As the shuttle bearing Vance touched down, the Sith Master reached out and used the force to slow the functions of his mind and body; and with a bulge of the eyes and a choke, the pilot fell against the shuttle controls, unconscious.

He will prove useful later.

Walking from the shuttle bay, stalking down the ramp, Vance held his lightsaber casually in his right hand. An explosion rocked the inside of the hangar, which caused the majority of the guards to begin rushing in every direction; this would work in the Sith's favour, simply because they now had the element of confusion, though obviously not as useful as surprise, but it would suffice.

Vance continued to move through the hangar bay, two guards noticing him and moving to intercept. Activating his lightsaber, Vance quickly twisted his wrist, deflecting the series of blaster bolts they sent his way back toward the sources; both men received their own lances of energy to the chest, knocking them backward with cries of pain as flesh was burnt through their armor.

Continuing, Vance deactivated his weapon and decided to best use the explosions distraction to his advantage. It seemed one of the Apprentices had made use of some of the explosives back at the compound.

Most interesting.

Vance soon found himself in the hallway that connected to the hangar, and just down a way he saw Zarith walking with a pilot. It seemed the Apprentice had also used the chaos to his advantage. And the number of Apprentices who had been brought up in the shuttles would soon overwhelm the troopers, though the loses would be substantial; yet that was the cost of battle, losing men and women, and it could not be avoided.

But back to the mission.

Vance walked quickly, catching up with Zarith. Nodding to the Apprentice, Vance began to keep pace, following the pilot as he continued to lead the two toward the bridge. Whatever Zarith had said to the man, it seemed to have done it's job, as the pilot took the most direct route possible...



Commander Kael slammed his fist down on the control console. "Firefek!" He cursed, before turning his glare at his communications officer. "What is happening? Why are our communications being jammed and why are we receiving alarms from the hangar?"

"Seems, sir, that an attack of sorts is taking place." The young officer replied, his tone calm despite his shaking hands over the control buttons. "I'm receiving multiple reports from our hangar stating a force of unknown strength has boarded through the use of our own shuttles... there has also been a large explosion, which has further created confusion to our ranks."

"Indeed." Kael sneered, turning as he sought out his security officer. "Leiutenant, begin sealing the bridge and prepare a defense to repel this invading force... I have no doubt they will seek to gain access to our command stations, and I will see them all dead before that happens."

"Sir." The security officer said, saluting sharply, before beginning to go about his orders with the use of his comm.

"I want security holos, I want to know where the enemy is. Now!" Kael continued, gritting his teeth. He should have expected something of this nature; especially given the communication recieved from the planet below... how could he have been so oblivious to such a deception? Was his judgement finally failing him? His gut instinct no longer able to serve him?

"Sir... they're here, just outside!"

Kael paled, as he slowly turned, looking toward the entrance way to the bridge, his eyes widening...



Vance stood over the fallen corpse of the security officer, his azure lightsaber lit and humming. Looking to Zarith, the Sith Master smiled. "Allow none to escape." And moving forward, his blade slashed through the closest officer on the bridge, slicing the man down with a scream as he was severed from shoulder to hip. Twirling his weapon, Vance continued his attacks, cutting into the bridge...

He wasn't aware of the security detail running up the hall beyond, their heavy armor clanking as they moved into the bridge with large blaster rifles; they looked like they were built for defense, and resembled shock troopers, numbering eight in total.

An angered scowl drew over Dehoir's countenance when she was jarred by Perrin's movement. Shoving past her form, the Sith Knight moved into the shuttle's bridge; keeping a close eye on the pilot.

Slowly claming, Dehoir watched the confident man move to a seat across from the pilot. Understandably Perrin was unfazed by her feminine wiles, but no matter. She wasn't interested in manipulating him...at least not yet. For now she would have to focus on her mission; the expunction of an unknown race that has invaded her new home.

Narrowing her emerald eyes to mere slits, Dehoir took a seat, as the shuttle moved off planet to its destination.

She tried to focus on the visual that she and Perrin had of the orbiting Frigate, but something, something beyond, she felt, was reaching for her. A slight shiver ran down her spine as she noted the slight drop in temperature.

"That ship's weapons are at the ready.." the pilot said.

Her attention moved from the cabin to that of the once empty space outside of the shuttle. To her surprise a cruiser appeared directly in front of the frigate. As her dumbfounded expression lingered, Perrin added to the pilot's statement.

".. And the ship was facing the Frigate." He said with a smirk as he looked to her. "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.."

An overwhelming sense to thrust her weapon into Perrin nearly seized Dehoir as the Knight clearly made known his disdain for Master Vance. He seemed to secretly wish that her Master perish. This, however, would not happen...not if she could prevent it.

