Heavy doors smashed shut behind her. Footsteps echoed throughout the room as the soles of her boots hit the marble floor. The Jedi Council. It truly was the liveliest place in the galaxy. Kahlei wasn't one for debating. Why waste time when she could be saving lives? Discussing how to do it was pointless.

When the Grand Master had requested that she attended this particular meeting, she hadn't exactly been thrilled. Nevertheless, she'd obeyed like a good little Jedi - like she always did. She was a Jedi Master, but not a Council Member. It was odd that she'd been told to go personally. Kahlei would have preferred to attend on her holocom back in the comfort of her ship. It was only when she was halfway towards the only empty seat she assumed was hers, she realised the Council had fallen silent upon her entrance and now carefully watched her. She frowned. This was weird.

"Master Kahlei, I appreciate you taking time to attend this meeting."

Kahlei bowed her head in respect. "Always a pleasure, Grand Master." A lie. This was so boring.

Master Satele Shan was the only Jedi who stood. Her table was centred in the middle of a larger table that curved round her. The Masters of the Jedi Council were seated at it. Their eyes still remained on her. "I hope you can forgive the abruptness of this and that we have already thoroughly discussed the issue whilst you travelled here. I also hope you come to the same conclusion as us after watching this. We received this message 13 hours ago." Satele wasted no time in playing a holo recording.

A tall human woman flashed onto the holocom next to Satele, her vibrant red hair elaborately done up with a plait running down her back. Her face was adorned with red markings, and the dark armour that should have weighed her down somehow made her look more elegant.

"Greetings, Jedi scum." Her unmistakeably imperial voice was strong and commanding. "I am the Emperor's Wrath."

The Sith's arms were crossed but the rest of her body took a more open stance. "It is my understanding that you shelter a traitor. Allow me to take him off your hands. Lord Scourge is a pollution upon your otherwise 'perfect' Order."

She narrowed her eyes. "I can't imagine you would refuse me. Unless, of course, you have deluded yourselves into thinking he's some sort of hero." Wrath cackled.

"He only assisted you on your pathetic quest for his own personal gain. He's hardly a saint. He sought the Emperor's power but was too weak to harness it." Tapping her chin, she continued. "Now, I'm fully aware that your Jedi idiocy knows no bounds and I am 99.9% sure you will fail to see reason. So, I have an incentive for your cooperation.

"I have a truly spectacular prototype that causes worlds to explode in minutes. How delightful, hmm? Unfortunately, the rest of the Empire are concerned about side effects and refuse to give it a test run. I, however, am eager to take it for a spin and am not nearly as worried about the consequences as those fools.

"Don't you think Coruscant is a superb destination? I know I do. An immensely populated Republic world? Sounds fun. However, giving that treacherous worm an eternity of vengeance is more amusing, so I'd rather spare Coruscant this once. And I am a Sith of my word, Jedi. No, honestly.

"I'm also a very understanding woman and I realise that although you may cooperate, you may find it difficult to convince Scourge to also do so. Therefore I shall give you one Dromund Kaas month to help me capture him. If I don't get hold of him in this time, Coruscant goes boom."

The image of Wrath fizzled out. Kahlei sighed, cupping her forehead in her palm.

Great. No. This was really just awesome.

She hated having to pick between friends and millions of lives. Why was she never given a third option? If she chose to help a friend, she'd sacrifice so much innocent life. If she chose to follow her Jedi teachings, she'd sacrifice someone she'd grown to care about - however frowned upon that was by her Order. It was sad to think that if she'd listened to all those old, by the book Masters she'd had as a padawan (before Orgus), she'd have been the perfect Jedi and would choose to save Coruscant with ease. That's what the Order wanted her to do.

But could she really go through with that? Was that the kind of person she was?

"I don't expect you to act yet, Kahlei," Master Satele said, with a tone that was much softer than she had ever heard the Grand Master use before. "I understand that it is hard to not form attachments to those you work closely with, despite how hard you may try not to. Meditate on this and return to us tomorrow morning."

Two decisions lay before her. Which one was right? Which one was wrong?

Kahlei shook her head, focusing on the waterfall in front. There was one person who would be able to help her.

She shut her eyes, then proceeded to block the sounds around her. Small animals scurrying in the grass, the gushing of water, the breeze tickling leaves: these were all blanked out. Next came the ridding of taste. Perhaps, she shouldn't have that tea. Its sweetness still lingered upon her taste buds. Apparently it helped stress, but obviously that was a lie.

Kahlei scolded herself. She needed to stop these petty thoughts. Focus. Once she'd shut out the remaining senses, she began to amplify the sixth. Reaching out into the force, she tried to find Master Orgus's presence.

Nothing. Again.

She'd assumed that the place he'd taken her to as a padawan to meditate would be a good location to search for his spirit in the Force. Clearly she was wrong. Had he finally gone to rest now that the Emperor was dead? As much as she was pleased that he'd found peace, part of her felt frustrated. How would she make her judgment without her old Master to guide her? Kahlei was so engrossed in her own thoughts that she didn't sense her visitor arrive. So when he spoke, she quite literally jumped out of her skin.

"Oh, Master Kahlei! I hadn't heard you'd returned to Tython."

She looked up to see the only other Sith Pureblood she'd ever had a civil conversation with. Lord Praven. Well, Jedi Knight Praven now. "I only got here this morning." She paused. "I take it the Grand Master didn't send you then?"

"I came here to meditate, like yourself." He frowned. "You were the one who first taught me about peace, yet I don't sense that you are at peace. Is something wrong?"

He'd find out about her dilemma soon enough. There was no harm in confiding in him.

"I know that it is wrong of me to put one life above so many, but not doing that feels just as wrong."

"Do what is right."

"So I shouldn't be putting a friend's life over millions?"

He sighed. "No. I mean, do what you truly believe is right. Not what the Council think is right. If you don't mind me asking, what is actually going on?"

"Wrath wants us to hand over Scourge or she'll blow up Coruscant," Kahlei confessed.

"Hm, I see." Praven shrugged. "You'll find another way to stop her, Kahlei. Have faith in yourself."

"Master Satele, what's going on? Why did you want to see all of us?" The redhead frowned, glancing over the crew - minus a few members. The Grandmaster gestured for her to be quiet. "Fine, whatever."

Kira watched Doc scratch his head, thoughtfully, whilst scanning the room. The Council were all gathered here, muttering amongst themselves. She assumed some were new to the Council since she'd never come across some of them before. "You know," Doc said, "I'd have thought Kahlei'd be summoned to a Jedi party like this: never mind the rest of us."

Kira nodded her agreement. It was strange.

The Grand Master cleared her throat, silencing the room. "I do apologise for the delay. Master Kahlei should be on her way any minute now."

The Council's holoterminal beeped as if on cue. Master Satele answered it.

"Greetings, fellow Jedi." Kahlei appeared on screen, hair scraped back into a high ponytail as usual. "As you requested, I have made my decision."

Kira saw Master Satele narrow her eyes. "I hope you're not here in person because you're already on your way."

On her way to what? Kira wondered.

"I don't believe in bowing down to the Empire, so no. I also don't believe in sacrificing friends - yeah, yeah, I know I'm such a terrible Jedi for forming attachments, but betraying friends is just something I won't or will ever do."

"If you do this Kahlei you will oppose us, the Republic and the Empire. You will be alone against the galaxy."

"Heh, well, I can live with that."

Her old Master turned her attention to the rest of the crew who were all standing behind Satele. "Yeah, guys, sorry, but you all can't join me on this one. I don't want you to ruin your lives for me." Kahlei glanced down at something next to her. Kira wasn't sure what it was. "I have exactly 10 seconds before you are able to track my ship, so, bye!" She guessed it must have been some sort of timer.

When Kahlei's image had faded on the holoterminal, Satele sighed and shook her head. "This is a great loss to our Order. We will greatly miss Kahlei's martial skill and determination. It's unfortunate that she refused to cooperate." Satele turned to face Kira. "Master Kira, you know Kahlei better than any of us do and you are the only one who she would listen to."

"Grand Master, I don't understand what caused her to turn away from the Order?"

"Wrath asked us to give her Lord Scourge or she would blow up Coruscant. Kahlei refuses and I believe she is trying to destroy the weapon capable of doing this." Not wanting to sacrifice a friend? That was exactly the sort of thing Kahlei would do. "I do not doubt that she would be able to defeat this Wrath if it came to combat, but we know nothing of the weapon and I fear that if Wrath suspects that we are not obliging, she will activate the weapon. We cannot risk Coruscant for the life of someone who refuses to be one of us. Imagine how the Republic would feel if they discovered this? They would turn away from us and the Empire would conquer the galaxy."

"But, Master Satele, even if we give Wrath Scourge, how do we know she won't break her promise?"

"We don't. That's why others are going to find information on the weapon."

"But if you destroy the weapon then you don't need to give them Scourge?"

"Giving Wrath Scourge will remove her suspicion and makes it easier for us to hide our motives. It's also highly likely this process will take longer than the deadline she gave us."

"I.. I understand. What do you need me to do, Grand Master?"

The rest of the crew remained silent. Kira suspected they saw her as their new leader: Kahlei's replacement. Not that she could or would ever want to replace her friend.

"I need you to track Kahlei and to make her see reason. We need to try to get her to return to the Order as she is invaluable. I also highly doubt Lord Scourge would willingly agree to turn himself in. Kahlei is the only one who could convince him to go and one of the few that would be able to force him to do so."

"What if she won't agree?"

