Chapter 4: The Hunted

At the bottom of a ravine and hidden by one of the many waterfalls on Dromund Kaas was a cave that was unknown to all but a few lifeforms, with only a small path along the ravine allowing anyone or anything to get to it. Those few lifeforms who knew about the cave and were currently using it for shelter and a base of operations, also knew very well that if they were discovered by the planet's predators, any of the planet's predators, none of them would ever have any hope of leaving Dromund Kaas alive. 'Vine Cats, Jurogans, Gundarks, Imperials, and Sith. Is there anything on this planet that wouldn't try to kill us on sight?' One of the cave's occupants wondered as she continued her work.

For not the first time, Doctor Rousaul found herself almost wishing she'd been assigned to a different planet. 'Preferably one that doesn't have horrible predators hiding in the dark and waiting to ambush us when we're least expecting it.' She thought as she continued examining the poor soldier who'd nearly lost his arm when a rather large Vine Cat attacked him and his squad out of nowhere. The only reason the man was even still alive was thanks to the quick reactions of the rest of his squad, though the female doctor had already seen enough of the damage to know that she'd most likely have to amputate to avoid the risk of infection. 'Not that it would be necessary if I actually had proper supplies.' The doctor just shook her head at that thought and continued her examination.

Doctor Rousaul was a female twi'lek with light red almost pink skin, brown eyes, a brown and silver headpiece, and two lekku going down the back of her head like all of her species. She was currently wearing a white medic uniform that was standard for Republic medics and doctors, though she also wore a white coat to give her some slight protection from the cold.

At the moment, she was currently running a medical scanner over the arm of an unconscious Republic agent. The two were in the back of a brightly lit and damp cave. The rest of the cave had supply crates and fires scattered around the area along with several more groups of soldiers either trying to stay warm around the fires or using the crates to play Pazaak. 'I knew this mission would be terrible when I accepted it but, if we succeed here, it could give the Republic a great advantage when the Treaty of Coruscant is inevitably broken.'

Officially, the citizens of the Galactic Republic were told by the Senate that the peace held strong and that there was no danger of a future war with their former enemies, the Sith Empire. 'Worse, there are even some people that believe those lies.'

Unofficially, almost every man, woman, and child of even the slightest importance knew that another war with the Empire was on the horizon. Those with a bit more importance also knew that the war against the Empire had never truly ended. 'We're fighting a Cold War now, but it's bound to heat up again sometime soon.'

The good doctor knew perfectly well that both sides had been quietly trying to find ways to damage each other over the years that didn't go directly against the Treaty of Coruscant. There were quite a few beings on both sides that wanted the war to begin again, but those beings were held in check by the strongest forces on both sides. For the Republic, it was the Senate. For the Empire, it was the Sith Emperor. Some might also say the Dark Council was what stopped the Sith from doing anything rash, but more than one Dark Council member had objected to the Treaty when it was first signed years ago. 'I'll bet those butchers are foaming at the mouth to finally shed innocent blood again.' Doctor Rousaul thought in disgust when thinking of the evil beings in control of the Empire. Years ago, during the last war, she'd lost her sister to the Empire and avenging her was the entire reason the good doctor had agreed to the current mission.

Doctor Rousaul knew full well that the mission she and the others were assigned was illegal and violated the Treaty, but none of them cared. They had all lost something or someone they cared about because of the Empire and the chance for payback was too good an opportunity to pass up.

The mission was a simple one but was time consuming and was going slower than anticipated. They were sent to infiltrate Dromund Kaas and secure as many Imperial uniforms and identification cards as possible so that Republic Command could use them to have their top agents infiltrate Imperial ranks. 'Even if all they do is steal the Empire's secrets, those agents will still do serious damage when the next war begins.'

Unfortunately, obtaining the necessary uniforms and identifications was proving to be harder than expected. They had approached a small Imperial outpost in the jungle soon after arriving and had been hoping they would be able to steal some supplies either with lies or force, since the Republic wasn't able to send them any form of aid without putting the entire operation in danger, but the outpost was too well defended and the Imperials stationed there were distrustful of outsiders so they only received the bare minimum when it came to supplies.

Now two weeks had passed and their supplies had all but run out and it was obvious to the doctor that more than a few of the troops were starting to get a bit frustrated. She couldn't blame them. They'd all known this would be a dangerous mission, but she doubted any of them considered just how quickly they'd run out of supplies or how long it would take to gather what they needed.

