Seated within the Glorious Jewel of the Hutts, the Winter Palace is situated on a remote island near the planet’s equator. Although blanketed with the pollution from Hutt industry, its location makes the climate hot and humid. Surrounded with trees and vines, it could be considered to be a paradise, even among the barren wasteland of Nal Hutta. Outside of the Winter Palace, a network of sewer pipes transfer the waste from the palace to wherever seems far enough to dump into the oceans surrounding the island. Flora and fauna that have adapted to the Hutt’s environmental changes thrive in the polluted forests surrounding the Winter Palace.

Stepping through its gilded gates, the lavish interior greets your presence with the main audience chamber. Once belonging to the wealth of Jiliac Desilijic Tiron, the gleaming stone of the main aisle leads up to a Hutt’s dais lined with an expensive carpet. Beautiful tapestries line the high walls, telling of the sordid histories of those who woven them, awaiting execution in Jiliac’s dungeons.

Finally, the antechamber to the throne room is illuminated from above with high-skylighted ceilings. Constructed from lightly colored stone, the antechamber might have been where the late Hutt entertained his guests before an audience with spice and exotic dancers. In the hands of the Hutt Kajidics, however, these traditions have continued as the Winter Palace now serves as a front for criminal and business ventures.

Why do I always get the missions to the hot places? Andrelious J. Mimosa-Inahj thought to himself as he snuck through the corridors of the Winter Palace. His mission had been clear: a group working for the Hutts had stolen a Sith holocron belonging to Clan Taldryan. He was to retrieve it before the slimy aliens could further sell it on. What he did with any the thieves or their Hutt employers had been left up to him.

Having attached his datapad to the holocron’s tracking device, the Warlord followed its signal, careful to avoid larger corridors and the likely overwhelming odds of the Palace’s security forces. The holocron had apparently been hidden in one of the rooms used as slaves’ quarters.

As he came within a few feet of the holocron, his datapad indicated the device was moving. The Sith could also hear a slurping noise in the room ahead, punctuated by a blood curdling scream. The first noise sounded a little familiar to Andrelious.

That sounds like an Anzat feeding off ‘soup’.

Bursting through the door, the Taldryanite’s suspicions were confirmed. A Twi’lek in the skimpy costume of a slave was squealing and struggling as an Anzat’s tentacles drained her of her so called ‘soup’. The dying slave regarded the Warlord, but Andrelious’ own gaze was instead on a small pyramid in the Anzat’s right hand. “Thank for finding my property, Anzat. Hand it over and I’ll leave you to finish your feast in peace,” Mimosa-Inahj stated, noticing that the alien had a lightsaber hilt clipped to his belt.

“I thought this holocron belonged to Clan Taldryan, Inahj,” the Anzat answered, turning away from his feast. Andrelious recognised him immediately as Darkblade, one of the many Journeymen that he had looked after during him time as Arconan Rollmaster.

“You’re correct. Hand it over. Now,” Andrelious demanded, extending his hand towards his former ally.

“I don’t have to follow your orders any more, Arconan,” Darkblade shot back, releasing the Twi’lek from his grasp. The female dropped to the ground, her life force completely consumed by the Anzat’s feeding.

Before Andrelious could correct the Knight’s statement about his alliegance, Darkblade charged past him and into the corridor, leaving the Warlord in his wake. The Taldryanite turned on his heels and gave chase, finding to his frustration that the Anzat had hidden himself from the Force. He could not, however, escape the plain sight of the pursuing Sith, who craned his neck around in an effort to find the Sadowan. As he began to give chase, he pulled his E-11 out of its holster, curling his finger around its ever ready trigger. The second Mimosa-Inahj spotted Darkblade, he’d blast him into oblivion.

Meanwhile, Darkblade stood, still and silent, watching a man that he had once called his ally run off in the wrong direction. He dared not to move an inch; the shroud that the Force had placed over him was so delicate that even the slight up and down motion that his breathing generated threatened to shatter it into a million pieces and reveal his location.

Reaching a junction of three corridors, Mimosa-Inahj stopped short, sensing several patrols nearby. They were converging on the intersection. Darkblade would have had nowhere to go, but the lack of blaster fire indicated that the Anzat had probably not passed through.

Hang on. I remember watching him fight Meleu. He was never that fast.

Furious at Darkblade’s deception, Andrelious marched back towards the slave quarters. As he made his way there, he swapped weapons, trading blaster for lightsaber. The Warlord slashed its crimson blade from side to side, cutting deep gouges into the walls, but not finding the flesh of his target.

As the deadly weapon bore closer, Darkblade realised that his tactic was no longer viable. Moving gingerly backwards, the Knight raised his arms, and begged the Force to hold his enemy back.

“So you show yourself!” Andrelious declared with a murderous glint in his eye. Swinging his lightsaber high in the air, the Warlord went to move it downwards to chop his opponent in half, but found himself unable to do so. He tried again, but his arms refused to respond.

“Have I made my point now?” Darkblade asked, cursing silently when he realised that the immobilised Andrelious blocked his escape. His plan had been to dart away and leave the former Imperial busy with the palace guards. Instead, he reluctantly drew his own lightsaber as the Warlord finally worked his way free. Andrelious glared furiously at the Anzat.

“One final chance. Hand over the holocron, or go back to Sepros in a bodybag,” the Sith hissed.

