From space, Malachor seems no more than a lifeless ball of ash. In the center of an open crater, however, lies the ancient Sith Temple. This colossal pyramid of black stone is the relic of a disastrous battle between the forces of darkness and light thousands of years ago.

Though the surface of Malachor has a breathable atmosphere, the air is dead still, and there is no sign of life. The caldera housing the Temple is a tableau of the terrible struggle that took place here so many millennia ago. Scattered through the causeways and crumbling boulders are the petrified figures of the foregone combatants, their hands raised eternally against whatever cataclysm took the life from their bodies. Some still grasp their Jedi weapons, though most likely the life is gone from them too. The pallid white light of the sun spreads unhindered through the crater, but it does little to illumine the intrinsic darkness of the stones.

The Sith Temple is not a place of the light side. It is said the very stones react to the touch of the dark side. The pyramid itself is seemingly inaccessible, though its blocked entrance is associated with an old saying: “Two must lift these stones, no more, no less.” Despite its undeniable age, the crater is littered with signs of a more recent calamity; ash and debris, columns toppled outwards from the Temple, broken arches. It is as though the millennial dust stirred, briefly, then returned to its repose under the sun.

Karran Val’teo sat with his legs crossed at the base of the Sith Temple. The air was still and silent. The sun overhead barely filtered through the overcast sky. The obsidian stone that marked the planet’s barely shone in the low light. The Zabrak breathed in the still air. The Dark Side was powerful here. Echoes of the ancient Sith masters that had built this temple could almost be heard through the deafening silence.

He held a small bone mask, similar to that of Kaleesh culture, except that this one had two long ears, similar to that of a rabbit. He had taken the children of Arcona. His agents had stolen them from their homes and brought them back to be trained as his Krayt Knights. Young Samantha would be his star pupil. There was a fire in her that could be fostered into great power.

He pondered his plans. He would seize control of Arcona. If they did not kneel willingly, then he would take control of the Serpentine Throne by force. That witch Vasano had led the Clan down a path of deceit and dishonor. She sullied the name of the Sith. He had already removed several of the obstacles that had stood in his way: Sulith, Jax, Alaisy, Ruka. They had all died. He had personally delivered Ruka’s head to his family, as promised. Cora had known that he was not there for peace. But the children didn’t. Not until he presented their brother’s head. The looks of betrayal on their faces had been delicious, but not as delicious as their screams being cut short by his blade. Cora had rushed out to stop him. However the realization of his own failure froze him. In a split second, the Pantoran had lost everything. The lightsaber had dropped from his hands before being summoned to Karran’s hand as a trophy. Cora’s presence had kept the two Sith from being together. But Karran had his chance for revenge. He took his time breaking the Jedi.

Metallic clanking approached the Zabrak from the darkness. Rrogon Skar Agrona. The chained dog of Arcona had been set loose. It did not matter. He had slain Ruka. He would put this mutt down.

“I am glad you could join me, Skar.”

The Kaleesh growled, “Tell me where the children are, Val’teo.”

“I assure you, they are perfectly safe. But I will not be telling you their location.” The Zabrak’s eyes looked up as his brow was tilted forward, a grin creeping across his face. “I offer you the same chance I offered Ruka before I took his head: join me. With you at my side, we can return the galaxy to where it belongs, in the palm of true Sith like us.”

Skar scoffed at the proposal. “So the pup thinks he is ready to be the alpha of the pack. I saw something in you, once. Now you’re just a feral beast that needs to be put down.”

“Like you? Are you concerned that you see me going down the same path you did? Slaughtering my loved ones who have no ability to defend themselves? Butchering my wife even as she carried my child? I am no feral beast. I have a singular purpose. Only those who refuse to stand by me, traitors, will die.”

The older Sith’s lips curled into a snarl behind his mask. “You don’t get to speak her name. Don’t you dare!”

Karran uncrossed his legs and stood, still holding the child’s mask. His grin opened up to reveal his sharp teeth. He threw the mask at Skar’s feet, sending up a puff of ash into the air. “Not only did you murder your own child, you have failed to save others. Vera would be so disappointed.”

At the mention of his dead wife’s name, Skar rushed forward and ignited his lightsaber, intent to strike the Zabrak down. Karran in turn activated his own and blocked the strike, locking the blades together. The Kaleesh’s eyes nearly glowed with rage in the dim light as he pushed against the Zabrak’s guard.

