The observation deck of the mighty Harrower Dreadnought was a large, vaulted room near the top of the vessel’s sizeable bridge tower. The entire front wall was a single transparisteel viewport, providing an excellent view of the stars beyond, and in order to ensure their majesty could be properly appreciated the room itself was dimly lit and spartan, apart from a few comfortable chairs scattered near its edges.

It’s only occupant at present was a woman, slight of figure, swathed in dark robes. She sat, cross-legged, seemingly in meditation, facing away from the grand view of the starscape and the ship's hull extending far below. She came here not for the view, though she did find it stunning, but for the solitude it offered on the busy ship - solitude that let her focus and meditate on her feelings away from constant interruptions or distraction. At this moment however, she was not meditating. She was waiting. Waiting, and planning.

The stillness was broken suddenly as a holo-projector flickered on before her, bathing the room in an eerie blue glow. She was not surprised, merely opening her eyes and looking up to acknowledge it. It displayed a hooded, robed man of a powerful build and significant stature.

This was what she was waiting for.

“Darth Nyiss.” He said, hints of familiarity and formality coloring his tone.

“The Dark Council has reviewed your request, and made a decision.”

There was a heavy silence as he paused. She didn’t dare interrupt.

“We have decided to allow your requested alteration to the plan…”

“Thank you my Lord.” She said with a notes of deference and subdued joy in her rich, contralto voice.

“However, only your forces will be instructed to capture living Jedi, and the assault shall not be slowed down. Make the most of this opportunity.”

“I will. Thank you my Lord.” She said, bowing her head to the hologram.

With that, it flickered off. He needed no farewell. Darth Nyiss stood then, a smug look on her face. She had secured a place in the most influential battle of the entire war, and then made it fit her exact needs all in one fell swoop.

“Show me subject twenty-three’s latest test results.” She asked of no-one in particular. The Holo flickered on again, displaying a genome and a series of scrolling figures… As well as a recording of the latest procedure.

“You will be the first, my dear. My proof of concept. Our new volunteers will help me to refine the process. It will be glorious.”

---

The orange evening skies above Coruscant were mostly empty. A few ships moving in to take off, others moving to land, all following the traffic lanes in an orderly fashion. In the eyes of the countless citizens of the ecumenopolis, nothing unusual was happening. The violent altercations within the Jedi Temple not yet apparent even to most of those with clear view.

Then, without warning, scores of Imperial Terminus-class destroyers and more than a dozen Harrower-class dreadnoughts jumped out of hyperspace. From each ship, fighters, bombers and troop shuttles beyond count emerged, much like Killiks emerge from their hives when threatened. Within minutes, every single holonet satellite in orbit above Coruscant had been destroyed, even as the ships dropped down towards the planet's surface, starting the invasion.

What few Republic ships were in orbit were quickly annihilated, powerlessly watching in shock as the Coruscanti defense grid stood idle.

The Sacking of Coruscant had begun.

---

The temple was serene.

Almost nothing stirred within the calm scenery, save for a lone padawan walking among the timeless splendour. Xid’s footsteps echoed off the pristine stone walls and seemed to surround him. The white marble floor and colored banners reflected the Jedi orderly nature to its fullest, adding to the beauty of everything. For most Jedi, the area brought comfort and tranquility. However, it didn’t for Xid today. Instead his loneliness threatened to drown him, each step weighed down to a slow pace. While Tolun Fi’s words had eased his conflicted mind, confusion and radical emotions pounded away at his attention since the older Jedi’s departure giving him little peace inwardly. Not even meditation had helped.

Lately, he had plotted a course to avoid his wise master Sela in hope she wouldn’t sense his subtle shame and mistake it for wavering constitution. Such a thing was dangerous for a Jedi to have. His body shivered at the thought and instinctively brought the metal companion, named Navi, being carried in his arms closer to his chest. It was a comforting gesture which got the droid’s attention.

Navi buzzed then clicked his concern and tilted his hexagon body to peer up at his master. Feeling Navi move, Xid’s blue eyes lowered to meet his companion’s gaze and a gave him a half confident smile. A weak one while he replied, “I’m alright Navi. I’m just adjusting to being back in the temple.”

Xid ignored the new wave of guilt over lying to the droid, another series of whistles, clicks and beeps rushed out in reply.

“Sela has her own duties to attend to and I don’t want to bother her over something stupid.”

Navi once more beeped six times, followed up with clicks and a long whistle. Xid chuckled, nervously, at his friend’s strange language while he considered his next reply. After spending much time with the small machine, he could speak the dialect variety almost better than Nazca now who on occasion mistake a few clicks for another meaning. However, she could still speak it better than he could. Inhaling, the padawan confided within the small droid his emotional trouble brewing underneath his skin.

“I don’t...know how to approach her over the subject, Navi. I mean how do I tell her that I let a prisoner, of all things, get into my head and mess with me? Is there an instruction manual over it or what, because I’ve not found anything,” Xid admitted causing Navi to click in annoyance. A flutter of irritation and bitterness on Navi’s insensitivity toward his dilemma broke out in his voice, “Don’t give me metal lip. You wanted to know and so I told you. If you didn’t, then you should’ve kept your dialogue box silent!”

A sharp series of clicks drew a frown from Xid, “Fine.”

With that, he stopped then set the droid down upon the floor. It grumbly clicked and tapped away, scurried down the nearest corridor while it left Xid in its wake and caused the padawan to frown deeper. He knew deep inside he shouldn’t have lost his temper, but Navi’s insistence he talk to his master had gotten on his nerves. Not ready to apologize to the stubborn creation, Xid turned on heel then moved deeper into the temple’s well kept interior.

“Xid,” a familiar female voice spoke from his intended direction, “Is everything alright, you don’t often fight with Navi.”

Surrounded by several younglings, each ranged from six to ten, stood beside his master as Sela continued to size him up. Despite how many times he had looked her over, examined her features, he could never play her origins. She was dark skin with several of her dark hair tied into corn rows and pinned into a ponytail at the back of her head, neatly kept from her face. A human youngling broke the quiet when he noted where Navi went, “Was that a droid? Aren’t they forbidden to be used by Jedi?”

Xid shook his head, “No actually, but they are frowned upon. Many Jedi believe dependance on machinery is a weakness, however we use our lightsabers for everyday combat and they are machines as much as they are tools. Currently, I’m a Jedi Mechanic by official title. Navi was my first creation and a very dear friend of mine, though he can be a handful sometimes.”

“I sensed conflict in your peace of mind during your conversation, were you two fighting?” Asked a young Kiffar female from behind the boy, her eyes curious and filled with empathy for his swirling emotional state.

Xid assumed she was gifted with empathic abilities much like an old friend of his, his lips cracked into a smile over the touching concern, “Yes, sadly. Not everyone, droids included, will work in perfect harmony. I just need time before I apologize for snapping at him.”

“Why did you snap at him?” A female human this time became the investigator while Sela idly watched, her own connection already gained the information she needed to know her padawan was troubled.

About to answer, his reply was interrupted. A deafening roar rumbled through the temple and immediately their eyes were drawn to a fixed location, somewhere into the darkness down the hallway. Unknown to them, a shuttle craft had plowed into the doors and shook the very foundations to their very core. All over the Jedi’s once peaceful home, debris and rubble fell to the floor threatening to smear any distracted Jedi.

Xid barely noticed the dreadful tingle at the back of his mind, his focus more on what was happening farther down the hallway. The only evidence were several dancing lights in the darkness and faint sounds of screams reverberated through the walls. Something was dead wrong. Above him, a large piece in the roof cracked then started to fall. Alarmed to the danger, Sela’s head snapped up. She wasted little time as her palm centered her force in her palm then jerked it out at him, “Children get back! Watch the ceiling, parts are coming down!”

Xid made a soft cry of surprise when her push caught him right on the side. He skidded across the floor and into the far wall, his figure stunned briefly on impact. Breath was knocked from him, his lungs filled by pain instead. He gasped and once more filled his lungs with air then released to steady himself. The kicked up dust started to fade as the force within him began to twist with a sick, uncomfortable feeling. A dark foreboding spread throughout their very veins until he couldn’t shake it. Xid gave a harsh cough to clear the dirt from his chest, his body weakly brought himself onto his feet with heavy effort. His spine still flared with the sting from his clash into the wall while he tried to ignore it, his eyes cleared in time to spot a dark figure casually stroll into view.

A Sith.

Her steps, bold and insulting the very righteousness of the place, drew all eyes on her direction. For the first time in a long time, Xid spotted distaste on Sela’s expression. Her lips tighten into a frown and her hand reached for her lightsaber, eyes narrowed on the new arrival. Her tone held no softness when she touched her hilt as she addressed him, then the younglings, “Xid, take the younglings somewhere safe.”

Her eyes turned to him when he started to argue. They were cold, hard and most of all, dangerous. It silenced him quickly from any further protests and gained a nod from him. Determined not to waste anymore time, he began to usher the younglings to run down the hallway. One by one, they vanished down the hallway farther into the temple’s tained scenery.

---

Elation filled Jewel as her troop shuttle touched down on the landing pad jutting from the side of the Jedi Temple. This was the heart of her foe, and she was poised to rip it out. Even if she had not had the chance to join the surprise assault that involved crashing a shuttle through the front wall of the temple, she was still participating in what may have been the single most meaningful and prestigious attack of the entire war.

She was first off the shuttle, her armored boots clanging against the metal of the landing pad, her lightsaber in hand. The Coruscanti wind caught her crimson hair as she stalked towards the still open blast doors into the hangar housing various Jedi shuttles and fighters. Several blaster armed temple guardsmen rushed forwards to engage her while one sprinted towards the door controls. They hadn’t even had time to shut the thick doors yet. Now they never would.

Jewel sprung into action, leaping forward and igniting her lightsaber - sliding between and around most of the blaster bolts the troopers fired at her, deflecting the few accurate enough to risk hitting her lithe form. Before the troopers knew what was happening she was among them, pirouetting, stabbing, slashing. She completed the last killing blow in seconds and on the backswing her weapon left her hand - spiralling through the air towards the hapless soldier running to the door controls. She watched with a sinister smile as the telekinetically guided weapon neatly bisected the poor man barely half a meter from the button that would’ve sealed the doors and blunted the assault from this angle.

As quickly as it had left her hand, her weapon returned, and she finally paused to turn and admire the horizon of the latest conquest of the Sith Empire. The glorious orange made the whole city seem ablaze. Terror flooded in waves through the Force from all around as the populace and Jedi alike flew into a panic.

It was glorious.

She took only a moment to admire the scene however, before turning her attention back to the present. Many Sith and Imperial soldiers alike were disembarking from the shuttle - her apprentice among them. They all worked for Darth Nyiss and their orders were to capture as many Jedi as possible alive and intact. The Darth had been very specific about the importance of that last part. Normally it might’ve irked Jewel, but the rewards would be well worth it.

She took a moment to meditate on the location of the nearest Jedi, pacing as she did so. There was a large group not far from here, if she was not mistaken. She would claim them first. Motioning for her apprentice to follow, she marched swiftly into the halls, stepping over corpses and rubble alike without any concern.

In short order she found the Jedi, a stern looking, dark skinned human, standing before fleeing Younglings and an inexperienced looking young man. She ignited her lightsaber.

---

It had been a rather boring week for Nimm Deenia after her master recalled her from the most recent mission to acquire artifacts. But it could always have been worse. She had spent her time following up the rumors of some Jedi supposedly having discovered one of the lost holocrons, but had unfortunately not made any significant progress on the case. But that was a case for another day.

On this day, she had finally got the chance she had hoped for all these years: a chance to show the Jedi that they would not be safe anywhere, that the Empire’s reach was endless. Though it meant temporarily serving under the command of a Sith Lord rather than Nyiss herself, she had not hesitated for even a moment upon being offered the chance to serve in the cadre of warriors who would crash into the Jedi Temple entry hall. It was simply delightful to see the look of fear on their eyes as she and her fellow Sith ignited their blades mere moments after the shuttle came to a halt and opened up.

But that was nothing compared to the feeling of cutting short the lives of Jedi in the battle that followed. That brought her true pleasure. Even now, as the fight in the entry hall was all but over, she and the other Sith split up, heading out into the corridors of the Jedi Temple, seeking to either capture or kill all within. But that was not her only goal. Her contacts had informed her that the Jedi had a vault wherein they kept holocrons. Stolen Sith holocrons. That, quite simply, would not do. Her master had given her specific orders about that. Not that Darth Nyiss truly had needed to do that. The chance alone to find and recover such was by itself enough to motivate her. No doubt, others might also seek to recover them, but that was irrelevant. She would get there first. She would find the best ones. Then she would claim them all. Some for her, the rest for her master.