“GUARDS!” Darkblade yelled out. The sudden call for help confused the Warlord as he let his concentration slip. The Anzat took advantage, aiming his Lanvarok at point blank range and firing it off quickly. The disc clipping the Human in his right shoulder as he moved his body to step aside. What would have been a fatal shot to the neck now only resulted in a minor, but bothering wound to his dominant hand. His shock at being hit disappeared when he heard the Anzat let out a cry and slashed his saber on a downwards strike. Blocking the blow was easy, however the hit to the shoulder caused Andrelious to grimace in pain. “I hope you know how to handle a crowd. You might best me in singular battle, but id love to see you survive in a palace full of hostile guards.” Darkblade said as he spun around, aiming a low blow to the knees.

The fight erupted in full as the Sith launched into a series of aggressive attacks aimed towards Darkblade’s neck. Swing after swing kept the Anzat on the defensive as the Warlord began to break through the puny defenses his opponent had. Darkblade took the brunt of the next attack, barely able to hold it, and quickly rolled backwards along the corridor. “GUARDS!” he yelled again. Finally hearing the sounds of rushing people, he looked towards the Human, who had taken this momentary lapse in fighting to heal his wound. Whilst still tender, the wound seemed healed and non existent. “You want the Holocron eh? Well you can have it! Catch!” he shouted as he hurled the prize towards Andrelious.

The Human looked in alarm as he watched the prized holocron sail through the air towards him. Extinguishing has lightsaber, Andrelious reached out with both arms to catch the holocron. As it fell into his hands, six Gamorrean guards turned the corner, four behind the human, and two behind the Anzat trapping them in the small corridor. Their weapons consisted of vibroblades and vibroswords, whilst 1 of them, the leader it seemed to hold a Force pike. “Well Well Well, what have we here?” the Force pike wielding Gamorrean asked, “Seems we got us some thiefs.”

Darkblade turned towards the Captain, “I was strolling through the corridor and he this Human bumped into me, stealing that Holocron from me. I am Darkblade Bladedark, of Clan Naga Sadow here on official business for Consul Locke. If you do not help me apprehend this thief you will be held responsible for the loss of this artifact.” Standing straight and using the skills he had for commanding his Battle Team, the Anzat was hoping it would also sway the Captain. If not, it would not bode well for either him nor the Human.

The Sith however did not await their response, turning around and instantly shooting one in the face with his blaster, as he thrust out his left arm and fried another guard with lightning. “Darkblade, this farce won't work on these stupid pigs, you just gave them reason to kill us both and keep the Holocron for themselves!”.

The remaining quartet of Gamorreans stared fearfully at their fallen comrades. The lightning that had sparked from Andrelious’ fingers was far beyond anything that the porcine aliens had ever expected to encounter. With a loud snort, the Captain turned tail and ran as fast as he could, his men following moments later.

“Now, with that little interruption taken care of, it’s your turn,” the Warlord hissed. With a brief flick of his arm in the direction of Darkblade, Andrelious ordered the Force to pick the Knight up and hurl him along the corridor.

Landing with a thud, the Anzat was relieved to find that the impact hadn’t broken any bones. He gathered himself quickly, his lightsaber ready, and turned to face Andrelious again. The Sith raised his hand at his opponent, calling forth another wave of the lightning that had become such a big part of his combat style. Darkblade raised his lightsaber, banking on its ability to absorb the incoming attack. As lightning collided with plasma, the amethyst blade flickered slightly as it struggled to handle the sheer power that Andrelious had summoned. The Grey Jedi watched, willing his weapon to prove strong enough.

“Such a waste of a lightsaber. Meleu was obviously too busy fooling with the archives to teach you how to fight. Not that it really matters,” Andrelious stated. He moved towards the Knight, clearly intending on engaging his opponent in a duel.

Seeing the Warlord bearing down on him, Darkblade had little time to do anything. Andrelious had positioned himself to intercept any attempts to run past him, and the corridor behind the Sadowan led back to the quarters in which the two had first encountered each other. On the face of it, the situation was grim, but the Anzat wasn’t about to stand around and let the former Imperial win. He took a few step backs, closing his eyes, focusing deeply within himself. Once again, he vanished from view, but Andrelious didn’t seem to notice. The Warlord continued his approach.

“That won’t work this time, Darkblade. You may hide yourself from my eyes, but I’ve isolated your Force imprint. Now come out and fight me,” the Taldryanite declared. With a powerful swing of his lightsaber, Andrelious forced his opponent to make a blocking move, thus making himself visible again.

Hitting with a solid, well planned combination of complex saber moves, the Equite soon had Darkblade on the back foot. Considered to be one of the Brotherhood’s finest Dun Moch practitioners, Andrelious occasionally found himself a little overwhelmed when facing a more martial form, but the Knight seemed unwilling, or perhaps unable, to advance beyond the core moves. He fought as if he had not practiced in a while, lacking any real confidence to counter attack on the rare occasions that Andrelious left an opening.

Attempting a fast downwards slash, Darkblade soon regretted his choice of move as the Warlord’s crimson blade slid almost effortlessly past his last minute defensive lunge, and cut deep into the Sadowan’s left shoulder.

“Going to try and hide again?” Andrelious taunted, sensing that the end was near.