of the Empires most well known families, I am apprenticed to the of the most influential Darths in the Empire, and now I am tip of the spear to claim Balmorra once and for all. When we win, then I will have ingratiated myself with Darth Lachris, Darth Marr, the 104th Infantry, and the 224th Fighter Wing."

"And then what?"

"Then, I can begin to shape things, and become a true power in the Empire. Troopers should not fear the sith over them, and sith should have to live in suspicion of their fellow sith."

"Wow, I was next expecting that. Are you sure you're an Imperial?"

Kherine shook his head and smiled again, then stood and headed for his private quarters. Vette privately hoped a shower was on his to-do list. He still smelled like the battlefield.

When he reached his room, Kherine opened a viewport that allowed him to stare into the emptiness of space, and sank into a chair. The battle of Balmorra was proving to be more taxing that he'd expected. Their assault on the Neebray Warehouse had been his first time leading a force larger than Vette, Limmdul, and Khem Val; it had been an overwhelming success, and feelings of victory and euphoria that followed had been intoxicating. His most recent action to save the besieged base had been a different matter. They'd managed to save the base from destruction, and most of the attacking rebels had been killed or captured; but on the other hand, most of Imperials defending the base had died. Less than ten remained combat effective. The troopers he'd led that had been killed in the dropship explosion, combined with those killed in combat were nearly thirty percent. Kherine continued to stare into the blackness and distant stars and promised himself that the next time he would be better.


Vette found Limmdul in Kherine's training room, the walls lined with training dummies, robotic training aids, practice sabers, and single powered down droid. Limmdul wasn't using any of them. He was seated, cross-legged with eyes closed in the center of the room, and for the first time she saw him without his cloak, wearing only pants of some kind of letharis or another, and a sleeveless tunic. She saw the tattoos that covered his head and neck also extended to his arms, and she briefly wondered just how much of his body was tattooed.

His eyes snapped open and the recognition returned after a few seconds. "I was in communication with the Force."

"I didn't ask."

"But you wanted to."

"You have me there!" Vette entered the room and picked up a practice saber with mild interest. She activated it, twirled it twice, then deactivated it and replaced it. "I don't see how you can favor those things over a blaster."

"A weapon is only as dangerous as the person wielding it."

"Somehow I don't think your lightsaber would match up against an orbital bombardment."

"It would be hard to commence a bombardment if I cut off the hands of the one pushing the button."

Vette stopped and blinked several times. "I never thought of it that way. So, what did the Force tell you?"

"It showed me clouded visions. Actually, more like sensations than visions. And it was about pain and troubles, nothing new to me. I've been trying to focus my power and gain more insight, but so far to no avail."

"I see."

"I very much doubt it." He tilted his head to one side and the hint of a smile came across his face.

"You're right, I don't." She watched as Limmdul absently meandered around the room before she said, "Kherine told me about his grand vision for the Empire."

Limmdul paused briefly and then drew his lightsaber. "That means he trusts you. If any number of Imperials found out he, his family, and probably everyone he has ever associated with would be executed." He activated the weapon and let go of it, but the red lightsaber hovered in front of him as if held by an invisible hand.

"It doesn't seem like something that would interest you."

A muscle in his face twitched and the lightsaber started to move. "I have very little interest in a better Empire, or any Empire at all."

"Then why are in with his little scheme?"

"Because I have a tremendous respect for Kherine. He was the first, and almost the only one who has ever treated me as an equal. He did not care that I had been a slave, or that I was a non-human."

Vette grinned, "What about me?"

The lightsaber faltered for an instant, then dropped a to knee level before Limmdul regained his focus and it rose again. "You, Vette, are irreplaceable." His tattooed face and expressionless voice made it hard to tell what he meant, or if he was even serious. "As for me, I was born into both the Empire and slavery. The Dark Side awoke in me one day while I was being beaten, and I killed my master. That was the day the Empire took an interest in me, or should I say, my power? But I am not so stupid as to think I am free."

"Then why don't you leave?"

"Why don't you?"

Vette touched her neck where the slave collar used to be. "Because I know at this point I wouldn't last long if I didn't have sith with me."

Limmdul nodded. "And I would not last a day before every sith in the sector came for me."


When Kherine brought the ship back into the docking bay they found Darth Lachris and Lieutenant Quinn waiting for them, the latter with a look of subdued fear, and Lachris looking furious. Lachris waited until the four of them descended the ramp before she said, "Kherine, Limmdul... I praised your efforts before, and progress you've made, but that does not give you the right to leave the planet for several hours on a whim. If either of you attempt such a thing again, I will have you publicly executed."

"My apologies." Kherine said without emotion.

Lachris glared at him for several seconds before she continued. "I had come to congratulate you on another unmitigated success..."

Kherine winced, he would hardly call thirty percent casualties unmitigated.

"And to ask why you chose to capture so many of the insurgents. I suppose the officers might surrender some valuable information under torture, but why the regular soldiers?"

"I am aware that foot soldiers rarely have valuable information, but I have other reasons."

"Please. Enlighten me." She said sarcastically.

"The Balmorrans know we can fight, and if we give no choices other than forced servitude or death then they will only continue to choose resistance. But if we give them a better choice, such as willing service, then total military domination might not even be necessary. Take the prisoners to Dromund Kaas, let them see our greatness, let them view our fleets and witness our power, allow them to speak to their fellow citizens who serve us willingly, and hear the benefits of living under the Empire."

Lachris seemed to consider it for a few seconds before she said, "I am starting to have doubts about allowing you operational control of the situation. First, I find the both of you fraternizing with Force-blind troopers and pilots, now you want to offer mercy to enemies of the Empire. Strength, and durasteel resolve should be enough to bring the insurgency to an end. If the rebels do not respect that, they do not deserve to live." She glanced at Limmdul. "And what do you make of this?"

"It makes little difference to me." Limmdul said, already sounding bored with the conversation. "Whether they die by my sorcery, in a labor camp, or firing squad. Only victory matters."

Kherine glanced at Limmdul with sudden disapproval, although Lachris seemed satisfied with the answer.

"Bring me victory," She said, "And I will see to it that you are appropriately rewarded. Fail me again and I will see to it that you are... rewarded."

"My apologies." Kherine said again, and again lacking any sound of sincerity.

Lachris glared at him. "While you were in orbit finding yourself, or whatever it was you were doing, someone from Intelligence arrived. She was uncomfortably aware of our situation, and the prisoners you took, once of their officers in particular, and is demanding to be allowed an interrogation. I am stalling her for the time because if these prisoners know anything of importance, I want it before Intelligence can get their claws on it and muddle it up."

"Yes, my lord." Kherine said with the same amount of expression. "Whatever you wish."

"On second thought, I want Limmdul to take the lead on this." She favored the zabrak with a smile. "Lieutenant Quinn will show you to the agent. She only identified herself as Cipher-9."