The stars all shining in the darkness in space, the quiet is soon interrupted as a loud noise erupts from nowhere. The sound is like if one were to take the wah effect from a guitar and use that on the eruption of a planet. A big light erupts from the black hole that has sudden opened like there was a rip in the galaxies. Out comes from it is a large solid white ship, with gold all around it. The nearby planets send planetary defenses only for the all of the ships to be crushed as though by a large hand all of the debris falling to the planet below. The ship's front opens up and a bright yellow light erupts and a large laserbeam sweeps across the galaxy like a lightsaber, but no planets are destroyed, but there is no life left upon them. Barren...destroyed in essence..and the force..gone from everything. The ship then returns to the hole in the galaxy leaving no trace but the destruction and wasteland left behind, that it ever existed.

Kaandar stood as the dust swirling around him in the old tomb of a long forgotten masked sith lord. One of his red lightsabers ignited, his eyes hidden behind his own mask. His hood and robe remained on, The Dark Jedi, had found his way to Korriban and made his name as one to destined to be sith. A academy student had come into here to try find some source power. He had not returned so they had sent Kaan to find a body, instead he found the student shriveled up and pleading for Kaan to help him. He did. He cut the pathetic fool's life short and cut him down. He pressed onward deeper into the tomb. He had stopped as he heard a noise ahead of him sounded like a slurping noise. Upon the activation of his blade his red saber's glow cast a small light as a sudden stomping came forward. A large Terentatek stood before him as it let forth a large roar shaking the tomb, it charged at Kaan who jumped up as far as he could his robe being left as the creature slid past him as he turned masked face still looking at the Terentatek. He landed behind it the second lightsaber igniting. This left the sound of breathing behind him to be revealed. A second one! Kaan quickly and slammed both blades into the creature's jaw, and split it apart by slicing apart. The creature fell swinging and grasping at the pained area, before Kaan tossed a Cryoban grenade into it's gullet, ice exploding from it's head and mouth killing it. He turned looking at the other who seemed angered more that Kaan had killed the other. He charged at Kaan who jumped again but this time it was ready turning smacking him against a wall. He slid down the wall a bit stunned. "You're a bit smarter.." He stood and brought his hand up, a blast of force lightning erupting as it sent the beast reeling into the wall where Kaan sprang and shoved both his crimson blades into it's chest, but it fought still clawing and scratching at him and tried to pull it self off the handles. Kaan smirked and used both hands to summon lightning, using the handles as conductors. The blades' handles sending the electric current throughout the creature's body frying it. Kaan would force pull the blades to him as he picked up his robe sliding it on, he kept moving till he found what the creatures had been protecting. A large gray crystal highly force sensitive. Kaan shrugged took it and walked out of the temple, closing the door behind him. He would follow the grounds up to the academy where he would give the news of the student but he did not bring up the crystal. He was smarter than that. He went to his dorm to place the crystal into his lightsaber to see what affect it had on his lightsaber.

So many secrets lost to the divisive nature of the Sith, so many more secrets lost to the ages, buried and forgotten. Vindica lamented their loss. So many techniques, so many of the old ways lost. The Sith witch floated a foot above the cold black basaltic stone floor with her legs crossed and with an octahedron floating a few inches from her outstretched fingers. The octahedron, a Sith holocron, glowed crimson, a black miasma surrounding it, one that filled one sensitive to such matters with dread and despair. It affected Vindica not. The force was raw emotion and Vindica had long mastered her fears and her despair. Still, no matter what combination of images she cast into the icon it refused to open.

Vindica grimaced, her black stained lips twisting in frustration as the octahedron rotated in the space before her, the ancient Sith runes crawling across the surface as if alive, as if trying to escape her gaze, as if keeping it's secrets for itself. She half closed her eyes, dusk painted eyelids making her skin appear that much paler. She projected rage, she projected fear of a powerful monster, she cast loneliness upon it and still nothing.

"Curse you," she muttered, allowing a moment's frustration to take her and then cast that into the holocron as well, "Open damn you."

