So I'm back! I've decided that I'm going to increase the chapter length of this story. There are two reasons for this:

1) I can give you guys more of the story with every update.
2) Hopefully this way I'll be able to get the story finished sooner.

Unfortunately this means it will probably take me longer to finish the chapters as they will be longer.

Chapter 18: Balmorra

Arkunov sat in his new quarters aboard the ship. Which he had christened, Ruination.

His legs were crossed in a meditative pose; his lightsaber hovering in front of him. It's crimson blade ignited and burning before him, focusing his rage. He was currently reflecting on the events that had just preceded him. If Grathan was sensible, which Arkunov highly doubted, he would cease sending assassins after him.

Taking off had been a simple matter after that. The Imperial on the other end of the comm had immediately given them clearance to take off, once he seen the sith standing before him. Arkunov had then flown them off of Dromund Kaas and set in the hyperspace coordinates for Balmorra. He had then immediately retreated to his quarters, leaving Vette to her own devices and giving her the run of the ship.

It had been this way for about an hour now and Arkunov had stayed meditating all the while. However, he was interrupted by the sound of a knock at the door. Jumping to his feet, Arkunov crossed the room, calling his lightsaber to his hand and strapping it to his belt. Opening the door, Arkunov saw that Vette was standing on the other side, a nervous expression on her face.

"Hey. Can we talk?" She asked. Arkunov grunted in acknowledgement and stepped aside, letting her into his quarters.

Once Vette was inside, Arkunov turned to face her and said, "Well. What is this about?"

Vette took a deep breath before saying, "Okay, so I've been thinking... any chance that you could take this shock collar off? You know, as a sign of thanks for my hard work on Korriban and Dromund Kaas. Not that I don't enjoy the perpetual fear of electrocution."

Arkunov's face tightened at this, having not expected it at all. Seeing this, Vette took a step away from the sith, afraid that she had pushed her luck too far. She feared that her suspicions were confirmed when Arkunov reached into his belt and pulled out the remote for her collar. Vette tensed, waiting for the surge of electricity to hit her. When it didn't come, she opened her eyes. Arkunov stood before her, remote pointed at her, a smirk on his face.

"What just happened?" Vette asked, confusion filling her voice.

"The collar is deactivated", Arkunov explained. "If your work continues to the standard to which I expect, I shall consider removing it. Disappoint me in any way..."

"Okay. Point taken." Vette replied, not needing anymore of an explanation. "But... thank you. I honestly didn't know what to expect. Don't worry I won't give you a reason to turn that thing back on."

"See that you don't."

"So what happens now?" Vette asked. "Where do we go from here?"

"You and me, working together. Taking down the galaxy. What do you think?"

Vette was rather baffled by this answer.

"What? Er... well, of course... me and my buddy the Sith. Nobody's going to pick on me at school!"

Eventually the Ruination landed on Balmorra, docking at Sobrik spaceport. Once they were off the ship, Arkunov lead the way to the headquarters of the Imperial military, looking for Baras' contact. One Lieutenant Malavai Quinn.

Vette looked around in curiosity as they made their way through Sobrik. The city was clearly controlled by the Imperial military. Bland, grey, functional buildings dotted the landscape and the symbol of the Empire was branded all over, glaring down at everyone. A massive energy shield covered the city, protecting it from bombardment. Conversely, massive cannons boomed as they fired into the sky. Soldiers were everywhere, manning checkpoints and making sure that the natives didn't start any trouble. Though they moved out of Arkunov's way when they saw the sith walking towards them. Vette's too, once they realised that she was with Arkunov.

"Imperials have no sense of style." Vette said, as she looked around Sobrik. "Has, no one ever thought of adding a splash of colour anywhere."

Arkunov grunted, before replying, "Function takes priority."

"Yeah, that's kind of obvious." Vette muttered. She stayed silent for a few moments, though eventually she said, "Hey, wasn't that Darth we met at your dad's place supposed to be coming here? You know, the one who kept fluttering her eyelashes at you."