As her mind shifted from her Master, she remembered that Zarith was also a part of the Sith raiding party. Her plump lips curled at the corners as she recalled the gentle kiss the debonair Sith apprentice had given her upon her hand. Her slender fingers traced the area Zarith had kissed as she recalled her arrival, and the subsequent weeks following.

"Head for that cruiser." Were the words the Knight spoke that broke Dehoir's reverie

Dehoir sent Perrin a cold glare as he spoke once again.

"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."

Her frigid glance melted as she took in Perrin's words. She would have to put her trust in the man she was with, as he would her.

"They know we're here already. They'll have their sentries; armed and at the ready, when we board."

She stood from her seat, and moved toward the rear of the shuttle. The sensuous woman stopped in the threshold only to cast her gaze back upon Perrin.

"Once we're aboard, I'll head to a control console. You'll need to cover me while I attempt to create a diversion."

Casting a confident gaze in Perrin's direction, Dehoir tossed her sleek locks over her shoulder and moved into the back of the shuttle; where Perrin Descartes would eventually join her.

The woman's hackles rose in the perceived threat to her beloved Master and Perrin grinned to himself.

Good! It'll keep her alert.


As the shuttle began to slide under the formerly cloaked Shroud Attack Cruiser Perrin noticed something that he had not noticed before.

The Shroud had no shuttle bay!

Perrin swore under his breath and stormed over to the emergency suit compartment pulling out two emergency vacuum suits and tossed one to Dehoir.

"It looks like we'll have to do this the hard way!" he said pulling the space suit over his clothes.

"Keep your saber in your hand and do not enclose it within the suit or you'll be sorry." he admonished returning to the emergency storage pulling out two grapple/tether guns. He tossed one to the Vance's apprentice.

The pilot began to maneuver around to the top of the warship when the blister weapons aboard the Shroud began to track the shuttle.

Perrin looked over at the woman and as soon as they were both donned he struck the emergency switch to lower the ramp.

The pilot shouted in panic at the maneuver for the cabin lost pressure.

Dehoir and Perrin were sucked out into the space above the ship and the Sith Knight struggled to hold onto his grapple in the pressure.

The grapple was fired and attached to the ship allowing the Sith to pull themselves nearer to the hull.

With a gesture, Perrin motioned to Dehoir to activate her saber as he did.

At the nearest array protruding, he swung his blade cutting it in two. They did not have a lot of time and so as they maneuvered around the vacuum Perrin looked around for an exit or airlock hatch of some sort.

Anger was building up at the impossibility of their situation as there did not seem to be an airlock in sight.

But there was a viewport and Perrin's arm shot out hoping to shatter it through the force.

Angry desperation made for a less than clean break as the viewport cracked. With Perrin's application of the force and the force of the vacuum of space, the cracked viewport began to spiderweb over and soon it's resistance collapsed.

The loss of pressure in the ship around that part of the hull seemed to cause the cruiser to slow it's advance as it was pushed off course slightly.

With the cabin inside depressurised, Perrin motioned for Dehoir to float inside. She stopped her ravaging of the outer hull of the Shroud to float inside, the act made easier with the vessel's speed being reduced.

Perrin was right behind her when a temporary forcefield activated blocking the vacuum's pressure.

They could hear oxygen being pumped into the cabin by an emergency system and the artificial gravity began to return to normal.

Perrin pulled off his headpiece gasping in the oxygen. "I do not want to do that again!" he exclaimed shaking the sweat from his hair.

When they had caught their breath, Perrin nodded. "Your plan is sound even if we are starting at a different area. Find a control consol and I will cover you."

He activated his saber and with his hand, swept aside the bulked door opening the corridor to them.

In their midsts were techs and engineers running to the area with repair kits to seal the hull breach manually.

They shouted in surprise at the sight of the Sith.

"Would it please you for assistance?" asked a hissing voice as Shiryou stalked silently up behind Jas, who was facing the eight armored figures, "ooo, armor, this Might take a bit." he said 'cockily', if only to throw off not Jas, but the armored figures since Shiryou himself wore...little in the way of defencive armor, he did however, carrying a laser rifle from the soilders inside that had been...perminantly subdued

Judicious was proceeding down the long corridor that took him to the location where the enemy quarters for the crew were at. He ducked down a crevace in the hallway for a second as the sound of running feet came to his attention from further up the hallway. As they approached he could make out voices, men talking though comlinks in what sounded like their helmets. Armed troops then. As they began to pass him, he suddenly brought his arm up and activated the lightsaber. At their rate of hurry, the first three could not stop in time, and beheaded themselves on the stationery lightsaber. Coming from around the corner, Judicious brought his blade down on another two as they recoiled from the sight of their headless comrades telescoping to the floor below. The last three began to bring their blasters into line, but they were too slow, and therefore too late. Stepping over the bodies, he reached down to one, to pick up a pack of four grenades.