"Then we will have to view Kahlei as a threat to our Order and will have to stop her and Scourge by any means necessary. This is for the greater good, Kira. It's just a shame that the Sith has corrupted one of our best warriors."

Kira gulped. She didn't like the sound of 'any means necessary'. Did they mean they would resort to killing Kahlei if she failed to return? And she wasn't so sure Kahlei's decision was completely because of Scourge. Even before Scourge had joined them, Kahlei had been more than willing to do anything to save her friends. Besides, if anything Scourge discouraged Kahlei from befriending him. No, this had nothing to with Scourge - apart from the fact that he was the friend concerned.

She wasn't sure how she felt about this. Kira could completely understand Kahlei's decision, yet she could also completely understand the Council's decision. She agreed that the Council could be wrong at times (not very often), but this time they were right. Sacrificing all that life for a Sith was wrong. Kahlei was too ambitious to properly consider the possibility of failure. The risk was too great. She had to make her friend see this. Kira nodded, satisfied with her conclusion. She would try her very best to resolve this without violence.

It was only as she turned around that she realised Lord Scourge had been watching the holocall. He was leant against the door, frowning. As usual, he was clad in his heavy dark armour that he always wore. Kahlei didn't think that in all the time he had been part of her crew that she had seen him without it. Maybe he'd worn it for so long that it had glued to him and was like a second skin? Had it been a happier day, Kahlei would have giggled to herself. She remembered the time she'd tried to get him to replace it with Jedi armour so he didn't scare the civilians quite as much. He'd been furious (well, as much as he could pretend to be with his curse) and had reminded her that he would always be Sith. When she'd first met him, she'd been slightly intimidated by how his figure loomed over her: his height made him pretty damn scary. She wasn't exactly the shortest woman she'd ever met, but she barely came up to his chest. Now that she'd gotten to know him better, she'd discovered that he was relatively harmless and was anything but your usual Sith.

"You stood up to your pathetic Order, hm, Jedi?" If she didn't know better, she'd have said he sounded impressed. Instead, she knew he simply found it interesting and considered this to be a 'step towards the Dark Side.'

"They're not pathetic. Just blind at times."

"You're defending them despite the fact that they turned you away as soon as you chose to express your own views? Is that really the freedom you jedi believe in?"

Kahlei folded her arms, attempting to stand her ground. "You will always be Sith, I will always be Jedi. You can't manipulate me."

Scourge smirked. "I see."

"The Order think you have. They probably blame you for my 'antics'."

"Have I?"

She rolled her eyes. "Like I just said, you can't manipulate me to the Dark Side. This is entirely my decision."

He reminded silent for a few moments, regarding her. "Why are you throwing everything you've worked for, Jedi?"

It was always like this. He'd quiz her on everything and then if he found anything interesting (anything that remotely appeared to be a Dark Side quality), he'd continue to quiz her some more.

"Because I don't sacrifice friends when I know it will be in vain."

There was no way that the psychotic Sith on that holocom would miss an opportunity to wreck havoc in Republic space. She'd seen numerous sith wanting to 'finish what they started' on Coruscant.

Scourge sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "How many times do I have to tell you I don't require friends or protection?"

"Clearly not enough."

"I don't want your Jedi charity." He stalked out of the room. "You can take it elsewhere."

Kahlei sighed, collapsing into the sofa. Great.

He was quite right. She'd just practically thrown her entire it all away for someone who;

One: Refused to consider her a friend.

Two: Had no gratitude.

And three: Was a Sith.

Way to go, Kahlei. You just officially screwed up your life.

But what was done was done. There was no point crying over spilt milk. Now she had to come up with a plan. A plan that would prove that she'd been right to trust her instincts and had chosen correctly. And if she failed -

Well, she couldn't consider that.

"Are you sure you have no information, Agent Helver?" She stared down into her com at the minature version of the SIS Agent she'd met on Corellia, hoping she was wrong.

"We've heard nothing about a newly developed Imperial super weapon. But if this is true it is worrying that we've heard nothing about it until now. The Imperials must have tightened their security."

Kahlei sighed. That was the fifth SIS Agent she'd spoken to. She'd also managed to get in contact with various agents she'd met on Nar Shaddaa, but none of them had any idea what she was talking about.

"Well, thanks, anyway." Her holocom beeped off and she sunk further into her chair.

She had expected to have had a lead on the weapon by now. This was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

So, who else might know something?

Doctor Godera would have been a good place to start. He'd hated the Empire so much and even if he hadn't heard anything, he would have tried his very best to find out some information.

His death had been a real tragedy - one in particular she wished she could have prevented.

Who else? Who else was there?

Agent Galen! She practically fell out of her seat. Of course! If he'd successfully managed to infiltrate the Empire, he'd be the best person to ask about something like this. That was, of course, assuming he hadn't been killed. How had she forgotten about him? Kahlei had been furious at the experiments the Sith Lord had conducted on him. Controlling her anger in that fight had been nearly impossible. The affliction was irreversible, but the SIS had helped him regain control. He'd sent her a message thanking her and saying that he was going undercover in Sith space. Trying to find his comm frequency was a nightmare, but she had high hopes it'd be worth it. She collapsed into her sofa and entered the frequency into her holocom.

"Master Jedi!" He exclaimed, after realising it was her. "I didn't think we'd meet again."

"Hey! How you holding up after, you know-?" She didn't want to directly ask about exact issue. How would she name it? The power guard problem? That was too blunt.

"Yeah, I'm good, thanks. I've gotten used it. But I suppose you didn't just contact me for a quick chitchat?"

Kahlei shook her head. It was a shame she couldn't spend all her time just chatting to old friends. "Have you heard anything about a new Imperial super weapon?"

He scratched his chin. "You're, eh, going to have to give me more than that. Weapon projects are worryingly common in the Empire."

"Umm, a super weapon capable of blowing up Coruscant with heavy Sith involvement. It's a, uh, 'successful' project by the sound of things."

"Hmmm. I'm not sure." He paused, thinking. "Actually, I have heard rumours about an isotope - 5 super weapon that was recently being developed. I'm not sure if it's completed or not, though."

"Isotope -5? Isn't that the stuff on Makeb?"

Galen slowly nodded. "Imperial scientists are fascinated by it. Darth Marr oversees Makeb and was the one who decided to recover the substance for the Empire, so the sith definitely have a hand in that project. I mean, I'm not entirely sure this is the weapon you're after. There's so many possibilities this thing could be. Like a laser or something?"

"But this is the most likely?"

"Very likely."

Yes! A lead! "Thanks, Galen! Seriously, you're a lifesaver!"

"It's the least I could. I owe you so much."

"I didn't really do that much."

Galen shook his head. "You gave me hope. I'd be nothing without hope."

"Well, I'm glad I helped-"

"I..."She could see him glanced around. "I have to go. Now." His voice was filled with urgency. Had she compromised his cover by contacting him? Her holocom cut off. She swallowed, praying he'd be okay.

They had a start: Makeb. It'd be nice to visit the planet when it wasn't about to tear itself apart. Not that the circumstances for her visit were any better, though.

Kahlei looked up to see Lord Scourge's hulking frame in the doorway. How did he always manage to sneak up on her like that?

Scourge raised a brow. Well, the pointed ridge above his eye that would have been an eyebrow on a human. "A social call, Jedi?"

"No, I was trying to find information on the super weapon."

He frowned. "This is foolish. It'd be easier if I hid from the Empire."

"And let Wrath destroy Coruscant? That's not an option."

"I don't require your assistance. You would have no part in the destruction."

Why did he constantly refuse her help? "Look, I don't get if it's a sithy thing or what, but is it that hard to realise that you can't do everything by yourself? That sometimes you have to rely on friends?"

"To be dependent on others is to be weak."

Well, there it was. The reason to why he constantly swatted away her offers of friendship. At least it wasn't personal.

"No, to be weak is to allow your pride to stop you from getting help when you need it most. If I hadn't asked for Agent Galen's help, we wouldn't know where to start with this weapon. Nobody knows everything, nor are they good at everything. That's why sometimes you need other people's skills."

Scourge remained silent for a moments. He eyed her carefully, musing. "Why do you allow your Council to control you?"

"They don't. I disobeyed them."

"Yet they still continue to rule your beliefs. They brain washed you into following their ideals."

"Look Scourge, I'm helping you. I don't need you to admit to it to know you need my help," she said, staring at him to reinforce her point.

He stared back. Finally he broke away and answered, "Fine. Jedi. What did this Galen tell you?"

Why did this Jedi insist on helping him? What did she gain?

Nothing.

She was foolish, like the rest of them. Risking her own life and throwing everything away for another person was stupid. He'd never understand jedi. Even though she had some of the typical jedi qualities he despised, something about her intrigued him. He had discovered she made little effort to conceal her emotions and even used them to give her strength. Not quite in Sith fashion: it was more as compassion. She cared so much about those innocent lives that their emotions became her own. This drove her to do reckless things for insignificant fools. Is that why she wanted to help him? Because she pitied him?

He slashed out at a droid projection. T7 had put together the training simulation for Kahlei.

Did the Jedi think so little of him? Did she think he was another whelp that needed saving? Was she mocking him?

All he wanted to feel was anger, frustration and more anger. But there was nothing.

He would have given anything away to just feel any form of emotion even just one more time. He couldn't even call what he had a life. It was just an existence. An existence that refused to cease. There was no enjoyment, no colour - just various shades of grey. Grey. That's what this existence was. It wasn't full of fire nor was it peaceful. It was neither. It was bland. But to truly live again was something he prayed for. He'd told his Jedi that he wished for it, but hadn't revealed exactly how much.

