Zarith stared down at the body of the last of the invaders he had slew. Zartih still had a snarl on his face and was breathing heavily. The dark side clung to him, his eyes nearly glowing with the power and anger raging in him. Zarith made an effort to calm down, deactivating his lightsaber and closing his eyes. His expression slowly switched to something more neutral. He clipped the lightsaber back to his belt and turned to Master Jas. He followed the Master as he gestured to him, sparing a brief glance and nod at Dehoir.

Zarith followed Master Jas out of the building.

"We will take those, allow as many as you can to board with you. I trust each of you can operate a shuttle, or at least fly well enough to engage auto pilot... we will land in the hangars, and we will then work our way up to the bridge." Vance began stalking toward the group of shuttles. "Dehoir will be giving us the time to make the attack, by jamming their communications from this position. This station can overpower their frigates' systems easily enough. So our attack will be as quick and precise as possible..."

Looking over his shoulder, Vance narrowed his eyes. "Any questions?"

Zarith nodded at Master Jas and headed towards one of the shuttles. He would take whatever apprentices followed him aboard his shuttle. He wasn't eager to mingle with most of the apprentices, as they had charged wrecklessly into battle. It was only the lovely Dehoir and Leiden who had proven themselves capable in his eyes.

Perrin was standing in the doorway of the pilot's barracks blocking the exit of the scared men and women inside. He noted as he followed the swath of destruction left in the wake of his fellow Sith that everyone seemed to head to the building and to Vance's goal, the Communications Tower.


It was a smart move.


It was a move that gave the Sith (finally!) the ability to act rather than react to events and it was time the enemy danced to their own dark tunes.

However, rather than following the apprentices into the building compound, he trailed outside noting that the line of shuttles were being refueled and rather hastily. The attack had taken the fighters at the compound off-guard but they had reacted by trying to prepare their transports to confirm or deny what was sent by the communications array.

At least, until Perrin arrived at the barracks of the pilots.

One had opened the hatch to run to his shuttle when he felt a brief stab of pain and a lance of light embedded into his gut. A flick of Perrin's wrist withdrew the saber and cut off the panicked reaction that would invariably have followed.

He could see the caged expression on the captured pilots knowing that senarios were going through their minds as they truly wondered what their chances were anyway.

Perrin was debating their fate as well in his mind when he noted the Sith exit the building compound intent on his position. An aura of anticipation permeated the group like a crisp hunger the closer they came to the shuttles and Perrin understood.

It was not enough to simply befuddle their enemies, Vance had decided to take the fight to the enemy and that meant the stars.

"You have on chance to live." he told them, feeding them the bread crumbs that hope subsisted upon. "You will take us to your command ship above. Attempt to deceive and you will die."

His words were understood and as he gazed at each one quickly he arbitrarily cut another down. A woman.

The others screamed at the unexpected action and Perrin turned his voice manacing. "That one was going to deceive us when we got closer to the ship. If you think you can fool a Sith, think again!"


And the pilots, properly cowed, stepped out of the pilot's barracks shaking.


The other Sith had arrived.

Judicious awoke to the sounds of utter silence. He sat up, and took in his surrondings. He had been blown out of a second story window, out of which still gushed flames and smoke of burning materiels inside. Other fires included what used to be the much prized enemy tank, and some of the turrets burned as well. Enemy dead lay everywhere, punctuated only hither and yonder by Sith dead or injured. The main enemy building seems to have been secured. Jude stood up to his feet, and gave himself a glance over, as well as probing his various body parts to asses any possible injuries. He had been cut in several places along the length of his entire body by glass shards, and he had also been lightly burned on his left flank by the blast of the grenade, but other than that he was more or less intact, other than what he guessed was the effects of a mild concussion he was feeling at the moment. He glanced over his weapons and equipment. His main lightsaber had been pierced by a piece of metal shrapnel from the shell of the grenade, and the focusing crystals were missing. Tossing the now useless weapon aside, along with the ruined comlink, he pulled out the lightsaber that had belonged to Darth Rowax. He thumbed it on, and it worked, it's red lightsaber blade eclipsing the nearby landscape.

