.5 BBY

Imperial Star Destroyer Executor

As the transmission to his daughter ended Darth Vader walked out of the holo projection room and walked to the bridge of his super star destroyer and looked out the viewport at the Death Star. The Emperor had ordered him to assist Grand Moff Tarkin with the final phase of construction; but right now he had other things on his mind, so he was going to Vjun until one of them returned. He told Emperor that he was going to assist in hunting down the stolen plans. But for Vader it was time to determine which of his two apprentices was worthy of the title Sith Lord and would thus help him overthrow The Emperor. His meditations foresaw Starkiller defeating Leia at times, at others Leia defeated Starkiller. Both were strong in the force and he wouldn't know until one of them returned. Not knowing was very odd for Vader whose visions were usually clear cut.

He had been planning this confrontation for years. Where Leia had been taught in the traditional method; he had done the opposite with Starkiller teaching him the basics and allowing him to develop on his own. It was an experiment to see which method yielded the stronger Sith. So far both had proven to be apt pupils, learning and growing stronger than Vader hoped. Whoever returned would be a very powerful ally indeed.

He had sent both to Korriban, a dead planet that was the former home world of the Sith Empire that was founded over six thousand years ago. Many variations of that empire had made the world their home. Training their acolytes to be Sith Lords at the ancient Sith academy, fighting each other for the title Dark Lord of the Sith, betraying one another. A thousand years ago Darth Bane destroyed the last group to claim the ancient home world. The Brotherhood of Darkness had been tricked by Bane into destroying itself after dubbing him to weak to be a proper Sith. That was when had implemented the rule of two. That was why Vader had pitted his two apprentices against one another. After they defeated The Emperor there would be two Sith again. One to embody the power and one to crave it. Only the strong were worthy.

Korriban

The Rogue Shadow dropped out of hyperspace and Juno Eclipse checked her scanners for any other ships in the system and on the planet. A lone ship was on the surface in the very valley they were heading to.

"Sir, Scanners are showing an unidentified ship in the Valley of the Dark Lords; about one kilometer from the ancient Sith Academy" Juno reported to Starkiller

"That's odd. According to PROXY Korriban isn't even on any star maps. Either the Sith or Jedi didn't want anyone knowing where it was" Starkiller said. After thinking about it for a moment he added "Whoever that is must be my test."

"Juno, engage the cloaking device. I don't want whoever is down there knowing we're here until I'm ready to strike" he ordered his pilot before turning to his droid "PROXY, can you identify what kind of ship that is"

PROXY studied the image before him and scanned his databank before replying "Why that's a Sith Interceptor. The last one was believed destroyed over a thousand years ago during the war with the Brotherhood of Darkness"

Starkiller turned back around in the copilot seat and wondered who would be on Korriban in a ship nobody has seen for a thousand years.

Ord Mantell

Colonel Redstar was walking through the streets of Ord Mantell City flanked by a squad of storm troopers. He had occupied the city two days prior with three legions of the Empires best storm troopers, including Vader's legendary 501st. So far the rebel group responsible for stealing the death star plans was proving be very elusive. While they had captured a number of fugitives wanted by the empire there had been no sign of the group known as Rogue One. He had ordered the captured fugitives questioned just in case one of them might know something; but so far nothing significant to his mission had been learned. Little did he know not even two hundred meters from his current location the very group he was hunting was watching him nervously. Five males and a female sat huddled in an apartment trying to figure out how to escape the imperial occupation.

"Colonel Redstar sir, my men have just captured a woman that's a known rebel spy" one of the storm trooper commanders said running up to him

"Finally! A break" Colonel Redstar said "take me to her at once"

The storm trooper commander led the way to an apartment not far from the cantina. Inside was a red-haired woman bound in stuff cuffs being interrogated by a squad leader inside. She had clearly been beaten a bit, there was a cut on her lip and red puffiness around her eyes. Colonel Redstar entered the room as the squad leader was about to deliver another blow before the Colonel stopped him.

"That will be enough trooper. We have people who specialize in extracting information from scum like this. Have your men search the apartment" he ordered the troopers.

"Yes sir!" several troopers replied in unison.

Colonel Redstar walked up to the woman on the floor "What's your name?" he asked

The red-haired woman didn't respond and instead gave him an icy stare. This was about what he had expected to get from the rebel.

"Eventually you will break" he told her "All of you do, usually rather quickly I might add"

His comment once again was met with a stone cold glare that he recognized as hatred. A trooper came up behind him and handed him an identification chip showing the woman was from Alderaan. Colonel Redstar decided to see if he could push the woman's buttons a little bit before she was taken to the interrogators.

