Starkiller sat in a meditative state within his quarters on the Star destroyer. His Lightsabre was hovering in front of him, disconnected from his arm. As he focused on his surroundings, the hatred that was within him. The sabre started to disconnect piece by piece until it was nothing more than a collection of broken parts slowly circling around the red Kyber crystal in the centre of it all. Ever since he found out what Star Dust was, he found his mind conflicted on the topic.

He could defiantly understand why something like that would be useful to the empire and he wasn't surprised that the emperor would have the ambition to move into the unknown regions and begin a conquest. Star Dust would be the perfect means to start it, to use it as an HQ for the coming war. Yet there was something that weighed on him, he couldn't shake the thought that its primary weapon would be used on something more... local before the armies moved into the unknown.

But he shouldn't think about that, it was not his place to question the plans of the master, nor was it his to interfere. But this was a thought that would not escape him, it would make no sense to do it. There was no planet in the galaxy that would be worth the cost in resources it could give if it was destroyed and if there was, it would have to be the most backwater of worlds that wouldn't even be worth the time it would take for Star Dust to travel there.

He shook his head slightly; it was not his place. He was the hand of Lord Vader. He goes places and he kills, that is it. He doesn't concern himself with the plans of the Empire or the inner workings of the emperor's ambition. Before he could spiral down that trail of thought again, there was a small hum and a red light next to the door turned on. A signal that someone was waiting for him. Without opening his eyes, he held out his robotic hand, the sabre started to reassemble itself as it floated towards him.

With a final clip, the sabre was once again a part of him, quite literally in this case. Opening his eyes, he stood up and made his way to the door. With a flick of his finger, the door opened and Starkiller met the black visor of a death trooper "My lord" he said with a salute and bow "Grand Admiral Thrawn has requested your presence"

He simply nodded back and made his way through the corridors of the ship. All personal moved out of his way as he moved and he ignored the death trooper that followed him and he soon entered the Admirals office. The Chiss was sitting behind his desk going over a handful of reports in front of him but he looked up as they entered "thank you, Halsey. You may leave" he said to the trooper who nodded before turning to leave "We have been given an interesting opportunity" he started as Starkiller took a seat opposite the Admiral "we have been summoned to Coruscant. The emperor is throwing a banquet of sorts for many different high-level members of the empire's government" he spoke with the same calmness that he always did, though Starkiller could tell that there was still a note of annoyance, no doubt he is not happy about his Tie Defender program being shelfed by Star Dust "Have you ever been to Coruscant before?" he asked him.

"No" was the simple one-word answer.

He hummed back at the Sith "I thought so, I find myself in contemplation over the matter. Not why would he hold such a thing, the emperor has done so many times in the past. But I cannot thing of a reason as to why he would request that you are brought with me. Do you know why that may be the case?" He tilted his head at the question and the truth was no, he had no idea as to why he would be summoned. With nothing to say he simply shook his head "do you recall our previous conversation? The one of the emperors wanting you to improve" he clarified.

"I do, and my opinion on the matter has not changed" he said back coldly.

"Of course not" Thrawn spoke back "but I find myself unable to think of another reason, perhaps he simply wants to speak to you himself. Lord Vader will not be present as he does everything he can to avoid such meetings and I believe the emperor does not mind his absence"

"I imagine he would unnerve a great many of the guests" he said back as he thought about just how people would react to his master in a more social setting.

Thrawn let out a chuckle "Yes, he does just that. It's one of the reasons the emperor does request him when he speaks with the strictly militaristic personal of the imperial government. This one however will have many different civilian's present. Perhaps he wants to see if you can act pleasantly around them"

"I find that very unlikely" he leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms.

"As do I" he agreed with a nod "but this is not a request no matter how he worded it, you are being summoned to the imperial palace and you are expected to act civilly towards people. It being an order should be enough for you to act the part you're told to"

When that realization came to him, he sat up straighter and his eyes lost their heat for a moment before he nodded "I will be capable of it" was all he said on the matter.