She struggled for several minutes more, floating in mid-air, before something flashed across her senses. Her mind caught fire. An ephemeral fist clenched at her heart and she screamed. Having lost focus she fell, her buttocks slamming against the cold stone floor and she writhed in agony. The force screamed out in pain. A billion, a trillion life forces had been snuffed out and it had cleft a massive wound in the very force itself. It wasn't as if they had died. Such a thing fed the dark side. Their essences, the force of which they were made had been torn apart, torn asunder. It was as if the very galaxy had been wounded.

None of this was immediately apparent to Vindica. That would come later. All she could feel was the endless searing agony. She writhed on the floor, bare toes digging at the floor, fingers twisted into claws that sought to rend but had nothing to claw upon. She flipped over and arched her back, drumming her bare heels on the floor and screamed until she was hoarse, until she mercifully lost consciousness and if asked... she wasn't entirely certain she had stopped screaming even then.

Cain Sunstrider

Whispering voices darted throughout the Jedi’s mind, all speaking of their joys and sorrows of their everyday lives. Some were travelling on their way to their daily occupation, others were taking care of their children. It was a calm, but bustling day for the everyday passing for the people of Coruscant; causing a smile to stretch across his face. But with this smile, came a break in his concentration of meditating with his former master. Knowing he was sensing it as well, the Jedi Knight removed the emotion and returned to focusing on clearing his mind. After all these years, meditation was still a daily struggle for him as opposed to his skill with a lightsaber. As the voices died away and a stillness came over him, he felt the vast connection of the Force. All the strings, though apart, were connected like tethers to each other. Looking beyond these strings, into the center of himself, he found the clearing of consciousness he knew was a conduit of the Force. While all visualizations of the Living Force differed, for him, the Force appeared similar to a nebula cluster. Finally centering himself in his visualization, the Jedi completed his transition and was connected to the Force as one.

“I seek knowledge with a clearest mind, please give me your infinite wisdom.”

Opening his “inner eye,” a vision came into his new reality and showed him to the near future. He stood alone, surrounded by the blackened husks of fallen trees scarred by flames and blasters. The air smelled of death and decay, enveloped with black smoke and ash. As he began walking, he heard the cries of pain and sorrow; though he knew this is an illusion, it still caused his heart to sink. War was not a simple way to solve disputes and this battlefield was a testament to this. Continuing on his journey, he took into account the charred armor and flesh of fallen people of different species who partook in this conflict. Trying his best to step over their bodies, he couldn’t help to step on someone’s brother or sister who laid dead here. Stopping in middle of the battlefield, he took in the sight of the thousands of bodies that littered the landscape. It was heartbreaking to think that people would do this to one another for a simple grasp of power. That’s when a shadow loomed over him, causing the Jedi to turn to face this shadow; only to find a massive starship above. As it opened its ports, a bright light began emitting from its openings. Shielding his eyes with a hand, he watched as the light vaporized everything into nothing but particles in the vacuum of space. Nothing was left…

“Cain.... You saw and felt it too, didn’t you?” His old master’s voice echoed through his mind.

Returning into reality and the bustle of Coruscant, Cain Sunstrider opened his eyes as he drew back his robe’s hood. Across from him, his former master sat cross-legged on a platform similar to his own, arms crossed and head still lowered. When their eyes met, Cain nodded and finally understood why they were being dispatched into system where this massacre occurred. When he was given his briefing by the council, there was information left out and Master Qin-Lin wanted his former Padawan to understand what had happened. From what Cain could recall, there was not a battle, but a defense from the ship that caused the light of destruction. But what type of ship had the capability to seamlessly destroy a planetary defense and the planet itself? Their mission was to find out what occurred in that system, but Cain knew their real task was to find out what that ship was. The rumble of their transport as it escaped Coruscant’s atmosphere caused the Jedi Knight to stand from his seat and move to the glass that gave view of the stars. Crossing his arms as he tried taking and assessing the information that he just discovered, he was soon joined by Qin-Lin in a similar fashion.

”We have to find out what that ship is and where it came from, you understand this. But, we have a duty to ensure that other systems are protected from this sudden assault. In addition to this, the council has asked me to personally meet with a Sith counselor to gather information. You, however, will continue on to that system and meet with the leaders of their local government. Do whatever you can Cain, but be careful and trust your instincts.” Qin-Lin spoke suddenly.

