And with that the winter vacation, and 2016, comes to a close. Welcome to the first chapter of the new year, in more ways than one... Enjoy! ~F

Chapter Twenty Eight

Inquiries

Severus wasn't sure what he was meant to expect as the shuttle carrying him to the capital bore down on the lofty, spire covered building that the pilot declared as the Jedi Temple. Certainly the edifice was elegant enough, but they still told little to Severus of those who dwelled within. The shuttle was given special clearance to actually land within one of the Temple hangars, which was apparently a great privilege, as most non-Force users were never allowed past the public areas of the structure, which felt rather odd to Severus. How could those that opposed the Sith be almost equally secretive in their doings from the public eye.

Granted, Albus had been almost as secretive as the Dark Lord, but look at where that had gotten the Headmaster. Pushing the old memories aside, Severus gathered what few things he had been given by the Dorians before leaving their system, and made to disembark from the ship.

What he did not expect was for there to be a reception committee waiting for him, headed by very familiar faces. He stopped at the end of the ramp, looking at the large group of familiar witches and wizards, not least of all his fellow staff of Hogwarts, as it used to be so long ago. Minerva McGonagall was just the same as ever, although her hair seemed to be greyer in places, and her stride slightly slowed as she approached him. Tiny Professor Flitwick bounced along without a care in the world, smiling up at the sallow Potions Master in the joy of reunion. Even curiously of all, Professor Sybill Trelawney was present, her usual airiness far removed, and the woman looking far more alert and almost commanding in presence.

There were many others, some that Severus recognized from classes long past, and many that he had no knowledge of, but the mutual feeling was the same, of relief that someone else, even Severus himself, was alive and well.

But that still didn't explain how they were all here, "Minerva, how can this be?" Severus asked immediately after recovering from the surprise of them all waiting for him.

"That is a very long story, Severus," the older woman replied, "and I believe it would be best to address the reason you were sent to the Jedi Temple first before we dive into that mess of questions and answers, as there is much that we need to be appraised of."

"Quite so," Spoke another voice from the crowd, and Severus turned, just noticing the collection of uniformly dressed people and beings, all clad in browns and beige. The speaker was a human standing ahead of the rest, seeming to radiate a sort of serene authority over the others, but not in a controlling manner, more of a humble acceptance of leadership.

"I am Jedi Master Cedmel Antross," the man said, extending a hand, which Severus shook, "leader of the Jedi Council. We received word from the planet Dorin that one would be sent with information for us regarding the war, and more specifically the Sith. I trust that you are that messenger?"

"I am, but I was also promised that I would find people who would help me fight back against the Sith here…" Severus responded, to which the Jedi mildly grinned.

"I believe I may know a few that will certainly want to help you, perhaps an entire temple full of them…" he said jokingly.

Severus nodded, handing over the datapad with the information that the Sages had given to him, and stepped back as the Jedi Master turned to confer with some of his fellows. It was rather odd, being on the outside of important decisions such as this for once, and not for the first time did Severus fondly reminisce about Albus Dumbledore, and how the old man did everything in his power to include Severus, even at the point of annoying him when he did not want to be included at times.

"It may take them some time to review all the information," Professor Flitwick said at his side, "We may retire to one of the meeting rooms and get to answering some of your questions if you'd like Severus. It is good to see another familiar face after so long."

Severus could only nod, before he was all but herded into a corridor out from the hangar, and down to a small classroom, with large holoprojector equipment in the center for displaying data to the entire room.

Launching right into his original question, it was Professor Trelawney who spoke first, "we are here thanks in great part to the efforts of one Luna Lovegood, and her allies in the Jedi Order."

While that at first cause Severus even more confusion, the woman continued, explaining how the girl had not been killed as they had supposed, but had escaped from Gringotts with a relatively young goblin at her side, in some ancient space craft that the Gringotts Goblins had apparently kept secret for hundreds of years, if not longer, and quite by accident had encountered the Jedi Order, both becoming members of the warrior monk society.