"Good, we are currently in route to the planet, but it would be some hours before we arrive" he reached down and pressed a button on his side of the desk and soon the desk itself was set up with the familiar sight of two armies facing each other "shall we have a game?" he asked him.

The shuttle down into the planet city was a quite journey, not much needed to be said between the admiral and hand. Nor to the Death Troopers who stood on either side of them. Starkiller sat still in meditation while Thrawn was going over another data pad, no doubt it was one of the many different reports he wanted to oversee. As they neared the landing zone, Starkiller looked out the window and saw their destination. The imperial palace, or more accurately the former Jedi temple.

He had to give the master points for that plan, turning your greatest enemies home, HQ and training zone into your own after killing them all was a smart move. It would have been a waste to destroy it and even more so to keep it patrolled but if you turned it into something only you can control, if you can turn it into your own base of power then you can do all of that plus a lot more. It was also an added slap in the face to your enemy. A spoil of war after all. Something he could understand and approve of.

The ship came into a smooth landing on one of the central hangers of the building, one that was for private use. And a good thing too because as they flew over the main entrance, he could see hundreds of people make their way up the grand staircase, along with more flashes of cameras then he could count. No doubt all the media wanting to see who they could, a large line of troopers keeping them back of course. Thankfully he would not be using that, he doubted he would have the strength of will needed to not kill some of them.

They moved around out of sight and into the palace. The ship touched the ground and the two stood up. As the doors opened, the troopers moved out first and they both followed after them. When they stepped into the hanger of the palace, Starkiller was met with a sight he has not seen before. Two shoulders garbed in the royal red of the emperor's personal guard, they stood perfect still and waited as the two of them approached, though he could tell with the force that they were both unease about him more than Thrawn. When they stopped in front of the two, they simply turned around and led them down the corridors of the once Jedi temple.

It was very quiet for the first few minutes, it gave him time to think of all the things that must have happened withing this building, all the attacks, all the wars and all the generations of Force users that came and went here. It was a somber thought, to think all this building must have witnessed in its time. They continued to walk for but a moment, until the signs of music hit his ears. It was a gentle and posh thing that he's heard the rich like to enjoy, the two guards led them to a door and stopped before moving to walk on either side of it. Starkiller didn't know what the protocol was now but thankfully Thrawn did and he walked forward, the Sith following behind him.

The doors opened and the two walked into a large open atrium. He suspected that this was the main hall of the palace, former temple. It was truly massive, from what he could see. This one atrium must have taken up the majority of the temple proper, not that it could be called that at the moment. An imperial banner hung from many of the different pillars that held the large ceiling up. From what he could see, there were many different walkways that went above them and they seemed just has occupied by people as the ground floor was.

The must echoed all around him and was almost drowned out by the sounds of so many voices. Which wasn't a surprise, there must have been hundreds of different people of what seemed to be every species and all ages from the younger teenagers that were brought by their parents to the almost corpse like old. He could see many different uniformed men and women who were walking around the area carrying an assortment of drinks and foods. He could also see many different men and woman wearing an imperial uniform though he couldn't make out any who wore the white of the Grand Admrial, such as Thrawn "Enjoy yourself Starkiller" the Chiss said to him as he turned to face a gathering of high-ranking naval officers "remember, everything you are seen doing here shall be evaluated" was all he said before he started to walk away.

The Sith remained where he was standing for a moment before he thought about what he should do, as far as he was knew, he had no purpose here. The only reason he was here was because the emperor had requested him to be, but why? What did he want him to do. Knowing that standing here would do nothing he decided to walk around, he drew many eyes from the people around him as he walked. Not surprising considering he was wearing all black and was carrying weapons, not to mention there seemed to be a permeant frown on his face.

Which was good, it meant that they wouldn't be talking to him and he was free to move around freely. People walked freely around him but never getting too close, even the servers with the food and drink didn't come near him. He ignored the people for a moment as he walked, he noticed that while there where guards stationed everywhere. They seemed to get more elite the further he went, as did the guests.