"Soresa SolarWind of Alderaan. I thought you Alderaanians were a peaceful people. At least that's what Bail Organa told us during his interrogation. Yet here we have member of his people fighting the empire." he said watching her reaction "that doesn't sound very peaceful to me"

Once again she said nothing; but the look of hatred on her face increased in intensity. He was getting to her, he could tell. Just a little more twisting of the vibroblade was all it would take.

"Alderaanians do prove to be a tough bunch under interrogation. It took six hours for Bail Organa to break. That's the record. He was a blubbering mess by the end though as he spilled all his secrets. Did you know he kidnapped one of his daughters from a fellow senator?" He said watching her reaction.

"Liar, Bail Organa would never do such a thing. Wait until we get him out of the Kessel mines. He'll bring the fight to you imp sand suckers. You stole his daughter, our princess, how could you expect us not to fight you." she said

Colonel Redstar knew he had gotten to her. A smile creased his face as he squatted down to look her in the eye.

"I assure you, that will never happen. You see, Bail Organa died fifteen years ago screaming like a stuck bantha and his so called daughter was returned to her rightful father. In fact, your princess was the one who finally ended his traitorous existence" He told her as she tried to hide the look of horror that crossed her face and she shook her head in disbelief.

"LIAR!" She said and spit blood in his face.

He stood up and pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped the bloody spit off his face. "That was exactly what your princess said before cutting open his chest and relieving him of his head" he turned to the commander of his storm troopers "take her to the interrogators aboard the Vengeance. Tell them I want the location of those plans"

Korriban

The Rogue Shadow landed half a kilometer from the Academy, halfway between the mysterious ship and the ancient edifice. He had told PROXY to do what he could to disable the ship in case whoever was here was able to slip past them and try to escape.

Upon exiting the ship, Starkiller could feel his powers growing in the dark side. Amplified by the ghosts of long dead Sith no doubt. He could hear them whispering to him through the force, though he couldn't make out what they were saying. As he moved along the valley floor he kept passing the bodies of dead animals. All of them were fresh kills by a lightsaber blade, he was sure. Whoever had landed before him had had to battle their way up to the academy.

As he reached the doors he reached out with the force trying to locate the mysterious stranger but the planet was to steeped in the dark side to get any kind of idea. All he was able to sense for sure was that they were somewhere in the academy. He reached up and pulled the large doors open and went inside.

Leia crept along the halls of the ancient Sith Academy with her lightsaber ready but not ignited. She had arrived on the planet fourteen hours ago. She had landed in the valley and had been forced to battle many of the planets creatures; Tuk'ata, wraids, hssiss and shyracks all feeding off the dark side for power, just to reach the ancient doors. She was sure the beasts weren't her tests, Vader would never make it that easy for her. No, whatever it was would no doubt result in death if she failed.

She was on the third floor where the ancient dark council used to hold their sessions when she heard the large doors to the academy open. Cloaking her presence and using force camouflage she moved to a position that allowed her to look down into the great hall. Her mandalorian mask allowed her to see things normally hidden by shadows or the dark. She saw a figure in dark robes similar to hers, walk in and stop in the center to look around. Her test was no doubt to kill this person. The figure unclipped a lightsaber from their belt and disappeared down a hallway to the right. As quietly and as quickly as she could, Leia followed.

Starkiller stopped in the Great Hall and let his eyes adjust to the dark. He could sense he was being watched but as he looked around he couldn't tell where the mysterious figure was. Off to his right he noticed a corridor. He would lead them down there and strike from the shadows, he thought to himself. Whoever they were he could tell they were no Jedi, they had the power of the dark side. He turned and went down the hall about a hundred meters and slipped into a room and waited.

Leia followed down the hallway sticking to the walls, still camouflaged, looking for her prey. She could feel them waiting for her; looking for an opportunity to strike. The dark side was strong with them. As she passed a room on her left, she could sense them hiding in there. She moved a little farther down the wall and stopped to watch the door. She would wait until they grew impatient and attack when they came out.

Starkiller thought he heard footsteps approach and pass the door but he hadn't seen anyone. As they faded down the hall he waited for them to come back. When they got close again he would leap out and strike them down. He closed his eyes and felt the dark side flow through him, he drew strength from it.

He had been waiting for awhile and was growing impatient. Where did the mysterious figure go? He reached out again trying to locate them and couldn't. Guessing they had gone down the hall to a lower level Starkiller started to quietly stalk his stalker.