"Ugh…" The injured trooper's pain-filled groan pulled the doctor out of her thoughts and, realizing that the sedative was starting to wear off, gave him another dose to keep him unconscious. It worked almost immediately as the trooper who seemed like he was about to awaken quickly fell silent once more.

Looking over, the doctor saw that she only had two doses of the sedative left. Shaking her head and finished with her examination, the doctor stood up and made her way over to a small fire in the center of the cave, giving small smiles and slight nods to the few troopers that greeted her as she passed them.

Reaching the fire and its sole occupant the doctor spoke "Commander." She said simply, getting the man's attention. "Pharl's stable but his arm will be badly infected without treatment. Since I don't have the necessary materials, I'll need to amputate." She said, hating that this was now the third time she'd have to remove a poor soldier's arm.

The commander looked down at the fire and sighed. Doctor Rousaul could clearly see the man wasn't happy but he knew there was nothing he could do now. "Do what you can for him, doctor." The commander said with a tired and resigned tone.

Doctor Rousaul simply nodded before making her way back to her patient. 'Will it ever end?' She wondered. 'Will we have to fight the Empire and its evil until the end of time?'

'No. The Republic will win.' She told herself. 'The Empire's surprise attack on Coruscant might have worked once, but it'll never work twice. They won't win with cheap tricks this time.'

Getting back to her still unconscious patient, Doctor Rousaul sighed before preparing both her patient and herself for surgery.

'I hope this is the last time I'll need to do this.' She thought as she pulled out the few surgical instruments she'd brought with her, not knowing that it would indeed be the last time she'd perform such a surgery. Or any surgery at all.

Dromund Kaas Jungle…

Five Republic agents, disguised as common spacers, made their way back to their secret hiding place while keeping their eyes and ears open for any of the jungle's vicious predators. All five were prepared to draw their blaster pistols at any moment, but none were too worried at the moment.

While the weather might have been horrible and the threat of being attacked at any moment always being present, all of the agents were in a good mood. "He never even saw it coming." One of the agents, a man, said before giving a short laugh. All of the others gave slight chuckles of their own.

"Yeah. One second nothing and the next, boom!" Another soldier, this one female, said while using his arms to mimic an explosion, causing more laughter.

They'd gotten incredibly lucky.

After supplies had started running out, the Commander had come up with an idea on how to get more supplies and cause some damage to the Empire at the same time. Speeders with troops and supplies were constantly being sent into the jungle due to some rogue Sith Lord causing problems. The Commander had thought out loud that, with the predators and weather on Dromund Kaas being so terrible, it made sense for a speeder or two to be lost when heading into such dangerous territory. More than a few of the troopers had not only voiced their agreement with the idea, but several had also volunteered to be the ones that carried it out.

So now, several agents would usually keep an eye on the path that led deeper into the jungle and keep a lookout for any speeders that would follow along the trail, though they had to choose their targets carefully.

Most of the troop transports that passed by were too armored for their simple blaster rifles and pistols to do any real damage, not to mention the weapon systems on such craft would tear them to pieces. All the soldiers had decided not to try their luck against the heavily armored transports.

However, supply and civilian speeders had no such protection and all troops knew just where to shoot to disable and destroy such transports. None of them were worried about civilian casualties. They had all learned very quickly that, due to the actions of the rogue Sith Lord, only military personnel and Sith were permitted to enter or exit the dangerous forests.

So far, the troopers had only taken down their targets for the few supplies they were transporting but when word reached them that a Sith had gone into the jungle on a simple speeder bike, their hatred towards the Empire and its leaders took hold and a few brave troopers had decided to rid the galaxy of at least one small evil as he was making his way back towards Kaas City.

They had succeeded.

They watched as their quick and precise blaster shots hit the speeder's fuel tank and caused said fuel to ignite almost immediately, causing the speeder to transform into a flying fireball of smoke and heat that quickly crashed into a nearby tree and completed its destruction. They'd been hoping to get the body and confirm their kill and possibly collect whatever supplies he'd been carrying, but the fuel and the explosion had done their job and all that was left of the Sith was a mostly burned black cloak and any supplies he might have had were completely destroyed in the explosion.

Still, it was another small victory against the Empire and all five of the troopers were prepared to use the Sith's death as an excuse to celebrate once they returned to their secret base.

Of course, despite all five keeping a lookout for any nearby predators, none bothered to look up into the many trees that were towering above and around them. If they had, they might have noticed the armored figure quietly jumping across the tree branches after them.

A figure whose eyes were burning with anger and hatred.

