This is the fan fic I promised the people who were part of the RPG: Sith Civil War. I hope not to disappoint people. I'll get the first chapter on here when I have the time.
Darth Barad-Dur
Chapter 1: The Shadow of the Emperor
The great Super Star Destroyer gently glided towards the side of the Darkest Knight. Darth Malice pulled the lever, and the great ship came to a stop, slowly the ship shuddered as it stopped. He took a glance to the human sitting at the communications station, finishing his debate with the flight control attendant over if it was good to have two SSD's in the same vacinity.
"Finally got that guy top listen to you, I see," Malice said, nodding to the now shut off comm system.
"Took me more argument then I care to divolge to you," Darth Barad-Dur replied, "Well, let's go and join the Grand Admiral. Has the other already left?"
"About five minutes ago," Malice answered, gathering up his robe which he had left on the floor, "Oh, and, when the official military stuff ends, I'm going for a nice, long shower."
Barad-Dur nodded. "I feel like one too."
They exited command bridge, and walked down the long corridor for the turbolift that would send them to the hangerbay.
Darth Barad-Dur
The Imperial Palace
Grand Admiral Marix leaned back against wall outside of the throne room, dozing off. It had been exactly four days since he had last slept, and even though there had been many times that he had gone longer then that and not had a problem, he had barely had such a trying time. That, compunded with the fact that he had to wait for Darths Barad-Dur and Malice to arrive, and the fact that the palace had such a soothing feel about it, was slowly making him spiral downwards to sleep.
The other men, Adenn and Tarna, had already been debriefed, and had left several minutes before had to carry out thier duties. The only reason Marix had stayed awake this long, was the fact that Tarna had talked to him a minute after leaving the throne room. Marix finally gave up the fight, and closed his eyes, using his well trained balance to keep him from falling down.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Malice and Barad-Dur walked through the halls of the palace. Neither one had known until now just how many Royal Guards there were. At every door there was a guard, and there was fifty room per floor. Not only those, but there was regular patrols of four guards that swept through the halls, and every four hours, the entire contingent of guards was exchanged with another contingent of guards.
"Shadow isn't taking any risks, is he?" Malice asked, as they entered a turbolift, only to find that there was two guards in there as well, "I wonder, is the restrooms guarded?"
"Too informal. Talk more respectfully," the guard by him said.
"The restrooms have a guard in there too," Barad-Dur replied.
"Where does he get all these guards?" Malice asked, as the turbolift shuddered to a quick stop.
"Do you really want to know?" Barad-Dur asked, stepping off with a sprint when the door swung open. He was stopped by the quards outside of the door, who said simply, "Too fast. Go slower."
Malice's jaw slackened a bit as Barad-Dur silently cursed them under his breath. The guard obviously it because he said, "Too insulting. Talk nicely."
The guard finally allowed them through. They walked, rolling thier eyes, and the guard said again, "Too loud and too insulting. Walk softer. Don't roll your eyes."
They walked softer and came upon a familiar sight. Marix was standing there, leaning back, his head dropped down in sleep, and on the other side of the hall, right infront of him, was two guards. Barad-Dur smirked.
"Lazy and undisciplined," he joked.
Malice was smiling mischiviously. He crept forward but stopped and looked inquiringly at the guard. The one closest to him did the tinest nod, and Malice went forward.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Barad-Dur said, hoping the noise would wake up the Grand Admiral. But, he was too deep in sleep to even notice the presence of other people. Malice, quiet content with his own cleverness, creapt right up to the sleeping form, and roared at the top of his voice.
Barad-Dur had never known quiet how fast Marix could move. But now, he did.
Marix sprung into action, drawing his lightsaber and slashing at Malice so fast, that it was a blur. Only thing that kept Malice from getting killed instantly was the fact that he had kept his lightsaber in his hand all this time. The blade barely caught Marix's blade.
The guard sprung into action just a fraction of a second the lightsaber sprung on. The dropped thier long rifles and raised them, ready to shoot the Grand Admiral.
"What in the name of the Emperor do you think your doing!?" shouted Marix, closing down his lightsaber, "You never scare someone like that! You want to kill someone?!"
"Too mean. Too loud. Talk----"
"SHUT UP!"
Darth Barad-Dur
Emperor Shadow looked slowly over all the details in the reports from the actions. Nasty affair, but, the time it had taken to finish the enemy had thankfully been very quickly. He read down to a certain part of the report, and stopped. He re-read the line several times, disbelief filling him. He slowly looked up at Barad-Dur.
