The planet Jeewaa was a wasteland, the surface a desert from millennia of scorched heat from the nearby gas giant that burned brightly. For as long as the inhabitants could remember back through their history, their planet had been as such; their ancestors had long since tamed the earth below the surface, creating colonies in the soil. Some settlements of catacombs branched for thousands of feet, while others were simply small family gatherings.

None-the-less, each colony served its purpose; and that purpose was to mine the natural iron mineral that was developed in the earth, which then was processed, before being stored for the arrival of the shipment craft that arranged shipping contracts for larger mineral companies more in-system toward the Core worlds.

The Jeewian were humanoid in stature, if somewhat shorter than most humans, while appearing asexual and void of any defined male or female sex. They were a sickly pale green, from lack of sunlight, and held elongated skull structures. With deeply sunken eye sockets, larger eyeballs [better suited for dark tunnels] and considerably undersized mouths and chins, their heads were somewhat arrow-shaped. They held long forearms, their hands having durable bone webbing, yet no where near as soft or brittle as skin, that allowed for digging with the aid of intensely sharp finger claws; and while they appeared like flesh, for all intents and purposes, they were mainly compiled of tough bone exoskeleton, this evolutionary step coming from many generations of tunnel hardships.

While very tribal and uncivilized by Galactic standards, the Jeewian worked as a hive colony, serving under a single leader appointed by trial; this ceremony was conducted between two potential Queens, who fought to the death until only one leader remained. At any time, any member of the colony could challenge for Queen status, and the trial would then begin anew until either the current Queen remained or a new leader was appointed without question; the colony would then recognize the leadership, and continue its function as a mining hive. This kept Political opinion simple, effective and remained the constant for the colony since their earliest records.

Such was the, if somewhat simple, way of the Jeewian.

Yet, they were far from simply animals without intelligence. The leader, the Hive Queen, was typically among the most sentient of Jeewian's; the current leader, having been so for several decades, had determined that his people would develop as a species, they would begin expansion to start relations with neighbouring races in the system, before continuing outward. This led to the beginning of the first Jeewian spaceport, if it could be called as such, placed on the surface of the planet; as little more than highly durable metal encasing a large landing platform with an average transmission set up, it was the most advanced development of the Hive to date.

It was how they began their mineral trading.

The Queen's aim was to move her people to the surface, to become more like those they had opened trade contracts with; to expand beyond the simplistic hive, beyond the colony, and begin the species' travel beyond the stars... It also came to be, that this desire was what brought those known as the Sith to their planet.

Vance Jas stood on the landing platform, his hood covering his features as he looked down to the Jeewaa leader. The being was small, half his size, but broad. The night was cold, almost to the point of freezing, and only during the night cycle of the planet was the space port open for trading; yet this night, the populace of the small planet would find that the Sith brought no such contracts to aid in their evolution as a species.

No... quite the opposite, in fact.

"We wish to see your mining operations," Vance said, his eyes narrowed as he looked at the Queen.

"Mining operations we have are off limits to star-worlders," Clicked and chirped the Queen in understandable basic, obviously from years of contract trading and having to learn the Galactic standard language. "Contracts all made during night cycle, and Jeewian load ships, and pay made and star-worlders leave. Both happy."

Vance looked over his shoulder, to the Sith shuttles that rested. Apprentices and Knights remained within, awaiting his orders; whether or not the Jeewians were taken by force would be determined by this conversations outcome.

"You do not understand me," Vance continued, lowering his voice. "That is not a request... You will show me your mining operations, and we will claim all contracts from this moment onward."

"Can not, Jeewian have many star-worlders come for metal," The leader shrugged, though the action seemed unnatural and probably something learned from spacers who came for shipments. "You pay, like all rest. Both happy."

Vance looked beyond the Queen, his gaze falling over the gathering of Jeewians guarding the entrance to the catacombs. They held metal spears and swords, with armor protecting their exposed flesh around their sides and lower abdomens.

"Very well," The Sith Master said, nodding. "We shall remain here as you load our craft, then you shall receive payment."

The leader chittered, before nodding and turning, taking with him his escort.

As Vance watched, he waited for the Queen to disappear back down into the large mining tunnel entrance, the heavy gate sliding down into place and locking. Turning, he motioned to the shuttles with a nod of the head, before reaching down to grasp his lightsaber.

"We will take the outer gate defenses, then work our way toward the Hive center by following the Leader. We will have the element of surprise." Vance said, activating the azure colored blade with a snap-hiss. "Do not kill the Queen until I say otherwise... Kill them." He said, motioning toward the Jeewaian guards waiting at the gate.

