The Galactic Exodus Chronicles Part 2 :The Galactic Civil War

by Lord Exar Kun

Now with the rebels dealt a mighty blow, and the renegade Moffs about to strike, the galaxy finds itself moving closer and closer to full blown war! The Galactic Civil War is about to be unleashed upon an unsuspecting galaxy, and this is not the war you remember in the least. Follow Exar Kun, Darth Vader, Leia, the Emperor, and everyone else through this next chapter of the GEC.

48. Chapter 48

Chapter 48

(Coruscant, Imperial Palace, Science Labs)

Kalev Zalliste prided himself on being a man of particular tastes in life, and a flare for the, shall we say, more scientifically fringe work the Empire asked of the scientific community! Oh sure there was biological warfare, which after a while of watching bio-toxins, viruses, and bacteria warp living cells grew too boring, and the same was said by Kalev of chemical warfare study and implementation too. Then there was genetic experimentation to make super-soldiers, rabid aliens bent on killing for the Emperor, and cyborg armies of half crazed doped up fiends in metal armored suits made for the art of killing and war. Yet nothing really worked for him other than working on the very important work he committed on the little bacteria called Midi-Chlorians. The Force was what Kalev considered to be the new height in which humanity would ascend in natural selection of weak being rooted out and destroyed, eaten, or absorbed by the strong, and the Sith, and even the Jedi to a degree before them, were the next step in evolution across the board. He did not have the ability to use the Force. His whole race did not despite their inherent strength in the Force and natural affinity they were all cut off from its power, and that was not to be the way of the Karthasian people of Corat! His people were by far the most superior of the human races across the galaxy, and he was to be damned if he was going to allow the likes of Twi'lek, Hutt, Togruta, Wookiee, and Nautolan to ascend to levels his people had not yet reached! Of course Valek, his oh so precious and powerful son was his greatest breakthrough, and his greatest project! It only took eighty-eight times of failures to do so, and eighty-eight itself was a failure for being but just the wrong gender, but he terminated that useless organism and thus assured of Valek's masculinity through his own brilliance and biological and genetic science when he used his test subject to create Valek.

Valek was to be the only male of Karthasian and Corat itself to be born capable of tapping into the Midi-Chlorians in his blood thanks to the strong genes of he and his mother, whom Kalev would refuse to ever speak of. The less said of that whole incident the better really, and Kalev didn't have time to speak on the pathetic nature of women and the 'fairer,' sex. The female form and sex itself was a vile trapping for the superiority of the male mind, that sought to dominate the superior intellect of men! Though Kalev understood the necessity for propagation of a species, he found the female sex to be a vile and deceitful thing. Not to say a male relationship with another male was a good thing either, Kalev hated such things altogether, and desired all life to be formed by more keen and intelligent minds and to be born of science labs. From a lab imperfection, disease, and weakness could be exterminated but even his lord, the Emperor, found his ideas too extreme for his tastes. 'How ironic is it, that a man capable of orchestrating a war that ripped a galaxy apart, twisted and corrupted one Jedi after the other, finds my very simple ideas extreme? I am a very easy to understand man of simple scientific background and desires when one gets down to it! It is a lack of vision on his part not mine! From labs across the galaxy I could breed an army in a matter of ears that would make the Kaminoans blush! I could become a god among men, and seed life of superior human specimens across known space to guard and rule and Empire, but no, I am apparently too extreme. How very droll.' Kalev thought to himself as he stared into a window pane that was connected to a set of offices within the lower levels science labs of the Imperial palace upon Coruscant. He looked down to a datapad he held in his right hand and flicked his finger across the data streams to read new data on the subjects. For beyond his window pane was the grand room he had shown to his son weeks ago. The room was full of his specialized 'artificial womb,' cylinders, and all of them were to have a child inside of them, all of them based on a similar but not exact construct to Valek's genetic makeup to allow for the Midi-Chlorians to be manipulated scientifically, allowing Kalev to play god, a wonderful game it was too! He passed his green and often times fear inducing eyes across the window pane and allowed a small smirk of self satisfaction to curve along his face, for within the lab small droids worked endlessly to carry out orders to maintain the room and 'comfort,' for what was a room now full to the brim with small fetuses in said tubes, and they were all of them showing at the very least a base blood Midi-Chlorian count of sixteen-thousand. Not the most powerful beings in all the galaxy but decent and not the weakest either of course. Of course Kalev assured that his son had a higher base level, and it brought a smile to his face knowing that those born with high counts were made, by him, nothing special! He did what many thought only the Force could do!

"Doctor Zalliste, the reports on the new sequence, T-4F, you requested are in." Kalev turned to look upon a young man, and scientific aid of his wearing is own lab coat and blackened gloves and high boots, he held a datapad out and Kalev took it gingerly, and with what appeared to be apathetic calm upon his features. Once more waving through and passed information the good doctor read quickly and looked for specific data he desired to know. When he found the desired data he made a 'hmm' noise from within his throat and nodded to himself.

"It would seem that we have lost a batch of the fetuses then. The new sequence caused uncontrolled and unexpected spikes in developing brain activity and made the things brain dead before coming to term. How very wasteful." The doctor said and he could see his aid growing uncomfortable at the manner in which he spoke of the children, but they were not children to Kalev, but property, and assets, and they were now rendered useless to him. They needed to be scrapped and the process begun from the ground u again.

"Terminate the batch in full and recode the sequence using a ten-percent decrease in the stimulant E-DT-3. The loss of one batch is not a great loss. Of the approximate ten-thousand plus bodies we have growing inside, a mere thousand needing termination will be but a small and in the end necessary dent in our overall operations. Now do it."

"Yes doctor Zalliste." The younger man bowed and went to carry out his orders and Kalev shook his head. "Soft stomachs have no place in science. As morality has no place as well." He stated aloud and ran his green eyes over the room one last time and noted that the droids were already beginning to take the chosen batch of cylinders ff the racks and take them to the termination zone, called jokingly by Kalev, the 'cooker,' room. He felt it needed no further explanation, but needless to say nothing was left of any material that went in, and that was only natural. The last thing the doctor needed was wasted and useless material hanging around and causing more mess to his offices and workstation! Kalev Zalliste was many things, but he did not want untidy to become one of them!

Thinking one last time on his son, Kalev reveled in the knowledge that despite this war dragging his boy from him yet again, he knew the boy would desire to be around his father. All boys did whether they would admit to it or not, and then he would drive his son closer to him, and their people. The Karthasians, and soon Corat would once more be in the control of the Zalliste family, and the Karthasian people. For when the alien scum and 'Tusian' people burned in the 'cookers,' of Karthasia, Kalev would dance in the streets and among the ash of the burned leftovers of the disgusting alien bodies!

"All in good time of course, all in good time." Kalev laughed to himself and fully engrossed himself back into his work again, as the Empire needed, for whatever reason, a massive batch of future Force sensitive children, and Kalev Zalliste always delivered.

(Coruscant, Imperial Intelligence HQ Outside of Palace)

"I do not appreciate this one bit, no, not one bit at all director Isard. It would appear that you are utterly lax as is all of I.I, and your agents. It is no wonder and no surprise that I.S.B are far more competent and has greater intelligence across the galaxy." The 'starry' visage of Cronal with his blank white eyes through the mutual holo-communication he was sharing with Armand Isard, shone through as his distorted and odd voice made it quite clear that he was displeased with Armand, who was for once outside of the palace in the secondary and technical main I.I headquarters building on Coruscant. The 'man,' if one so desired to call him that, was looking at Armand with his non-human looking eyes, a mere facade of course, but effective in making Armand recoil whenever the man spoke, and Armand had to force himself to cal and steady to face his contemporary here at I.I head on.

"Your displeasure is obvious lord Cronal. However, your personal attacks against my ministry are not necessary and as far as I am concerned I.S.B under director Vandron is not in many ways superior to I.I and our tactics."

"No? Then perhaps you can tell me why and how I.S.B was able to properly supply enemy intelligence, positions, numbers, and all manner of assorted data needed in warfare to commander Viathan in Tapani? Atop of that I.S.B also supplied intelligence to Grand Admiral Zaarin in the Mid-Rim atop your ministry's data and can you guess as to whose was more accurate and helpful to the cause?" Armand sighed and straightened himself out before responding.

"I would assume by your tone my lord Cronal, it was I.S.B with the superior intelligence?"
"You would be correct in your assumption director." Cronal retorted with obvious annoyance, and spite. "Now, tell me, how is it I am expected to find and root out what the Emperor believes to be enemies still acting within the Empire, when the main catalyst for finding such people is as incompetent as you and your ministry are Isard?" Armand felt the great urge to shrug and tell lord Cronal to kark himself but restrained himself like a good Imperial and huffed a sigh that spoke of his weariness.

"My ministry acts only within the confines on which are mandate is given. We do not enter into areas of jurisdiction where our mandate does not-"
"Your mandate is to gather intelligence and counterintelligence against ALL enemies if the Galactic Empire! As of thus far you and your ministry are failures! Waste of time and space and credits, and I have the right mind to tell his majesty the Emperor of your ministry's utter incompetence! Your lack of vision, ideal, and obvious deficit in command ability and structure has me baffled and quite frankly disgusted that your ministry has the gall to call itself 'Imperial,' Intelligence! The Old Republic had more Intelligence than this ministry and makes me ill!" Lord Cronal made clear his disgust but still felt the need to belittle Armand as such, and the director grit his teeth but said not a word back. To do so would be wholly improper, and Armand Isard was anything but improper with the chain of command.

"As said before my lord Cronal, your anger, and disgust is noted, however my mandate as director of Imperial Intelligence is clear. My I also remind you my lord Cronal, I.I was never created for true war time operations we are wholly devoted to counterintelligence to rebel and terrorist cells throughout the galaxy. A true massive and coordinated enemy with their own intelligence sources such as the Moffs and especially the URM are hard to get men and or women into as undercover operatives and getting Intel from them is even harder. I can tell you that over forty-thousand of our field agents in the Expansion-Region out into the Outer-Rim have already been found by Moff access to our files they had access to and killed. More than forty-thousand is likely to be killed by then end as well. We are facing a numerical gap of field operatives like never before, and others are turning on us as well. The I.S.B is not feeling such effects because they do not share intelligence, and who their operative are and hide their file even from their own superiors to 'assure the Empire of security.' This goes highly against protocol. We here at I.I play by the rules so to speak, we do not presume ourselves to be higher than our contemporaries, and do as told."

"A very long winded speech director, and one that has merit even if that merit is lacking in over justification for the lax attitude in which your ministry acts. I expect a full revamping of how I.I operates director Isard, and I want a mapped out plan in writing sent to my operations office in the palace within three weeks. Until we see one another again then director, and do continue your communications sweep of Coruscant. Wouldn't want to report you are incapable of committing multiple tasks at once to the Emperor now would we?" Then without another word the visage of Cronal disappeared and left Isard within his office, hands clasped behind his back, a blank stare where Cronal was seconds ago, and a notable twitch in his lip as it fought to sneer and throw him into a rage, but he kept his composure. He walked stiffly and with great weight upon his shoulders to his comlink embedded into his desk. He keyed in one of his aides and ordered him to ready a meeting for Armand and his junior and sub directors within Imperial Intelligence. For Cronal wanted changes, and so he would get them.

---

Meanwhile within the same building Ysanne Isard sat in her chair, and was leaning back in it awaiting the arrival of someone who she would use to help lord Kun with his little Byss problem. Ysanne was wholly everything her father was and more and knew this, and kriffing reveled in it! Oh her father was a 'decent' man always kind and gracious, and the grand Imperial vision of propriety and an officer of the Intelligence class that knew greatly how to handle situations, but he was getting old, and he was playing the game like an old man too. New blood needed to be injected into the field. For Force sakes he was operating Intelligence ops and ministry positions when the ministry was still Republic Intelligence, and he can remember the Clone Wars very vividly! Those who operated during that war were still running the galaxy, and instead of those who were younger and experienced the war taking power or even those younger still, those who fought and operated the Clone Wars were still in charge and thinking they could run and operate a galaxy under the same principles. However, Ysanne knew better. Times had indeed changed, and it was now time for the younger generations to take the reins, and that lord Kun, despite being a bit strong when he approached one, he still had the charisma, and power she believed to pull off his big power grab when it came, and Ysanne prided herself on picking winners. After all she was one. She thought with a broad self fulfilling smile as she heard her desk communicator beep.

"What is it?" She asked whoever it was outside her office.

"It's your take out... Who do you think it is Ysanne?! Now open the karking door!" Ysanne smiled at the sound of her friend and released her office door's magnetic lock and allowed it to open for her visitor. Ysanne eyed her two differently colored eyes across her office and cringed...it was still a mess in her mind, though anyone entering would say it was utterly sterile.

She returned her eyes to her friend who entered and made her way over to the seat opposite of Ysanne across the office desk. She was a relatively tall woman at five feet and eight inches, chocolate brown hair, cut short to hang around her head, green eyes, and an ever tight black uniform in the Imperial make. Nearly skin tight really, in an officer style, and she carried a smile across her face as she entered, and took her seat, and throwing one leg over the other as she got comfortable. There was a very diplomatic manner to her really, and Ysanne appreciated that about her. Ever since they met one another on assignment on a covert operation about two years back on Denon. Though that was the past. Ysanne doubted that she wasn't armed right now despite the security checks for entrance into the building and that was always something she found comforting and hilarious at once!

"It has been far too long Ysanne! You look great by the way, still sporting that batch of white hair hmm?"

"Very cute Morgana. The white hair runs in the family I'm afraid but I think it adds to my overall appeal, no?" Ysanne retorted and threw her long hair back over her shoulder causing Morgana to laugh with a broad and white smile. "Besides you're one to talk with your shortened hair. You look like you're trying too hard to project a tom-boyish look."

"Well you'd be surprised just how many males in the galaxy love the short hair look Ysanne, maybe you should give it a shot?"

"Not in a million years and for a billion credits Morgana." They shared another laugh and allowed the lighthearted mood to loosen both of them up and break any possible ice.

"Okay, fun readjustment time is over. On to the real reason why we're both here in the same room again Ysanne."
"Can't a girl merely want to see an old friend again after about a year or so without seeing them? You have been on ops nearly one after another you know?" Morgana smiled and her green eyes twinkled with a sense of pride.