A short time later he reached an area that had six rooms, three to each side. All of the rooms contained lockers, and equipment, and of those, four had men in them dressing for combat, he could tell by the sound of their muffled voices coming through the doorways. He timed his grenades for a five second fuse, then moving quickly, opened each of the doors, tossed one grenade in, and sealed the doors, using his lightsaber to fuse the locks. Muffled screaming began, and as he moved away, four explosions, all in rapid succession, bowed out the doors, and silenced the screaming individuals inside. Fire suppresant systems activated, drenching him in water and foam. Snarling to himself, he moved away from this area, and pulled out a comlink.

"Status report, J has eliminated enemy shock troops, proceeding to engineering bays." said Judicious. Pulling his cloak over his head to shield his eyes from the foam, he proceed down a side corridor marked, "Engineering."

Zarith moved forward, following the orders of his Master. His lightsaber slashed, and a bridge officer fell to the floor. Zarith leaped over a console and struck down another bridge member. Zarith was calm and in control. He felt a bit of sadistic glee as he cut down the unarmed bridge staff. They had been foolish enough to have invaded the Sith world. They would all be struck down for daring to challenge the power of the Sith.

Zarith could faintly feel the other apprentices in the area as they moved through the ship. They shared his exhiliration at striking down these intruders. He thought he could even faintly feel the apprentice Dehoir. The woman was quite striking, not to mention cunning and powerful. He would have to keep her close so he could watch her, among other reasons.

Zarith snapped out of his reverie by the sounds of armored boots clanking in the hallways. The Sith apprentice Shiryou appeared in the door way. He prattled on some useless bit of posturing. Zarith brushed past the other apprentice and attacked the first of the guards, slashing at his legs and dropping him to the ground. Another upward slash took off the gun arm of another guard. Zarith would need some help to take down all of them though.

Removing the confining helmet, the Sith femme took a deep life giving breath. She shook her head in an attempt to free her moist locks from the back of her neck.

"I do not want to do that again!" Perrin exclaimed as he shook his head.

Dehoir eyed her companion with interest as he spoke once more.

"Your plan is sound even if we are starting at a different area. Find a control consol and I will cover you."

Moving forward to close the gap between she and Perrin, Dehoir unclipped her lightsaber and made ready her weapon as the bulkhead was moved aside. Her powerful connection with the darkside gave her an uncanny perception of the area ahead. Men moved to and fro. Some carried equipment, others weapons, but when the two Sith caught their attention, action ceased, and the attack began.

The lithe female lunged forward, eyes a blaze with hate; she slashed down on one of the invaders rending him neatly in half. Stifling her anger for a moment, Dehoir spotted an unattended console. As a guard charged her position, the slim female licked her lips and commenced the slaughter....his punishment; death.

The lifeless body of the guard hit the floor with a sickening thud leaving an open line to the control console. Once positioned at the keypad, Dehoir began deftly hacking into the systems. Eyes roving over the screened information, Dehoir set forth in creating a pair of mock signatures. The action would draw a large number of the invading forces into a secluded area, where she and Perrin could ambush the entire lot.

As the Sith Knight plowed through the forces present, Dehoir corresponded with Perrin through her link with the Force.

Perrin, I've created a false sensor reading of our signatures in the starboard cargo hold. According to the security readouts, the large number of guards has already been dispatched to the area. We can decimate their numbers if we move now.

Her gaze moved from the console to Perrin. A wicked smile creased her lips as she moved away from her position. Her concentration never wavered as she continued to address Perrin through the Force link.

Shall we?

One of the first sounds he recognized was the ship's blaring klaxon.

Dehoir moved forward and had reached a nearby consol cutting down two men in the process. Perrin covered her exposed areas sending the useless laser bolts back to the weapons they were shot from.


As the last of the technicians and accompanying soldiers (which, truth be told, was not many), he perceived Dehoir's desire.


Perrin, I've created a false sensor reading of our signatures in the starboard cargo hold. According to the security readouts, the large number of guards has already been dispatched to the area. We can decimate their numbers if we move now.


He turned his gaze from the corridor that she was suggesting they go through towards the consol. His fingers moving quickly, his eyes widened at the data spilled out. A large schematic of the ship appeared and he grunted.


Shall we?


He turned his gaze to her and noted her eagerness to give into her brimming hatred.


Fool Girl!


"No!" he growled out, at once irritated. A hand shot out and he pinned her to a wall. "Look at me!" he hissed and as her eyes met his, when he was confident that her spell of hatred had been briefly broken by his sudden act, he spoke quickly and concisely.