Rhal knew the Dark Side was his ally. If it hadn't been, he never would have escaped the explosion that destroyed his speeder.

The warning had come to him an instant before the blaster shots came out of nowhere, but it was enough time for him to act and, moving without thought, had leapt from his speeder high into the trees above so quickly that his black cloak had flown off, revealing his black and purple armor and robes for all to see.

After that, it hadn't been difficult to locate his attackers, all of whom foolishly believed he'd been killed when his speeder bike went up in flames. 'They can believe that for a little while longer.' He thought as he continued jumping through the trees and using them to stay hidden. 'Long enough for me to follow them back to whatever hole they crawled out of and kill each and every one of them.' He thought as he continued observing his mysterious attackers.

There were five of them, three male and two female, and they all wore simple brown outfits with hoods over their heads. At first, Rhal suspected they were Imperial assassins sent by one of his father's rivals, but none of the attackers spoke with an Imperial accent. Mercenaries were a possibility, but few Sith would employ mercenaries when they had their own personal forces available. Not to mention the attackers blaster shots had been pinpoint accurate, which suggested military training. That left one unlikely possibility.

Republic agents.

The only reason Rhal considered it unlikely was because the Jedi he'd killed had no knowledge of any other Jedi or Republic operations on Dromund Kaas at the moment. Though Rhal knew it was entirely possible that the Jedi simply hadn't known there were more Republic operations on Dromund Kaas currently ongoing. 'If that is the case, and these do turn out to be Republic scum, then I'm very interested in what they are hoping to accomplish. Besides attempting to kill me, that is.'

So Rhal followed them. He'd already heard them mention that they had friends and were planning to rejoin them. Unfortunately he had no idea how long it would take for the scum to return to their hole and, galling as it was to admit, Rhal was drained after his duel with the Jedi.

He hadn't been wounded, but he knew that there would likely be at least several more of these attackers wherever they were returning to and, while his anger and impatience were building, his body would still require rest before he'd be back in top form. 'The sooner I find and eliminate the rest of these annoyances, the sooner I can take some time to recover my strength.'

Unfortunately it was clear that his attackers were in no hurry to get back to wherever they were hiding as they all just walked through the jungle and occasionally stopped when one of them said something that grabbed the others attention. 'This won't do. I need to speed this up somehow.'

Then, as if on cue, Rhal senses something moving somewhat near but not towards the attackers. Something that makes a small but sinister smile appear on the young Sith's face. Holding up hand and reaching out with the Force, Rhal reaches out and touches the mind of the creature he'd sensed.

Beast Control was very similar to the Mind Trick technique, only simpler. The minds of beasts weren't as well formed as sentient beings, mostly just the basic instincts and primal urges. Manipulating them was easy but actually maintaining control was more difficult, especially in apex predators.

Those on top of the food chain weren't used to being controlled and any attempt to control such a beast was usually resisted. They could be controlled, but their natural instincts would cause them to constantly attempt to break free. The stronger the predator, the harder it was to control and the less time it could be controlled.

Rhal could tell the creature whose mind he touched was indeed a fierce beast and, in his weakened condition, he knew he wouldn't be able to control it for long. 'Good thing I don't need to. All I need to do is push it in the right direction and then let its instincts do the rest.' He thought as he mentally commanded the beast to move closer to his location.

He felt the creature obey and sensed the creature drawing closer. However the strain was starting to get to the young Sith and his hand started shaking as he tried to keep a hold on the beast's mind long enough for his plan to work.

Suddenly, the creature's resistance to his control spiked and Rhal knew that the beast had caught the scent of what it assumed was fresh prey. Releasing the hold he had on the creature and taking a few deep but quiet breaths, Rhal didn't have to wait long before he heard something crashing through the jungle towards him and those on the ground below.

Of course the sounds alerted the attackers as well, all of whom quickly turned in directions the sounds were coming from and raised their blaster rifles and pistols.

"What is that?" One of the men asked as he aimed his blaster rifle towards the sounds of leaves being shoved aside and branches being trampled that slowly grew louder.

"Don't know, but it must've caught our scent." A woman replied, aiming her blaster pistol in the same direction.

"Whatever it is we need to take it out. We can't risk it following us back to the others." Another man replied as he switched off the safety on his own blaster rifle. 'So there are more of them. I thought so.'

As soon as he finished his thought, Rhal watched as the creature he'd summoned finally broke through the trees and became visible. The creature was easily twelve to fifteen feet tall with light yellow skin, dark green scales, white pupil-less eyes, and a head with five connected horns that bore resemblance to a crown. It was easily the biggest Jurgoran Rhal had ever seen and it quickly let out a fierce roar.