"Indeed I have been. Your father must be funneling ops down to me on purpose with all the high level poodoo I've been dealing with this last year. Give or take a few months."

Trust me, my father can't operate the ministry at an efficient manner to even funnel you the good ops if his if depended upon it. He may be father, and dear old daddy, but he is an admittedly aging and less productive than ever director of this fine ministry. I.S.B is looking better and better to the Emperor and others in the upper echelons of our great Empire, and we can't have that can we?" Morgana laughed a throaty laugh and nodded, while she leaned back expectantly into her seat and folded her hands in her lap. Ysanne got the unspoken message and laughed a small one her own before she too leaned back and began to speak why she really wanted her dear old friend here for a 'chat.'

"So, on to business then. I am in need of some operations off the book but at double pay through secured channels into one of your dummy accounts only I have access and knowledge to besides you. What say you?" Morgana visibly went a bit shocked and laughed.

"That was quick. Don't I get a little more detail than that Ysanne? You're giving me very little...no actually you're giving me no details a to what the op is."
"Can't share that Intel my friend. Not this time. I trust you not to open your mouth because it's me asking, but if you're weary of my request already then this meeting is over and-"
"Never happened, yeah I get the drill Ysanne, and I ain't saying I'm not interested. I am only wondering what has you so bugged and in need of me and my services that you want to do this cloak and dagger? Even more cloak and dagger than usual at that?" She added with a furrowed brow as she analyzed Ysanne, something Ysanne herself taught her and laughed internally at as she rolled her shoulders and forced her body to relax and send fake signals to her best friend...or closest thing to at least.

"I am in need of a friend, someone trustworthy, someone who could handle things out of the norm, and someone to keep their karking mouth shut when and if captured by enemy forces. I am making friends in high places, above my father and below the Emperor by stepping stones. This new friend has something I want and I need some Intel gathered on something they want. I as the daughter of Armand Isard cannot dare try to undertake an op like this personally and even then I have far too much desk work coming towards me in the next few weeks because of this bloody war and can't dare take any time off to commit to any operation. Let's just say it will require someone with your skills and the desire to meet a task and defeat it on top of taking a little vacation to the Deep Core."

Morgana looked intrigued at that and leaned in closer.

"Deep Core you say? Now that is tempting. No one is supposed to go into the mess of stars and rare worlds but people the Emperor supposedly personally signs off on. If you got a take on what's going on in there why don't you get some details fro your father?"
"Can't. If he knew or asked why I and my new friend would be found out and reported on and what I need may not want to be found out by the old man on the throne, but I really need it. For me details you gotta be in, and you can't pull out or expect backup. You'd be totally on your own, and fighting people you may have otherwise called allies." Morgana darted her eyes around some and Ysanne knew she was thinking it over, and she smiled too. Her friend could never resist a challenge, and when Morgana sighed and dipped her head low Ysanne knew she had her, and when Morgana threw her head back up to look Ysanne in the eyes again she had a smirk and a twinkle in her green eyes.

"Alright I'm in. Now tell me the juicy details already damn it!" Ysanne laughed and folded her hands onto her metal desk and leaned in herself.

"Calm down Morgana. Now here's the gist of it. I think you can tell that the ministry of Imperial Intelligence is falling apart. My father is no longer the best man to operate this institution of the Empire, especially since we're at war against two massive enemies. Not only that but I myself find it quite acceptable for a bit of good old fashioned regime change to happen, and frankly I think the Empire can only survive through a bit of good-natured purging. As such let's say that I am choosing sides here, and am probably on the side I could get shot and dumped for if found out."

"So you're turning on the Emperor?" Morgana bluntly added with a raised brow of curiosity and Ysanne shrugged her affirmation.

"If you must be so blunt then yes. Yes I suppose I am, and no I don't feel a tad bit bad about this move. The Empire is stagnating at rates the Republic could only hope to eat itself with! I would bet you Morgana, in less than two more decades the Empire will fall to rebellion, and terrorism if we fail to breath new life into it and-"
"Calm down Ysanne, you do know me right?" Morgana grinned a prideful and almost excited smile and Ysanne smirked back at her friend.

"So I'm not insulting any sensibility of yours?"

"Nope! Not a one Ysanne." She again grinned and shrugged a bit showing her continued calm demeanor. "Who's the 'lucky,' man...or woman who's got you on their team? I mean they must have quite the charm to them to be able to sway a loyalist like you."

"I'm no traitor, I am trying to preserve this Empire unlike the Moffs who want to make a dictatorship of their kind, or the URM who is waging a war by exploiting grudges unanswered and left unattended to after the Clone Wars with a mad woman at their helm, who if you've seen some of the ground reports you would know she more so than the Moffs is one the Empire should be afraid of."

"You don't have to speak to me about traitors Ysanne. Believe me one of them is family." Morgana intoned with a lower and sadness filled voice, and caused Ysanne to sigh. She was not a woman who cared about usually offending another of her contemporaries but she made an exception for Morgana, and to remind her of ex-Imperial general Coldor Morlin, her father, was a bit unnecessary, but it was unintentional after all.

"Let's leave Coldor out of our conversation for now Morgana. I know he's your father and all but you have more than proven to me and my father that you can be trusted. He made his bed, and you made yours, and trust me I'm not asking you to betray the Empire, only those who run it. They are running us into the ground." She nodded her head numbly and seemed momentarily distant.

"Anyways, to answer your question, that new lord, the one who broadcast the destruction of Dubrava, made the senators wet themselves, and is now in Tapani with his young boy prodigy of a commander, heard of him?"

"Lord Exar Kun? The one fighting my father along with that...what's his name?"
"Viathan."
"Right him. Yeah I know those two Ysanne. Why? He the one?"
"Indeed he is. Lord Kun is quite the 'charismatic' personality as you may put. He has plans and I think he has the ability to make them work, and his efficiency at planning the Dubrava affair and attacking your father in the Tapani sector makes him a far more capable ruler. Besides I like picking winners and I think that he is one." Morgana shrugged.

"Whatever works for you Ysanne. I think he is a man that likes to play the galaxy badly. He at least I get the impression, that he has many faces and puts the best one on when appropriate. He is admittedly hard to read, but whenever you see something going his way it's kinda obvious. I have never seen a more poodoo eating grin in all my life when he is obviously happy with his results at whatever it may be." Ysanne thought back to the man during his Dubrava speech and he did grin quite broadly at certain intervals, and it was the only give-away she could think of. Only in victory did he show his pleasure.

"Nonetheless I think I have chosen someone who can actually break the Emperor, and I don't need to know too many details but war is always the great innovator. He is also offering my fathers job up, and you know me Morgana, I can't refuse a good promotion when it looks me in the face." Both of them smiled with Morgana nodding.

"So what's the job that he, and now you need done Ysanne?"

"The Emperor has a nasty base in the Deep Core. Only a select few know it exists outside of those who work and live there. Ever heard of Byss?" Morgana furrowed her brow and shook her head, and Ysanne nodded.

"Thought so. It's the personal throne world of the old mans. It is more secure than Coruscant even, and he has a personal citadel there for himself, and he also keeps those he wants hidden and that which he wants unseen and unspoken of kept there as well. Things are being done there that would make those of weaker stomachs, skin crawl. My dear friend Kun wants me, and thus us to look into a certain set of experiments the Emperor is conducting there for his future plans. Care to take a ride into the Deep Core?"
"I already said I was in Ysanne. No point in taking it back at this point." Morgana giggled and Ysanne rolled her eyes but smiled and nodded.

"Good. On Byss it is known by some of us privileged ones that the Emperor has indeed been cloning himself in a secret lab inside his citadel there. He is seeking a means of immortality through use of the Force, and I know I don't need to explain that to you." Morgana lost her composure for a moment and went a bit wide eyed with shock and her mouth opened and closed a few times as she seemed to want to say something but it wouldn't come out. Which itself made Ysanne grin as she rarely found Morgana Morlin speechless.

"Yes I know shocking. Imagine what it's like knowing this and not being able to say or do anything about it! It's a bit weird even for our dear Emperor who has grown into a recluse as of late with this war. However, I cannot imagine him ruling indefinitely. He has driven this galaxy into the corner with fear and hatred of himself and the Empire, and this is what has lead to rebellion and treason. For that reason I am helping Exar Kun. Who seems to at least have a desire to make people like him unlike Palpatine who is more than willing to revel in the hate of those beneath him. That's why you need to go to Byss, bypass all security forces, and enter the Emperors citadel. You'll know it when you see it. Get all Intel you can on his cloning operations and any other dirty little secret and project he's got running there and report back. Think you're up to the challenge?" Placing a thoughtful hand to cup her own chin Morgana playfully for the most part, seemed to be mulling the idea over, but eventually smirked and nodded.

"I think so Ysanne. I'll need some supplies of course, not weapons though that much I have covered myself. Never leave home without protection." She winked and Ysanne rolled her eyes again. "I'm not going to dignify that with any sort of quip Morgana."

"You're no fun you know that?" Ysanne smiled again at that.

"Maybe so, but it pays to be me you know. Now onto what you need I suspect a stealth modified and capable ship, some operational credits, and a secure comlink with the ability to speak between just you and me and no one else. A special little toy that will not work if a third party is detected listening in or if you or I try to use it for contact to others."

"Paranoid Ysanne my dear?" Morgana smiled and Ysanne inclined her head to the side.

"Perhaps so, but paranoia comes with the job description I'm afraid. You have everything else, including cloaking covered I presume?" Morgana beamed a massive grin and nodded, which caused Ysanne once more to roll her differently colored eyes and smile in return.

"Very good then. I do think our business is now at an end then Morgana." Ysanne and Morgana both rose from their seats and Ysanne extended her hand which Morgana took and they shared a smile between friends. "I'll keep in contact at least once ever three days, once a week if in deep boss lady."

"Good. I expect nothing less my friend." Morgana bowed her head and winked to Ysanne in her most unusual manner as an agent of Imperial Intelligence. Without another word as well Morgana whipped around and exited Ysanne's office and left the daughter of the director alone to her thoughts as she found herself releasing a heavy breath. This was quite the risky endeavor even for her, and if it went bad, if someone somewhere screwed up on her or even Kun's end, Ysanne imagined her father himself placing a blaster to her head and pulling the trigger.

"Well...I'll just have to make sure I'm the one with the blaster and pulling that trigger now wont I daddy?" She declared in a low voice to herself as she swiveled her chair and looked out over the skyline of Coruscant. Visions and ideals of grandeur filling her head.

(Tapani Sector, Neona, One Day into Battle)

The capital of Neona, Newland city, was on fire. All the tallest buildings were in flames in one way or another, some missing entire top portions, others with smoking plumes rising from higher floors where Imperial bombers made their payload drops. Blaster fire, explosions, tank and walker fire resonated across the city and boomed and echoed. As field commander Viathan led an assault onto the world that was proving to be far more difficult, and reminded him of Tallaan. The city made it far too difficult to maneuver, and outflank the Moff defensive positions that once again were planned out by Morlin from afar wherever he may have been. The loyalist Imperial forces were moving deeper into the city but being pushed back at the same time across four major fronts in the city. Two were being punctured by loyalist forces but they were bleeding for every inch, while the other two fronts were being held firmly by Moff walker and tank emplacements. Viathan had twenty full divisions five for every front, with one division at least for every front being a full armored division of walker and tank units. Full air support was impossible with heavy and light AA cannon emplacements. Viathan was leading the eastern push into the city, and had with his miniature army detachment three divisions of Stormtroopers, a division of armor, both walker and tank, and a final Massassi division of veteran warriors from both Tallaan and Aleron. Many were unwillingly using blasters as weapons as well with most continuing to use their swords and spears and the dreaded Sith and Massassi lanvaroks.

At the eastern border to the city as night began to creep along Neona's horizon the streets were blotched and impacted with hundreds of potholes and explosion made holes. Buildings were blown out and had entire floors missing as smoke rose forth and in these streets hundreds of similarly armored troops fired on one another with great and endlessly ferocity. Red bolts crossed each side of the city into buildings over barricades across armored units and into the blown street holes as troopers lined all these things for cover and fired from said cover. AT-ST's walked into these streets and often time got blown away with Centurion class tanks rolling and firing on both sides for both forces.

On one of these streets an AT-ST turned its head and zeroed in on an enemy commander on the side of the loyalist camp and fired a quick and powerful bout of cannon fire and the enemy commander threw his arms up to protect himself and too the explosion head on. His body went flying up and away several feet and blew threw the glass of a nearby abandoned office building slammed into desks across the floor and finally slammed into the back wall with a grunt and horrid snapping of bones, and he with great pain and self control tensed his body up as he muffled his own cry of pain and released a loud breath of pain and air. He panted from his fallen position as his body screamed in pain.

Viathan forced himself up and into a hunched position still laid out on the metal floor of this random office building he found himself. He wheezed out a breath and stuttered his breath in absolute pain as his eyes closed and he forced the pain away, and absorbed it into himself with the Force and allowed it to feed the dark side. Placing his right hand over his left ribcage he felt his old wound from Aleron, where he had cracked a rib in half, and it was broken once again and he swore under his breath as his left arm was broken now too, undoubtedly so as he ran his right hand over it as well and felt nothing but a shrill pain shoot through his arm and he slammed his teeth together to repress any cries of pain.

"Kriffing Moff sons of a dirty Hutt!" Viathan growled and forced himself to a full stand and tore off a portion large enough to wrap and set his left arm from his cloak. Taking his time to carefully wrap the fabric over his shoulder and around his arm which he brought very painfully so, up to his chest and set for later 'repairs,' as he called it. What with all the damage he was inflicting upon his body as of late, they might as well have been repairs more so than actual injuries...then again Viathan knew he had a warped idea on things in general so he just stuck with his odd terminology and set the damn arm.

When that was done and nothing could be done for now about the rib which he left and allowed the pain to feed his power further, heighten his senses and make the blood lust all the more stronger, he banked around himself and found his saber, luckily still intact lying on the floor and he called it to himself with the Force. He hobbled over to the massive blast hole near by where he crashed into and looked out to see his troopers huddling behind rubble and blown out vehicles and in sinkholes made form explosions and take potshots at the enemy Moff forces who held a line of three shabbily set up barricade lines. The first one had yet to be breached and was being protected by an AT-ST and Centurion tank that took up position in the wall and fired near endlessly at his forces. He narrowed his eyes as rage took hold of him when he watched the walker fire at some of his troopers and blow three or so away and kill them as a few Massassi warriors were to the back of the street followed by a single SPMA artillery walker firing at random really into further back Moff lines to disorient them, but was really mostly blowing out buildings and making lucky hits from time to time.