Scourge stopped.

His Jedi? Since when had she become his Jedi?

He shook his head. It was nearly impossible to avoid her advances of friendships. She persisted and persisted and persisted. And somehow he'd given in. He was surprised she didn't despise him, especially after how dismissive he'd been. Perhaps he ought to change that. Maybe just a little. After all, she was useful. And he hated to say it, without her he had little purpose. He couldn't go back to being with the Sith and he couldn't join the Jedi. But now Kahlei was with neither of them, like himself.

Anyway, what was his alternative? To rot away in some damp cave, hiding from the Galaxy? That was a waste of his skill. Besides, she was tolerable. And now that she'd proven she wasn't mindless, she was all the more interesting. He struck down the last holo droid. Hardly a challenge.

He needed a real opponent.

She'd set coordinates to Makeb and put the ship on auto pilot. All they could do now was to wait. Kahlei had been pacing around the ship until she heard the call of her name. Well, not name. Had he ever addressed her as Kahlei? It was always Jedi. She'd gotten so used to it that she turned round at it as instinctively as her actual name. She peered into the Cargo Hold to see Scourge putting away the training droid simulation. "Hmm?"

"Up for some practice?"

It was only then that she realised she'd never properly sparred with him before. Apart from the time they fought each other in front of the Emperor, of course. But that was so long ago.

"Sure. I'll go get my training bla-"

"No. Use your lightsaber. There is no point in practicing without one."

"Uh, okay."

He lit his saber. Kahlei copied, lighting both of hers.

They began to circle round each other, waiting for one to make the first move. Scourge looked as if he truly wanted to kill her. Hopefully he didn't.

He attempted to strike a cautious blow with a shii-cho form. She dodged, lashing out at his midsection with her left saber. He was ready for her retaliation, easily reflecting the attack.

Scourge narrowed his eyes. "This is no good unless you strike with real intent."

"I could hurt you!"

"You can't hurt me, Jedi." He made references to his curse in most conversations they had. If he could feel, she knew he'd be furious at it.

He was right, however. If she accidentally struck him, he'd feel nothing.

Again, carefully studying one another, they waited.

Kahlei took the offensive this time. Taking an ataru stance, she sent multiple quick slashes towards him. He avoided them, then tried to land an attack on her shoulder. She pulled away in time, whirled around and struck at his back. He evaded her, changed to shiien and aimed for her arm. She managed to deflect the blow onto her left lightsaber but the angle she blocked at was in his favour and he sent it flying out of her hand. She gripped the remaining one with both hands, shifting her weight to shii-cho. Scourge, still in a shiien stance, proceeded to send a powerful slash her way. She parried, locking their lightsabers together. He pushed out, trying to unbalance her. Kahlei opposed this and used the force to match his might.

He's not even using the force to strengthen his attacks.

She frowned and quickly drew upon the force more. For a second, Scourge was caught off guard by the abrupt increase in her power but then used the force to rapidly increase his own.

Kahlei stumbled backwards, trying to stand her ground. Suddenly, she was sent flying back into the wall by the power they'd both held as Scourge finally won their battle of strength. She could have sworn she heard a crunch.

She looked up at him, dazed.

Kahlei had always assumed they were near enough equals. If anything, that she was the slightly stronger one.

He was holding back when I first fought him.

Her other crew members had assumed that she was stronger. As had the Council. Had they all known she wasn't, she doubted they'd have ever trusted him. There was no way Kahlei could control him. If he chose to act against her, she now knew there was little she could do.

The only word she could muster was, "How?"

"Don't worry, Jedi. Very few would be able to defeat you quite that easily." He answered her next question before she could voice it. "I know when you leave yourself open. You move so quickly that it's difficult for your opponent to notice."

"But you did."

"I have 300 years of experience and have also had experience fighting alongside you. I doubt anyone else what have both those adavntages." He smirked. "You're not bad, especially considering you're a jedi. Had you been born sith, you'd be truly great.

Was that some form of compliment? Huh. That'd be the first then. "I'm fine as a jedi, thanks."

Slowly and rather painfully, she climbed to her feet and left for the refresher.

Kahlei felt a weight being left off her shoulders.. Even if she'd agreed to go along with the Council, she wouldn't have been able to force him over to the Empire. This had just proven it. There was no way he'd ever willingly oblige which meant that apart from either the Grand Master or half the Council going after him, taking out the weapon was the only option she had. She smiled at her reflection in the mirror, finally feeling sure of herself. Her decision had been the most practical.

This was the right path.

"Soooooo, who're we waiting for?"

For a moment, Vette forgot that she wasn't speaking to the old Xaryia: the one who had almost been like a sister to her. Now she was truly with the incantation of the Emperor's Wrath. The angry look she received in return demonstrated that. She was very ...uh... 'wrathful' these days. Did she even care about anything other than being a good little sith for the Emperor?

Vette giggled and then instantly kicked herself for doing so.

Good little sith? Haha. Can you even get good sith?

Once, Vette had considered Xaryia to be a 'good sith'. But she'd been wrong. A switch had flipped in that sithy head of hers.

"So, you ready to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?"

She sighed. "Xar, you always do this. You know what I'm on about."

"Don't call me that," the sith snapped. "It's Lord Wrath to you, slave."

Vette took a step back and bit her lip, worried that tears would start forming. They'd been through so much together! They'd known each other for like forever! They were practically sisters!

Her words stung more than any attack ever could. She prayed that this was a mood swing: that this wouldn't be permanent.

What if it was? What if she was gone for good?

Xaryia narrowed her eyes. "I killed him."

Through a little more persistence, Xar had revealed that her fiancé had sided with her old Master and had attempted to murder her. She didn't miss the opportunity to remind Vette of the penalty for traitors. Not that Vette would ever even consider betraying her. And their friendship had gone further and further downhill. So far that it was almost off the hill. Almost. Vette still had hope for Xar and the friendship between them. She knew that deep down, waaay past all of her Sithy bravado, there was a woman. A woman whose heart had been broken. And because she was sith, the pain and anger had resulted in severer consequences than with an ordinary person. Was Vette the only one who truly understood the Emperor's Wrath? Most feared the title and nobody knew the woman behind it.

Xaryia used to be optimistic. She'd wanted to leave her mark on the Galaxy. She'd wanted to make the Empire truly great. Now she was full of hatred. Anger. Nothing like the friendly, positive sith she used to know. Vette had never approved of the majority of tasks Darth Fattso used to send Xaryia on. They always used to result in unnecessary violence. But these days she found herself longing for those tasks. Sure, they usually killed several people - but not millions. Not like their latest quest. As the Emperor's Wrath, it was Xaryia's job to cut down Sith who opposed the Empire. Their newest target was the ex-Wrath, who'd assisted the Jedi in killing the Emperor. Somehow the mission had gone from catching one bad guy to involving millions of citizens.

Once she would have questioned Xaryia about going to great measures to get her target. Instead, she kept how revolted she was by it a secret. Blowing up Coruscant for a single person? That was beyond excessive. It was twisted. However, she didn't think Xaryia really intended to do it. (She hoped, anyway). Unless the Sith didn't get what she wanted, of course. She'd made it loud and clear that she was fully prepared to go through with it if that happened.

Vette had asked if that meant Xaryia was unemployed now that the Emperor was dead. She'd been told that she was stupid for assuming a measly Jedi could kill the greatest entity in the galaxy. Vette took that as a 'No, I'm still in business because the Emperor isn't actually dead.'

So why did she stick around? Not that she had a choice now that Xaryia had brought back her shock collar as a lesson for the 'annoying remarks'. Since then she'd practiced holding her some of her hilarious comments in her head. Unfortunately, it didn't seem the Sith appreciated them anymore. If she did have a choice, she'd have chosen to stay. Because if she didn't, nobody else would care about Xaryia. Her friend would truly be alone.

Vette broke away from her thoughts to glance around the cantina. Nar Shaddaa really did have some of the best cantinas in the galaxy. There were so many fun ways to get into trouble. Not that Xaryia would permit that. But before she turned into psychotic sith mode, she and Vette would have visited every popular Cantina, drank more then they could pay for and partied every night until Darth Fattso tried to holocall. He'd scold his apprentice for wasting time and then it was back to doom and despair. However, it was doom and despair every day. Without a break. Vette had hoped that Nar Shaada's bright lights and loud music would loosen the Sith up. Yet she remained as serious as ever.

Vette looked up to see the empty chair had already been filled by some chiss guy. How long had he been sitting there? They were already midway of some boring conversation about the super weapon. She must have seriously zoned out. Xaryia had been contacting this bounty hunter a lot lately. Vette had noted that they seemed to be getting rather close. Maybe. She hoped. A relationship would probably be the best thing for Xaryia. Maybe it'd help to restore her to the person she once was? That was if she wasn't too far gone.

Jaesa and Pierce had both left their ship when Jaesa had become a Sith Lord. The only remaining crew members were herself and Broonmark. She wondered how Bronmark was holding up back at the ship. He hadn't been off it for some time and Vette was worried he'd go crazy (like Xaryia). Then she'd be the only sane crew member left.

It wasn't fair to leave him on the ship all the time, but it also wasn't fair to drag him round busy cities. He'd seemed okay about staying behind and had told them he'd "defend Sith's clan home." So, at least he had some sort of job. She frowned. What was her job? To follow Xaryia round? That was productive.