Rhal always considered the Jurgorans to be the most impressive creatures on Dromund Kaas. They walked like sentient beings but were bigger, stronger, and faster than most. Known for their strength and viciousness, the only other predators on Dromund Kaas that were considered just as fierce were the Gundarks but Rhal felt that Jurgorans were the stronger of the two. 'I don't know of any Sith that ever called themselves 'Lord Gundark'.'

The five attackers froze for a moment before one of the men shook his head. "Open fire! Blast it!" He shouted before he fired his rifle, causing the others to join him and open fire on the mighty beast.

The first few shots hit the Jurgoran right in the chest, but didn't seem to do much besides make it angry. Rhal wasn't surprised. He knew from experience that Jurgoran hides were nearly as tough as armor. 'If they were smart, they'd aim for its eyes instead.'

The attackers clearly didn't think of that as they just continued blasting the creature who'd decided it had enough of being shot at and rushed forward before swinging its massive hand with sharp claws at its nearest attacker.

The female attacker was quick enough to roll out of the way and immediately retaliated by firing two shots into the Jurgoran's neck, causing it to cry out in pain.

However, before the attackers could take advantage of the Jurgoran's momentary weakness, it cried out again, only this time as a form of attack.

Everyone, Rhal included, could do nothing but cover their ears as the creature howled in rage, freezing everyone in the area in place. However, It abruptly ended its howling to immediately slash at the previous attacker again.

This time, it didn't miss.

Not quick enough to recover and react, the woman was literally cut into pieces by the massive claws on the now enraged Jurgoran.

"Kas!" One of the men cried out before unleashing a barrage of blaster fire on the predator's back. This hurt the Jurgoran slightly, but also drew its attention to its new attacker and the creature started rushing towards its new target.

The man continued firing while also moving backwards, trying to keep some distance between himself and the bloodthirsty beast before he inevitably had to dodge its next attack.

This would turn out to be a fatal mistake since the attacker, never taking his eyes off the charging creature, tripped and fell over one of the many roots along the ground. Before he had a chance to get up the Jurgoran reached him, lifted its foot, and brought it down hard enough to make the ground shake. The attacker's life ends with a sickening crunch.

"Ern!" The last female attacker shouts before resuming her volley, this time aiming for the creature's face and causing it to raise an arm to shield itself. The other two attackers continued their own attack by targeting the Jurgoran's chest that had already been weakened by their previous blaster fire.

The Jurgoran, despite its rage, was smart enough to realize that continuing to attack would likely not end in its favor and its self preservation took over. Once again it howls loud enough to stun its attackers before ceasing its cry and quickly rushing back into the safety of the dark jungle. The attackers continued firing in its direction until it was well out of sight.

Rhal was pleased. He'd been hoping the attackers would lose more than two of their number but the results were still satisfying. The three that remained were greatly shaken by the attack and the pain and fear Rhal could sense from them now made the Sith smile as he looked down at them.

The last female attacker started to make her way over to the deceased female that had been cut into pieces before one of the others called out to her. "What're you doing?! We need to get out of here!" The panic in the man's voice made Rhal's smile a tad bigger.

"We can't just leave them here!" She shouted at him. She was clearly taking the loss of her teammates the hardest.

"They're dead! There's nothing we can do for them now and we need to get back before that thing or something else decides to make a meal of us!" The man shouted right back.

"Enough!" The last man shouted, causing the other two to go silent. "Verr, I'm sorry but he's right. The longer we stay here the better the chance that something else catches the scent of blood and we have to deal with even more of those things or possibly something worse. We need to leave now and report back to the Commander." He said calmly, or at least as calmly as he could considering the situation. 'If they have a commander that proves they are trained soldiers, but trained by the Republic or someone else?'

The woman looked like she was about to continue arguing before a distant roar caused all three to turn in the direction it had come from. Whatever it was didn't sound close but it was enough for the woman to make her way back to the others after casting a quick glance in the direction of the two corpses. "Let's just get out of here quick." She said quietly but loud enough for Rhal to hear.

Rhal saw both of the men nod before all three started running in a seemingly random direction and the Sith moved quickly to continue following them. 'Keep running scum. Run straight back to your friends. I look forward to meeting them.' Rhal thought, watching the troopers below him run for safety that didn't truly exist.