None would stand in her way for this. No Jedi, no Sith. Though she did not like it, she would do her best to capture any Jedi she encountered, though. Her master wanted those for some project of hers. She knew better than to ask what project it was. If her master desired her to know, she would be informed. If not, then prying would only end poorly. After the vaults, she would naturally go on to capture Jedi. At least some. Granted, if they proved troublesome, she would… incapacitate… them.

---

Nar Shaddaa. A seedy, and dark moon just off the Nal Hutta planet and home to the worst scum the galaxy had to offer. Rather fitting, Elias Tol thought as he held onto the straps holding him in place within the shuttle coming in for a landing. The metal walls rumble and vibrated, the intensity rose then fell when they began to grind into a stop. Elias smirked at the irony of the whole situation while he recalled the reason they were here. Intelligence from their Captain Vebra that one of Nyiss’ apprentice, a Twi’Lek named Zora Nox, had fallen from the Darth’s good graces and currently been sulking around the smuggler’s moon. Out of their last few targets, she would likely hold information over the coordinates for the Darth’s complex and then they could end years of searching. He only hoped their information was correct that the Twi’Lek was using a bar for a base of operations.

His hand adjusted the strap across his right shoulder, injured in the past, as a pain fluttered across its surface causing him to grit his teeth. He swayed his eyes over Captain Vebra and recalled the first time he met the scarred Zabrak and how he had been all new to the concept of killing those gifted with the force. In the past he would’ve called any individual set on killing a Darth, a suicidal Kerf heading into the fire to become a steak. Now, after training with their current captain, he felt they had a chance but there was still a high chance they might not come back from the mission and each knew it well.

The growl of the shuttle came to an abrupt halt when their pilot finally landed the shuttle craft. A loud mechanical hiss echoed through the cramp space while each man or woman—about nine individuals total—reached for their straps, then unhooked from them and rose upright. Elias paused long enough to bend down for his blaster and duffle, picking up the image they had gotten before departure. Zora didn’t look very different from common Twi’lek with smooth, blue skin and a smuggler’s outfit that showed she knew how to use her sex to her advantage.

Adjusting his strap on his good shoulder, Elias followed the other soldiers dressed in various civilian outfits out the hatch and down the ramp. The port was busy as normal causing him to keep his blaster close at hand. Thieves, smugglers, and other scum roamed the clustered city port in their duties, shuttles and small ships leaving or arriving for illegal transactions elsewhere. Everything appeared filthy and stank to some degree adding to the grimy underworld feel to the moon.

As they stood there, huddled there, all of them waited for orders from their Captain and the Jedi battlemaster that had joined their cause.

---

Fa-Val-Kuul was sitting in the back of the shuttle, right alongside the rest of her soldiers. It was nothing uncommon for her. In this war, she commanded a battalion of Republic soldiers, but they were very much accustomed to her leading from the front. Any battle they fought, she joined personally; she slept in the same quarters, ate at the same tables, and sat around the same campfires during long nights deployed on strange worlds, light years from civilization. For her, the war was not distant in any sense. It could not be any more personal.

This time, Fa was not going into a battle. She had taken on a different, even more important mission. Darth Nyiss: one of the most reprehensible and dangerous of the Empire’s leadership. Simply put, she needed to be stopped, and that was simply not something that would be accomplished in open battle. Thus, she had called upon a team of the most skilled specialists in her battalion. Even so, there was no illusions among them that survival would be guaranteed, or even particularly likely.

Fa was among the last to step off of the shuttle. Her appearance was not much different from usual, because she usually did not look like the standard image of a Jedi. She simply wore an ample number of belts, bags, and pouches to carry all of the equipment she needed. The only difference this time was that her lightsabers were currently hidden within a tall satchel on her waist. But, it would only take a simple pull from the force to draw either or both of them quickly. The port was as decrepit and decayed as the rest of the moon, though that did not stop its ports from being crowded. Regardless, they would have some opportunity to speak privately, so as long as they did not stray from their shuttle.

Fa addressed the team, in particular Vebra, the Zabrak commander of the squad. “You all know the mission. Discretion will be a priority, at least initially. The bar, and the streets around, will be crowded with innocents, so we need not instigate a fight unless it is absolutely necessary. Vebra, Eyes, you will head inside with me to confront her. Have the rest of your men secure the exits. Once inside, if she is present, I will be able to sense her. Failing a peaceful conversation, you will fall back on any non-lethal option at your disposal. Stun grenades are acceptable if necessary, but no sonic charges if there is a Bith in the blast radius. Use lethal force only as a last option, but do not hesitate to do so if your life is sufficiently threatened. This is not the most dangerous mission we have undertaken, and I do not want to see any casualties.”

Shiri wasn't really paying attention to anything in particular as she walked through the various halls of the Temple, the symbolic tranquility of the grand structure she stood in lost on her as her thoughts kept her focus inward. She was aware of her Master walking ahead of her and her fellow Padawan, Cerria, but if they were speaking to her she did not hear them, would not hear them over the volume of the worries she felt.

A full week. It's been a week and she's heard nothing? Did it normally take this long for the council to decide something so... simple? The only reason they wouldn't have told her yet is because she failed, right? Shiri shook her head violently, attempting to shake the negative thoughts from her mind and leave them there in the middle of the hall to be trampled by every other person in the temple. This is the first time they've been back in the temple since she took the trials, the Council must just want to tell her their decision in person. Time passing isn't automatically a bad thing. "No news is good news" they say, but that saying was still a little off.

More like, "No bad news is good news."

She was pulled from her thoughts as the building shook violently around them, and just as she sensed the presence of the Dark side invading the temple, she began to hear the sounds of fighting from the Temple's entrance. She barely glanced at her Master before drawing her lightsaber and taking off through the halls, running towards the nearest Sith she could sense.

Vebra placed the small black bud deep enough into his ear that he could feel it change the pressure in his jaw. He hated these things, small comms receivers that he only ever had to use on more discrete missions like this. To most people his ear would only look strange if they stared at his ear for a good time. The receiver was designed to be discrete and likely, as uncomfortable as possible. Vebra flexed his jaw when the hissing airlock burned his ear. Vebra punched the undercover trooper to the left of him in the shoulder. "Don't hot mic, Krel." Without turning around Krel half jumped and quickly reached into the pocket of her trousers and the hissing coming straight into his ear canal stopped. He heard a slightly nervous "yessir" out of the Alderaanean women. Vebra decided not to press the issue and looked around seeing a trooper to either of his flanks and the outlines of the people behind him. In front of him was the grimy metal landing platform, which had several puddles and dried out debris on it.

Stepping down the ramp of the rather innocuous shuttle Vebra was sort of sad to not be able to spot any Republic symbols on it. They had bought an old shuttle off a Duros looking to upgrade. Luckily, the interior had been completely gutted to accommodate more than cargo. Its most important retrofitting being an air seal, not being able to breath was such a drag afterall. Stepping onto the platform Vebra put up a smile as he finally hit the ground. Being on a platform that wasn't moving constantly was one of the simple things he took joy in. He kept the smile as he adjusted his beskad which was held to his hip by a belt with a sheath on it. He could feel his blaster in its holster on the the opposite side of his body. He couldn't justify bringing his rifle with him, it would just make him look too professional. Given what there mission was, he would prefer if the Sith thought she could easily dispatch him.

As Fa finished up her speech Vebra checked his bracers one last time which was under his simple brown shirts sleeves. Vebra looked to the jedi, who was also plainly dressed, then back to his troopers. They had all seen combat before, no one there was a youngling, he'd personally made sure of that. But not all of them had actually seen a Sith before, ironically. Several of them had only trained with Jedi, which while better than training against holograms was nowhere close to a real live Sith. Since both Fa and he had come up with the plan for how to handle this he was fine with letting her tell them what it was. But he got to assign people. "Alright, Sweeper and Raj, you'll set up on the back door with Krell, she'll be ready with the stun grenades so if the Bantha gets past her you know what to do. Eli, you'll be on the front door ,you're favorite." Vebra let a grin come across his face again."Krem and Blitz, you'll be off the door by a few meters, make sure Eli doesn't get his hide blown off. You all know the rest, keep the communicators quite unless you hear something from Eyes or me. Let's go grab us a drink!"

Vebra and Fa both knew the way from the drop off point to the bar but he figured he should take the lead on the way there. The team split into their groups of three and made sure to keep a few meters between them, lest, force forbid, they looked like an actual military unit. The entrance to the bar was nothing special, it was the type of place he'd seen plenty of during his rotations off the front. The sign read "Veenra", he wasn't entirely sure if that was a name or simply a word he couldn't make any sense of. Regardless, he wasn't here for pleasure unfortunately, well, maybe a little.

Vebra finally flipped his brain into hyper awareness. He tended to keep his mind away from noticing every detail around since it unnerved people outside of his line of work, the knowing what people were likely going to do and say by watching their body language took a bit of fun out of social interactions as well. There was only one person even remotely close to the entrance and it was likely a homeless (and drunk) Trandosian. Looking over his shoulder back at Eyes and Fa Vebra just said "Well, this should be fun."

Khan circled his Master with his lightsaber in his hand, extended outward but not yet switched on. He kept his stance light, relaxed, almost curious rather than guarded and serious despite the training match they were supposed to be engaged in at the moment.

“Master, I am admittedly confused. I thought our time on Coruscant was supposed to be a brief period of rest from the battlefield. You know I always enjoy combat training, but won’t we have ample amounts of time to spend on it later?”

While it was true that the young Echani relished any chance to test his skills against and read further into his Master via their numerous sparring sessions, he’d also definitely been looking forward to getting to spend some time on Coruscant. The Temple meant a chance to further refine his Makashi techniques with a proper tutor well-versed in the style. More important than that, if anyone could believe he found anything more important, was that Coruscant itself hosted a variety of interesting life forms adapted to its sprawling urban terrain, especially on the poorly regarded lower levels.

Ever since he’d learned that they were due for this trip, Khan had been itching for a chance to slip away down there to study them. Well, he supposed he didn’t actually ‘itch’, but he’d been told there was a sort of imaginary brain-itching one meant with that phrase that fit his feeling exactly. All of which he tried very hard not to convey with his stance, regardless of most being’s relative inability to detect such things. Instead he ignited his saber and tried to look eager to spar. Not too hard, since a good fight was always something he loved.

“Patience my padawan, the day is still young. We’re not going to do anything extreme right now. Did you have something else in mind, Khan?” Denso stated calmly as he clenched one of his lightsabers, his other one clipped to his hip.

At the moment the Temple on Coruscant was quiet as usual, they stood in an open area within the massive building. Around the duo a few other Jedi milled, some training, others just watching. The Kiffar watched Khan circle around him, apparently at ease and brimming with curiosity judging from the young man’s stance.

His Echani apprentice was still a child, but reminded him of himself in certain ways. Already a proficient swordsman with a lightsaber, so eager to get stronger and do much more. A boundless ball of energy, he turned out to be the perfect training partner. A smirk appeared on Denso’s tattooed face as he quickly shot up his free hand, using the Force to yank Khan’s lightsaber from his hand. He then sheathed his own weapon, holding up the Echani’s weapon to the apprentice.

“First rule of sparring, never let your guard down, boy. Try to get your lightsaber back from me.” Denso said with a smirk, his usual wit shining through in his words.

Khan recovered from the initial shock of having his lightsaber yanked from his hand quickly enough. It served him right for not taking the exercise seriously, he supposed. He came up with a plan and tried to pry his lightsaber’s handle out of Denso’s fingers, but he knew he likely wouldn’t be able to get it back with sheer power. Instead as he yanked at the lightsaber to pull it and his Master towards himself and off balance, he pushed off on one foot with all of his Force-enhanced speed and power in a burst of speed and practically launched himself low along the ground, reaching for the handle in a sliding, skidding dash.

Denso watched as Khan first tried with pure strength to pry the lightsaber from his hand. He quickly abandoned the maneuver, realizing it wouldn’t get the job done. The boy was strong physically but not yet on his master’s level. He blinked as Khan used the Force in an unexpected move which almost caught the older Jedi off guard. As soon as he felt his body start to move, he shot his free hand out towards the Echani.

“Nice try, gotta be quicker than that though,” Denso playfully taunted as he used the Force to lightly push Khan away, onto the grass covered floor.

“We’re both in our armor still, Khan. Try to get me off my feet. Show me some of those Echani hand to hand moves.” He added, lightly tapping against the strong plating on his chest. The sound echoing the brief distance between the master and his apprentice. Then he changed his stance, into a more defensive one. The lightsaber still clenched unlit between his fingers.

Khan had hoped that a simple dash and some leverage might have caught his mentor off-guard. No such luck there. Well, Master was right that they were both armored. Strikes and some minor throws probably wouldn’t injure him much if at all. Besides, his Master outclassed him overall in both strength and skill, even if Khan sometimes wondered if he had less hand-to-hand training. He doubted he would seriously hurt the older Jedi either way.