“I understand Master… You be careful as well. I will do what I can to help in this.” Cain replied.

With all being said, Jedi Master Qin-Lin patted Cain on his shoulder and walked out the room. When silence rejoined him, Cain’s fists clenched in frustration of his inability to protect those people who died. He vowed to not make the same mistake when he arrived to speak with the leaders of the system’s planets. As his anger dissipated, he heard a sinister voice speak within his mind but did not understand its words. Was this the Dark Side tempting him…?

Aria sidestepped around a disgruntled Aqualish as she moved to enter the cantina, eager to get off the dingy streets of Nar Shaddaa's Red Sector. She made similar trips once a month to meet with the Jedi that had once been her tutor, to keep up to date on the happenings within the galaxy...mostly because she wanted to make sure she wouldn't be caught off guard by the Sith suddenly making a re-appearance. The shift came out of nowhere and before she knew it, the Jedi guardian had lost her footing and stumbled face first towards the floor.

The bright light all but blinded her vision as the laser-like beam swept across her vision in a swift flash, in its wake everything that it touched began to wither and die. The emptiness that was left behind as the beam faded back into the ship's open maw was stifling. This was not a simple death of a planet, no...the planet was still there. They were all still there but they were barren and desolate wastes not unsimilar to the deserts that swirled across the surface of the Sith planet Korriban. As the spacecraft disappeared once again into the darkness of space, Aria was wrenched back into reality.

It wasn't until she felt the stinging slap as someone hit her sharply on the cheek that Aria realised she had stopped breathing momentarily. Spluttering as she struggled to take in air to make up for the breath she had lost, Aria sat up to find the startled face of a Cathar peering at her through narrowed eyes.
"Force sake, Aria, if you've been using again I swear..." Qanarr hissed in annoyance, her tail lashing as she pulled the disgruntled woman back onto her feet.
"Piss off, Qan," Aria quipped back at her former Master in response, "I haven't touched a stim in six months, I feel awful and it's all your fault." she sniffed at the Cathar as they made their way into the cantina quickly to avoid drawing any more attention to the incident; a few of the passing locals had already stopped to gawk at them and the more they could pass it off for a drunken loss of balance the better it would be.

When they were seated at a booth and out of earshot of any prying bounty hunters and the like, Aria spoke up again. "And I'm not drunk either, I saw something." for a moment the guardian was doubtful that Qanarr would believe her, but the Jedi Master leaned closer with a glint of interest in her dark eyes.
"What did you see?" she questioned in a hushed tone. Aria carefully began to re-tell the events that had unfolded in the vision, pausing every now and then to make sure she had gone over every important detail she could recall. Qanarr's grave mood had not improved, in fact it had only worsened, as Aria finished and folded her hands together on the table in front of her in an attempt to stop them from shaking uncontrollably.
"I've never seen anything like it before." Aria admitted, fighting down the feeling of unease that settled in the pit of her stomach as she mulled over the vision again, "What do you think it could mean?"

Qanarr was unsure, shaking her head as her tail twitched from side to side, betraying the agitation that she masked so well. "I cannot say for certain...but it is clearly important, the Council should hear about this."
The suggestion put Aria's back up, she stiffened almost immediately, her lip curling upwards into a scornful sneer at the mere mention of having to see the Jedi Council again. She had come to Nar Shaddaa to avoid them, not to go strolling back because of some vision that made her former Master nervous. While she had agreed to keep things amicable between herself and the Council, that didn't mean she wanted to see them any time in the near future.
"If you think I'm coming with you back to Coruscant then you can piss right off!"
"And if YOU think you're going to stay here and just get drunk again, you've got another thing coming!" Qanarr retorted as she got to her feet sharply.

Aria's protests would be all for naught in the end. Few could argue with a Cathar and win, after all...and so she would soon be co-erced into a small transport cruiser bound for Coruscant to report the vision to the Council.

The cramped alleys off the under-city were littered with the cooling bodies of the dead and the dying, their myriad of blood colors spreading down the streets under the torrents of rain. The sky, what little that was visible above the towering skyscrapers of the upper-city was an angry dark grey.

