An explosion rocked the chamber where the shield generators were nestled, flinging enforcer troops and a Cadinthian security officer into the air. The officer flew backward and slammed into the wall, his entire body shuddering with the power of his hit. Blood and shrapnel rained around him. Smoke and dust rose, filling the room with a grainy darkness. He could hear nothing. With a shaking hand, he touched the side of his face. Warmth stained his cheeks and his earlobes. The ringing would start soon. The explosion was loud enough to affect his eardrums.

Emergency glow panels seared the gloom. He could feel, rather than hear, pieces of the shield generator debris fall to the floor. A enforcer trooper had landed beside him, his head tilted at an unnatural angle. He grabbed his blaster. He had to get out. The Cadinthian wasn't certain if the attack had come from within or from without. Wherever it had come from, he had to make certain his superior was informed of this attack. Or accident?

The force of the explosion had affected his balance. He crawled over bodies, some still moving, as he made his way to the comm station. The slightest movement made him dizzy and nauseous, but he ignored the feelings. He had to.

The security officer reached the comm station. He used the remains of a desk to get to his feet. His white tunic was soaked in blood, sticky, and clinging to his skin. He held the blaster in front of him, wishing that he could hear. If he could hear, he could defend himself.

His hand reached out to the panel and signalled headquarters. He spoke in brief sentences.

"Prefect Kairo! Can you hear me?!"

"Major?! What happened?!"

"An explosion... maybe an attack. Sabotage. Shield Generators. Destroyed." He rambled his words randomly, not able to hear the prefect's responses through the comm.

"We're sending backup and medics now!"

More debris dropped from the ceiling. He crouched, hands over his head to protect himself. Small pieces pelted him, and the floor shivered as large chunks of what was left of the shield generator fell. Dust rose, choking him. He coughed, feeling it, but not able to hear it.

Within an instant, the structure which housed the shield generators for the planet of Cadinth had gone from a busy workstation to a charnel house.



Days passed in the sweltering heat of the Cadinthian desert...

Zem enjoyed the much needed shower now scouring her naked body with a steady blast of deliciously hot water. The time spent outside spying the deserts of the backwater planet had taken a toll on her skin, which was not used to the harsh enviroment Cadinth offered. From her last mission and latest observations, the last of the shield generators were finally destroyed in the hands of herself and the strike team Sij Olith commanded. And as well, the mercenary garrison was indeed here and very active ever since the BDE incursion into the Hegemony. Apparantly, the prefect of this desert planet had doubled his efforts in the security of his homeworld by hiring mercenaries.

Her thoughts recalled her almost brief escape from the Brigian palace from the clutches of the Black Dragon Empire. Her hand trailed over the scarring on her back from the punishment she received. The bacta patches were at least doing their job as she noticed one scar had already healed.

Billowing steam filled her private refresher as the invigorating spray pelted her flesh, at long last washing away the sweaty, sandy residue of her excursion to the desert. Dirty water collected at the bottom of the pure white plastisteel stall, circling the drain before disappearing into the freighter's plumbing to be recycled again. She was thankful the BDE were at least nice enough to engineer this ship to be completely self-reliant, as to even build a small refresher, sleeping, and eating quarters for long missions.

Sadly, the scorching shower could not wash away the malignant fears troubling her mind. Will she ever escape their service? And what of this General Grevious? Was he some Jedi or Sith? If that is the case, where did he come from? Should she dare to confront him again?

The presence of this new threat is something I think I can handle, she thought with reassurance. The Black Dragon Empire is nothing to me. The soothing water rinsed the soap from her short hair and porcelain skin, but Zem knew that she could not hide in the shower forever. There were too many vital questions to be answered, and time was running short. If this general is here to stay, then one can only conclude he will be planning to take this planet as soon as word of the shield generators reaches him, she reasoned. That being the case, I must proceed to plan some kind of escape... or confront him again.

A desperate ploy came to mind, one that she ordinarily would have rejected as too extreme but which now struck her as the only option remaining to her. I have to risk it, she decided. There's no other choice... but it must be later.

Reluctantly, she turned off the shower and let the last of the hot water trickle down her body. Stepping out of the stall into the tiny-sized refresher chamber, she toweled herself quickly, then pulled on her desert attire. Steam clouded the chambers as she prepared to leave.