"You didn't do anything about the clones?" he asked, "Please tell me it is a joke. Please tell me this rebellion is ended, and not going to drag on."
Barad-Dur glanced at Marix, who didn't even glance at him. Barad-Dur sighed slowly and said, "Yes. It is true."
Shadow's eyes narrowed to slits, trying to not get angry, but it was getting very hard not to just throw the Sith across the room because of his stupidity.
"And, why did you do this?" Shadow asked slowly.
"We only had a Super Star Destroyer and we were heavily engaged," Barad-Dur replied, "It would have been folly to go do so. Especially when we had only two crewmembers on board. I plan to deal with them as soon as I can regroup, resupply, and reinforce."
"You approved of this?" Shadow turned to Marix.
"It was the best course of action," Marix said, "Is it a problem?"
Shadow just started at him in disbelief. It took him a few seconds to recompose himself.
"Of course there is a problem!" he snapped, "There are clones running amok all over my empire! Citizens will die in mass numbers because of this! And you call yourselves Sith Masters. Your lucky I just don't brand you all traitors to the Empire."
"Sire---" Grat'tua began, but was cut off by an uplifted hand from Shadow.
"You have one hour to get ready and leave to finish the job," Shadow said.
"One hour?" Marix asked in disbelief, his eyebrows furrowing in bewilderment.
"One hour." Shadow replied defiantly, "Then, you had better finish the job."
Darth Barad-Dur
Chapter 2: Rebellion
The two men, one human, the other Ithorian, were on thier knees, thier hands tied behind thier backs. The human had a black eye, and a steady trickle of blood coming out from his broken nose. The Ithorian was wheezing, fron continual beatings to his wind pipe and chest, making it hard for him to breath. And standing infront of them, dark and imposing, was a human cyborg. His two guards were standing behind him, flanking the only door out.
"Let me make this simple," the cyborg said, "You tell me who you are working for, or a take my great metallic clawed hand, and break the Ithorians' neck."
"I swear to you," the human said, his voice shaky, showing his continual beating had taken a toll on him, "We only work for the Republic. We don't work for anyone else."
"Don't lie to me!" he snapped, grabbing the Ithorian by the neck, and lifting him high, until his feet were dangling from the ground, "We have your pretty twi'lek friend Orla. Believe me, she got a through interrogation. Before the end, she was so humiliated, she told us some people had helped her spy on us. No names were given, but we have ways to make her tell"
He lifted his other hand, and the guards pulled open the door, and a giant wookie walked into the room, and threw a frightened twi'lek into the room. She looked frantically around at everyone, but her eyes lingered momentarily on the human, and silently begged him to help her.
The cyborg had turned to see her, and upon seeing her reaction to the human, crushed the windpipe of the Ithorian, then threw him heavily against the wall. The Ithorian was thrown so hard, the wall was dented, and he was killed automatically.
"You have one second to live," he said, "And you better make it worth my while."
One second later, both twi'lek and human were dead, thier faces torn off by the cyborg. "Freaks," he said, stepping over the dead twi'lek body as he walked out of the room.
"Lord Raveg," someone said immediatly as he stepped out into the dimlit hall, "I have news on that coded transmission the spies sent."
"Good," he said, turning to the clone as he stepped forward, "What have you found."
"Only the person they sent it too," the clone said, "Darth Barad-Dur."
Raveg looked at him. Barad-Dur. The name filled him with so much anger, that he punched the wall, creating a foor long dent in it. AFter that, he felt somewhat better, but now, he had a plan.
"We kill Darth Barad-Dur," Raveg said, turning to him, "Find out where he is, and where he is going, and we'll set up a trap to kill him. Is our trap for Grand Admiral Marix and the Emperor ready?"
"Yeah," the clone said, "As per your orders."
"Good," Raveg said, "Commence them immediatly."
Darth Barad-Dur
Space around Coruscant
Grand Admiral Marix looked over the reports, feeling that something was missing. Something just did not seem to add up. Just that day, 25,000 new reinforcments had arrived in three capitol ships. But, something didn't seem right. There seemed to be something wrong with thier presence, almost staticy.
He looked up at the display screens showing the disposition of the fleets, and smirked. No matter, he had driven two clone transport ships into a corner, and destroyed the ships without a second thought. Clones were an abomination to nature, and thus, they had to right to live. That was Marixs' philociphy on them.