“Well, if you insist, I think I have a few to try.”

Khan sized Denso up again for just a moment, then lunged forward with his right hand thrusting out in a palm strike against his Master’s armored chest to try and throw him off balance, stepping in again in almost one continuous motion as he snapped from that strike into a close-in shove driven with the point of his elbow. He tried to hook his foot around the older Jedi’s ankle as he did so, tripping him, all as fluidly as the Padawan could manage.

Denso’s smirk went away as Khan launched himself at him, the strike to his chest did not hurt but the strength of it shocked him. His leg was hooked by the padawan and he began to fall himself slipping towards the ground. As he started to fall he used to Force, bringing his hands against the ground and pushing himself backwards. Doing a backwards roll which put him a few meters away from Khan.

“Almost got me there, Khan.” The Jedi said as he held up the lightsaber, tossing it up in the air once before he caught it again. He then lifted his other hand up, and motioned with two fingers for the Echani to try again.
Khan’s mouth quirked into a smile at the corner before he quickly smoothed it back over. He’d spent most of his life now away from other Echani, but it still felt embarrassing to be prone to such wildly exaggerated displays of emotion.

“A non-Force User would’ve gone down, Master.” Khan wasn’t sure whether he meant it as a complaint, a compliment or just a notation for later use.

Rather than reflect on it, he accepted Denso’s invitation, this time more blatantly using Force Speed to rush him and unleash a series of punches in a quick burst of three, one to each shoulder and one to the solar plexus to try and destroy his balance. On the last strike he tried to use the Force to yank the lightsaber from his Master’s fingers again now that he was hopefully distracted.

Denso braced himself for each hit, rising his hands to catch each blow. He had trained in unarmed combat before with his padawan, still he was better with a lightsaber. He was slow in reacting to the last hit, his hand arriving to late as he felt the hit impact into him. He grunted as the lightsaber shot out of his hand and bounced across the ground.

“That was excellent Khan! The fun isn't over though.” Denso said with another smile as he dashed towards the lightsaber, aiming to scoop it up and continue the game of keepaway.

Khan raced after the fallen lightsaber the instant he felt his Master’s posture shift to pursue it, but his shorter legs meant he was at a disadvantage compared to Denso in a foot race. He tried to take a note from the Kiffar, reaching out with his right hand and the Force in order to bring the Lightsaber to himself even as they raced for it instead of relying on brawn or speed. Khan’s telekinesis never seemed to have the sort of raw, overwhelming power he knew some Jedi to possess, but he had something of a knack for performing small manipulations quickly and well, or so he thought.

Denso saw the lightsaber shake on the ground then shoot towards him as Khan dashed slightly behind him. He snatched it out of the air, then did another roll to get distance between his padawan and him.

“So close, you s-” Denso’s words were interrupted by the sound of blaster fire, which grew louder. Then several explosions outside of the Temple. He stared upwards as the tension in the area seemed to increase. Something strange was happening, the sounds reminded him of war. Was he hallucinating? No, others around him and Khan were reacting, some were even running away.

“Khan look out!” He shouted as an explosion rocketed the wall near them, showering debris all over the place. Denso had sprinted towards Khan, yanking him by the hand and pulling his apprentice away from the sudden chaos.

“What is happening?” His voice raised as he looked around rapidly, then handed Khan back his lightsaber.

Was the Temple under attack? Had the Sith somehow broken through? The very thought deeply affected even the hardened Jedi knight. He heard more explosions and more blaster fire, now even screams of terror and the scent of smoke in the air. Denso drew both his lightsabers, each sliding into his palms, momentarily unlit.

Khan gripped his lightsaber tightly in one hand, though his white-skinned knuckles couldn’t get any paler. It was an attack, it had to be an attack, but how was that possible? The Temple on Coruscant was supposed to be the safest place in the Galaxy. Then again, Khan’s mother had always told him that being prepared to redefine what was possible was part of what made a great strategist. In which case, this was the most insane and daring plan the young Echani had ever witnessed.

He barely had time to process the fact that he’d almost been killed in some kind of explosion before Denso had pulled him out of the way. Instead he was focusing on digesting information in little easy to swallow bits to try and form a plan and react. There were screams nearby, and blaster shots. People were running, though not everyone seemed to know where they were supposed to run. He was covered in dust from the debris of a nearby wall. He had been handed back his lightsaber and was gripping it tightly in his right hand.

All of this meant, in Khan’s mind, that they at least knew the general location of their attackers and that he was currently armed. There was only one reasonable conclusion to make.

“Master...I think...we may have to go fight off an invasion now.” He said, his voice rather tight, flat, and broken by coughing away the dust. Still though, he gained some solidity and determination in his stance as he said it.

It took Denso a moment to reply. He let out a deep breath, realization that their home was under attack. A beacon of peace and knowledge in the Galaxy besieged by the Sith. It had to be them, he could sense the dark side nearing, infesting the Temple. It was a bold, desperate move by the Empire but he expected no less from them.

“We have to. There's children in the Temple, civilians around it. It's our duty to protect them, follow me Khan.” Denso said as he took one more glance towards his padawan, then ran off towards where the sounds of chaos were the loudest. His lightsabers clenched in each hand. There were people they needed to help, Sith weren't known for their mercy even against the defenseless.

Khan followed after his Master at top speed. He had seen his fair share of battlefields for such a young Padawan, but he still wasn’t sure what to expect from an attack on the Temple itself. Either way, it was their duty to help and protect the Temple’s residents from the Sith.

Chaotic sounds filled the air as Daven Auter sat seated on the same transport as his master, Jewel. His eyes were downwards, boots spread as he silently awaited for the shuttle to touch down. He immersed himself in the echoes of combat outside the ship, imagining the impressive Imperial fleet raining hell down upon the Republic’s unprepared forces. The poor fools must have been completely caught off guard by the assault on Coruscant. As the ship touched down against the planet’s surface, young Daven rose to his feet. Stepping towards his master. A smirk came onto his face as he thought of the panicked Jedi in their temple. They must have believed they were safe tucked away in their ancient home, a cathedral to the weak light side of the Force. The Force was with the Sith now.

As the shuttle’s door came open with a hiss, the Chev removed the long handle of his double bladed lightsaber from inside his robes. Daven looked up to see Lord Jewel awaiting him. His eyes briefly glanced all over the besieged temple as he paced up the steps. He felt his emotions on edge, his weapon practically shaking in his palm where it now rested, unlit. That would change soon. A bit of fear dwelled within him, more than usual. The Jedi were idiots stuck in their ancient ways, but some of them were dangerous combatants. They had been attacked on their home soil, shaken from their den like startled animals. But even a cornered animal would fight to its last breath to get away, and he predicted the Jedi would be utterly desperate to escape.

Two eye catching crimson red blades shot from his lightsaber, the distinct hum he had heard so many times emitting from the weapon. As he entered into the temple, a trio of guards came charging down a hallway towards him. Daven launched through the air as he bounded towards a group of hopelessly prepared guards. His weapon spun as he landed, deflecting each of the blaster bolts fired at him. He lashed out at the nearest guard, removing the man’s arm in one clean slice. Then with another flip he thrust one end into the guard’s chest, the adrenaline propelling him towards the next guard as he sliced cleaved a head from its body. The corpse dropping to the ground in one final flinch. One more defender of the temple tried to blindside the apprentice, for a brief moment the guard believed he had the perfect shot lined up.

As he squeezed the trigger on his blaster, the Chev was gone from sight. Daven soared in the air above his opponent, a backwards flip he had practiced dozens of times in the past. A trail of bolts lagged behind the Sith, who practically floated through the air with the Force. Then he landed at the heels of the guard. As the deathbound man turned towards Daven, the apprentice showed no mercy. With three rapid slashes of his weapon. Three carved sections of the the sentry slumped downwards, each impacting against the floor with light ‘thumps’.

Daven then approached his master, standing alongside her with his weapon still lit. His eyes fell upon an experienced looking Jedi, flanked by several children and another young Jedi.

Jewel mentally acknowledged the presence of her apprentice at her side, and observed the Jedi before them. It was clear that the one standing defiant before them was the leader of this group, the most powerful. Even in the overwhelming darkness that permeated the Force, Jewel could sense the beacon of harsh light emanating from the Jedi. As long as she remained standing, the others were filled with hope, even if they were already retreating.

She pointed at the Jedi, then made a harsh, dismissive horizontal gesture towards the ground before igniting her lightsaber and beginning to stride purposefully towards her.

Sela remained calm even when another sith appeared, younger and dressed in similar robes that distinguish him. Her face returned to stare at the pair before her while her ears caught Xid and the younglings beat a hasty retreat deeper into the temple. The moment Jewel moved, the Jedi ignited her curved lightsaber then instinctively did a Makashi salute crossing over in front of her body. Her right foot took the lead as she tilted herself with her armed hand lowered at her side, almost inviting or mocking depending on the individual’s assumption toward her stance. Her purpose was to buy both Xid and the younglings to escape and she intended to do just that.

Daven’s fierce double-bladed lightsaber hummed as he walked to the side of the Jedi, for now keeping his distance. He stared at her deeply, sizing up the enemy. He could sense the light side of the Force within the Jedi, they were an older than him and likely much stronger. Still, he had his master with him, together they could easily bring down even this powerful Jedi. The Chev twirled his weapon around, spinning it from arm to arm in a rapid dazzling display. A show of his athletic prowess and devotion to training with his lightsaber. Seamless in movement, it was an impressive looking move. Then he launched himself forward, his whole body in motion as he leaped through the air. As he began a downward arc towards Sela, Daven powerfully swung one side of his weapon at the right side of his opponent.

Jewel held back as her apprentice rushed in. She was impressed by his aggressiveness, and wanted to see how well he did.

The Jedi Master held her ground. Her good eye traced the apprentice’s well practiced prance toward her like a fiery Nexu, eyeing his next meal. His display appeared to have no effect on intimidating or frighten her in the least after she had faced far worse opponents on the front lines. Sela’s blade whipped up and over her head, tilted to catch and lock the lightsaber’s end blade. Her other hand held steady at her hip while she stepped back to keep a required arm’s length away, retreating about two steps.

Applying a needed amount of strength, she coiled about to pin the blade to the ground then lash out at the exposed arm.

The elder Jedi did not flinch throughout Daven’s show, he watched as she swung her lightsaber upwards then to the side as she expertly blocked his attack. The Chev didn’t expect any less from a trained opponent, battles were very rarely won on the first strike. His eyes briefly caught the hilt of her weapon, noticing that it was curved. Those types of lightsabers were typically used by those that studied the Makashi form of lightsaber combat. It was antithesis to his own fighting style, slow and expertly precise in its ways. Still, Daven had the advantage of quickness in this fight.

As his lightsaber smacked into his opponent’s, the young apprentice brought the other end upwards to block the Jedi’s swing at his arm. He managed to catch the blow at the last second, sparks kicking as their lightsabers connected once more. Then Daven felt the Force flow through him and launched directly upwards, his body going into a sort of flip. While in flight he swung rapidly with his lightsaber, spinning and slashing as he floated above. Trying to break through the Jedi’s defense with pure ferocity.

Sela felt her attack blocked but her flourish of movement didn’t stop there. When it was batted aside, her foot work continued to thrive and again she stepped to retain the distance. Her lips curled into a wicked smile as her other hand raised from her hip to her chest height. Without his feet on the ground, he couldn’t prevent her next attack as she force push the apprentice hard enough to sent him flying into the nearest pillar. It happened when she deflected the first strike to her left side and likely a complete surprise when it hit him.

Daven got annoyed as Sela quickly blocked each of his swings as they came at her, then his eyes went wide as a smile appeared upon her face and her hand shot upwards. Then the apprentice felt the strange sensation of flight once more, but not caused by himself, but by a Force push from the damned Jedi. He quickly tried to contort himself to see what he was hurdling towards, a thick pillar. Daven shot a hand upwards and pushed with the Force as he tried to minimise the impact. Still he hit it hard, but managed to bounce off of it with minor injuries, only a few aches and bruises. His lightsaber rolled along the ground as Daven knelt on the floor, with one quick glance towards the Jedi then his weapon he yanked it back towards himself. He flicked both blades on in an instant, then dashed back into combat, hoping to catch Sela off guard.

Sela had learned a long time ago, the only way an opponent stays down is when they are dead. A hard fact on the battlefield when every moment counted for survival. So she was well aware of Daven’s figure gradually getting up from his impact with the pillar. When he launched, she didn’t waver from her position as her lightsaber blade once more fell into a low handed guard position.