"Lachris", Arkunov replied, without even thinking. He then glared back at Vette, who quickly averted her gaze and attempted to whistle nonchalantly. "I will look her up. Eventually. But not for the reason you are thinking of. Baras requires me to act covertly, when necessary. Lachris, has unwittingly provided me with a pretext to be on Balmorra. However, I will need to get her attention first." Arkunov, then turned so that he was looking directly at Vette. "While we are here, I shall make sure to provide the military with some... assistance. Something that Lieutenant Quinn should be able to assist with. So long as he is not an incompetent, like that fool Lanklyn."

"Yeah, really hope that we don't have to deal with another Captain Oblivious. Don't want you to snap like that again."

Arkunov smirked at this, somewhat amused by Vette's comment.

Soon enough, Arkunov and Vette had arrived at Lieutenant Quinn's barracks. Upon reaching the briefing room, Arkunov saw that a squad of troopers were in there. Each one was covered in a thin layer of dust, clearly they had just returned from a mission. An unsuccessful one, judging by the dressing down the lieutenant was giving the squad's commander.

"Sir. I apologise, sir. It was the best I could do."

"If that was your best, you're useless to me." The Lieutenant said. "I can shoot you dead with a clear conscience. Is that what you want?"

"N..no sir." The soldier stammered in reply.

"Then focus next time, Jillins. Dismissed."

Jillins then snapped off a quick salute and tried not to run away from his commanding officer, the rest of the squad followed their leader as he passed them. It was then that Quinn turned to face Arkunov, bowing respectfully to the sith apprentice. He was a tall man, though not nearly as tall as Arkunov. His dark hair was cut to regulation length and his face was clean shaven. His uniform was also perfect. All things considered, Quinn looked like he had just stepped out of a piece of Imperial propaganda.

"I apologise for the delay, my lord. Lieutenant Malavai Quinn. Darth Baras has appointed me as your liaison here on Balmorra." Quinn said, respectfully.

"Darth Baras says you're capable. I hope that he's not mistaken." Arkunov replied.

"I will earn that distinction my lord", Quinn said. Arkunov was impressed, many soldiers would boast at such a remark, rather than prove it themselves. It appeared that Quinn was the exception to the rule. "Lord Baras will brief you personally, but I'm to acquaint you with the climate here on Balmorra first."

"I don't have all day Lieutenant. Summarise, as efficiently as possible."

Quinn nodded, "I won't mince words, my lord. Even though the Empire gained control of Balmorra from the Republic during the war, I'm ashamed to say that we were never able to completely eradicate them. There is a rather sizeable resistance movement. No one wants to admit it, but it is obvious that the Republic is backing it. Though there is nothing to prove the fact at present."

"The Republic's presence cannot be tolerated", Arkunov snarled, "They must be crushed."

"I quite agree my lord", Quinn replied, "It is my dream to see our enemy vanquished. I have a secure line to Lord Baras. I'll patch him through immediately."

Arkunov nodded in acquiescence and Quinn then moved to a console, opening a communications channel to Dromund Kaas. A moment later, a holographic projection of the Darth flickered into being.

He addressed Quinn first, "Ah, I see that you've convened with my apprentice. Very good, Lieutenant. Now leave us."

Quinn bowed respectfully to both sith and left the room. Moving to an office, near the briefing room.

Baras then turned to face Arkunov. He then said, "Quinn owes his career to me, but it would best to keep the details of your mission between the two of us." Vette frowned slightly as this remark, Baras had completely ignored her presence, but she wasn't surprised. It was fairly common for sith to consider aliens and slaves a nonentity. Baras continued, "We must act swiftly. Nomen Karr's Padawan has directed the Jedi's suspicions to my spy on Balmorra. A such he must now be silenced. The the identity of my spy is Commander Rylon of the Balmorran resistance. He is also the central contact for all of my agents in this sector. Unfortunately, Quinn is currently tracking an investigator that the Jedi have dispatched. That means that we will have to cover our tracks before you eliminate Rylon."