He walked up a large staircase, many people were spread out around him, going both up, down and staying on them while they spoke to each other. When he reached the top, he could see that there was just as many people up here as there were downstairs, but these seemed to be more important based on the way they dressed and acted, there was a small dance floor in the middle were a handful of couples where located.

He was about to make his way to the next set of stairs that led to yet another section of the party, no doubt being occupied by the very top of imperial society "Ezra!" a voice said loudly causing him to stop in his place, his eyes glossed over for a moment as the chant was spoken in his mind 'Ezra Kryze is alive only in the past, he's forgotten' he quickly turned to the sound the voice came from and was surprised by what he saw. Half expecting to see a group of rebels, he instead turned to the sight of a young well-dressed woman with brown hair turning to face him. There seemed to be a surprised and shocked smile on her face but when their eyes met, she quickly took a step back.

He could quickly sense the fear coming off of her as she saw him, that wasn't a surprise, he was used to that but what he didn't expect was how potent that fear was. He turned to face her completely, moving forward towards her ready to get some answers as to who this woman was but as she backed up at his approach but he wouldn't let that stop him, that was until she backed into the man right behind her causing him to spill his drink "Leia, what has gotten into..." the man started to ask as he turned around, however when the woman didn't even acknowledge him and kept backing away, he turned and looked at Starkiller.

His eyes quickly widened and he stepped in front of her "My lord hand" he quickly said with a bow of his head and woman next to him with fiery orange hair did the same and bowed her head to him "it is an honour to meet you" he added.

The address gave him a moment of pause and he stopped walking for a moment "how do you know who I am senator?" he asked. Of course he knew who this man was, he was instructed to know about all who might be aiding the enemy and senator Bail Orgona was high on that list though there was very little proof of it.

"Oh, it's quite easy to know who the most powerful operatives are when you know where to look" it was the red headed woman who spoke next "the secrets of the ISB are not as secure as they like to think"

"Senator Mothma" he said with a slight nod of his head, normally he wouldn't bother with such pleasantries but he was told to act civilly.

With that he turned to the woman who had her wide eyes peeking out from the back of the man "why did you say that name?" he asked her making direct eye contact.

Instead of letting her answer, Orgona instead stepped to the side allowing him to see her completely once again "oh, you must forgive my daughter, Leia has yet to get used to such events and doesn't know you should check before making sure you know someone instead of someone who looks like that person" he turned and faced her "Leia, please allow me to introduce you, Lord Starkiller, the Hand to Lord Vader. My Lord, this is my daughter Leia Orgona and soon to be senator of Alderaan"

At the introduction, the young woman seemed to snap out of her daze and looked to her father who looked at her expectingly but if he didn't know better, he would say that there was a type of heat behind those eyes of his "of course, please forgive me my lord" she said with deep bow to him "I err... I just assumed... it doesn't matter, it's an honour to be in your presence Lord Hand. You must forgive me for misspeaking" she said as she lifted herself to face him.

"Why did you say that name?" he asked back quickly without hesitation and narrowed eyes.

She just stared at him for a moment with unblinking eyes "like my father said my lord. I simply mistook you for someone else" she tried to say confidently.

That wasn't the case though, was it? He could feel it, the would-be dissipation was felt from her through the Force. His eyes narrowed further "Lie" he simply said to her. That one word seemed to get a reaction from the two adults and they started to look more nervous.

The girl, Leia found herself taking a step back as she looked into his eyes "my lord..." she started.

"Why did you call me that name?" he asked again as he took a step forward, the reason for his attitude was quite simple, the man who that named belonged to was a rebel and a terrorist. The only way in which she could have known that name was if she had some contact with him.

"My lord, I assure you" Mothma spoke trying to come to her defence "the young Leia simply misspoke the name, in fact, I'm sure I remember there being a young man from your office who has that name" he lied to her colleague.

Bail was quick to pick up where she left off "ah yes. Quiet a good-looking young man" he laughed, something Mothma was quick to do as well "I'm sure my daughter is simply thinking with her heart instead of her head"

The two adults laughed again, Leia did as well but hers was much more strained than that of the others. Starkiller on the other hand was not laughing, instead his eyes narrowed further "Lie" he said, though this time it was to the two senators to adopt nervous looks and back up as he approached. His mechanical hand outstretched slightly and his sabre moved into his hands.

