You stand on the Sith World of Krayiss II, a harsh, brutal land of deserts and mountainous terrain. During the battle for control of the planet, one of the deserts received a name from the Dark Jedi who fought there: the Desolation... and it was named with good reason. You've heard the stories about the desert. Heard about the sand traps, the pitfalls, and the quick sands that are scattered throughout the Desolation. Jagged, obsidian formations—hidden by the natural black sands—are a health hazard for those who do not mind their step.

Darkness sweeps across the desert leaving the hazards nearly invisible. The black of night causes the temperature to plummet and the bone-shattering cold sweeping over the barren sands saps you of your stamina. But the hostile environment is not your only concern. Somewhere in the middle of the darkness, in the vast emptiness of the desert, your opponent lies in wait. You begin to move slowly across the black sands, narrowly avoiding a fall into a dark abyss, and force yourself to continue. Nothing is going to stop you. And by either nature or blade, another victim is going to succumb to the Desolation.

The young Sith Aiden Dru had wandered the cold dark desert known as the Desolation for what seemed like days before spotting his enemy. Dru did not know much about his target, only that they were a disciple of Odan-Urr. The thought of a Jedi on a Sith world disgusted Dru and he was determined to punish them.

Dru stalked toward his enemy. The cold harsh winds of this desert were unlike any the Dark Jedi Knight had encountered. As Aiden pushed onward, the shadowed figure that was once distant was now in proximity to be examined. It looked to Dru like some type of droid was digging through the soil, as if searching for something.

Dru took a moment to reflect on what he saw, "A droid that is a Jedi, How could this be? There must be more to it...Too bad I won't let them live long enough to find out."

In that moment the Taldryanite grabbed the hilt of his lightsaber with his right hand and held it outward, ready to ignite in an instant, as he walked toward the massive droid. Dru was within striking distance before the Jedi had sprung up and turned toward him with mechanical efficiency.

"My greetings traveler, I am Jedi Consular Solari, of Odan-Urr." The droid had stated their name and rank in a synthesized voice. "Do not worry I'm merely a curious Jedi searching for ancient knowledge, I'll be leaving this planet shortly. I have no quarrel with you young Sith"

The intelligence and composure of this droid astonished Dru as he also noticed this particular droid spoke as if he was just on this planet for an errand, and would just be left about his business. The young Sith determined he had enough and was going to gut this droid by any means necessary if not for the mission then he'd do it simply for fun. "Well I have a quarrel with you! Draw your saber and DIE!!" Dru ignited his green blade as he jumped toward the droid lighting up the darkened sky of the desert.

Dru brought his lightsaber down as he leapt, but the strike was blocked as the droid quickly brought its lightsaber up and absorbed the blow with a shien styled grip of the hilt. Dru used the force of the blades bouncing apart to push himself into a back flip and as his feet landed squarely, he threw his lightsaber in hopes of landing a quick blow to the droid. The droid was quicker than expected in deflecting the thrown lightsaber and sending it spinning off into the distance of the desert. As the droid parried the throw his robe had slipped a little revealing a glowing crystal in the heart of the exoskeleton.. Dru now had a target to focus his barrage.

The droid made note of Dru's eyes darting towards the crystal and took the opportunity to strike at the darksider before he had a chance to get his lightsaber. With a burst of telekenetic force, Dru was pushed backwards into the darkness of the desert.

Looking around and seeing nothing but darkness enraged Dru as he couldn’t even see the glowing of Solari’s gemheart through the desolate desert air. The young Sith clutched his stun batons tightly and readied himself for a surprise attack as he watched all around him waiting for the Odan-Urr Jedi to strike.

Solari’s quad array of photoreceptors always seemed to emit more heat when they had to process infrared light. The Cleric had noted this numerous times, but his duties as Headmaster had kept him too busy to do anything about it. Regardless, they allowed him to pierce the darkness, albeit at a much lower resolution than would otherwise be available.

He watched as the Dark Jedi Knight tried to track him in the darkness. No doubt the human was straining his organic eyes to catch the glow of Solari’s host’s photoreceptors or even the glow of Solari himself, logged securely in the droids chest cavity. Solari knew better than to rush the human. They always seemed to have an uncanny ability to prevail in new, hostile, environments.

Aiden stood as still as his muscles allowed. Tense, ready for combat, but not so much as to induce shaking. He strained his ears for any sound that was out of place. His gripped hardened on both stun batons, sure that he had heard the whir of a servo or other mechanical device.

In the end it wasn’t a glow from the eyes or chest cavity that gave away the Shard’s position, it was the re-ignition of the crimson bladed lightsaber.

Aiden leapt towards the lightsaber, performing a somewhat sideways roll in the air and bringing the baton in his right hand down where the Jedi’s shoulder joint should have been. The Sith’s weapon past through nothingness and he crashed into the hard ground, not having expected to meet no resistance. He shook his head as he watched the saber fly through the air and into the hand of the waiting Consular.

”Such an eager young mind,” Solari mused out loud, “so easily fooled by a cheap trick.”

Aiden was already back up on his feet, the taste of blood from a grazed cheek washing over his lips. The thrill of battle began to overtake him. The human was much faster than the droid that his opponent occupied, but his stun batons were only a minor annoyance; they did not incapacitate the metallic form like they would an organic assailant.

Solari found himself too slow to get the human out from the very close range he was currently in and was unable to use his lightsaber to any affect. He pushed out through the Force against his opponent, just enough to cause the Dark Jedi Knight to stumble slightly. The droid launched backwards, propelled by the Force. He reached out with the force and flicked his opponent’s lightsaber to the human’s feet.

”I don’t wish to kill you, Knight. You should at least have your weapon back, however, if you wish to even be capable of doing any real damage to my host.” Solari said loudly.