"I hate this whole karking galaxy...nothing better than war to show why it needs to be blown into oblivion." Viathan intoned and snatched up his comlink, a notable and deep sneer across his features

"Commander Hoy, this is Viathan." A notable pause ensued before Hoy responded with relieved shock in his voice.

'Commander Viathan sir! We had witnessed the walker attack on your person! It is of great relief to know you're alright. Are you in need of any medi-"
"No time for that commander Hoy. I have a clear visual on enemy forces going back down the corridor along the street. Order that damn SPMA to stop firing like a madman and creating rubble piles for the Moffs to hide behind and order and attack at an approximate half a kilometer up. If we hit the Moff placed Centurion tank we can create a breach that can be exploited."

"Yes commander Viathan sir, of course." Hoy responded and Viathan kneeled down with his comlink in hand as he had already clipped his saber back to his belt and his ragged, torn tatters of a cloak fell around his prone form with his crimson and glowing eyes watching the battle unfold as the dark side swirled around and through him feeding off his immense pain, and hatred.

The green cannon bursts of the SPMA ceased but then a single controlled burst erupted and Viathan followed the large green cannon blasts arch over the no mans land between the two forces and slam into the forward Moff barricade line and two massive green rounds slammed into the Centurion and the tank blew apart brilliantly and flew into the air some before crashing back down in a smoldering heap and sending several Moff fools dashing and jumping out of the way of the mess.

The Moff AT-ST walker turned to look at the sight as if the pilot and officer didn't know what was going on behind them and quickly turned back toward Viathan's forces and opened fire on all sides on all his troopers with wild abandon. He brought the comlink back up, "Commander Hoy, I will take care of this karking walker, I want you to send up three squad sizes of troops along the opposite wall of buildings opposite the blown out office building to your approximate left. Tell them to hug that wall and rush the no mans land as soon as they see the walker go down. Copy?!"

"Clear copy commander, and your Massassi friends?"
"Tell their commander, Zar'Kai, the leader of the pack to take a group of his fighters with those heavy repeaters and provide cover for the troopers and move up at the same sign."
"Copy all, commander Viathan." Numbly nodding to himself and pocketing the comlink, Viathan rose back to a full stand and once more fell back on Ruin's teachings, and closed his eyes to enter into that 'Force Detachment,' state of mind and opened his eyes once again to find the battle brilliantly fall into slow motion. The walker was just off to his center left and firing to his right at his allies. A line of Moff troopers were filling the blown out gap where the Centurion tank had been and firing at his troopers dug in positions hoping to get a lucky shot in and kill anyone or anything. Viathan like back at Tavya formed a plan of action in his state of mind unique to him in this moment. There were a set of rubble piles he could use to jump from one to the other and eventually land atop the walkers head and like Sefon, he would pop the top open and give the Moff forces inside, likely two men, a little surprise. From there he could easily make a Force aided leap to the building wall where his men would gather, so with a cold smirk and set face he closed his eyes and allowed time to fully resume for him and with snap of his hand his saber flew into it.

Activating the crimson beam he, despite the pain that shot through him, leaped off the building onto a rubble pile, and utilizing his knowledge of Soresu through Niman he blocked a random bolt heading to him and sent it flying away, and jumped to a higher rubble pile and huffed as it sent a ripple of pain through his arm and ribs. Throwing his saber over his left shoulder he blocked another bolt, and jumped again to a slightly lower rubble pile next to the walker as it walked closer to his forces and fired. Especially since a line of massive red aliens with heavy repeaters in their massive arms came over a rubble pile and fired into the Moff trooper positions with guttural growls and howls of delight ringing over the sounds of blasters and explosions.

Using the Force once more he bent his knees and jumped high into the air and latched his hand onto the beast of a walker and slammed his body into the side as he just caught it and groaned as his ribs impacted the walker and he was in so much pain he nearly damn well passed out, but sent the pain into the Force and only felt stronger. It paused walking forward and he knew those inside heard the thud, and he climbed atop the walkers head and quickly spun to deflect a repeater fire coming toward him and fell into Shien form through Niman and deflected the bolts like with Soresu but this time sent them back and the trooper manning the turret was struck three times by his own bolts and fell limp, and slouched forward onto the turret.

Turning back around he found himself recoiling as an officer was pointing a small blaster pistol at him while still having half his body in the walker entry port.

"Don't move dark Jedi scum!" The officer, in a thick accent of propriety and stiffness ordered and Viathan sneered allowing his red eyes to flare and he allowed a humorless laugh to escape him.

"You think I am a dark Jedi? The Moffs I see don't care to know the difference..."

The man raised a brow as his eyes narrowed in confusion and kept the baster squared on Viathan. "Difference in what? …...Difference in what dark Jedi?!" He demanded and Viathan dropped his saber and the man took his attention off Viathan to see the glowing beam fall and failed to see Viathan throw his right hand toward the man and take hold of him by the throat and the officer dropped his pistol and grabbed his neck tearing at unseen hands, and Viathan pulled him up into the air and using his eyes he brought his saber floating up and aimed it at the mans heart in the dead center.

"The difference between a Sith and Jedi." With that Viathan forced the saber through the mans chest pulled it out with the Force and tossed the body away and into the rubble laden ground beneath, before snatching his still levitating saber and jumped down into the walker and caught the pilot off guard and took his head off with a pointed sneer towards the body.

"You know I think I should play with this for a moment." Viathan declared, and unknowingly copied Offee back on Mrlsst, as he turned the AT-ST walker around and aimed at the frontal Moff troops along their barricades and fired on them in rapid succession. All the troopers ducked and threw themselves away from their own walkers fire and hid as Viathan continuously fired on them all for at least another three minutes and stopped them from firing on his men, who he hoped were taking the hint and moving up closer to their lines. Then when the Moffs from the back lines moved up with anti-armor weapons and cannons, Viathan fired on them to disorient them and slammed the walkers controls to force it to keep moving toward and forward at the Moffs as he jumped out and off of the walker and it continued to blindly walk into the enemy lines. Viathan watched it with morbid curiosity as it walked straight into the barricade lines and began tipping over onto the Moff troopers and a smirk came over him as it fell and caused troopers to yell and cry in fear and dodge away in a panic.

He ran to the right side wall relative to where his troopers were coming up the street and thankfully found thirty-nine Stormtroopers hugging the wall behind a set of pillars that were in front of some tall building next to them for whatever purpose Viathan did not know, probably some moronic décor job. Behind them came running Zar with a pack of his Massassi brethren kin, with an assortment of grenade bets hanging over their shoulders, massive repeaters in their hands which were probably light to these hulks, and swords and spears held at the ready by some who did not desire to cave in their objection to blasters, but they did have lanvaroks with them, and the deadly discs that they fired.

"Good, all of you are here just as ordered. Now I seem to have made a mess of our enemy's front line positions. We need to brute force this now, and on the double. We pass over the first barricade line and force them back, the all our forces can make a general push forward. I want Massassi with repeaters at the front. Barrage the enemy into defense, and you troopers will cross over and attack over the wall with the troopers hiding from the Massassi attacks. I will join you."

"Forgive me commander but you're injured." The troopers likely captain of the squad declared matter-of-factly. Viathan tossed a glare to his arm and down to his ribs and noted that blood was pooling previously unseen by him before and he suddenly felt the full force of the pain, and cursed the trooper for making him focus on the wounds!

"Pain is a luxury none can afford in war. If I die I die readily and for a cause I believe in. Would you not do the same or cower and let your men die captain?" The trooper even from behind the helmet was shocked and Viathan could sense it, and the trooper finally nodded.

"I'd like to fight front line and center commander."

"Then you have my respect trooper! All of you, on me, and follow the Massassi up! Zar take the lead!" The Massassi with a grinning face and brooding darkness swelling around him bowed his head and hiked his massive repeater up and in the Massassi tongue ordered his kin to the front, repeaters to the front, melee to the back.

Viathan took to the front of the troopers behind the furthest back Massassi as Zar roared into the sky and led the Massassi forward as their cannons erupted and endless piercing rounds of blaster bots attacked the enemy barricades and sent the just recovering Moff troopers sprawling down and out of sight of the fire. The off troopers threw their blasters over the barricades and freely sprayed into the advancing loyalist lines and one Massassi was hit but recovered with a howl and fired back and blasted one troopers hand off, and he cried so loudly the whole damn street heard him.

"Troopers lay down suppressing fire in Massassi gaps, Massassi! Melee front and center on me!" The troopers acknowledged and filled the gaps between the crimson warriors and fired into the Moff lines with the Massassi warriors with melee weapons howling their excitement and formed up next to and behind Viathan as he ducked low and went ahead and below the massive line of fire coming from his men.

The whole group advanced with loyalist troops back behind their main line adding their own fire, and Viathan counted on Hoy to keep them in line as he moved forward or he would have words with the commander later tat would likely see his head taken from his neck! As the line reached near to the actual barricades and rubble piles used as defensive fortifications, Viathan halted the fire and activated his saber with his right and still battle capable hand, and with a wave of his saber over his shoulder and pointed to the wall the Massassi took it as their cue and roared their stamping charge at the barricade as the trooper ran forward too, and the troopers made it first before their brute allies and once atop the wall they fired down into the Moff troopers with wild and free abandon of their blasters and brought down dozens of Moff troopers, with the Massassi piling over and stabbing cutting, breaking, and gutting every enemy trooper they came across. It also reminded the loyalist troopers to not place themselves in among the Moffs lest the Massassi rip them to shreds too.

Viathan came jumping over the wall and landed on his feet with another huff as his tunic clung to him as more blood came from him, and he didn't want to think about the fact his rib was likely protruding through his body, and merely fed on the pain and fell into Shien again to block and send all bolts coming to him back. Every bolt that came at him was blocked, intricate curves of his saber up and around, arching from side to side, hard block center and a slashing block to his right and with the Force as his ally dozens of bolts came and not a one came through his defenses. He sensed the danger and with a snarl swung his saber hard right in a clear swinging slash and an enemy trooper went down, and threw his saber back over his shoulder and blocked more incoming fire, and Zar with his repeater carrying kin came over the barricades and fired at the next street barricade with the same wild abandon and sent the further off Moffs once again running for cover.

It did not take long as Viathan cut down another trooper hiding in a dug out area of the barricade line, and blocked more fire, for the main loyalist forces to begin swarming the barricade and take their own positions to fire on the enemy lines. Viathan breathed a sigh of relief when the enemy fully ran and hid behind their secondary lines. He looked up and noted that the night sky now took them and the massive and blinding lights from both sides now shone and gave the only light possible, and he looked down as his vision blurred and he shook it away as his whole tunic from his ribs down was coated in his own blood and made it stick to him and his skin. His hands trembling and weak he fell to his knees and then fell to the ruined street beneath him and fell limp only numbly aware of his surroundings around him as troopers fired and Massassi charged forward. His eyes fluttered and he closed them expecting and welcoming sweet death at last, but he saw one last thing before his eyes closed. Commander Hoy running to his side with three medical troopers, and then he lost all his senses and drifted into sweet dark nothingness.

As the battle of Neona carried on through the night with nor further losses of gain for either side in Newland city. Planet wide the Empire took more territory bu the capital remained the Moffs for now. As day two began Commander Viathan was not seen, nor was he on the third of forth, as barely anything changed for either side in those days.

(General POV)

While his apprentice bled himself into nothingness upon Neona, Exar Kun remembered awakening one morning to sense his apprentice once more beyond his sense of perception and for a time worried he was gone and dead, and Neona was incapable of communication with both sides jamming communication while the space battle continued on for three days since the beginning of the battle. It jogged Kun into a late night bout of pacing and deep thoughts as he began to wonder what he would do when and if he lost Viathan as his main apprentice. There was Offee obviously but he still had some doubts about her, but she was very powerful, and he supposed he would make her his primary apprentice. However, the loss of the boy would be inopportune at this juncture.

Regardless he set aside those worries and thoughts and returned to winning the Tapani campaigns of this Galactic Civil War. By day two of the Neona battle, his new fleet two-hundred ships strong, he and Arden Lyn became serious in their plannings for battle...and allowed their game to take a back seat. Kun was to take the planet Lynx which was reported by I.S.B undercover agents to be barely protected and considered by general Morlin to be unimportant in the grand scheme of things, but Kun wanted to take the world for its reported supply of Moff caches and also, it was reported that it was also the hiding place of a lot of credits and valuable assets for the Freeworlds higher-ups. The Freeworlds made their choice of alliance, and as such they would reap what they sowed.

New Shella was opted by Arden who desired to face a greater enemy force and make use of her new sword looking saber. She also had been learning some of the newer saber styles, newer being relative to the fact she fought with some of the oldest dueling styles in all the galaxy. She had not yet opened up the holocron of the Jedi named Mace Windu, but had found some from a Jedi master named Cin Drallig, and had become accustomed to some of the basic forms, like Shii Cho, and Soresu, and even some Shien, but she thought her form would do fine still, she told Exar as much anyways.

"Trust me milord Kun, I am more than capable of killing some of those brain-dead Stormtroopers the Moffs and even you call soldiers. They will be too...what was it? Oh yes distracted as you said." To that Kun smiled a humorless and sarcasm obvious smile and they both made for their detachments. Kun would take only fifty ships to attack Lynx, and Arden, under Kun's command, took the other hundred and fifty to New Shella with Admiral Refflet being reassigned from the Mrlsst blockade to be in charge of naval operations. Which Lyn did not feel comfortable commanding anyways, so it worked out for everyone.