Daven continued the charge, his eyes set on the Jedi as he seeked to break through her defenses and land a hit on her. As he drew closer he lowered his body, then shot his legs downwards as he went into a slide along the hard floor. He kept his upper body upright, and spun both ends of his lightsaber at Sela aggressively, his weapon twirling in his hand as he tried to strike her from all angles at the lower position. His master had yet to step into the fight, perhaps she was waiting for the right moment or even more likely judging how he took on this far more experienced enemy.

The Jedi master’s blade flipped up to the left then the right, deflecting the attacks quickly. Her right leg slid back as her facing left followed its lead, keeping them close together. She retreated one… two… then three. At the last deflect, her immediately jerked out to apply the force. At first it appeared that she was aiming at Daven to toss him back against the pillar again. However, her target had much less resistance: the very ceiling chunk that nearly crushed her young padawan. She had maneuvered Daven to have his back exposed to it when she retreated and now, she intended to use it to distract him. The chuck jerked up then shoot right at Daven’s unguarded side and at an angle that if she missed, she could side step from it.

The Sith apprentice got angrier as Sela continued to deflect his blows, she was a Jedi master but even then he was a damn good swordsman. Daven slid by her, noticing her free hand raising back upwards. He braced to be thrown with the Force once again but instead saw a chunk of debris hurtling towards him. His eyes shot open as he used the Force to launch himself directly upwards, out of path of the debris. He landed on his feet, briefly knelt down as he regained his balance and shot a glare towards Sela. He was starting to break a light sweat, drawn out battles were not his speciality. He needed to end this or at least also tire out the Jedi, then his master could end it. He started to move towards her, feigning another dash at her. As Daven stepped forward he rose his freehand up and channeled the Force as he grabbed onto the same chunk of pillar she had tossed at him. He sent it rocketing in her direction, then he started to jog back towards her, preparing a follow up attack with his lightsaber.

Jewel had simply watched the entire affair, noting the movements of both participants, getting the measure of her enemy and evaluating her apprentices performance. But now, it was clear that it was only a matter of time until her Apprentice would be cut down by the Jedi, no doubt a master. Cleary specialising in Makashi and capable of integrating telekinesis into her sequences fairly easily, it would not be easy to win.

But Jewel had no doubt in her mind, that she would, indeed, win.

Whipping her free hand towards Sela, she gathered the dust and smaller pieces of debris - stone and metal alike - throwing them towards the Jedi in an effort to distract and annoy. Following that, in a smooth procession of movement, she leapt forwards and began to rain down light but swift blows from above.

Sela had been about to deal with Daven’s next attack when her force sense tugged at her attention. Her head jerked to see debris head toward her, metal and stone, as the Sith Lord finally interfering in the one on one match. Unlike the swish of the lightsaber, the large chunks of the fallen temple would be easily dodged without additional effort. The first chunk was met with the flourish of her weapon. Sparks flew as it severed the stone into two more manageable and smaller chunks. She twisted about to to avoid a check of metal beam from clashing into her blind spot, her foot kicked off the end then shot it over at Daven’s direction without warning. Each chunk was cut down to avoid hitting her.

However, during her dodge the sith might actually note her reaction time was slower on her left side and she barely moved extremely to dodge, instead preferring to cut the debris down. There had a been a reason she preferred to remain stationary and rarely performed acrobatics, her spine damaged in a past encounter. It was only by Xid’s assistance in trying to improve her cybernetic that she could combat well enough to continue to serve on the front lines.

Daven watched as Master Jewel joined in one the action, launching a stream of debris at the Jedi. Then leaped forward and started dealing light lightsaber blows at Sela. The apprentice saw a single chunk of metal launched at him, heading in his direction quickly. They had almost gotten to the Jedi. Not breaking strike, Daven spun his lightsaber in front of him rapidly. He managed to catch the debris, carving it away in the whirlwind of his lightsaber. Then he lunged at the master Jedi, striking from her left side. Daven was almost completely exhausted now, he had to expunge his energy in this attack.

When Jewel’s blade whipped down, Sela jerked her free arm up then force tossed the sith to the farthest wall. Her eye caught Daven’s glow from his weapon coming in at her left side, and whipped her blade about to deflect it. Too late. The end seared her shoulder on brief contact, her crucitorn activated, then was batted away to prevent further damage. She glared at the apprentice and feinted an attack at his other side while the attacking end of his blade had been shoved away. Her foot moved forward aggressively to catch him off guard and make him retreat.

Jewel was unable to resist the direct telekinetic attack from the powerful Jedi, and found herself soaring backwards through the air. Fortunately, she had expected to be attacked like this after seeing the same done to her apprentice. She quickly regained control of her trajectory, twirling in the air and slowing her approach so that sd she reached the wall, she could push off it and regain some of her position. When her feet touched the ground again, she was halfway back towards Sela and began to sprint towards her foe - throwing her lightsaber telekinetically to slash at her foe as she did so.

Internally, she purposefully broke the dam that held back her rage, slipping into a controlled fury that focused her mind, sped up her body and strengthened her Force attacks. It also immediately clouded the Force with a point of all consuming darkness centered on her. This was Juyo perfected.

Daven took a few steps backwards as his hit landed, burning into her shoulder. It wasn't a killing blow but it was something, encouragement. He could practically imagine the Jedi being brought down by his master and him. He shot a glance towards Jewel, noticing how flawlessly she moved with the dark side flowing through her. The apprentice having rose up his free hand, fingers extended as he shot a stream of Force lightning towards Sela, his teeth gritting as he did it. All he needed to do was to distract her enough, then his master could land the killing blows.

Having been facing Daven first, his glance toward Jewel hadn’t gone unnoticed by the master. Sela’s attention quickly shifted to see Jewel coming in from the direction she had originally been toss and the dark energy wafted off her. The sensation disgusted the Jedi while she snapped her head at Daven’s upraised hand and lightning poured from it. Having limited time to react, her mind tactically chose the lesser of the two damaging evils: the Sith Lightning.

Her free hand jerked up a fairly notable chunk of stone then tossed directly at Jewel’s side. If it hit, the Lord would be knocked closer to her apprentice’s direction. Just moments before the lightning struck her, her voice swelled and released a thunderous force bellow to try to hit both of them at once.

Sensing the debris flying towards her side, Jewel leapt into the air, rolling to the side in the direction it had come from to pass over it. Her telekinetically thrown lightsaber had almost reached its mark when the bellow hit - knocking the weapon off its path and to the floor with a clatter, blade offline. Jewel herself, having dodged away, was caught only by the edge of the sonic blast, and though being in the air meant she was pushed back, she was spared the worst of the effects, with only the slightest ringing in her ears. She landed again and continued to move back towards Sela, telekinetically pulling her weapon to her hand as she did so.

Daven was pushed back by the bellow, he dropped his lightsaber and covered his ears. Shielding himself from it, having been right near the desperate Jedi when she let out the ear burning technique. He regained control of his sense and the ringing subsided as his lightsaber shot back up to his hand and he flicked the switch on it. As both seething red blades appeared the apprentice launched himself back towards Sela, sweat dripping from him.

He slashed at her legs rapidly, switching the handle from hand to hand as he put as much energy behind each blow as he could. Daven tried his best to land another hit or at least keep her at bay long enough for Lord Jewel to end the stubborn fool.

Sela leaped right up to avoid the blade, letting it sweep under her while her arms held out for brief balance. She noticed his other hand went to flip his staff to the other causing her to react. She had the high ground for a few seconds during her leap and both he hands clasped her blade. She sliced at his head, aimed near the area where the neck and shoulder connected.

Daven watched as the Jedi leaped upwards to avoid the swing. His eyes were on his enemy’s lightsaber as it came in his direction. He blocked it with one side of his lightsaber, one hand on the handle while his other one was free. The apprentice tried to take a page from the Jedi’s playbook and felt the Force flow through his free hand, he then pushed upwards at Sela with it. Aiming to surprise her with the action.

The Jedi master felt her body pushed. She fought her impulse to fight and instead let it happened, her blade missed the sith apprentice by inches. His surprise attack sent her backwards and into the wall. Her force managed to keep her upright, her feet planted on the wall then flipped off onto the ground. However the impact rattled through her spine causing a soft grunt to escape her throat at the pain seeping into her very bones. This battle had gone on too long and if she expected to survive, she knew there was only one way.

Her eyes noted how close the Sith Lord was and mentally determined how much time she had left. Not long at all. Sela launched forward with a thrust at the apprentice’s right side, ready to pull back when needed. She followed up with a slice at the head in order to ensure he keep his distance where she wanted him.

A smirk appeared on the apprentice’s face as his Force push connected and sent the Jedi flying. She must not have expected it judging from her reaction. Still, Sela was no easy foe to defeat. Daven had his weapon raised in a defensive position as his opponent launched back at him aggressively. He backpedaled in order to properly block the attack, his feet moving rapidly as he maneuvered his double bladed lightsaber around.

Slightly to the right he rose it, then upwards to block another blow. Daven barred his teeth as their weapons connected, he still had the speed advantage in this matchup. He did not lash out with his lightsaber, keeping it raised as he kicked one of his legs out low, going for a sweep on the Jedi.

Having been repeatedly blasted away from the Jedi and then having the Jedi thrown away from her - Jewel was beginning to get extremely frustrated. As she reached engagement range, she took advantage of her opponents split focus and spun into a Juyo maneuver known as the ‘assured strike’ which sacrificed hitting power to guarantee a swift, glancing blow on the foe.

In this particular instance, she executed the move as a feinted slash towards the legs followed by a spinning slash towards Sela’s cybernetic eye. With the dark Side surging through her, empowering her body to supernatural speed, there was no doubt that it would connect, even it would only be the very tip of the blade… Though the perfect offence would leave her open to a similar counter attack.

Sela had hoped to take out the apprentice before the Lord arrived, but her time had ran out far quicker than she originally calculated. Such a task had been often done better by her padawan than herself and now she regretted she had sent him off. With her arm extended as the slice attack was blocked, her eyes twisted and noticed the Lord close. The red blade seemed to attempt to slice her legs causing the older woman to hop up to avoid it. A mistake. It changed direction in a quick movement and went for her eye. Sela jerked her head back to avoid it but beyond that, her blade held and feet still caught in the air, she couldn’t defend herself beyond it.

Searing pain ripped through her face when the light saber’s tip cut into the cybernetic eye. It went a few centimeters deep and the scent of burnt flesh and machine filled the air. Her free hand, in reaction, sent a force push at the direction the pain occurred while a brief yell emitted from her lips.

Daven let out a smile as he watched his master land a direct blow on the Jedi, nailing her in her cybernetic eye. His own attack had missed but distracted Sela enough, he could feel the battle drawing to an end soon. He was thrown backwards by the Jedi’s Force filled reaction, Daven hitting the ground hard. It was a momentary setback as rose back to his feet with a deep breath. Then he leaped towards Sela, his lightsaber ignited and leveled at her. Once he got close enough he would lash out with a swing to her midsection.

Jewel’s grin as her weapon connected rapidly twisted into a snarl as she felt herself once again flying backwards through the air. The focus and level of Force augmentation that she had needed to execute the assured strike had, however, left her extremely exhausted. She was

unable to perform the acrobatics she normally would in this situation, and instead of landing elegantly, she hit the ground hard and tumbled, laying still for a moment before pushing herself up.

Retrieving her lightsaber, she began to move towards Sela again, but stiffly this time.

The cybernetic eye sparked causing Sela’s vision on her right side to dim, then blacken into nothing. This was not good, she realized as her left jerked about to spot Daven coming in for a quick attack. Surprised, her feet kicked back to avoid the hit. Her lack of depth perception made the attack farther than it really was. The light saber’s tip sizzled through her robes and struck the top layer of skin underneath. She hissed in pain and held her arm at her middle, glaring at Daven in disapproval. This had to end quickly and she needed to buy Xid more time, her mind set on the goal and directed her actions.

Her arm darted forward then made a slice at Daven’s shoulder, the closest one being the right, nearest the head. When he went to block, she then let it bounce back before she went low and struck to cut at his legs.

Daven watched his master approaching from another angle, slowly. He wondered if she was hurt, she was one of that toughest Sith he had seen though. Unless she was missing a limb he was sure she'd keep fighting. As his lightsaber attacked made contact, but not as much as he would've liked. Sela’s weapon whizzed towards his shoulder, which he reacted with a raise of his lightsaber and a block.

Then the Jedi’s weapon went downwards at his legs. The apprentice quickly brought his weapon to the ground, carving the floor as it one blade was lowered almost right to the ground. He nearly missed losing a leg in the process. With speed on his mind he quickly maneuvered the opposite blade around, jabbing out at Sela. One of the sleeves of his robe burnt slightly, a result of the the contorting the flexible Chev was doing.