Despite their running, it still took nearly an hour before the soldiers reached a cliff and started making their way down it using a small path going down the side. Rhal stayed near the top of the falls and simply observed the attackers making their way down until they reached the bottom, went around the waterfall, and seemingly disappeared. Rhal chucked. 'A cave. Well hidden too. I doubt anyone else would have found it.'

But Rhal had found it and, more importantly, he could now sense all the lifeforms hiding within and around it. There were several intelligent lifeforms outside and around the hidden cave and those lifeforms were what confirmed Rhal's suspicions about these attackers being Republic agents.

Even though he can clearly sense the locations of each of the agents outside of the cave, Rhal can't actually see any of them. He can see all of their positions clearly from the top of the falls, but, even though each one is standing out in the open, he can only make out very slight distortions in the air when he looks to where he senses them. 'Stealth field generators. They've gotten quite rare in the past few centuries and no simple group of mercenaries would be able to afford so many units. Only Intelligence and the Republic's SIS would have this much equipment.'

Rhal frowned at that. The Republic Strategic Information Service was like the darkness in the light of the Republic and operated very similarly to Imperial Intelligence, at least that's what Rhal had been able to gather about them.

Like Intelligence, almost all of the SIS operations and activities were kept secret, including from the Jedi and the majority of the Republic Senate. Many of their activities were also illegal and morally questionable, something Rhal would admit impressed him slightly.

He briefly considered attempting to capture one of these agents for interrogation, but quickly dismissed the idea. He had no way of transporting a prisoner and his commlink had been destroyed with his speeder. 'Their commander might have a datapad with their orders. Or I can just kill all but one and interrogate the lone survivor here.' Rhal shook his head. 'Later, first I need to deal with these insects.'

Rhal glanced around, locating the exact position of each of the cloaked agents and was almost disappointed that there were only three. He didn't know if they were communicating with each other but he wasn't going to give any of them a chance to call for help or alert the other agents in the cave.

Cloaking himself in the force once more, Rhal made his way to the nearest agent's position until he was directly above him. Once he was, Rhal calmly stepped off the edge and let himself fall and didn't slow his descent until he was only about ten feet from the agent, going slow enough to avoid accidentally injuring himself but fast enough to still take out the agent.

The Sith apprentice's boot slammed the agent's head down into the rocks he'd been standing on, causing the agent's head to explode in a mess of blood, skull, and brains while Rhal used the rest of the agent's body as a soft landing pad for himself.

Looking around quickly, Rhal's glad to see the other two agents didn't notice his kill, the sound concealed by the waterfall and the agents themselves not looking in their dead ally's direction. 'Now for the other two.'

Looking up, Rhal saw that a large stone was hanging on the edge of the cliff almost directly above one of the cloaked agents. He knew immediately what he wanted to do but first he had to deal with the second agent since the boulder's fall wouldn't go unnoticed.

Deciding to speed things along, Rhal raised a hand towards the second agent and grasped the cloaked figure's throat. The agent reacted immediately to the attack with both hands clutching at his throat as he was lifted off the ground slightly. Rhal gave a quick flick of his wrist and the agent's head turned at an unnatural angle and broke, killing him instantly.

For the last agent, Rhal used the force to pull down the large stone on the top of the cliff down towards its target. The agent never even looked up before he was flattened.

With all the guards disposed of, Rhal knew it was time to finish this. His force senses let him know that all of the remaining Republic agents were located deeper in the cave all grouped together, likely for warmth or protection. 'Not that it will save them.'

With that thought, Rhal walked past the waterfall and made his way into the dark cave.

The Republic Commander in charge of the SIS operation on Dromund Kaas was, once again, standing in front of a fire in a dark cave receiving bad news. Oh, it wasn't all bad. His patrol had successfully killed a Sith, which was always a good thing since the only truly good Sith was a dead one.

Unfortunately, tragedy struck while they were on their way back. Kas and Ern were both dead and their three friends were clearly all blaming themselves even though none of them should have, knowing that the three were all lucky to be alive considering the Jurgoran would have killed them all if they hadn't managed to force it to flee.

"I'm just glad you were all able to make it back safely." The Commander said with a forced smile hoping it would ease some of the guilt within the three. It doesn't work as all three are now just staring down at the fire in front of him with sad expressions.

Sighing, the Commander simply dismissed them, knowing his words wouldn't be enough to chase away the darkness within the survivors. 'We need to complete our mission here soon. It feels like everyday is a challenge and it's only getting worse. Maybe… is it getting colder in here?'