Karran pushed back against Skar’s advances, his own strength matching the Kaleesh’s. He would take his time with this new traitor. Several times Skar had beaten him down. Several times Skar had looked down on him. Karran thought back to their first fight in a dirt fighting pit outside of a bar on Selen. Their match in the training room on the Voidbreaker. No more. It was his turn now. The Zabrak stepped to the side and let Skar push past him and open up for a counterattack. Karran flourished his blade and swung to bring it down on his enemy’s cybernetic arm.

Alarms sounded in Skar’s mind as he pushed past Karran. He saw the crimson blade arcing down toward his arm and brought his own blade up to block the strike. As red struck blue, a momentary flash of light and shower of sparks illuminated the pair.

The two Sith struck out at each other and blocked, again and again. Each of their chained series of strikes, practiced and perfect, threatened the other only to be blocked and countered again, back and forth.

Samantha was gone. Skar had felt the little light in his life disappear late into the night, her presence in the Force just vanishing like a candle snuffed out. He had been meditating when it happened and not two hours later did he get a frantic call from her mother, Satsi. She laid it all out for the Sith: who was to blame not only for her missing child but many others in the Clan.

A sickening rage came over the Kaleesh as he heard that Karran was responsible, not only for this but also the death of many of the crew aboard the Voidbreaker in Qel-Droma. It left a vile and bitter taste in his mouth knowing that so many had fallen before the younger Zabrak's blade. And yet, it was all too real for the Sith; he himself had gone mad with the Dark Side once before, hurting those around him.

It had cost him the love of his life, but this was something far worse, knowing that he had trained the younger Sith, that he had tried to teach him, yet now it seemed everything had fallen on deaf ears. The Juggernaut never thought Karran was capable of such brutality, even in his flashes of rage. But it didn't matter now. The Captain of the Voidbreaker had crossed a line and the Sith was going to collect payment for the slight in blood, one way or another.

That was why he left to hunt down the Qel-Droman on his own. He knew it was going to get bloody and if anyone was going to put their life on the line to save the children, it was going to be the one with nothing left to lose.

The Kaleesh had resigned himself to his fate, even before he stepped foot onto his ship and flew into the void. It was his burden and his alone, and it was time for the monster that Arcona had been molding to finally be let loose once more.

This time, he would not be coming back home.

Blades crashed back and forth between the two Juggernauts, their equal skill in their forms not allowing either one the claim upper hand. Sweat was pouring behind the Huk mask of the Kaleesh as he spun his saber to block another savage blow from the Zabrak, their blades locking against one another in a stalemate as each warrior stood his ground, feet grinding into the earth and stone beneath them.

As their eyes locked, an almost elated smile began to come over Skar’s features as he felt the cold comfort of the Dark Side washing over his body. It pried away at his mental locks, scraping and tearing until that bestial side, the side that wanted nothing but to kill and maim was finally let loose, its howling madness claiming his mind and soul.

“You know, Val'teo, I need to thank you,” the Obelisk sneered as the Force began to pulse into his arms, reinforcing the strength the Kaleesh felt in them. He began to overpower his fellow Juggernaut, the crimson blade being forced back inch by inch. “I'm always so scared that if I let out the monster that I'll lose myself again and never come back, but now, in this place, this fight...I don't care anymore. So, thank you. Thank you for letting the monster in me free again!” the Sith hissed before roaring, his blade breaking the saber lock and driving the Zabrak back onto his heels.

Skar didn't let him have the distance, pulling deeper on the power of the Dark to fuel his movements. His body became a blur of motion, blue blade snaking out for the exposed flesh of Karran’s neck like a viper uncoiling to strike. In an instant, the Zabrak had found his footing again. His crimson blade rose to deflect the blow and counter with an overhead strike equal in speed and strength.

The Kaleesh dove to the side, the lightsaber blade missing by centimeters before he rolled to his feet, his free hand lowering to draw his revolver — hoping to draw a bead on the younger Sith. But Karran had other ideas, his blade cleaving the pistol in two before whipping around to cut the Kaleesh in half.

A flash of power flowed into Rrogon's arms as he thrust his hands forward, the telekinetic might coiling into his palms before slamming outward and into the Zabrak, sending him flying back over the broken stone and earth. The younger Sith bounced off of the ground several times before his body contorted and he landed on his feet, gouging rivets in the stone.

