As he had launched on his tirade Lupercus had noticed a flash of force energy in the distance, a flash of utilitarian hatred, but only now did he realise what that meant.

The other is coming, and with fear in her heart...

At the mention of Korriban though Lupercus couldn't help but chuckle.

"Korriban? I have no doubt that the fool that was Maim has long stripped that planet clean of anything of use. It seems to me that you are on a fools errand..."

But the mission itself now seemed a side issue in Ithron's mind, the Hapan could easily see that now. He was focused on the end, the power the mission would gain, rather than the means.

"But the things i have to teach are not simply tricks but rather thoughts and methods. Granted, i know tricks also, but these are simply a sideshow to the real truth."

He cast his mind back now to Naboo, the images imprinting themselves onto Ithron's mind so that he could understand the course his skills had taken. Ithron saw the death of Vonta and the Gungans, and the defeat of numerous Jedi padawans. But that was merely the prelude to the real event. Gash Jiren.

He had struck Lupercus in a way that had almost killed him. Twice.

But while the then younger Sith had already begun his path towards the manipulation of the force on its most infantisimal level, it was these strikes that had brought him close enough to death that allowed the pure hatred and rage to focus his understanding to its greatest level. Tevarii had felt it too, his mistress and queen then, for the first time, submitting to his authority as her Master. Ithron himself felt it through the images, the flow causing dramatic emanations deep within his core, the hatred and pain coming close to overwhelming the apprentice.

The power he had gained then had helped turn Diete Somir back onto the true path of the Darkside, revealing once again the Dark Lord Maim unto the galaxy. But the effects of the power were nothing compared to the power itself.

Reaching out now the Sith Lord fed upon that memory, his vision changing into that which he had learned.

Where Ithron stood was now simply billions upon billions of particles, the mass barely held together by tiny molecular bonds, but their inherent uniqueness revealling that the mass was Ithron, and Ithron nothing more than the sum total of its parts. But the hatred that flowed through him now seemed to empower the molecules themselves, that action causing them to seemingly hum and shake with the energy.

"I can see you feel it, the intense power that is the pure basis of the use of the force. Now it is one thing to see through those eyes, but it is entirely another to apply that sight to the manipulation of those links and particles."

Lupercus exhaled now, and it seemed as if all of a sudden the power had left. Ithron felt a void within himself where he had once been full, if only for a few moments. With the darkness gone, the room seemed empty.

"These are the things i have to teach." He paused for effect, his thoughts drifting back to his last apprentice, but only for a moment. "But these are not things to be past onto one who follows the falsity of a 'united' Order. Even as an apprentice the order was unified in name only, the true link remaining the importance of Master and Apprentice. It was the duality of the Masters, knowing what each wanted, that kept us together.

People of your stature should not be worried with such a fools paradise as unity. All comes through power, everything else should be secondary."

Distracted now, Lupercus's speech changed its tone.

"Your 'friend' approaches..."

For the few moments when the power and will of the Sith Lord had flowed through his body, Ithron had experienced the sensation of having far more power than he could control flowing through his body. It was, quite literally, the case that without Lupercus controlling the moment, Ithron's mind would have been torn into pieces.

He looked around the room with his eyes, and then with the Force. He felt, as Lupercus had, the component atoms and molecules in every item in the hanger bay. He could see the walls and his ship. Beyond the walls he could sense the life force of a hundred workers in the Diktat. Suddenly, he felt an urge to break through the walls and take, by force, the life of the workers - to enrich his own. As he attempted to stagger forwards, the power left him, and everything went dim.

Ithron stumbled and fell to the floor; the Sith Lord not seeming to notice as he regained his breath and staggered to his feet. All he was left with now was his own Force abilities - such as they were - and a residual longing for the power he had felt.

Your 'friend' approaches...

He's right, Ithron thought. There is a fools' errand. Far more power could be mine, here. Hell, Vance probably knew we would end up here - he might have even planned this whole thing.

"These are not things that can be passed onto those who follow a united order? What about those who are the single Apprentice to a legendary Master?" He said out loud. As he spoke he felt around the room with the Force. Everything seemed so dim, so lifeless and so sterile now.

"If Mira's on her way, I should leave." He sounded uncertain.

Why should I help her on Korriban? She fled our duel - I won. I should have destroyed her.

"These things could well be taught to someone in the united order, but i won't be teaching them. To an apprentice of mine well, that is a different story altogether."

Lupercus sensed the confusion in the apprentice. Also Ithrons anger flashed at the wasted mission that lay before him. His body language was dejected as he returned to his pitful level of understanding without the Sith Lords guidance.