"My Lord" a deep voice called from behind him, he almost didn't turn his head to see where it was coming from. But he did, he looked in the corner of his eyes and saw red. He turned completely as he came face to face with two of the emperor's personal guards, clad in their red robes and weapons. For the moment he forgot about what was happening behind him but that didn't last long and he was about to turn back around to find out what was going on with the senators "his majesty has requested your presence"

Now that was a surprise. He turned back to look at the guards for a moment before he nodded immediately and began to follow them through the crowd and up the stairs, Orgona, his daughter and Mothma completely forgotten from his mind. As it should be, his mind must be on the present for the moment, he's about to speak to the current lord of the Sith. He's never spoken to the emperor before, let alone been in his presence, he didn't know what to expect and he could feel his own nervousness come from him as he started to walk up the stairs.

But he couldn't allow that to happen, he was the hand to Lord Vader, a true warrior of the Sith. He wouldn't bat an eye if he was asked to face down an army if he was asked to but this somehow made him question himself. No, he wouldn't allow that. He used all of training and all his past pain and rage in order to prevent himself from feeling the fear that anyone would when facing someone like the emperor. But it wasn't just the emperor, was it? No, it was the fact he was facing the master of the Sith, the true dark lord, that was his true title no matter what the public think.

As his feet touched the ground on the floor, he came across a sight that was different from the others in the palace. While there were people here, they were dressed in the most expensive and extravagant clothing and jewels, there were many different species present but there was one thing that stood out to him. They were all guarded, not by personal but themselves, they were all on edge, looking over their shoulders and looking at each other with narrowed eyes. There were many tables and chairs with many different drinks and foods present but there was one quality that he did not expect.

It was the women, on every table was a woman. Very beautiful woman of two different races, human and Twi'lek from what he could see. They were all scantily clad with very little clothing and doing their best to lower the defences that many of the people had and get them to enjoy themselves, he didn't know whether or not they were simply for show or they would complete the service they are advertising. Not that it mattered to him, he had other things to concern himself with.

And there the master was, on the opposite side of the large platform to the stairs, he saw the master of the Sith sitting calmly on a throne that was elevated by a couple of steps. He wore black robes with red highlights, his hood was up and as soon as Starkiller looked away from the other people around him, the yellow eyes of the hand made contact with that of the master.

The dark lord Sidious was staring at Starkiller as he looked right back. He didn't move for a moment, he just starred right back and did everything he could to not look away. He would not show fear in the face him, he couldn't afford to, he would prove that he was worthy of his place. Then he walked forward, as he did so many of the people present began to turn from each other and face him as he moved right in the middle of everyone and towards the emperor.

When he reached the base of the throne, he finally turned his eyes away and he looked down to the ground and kneeled. He bent one leg and placed his robotic hand on the ground while placing the other on his kneecap "My Lord" he said with his head bowed.

"Starkiller" the emperor's voice seemed to echo in his mind as well as the outside world "it would seem that Lord Vader's time investment in you was well spent" Starkiller didn't say anything to that, there was no question and he waited until he needed to speak "yet... from you I sense very little in terms of ambition, do you not desire to move forward in the hierarchy of the Sith?" he asked.

Upon hearing the question, he thought for just a moment before he spoke back "I do" he said honestly "but I disagree with much in the terms of the Sith's ideology. I would not dishonour myself by attacking my master when his back is turned, if I am to move forward. To become the apprentice or the master, then it shall be by my strength and my strength alone. Until Lord Vader proves that he is too weak to control me, I shall serve" he answered.

But the feelings he got from the master was not what he expected, from the lord of the Sith. He would expect to feel nothing but an unbridled rage or a maelstrom of the Force that none could match but it was none of that, in fact it was nothing at all. He could sense nothing from the emperor, even when he was so close to him "then perhaps it is time for you to truly test just how strong you are" was what was said.