"After you had disappeared," Minerva continued, picking up the trail of the story when Trelawney stopped, "Luna felt the premonition to return to earth, amid the horrible trials of some dark and mysterious beings that were encroaching on our entire society, and the world at large. We had been powerless, as the Ministry was one of the first to be infiltrated, and had appointed special professors to care for additional students at Hogwarts, ones that we never saw or had any contact with. Not until after Luna appeared did we find out that the school had been being used as a prison and training ground to turn those children into monsters, people crazed with their powers of darkness worse than any Death Eater, or even You-Know-Who himself."

"Minerva, the man has been dead for years, we can call him Voldemort now…" Flitwick replied, and Severus still shivered at the name as his Mark responded by pulsing unpleasantly.

"Nevertheless," Minerva continued, "Miss Lovegood, or I should call her by her proper title of Jedi Knight, along with the help of her goblin friend, who you'll no doubt meet later on, single handedly defeated half a dozen of these Dark Side wielders, and freed those children, bringing their ship to the grounds of Hogwarts to help us all escape what was sure to become a dangerous situation when their master found out of their failure."

"And their master is none other than Potter, now going by the moniker of Emperor Veneficus…" Severus concluded, surprising them all.

"Now you know more than you let on previously," Flitwick accused, but Severus shook his head.

"I made no such statements Filius, but as you will no doubt insist, I will recount what I can about what I experienced since I was captured and forcefully removed from our world."

And so he did, going into basic detail of what he had to endure, and a rough description of the station that no one had bothered, or been able, to name while he was aboard it. Now that he was speaking of it in the past tense, Severus did find that fact odd, as it seemed that most space faring vessels of any type did indeed have names and numbers attached to them, so why had he never heard what the place he was held on called before. Magically, there was one reason, but it was ludicrous to imagine that such a large place was under the Fidelius Charm, it would require immense power to perform magic such as that…

But then… how gifted had Potter truly been in the magical arts. Could it be possible that, through some means that he was unaware of, that the boy could have created a situation to magnify his magic well beyond normal means? Certainly Dark Lords in the past had tried, and a few had even succeeded, in making themselves stronger magically, but those were usually petty gains, to either conquer a rival or to little avail regardless.

Severus was not one to desire to think of a Potter as the end all of Dark Lords, but the more he thought about it, the more it made the most sense. Clearly the boy had a staggering amount of presence in this energy field called the Force, especially if he gathered to him so many fanatically loyal followers, and from the looks of it on the other Professor's faces his boast of being an Emperor was not idle in the slightest.

Once finished recounting his escape from the mysterious space station, Severus looked between each of them. "How bad is the damage that Potter is creating…" he asked sincerely.

"Truly devastating…" Flitwick replied, turning to the machine near then, and with a tap of a few keys, pulling up a massive map of the Galaxy. Astronomy had not been one of Severus' best subjects, but he recognized the value of what he was seeing regardless. The mass of blue tinted worlds in the center, spreading outward to the south and direct north were the Republic's territory, while there a nearly equal size splotch of red growing down from the northeast section of the Galaxy, attempting to curl around on both top and bottom of the blue patch, as if trying to eat the Republic whole.

"Most of these systems were Republic controlled or Neutral only a handful of months ago…" Flitwick explained, and Severus paused. Months… the boy did this much damage to an entire galaxy in mere months…

"But… how?" he managed to ask, growing desperate for more information.

"Stealth, secrecy and surprise…" Trelawney explained. "It is clear to the Jedi that he and his Dark Side adepts were planning this invasion for years before they made their move, making sure that every piece of their side was in place before commencing a grand multipronged attack, crushing the Republic's best ships, which isn't to say much, and driving them all back here to the core worlds. Now the Sith Empire has a near free reign to terrorize the Outer Rim, and only now have the Republic managed to build a fleet of ships that they hope will stand a chance to fight back."

