Myrkr is a dangerous world for nearly all sentients. Although once settled by the Neti, it has long since evolved from those days. The flora of Myrkr has a high metal-count, making it easy to hide from sensors and the perfect spot to set-up a pirate base or other criminal operation. What also made this world perfect for all manner of seedy individuals is the presence of ysalamiri—creatures with the ability to neutralize the Force.

The ysalamiri are located deep within the forests of Myrkr, where you have also found yourself. They have evolved the ability to make a bubble that excludes the Force to protect themselves from dangerous predators called vornskrs. These dangerous, canine-like predators hunt using the Force, and as such are highly attracted to anything that is Force-sensitive.

The forests of Myrkr are not for the faint-of-heart. It was used by the Yuuzhan Vong to create monstrosities, and continues to be utilized by the seedier elements of the galaxy. The dangers that lurk under the shadowy canopy cannot be underestimated. Not even the Force can protect you from the dangers of the forest.

You stand seemingly alone in a small clearing. Though you can feel the Force at the moment, you know that not far from this clearing, many of Myrkr’s horrors lie – including the Force-negating ysalamiri – can easily be found… You quickly realize this clearing won’t be safe for long as you sense you are not alone.

Kah listened to the sounds of the forest growl and roar in a balanced harmony. He closed his eyes and basked in it, knowing all the while that somewhere near him lurked a nightmare. He knew the dangers a forest could hold, and he began to click and chirp as he got up from his camp. The Gungan placed his right hand on one of his daggers he had fashioned, ready for whatever might come. The Sentinel barely pierced the veil of trees and he already knew which nightmare had come to haunt him.

Not far off the Gungan could sense the presence of his apprentice, one more nightmare to haunt this night. Kah prepared himself to jump into the trees, bending his legs and propelling himself upward onto a lower branch. The Sentinel began to scan his surroundings, hoping to locate his favored pupil. He leaped from branch to branch, gently landing to ensure his safety. This continued until he spotted the human, Turel Sorenn, holding a holodisk with a cold voice crackling from a hologram. The Sentinel sprang towards his apprentice, landing in a crouching position behind him. The only thing the Sentinel could hear from the message was Arcona.

"Scurry place bein' heeuh all by yaself." said Kah, clicking twice.

"Go away Kah, you wouldn't understand." said Turel, holding "Celestia" in his hand, the blade inactive.

"Yousa workin' wit Arcona?" demanded Kah, "Theysa the tings we fightin' against! How can you do dis?"

"Tur'el believed darkness could be used to help the light, why can't I?" said Turel, giving a questioning look to the Gungan.

Kah clicked his tongue aggressively at his apprentice, believing him not ready for Tur'el Sokar's advanced beliefs. It was dangerous, and too much dabbling with the dark side would leave Turel damaged.

"Ya'nt ready, boyo. Some day, yes, but not now." said Kah, grabbing his own lightsaber and activating it with a flourish.

"I'm helping Odan-Urr by doing what I'm doing! The Brotherhood can help us!" said Turel, trying to diffuse his master like he did so many times in the past. He stared at the Gungan pleadingly, but Kah could only see the chains that the darkness could bring.

"Can enslave us, yousa mean!"

"I won't stop." said Turel, activating his saber.

"Mesa tryin' to help, boyo. The path of darkness only goes so far, turn away boyo and come back. Mesa tired of losing those mesa loved. Don't make me kill you."

Without a word, Turel sprinted towards a nearby log and unholstered Luna, firing it in the direction of his master. The Gungan snarled as he saw his apprentice leap behind the log, taking cover and trying to dodge the blaster rifle. His blade pinged a few bolts, giving him enough time to get to better cover. Kah's mind was torn between rage and sadness, the betrayal of his apprentice and closest friend boring holes in his emotional shields.

"Come on, Master. How fast are ya?" taunted Turel.

Kah clicked loudly at the taunt, snarling under his breath as he continued to hide. The Gungan knew he could easily take the Jedi Knight down, but the Scourge of Lianorm had always been cautious around blasters. One wrong move meant death. Feeling lucky, the Gungan lurched from out behind his cover and charged where his apprentice was. The Sentinel kicked a cloud of dirt and dust to where he was crouching and snapped his tongue out to stick to Luna and tugged. Sorenn wouldn't let it go, but his eyes were closed and he began firing wildly.

"Uhlegoucdagun" mumbled Kah, his tongue still stuck to Luna making it hard for him to communicate.

Seeing the futility in firing blindly, Turel released his grip on the blaster pistol allowing Kah to retract his tongue with the Knight’s prized weapon. Both combatants stepped backwards from their struggle into opposing ready stances, Turel standing and Kah crouched. The Knight had a disgusted look on his face, “That’s just gross, now I’m going to have to disinfect Luna.”

The Gungan spit out his apprentice’s weapon, examining it briefly with a disapproving look before tossing it behind him into the woods, “Yousa won’t be needin dis, maybe now wesa can talk.”