He glanced over at the wall, and noticed how late it was by the numbers projected from a holoclock. He needed to get to sleep. He stretched his arms, and used his mind to manipulat the force to turn off Malice's report. He had to be ready to continue the chase tommorow.
He walked over to his personal bathroom, and was about to go bathroom, when the door burst open, and several soldiers jumped in, firing every which way. Marix dived behind the couch so fast, that the bolts had missed and the soldiers didn't even notice. He crouched behind it, waiting to hear what this was all about.
"Kiefer!" snapped on of the soldiers, "He's not even in here."
"He has to be," another one said, thier voices oddly sounding the same, "Lord Raveg saiod he is, and he doesn't lie."
"Watch," another one scoffed (or was it the same guy?), "He probably is hiding, waiting to kill us without a thought."
"Nobody cares for the feelings of clones," the first one (or, maybe the second guy that had spoken), "They think we're just some piece of garbage."
"Come on," another one said, "Let's go check the command room."
"None of you are going anywhere," Marix calmly announced and he sprung from behind his chair. His blood red lightsaber flashed on, and he landed, and with three quick strokes killed three of the five clones. The fourth was unable to act to the situation fast enough, and he fell with the blade sticking through his chest. The fifth fired several shots in rapid succession at Marix, but he lightly tapped them away and cut his barrel in half. He then grabbed the man by the head, and used the force to pull out how many clones were on the ship. Then, he used his hand to fry the clones' brain.
There was 1,000 clones on the ship. Well, five down, 965 to go.
Imperial Palace: Kuat
The two guards fell as poisoned darts struck them. Before the rest on the floor could react, most fell under a rapid fire of darts. The rest were quickly subdued. Thier attackers were specalized clones, bred from a combination of Noghir and Mandelorian DNA. They were the ultimate fighters, and they were after the ultimate target.
The leader punched the opening button, and the door slid open. The filled in quickly and silently, forming a semi-circle around the darkened room. The Emperor's throne was turned away, towards a great window. Then, ten of the assailents moved slowly forward, but stopped when a clear voice said, "About time you arrived. You assassins are always later then expected."
The throne turned slowly until the Emperor faced the oncoming assailants, and when they saw him looking at them, they burst into a rush at him. He raised his hand, and a great burst of lightning shot forth, engulfing all ten clones, killing them instantly. He then stood up and pulled his lightsaber from his side, and ignited it, saying with a wicked grin, "This is going to be fun!"
Darth Barad-Dur
Dagobah: Local Time: Night
High Inquisitor Gra'tua pulled his cloak close around him, rain falling in heavy sheets. He was close to finding some cloned Jedi in the system, and believed they were on this planet. But, so far, his hours of searching had resulted in nothing but soaked clothes, and the feeling that everything was out of wack.
Suddenly, he stepped into a cave, and tumbled down into it, but used the force to spring to his feet. His ankle hurt, he having twisted it during the fall. But, he did not care about that. The dark side was strong in this cave, and he was sure that it would lead him to the enemy.
He walked slowly, absorbing the darkness. It empowered him beyond his wildest thoughts. This was truely grand to be in this cave.
He rounded a corner, and at once sprang back as a familiar person walked towards him. It was none other then Darth Barad-Dur, and his presnece was the one that he started this whole bloody business. He smiled at the sith.
"Didn't expect to see you here," Gra'tua said.
Barad-Dur laughed. "And you didn't expect this," he growled, and whipped out his twin red lightsaber.
"You can't be serious," Gra'tua said, raising an eyebrow.
The lightsabers struck out, and Gra'tua swiftly turned his own on and deflected the blades. They fought for a few seconds, the Barad-Dur kicked him in the chin, sending the Inquisitor sprawling to the ground.
"Curse you, Darth Barad-Dur," he growled, "Now you've got me really mad."
He leapt up, and with a super fast swing, cleaved the head off of Barad-Dur. The headless body fell then evaporated, leaving an astonished Gra'tua to look at the ground, wondering what had happened. And almost at once, a great mist rolled into the cave, obscuring all view.
"You see a vision the future," a voice said out of the dark, "Your Sith comrade shall betray your beloved order."
Gra'tua turned off his lightsaber, and crouched, smiling to himself.
"Barad-Dur will turn traitor on you," another one said, behind him, "And you will watch him get killed by your own comrades."
"I'd kill him myself if that was what happened," Gra'tua said, using the force to make his voice come from diffrent directions, trying to throw the clones off.
