Begeren. Once a prosperous Sith world, it has been the site of numerous battles throughout the millennia. Grand halls and monuments were torn down and re-purposed by looting Republic forces thousands of years ago, before they were driven from the planet. Isolated settlements still dot the planet's surface, but the inhospitable, craggy, and desert-like terrain, along with the beasts common to many desert and Sith worlds, have kept most humanoids from colonizing. Occasional skirmishes have left debris scattered throughout the desert, and battles were fought here as recently as the Galactic Civil War. The planet is now under the control of the One Sith and is rumored to be full of all manner of priceless, ancient Sith artifacts.

Begeren’s plunder has been rich, and the Clans and Houses have been bolstered, both by the favor they are currying with the Grand Master, and with their own triumphs against rivals. More fighting seems to have occurred between the Clans and Houses than against the One Sith, and the stream of priceless artifacts has slowed to a trickle as of late. The invasion of Begeren has now entered a wholly different phase, and though the end goal of capturing the world’s precious secrets remains the same, the methods of achieving it have changed. At least for now. The Dark Council has identified several settlements and key military objectives to seize, both for use as staging grounds, and to quell any revolts against Brotherhood authority before they begin. It has fallen to the Clans and Houses to seize these objectives, with large accolades and bounties to those willing to undertake dangerous missions, alone, into hostile territory. Despite the recent inter-clan aggressions, the Dark Council has made it clear that the bounties for taking objectives cannot be shared between units.

One such objective, a V-150 Planet Defender ion cannon, lies nestled in one of Begeren’s northern mountain ranges. The inhospitable and semi-arid region is known for its relatively cooler temperatures compared to the rest of the planet, and is home to one of the only active spaceports on Begeren. Though most of the region is patrolled by local militias, a sizable One Sith presence is thought to be in the area. An enormous feminine stone face, carved into the side of a towering cliff side, overlooks both the ion cannon and the neighboring spaceport, paying homage to a long-dead female Sith Lord.

You stand in a massive scree field beneath the adorned cliff side. The dark side is almost palpable here beneath the monument, but your true goal is the installation and the massive ion cannon immediately to your west. The installation is lightly guarded, and can be accessed by a natural, mountainous tunnel entrance. The entrance is well-lit and quite large for a tunnel access shaft, big enough for the heavy machinery needed to construct and maintain the massive ion cannon. The tunnel itself splits a few hundred yards in, leading to two separate objectives.

There are two main objectives: the fire control and targeting room, and the main power generators. Intelligence reports indicate that the fire control and targeting room is manned by two gunners and two-to-three militiamen from the local settlement. Intelligence also reports a light contingent of three guards and a slew of power droids around the power generators. Which objective you choose depends, in part, on whether you wish to take or destroy the ion cannon. A barracks is not far from the ion cannon, and it’s possible that the One Sith could be lurking closeby should you arouse suspicion.

The sound of shifting rocks and falling boulders alerts you to the presence of another not far from the tunnel entrance, as well. You head quickly into the tunnel, knowing your opponent may be upon you at any time.

The harsh, mountain terrain flashed by below as Aidan Kincaid stood staring out the open bay door of a LAAT/i gunship as it flew across Begeren's northern wastes. He pulled his cloak tighter against the fierce winds. It had been hours since he had left the meeting of the Taldryan Summit and been tasked with a new mission at the behest of his master. The Dark Council had finally switched objectives and was now targeting important military installations, rather than relics. The One Sith had been massing a series of counterattacks against the Brotherhood's invasion force and was slowly pushing the Dark Jedi back.

Hidden deep within these mountains was a planetary defender ion cannon. The Sith had been devastating the Brotherhood's fleet by disabling ships with it then destroying them. Kincaid's mission was to eliminate the ion cannon. Finally, he reached his destination and jumped, not waiting for the ship to stop. He hurtled towards the ground, but caught himself with an effort of will and landed at the base of a great cliff. The tunnel access to the ion cannon lay directly before him, and Kincaid began to move as the ion cannon rotated into a new position.

As he entered, a subtle chill brushed against his senses, bringing him to a stop just inside the mouth of the tunnel. His dark eyes scanned back and forth, but there was nothing to see in the light of the glow-lamps except several thick power cables lining one side of the tunnel. Taking a deep breath, he let his eyes slide closed and reached out with his senses. He instantly felt the chill sharpen into a malevolent presence. He was not alone in the tunnel.