Arkunov nodded, understanding perfectly. If this investigator somehow found evidence of Rylon's actions over the years, it would render the very act of killing the commander pointless.

While this ran through Arkunov's head, Baras had continued to explain, "As such, your first mandate is to eliminate any evidence that could link Rylon to the sabotage of Balmorra's defence systems during the war. To do so, you must break into the satellite control tower. Quinn informs me that it is a veritable deathtrap of mechanical security."

"It won't be anywhere near enough to stop me. Rest assured master, I'll tear through everything that stands before me", Arkunov replied, with a sadistic grin on his face.

"I expect nothing less." Baras said. "This task is priority one. Proceed quickly. The Jedi's investigator could be zeroing in on the evidence as we speak. Quinn has all the information you'll need. Speak to him to get the relevant details. But remember, he is not to know of the reason behind your mission. I'll be in touch."

And with those parting words, Baras severed the link. Arkunov then turned, heading towards Quinn's office. Vette on his heel. She shuddered slightly and said, "How is it he still gives me the creeps from light years away?"

Upon entering the Lieutenant's office, Arkunov was pleased to see that the man was ready and waiting for him. Once again, Quinn bowed as Arkunov entered the room.

"My Lord. I've prepared what you need for your assault on the satellite control tower. In order to destroy the towers mainframe, you'll need to mount the charge to base and activate it." As Quinn explained, he passed the required explosives to Arkunov. He continued, "Once you have, contact me and I'll be able to detonate it remotely."

Arkunov nodded in understanding and said, "Very good, Lieutenant. While I'm here, are they any active operations that could require my... intervention?"

Quinn was surprised, clearly he wasn't used to sith freely offering their assistance to the military, but he didn't comment and regaining his composure said, "Give me a moment, my Lord. I'll see if there is anything that is worth your time." The Lieutenant the picked up a datapad from his desk. After putting in a few minutes, he soon had an answer. "There is one item that may prove of interest to you my Lord. Captain Rigel of the Imperial Conquest Consolidation Corp, has requested sith assistance for a... sensitive mission."

"Are there any details Lieutenant?" Arkunov, asked.

"I'm afraid not, my Lord. It's above my clearance level. However, the Captain should be able to provide all of the necessary details."

After finishing with Quinn, Arkunov had lead the way to Captain Rigel's office in Sobrik. When he and Vette arrived, the Captain was more than pleased to see them.

"My Lord, welcome to Balmorra. I hope that you enjoy bombed-to-pieces mudholes. Captain Rigel, Imperial Conquest Consolidation Corp. When the Empire invades. Were the ones who seal the deal." The Captain said, jovially. "Don't suppose you're aware of the situation here on Balmorra?"

"I am aware of the situation, Captain", Arkunov replied. "Which is why I know that you need my help to 'seal the deal'. Since you have failed to so far."

"Ah yes my Lord. You're quite correct." Rigel said, somewhat disheartened by Arkunov's rebuttal. "The Empire invaded Balmorra during the last war, but ever since then we've been spinning our wheels in the mud. The Resistance thinks that they can drive the Empire off of Balmorra, we're here to prove them wrong."

"That's all well and good Captain, in theory. I assume that you have some sort of plan to accomplish this?"

"Of course, my Lord. The Balmorran government in-exile, backed by the former Minister of Defence, Vol Argen, is giving us fits, by backing a strong faction of the resistance. Unfortunately, the Minister himself is safely off planet, but if we break his allies here, we break him. We break him, we break the resistance."

"Why doesn't Imperial Intelligence just have him assassinated?" Arkunov asked.

"I get your thinking, my Lord." Rigel replied, with as much respect as possible. "Cut off the head and kill the body. However, it doesn't quite work like that. Resistance movements aren't exactly like living organisms. If we took out Argen, it'd be big, but if his power base still stands, some other idealistic idiot is bound to step in his place. So we need to take everything out. Do we have the honour of your support, my Lord?"

"You do, Captain. This resistance cannot be tolerated."

