As you walk through the swampy jungle to the South, you enter the ancient ruins of the Dark Temple. Abandoned and forgotten, the temple has slowly succumbed to the erosion of time. Before you lies the central chamber—the walls have crumbled, the ceiling caved in, and the jungle now flourishes within the once pristine halls.

Green light filters itself through the temple, mixing eerily with the dark, violet hue of Dromund Kaas' sky. Lightning flickers overhead, the raw energy of the Force clashing high above. The floor is overgrown with flora, large plants and grasses that have swallowed the old stone. Wild creatures roam freely, skittering away from your presence, but your heightened senses can feel the brush of vicious predators, hiding just out of sight.

The main hall is lined on both sides by towering statues, heads bowed in supplication. They stand in deference to the sculpture of a pureblooded Sith, which towers over the chamber with outstretched arms. The sculpture has been split diagonally down the middle, as if cleaved in two by a rusted blade, but you can still feel the majesty in the stone.

On either side of the main hall, remnants of branches to inaccessible parts of the temple remain. Ignoring those, your head tilts to take in what is left of the mezzanine—the balcony overlooking the chamber—still held aloft by the great pillars standing behind the statues. Several of the pillars have fallen, providing a pathway up to the mezzanine for those willing to take the risk for higher ground.

You can feel the danger of the temple. Sense the spirits of the Sith that still haunt the grounds, waiting for poor, misguided fools to walk blindly into their domain. Now, they have two souls to consume… that is, if you and your opponent don't destroy each other first.

Though teeming with life, Dromund Kaas was a dead world. That irony was not lost on Andrelious as he wandered about the ruined temple.

Nothing of value. It’s hard to believe that this was the capital of an Empire, the Warlord thought.

Andrelious had travelled to Dromund Kaas at the behest of the Taldryan Summit. His mission was to scout out for potential hiding places for the large influx of ‘refugees’ that were soon to come Taldryan’s way. He wasn’t a huge fan of the Summit’s policy: in his eyes, Pravus’ actions were justified. In particular, protecting Jedi went totally against everything the Warlord believed in. He had kept his concerns silent, however.

The Sith sensed someone nearby. At first, he thought he had run into one of the spirits that were rumoured to inhabit the ruins, but, as he moved closer, he realised that this particular presence was very much still alive. Their connection to the Force chilled the Warlord to the bone. Whoever they were, Andrelious had encountered another dark sider.

Crossing through a doorway, Andrelious spotted an alien that he quickly identified as a Togruta. He couldn’t ascertain much else, other than that the alien was male.

“You there! Who are you?” Mimosa-Inahj called out. The Togruta didn’t answer. Instead, he reached for a lightsaber hilt and activated it, its crimson blade an almost perfect match for its owner’s skin. Snarling, the alien sprinted at Andrelious, a murderous glint in his eye.

Without a second thought, Andrelious armed himself with one of his own lightsabers, but he was amazed at just how fast the Togruta was able to run. In what seemed like no time at all, the Taldryanite was already blocking an initial attack. Taking a step back, the Warlord watched his opponent’s movements carefully.

“Ah. You’ve not been fighting with that for long. Tell me, what brings you here? What’s your name, boy?” Andrelious questioned as he counter-attacked. He quickly noticed that the Togruta was far less strong on the defensive.

“I’d ask you the same thing, but I don’t really care,” the alien snapped.

“Aggressive, rude and so sure of yourself. You’d have made a great Sith,” the Warlord hissed.

The Togruta raised an eyebrow, confused by Andrelious’ use of the past tense. A split-second later, things became a great deal clearer as he felt himself be hurled through the air. Landing on top of a large pile of rubble, the Togruta took a few moments to re-compose himself. As he did so, his Taldryanite adversary appeared to be burning his way through his mental defences.

“You won’t talk, but the Force will. You’re Abadeer Taasii, Clan Plagueis. Now I’ll know where to send the bodybag,” Andrelious taunted.

Abadeer looked unimpressed. “So you know my name. That won’t help you,” he responded.

“Come on, boy! Show me what they’re teaching you in Plagueis!” The Warlord yelled.

Abadeer picked himself up off the ground, gingerly touching his ribs. They were bruised from landing so hard on the rubble. Looking up at the powerful being in front of him. This will not be easy, Taasii thought to himself. The Neophyte charged back at his opponent, slashing wildly and clumsily hoping to land a lucky hit.

