Xa Fel: Unknown Location.

"Good of you to come, Zeta."

Ensign Belrush sat facing Zeta, his hands clasped in front of him upon the long rectangular tabletop.

His green eyes had been glued onto Zeta ever since he had walked into the private facility. The two had been in the room for the past twenty minutes and Belrush had finally come to give the Zabrak recognition.

Being a keen observe, the Zabrak had quickly come to realize that his rank as Sith Lord made very little impression upon the ensign. Not that it mattered much; Zeta didn’t really care. After all, the man sitting before him wasn't exactly all that impressive either.

"Where is Lupercus?"

The ensign turned his gaze away from Zeta, only to quietly grumble to himself as he reached for the file that was sitting off to the right of him on the black marble table.

"Away.. name's Belrush," the man said, not seeming all that interested in answering Zeta.

"So they sent you?" A look of slight disgust spread across the features of the Zabrak's face.

Was there no one of higher standing that could have been sent?

What a joke.

"Fantastic," Zeta mumbled sarcastically, loud enough for the ensign to hear him, his gaze still on Belrush.

Belrush's gaze suddenly snapped forward, as if he had been called to attention. He abruptly snatched the file from its place. His brow rose in part interest part displeasure

"What was that, wet sponge?"

Zeta's hands quickly shot into fists.

For a moment, just for a moment, he thought of wasting the ensign. He would not have been missed, nor needed. Ensigns were easy to replace. He thought better of it though, there was too much at stake for him and he cared not to jeopardize his status.

Belrush would have liked nothing more than to see Zeta demoted, or worse.

"I was just admiring the mural," the Zabrak said coolly.

"Indeed, if you would please have a seat. There is much I am to brief you on."

Belrush's gaze went unaltered again as he attended to the file in front of him.

Zeta took his seat directly across from the ensign, he too clasping his hands before him in much the same manner as the ensign had. It wasn't quite clear whether the Zabrak was mocking the man or not.

"I understand that this is your first opportunity in working closely with the Empire?.. Not that you haven't worked closely with The New Order before as per accordance with The Naboo Sith Order, the associated yet officially established organization of The New Order. This is an unaccompanied effort on your part?"

"Yes," Zeta said simply.

"Good. Judging by your display of demeanor, it will most likely be your last, but that is easily expected of a wet sponge."

Despite Zeta's obvious displeasure for the ensign, Zeta held his tongue.

He would be sure to inform Lupercus about the meeting later on.

After Belrush had finished checking the filed paperwork, he slid the papers over to Zeta.

"On there very last page there is a place for you to sign your name. I should be speaking to you about the rules and regulations right about now, but I won't bother. We can skip over the other formalities as well. I can easily state that you're already a lost cause. Nonetheless, I am required to hand the file off to you, I have done that, nothing else is required of me."

The man stood. Zeta hadn't noticed before, due to his sitting down, but Belrush was a rather short man. Five foot five, Zeta determined, but he couldn't quite tell for sure.


Zeta stood, offering the ensign a bow of respect as he Belrush headed around the table.

"You have five hours until departure. A shuttle will be reserved for you at Dock 28, Row F," the slightly pudgy ensign said as he came to walk around the side of the table finally.

No doubt the man was in a hurry to grab a bite to eat.

Was.

He barely made it out of the door of the facility before he found himself clutching at his chest.

"Help me!" His tone sounding frail, no doubt the man was in pain.

He fell seconds later, sinking into mild convulsions.

"Please.. he.. help.. me.. please..." The ensign shakily reached out for Zeta, trying to grab onto the Sith garments firmly, but to little avail.

Zeta merely stepped over the man, as if he didn't see him.

"Sorry, I can't help you, I'm just a wet sponge..."

The Zabrak after stepping over the man, moving his hand to his belt at the same time to remove some saved rations.

He tossed the foodstuffs toward the man.

".. Here... you look like a man who hasn't had any food in quite some time," he said sarcastically.

Leaving the man to continue to scream in agony, the Zabrak walked back toward the Sith Temple. He had much to do if he was to meet the shuttle in five hours.

Pity.. I should have wasted him when I had the chance to.

Another wasted opportunity.

At least he wouldn't have to hear from the man again he thought privately as he looked back over his shoulder at Belrush who had since stopped moving.

No doubt someone would come looking to investigate what happened to the man.

Good. Let them.

He had done nothing wrong.

Wet sponge.

Fantastic indeed.

Sith Temple: Resting Quarters.

Zeta paced impatiently within his sleeping quarters, gaze set firm, hands clenched into tight fists behind his back.

Five hours seemed like more than enough time for Zeta to strategize his events, yet he somehow had unforeseen any interruption within his musings of tactics.

"So we wish do play games do we? Very well..."

The Zabrak stopped abruptly within his pacing to down upon the middle of the floor.

".. Perhaps a trip to Algara V will help to correct your malfunctions?.."

He counted up to five before the pyramid shaped object on the floor clicked on, spun for three more counts, and then became fully operational after two more counts.

".. Nice of you to join me.."

It was always like this, never once was Zeta able to access the familiar Sith Holocron without some sort of unprofitable effort. The exotic humanoid almost always felt more inclined to do things the hard way rather then by someone else's way.

".. This must stop, Kla.. I do not have the time or the patience for your intolerance. Perhaps one day when you learn to be more of an aid rather than a nuisance, you can be rewarded. After all, Kla.. even someone as difficult as you deserves a reward every now and then."

"Beginning search..."

The "gatekeeper" did not seem to be in much of a sociable mood from what Zeta could gather from the humanoid, speaking only of what he was asked to search for.

"Located near Corellia.. environment consisting mostly of ocean... very little inhabitants.."

A boisterous laugh escaped Zeta's throat as the gatekeeper finished sending out its falsified information.

".. Not amusing," he snarled through clenched teeth, the tips of his fingers protruding small waves of blue sparks.

"Fifth world in system.. one of two planets within system.. consisting of terrestrial environments.."

Though he had been quick within his movements, his agile sprint toward the pyramid shaped object paved very little effort for Zeta as it abruptly shut itself down before Zeta could do so. Kla had wasted too much of his time.

Despite the knowledge that Kla gave to him, Zeta detested the gatekeeper. To Zeta, the humanoid seemed like more trouble than he was worth.

Once Zeta returned the Sith Holocron back to where he had retrieved the object from, he headed for the Temple's main headquarters.

Sith Temple: Main Headquarters.

".. Fantasy can appear as reality, both tending to coexist easily with each other. Both are said to be so connected that even the strongest of minds can fail to overcome such perceptions. However, concentration, perception, and a strong knowledge of both worlds is the main foundation for being triumphant over circumstances that has never once been known to easily be conquered. It can be done."

His apprentice had asked him how one was expected to overcome a world that was said to be full of fictitiousness while living in a world he knew all along to be real. It was the only answer he could give at that moment.


It never occurred to Zeta that he would, at some point, ponder over such a thought. It never occurred to him that his own knowledge and teachings would be tested so vividly...

.. but then again, perhaps such things had occurred to him, only to have been misplaced sometime ago.

There was still much he had yet to learn.

The cycle of knowledge would continue to be left uncompleted, even after death. This he knew.

Still, his consciousness did fail to take notice at times; only when he had both hands tied behind his back did his mind come to remember that of which he had taken to forget. There was never an exception to this.

"Observe that of which you can and can not see, always..."

Leaving his apprentice with that final thought, he departed for the docking bay.


Two worlds would collide..