"You have the entire corps heartfelt appreciation, my Lord. My second-in-command, Lieutenant Davrill, is masterminding phase one of what we call 'Operation Breaking Point.' His office is the building next to this one. He's got plans to blow the resistance sky-high. I think you'll like them."

After Arkunov and Vette had spoken to Lieutenant Davrill, they made their way to the location of the satellite control tower. Which they turned towards after destroying some power generators the resistance was making use of, at the request of Lieutenant Davrill.

From the moment that they stepped in the control tower, the facility's droids opened fire on them. Arkunov's lightsaber flared to life, deflecting the first wave of bolts back to where they had originated from, destroying the droids who fired them. With his free hand Arkunov lashed out with the force, smashing them with a telekinetic wave. Once these foes were disposed of, Arkunov powered himself forward with the force, leaping into a crowd of droids and cutting them down with his lightsaber.

Vette followed behind the sith, gunning down any droid that somehow escaped Arkunov's blade. As they fought their way through the control tower, Vette realised something about the way Arkunov fought. When he was outnumbered, the young sith preferred to keep his movements economical. For the most part, he deflected shots back at his foes and attacked with the force where possible. However, this all served one purpose, to bring him into melee range. The area where Arkunov truly shined.

This was all the more obvious in single combat. Where the sith apprentice favoured powerful strength based attacks, when possible. Although, he was capable of using agility to his advantage, as Vette had seen when he fought the assassin on Dromund Kaas. During these kind of situations Vette rarely got a chance to help Arkunov, not that he needed it. Since the fighting was so close and ferocious, Vette had as much of a chance of hitting Arkunov if she fired into a battle. Though in all honesty this suited Vette just fine, she had no desire to get in the way of a couple of force users.

They turned the corner and another squad of droids stood before them, prepared to open fire. They never got the chance. Arkunov's lightsaber flew from his hand, removing the droids heads from their bodies.

This continued in much the same vein, as they made their way through the control tower. Soon enough they had reached the mainframe and set about the task that was intended for them. Vette fixed the explosive to the base of the mainframe, while Arkunov prowled by the door, lightsaber drawn. Eager for an excuse to use his weapon.

"All done boss," Vette said, springing up from underneath the console.

Arkunov nodded. He then pulled out his holocom and dialed Quinn. The lieutenant answered promptly. "My Lord, I mark your progress and I can see that the charge is armed. I will detonate once you are outside of the blast radius. But first, I have Darth Baras on holo for you. He requires your attention urgently, lord."

"Very good, lieutenant. Patch him through immediately," Arkunov replied.

Quinn bowed and left the conversation. The holo flickered for a moment and then Darth Baras appeared in Quinn's place. When the sith lord spoke, his voice was hurried and full of anger, "Apprentice, we now have one more potentially compromising matter to take care of before you can deal with Commander Rylon. You will have to storm a republic keep and eliminate a lowly ensign named Durmat. I have just learned that this ensign is Rylon's son. And in some moment of weakness or sentimentality, the commander confided his true identity to him. Ensign Durmat must be silenced, permanently."

"That was foolish of Rylon."

"Yes. It is the one chink in his otherwise flawless armour. I shall signal Quinn to give you the details. Strike swiftly, apprentice."

Baras' image then disappeared, allowing Quinn to enter once again. When he spoke the Imperial was all business and showed no curiosity as to the nature of the briefing he was giving Arkunov. "My Lord, Ensign Durmat is being held in the brig of the Republic crater outpost, awaiting questioning by the mysterious agent Lord Baras has me tracking. The coordinates are now logged in your holocom. I will alert you if the investigator appears to be heading in that direction. I assume you wish to reach Durmat before she does."

"You assume correctly, Lieutenant." Arkunov replied, more than a trace of sarcasm in his voice.

Quinn either completely missed this or chose to ignore it as he continued, "Then I won't delay you any longer. Good hunting, my lord. I'll be here if you need anything."

They had left the control tower after that, the facility detonating behind them. Arkunov completely ignored this, his jaw clenched in both concentration and anger. Vette looked at the sith out of the corner of her eye, somewhat puzzled by his expression.