The ship's hatch opened itself to the desert. Zem lifted her head, addressing the outside with pale blue eyes. She left the security channels activated on the freighter and deployed her speeder bike through the cargo hatch. The bike was a stripped-down model, designed for maximum speed and maneuverability.

Zem roared across the desert with it toward the rendevous point...

Aboard the Sleeping Death, a pair of black-armored stormtroopers awaited outside the conference room in constant guard as their leaders discussed plans to their new conquest of Cadinth, when a grey-caped shadowy figure appeared in the far corridor accompanied by two other stormtroopers at his side. The presence walked confidently with his sweeping cape and grey-armored attire, as he approached the guards and nodded in his T-visored helmet.

"Greetings. I am here to see Captain Sully Anre," he spoke mechanically through his vocoder.

"General Grevious, sir. You are expected." The guard quickly tapped on the keypad. The doors to the conference room opened and the caped figure stepped inside, leaving his escorts.

The doors hissed shut behind him as the armored general stood mysteriously in front of the Imperium's leaders. The captain sat on the far side of the table and rose in respect at the new guest that appeared from nowhere. Grevious rose his hand in a calming manner, and smiled at the other officers in a polite gesture through his visored helmet.

"Gentleman, please. There is no need for alarm. Your captain was expecting me. If I may?" His hand gestured to an empty chair at the end of the conference table. Sully peered at him and gestured to the chair. Grevious pulled the grey cape tightly around his body, and settled himself in the seat; his cybernetic hands resting on the armchairs.

"Who are you? What are you doing here? Why didn't Captain Anre inform us about his guest?" an officer demanded. His eyes suddenly eyed the hilt of a lightsaber, clasped to his belt. A Jedi? Here? At our table?

General Grevious rose a finger. "All good questions, and I shall answer them one at a time," he answered as he leaned back on his chair. The BDE officers could not keep the stares from their new guest as they pondered who this was, since Captain Anre did not share this information with them.

He cleared his throat and boomed. "I am General Grevious. I was sent by Heir Raktus to aid Captain Anre in the expansion of the Tion Hegemony. I have been ordered to take command and assist you in your quest for dominance of this sector," he announced. "Your progress I have found most impressive. It is unfortunate though, that your captain's stay will only be limited. Heir Raktus has ordered him to take his duty as Supreme Administrator of the Black Tion Hegemony, and will be assigned to return to Argai to commence his role. That is why I am here. I am to take over his affairs and command of this ship." The General nodded in assurance, his gaze not leaving any of the officer's faces that surrounded him.

An officer retorted. "We do not need help from the Imperium, especially one who also plays mind tricks." He glared at the lightsaber clasped to the general's belt. Grevious rose his hand again, in order to insure calm to the surrouding officials.

"How dare you insight us to take orders from you? I should have you arrested immediately," another officer barked from the other side of the table.

"I do not believe so, especially in what your Captain has to say, my dear Lieutanant," Grevious replied.

"And what is that, Captain Anre?" the lieutanant retorted harshly, glaring toward his superior.

The captain leaned forward in his seat, and explained himself to the BDE officers as he put out his cigarra on the table. "As of this hour, General Grevious will take command of this ship and I will be ordered to Argai to assume my position as Supreme Administrator of the Black Tion Hegemony," he clarified and announced. "This information was kept from you to prevent any kind of information leakage, as the General was busy conducting his affairs on Lowick. After his mission there, he was ordered here to take his place aboard Sleeping Death."

The officer's jaws loosened in their mouth, as they gazed in awe. They refused to give the general the satisfaction of a surprised look on their faces, and therefore kept their stone expression to themselves. The captain leaned on his chair, and steepled his fingers.

"So now with this in the open, is my shuttle being prepared to depart to Argai to assume my duty as Supreme Administrator?" a smile of arrogance creeping over his face.

"As we speak, Captain. Your officers seem to believe that leading an expansion and leading the Hegemony is easy. It is only a matter of time when your control here will begin to slip through your fingers." The helmet of Grevious nodded as he spoke. "With me leading the expansion, you can have complete control of all affairs of the Hegemony, especially with the Deathglider project and the affairs of Zenoma Sekot."