Severus was about to press for more, he was ravenous for every scrap of information that might prove useful on how he could help, when the door to the room slid open to reveal a goblin, clad in the soft browns of the Jedi, alone with a young girl, of some sort of species covered in fur, also dressed as a Jedi.

"Master Snape, ready to speak with you, the Council now is. Escort you to them, we will…" the goblin said, his speech pattern strangely inverted from what Severus was used to hearing, even from the diminutive species.

"You had better go speak with them," McGonagall urged, "They will have far more answers than even we, and there is more than enough time for us all to catch up, yet so much to do in the meantime…"

Severus nodded, standing from the seat he hadn't realized that he had sunken into, and followed the pair of Jedi as they moved toward the center of the structure, where several lifts were located.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Johell had thought that this day would never come. He was leaving the dustball of Korriban at last, nearly free to make his break for freedom and return to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. But he had to wait, bide his time until Zhar was thoroughly distracted, and carefully plan means to get both a ship and the opportunity to flee into outer orbit undetected. It wouldn't be hard for the Sith to notify every fleet in his path to the core worlds if he was spotted, and set up a trap to capture him once again, and Johell was not willing to risk the torment that would await him if he was caught again.

The trip through Sith space, from Korriban to the fleet orbiting Dromund Kaas was not terribly long, but with his nerves on edge like they were it felt like a lifetime. Drowning the sea of emotions in his training, Johell hoped to keep Zhar as oblivious to his true intentions as long as possible, but that did not stop the plaguing doubts that surrounded him, taunting him that the man might already be aware, and had prepared means to halt him if he tried to make an escape attempt.

But Johell refused to allow himself to despair, he had to get away, for his own sanity, and for the safety of the Republic, they had to know some information from the inside of the Sith Empire. If even a scrap of his knowledge regarding how the Empire operated could be used to help the war for the Republic, he had to do everything in his power to make sure the Jedi got it. It was his duty, that of a Jedi, which he had wanted to be with every measure of his heart and soul. He would not let that dream be shattered by Zhar, or the madman that he served so easily.

Soon enough they pulled into the Dromund system, and through the viewports Johell looked on at the astounding number of ships waiting in high orbit, some defending the capitol, while others were set up in their fleet formations, waiting for personnel to man them before moving out to fight in the name of the mad Emperor.

It was frightening how quickly the Empire had acquired and put so many massive vessels into active duty, as though they just found them all in some long forgotten asteroid belt, just waiting for being to take control of them. Zhar was sending small communications to the orbital satellite that housed the war council of the empire, and was the staging ground of all military operations, receiving landing clearance and arranging a meeting as the representative of the Emperor himself.

They were quickly given a place to land, and the pilot took them in with no delay. "Stay close beside me while we are here," Zhar instructed sternly, almost making Johell think that he suspected him of planning to escape. "Some of these military types have little respect for the followers of the Dark Side, aside from those that grossly outrank them, such as myself or the Emperor himself, so you must only speak when absolutely necessary, and leave everything else to me."

"As you wish," Johell replied, feigning boredom with the whole matter.

"Do not worry, this will be over soon, once the fool in charge is reminded of who it is that they serve," Zhar chided, almost mockingly gentle.

The ramp lowered, and the pair of Force users disembarked to the hangar deck of the space station. Zhar took no time in summoning the tram for the massive station, and soon the pair of them was riding toward the center sections, bypassing the many different docking bays and hangars, along with their respective control rooms and other managing offices. Zhar was strangely silent, which put even Johell off as to the seriousness of the situation they were entering.

He wondered momentarily how badly this 'punishment' that the foolish leader was about to receive, and more importantly, how he could make use of the event to work toward his own escape. It was unlikely that he would be left alone for too much of a period of time, so he had to work fast with whatever time he may be given. Finding a ship was therefore out of the question, with how far the hangars seemed to be from the central war station.

