Once, it was the home to the witches of Dathomir, otherwise known as the Nightsisters. Tucked away in from the rest of the galaxy in an isolated cluster, the Nightsisters were able to draw energy from the planet itself, and pursued a type of ritualistic magic. They ruled over the population of Zabarak—Nightbrothers—and used them as a warrior caste to serve their purposes.

Then, the Clone Wars. The Nightsisters were pulled into the conflict due to the machinations of Mother Talzin and her rival Darth Sidious. This ultimately lead to the eradication of the Dathomarians and their settlements. The desolation was claimed by the Confederacy of Independent Systems after the last Nightsiser fell.

Now, the planet known as Dathomir is a haunted skeleton of its former greatness. A perpetual crimson glow coats the planet. The bleak world has become an amalgamation of ruined forest, decrepit swamplands, and withered mountains worn to the sands of time.

In the desolate swamps, faint echoes haunt the graves of the long-dead witches, infusing the green fog that spreads above the damp ground. Dreadful whispers rumoured to be lingering incantations defend the world from intruders. Tall tales and rumors of zombies and ritual sacrifice alluding to grisly flashes of imagery.

The trees, large and misshapen, promise misery to those who touch their tortured bark and open themselves to the memories of the place. Eerie as the voices over the wind, the water beneath the fog appears red and bubbling, as if the land itself were pockmarked in cauldrons of blood to keep the incantations alive.

Creatures unaffected by the purge of the Nightsisters still remain. Snakes, reptiles and insects of varying lethality wander the wasteland. Reports have even said that rancor still roam freely.

This is Dathomir.

Even with his full armor on, Thorn let out an involuntary shiver. Yet it was not the cold, but the very place known as Dathomir. At his home planet of Korriban, this place was something of a legend and a nightmare. Frightening tales were told of undead witches, zombies, fearsome creatures and much more. One had to come to to believe all that. Even to a disbeliever, just breathing the atmosphere was mind-numbing.

A carcass of some kind of lizard lay at his feet, its head blown open by his sniper. He had to kill it on his way down.

Thorn was here for something he had kept secret from everyone, even his own Clan-mates. Dathomir suddenly showed a surge in the Force for some unknown reason. Whether it was due to some Force-sensitive creature there or whether it was due to the very nature of the place, he took it upon himself to investigate. What he found was something else...

It was hard to explain. The moment he reached the surface, he could feel the Force stronger than he had ever felt. It was electrifying yet somehow soothing. It gave him strength and powers he had never had!

And that's when he saw it. Another flying over and coming to land not far from where he was. Most likely, Thorn was not the only one to have made the discovery.

He had touched down an hour ago on the top of the most suitable vantage point in the area. It was hard to get up there on foot. Lucky for him he had his jetpack. The slopes were almost vertical! What made this mountain was that it gave him a nice commanding view of the entire crimson vista of dead marshes, cliffs, rocks and patches of forests. This gave him the advantage of covering almost every side.

"Yes...it'll do nicely."

He set up his equipment overlooking the face of the cliff. Squatting down he took of his helmet and put it to a side. He quickly activated his advanced scanner, waiting for any movement 300 meters around him. If anything comes within this range...well, it just shouldn't. Next, he prepared his Sniper Pulse Cannon, having a commanding view of everything below. Now all he needed to do was locate who ever had landed. He wondered about the use his heightened Sense power. It almost guaranteed finding his foe, it the person was Force sensitive. However, it came with a downside. It also meant that his foe could sense him, and his location.

Exhaling slowly several times very slowly, he tapped into the living Dark Side of the Force around him. Feeding off it, he searched for his foe without much effort. Surprisingly, he found her presence 4 km from his position. As he concentrated slightly on the task, his eyes widened in surprise. This for was stronger than him.

He sneered with a growing disdain and hate! The same Dark Side that made him stronger will do the same for her, perhaps even more so! Worse still, she detected his gaze and using his own power against him, detected his position. He knew now who his adversary was! Keeping a distance was most wise.

Thorn could not do anything more from his position though. He decided to bide his time. He waited till his target came at least 2 km near his position. Then he immediately when to stealth mode. Using he Force itself, he cloaked his strength in the Dark Side along with his vantage position! Although he could not see her, the Dark Side had told him which direction his target was approaching from. The scope of his sniper did the rest. Though his foe was approaching stealthily, he had her in his sights...

Under the dark red skies of Dathomir, Kelly Mendes was cruising on her speeder. Sent to the planet to investigate rumours of an increased Dark Side presence, the Blade of the Fallen had certainly noticed it. There was something about the raw, unadulterated energy in the air that seemed to heighten her abilities. Rumours indicated that other clans would also be sending scouts to Dathomir, to observe for themselves. There was a desire within Kelly to meet one of these individuals, to see how much of an improvement the residual Dark Side energy offered. If it went well, the planet could be a place to bring recruits to give them a taste of the power they could earn through hard work and dedication.

