"Your friend is strong, that much is apparent. He survives what would kill a normal man." The shadow reached out to his captive and put his hand on the prisoner's cheek. "When he arrives, I will feed on both your souls, and you both will become my slaves."

The prisoner spat at the shadow, but the glob of saliva never made it. It just halted in midair, and was then shot back in the prisoner's face. Even with his own spit running down his cheek, he remained defiant. "Piroc won't die by your hand. He'll kill you. He's more dangerous than you know."

The shadow laughed, a dark sound in the darkness of the room. "I look forward to the challenge I haven't had in years. Even the Clone Wars didn't challenge me!" The shadowy figure paced back and forth, rubbing his hands together in glee. "The Emperor has no idea what I am. I will supplant him, and make all beings in the galaxy my slaves, like my technobeasts here. Then everyone will recognize true power, and bow before me."

"Your madness will be your downfall."

"And your faith in your friend will be yours. I look forward to destroying you both."

Shola

I pulled myself up and over the lip of the cliff as silently as I could. I didn't want the horrors of the castle overrunning me before I reached Roykin. I brought up my M-5 and checked my surroundings. I was on some sort of balcony, with two entries to the castle. I chose the rightmost one, and cautiously entered.

The walls were dark and gloomy, and were utterly devoid of any decoration or anything. There were no lights. There was no artwork on the walls. Nothing at all. I activated my helmet's night-for-day vision and proceeded forward. And, from somewhere ahead of me, there came another chilling scream. My heart began to race, and I could feel adrenaline in my veins, but I fought the urge to rush. Rushing gave me a better opportunity to make a mistake, and I wasn't willing to risk it.

I worked my way forward, towards the innards of the castle. I moved silently and with great caution. I stopped to check every doorway off the main one I seemed to be in. Nothing stirred in this massive fortress. It was like it was empty. But I knew this wasn't the case. There was some sort of aura here, and it was pervasive. It was like this place was alive, somehow radiating power and… darkness. That was the only word that made sense. It was haunting.

And suddenly, the hallway ended in a massive chamber. It was impressive in size, probably a banquet hall or something similar in the days it was inhabited. My night-for-day vision, however, couldn't see every corner of the room, leaving shadowy expanses at the edges of my vision.

Did something hide in the shadows?

Was there something else here?

I kept my M-5 up and ready. I would gladly shoot and kill first and probably skip the question-asking right now. I haven't ever felt such dread. The atmosphere of the castle as well as the Force-powered attack on the Call of Destiny and the stories of a Dark Jedi and mindless minions really had me worried for my own well-being.

Suddenly, something moved to my left.

I swung my rifle up and fired, dropping the something in its tracks. But there were a hell of a lot more somethings, suddenly coming to life all over the chamber. They crawled off the walls and fell from the ceiling. My friend-or-foe identifier in my helmet tagged over a hundred moving bipedal objects, but it was picking up minimal life signs from each. In fact, it was almost as if they were moving dead men, as there was minimal heartbeat or breathing. Cyborgs, perhaps? But that didn't seem possible.

What the hell did I walk into?

I began to fire, systematically mowing down object after object as I quickly backed into the hallway I came in from. Hopefully that would allow me to funnel opposition in from one direction and take them down a couple at a time.

I got maybe twenty feet down the corridor, firing all the way, when my HUD pinged movement behind me. They had boxed me in. Fierfek, I had seriously miscalculated.

I kept my M-5 up with my right hand, while with my left I reached into a belt pouch and pulled out a thermal detonator. I armed it and lobbed it down the corridor. I spun and fired behind me as several of the bipedal monsters came out of the shadows, while from the direction of the massive chamber I could hear the blast of the detonator as it went off.

My HUD read fewer monsters, but there were still a hell of a lot. I switched my M-5 to my left hand, firing in the direction of the chamber, while with my right I drew my Bryar and began to fire in both directions.

It was a war of attrition, and I was losing. I would run out of ammo long before they ran out of bodies to throw at me. I holstered the Bryar and armed my gauntlet flamethrower.

But I never had the chance to use it. My HUD picked up more movement from a third direction.

I had forgotten the side passages!

My 360 degree vision registered something leaping from a side passageway. I felt a hard impact across my helmet, and with a jolt of pain as I hit the ground hard. The last thing I saw before my vision faded was a metallic foot smash down on my M-5 rifle, crushing it.

***

The first thing I heard when I regained consciousness was mad cackling. My eyes slowly opened, and as the fog cleared from them I could see I was in some sort of dungeon-like chamber. It was dark, and I could see little. My helmet had been removed, and for the first time in a day I felt cold air on my face.

I dim light came on, and I could see a little better. I looked around. I was chained by thick links hanging from the ceiling, and my feet just barely touched the ground. My helmet, my Bryar, and my two WESTAR blasters lay on the floor at my feet. I looked to my right and saw Roykin, hung similarly to me about six feet away. He looked bad. He still wore his pale green armor, but the chest plate had splashes of dark red on it. Judging by the way his face looked, it was blood. His blood.

I lifted my head and saw my captor for the first time. He wore a dark grey cloak, completely shrouding his features. I could tell it was a male by the build, even under the robe: broad shoulders and tall, well over six feet. The hood of the cloak completely shrouded his features. He was surely the source of the cackling I heard.

"So you at last awaken," the shadowy figured mewed. The voice was oily, almost slimy and reptilian in quality. "Your display in the corridors of my castle was rather impressive. You're quite the fighter."

"Let me go and I'll show you a fight," I snarled.

The hooded figure laughed again. "Perhaps, in time, I will decide to test your combat abilities firsthand. But only after you become my slave."

My eyes widened. "What?"

"Yes, my slave. It's a shame you couldn't see my beautiful creations in their entire splendor. Your vision in the dark is poor, for sure, but my metanecron would impress even you if you could have seen them." He gestured to his right. "See for yourself."

I turned, and I gasped in outright horror. It was disgusting. It was bipedal, as I could tell during my rather brief fight. It looked like a fusion of a human and machine parts. Complete sections of body were gone, replaced with machine parts, like a droid. Even the face was gone, and in its stead was a metal mass with a blinking red diode in place of an eye. Both arms ended in scythe-like blades.

"It's called a metanecron, or a technobeast, whichever you prefer. It's a lost, but now rediscovered, Dark Side art used during the New Sith Wars. It's a virus that infects a host and slowly turns flesh to metal. Beautiful, isn't it?"

"It's hideous and perverse!" I spat. "I refuse to become one of them."

"You hardly are in a position to refuse. And I didn't intend to give you a choice." The shadow moved to the right, towards the door, which apparently the technobeast was guarding. "I'll leave you for now. I have much to do, and it appears you deserve a reunion with your friend. When I return, I will feed on your soul and you will become a slave to my will."

"What? My soul?" I couldn't even believe what I was hearing.

"Ah, your ears work. Astounding." With that the shadow left, followed by the technobeast guard. The door swung shut and I could hear the slam of a heavy bolt sliding into place.

With that, I was trapped, with both myself and Roykin, who looked injured and unconscious, in the lair of some sort of Dark Jedi.