At that moment, the master came out of the main building, flanked on either side and behind by several other Sith warriors. The master spoke: "You. Guard this installation with your lives. We will begin attacking the frigate, and I will not accept this base falling back into enemy hands." he said as he pointed to five of the apprentices that had followed him out of the compound.
Turning to those who had followed him, Vance motioned toward the landed shuttles not to far away from the main compound. "We will take those, allow as many as you can to board with you. I trust each of you can operate a shuttle, or at least fly well enough to engage auto pilot... we will land in the hangars, and we will then work our way up to the bridge." Vance began stalking toward the group of shuttles. "Dehoir will be giving us the time to make the attack, by jamming their communications from this position. This station can overpower their frigates' systems easily enough. So our attack will be as quick and precise as possible..."

Jude smiled as the master spoke. He had had much experience in piloting starships, and would be of use in this endeavour. Then he let his smile drop. Enough with the happy faces. This will be vengeance. Pure and simple. None will be left alive.

A moment later they reached the landing platform, Jude noticed another Sith standing there, a group of enemy pilots near them. Guessing the elder Sith's intent with this group, he motioned for two of them to follow him to a nearby shuttle. Ushering them inside, he entered the shuttle himself and waited for any who might follow.

Vance noticed the pilots being ushered to their respective shuttles by Perrin, and the Sith Master smirked to himself. It seemed that someone else had taken the initiative following the capturing of the Communications Tower. Good, that was why Perrin was a Knight, after all. Stalking to the closest shuttle, Vance pointed his deactivated weapon at the pilot.

"You," He said sharply, "You shall take me to your frigate, and I'm judging by what I sense in you, that you know the cost of trying to betray us."

Looking over his shoulder, Vance's gaze shifted across the Apprentices. No doubt some were feeling intimidated by the task before them, for destroying a frigate was not something to be taken lightly; and as long as they were ready to do their required jobs, then Vance knew they would succeed.

There was no other option.

Looking to Perrin, Vance narrowed his eyes. "Knight Descartes," He said, his voice loud enough to reach the ears of the other man. "You will await the arrival of Dehoir, and then travel with her to join us." And without another word, Vance boarded his shuttle, the pale pilot staggering before the Sith Master to his piloting seat.



Vance sat in the co-pilots seat, watching the man beside him from within his dark hood. The pilot was shaking, and Vance knew that if he made an attempt at warning the frigate, he would die; and no doubt the pilot was aware of the same ultimatum, and Vance had the feeling that no deception would come from this one...

"Take me to your frigate." Vance said simply, waiting as the pilot completed his pre-flight checks.

"Y-yes, sir." He stuttered in reply, taking a quick inhale as he began to lift the shuttle up on its repulsorlift coils; and for his own sake, the young pilot knew that this would be the smoothest shuttle ride he had ever given.

Lifting off from the planet, the shuttle began its crawl for space above, and the frigate that waited; and if the Sith's plans were in order, would be unaware of the death that closed with it...

ooc: The next to reply can post arriving on the frigate, and we can follow the lead. We can expect guards and men with blasters awaiting the shuttles arrivals, ready to board and be taken back down; according to their commanders. The frigate itself is similar to that of the medical frigate used in Empire Strikes Back.

Shiryou piloted his shuttle full of other Sith to the Frigate. He'd been at similar controls before so the flight was smooth, minus atmospheric exit that is. Shiryou licked his lips behind his mask in antisipation, he could only imagine that kind of carnage they would cause on the shuttle and eagerly awaited his chance to snuff out those that dare impede him.

Looking back into the shuttle he looked at the other Sith with his usual cold stare and white mask, they could feel that the Apprentice was seeing if each was ready, each secure. Silently he turned back to the controls and set it to autopilot, and began to check his own weapons. Making sure each dagger used had been recovered and everything was in its place. Checking his blaster for a full charge he replaced that, then sat back down and regained piloting.


Licking their lips in neverous anticipation the platoon of soilders waited for the ships to return to their docking bays and thier turn to go down planet side. There was whispered scuttlebutt that the planet was inhabited, but by who or what no one was sure. They figured nothing more than a few tribal society-style barbarians, which if they offered resistance, could easily be stopped.