"This ship was cloaked. This ship was watching the other carry out an attack on us. Perhaps directing from the shadows, perhaps not. But one thing this ship was doing before we boarded was aiming straight for the frigate your master and the rest of your brethren boarded!"


As if to punctuate his words, the consol began to flash a warning indicating that the ship they were on had fired upon the frigate the other's had boarded.


"Our first priority is stopping this ship from destroying the other!"


He released her, wiping his hand against his clothes. Having sweated inside the suit, her neck was moist. With frustrated swing of a quickly ignited saber, he slashed at a nearby power grid causing the system to explode.


"First, the weapons room! Then the soldiers!"


Vance Jas had yet to impress him much but he still did not want the Grand Master obliterated by a ship content to hide as a coward does. Even an apprentice deserved a better fate than that, surely.


"You did happen to send the soldiers away from the room with your stunt. You've promise.." he quipped as he began to move quickly down a separate corridor away from where the soldiers were gathering. There was simply no more time to waste.


The next few shots from the cruiser could spell the difference between the others returning or not.


"This ship is definitely, Imperial!" he shouted to her over the shipwide klaxon and the hum of his sword cutting down anyone in his way to the weapons room. Another turn of the corner and down some steps and he'd be at one of the entrances. He sliced at another power converter in passing wondering if he could disrupt the powergrid on the entire level.


Why would the Imperials be attacking the Sith Order?

Or are they merely the mind behind the act?

It seemed that the temperature was steadily climbing within the confines of the ship. Dehoir could sense the satisfaction that wrecking death upon others caused...it was beginning to draw her in, and if she were not careful, she would be consumed by the Darkside.

Perrin must have sensed this, and in a brisk advancement, the Sith Knight had Dehoir pinned to the nearby wall. The action caught her off guard, and she stifled a yelp.

His voice rasped in her ear as he grated out a command.

"Look at me!"

Her eyes burned with a heated desire to kill. Before she could struggle from Perrin's grip, he continued on.

"This ship was cloaked. This ship was watching the other carry out an attack on us. Perhaps directing from the shadows, perhaps not. But one thing this ship was doing before we boarded was aiming straight for the frigate your master and the rest of your brethren boarded!"

As Knight Descartes spoke, Dehoir listened. Upon the mention of her master and the other apprentices her gaze intensified. With eyes widened, and head lowered, Dehoir's mind drifted to her Master, and Zarith. Perrin released her from his tight grip, eliciting an angry sneer from the woman. Her breathing grew deep as her hatred toward the intruders returned. Skin glistening from the dampness of perspiration, Dehoir attempted to sedate her passion while she eyed her companion.

"Our first priority is stopping this ship from destroying the other! First, the weapons room! Then the soldiers!"

Dehoir nodded in agreement to the Knight's words, and moved in behind him. She quickly followed his lead, and unclipped her lightsaber from her belt. Igniting the deadly blade, Dehoir moved to eliminate those that eluded Perrin's attacks. She relished in the carnage that was wrought as the two proceeded forward.

"This ship is definitely, Imperial!"

The announcement surprised Dehoir, and as the slaughter commenced, she inquired about his last statement.

"But what could the Empire possibly want?"

Circling to face Perrin, Dehoir looked to him for answers he probably didn't have.

Vance stepped toward the shock troopers, slashing at the closest enemy. Catching the man across the elbow joint, the Sith Master narrowed his eyes as the enemy shouted in pain, recoiling back; and reaching to his belt, the trooper grasped a concussion grenade...

Reaching out, Vance used the force to hold the man's arm in place, seconds before he actually threw the weapon at the Sith. The grenade exploded around, sending a shock wave rippling through the immediate area; Vance growled as he was pushed backward, tumbling from being in such close proximity with the grenade, his instincts being to roll with it.

Coming up to his feet, Vance threw his cloak around him, untangling himself. Staring at the troopers, who were surprisingly still active and upright, the Sith Master moved forward; seemingly they were able to withstand their own blasts, and their armor was actually more than just a fashion statement.

"Take them down. Now!" Vance snarled, attacking for the same trooper he had before, catching the man before he could bring up his weapon in his other hand. Slicing through the trooper's chest, Vance realized that the damage wasn't enough to kill, and the blade actually rebounded...

Stabbing, the lightsaber tip vibrated as it connected with armored chest plating, and as the trooper stumbled backward off balance, Vance twisted his wrist and brought the blade around and against the leather jumpsuit between the torso armor and helmet; the man's head was severed, sending it rolling to the ground as his body slumped to join it.

Spinning, Vance brought his lightsaber back in a defensive position, preparing to attack further...