As Arden made for New Shella and bypassed Mrlsst which even from space she sensed to be drowning in the dark side, as the people below suffered and reveled in hate against the Moffs or even the Imperials, she quickly with her fleet left the system and made for the Moff world that was reported to be far more protected due to its route to Procopia, while Kun checked in on Mrlsst and spoke to Kira Offee planet side. The girl seemed far more serious from earlier playful attitude concerning battle and war and Kun figured she was becoming more in tune with her power and the dark side and encouraged her to continue what she was doing until she received word from him that New Shella fell and to then await Grad Admiral Grant who would launch the full scale of Mrlsst. Of course neither knew how many would be dead as would be reported but the war would go on, and Kira would revel in that battle when it came. Kun then made for Lynx.

Upon that backwater world the Moffs did not expect Kun to attack with the force that he did, as even that was much for them. He bombarded them for several hours with bomber air fleets. The Moff naval forces was token. One Stardestroyer Imperial-class, and four Tartans, with two Broadsides. They were all destroyed in a massive and explosive display that had Kun grinning at the sight, as he with Mattizz, landed with seven hundred fresh Massassi warriors from Yavin IV, along with a full million Stormtroopers. Among his force of Massassi was the mutated and hungry for war Kalgrath. The pale and reptile seeming Massassi was unleashed onto the enemy front line forces who ran in terror at the sight of the ravenous beats which made the Massassi common roar sound like a Gizka roaring into the night sky. It ran into and attacked the soldiers, ripping them to shreds with its massive clawed hands, and bit into their armored bodies and allowed blood to splash and pool as it tossed the limp and broken bodies aside awaiting his non mutated red kin who still saw him as their own, join him and aid him in his attack and rip the Moff troops apart in such ravenous manner that the troopers almost felt sorry for their Moff treasonous brethren.

When lord Kun himself entered the battlefield it was for the first time in a long, long time. With one side of his blue saber activated he entered into the very heart of the Moff troopers, and being an absolute master of Niman, he knew every form, and was a master of them all through Niman. Shii Cho, Makashi, Shien/Djem So, Soresu, Juyo, and Ataru. He like a blur entered into the battle and swung his saber in fast unseen flurries and deflected bolts with liquid precision. With Ataru who jumped square over, and swung down into his enemies and brought them low, utilizing acrobatics that would make a gymnast in the most prestigious of Olympic fields blush. Juyo allowed him to throw himself and give himself into the dark thrill of battle and the dark side bristled and crackled as his eyes saw red and he mowed down an entire divisions worth of meant cutting stabbing slashing beheading and laughing as he did so, as he calmed he saw nothing but a field of dead, sweat pooling on his brow, and a sense of grinning accomplishment wash over him. Soresu, and Shien allowed him to not have a bolt; not a single one bolt, get passed his defenses. He was the walking man with the glowing blade who the Moffs began to fear almost like a legend as the battle entered into day two o the battle. He would merely walk toward them and no matter how much or how many shot at him, his saber twirled and danced around his body and every bolt flew away and back at them, and they all began to ran in fear, only to find him suddenly behind them! With his most powerful Force blasts he sent entire platoons flying back and away with the impact breaking bones and killing men as they slammed into rocks, and walls, and buildings or even each other. With his Force lightning he sent squads into fits of spasms they could not stop and their cries filled Moff camps being overrun by loyalist forces. With his dark side magic his alchemy, he made a whole army detachment sick, and begin to lose their minds with fear, and crushed their wills to fight, and they began turning on one another. Killing, biting, gnashing, clawing at one another in dark side induced madness as the Massassi piled the enemy dead and sacrificed and burned their bodies in mass corpse piles to their lord, their god, Exar Kun. The living embodiment of the dark side in their collective eyes. The stench had loyal troopers gagging and hacking until Kun gave them leave to move away from the massive piles, as the Massassi howled in delight and the smell of burning flesh captured the air, and the smoldering, smoking ash of human remains fell to the soil below. The dark side bloomed upon Lynx, until finally all Moff officers and the local commanding Major-General begged lord Kun to allow them to surrender to him and his obvious cold and powerful might. Just looking into his cold and humor filled gray eyes made many men weep and beg for mercy. Kun allowed them to surrender only after they gave up the Freeworlds hidden money and as POW's began working to mine mineral ore from the world to feed his war machine and they agreed completely. Forty-thousand Moff forces were shown to beg and weep for Kun's mercy on the holonet and had the Moff High Council outraged, and general Morlin disturbed. The URM and Supreme Commander Nelrain watched with cold fascination. For she remembered the name Exar Kun, and in time fully remembered the ancient tales of him, though her memory was muddled. As she and her droid armies entered into the Outer-Rim, all she could do was excitedly await the day she fought and battled the oldest and somehow alive Sith lord they had right now.

With Lynx fully collapsed to Exar Kun, and New Shella entering day three of its battle, Kun returned to his ship, the Magnificence, a fitting name he thought for such a campaign. However he was about to embark on a whole other conquest when he returned to the ship, and he would come to enjoy it...very much so.

(Imperial-II Class Stardestroyer Magnificence, Post battle of Lynx)

Exar had departed a personal shuttle after returning to his Stardestroyer, and he was looking forward to a bit of alone time. However, the battle had loosened him up but also filled him with adrenaline he had not felt in ages and he found the thrill of a true battle once again invigorating beyond words as the dark bristled around him. The mass sacrifices made by the Massassi on the world was something they had not been able to do since the Dantooine attack now months ago, and almost out of his memory already. The troopers he brought with him lost a small force of ten-thousand, which in an army of a million was small, and the Moffs lost two-hundred-eighty-four-thousand with forty-thousand fully capitulated. The dark side had turned an army of men into babbling and crying children begging their parent for an end. Oh he gave them an end, and he also took with him the cached weapons of the Moffs, and the untapped ore f Lynx, as well as the hidden funds of some of the politically prominent within the Freeworlds portion of the Tapani sector. It was a good battle indeed! It brought a grin to his face every time in fact.

There was one matter still needing taken care of however, and it was driving Kun a bit mad himself. Ever since landing on Lynx and taking part in the battle he still sensed eyes upon him, watching and waiting and calculating. Sizing him up and waiting for their moment to strike. He could sense the dark side taint upon whoever this was as their ability to mask themselves faded with time. They were being forced to follow him planet side as well, and he knew they were just begging for an opening to send word back to the old man on Coruscant, but he was not about to let that happen. With all the dark side taint upon Lynx Kun's power was amplified, as was their but nowhere near as powerfully as his was. He made it so that his presence in the Force was always expanded always able to be sensed by those powerful in the Force and nearby and thus he in return would feel the slightest of changes on Lynx and extended his sense far beyond his body. He felt frustration coming in waves off whoever was tailing him. They could not make any move in the Force apart from trying to hide lest they alert Kun to where they were and he may be able to pierce their shields in the Force and enter their mind for some dirty secrets.

So now here he was walking down a hall towards his luxury room aboard the Magnificence, and here he was sensing this person following him and he began having flashbacks to Kira and when she first attacked him, and with a humorless and bored laugh he stopped in his tracks nodded politely to a pair of patrolling troopers who passed without issue, and folded his arms across his chest and allowed his dark cape and cloak to wrap around his person.

"I have known for a great many days now spy of Sidious that you are there. Wondering in the shadows. Do you know he sent another before you? Did you know he sent this assassin to die? They too knew they could not defeat me, and neither can you. Not a boast of course, but a matter of fact a statement of the hard cold truth I am afraid. I have been the bane of your existence, for I can sense it! You cannot make a move with me near, and you cannot extend yourself into the Force for aid or contact! I know a thing or two of the Force and I know you would need to break your cover to contact your master. You may have gotten away with it before perhaps on Coruscant where you followed me from. That world has so much chaos within the Force that masking yourself and making contact is simple, but now? It is impossible isn't it? I have you beaten, fully and utterly, and there is not a thing your or your master can do to beat me in kind now is there?"

From his peripheral vision he saw someone break from the shadows and he grinned knowing he had...her it would appear. He turned to his left to face her. She had blazing red hair indeed. Green eyes that were narrowed in her hatred of him in this moment, a tight fitting leathery outfit across her body. Exar sensed youth to her, and naivety, but frankly like with Kira, her body betrayed her age. She was older looking seemingly an elder teenager. He did not guess her age, and perhaps she was sixteen or fifteen, possibly seventeen, but the Force made it clear to him something was wrong with her body. At her side was a saber hilt, and a blaster, she had a cloak he had seen before hanging around her body and he knew it was meant for Imperial Intelligence operatives as it allowed one to move in the shadows quite easily. Her face was set into a sneer as her youthful and admittedly beautiful face looked upon him and Kun showed her a great smirk of victory.

"Come now little girl, do you think a dark lord of the Sith fears such a youthful display of unfocused aggression? I have fought Jedi masters, and Sith acolytes, and tamed and created beasts of war through the dark Sith arts! You little one are but an insect to me, so put away that feral sneer and tough act, and face me like someone with a sense of dignity and age about them. By the way what is it with this old man and his little girls? He must be extremely lonely and perverted indeed.!" Kun laughed deeply and she growled a snarl out and he cocked a brow.

"You know nothing of my master, the master of us all Kun! You are a relic of the old Sith, he is the epitome of the new Sith. The ruler of all the galaxy and creator of the greatest Empire in all the ages!"

"Ah excuse me, but he doesn't technically rule all the galaxy, just the Deep Core, Core Worlds, Colonies, and most of the Inner-Rim...just saying."
"Shut up!" She cried with balled fists, and Kun noted she had a lot of pent up aggression in her. More so than usual really.

"Tell me girl what is your age?"
"I don't have to tell you anything you karking sleemo, Kath hound!"

"Whoa! Touchy indeed! Are you on some sort of steroids or something? Perhaps he has a stimulant running through those veins? You seem a bit tightly wound for someone who is supposed to be an oh so secretive agent." She shook as anger consumed her more and more and Kun hummed an intrigued hum as he sensed great untapped potential within this one. Valek, or Viathan, was already being tapped into by the Emperor and Kira seemed to already entering into more power on her own, but this one seemed to be greatly held back and untapped. A shame, but she would be broken, and Force he enjoyed breaking those to his will!

"Very well. I see the only way to handle one such as yourself is to lock you away until you are willing to cooperate." Exar threw his robes back and allowed them to fall behind him and really make him seem regal and lord like as he brought up his fabled and powerful saber. She took a step back and fell into a combat position as she snatched up her own saber and activated a unique and Kun admitted interestingly colored Magenta saber beam, and fell into a very obvious Shii-Cho position, and he smirked.

"Oh my dear," He clicked his tongue mockingly and shook his head and activated his blue saber and fell into a head level Niman position. "your master has been holding back on you! Shii-Cho is so basic, I mean don't gt me wrong it is necessary, but hardly anything that can defeat a lord of my caliber." She growled again, like a karking animal, and she was barring her teeth and gripping her saber in both hands and angling her waist and legs for a battle ready position, which Kun laughed and twirled his saber expectantly.

"Are you gonna fight me or what little spy? Or are you so held back by your pathetic master that you are stricken by fear?! Your master is weak, incapable, olden, crippled Hutt scum not fit for the underside of my boot and-" She howled in her rage and her scream caught him mildly off guard as she ran at him with dark side fueled anger and ferocity that Kun reveled in seeing.

She slammed her saber at his midsection and he blocked and with his superior strength and pushed her off and ran at her forcing her back with their sabers connected and then fully swung her saber up and away and sent a booted hard kick into her stomach and she fell back and rolled aside, but Kun did not bother swinging upon her. With Djem So tactic, Kun unleashed the overhead overpowering attack called the 'falling avalanche,' and clammed his blue saber down to her magenta colored one as she was still trying to get up and was on one knee forcing her to block from a wretched angle. Kun spun his saber off hers, and quickly committed more Djem So styled brute force tactics on her. Slam after slam, after slam, and with the dark side a final slam full over his shoulder and she fell back as her saber suddenly turned off on her. Kun grinned at that.

"Now this is a surprising day. It is rare but I do think my saber just shorted yours out my dear. It will need some repairs if its indies have been singed." She looked to her hilt in horror mixed with breathy adrenaline spiked rage and she looked up to Kun, who sent a massive bout of Force blasting energy into and the redheaded girl slammed backwards and hit her head to the metallic floor below, and she groaned and attempted to move, but Kun picked her up by her collar and brought the girl up to his eye level.

"Oh my dear it's not your fault that you were so inept for this battle. It is his! Not to worry though you will achieve greatness in time, but for now...sleep." Deactivating his saber already and placing his now free right hand to her temple he breached all her shields and she was momentarily horrified again but then the suggestion from him to sleep consumed her mind and thus she fell into sleep and darkness took her.

---

Mara awoke with a start and lunged forward up from her lying position. Breathing heavily and hard as if left overs from her...confrontation with Kun.

'Kriffing stupid! Why did you have to confront him?! Why?! Stupid, stupid, stupid!' She mentally berated herself and suddenly took in her surroundings. A simple... 'Oh great a cell...good karking job Mara, you've done swell this time!' She again berated. It was a small room. No more than an eight by eight foot cell on all four sides. Her simple cot was built into the right wall if you were looking in the room and had a simple padded pillow, with a one blanket which was rather nice for a cell room. There was a one light coming in beaming from the very center of the ceiling. She looked opposite to her and saw that the cell was a ray shielded one. It was a red and foreboding red ray shield that buzzed endlessly in an almost calming manner with streams running through it endlessly. With a sudden adrenaline pounding and horrified thought she looked down, but sighed a loud and notable one, as she realized all her clothing was till there, and someone hadn't 'changed,' her in her sleep.

"Karking embarrassing." She intoned and rubbed her hand through her red locks of hair.

"A girl of your stature and age should not be so willing to use such foul language." She looked up as she still sat on the cot and saw Kun suddenly in the center of the entryway into the cell behind the ray shield flanking him three Massassi guards. One she knew to be his personal commander and the other two seemed to merely be brutish seconds to the one called Mattizz. She narrowed her eyes and snarled.

"You're so brave my lord Kun. Standing behind a ray shield with three Massassi surrounding you! Come and say such things to my face and see where that leads you!"
"Oh, ho ho, the lady has short term memory loss indeed! For I do believe I gave you quite a beating in under five minutes or less in the hall approximately three hours ago." She hid her shame for a moment and then quickly turned it into a renewed sneer and glared daggers to the Sith lord.