But it was lust for anger towards his compatriot that was the most important thing that Lupercus sensed in the sithling.

"Go on to Korriban. Seek out what you can."

Lupercus's eyes narrowed now.

"Use your partner when you can, and discard her upon your success. You sense her weakness, so you should use that to your advantage."

He nodded to himself now as he continued.

"Then return with your prize to me. That is, if you want the unparalleled power i can give you..."

As the Master's voice trailed away, the thought struck Ithron that his entire future depended on what he did next. On the one hand was Vance, and the ordered but limited Sith Order of Xa Fel. On the other was Lupercus, offering raw, unlimited, power.

Ithron paused, and he sensed a flicker in the Force signature of the Master that indicated his time for decision was running out. Thinking back to how he had seen the world in that moment Lupercus shared his power, he realised he had made his decision. Seduced by the appeal of raw power, Ithron dropped to a knee and bowed his head before the Diktator of the Correlian Diktat, Sith Master Lupercus Darksword.

"Yes, Master..."

* * *

Minutes later, the Sith Vessel was airborne and flying over the streets of Coruscant.

Now to find Mira, and then....to Korriban

Ishara remained in the welcoming darkness of the hangar entrance as she waited for Lupercus. Her presence there was unknown to all but him as she had sensed his summons.

From a distance, she watched as Ithron departed. Once Lupercus was alone, she slowly stepped out of the darkness as her skin began to shine in the dim light as Ishara approached her new master. Her footsteps echoed with each step she took.

Weeks earlier though a chance encounter, Selene herself managed to construct this alliance with Lupercus who also agreed that in return for the support of the Nightsisters, he would aid in training several Nightsister Learners to be even more of a threat then they already were. It was a risky venture, but the benefits could not be ignored. In the time since, the Nightsisters had formed a successful alliance with Lupercus who they address as their Shadow Lord.

Ishara took a place next to Lupercus and began to walk alongside him. “Several of my sisters will be joining us within the next day as you and Selene have commanded. The chosen ones are making the trip from Lexia as we speak.

Ishara glanced back to where she had seen Lupercus speaking to Ithron, then returned her gaze forward. She thought about the parts of the conversation she overheard before addressing Lupercus. “He was rather easy to corrupt my Shadow Lord. Are you certain he can be trusted?”

Ishara's appearance was not surprising following Lupercus's meeting with the young Sith. He smiled at her approach, sensing the unease she had with what had just taken place.

"Yes, your sisters have a vital role to play in the next steps of this grand game."

He smiled to himself.

"But Ithron? Trust is not essential. He has the hunger. That is what counts and i can feel it burning strong. Trust is what Vance wants, Power is what i need, and offer to those who follow me."

His smile turned to Ishara now as they walked.

"As you and your sisters will soon see!"

Ishara paused for a moment. “If you have confidence in Ithron, then so shall I.” Ishara then gently ran her hand down Lupercus’ cheek as she gazed deeply into his eyes. “As you said my Shadow Lord, it’s about hunger.”

Ishara seductively smiled as she turned and the two continued to walk together. “My sisters and I are indeed ready. Allysha and Krista arrived earlier today and are at your disposal. I also received a transmission from Saphire who informed me she has a firm position and is ready to strike when you see fit.”

Ishara and Lupercus reached the end of a long corridor. Ishara stopped and placed her hands on her hips as she looked up at Lupercus. “Do you have any instructions for me before I head back to my chamber?”

Lupercus couldn't help but smile at the honorific the Nightsisters had bestowed upon him. Despite all the pomp and circumstance he had come to enjoy as the Corellian Diktator, he only ever enjoy those that had some sort of grounding in reality. Still, since assuming the role of patriarch of their order, the titles they had given him had begun to take on a certain gravity and momentum.

He ignored the touch to his cheek, such an act was indicative of an attempt to wrest some power and control from the situation, something Lupercus was unwilling to give into on anothers terms. At least in this instance.

However the reports on her sisters were vital also.

"Excellent. Soon everything shall be in place."

As they stopped Lupercus couldn't help but smirk his predatory grin at her question. The woman oozed sex, and obviously knew it. He was sure that she had used herself to her own advantage many a time, preying on the weaknesses of lesser men. And despite not being a lesser man, the Sith Lord could not deny his desire, and the fact that he did indeed hold that weakness.

"Any instructions you say?"

He couldn't help taking the opportunity to look Ishara up and down.