The captain narrowed his eyes as he studied him. "Of course, General. The Sleeping Death and my officers are at your disposal."

"So what do you propose, General?" another officer inquired.

"Obey my lead and I will grant you victory over the Tion Hegemony," he declared. "With the Force at your side, our conquest is imminent.." An air of silence hovered over the table, as the BDE officers pondered on the situation. Captain Sully Anre clasped his hands together and waited.

A circle of nods was observed and murmurs were heard. One of the officers then rose to Grevious. "Very well, General. I trust your word of a Force-user is good. We will join you, if you assist us with our forces on the surface of Cadinth. We have patches of resistance orginating at the moment."

"It is hard to understand why a Jedi has decided to join us. Perhaps you can enlighten me?" another officer questioned.

"The Jedi order has always been weak, with so many rules to follow. That is why there are so few now. And the Dark Side is always stronger, but blinded in their lust for power. Fortunately, I serve neither. This is why I am know as Grevious the Grey around the Force circles," he explained.

"I see," he answered. "Care to tell us how you deserved this name?"

The armored general rose in his seat and he straightened his grey cape. "All in due time, Major. If you will excuse me, I must now make my way to the surface of Cadinth, as there is order to be resumed. Your forces will not handle what resistance they may soon face. The Force resonates everywhere and it is present here. It is only a matter of time when the Jedi will be alerted to this invasion. Inform your commanders of my expected arrival to the surface."

General Grevious bowed politely to his new subjects, then quickly exited the conference chambers as he departed toward the hangars of the Star Destroyer, where his shuttle awaited.

Captain Anre rose in his seat and began to say his farewells to his officers, as he prepared to venture on his journey to Argai...

A dozen black-painted storm commandos moved several Cadinthian prisoners along the worn stone halls of the desert palace and outside to where a series of stone steps led downward through statuary and buttress work to a broad plaza. The plaza was filled with BDE ground tanks and troopers and was littered with corpses of Cadinthian citizens. The tanks were squat, shovel-nosed vehicles with their main cannon mounted on a turret above and behind the cockpit, and smaller blasters set low and to either side. They had the look of foraging dewbacks as they edged about the plaza's perimeter.

Beyond, the flaming buildings of its capital stretched away toward the horizon, a vast sprawl of charred, high stone walls, smashed domes, toppled towers, and broken archways. Sunlight choked through the smoke of the burning edifices, their deformities in counterpoint to the red deserts of the planet. The rush of garden waterfalls and bubble of fountains in the plaza formed a soft, distant backdrop to the strange silence created by the scattered, dead Cadinth soldiers.

The prisoners were taken across the plaza past the Black Dragon Empire machines of war. No one spoke. They turned down a broad avenue that led to the outskirts of the desert city and the newly constructed BDE detention camps. TIE's hummed overhead, shadows flittering off the walls of the buildings, metal shells gleaming as they darted away.

The storm commandos had just turned their prisoners down a quiet byway when General Grevious brought them to an abrupt halt. The soldiers taken prisoner, murmured among themselves. What was to happen to them? They had no idea what fate had brought them.

For a moment, each group stared at the other in silence. Then the narrow face of one of the citizens peeked out from behind his colleagues, eyes wide and frightened.

"What are you to do to us?! This is against every law of the Tion Hegemony!"

General Grevious suddenly replied in a booming voice. "The Tion Hegemony does not exist here anymore. The Black Dragon Empire now rules this sector." He gestured to his soldiers. "And since all of you refuse to give us the information as to the whereabouts of your planetary leaders, you are to be executed."

Four of the commandos moved to obey. They shifted their weapons into firing position and triggered their blasters, filling the open area with a deadly crossfire.

When the lasers went still, all that remained was the silence of dead soldiers upon their desert landscape.

The interrogations continued its toll.



Hours later...

Seated across the table from the presence of General Grevious, Zem Renneyn took a sip from her cup, the Jeru tea carrying with it a hint of remembered bitterness and shame. Like most people growing up on their war-devastated worlds after the BDE invasion, the Tion Hegemony resistance had been the focus of all her hopes. They had been the last heroes of her people, the enigmatic cult of warriors still fighting to force justice for her world from uncaring, even hostile, officials of the Black Dragon Empire. She had begun her training as soon as they would take her, studying and working and sweating her way against the odds until, at last, she had been deemed worthy to be called an assassin or a terrorist. Assigned to a team, she had headed out on her first mission.