Jewel strode purposefully back towards melee range, Lightsaber held by her side, free hand raised in a clawed shape - almost like she was going to unleash Force lightning. Only, instead of Force lightning, unseen tendrils reached out towards the Jedi as she assailed her with Dark Side telepathy. She bared her raging soul, letting the darkness in the Force flow over the Jedi to invoke artificial fear.

Sela’s brows raised in surprise when the Apprentice jabbed out his opposite end at her shoulder and head area. Her head jerked to the opposite side as her feet retreated two step, through too slowly. The lightsaber managed to penetrate into the top of her shoulder drawing another growl of pain and crippling her arm’s ability to lift higher than her shoulder. Immediately her arm flickered up to clip the sith’s exposed shoulder when Jewel’s Force Fear seeped into her emotions and tried to consume her senses. Her head, briefly, glanced at Jewel to silently speak of the source.
Her arm continued to resume her movement to cripple the apprentice.

Daven briefly glanced at his master as she used a Force technique to terrify the Jedi mentally. He couldn't imagine what she was seeing, it brought a smile to his face. Her final moments in such agony, her emotions flaring internally. Ironic that such a thing was happening to a Jedi. After a brief hesitation, he shifted his lightsaber and blocked the blow. Then followed it up with another jab, this time to the center of Sela’s body.

Jewel continued to walk towards the fight, maintaining and intensifying the mental assault. It was not the most effective weapon against a Jedi master, but as long as Sela’s focus was split, Daven stood a chance.

The delay was also providing a brief respite for Jewel, and the backwash of her power only fueled her emotions yet more.

Sela had tried to flip her blade to block the jab at her torso but misjudged the location. Her mind heavily assaulted by the sith lord and being attacked by the apprentice, too many focuses for her to be able to handle at once. The second jab nailed her torso side and buried deep. Again, sela fought against feeding the sadistic natural of the sith with a scream as she smiled strangely. With his figure closer than originally and the staff buried into her side, his side was open. She struck out with a thrust at his shoulder with all her might in order to cripple him.

She knew she wouldn’t make it out alive, but she would make her mark known upon the unfortunate apprentice.

Daven felt pain singe through his shoulder, he let out a gasp of agony as her lightsaber connected with him deeply. The nearly dead Jedi had landed a lucky strike and it burned worse than any previous injury he could recall, even back to his slave days and the many beatings he received. His arm felt as if it had gone numb, though he believed it was still attached.

With the hand which still gripped his lightsaber embedded in Sela’s stomach, Daven aggressively swung it from side to side. He let out an angry yell as he did it, his emotions at a pitch. As he literally chopped his opponent into two pieces. That had to be it.

Then he fell backwards, pain still surging through his shoulder. Flicking off his lightsaber. A solid chunk of flesh had been removed, the wound cauterized by the lightsaber but still deeply painful. He was breathing heavily now but tried to calm himself, it didn't appear too life threatening so long as he received medical attention.

Jewel watched her apprentice strike the Master down, at long last. Though their orders were to take Jedi alive, the orders had stated that Masters could be killed if they were too much trouble, and so rather than be angry at her apprentice, she was proud… And perhaps a little jealous.

“Well done Daven.” She stated haughtily. “An impressive kill. One to be remembered.” Of course, he couldn’t’ve done it without her, something she felt he would know without her having to inform him.

“Thank you, master. It is an honor to hear such high praise from someone like you.” Daven said as he slowly rose back to his feet, trying to take his mind off the pain in one of his shoulders. He instead filled it with pride over pulling off such a feat that was killing a Jedi master. He was still annoyed at the injury, but it was better than the death he would have surely received had he not had Lord Jewel to assist him in the fight.

“I will try my best to continue on with the mission even with my injury, master. It will make any more battles a bit more difficult but that only means I will have to fight harder.” Daven added as he sheathed his lightsaber, giving one more glance at his wound. It was nothing that cybernetics could not patch up. He’d use the pain to push him onwards.

Jewel felt the pride wafting off her apprentice in the Force. He was right to be proud, but such an emotion did not drive one onwards unless it was injured, and so was, in her opinion, wasteful. “Remember as well, however, that you failed to stop her from injuring you. Focus on the pain, and remember she caused it. Be angry at her for that. Even a dead enemy can fuel your power.”

“Yes my lord, I can still feel the anger brimming through me over it. I will use it when I face other Jedi and defeat them.” Daven replied with a nod, he allowed the pain to surge through him as his master ordered. He could feel the adrenaline going through his veins, pushing him onwards.

“Good.” She stated, in a tone that said she expected nothing less. “Now, capture a live Jedi for me. Then you can seek medical attention.” With that, she strode away back down the hall, leaving her Apprentice to manage on his own.

Xid ushered the younglings deeper into the temple. Their boots echoed off the walls and heightened his growing fear for both his master and Navi. He spied one of the children look at him causing him to bit it down and swallow the bitterness at his throat’s back. They didn’t need to feel him being frightened as they were. Gradually his attention whipped about the temple corridors where scenes of horror played out Jedi and Sith locked in conflict, blades whipped forward to clip one or the other down. Droids, usually forbidden without special permission, began to march and blast down the Temple guards stationed there.

He urged the younglings to be quicker. His blonde head flipped over his shoulder and noticed about three apprentices jerked their attention to his direction, their eyes hungry for more blood shed. One of them jerked a hand at three droids who had just finished raining fire down upon an unfortunate pair of Jedi, their screams died when their charred remains crumbled to the ground, then rotated their squat figures about. Their joints whirled into a march down the corridor with the apprentices following behind.

The group made their way into a large room, the heart of their home. Mainly it was because it sat within the center of the building and hallways flowed from here to several different parts of the temple, much like the life blood passed through a heart or hearts in most living beings. Panting heavily, the large collection that followed in their wake drew ever closer.



When Shiri bolted off, her zabrak master frowned. She was always a strong willed individual and at times, his most difficult pupil when it came to thought before action. However, he could temper it rather than force it to change. When Ibik’s hand reached for his own lightsaber before his horned head turned to Cerria, worry etched over his features. She wasn’t a front line Jedi but rather suited for the backlines and allowing her to assist with the upcoming fight would only get her heedlessly killed.

His expression softened when he spoke, “Cerria, I want you to go to the temple archives and wait there. You’re not fit for combat but you can heal the wounded and we can shepherd them to you. Now go.”

With those words, he then shot after Shiri in hopes to catch up to the impatient padawan and hopefully keep her safe.



Xid panted softly, his arms braced against his knees while he tried to catch his breath. The younglings edged to the room’s center while muffled sounds of war clashed through the walls and reminded him of the temple’s assault. It had been a while since he had been pushed to his limits and now the lacking training had caught up with him. While the adrenaline buzz in his head died, he began to move beside the younglings. He eyes looked into each corridor now stretched from their location.

“Which way,” Asked the young Togruta, his eyes studied Xid for direction.

It was a sensation the Padawan wasn’t use to as he hesitated, his head turned from one hallway to the next. Time was ticking away and the Sith were already a third down the hallway they had come from. Before Xid would make a decision, four different Jedi came rushing in from two different corridors. Denso and Khan from the far left, just ahead of the group while Shiri and Ibik came from one on his right.

A little shocked at having aid so quickly, Xid addressed Denso quickly being the first to arrive, “Do you know a safe place we can take the younglings? There’s three apprentices and three war droids on our tail.”

Right on cue, one of the younglings screamed when a MK-ii came charging into the room. Xid knew the model well having dismantle some in his time on Balmorra and how destructive they could be in groups. His face paled when another could be seen creeping in its wake. The tough armor appeared to have been blasted and scarred by a few lightsabers, but none seemed to have went all the way through or missed vital systems that would’ve shut them down. Its three legs moved it in a jarry rhythm while it made its way farther into the room causing Xid to stretch out his arms and guide the children toward Denso and Khan. Slowly its rectangular head with one sensor eye lowered to scan each of them then access its tactics.

Ibik reacted immediately when a large chuck came flying at him and his padawan. His hand gripped her arm then jerked her with him as he moved toward the others, the stone thumped loudly on the floor where they once stood. Ibik let go when his padawan had been pulled from danger which placed themselves in front of Xid and the younglings, Denso and Khan still in the rear guard position.

After the third and final droid, a MK-i, entered, the apprentices made their appearance. A young, human female in dark robes drew her lightsaber, her lips curled into a wick smile over the scene that greeted them. Her once carmel skin now showed hints of early age, an ashy under tone and faded yellowness to her eyes showing the results of the darkside on her body. To Xid, it appeared to try to push her into an early grave.

The woman chuckled when she noted Khan near , “How adorable. You brought your padawan in training. Pity he might not survive this.”

A dark robed zabrak, red in color and lined with dark zig-zag tattoos across his face and shoulders merely shook his head, “Now, now Akana. Our master needs a few alive for her… experiments.”

Xid’s heart skipped a beat when dread filled him, his mind raced toward the next step. If any of the Jedi made a move, the droids would fire and hold them in place while the sith cut into any openings. They needed to be taken out and fast. His eyes glanced at Shiri and Ibik, the only two Jedi who knew his special skill set.

Ibik addressed Denso and Khan, “Think we can hold them off while the younglings’ head to the archives? I have another padawan waiting there and she will take care of them. Leave the machines to Xid, he’ll take care of them.”

Shiri slowed down once she noticed that her Master was trying to catch up with her, eventually just stopping for a moment to wait for the older Jedi. “I’m sorry Master, I shouldn’t have run off so quickly. But, it might be a good thing I did.” She apologized as they continued forward together, her running slightly ahead of her master still, not wanting to go any slower. They soon got to the heart of the temple, a usually wonderful room, but now with the fighting all around them the place reverberated with the sounds of battles happening all around the temple. A group of younglings, being herded by Xid, stood in the center of the room while two other Jedi, Denso and Khan, ran into the room from the hall opposite the one she’d come from.

Xid explained that he and the Younglings were being followed by three Sith and their droids, just as one of the droids came into the room and Master Iblik had to pull Shiri out of the way of a falling chunk of ceiling. Iblik moved them to the front of the group before releasing her arm, placing them between the droid and the younglings. “Thanks” She muttered as the rest of the droids and then two of the Sith appeared. She stood rigidly as they spoke, not commenting outside her own mind. Experiments? Well sorry Sith, but you are not getting anywhere near these kids. She waited to see what her Master would do, and once he mentioned getting the Younglings to the Archives she visibly relaxed. Cerria would be the perfect person to help the Younglings, all they had to do was occupy these Sith and their death machines. Shiri sighed internally at the thought. This was why she preferred working against computers, at least those didn't have guns and usually no tricky physical armor to deal with.

Shiri glanced at Xid, a small smile on her face to make up for her lack of a proper greeting, before she started moving back towards the hall She and Master Iblik had just come from, motioning for the Younglings to follow her. "This way." She held her Lightsaber at the ready as she moved to create a sort of barrier between the droids and the Youngling's path to the Archives. "If you all can get to the hall, you should be able to make it to the Archives okay." She kept her voice level as she spoke to the kids, watching the Sith and each droid carefully so she could react to any attack quickly, and hopefully protect the Younglings from anything the Sith might do.

To most who had never before visited to the Jedi temple, its myriad of corridors, rooms and halls would be a maze, inscrutable and confounding. To Nimm, it was neither. In the days preceding the mission, she had studied all available information about its layout, its construction and its security systems. Most people would assume that such knowledge would be unavailable in the empire. They could not be more wrong. In fact, the Sith knew more about the Jedi temple than most of the people living in it did.

Though Nimm had not been privy to the planning of the sacking, she knew well that they had accounted for every minutiae of the plan, right down to the density of the support structure holding up the pillars of the temple entry hall. Nothing had been left to chance. Thus, she knew exactly where to go to find the Jedi Archives, and the holocron vaults within them. None who stood in her way stood there for long. It did not matter if he, she or it was a droid, temple guard or jedi. All fell before her saber.

Once she had the holocrons, she would see about her secondary mission, that of capturing a Jedi or three. Though she did not shy from combat, she did not seek it out either. There was no doubt that other Sith would seek the vaults in the names of their masters too, but they would not have her skills, and they would be too late. She knew it.



All was silent when Nimm entered the archives. She had made good time, entering via the archive entrance closest to the vaults. She was a bit disappointed, really. Not a single trap to avoid nor any foe had tried to stop her. She had hoped for at least some minor opposition on her way, if only for old time’s sake. But no, not even a single Jedi in her way.

There was no need to hide her entry, but even so, she did not flaunt her entrance. She kept to a direct route to the side wall of the vaults. While vaulting over one of the banks of library terminals, she spotted a pair of droids, but dismissed them immediately, as they were clearly not equipped or designed for combat. Doing a quick somersault mid-air, she landed nimbly on her feet.

“All too easy...” she muttered to herself as she pulled her lightsaber and started to cut through the vault wall, right where the schematics said they were at their thinnest.