"Your Sith trick won't work on us," a clone said, turning on his lightsaber, "For I know right where you are."
Gra'tua ignited his lightsaber, and the Jedi clone screeched as he fell dead. The second one ignited his lightsaber, and Gra'tua jumped backwards, spiriling as he went. He fell right behind the jedi, and cut him in two. The clone collapsed, having been unable to even fight back.
"So much for these clones," he said, then jumped to the side as another lightsaber came swinging at him. He lifted his hand, and his enemies saber twirled around hin his hand, then with a small push, the Jedi fell, his own blade now stabbed in his heart.
He felt for more clones, and felt only one more, this one using two lightsabers and advancing into the far side of the cave. Gra'tua smiled, and raced at high speeds towards his enemy, his lightsaber turned off, knowing that the clone would be able to tell him in the mists of the cave. Then, at the very last second, he swung his lightsaber in a circle, turning on the blade as he did so. The clone fell, dead.
Gra'tua smiled, clipping his handle onto his belt, then walked away from there, towards where his ship was.
Darth Barad-Dur
Chapter 3: Betrayal
Space above remains of Alderaan
Commander Starn of the Republic Fleet had never thought he would be in such a position of power. He had under his command 30 ships, and nearly 60,000 crew members, and 700 fighters. But, it was one position that tittered on the edge of a knife.
"Has the trap been sprung?" Raveg said, stalking in from his chambers onto the command bridge.
"Yes, sir," Starn said, clearly uncomfortable.
"How did they go?" he asked, coming closer to the commander in every step.
"Not so well," he shrugged, "Our strike force against the Emperor did take out 30 of his guards, but he made short work of his assailants. Our force that tried to kill the Grand Admiral ran afoul of his crew and many of them were killed during fire fights. The Grand Admiral made sure the rest did not escape."
Raveg nodded. "Good. I did not expect those two to succed. That'll throw them off our trail for a few days, as they will be forced to weed through the entire fleet and guard, taking out all our clones we've managed to slip into thier ranks. What of Barad-Dur?"
Starn really felt uncomfortable now. "We didn't launch it against him sir."
Raveg stopped short of Starn, his eyes narrowing to slits. "How come it was not carried out?" he hissed.
"I took the liberty of redirecting the attack against Gra'tua," he said, eyeing with distaste at the cyborg claws hooking themselves in preperation to strike him.
"You have two seconds to live," Raveg said, and the words at once silenced all conversation and work on the bridge, people watching nervously as the clawed hand rose slwoly higher to strike, "And you better explain why you would dare change my orders."
"Gra'tua is the High Inquisitor of the Empire," Starn replied, choosing his words very carefully, for his life depended on it, "It's his duty to ensure the safety of the Empire. We were able to have one of our cloned Jedi throw a force projection of Darth Barad-Dur that attacked Gra'tua. Then, we had several regular clones that had no force ability tell Gra'tua that Barad-Dur was in league with us and would one day betray the Sith Empire. Then, Gra'tua and the rest will do our job for us."
"Why would you tell him that?" Raveg said, his claw now at full height, ready to strike, "He knows Barad-Dur better then that."
"Gra'tua is gullible," Starn said, "I mean, look what he did to you."
Raveg stood there, ready to strike, thinking. Indeed, it was really plausible. Gra'tua would be following Barad-Dur like a mynock goes to space ships. Gra'tua had destroyed Raveg because of a simple lie the Emperor had said, that Raveg's spice mining company was selling to rebels. Gra'tua had personally led the assualt team against his spice mining opertain. Gra'tua had left him so destroyed, that this cyborg body was the only thing that had saved Raveg.
He slowly dropped his hand. "In this case," he said, "Your taking the liberty is worth it. But next time, inform me."
Darth Barad-Dur
Bridge of The Darkest Knight
Grand Admiral Marix sat at the control chair of the SSD The Darkest Knight, his fingers pratically sliding over the datapad as he typed up a report to the Emperor. He was nearing completion when there was a small beep at his communications consol. He didn't even look up, but simply spun the chair towards the consol and punched the button to open the consol while still typing at about 400 words a minute.
"What is it?" he demanded, reading over it to make sure he had got all he wanted too on there.
"Sir," a crisp voice replied, "We have dropped out of hyperspace near the Alderaan System, and there are reports of a large body of vessels nearby."
"Engage them immediatly," Marix ordered, punching the key that would send off his report.