The Knight stood up and placed his hands on his hips, “Ok, that was uncalled for. That’s a high quality, precision firearm you just tossed into who knows what festing goop on the forest floor.”

Kah gave some aggressive clicks, “Yousa fired dat me!”

“Oh don’t be so dramatic, we both know I couldn’t actually hit you with a blaster, even if I wanted to.” He pointed a finger at his master in an accusing manner, “You did threaten to kill me. I think murdering one’s former apprentice trumps working with Arconans. Who’s the dark one now?” Turel punctuated his sentence with a cocky smirk.

The Scourge of Lianorm shifted around in his crouched position, femur knives at the ready like a jungle cat ready to pounce. “Don’t try to turn dis around on me, stop dis foolishness and come back to New Tython.” Kah’s gaze shifted away from Turel for a moment to check their surroundings, he keen instincts telling him they were about to not be alone in this clearing.

“Foolishness? I thought you, of all people, would understand what I’m trying to do. We aren’t strong enough to stand alone and intentionally provoking the Iron Throne is suicide. Liam’s blind zealotry will see New Tython burn again. I already watched one world burn, I won’t do it again, not when I have the power to do something.” The Knight stood defiant against his former master, his indignation rising with each word. “If the council lacks the will and the foresight to use the resources and alliances available to them then I will.”

Kah shook his head with a growing hurt and sadness, “Yousa don’t know what you are gettin’ yourself into, da Dark Side will consume yousa. You aren’t ready.”

“You know what? How dare you Kah, how dare you judge me! You’re darker than I ever dreamed of being. I’ve seen your handiwork: on Begeren, at Purity Rock, you’re a butcher Kah. You wear ‘Scourge of Lianorm’ like some sick badge of honor. You revel in the slaughter and deep down you know it.” The Knight’s wrath was a blazing inferno, the anger in his voice slowly rising. “So don’t come preaching to me about the dangers of the Dark Side.” He stomped his foot in a huff.

The Gungan Ranger was now primarily focused on their surroundings, though his apprentice’s words cut deeper than any lightsaber could. Something or someone was approaching, he just could tell exactly where. It was like there were blind spots in the Force all over the forest. Turel making a scene wasn’t helping matters. He stood up and made a gesture for the Knight to be silent, “Yousun hush, we’re going to have to git outta here”

The dam had burst on Turel’s pent up anger, it was too late to stop the flood. “Oh no you don’t! You don’t come down here, screw up my mission, put your-” He made a revolted face, “-Tongue all over my prized pistol and then shush me! No! I’m going to say my peace and then you’re going to get out of my way and mind your own kriffing business.”

“Look out!”

The Gungan’s warning came too late as an alpha vornskr lept at Turel from a nearby bush. The Knight was knocked on his back and struggling to keep the alpha’s rapidly snapping jaws away from his face. The alpha was straight out of one’s worst nightmares, a demon-like hell-hound with glowing yellow eyes, jet black fur, a long snout and an insatiable bloodlust. As he struggled with the beast,Turel wondered why he didn’t receive any warning of the alpha’s attack through the Force. The Jedi rolled around in the dirt, struggling to avoid the vornskr’s tail sting and deadly jaws at the same time. “Ah! A little help over here!”

Kah was unable to come to his apprentice’s aid as he now noticed three distinct pairs of glowing yellow eyes in the surrounding underbrush, circling around him. It was a pack, though he couldn’t tell the size. “Mesa kind of busy right now!” As the Sentinel spoke two of the vornskr’s jumped at him from opposite sides of the clearing.

One of the pair of eyes jumped from the shadows and pounced on Kah, who was ready and slipped a bone dagger into the rip cage of the vornskr. It was young, possibly only a year or two passed the juvenile stage, but what it lacked in musculature it made up for in agility. The dagger did nothing other than anger Kah's enemy, the sound of labored breathing emanating from it. The Sentinel smiled at the animal briefly, it wiped away by the attack of the other two.

Like the pack they were, the trio lunged and snapped at the Gungan. Each attempt at his life was met with either a jab, kick, or stab with a dagger. The Sentinel was trying his best to preserve the quality of their pelts, needing a new set of clothes badly from his time in the swamp. The largest of them leaped into the air, its paws stretched outward as if to hug the Gungan, and its open maw clamped down on the forearm of the Jedi. He felt pressure, the jaws clamping around a piece of bone armor the Gungan had equipped for the mission, and he began to snarl in retaliation to the bite. Before it released its grip, the Gungan ripped another dagger from its holster and planted it firmly in his prey's skull. Blood bubbled from the wound as the blade broke through the skull and dug further into the meat of the brain.

Turel had been doing his best to dodge his vornskr, the second largest of the four. His efforts were successful, the beast showing symptoms of fatigue and his movements more sluggish. The Knight began to smile, the movements and actions of his enemy becoming a pattern in his mind. Once it had formed, the Knight knew it was only a matter of time before the scent of burning flesh being cut by plasma would be in his nostrils.