Thorn could see his target, if only she would stop moving, he could get rid of her and get back to scouring the planet for the object he desired. It would hopefully not be picked up by anyone else; he had the gut feeling that he would have to fight the Human who was roaming the plains below. The Zabrak figured he could take her if his performance were one of his best, which they usually were. He could see her enter the range of his rifle. Aiming carefully, he fired a shot designed to neutralise the speeder. It was successful, though the rider had leapt from it and was a hair’s length from having the bolt crash into her her helmet. As it was, she was safe, for now at least.

Kelly looked back at her speeder; it wouldn’t be able to take her back to her ship. So, for now, she was stuck out in the open, defenceless. Quickly remedying that, she drew out her lightsaber and activated the blade. The cobalt hilt was placed above her head in her preferred hand, with the blade pointing to the north, towards the nearby mountain. Her right hand faced the mountain also, and the Human curled her fingers towards herself, daring her assailant to come down and fight her like a real warrior. The figure on the mountains didn’t move. Focusing on the silhouette, the Aedile knew it was a user of the Force, despite his cowardly choice of weapon.

Searching deeper, the Plagueian found an overall dark presence, though it had been in contact with some contaminant. Returning her focus to the physical world, she saw the figure had moved. Kelly turned her feet slowly to put herself in a position to defend from any further blaster fire. As expected, the shots came, though by twisting and turning her arm rapidly, the Savant ensured no harm came from them. While it was easy for now, any chance of victory depended on getting the Taldryanite down from the mountain. A reluctance to engage her in this manner suggested a lack of ability or overconfidence in his ability from range.

Thorn was less than pleased. The Knight hadn’t managed to deal with the annoyance from range; it was almost as if she had been able to see his attacks coming. Giving her time between his attacks was perhaps not the best idea, but it was his way of fighting. It appeared like he needed a plan B. How could he gain power over this opponent? There had to be something; nobody was unbeatable. Maybe he could take advantage of the power Dathomir seemed to offer;. His elevated viewpoint was at least keeping him out of harm’s way for now. He had time to formulate a plan without having to worry about being attacked.

Deciding his best plan of attack would be to meet the annoyance face to face and then retreat to safety if things got too bad for him. Activating his jetpack, Thorn made a controlled descent placing him with his back to the mountain. He looked at his opponent; it was likely a woman, a rather weird looking helmet obscured his view. Somewhat reluctantly, the Taldryanite drew his lightsaber and pressed his thumb into the activation button. The red blade sharply emerged and was flung with pure aggression in the direction of the opposition. Sparks flew as the blades met. The taller combatant, seeking to end the contest quickly, continued his powerful assault. Marching forward with every strike parried, it was a textbook example of offence against the defence of the mysterious individual. The Shadow assumed he would win, but what did his foe think?

Karking Sithspit, he was stupid enough to come down and face me. Still, I guess he could just be ignorant and not know who I am, House Ajunta Pall’s Aedile thought to herself. She inaudibly chuckled at the very idea. Her feet were instinctively moving backwards, forcing the aggressive opposition to close the gap before he could almost hit her again. Luckily, she had known such a style was, from a physical standpoint was more demanding as well as mentally taxing. All the Seeker had to do was survive long enough for the much taller and heavier fighter to wear himself out and show an opening before she would take advantage of it.

The surge of power that Dathomir gave him made him too brazen. The woman before him seemed to deflect his bolts easily as breathing! This irritated him greatly. He could not stand up here and keep firing! That would be a stalemate. No. He would fly down there and deal with this nuisance. With the Dark Side aiding him, nothing will stand before him today...

Activating his armored jetback and letting his sniper fall, he glided nonchalantly a distance away from her. His lightsaber glowed an angry glow, almost voicing his indignation and rage.

"Who are you, and why have you come here?" asked Thorn to the lithe but sinister woman in front.

"Oh I"m sorry! Do you live here all by yourself?" She chuckled darkly before spewing her verbal venom. "I'm here for the same reason as yours, possibly. Only I will live to enjoy the delights of this power and you will fade."

Thorn narrowed his eyes. That's always a danger signed when he does so after a talk. Its a sure sign that he's ready to leap into a fight. With the Dark Side simmering inside him, without warning he leaped inhumanly high even without the use his jetback, and smashed his lightsaber against her. The woman staggered by defended her head admirably. Thorn maintained his composure. He was not in a hurry. He had the strength of Djem So on his side. He would bludgeon her into oblivion!