His only chance was to find a way to send an encrypted code out to the Republic worlds, preferable to the Jedi Temple itself, but even that would be fraught with danger. If even one person suspected what he was up to, and it was found out, he was done for.

But still, he had little options left to him, so he had to make due, and be extremely careful to cover his tracks as best he could. The tram ground to an eventual halt, and the doors opened to the sounds of a downright massive cantina, with off duty soldiers and officers scattered everywhere in small pockets, drinking and enjoying themselves in petty games of chance and other distractions from the grueling work of conducting a war.

Zhar led the way through the madness, to a lift on the far side, where Johell could only presume they would ascend up to the levels where the highest administrators of the war council met and worked. After that, Force only knew what would begin to happen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yoda walked slowly, but with purpose, through the halls of the Jedi Temple, with his Padawan Ist, and Professor Severus Snape and tow. The young Bothan was extremely curious about the man, and while Yoda had some other pressing concerns, he couldn't help himself slowing slightly and listening in as they.

"So, you taught the arts of mixing certain herbs and other ingredients into various 'potions,' as you call them, which have a plethora of effects." She was confirming, making small additions to a datapad that she had taken to carrying with her. Part of her project, if Yoda remembered correctly, cataloguing everything regarding the peoples from Earth. There was quite a bit she had gathered from Yoda himself as well, regarding the functionality of the bank of Gringotts and the society of goblins, their history, and culture.

She had then followed it up with interviewing every member that had been rescued from Hogwarts that fateful day, so long ago, and had practically jumped at the opportunity to question the newest addition to their group of refugees.

"That is relatively correct," Snape replied, seemingly torn between intrigued and annoyed. He did not seem as one to intentionally pursue teaching as a career, which was odd as Yoda knew that the others referred to him as Professor, and he had even taught Luna at some point, as the fellow Jedi Knight had mentioned him at least one, casually.

"If I recall correctly, there is another profession that is similar in description, let me see… ah here is it, called Alchemy. Could you explain what the similarities and differences between your craft and this would be?" Ist continued, taking her time to make sure all of her facts were correct and confirmed between herself and the sallow faced man.

Soon enough however, they had arrived at the Council Chambers, and were admitted within. The ten remaining members of the Jedi High Council, one position yet to be filled and Grandmaster Coven still in some sort of Force based coma, all were waiting for them in person, and nodded in greeting to the trio as they entered. Yoda stood beside the door, Padawan Ist falling silent and moving to his side as well, while Professor Snape stepped forward to the middle of the room.

"We've looked over the information sent to us by the Baran Do Sages," Master Antross began, gesturing to the datapad on the arm of his chair, "and we are most intrigued by the pronouncements that they have given us, as a sign of unification against the followers of the Sith. However there are some things regarding your appearance that we have yet to fully explore, and if you are willing, we wish to ask several questions of you at this time."

Snape seemed to ponder their words before responding, which aside from Yoda's familiarity with the Jedi Order and their honesty, was a wise course of action on the man's part. But in the end the result was an obvious one. "I see no reasoning why I should not, you may proceed," the man said.

"Where were you when you first encountered the Sith Empire and their Emperor?" Antross began, shooting straight for the heart of the matter, much as Yoda presumed the other Professors from Hogwarts school had turned to in time. Snape did not even pause as he responded, "That would be on my homeworld, which I've learned in recent days lies somewhere in what you call the Unknown Regions, the same planet that Potter himself was born on."

"You call the Sith Emperor by the name of Potter? Why is this?" the Twi'lek Council member, Master Naol'lar, interjected, tilting her head to the side as she focused on the Potions Master. Yoda could tell immediately that the council was using all of their ability to determine the truth of the man's answers, and wondered if non-Jedi felt the same sort of sensation of being completely X-rayed as the Council interviewed them.

"That is the name of his birth," Snape responded, seemingly unfazed. "Harry James Potter, son of James Potter and Lily Evans."