"Meditate on the importance of desire, of the hunger. Learn to channel that energy into seizing that which you want for yourself."

With a cryptic smile the Hapan Prince made his way back to his chambers.

Ishara broke of her seductive gaze as she bowed her head. Ishara then stood motionless as she watched Lupercus walk down the corridor as he left her to ponder what he had said.

"Meditate on the importance of desire, of the hunger. Learn to channel that energy into seizing that which you want for yourself."

Desire and hunger was something Ishara had always taken to heart. She knew the true meaning of Lupercus’ words and would indeed meditate on them as he instructed. The energy of both were together powerful and could achieve almost anything.

As Lupercus disappeared down the corridor and the echo of his footsteps no longer could be heard, Ishara slowly turned and headed to her own chambers.





As Ishara reached her chambers, she walked inside the dark room which was only dimply lit by candlelight and removed her belt holding her lightsaber. Placing it on a nearby chair, she then sat down in the center of the room on the floor and crossed her legs.

Ishara entered a trance and began to focus her mind into a deep meditation.


Desire…


Hunger…


Seizing what she wants…

Events of the past few days flowed slowly through his mind, like a river. First emerging as visions and memories, before turning into thoughts and feelings. There was nothing else he could do at the moment, but sit there in the small Cafe. Why he was there, he could not be sure, though over the past days, Ben had learned once more to not question the hints he received through the force.

He had meditated about Mira and where to find her, while resting and getting treated on the Galactic Coalition planet of Varn. It was there that he had taken a family of refugees after Telos. After getting out of the sewer, Ben had made the choice to help those children that he had met earlier. He offered to take them and their family off the planet and to some place safe. For the sake of their children, both parents had agreed and even quickly helped Ben to apply some Bacta patches on his burned and punctured torso.

The closest safe planet had been Varn and Ben set a course for it. Upon arrival, each one of them were taken to the small hospital facility and looked after. Out of the four, Ben had been the worse off. The doctor had let him know that his spleen had ruptured, but thankfully had been cauterized by the lightsaber, preventing internal bleeding. Not only that, part of his liver had been severed as well and he received a whole host of infections from the sewer incident.

A quick treatment had fixed Ben for the most part, but he had still been fairly weak and the doctors had ordered him to rest. A day of meditation had been strengthened Ben to the point that he could leave on his own, after thanking of medical staff of course. It was also during this meditation that Ben was pointed to the planet of Coruscant. He had never been there before, but when he asked his mind where Mira could be found, he got that planet as an answer. With nothing else to go on, Ben set course for Coruscant.

Here he now sat on this busy lively planet that never slept and was forever in motion. Ben had never seen so many people before in his life. Everywhere he went there were crowds of people hurrying to and from work. It all amazed him, there was so much life here, yet when he opened up completely to the force, there was also pain and suffering and anger. Most of these feelings swelled up from down below, perhaps in the undercity, but it was not just there.

On the planet he had walked with his eyes half closed, seeing only through the force. Ben let it guide him completely and finally on certain streets and walkways, he felt her. He would never forget the presence of that woman. Darkness followed her wherever she went and it had giver her away. Mira was on the planet, he knew it. The only problem was finding her among the billions upon billions of other that inhabited it.

Once more he had led the force lead him and it had shown him a path to this cafe. Here he had taken a seat and wondered about his past and the events that had transpired before. The force had stopped guiding him, so Ben decided to sit here and wait, how long he was not sure, but he had to be patient.

This patience was rewarded when a woman walked into the room. Ben could instantly tell it was her, but tried to not react. This woman was the only one in the room with almost no force signature, she was almost completely closed off. Her trick, while hiding her, had also backfired, exposing her as a force user.

She recognized Ben as well, instantly. With a small smile of satisfaction, Ben watched as she bolted from the cafe. This was a little surprising to him. Why would she run away? She had almost killed him not long before, so why be afraid now? Could there be most to this? Nothing was definitely hidden from him.

Ben made his way through the crowd and out into the open, just in time to see Mira jump over the walkway railing. He rushed towards it and saw her land confidently on top of a speeder. What happened next shocked him to the bone. Mira grabbed the driver and without a second thought toss him off into the darkness below.

He gripped the railing as hard as he could, knowing he could not follow her that way. There must be another way to find out where she was headed, however. Ben turned to walk away, thinking that he needed to find a quiet room to meditate, when he saw it. The answer to his questions. It was a holocam hanging from a surveillance post.

With another smile, Ben plucked the commlink from his belt and dialed up law enforcement.