There were echoes of chaos all around him as Khan entered the central chamber of the Jedi Temple with his Master by his side, but the Padawan was used to the sounds of a battlefield by now, even if the location of this one still made him nauseous if he dwelled on it too long. The young Echani was much more surprised to see a young man herding along a group of younglings, although he was also relieved to see that none of them seemed too hurt. As soon as Xid mentioned that he was being pursued by a sizable sounding force, Khan moved to interpose himself between the children and the entrance from which they'd come, his mind already whirring through half-a-dozen strategies, none of which were particularly viable while defending a gaggle of barely trained younglings at the same time. If he'd had a moment, the Echani might have found it odd that he probably would have been among their number mere months ago, but this was hardly the time or place to indulge in a developing sense of irony.

Fortunately for Khan's plans, the arrival of an older Zabrak master and his apprentice evened the odds significantly, especially when a plan was quickly devised to get the children out of harm's way. Khan's stance relaxed considerably even as their opposition arrived. The Padawan's Echani upbringing couldn't let him get a very accurate read on their stances, or rather there wasn't too much to read beyond confidence, arrogance and hostility in the way the two held themselves. The old Zabrak instructed them to leave the droids to the younger man, so Khan factored them out of his projections. This 'Xid' was most certainly frightened, but there was a core of determination to his posture that reassured Khan that he could reliably play his part. They were to perform a delaying action while the younglings retreated to a position of relative safety. In which case, the best course of action was to strike hard, fast and in a way that immediately drew enemy attention. He stayed silent, focusing on the goal and not its terrifying requirements, trying to feel confident in the other Jedi around him and his Master.

One of the Sith took the time to mock and threaten him. He decided as he kept moving through the little crowd of younglings that she would be his first target. He could read dismissal in her stance, the assumption that he was unused to fighting with his life on the line. He broke from the younglings with as much of his considerable speed as he could muster and charged her, counting on surprise, her arrogance and his swiftness to close the gap before he was shot or she could react. He planned to channel his momentum into a right-to-left rising slash aimed at the Sith's head, igniting his saber in the last few paces right before he swung.

Time to see if all of that dueling practice would pay off.

Denso's eyes went wide as his apprentice and him found other Jedi surviving, apparently trying to get away from the encroaching Sith forces. His attention immediately went towards the younglings in the group, following behind Xid. He hoped they were holding it together and not too frightened. The sounds echoing around and outside the temple were ones Denso was used to, the children had never heard such a thing. Theyy had to be protected, they were defenseless against the ruthless, highly trained Sith currently wrecking havoc around the temple. He was about to speak out and answer Xid's question when a war droid entered the fray, then two more of the fearsome machines.

He clenched his unlit lightsabers tightly as the Sith apprentices arrived, each of them more twisted and briddled with all sorts of negative emotions. He could sense the dark side within each of them, the grip on his weapon growing that much harder as one of them spoke out to Khan, taunting the boy. Denso calmed himself down, letting the Force flow through him and clear his mind. He had fought worse Sith than these welps, and they needed to protect the younglings.

"We have to and will. These nobodies aren't anything special, I've swatted more fearsome flies than them on the battlefield." Denso said to Ibik, a sly smirk on his face.

Then both of his blue lightsabers lit on and he dashed at the tattooed zabrak. As he closed the distance, he leveled his twin lightsabers and different heights and struck from the right side, hoping pure speed and aggression would catch the cocky Sith off guard.

---

Fa and her team staggered their approach to the bar, the place named Veenra. Both fortunately and unfortunately for them, Nar Shaddaa was an easy place for one to fade away. The positive aspect was that they did not have much trouble on approach. Crowds tended to be thick, and people tended to keep to themselves. There was little challenge for Vebra’s squad to surround the establishment to cut off their target’s escape, and to avoid standing out while doing so, even though the crowds were thinner near the entrance. They just had to get inside, and find the woman they were looking for.

As for herself, Fa coordinated her appearance and behavior to make her seem as little like a Jedi as possible. Her walk was overall aloof, but her expression was firm, almost harsh. Being Tiss’shar, she was alien to almost every stranger she met. Her kind was a little-known species in the galaxy, which often could be made to serve to her advantage. They could only judge her based on the impressions she gave them, which she controlled entirely. She was a muscular individual, and since her species did not tend to wear clothing, that fact was readily apparent to anyone looking at her. She had sharp claws and teeth, and was even wearing a blaster pistol on her hip. She had no actual intention of using it, but it helped to sell the appearance she was going for. She could be seen as a bounty hunter, or perhaps just a simple thug, but she certainly had the appearance of someone who would be dangerous to cross. Unless one was familiar with her species, it was unlikely that they would even be able to determine if she was male or female.

Fa saw the Trandoshan and gave a brief nod to Vebra, but she decided for now to ignore the drunken reptile. He was large and dangerous, but so far he did not seem to be causing trouble. They could not afford to cause a scene and risk exposing themselves. She avoided staring at him as she walked past him into the bar, though she still remained alert. If he did anything potentially aggressive, she was ready to act in an instant.

Stepping just inside the front door of the bar, Fa had to deal with the unfortunate aspect of Nar Shaddaa’s crowds. The entire moon was teeming with life, and the bar was no different. The patrons were numerous, varied, and lively from their drinks. Upbeat, repetitive music was playing, though it was being drowned out by the dozens of indistinct conversations all around the bar. It was like looking into a small sea of people, in which any one person could hardly be noticed. But, Fa needed to notice her. Even in close proximity, it would take some conversation to tune out the “noise” of all the life around her, but she reached out with her senses to attempt to locate one strong in the force.

Talon’s claws gently scraped against the temple’s flooring as she walked towards one of the many training grounds. Most days after a mission the Amaran just wanted to be left alone, isolated from the rest of the world, and unbothered from any contact from the outside world like the good old days. Then again the “good old days” consisted in constant running from guards or even gangsters, who were attempting to protect their valuables. How many years had it been since the young woman had left? Cast out from her home moon, vowing to never walk upon its comforting ground, just to stay alive for a longer time span? What would have happened if the girl had successfully dodged the Jedi until he had left the criminal moon? The answer would have most likely been dead inside some back alley. Buried like a dirty secret which should have never been brought into the light.

A soft chuckle slipped from her throat, as she shook her mind clear of such bothersome thoughts. There wasn't anything which would allow her to go back in time and change the life’s path that had been unburied from its darkest depths. Nothing would help Talon erase all the wrongs that cluttered her pure black slate. Granted that if there was such a thing, the young woman would have kept her parents from going to such a dangerous place and get killed second upon arrival.

She couldn't help but wonder if they were attempting to go after something. Something much more important than their lives or the life of their child. The Amaran’s right front paw slowly ran against her temple, shifting the usually messy red fur from its place, before scratching the back of her neck. [color=#CD853]”Looks like I chose the right hallway. I wonder if the human was able to gain another mission. Hmm…”[/color] she said out loud to herself. The woman walked a little bit farther out, paw just touching the soft grass, before her right ear flickered towards the temple front. Something felt wrong. As if something had forced its way into the Amaran’s den. The girl sighed as she rushed back into the temple with one goal in mind. Get the younglings out before they were harmed.

The farther Talon ran inside the louder the noises seemed to increase. There was a hint of what smelt like oil, burning flesh, and something else she couldn't quite grasp. Which clearly told the girl that the Jedi was under attack by the Sith. If the past had ever taught her something important than it would have been having the element of surprise on your side. An advantage that they had just lost within a day. The Amaran slowly leaned forward while trying to decide if going on all four paws was a good idea or not. Yes it would help her build momentum faster but if the young woman ran into Sith then that would be one hell of a chase. Thankfully she knew she was much more slimmer in build compared to the stories which other Jedi had brought with them. Not adding to the advantage of fitting into tight spaces. [color=#CD853]” I might be able to switch my positions fairly quickly. Though the timing might be a bit harder. On the plus side they would have to hit a moving target.”[/color] the woman commented inside her mind. Before she could make a logical decision she was down on all fours half way down the hallway.

---

5 Minutes Earlier

Plopping down on her bunk, Cerria let out a side, her damp brown hair surround her like a halo. She was dressed in her usual white Jedi robes. She had gotten done with another round of training and gotten a shower after making her feel refreshed. Though throughout her training, she kept getting a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach that something was going to happen.

”I could be just imagining it. After all that last mission really left me quite on edge.” she muttered to herself. Sitting up, she grabbed her water canister that was sitting by her lightsaber and frowned when she felt how severely light.

”Hmm I better go get some more water then...” Grumbling, she grabbed her lightsaber and attached it to her side. Leaving her room, she felt her blood run cold as she heard loud, booming noises.

”What the hell?” She ran towards a nearby window and felt just pure coldness seem across her body. She backed away and ran down the hall.

Present

Ignoring the soreness that was now choosing to set in. She bumped into her master. He had turned his head, a worried expression. She had already seen Shiri already bolting towards a different area. Cerria met eyes with her master as he said:

“Cerria, I want you to go to the temple archives and wait there. You’re not fit for combat but you can heal the wounded and we can shepherd them to you. Now go.” Unable to disobey her master no matter how much she wanted to stay by his side, she nodded.

”Yes master” She started to run again only to stop and look at her master. She couldn't shake the dreaded feeling that this would be the last time she would ever see him. Blinking the tears away, she ran down a hallway. With her heartbeat pounding against her ear drums, she was unaware of how loud her running footsteps were.

Looking up finally, she could see two glowing orbs of yellow ahead. She knew is instantly whose eyes they belonged to.

”TALON!” She called out.

The woman wrinkled her snout as she heard what sounded like shouting. She groaned, as her figure lifted from her pose, and allowed a hand to rub her ear. How many times had Talon told Cerria not to shout towards her? The answer would be several times. A sigh escaped the fox’s chest as she tried to calm her racing heart.

”Cerria please don't shout. It hurts my ears.” She said calmly as Cerria seemed to realize she indeed shout at her.

”Whoops, sorry Talon. It's just I'm on edge and then we are getting attacked suddenly, I just forgot” having the decency to blush she winced at the booming noises she could heard as the attack continued.

” I understand that you're on edge. To be honest I'm not comfortable hearing the blaster go off. Might I suggest we find the younglings before the fighting come our way.” the fox commented while taking off her robe. ” I heard a small whimper towards the right.”

Cerria, nodding and preparing her lightsaber, she cautiously went over to the right and also began to hear the whimpering noises.

”whoever is there, come slowly” She said loud enough for whoever was making the noise to hear.

Talon’s body tensed up when Cerria gave out a warning. Personally she thought the action was a bit stupid but then again she was the one who preferred sneak attacks. Well… That and hit and run. They saw a small child slowly coming out towards them then followed by another one. Once all of the children come out of hiding they seemed to have a small group.

”I really dislike having this many children. Looks like you got that big family you always wanted Cerria. I'm not the father though.” she teased the human in an attempt to help her relax. Relaxing at the site of the kids, she let her light saber fall to her side before jabbing Talon in her side.

”oh hush Talon, if I want you to be the dad you will be the dad, even if you don't have the right anatomy for it” Smirking at Talon’s face and looked at the child. ”Alright children, we need to make our way to the archive, so I need you all to stay behind me and daddy Tal Tal ok?”

”First of all I'm not the right species. Second my bushy tail is too good looking to be tied down. No offense kid.” the girl said leading the group forward.

”Really, I was thinking of something completely different from good looking. Maybe a fluffy flea pelt”Cerria joked as the children and her followed. The children giggled at the jokes they were making. The fox glared at her friend and flickered her tail towards the girl.

”Hush. I had much more real life experience than you kid. Besides I'm much better looking that the guys you’ve had crushes on.” she whispered into the human’s ear.

Cerria smirked, but as she was about to say something, they reached their destination. She looked at the kids and placed her finger to her lips and pointed to go inside the room. Once the last of the children entered, Cerria followed after them.

The fox inhaled a breath as a new scent flood her nose. She quickly worked walked inside, not making a sound, due to her padded paws and forced Cerria down. She repeated the motions with some of the children until they were all crouching. ”Someone is here.”

Cerria gulped hearing that and the children began to shake. Whoever it was was no ally to them if they had to crouch down. Grip tightening on her lightsaber, she helped Talon to sneak the children around. Cerria could feel sweat starting to go down the side of her head. The Amaran’s tail flicker as her eyes watched the figure. So far they seem to be doing fairly well. She turned her head and caught a glimpse of what seemed to be two more walking inside. "Thief routine it is then. Everyone stay down and try not to make any noises.” she whispered.

Seeing the children nodding their heads in understanding, Cerria nodded her head as well. She could feel the fear filtering through her body as she saw the two figures walk in, but she couldn't afford to show the emotion, so naturally she allowed her “cold” mask to slide over her face.