Geist Diavolo walked down the ramp, listening to Vance Jas as he took in the surroundings and the insectile guards. There was a hiss of steel being drawn and a low flash and whirl as he twirled his swords. It would likely always be swords if Geist could help it, he didn't care for lightsabers. They were too flashy, too noisy for someone used to killing people in the dark. He liked to give his victims real terror, the fear of being chased by something unseen, something lethal. He loved to see their eyes go dead as they heard and felt the metal blades run them through. It was exhilirating and now Master Jas had given him some targets while the other Sith disembarked as well.

"As you wish, Master Jas," Geist said rather calmly as his lenses gave a brief flash from the starlight.

The Knights and higher Apprentices could have their fun inside, Geist wanted to draw the first blood though, it was why he had waited at the shuttle ramp, waited for the Master's signal. Now he moved forward, the Jeewian guards spotted him only as he stepped out of the shadow of the first Sith shuttle. They seemed confused at the sight of this strange being, adorned in a black tunic, a leather harness holding knives as well as two empty sword holsters. The guards tensed now with clicks and chirps of alarm as Geist drew closer, the blades flashing in the starlight as he twirled them in his hands.

The first pair of guards moved forward and Geist's swords moved quickly, stabbing into the cracks in the armor, finding the soft joints and going deeper. Both guards let out clicking death rattles as Geist pulled his blades back out while the other guards charged, one turning to run and sound the alarm. Geist snarled through his masked vocabulator and hurled his right hand sword, watching it bury itself into the back of the neck of the fleeing guard and sending it to the floor, writhing as the life fluids pooled beneath it. The other guards, emboldened by their assailants loss of one weapon charge in again and soon discovered Geist's love for knives as well as swords.

Geist pulled his right leg dagger and thrust upward into the mouth of the closest Jeewian guard, killing it instantly as his remaining sword found more soft joints to stab. Several guards lay on the ground, alive but cluthing their legs, their tendons or whatever made them move severed. Geist let them live and squeal, knowing the other Sith were watching while he took care of the remainders of the guard the Jeewian had set out, so foolishly assuming the Sith were only here to trade. What was even more entertaining were the foolish little creatures could barely even fight, their Hive culture had no true use for it, all they had were the instincts to guard, no professional training, no real battle experience. They were like practive dummies to Geist, his blades cutting and stabbing. With a final slash, the last stand guard fell to the ground, its throat area completely cut open.

With little care, Geith now turned his attention to the still live guards he'd disabled and left lying on the ground. He casually walked over to the one guard whom he'd planted his other sword in and pulled the blade out, walking over to the survivors, promptly ramming the blade into each and twisting it, making sure they were good and dead. With his first action finished, Geist raised his blades, calmly wiping the blood off on his black tunic, knowing they were going to get a lot more on them tonight.

The private residence of...


Perrin's stared coldly at the other man and began to turn when the other flared angrily jumping forward igniting his saber.

The snap hiss of the move registered and Perrin began to swing his arm back activating his own saber as if it were merely an extension of his hand.

He miscalculated the move as the other moved faster than the sound registering and so caught Perrin before his swing could be fully brought to bear in stopping.

The resulting crash was powerful causing Perrin to fall backward desperately trying to avoid getting his skin cut by the other's flashing blade.

He tried to recover frantically but the other pushed his advantage continuously slashing his saber back and forth.

It was only his desperation that kept him alive as Perrin saw an opportunity before it even registered fully in his mind as his opponent stopped trying to penetrate Perrin's chest and swung back to sever his legs at the knees. At that point, Perrin had pushed back using his momentum to carry his legs over his head and away from the other's swing. Flipping over he was back on his feet and he began to thrust forward to shake the other's advance.

But as Perrin continued to flay back and forth looking for an opening he saw that the other was blocking him easily and a moment of despair at the utter access of inner resource his opponent could draw upon set in.

It was very clear in a battle of strength he would not win.

The other's eyes blazed with contempt and the blocking of Perrin's swings turned from defensive to offensive and Perrin was back where he had started.


"You are weaker than I thought, Descartes. You are not worthy.." the sound seemed as sand dragged across glass and felt colder than vacuum.


Perrin's mind was working furiously not allowing his own self doubt to set in. He was committed.

He began to search for the familiar lifelines of the force that permeated every action and every living thing. His perception had been trained to identify the flows though he could not see them directly. Only mere hints of action past, action present and action future.

The resonance was addictive as his opponent began to fade from perception, his past actions, his present actions and what he would do suddenly becoming clear to the Sith Knight.

It was a style of fighting based on his efforts to perceive the old Sith Masters had referred too as the 'Weave of Destiny.'

Destiny, that thing that the Jedi spouted out of ignorant mouths had actually had something to it after all and Perrin recognized the potential such perceptions could bring.