"Something bothering you?" she asked.

"This planet is grating on my nerves."

"Not keen on blasted warzones? Me neither. All the shelling gives me a constant headache."

Arkunov turned to look at Vette then, a frown on his face. He then said, "That is not what is bothering me."

"Figures a sith wouldn't mind walking through all of this," Vette muttered.

Arkunov chose to ignore this and replied, "I do not understand why Rylon made the decision to have a family. He should have know that they could be a potential security risk."

"Maybe... he thought they would help solidify his cover? Just think about it, he doesn't look all that out of the ordinary if he builds a life for himself here. That or he wasn't thinking with the right 'head' at the time."

This earned a raised eyebrow from Arkunov. Though Vette thought she saw a twinkle of amusement in the corner of his eyes. "Perhaps," he said, "Either way, his foolishness has cost his son his life."

He then stalked off; Vette had to pick up the pace in order to keep up with his long strides. As they walked, it occurred to Vette that Arkunov probably didn't understand how a normal family was supposed to work. After all, being raised by a dark council member couldn't have led for the most... enlightened childhood. As these thoughts ran through her mind, Vette thought back to the vision she had seen in the Dark Temple. She hadn't admitted it to him at the time, but she had seen everything that Arkunov had. It made her shudder just thinking about it.

Vette's own childhood had been far from ideal, she would be the first one to admit that. However, her mother had had little choice in how to raise her children. It sickened her to think that Darth Marr had willingly put his sons through that. She shook her head, banishing the thoughts from her mind and dashed to catch up with Arkunov.

Lerek Serrus entered his masters quarters. Once inside he fell to one knee and bowed, as was expected of him. After a few moments the command came for him to rise. As he did, he said, "Master, I have the list you requested. The most recent arrivals on planet."

He then offered a datapad to his master, which she took from him. Darth Lachris then flicked through the list. Lerek had looked over it himself and knew that the arrivals included a number of officers and their soldiers, a handful of non-combatants, something that many members of the Republic undoubtedly believed were nonexistent among the Empire's ranks. There were also a few bounty hunters looking to profit from the war and an even smaller number of sith.

Lachris' eyes flickered across the datapad, quickly dismissing most of the names on the list. However, she eventually paused as she reached a pair of names, both of which were fairly close together.

A cruel smile suddenly crossed her face as she said, "What a nice surprise. These two shall prove most useful. Have both of them located and sent to the Sundari outpost as soon as possible. They will be crucial to the upcoming assault."

After an hours journey, Arkunov and Vette had reached the crater outpost.

They had fought the whole way, dozens of rebel and republic fighters attempting to bar their way. Once they were inside the outpost Arkunov had given Vette one simple command. "Leave no survivors."

Vette understood the reason for this, even though she didn't like it. Everything they were doing on Balmorra was supposed to remain covert. As such, Durmat's death could not look like an assassination. The attack would look like a complete slaughter. As they fought their way through, Vette tried to make things as clean as possible. Firing shots into the hearts and skulls of her opponents.

Arkunov was the complete opposite. His lightsaber was removing the limbs of his foes and crushing their bones with the power of the dark side. However, this wasn't completely effective. A small number of resistance fighters still lived, moaning and sobbing from the pain of their injuries. As Vette passed these men and women, she ended their suffering, as quickly and as painlessly as possible. Arkunov didn't seem to notice these small acts of mercy and if he did, he didn't care enough to comment.

A grin split Arkunov's face; his features monstrous in the red glow of his weapon. He felt the suffering and fear that surrounded him. It fueled him, the abject misery and pain seeping into his veins. The cold rage flooded his being, bubbling beneath the surface. Just waiting to be unleashed. Arkunov exalted when he chose to release his power. Resistance fighters crumbled before him, broken under the raw power of the dark side.

It wasn't long before the resistance members turned and ran. Not that it did them any good. In the end Arkunov's lightsaber was able to find them.