"Save your childish glares and embarrassment that you lost to your better my dear, because now you are my prisoner, and so long as I am aboard this ship you cannot make contact with your master. Oh, did I mention that? I am masking you in the Force and extending quite the interesting little Force shield across this entire ship. Your thoughts cannot be heard, and your presence cannot be felt. You are all alone save for myself and your two new guards here." Her mouth opened somewhat in horrified shock and she nearly began stuttering out a retort but she clamped her mouth shut and her face went red with anger and embarrassment.

"Now milady perhaps we can get to know one another better. I am lord Exar Kun, dark lord of the Sith and future ruler of the galaxy. Do not act so surprised either, for your master knows full well by now I plan on killing him and taking his position in time, but you are insurance to him."

"I don't have to tell you anything sleemo!"

"Oh some Huttese I see? It matters not, Mara Jade. For I already know your name, but I thought I would try to extend you the ability to speak it for yourself. To open a dialogue. Do you wish to know what else I know about you young lady?" Exar asked as she became more infuriated at how much he knew, but her mind was racing with questions that she wanted to demand an answer from him! However, she would not give in and give him the pleasure!

"Eat poodoo and die you long haired freak!" Exar recoiled from that one and grinned while letting loose a laugh full of mirth. "My, my we are running low on insults are we not milady Jade?" He chuckled and the three Massassi oddly stared at her with mixed expressions of hate, and disgust as they no doubt knew she had tried to kill their lord, and she knew how Massassi were when it came to their lord. It was something that her master hated about Exar. He desired the Massassi for his own purposes.

"Now your file, and no I will not tell you how I got your file until you begin cooperating, and I may even let you read it because it has quite the interesting bit of information on you. Needless to say and back to what I was originally going to say, your file says you are but a young lady of eleven. Yet and trust me I care not, you look like you are about fifteen maybe sixteen even Mara. Do you not see that you look a bit too old for a normal girl your age?"

"I guess I just age faster than most! Why are you son interested in how old I look? You got some sorta sick disposition to young girls?"
"Oh taking my own insults now are you jade?" The Sith laughed again and Mara cursed under her breath as she remembered his insult from before in their duel, about her master having...perversions. "Kark yourself you witless, incompetent, slave to my masters will! We are all servants to his greatness, and none of us are above him! Now go kark yourself and leave me in peace!" She demanded and placed her back against the wall to her cot and in a cross-legged position she fell into a trance that her master taught her, and then sucked in her breath as she fully realized that Kun was telling the truth. She could not extend herself beyond his ship and even then she was not able to enter minds or anything she wasn't at that level of ability yet. She only felt her own power in the Force, and she felt...weak. She very slightly opened her left emerald eye and found Kun speaking lowly to the two guards he was posting and then casting a final glance to her he laughingly walked off and away with Mattizz following him. She slumped her back into the wall and cursed some more while slamming her head into the wall, not hard but in deep frustration. Then almost unconsciously she looked at her hands and then down her body. He was right...of course Mara knew she looked too old for her age. She had as of late even began aging bodily wise faster than ever before. She didn't ask her lord about it, and didn't want him to think her a freak. However, she was already...in puberty and she knew that for some that was normal but at eleven? Really? She groaned even more and yelled at herself to shut up! She was letting Kun in and he had a forked tongue! She would get out of this yet, and when she did she would make that long haired deceptive freak pay!

(Day Two of Captivity)

A day passed and nothing. Late the other day Mara had received food. It was nice stuff. Looked like it was the stuff an admiral or lord would get aboard a ship and not the military gruel the troopers would eat too. Her eyes had fallen onto the meat lathered in some sort of flavor filled sauce spread atop it with a side of vegetables the smelled unnaturally good to her, but she hardened herself and did not eat. Not a karking bite! He would not win her or her stomach over!

She delved deep into her meditation all the while knowing that her two hulking guards were standing just outside her cell with their backs to her and like statues just stood. Not even taking to one another, nothing but their deep and growling breaths could be heard from them. It was irritating atop the endless streaming and buzzing of the ray shields, and the fact she knew the ship was not moving had her losing her karking mind!

'NO, no it was one day! You've been in here one karking day Mara! Use your training and take it like a big girl!' She demanded, and sighed again as she leaned again into the wall her cot was built into. The resounding sound of boots hitting the floor caught her ears and she stretched out her senses in the Force, and found it admittedly more hard to do then even yesterday...she felt even weaker in the Force now, and couldn't understand why! Nonetheless she knew it was that damnable Sith lord, that man, Exar Kun. As such she groaned in pure frustration as he came into sight and the Massassi guards prostrated themselves to which he motioned them to rise.

"Two of your contemporaries. Two of those in similar situations as you have joined me in my quest to remove your master from power whether you believe me or not, or even know of them does not matter, and seeing as you will never leave this cell until you bend your knee to me, I see no problem in telling you. The first was your, at least by your own file, rival, Valek Zalliste, who now goes by Viathan." Mara snapped her head to him and her eyes danced about in confusion and disbelief.

'Zalliste? Valek? No, he's too loyal, he's undercover...he must be! He beat me several times...he is too powerful a Hand to fall for this fools tricks! I wont believe it!' She screamed into her head and slammed her eyes shut and shook away whatever Kun said, and the lord watched with interest.

"The second then. A one who I think even you have no knowledge of, and perhaps that is why you will not be so shocked. Her name is Kira, Kira Offee, and she is the alien girl you saw me speak to when I was over Mrlsst. Indeed I doubt your master let you in on her and her existence as a pawn of greater caliber than even you." Again Mara ignored him but did recall that girl he spoke to via holocomm when the fleet attacking Lynx and New Shella came above Mrlsst. The girl looked the dark Jedi type, and seemed very calm and collected, cool in demeanor, and hard, surrounded in darkness. Mara let a low and growing rage filled sigh loose as she slammed her attention to the opposite wall away from Exar Kun who stood there observing and watching with keen interest.

"The both of them whether you believe or not does not matter, but they serve me with complete obedience thus far, and will be greatly empowered and rewarded in time for their service and loyalty. The dark side of the Force will open them both to powers you cannot even begin to imagine...Tell me young Jade do you feel weaker as of late?" Mara slowly looked back to him and he cast a lopsided smirk towards her.

"Oh your face betrays you! I can see, and sense it! You are weak! You have forsaken all true power for that which your master allows you! You cannot fight back against me for you have no power of your own! You depend on him for your power, but do you want to know why? Because he is capping, no, restraining your power, because he cannot have someone beneath him growing more powerful!"
"Shut up you karking squawking Mynock! My master would do nothing to hurt me only make me stronger! I am his Hand! His only karking Hand, and forever will serve him faithfully!" She cried with such rage and emotion in her voice Kun nearly believed tears would come forth as she stomped toward the ray shield and looked him near in the eyes if she were not a tad shorter than he of course, and she was shaking in rage, in utter anger.

"Then why are you so angry if you do not believe me? Someone with true faith in something does not jump into such defensive anger if they are secure in their faith in someone or something. Your anger, and your emotion just tells me that you suspect what I know to be true." Kun leaned down to whisper. "He, your master, will make you into nothing before the end. He will use and discard you like bad Bantha meat. He, and again you may not believe me, has a special little facility hidden upon Byss. Within this base is a lab for him to grow thousands of clones of himself and live forever. In time you will age, rot, and die, and he will replace you easily, and so easily that you will be but a fleeting and passing moment in his lifetimes. Forgotten, uncared for, and only in the end will he revel in telling you how useless and uncared for you are in his eyes. For as you say, he is 'above,' us all and so why should he give a damn about you?" Exar declared and Mara merely stared back at him with unhidden rage and hatred though Kun sensed uncertainty within her, as the young were so easily made to question that which they believed in. He huffed in an accomplished manner and turned and began to leave. Sensing the entire way the turmoil within the young redheaded girl. Why torture, when the mind is far more easily broken than the body?

Back within her cell Mara shook uncontrollably in anger. She felt her chest contract and she cursed herself, as she felt them, and she couldn't bare to feel them or let them fall! She took in a shaky breath but as she tried to release it with calm collection she felt herself lose her calm and from her emerald green eyes came forth burning, tears of anger, and denial. She screamed and slammed her fists into the ray shields and found the small electric current barely registering to her as pain. Her bitter tears fell with freedom and she felt so weak, in the Force, inside herself and so empty and alone. The Massassi did not flinch as she pounded her fists into the shields and the metal walls smashing her fists so hard yet not denting them at all, and causing blood to come forth from her knuckles.

'How does he act like he knows me so well? Why does he at like he even gives a damn! He is a monstrous twister of words! A viper and conniving bastard! Master would never betray me!' Mara slammed her body down onto her cot as she said that to herself she felt her own resolve weaken. How was it that Exar Kun was so easily able to make one question that which they had known for their whole lives?!

As the hours passed her by and she had nothing else to do Mara entered into the Force as her master had taught her. Her face was now stoney and apathetic to all around her. She was cross legged in the center of the room and her hands were on her knees as she had her eyes closed, now dried of any and all burning tears, and her body was still save for the rising and falling of her chest with her breathing. In the dark side of the Force, within the Force itself she found herself struggling to do any karking thing! She could sense the Massassi outside her cell, she could sense the people aboard the ship but barely, and even then they were only blotches of living energy in a sea of endless lifeforms. There was also Exar Kun, who despite her sudden weakness in the Force, resonated like a burning beacon rife with power, and full of darkness. It was nothing big for her, but when she sensed that he knew she was there in the Force probing him he opened himself up fully and allowed her to easily see into his mind. She had been wary at first and only registered and essentially 'watched,' Kun for a time in the meditative state as she struggled to maintain her deep meditation into the Force.

Finally her desire, her compulsions got the better of her and she looked into the mind of Exar Kun freely open to her. Among the things she saw was scenes of ancient wars, battles with men she didn't recognize, a fleet of ships over a forest world and a great fire engulfing Kun's body thousands and maybe millions dieing around him. An alien with a cane speaking to him in a deep grumbling voice. A massive serpent creature about to devour him, and then the Massassi in full mass bowing in utter loyalty to him.

Then his time as a spirit, meeting with Darth Vader, seeing Valek Zalliste for the first time...and then Zalliste bowing in full service to him, and the memory of the boy through the Force spoke of nothing but honesty loyalty. His desire to be named Viathan as a Sith acolyte to Kun, and his unwavering service in battle to him. The battle with Kira Offee, and Kun's victory over the girl who Mara sneeringly agreed was better than her at dueling right now at least. His defeat of her, and her revelation that the Emperor sent her...to die for him.

Mara exited her meditation with an intake of breath and she clamped her hands around her head and shook away the images! They were not true, they could not be true! Her master would not send someone like her to die by Kun's hand! Maybe Offee was a traitor and needed to die! Valek, though, Valek was weak willed! Always pining for her masters love only never receiving it, and the moment someone comes along and gives a sense of fatherhood and care and Zalliste bends to him! Pathetic! She would not bend so easily to lord Kun, no matter what! That is what she told herself.

Even hours later more as her eyes grew weary and she continued to try and enter into the Force with just as much struggling and failure, she opened her emerald eyes to find one of the Massassi speaking to a third arrival, another Massassi carrying a plate of mouth watering food, and despite herself Mara felt her stomach grumble in response to the heavenly smells emanating from the food, as the Massassi guard lowered the ray shield and they set their yellow eyes on her as the third entered and dropped the plate gently before her figure, and took her untouched plate from the night before and left with a confused look at the untouched food. The Massassi reactivated her cell shield and turned once again to stand like statues.

She looked to her food and found it to once again be an assortment of meat, with a side of fruit this time, looked like Shura, and some sort of stew in small plastic bowl. It smelled unnaturally good to her, as she hadn't eaten since leaving Coruscant, save for a few ration bars and they tasted like the back end of a Shaak. She cleared her throat shrugged her shoulders and closed her eyes once again and starved herself knowingly! She would feed off her desires and her pain from lack of food! She would prove to Exar Kun, and her master even that she could handle this, for Mara Jade was not weak!

(Day Three of Captivity)

Mara awoke with her eyes feeling heavier than ever in her karking cell. The Massassi as ever stood where she had left them the night before and her plate of food remained untouched and on the floor. Now cold and unappealing, though honestly she would still eats it if she were not so stubborn. She groggily rubbed her eyes and flung her one sheet off her body and threw her legs over the side and stood and entered into a bout of stretches she was taught to keep her body feeling vitalized, even if she was really weakened. Running her hair back with her right hand she imagined she looked pretty bad already, and it was only her third day of embarrassing capture and mental degrading torture at the whims of Exar Kun. She decided then that she would fall into a set of dancing moves she knew. It was perhaps an odd thing to some, but Mara Jade was a fine dancer. She prided herself on being able to dance as she could, and it allowed her to remove herself from the troubles outside her own mind, and just think and relax her body, which again was odd for some to understand. She committed precise twirls and spins, that would make some of the finest ballerinas in the most prestigious of operas jealous, and fell into a set of waving hand and arm motions, and smirked at the thought of Exar walking in on her dancing. Surely he would think he drove her insane!

She, now that she thought about it had danced for her lord before. Sure she is only eleven and had done so at eight years old and garnered his admiration and brought a wide beaming smile to her face, but then as she thought of it, it did send an odd chill up her spine. Why? Why did the thought of her master watching her dance suddenly create a pit in her stomach?

'No! No you will not let him warp your vision of your master! Your master, and your lord is a good man, of vision and power!' Yet even with that forced scream f internal affirmation she found herself grimacing at his toothy grin, his wrinkles forming around his wicked smile with his gleaming yellow eyes monstrously watching every move she made with her young body, as it aged ever faster than most into that of a teenagers. She suddenly stopped her dance routine and stumbled at her own suddenness and found herself with a bad taste in her mouth, and she fell to the floor and once more in cross legged form entered into the Force. It was hard as ever, but she focused, and delved into her pain, her deep desire to eat gave her power, her pain from being told all those monstrous lies by Kun fed her strength in the Force. Even the mild soreness from Kun suddenly slamming her head down to the floor she amplified to feed her power. She welded her eyes shut and focused on the vision of her master within her mind hoping in some way to breach through Kun's mental shields across the ship, but it was all in vain, only allowing her to bring up the memories of her master. Every moment he commanded her, sent her away to train under others, forced her to fight and crawl for his love, and how does he repay her? 'Send me on a mission where I am likely to be caught?! Why do you not sense me in danger?! Where are you?! Do you not sense something is wrong master?' She suddenly opened her eyes again and found herself looking around her cell numbly.