She was captured, tortured, and then forced to live in servitude under her captors.

She sipped at her tea again, listening with half an ear as Grevious prattled on, letting the memories fade. Now, several weeks of acquiring kills under her belt, the shame had faded to a dull ache in the back of her mind. Someday, she hoped, it would be gone altogether when she got her revenge.

General Grevious lifted an armored gauntlet, the tea kettle suddenly shattering into a thousand shards. Zem jolted back to his attention, narrowing her eyes. That voice pierced her mind again.

May I suggest you pay attention to business at hand? The next time you distract yourself away, you will join the others... in death.

"The mission," Zem spoke bluntly, setting down the tea cup upon the table. "Tell me about my mission."

"Yes. Of course." General Grevious took a deep breath, his eyes darting around the throne room of Cadinth as if wondering which of the captured soldiers or aliens surrounding him might try another attempt to escape. "It has come to my attention that the Cadinthian leaders are hiding in the desert wastelands, possibly secluded inside a bunker. I wish to have them found and eliminated."

"And don't you have an army to do that?" Zem asked.

Grevious shrugged. "My men are limited with their duties, so they can only do so much. I need a tracker, especially the likes of a bounty hunter or an assassin. Your name came up."

"So what exactly do you want from me?"

A datapad slid by itself across the table, apparently wielded by the Force from the grey-clad general. Zem took it and glared at the display. Several names were transcribed across it.

"Planetary leaders of Cadinth and the governor himself. They are to be tracked and executed," came the reply.

"My killing days are over. I've had my fair share," she countered.

"I see," Grevious murmured, frowning thoughtfully behind his T-visored helmet. The armored figure peered over to Captain Lymos of the Cadinth Forces and arched a finger to him. The Cadinth officer began to wheeze and clutched his throat, taking gasps of air as he slumped to his knees.

In moments, his body fell over onto the floor. Breathless.

Zem didn't look happy, but she nodded nevertheless. "All right," she said, her hand curling into a fist. She lifted her eyebrows slightly. "The fee will be fifty thousand. No less... and it will be for the Cadinth leaders. If you want me to vape the governor, we will have to re-negotiate."

"Very well," Grevious nodded in his helmet, his eyes the only detail showing through his visor.

"I need a battalion of your commados for a ruse. I can't take out the Cadinth leaders without fire support. They will for sure be accompanied by their armies," she continued.

"Done," General Grevious said with precise firmness. "Whatever you wish is granted... all provided by the Black Dragon Empire."

"Good," Zem said briskly. "I want the credits deposited in my account by nightfall. In the meantime--" She gestured at the storm commando by the door. "I'll need to return to my ship to acquire my equipment. Send your troops to the hangar bay, and we can get started." She rose from her chair and took a step back.

"Understood." Grevious nodded. The doors hissed opened by themselves.

Report to me when the task is done... the voice pierced again in her head, as Zem stepped from the throne room...

Days later in the desert wastelands of Cadinth...

"Approaching area," an electronic-filtered voice murmured from one of the two comlinks fastened to Zem's collar. "Copy.... two figures visible. We see movement in the valley behind the rock formations. Possible six or seven more."

"Copy, Davin," Zem acknowledged, stroking a finger restlessly across the side of her long-barelled blaster rifle and wishing the storm commando wouldn't get so chatty on the air. BDE comlinks were heavily encrypted, but that wouldn't stop the Cadinth resistance from pinpointing the transmissions if they took it into their heads to do so. And this close to their assumed hideout, that was a distinct possibility.

The hideout. Lifting her eyes from the section of trail winding through the valley below-- the road the BDE death commandos would be traversing in a few minutes if they made it through without being detected-- Zem studied the waves of rolling hills that stretched into the distance beyond the innocuous formations of rock pillars cutting across her view. She wondered if the information extracted by the Cadinth soldier was correct when she interrogated him, and gained his trust to let him go.

"Zem. Target heading your way."

"Copy," Zem said, frowning. There was something not right here. As if Kix Davin had other intentions in mind, beside following her orders and standing by.