Soon enough they had reached their target. A small brig at the far end of the outpost. As they entered the room, Arkunov heard a voice say, "All right, all right. I ain't proud. I give! My dad's an imperial agent!" This was said by a small man in a cage, he had dark red hair and a panicked expression on his face. This was obviously Ensign Durmat.

He was confessing to his jailer, who whirled around in surprise at the Durmat's words. "What did you say? Your dad is a what?"

"Yes please repeat that, junior," Arkunov said, with a cruel smile on his face. At the sight of the young sith Durmat's eyes widened in fear and he backed away, until he hit the bars of his cell.

"No. No. No," he stuttered out.

The jailer's raised his voice and demanded, "This is a restricted area. What are you doing here? Who are you?"

Durmat answered for Arkunov. "It's not a who, it's a what... S... Si... Sith."

An unpleasant aroma suddenly reached Arkunov's nostrils. Which only caused his smile to widen further.

"He's going to need a new pair of pants," Arkunov said. Vette giggled slightly at this remark.

The jailer was not quite as amused. "Who cares what Durmat needs." He said, "You gave me enough time to get what I need." As the last word left the jailer's mouth, Arkunov heard the sound of armoured bootsteps entering the hall. Along with the distinctive hum of blasters ready to fire. Turning, he saw that a number of Republic soldiers had taken up positions behind him.

They were spread out across the room and had found spots to take cover behind. Clearly they hoped that this would force Arkunov to take them on one at a time. They were obviously experienced, expecting that the sith would wish to engage them all with his lightsaber, as opposed to any ranged form of attack.

"That's what two squads of the Republic's finest look like, Sith," the Jailer said, his voice filled with confidence.

Arkunov chuckled, "You have no idea just who you are dealing with."

Then, before his foes had a chance to act, Arkunov raised both of his hands into the air. Both were held in a choking gesture. Suddenly, all the soldiers began to splutter, their airflow blocked. Several of them reached for their throats, trying to claw away the invisible fist that held them. It did them no good. Soon they began to fall, slumping face down on the floor, looks of terror forever etched onto their faces. All the while Arkunov grinned sadistically, feeding off of the pain caused by their dying moments.

Once he was finished, he turned to face jailer once again. "Do you get the picture now?"

The jailer was horrified. Yet he still pulled out a blaster pistol and tried to fire at Arkunov. It didn't do him any good. He was decapitated with one swift motion of the sith's lightsaber. Arkunov then slowly moved towards Durmat's cage, until he stood before the ensign, towering over the snivelling man.

Arkunov scowled down at Durmat. His lip curling in disgust, "You are a pathetic waste of human space."

Still sobbing, Durmat struggled to his feet and choked out, "You're right. You're right... I'm worthless. Please... please. I know why you're here. The Republic... the Republic's investigating my dad... and an agent's coming to put the screws to me. But... I won't break, I promise. Let me live, my dad's secret is safe with me. I'm a rock."

Arkunov's scowl only deepend at the pathetic display before him. "You must think I'm a complete idiot."

"Fine. Fine. You're an idiot," Durmat repiled, his voice even faster and more panicked. Realising the mistake he had just made, Durmat continued, trying vainly to fix it, "I'll think whatever you want to. If it'll save me."

Arkunov reached out with force and gripped Durmat's throat saying, "I'm putting you out of my misery." Undoubtedly, the ensign would have replied, if he was able. But he couldn't manage anything, as he gasped for air. Soon enough he was on the floor, gazing lamely up at Arkunov.

It was then Vette, who had remained silent during the whole exchange, said, "Poor fool. Not sure we've ever come across anyone so useless."

"Give it time," Arkunov replied, "There's still much of the galaxy left to explore."

She laughed at this and said, "You are so right. But now the bar's been set pretty high. I mean, low." Her nose then wrinkled in disgust. "Ugh. It smells awful in here. Let's move on, shall we?"

And we're done with this chapter! Hope you all enjoyed it!

Please feel free to review and I hope you all stay well during this difficult time.