Sedriss waited deep in the dark recesses of Primus Goluud, ever alert to the blackness which permeated the walls. The musty smell of the chamber and the illustrious tapestries indicated the age and history of Naga Sadow's private dwelling, filling Sedriss with pride at his lineage.

Two crimson red massassi guards came into view, flanking a sith disciple, Darth Mandrake. The boy had been under suspicion ititially but through the training of Grand Advisor Dravin Thane, he had learned skill and most of all, respect.

Greetings Darth Mandrake. It has come to my knowledge that a sith artifact exists on Ord Mantell. This scroll of the dead was written by Naga Sadow himself, thus making it my property, since I am his rightful heir. Therefore, you will infiltrate this planet and make your way to its western continent. There you will find the Castle of Simus and with it the scroll. You will be accompanied by five sith disciples and a contingent of sevent-five Massassi elite.

Walking closer, Sedriss grasped Mandrake by the throat, lifting the young disciple to head level, staring at him with cold blue eyes. Sending small tendrils of force lightning through Mandrake's body, the dark lord hurled him to the hard durocrete floor.

If you fail me, you will not ascend to the level of sith knight, as well, I will make you endure an insufferable agony. Now leave me and do not return to Khar Delba without that scroll.

Watching the shaken sith leave, Sedriss smiled, wondering if Mandrake had any idea what lie ahead.

Mandrake listened closely to the words that Lord Sedriss spoke. Mandrake had his chance to prove himself to Sedriss and to become a Sith Knight. He looked to Lord Sedriss.

"Lord Sedriss, I will not fail you. I will make this mission swift and fast. I will not return empty handed.",said Mandrake as an sinister grin comes across his face.

Mandrake walks onto the shuttle. He sees the Sith Disciples and the Massassi Warriors. He sits himself next to one of the Disciples and looks at him as the shuttle takes off.

Once the shuttle becomes steady, Mandrake stands up. He looks at the men who were accompanying him on this important mission.

"Everybody, we will land on Ord Mantell and retrieve the scroll. Once we have done that, we will return to this shuttle. We will get in and out. Any questions?",said Mandrake.

One of the Disciples speaks up,"What if we run into trouble?"

Mandrake laughs at the question.

"We will destroy those who stand in our way. Alright, no more questions. We will arrive in about three hours. Get your rest while you can, you'll need it for the long walk to the castle and back.",said Mandrake.

With that said, Mandrake sits down and begins to meditate. He keeps his mind on what lies ahead and only thinks about succeeding. After an hour of meditation, Mandrake falls asleep and begins to rest.

The planet had recently been consecrated, the singing of the goldscales harkening to days past. Their harmonious tones and special form of dancing were a pride of the Imperium. Lhwekk would have been ruined as would the souls of millions if it wasnt for them.

A D'kee flew overhead as Th'twirirl surveyed the destroyed city. So many lost chances of enteched lives, still, there were still straglers across the planet. He had won the day, still, a marginal victory. Now he had to oversee the affairs of building on this Ssi forsaken world. The fleet above him held enough P'W'eki units to effectively form a begining worker force until the supply fleets arrived.

"All units have been offloaded commander, construction is going well"

"What of the entechment center?"

"Completed and operational"

"Send a courrier back to Lhwekk, we are ready"

Mandrake lay there, completely asleep. He is motionless on the shuttle floor. He is dreaming sweet dreams of success. He suddenly feels something from the force. He awakens and looks around. He gets up, only to see that everyone else was still asleep. He walked into the cockpit and stood next to the pilot.

The pilot spoke,"Darth Mandrake, we are about to land on Ord Mantell. Do you have any specific place you wish to land?"

Mandrake replied,"Yes! Land on the western continent and as close to the castle as you can."

The pilot responds,"Yes, sir!"

Mandrake walks back into the storage bay of the shuttle. He looks at one disciple, Virulent. Virulent was an experienced disciple who should have been able to detect that they were here. He kicked Virulent, sending him across the storage bay. The thud against the wall woke all the others up. Virulent stood up enraged, looking at Mandrake.

"Virulent, you should have known we were here. You must tap into the force, even when you are sleeping. So I punished you for your disregard for the force.",said Mandrake.

Virulent turned his back on Mandrake. An evil grin came across Mandrakes face as he turned and went back to the cockpit. He looked at the pilot.

"How much longer till we land?",Mandrake spoke.

The pilot responded,"I am about to put her down, sir. You will be ten miles away from the castle."

Mandrake spoke again,"You have done well. I will make sure that you are rewarded for your work."

He walked away as the shuttle began to land. He reached the shuttle ramp and the shuttle touched down shortly afterwards. Mandrake looked at the men who were on the mission with him.

"Alright, we have a ten mile walk to the castle. It is mostly uphill, so you must keep up. We need to get this mission over with quickly.",said Mandrake.

All the men nodded. The shuttle ramp lowered, slowly but surely. The ramp was completely down and Mandrake walked out of the shuttle, shortly followed by his companions.

"Commander, we have detected the emergance of a ship on the outter edge of the planets atmosphere"

The juggernaught of a Ssi-Ruu tapped a prehensil claw on the rugged terrain, its nail like tip draggin up the dirt with each pass, its patience wearing thinner with each scrape

"Details little one, details"

"Human design, unknown origin. Close to eighty life-signs onboard. Its current course, without unsuspected diviation takes it straight to the western continent"

Whiping his tail back, almost striking the smaller creature as he turned. He stared down with deep black eyes as the short Ssi-Ruu shrivled back

"And you decided to bring this to my attention for what porpouse? To undermine your supiriors, or perhaps to recieve direct recognition from myself? Any Fft could assign a regiment to deal with these outsiders, do so now if you value your soul."

[i]The puny Ruuk slithered off as if it were nothing but a serpant of yore. Ord was theres now, millions couldnt attempt to hold them back, let alone eighty...

The men had walked a long time now, but they were close to the castle, closer then Mandrake had thought they would be at this time. The sith disciples were behind the Massassi. Mandrake looked back and saw Darth Virulent falling behind.

Mandrake yelled,"Virulent, keep up with the group or walk up fron with the Massassi."

Virulent ran up, but couldn't keep up for long. Mandrake sinced his falling back and began to yell, but was stopped by another disciple.

The disciple spoke,"Let me take care of him, sir."

Mandrake nods and the disciple through Virulent to the front of the line with the force. Virulent landed onj his ribs, breaking a few. Virulent got up and began walking with the Massassi. Mandrake looked at the young disciple.

Mandrake spoke," I like you, young disciple. What do they call you?"

The disciple answered,"They call me Darth Axel, sir."

Mandrake replied,"You no longer have to call me sir, Darth Axel. Call me Darth Mandrake.

Axel nodded and continued to walk with Mandrake. They walked up the steep hill and then, Mandrake saw the castle. He ran as fast as he could and reached the front doors. The Massassi and the other disciples arrived just after him. Darth Axel stood next to Mandrake.

Axel spoke,"What now, Darth Mandrake?"

Mandrake replied,"We go in and search for the scroll."

Axel nods as Mandrake opens the door with the force. He walked into the great hall and the others followed short after.