And so he set out to painstakingly identify this 'weave'. It was a level beyond the typical force perception as he was not interested so much in how his opponents would use his force powers at hand but he was interested in what force thread compelled his opponent to act as he did.

It was not matching force use against force use as much as Perrin was using his perceptions to act on actions not yet taken.

It meant divorcing himself of his physical sense and his recognition of the raw power of the force available to the other.

What did it matter if another held a blaster to your knife if you know where he would strike before he moved and acted accordingly?


His blocks of his opponent's forceful attack suddenly began to throw the other off as Perrin's saber was where the other's would be aimed at.

And the battle shifted subtly as Perrin saw the patterns of the force, whispers of what would be, a glimpse of the future to be sure to know where his opponent would strike next. The other's powerful offense became a frantic defense as Perrin seemingly anticipated every move.

Perrin's confidence grew at the barely visible apparition he was fighting began to retreat and as Perrin stepped up to deliver a killing blow his perceptions went blind.

For a moment, a split second to be sure, there was no future move to anticipate. There was no weave to trace and Perrin had found that in the course of the battle he had closed his eyes.

Upon opening them, he was immediately aware of two things. 1. that he was staring at nothing and 2. there was a humming heat at his ear and he turned to his left to see an evil grin on his opponent.


"Your form is impressive Descartes," the other cackled switching his saber off. "and if you had not impressed me you would be dead."

"How did you-?" Perrin began, his face heating up in embarrassment. There was no reason for his method to fail. None!

"You forget one important aspect about the future, young Perrin. In your gazing at the outline of destiny you forget that the future is always in motion."

Perrin fell into step behind the older man. "You could only predetermine my moves as long as I made them. The more you searched out my future moves you blinded yourself to your very own eyes. Even my use in the force to create an apparition of air and thrusts to counter your attacks."

The old man seemed pleased with himself much to Perrin's chagrin. "My apparition existed outside of Destiny's realm and so you could perceive nothing! By the time you engaged your physical senses, you would have been alive only long enough to realize that you were dead."

The old man snarled, "You have a habit of surrendering your other senses to this focussing of your attention. It will get you killed, Descartes. And if you die before I wish it, I will be most displeased."

"Now it is time for you to return to Xa Fel. I sense Lord Jas has a web in mind and I wish to have my Hand nearby."

"Lord Lupercus' power dwindles every day that he remains away from Xa Fel, Master.." Perrin started.

"Lord Lupercus can kill Lord Jas with a flick of his wrist, Descartes. It is this knowledge that keeps Lupercus' eyes on larger prizes, namely, me. It is this knowledge that keeps Lord Jas working expeditiously behind the scenes to sink his own roots into the Sith Order."

"He has a following.."


"Of course he has one! All men of charisma do. Even that fool Klain still manages to awe some nitwit."

"The Sith Order could rip itself apart.." Perrin admonished and the other stopped and quite pointedly turned to face him.

His eyes were deadly cold and as harsh as his voice. "And that concerns me how?"


A level of understanding seemed to sweep into Perrin's mind but only for a moment. The moment left him feeling that there was far more at work around him than was dreamt of in his own philosophy.


It was a feeling he did not like.


Not that his Master cared in the slightest.














Perrin stepped over a body of a fallen Jeewian and for a moment puzzled over what manner of creature lay before him.

A hive mind..

This was an element he had never before encountered.

And so as the sounds of the taking of the outer defenses went on, Perrin pulled out a knife and began cutting open the skull of one creature.

From steel into bone, the task was more difficult than it first seemed but soon the brain had been extracted and Perrin pulled out a metal cylinder large enough to hold it.

The creature was simple and Perrin's lips curled in disgust.


"What does Lord Jas wish with such creatures?" The thought hovered for a moment and the old irritating feeling came back. That feeling that there was more going on than met the eye.


Perrin's curiosity was struck as his saber was activated and he moved to join in the fray.

A hive mind; an effective evolutionary step, one that served a high purpose that allowed all connected to the sensation to be aware of all else; a meshing of hundreds of thousands of consciousness', a means to understand and experience without such physical trials, but by simply knowing.

It was also the Jeewian's greatest weakness.

The dark side clouded all things. It made senses dull, it made fear grow, and it left such a hive mind confused and vulnerable. It would be through the connection the aliens shared that would lead to their ultimate destruction; for by using the Force to channel hive processes, to alter mental commands, to change perceptions... it was simply a matter of walking through the confusion.

Vance stepped lightly, moving like a shadow across the platform. His lightsaber lit and held in his right hand, the blade casting an eerie azure glow across the dead forms of the Jeewians; the Sith moved all about, slicing and attacking, while the Sith Master remained concentrating on exploiting the hive mind, kept sending incorrect signals and disrupted information.