Zem tightened her grip on her blaster rifle, and abruptly, the comlink dissolved into an earsplitting shriek of jamming static.

With a curse, Zem ripped the comlink from her collar with her left hand, throwing it as far away from her as she could. In the split of a hair the entire subterfuge had suddenly gone sour... and the assassin was right in the middle of it.

Beyond the rock pillars, from over the next line of hills, the figures of a dozen soldiers on dewbacks had suddenly appeared. Headed her way.

Zem cursed again, lining up her blaster rifle with her right hand as she groped for the switch on her backup comlink with her left. If she was lucky, the resistance would have a minute before they found that frequency and locked it down. She located the switch, flicked it on-- "--what the frak happened?-- repeat, what the frak?!" Zem shouted, her voice tight. "I've spotted the leaders. I've spotted one of their generals. Targeting subject." She quickly squinted through the sight and squeezed off a shot. The Cadinth general's chest exploded into a shower of blood, pitching him to the ground. She did the same to the two on either side of him. The flash supressor attached to the muzzle of her blaster rifle, prevented the assassin from giving away her position. That, along with her camo BDU's blending into the background of desert colors.

There was a brief crinkle of sound, and then silence. The comlink went dead.

Ahead, the rest of the Cadinth forces had shifted into evasive manuevers, after realizing the death of their leader. Zem fired four rapid shots, catching another of the soldiers with the third of them. "Kix?" she called toward her comlink. "Kix? Are you there?"

Nothing.

"Frak!" Zem snarled, keying the grenade launcher attached to her blaster rifle barrel. The recoil kicked the gun hard into her shoulder as the slender cylinder blasted out toward the approaching Cadinth soldiers.

"Time to get moving," Zem said through gritted teeth, getting halfway to her feet and heading at a crouch toward a large boulder formation where her speeder bike was hidden. The approaching Cadinth resistance fighters along with their counterparts, finally presented with a target, opened fire--

Just as the grenade hit the ground ten meters in front of them, exploding into a billowing cloud of green smoke.

She slung the rifle over her shoulder and kicked the speeder bike to life. Over the roar of the engine she could hear the screams of her erstwhile attackers, as the specially formulated smoke burned into their faces and eyes. Zem swung the speeder bike around and kicked the throttle to full power, disappearing into the cluster of rock pillars in the distance.

Right now, she only had enough room for a single emotion.

Rage.



It was a little over ten kilometers from the scene of the attack to her new resting place, and for the first eight of them Zem flew low over the rolling hills and wondered how in blazes the plan took such a foul turn at the end. It must have been that damn general. He must have thought the opportunity for his forces to pounce on them all at once was a better option. Fools! Because of it, now the Cadinth resistance would better themselves at hiding from the BDE armies. In turn, it would make her job much harder in killing off their leaders. And of course, her BDE counterparts didn't have a brain to think for themselves, so of course, they will follow their orders.

Blinking against the wind pounding against her face, trying again not to think about what had just happened back there, the assassin kept going.

She topped the hills; and there, nestled in a wide valley, was a small complex of perhaps two or three buildings, ranging in size from flat office blocks to a single windowless structure the size of a small maintenance hangar. The Cadinth resistance base, without a doubt. She quickly powered down her speeder bike and took cover.

As she took hiding in the rock crevices and peered through her electrobinoculars, something caught her attention. Lying in the middle of it all, dominating the scene by the sheer unexpectedness of its presence there, was the long sleek shape of a shuttle transport. Seemed the resistance were going for a quick evacuation off-planet by loading up what was left of their leaders and a few of their officials. It seemed risky with the BDE Star Destroyer orbiting, but desperation called for a last-ditch effort.

Zem couldn't let that happen. The time to act was now. A motion to her left caught Zem's eye, and she turned to see a small landspeeder loaded with supplies heading toward its gate. An idea formed in the assassin's head.

The assassin crouched beside the base of a large boulder, very nearly as still and silent and made herself into the appearance of a Cadinth resistance fighter, clad in her camo body armor, down to her sandy robes.

This may be too easy, she mused ruefully.



Home sweet home, Zem thought sarcastically without much enthusiam.

