Diete's call had gone out to the home of his old brother, Gash, some time before. Now, atlast, the day had finally come for the meeting he had specified. One he was sure his old brother would not turn down.

He came now to wait, within a silent sanctuary known to few, The old training facility of the Imperial Royal Guardsmen. He stalked in silence a moment, before moving to the throne of the former Emperor, Palpatine.

His eyes slowly moved to the doorway, his body otherwise unmoved.

"Greetings, brother."

"My friend. It has been too long."

Gash stepped out of the dark shadow obscuring him, running one of his tanned hands along a crystasteel wall. The odd surface refracted light in such a way that at the break of dawn, just when Imperial Royal Guards would gather in the morn, it would create the image of an Imperial Crest on the ground below it.

The Jedi Master smiled at Diete Somir, the man who had become his friend on the inhospitible world of Ziost. No, they had become more than friends... as Diete had put it, they had become brothers.

"We were always fascinated by the Royal Guardsmen, Brother. Noble warriors, fighting for the glory of their Emperor... like us. Fighting for the glory of the ancient Sith.

"Remember?"

"Indeed I remember much. I remember both our bond and the actions which betrayed all of that."

The Sith Lord, Maim, stood from the throne once more and began to pace slowly.

"I have given this much thought, brother. I can no longer afford to spare you and your clansmen because of what once was. I can no longer overlook the shame and disgrace you have brought to me."

Diete's eyes locked upon Gash's.

"I can no longer call you brother with a pure heart. This is your last chance. Join me once more, or I shall be forced to cut ties and declare war upon the Jedi."

"Join you?"

Gash echoed, sitting down against the crystasteel wall. His age showed through his guise of power, his old limbs giving way to fatigue.

"I am not young anymore, Diete. I am not the foolhardy boy who went to Ziost to 'find himself'. No, now I am an old man, an Admiral of the New Republic, the man who rebuilt Ossus, the hero who saves the galaxy..."

The Jedi waved his hands as he counted off his supposed list of accomplishments, adding false bravado to the tired words. He laughed hollowly, looking back up to Somir with those piercing red Zabrak eyes.

"Did I tell you how sick of all of this I am? All of this. Being some hero. A playing of a politician who has never seen a battle. A defender of a Jedi who has mocked the Rogue Jedi, and yet still employs two of us to defend her Republic.

"So what reason have I not to join you? Honor? The honor I broke when I left the Jedi Council?"

Gash locked gazes with Diete, letting the Sith weigh the value of his shocking words. The man had come here for a fight- Gash had not. The Jedi guarded his thoughts carefully, blocking them off from the Dark Lord they called Maim. I'll leave it to him to decifer what game I'm playing at...

Diete listened with intent, somewhat shocked by the response he recieved.

"Then follow not only what you want, but what logic seems to dictate. Come with me, take your place and we shall rule the Galaxy. You want your peace? Fine, you shall have it. Once we control all there will be peace. But first, first comes the waves of blood that will pave the way for that peace. First comes the war which we must wage against those who wish for false peace. Peace can come only through total domination of this Galaxy.. You and I both know that."

Diete waited once more, feeling the 'Jedi' he calls brother out with both his intuition and the Dark Force.

"You misunderstand, Brother."

Gash smiled.

"You brought me here to lure me to the Dark Side. I will not turn- you should know that, Diete. I was always strong willed; it was what Recon Klain saw in me, why he brought me to Ziost with him."

The Jedi Master stood, once again, spry even as he aged. The guise of age and frailty slid away like a blaster bolt along the shields of an Imperial Star Destroyer.

"I'm not the man I used to be, as I said. I've seen things, Diete, things a mind like mine wasn't meant to see. My views are not those of a Jedi. It isn't about the Dark Side, or the Light Side, or the Force at all. The Jedi are wrong to think that the galaxy revolves around their petty moral conflicts.

"There does not need to be war between Blood Brothers. Even us who do not think the same do, in fact, seek similar goals. We can work together, Maim... we can fullfil the dreams of both Jedi and Sith. Recon Klain fled from the Eternal Rogue Order because they became obsessed with starship combat; do you really want to be a pawn of the Empire? Because that is what the Naboo Sith Order has become.

"You can join forces with me, Maim. We can bring down our common enemies- without sacrificing my beliefs, or your's."

Maim looked to his brother, as if considering it a moment.

"Gash, I am the Dark Lord... some may question that, however it does not make it any less true. I am a God to my people. When the stars are high, if I say it is day.. so shall it be. If I say it is night when the sun burns your skin, so shall it be. And if I say to die, so shall it be."

Diete broke for a pause..

"You suggest a joint venture, however, I doubt you would allow me to do as I would with those I consider enemies. You are correct, I am not a fleet commander, I am a warrior. It is what I have always been. I once commanded a fleet to make the Imperial Remnant blush, however, it is not something I wish to do. I am the Dark Lord of the Sith. How can I retain what I am, and still join with you?"

"The same way I can be a Jedi Master and hero of the Republic, and still join with you, Brother."

Gash looked at his old friend sideways, nodding subtly.

"In secret."

The former Sith Lord turned toward the current Sith Lord stepping forward once. His crimson red eyes flashed for a moment, and he nodded, as if to sure himself.

"I distain what you are, as you distain what I am. But we have a bond which few Force users share; together, we become far more than the sum of our parts.

"Together, with a secret pact, we can bring about what we both desire. I cannot pretend that we will one day find ourselves as enemies, but we can work together until that eventuality."

The Dark Lord nodded slowly..

"Indeed, and when that day should come, we will part ways and begin a new battle. This is your plan.. and I shall consider it here. Return in five hours time, I shall have your answer."

Five hours.

Gash didn't leave. He didn't bother, and had nowhere to go- he merely strode through the eerily silent Imperial Guard training facility, making quiet observations.

Time passed slowly, and the gnawing uncertainty in the pit of Gash's stomach didn't help matters.

Five hours.

Which had now passed.

"Here he comes..."