A man walked along in the summer heat of Dantooine. The sun beat down on his neck, but it was a good heat, the type of heat that rejuvenated your soul after a long, stormy week. He smiled as he waded through the tall grass of Dantooine, his hand passing through the stalks slowly. Just ahead of him stood his home, the grass roof nearly shining in the sunlight and the grass gently waving to the right as a light breeze passed through the stalks. Ahead of him stood a woman who was holding a little girl. Not just any woman or girl, but his wife and two year old daughter. A warm giggle filled the air as his daughter gazed at him and held out her hands to her father. He was only a few feet away from them now, so close to having his happiness in his hands once again, but then a red flash woke him from his dream.

The man gasped as his lungs filled with air once again, coughing as the acrid taste of Ziost's air touched his tongue. The man slowly pushed himself to his feet and looked around at the arid wasteland that the planet had become. He shook himself off, causing dust to fall off his robes and armor. The man's face was mostly hidden behind the thick beard that grey on his face and his eyes gleamed a dim yellow amidst specs of green. The dim sun of the planet beat a painful heat down upon his exposed face as the middle aged Kiffar began to walk towards a cliff. His goal lay in wait here, hunting the man while he hunted it. Both beings had danced around each other ever since he arrived on the planet. Neither one had gained the upper hand on the other throughout their deadly game. The man took a deep breath to steel himself before he stepped off the cliff and fell to the ground below.

His feet hit the ground and he was back on Dantooine, this time he had just dropped from the rafters after grabbing his daughter's toy that she had tossed up there. She was now six years old and she was happy to have her father back after he had been gone for a few years. He was happy to see that warm smile spreading over her face as he handed her toy back. The little girl beamed at her father before bouncing off into another room to play with the toy and the strill he had brought home before she had been born. The two were inseparable, wherever she went, the strill was not far behind. "Ni'k, dear?" A warm voice to the man's right called. He then turned to see the beaming face of his beautiful wife gazing at him, and his eyes watered as she turned to dust before him.

Now, he was back on Ziost standing before a still body of water, the air was completely still here, as if the whole planet had taken one collective breath. A soft whine came from his right, and when he turned to his right he saw the same strill from before, with its nose to the ground, sniffing. "What do you got Naakla? Do you have her scent?" The man asked while taking a knee beside the old strill who looked up at him and whined again before pushing its snout against his hand. "We'll find her, I know we will…" He said before standing back up and walking along the shore of the body of water.

Once again he was back on Dantooine, his daughter and Naakla were with him as they all sat under a large, old tree. The man was sitting cross legged while his daughter was laying against Naakla's stomach. "Papa, why do trees grow the way they do?" The curious twelve year old asked as she observed the various twists and knobs that the tree had grown into. This drew a soft chuckle from her father who had his eyes closed as he rested, he then proceeded to answer her question. "They adapt to their environment. If the wind blows hard, they grow to counter it. If the sun only hits them from one angle, they grow their branches to place the leaves directly in the sunlight. They grow the way they do to survive. Much like you do, Kihobe." He says, saying his daughter's name with a warm smile before he tossed a rock at her playfully.

Her playful laughter followed his consciousness as he came to the other side of the lake on Ziost. There was a ravine set into the cliff side he had come to, it was narrow but still wide enough for him to be able to walk into it without changing his stance too much. He whistled to get Naakla to follow him into the ravine. The strill followed quickly, the creature was extremely loyal to him and his family, and trusted him to know what he was doing. They followed the ravine for several minutes until they came to an ancient doorway which stood open, showing a deep darkness beyond its threshold. The darkness called to him, wanting to draw him deep into its depths. His quarry lay within, this he knew, and no darkness would keep him from finding the one he seeked, or from the answers he needed. He took a deep breath before stepping inside, Naakla following close behind.

Smoke. That was the first he noticed. The air was rank with the smell and a plume of it streaked up into the sky. "Papa! I think it's coming from the house!" his daughter called out and pointed to the smoke. Nad'iira! His thoughts were immediately of his wife, whom they had left at home so they could hike the countryside together. "Kihobe, stay here with Naakla, I will go check on your mother and the house!" The father said firmly before he sprinted home. His speed was greater than that of a normal person, due to the urgency he felt. His heart began to drop in his chest as his house came into view. The once pristine building was now in flames and falling apart, but he saw his wife crawl out of the house and his heart jumped back up. "Nadi! I'm comin…!" His voice trailed off as he saw a feminine figure step out of the house behind his wife. The figure held a hilt in their hand, a hilt with a red blade projecting from it. The figure glared directly at him before bringing the lightsaber down into his wife's back and twisting to the side. He stumbled a bit as he felt his wife die, the pain was like being torn in two, with the second half burning away slowly. He fell to his knees, his gaze only on the lifeless form of his wife as her killer began to walk towards him.

He began to feel the same way he did then, cold, and helpless as he walked through the depths of the ancient facility. The deeper he went the more he felt the echoes of the lives lost on the planet in some great cataclysm millenia ago. He shut his mind to these echoes. They were not why he was here, she was. His face turned into a snarl as he thought of the woman that had killed his wife before his eyes. Naakla growled softly as it picked up a scent, letting him know that their quarry was near. The man pulled a folded quarterstaff off his back and unfolded it to hold the full length in his right hand. By then he had reached the bottom of the staircase he was following and now stood in a large cavern with a singular, glowing crystal in the center. Before the crystal stood the shape of the one he had been hunting, their endgame drew near.