"Did I just say that? Or did I fall asleep?" She questioned in a low whisper of a voice as she couldn't believe herself for being so demanding and angry with her master. Of course he was coming for her! He wouldn't allow his one and best Hand to fall into the clutches of Exar Kun and possibly be killed! He needed her...right? She needed him, Mara needed her master! She balled her hands into fists again and sharply sucked in a breath when she turned her hands over and regarded her bruised and slightly scrapped knuckles and recalled her fit yesterday, and sighed.

Drawing on her raw anger and pain for the rest of the day Mara began aggressively working er body in her small cell. In place running. Running from one end to the other, jumping off the walls, practicing her fighting sets, punching the air, imagining Kun's face at times, and others she had to shake herself when her masters face came to mind as she punched and released all her pent up adrenaline and energy. She was panting and sweating like a damn Kath hound and suddenly realized she had sweat poring down her body, and now she really wanted a shower, and grimaced when she realized she didn't have a fresher facility...come to think of it she hadn't need it at all, but she NO fresher services! Not even a karking lavatory?!

"Are you kidding me Kun?!"

"How am I kidding you milady Jade?" She whipped around after fully realizing her own predicament and lack of a proper fresher and facilities, and growled when Kun stood opposite the shield again with an intrigued and knowing smirk with adjoining twinkle in his gray eyes, his arms were folded and she came up to the shield again.

"Tell me oh so gracious prison keeper, do you see something missing?" She waved her right arm across the room in a sweeping manner, and Kun brought a mocking and obviously humor filled hand up to cup his chin and he made a 'hmm,' noise.

"Oh yes! There seems to be a distinct lack of décor in the room. Really I told the captain that the dull and sterile gray of this ship is so bland that-"
"Not the décor you karking Hutt spawn!" She cried and allowed her full anger to bristle through the Force and Kun cast her an impressed look and watched her growl once more at him in her fury.

"There is no fresher unit here! No shower, no sink and no karking lavatory!" Kun burst into hysterical laughter and the two Massassi looked to their lord and each other in confusion as he held his gut in mirth and laughed a booming laugh and slapped his knee, before rising back up and saw Mara with deeply red hot cheeks and raw anger boiling in her, which Kun found oh so delightful to sense. 'That's right little Jade, feed on your own anger and power. Be your own for once, and free yourself of unseen shackles.'

"Why no milady I did not notice that," he chuckled some more and recomposed himself as she sneered. "I did not notice that they forgot to place a simple toilet within the cells. Ah, right! Now I remember these are supposed to be but temporary cells! So your master actually thought it was a good idea to torture his prisoners and ordered some holding cells to be bereft of any lavatories to make his enemies as uncomfortable as possible. I am terribly sorry, and hope you don't have any 'needs,' needing attending to at this time young Jade."

"Kark yourself Kun, and no I don't! Not that it's any of your business."

"You brought it up young Jade, if I may say so." She scoffed and folded her exposed arms across her chest and gave him the evil eyes once again and Kun rolled his eyes and peered over her shoulder to see her food plate untouched and once more shook his head and clicked his tongue in a mock disappointed manner.

"My, my young Jade. Denying yourself some of the finest food the droid chefs aboard the ship can muster up. To think I go through the trouble of ordering you stuff even the admirals cannot eat when on missions. Such perishables aren't cheap or quite practical you know!"
"You can shove your food where the stars don't shine lord Kun! I didn't ask for your karking charity."

"That foul mouth of yours is gonna either get you in trouble or really attract someone who likes that type of language, and trust me they're out there, but I digress." Kun mocked and she cast another lopsided sneer.

"No, you did not ask for food, but I knew you would not. You are the type to stave themselves for the 'mission,' but trust me Mara jade you will bend to the demands of your stomach. Did you know the quickest way to win the hearts and minds of the people is through their stomachs? Feeding a man is more precious than clothing one, more valuable than gold or credits, and feeding a man will allow that man, that woman and that child to hand you over a galaxy. I will extend to this whole galaxy what I extend to you in my own ways. For once the bellies of the masses and the mob is filled, their pockets lined with credits and clothes on their backs with roofs over their heads, they will bow their knees and bend to me, as you will soon Mara Jade." She stared at him with more disgust, but it was muddled with her own agreement with his words. The image of an Emperor giving the people food, security, and money was surely something the masses, of morons called civilians, would do anything for. Her master? He denied prisoners toilets, so that made Jade shrug and concede silently Kun's idea.

"Now do tell me Jade, have you sensed your own power through your own stubborn denial of pleasure grow? Such denial of simple pleasures and leisure's make one all the more powerful in the dark side of the Force."

"I am already powerful Exar Kun. You simply have more age and experience than me. I concede that much, but I was weak when you threw me in this horrible cell, and now I am becoming stronger! The more you cage me the stronger I will become!"

"I am expecting that my dear Mara Jade." Kun intoned darkly with a dark smirk that gave his whole face a foreboding look to it and caused Mara to unconsciously take a step back. He kneeled down to become more eye level with her and allowed her to look down to him now as he leaned and spoke.

"You see Jade, unlike your master who has undoubtedly molded you into an assassin of skill and fineness, through pain, through tasks of immense pain, and through denial of compliment and through denial of any fair and good treatment, I seek to mold you into something far more powerful as I am young Zalliste and Offee. If you would allow me, and allow yourself to break free of that man who you think is only looking out for, you then you would know power that your master would have denied you for all your life. I would gladly make you more powerful then you could have ever dreamed and give you position to do to this galaxy as you will, and be what you will no more held back by the confines of the Emperor, and sure I admit trading one master for another is quite hypocritical of me, but why keep one master who holds you back when you could have one that allows greater freedom and power. Among friends and allies who would not cast you aside but raise you up and aid you in any endeavor. Unlike this Empire full of cronyism, back stabbing, and fear, mingled with hatred, and spliced with apathy." Mara watched him with her pulse suddenly quickening as every word spat fro his mouth was laced like her master before him with promises and things her heart desired. 'Do not betray him! Do not betray your master.' She demanded but with less conviction as she gain tired, and fed on her pain and hunger.

"You do realize, Kun, that you make promises already made and ones that will not be kept? I at least have the integrity to serve one master and not two, and fall for the same dribble twice."

"Ah yes, I do suppose you would have been made promises to by your lord, and master. However, answer me this question, did you see me at all berate and belittle Zalliste or Offee, or did they seem to be flourishing all on their on without their lord constantly over their shoulder and berating and weakening them? Do you want to know why you are powerful in the Force as you go on without his presence in your mind twenty-four-seven? Because he was and will hold you back, he fears all those beneath hi, if he did not he would not have sent you to spy on me now would he? He was and will hold you back and make you Mara Jade, less than what you could be, while I can and will make you so much more than what you are."

She watched him with confused intrigue and silently so as he rose to full height again and made to leave but stopped and looked at her once more. "You will come to feed on your pain and your desires and these passions and strong raw emotions ill make you feel more powerful than you have ever felt under your masters thumb. When you feel more powerful than ever, you will seek me out, and I will answer milady Jade." A smirk and whip of his cloak he made down the halls again and out of sight, off to do whatever it is he was doing, and his Massassi once more entered silent stoney guard.

She cast a glare to the floor beneath her, and with her arms still crossed she sighed and growled all at once and ran both hands through her hair in frustration. She sat herself once again on the floor and hunched her body over and merely stared into her lap. She closed her eyes at last and amplified every once of pain on and in her body, she balled her hand into painful fists and began to grind her teeth. He neck tensed her spine stiffened and every muscle tightened and she felt the dark side whip around her, and call to her and whisper to her, and grant her power. The Force blossomed before her and she could almost touch it and take hold of it. She then decided to amplify her memories and visions of her master and they flew through her mind and across her vision in flashes of moments in time long past or recent, and the more he grinned and smiled, and cackled, and commanded, beat and whittled, berated and howled the more he patted her head, and slapped her face for failures, the more her rage crawled along her spine and into her arms which began to spasm and pulse pain with every muscle tightened!

"You're not coming are you master? You'll never come for me...I'm another failure in your damn yellow eyes aren't I?!" She yelled into the nothingness of the empty halls of the cells inside this ship floating Force know where at this point, and she suddenly found herself very much hating every karking memory of her master she had.

"I suppose I am a failure then master! Only three days and I break!" She cried and slammed her fists into the metal floor beneath with a howl of frustration that resonated the halls again, all the while allowing Kun far off in the ship to sense her anger, her frustration, rage, and uncertainty.

When the third Massassi guard came that night again with another karking good smelling and appetizing platter of food, Mara looked at it with contempt. The Massassi looked to her uneaten food from the last night and again gave her an odd look. Mara shot the red fiend a glare in return and the beat growled and took the platter with him. Mara jumped up then and caught the Massassi's attention.

"You will serve me now." Mara commanded and used the Force to attack the beasts mind. It cocked its head to the side and neared closer to her, and hunched down as if to bow, but then shot up and growled into her face and caused her to recoil as it moved away and left once more, and left her frustrated beyond belief once again. She looked to the food once again and placed a hand to her gut as it growled for food. Mara did have to really concede Kun's point. Food was the ultimate weapon, and it was deadly.

(Day Four of Captivity)

Mara awoke this time on the hardened metal floor beneath her, and she couldn't recall how she ended up on the floor of her cell and she rubbed her head. She was curled up facing the cold wall opposite her cot, and she was cold from laying on the metal all night no doubt while Kun slept in a nice comfy bed with fine sheets that kept you warm all through the night! She coughed some and didn't quite know where the cough came from and cleared her throat as the eleven year old...who the more she thought on it didn't look eleven and disgusted herself now because of it, and she rose to a stand and stretched again but now found herself drawing heavily on the dark side of the Force to simply stand. She was weary and tired, and her body though not looking young still was, and needed food! She looked over her now cold and unappealing platter from the night prior and shook her head as her stomach knotted and begged for something to be put into it. Anything! Mara however still had standards, she wasn't going to eat that shlock.

"Sleeping until midday is not a good sign milady Jade." She wearily and with a groan lifted her head up to see Kun standing there with a grimace on his face as his eyes went along her person. She had dark patches under her eyes, and her eyes were marred and blotched with redness from lack of proper sleep and nutrition but also with yellow as the dark side allowed her to stand and operate. Her body while youthful was slouched looking and her legs were growing weaker despite her attempts to vitalize herself, and likely she hadn't eaten since taking on her mission to follow him from Coruscant as he suspected, and her body was really feeling built up affects of such denial of nutrients.

"What do you mean midday?" Her voice now groggy and hoarse asked, and Kun grimaced again.

"You have been asleep since you fell asleep last night t about eleven standard time. It is now four in what would be Coruscant standard time. Your body is failing you even with the dark side of the Force, but you can feel its power can you not? How the denial of food and the pain your gut sends through you feeds the primal drive to survive? Where is your master now to save you milady Jade? I am your only salvation it would appear." She cast him one of the most forced glares she could and Kun again kneeled down as she neared the shield.

"Tell me...do you feel more dark power coursing through your body? Because I can assure you, your eyes are gleaming with the yellow of your master, and one who steeps themselves and bathes in the dark side of the Force. Did you ever accomplish such a level of darkness under your master or was he the only means by which the gleam of a Sith's yellow eyes fell across your face?"

She fell to her knees before him and looked up to his face as he kneeled lower and nearer to her eye level as muddled anger, and pain washed through her eyes as they studied his face.

"The dark side flows through me well enough Kun. I have never been so deep into the dark side of the Force that my eyes changed shades like my masters. Yours never change."
"Mine are gray. I don't know why, and do not ask me to find out because I long ago gave up, but for some reason the dark side likes to change it up a bit. Some eyes are yellow, some red, and some I have seen are deeply gray. Mine are naturally gray, and I suppose the Force has seen fit o leave them as such." She nodded numbly to his reasoning or idea as it would be, and hung her head low.

"...Can I please have some food?" Kun cocked a brow to that as her head was still hung low and he sensed great anger coming from her as ever, and mingled with it was a sense of failure, regret, and acceptance.

"Surely milady Jade. Under one condition." She looked up to him and he noted unshed tears in her broken down eyes. "Admit by word, even if you do not believe as such, that your master is not coming for you, and never will before me." He asked with no giving look of desire to revel in her pain and she with robotic emotionless voice did as asked of her from her hunched over position upon her knees.

"My master is never coming for me...and does not nor never has planned on it. I am all on my own." Exar smiled and inclined his head to the side.

"See? Was that as difficult as you thought it would be milady?" She gave him a semi hard and weak look mingled with weakness and surrender. Kun huffed a one laugh and snapped his fingers, and a Massassi unseen until then came into her sight and she narrowed her eyes.

"You planned on giving me the plate anyways?" Her voice groggy and still hoarse asked with confusion wrought across her face. "Why of course milady Jade. I merely wanted to see if we had made a breakthrough and we have! I am not going to deny a young girl such as yourself food. Have I ever done so in the three days you have been under my watch and care? I have denied you little my young friend, and perhaps it is time you understand that." He snapped in the Massassi tongue and the guards lowered the shield and Kun allowed the third to enter with a platter set it down and without issue take the old and untouched one. Kun entered the cell and motioned the Massassi to leave the cell and activate the shield again with him in it causing the Massassi to watch them both intently now.

Kun pushed the platter towards her, and Mara looked down at the meat again something she didn't recognize and it was lathered in something that gave it a wonderful smell and made her mouth water like a Kath hound, with a bowl of assorted fruit, and this time a tall drink of water, unlike before which made her wonder why that was but she didn't have it in her to ask.