Glancing around the cave, the Commander sees that he isn't the only one feeling the strange drop in temperature as several of his troops are rubbing their arms and getting closer to the few fires that are lit to try and help fend off the strange cold. 'Great, I lost two of my people and now the rest have to deal with the planet's miserable weather.' He's about to give an order for more fires to be started when a voice echoes throughout the cave.

"You should never have come to Dromund Kaas."

The moment after the voice finishes, all of the fires within the cave suddenly go out and the few light installments that had been set up all explode in small showers of sparks and glass, causing a few troops that were near them to jump. The cave is now completely enveloped in darkness and the Commander doesn't need to be a Jedi to know what just happened, though he's very much wishing a Jedi was with them right now. 'A Sith found us.'

"Lights on!" The Commander shouted as he grabbed his blaster rifle off his back and activated the light attachment on it and pointed it where he knew the only entrance and exit to the cave was. Several more lights switched on a moment later with most aimed towards the cave entrance and a few others briefly shined around the cave to allow other troopers to see each other and take up defensive positions.

The Commander tried to keep his nervousness from showing, for his men's sakes if not his own. He knew that even with all of them, taking down a Sith wouldn't be easy. 'Especially if this is the Sith that Verr and the others supposedly killed. If it is, he's likely very angry.' He thought while a few of his men moved closer to the way leading out of the cave. "Stay alert, all of you." The Commander called out.

A cracking sound in the corner of the cave caused all the lights to turn in that direction, the Commander included. The source of the sound became clear quickly as a large boulder in the corner of the cave seemed to be cracking itself open until it literally fell into pieces. It only took a moment for the Commander to realize what had happened. 'A distraction!'

He turned his light back towards the entrance just in time to see a purple blade impale one of his men through the chest before it disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared, causing the agent and his rifle to fall to the ground, the light on the rifle still shining at the cave wall.

The Commander and his forces opened fire in the area where the trooper had fallen and quickly shined their lights all around the cave, trying to find the Sith they all know is in the cave with them.

Unfortunately, none of their shots hit their mark which quickly becomes clear as the purple blade appears again to decapitate another two agents that had been standing close to each other before several more agents go flying into the cave walls hard enough that the Commander can hear their bones break against the stone walls, leaving most of the lights from their rifles just pointing in random spots around the cave.

One of the lights from the rifle rises again and the Commander thinks for a moment that one of his men survived, but that changes a moment later when the rifle turns towards another agent in the cave and fires, killing the agent with a perfect headshot.

The Commander, on instinct, fires towards the rifle he assumes is being used by the Sith. However, the shot misses as there isn't anyone handling the rifle. It's just floating in midair and after the Commander fires his shot, the floating rifle fires again, this time hitting another agent right in the heart. The agent was dead before his body hit the ground.

"Take cover!" The Commander shouted as he dove behind a slight stone wall before he and his remaining men opened fire on the floating rifle to take it out but the rifle just kept floating around their shots while it continued to fire and take out his men one by one.

Finally, one of his men gets a lucky shot and hits the floating rifle, causing it to explode. Their small victory was very short-lived as the agent that hit the rifle was cut in half by the purple blade before it disappeared into the darkness yet again.

Looking around, the Commander notes that only three of his men are still alive and it's clear they're all terrified as he can see the lights on their rifles shaking in fear. "Enough of this Sith!" He called out, hoping there was still a chance to get out of this alive. "What do you want? We can negotiate something!" He shouted into the darkness while continuing to shine his light around, at this point just hoping he'd get lucky enough to spot the Sith.

"I think you misunderstand the situation Commander." The voice said from the darkness. The Commander moved his light towards where he thought the voice came from. A moment later, he finally got his light on the Sith.

He was young, late twenties maybe early thirties with short black hair and blue eyes. If it wasn't for the Sith armor and robes he'd assume the figure was a Jedi with how calm he appeared to be.

"Die you monster!" One of his remaining men shouted and opened fire on the now revealed enemy before the Commander could stop him.

Right before the blaster bolts hit however, the Commander saw something that stunned him. The Sith literally disappeared in a puff of smoke, causing the blaster shots to hit nothing but the stone wall behind where the Sith had been standing.

"There will be no deals." The Sith said before his purple lightsaber cut down the agent who'd been stupid enough to fire at him before vanishing once more.

"No negotiations." He said again before another agent turned, only for a gloved hand to appear out of the darkness and seize him by the throat before squeezing with enough force that a loud pop sounded throughout the cave. When the gloved hand released him, the Commander knew the agent was dead.