"Papa where's momm… Momma!" Kihobe's voice called out as she came up behind her father and saw the dark figure walking away from her mother's body. Her father quickly snapped out of his pain and stopped his daughter. "Sweetheart, I need you to stay back! Let papa handle this please." He said and waited for his daughter to nod before she ran back to Naakla. The man then stood up and faced the dark figure. "Why!" He cried out, hoping that they would answer him. "You know why… master Jedi." The figure said, drawing the word 'Jedi' out in a growl. They then launched themselves at the man, swinging their lightsaber down to cut him down. He stuck out his hand and grabbed the blade. The man grunted in pain as the heat seeped into his hand but he focused on dispersing the heat elsewhere so that he could continue to hold the blade. The female Mirialan, as he could see know, blinked in surprise, and then they both proceeded to push each other away with the Force. The combined pushes sent both flying, the woman against the flaming house, and the man into a tree. He struggled to stay conscious after hitting the tree but was not successful and the last thing he saw, was the woman knocking away Naakla and stealing away his daughter.

The Mirialan stood in front of the crystal and was facing the man as he entered and walked towards her. No words were exchanged, none were needed. They both knew why he was here. He had been chasing her across the galaxy for months, and now, they were face to face. She activated her red lightsaber and moved into a stance from Form II, and she waited for the man to make his move. He walked up to her and stood several feet away from him, gripping his staff until the air around him buzzed with energy and blue light, as two short, blue blades extended from the ends of his staff. His eyes glowed bright yellow as he snarled and immediately attacked the woman. His attacks were quick and brutal as he whirled through the air, keeping her off balance and on the back foot as much as he could. Form VII was the most aggressive form of lightsaber combat, and his modified version of the form was even more brutal than the original.

Their fight, now begun in earnest, started moving throughout the cavern. Each of them driving hard strikes to try and break the other opponent down, but to no avail. At one point, the woman stepped back and unleashed a torrent of Force Lightning on the man, of which he caught on one blade of his lightsaber he then flicked the energy of the lightning back at her, sending her flying against a wall. Once she stood back up, she was immediately pressed into a saber lock with the man as he glared angrily at her. "Where is she! Where is my daughter, Darth Aïdes?!" He questioned with a growl in his voice. She then kicked him away to give herself room to breathe before starting an onslaught of attacks to keep him on the back foot.

"Anger, it doesn't suit you Master Harrandor." She taunted as she spun away from him and made a low swipe at his legs which he blocked before he kneed her in the face and Force pushed her across the cavern. "I am no longer a Master, I left the order two years ago. And I will feel whatever emotion I please. You killed my wife and stole my daughter!" He yelled before engaging Aïdes again. During his onslaught of attacks, he managed to cut her leg, it was a deep cut, but not enough to sever anything. She still cried out in pain and stumbled before she punched him in the face and leapt away.

"You shouldn't have refused our offer Ni'kleous. We offered you a great life, one that you and your family could enjoy together, you only needed to let us take the girl." She said, her voice taking a somber tone. "Now, you forced us to act rashly, if anyone is to blame for Nad'iira's death, it is you Ni'kleous."

"You don't get to say her name!" The former Jedi roared and charged the Sith, his eyes had gone a deep orange. The cavern echoed with the sounds of their sabers clashing for many more minutes until the sound of a saber cutting and burning through flesh and bone could be heard. This was shortly followed by the sound of something falling and bouncing on the floor briefly.

Ni'kleous glared at the headless body of Darth Aïdes as it fell to it's knees before toppling over to the side. The only sound in the cavern was the humming of his lightsaber, until a beeping sound could be heard. Naakla bayed from across the cavern, having found the source. So Ni'kleous walked away from the corpse, without a care and walked to what he could see as a portable holo terminal. The light was blinking, indicating an incoming call. So the former Jedi pressed the answer key and stepped back.

A tall figure, hidden by shadow and robes, appeared before Ni'kleous and in front of the figure was the struggling shape of his daughter.

"Kihobe! Sweetheart it's me!" He called out when he saw her face, his eyes lighting up with hope. She went to call back to him but the figure's hand clasped over her mouth. "Ni'kleous Harrandor. A pity you didn't take my offer. Your wife was indeed a shame." It said, the hint of a smile could be heard at the edge of its voice. "Thank you for removing my apprentice, she had served her purpose, and soon your daughter will serve hers." It said before chuckling lightly and ending the call.

In a fit of rage, Ni'kleous crushed the terminal with the Force before falling to his knees. Suddenly all of the fear and sadness hit him at once and he began to cry. Naakla came up to him and nudged him gently until the man put his arms around the strill. He had failed, he failed to protect and rescue his daughter, and now the Sith had her. What they were going to do, he had no idea, and now he had no leads, no way to find his daughter again.

"Nadi… I am so… so sorry…" He said over and over again as he curled up on the cavern floor with the strill….