Aware of the mental deception, Kincaid opened his eyes and the illusion shattered like fragments of glass. He could just make out the shadowy form of a diminutive figure, crouching in wait near the tunnel wall. Realizing he had been discovered, the figure stood up and calmly brushed his robes. The Twi'lek exuded a disturbing presence despite his size, which was only intensified by the black, ritualistic Sith tattoos covering his dark blue skin.

"Not bad," Kincaid said, "but a little heavy handed."

The Twi'lek's face split into a cold grin as he stepped forward. He accepted the remark with a shallow nod of his head. "I'll have to remember that."

The two took a moment to measure and size up each other's skills. Kincaid recognized the man now that he could see him clearly. Though they had only fought together briefly, the Twi'lek had a face that was impossible to forget. Alaris Jinn was a former member of Taldryan… turned Arconan traitor.

"Walk away, Jinn. You have no chance here," Kincaid said. There was no boasting in his voice, it was just a simple statement of fact. The mission's bounty would go to Taldryan.

The grin faded from the Twi'lek's face, replaced with a vicious snarl. Kincaid drew a lightsaber from his hip, activated its brilliant, amber blade, and shifted himself into a fighting stance. Mentally, he prepared himself as he reached back into his memories to recall all he could about Alaris Jinn.

"Fool," Jinn muttered. It was there again—that malevolent shiver of ice . "You won't need that to defeat me."

Kincaid felt the compulsion brush against his thoughts, trying to break through his mental defenses. Despite expecting it, the impulse to obey was overwhelming. He gritted his teeth with effort, but his body responded, and his right hand jerkily tossed the lightsaber off to the side. Jinn smiled again and stepped forward, his hand reaching for his own weapon. That was all it took.

Kincaid's head snapped up. His instincts screamed at the sense of danger, and he pushed back the compulsion. Drawing his second lightsaber, he activated the sapphire blade and hurled it at Jinn. The blade flew like a dart, seeking to pierce the Twi'lek's chest, but a green blade ignited instantly and flicked the weapon away. Without wasting a moment, Kincaid reached out with his right hand and summoned the dropped lightsaber back to his hand. Taking two quick steps, he leapt towards Jinn and slashed, their two blades crashing against each other with an explosion of sparks.

Kincaid glared down into the Twi'lek's eyes. "Like I said. You have no chance here."

"Don't be so sure," Jinn said.

Twirling his blade, Jinn broke their lock then spun away, sending another predatory smile at Kincaid, and then slashed into the thick power cables on the ground. The lights instantly died, leaving the tunnel in complete blackness. Kincaid cursed. He jumped back a dozen feet, keeping his lightsaber before him. The amber blade illuminated the darkness, but he did not trust that Jinn wouldn't try to pull something. Mocking laughter echoed around the tunnel, but the sound was moving away from him.

A moment later, he heard the low hum of a generator and emergency lights flickered into existence. Twirling his lightsaber in his hand, Kincaid bolted forward after Jinn. He had no time to waste dealing with the Twi'lek, but he had little choice. The Brotherhood would just have to deal with the ion cannon being operational a bit longer.

The tunnel began to ramp upwards, leading to what he knew would be the fork that would take him to the installation's power generators. As he reached the top of the ramp, Kincaid came to an instant stop. Before him, arrayed in a semi-circle, were a half-dozen armed guards in black fatigues. Behind them stood Jinn, his face twisted into a mask of utter contempt. The guards were obeying him? Inwardly, Kincaid cursed at himself. He had walked right into the Twi'lek's trap. Now, his mind began to race as he sought a way to survive the next few moments.

"The pretender has infiltrated our installation," Jinn said, interrupting Kincaid's thoughts. He raised his hand in a brief, dismissive gesture and the guards raised their blasters.

"Kill him."

The brilliant light of red blaster fire ignited the air. Alaris could almost taste the burning ozone and it brought another satisfied grin to his face, but the grin turned sour quickly. Kincaid wasn’t moving. The blaster fire wasn’t harming him. It shot across the corridor and avoided the Dark Jedi Master as if the guards were intentionally missing him. Kincaid hadn’t even lifted a hand.

Alaris glanced at the soldiers under his command. They seemed to be fighting against their own weapons; struggling against an invisible force, which attempted to wrench the blaster rifles from their hands.

The Twi’lek sneered and called off the attack. The last of the bolts faded and Alaris watched a slight distortion bubble dissipate back into the nothingness from whence it came. He stepped forward, parting the guards through the centre of their formation. One thumbed at his thermal detonator, but Alaris waved it off quickly.