Running through the torrents of water and projectiles, an armored figure slid into cover behind the wreckage of a vehicle as blaster bolts and slugs slammed into it. The figure was tall, standing slightly over six feet, and his armor was a muted and muddy crimson, made of curved and segmented plates that covered the vital areas of the body. His helmet was also rounded, with a faintly glowing horizontal line acting as a visor. Moments later another figure slid into join the previous one. This figure was shorter and his armor was more angular, and covered the figure completely

"Tyder, Squad Two is reporting a concentrated push on their location and are being forced into retreat. Squad Three went silent after they radioed in the arrival of a heavy vehicle," The second figure paused before continuing, in a deep rich timbre that seemed to reverberate slightly, "And Squad One has been completely wiped out except for us."

Tyder grunted in acknowledgement as he shouldered his rifle and leaned to peek around the cover. A three bolt burst were accompanied by a high pitched whining and a strangled cry and muffled thud.

Turning back into cover, Tyder addressed his companion as return fire streamed into where he once was, "You will address me as Commander Tyder when we are on the field, Sergeant Weraca. Call back Squad Two, where going to make a final push against these bastards."

Staff Sergeant Etanin Weraca flinched from the rebuke and began to protest his command, "But Commander, the enemy is to entrenched. Assaulting them would be suicide. We should retreat and regroup, call in reinforcements. The information we had was faulty, the higher ups will understand why we failed."

Tyder growled low in his throat before wheeling to face Eltanin. "Shut up," the Commander ground out, "You don't understand whelp. Me and you? We're nothing but expendable bodies, just flawed copies of some long dead hero."

As Tyder spoke, he unclasped his helmet and tore it off revealing a grey face covered in ridges and a fluted head that swept back into an elongated skull. His blue cat eyes with black sclera burned with anger and rage.

Eltanin gaped under his helmet as his eyes traced the familiar face in front of him, his eyes travelling along the high cheek bones, the ridges and plates, the way the the brows were furrowed over a straight nose. Yrtha religious code decreed that it was sacrilegious for one to remove ones head-dress in public, as it served to designate the caste one belonged in. Now Eltanin knew why, because his face was a younger replica of the one in front of him.

The Commander noted the slack in his comrades posture, and his face softened before he place his hand on Eltanin's shoulder.

"The Rundishes have lied to us brother. There hasn't been a natural birth on Gent in thousands of years, that's why you were never allowed to find you parents." Tydus spoke softly, his eyes soft.

Those eyes turned to shock as he felt the officer plates on his chest shatter and his body filled with the searing heat of plasma bolts. Shocked, he looked down and then back up as Eltanin's face plate opened to reveal a younger, crying version of his own face.

"R-R-Ru-di-di's c-c-ode 678: I-i-if a-a- Yrtha re-rev-reveals their face, the pu-pu-nishment is d-d--ea-eath." Eltanin stuttered out as tears streamed down his face. Swallowing thickly he saluted his dying commanding officer, before pulling out a thermal grenade. It was capable of disintegrating anything that was in it's radius. Activating it, Eltanin dropped and began running even as Squad Two began radioing at the Commander's failing life signs.

---

Eltanin opened his bleary eyes, blinking them back into focus. Bringing a hand up to his face, he covered his eyes as he shoulders began to shake and tears began to fall. That fateful night had happened years ago, but it still haunted the Yrtha. Wiping his eyes dry, he reached over and picked up his helmet. It was pitted, scarred and nothing like the helmet he wore years ago. Slipping the object over his head, he waited for the millions of microcameras to activate, and then picked up his rifle. The heavy, but familiar weight was a comfort as he uncurled in the foxhole he had slept in.

"Rise and Shine you ugly whore children," A voice screamed over the comm, almost making Eltanin flinch, "This is Admiral General Atlas, and welcome to the fiftieth day of the siege of Rakon City. Remember, you gave signed up for his expedition for InMed Corpoation. You don't fight, you don't get paid. Report to your commanding officers for your orders to day."

Sighing to himself, he got up, stretched and joined the throngs of mercenaries in search of their handlers. Some had come in large packs while others were like Eltanin, unaffiliated individuals who had signed up for a paycheck.

"Another day on the job." Eltanin thought cynically as he joined his impromptu squad in a meal tent.