Like a madwoman she grabbed the bowl and without taking any utensil she grabbed the fruit pieces and ate them like a wild animal before Kun who watched the scene with a blank face with only a ghost of a smile across his darker features. She could not help but make groans of primal satisfaction as she ate and consumed, and savored every bite with ravenous lust for the food. The water was then chugged down in one massive go at the plastic cup tall as it was it did make Kun raise a brow in some humor. She slammed it down and huffed out a breath with satisfaction for quenching her primal desire for food and drink radiating off her, and her presence in the Force shone through as it cried in pleasure. The meat was taken care of with more propriety, she used the fork utensil to stab the thing and eat it while hanging from it. Kun found it internally very funny to see a girl eat so wildly at food. It was nothing against women, he merely found the whole picture funny especially knowing that this one was raised in the pomp and proper Coruscanti high life. He had never seen Viathan eat save for once, and even then it was some horrid nutrition pouch that you pour into a bowl of water and make into a thick paste material. He said something about only being permitted to eat that his entire life, and Kun could not understand why he did not eat something else. Then again his body was in a muscular state of prime and Kun figured only eating tasteless paste mix must be one of the factors behind his strong physique.

She finished quickly and looked to her hands, dirtied from touching food, and Kun threw her a napkin he had awaiting her in his cloak. She took it and gingerly wiped her hands and mouth. She looked slightly more alive already! She sighed and threw the napkin onto the platter and looked ashamed of herself and Kun chuckled, catching her attention...or glare rather.

"To feel shame for satiating a simple primal need like food or drink is a very unnatural thing young Jade. I would never begrudge a student or follower of mine the very right to eat. Why should a prisoner not eat simply for being imprisoned? Food is food unless it is poisoned and poison is the least you have to worry from me. Plus you haven't drank any fluids in a while I see." Mara looked to the glass and numbly nodded.

"Now what?" She numbly still, asked while looking away from him, and Kun laughed.

"Now milady Jade you begin to look back on every little moment your master the Emperor held you back, and you rest. Think of these next few days as a break from work and from him. Now take this, and do not try anything." Kun pulled her saber from his back and gave it to her, and she went wide eyed and took it from him, and activated the magenta beam, seeing he had fully repaired it for her.

"Wh...why? Why are you giving me a weapon that could puncture a ray shield?!" Again Exar laughed a chuckle and shrugged.

"I am building trust am I not milady? Plus, trust me when I say these Massassi can take on a Jedi or Sith. However, if you wanna play your luck feel free but you will fail and we will have to start all over again I think and it would be a pity to enter into an endless cycle." She nodded as she held her saber in her hands and ran her hands along the hilt getting reacquainted to her lovely weapon. She looked up to Kun and oddly enough flashed him a smirk and she nodded placing her deactivated saber onto her belt.

"Tomorrow we'll have another chat over some food perhaps milady, and we will begin to unleash your full potential Mara Jade, and you will see what true power in the dark side is and can be."

"If you say so lord Kun." She retorted and Kun took her platter and smirked his own smirk as he left and handed the empty tray to the third Massassi to once more get rid of. Leaving a confused and slightly broken girl within her cell, and surprisingly Mara felt no desire to try her luck with the ray shield and the Massassi guard, and instead fell into her meditations, and as Kun instructed she focused on her master and thought of every training session with hi and the other teachers he assigned her, and each and every time they held her potential back her power back her anger rose, and every time she remembered her master berating, punishing, and breaking her in mind body and soul she felt uncontrollable rage crawl along her spine. On Kun's words she remembered him saying that the Emperor while within her mind prevented her from reaching her full potential, she found herself unusually angry. When she opened her eyes again they were yellow with the dark side and she had a sneer across her face, and finally she accepted it within her mind fully.

"You've forsaken me master." She declared aloud and then fell into a restful sleep quickly afterwords. Exar Kun was winning the battle for Mara Jade's mind.

(Day Five of Captivity)

"The dark side of the Force is something that is within everyone of us. The dark side of the Force is power, and raw, but it is up to us to make that raw power a coordinated and focused thing, a focused energy and fore for us to use and make the galaxy and our lives what we desire." Kun instructed as Mara sat on her cot cross-legged again and watched him nodding along as he spoke. She had awoken this day fully rested and ready her body feeling more invigorated, and ready to meet with Exar Kun who had arrived along with her meal for the day and she did not even allow the thought of NOT eating to cross into her mind. She would not ever play that game again unless absolutely necessary. She had been able to once more enjoy her morning self training and work out session and even dance some, though she still wanted to beg the dark lord for a shower, but she wasn't that desperate yet.

"This is the Sith code, learn it well and begin to understand what this code is trying to teach you. Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through Passion I gain strength. Through strength I gain power, through power I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall free me. What does this mean, if anything to you Jade?" She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips as she thought on the tenants. Her master had not really allowed her to learn anything Sith...she was supposed to be an assassin, a Hand, no more or less than thus, and the offering to become a Sith, she had to admit was tempting.

"There is no peace, there is eternal struggle and struggles no matter how small make one stronger if they can overcome them. That is what I think anyways for the first one. Strength inherently leads to power, power as a relative term and what not. Power if used wisely and effectively can lead to victory. Victory can and does lead one to overcome many things that would otherwise tie them down into the standards and philosophy of others, as such the term chains is employed. The Force is something that the majority of the populations in the galaxy fail to have. They cannot use the Force let alone feel it or understand it. The Force frees a select few lord Kun, and those who are freed by it can either attain victory and freedom or death and nothingness I feel as though the code says at least...I could be wrong."

"Ah but what is right or wrong with a subjective code? No dear jade one is never right or wrong with a code sch as this. The Sith code may have a narrow vision but ultimately if one takes the code and uses its simplicity in ideas and speech to attain greatness and power then who is to say it is wrong? I think you have a far more interesting understanding and interpretation of the code than some other initiates into the Sith have had. Quite the interesting ideas indeed milady Jade, interesting indeed!" Kun congratulated in a very admittedly charming manner Jade had known and been warmed of and found herself smirking under the praise.

"Now, I have sensed that your power in the Force has been steadily weakening but then fluctuating back and stronger. You perhaps not yet believe me when I tell you that your power was held back by your master, but if you do believe me then hear this. Your master entered into your mind to speak and command you from afar and capped what you could learn back on Coruscant correct?" She nodded. "As I thought. Then he would want to cap your internal strength as well milady. For within you I sense raw untapped power as any latent practitioner within the Force has. You would not imagine the amount of power young Zalliste has gained while he has been with me, and you two are rivals no?" She grimaced but again nodded and Kun chuckled. "Then it would do you well on many levels to learn under me, and begin to reach his level of experience and strength. Indeed he has been fighting on the front lines of this war and taking little trips into the dark and hidden places of this galaxy to discover his own power. He now learns from several dark sources including me, and the power learned under the Emperor are only heightened by his new found strength. Perhaps you too would like to become as powerful as he and finally be his equal if not his better?" She frowned but then bowed her head to the side.

"That would be agreeable I suppose. That Gizka has for too long acted superior to me, and it would be nice if you don't stroke his ego."
"Ego? Ha! Have you and I met the same boy? That boy has the ego of a Gizka but the potential of an ancient Sith Leviathan, hence the name of Viathan. You may not feel so inclined to change your name young Jade, but for him he had suffered long enough under the thumb of your master, and decided to become someone new entirely. Valek Zalliste to him was a weakling never to be anything more than a slave to your masters will. I think you and he might actually share some common feelings in time, and may grow to understand one another better." She rolled her now fully emerald eyes, and Kun laughed.

"Then what about the Mirialan looking one? Kira Offee?" Kun nodded and clasped his hands behind his back.

"She was sent by your master, whom was hers as well to attack me, but not win. Your master and hers knew she could defeat me, but wanted to test my skills against a girl with more skills and training more powerful then yours, which is a matter of fact not of belittlement young Mara. You needn't worry though for I sense great potential in you to easily match er one day as well if you work hard, and very hard at that, and I sense a willingness and ability within you to match that fiery personality you have." Mara smirked again taking the compliment and almost with a bit of shame too.

"Now I think it is tie I return to my more active duties as the handler of the Tapani campaigns. The invasion of Mrlsst will be beginning in a few days time and that will be the greatest battle yet I feel. I still need to make contact with some, and so on and so forth. Sadly I think you need to stay in this cell for a while yet, and continue to bask in alone time, thoughtful reflection and meditation." She frowned but nodded, and watched him motion the Massassi guard to open the cell, and again he turned back to her.

"Your master has not called me once. He has truly abandoned you milady Jade I am afraid to say. I am the only one in the galaxy who may actually care about your person at this point. Think hard on that." Exar declared with another ghost of a smirk playing on his features and he left again with Mara narrowing her green eyes as hatred consumed her again. Not for Exar Kun...no he was actually growing on her like a lovable if not annoying tick, but her master...he had abandoned her without care! No doubt blaming her for 'being caught,' and even laughing as he imagined her being tortured by Kun for information. No, her master had shown her his true sense of care and honor now, and she knew what he was under that karking robe. A bony, disgusting, monster who only used and never gave a damn. 'Damn you and your karking uncaring nature master! I would have done anything for you, and yet you wouldn't do a single thing for me! Then maybe I ought to show you what you so easily sacrificed!' She thought with a nearly deranged and mirth filled smirk, as she sunk into meditations that Kun instructed her to do and delve into the dark side of the Force, and she repeated the Sith code in her mind again and again. That night falling into good rest as the dark side whispered to her of power and grandeur and visions of her 'master,' filled her mind and fed her power in the dark side.

(Day Six of Captivity)

Her eyes were tightly shut and her mind stretched out before her as she focused on every image of her master and let the rage and fire within her heart and soul burn. Exar was to the far side of her cell watching with arms crossed as she began levitating her saber off the floor with the Force and several other small objects like her blaster, again something Kun brought back to her, much to her elation, and her cloak as well. It was surprisingly hard to do at the moment. However she was doing it. All three objects were in the air and floating in a circle formation but she could not or rather would not open her eyes because that always seemed to break her concentration as she fed on her pure rage to make her skills and power possible. Exar noted this with mild frustration, as he too noticed the girl was apparently so held back and dependent on her connection to the Emperor through the Force that she was like a beginning padawan or Sith acolyte.

"You are focusing on your rage and anger, and that is good to feed your power, but do not let it consume you Jade. Feed off it, and focus it. Do not let it be the only means to power."
"Then what the kriff do you expect me to do Kun?" She demanded with gritted teeth and eyes still welded shut with force. "Imagine for me then how much better Valek Zalliste is, and how more powerful a girl you never met Offee, is than you! They are two of your masters apprentices like you but better, stronger and faster! They make you look like nothing for you are nothing!" Exar declared and Mara popped one eye open and glared at him with fuming rise of her pulse and adrenaline and her breathing quickened as she grew more enraged.

"Kark yourself Kun!"

"That I will not do, and you wanna know why? Because nothing you can do will stop me from pointing out the cold hard truth that you are nothing to my power or Viathan's power, and you are nothing to your master either! Where is he, and why does he not save you?! Because he hates you and doesn't care if you live or die!"

Mara howled at that and jumped from her cot and ran at Kun with her magenta saber activated and Kun sent a Force blast into her and she flew back and hit the far wall and thus was shocked by the ray shield. She fell to one knee and her back had a small shock burn across her leather top ad a small smoke pillar rose and the pain amplified her power and her hair hung wildly around and down her face. She snarled as her body shook and screamed again with saber over her head and charged him he activated his saber and blocked her easily at his midsection, and spun her away to his right and she swung hard left back at him he caught it and moved to his left to her side and swung up she flew backwards with a jump, and then immediately countered with another jump back at him with saber overhead and slammed down onto his saber he blocked every wild strike as her eyes blazed yellow with hatred and anger but undirected.

"Focus your anger and your hatred, direct it into a funnel direct who you are angry with and who you hate into a stream and threw your moves and actions unleash upon me what you would see and do to that whom you hate!" Mara saw red as she imagined Kun was the Emperor and with a guttural cry she swung her saber back and slammed it upon him and thrust in an arch up and threw his saber back and stabbed at his chest he caught it and threw her to the side she carried the momentum and swung a hard slash to her left in a full spin and met his saber. She pulled her on saber away stepped back and flung upwards with a slash and he caught her and carried his saber as she flew into the air and swung it back down hard upon him the as she fell to the ground on her knee she spun while low and aimed at his feet. He steeped away she swung back hard at his knees he jumped back with the Force. She spun her saber in her hand and with every muscle pounding and her pulse going a mile or two a minute she plunged her saber at his chest as she jumped back to full height and stabbed over and over but each one he blocked and tossed aside. She cried like a wild beast ready for the kill and threw saber over her head and slammed down, and met Kun's blue saber.

"You have the anger, and the body for saber dueling and the drive, but you have less focus. That however is for another day." She was breathing ragged breaths and glowering at his figure as she shook her head and noted that it was not the Emperor she was attacking but Kun, and her muscles in her arms suddenly felt weak.

"What...was the point...in that then/" She asked with heavy breath between word, and lowered her saber, deactivating it as it lowered.

"Sometimes the best way to open one up to focusing and funneling their power and strength in the Force is to coax them into a rage fueled duel where they are so focused they can lose sights of all else around them. Your focus for attacking me...or I suspect someone you were thinking of other than myself, led you to focus all your energy and darkness into battle, and if you can apply that to your power in the Force you will be far more powerful indeed." Kun deactivated his saber and clipped it to his belt.

"Now, raise the three items again, and focus while you still feel the rush of adrenaline and thrill of battle." Mara nodded once as her red hair matter her face. She threw her hand out with saber in hand and used the Force to float it where she let it go and then with a wondering glance to the two fallen objects she ordered them to rise with her mind and the power of the Force. All three shook and rose into the air and she kept her eyes fixated on them and watched them float in the air in a circle before herself and she beamed a grin as she commanded them with easy to dance around one another over her to her said and up and over Kun who watched with a satisfied smile.

"Funnel your anger, and focus, do not let it consume, but do not think of nothing but making the object float, and apply this to all teachings in the Force. Will that which has none of its own to do as you command as you will and you will know control and power in the Force and in the dark side." She nodded and caught her two weapons clipped them and caught her cloak and threw it over her shoulder.

"I'll try...now, do I get out of this damn prison?"

"Not yet. Soon though. Very, very soon indeed. Meditate and rest once more in this grime of a cell and eat. For tomorrow we will open you fully to the dark side of the Force and begin the process of freeing your mind, and your soul from your master, and then Mara jade you will be free." She frowned deeply but did as told and meditated on her own volition and spent nearly all that night making things float in her room, all of them things she had including her forgotten empty platter. By three in the morning, standard time, she had her darkness running and coursing through her body like a funnel and the dark side sung through her cage making the Massassi eye one another and then her for once breaking their statue like guard positions.