“I’ll say this once, Kincaid.” The Aedile’s words dripped with contempt. “I have enough respect for you to allow you to leave alive. Otherwise I can order these soldiers to open fire once more. That trick was pretty impressive, but there’s no way you can withstand the combined firepower of these guards and me.” He took another step toward the Marauder. “Survival is more important than success.” His eyes flashed with amber as he spoke.

Kincaid felt the pressure on his mind again. The Twi’lek’s words contained a sobering truth, but the Elder knew better than to trust even his own mind around Alaris Jinn. “Enough of your attempts, Jinn. I was satisfied to let you leave and live. This is no longer the case.”

Alaris shook his head mockingly. “I very rarely see this much emotion out of you, Kincaid. I hope I haven’t touched a nerve. Did we singe your robes?”

“Want a closer look?”

Kincaid didn’t allow for the words to even register. Faster than any Human should have been able to move, Kincaid lowered his lightsaber and sprang at Alaris. He grabbed the Twi’lek’s collar and pulled him close. “How’s this?”

The guards raised their weapons to fire at the point blank target. The clicks from the rifles echoed into the corridor. Kincaid’s eyes flashed the same colour as his dangling lightsaber. The fatigue-clad soldiers were unprepared for the force of the impact. They were launched by a wall of wind that propelled them backward. The attack caught Alaris as well, but Kincaid held on tightly enough that the Twi’lek didn’t move far.

Alaris felt a few ribs break as the air rushed from his lungs. Kincaid let his opponent drop unceremoniously to the cold stone floor. The Twi’lek sucked hard, forcing his lungs to fill. He blinked repeatedly, trying to clear the stars from his eyes.

Kincaid raised the blade in his hand and spun it with a flourish. Stepping over the dropped Twi’lek, Kincaid went to work. He didn’t so much consider the guards a threat as he felt it was simply a necessary part of the battle.

They had all taken the brunt of the attack pretty hard. Two of the soldiers’ necks had broken upon impact with the stone wall, while the other four lay battered and bruised on the cold floor. Kincaid made quick work of the survivors, then turned back to Alaris.

The Twi’lek had pulled himself up onto one knee and grabbed the black hilt of his lightsaber firm in his right hand. He panted and winced each time he sucked in air. His eyes blazed amber with focus. The pain with each breath faded slowly into a dull pressure.

Kincaid regarded Alaris with a sense of curiosity, they way one looked at a machine that wasn’t working properly. He flicked a wrist and Alaris screamed in pain. The Twi’lek dropped back to the ground and rolled onto his back. He instinctively released his lightsaber and his right hand shot up to his left shoulder, inches from his heart.

The pain was white and excruciating. The Aedile had experienced agony many times before -- it was an old friend -- but it didn’t make this any less painful. Rolling onto to his side and curling slightly, Alaris gritted his teeth and tasted blood. He didn’t remember biting his tongue, but the metallic taste was indication that he clearly had.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” he sputtered between grimaces.

“I should just kill you and move on.” Kincaid raised his lightsaber over his head, ready for the killing blow.

“And waste all these Arconan secrets I have in my head?”

Kincaid stopped and slowly lowered his weapon. “You would betray Arcona, wouldn’t you? Just for a few more hours of life.”

“I’m only an Aedile; I don’t have access to all the highly classified secrets, but enough that would give Taldryan the advantage on Korriban.” Alaris’s words were coming more readily now. The Arconan pulled himself back up to his knees and sat on his feet. He waved one of his hands, almost as if the Inquisitor was trying to grab something to steady himself, despite there being nothing in arms reach. Jinn dropped his head to not allow Kincaid to see the flash of yellow cross his eyes. The Primarch gasped for air a bit and then continued. “The first thing you need to understand is very important.”

Kincaid was growing impatient, though his stone cold face showed none of it. “What is that?”

Alaris grinned. “Arconans should never be trusted.” He curled back into the fetal position and a slight distortion of the air manifested around him to help absorb the blast from the thermal detonators he had just activated telekinetically.

Muffled noises woke Kincaid to complete darkness. His thoughts, sluggish at first, began to race, but he realized he had no idea how much time had passed since he had blacked out. Soon he recognized the sounds as voices shouting in panic, becoming aware of nearly a dozen people nearby. Gingerly raising his bruised arm, he ran his hand along what felt like solid bedrock, discovering it was encasing him completely. Then he recalled the explosion.

Alaris Jinn.

Anger boiled within at the thought of the traitor's insane actions. Around him, the stone from the cave-in trembled as unseen force lashed out from Kincaid's entire body. The voices on the other side grew silent as the rocks trembled. Then the wave of power exploded, throwing back the rock that encased him. The massive boulders crushed the onlookers, clearing the entire area of life. Kincaid stood, bruised and bleeding from several small wounds, his eyes narrowed in rage.