Sish leaned down as the shuttle began to shake, heading faster and faster to the temple of the jedi. “Try not to die. I’d hate to have wasted years of effort. And remember, mercy will get you killed just as quickly by your allies as hesitation will by your enemies.” The shaking got worse, rocking them from side to side. Sish swayed with the suddenly movements, easily adapting. He grinned. “If you’re going to try something, I suggest you try it from the front. Only weaklings can’t look their enemies in the eye as they kill them, and I just might break your legs and leave you here to die if you don’t try from the front.”

Jayda didn’t reply at first. Her eyes closed and her figure leaned against the shuttle’s wall, her hand hung down by her hip. Fingers ready to grip her lightsaber at an instance while she tried to quiet Sish’s words from her focus and center herself, her emotions tamed for the fight to come.

She opened her eyes at his mention of breaking her legs then leaving her die as she spoke, “Does it really matter? You’ve already tried and it didn’t work very well, your next attempt will fail too. I have too much hatred to simply give up.”

Sish chuckled., bracing as they crashed through the front of the temple. “Kill you? Jayda, if I truly wanted to kill you, you would've already died far before now. Not just been tossed through a window like a piece garbage. You’ve got too much potential to just die.”

“You still left me to die and I didn’t,” Jayda pointed out, ignoring his adjustment of facts. Her hand lingered closer to her weapon and seemed ready for his reaction, “Your next attempt will the same. I’m going to kill you and nothing will stop me.”

“And I’m proud of you for living and I’ll be proud of you for finally freeing yourself of weakness. If you ever do.” The ship skidded to a stop. They ignited their blades, almost in unison, and charged out. Sish leapt forward, cutting down the shocked looking human before he could even draw a blade. He threw another one through a wall with the Force, and then they reacted. His blade caught a jedi’s, and Sish bared his teeth in joy. This was what he lived for. He pushed the lightsaber off of his own, sweeping his blade low with one hand. As it was blocked, Sish raised his cybernetic hand and bathed his opponent in flames. Sish left him to burn and scream, leaping at another opponent.

Jady inhaled then took off in Sish’s wake.

A Jedi, a human knight, flipped over the Sith Lord and fell in her path, his blade flickered to life. In an instance, her blade jerked upward in an soresu defensive move and batted the attack to angle above his head. Not fully done, her blade flowed out to a counter attack when it sliced at the navel. The Jedi jerked back and flipped backwards. Her mind shifted to soresu as she went on the offensive.

Her arm ached for a diagonal slice from the Jedi’s right shoulder to his hip, hoping to score. Movement from her peripheral caught her attention, a Temple guard intending to assist his ally, and her rush forward slowed in a moment. The blaster bolt erupted from the muzzle and shot at her right side. Her attack crossed over her front then rotated the blade in a C, blocking the attack at her exposed side. The attack then clip the attacker with his own blaster bolt.

When her rush came to a halt, the Jedi had landed. His right foot lead and kicked him toward her, their blades sparked on contact. Once, twice then trice while danced in a straight line. In Jayda’s mind, she tried to place each move or tactic within one of the seven forms. So far the Knight only knew Makashi and Ataru.

At the third time, Jayda’s blade locked and ripped it down to the ground. Her leg flipped out and caught the Jedi’s head side. His body was tossed to the side, his light saber deactivated, while he rolled back to his feet. He wasn’t done. The human’s legs coiled, then jerked up sending him into a frontal flip as his lightsaber made to come crashing down over her horned head and follow up by landing down at her back side.

She freed one of her hands to send a force push at him. Unable to dodge, the man was promptly thrown off course and into one of the pillars. It cracked then crumbled on impact.

Sish deflected a blaster bolt into a Temple Guard’s chest, before catching a padawan’s lightsaber with his own. “Cute.” Sish slammed his robotic claw into the padawan’s stomach, ripping upwards. He left the padawan to fall to her knees, trying to catch her eviscerated organs.

He pushed another jedi to the ground, pinning the Zabrak to the ground. Sish grinned, taking two steps forward and bringing his lightsaber down in a two handed blow, only to have it caught by another lightsaber. Sish immediately swung his blade up, missing as the jedi darted back. He threw the Zabrak across the battlefield, turning his attention to this new foe with a grin.

His blade fell towards the new jedi’s head, brought down with all his strength. The jedi attempted to block it directly, and was forced to his knees by the strength of the blow. Sish kicked him in the chest. The Trandoshan’s biggest claw shattered the sternum and punched into his chest, ripping out a second later as Sish’s red lightsaber removed his head from his shoulder’s.

Sish glanced at Jayda, grinning. “Still alive I see!”

Jayda rolled her eyes at the Lord’s comment, her attention drawn to the chaos around her. Two more temple guards turned their focus on her and raised their blasters. Not giving them the chance, her free hand jerked up the lightsaber dropped from earlier Jedi then chucked it at the nearest one. He, predictably, pulled up his weapon to block the attack while the other fired. She raised her lightsaber from the right then crossed over her chest, deflecting the bolt back, and rushed to close the distance.

Her weapon cut through the metal and it fell into two pieces, the weapon useless. The human stared in shock as she grabbed his arm collar. She tugged him forward and her blade went through, hitting the heart and instantly killing him.
His companion turned his gun on her causing her to use the lifeless corpse to block it. The armor limited the damage and she kicked it toward the still living threat, his figure forced to take two steps back to avoid being pinned. Jayda then struck. She flipped to So Djem. Her right foot lead while her right hand flicked forward, a diagonal slice across the chest. Naturally the guard hoped to lessen the damage with his weapon only to find it did little to nothing against her blade. His stun look was plastered upon his face when his legs gave out and his lifeless corpse toppled to the ground.

Sish leapt into a group of non-jedi Temple Guard, lightsaber flashing as he tore them to shreds in a matter of seconds. Another jedi leapt at him, and Sish caught him with lightning throwing the spasming human back into the battlefield. He leapt forward after the jedi, cutting another non-jedi Temple Guard down as the electrified jedi desperately deflected his stab.

Sish sent lightning at the his opponent again, dodging to the side as it was deflected at him. The jedi picked herself up and pushed at Sish. Sish’s claws scraped against the floor as he resisted. Force speed flooded his limbs and he rushed the jedi, just a blur of movement crossing the distance. The Zelosian Knight moved in similar speed, catching his lightsaber on her own.

They continued like this for a few moments, lightsabers flashing and sparking as they clashed. They raced across the battlefield, the Zelosian leaping and dodging as Sish attempted to cut her down. Sish snarled in anger. “Hold still and die!” The Zelosian smirked in response, sliding his blade off of her own.

Sish snarled again, pausing a moment. As the Zelosian opened her mouth to make some snarky comment, he suddenly thrust his hand out, draining the energy from her. The Zelosian stumbled, gasping, and Sish capitalized with his new source of energy, lunging forward. His lightsaber caught her between the ribs, and she fell to her knees, eyes wide with pain and shock. Sish grinned. “You fought better than most, weakling.” In an instant, he severed her head from her shoulders.

Jayda casually walked from the slayed human. All around her, the fight was dying down a bit compared to its early beginnings. Her eyes panned the scene for any still holding fight within them. The Knight from earlier had finally risen back to his feet and narrowed his eyes upon her. His hand shot out to his side and snatched his lightsaber from the crumbled Temple guard, the handle flew into his stretched out hand. It came to life with a hum.

It was followed by one more when another knight approached her from the back. Slowly her figure fell into a soresu defensive position. Her arm pulled back with her lightsaber raised above, her legs lowered and her free arm pushed out at the first knight, a her attention split between her sight and hearing.

The first knight rushed forward. His left leg lead and brought his blade down at her neck and shoulder, her blade smack across enough to block it away. Then she turned her blade up to vertically at her left to block another attack as the Jedi began to bat away at her. Her eyes noted the location of the second, an Ithorian, slightly wounded from taking down earlier apprentices, he lit up his blue one. With killing intention, he thrusted at the right side of her exposed back.

Jayda free hand jerked out. Her force caught the temple guard's body then jerked it into the lightsaber’s way, her other hand batted the human’s incoming weapon to the right. She took a left step to avoid the back one further in the event her tactic didn’t work. The Ithorian cut right through the flesh and bone easily without a trace of respect for the deceased. Her head whipped about to spot him closing in as her original opponent wasn’t about to allow her to disengage, his figure jerked closer and then strike out his blade end to slice at her upper shoulder. Again, her soresu turned up to create an nearly impenetrable barrier by creating a diagonal block across her chest.

The Ithorian had arrived within range then lashed out his own lightsaber at her back. Jayda pushed her own weapon up and flipped it behind her to deflect the attack. Their combat continued with blows being exchanged through the scenery, Jayda and neither of the Jedi giving an inch in their desire to win. Each flipping from defense to offense in short bursts, lighting the scene with their deadly dance.

Unknown to her, one of the still living temple guards edged into place then took aim. A blaster shot fired at her just when her blade blocked both Jedi from slicing her into two from the right. Pain poured through her system but she refused to scream, even when her flesh burning reached her nostrils and threatened to make her sick. In the heat of the moment, she shoved both the knights back a few feet while her purple eyes flashed in anger at the source of the blaster bolt.

A mistake she would regret because the Ithorian promptly lifted his hand and used one of his force abilities at her distracted and weakened mind. Jayda found herself heavier than before. Her lightsaber moved slowly into a defensive position, halfway on her torso and held by both hands. Something was wrong, her mind realized quickly. Each will within her pushed out against the Ithorian’s stasis, urging herself to move faster with little success.

Her lacking training in the more mental aspects of the force had come to bite her in the ass now.

The Ithorian didn’t move while he struggled to maintain the stasis force he had placed upon the apprentice. Meanwhile, his hammer head shot a nod toward his human ally. A small determined smirk crossed the Jedi’s face before he shot forward to finish her.

A massive blur slammed into the human, tossing him to the ground. In an instant, a red lightsaber was shoved through his chest. Sish’s lighting caught and threw the non-sensitive Temple Guard into a nearby pillar, his head cracking violently against it. The Guard slumped to the bottom and didn’t move.

Sish turned his grin on the Ithorian. “Quite the problem you have here.” He took a step towards the Jedi. “Certain death is approaching, and you can’t let your stasis go or certain death will immediately happen and kill you.” Another step. “Make your choice.” Another step. Sish’s grin was growing larger as he lifted up his robotic arm. Sish’s arm spewed flames and the Ithorian dodged out of the way. Sish’s lightsaber caught him through the stomach.

Sish turned to Jayda, grinning as the Ithorian’s top half fell from his lower. “So. Having fun?”

The apprentice snorted in disgust when her muscles released from their frozen captivity, her lightsaber deactivated now that the last of the Jedi were killed. Her head turned over to her shoulder to spy the blaster mark that had nailed through the top of her top of her shoulder and left it’s painful aftermath. Most the armor deflected it but it hurt nevertheless. Her attention returned back to her ‘Lord’ when she twisted her head back, glaring balefully at him, “No. I’m not.”

“A pity. I trust you’re using your emotions and not hiding from them?” Sish enquired, walking through the battlefield. “You’re likely to be killed if you are. You do remember where we are going? Trapped with a large amount of Sith trying to turn Jedi, vying for Nyiss’ approval by any means necessary. That means converting Jedi or killing other Sith. Particularly impures.” Sish grinned at her. “You don’t want to be killed by a random Sith before you can kill me, do you?”

“I use them when I need them,” Jayda continued to growl, her lightsaber tucked at her belt and secured. However, her hand continued to hover there in caution, “I don’t use them all the time and that won’t happen. Rather pointless to become a raging monster when it risks crippling me and still defeats my ability to actually meet my goal.”

She was hinting toward Sish’s cybernetic replacements, her hand adjusted her arm on her shoulder which had sustained damage and would need repair later. It had been some time since she needed to do so and she mentally cursed herself not doing it prior to this conflict. Her clothes, surprisingly, had sustained little damage aside from the blaster hole in her shoulder, “Considering we just destroyed their temple, isn’t it a little pointless to be taking such dangerous prisoners?”

“I never said becoming a raging monster. Just use your emotions. Otherwise, you’ll end up like all of them.” Sish gestured to the bodies all around them. “Some were sith using emotions ‘only when they needed them’ others were jedi hiding their emotions away behind layers of repression and training. Use your emotions in combat, and do try not to be ruled by them. Otherwise you’ll end up dead and a failure. Like how I had to save you from the Wookies, or all of those delightful children on Tatooine.” Sish grinned as he stepped over another body.

Jayda tightened up and let out a soft, barely audible growl at his mention of the children. His casual tone disgusted her and her eyes watched him with a judgment while he moved. Her fingers lowered slightly to her blade, ready to pull it free as the thoughts of striking him down surfaced. A simple inhale purged her mind of the foolish thoughts.