Vette turned her attention back to Xaryia and the mercenary. Apparently Xaryia had hired this guy to get the weapon from an Imperial laboratory and was instructing him on how to do it efficiently.

Great. A chat on how to kill millions of people. That was exactly what she wanted to listen to.

Kira studied the ship the Council had given her: a Defender class like the one Kahlei had. It was nice and all, but it wasn't home. Not like the other one had been.

"T7 + Kira = Rescue Kahlei?"

T7 was the only one who seemed okay. He just saw this as a rescue mission. Kira didn't think he was able to comprehend that the likelihood Kahlei would peacefully surrender was zero. But she couldn't bring herself to ruin his optimism.

"Heh, something like that."

T7 whirred for a moment, computing his task. Now it'd been confirmed, the astromech droid would stop at nothing to get Kahlei back.

If only she shared his confidence.

If it came to violence, Kira doubted she'd have a chance against Kahlei. Or Scourge. Definitely not both of them. There was the rest of the crew, of course, but she was the only force user. Their biggest advantage would be Kahlei's reluctance to fight back, in fear of hurting someone. As for Scourge? Kira knew he wouldn't care about that. She didn't trust him as far as she could throw him. And that really wasn't very far.

Sergeant Rusk was sitting by their intercom, complete with a glass of Corellian whisky in his hand. He didn't seem to be taking the situation very well at all; the grim expression on his face told her that much. Having to go against a superior must have been difficult, considering his military background. Never mind one he had looked up to and had idealised. Kira wanted to say something to comfort him, but she didn't know what to say to him. She wasn't great at that sort of thing, especially not when she felt even worse herself.

As Kira made her way to inspect the downstairs of the ship, she noticed Doc already busy setting up the med bay. That really wasn't like him. Normally it was a challenge to get him to organise it. Obviously he was as bothered as herself and Rusk.

"Hey, Doc."

Startled, he jumped and dropped something that had been in his hands. The glass syringe full off kolto shattered on the floor. Doc swore and proceeded to tidy it up.

"Don't creep up on me like that." He turned round to face her after he'd finished cleaning up. "What do you want?"

Kira and Doc had never seen eye to eye, but there wasn't anyone else she could talk to. "I... Ican't believe she actually did it."

"And I can't believe she ran off with that Sith fella." Doc scowled. "What's he got that I haven't? Except a light saber."

Doc's interest in Kahlei had been anything but a secret. After she'd turned down every single advance he'd made, he had given up. Kira could feel disappointment radiating from him, with a slight tinge of jealousy. He was completely over Kahlei, but Kira guessed he was just ticked off by the fact that she'd chosen a Sith over him. She hadn't, though. But that was the way Doc saw it.

"You know it's not like that."

"She threw away everything for a friend?"

Kira shrugged. "Yeah."

"But that doesn't sound like she's a fallen jedi."

"She hasn't. She's just determined to make sure nobody gets hurt - including Scourge."

Doc frowned and shook his head. "Isn't that what your jedi teachings are? I thought you all believed that nobody should get hurt."

"If she carries on, she'll tick off Wrath and then that'll be the end of Coruscant. Kahlei is taking this huge risk to save one Sith. We need to have a chat with her and get her to realise her mistake. Simple." Kira watched him carefully, realising this was the first time he'd heard why the Order were against Kahlei's plan. She face palmed. "Weren't you even listening to Master Satele was saying?"

"Your Jedi parties are boring."

She knew Kahlei would have agreed with that.

Kira sighed. She'd relied on her old Master way too much. They all had. Coping without her would be anything but easy.

"If it's so simple then why are you so bothered?"

"Oh, hm, I don't know. Maybe because the Council want me to track down my best friend? Because they expect me to use brute force if she won't give in?" She regretted the tone she'd used as soon as the words tumbled out. After all, Doc was only trying to help. "Sorry."

"None of us want to do that."

"But all that life that could be lost." How far would she have to go to stop Kahlei? What if she had to resort to killing her? Would she sacrifice a friend?

"Yeah."

She supposed that she'd have to roll with it and pray for the best. Hopefully this would end well.

"I can think of ways to take your mind of it, Gorgeous." Doc winked.

Great. Doc hitting on her was exactly what she needed. He could be such a sleaze at times. And of course, it had to be when she was starting to think she could actually get along with him.

Kira mustered up as much sass as she could. "Urgh. No. Just no."

"This is Jedi Master Kahlei Halin to Makeb Orbital Station. Do you copy?" No answer. "Hello?" She needed them to allow her to dock her ship. "Anyone there?" Weird. They obviously weren't just being rude. She continued her babbling, just in case there was somebody there.

"It seems that we'll have to land on the planet's surface, Jedi."

Kahlei grit her teeth. Last time she'd been here, she and Scourge had taken a shuttle with a pilot who had been trained to fly in Makeb's atmosphere. And that had been a close one. With her piloting they didn't stand a chance.

Scourge sensed her worry. "Move." She obliged and let him take the captain's seat. Kahlei strapped herself into the nearby seat, hoping he'd had a lot of practice at flying in undesirable conditions.

Without warning, the ship began to rapidly accelerate down towards Makeb. Lightning flashed all around them as they battled against the storms. They turned and twisted, trying to evade the wind. She squeezed her eyes shut. Sure, she'd done some pretty reckless things in her life. But this? This was a whole new level of scary. The Hero of Tython losing her life to the weather? Well, that certainly would have been a lacklustre ending to the otherwise thrilling story of her life. She'd always thought that if she were to die young, she'd go out with a bang. It seemed that the only bang would be the sound of the starship exploding. The roar of the engines began to die down. She finally realised they were stationary and reopened her eyes. And then she saw the awful sight that lay before her.

"This... this is Makeb?"

The once green planet had been turned into a barren wasteland and the blue sky was filled with pollution. She had heard that Makeb was currently uninhabitable, but she had assumed that it was on the road to recovery. This was not what she'd expected to see. So, that was why she'd been unable to contact the Orbital Station: Makeb had been destroyed and the Republic had left.

"The atmosphere appears to be toxic. You will need to shield yourself from its effects with the force." She guessed his curse meant he'd be unaffected by it.

Standing on the planet was far worse than just looking at it. From the window it was a horrific painting, but now it had become a horrific reality. There was just nothingness as far as she could see. No plant or creature could withstand the contamination in the air. On her last visit, the wildlife had been thriving and she was able feel with so much through the force. But the planet was dead.

Scourge remained silent, allowing her to consider her surroundings. He was patient: especially for a sith. Waiting for her for three hundred years had been the ultimate test. His patience could have rivalled that of one of those stern, traditional Jedi Masters. He would have taken that as an insult, however.

"I suggest we infiltrate the isotope - 5 mine without alerting Wrath."

Absentmindedly she nodded, still taken aback by the devastation. Scourge, too, took a few moments to properly observe the landscape. "This is how the galaxy would have been had you not stopped the Emperor."

"The planet that you told me about... the one that the he destroyed, is this what it's like?"

"This emptiness? Perhaps. Though there is no life left here, you can still feel the force around you. On Nathema, even the force is gone. He devoured everything."

Having discovered her force sensitivity at a very young age, Kahlei couldn't imagine not feeling the force around her. She'd have felt blind and isolated without it.

"You will need to disguise yourself as sith." Scourge pulled up the hood of the dark robes that hung over his armour. "I can sense an outpost not too far ahead. Remain here."

Not that she had anywhere else to go.

Kahlei opted for making herself comfy back on her ship whilst she awaited his return. Staring out at the planet was depressing. She'd settled down with a hot drink and was about to browse the holonet for something to watch when her holocom started to beep. Sighing, she pulled it out of her pocket and was about to greet Scourge with a snarky comment until she realised that actually, it wasn't him. It was Kira. For a moment, her hand wavered above the answer button. Then she stopped herself. If she answered, Kira and the others would guilt trip her into letting them join her. And there was always the possibility that the Council could have turned Kira against her and was calling her to track her location.

No. She was being paranoid. The Council wouldn't stoop that low. And even if they had, Kira wouldn't have allowed herself to be manipulated so easily.

Is that what she'd resorted to? Distrusting the Council?

She hadn't wanted to turn away from the Council forever: she'd only had a minor disagreement with them. One that would be resolved when she was successful and the Order realised their mistake. But now that she no longer felt bound to them, she was beginning to question them more and more. If they allowed her to return, would she even want that?

Kahlei rolled her eyes at herself. Of course she would. She was a Jedi and always would be. Stress was playing with her mind.

She needed to stop wasting time and do something productive...

...Like catching up on some of her favourite holonet series.

Her holocom went off: Kira was trying to contact her. Again.

Once more, she rejected the call. If only it would actually turn off. Whenever she thought it was finally off, it somehow managed to turn itself on again. Kahlei considered throwing it on to the dry soil and stamping all over it. But a tantrum like that would only serve to amuse her Sith companion.

She hated technology. It never seemed to do what she wanted it to do. Kira had always been the techy one. She did feel bad about ignoring Kira. Her friend had called so many times since she had been waiting for Scourge on the ship that it was obvious that she was desperate to speak to her. Kahlei also would have liked to talk, but something in her gut warned her not to.

Turning her head to glance at the Sith walking beside her, she realised he was smirking.

Damn it.

She'd thought she had been successfully hiding the turmoil inside her head, but obviously there was no hiding her emotions from him.

Pushing back the hood of the robes he'd forced her to wear, she gave him her fiercest scowl.

Scourge chuckled. "You make a very convincing Sith. You should consider a career change."

