Chapter 6

Tharkeen City, Ryloth

Tharkeen City was a subterranean city like many of the settlements on Ryloth. It was colder than most, as it was situated at the very edge of the border between the habitable regions and the Night Side. The city was lit by hordes of genetically modified Ice Crystal plants that dimmed and brightened every 30 or so hours to give the impression of day and night. Tharkeen was infamous for the number of slavers and off worlders that resided there, mostly spending there time in the various bars and casinos.

In one of these bars, filled with roaring and laughing off worlders, a lone hooded figure sat silently on a stool, slowly sipping his drink and staring intently at a Rylothean ice gnat crawling in front of him. He seemed to be waiting for something. A portly green skinned male Twi'lek sitting near him, got up and walked over. He reached into his cloak and began talking to the loner in heavily accented basic.

'So…your not from hear, eh? Vosk show you around, I'm good at that, I can show you where you get all the good slaves, where the best drinks are. What do you say?'

The lone figure chuckled deeply and slowly lowered his hood, revealing two vicious looking devil horns protruding from a red tinged forehead. The Twi'lek gasped in horror and drew back.

'Vosk Arisith. Long time no see. I see your still running that touring scam,' grinned Wrath.

The Twi'lek, Vosk, bolted in the other direction, pushing past the crowd with a look of sheer horror on his face. Wrath slowly got up from his seat with a sigh, and in an instant, a blaster bolt, set on stun, collided with the fleeing Twi'lek's leg, sending him crashing to the ground. Behind him, another Twi'lek eyed Wrath menacingly. He reached for his blaster but suddenly screamed in pain as his hand was transfixed to the table by a shivering Vibro-dagger. He looked up to see the hideous pig like face of a Gamorrean grinning down at him.

Wrath holstered his smoking pistol and walked calmly over to where Vosk lay on the floor, clutching convulsively at his smoking, but still intact leg. Wrath dragged him to his feet and dusted him off with a seemingly friendly grin. Suddenly, his expression turned to one of range and he lifted the terrified Twi'lek clear off the ground by the front of his shirt before slamming him against the wall with brutal force.

'You think I've forgotten after all of these years Vosk? How you cheated me out of my bounty and took all the money for yourself? Well you know what?'

Wrath snarled and glared at Vosk straight in the eye. He saw the fear in them.

'I always hold a grudge.'

Vosk gasped for breath, almost sobbing in fear. 'I…I sorry! You gotta learn to get over things you know?'

Wrath grinned a predator's grin. 'I might….if you tell me something about young Cirus Secura. Y'see, he and a few pals of his seem to have crash landed on the Night Side of this gods forsaken rock you call a planet. And I'm betting you know where they're headed.'

Vosk started to look even more afraid. 'No way, no way, Vosk ain't wanting NOTHING to do with the Dark Blizzard. NOTHING!' His eyes flitted around, frantically searching for an escape route as a pair of Gamorreans loomed up behind Wrath. They held an array of menacing weapons and were looking at Vosk like he was their new chew toy.

'Dark Blizzard. They're like some kind of revolutionist clan, got some crazy idea bout 'a truly free galaxy' and 'the coming of the dark saviour'. They have some kind of deep underground night side fortress. Uh uh, I need to keep my head out of their business if I want to keep it on my shoulders.'

Wrath pressed his gleaming pistol under Vosk's chin.

'Do I look like I'm about to let you keep it either?'

Vosk gulped and slowly shook his head.

Wrath grinned malevolently. 'And that's why whether you like it or not, your gonna hall your scum infested ass down those tunnels and take me and my men to our bounty. Are we clear?'

A bead of sweat trickled down Vosk's forehead. 'Yes.' Wrath released the quivering Twi'lek and with out warning, shot a blaster bolt into the roof. It bounced around, narrowly missing a cursing mercenary.

'None of you saw anything. And if you did, I'll personally make sure that not a single one of you lives to tell anyone.'

Without another word, Wrath wheeled around and stalked out the door as a pair of Gamorreans roughly dragged Vosk along with them. Wrath muttered under his breath, 'No crack pot bunch of tentacle headed jerks are gonna steal the prize of the greatest bounty hunter in the world.'

Vosk looked up briefly at the Devaronian's words. He gulped, knowing that soon enough, Wrath was going to regret them.

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Kit's eyes slowly pried themselves forward as he returned to consciousness. He winced as his back screamed in pain. Kit tried to move his arms and legs but found that they were firmly bound to a wall with cold durasteel chains. His eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness and he surveyed his surroundings.

Dark stone walls, lit by a single flickering light hanging from the roof were all that Kit saw. A few meters in front of him, a primitive heavy durasteel door stood engraved in the stone in front of the immobilized Jedi Knight.

Kit closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to remember what had happened. Flashes of memory…..a purple lightsaber….Aayla! Kit's eyes snapped open. What had happened to her? Had they taken her two? He began to weakly struggle against his bonds, still fatigued from the saber cut across his back. Then Kit remembered. The wave of darkness. Aayla had fallen to the dark side. Kit sighed. This had gotten out of hand.

He lay slumped against the wall for a length of time, slowly contemplating his fate. Then the door creaked open. Kit snapped to attention, hand instinctively darting towards his belt. His hand groped around for his saber, but it wasn't there.