There was a slight hesitation and Marix looked over at the consol. "Is there a problem?" he asked.
"Only sir, they might be civilian vessels," the officer replied, voicing his concerns.
"Soldier!" Marix snapped, "Do your duty!"
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A few minutes later, the two fleets were deep in combat. Marix had deployed 100 TIE Fighters, 100 TIE Interceptors, and 100 Preybirds, which was less then a tenth of the fights he could deploy, but, if he was correct, there was no need for alot of fighters. Massive fire from both sides tore away at hulls and few ships even exploded, but, Marix was keeping his distance. Barad-Dur's spies had not sent any messages, which was a bad thing, and he wanted to probe until he knew what type of enemy he was engaging.
"Sir," an officer said, his holo appearing right infront of Marix, "The enemy has fifty capitol vessels at thier disposal. And twelve support ships. Orders?"
"Move the fleet to point blank range," Marix ordered, looking over at the holo that was now working, showing the two fleets, "And I want all fighters deployed. And I want all the bombers deployed and to execute plan Tamper."
The officers' eyes grew wide, although it wasn't pronounced on the holo face, "We never execute that plan unless---"
"I want few if any of them to escape captain," Marix said, holding up his hand.
"Yes, sir," the officer replied, then his holo flickered and disappeared.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hundreds of fighters flew from thier bays, and with a heavy wall of flying lasers, cut huge swaths through enemy lines. The enemy capitol ships raked space with silver lasers, and dozens of fights exploded into firey balls, but they pressed forward, until they were in the mist of the enemy ships. Then, they broke ranks and flew in many directions peppering the mammoth targets.
But, that held little importance next to the TIE Bombers that flew forward, their protection now gone. Their orders were precise and they executed them to the letter. They would full charge thier weapons, then ram themselves into the massive engines, thier fullpowered and overloaded systems damaging or destroying the targets. Then, the survivers would then fly into the enemy hanger bays and then explode, starting a chain reaction of exploding ships, droids, machinery, and clones, destroying any chance for launching ships to assist in the belligered defense.
For five minutes this holocaust continued, and many TIE Bombers never reached thier target, but 3 out of every 4 reached thier targets. Within five minutes, the enemy fleet was almost entirely wrecked, unable to escape, or send fighters to screen them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When the last target had exploded, Marix smiled. The casualties were staggering, but, it would allow for easy pickings now. If the Grand Admiral had known what was in store, it is doubtful he would have ordered the advance of his mighty fleet. He gave the order for the fleet to advance, and it lurched forward, blazing away at the severly weakened enemy.
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Raveg sneered as his fleet went up in smoke. He had his surprises. He turned to Starn, who was giving orders for the most seriously damaged ships to self-destruct only when enemy capitol ships were very close, and the less damaged to pull back.
"Starn," he ordered, "Get the ship ready to jump into hyperspace. Set coordinates for Jabiim."
"Yes, sir," Starn replied, "Anything else?"
"Activate the mines."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Star Destroyer's belly ripped apart with a massive explosion as the supposibly dead ship exploded. Another Star Destroyer started to spin out of control when it's command bridge was obiliterated with the destruction of the enemy ship. Two support ship vanished as the enemy dissentigrated into firey glory.
"Destroy all ships not pulling back!" Marix ordered as another ship was torn in two by the self destructing ship.
The orders did not need to be told twice. Turbolaser batteris opened up as firce as Marix had ever seen them, and all six remaining ship melted under the fire.
"Sir!" another holocron said, appearing before him, "The enemy has pulled behind the asteroid field, and jumping to lightspeed."
Marix opened his mouth to order the prusuit, but at once felt something wrong. A disturbance in the force. Something was not right.
"Order all fighters to pursue," he ordered insteed, "But order all capitol ships are to stop immediatly and not enter the field."
Massive maves of fighters pulled forward, but, soon, many were dodging, and dying, as mines flew towards the fighters.
"Open fire on all these asteroids, and create a five kilometer radius around the fleet before we continue the pursuit."
"But, they'll be out of our range!" the officer replied.
"Order Barad-Dur and Gra'tua to take up the pursuit," he told him, "And if you have them, give them the coordinates."
"Yes, sir," the officer signed off.
But, still something felt wrong to Marix. Like, something really bad.