She could have smacked herself for walking straight into that one. Although his 'attempts' to turn her to the Dark Side weren't serious. It was more of a game. A game to see how true to the Light she was.

He'd also won another squabble they'd previously had: the one where she'd said he wouldn't catch her dead in heavy armour. But here she was, clad head to toe in ridiculously bulky sith armour. Scourge had claimed that it was all he could find at the Imperial outpost, but she wasn't so sure. 'Proper armour', he called it. He said he'd be displeased if she died from a stupid blaster wound just because she failed to equip herself for battle. Huh. Was he finally starting to warm up to her?

Kahlei hoped she wouldn't have to fight in her current state. She tended to use an ataru combat style: full of fast strikes and acrobatics. That'd be impossible with her current attire. Knowing her luck, she'd have to wrestle a planet full of Imperials and would then have a stubborn Sith to fight at the end of her travels.

So all in all, she guessed he'd be feeling very smug if he could. Or maybe he could feel that? She wasn't exactly sure. Maybe he was able to experience very tiny bits of emotion? Or did he simply remember what they felt like?

Something in her pocket began to beep. Luckily (for her Holocom) it was the datapad, telling them they were reaching the coordinates that Scourge had obtained from the Imperials.

If he hadn't been Sith, they wouldn't have managed to make it to the mine with any form of secrecy. It would have meant barging into the Outpost, demanding information and a Shuttle to the mesa it was situated on. Then there would have been a high chance Wrath would have discovered what they'd been up to.

As they started to walk along the catwalks, they were greeted by several guards. They were dressed head to toe in black and red trooper armour, complete with the Imperial badge on their shoulders. The leader stepped forwards. He was the only one without a helmet on.

"With all due respect, my lords, we are under strict orders from Darth Marr to forbid anyone without authorisation from entering."

Scourge lifted his hand to choke the man, snarling. "My orders come from above Darth Marr."

Kahlei just managed to resist the urge to stop him. This was wrong. But not stopping Wrath was even more wrong.

Now she sounded like the Council: one life for the greater good.

Fortunately, he had the sense to surrender. "I... I... of course, my Lords." Scourge let him go. The guard readjusted his collar and gave them his finest bow.

To be constantly living in fear of the Sith... Is that what it meant to be an Imperial? The Republic despised all of the Empire, but Kahlei doubted the majority knew what the citizens were really like. They were just normal people who were ruled by fear.

"Take me to the man in charge."

He straightened: the Imperial version of a salute. "At once, my Lord."

They followed the guard along the lower catwalks and to an elevator. It appeared to have been hastily built and didn't look at all sturdy. Kahlei hesitantly stepped onto to. She'd been expecting the office to have been higher up and far more polished: a contrast to the actual mining facility. The Imperials usually spent a load of money making places like this shiny. But it was dull. So, this must have been where the Hutt Cartel had been mining isotope - 5 from the planet's core until the planet was on the brink of destruction. The Imperials had found a way to stabilise the core and were continuing to mine the substance. Kahlei couldn't believe that they'd done all this right under the Republic's noses. They'd been doing this whilst they had all been busy saving the citizens. For the Imperials to have unlimited access...

They could win the war with isotope - 5. Then the entire galaxy would be ruled by fear.

Maybe the SIS did know, though. Maybe they'd kept it secret to avoid causing panic. Regardless, she already had her hands full.

Even though his room was not, this man was exactly how she'd imagined: creaseless uniform, slicked back hair and an irritating nasal voice.

He was about to protest until the security guard next to them waved his hands to stop him. The way he opened and closed his jaw reminded Kahlei of a fish. After settling on an appropriate way to welcome the two sith lords before him, he lowered his head. "Greetings, my Lords. It's an honour for you to be visiting our humble mine. How can I best serve you both?"

She decided she'd let Scourge do all the talking, since he seemed to have had a lot of practice at intimidating Imperials.

"My Master has ordered me to investigate a particular matter: a matter that is none of your business. You will give me the coordinates of your isotope 5 labs." The 'or else' was implied by the menacing look that he flashed beneath the hood.

The gentleman bowed. This constant bowing was beginning to grate on her. Didn't Imperials get back problems from it? "Yes, my Lord." She had to give him some credit, though. Two Sith Lords had just barged into his office, demanding information, yet he remained completely calm. "Now, we actually have two laboratories that we supply our Isotope 5 to: one on Hoth and one on Tatooine." Urgh. Why had they chosen such horrible planets? "Which would you prefer?"

"Both."

"Of course, my Lord." And the whole 'Lord' this, 'Lord' that thing was just as anoyying. But she guessed it was how one survived as a non force sensitive in a Sith World. "I, uh.." He swallowed and bowed again. "Forgive me, but I have to request that some form of identification before you leave. Darth Marr has demanded I reinforce the policy. And nobody is an exception to the rule."

Worried that her companion would do some serious damage to this man, she stepped in. "But we've already given you our ID."

"You've already given me your ID."

The guard gawked, noticing the Jedi mind trick. She'd have to sort him out in a minute.

"Well, if that's everything my Lords, I can only wish you the very best in your travels." Another bow. He gestured to the man beside them. "My security officer will see you out."

The guard remained silent as he lead them back through the mine. Kahlei could feel his growing suspicion and could imagine what was going through his head. A real sith would have resorted to violence to ensure cooperation - not a mind trick.

When they approached the edge of the catwalks, she turned to him. "You will not remember anything strange about us."

"I don't remember anything strange about you. Huh, for a moment I almost thought you used a jedi trick on the Chief. I guess I'm just imagining things in my old age." He scratched his head. "Do you need anything else, my Lord?"

"A shuttle."

"Mind control, hm, Jedi?" Scourge questioned her once they were back into hyperspace. "Isn't it fun to assert your power over others?"

This again. "I do what is necessary to ensure a peaceful outcome." She quoted what an old teacher had said to her.

"Pathetic."

Kahlei shrugged. "So, Hoth first?"

Kira's eyes flashed opened.

Her Old Master had refused to answer her holocom so she'd had to resort to an alternative method: meditation.

And this time, she'd been successful.

Hoth.

Kahlei supposed they'd have looked strange to passers by. Her boots crunched into the snow, leaving footprints behind her. They were hardly equipped for the cold environment, but they were force users. Those who could wield the force were equipped for everything. Having said that, she wasn't too sure how much longer she could keep regulating her body temperature. It required so much concentration and Kahlei was used to channelling the force in battle, not for tasks like this. It would have been the perfect time to be unable to feel anything. If she'd have said her thoughts aloud, Scourge would have told her that she didn't understand the gravity of his situation. And that she wasn't taking it seriously.

"I know this is meant to be top secret, but did they really have to build it so far out?"

"Hm."

When Scourge was chatty, he could be really chatty. But when he wasn't, it was nearly impossible to break the silence.

It had been okay until the speeder broke down. Then, her data pad had lost signal. Now they were on foot, walking round and round in circles. The lab was apparently somewhere deep in the mountains but those mountains didn't seem to be getting any closer.

"So, what was your childhood like?"

Scourge frowned. "Why do you ask?" He always got so defensive when she asked questions like that. Was he really not used to just having a chat with someone who didn't have a hidden agenda?

"Just wondering. I'd imagine Sith and Jedi children have completely different upbringings."

"My childhood was virtually the same as it would have been had I been born in this century. Sith don't change. The Sith Academy is where one is shaped into a Sith. It is where the strong are separated from the weak."

"You know, you have to give the weak a chance to become strong."

"That is what the Academy does. If one misses his opportunity to seize power, then they will always be weak. You cannot nurture weakness: it is against nature. Nature encourages evolution and so it is wrong to oppose it. The weak die out and then the weakest of the strong will, too. Then you will be left with truly the strongest. This is how you breed true strength." How had he managed to turn it from a casual chitchat to a philosophical debate?

"If you help the weak become strong, then you will have more people with strength."

"Then the strong will not be pushed to become the strongest they could possibly be."

"Is it really a good thing to try to be the strongest? I mean, look what the Emperor tried to do in order to become the strongest."

Scourge thought for a moment. "Perhaps you are right. Perhaps it is wrong to encourage people to do anything to gain unlimited power. However, that doesn't mean that nurturing the weak is right."

"You do realise that we don't let just anyone become a Jedi? You do have to prove that you are capable."

"Your petty trials are nothing in comparison to what our acolytes experience. Failure is a matter of death-" Scourge stopped. He lowered his voice. "We are being followed, Jedi."

Kahlei hadn't noticed. She'd been devoting much of her attention to their debate and the remainder to nullifying the effect of the cold. "Can you tell who it is?"

"No, they are too far away for me to be able to recognise them. This group have been following our path." He paused. "They are moving faster than we are - most likely on speeders."

"How've they managed to follow us? The wind'll have blown away any tracks."

"Then they must be able to detect us in the same way I sensed them."

Kahlei bit her lip. Had the Order sent a group of Jedi after them? She shuddered, and not from the cold. Would she have to fight them? "They'll catch up to us."

"Indeed. I cannot tell if they are Sith or Jedi. You will need to prepare yourself for both possibilities."

They continued to hike through the snow, awaiting the inevitable. Kahlei pushed herself and tried to reach out through the force whilst also shielding herself. These skills were some of her weakest areas and using them was taxing. She could feel herself growing more and more exhausted.

She remembered that she needed to reserve her strength for the possible battle that lay ahead. So, instead she went back to concentrating on protecting her body. She minimised the effort she was putting into it until she was cold, but not freezing.

"Kahlei..." Was that the first time he'd ever called her by name? She looked up at him in confusion. "...it is Kira and the rest of them."

