So this a new thing. These interludes will not be planned or timed specifically. Each one will show a part of the Sith Warrior story, that wasn't shown in the game or something that I thought could be explored more. Let me know what you guys think and whether I should continue with them.

Hope you enjoy!

Interlude: Intelligence Gathering

Jedi Master Nomen Karr heard the ping of his private holocom, interrupting his meditation. Opening his eyes, he looked around the meditation room aboard his personal starship. He then turned to look at his padawan and said, "That's enough for now Jaesa. Please leave me now, we shall resume later."

His young apprentice bowed her head and said, "Of course, master."

Once she was gone Karr reached for the holocom. Only a very few people would call this number and not without good reason. He answered and a small man wearing a technicians uniform appeared before him.

"Hirosho," Karr said, "What is it?"

"Master Karr. We've managed to trace that ship you wanted. It landed on Balmorra yesterday."

Karr furrowed his brow in concentration. Baras' apprentice must been sent to extract the spy, or rather more likely to silence him. "Good work, Hirosho. Were you able to find out anything about the ship or it's owner?"

Hirosho frowned as he replied, "Not much I'm afraid. The ship is registered as the... Ruination. Apparently it's owned by someone called... Arkunov. We haven't got anything else on him I'm afraid."

Karr's face remained determinedly expressionless. The technician had no idea that he was tracking a sith. It was better that way, Hirosho and his team would be far too panicked to focus otherwise. He then said, "That's fine Hirosho. You and your team have done excellent work. Keep monitoring the ship's movements for me. I'll be in touch soon."

He then disconnected the call. Sighing he got up and left the meditation room and moved towards the bridge. Jaesa began to follow him, once she saw him leaving the room.

"Master," she said. "Is everything alright? Where are we going?"

"Nothing is wrong Jaesa," he replied. "At least not yet. We are heading to Coruscant, I need to check in with an old friend."

Nearly a week later Karr was waiting in a cantina on the lower levels. He was waiting for a contact. He did not have to wait for much longer.

Another man slid into the booth across from Karr, the man who Karr had been waiting for.

"Ardun Kothe," he said, "It's been a long time."

"Nomen," he replied. "I was surprised to get your call. Less surprised when I found out what you wanted." Reaching into his pocket, Kothe pulled out a datapad and slid it across the table. "There's not a whole lot in there, I'm afraid. The SIS doesn't have a lot on this 'Arkunov'. But you'll find it interesting reading nonetheless."

Karr picked up the datapad and briefly skimmed its contents. Nodding he then placed it in the pockets of his robes. Standing up from the table he said, "Thank you for that, Ardun. I'm sorry but I can't stay. This matter really cannot wait."

"Nomen," Kothe said. Causing the Jedi Master to stop in his tracks. He back as Kothe continued, "Be careful on this path. If you follow it for too long, it could destroy you."

Karr turned back to face Kothe as he replied, "As one who abandoned the order, you have no right to lecture me." He then turned on his heel and stalked out of the cantina. Hiding the scowl on his face.

As he watched his old friend go, Ardun Kothe shook his head and sighed in resignation.

A short time later, Karr had returned to the Jedi embassy in the senate tower. Jaesa was waiting for him there, having spent the last few hours reading up on Jedi philosophy. Currently she was talking with another Jedi, a young knight named Suria. A female Mirialan with white hair and an athletic build. She was one of the council's current favourites. Having stopped some sort of Fleshraider invasion on Tython and then having disabled a superweapon employed by the sith on Coruscant itself.

Jaesa turned to face Karr, having sensed her masters approach. Bowing she said, "Master, you're back. Did everything go well?"

"I have what I need," he replied. "Please forgive me, Suria. There is something that I must show my padawan."

Bobbing her head respectfully, the young knight replied, "It is no trouble master Karr. I was just about to go and speak to General Var Suthra." Before she left, Suria turned to Jaesa and said, "I'd like to speak again before either of us leave Jaesa."