Darth Barad-Dur
Chapter 4: Traitor to the Empire
Forests Surrounding Jabiim Village: An Hour After Sunrise
Barad-Dur looked down at his artillery, poised to unleash a massed bombardment that would oust the last pesthold in this region of Jabiim. The rebels had made a grand stand in five sectors; for they knew that this was the last place they could run. The rest of the rebels had scattered to holes where they could be of little trouble, and this planet was the last effective resistance against the Empire.
"Good day to destroy the last of this rebillion and end this long conflict," a voice said, but Barad-Dur didn't need to look back to know who it was.
"Good morning Gra'tua," Barad-Dur said, "Sleep well tonight?"
There was a small snort. "High Inquistors don't sleep when they are on the trail of a rumored trail to the Empire," the green-skinned alien said, stepping to his side.
Barad-Dur chuckled, "I forgot you take you duties so seriosly."
Gra'tua looked at him with his cold black eyes and shrugged. "It's my job," he reminded him, "I don't take it lightly."
"Your prey won't escape you," Barad-Dur nodded, but the menacing silence from the other sith made him uneasy. Gra'tua had been like this ever since he and Barad-Dur had been assigned to track down the last of these renegades.
The silence was soon broken by the sound of jet packs coming closer, and Barad-Dur looked up, and saw two jet troopers desending towards him. They dropped infront of him, and the fire from thier jet packs were extingueshed. They saluted the two Sith lords and the taller of the two began to report.
"We have checked the defences of the city and we can easily destroy them in a minute," he said.
Barad-Dur nodded. "Not much power there," he noted, "Who is the commander? And what is his species? That will give us a good indicator of if he will fight. Or try to run like a coward."
"His name is Delfo, and he is a Ithorian," the soldier replied.
Barad-Dur looked sharply at him, "Are you sure that he was Ithorian, Commander?"
The soldier nodded vigrously, "I saw him myself."
Gra'tua smirked. "He will prove no trouble then," the Nautolan replied, "Order all batteries to open fire immediatly."
"I counterman that order!" Barad-Dur snapped.
The two soldiers and Gra'tua looked shocked at him.
"We will not fire on the village," he continued.
"Why?" demanded Gra'tua, "He is a traitor to the Empire."
"He was one of the spies I ordered to keep an eye on our enemy," Barad-Dur explained, "He would never work with the enemy. I want to see him myself."
"I'm surprised," Gra'tua muttered.
"What?" Barad-Dur asked.
"That two Jedi could actually have told the truth," he said, shaking his head, "I thought they were lying. I didn't want to believe them. But, it is true---"
"What?!" snapped Barad-Dur.
"I hearby condemn you to death for tretchery to the Empire and to your Emperor," Gra'tua said, his hand shooting to his lightsaber.
Barad-Dur was faster, and he kicked Gra'tua around the head, and fried the two jet troopers as they pulled thier own guns out. Gra'tua had his lightsaber out and slashing, but Barad-Dur was no longer there, but strapping on a jet pack with amazing speed.
"What is this?" Gra'tua demanded, as he advanced on Barad-Dur, "You traitors run instead of waiting to strap on a jet pack."
"What is in your head?" demanded Barad-Dur, as he leapt over the swing from Gra'tua's blade, "I am no traitor! You know me better then that."
"So did I," Gra'tua said, throwing a mist around him, and charging his opponent. Barad-Dur turned, and at the last possible second, set off, catching Gra'tua in a blast of fire that threw him to the ground and threw his concentration off, and his mist failed. Barad-Dur leapt above the trees, flying away as fast as possible.
Gra'tua stood, the flames extingueshed, but his anger filling him. "You will not escape the Order," he snarled, and with that, he turned on a comlink to Marix and said, "Assemble every avalible Sith. Barad-Dur is a traitor to the Empire."
Darth Barad-Dur
Chapter 5: Manhunt
Throne Room: Kuat
Emperor Shadow was leaned back on his spinny chair throne, listening to the testimony of Gra'tua. It just didn't make sense to the Emperor. Why would such a faithful member of the Empire, not kill traitors? Shadow understood that Barad-Dur might have wanted to talk to the person, but, to turn on Gra'tua? The High Inquisitor? It didn't fit with his personality.
Gra'tua ended his report by saying, "It is obvious to all that Barad-Dur is now a rebel and with the demise of our enemy on Jabiim, we can now divert many of our soldiers and Sith to hunt down Barad-Dur."
Shadow looked up at him and the gathered Lords and Ladies, who were standing in a semi-circle around the chamber, listening with growing hatred at the man who was being talked about. It was apparent to all that Barad-Dur must now die. Shadow could see the bloodlust and smeel it like a foul wind. But, it was ultimatly his decision. And, he really didn't have much choice.