Her eyes widened. She'd just managed to mentally prepare herself fight to Jedi - even ones she knew well. But not Kira. Not Doc. Not Rusk. Not T7.

Scourge placed his hands on her arms. "If you wish for it, I can handle this." She blinked at him. Was Scourge being sympathetic? "You will be unable to do what needs to be done." Eh, no, back to his usual self.

"I won't let you hurt any of them, Scourge."

"Even if they are willing to hurt you? Would you not do the same?"

"No."

He narrowed his eyes and fell back to walking beside her. "Very well. I won't interfere: even if you need me to." It was almost a threat.

"Kahlei!"

She could hear the hum of speeders as they drew closer and closer.

"Kahlei!"

The engines turned off. She felt hands grip her shoulders as they tried to turn her around. Kahlei found herself eye to eye with Kira. The other crewmates remained silent, watching the scene unfold before them.

"What the hell are you doing?" The hands shook her. "You need to snap out of this!"

She roughly brushed Kira off. "I don't need to snap out of anything."

Kira glowered at Scourge who stood behind Kahlei. "Why are you letting him manipulate you like this?"

"Why are you letting the Council manipulate you?"

"The Council manipulating people? Can you even hear yourself?"

"I'm doing this to save the Republic."

"No, you're doing this to save him. At the cost of Coruscant."

Kahlei heldher forhead in the palm of her hand, sighing. "You know I'd do this for any of you. I have done this for Rusk."

Rusk nodded, remembering when she'd gone back to save him and allowed the Emperor time to gather his strength.

"This is different."

"How is it different?"

"Kahlei, he's a sith. Plus you turned away from the Order."

"The Order is wrong."

"You're wrong!" Kira then frowned, finally noticing Kahlei's sith disguise. "What the hell you wearing?"

They were to the point of screaming at each other, now. Doc stepped in. "Look, Kah, it doesn't sound like the Order are angry at you - if that's why you don't want to come back."

"That's not why I don't want to come back. I don't want to because they want me to sacrifice a friend when Wrath will probably just go ahead and use the weapon, anyway." Kahlei turned back to Kira. "If it had been Doc, Rusk or T7, we wouldn't be having this argument. How are we to create peace in this galaxy if Jedi and the rest of the Order are too stubborn accept a Sith?"

"That's wrong. We accepted Praven."

"Officially, yes. But I know they don't trust him, although he's truly dedicated to the light. And they never will. Why? Because he was a sith. And he still looks like a sith. But he can't change the fact that he's a pure blooded sith."

"Yeah, I'm not saying that there aren't a few that don't but the majority do accept him."

"No, that's just what they all say. But deep down, I know they don't." Kahlei waved her hand dismissively and turned her back to her.

"Kahlei!"

She chose to ignore her and began to walk away.

"T7 + Kahlei ¹ Friends?"

She carried on walking. Scourge followed.

"I... I can't let you leave."

Kahlei glanced over her shoulder at Kira. "Then what are you doing to do?"

Kira shut her eyes. She reopened them in sync with her double bladed lightsaber igniting. "I will do what I must."

In reply, Kahlei lit both of hers. "So will I."

Kahlei leapt at Kira, striking with both her weapons. Kira blocked with one side and quickly moved the other side to slash at her leg. Kahlei's leap turned into a somersault as she evaded the attack. She landed and wasted no time in proceeding to spin round, slashing widely. Kira deflected it and swivelled her lightsaber around to hit. She missed. Kahlei sent a series of rapid attacks, forcing Kira into a defensive position. Her next attack was faster than Kira was able to parry.

Kahlei stopped her lightsaber centimetres short of Kira's neck. They stared at each other. She switched both of hers off and returned them to her belt. She then turned away and left.

She had been expecting him to have questioned her on the confrontation with Kira, but surprisingly he did not. Instead, the continued their journey in near silence whilst Kahlei was wrapped up in her thoughts. The Council had convinced Kira that what Kahlei was doing was evil. Somehow they'd also managed to force Kira to strike her down if she wouldn't agree to their plan. Why had Kira let them control her so easily? She'd always thought Kira had her own mind, complete with a strong personality. But now it seemed that it had been an illusion, that Kira was weak willed.

Further ahead, Kahlei noticed a metal bunker built into the side of the mountain: one that was typical of the Imperials. "There."

She pulled up her hood and together they marched into the place they'd find answers.

"My Lords." There was a sole guard standing outside the complex. The security here was much lower than at the mine. But even with coordinates, it was a nightmare to find it. They probably had very few visitors. Kahlei stormed over to him.

"You will take us to where you develop your weapons. Now." She didn't need to look at Scourge to know that he was smirking at her assertiveness.

"Right away."

She couldn't but find it amusing how the Imperials bowed down to the Sith so willingly. Not that she found it fun, she added. Was she turning into a person that she'd always tried not to be? The sort of person the Council feared in their Order?

No, she told herself. She was simply free to become the person that she wished to, and that person wasn't dark: they just weren't blinded by the light.

Men and women in white lab coats were running about. She noticed how there were very few non humans, apart from a handful of chiss. Had this been a Republic facility, there would have been just as many aliens as humans.

The guard stopped at a department that was filled with lasers, bombs and others things she couldn't recognise. "What is it that you are looking for?"

"The Isotope 5 project."

"Oh dear, you should have said so earlier." She frowned at him. "We moved the weapon for testing on Tatooine a few months ago."

They were testing that thing? On Tatooine?

"It's not an actual trial run or anything, I think one of the technicians said it was to check for any minor errors." He gestured to a an older looking woman to come and speak to them. "Doctor Loretta was one of the engineers working on this project."

She glanced at them both. "What can I do for you?"

"We came here about an isotope 5 prototype. Tell me about it."

"It's a weapon that we've designed, using that substance. We tried to recreate the effects it had on Makeb, but with a small amount of it in a much shorter time. Basically we believed that using small, but incredibly powerful electromagnets would help to amplify its effect - as well as various other details. And we were right." Loretta paused, readjusting the safety goggles on the bridge of her nose.

"The device is like a bomb. It's portable so you could easily plant it. Then you would get into a ship orbiting your target and press a remote button. The button activates the magnets and the process starts. The isotope 5 will attack the planet's existing gravitational field and this conflict will cause the core to be torn apart.

"Unfortunately, we're a long way from finalising it, but I'm pleased to see support from you Sith. This weapon could truly mean victory for our Empire."

This woman was insane.

"I would very much like to see this device myself."

"I know, it's really exciting. But we transferred it to Tatooine so you'll have to go there to see it."

"Fine."

"I'm so happy you're eager to be part of this project!"

This weapon was too dangerous to allow. She had to destroy it as soon as possible.

The journey back to the ship was not as awful as the journey there. The Imperials had given them speeders and had restocked their supplies. They had travelled halfway there until Kahlei decided that they should call it a night and to take shelter in a cave.

She had lit a campfire so that she could have a break from shielding herself from the cold. It was impossible for her to sleep whilst concentrating on that.

"Lay here with me, Jedi."

Kahlei sat up and raised her eyebrows. If that had been Doc, that would have been a totally unsmooth attempt to get her in his bed. But this was Scourge. What was he up to?

"Uh..."

From across the fire, she could see Scourge propping himself up on his elbow. He rolled his eyes. "You're shivering. You won't sleep like that." Did he care about her or something? "If you don't sleep, you'll slow me down." Ah. That was more like him. "If you come here then my body temperature will warm you."

He had a point. Awkwardly, she moved over to lay beside him.

Before she fell asleep, she remembered thinking how safe she felt curled up in his arms.

Sand, sand and more sand.

After travelling in the cold, she'd been more eager to visit Tatooine. Sort of. More so than Hoth, anyway. Now that she was here, she longed for anything but the constant sun and sand. She eyed a stray, peculiar looking plant. How did anything manage to live out here?

At least she'd have a hell of a tan at the end of this trip. She frowned. Were pure blood sith able to tan? Did their red skin turn a few shades darker? Or even if they could, would Scourge be unable to because his skin would quickly repair itself? That'd have sucked. If it were her, she'd be doomed to an existence of being pasty white.

"So, what're your parents like, Scourge?"

"Dead." Oh yeah, the three hundred year thing.

"What were they like?"

"Sith."

"Somehow I imagined."

"What are your parents like?"

"Dead."

"What were they like?"

"Jedi."

What a thriving conversation.

"I thought Jedi practiced celibacy?"

"Not all Jedi. As long as you don't form attachments you're not breaking any rules."

"Is that what you tell yourself when you give in to your desires?"

"No. I'm celibate."

"Liar."

Oh, so some smart mouthed red head had been blabbing about her last trip to Coruscant's cantinas. Great. "Okay, maybe there was that one time."

"One time? I heard this was a regular occurrence."

"Hey," Kahlei frowned. "Are you calling me a ****?"

Scourge chuckled. She took that as a yes. "So, have you never met your parents, Jedi?"

"No, I grew up with my parents," Kahlei said. "They left the Order to be together and allowed the Council to block their connection to the force. As soon as they discovered my force sensitivity, they sent me to train as a Jedi."

"I suppose disobeying the Order runs in the family."

"No, this is different. I'm not breaking any teachings."

She awaited some form of an offensive comment but got none. Instead, Scourge's speeder came to a stop. He collapsed by the edge of the road, head in his hands. What was going on? Kahlei rushed over to him.

"I feel strange. I'm not in pain nor do I feel faint, but something is wrong with me."