"Of course, I would be delighted, Suria. Thank you for your availability." The three jedi then dispersed, Jaesa and Karr heading to a private conference room and Suria to the general's office.

Once inside Karr took the datapad he had received from Kothe and inserted into the room's holoprojector. A moment later it flickered to life and an image of a young, powerfully built sith appeared.

"This is Arkunov," Karr explained, noticing Jaesa's look of confusion. "He is the new apprentice of Darth Baras. My old enemy. The man whose spies you revealed to me on Balmorra and Nar Shaddaa. I have had the movements of Arkunov's starship tracked recently. Right now he is on Balmorra."

"So what... he's extracting Commander Rylon?" Jaesa asked, a small amount of confusion in her voice.

"It's possible, but unlikely. I suspect that he has been sent to eliminate Rylon. Baras prefers to leave absolutely nothing to chance. If we're lucky, Jedi Knight Mashallon will be able to find proof before the sith is able to accomplish his objective. Even if that happens, we must assume that this... Arkunov will continue to hunt you down."

"Why would he do that? Surely his mission would be a failure. His master's plans would be completely exposed," Jaesa said.

Karr shook his head before replying, "You're too much of a threat to Darth Baras. His entire enterprise relies on secrecy. As such, he cannot allow you to live. His apprentice will hunt you until one of you falls. Knowing this, I have decided that we shall study our enemy."

He then reached out and pressed a few buttons on the datapad. A moment later, a voice emanated from the holoprojector. "Born on Dromund Kaas in 10 BTC, to the sith lord Zhothe and an as of yet unidentified member of the Dark Council. See attached files for further details on Lord Zhothe and currently active council members. Unfortunately, few records exist on Arkunov's life up until 10 ATC, when he was admitted to the sith academy on Korriban. He was apprenticed to the sith lord Darth Baras, again refer to attached files for more details, once his time at the academy was over. During this short amount of time we believe that Arkunov has acted as an assassin and enforcer for Darth Baras, having been deployed against the sith lord's rivals. We only have one confirmed action against Republic forces on record. The Imperial attack on the Thranta Class Corvette, Brentaal Star. We have this recording from the incident when Arkunov, and an as of yet unidentified bounty hunter, spoke with Jedi Grandmaster Satele Shan over holo."

The projector flickered out of focus for a moment, before eventually resolving into an image of the Sith Apprentice, the Jedi Grandmaster and a human male in heavy armour, presumably the mentioned bounty hunter.

Shan started the dialogue, "This is Jedi Grandmaster Satele Shan hailing unidentified Imperial vessel."

"Yes, I am well of that." Arkunov replied, with no effort to disguise his contempt.

"I'm en-route to your location with sixteen Republic vessels. I'm asking you to retreat immediately before more lives are lost."

Arkunov laughed as he replied, "I am sith. Do you honestly expect me to surrender, because a Jedi asked it of me. There is nothing you can do to stop me."

Shan remained unperturbed as she replied, "I've heard those same words from others of your kind. They're never true. I've just crippled three Imperial dreadnoughts. So I ask you once again to leave."

It was then that the bounty hunter spoke up, "Not gonna happen Jedi. I've been hired to grab the general and I fully intend to do it."

"I will not let that happen. You will never be able to make it through the Brentaal Star's defences before I get there and once I do, you will be defeated."

Arkunov scowled and said, "Do I have to kill you to get you to stop talking?"

Satele Shan sighed in resignation and said, "You have made yourself clear. But I suggest you prepare yourselves to face a Jedi. You may all want to consider what that means."

The holo cut off then and the SIS agent's briefing resumed. "Despite the Grandmaster's words here, Arkunov was able to fight through the Brentaal Star and eliminate Republic asset codenamed 'the General.'"

Karr then paused the playback and turned to face Jaesa. "Do you understand what we are up against, Jaesa? This sith has been shaped to become a monster since birth. They all have. He will not stop. None of them will. Not unless they are destroyed."

"Will I have to fight him?" Jaesa asked, she was unable to keep an edge of fear from her voice.