The large vornskr that Kah had killed lay dead by his side, the sight of their fallen comrade causing the other two attacking the Sentinel to roar in anger. He wasn't winded, but to say he was able to get his breath easily was a fallacy. They leaped at him in unison, one pair of claws digging into his chest and toppling him over while the other pair became covered in its own blood as the Gungan's dagger was practically thrown out of his hand into the chest of the other Vornskr. Kah croaked in agony, activating his saber as quickly as he could and slicing away at the Vornskr who had embedded itself into his chest. Another roar came from a few feet away as Turel had ended his vornskr and rushed to Kah's aid, delivering a powerful kick to the vornskr that had tried rushing the Gungan as he got up.

The Sentinel smiled at his apprentice, hoping their trials together here could return Turel to the light once more. The longer the fight drew on, however, the Gungan realized that the light in both of them had been gone for some time. Manet looked back to the handicapped vornskr, who was struggling to get back up due to its front paws becoming stumps. Turel went over and ended its misery, slicing its head from its neck. The sight of a friend dying caused the remaining vornskr to howl again, which Kah took as his moment to shove its lightsaber all the way into its esophagus. It choked, or at least Kah thought it did, on the end of the blade as the plasma burned away its insides.

They were exhausted, defending themselves against four angry beasts had drained them of their anger. Kah looked at Turel and knew he wouldn't change his ways. Turel, in kind, looked at Kah with a knowing smile. Kah would no longer think of himself the same way, and could feel his own seeds of darkness starting to sprout.

"I'm not stopping my work with Arcona." said Turel.

With that simple sentence, Kah nodded and dismissed his apprentice with a wave. The Gungan scrambled over to one of the vornskr and pried his dagger out of its skull. He sank its blade into the beasts hide and began the process of skinning it.

"Fine, dosa what yousa want. Mesa care no more." replied Kah, tugging at the skin.

The vornskrs rushed the Gungan Sentinel like twin shadows encroaching on a dying light. They moved with unnatural speed toward their quarry, but Kah was ready for them. With a single fluid motion he lept into the air and landed a roundhouse kick to the flank of one vornskr, throwing it off to the side. Continuing his spinning motion, the Gungan warrior landed facing the second vornskr, catching it in the neck with a femur knife before it could land a scratch on him.

The deflected vornskr quickly got up, joined by two more of his pack mates, driven to bloodlust by both Jedi’s use of the Force. Turel managed to toss the beast that had been pinning him down over his head and quickly got up before the stunned vornskr could recover. Instinctively, the Knight rushed to his former Master’s side, their conflict momentarily forgotten as the pack begun to circle around them. The Sentinel and the Guardian stood back to back as the noose tightened around them.

For a moment there was a tense silence in the clearing as the pack circled the two warriors. That silence was broken by the soft hum of Celestia coming to life. Turel murmured over his left shoulder while keeping his eyes facing front, “Any ideas?”

Kah tightened his grip on his femur knives, one of which was still wet with blood. “Kill de big un’, he dey leader.”

The Knight nodded with understanding. “And the rest will scatter. You take the Alpha, I’ll keep the others off your back. Just say when.”

“Now!” Kah charged the Alpha with blinding speed, knocking him out of the pack’s circle. Turel gave a large swing with his lightsaber to force the vornskrs that had been at Kah’s rear to retreat. The Knight then called on the Force to turn and rush toward the Sentinel with all the speed he could muster. He caught a vornskr trying to come to his pack leader’s aid with a swift stroke of his azure blade, rending the beast down the middle into head and tail halves.

Once Turel reached the bushes where Kah was struggling with the Alpha he turned around and secured a thermal detonator with his left hand. “Bad dogs!” He threw the detonator into the clearing right between two members of the pack then projected a cocoon of Force energy to shield himself and his Master from the blast only meters away.

The resulting explosion disintegrated two of the pack and sent the rest running for their lives, whimpering. Turel struggled to maintain the cocoon but was thrown back himself when it shattered from the pressure. Fortuitously, his backward trajectory sent him directly into the Alpha, knocking the beast off of Kah.

The Gungan rolled away from the stunned Knight and quickly slit the throat of the Alpha before it could get up. The Ranger wiped the blood from his knives and stood up to survey the clearing. The animals were either dead or had fled the area...for now. Turel sat up with a groggy expression. “I can’t believe that worked. That detonator had to be like, two to three meters away. I should be dead.”

The Knight stood up and dusted himself off. “Well, there goes my mission. The One Sith know we’re here now.” He turned to his former Master. “Whaddya say, Kah, wanna go crack some Sith skulls? For old time’s sake?”

The Gungan smiled. “Let’s go make some red watta,” he paused for a moment, “But wesa gonna talk after.”

Turel shrugged, “We’ll see.”