A woman sauntered through the gaping door way and stepped into the dim light in front of Kit. She was a female human, only about 22 or 23 years of age by Kit's reckoning. The woman wore a tight fitting night black jump suit that accentuated her slim figure, a contrast to her pale white skin. Longcrimson hair cascaded down to below her shoulders. A lightsaber handgrip hung from her waist. But her eyes were what struck Kit. The dull emerald orbs told a wordless story of such pain that Kit cringed. Those eyes were far too old for someone so young. They radiated the dark side.

For a while, the woman just stood there, perfectly still, her eyes burning into Kit's. After what seemed like an eternity, Kit finally spoke.

'Who…who are you? And what is this place?'

The woman continued staring at Kit and her lips parted to speak. 'You're not in a position to be asking questions, Master Jedi,' she whispered in a cold voice that echoed her dark surroundings. 'But nevertheless I will answer them. My name is Lucia. That is all you need to know about who I am. More will be revealed at a later time. And you are being held captive in the stronghold of the Dark Blizzard.'

Kit raised an eyebrow. 'The Dark Blizzard?'

Lucia shrugged. 'We are merely outcasts, shunned by society, who have banded together to bring an end to all of this war. This hatred brought on by your politics and your insatiable desire to have control over everything uncontrollable.' Lucia's face grew sadder. 'Even the Force.'

Kit grimaced. 'You're separatists. Even worse you're Sith.'

Lucia's look of sadness immediately transformed into one of anger. 'You're just like all of the other Republicans. You believe that everyone who wishes to be free is a Separatist. Not all people wish to follow the Republic's mindless control. '

'The Republic is all about spreading freedom. That is what we do. We create, order, control, civilization,' said Kit. Lucia shook her head with something that looked like pity and moved closer to Kit.

'Freedom. The Republic slogan,' she spat. 'And you enforce rules upon us, telling us how to live, trying to make us 'civilized'. Even you Jedi. You seek to control the Force, use it to 'bring peace to the galaxy. The Force isn't a tool. It is the embodiment of all that is free. It needs to control you. We are no Sith. There is no light no dark. Just freedom and oppression. You Jedi and you're false light are the true Dark Side. And answer me this Jedi, what does the Republic do when it's people don't want to be 'civilized'? When they want to live without the constraints of it's rules and 'justice'?' Lucia clenched a quivering fist. 'They crush them. This is how the war started. Can't you see that people want to be truly free? Without the shackles of society. And the Dark Blizzard is here to give it to them. Whether they want it or not. We will dismantle both the Separatists and the Galactic Republic. But we need your friend Aayla Secura.'

Kit looked up, alarmed. 'Aayla? How do you know her name? And what does she have to do with this?'

'We know her name as we do yours Kit Fisto. Your mind betrays more of you than your words. It seems….that many of us believe, that it is either your friend Aayla, or her cousin Cirus that is the Dark Saviour according to our prophecy. We already have Cirus, and now all we need is Aayla. We will capture her and test them both to see who will truly lead us.'

Kit glared at Lucia. 'Aayla would never join you and neither would I.'

Lucia looked at Kit with pity etched on her face and walked slowly forward and gently touched his chin with her long slender fingers. 'Oh no my Jedi friend, you are far too old. Too engraved with the Jedi way, your corrupted ideals. But Aayla on the other hand is young, and confused, much like I was. We will find a way just as we did with Cirus.'

Kit drew back. 'Then what do you want with me? I'm no use to you.'

'You would prefer that we kill you? No, you have your uses Kit. It seems that young Aayla is rather attached to you. And we will use that to our advantage. Then, and only then, we kill you.'

Without another word, Lucia moved away and walked out the door. It slammed shut.

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Vosk Arisith trudged through the darkness of the tunnels, arms held by two burly Gamorreans, their way lit by a shaft of light glimmering from a glow-stick. Behind the trio Wrath followed, eyes surveying all that happened around them, hand never far from his blaster.

'Are you sure you know where we're going? You better no be leading us to our deaths Arisith.' He said. Vosk merely shrugged and walked on, occasionally twisting across a corner. Wrath grumbled and followed close behind. Soon, the tunnels became gradually wider and wider, the walls were scratched and smeared with dark stains. A chill traveled up the Devaronian bounty hunter's neck as a twisted skeleton, propped up on a stalagmite, stared balefully at him with soulless dark sockets.

Suddenly, the Twi'lek stopped moving and stood stock still. One of the Gamorreans, looking puzzled, gently shoved Vosk as a signal to keep moving. Vosk didn't budge and motioned for his captors to be silent. The Gamorrean began to look angry and raised his ham like fist. Before it could crash down onto the Twi'lek's skull, a restraining hand caught the Gamorrean's wrist.

Wrath went to Vosk's side and whispered into his ear. 'What is it?' he said, an edge of uneasiness in the Devaronian's voice. Vosk slowly turned his head to face Wrath.

'Listen.'

Wrath listened closely, straining to hear any sound. Then he heard it. A low rumbling thumping sound. It was getting louder. He hissed into the terrified Twi'lek's ear. 'What the hell is that?'

Vosk gulped and bit his bottom lip to stop it from quivering. 'Well boss, we Twileks have this, how do you say it…..urban legend going around about a monster in the caves. Y'see, a while ago, some adventurers went into the caverns and only one came back, minus one arm. He was rambling on about some kind of evil monster eating all his mates and guarding some treasure. Some people went inside but no one could find anything. Some say it's a rogue Krayt dragon that managed to find it's way inside, or an oversized doashim.'

Wrath gripped Vosk's arm in a vice like grip. 'And is this Urban legend true?'

Vosk smiled weakly. 'Well, looks like we're going to find out whether we like it or not, huh boss?' His voice was drowned out by a deafening roar.