"Not if we can avoid it," Karr replied, "Fortunately the jedi council has allowed me to dispatch other knights in order to assist in our efforts. They will do everything in their power to stop this sith. Hopefully before he can come close to stopping us."

"And if they can't stop the sith?"

Karr hesitated for a moment before replying to his padawan's question. "Then I will put him down like the mad dog he is."

The next day, Jaesa was sitting at a console in the Jedi embassy. She was reviewing the data Master Karr had shown her the previous day, despite the fact that they had spent several hours examining it together. If she was being perfectly honest it wasn't much to go on. There was an awful lot of speculation on the SIS's part. Guesses about personality, methodology and combat tactics. These were all based off of Arkunov's physical appearance, as well as what was known about his mother Lord Zhothe.

Jaesa then scrolled and opened up the attached dossier on Lord Zhothe. A second later, an image of a sith pureblood appeared before her. She was beautiful, in a sadistic kind of way, displayed most openly by the cruel smirk on her face. Zhothe wore deep purple robes, over a suit of silver armour. At her hips were fastened a pair of lightsabers.

Jaesa then scrolled through the rest of the file. She found a list of several campaigns that Zhothe had taken part in during the war. As a commander and a frontline fighter. These included, the Battles of Ashas Ree, Serenno and the Sacking of Coruscant. A small gasp left Jaesa's mouth as she examined this, Zhothe had taken part in some of the most decisive Imperial victories in the last war. Making it very likely that she had trained her son to exhibit a similar level of ability.

So absorbed was Jaesa in her reading, she didn't notice the presence that approached her from behind.

"Hello there."

Jaesa jumped at the sound of the voice and turned to see Suria smiling down at her. "I'm sorry," she said, "I didn't mean to frighten you."

"I wasn't scared," Jaesa replied, "Just surprised."

Still smiling, Suria pulled over a chair and sat down next to Jaesa. She then asked, "Interesting reading? You were quite engrossed."

Jaesa paused for a moment before she replied, "In a way." She then clicked back to the profile on Arkunov. "This sith is hunting me. Master Karr was able to dig up some information on him."

Sensing Jaesa's unspoken invitation, Suria leaned forward and quickly skimmed the dossier before her. A frown appeared on her face as she read. Once she was finished, Jaesa said, "Any advice?"

Suria thought for a moment before saying, "Well I'd say to try and avoid fighting if possible. But if you can't avoid it... don't let him distract you. Sith like to play mind games. To provoke an emotional reaction. Just ignore whatever he says and power on through."

"There is no emotion. There is peace," Jaesa responded, automatically. She blushed, slightly embarrassed by her response.

However, Suria didn't seem to notice Jaesa's embarrassment and just continued to give her advice. "Though if there was one piece of advice I can give you, above all else, it would be this. Practice your saberwork. You can never go wrong with more lightsaber practice."

"I definitely need the practice," Jaesa muttered, somewhat bitterly. Master Karr had instructed her in the basics of the third form of lightsaber combat, Soresu, emphasising an approach of holding off enemies until she could find an opening.

Unfortunately, once her unique power had revealed itself Master Karr had focused entirely on that. As such, Jaesa's lightsaber skills were rather... unpolished at the moment.

"I wish I could help you with that," Suria replied. "But I am leaving Coruscant in a few hours." She paused for a moment after that, her expression shifting into one of concentration. Eventually she said, "I'll write up some training plans for you before I go. With luck they should help you."

"Thank you very much." Jaesa said, her voice filled with gratitude.

"It's no trouble. I was going to do something similar for my padawan." Suria said, as she turned and walked away. She stopped as she reached the door and turned back to face Jaesa. "Never forget. The force shall be with you. Always."

I forgot to mention this at the end of the last chapter, but I have put up a poll on my profile. There you can vote to decide which one of my Imperial characters goes with Arkunov into the Balmorran Arms Factory.

Your options are:
1) Dannark (Bounty Hunter)

2) Dethree (Sith Inquisitor)

3) Windrral (Imperial Agent)