Upon hearing that, Starkiller's head looked up to see the master starring down at him "My lord..." he was about to asked before the Force gave him a warning.

He rolled to the right, his hand grabbing his sabre as he did so. As he rolled he only caught a flash of purple before his own blade turned on and he deflected the attack before he was able to use the force to boost himself onto his feet. But he had no strength behind his footing and he was forced to take backwards steps as he blocked the incoming flurry of attacks from his opponent 'Jade' he thought to himself as he looked at the woman coming at him.

Starkiller frowned in anger as he blocked her attacks, he was still backing up as he had yet to stop her momentum against her as he found himself nearing the edge of the raised platform, at least the railing of it. That was when he acted, he blocked another of her attacks but instead of not having time to block another, he used the Force to grab the Darksabre from his belt and the black blade was aimed at her stomach. While she was able to use her flexibility in order to leaned the top of her body forwards and her mid rim back, dodging the attack.

But she had lost her momentum and he was about to use that against her. He slashed at her with both his sabres and started to move forward. His red blade disconnected from his hand and stuck out like a long claw, he slashed back and forth with the black blade and made a stabbing motion with the red one. Jade's one blade proved ineffective against his two and she quickly found herself on the back foot. His red blade rotated until it was in the opposite direction and the blade went past his elbow, he made a block with that blade and attacked with the other.

The emperors hand found herself being pushed back further by his blade work and strength, it was quick to tell that she had switched up her fighting style to the third form of traditional light sabre combat and he found himself struggling to beat her defences. The fighting between the two grew more intense and she stopped moving backwards for a moment in the middle of the platform. Her purple blade locked with the black one and for a moment neither of them moved as they starred and used their strength to try and push the other back. Starkiller brought his synthetic hand up as if he was going to upper cut her but instead his hand simply went up into the air but the red blade that was still held in a reverse grip was able to bat the purple sabre out of their lock and allow the flight to continue.

As the lock broke Jade twisted her body and moved for at attack against him but he didn't meet her blade head on, instead he pushed his hand out and let the Force out. The emperors hand flew backwards and roughly rolled across the ground digging her sabre into the ground in order to prevent her from rolling too far away.

With distance between the two, Starkiller took a moment to assess the situation and despite the fight with such deadly weapons. The people hadn't panicked or screamed, running for cover. Instead, they all looked at them with smiles on their faces, like they were pleased with what they saw. And the master, he didn't need to look at the emperor to see what he was feeling "Hahahahahaha" the laugh of the master echoed throughout not just the platform but the entire chamber as well "excellent young one, let us see just how capable you truly are" the master said as he turned his head towards his own hand "kill him" he ordered of her.

She didn't waste any time and immediately rushed him. Starkiller held the Darksabre in a reverse grip and brought his red one back forward into a standard one, waiting for her to approach with a guarded stance. She opened up with a free hand and a torrent of lightening came out at him, blocking it with his red blade. He made a blind block for her sabre attack which was able to save him but only barely and from there she span in place, going around his defences and making a slash at his side.

He was only able to just dodge the attack but he could feel the heat that came from her weapon as he did so. He quickly moved to face her again and started to his own attacks, much like before. His combination of skill and strength was able to keep her on the back foot and she stepped away from him as he advanced. It was a standard dual for the most part, Starkiller was doing exactly what he was trained too, he didn't stop for a moment and Jade was simply blocking and retreating. Though it was clear he had the advantage, he was no fool. He recognized what she was doing, she was simply waiting for to make a mistake that she can take advantage of. Not that he would give her one.

As she neared the one of the many tables, the people around it stepped backwards slightly and the dancer on top of it, gracefully stepped off. Before Mara could hit the table with her back, she used the Force to flip back over the table but she didn't land on top of it. No, she went over it completely and when she reached the other side, she used her feet to kick the table towards him. He wasn't able to take advantage of her on her back as he was forced to use both his sabre to cut the table in half, each side going on either side of him.

Lying on her back, Jade flipped herself upwards and went back on her feet. Just in time to block his attack. She was pushed back again but as she neared the edge of the platform, she placed her foot backwards against it and used that as a method of strength to use against him.