He had just stepped into the hallway looking to his right when he heard a snap-hiss and the hallway was suddenly illuminated in a purple light. He rolled away from his attacker, in the direction of great hall, just in time to avoid the strike. Adding the red light of his own lightsaber to the mix, he hopped back to his feet and finally got a good look at the mysterious figure. What he saw was a woman dressed much like himself wearing a battle mask. The figure moved forward to strike again.

Imperial Star Destroyer Vengeance

Standing in the holo projection room aboard the Vengeance, Colonel Redstar was giving his report on the Ord Mantell operation to Darth Vader. The rebel spy, Soresa SolarWind, had died during her interrogation. But not before confirming that she had indeed received the technical readouts for the death star and had passed them along to a cell in the Arkanis sector.

"We have just arrived in the Tatoo system my lord" Colonel Redstar reported "I've requested several more ships to help patrol other nearby systems in this sector."

"Your search is taking far longer than I or The Emperor planned Colonel Redstar." The image of Vader said. "Your interrogators should not have been so eager. Killing the rebel before she had told you everything may cost us"

"Yes my lord, the interrogator who did the questioning has been reprimanded and demoted" Colonel Redstar said nervously.

"Do not report another failure colonel. I will not be so forgiving next time" Vader said as his image flickered and disappeared.

Korriban

Leia pushed her opponent back towards the great hall. Once again she was using the Juyo form, she liked its aggressiveness. He was holding his own against her and Leia got the feeling he wanted her in the great hall a place where there would more room for him to move around. That too could work to Leia's advantage. As their blades crashed together again she stuck out her left hand, while holding her lightsaber with her right, and pushed him with the force into the great hall.

Once he landed she leapt at him and brought her violet blade down, burning a line in the floor where his head should have been. Sensing danger, Leia ducked just in time to avoid the red blade coming at her from behind. After it passed over her, she stood and deflected another strike as she and her opponent started circling each other.

"You're strong in the dark side" he told her "but not strong enough!"

With that he lashed out again but she was able to deflect it and attempt a strike of her own, which he also blocked. She tried to kick his legs out from under him but he easily avoided and tried to bring his blade down on her head leaving his torso open. She couldn't move her blade to strike with; so instead she punched him in the gut and watched him stagger backwards.

Whoever she is, she's been trained well. Starkiller though to himself. It didn't matter though; he knew he could defeat her. He charged in for another assault but she blocked it as she stepped to the side attempting to counter, which he in turn blocked. She came in for another attack of her own but Starkiller kicked her lightsaber hand and swung for her head with his own blade. She bent over backwards to avoid the blow, by sliding under it; but not before his blade grazed the mask causing it to spark where he made contact.

Spinning back around he noticed she had backed up and had thrown the now useless mask to the side. What he saw was a light skinned girl about his own age with brown hair and the yellow eyes of a Sith.

"that was very impressive" he said "Tell me, who trained you?"

"My father trained me and you will find I am full of surprises" she said moving her violet blade horizontally as a second one appeared.

She dashed forward twirling the saberstaff around her body as she did so. Two blades, while unexpected, did not deter him. He blocked all her strikes as he circled backwards around the hall and up a set of steps to get to higher ground.

Leia attacked, feeding on the dark side as she did so, allowing it to flow through and amplify her anger. Her adversary was strong but she had doubt he could be defeated. He was backing up a staircase attempting to gain an advantage over her. His foot slipped as he reached the top and Leia lunged forward at the opportunity, stabbing with one of her blades only to have it knocked aside by his. He rolled backwards out of the way and regained his footing as she reached the top as well.

"I would really like to meet your father. He must be very powerful to have trained one such as you" he said

"he is powerful, but unfortunately you won't live long enough to ever meet him" she replied

"Oh, I think I shall have a long and fruitful life" he said, lashing out at her again.

His blow struck her blade with a crack, and once again he was unable to penetrate her defenses, but at least now she was on the defensive instead of him. She backed up along the walkway on the second floor of the ancient academy blocking his attacks as if it were just practice for her. Starkiller had never liked dealing with two blades when sparring with PROXY, and didn't like it now, but it was not something new to him; he knew just how to neutralize the advantage she held. While it wouldn't be a killing blow, it would take one of the blades out of the equation.

He made as if to swing for her head but at last moment, as she went to block his strike, he aimed for her lightsaber hilt instead cutting it in half. She very quickly threw the useless half to the side and continued blocking his attempts to penetrate her defenses. He noticed she had switched her fighting style to accommodate for the loss of her second blade. It was the same style PROXY use when fighting as Jedi Master Plo Koon. It wasn't a very effective style in his opinion, it left the user open to being disarmed by an opponent with a blade, which is exactly what he would attempt next. Instead of the killing blows he had been attempting, he struck for her hand. As expected, she blocked the blow from the wrong angle and his blade found its way through her right wrist; severing her as she screamed in pain. Her hand and lightsaber flew over the railing as he hit her with a blast of lightning and sent her over after them.