"No mercy." The Sith's words were now cold enough to put a blizzard on Hoth to shame. The Commander watched as his last remaining agent was suddenly covered by lightning which lit up the cave and caused the Commander to shield his eyes, even as the agent cried out because of the intense pain. This continued for several moments until the lightning disappeared and the screaming had stopped. The Commander shined his light over and felt sick when he saw nothing left of his loyal soldier but smoking ash.

"Only death." The Sith's voice was quiet, but the Commander knew that it had come from directly behind him. 'I'm dead.' His thought proved true a moment later as a glowing purple blade emerged from the center of his chest. Despite the intense pain the Commander didn't scream, he couldn't, he could only let out a weak gasp before all traces of life left his body and he fell to the ground dead.

Doctor Rousaul had her badly shaking hands covering her mouth as tears ran down her face as she hid in the corner of the cave, hoping beyond hope that the Sith hadn't noticed her and would leave now that all the others were dead. 'This was a mistake, all of this. We never should have come here.' She thought as she tried to think of how she could escape this terrible situation.

The only one of her companions left was the unconscious trooper who's arm she'd removed barely an hour ago. He was still out cold and, with only one arm and no way to wake him, she knew he'd be of no help in defeating the Sith who'd single handedly slaughtered all of the others. 'And I'm a medic, not a soldier. I thought having such a position would allow me to avoid any fighting while helping the Republic defeat the Empire. How could I have been so stupid?!' She thought, not even considering using the small pistol she'd been issued to try and blast her way out. She knew it wouldn't do her any good.

The Doctor knew that all of her other companions are dead now and all of them had been better trained with their weapons than she was. The silence in the cave is almost worse than hearing the sounds of her friends screaming and being cut down, but she is thankful that none of the lights from the fallen rifles are pointed in her direction. 'Maybe there's still a chance to get out of this alive.' She thought, her mind desperately trying to form some sort of plan.

All her thoughts came to a screeching halt as a hissing sound and a purple light appeared behind her. The Doctor, frozen in fear, didn't need to look to know who was behind her.

Turning slowly, Doctor Rousaul saw that her fear was justified. Standing less than five feet away was the Sith who'd killed all her friends with his lightsaber piercing the heart of her very last companion, leaving her totally alone with the Sith.

For a brief moment, the Doctor thought she might still be able to survive by begging for mercy or telling the Sith everything she knew. But the moment the Doctor got a good look at the Sith's eyes she knew that any hope of ever leaving the dark cave alive was gone.

The Sith's face and eyes were cold and devoid of all but a single emotion, hate. She knew then that nothing she said or did would change her fate. Doctor Rousaul knew she was about to die and oddly enough, she felt far less afraid then she had a few moments ago.

"Tell me why you came here and I'll kill you quickly. Refuse, and you die slowly." The Sith said in a cold, emotionless tone. The Doctor complied and started telling the Sith everything.

Some would have considered her a traitor for talking, she knew that, she just didn't care. As far as she was concerned it was all over. If she stayed silent she'd just be tortured until she talked and would still die in the end anyway. 'Better to just talk now and get it all over with.' She thought as she continued to explain why she and the others had been sent, even gave the Sith her datapad with her orders and instructions.

Once she was finished, the Sith just gave her a slight nod before swinging his lightsaber towards her neck. The Doctor had just one final thought before her life was ended.

'See you soon sis.'

Rhal, now Lord Rhal, was extremely pleased by the events of the last two days, though he didn't let it show on his face as he focused on his lightsaber training.

The Sith apprentice had used much of his strength eliminating the Jedi and those Republic agents and had chosen to sleep in the cave where he'd slaughtered his enemies. He had no fear of all corpses around him, if anything they only served to remind him of his victory.

Once he'd awoken the next day and his strength had returned, Rhal made his way back to the Citadel with his trophies and found his father in the exact same spot he'd been in when he'd set out.

Darth Jadus had shown almost no emotion when Rhal reported his success of the Jedi's death and presented the Jedi's head and lightsaber, but Rhal had sensed a very brief flicker of surprise within his father when he'd told him of the attempt on his life and the Republic agents he'd hunted down and killed before his father and master resumed his usual cold and emotionless state.

As soon as Rhal had finished, Darth Jadus ordered his apprentice to kneel, which he did. Jadus then activated his lightsaber and granted Rhal the title of Lord while also not so subtly reminding him that, while Rhal was a true Lord of the Sith now, he was still nowhere even close to being as strong as his master. The reminder had annoyed Rhal slightly but he quickly and quietly accepted it since it was both true and he was far more pleased at finally becoming more than just an apprentice. 'Now I really need to start working on constructing my own powerbase.'