At least, he thought that was her plan. He didn't advance for a moment but continued to attack her from many different angles in order to not allow her a moment to breath, though he did slowly bring in her blade higher in order to block his own attack, leaving her open from below.

With a quick and unpredicted attack he kicked his leg upwards, using the Force to augment his own strength to do so. As Jade was being overwhelmed by his attacks and lacked the room to back up further, she was unable to stop such an attack and the emperors hand found herself thrown from her spot and kicked over the edge of the railing. Before she could begin to fall down to one of the lower platforms, Starkiller reached out with the Force and held her in the air for a moment before he turned around and brought her with him.

Jade slammed into the ground, right into the central platform. Starkiller stomped towards her as she picked herself up, no doubt ready to continue to fight against him. She only made it to her knees before he was in front of her, she brought up her sabre in both and Starkiller brought up the Darksabre and slammed it downwards into her. Again and again.

It was only a couple of seconds later that he swiped sideways with his red blade and knocked her purple one from her hands. She raised her arms, no doubt in an attempt to use lightening on him but he beat her to it. His red sabre was deactivated, and he lifted his synthetic arm towards her and Jades body was lifted into the air and no matter how much she tried to use her own power to fight against it, she was unable to. Her arms started to bend backwards, and she grit her teeth in order to not cry out in pain.

Starkiller pushed her away and she slammed into one of the tables, again causing many of the guests to step backwards. She was then lifted into the air, further and further until she smashed into the ceiling of the once great temple. Then he let go of the grip he had on her, he watched with impressed eyes as she fell, she wasn't if a dead drop. Even if it was sloppy, she was able to turn herself in the air and land on her feet.

Starkiller looked at her in her kneeling position as she tried to stand back up to face him, quickly glancing down, he could see that her sabre fell from her hand and landed right at his feet. Apart of him couldn't help but think that it wasn't a coincidence that it was there, when he turned his head and saw that the emperor was looking at him with narrowed yellow but a smile as well. He knew that he must have used the force to put it there, a type of test.

One he was more than happy to fail.

He kicked forward, his boot hitting the sabre and sent it right towards his enemy. The act caused the smile on the master's face to drop and was replaced with a more cunning and calculating one. The sabre landed right under Jades head as he was on all fours picking herself up, when she saw it, she froze.

Her head slowly rose to look right at him, there was a cut across her cheek and he could see a bruise forming around her eye. Her red hair was swaying as a draft hit her, to any man, even in the state she was in now, the beaty was unmistakable. But it was her eyes that got his attention so much, the hatred, the desire for vengeance, the yearning for battle. That was what got a smile on his face.

She let out a final huff before she reached down and grabbed her sabre. Standing up and not showing the injury she must have just had she stood up and turned on her weapon. She didn't move forward however, instead she held the well-known stance of form III. The all-defensive stance of Soresu. It was all she could do now.

In the time since their fight had started, Starkiller was able to get a more accurate assessment of her fighting style. Mara Jade was an assassin, she was an ambush fighter. While she was competent in a dual and is most likely the most impressive opponent he's faced, she was not trained to handle the type of raw and powerful frontal assault that Starkiller favours. She had her chance to end him quickly and lost it, now all she can do is hope that he will give her an opening to take advantage of.

But he wouldn't, Starkiller was starting to get tired of this little show. He was the Hand to lord Vader, he would not allow himself to be parried around like some animal for the entertainment of others present. He could feel all their emotions now, the arrogance, the ego, while he could admit that these were hardly the spineless worms he was used to dealing with, that didn't mean he was happy about this.

He moved forward with the intent of ending this quickly, he only gave Jade her weapon back so he could prove to her master that using her to kill him was a pointless endeavour, she was incapable of doing it. She has tried twice now to end him and he bested her, which did go to show that Starkiller had been trained for something completely different to what she was.