"Are you sure that Barad-Dur was acting under his own free will?" Shadow asked, "Are you sure that Barad-Dur was not being controlled by a Master Jedi?"
Gra'tua shook his head, "You and I both know that Barad-Dur would not be easily controlled by anyone, Master or other. I saw him, and he did not act as one who was under the influence of the Force."
Shadow put his forefinger and thumb to his chin, rubbing it thoughtfully. Intresting, most intresting. He did not know what to make of this.
"Are you sure this isn't an enemy scheme to devide our Empire?" Shadow asked, looking the High Inquisitor full in the eyes.
Gra'tua shrugged. "I don't think so," he asked, "That would be the enemies way, but, they are all but defeated, and it would profit them nothing."
Shadow closed his eyes. He really did not want to condemn Barad-Dur. Once the order to hunt down Barad-Dur went out, he could not revoke it until Barad-Dur's head was brought back to him on a silver platter. But, like he knew, there wasn't much choice he had.
"Then, commence the manhunt," Shadow commanded, "But, I want you to bring him back to me alive if possible."
"Your will be done, sire," Gra'tua said bowing. He turned on his heel, and strode out, and the beginning of Barad-Dur's end had begun.
Darth Barad-Dur
Two Months Later: Abandoned City on Kashyyyk
The shadowy figure watched the five stormtroopers as they came around the corner. The stormtroopers were weary of all, being scared of the silent killer that was in the city. Thirty stromtroopers and two sith had already been found, killed. They believed that Darth Barad-Dur was in the city, but weren't willing to go out far beyond the base a city away.
They passed the figure, watching him wearily. They passed him, and the figure sprang forth. Within a few seconds, it was all over, all of them decapitated. The figure stood in the midst of bodies, his twin blades lit. He heard somebody call out, and he shut down his lightsbares, and Force ran from the scene. Two minutes later, another scouting party came upon the casualties.
The figure watched them from above the branches above, and when they left, the figure pulled back his hood. For 62 days he had been on the run, fighting for his life. When he had heard the manhunt order on him, he knew that not even his men could be trusted. But, that had not stopped him from finding a few good men who knew he was a good man, and these accusations against him were false.
He pulled out his comlink, and turned it on, pressing it close to his mouth, to keep the static and his voice down.
"Captain Ferrow," he said quietly, "More activity in this part of the city. Be prepared for anything. We might have to leave soon."
"Yes sir," the captain replied, "We are ready to leave at any moment. Oh, and we have the site found."
"Good," Barad-Dur nodded, "Over and out."
He clicked off and placed the comlink back in his cloak. Everything was against him. And he didn't understand why.
What could he have possibly done to incure the wrath of the Emperor? That question still lingered on his mind as he went back to his base.
Five Hours Later
"For your own sake commander," Gra'tua said darkly, "You had better be right."
"Everything indicates that they are here," the commander said, pointing to the broken down buildings infront of him.
Good, Gra'tua thought, the Emperor is getting impatient.
He turned on his lightsaber, and the twenty Sith charged into the ruins. He slashed the flimsy door off the post, and the rest flipped through the windows, or burst through the walls. But, Gra'tua snarled.
"Barad-Dur," he spat, "Where have you gone this time?"
"Sir," one of the sith said, pointing to a door in the back, "That was opened not five minutes ago."
"We were that close to getting him!" Gra'tua snarled, turning to the commander as he stepped into the building, a great blaster cradled in his arms.
"Did you find him?" he asked, looking around, "I guess you did not."
"Oh, yes we did," Gra'tua said, and his lightsaber flew across the room, burying itself into the commanders' skull.
Darth Barad-Dur
Chapter 6: One With The Force
Genosian Factory: Late at Night
Barad-Dur landed on the planet, with two men at the pilot and copilot seats. He finally knew who the main enemy was: Lord Raveg. Raveg had secretly been transporting weapons to a band of rebels, and Gra'tua had destroyed him.
Had being the keyword here. He had come back, as a cyborg. This alone forced him to be careful, but, he could not take these two men. The landing ramp dropped, and Barad-Dur stood up to leave.
"I really wish you would take us with you," one of the pilots said, turning to face him.
"To do so would only force your own deaths and blow my cover," he replied, "I must do this alone."