“Is this all you can do?” Andrelious said, unleashing a flurry of blows from his vermilion blade. His attacks were relentless and fierce. Any time the Neophyte attempted to block or parry, his lightsaber was beaten out of the way. It had been only a minute or two since their engagement began, but already Taasii had suffered several burn wounds. In lightsaber combat, he was severely outmatched by the short man.

Abadeer touched the Force, which came much more readily in this place so heavily saturated with the Dark Side. Channelling the Dark Side into his limbs he flipped backwards, gaining some distance between himself and his opponent. He looked around, and saw exactly what he needed. He drew again on the Dark power, and reached forcefully out with both hands at his opponent. There was rubble lying everywhere between the two combatants, and it was now flying dangerously through the air at the human. He responded in kind by extending his arms, and the ruble seemed to curve around him for a moment, as if blocked by an unseen force. After a few large pieces were diverted, his eyes widened and he dove out of the way of the rest.

“So I see you do know something of the Force,” said the man as he stood up, brushing dust of his military jacket, “You’re not totally useless after all. Just incompetent in combat.” He slowly started stalking toward the Togruta, blade unactivated but he looked ready all the same.

“Who are you!” shouted Abadeer. “What do you want?” He crouched down, ready for anything his opponent could throw at him.

“My name is Andrelious, and I’ve been sent here on a mission that doesn’t concern you. It’s just been a while since I’ve been able to squash a puny bug beneath my boot. I thought I’d get a little exercise. Plus, it’s always nice to fight a weakling from Plagueis.” The Warlord circled around the Togruta. “The thing is, you’re so focused on me, you never look up.”

Andrelious reached out with lightning speed, that his hefty frame didn’t suggest possible, and pulled downward, the Force responding to his command.. The balcony right above Abadeer’s head crumbled, crashing down on top of him.

Abadeer drew on the Force once again, to push his body to it’s utmost limits and bounded out from under the cascading balcony. The crash reverberated across the floor and sent him to one knee. Panting, he looked at his opponent. What am I supposed to do against such a titan?

“Enough of these games!” Andrelious roared. With little further ceremony, he extended his arm towards his opponent. Hatred and anger within the Warlord began to manifest itself as tendrils of lightning, Mimosa-Inahj’s eyes glowing bright red as he directed the lightning at his opponent.

Abadeer dove out of the way, the Force having screamed a warning just moments previously. Andrelious’ attack singed the edges of the Neophyte’s clothing, but the Togruta was able to avoid immediate electrocution.

“So you like to jump around like a deranged Kowakian monkey lizard. Can you actually fight me, boy?” Andrelious taunted.

Abadeer offered no reply. He was too busy readying himself to go back onto the offensive. Charging in, the Neophyte seemed to have forgotten his concerns about how mismatched the pair were as he swung his lightsaber aggressively at the older Sith’s torso. Andrelious blocked the attack with apparent ease, then counter-attacked with an aggressive slash that forced the Togruta into a fairly clumsy looking parrying action. The Taldryanite followed up with a series of slower, more powerful blows, hoping to knock his opponent’s weapon clear of his hands. The Neophyte proved stronger than Andrelious had anticipated, but his rather unpolished defensive moves weren’t enough to severely test the Warlord.

As he stepped back to re-compose himself, Andrelious found himself subjected to an extremely fast paced counter attack. Abadeer reached forwards, but slightly over extended himself. As the Togruta stumbled a little, Mimosa-Inahj saw his chance and, after feinting to the left, changed his angle of attack at the last moment, easily bypassing his enemy’s desperate defensive lunge. The blade of his lightsaber pierced the Neophyte’s chest, burning through blood vessel, tissue, and muscle as if it were a hot knife cutting its way through butter.

Abadeer fell to his knees, almost completely paralysed by the pain. Fatigue and the sheer number of injuries he had sustained meant that his ability to disregard pain was now largely irrelevant.

“Typical young Sith. If you were half as good as you thought you were, you’d have had half a chance,” Andrelious hissed disdainfully, switching from his silver hilted lightsaber to the black and red one. The one he liked to reserve for killing. Abadeer, though he was defeated, had enough fight left in him to spit in the Taldryanite’s face. Andrelious didn’t react, other than to wipe the Togruta’s saliva away. With a single swing of his lightsaber, the Warlord severed just enough of Taasii’s throat to ensure that he would suffer a slow, suffocating death.

As he coldly walked away, Andrelious smirked when he heard the Neophyte gasping desperately for air.

That wasn’t one for Selika’s archives, the Warlord mused.