As a Sith Lord, Rhal knew that while it did afford him significantly more advantages than being a mere apprentice, there were also disadvantages that came with it as well. The greatest disadvantage is that, while he may have enjoyed some protection due to his father being a member of the Dark Council, that protection had all but evaporated when he'd become a Lord.

Lords are expected to have their own strength and be able to show it to the rest of the Sith and the Empire, not to mention the fact that a powerbase was the best protection a Sith could possess. 'I'll need to move quickly. After father leaves on the Dominator I'll have to start looking for trustworthy agents. I'll have to start with non-Force-Sensitives since I doubt any Sith would follow me until I can build my reputation more.'

Most Sith would want as many Force Sensitives as possible to serve under them. Many Sith in Rhal's position would be either worried or angered at not being able to acquire said Force Sensitives quickly.

Rhal was neither angered nor worried. In fact, he was in no hurry to accept any Sith into his service and he had no plans on doing so until he'd significantly built up his powerbase somewhat.

The Sith were, as Rhal knew full well, always plotting and scheming against one another. Those on top had to make plans and take actions to control those beneath them and those on the bottom were always seeking ways to see those on top brought low. It was the way of the Sith and had been for centuries.

Both Rhal and his father considered this to be a mistake, though both had different plans for how to deal with it.

Rhal knew his father despised the games so many Sith loved to play and, for this reason, his father had almost no Sith in his service whatsoever, despite having been a Dark Council member for many years now. He also refused to play many of the games played by his fellow Dark Council members and instead chose to focus on building his influence among his own followers and within Imperial Intelligence.

However, Rhal believed his father was making a mistake by simply ignoring the Dark Council's games. They both knew that the Empire needed to change if it was ever going to find its true strength, but that wouldn't happen while foolish Sith continued to pass on outdated traditions like blood purity and slavery, two traditions that Rhal strongly wanted to see an end to but knew it couldn't happen quickly. 'If I want to change the Empire, I'll need to do it slowly. Trying to force change will not end well. It must be accepted by the rest of the Sith or it will just be resisted. This could take years, maybe even decades or centuries, but to do it I'll need to play their games for a time.'

Rhal was no fool. He knew his vision of the Empire might not happen in his lifetime, but he would still do everything he could to make that vision a reality.

Finishing his lightsaber training for the day and putting thoughts about the future of the Empire to the back of his mind, Rhal reattached his lightsaber to his belt and paused for a moment to observe the second lightsaber hilt now hanging on his other side. While he did have some experience with Jar'Kai, Rhal preferred to use a single lightsaber in combat and the second blade was more of a trophy than a secondary weapon.

The second lightsaber was the green bladed lightsaber he'd taken from the Jedi he'd killed. His father had insisted he keep it as a way to remind himself of what he'd accomplished, but Rhal knew his father well enough to know that there was more than just that one reason for the decision but, try as he might, the new Sith Lord couldn't figure out what it was. Either way, he held onto the lightsaber. Perhaps he'd be able to make use of it in the future somehow.

He barely sets foot outside of the training room before a great deal of Dark Side energy washes over him and Rhal only knows of two beings capable of such power. One Rhal has never met and hopes to never meet and the other is the one he sees once he turns around and drops to a knee. "Father." Rhal says, bowing his head to Darth Jadus.

"Follow." Is the only thing Jadus says before marching past the still kneeling Rhal. The young Sith Lord rises to his feet and silently walks behind his father, wondering what his father's intentions are for him now.

Jadus' intentions quickly become clear to his son once the two leave the Citadel and start making their way towards Imperial Intelligence. 'I was wondering when he was going to confront Keeper about those agents I killed. No doubt he wants me there so he can remind both of us of our places.'

Rhal had no idea just how significant the upcoming meeting with Keeper would turn out to be.

A.N.

Hey everyone, hope you all enjoyed the newest chapter. I know this is coming along slowly but I promise that I have all kinds of ideas for this story, but I'm always open for more so if anyone has any ideas please don't hesitate to let me know even if it's just a character you'd like to see make an appearance. Also, before anyone asks yes, all eight playable characters will show up in this story, some more than others but they all will make an appearance. Thanks to everyone who took the time to read this and I'll get the next update to you all as soon as I can. Have a great day everyone!