Heads turned as the shuttles arrived, the bay doors opening into the void of space as the shuttle floated in and landed gently. The bay's force shield activated, allowing atmosphere to regain regularity.

The ship just sat there.

The soilders waited, the longer they waited the more anxious they got.

The ship merely sat there.

The commanding officer of the platoon was getting mad. Walking up to the shuttle he banged on the outside of the door with the butt of his rifle.

The door hissed, the platoon's commander stepped back as it opened, and readied himself to berate the soilders inside for their lack of speed in getting the change done.

However, he never got the chance. A black figure swooped down on him, grasping his throat and using him as a human shield. The black clade figure grabbed his rifle and cocked his head to speak back into the shuttle

"Move!" Shiryou ordered to the others inside.

"Knight Descartes," He said, his voice loud enough to reach the ears of the other man. "You will await the arrival of Dehoir, and then travel with her to join us."


Perrin's lips flickered a bit at the corners of his mouth at the command from the Sith Master.

"And which one is 'the whore'?" he inquired but Vance was already boarding his shuttle.

Someone flashed an angry set of eyes at him, an apprentice of some sort, and glanced back towards the communications tower.


Did the barb strike, young pup?


His gaze turned towards the pilot remaining for his shuttle and the other left behind by Shiryou as he tried to pilot the craft himself.

"Hopefully this shuttle fares better than the vessel that brought you to Xa Fel." he whispered to himself and turned his full attention to the pilots.
"While we wait, I want one of you to convince me which is the better pilot."

The one that failed would not be for long on this world. Or any other for that matter.

The silence within the communications tower drew Dehoir's attention to the bodies that lay strewn before her. Taking in the carnage wrought by her and her brethren, Dehoir turned back toward the console once more; a satisfied smile curving her full lips.

Communications Station 001: This is Orbital Frigate Subjugation. Message received and understood. We will be awaiting your arrival.

Dehoir took her time in flicking a few switches, and sent an acknowledgement signal. At the same time she generated a locking passcode in an attempt to make it impossible for anyone else to work the communications array.

Turning to make her way out of the tower, Dehoir activated her comm. link with Master Vance.

"Master. The Frigate has acknowledged the arrival of the shuttles, and is now awaiting our arrival."

The message was short, but conveyed only the necessary information needed. Shutting down the link she moved past the threshold and out toward the shuttle bay.

The lighting within the halls glistened across her form as she strode forward. Her green eyes shone brilliantly, and only faintly betrayed the darkness which inhabited her exquisite figure.



Gliding effortlessly into the shuttle bay, Dehoir took in her surrounding only to find that there was one shuttle left. She focused her attention to the forms that stood before the craft. Knight Descartes was the imposing form in the foreground giving Dehoir the impression that he fed off of nothing more then anger and testosterone. A good thing. She was fond of confident men, and it radiated off of him like a beacon.

With a seductive glare, Dehoir strode to a position directly in front of Perrin. Gently parting her moist lips, she addressed the Sith Knight.

"I believe it's time for us to join the Master in the continual purging."

Brushing lightly by Perrin's side, Dehoir ambled up the boarding ramp.

The shuttle settled down gently into the hangar bay. It reversed it's self as it settled down, and then opened it's ramp. A voice came out of the shuttle's cockpit.

"We are now accepting reinforcements to be shuttled down to the surface." said the male voice.

In the hangar bay, a squad of twelve troops, a combat major, and two porters lugging what must of been a heavy repeating laser cannon, up the shuttle ramp and into the ship. After the last one had gone past the ramp and deep into the shuttle were the seats were located, Judicious Kraken eased his muscles, and with a swift motion, dropped from the ceiling of the entrance to the base of the ramp, and activated the closure and locking mechanism. The ramp slammed shut. He then activated a remote palmed in his hand. Inside the shuttle, where the troops were settling down to, a red light came on. The major leaned closer, only to discover it was a timer, wired to an explosive device. The troops ran back to the entrance ramp, only to find it closed. They beat on it futily.

5..........4..........3..........2..........1..........DIE. The bomb exploded, obliterating the shuttle and killing everyone inside. By this time Jude was about ten meters away from the shuttle, and so only had to worry about the heat of the blast and some debris, of which none affected him. Two guards came running his direction. Klaxons sounded throughout the hangar bay. Jude palmed his lightsaber, and cut down the two guards as they raised their weapons at him. Smiling, he proceeded down a corridor that lead the way to the engineering room.