As he neared her he commenced his last assault on her, he made a handful of calculated swings with both his weapons. She blocked each one well enough, and he knew that she could defended against for a while so he decided to mix things up a little. As she was being pushed back, blocking all of his different slashes and jabs. They neared one of the tables and much like before, the people backed away from them. But he didn't let that stop him, he twisted his body and made a wide swing with the Darksabre. The assassin ducked under the attack but she also didn't know what he was getting up to, since she was out of the way. He let the ancient sabre fly free and it went through the air behind Jade. Two of who must have been some of the highest ranking or most influential people in the entire empire found their heads severed from their bodies and they fell to the ground dead.

While a normal crowd would start panicking and screaming at the sight of two dead bodies and to be fair, some of the entertainers did. The majority of people simply raised their eyebrows at the sight. The two Sith on the other hand kept on fighting like nothing had happened, they entered a blade lock. Red on Purple and starred at each other, while the hatred was present as was expected of Sith.

Starkiller could also see some mirth in her eyes, her snarl had a slight smirk on it. He doubted it was because of the fight due to her loosing so maybe it had something to do with how he just killed those people, maybe they could have something in common.

He was lost in his train of thought by the sudden pushed of Force that sent him back a step and Jade came in with a jab that would have gone right through his stomach. He didn't let that happen of course, he quickly twisted his body sideways making himself a smaller target and moved with his synthetic arm. His sabre twisted around much like it did before and ran down his arm past his elbow but he didn't care about that. He stepped backwards, avoiding the attack but reached out with his now free hand and gripped her wrist tightly.

Before she could try and swap the hands, she used her sabre for or attempt lightening on him again. The Darksabre which since throwing it, just hovered in the air above the dead bodies, quickly flew back into his outstretched hand and he held it in a tight grip. The edge of the black blade resting silently in the air just next to her neck. Promising only one result if she tried anything.

She didn't move for a moment, her hand was raised as if she planned on attacking him in any number of ways and when he looked he could see small sparks of lightening go between her fingers. His face hardened as he saw that and he brought the black blade ever so closer to her, it touched her skin in the smallest of ways, enough to only skim the most out of layers of her skin. After a moment she made her choice and lowered her hand, accepting defeat.

Starkiller slowly stepped back from her, not taking his eyes off her for a moment until he was right in the middle of the platform. For the first time since he arrival, the emperor stood up from his thrown and slowly turned away "Walk with me, Starkiller" he ordered him as he started to move around his thrown and towards a door up against the wall. Knowing that he would be foolish to question his orders, he ran to catch up to him. Caring little for the looks of everyone else present.

The two walked down the well decorated corridors of the palace, they walked side by side but Starkiller may be couple of inches behind the master as should be the case given the two vast differences in position "Lord Vader has trained you well" the master started.

"Yes, he has" Starkiller agreed immediately and without delay.

"You believe that he is a better teacher then I would be?" he asked back just as fast.

"No, my lord" was the quick response, and it was quick but that was only because Starkiller could clearly see the trick in the question "You have trained Mara Jade to become an assassin, that is her purpose. She was not trained to fight so openly with an opponent of my skill set"

"And what skill is that?" he was asked back.

"Lord Vader trained me to be a warrior, I was built and trained for the front lines, I excel at powerful opponents and I will not show mercy to the masses" he told the master, no doubt as he already knew.

"And what, would you say if Lord Vader ordered you to stand by his side and face me?" he asked as she turned his head to look at Starkiller, the hood covering most of his face but he could see one yellow eye peering out at him. The Hand of Vader did not speak for a moment, thinking about the response he would give.

"I would refuse" he said back calmly "I would not stop him, but I would not aid him. If he desires to take your place as the master of the Sith then he must prove he is worthy of that place" he starred right back at the master of the Sith as he spoke.

The emperor turned back forward "and the way to prove that is through strength alone?" he asked.

"Only the strongest, shall rule" was all he head back.

The two stopped walking as they neared a door, it opened upon their arrival, and he could see that it was an elevator. Stepping inside the two stood in silence "You have much more to learn, my young friend" the master of the Sith said as he could feel them go higher into the air.