Grevious's men were waiting for her right outside the main entrance of the palace. Zem stormed up the stone steps and through the heavy doors. BDE death commandos, waiting at the door, merely nodded at her presence, but she brushed past them, intent on presenting her trophies to the one that mattered. The small holocam rested securely in her utility pouch, holding vital holographic evidence of her kills. Two guards followed her inside, two paces behind her.

The foyer was as impressive as the palace's exterior. Priceless tapestries and paintings hung upon lustrous paneled walls. Marble tiles stretched across the floor to where the sweeping main stairway rose majestically toward the upper reaches of the throne room. An immense crystal chandelier glittered above the stately entry hall, welcoming the assassin from the hot, arid desert.

A flock of battle-hardened stormtroopers loitered in these luxurious surroundings, patrolling the corridors and rooms, exchanging reports and making chatter. Zem's face hardened. She had little patience with such things.

Her sudden arrival attracted little notice. A few curious heads swung toward her and the prize she had in tow, examining the dusty assassin through cold and disinterested lenses, before returning to their duties.

A bitter smile reached her lips as she reached the entrance of the throne room. Two guards backed away instinctively as Zem strode across the room with her prize in tow. Trailing dust and mud onto the marble floors, the blonde assassin reached to two sacks strapped to her utility belt and placed them down near the General's feet. Zem quickly untied them and presented her trophies.

General Grevious observed, with some satisfaction, that the trophies were the heads of two of the Cadinth resistance leaders. His domed, grey helmet then rose to see the prize Zem was towing behind her. It was Prefect Kairo, the governor of Cadinth. The helmet turned to face the assassin.

Intense hazel eyes locked onto his cybernetic eyes. "I've brought what you wanted... including a live prize for your amusement. Does this constitute the finality of our agreement?"

At first, The gerneral said nothing. He approached Prefect Kairo, and sensed the governor’s fear. It didn’t take a lot of detective work, as he was trembling and making audible noises as he did so.

“Release him,” General Grevious said softly, in a mechanical tone that would have sounded like pity if Zem had not been in the company of this cybernetic madman before.

The general allowed himself a slight frown behind his helmet as he narrowed his eyes to him. "Are you Prefect Kairo?"

"Yes... what do you wish of me?" he shuddered in fear, showing his teeth, adding to the effect.

"We have things to discuss, you and I," he said. Grevious fanned his metal fingers outward and the Force clamped around the man's throat.

"Where are the rest of your comrades? Have we found them all?"

Caught in the power of the Force, the governor struggled to breathe. Grevious's right hand, raised before him, tightened into a fist, and the man's throat constricted even more.

"Ready to talk?" Grevious asked.

The man could not speak, but he managed to nod. His eyes had dilated slightly due to blood congestion.

General Grevious relaxed his fist and his concentration. The governor collapsed on the floor, wheezing as he tried to suck in a breath.

"Now, again, Prefect Kairo. Are there more?"

"No. You have killed them all. I am the only one left."

Grevious sensed the truth of Kairo's words. This was good. All he had to do is kill him, then report to Anre. And then this dreary chore would be at an end. He could return to his ship, finally.

"Are you certain?"

"Yes."

"You have been most coorperative," the armored general spoke without emotion. Prefect Kairo looked up from his supine position. There was an instant of hope in his eyes, but it died when he read his fate in Grevious's expression.

He drew his lightsaber. "Time to die," he said.

"Wait!" The governor's voice was a bleat of fear. "I can be of service to you! Please--"

With his free hand he made a sharp upward gesture, and the governor was lifted like a puppet on strings. He hung, helpless, in the Force's grasp.

"Noooo--"

General Grevious ignited the amber energy blade of his lightsaber and swung it laterally, cutting off the governor's final wail, along with his head. He then released the lines of Force that held the twitching body and watched it crumple.

The energy blade retracted back to its hilt, then he clipped it back to his belt, covering it subtly with his grey cloak.

The general advanced over to the beheaded corpse. Without looking at Zem he said in his electronic-filtered voice, “Yes, I believe this completes our agreement. Thank you Zem. If you wish to leave this throne room, or even this planet, I will not argue. But someday I may require your services again. Report aboard to Sleeping Death when it is time to leave this system.”

Without explaining just which of those options she was taking exactly, the assassin stormed out with some amount of disgust at what had transpired in there.

And like that, she was gone...