“Open it,” Vance said, staring at the heavy blast door that was sealed, which led to the catacombs beneath the surface. At his word, two Apprentices jumped to the task, their lightsabers stabbing deeply into the metal, melting the steel compound almost instantly; after a moment, there was a clean cut oval removed from the gate, the cut out portion crashing to the ground with a kick up of dust and grit.

Stepping into the tunnel, Vance was immediately aware of the darkness. The Jeewians seemingly worked in near pitch black, with very little to no illumination of any kind; this would not hinder the progress of the Sith in any manner, but it would certainly make matters interesting.

Vance felt the Queen, the Force following the presence of the leader as it moved through the catacombs at quick speed; there was anger, fear, and confusion. Anger at the inability of the Jeewians to respond to the threat that faced them, fear at the death that flooded their hive mind and confusion as to what brought such ill fate to their colony.

Walking with Apprentices flowing into the tunnels, Vance continued to cloud the hive mind. He would continue to do so, until such time that he was face-to-face with the Queen; but until then, the Sith had the warriors to deal with, and even as the considerably larger insect humanoids began flooding out of catacomb hovels, Vance knew it would be a test for any Sith. The warriors stood taller than standard Jeewians, broad and seemingly held added, or more fully evolved, natural armor across their bodies...

"Kill them," Vance said, continuing to walk through the tunnel. "Do not allow the warriors to remain, move into the catacombs and kill all who stand in our way."

Stalking through the tunnels, Vance focused his attention on the Queen. Once the pest was out of the way, then so would begin the plan to harvest Jeewaa's valuable resources.

The Jeewian Queen growled to himself, coming to a stop, having run the entire distance of the colony. Looking for his most trusted, she motioned toward three Jeewians; each were held in higher respect than those of the rest of the colony, and they were very important indeed.

<<"The off-worlders have attacked us, yet they are blocking our hive mind,">> The Queen sneered, walking toward a console that was built into the very rock of the chamber room. <<"We must seek aid, or these menaces will destroy us.">>

<<"From what we have touched on their minds,">> Began one of the three who stood beside the Queen. <<"They are Sith. We further probed to discover the Jedi are their mortal enemies... perhaps we should make contact with these beings? We believe we have their system, Naboo, but it remains to be seen if this is in our ship datasystems.">>

<<"Very well,">> The Queen nodded, motioning to the communications device near the console. <<"Contact one of our shipping contractors, ask them for appropriate coordinates, so that you may travel to this Naboo and seek out the Jedi... we do not have much time, and these off-worlders will soon be upon us.">>

<<"Yes, our Queen,">> The three said in unison, briskly moving about making the requests so. If they hurried, then they would be able to send the tight-beam transmission and receive an answer within a matter of moments; but if for some reason that attempt failed, then they would have to simply take care of the navigation aspect once they were away from the planet.

The Queen sighed to himself, frowning her beady eyes as he tried to focus the hive mind, to find a way through the fog that made it all but impossible to determine what the rest of the colony were doing. It seemed the Sith, as they were called, were indeed resourceful and clearly held no intent on simple trade negotiations...

"Pesky off-worlders," The Queen mumbled, her basic warbled somewhat as he sat down on the throne. Until the transmission was sent, all they could do was wait and hope the Sith were slowed enough to allow the information to be gathered for the flight to the Jedi...

Perrin took a moment to look at the talley. There was no mistake that the operations of these aliens were moving more and more to the surface.

He stared down at the clearly alien physique he had struck down earlier. It's bone structure, sensory organs that had adapted to the darker, more harsh environment below ground.

In the Empire, there were those who considered such adapted mutation to be a clear proof of evolution. Perrin did not care one way or the other but it prompt him to murmur in an amused tone: "If they are moving to the surface, it stands to reason over time they would revert to their old physical characteristics."

He chuckled. "Would the evolutionists call this reversion an abomination?"

He stood looking down one of the tunnels. "Would the New Order's scientific community call for an extermination of this world for crimes against evolutionary advancement?"

Among the scientific community such topics were becoming the rage. Races that reverted (gone backward in their evolutionary progression) and whether or not they should be allowed to live?

Some considered it nature's way of balancing life. Predators after all had to have prey and in the game of survival of the fittest there must be the weak as well as the strong or how else could one measure evolutionary advancement?

He looked around at the outline of the spaceport and at the recent efforts of these creatures and realized that a plan such as moving an entire species back to the surface (once more) did not come about without bold ambition.

A hive mind.

In that observation, a thought began to form as he felt the leathery skin of the fallen worker drone.

Glancing around to see if anyone else was nearby, he pulled out a sharp metal knife and began to cut.