"Is that why you instructed me to go with the Grand Admiral?" he asked back as they stopped and the door opened "So I could learn more?"

The two stepped out and it wasn't as large as he would have thought, this must have been the very thrown on the empire. But it was a small room on the top of the palaces central spire, it was nothing but glass windows all around the circular chamber. Directly opposite the entrance was a thrown made from black stone that went up a couple of steps above the ground. Starkiller counted seven of the royal guards standing at attention on either side of them and they all saluted as one when the master came in.

They walked together and Starkiller stopped at the base of the steps while the emperor moved up and turned around, slowly sitting on his black throne "leave us" he said to the guards and without any hesitation, they all left the chamber leaving the two of them alone "if any Sith is to truly rise then they must learn all that they can. You may have strength but you lack the ambition to truly understand the Force. That is something that must change" he said to the younger Sith.

"You wish for me to kill and replace my master" he said back with narrowed eyes, this conspiracy and back door dealing was always something he hated.

"Lord Vader had the potential to become the most powerful Force user in the history of the galaxy" he let out a scoff "the chosen one, as the Jedi once called him. I gave him the chance to unlock his true potential but he squandered it" he anger coming from the master was palpable and difficult to ignore "becoming what he is now due to an inability to control his emotions and from their failure"

This was certainly an interesting conversation and not one he was expecting to have, though he had to admit. He found himself not outright hating it as much as he should "I always did wonder why he was in the suit, he's a weaker version of what he used to be"

"Yes" the emperor nodded as he leaned back and placed both his hands on the arm rests "he was at the peak of his strength before his injury, one he has yet to recover from one. I find it very unlikely he will ever recover"

As the master spoke, Starkiller found certain thoughts to be entering his mind and old connections started to go into place "Kenobi" he muttered to himself but it was loud enough to be heard by the master.

A grim smile came onto his face "Yes, Kenobi and Vader battled on the fire beaches of Mustafar. The Jedi proved the victor in that battle and from there, Lord Vader became what he is now, where it not for that loss. I find it difficult to think that it would not be him sitting on this throne instead of me"

"Such is the way of the Sith" he said back as many different things started to make sense to him now. He starred right into the eyes of Lord Sidious before he knelt down to him "what would you have me do?" he asked him.

The emperor did not answer for a moment, though he wasn't looking up at him, the younger Sith could feel the eyes of the master starring at him. Either deep in consideration or simply wanting to see if the silence would get to him and force him to look up "I have found myself growing tired of Lord Vader's service to me, he is certainly powerful in the Force and sabre, no doubt he is the most powerful apprentice I have ever trained. He has reached his limit on what he is willing to learn, he has little interest in understand the true power of the Force, instead only concerning himself with his hunt and mulling over the loss he suffered so long ago" Starkiller had no idea what it was the emperor was referring to but he was not going to do something as foolish as interrupt him "while may claim to also not feel a desire to learn more, I sense there is much that can be changed, there are many different features about you personality that can be moulded. With time, you may become what Lord Vader could not"

Starkiller could hear the lord of the Sith stand from his throne and make his way downwards towards him, his feet gently pressing against the marble floor "you will only challenge Lord Vader openly? So be it, this shall be your mission now, my young friend. You have six months to grow as strong as you can. At the end of that time you shall challenge your master, from there. We shall see if you truly have what it takes to become a true Lord of the Sith"

The orders where on the table, he would not disobey them. He rose to his feet, he held a good height over the master and looked down into his yellow eyes "It shall be done, my Lord" he added before turning to leave. If this was to be his mission then he could not afford to waste any more time with social events or dealing with politicians.

He needed to get back to training.

Ok everyone, we shall leave it there. I got to say sorry if there are any mistakes. There's probably a lot but I'm kinda in a rush here so you'll have bare with me. So yeah, we have the first meeting between the Emperor and Starkiller. I hope you all liked it.

I wanted to say that I'm going away tomorrow so while the next chapter is mostly done, there may be a delay that means it won't be up next Sunday but it may be soon after.

So yeah, let me know what you all think and I'll see you in the next chapter.