Smash her he did, but it grew evident that she was using Soresu, which according to Thorn was the most irritating form of lightsaber combat. Even as he continued to circle her and bludgeon her from all directions, he laughed and said "The problem with Soresu is that you only defend. What is the use of getting into a fight if you don't seek to overpower your foe?" He ended his smug remark with a strong blow at her head, which she dodged by sidestepping quietly. This impenetrable defense was getting on his nerves!

Anger got the best of him! What he did next almost proved to be his undoing. To confident on destroying his foe, he forgot or did not seek to find out her strengths in the Dark Side. The second time she sidestepped his blow, Kelly lost no time. All she needed was a wave of her hand and the Zabrak's mind would be her'!

Without warning and just like a bolt from the proverbial blue, his mind started to go numb. It was like his consciousness was fading away terribly fast. As his eyes clouded over and as he staggered blindly over the crimson wasteland in front of her, he mentally clawed for his losing consciousness while he physically clawed for his lightsaber.

"That's why, fool! And now...drive the lightsaber through your heart."

Thorn's wrist and forearm folded obediently, his lightsaber almost pointing at his left heart. He had almost lost control of his body.

"Do it!"

It happened more akin to an involuntary muscle memory, or like a knee-jerk reaction. With the last vestige of his mental strength that was almost gone, he activated his jetpack to get the kark out of there...fast! He blasted off before Kelly could do anything, or perhaps he did not want to pursue him further, or perhaps yet she could not.

The farther he got from her, the more her spell wore off. When he was a good distance off, he crashed on a pile on bones of some ancient beast, its bony rib cage sheltering him. He shook his head vigorously. There was no time to be lost! It was now certain that here was a foe beyond his power, and that his confidence almost led to his demise, which he now cursed with gritted teeth.

Without waiting to see whether she was still following him or now, he blasted off from there. Enraged yet sober, he mentally screamed at her "One setback is not a defeat, nor is one win a victory! I shall get you yet!"

Tired of being on the back foot, Kelly stopped moving backwards, holding the Knight’s blade pressed into hers. The Plagueian was digging deeper than she’d expected to at this point, her opposition wasn’t entirely useless in a fight. This did raise the question of why he’d want to hide away and pick her off from a distance though. It could be thought on later, for now, the woman needed to strike. Lunging forward, the Savant found her move had been predicted, and now it was the Taldryanite on the back foot. How he would react to this change in circumstances would prove to be interesting. Did he have the guts to stay and fight? Or would he attempt to retreat?

Thorn wasn’t fond of his current situation, but then he had forced it upon himself. He should have stayed out of his opponent’s limited range, at least that way she’d have been compelled to waste energy getting close to him. Though that wasn’t the situation and the Zabrak was backing up towards the mountain. It was risky, but he could attempt to get back up the mountain, put the distance between them once more. Of course, if he failed, he was exposed to further attack. Deciding the risk was worth the reward, he began the ascent, aided by a combination of his jetpack and the Force. How would the Plagueian respond?

Kelly saw the Zabrak’s large frame leap into the air, and to stop him from getting away; she began hurling rocks at her opposition. She had forced him to activate his jetpack to avoid being hit. Though Kelly wasn’t much of an expert, it appeared as if her opponent had found his way back up the mountain safely, much to her chagrin. Now he had the high ground, and anyone with any semblance of sense knew how important that was. There was no real cover nearby to speak of, placing the Human at a significant disadvantage. A fact the Taldryanite was eager to take advantage of.

The Knight could see that the little skirmish down on ground level had begun to take a toll on Kelly, her movement wasn’t as sharp and crisp as it had been before. All it took was one mistake for the threat to be neutralised. Looking down the scope, he squeezed the trigger, sending a damaging bolt straight for the Plagueian, who managed to block it in the nick of time. She was tiring, but not defeated yet. Pressing the attack, Thorn fired off a trio of shots in short succession. The first was sent backwards harmlessly, while the second rebounded straight into the path of the third. How was she managing to keep up?

Kelly was thankful for such a significant distance between her opposition and her, though the constant need to readjust her position to block everything was taking its toll. Sure, when the fight started it appeared to be easy, but with her opponent flying between spots and her having to run back and forth to put herself in a position to block, it was wearing her down. Signs of fatigue were visible, all she could do was hope her opponent got bored and fled, she was in no position to pursue, despite wanting to. Running as she saw the Knight fly to another place, the Savant lost her footing, slipping to the ground, it was a mad scramble to get back to her feet in time. It was ultimately unsuccessful, as Kelly caught a bolt to the leg. She wouldn’t be going anywhere until her ship could be brought to her. As for the Taldryanite, he always seemed like the battle was a distraction, whatever he came to Dathomir for, he stood a better chance of finding now.