"And, just for confirmation, the planet from which you all come from is the same one that Knights Yoda and Lovegood also come from, this 'earth' or 'Old Terra,'" added Master Lanen Quelross.

"That is correct," Snape replied, not even turning to face the female human Jedi seated behind him in the circle.

"What was the result of this first encounter with the then Emperor of the Neo-Sith Empire?" Master Antross redirected, bring their attention back to the center of the Council.

"I am not completely certain, but the next time I awakened, I was no longer in the castle of Hogwarts School, but in a completely different location."

"Can you describe this location?" Master Rekara inquired, peaking the tips of her flipper-like hands in from of her in thought.

"Metallic is the first word to come to mind," Snape began, "from later experience I would guess the inside of a ship of some sort, but I was not in a position to truly find out. The man wanted to gloat and torture me for a time before I was rendered unconscious once more, waking in another unfamiliar place."

"A ship, most likely," Master Dolik supplied, the Rodian's eyes sparkling with the Force.

"But traveling to where, and for what reasons?" Master Trangrin asked.

"What can you tell us of this newer location you found yourself in?" Master Antross pursued, once more refocusing the Council on the Potions Master. If the man found the behavior of the Jedi strange in any way, Yoda could not tell it from the man's face.

The story that came next, regarding a massive space station, surrounded by some suspected magical field produced by the same powers that the wizards possessed, warped in such a way that the man could not speak its name, nor knew it at all, and the eventual escape abroad a freighter filled with mass produced weapons was so staggeringly strange, that had Yoda not experienced both the wizarding world as well as the wide Galaxy as a Jedi, he probably would not have believed it.

From the looks of it, the council was very much of the same opinion that Yoda felt. "It seems that even more of this mystery surrounding the Sith unfolds itself," Master Queesa Sen said, speaking the communal answer that they seemed to have arrived at.

"Thank you for this information, Professor Snape," Master Antross said, "If there is anything we need you to clarify, we will summon you again. Feel free to stay here at the temple with your fellow wizards, and we will continue to work closely with you all to try and figure out a solution to all these problems, as well as hopefully a potential direction to take in ending this war.

Snape did not so much bow in respect as simply jerk his head toward the group at large, before turning to be led back to the other Professors by Yoda and Ist. The goblin could not help but wonder just what information the man had provided that could actually be of use to the Jedi. It had seemed that the man had been quite kept in the dark of his location and predicament for the majority of his time enslaved by the Sith, and would only be of use to the Jedi in fulfilling a similar means that he had already been working toward for the Sith.

But, Yoda was not going to show any dissention from the will of the Council, they were the guiding light that they had, what with Grand Master Fae Coven still beyond their ability to communicate with, and the Galaxy in such a state of chaos and war. Darkness loomed in the Force, and Yoda was not terribly pleased with the potential outcome should they depart from the path best laid out for them by the Force.

Hopefully, something that Yoda was not aware of had been part of the answers that the Council had sought, or something that was in the message given to them from the Sages of Dorin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Diábolis had never had opportunity to see the planet of Dass'in's birth and home, but for all purposes the gas covered sphere seemed rather unoriginal and quite ordinary in the Devaronian's mind, and he wasn't fond of the idea of wearing a breathing mask the entire time they were planetside.

Dass'in however grew quite still and quiet during their voyage, only appearing from his quarters to check the status and claim small amounts of food that was returned to his room with him to consume.

Whether the Dorian was simply moody, or preparing himself for something that was to occur once they reached the planet of his birth, Diábolis didn't know, nor did he truly care. His mission was to assist in punishing the neutral Force wielders of the Baran Do sages for opposing the Sith Empire in aiding the Jedi. Both Diábolis and Dass'in had been previously briefed personally by the Emperor, on how he had been notified of the allowed escape of one of their secured prisoners, one that had been specifically confined by the Emperor.