The explosives had almost surprised him, but the Force stirred in warning just seconds before the three thermal detonators exploded. He had managed to fling two into one of the forks that split the tunnel, but the third had remained hidden beneath the body of one of the guards. He narrowly avoided the blast radius of the detonator only to be buried as the tunnel collapsed. It was fortunate his barrier had protected him long enough for the rubble to create a relatively safe pocket of debris, though the effort and pain had knocked him out in the process.

Now he focused his scattered thoughts. Driven by purpose, and tightly leashed fury, he reached out with his senses in search of the Twi'lek. The installation was still functional, despite the damage it had sustained, and he knew Jinn would not risk his own life pulling such a stunt. He had most likely already moved to complete the objective. Almost instantly, Kincaid felt the pulse of life unique to Jinn a short distance above him in the fire control room.

Kincaid forced himself forward, pushing the pain aside as something to deal with later, and took the remaining path deeper into the installation. Moving through the darkened tunnel, he found the path mostly clear. Only a few men and women rushed by, barely noticing the enemy in their midst, on their way to the accident site. The guards that did stop to confront him were cut down without hesitation. He had no time for petty interruptions.

The tunnel came to an abrupt end, with a sleek, durasteel turbolift separating the bowels of the installation from the control room. Kincaid stopped briefly, reaffirming what he already knew—Jinn was just above. And he wasn't alone.

Kincaid stepped into the turbolift and deftly activated the controls. The lift shot upwards with incredible speed, bringing him closer and closer to his objective. Idly, he played with the small sphere he had acquired from one of the guards that had crossed his path. Jinn was the controlling type. His machinations were planned with excruciating detail, with any number of contingencies in place to counter unexpected situations. Kincaid planned to utterly destroy that false sense of control.

The moment arrived with a soft whoosh as the turbolift doors opened to reveal a surprisingly large, high-tech room filled wall-to-wall with computers and monitoring equipment. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Kincaid took in the entire scene before him. Two guards lay dead, identical blaster marks in both their chests—obviously having been commanded to kill each other. Two other men, the ion cannon's gunners, were sitting unblinking in their seats, staring up at the central monitor as though entranced.

Behind them stood Jinn, badly wounded and favoring his left side, but still in control. In addition to the injuries he had sustained from their battle, it seemed he had not come away unscathed from the explosion’s fallout. Despite the wounds, he was completely engrossed, focusing all of his concentration on the spell he was weaving on the minds of the two gunners. Whatever he was doing was obviously not intended to destroy the installation.

Then Kincaid saw it. On the main monitor, a slightly blurred image of the KSD Resurgent filled the screen. Beside it, smaller monitors gave precise calculations as to the velocity, trajectory, and projected route of the capital ship. Realization dawned on Kincaid. Jinn was not just taking the objective for the glory of Arcona. He was going to use the opportunity to destroy the Taldryan flagship, probably even other Brotherhood vessels… and everyone would believe it was the actions of the One Sith. Arcona would receive glowing praise from the Dark Council and cripple their rivals with a single move.

"Bastard," Kincaid cursed.

Jinn turned at the sound, surprise flashing across his face as he finally realized Kincaid was there. Kincaid did not give him any chance to move or speak. He raised the small sphere he was holding, thumbed the activation switch, and then tossed it low towards the far side of the room. For a moment, Jinn was stunned, but then he was moving, forcing his battered body to dive clear of the blast radius.

The thermal detonator hit the ground once, bounced, then rolled into the wall with a soft click. The next instant, three-quarters of the control room disappeared in a blinding flash of heat and sound. Kincaid turned away from the blast, pressing tightly against the side of the turbolift, and waited for the inferno to end.

By the time the dust settled, Kincaid was standing grimly over Jinn, who had crashed into the edge of the turbolift and was sprawled helplessly on his back. Reaching down, he grabbed the Twi'lek by the lekku and raised his head until they were face-to-face.

"It was a nice plan, Jinn," Kincaid told him, his eyes filled with contempt. He flexed his wrist and activated his hidden, assassin saber, and thrust the blade deep into the Twi'lek's heart.

"But you still failed."

A haze of dust and smoke filled the corridor. Eight bodies were strewn around, some like children’s dolls torn apart by an Akk dog. One of the intact bodies stirred and slowly lifted its tailed head. Unless one had known that the Twi’lek was Rutian, they would have no idea that his skin was a deep blue pigment thanks to the thick dust that had settled over him. He slowly stumbled up to his feet and surveyed what was left of the corridor. The two paths toward the ion cannon’s power generators were blocked.