Perrin had just finished cutting down the pilot that failed to impress as Dehoir arrived.

He was putting away his saber and pointing the remaining pilot to the shuttle when a woman planted herself in front of him.

Her lips were wet and her glare seductive. Yes, this was a woman who knew the power of her looks.

And you must be the one I am waiting for...

"I believe it's time for us to join the Master in the continual purging." she said and as if to punctuate her opinion, she ambled up the boarding ramp lightly brushing lightly by his side.

Perrin was inwardly amused at the familiar womanly tactic. It was not unlike the ones prostitutes used to excite their clients and Perrin had to admit that sex played a very powerful part in the trade of manipulation.

A trade the woman he followed up the ramp seemed to know well.

But manipulation for manipulation's sake was pointless. As was a woman's beauty if that was all there was.

He lost count of the times some pretty or sensual woman walked into the halls of the Sith exhaling an air of sensual promise that excited most men be they Apprentices, Knights or Masters.

But beauty in women was not a hard thing to come by as many acted around such creatures. Especially in a galaxy of diversity as the one he lived in.

It was finding a beauty that had substance inside her head that was a rarity.

In any event, his musings trailed for the ramp began to lift as he went aboard.

He pushed past the woman towards the pilot to watch his control of the craft.

"Give me a copy of your mission report and scanning log, Pilot." he ordered. As a veteran of the attack on Mon Calamari, he began to have a healthy respect for the minds behind a military exercise. Even one as foolhardy as attacking the stronghold of the Sith.

The data surprised him as he read.






Perrin and Dehoir could see that most of the Sith transports were arriving on the Frigate in orbit and no doubt the attack had begun in earnest.

As he was watching the pilot plot a course, he felt a shimmer in the force and was suddenly uncertain.

Something was out there.

He was about to comment on it to the woman when a warship shimmered into view moving away from the planet and towards the frigate. It was approaching slowly but Perrin could see that the ship was build for speed. A fast attack cruiser and one that was familiar to him. For such a vessel accompanied his in the attack on Mon Calamari during the war with the Galactic Coalition.

He'd learned that such ships were called 'Shrouds' and were an exclusive part of the Galactic Empire's naval arsenal.

This fact confused Perrin and he felt his thoughts reach a muddled confusion as to the real purpose of what was going on and around the Sith homeworld of Xa Fel.

"That ship's weapons are at the ready.." the pilot said breaking into Perrin's thoughts.

".. And the ship was facing the Frigate." he turned to the woman and smirked. "In one blow, if this ship fires on the frigate, our beloved Master and apprentices will be little pieces of frozen meat in orbit. They'd destroy their own ship to secure such a tactical advantage. The mind behind this is calculating.."

Turning to the pilot, "Head for that cruiser."

To Dehoir, "We've no time for landing. Once we cross the oxygen forcefield, we'll leave through the shuttle service door and strike fast and hard. We need to distract those aboard this ship or they'll fire upon the frigate killing your Master."

He did not check to see if she understood but merely assumed she had. If she didn't, she'd be dead soon enough.

Zarith had quickly grabbed a pilot and forced him to pilot the shuttle up to the orbitting frigate. Zarith was capable of pilotting the ship himself, but the pilot would act as a hostage and a security measure, providing whatever codes that might prove necessary to boarding the ship.

The shuttle landed gently in the landing bay. Zarith waited and looked out the viewport. If he new his other apprentices, they would attempt something grandiose and spectacular right now. As if on cue, one of the shuttles exploded, and Sith came running out of another shuttle. Zarith sighed, it was unfortunate that so few of the others showed any sort of subtlety, except for Dehoir, she was quite an....interesting specimen. He looked forward to working with her more.

Zarith raised his deactivated saber to the pilot's throat. "You will take me to the bridge of this ship. Do so, and you, and you alone, will survive this encounter. Understood?" The terrified man nodded and the two of them left the shuttle. Guards and various repair crews darted around the hangar, but they were far too busy to pay attention to the two of them. They calmly left the hangar and began making their way to the bridge.