The other pilot sighed, and gripped his blaster, "I don't think we'll need to blow your cover."
Barad-Dur choose to ignore the slight. He walked away and entered the dark night. He walked through the dark plains, towards the spire about 400 yards away.
Suddenly, he dropped to the ground, and there was a massive explosion. He turned, and the shuttle had exploded, and several bolts zipped from the spire. Indeed, there was no need to blow his cover. Hopefully they thought the explosion was his demise.
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Finally, Marix thought, stepping into the base of the spire, they had found Barad-Dur. He turned to look at the other sith with him. There was Darth Malice and Gra'tua and all three knew that he had just landed. However, the mystery had deepened when they saw his destroyed fighter. What kind of allies destroyed the ships of their friends?
They were shuroded in the Dark Side, and could not be seen as they moved forward. The tunnels and halls they moved through had lights lit and illuminating the hall. It wasn't much, but more then a Sith needed to see everything.
They slowly came to a bend, thier feet not even making a sound. Marix stopped, hand raised. He listened, and with the Force heard the sound of lightsabers. He waved forward, and they scurried to the entrance of a chamber, with many platforms and many boxes. And, in middle of the chamber, was Darth Barad-Dur, fighting fircely with four Sith and one Jedi.
Marix looked down, and saw the bodies of seven others. At least he was still a good fighter, he thought, watching Barad-Dur hold his own.
What's going on? Malice sent him a thought, Why are they fighting?[/i}
[i]Don't know, Marix thought back.
Let us hope they destroy each other Gra'tua interjected. So, they settled back to watch the show.
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Barad-Dur's lightsabers slashed through two of his remaining opponents and the last two closed in on him, thier sabers held infront of them. Barad-Dur feinted with a right, and then struck with a right, stabbing another one through the chest. Barad-Dur then launched a full-fledged assualt on the last one, driving him back, although his opponent was holding his own. Finally, the sabers came together, lopping his head off.
Barad-Dur shut down the lightsabers, so tired and worn out that he could hardly move. This had taken a great toll on him. And, he now was going to die.
"Marix, Malice, and Gra'tua," he said, not looking towards where they were, "My old friends."
With that, the three exited, throwing off thier shrouds. Barad-Dur turned, knowing he could not fight them all. But, a good bluff was as good as anything.
"Evening gentleman," he said, trying not to show his tiredness, "What my I do for you?"
"Give us your life," Malice growled, "You filthy traitor."
Barad-Dur turned on his lightsaber, "Hail Emperor Shadow! We who are about to die, salute you."
Marix, Gra'tua, and Malice leapt forward, thier lightsabers turned on and blazing in the dark. Barad-Dur was waiting for them.
Five minutes followed of slashing, force throws, and the works. Malice became angry and jumped forward, slashing fircely, screaming as he did. Barad-Dur side stepped, and instead of going for the kill, kicked him as hard as he could, knocking out Malice and throwing him against the wall. Marix and Gra'tua then sprang forward, driving Barad-Dur back who was at the end of his reserves.
Marix feignted, and Gra'tua blasted Barad-Dur with a blast of lightning that shattered Barad-Dur, nearly killing him.Barad-Dur fell, and Gra'tua slowly stepped forward, raising his lightsaber.
"Raveg is the one," was all Barad-Dur could say before he was stabbed through the heart, killing him instantly.
Marix looked at Gra'tua, understanding immediatly what was going on. "Raveg has returned and turned us against Barad-Dur, killing him," he said.
"Impossible," Gra'tua replied,' shutting down his lightsaber.
"Not at all impossible."
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Gra'tua was thrown back by a massive punch that sent him flying against a pillar, knocking him unconcious. Marix stepped back in surprise as a man suddenly appeared, a cyborg.
"You are right," Raveg said, "I am back. And out for vengance."
Marix threw up his hand and sent fire coursing foward. However, it went around in a bubble. He was surprised, sending another course forward.
"Ysalamair, you fool," he snarled, shooting dozens of darts from a wrist gun. Marix caught them all with his lightsaber.
Raveg leapt forward, and used his cyborg speed to grab Marix by the throat and pushing him up against the wall. "No victory for you, you fool!" he snapped, raising his other hand to slice through Marix's face, but, he suddenly crumpled, and Malice was seen standing above his body, his mace covered in blood.
"Let us take Barad-Dur back to Kuat, and explain what has happened," Malice said.
Marix nodded, "Indeed, nothing is better fitting for him then to clear his name."