Alaris cursed silently. He had overplayed his hand. The Force had told him that it would be Aidan Kincaid who would be sent by Taldryan to destroy the ion cannon. When Alaris had been assigned the same task by Arcona’s Consul, the Twi’lek had seen it as the perfect opportunity to prove his loyalty, however temporary, to Arcona.

Surely you understand the term “Sith” well enough to know that the term “temporary loyalty” is redundant. An old enemy, once an ally, had said this to him many years ago. Alaris knew its truth.

There was no way to complete the task originally assigned to him. Alaris was going to return a failure, or worse: perhaps the Arconae would pin it as an intentional failure. Perhaps they would assume Alaris had just laid down to Taldryan once more. His first assignment as an Arconan was a disaster and Alaris’s pride was to blame. He had never failed a task in his entire time serving the Iron Throne. The humiliation tore at him.

The Primarch took a few steps and winced as each footfall caused a sharp pain to shoot down his side. He looked down at his torso. Alaris’s robes were burned and torn. He tugged at what was left of them, exposing his bare torso. The Arconan’s toned body was matted with dust and sweat. Occasional streaks of blue and black broke through the grey monotone.

Jinn touched his chest where he knew the ribs had fractured and let out a muffled grunt. He closed his eyes and focused intently on the breaks. He demanded the Force to repair the bones, but was only able to realign them. Alaris cursed again, spit spilling out of his mouth and caking itself in the dust still held to the Twi’lek’s face by sweat. He would have to avoid combat. Even one blow could dislodge his ribs again and risk puncturing a lung.

He stumbled his way down toward the entrance a few more steps, and then stopped abruptly when he heard a faint moan behind him. Jinn turned and surveyed the corridor once more. One of the bodies was stirring, and the Aedile needed no hint as to who it was. He dragged himself back toward the collapsed corridor and found Kincaid regaining consciousness. The Twi’lek dropped onto one knee, grimacing with pain as he landed. Alaris grabbed Kincaid’s shoulder and shifted the Elder onto back.

The smaller Twi’lek mounted the large man and grabbed what was left of the collar of his robes with his left hand. Jinn pulled Kincaid’s upper body up toward him and then threw as much force as he could into a punch aimed at the Human’s jaw. Alaris repeated this several times until his knuckles, and Kincaid’s face, were both bloodied.

The Twi’lek then pulled Kincaid close and his eyes blazed with a deep amber. “Jac Cotelin is disappointed with your failure, Kincaid.”

This elicited an audible, yet muffled, “No.”

The Twi’lek dropped another punch. “Yes. He will kill you upon your return to the fleet. You have failed to disable the ion cannon, and you have failed to kill Alaris Jinn.” Alaris felt his grin widening. “Your utter humiliation will only be overshadowed by the extreme disappointment of your master. Disappointment is something he must be getting used to. How do you lose two apprentices in the same conflict?”

“No,” Aiden sputtered through a mash of broken teeth and blood, “you don’t understand.”

Alaris cocked his head. “What don’t I understand?”

Kincaid made a horrible gurgling noise that Alaris thought may have been laughter. “You’re a terrible liar.”

Alaris felt the full weight of the dark side press against him as he flew upward into the ceiling. He heard three more bones crack just before he felt the pain shoot through his body again. He hung there for what seemed to him like an eternity until gravity coiled its claws around him once more and dragged him violently to the ground. He rolled involuntarily onto his back and when his eyes focused again he saw the roles had been reversed.

Blood and mucus poured from Kincaid’s maw onto Alaris’s face. The Twi’lek lifted a hand to wipe it away, but never got the chance to clean his face. Kincaid threw as much weight as he could muster into a hammerfist that met with Alaris’s skull. The blow concussed Alaris on the first impact, and knocked him clear unconscious with the second.

Kincaid dropped a few more blows into the Twi’lek’s head until the back of his skull opened up on the floor and grey matter began to ooze from the cracks. He gasped for breath and looked down at the bloody mess he created. The Elder wiped some of the blood from his jaw and rolled off Alaris and onto his own back. The impact disturbed the dust which had barely begun to settle again.

After the few minutes he needed to gather his strength, Kincaid pulled himself back up to his feet and looked down at his opponent. Both Dark Jedi had been working toward the same objective and Kincaid would have let him live, even had tolerated assistance. Instead, Alaris Jinn was now a pool of gore lying amongst more death and debris.

Stupid

He sighed and stumbled over to the pile of debris blocking his path. His job wasn’t finished and he wasn’t leaving until it was.