Once permitted to escape, perfectly unaware of that fact naturally, the prisoner had made his way to the world of the Dorians, and had been taken directly to the Sages, before the spies of the Emperor reported that they had sent the prisoner, along with a message of some sort that was to be taken to the Jedi Council of Coruscant. While the entire contents of the message was unknown, the Emperor had foreseen that its contents were going to inspire the Jedi, and the Republic as a whole, to extend the war by a significant amount of time, which was a frustration of the quick plans that Veneficus had desired to unleash on the Galaxy.

Therefore, they were to strike back at the Baran Do, to eliminate their sources of information and drive them underground. The Emperor specifically commanded that they not eliminate every last one of them, merely devastate their numbers so that they never attempt to go against the Sith or attempt to take sides again.

Once they entered the atmosphere of the planet, Dass'in reappeared again, saber hilt in hand and head turned to face the ramp that would soon open to the hazy air of his world. Diábolis strapped on the air filtration mask he had been given, even as their escort troopers sealed their helmets from the outside gasses.

The ramp lowered, and they exited to the wide spaceport in which they had landed. Diábolis turned to question Dass'in on where they were to go first, but the Dorian was removing his mask just then, and the Sith apprentice was silenced by the first look at the orange creature's face. As a rule, most Dorians were rather unattractive to members of other races, with tiny eyes and a strange, gaping maw-like mouth surrounded by four small toothy appendages, but Dass'in was in a class of his own.

Not only were two of the small tusk-like things severed completely, but the rest of the face was clearly scarred and burned from lightsabers. The battle damage was severe, but Diábolis had at one time or another been made aware of the situation that had led to the Dorian almost dying long before the Emperor had taken his throne.

Apparently, he was not the only one who had noticed Dass'in specifically either. Several Dorians that had been lingering around several small freighters turned as the Sith precession started from their shuttle toward the entrance of the spaceport.

Even as the natives started to back into the shadows, Dass'in leaned in to speak to Diábolis, "They'll be warning the Baran Do against us now. There may be more of a fight on our hands than we wished."

Diábolis merely smirked toothily. If he could not eliminate the Baran Do as he would have himself, he'd at least get a good bloodbath out of this entire mess.

Still, even as they exited the spaceport and oriented themselves toward the towering ziggurat that housed the Baran Do Sages, the Devaronian Sith guessed that with the pair of them, and the dozen or so Sith Commandos that they had brought, they would be greatly challenged by the defenses that clearly had already been thrown up to impede them.

Firstly, the great doors at the top of the long flight of stairs were closed, and Diábolis guessed that they would be heavily guarded by both the stonework of the monument and those that served the Sages. Still, they had a duty to do, and the Emperor's will be done. The troopers arranged themselves at the base of the stairs, waiting for Dass'in and Diábolis' word.

"The Emperor wishes these Sages punished for their breach in their supposed neutrality. Let us be done with it quickly, and return to our war with the Republic," Dass'in said, gesturing up the stairs.

"Attack," Diábolis added, activating his twin-blade, even as Dass'in's single crimson beam joined it. The troopers charged ahead, the guns pointed about and keeping all points covered for possible ambushers as the Darksiders marched upward to the gates of the Baran Do temple.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zhar stared down at the three major members of the Imperial War Council, barely bothering to restrain his contempt and irritation at the ebbs and flows of the Force among them. Lord Solert, a Stalker that had shown exceptional prowess at command practically quaked before him, while the two unimportant military officers stood rigidly, but their fear was just a palpable to the High Prophet of the Dark Side.

"Why is it," he began, after sealing the door from the outer corridor behind him, Johell being left outside to prevent any from disturbing them, "that you three, who have been given the great honor of maintaining the war effort in the absence of his majesty, have done so great a foolish thing as to alter his magnificent plans from their original course?"