Tatooine

Luke was doing a handstand outside the hut levitating everything he could sense through the force. Ahsoka Tano watched the boy, pleased at how strong his connection to the force was. She had told Obi-Wan several times in the last year that there was no more she could teach the nineteen-year-old. They had even discussed granting him the rank of Jedi Knight but Obi-Wan was still on the fence. Suddenly Luke yelled out and fell to the ground clutching his right hand. Ahsoka ran over to her Padawan.

"Luke! What happened?" She asked as she ran up.

He was sitting on the ground clutching his hand "I don't know Master Ahsoka, I was meditating and all of sudden it felt like…. like I don't know, like someone just tried to sever my hand and then I don't know my chest felt…it was painful whatever was." he said.

"Come on, let's get you inside" she said picking her student and leading him to the hut.

Korriban

Starkiller hopped on the railing of the balcony and looked down into the great hall at his opponent. He was almost sure she was dead since she wasn't moving. If she was alive she didn't appear to be conscious and he was about hit her with another blast of lighting, to be sure, but instead he decided to savor the moment. He had passed Vader's test and would be given the title of Sith Lord. He jumped down to the great hall from the railing.

Leia watched as he jumped and at the last possible moment called her lightsaber to the one hand she had left and rolled out of the way onto her feet. He landed with his back to her just as she ignited the violet blade and thrust it through his back.

"But how?" he said shocked staring at the violet light protruding from his chest "You were defeated."

"Not quite" she said pulling her blade out of his back and then decapitating him with it.

As his body dropped to the stone floor she heard a comlink go off. She reached down and searched his pockets and upon finding it pulled it out.

"Starkiller, what's going on? A dark wave just shot up from the academy" A female voice said

Leia eyed the comlink for a second, if he had a pilot she could use them to return home. Flying her ship would be difficult with only one hand. While she was sure with the force she could accomplish the task easily, but it would be much nicer to have someone do the flying for her.

"Identify yourself" Leia commanded the voice on the other end of the comlink

"This is Captain Juno Eclipse of the Imperial fleet. Who is this?" Juno asked

"This is Darth Vader's apprentice. My name is Leia Organa. Imperial authorization code A71312" Leia said as she waited for Captain Eclipse to verify her code.

"Yes ma'am, your code checks out. Please, what happened to Starkiller?" Juno asked

"I'll fill you in on the ride to Vjun, until then prep the ship for take off. Do you have anyone with you?" Leia asked.

"Yes I have a droid named PROXY with me. He serves as my astromech and was Starkiller's servant droid" Juno replied.

Leia looked down at the body of Starkiller. If this man had a PROXY droid that meant, he had been trained by Vader. Now Leia understood, her father had been training both of them. He must have sent them both here to learn who was stronger by having them fight to the death. Leia understood, if she died she would be useless to her father; the opposite being true for this Starkiller.

"Can your PROXY droid pilot a ship?" she asked

After learning that PROXY could indeed fly her ship, Leia ordered the droid to input the coordinates Vjun and take her interceptor while she rode with Captain Eclipse. Taking one last look at the body of Starkiller Leia grabbed his lightsaber and left the ancient Academy to the dead.

Vjun

Darth Vader was sitting in his office in Bast Castle, waiting for the return of either Starkiller or his daughter when one of his servants told that him a ship had been picked up entering the system. Turning on his personal display he saw it was a Sith interceptor. Another ship dropped out of hyperspace behind it, it was the Rogue Shadow. Vader stretched with the force trying to sense a trap, and instead sensed only his daughter and Juno Eclipse. So, Leia was the one to prove the self worthy, he thought to himself. He gave clearance for the Rogue Shadow to land as well and waited for them. Leia finally entered his office followed by the blonde haired pilot. He couldn't help but noticed Leia was missing her right hand as she presented Starkillers lightsaber to him.

Vader turned to Juno "Captain Eclipse, since Starkiller is no more you now work for my daughter. The orders I gave you for Starkiller now apply to her." He said

"Yes Lord Vader" Juno replied before Vader dismissed her.

"You have done well" he said "My apprentice"

"Thank you father" Leia replied

"Starkiller was weak. I had trained both of you to see who was stronger. Now that you have proven yourself you ready for the title of Sith Lord" he said "From the day forward you shall be known as…Darth Vindicta"