Kahlei opened her mouth to make a comment about how a 'lot of things were wrong with him' and then snapped it shut, noticing how serious he looked. "Uh, you okay?"

"Are you deaf? I just said I wasn't."

"Hey, I was just trying to be nice," she said. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know. It's nothing. Let us continue." Scourge climbed to his feet.

"You sure that's a good idea?" His reply was to involuntarily lose his balance and fall to the floor. "Scourge?" Kahlei patted his cheeks. She'd have made it more of a slap, but didn't, in case this was something serious. He was out cold.

Great. She couldn't leave him here whilst she tried to find help yet she also couldn't carry him.

In the end, she settled for creatively tying rope around him to attach him to her speeder. She hoped he wouldn't wake up until she untied him from it. If he did, he'd have killed her.

Kahlei was worried for Scourge. He'd been unconscious for hours while she'd been driving around. Fortunately, she'd found a moisture farm all the way out here. As she knocked on the door, she prayed that this would just be a family of settlers and nobody hostile.

A young girl with her hair in bunches, maybe a little younger than 10, answered. She gaped at Kahlei in amazement. "Dad! Dad! Come quick! It's a Jedi!"

"I'm sure it is, sweetie," she heard from inside the building. A middle aged man appeared at the door. He noticed Kahlei's clothing and took a similar expression to his daughter. "Wow. You're... you're actually a jedi!"

"Uh, yeah, I am." Signalling to Scourge atop her speeder, she could feel fear seeping out of them. "I was wondering if you could help my friend."

"But he's a ... a sith!"

"Uhm, kind of. It's complicated." Upon hearing the word 'sith', another girl had appeared at the door. She appeared to be in her mid to late teens. The three of them looked equally petrified. If they refused to help her, she'd have to find someone else. But other people could be miles and miles away By then, it could be too late to save Scourge from whatever had happened to him. Kahlei dropped to her knees and placed a hand over her heart. "Please." She could feel tears forming. "Please help us."

The man scratched his chin. It wasn't everyday a jedi knocked on your door and begged you to save a sith friend. He sighed. "Fine. Bring him in."

She released the knots that held Scourge onto her speeder and tried to drag him into the house. Kahlei knew he was one hell of a muscular guy, but she suspected the armour made him weigh twice as much. Why did he have to wear that much of it? The man, apparently called Jaron, had to help her in lifting him. Between them, they managed to hurl him onto a bed.

"I don't know what happened. He just collapsed."

"Any symptoms?"

"No. He's never ill, either. That's why I'm so worried," she explained. Kahlei glanced around at all the equipment he had in the room. "Hey, are you like a medical doctor or something?" Had the force lead her here?

"I'm not, but I'm a microbiologist with considerable training in human biology." He glanced down at the pure blood. "And he, eh, looks slightly human."

Whilst Jaron was inspecting Scourge, Kahlei sat in their front room with the youngest daughter, Missa. The eldest was named Aily.

"So, what's your family doing all the way out here?"

"Dad's doing some sciencey research or somethin'." She tapped away on her datapad.

"He wants to find the cure to the disease mum had," Aily interjected, passing Kahlei a drink. "Not that it's going to bring her back."

"But we're boring." Missa looked up at Kahlei, her eyes gleaming. "Tell me what you Jedi do!"

Kahlei recounted some of her most impressive tales to them both: from how she'd defeated Angral and finally, how she'd defeated the Emperor. They both stared at her, awestruck.

"Whoah. You're real life hero!"

"You actually killing the Emperor?" Aily asked.

Her life had really been one crazy roller coaster. She just hadn't realised how wild until then. She was about to tell them about Makeb, when the door to the room Scourge was in flew open.

"This man... he should be dead."

Kahlei shook her head in disbelief. What did he mean Scourge should be dead?

Jaron threw the datapad in her face. She stared at the strange symbols. "Um, I don't get it."

"He has a womprat fever but the most vicious and concentrated strain I have ever seen." Oh yeah, he had been bitten. They'd both dismissed it, however, since he was usually unaffected by stuff like that.

"So, he just has a fever?" Thank the force. She'd thought it'd be linked to his curse somehow. To know that it wasn't and that it was something normal was a huge relief.

"No, not just any fever. That man should be dead from it."

"He's uhhh... special." She supposed it must have been really nasty for even Scourge to get ill.

"I know that, Jedi. He has 10 times the amount of antibodies fighting the bacteria than the highest I've ever seen in any species."

"Yeah, uh, so he's kind of immortal." She face palmed. They all looked completely flabbergasted. She should have just told them it was all his sithiness. "The Emperor made him immortal."

"But you killed the Emperor-"

"You killed the Emperor?!"

Yeah. Going for the sith excuse would have been a better idea.

Kahlei was perched on the edge of Scourge's bed when he began to stir. Instinctively, he went to grab his lightsaber. After he realised it wasn't there, he gripped her hand, instead.

"Where are we, Jedi?"

"Hey, relax, it's safe here."

Scourge wasn't convinced. He threw the blanket off him and went to stand up. Kahlei pushed him back.

Then she realised her mistake.

He was undressed, save for the pants he wore under his armour. And she couldn't stop the way her hands were lingering on him. Or the thoughts of pinning him down and exploring the rest of him. She wondered where else she'd find the small line of triangles that lay upon his chest.

Scourge was smirking.

Kahlei snatched her hands away, blushing a similar hue to his skin. Damn it.

"Why are you ashamed of your feelings?" She stared at the floor, anywhere but him. Using his index finger, he pulled her chin towards him. "What are you afraid of?"

"Nothing."

He sighed. "You don't realise how fortunate you are, Jedi. I would give anything to feel such emotions again." He let her face go, Kahlei remained sat cross-legged on the bed. "But even if you wished me to, I couldn't give you what you desire."

There was no denying her attraction to him. Had she always had a soft spot for him? Is that why she'd been so horrified by the Council's decision? Would she have really done the same for any of her friends? Or was he an exception?

So, what was she afraid of? It wasn't like she hadn't given in to her passion before. No, this was different. Scourge was different. He wasn't just some stranger she'd met in a cantina. Even if she tried not to, she would form an attachment to him. And then she would have broken her teachings.

Kahlei pulled herself away. And not only would she have broken them, she would have broken them with a Sith. These feelings were wrong. They would lead her into darkness.

And what scared her was not falling to the dark side, but the fact that he wasn't scared of doing so. She bit her lip. This was bad.

They were interrupted as Missa barged into the room. "Kahlei! Kahlei!" Tears were rolling down her face. "They... they took dad!"

Kahlei knelt so that she was eye level with Missa and rested her hands on her shoulder. "What happened? Who took him?"

"The Twin Suns men took him away!"

"Missa, it's okay. I'll save your father."

"Jedi," Scourge said. "We don't have time for this."

"That man helped save you."

"It's not like I can die," Scourge retorted.

"You would have been unconscious for weeks if he hadn't helped you recover. Then we definitely wouldn't have had time."

"I'm not the one that cares about Coruscant's fate, anyway." He started to get out of bed.

"And where do you think you're going?"

"To assist you."

"No. You need to rest. You'd just slow me down." Using his own logic against him usually worked.

"I'm fine."

"Well, just in case you're not a hundred percent, I think you should stay here."

"Do you mock me? You think I'm weak?"

Oops. Somehow she'd managed to wound his sithy pride. "Eh, no, you're strong. Waay stronger than me." Well, that came out much less sincere than it had sounded in her head.

Scourge thought for a moment, and to Kahlei's relief, seemed content with her answer as he lay back down. "Fine, Jedi. Go. But this insistence on saving those who are to weak to save themselves will one day kill you."

"Whatever."

Kahlei left and took her speeder, trying to sense any other sentient beings out here in Jundland through the force. She eventually felt a nearby cluster of people and set course for that location.

It was a small village, filled with little round houses and thugs who didn't even ask what she was doing before they started shooting at her. She fought her way through the blaster fire and soon came to a slightly larger building, filled with prisoners who were to be shipped offworld and sold as slaves.

But Kahlei couldn't see Jaron amongst the freed prisoners. Many of them threw their arms around her, in tears.

This is why I became a Jedi.

She frowned, thinking back to Scourge's comment. Maybe this would be the death of her. But Kahlei didn't care. To see how much suffering she prevented was well worth the risk. He'd never understand that.

"They beat him up and dragged him to work in the mine," a woman said after Kahlei had been asking about a man matching Jaron's description.

"Do you know where this mine is?"

"I think it's just a little further south from here."

She thanked the her and continued her search for Jaron. The woman had been right, it wasn't too far south from where the other prisoners had been. Kahlei stormed the Twin Suns territory, freeing those she could along the way. Half way through the base, she managed to find Jaron in a forced labour camp.

He was badly bruised and could barely recognise her. "Jedi?"

"Yeah, it's me, Kahlei." She helped him onto her speeder. "Why did they do this to you?"

"They come every month, asking for their payment. But we have little money and I couldn't pay them."

"Their payment?"

"They say that we're on their land and they protect us - that's why we have to pay them."

Kahlei frowned. She'd caused havoc in the Twin Suns headquarters, but that didn't mean they wouldn't try something like this again. And next time, she wouldn't be here to help. Scourge's words continued to gnaw on her mind. Had this been all for nothing? If she'd have died rescuing Jaron, would her death have been in vain? She shook her head. Saving lives meant everything. The Sith was getting to her. But more importantly, was it intentional? No. She had been spending so much time with him recently, that some of his sithiness was starting to rub off on her. Kahlei just had to resist them.