“You are not going to make it out of this temple, Skar,” snarled Karran while he got to his feet, wiping the string of blood that had begun to form on the side of his mouth. His pointed teeth gleamed with crimson as he smiled at the Kaleesh. His hands clenched in rage as electricity began to spark and form along his fingertips before unleashing themselves in a storm of lightning aimed right for the Kaleesh

Rrogon’s body tensed up as his hands rose to will a wall of the Force to block the incoming assault. It slammed into the Obelisk's barrier with the full force of an oncoming speeder at maximum velocity.

The Kaleesh gritted his teeth and dug in his heels even as he and the barrier he had made were pushed back. Skar could feel his shield beginning to crack and fall apart even as tendrils of Force lightning began to make their way through and racking against his body, causing him great pain.

Skar took a gamble and let one of his hands drop to the side, reaching out with his telekinetic grip to lift a large chunk of masonry from the ground and hurl it at the Zabrak. Karran dropped his own attack in response to cleave the stone in two as it neared his person, leaving him unharmed but panting heavily from the fatigue of such strong exertions, too much; the same effect the Obelisk endured, panting just the same, sweat pouring down his face behind the mask of bone.

Slowly Rrogon began to rise to his full height, calling the Force to calm his body and slow his breathing to save his strength. This fight was long from over, and he would need all he had to even have a chance of overcoming Karran. Ice and chill flooded into his limbs and skin, soothing the pain he felt.

Roiling his neck, the Obelisk walked forward. His blade dipped lower to the ground to the point that it began to drag over the stone, sparking and scoring. He was laughing, his head hung low. His whole body was convulsing with the cackle, its insane tones flowing over the tainted grounds and temple beyond. Skar’s free metallic hand reached up and gripped the bone huk mask and removed it from his still downcast face, crushing it in his grip.

Shards of bone fell from his hand as he finally let go of the mask, both from his body and his soul. His head rose and when it came into view the look of pure insanity was stamped across the features of the Kaleesh Juggernaut, his eyes glowing like embers in the dim light of the cavern.

“Who ever said anything about leaving, Karran? I live or die. I have dug my grave in this place, so fitting in the darkness that fuels us both. On this day, Rrogon Skar Seshai Argona dies, either in combat or, spirits willing, victory, but one way or the other,” said the Kaleesh. His head tilted to the side before he crouched low. The Dark Side rushed in once more like fire in his blood, into his legs, as he leapt.

His amplified leap took him thirty feet into the air before his body began its descent into free fall. The weightlessness washed over him as the grip on his lightsaber tightened to the point the metal of the hilt began to crack and bend, but not break. He raised it over his head to cleave the former Captain in two. Howling in fury, the Zabrak swung his blade to meet the skyborn Kaleesh, their sabers clashing in a spark of light and a clap of thunder.

The Kaleesh rolled into the block and used it to break his fall, flipping to the ground before he snapped back upright, blade ready and waiting to meet the tidal wave that was Karran Val’teo. Crimson struck against blue again and again. Each block and strike was met with practiced ease as the two Sith began the fight anew, each pulling on the Force to push them further beyond what they were capable of naturally.

The rate of clashes in the empty temple became almost a staccato akin to gunfire, each strike holding the full strength of the two hulking Juggernauts behind it. Bending backward to avoid a particularly vicious cleave from the Zabrak, the Kaleesh dropped low onto the ground and spun in place, his leg lashing out to take the younger Sith clean off his feet. Karran, however, was ready for it, jumping over the cybernetic leg and stepping back to avoid the second kick that came screaming upward, aimed at his chest.

Back on his feet, the Kaleesh pressed his attack, rage pumping into his limbs and body.Skar lept back once more and thrust his free hand forward, lightning coursing along the metallic limb before screaming out at the younger Sith.

The two Juggernauts clashed under the darkened sky of Malachor. Lightning flashed as if to echo the opposed lightsabers striking each other. It seemed that the two Sith had inexhaustible stamina. They were two unstoppable forces colliding again and again.

Their blades locked again along with their eyes. Muscles flexed and cybernetics strained as the two blades shuddered against each other. Karran’s left hand dropped off his blade and cocked back to drive his fist into the stomach of the Kaleesh.