"My Lord," the commander of the Imperial army objected, "We've done nothing more or less than try to fulfill the Emperor's commands as best as we saw. Surely there was little that we could change that would have too drastic of an effect to change the outcome of this war. We all trust that the Emperor has foreseen too much to leave anything to chance…"

The look that Zhar gave the man silenced him instantly, although he would never speak the fact that the Emperor truly did not see all things, hence why he had the Dark Council to assist him in running the affairs of the Empire, among other bodies that further divided the work of such a mighty and vast network. True, his foresight was greater than any Sith or Jedi in recorded history, but it was far from perfect.

"Nevertheless you understood that you were given a very delicate position and situation," he continued after a moment's silence, "and failure is not an option when it comes to managing the Empire."

The two officers stiffened, but Zhar was not remotely concerned with either of them. They had been put in this position for their excellent strategic minds, rather than their experience or strength in battle; therefore they were no threat to the High Prophet of the Dark Side. It all boiled down to Solert, the Darksider that had been tasked with monitoring everything these commanders put forth in managing the war, and making sure that it fell within the Emperor's plans, and had failed. Solert seemed to realize exactly what Zhar was implying, and he was already reaching for his twin sabers.

"A Kaggath then…" he said, stepping to the side and out into the open part of the room, putting distance between himself and Zhar. While not entirely accurate, the old term was close enough that Zhar wasn't going to correct the man. If he wanted a fighting chance to live, so be it.

Three beams of crimson ignited, and the pair of Dark Adepts flew at each other. Zhar stabbed, aiming straight for Solert's heart, but the other human weaved out of the way, slashing wide with a heavy twin swing, making Zhar duck safely out of the way. The man wasn't particularly strong in the Force, but the two weapons would surely play to his favor.

The other man seemed to know this as well, as therefore focused heavily on his bladework, obviously exerting himself to try and push through Zhar's defenses and land a fatal blow. Unfortunately for him, Zhar still recalled much of his life as a Jedi Knight, refusing to forget simply because he had been weak then, and therefore had a strong remembrance of the defensive style of Soresu, wielding it to great effect to create a bulwark that none could bypass, seeking even the smallest opening in which to strike a crippling attack.

They circled, trading flourishes and small exchanges of blocks and attacks, testing the waters of each other's strengths and weaknesses. Zhar knew that he was older by far than the man before him, but with the expected weakness of physical ability also came much experience and a strong connection to the Dark Side of the Force.

Suddenly, Solert's patience ran out, and he charged the gap between them, swinging high with his right blade, before ducking into a feint and stabbing at Zhar's gut with his left. Spinning out of the way, Zhar felt the side of his cloak give way as it was burned through by the offending lightsaber. Solert smiled, as if he drew first blood, but it was quickly dash as Zhar planted his booted foot in the smirking face, knocking the lesser Force user away.

Solert fell back with a grunt, and rolled just in time to dodge Zhar's blade from impaling him in the chest. The other Dark Adept was truly throwing everything into this fight, although to be fair Zhar expected no less when the man's life was literally on the line, not that it would matter. In the name of the Emperor, he had to die, and Zhar would do it personally, here and now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Johell didn't bother wasting a single moment once he was separated from Zhar outside the war council's room. He could easily sense that there was about to be a powerful conflict that would distract Zhar from him for several minutes at the least, so this might be the only opportunity he had to make any sort of step toward escape.

Striding back with purpose in his step, Johell started to subtly search for a private room that held some sort of terminal or devise that he could get access to. The troopers for the most part paid no attention to Johell, just assuming he was another Dark Adept moving about, which played well to his advantage. Only a floor or two down from where Zhar had left him, Johell did find an empty communications room, and after making sure that he was unobserved, Johell closed the door behind him.

The terminal seemed to have been temporarily abandoned, which while still open for Johell to use, meant that there would be someone coming back to use it, which severely limited the time that he had to operate it. Typing quickly, he accessed the long distance communications, and activated the encryption modular, quickly punching out a brief message that only Jedi would understand. Guessing that they wouldn't be staying here for longer than Zhar's business took, he set out the coordinates of Korriban, along with a plea for assistance or rescue if possible.