And who knew? Maybe her Jedi beliefs were starting to get to him, too?

Kahlei and Scourge had waved goodbye to their newfound friends (well, maybe not Scourge's) at noon the following day and were now continuing their trek across the deserts of Tatooine in hope of finding the lab they were looking for.

"What do you plan on doing with the rest of your life?" Kahlei asked Scourge, hoping to restart an interesting conversation.

"What I have is merely an existence. You cannot call it a life."

"Eh, so what do will you do while existing?"

"I have decided to accompany you until you die."

"And then when I'm gone?"

Scourge paused. Apparently he hadn't considered past her lifetime. "Then I will accompany your offspring."

"Having kids breaks so many teachings."

"But you're not very true to your teachings."

Kahlei pouted. "I so am."

"We both know that is a lie, Jedi. If you freed your emotions then you'd make a fine Sith. If they are force sensitive, then I will ensure that your children don't suffer the same fate as you."

"I'm not having children, but if I did then I wouldn't let you near them."

"Disappointing. But how could you stop me if you were dead?"

"There is no death, only the force," she recited. Scourge rolled his eyes. "No, seriously, I'd appear to you through the force and find a way to stop you."

"Do you fear the Dark Side that much?"

"There is no emotion: including fear. I'm not afraid of the Dark Side, I simply understand that it is bad."

"It is not 'bad'. It is strength."

"We Jedi only need strength to protect others." Replying with her teachings was the best way to get him off her back, whilst also encouraging herself to not stray from them.

"You bore me when throw your silly little quotes at me." Scourge then grinned. "Whatever happened to all that lust? You can't say 'There is no passion, there is serenity' after yesterday's display, Jedi."

Kahlei felt her cheeks flare up. Why did he have to bring that up? Why did he have to be so good at detecting emotions? If only a Sarlacc pit would open up and swallow her whole. Hey, she was certainly on the right planet for that.

Thankfully, they had arrived at the laboratory and so Kahlei was saved from further humiliation. She threw the sith robes over head, hiding her jedi garments and pulled the hood up. Together, they strode in.

"Halt! Who goes there?"

"Sith," Scourge growled.

"What are your names, my Lords?"

"None of your business."

Kahlei coughed. "We are investigating a security matter that requires anonymity."

The guards widened their eyes and began to murmur amongst themselves. She crossed her fingers that whatever she'd said that had caught their attention worked in their favour.

"You're here about the stolen weapon?"

Stolen weapon? Obviously it was going to turn out to be the isotope - 5 weapon that had been stolen, because that's the sort of thing that always happened to her. "Yes."

"We never imagined they'd send Sith."

Time to play along. "Our Master is fascinated by the weapon and when he heard it had been stolen, he demanded that we both recovered it."

"The Isotope - 5 weapon is too valuable to allow the Republic to get their hands on it," a scientist said. "They would exterminate us."

Clearly these Imperials had the wrong end of the stick about the Republic.

So, who was the culprit? It wasn't the Republic. Her best guess was Wrath. Wrath had probably moved it in case they'd gone looking for it, which they had. It was a shame her adversary wasn't stupid.

"What do you know about the thief?"

On cue, they were lead to a room full of screens showing camera feed. She assumed this was the security room.

"I just don't understand how they managed to slice into our servers without a trace. They shut down everything." The officer showed them what the camera had picked up. The device was there, the screen went black, and then it wasn't there. "The servers were down for five minutes. That's all he needed to break in and steal the weapon."

"What makes you think it's a he?"

"Nothing, we have no idea who this person is."

"At all? Did nobody see this person?"

"No, they seemed to know exactly when everyone went for a break."

So, it was someone who could access information like that. Someone like Wrath. Kahlei and Scourge shared a knowing glance.

Great. She was back to the beginning. No leads, no nothing.

A small framed, fragile looking guy stumbled into the room. He didn't look very old at all. "Uhm, I think I might know something."

Scourge stepped forwards and loomed over him. The boy looked very, very scared. "Spit it out then, whelp."

"I.. um, I... A Sith lady came here last week and told me to give coordinates to a really tall Sith and a much smaller Sith if they visited." He glanced at the pair. "I think she meant you." He bowed, hastily, remembering his manners. "Uh, my Lords."

Kahlei frowned. Could this be Wrath? "What did she look like?" Hopefully not bright red hair and sith markings.

"Um, I don't know. She wore a mask." Wow. This kid was really helpful.

Kahlei took the datapad containing the coordinates off him and nodded to Scourge.

Hey, at least they had something.

A scratching noise was coming from the back of the cave the coordinates had lead them to. She could also see a small light.

Because this wasn't creepy at all.

"Uh, who's there?"

The scratching paused. Then, hundreds of candles simultaneously lit themselves. The dark figure at the back lowered their hood.

As she moved closer, she realised that it was a human female and that the scratching had been a metal nail file. Her dark curly hair fell perfectly in place and she possessed the highest cheekbones Kahlei had ever seen, giving her an edge of elegance. She couldn't help envy this woman.

This certainly wasn't Wrath, this was someone else.

The woman smiled. It wasn't a cruel smile that most other Sith had, it almost seemed... friendly? "I am Darth Nox. You two are Jedi Master Kahlei and Lord Scourge, formerly the Emperor's Wrath."

"You know us?"

Nox stood, her dark robes billowing out. "You, my dear, are the one who defeated the Emperor. And you travel with the previous Wrath. How could I not know you both?"

Kahlei noticed the sleeping bag and food that were scattered amongst the candles. And the datacrons. "You were waiting for us?"

"I had a vision. A vision that I would meet you both at this very spot. So I waited until you arrived. I can be very patient."

Scourge narrowed his eyes. "What do you want, Nox?"

"You know her?" Kahlei asked.

"No. But I heard she is the head of the sphere of ancient knowledge. It would be foolish to trust her."

Darth Nox waved her hands about. "Relax, relax, I don't seek your harm."

"Then what else do you seek?"

The hostile tone that Scourge had used appeared to have awoken the Dashade behind Nox. Wait.. a Dashade? Weren't they like extinct? "Chempa'i Para'du."

"Not now, Khem. Remember what I told you? You can't feast on them."

Oh great, this Khem was hungry. Kahlei raised her eyebrows. "You speak Dashade?"

"It's Dashadi. But yes, I do." What was with this woman? She was super pretty, super clever and super powerful. She was so perfect that she seemed artificial. Kahlei could feel the dark aura around Nox, daring her to challenge it. The power radiating from her was ghastly yet magnificent at the same time. It was unnatural.

As the Dashade climbed to his feet to protectively stand behind his Master, Kahlei realised he must have been at least 7 foot tall. She turned to Scourge. "Hey, looks like we found someone taller and scarier than you." He rolled his eyes. It seemed that the only thing he found funny was laughing at her.

Darth Nox waited for them to return their attention to her. "Now, I propose that we all work together. I can help you get what you want and you can help me get what I want."

Kahlei was back to how she'd been at the start of her quest. After discovering the weapon had been stolen, they had no leads. This Sith's assistance would be necessary. But she was Sith. And therefore would have a ulterior motive. "Before I agree to anything, I want to know what you're up to."

Nox smirked. "Very wise, little Jedi." She returned to sitting cross-legged on her rock and gestured for Kahlei and Scourge to sit on the floor beside her. "What I want is his," she pointed a manicured finger at Scourge, "Immortality."

"Idiot. Do not wish my curse upon yourself."

"With my adaptations, it shall be a blessing. Extracting it is fiddly and I require further equipment for the ritual, so you shall assist me with that. However, it won't harm you in anyway. And seeing as you despise it so much, you should consider me to be helping you twice. Except that the second benefits me," she said. "But you two get the better deal."

Kahlei frowned. This all seemed too convenient. "And what will you do once you have it?"

"Enjoy living hundreds of times over? I can do anything I want to do without worrying about time." She beamed. "My first master, Darth Zash, sought immortality. She managed to find a way to preserve her soul and possess different bodies. However, I would rather not have this body wither and decay." Her eyes gleamed in excitement. "And the answer to my search lays right before me. I would gladly risk angering both Wrath and the Dark Council for the gift of immortality."

She glanced at Scourge. This was entirely his decision. Although, she couldn't help but hope he'd go through with it. If he was able to feel again, he would be able to show her real passion. Passion that would make what she'd felt back at Jaron's home feel insignificant. She would be able to be one with Scourge and-

Kahlei slapped herself. Well, in her head. Randomly slapping herself would have made Scourge, Nox and the Dashade think she'd gone crazy.

Was she going crazy? What was she thinking?

No, it was just the creepy darkness that filled this place. It must have been having a bad influence on her already less then stable mind. Kahlei was pleased with her excuse.

Scourge stroked his right tendril, contemplating. "Very well, Nox. I agree."

Nox clapped her hands together. "Excellent!"

"Uh, I'm all for getting rid of Scourge's curse, but we kinda have a deadline."

"I already know that, Master Kahlei. The ritual itself won't take too long, but getting the necessary artefacts will."

"We don't have time. We need to stop Wrath first," she said.

"And we will. Whenever did I say I wanted to do the ritual first? Let us first stop Wrath and then I shall claim my prize."

Scourge seemed content with the arrangement. He was good at reading people and if he'd been suspicious of Nox, he would have said.

But Kahlei couldn't help but wonder if his judgement had been clouded by the dream of freeing himself of the curse. He'd told her he'd give anything to be able to feel again. She couldn't shake away the terrible feeling she had in her gut. Was trusting this Sith really a good idea?