Sish swung his lightsaber back and forth, a gentle reminder that he was always ready. “As for capturing dangerous prisoners, you can explain to Darth Nyiss why you didn’t capture any of the jedi she requested. If she doesn’t kill you. I will beat you within an inch of your life for being so stupid. The Darth demanded it, and we can only obey. At least, until you get strong enough to challenge her.” Sish turned to Jayda. “You have your orders. Capture jedi alive, and try not to get hit doing it again.”

In Zabrak, her words glided from her lips, “As you wish, my ’Lord’.”

Without another insult added, her figure branched from his and darted down the corridor. The battle left in her wake and also the source of her rage, Lord Sish.

Sish’s mocking voice followed her down the corridor, following her like a curse. “Try not get yourself in trouble again, I won’t be there to save you!”

---

It had been a shitty day for Zora. Currently she had decided to spent most of her time drinking that fact away. Her lithe and curvy figure propped within a seat while she fingered several glasses that littered her table, debating on which would be her next shot. She had picked her spot ideally. A booth in the far corner near the back door and another, less known escape route behind the bar. The darkness in her seat helped to hid her from becoming the center of attention, a mood that eluded her since Nyiss’ scolding.

Her blue fingers lingered near the top of the glass she considered. It had been rumored to be pretty strong stuff. Already she had taken about three and her vision a bit dull compared to her usual sharpness. Then again it took a lot to put a force user on their ass. It might’ve explained why she had been less attentive than normal as her peripheral vision caught something interesting coming in from the doorway.

Casually her head turned enough to glimpse the Tiss’shar with a blaster pistol at the belt. Her eyes crunched slightly and she continued to stare for a moment longer before she looked toward the back exit. A bad feeling sobered her up quickly when her eyes spotted two individuals, her figure straightening and debating her next move.

---

When Shiri flashed him a smile, Xid’s figure froze for a moment. A heated blush crept along his cheeks and for a brief second, he tried to return the smile. He turned to find Ibik’s frown baring down on him. Immediately his eyes snapped to the side and avoided the Zabrak’s gaze until the sensation of awareness faded, the heat still grew from the realization of being caught. His ears caught when Shiri spoke, then nodded at her lead. His arms widened then started to nudge the younglings into following her quickly.Meanwhile, his eyes narrowed on the sith getting impatient.

They already pulled out their lightsabers from their belts and lite the blades, two red ones flickered on with a hiss.Their eyes screamed a mixture of experience and viciousness that gnawed at his very soul. He had rarely been close enough to see the whites of his enemies, and those that he had been would had left him rattled a bit.

When he spotted Khan break from the others, Xid shoved the children into a quicker pace. His voice bellowed in a panicked order, “Move, NOW!”

His words echoed through the background noise of combat ringing around the temple and then turned to draw his own lightsaber, darted to the left instead of right with the younglings. His aim: the droids.

The first Mark-ii lowered its hexagonal head then zoomed in on Xid and Shiri. Watching closely, Xid noted both of the Mark-ii’s guns twitched then they turn to aim at them. He screamed back at his ally while still running, “Shiri, go to the right see if you can get it to target you and hit the other one! I’m going low!”

---

When Khan’s blade swung, Anaka briefly caught its image from her peripheral vision and immediately reacted. Her hand jerked out and her hilt whipped into her hand, fingers tightened for a firm grip in her left hand. The blade came to life with a dull hum of red energy. As her feet pedaled backwards, her stance widen and her blade came up in a vertical block to stop the attack mid swing. The eagerness from the padawan and his bravery surprised her.

“Nice try cutie, but no dice. Grown ups, better than you, have tried to cut me down and still failed,” Her lips curled into a cruel smile.

Her blade then shoved Khan’s away with a simple flick of her wrist, in hopes to bring his opposite forward from the motion. The sith's blade then thrusted at his other side and her feet pulled back to widen the gap, bring herself into a Makashi stance.

---

Meanwhile, Ibik flashed a toothy grin at Denso’s comment, “I couldn’t agree with you more. Shiri can assist Xid as I might’ve overestimated his abilities to defend and take down the machines.”

His eyes turned to see his padawan already hopping to it as Xid and her rushed toward the first Mark-ii. Pride swelled in his heart to see her find her passion and center within this fight. Immediately his attention shifted back to Denso when the knight’s twin blades come on, the hiss crackling over the air tensed by the fight about to begin.

Following the knight’s lead, Ibik’s hand jerked out then summoned his hilt to his hand. The thumb flickered the green blade on while it gave dull purr, ready to defend the younglings and his allies. It illuminated his own tattooed face when he brought it close into a defensive position, giving him a very intimidating appearance.

Nisk

The apprentice didn’t wait for the Jedi to attack and quickly shot forward to stop the younglings’ escape. His path was intercepted part way through when Denso’s form came from his left and bore down one of the knight's twin blades into a strike at Nisk's exposed side. Nisk hissed then stepped up his right foot onto the wall and he began to climb until he reached above the Kiffar's head before he kicked off and over the knight's form. His blade whipped out to bat away any attempt to attack him in mid flight.

Upon easily landing on his feet, Ibik came in behind the earlier Knight and struck at Nisk's lower back in hopes to distract him. Sensing him, Nisk sidestepped the attack then sliced his blade at the Kiffar’s exposed back for a split moment and twisted to face both knights at their sides. From the hallway that Xid and the younglings came, another apprentice (human and similar features to Anaka) grinded to a halt the moment he entered the room.

Khan was hardly shocked when his first strike to the head was blocked, in fact he was expecting it to happen. It wouldn't be much of a fight if his opponent had died because of his opening blow after all. He managed to get some satisfaction out of the surprise evident in his opponent's stance and on her face, though, even if it was quickly covered back up by the same arrogant cruelty. It might be that she hadn't been expecting such a swift and competent opening strike, or else maybe she thought he'd be afraid. When she shoved his blade aside, Khan moved his blade along with the motion, aiming to bring it back around to a guard position with a tight little circle of his wrist.

As she thrust in at him, he slipped into a Makashi stance of his own, facing her in profile and twisting his body a bit right as his blade finished coming back around to deflect her point out of the way, though both motions were slight enough that he could swear he felt ambient heat off of her saber. He grinned at her, trying to look confident but not cocky, despite finding such displays of emotion unseemly most of the time. It was good psychological warfare, after all.

"They may have been older than me, but I doubt they were better." Khan tried for a downward cut toward her fingers, moving almost along the line of the Sith's own lightsaber, but she stepped back out of the way just in time. He took a half step in and twisted his wrist up to try for an upward cut to her face, hopefully before wrapping around for a third light cut toward the top of her head. It was actually disconcerting for Khan to be fighting an opponent so similar to himself in height, and she might actually match him for speed which nullified one of his usual advantages. He was hoping a flowing sequence of attacks would at least keep her off balance and moving back, though he knew it wouldn't matter if he couldn't land a hit.

Shiri grinned as she noticed Xid's blush, though it faded quickly enough, and soon he called out his plan for dealing with the droids to her. Dashing to the right until she was between the two Mark-ii droids, she fell into a ready stance with her lightsaber held almost casually off to her left side as she prepared to act once either droid did something. She was facing the first droid, the other one behind her as it started clicking and whirring its way around to face her too.

"Hey Gears-for-brains, I bet you couldn't hit me even if I stood still!" The first one at least seemed focused on her now. It fired a couple of bolts at her, which she dodged by jumping up to land on top of the droid behind her, the bolts hitting it instead. In one motion, as she landed on top of the droid she attempted to take her lightsaber and jam it through the top of its head, but it jerked backwards and she nearly lost her balance, forcing her to jump off of it. She landed back between the two again, bringing her lightsaber up just in time to deflect another bolt from the first one. It fired again and this time she dodged to her right, spinning as she did to hit the second one with her lightsaber, aiming to hit the point where its top and bottom halves connected and sever them if she could.

---

Blast, was it good to be on an op like this.

Eyes stretched her neck idly, her eyes shut, as she let the shuttle's movements carry her down to the landing. After a few moments of grinding and croaking, the shuttle finally touched down and Eyes heaved a bit of a sigh. These straps were annoying. She was used to the pain, but the constant abrasiveness of the straps themselves against her upper body made her scarring somewhat agitated from the ordeal. She wanted to rid herself of these straps and get a proper stretch on as soon as she could.

So she slipped from the straps and picked up a bag, which carried her gear, and strapped a blaster pistol onto her torso in a manner that kept the weapon close to her heart, under her left arm in an under-the-shoulder-holster. Once she did that, she pulled a jacket on over her body, hiding the weapon, then slung her more natural seeming heavy pack over her shoulders and strapped it to her body. Thankfully, her time with The Kings has taught her how to conceal a lot of druk in a natural way. That and she was trained for this, to boot. So this pack contained the segmented parts of her rifle, her drones, and her various other bits of gear. The only things not packed away at the moment were her bracers and grappling launchers, which were hidden within her sleeves quite handily.

When she finished adjusting her clothes once more- looking, in every respect, like some scummy off-world ganger- and moved to stand with the rest of the squad, she couldn't help but grin. This op felt just a bit nostalgic to her, made her think back to home. She didn't allow these thoughts to linger though, they'd distract from the briefing and she needed to mentally be there for at least this much.

When Fa finally emerged, Eyes put on her customary cheery smile and allowed a hand to rest on her own hip, silently absorbing what the commanding Jedi had to say. At the end of the Jedi's briefing, eyes made the mental note of 'sufficiently threatened' and made sure to temper her usually unyielding instinct for survival. She'd nearly died enough times to not want to experience it again, but direct orders to hold back on lethality were just that- orders.

"Aye aye." she said in a quiet voice, mostly to herself, as a means of registering she had heard the order and briefing.

When Vebra spoke, however, Eyes couldn't help but smile a bit more. She respected and, well, liked the man more than she did Fa, and hearing his...well, she'd call it brevity, charged her own idealistic spirits. His declaration of 'let's go grab us a drink' resonated with something inside her, and she let her smile twist into a grin.

"Always wanted an excuse to drink on the job." she jabbed lightheartedly at Vebra's declaration that this should be fun, before running a hand through her hair and recapping the orders in her mind.

"...Huh. I'm gonna shift the positions some, cap, have Eli come with me. I'll stick out like a sore thumb on my own, and if things go bad I want someone who can take a punch at my side. I'll stay opposite side of the bar with 'im and keep an eye out for trouble while you two locate the schutta we're looking for."

Already her demeanor had 'laxed into a comfortable posture and a laid back manner. This was her kind of turf, so to speak, and she could read these places quite well. She lagged back a bit, signaling Eli to stand with her discreetly, and let the cap and the Jedi move in first. Once they got in, Eyes slipped closer to Elias and laughed, walking along with him, past the trandoshan, intending to get into the bar with the tougher man and get some space from the rest of the squad.

Naturally, she took in the atmosphere in an instant and, as a result, had an energy level matching the locale, which she used to metaphorically carry Elias along with her to her favorite place that wasn't the dance floor; the bar.

As Denso launched into combat, he heard Ibik follow behind him, the fellow Jedi igniting his weapon and joined the Kiffar in the attack on Nisk. Denso's initial strike just missed landing as he watched as the slippery Sith launch himself upwards, above and then behind him. The experience Knight countered the move, having fought his fair share of Sith combatants. He spun himself around rapidly, and block the attack with one of his twin blades.

"Nice try." The Kiffar taunted as he lashed out rapidly with both of his lightsabers, the weapon spinning in his hands as the highly trained Jedi went to work trying to take down the invader. Sparks flew as his lightsabers collided over and over with Nisk's, Denso putting so much speed into his swings that he was making the apprentice backpedal.

Out of the corner of his eye the Jedi noticed one more Sith entering the room, another apprentice. Ibik was on the newcomer, moving towards them with his weapon at the ready. It was all on Denso to bring down this Zabrak and protect the younglings. As his eyes briefly focused on the newly arriving Sith, Nisk struck back almost catching Denso by surprise. The Sith's lightaber whizzed by his left leg, carving a line in his armor but not doing more harm than that. He had to pay attention to the task at hand.

Then the Jedi was on the defensive as Nisk stabbed at him from different angles, Denso turning his body sideways towards the Sith and stepping backwards as he parried each of the blows with well timed blocks. It was a close fight, Denso wanting to end it soon. As the Sith swung at him from one side the Jedi blocked it with one of his lightsabers, then thrust his other blade at Nisk's midsection.

The agile Zabrak moved but was a moment later as the tip of one of Denso's blue lightsabers connected near the hip and carved a small, but painful cut into Nisk. The Sith let out a gasp of pain, anger and surprise furrowing in his expression as he continued to fight back, lashing out at Denso once more and putting him on the defensive again.