He knew that it would be a long shot, and the suspicion of a trap, especially with the coordinates of Korriban, would be high, but it was the best he could do at the moment. Even as he sent out the message he could sense some worker returned to the communications area, and quickly had to retreat out of the room to avoid being discovered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zhar whirled again, lightsaber flashing as it clashed heavily with a hastily thrown up block of Solert's, his twin sabers forming an 'X' to intercept the heavy blow. The other adept was indeed weakening, Zhar could feel it in the Force, but still be mercilessly pressed his attacks, wanting to end this as quickly as possible and move on to training his apprentice once again.

So, he tapped further into the Dark Side, allowing his irritation and rage fuel him as he launched into the powerful Djem So form, battering aside the attacks of the other Adept and counterattacking with pinpoint accuracy. All in all, Solert never stood a chance one Zhar decided to press the attack with everything he had. like a tidal wave of power, his blows washed over the doomed Darksider, eventually overriding his pitiful defenses and scoring deep and lasting wound.

A quick, vicious upward slash caught Solert across the chest from hip to collar, and the man crumpled, his sabers rolling across the floor as the blades deactivated, one of them coming to a stop at the feet of the military officers.

Zhar took a few moments to allow the flow of power to ebb away again, return to a manner that befitted a Prophet of the Dark Side, and faced the two officers. "Now you see what fate awaits those who disobey the Emperor." They seemed ready to cower before him, but Zhar did not care any longer, "A new Adept will be placed in Solert's place, and hopefully will manage you both much better. Consider this your only warning. The next time I or another must come correct you will not be so lenient…"

Turned, Zhar paused only to take one of Solert's fallen sabers, and left the two squirming officers to deal with the mess that the pair of Force users had created. Johell was still waiting out in the corridor for him, obedient as possible. Handing over the other Lord's weapon, Zhar said nothing regarding it as he led the way back to their shuttle. "We've done here, let us return to Korriban and complete your training."

"Yes, Master…" Johell said meekly, which cause Zhar to pause. He eyed the young man for only a moment, but dismissed it as himself being somewhat tired from the fight with Solert. Perhaps the boy was just pleased to be away from Korriban for even a small time that it had made some level of difference.

"There shouldn't be any more problems here for the Emperor, then?" Johell asked as they walked, the soldiers parting before them as Zhar strode with purpose through to the lifts down to the main level.

"If they are less of fools that I believe, then yes, apprentice." Zhar replied, "I do not foresee any reasons for us to be returning in the near future."

The boy did not respond, and Zhar was perfectly comfortable with the silence, it allowed them swiftness to exiting the space station, and they returned to their fleet and set coordinates back home to Korriban within the hour.

After sending the important update off to the Emperor, that the punishment had been taken care of, and a new Dark Adept was needed to assist the war council until he himself returned, Zhar chose to return to his own chambers.

Settling deep into meditation, he reviewed everything that had occurred since leaving Korriban this time. There was something unsettling that had slipped into his mind, between the ease of their underlings betraying the vision of the Emperor, and the simplicity of Johell after the matter with Solert had been concluded. The second was easy enough to understand, the boy had to have felt the level of power that Zhar unleashed on the rebellious Adept, and was sufficiently cowed into submission for the time being. He would revert to his old self in time, but have learned an important lesson in the meantime, which made the entire trip worthwhile.

No it was the weakness of those within the Empire that worried him. Even though they were not true Sith, like the Emperor and his apprentice, they still all had the same dark tendencies to betray their superiors and strive for their own gain, even at the cost of their progress as a whole. It was the same fight that Kaan and the Brotherhood had foolishly striven to quash, to their own ruin. Zhar hoped that the Emperor returned soon to end the possibility of more rebellion.