(Day Seven of Captivity)

"Very good. Very good indeed young Jade." Kun complimented as she showed him her ability to make her things twirled with ease through the air as the dark side fueled and jumped her into power she had not yet known. Sure she knew and had touched the Force before but even this was new to her, as the Emperor had held her skill in the Force back to very, very basic teachings. Her whole body was shaking with adrenaline, and her eyes were not only bloodshot red and yellow from the dark side, red from lack of sleep as she had not slept at all last night and merely focused on the Force and its application around her. The adrenaline was pounding through her whole system helping her stay awake even as her eyes begged to flutter closed and allow her to collapse to the floor beneath. Atop all that she had run in a small circle in her room to get the blood pumping the mind sharp and focus her mind. She utilized the Force to aid in keeping her awake too and by the time Kun came back next day afternoon, looking rested and baffled by her look again, she hadn't yet realized that it was about four in the afternoon standard time.

"You seem a bit tightly wound, if not in need of some sedatives my dear."
"I am merely training and getting myself into tip top shape to thrown my skills in the face of the Emperor! He will see what he so easily throw away and how much more I can be and am!"
"It is one thing to train and meditate, but to wear your body out in one full night of training will perhaps and potentially overdo it and tire your body and weaken you over all. There is such a thing as moderation milady Jade." She scoffed openly and held her saber in her hand and released it to fall but it didn't instead with her eyes staring at Kun with a smirk the saber spun sideways in great speeds with her mind and she didn't even bother to look at the hilt as she did so and Kun watched her and it and shook his head with a chuckle.

"I see. Well I am sold you are ready!"

"Ready for what?" Kun produced a datapad and activated it and streamed through something all the while Mara tossed her eyes from him to it and back again. "Ready milady Jade, my young friend, for the truth, and to begin the road to freedom." he tossed the datapad around and held it out to her and she took it with a furrowed brow and tired eyes. It was an Imperial secret experiment file and operation. Something called, EMPOWER, by the title, and Jade looked even more confused and cat Kun a look and he motioned her a pointed look to read on. She did so, and found this line which caught her attention fully.

"Mara Jade the Second subject, and thus far, most successful of all 4 Project: EMPOWER test subjects, increase in Alertness and Endurance, 30 percent improvement, Sensory Perception, 40 percent, Agility and Reflexes, 30 percent, Strength, 55 percent improvement, Force Ability, 82 percent improvement from before testing began."

'WHAT!' She demanded as she read and her heart once more beat hard within her chest and her adrenaline pounded as her rage took hold of her against and with shaking hands of fury she read on not really wanting to know but needing to.

"Side Effects: Early onset puberty, which has compromised Subject 2, Mara Jade's emotional and mental state far greater than anticipated... is extremely prone to fits of irrational and extremely violent rage, even more-so than a normal teenaged girl. Is far more paranoid and distrusting than before, and doesn't respond to any type of logic or reason in this unbalanced state, a dose of Mild sedatives is to be injected daily until an appropriate treatment for the paranoia and violent mood swings can be found. Still, lacks the delusions, false memories and visions of Subject one that drove subject one to insanity. Will make appropriate corrections for subject 3, Valek Zalliste, and Subject 4, Kira Offee."

Mara looked at the datapad with an unhidden sneer and deep breath came froth like the breaths of a demon in fury, and everything she had known had completely fallen apart!

"A test subject! A dirty lab experiment! I am a karking experiment! That is why I look like I do and not like a normal eleven year old! I am in the same karking boat as Zalliste and Offee?! I am no science experiment! I am Mara Jade! Nothing less! I...am...no...SCIENCE PROJECT!" She screamed and threw the datapad and Kun watched it fly into the wall and shatter as the dark side howled through the room and exploded fully and freely from her body and he felt the crackle and bristle of raw power unleashed and the whole room shook and every Massassi aboard stopped what they were doing and look around them as they sensed the raw power of the dark side, their purist form of religious basis, and besides their lords it was most potent. Exar watched her fall to the floor with the room shaking bitter and horrified tears flowing from her eyes as they burned and shone bright yellow. She was crying, sobbing even as her rage fully racked her body and the full might and fury of untapped Force potential flowed forth and the full weight of her masters betrayal his real uncaring feelings or lack thereof for her were brought into the light by Exar Kun.

Kun bent down and grabbed her shoulder as it shook uncontrollably in anger and pain. She looked at him with tears streaming down and then to her shoulder as she barely controlled herself for a moment.

"It is time you like those in 'the same boat,' as you break free of his hold, and become something far greater than he ever wanted for you, and I will give that to you. If you become my apprentice Mara Jade, in full, I will grant you freedom that he never wanted, and power unknown to you. Is that what you want?"
"Yes..." She sobbed into a whisper while staring him in the eye

"So you want freedom, and power?"
"Yes..."

"You desire to be the Mara Jade, that Mara Jade desire to be and not that which he was to make you mold you, and experiment you into?!"
"YES! Yes damn it a million times! I am no ones science experiment!"

"Then all you need do is two things, the first is break free, and begin the first moves into full freedom. Allow me to aid you in building a tentative wall in your mind against him." She nodded, and Exar closed his eyes as she fully opened herself to him in the Force and breaking passed all her raw anger and emotion, Exar found her mental shields in the Force, and they were quite strong against everything save for the Emperor, and someone as trained as Kun. He began building a Force mental shield within her mind and had to concede to the fact a small bond would be built because of this, but one he could easily block her off from if he needed to, but otherwise felt would help him turn her into his apprentice, and he would have to let her I on the whole thing too. When it was done he opened her eyes and she had an awes expression, but tears still flowed.

"A very small bond was created, it was unavoidable but it can easily be blocked and shielded when desired. However, he will now be unable to break in unless he wants to try and break my own mental shields as well, and trust me he cannot." Kun smiled and Mara nodded.

"Now...Mara Jade, do you desire to become my apprentice by your own volition?"
"Yes...yes I do lord Kun. I desire to be your apprentice fully on my won accord to one day strike back against the Emperor!"

"Then you know that you must fully bend your knee to me." He rose to a stand and watched her and she was already on both her knees, and as such she lifted one from beneath her and brought it up with foot firmly to the ground and dropped her head low nearly to the metal floor beneath, and Exar grinned a wide and victorious grin.

"Arise Mara Jade. You are now part of the team, and my apprentice behind two others but no less important. Now you ay have your freedom and can eve leave if you will and return to your most angry lord if you desire, but that is your decision to make." Kun motioned and the guards lowered the ray shields and in their guttural tongue he ordered them to leave and they finally could rest themselves, as Kun waved his hand out of the cell and she took her first tentative steps out into the hall.

"Down that hall is the hanger bay, and down this one is the personal quarters where you will have a room, if you choose as such. The choice is yours and I care not which one you take." Mara looked down the hall to the hanger bay and her eyes wet with tears and her cheeks too shared dampened lines where they fell narrowed as her face contorted into a sneer, and she stomped toward Kun.

"Take me to my new quarters...master, and let me get a karking shower already and some decent sleep!" Kun grinned and bowed his concession. He swept his arm down the appropriate hall.

"By all means my young apprentice. Follow me, and begin your new life as an agent of House Kun." From that moment forth Mara jade was no longer a slave of the Emperor, but the master of her own destiny under the teachings of Exar Kun, and she would become far more than ever before because of it. Mara Jade was now Sith.

(New Shella, Tapani Sector, Days Earlier)

While Kun had young Jade in his cell aboard his ship and even before with his invasion on Lynx, Arden Lyn was with the troopers landing on New Shella as the war carried on despite the breaking of the young redheaded Hand of the Emperor, and another Hand herself Lyn was focused more than ever as her drop ship landed her and her squad onto an open field acting as the central battleground for the Moffs and Imperials. The Moffs had a line of AT-AT's and AT-TE's from the Clone Wars. Those massive beasts were raining hell on her lines, who had mostly Centurion, and 2M-saber tanks, along with a full armored division of AT-ST's and four AT-AT's there own but one got blow away near immediately.

Arden had jumped off her landing ship and watched the very same ship take off and fly a few meters away before a set of rockets slammed into it and sent it spinning uncontrollably into her friendly lines and bury or crush some of her troopers beneath it.

"Ma'am. I am squad leader 56-TY. We're ready for your orders." The trooper commander declared as he spoke in a very monotone voice and held his blaster at the ready and Arden eyed him with her golden eyes and nodded.

"Follow me boys. We are front and center in this lovely battle, and follow my command to the letter or you are dead weight."

"Yes ma'am!" They chirped in full synchronization. Arden held her sword like saber hilt up and activated her green saber, and charged into her friendly trooper lines with her squad following close behind. She bobbed and weaved in and out of the ay as blaster fire ripped fro both sides into the other, men fell and screamed as they died and armored tank units and walker charged passed and next to her and fired into enemy lines with the Moff AT-TE's firing hell into her lines and blasting squads to hell. She remembered her battles alongside Xendor, and despite the consisting of mostly bladed battles, she recalled him telling her to allow the Fore, not Ashla, or Bogan, the light or the dark, to rule her movements, and to give herself to the will of the Force, and the it would never let her fall.

Though her squad was trailing and having to slowly move when taking long ranged shots at the enemy Arden ran full into and at the enemy lines and had her men pausing and those around them looking on with utter awe and horror. An AT-AT spotted and fired on her, and in a display of acrobatics unknown to them she twirled through the air and away from the attack and jumped away and closer to the Moff front line of advancing troops in this barren field of grass and random tress that blotched the field.

She landed before a group of troopers and surrendering to the Force she swung full around with a one slash and all of their heads were removed, swinging her saber in frantic but liquid motion ever single wayward and random blaster bolt went flying away. Three troopers down y their own bolts and she spun her body full over a blaster set and brought her saber down into that trooper, rolled away from more fire and used the Force to grab a thermal detonator, and swung it hard back into the far back of the Moff army where they were huddled and many bunched together and they blew quickly apart and she sensed a full dozen perish but felt no inclination to smirk or anything and spun out of further fire. With a clam step forward into the Moff lines she allowed the Force to guide every swing of her saber and blocked every blaster bolt and sent it flying in all directions and away. When she reached another squad of men jittery and unsure what to do as they stepped back in fear she fell into wild attack to bring them down and low quickly. A sash up and across ones chest, a swing to behead another, and a parrying set of twirling slashes saw ones arms removed and then she ran him through and pulled the saber out and away and immediately blocked more incoming bolt fire.

The Two fronts of both armies were now mere meters away and firing brutally into one another as TIE's were seen with other TIE's in the air dog-fighting. With both armored units firing at one another a Moff AT-AT was blown and its head skewed off by a barrage of loyalist artillery and Centurion tank high fire, with AT-ST's on the loyalist side entering the Moff lines in full seemingly suicidal mode and firing all around them leveling and blowing Moff troops away.

Arden's squad finally reached her among the chaos and strife, arms blowing or blown off with their cries of petrified horror, and sobs for them to be killed and the found her slashing up and to her left swinging hard right placing kick into anther troopers face and sending him sprawling and then slamming saber down and through him. She twirled her saber let to right in spinning and liquid motions and fifteen counted bolts went flying back and away and she stopped and sent a massive burst through the Force and all the Moff troopers went flying away.

She looked to her left and up at an enemy AT-AT slowly passing her by and firing at her trooper line with Moff under its belly and feet protecting and being defended by it.

"On that walker now!" She commanded and her squad fired at their counterparts under the behemoth walker and a firefight among many dozens broke out and bolts of red went flying into each side, and Arden numbly registered a wedge of five 2M-Saber tanks from her forces charging the lines and firing their main cannons haphazardly with the top cannon manned by a one trooper firing its one long blue stream cannon into the crowd and shredding men in full half or taking bits and pieces off and sent them flying back and dead. She looked up at the trooper and noted the neck and with narrowed eyes and the Force as her ally she jumped full up and onto the AT-AT. She ran forward off its hump like back and with a cry of a feral warrior she jumped up and plunged her green saber into the topside of the AT-AT's neck region and immediately the walker began bobbing low and weaker. She jumped off the side with her saber embedded still and allowed her weight to take the saber burning down the whole neck and rip the hole further down its right side, and as she reached the under neck, she used the Force and planted her feet on the underside id the neck and quickly push off and back onto the top of the walker as the head of the walker collapsed to its right, and she did the same for the left and when she reached the bottom she pushed off and landed on one foot on the soil below and looked up as the walkers neck collapsed and seeing this one of her allied AT-ST's fired it main cannon into the exposed hole of the walker and the entire insides of the walker blew out and the massive titan went falling forward with its knees giving out and it fell and crushed a slew of Moff troopers. She had t admit that was slightly fun and allowed one small unseen smirk to cross her beautiful features and she glanced her eyes to the right, as some Moffs troopers stood there simply staring in awe, and Arden rose to a stand.

"Boo."

"FIRE!" The main trooper called at that and she blocked every one and with Force aided speed charged the line and swept through one, and turned back around and slashed down across another troopers back. Tossing a full dual kick into a trooper further to the right he fell and she landed on her left hand and a roundhouse kick saw the one to her left fall, and she angled her saber up and he fell full onto it and she jumped up grabbed the other fallen one with the Force and threw him quiet far away and slamming into the AT-AT remains with a bone cracking slump. She turned hard right and tossed her saber into another three troopers and caught her saber as it came flying back and she stood among a relatively empty portion of this battlefield and looked around with her troopers running up to her.

"Wow...ma'am you're quite the warrior!"
"Can it 56. We're still operational ma'am. Where do you need us?" Arden looked them over and bowed her head.

"We continue to pierce a path through the Moff lines. Allow the main force to follow our rear and stick closer to the front and provide disorienting aid to the main army. Do not let up and follow me."

"Copy all ma'am."

As the battle for New Shella carried on for days, Arden made herself into a name and woman not to be taken lightly by any trooper both Moff and loyalist. It would be enough to make Exar go wide eyed with shock...and begrudging respect.

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Authors Note: HOLY CRAP! this chapter is long as hell! I have never written above 20000 words before! :O I do hope you guys like this chapter and like the really long nature of it and its contents. ;) As ever please point out or excuse any and all grammatical errors...there are bound to be some, and enjoy the chapter! Review please! :D