Skar lifted his right leg and his metal knee connected with the Zabrak’s wrist, deflecting the momentum of the strike before coiling back and driving a kick at Karran’s own abdomen. The Zabrak stumbled back and brought his blade up to block the Kaleesh’s following strike and counter with his own again.

“Skar, I will offer you this last chance to join me. Samantha is safe, for now. Join me and you can personally oversee her training. I will make you master of The Knights and my right hand. You would not be a slave, but a warlord of your own sector of the Galaxy.”

Skar snarled. “I won’t serve under you, pup. I spent my time serving bloodthirsty monsters.”

“A shame. I would have rather kept you alive.”

“I might die here, Val’teo, but there are others who will put an end to you.”

“Do not worry, I will be visiting them soon enough. For all her talk of love and goodness, I think the Miraluka will be the most satisfying to bring down.”

Skar tightened his grip on his saber. He could not allow Val’teo’s wrath to reach back to Selen. If he truly had assembled a loyal group of followers then perhaps he would be able to take control of their Clan’s home. He had watched the Zabrak rise in Arcona. He had taught the young Sith many lessons. But now it was time to strike this monster down. Once more he felt his hate flood and strengthen his body and charged.

Karran leapt up, channeling the Force into his legs, and extended a hand toward Skar, turning his head away and closing his eyes. A flash of light burst in the place in front of the charging Sith. Warnings flashed in his mind but he could not see a visual threat. The bursting light blinded him and forced him to skid to a halt on the ashy ground. He breathed through his fury. He rubbed his eyes with one hand.

“Damn you and your dirty tricks, Val’teo! I thought you fought with honor!”

Karran chuckled from where he had landed. “I have left those childish beliefs behind. What did honor ever gain me?”

The Zabrak continued to fuel his legs with the Force and darted forward with inhuman speed. He struck out at the Kaleesh who, although blind, still had a firm connection to the Force. It warned him of the incoming danger, allowing him to block and counter, but his saber met no resistance. No other lightsaber.

Karran had, after his feinting strike was blocked, jumped over Skar. When his opponent overextended to attack an enemy that was no longer there, the Zabrak’s lightsaber arced in a fan of crimson through the Obelisk’s left arm.

Although his limbs were made of metal and wires, the pain still burned. The cybernetic fell to the ground in a puffing cloud of ash and dirt. As he screamed in agony, his legs were cut out from under him. Further waves of pain crashed through his body as his torso hit the ground and ash filled his mouth.

Karran looked down at the Kaleesh before him. He stomped a foot on Skar’s unsevered wrist. “You thought that fighting to protect something would give you strength. You thought that fighting without limits would be enough. You are a fool, Skar.” With his last sentence, he removed the last of the opposing Sith’s limbs. He gave a solid kick to Skar’s torso and rolled him onto his back.

“I’ll kill you, Val’teo! I’ll murder you and spread your body to the far reaches of the galaxy! Let Samantha go! Don’t turn her into the same twisted creature you are! Give her the chance to be good!”

Karran walked over to Samantha’s discarded mask and picked it up before returning to Skar. He placed the mask on the Kaleesh’s chest before he lifted a foot and stomped on it. The mask shattered and the pieces embedded into Skar’s skin. “No, you will not. You will die an honorless death on Malachor. You will eventually succumb to starvation and turn to ash and join the thousands of other haunting spirits here.” He pressed his boot down harder. “And Samantha will be my most loyal assassin. She will do whatever I say after I tell her how everyone else she loved abandoned her or tried to kill me.”

The Zabrak turned and walked away, ignoring the enraged, wounded Kaleesh’s cries of hatred and vows of revenge. He would leave the traitor to die a coward’s death. Not struck down by a blade, but wasting away, helpless. Perhaps Skar’s fury would sustain him on that dark planet, but his rage would turn his mind to madness. If anyone ever did find him, he would be a gibbering, feral animal.

Karran walked onto the ship that had been waiting for him. Samantha ran up and hugged his leg, followed by the IG-100 droid he had left to look after her. “Kawwan! Where’s speahbruddah?”

The Zabrak knelt down to be on the little human’s level. “Unfortunately, he will not be coming. He decided he wanted to stay here. Do not worry little one, where we are going, you will have lots of friends to play with. I promise."

Karran looked out the viewport toward the temple in the distance where he had left Skar. A wicked smile crawled across his face as he thought of the ultimate fate of the Sith that had been such an obstacle on his path to power. He had crushed this foe under his heel. Who would be next?