Xarkun was ruler of the Empire now, after bringing down the regime of the New Republic with the help of his apprentice Lady Sera who was currantly away on a mission with Velia, his most prized Force Wraith, a Sith Lord called Magus, but he was currantly with his apprentice Lacus, the "messanger of peace" for the Empire. Xarkun thought it was all a rather amusing joke, as if a Sith apprentice could spread the message of peace throughout the Empire.... But if the simple minded citizens believed it than it did not really matter, did it?

Magus's other apprentice who had aided him in the takedown of the Republic, a former Jedi named Duo Yula stood in the throne room with him, staying silent just as Xarkun had requested, Duo stood next to a curious boy who could not speak, a boy named Shadow who would be his apprentice soon once Lady Sera died from the terminal illness she had....

It was rather a pity, Lady Sera was such a useful tool, a master of torture... he'd almost taken her skills for granted over the years, despite the fact that she was completely insane. Xarkun stood, prompting the eyes of Duo and Shadow to follow him as he made his way the the massive window behind his throne and gazed out upon Coruscant. He watched silently as a concert finished in distance, Lacus had been singing propoganda to the citizens of the Empire. Magus was there....

Xarkun let a loud breath escape him, it was quite uneventful, waiting for this report, and sadly no stormtrooper was stupid enough for him to make a good excuse killing, still, he was considering it....

XxX

Irena Derevko treaded silently through rows of metal crates in an abandoned warehouse near the Imperial Palace. Her heart fluttered as she reached a fenced in area, and stopped at an open gate. Behind it stood Marrku Caden, her love, her boss as well, in a sense. She jogged up and embraced him.

"Glad you're back." he whispered in her ear.

"So am I." Irena said in her quiet, intelligent way. After a prolonged, stolen moment they released eachother.

"Report?" Caden asked, getting down to business quickly. She loved that about him, how he always stuck to the job, no matter what.

"Shall we save it for the Emperor?" Irena asked with a smile.

"Maybe, should we steal a few more moments here?" he asked, longing to kiss her.

"I think so."

And so they did, before finally ending their meeting and heading to the Imperial Palace in secret, through a system of underground checkpoints, this way no Rebel spies could track them, if any were on their tale, better to be safe.... And their relationship was forbidden, so they took comfort in walking down dark, lonely streches of tunnels, though the could not express how they felt to one another any longer, dozens of security cameras lined the halls and every now and then as stormtrooper appeared and asked them a series of security questions.

Soon they arrived at Xarkun's throne room and bowed before him.

"Welcome, Caden, Derevko." Xarkun greeted smoothly, intentionally failing to call them by their agent titles. The Sith Lord's black eyes flicked to Duo. "Leave us, immediately. We must discuss sensitive information that you are not authorized to hear."

Duo attempted to voice a question about the younger boy standing next to him.

"Shadow may stay," Xarkun said with finality. "Shadow will one day be my full apprentice, and that gives him a higher rank than you I'm afraid, the lesser pupil of a greater Master. Leave."

He waited as Duo did so, and the doors sealed behind him.

"Agent Derevko, what news have you for me?" Xarkun asked.

"Nothing in particular to report. Athrun's movement has been minimal, I've noticed a kind of frustration about him.... I've not had the luxury of observing private casual behavior, and I cannot read minds so I am unable to tell you what vexes him my lord."

"It is of no consequence, the fool will die eventually, like Admiral Chett before him. I'll destroy every Rebel leader."

"Of course my Emperor."

"Have you any new locations of Rebel bases?"

"No my lord. The computer codes are difficult to crack, and still the Rebels organize their files so they are encrypted seperately, it will take more time still to discover new locations, I cannot afford to move quickly, or risk having my cover blown."

"Very well," said Xarkun. "And the movements on Hoth?"

"Minimal, the Rebels may be, perhaps, planning something, but they are not mobalizing to carry it out."

"Very well Agent Derevko. You and Caden are dismissed, you will be contacted when I deem it time for our next meeting."

"Very well my Emperor." Irena replied, bowing low, Caden followed suit.

"Leave, return to your post, help the Empire bring down the Rebels."

"Welcome back Duo." Xarkun hissed menacingly, he felt it would be a very good idea to act as though he hated the young Sith, which he did now, because the moment Dup showed signs of betrayal he'd murder him painfully. The Sith Lord sat back down on his throne and quietly began to gnaw away at Duo's mental barriers, he wanted the full thought, though it would take time to get through unnoticed, perhaps several days of it.... He could not let Duo know that he was on to him, it would spoil all the entertainment. "Stand in the corner and remain silent. Wait until you're called upon, or your master returns. Try to cover your irritation better or I shall become angry with you, and you will find it very unpleasent when I am angry."

It wouldn't hurt to flourish a bit of power either....

"No, I've nothing for you to do now," Xarkun replied. "Nothing that I believe is within your level of... skill. You and your apprentices may leave, await my word. Lady Sera shall have news for us soon if all goes well, I'll call you when it arrives Lord Magus. I do not believe it is important for Duo to know about, nor for Lacus. Dismissed."

That was enough to convince Xarkun Magus had something to hide, and he did not trust Lacus either. He'd keep a close eyes on all three and begin to gnaw away their their mental barriers, but simultaniously breaking into three minds would take more time... still, it had to be done with extreme care.

When Magus had come to report, he felt it again, and after the trio left, Shadow's eyes had not left the Emperor, immensely curious.

As he walked down the corridor, he heard voices coming from around the corner. He recognized the voices as belonging to Duo and Lacus, two of the Sith. He had never officially met them, as Lady Sera kept him well away from everyone except for prisoners and Lord Xarkun. Curious, he became one with the shadows of the corridor, using the Force to shield his presence and to augment his hearing.

Duo slightly flinched at that, but continued. "Magus isn't here now Lacus. Come on already......." Duo said.

Without thinking, a small knife flew from his hand, and stuck in Duo's leg, very close to the crotch area.

"Thank you for doing that." Lacus said to Shadow.

(She'll know he can't talk. I'll say that Magus told her that awhile ago.)

(g2g, be back on in a few hopefully.)

Once the two were in her room, Lacus started looking for the datapad that had the lyrics to her new song. Once she found it, she quickly re-memoriesed the words. Once she did that, she turned to Shadow and said, "Here we go."

"In this quiet night

I'm waiting for you

forgetting the past

and dreaming of you

Time passes by

and memories fade

but time can't erase

the love that we've made

And the stars in the sky that I wish upon

can't bring you back to my side

though you not here with me

I dream of the day we'll meet again

hold me close, so deep in your heart

I will find you no matter where i have to go

and dream of me

for I will be there

follow the stars that lead

into the quiet night."

Lacus sang. After a moment she said, "I was going to dedicate this song to all the stormtroopers and others who are fighting the evil and corrupt Rebellion. What do you think?"

He wasn't really sure how to answer her question. Even if he could speak, he would have difficulty finding the words. He was rarely left alone by his Master, unless he was being punished, and so had never had problems communicating before now. Emperor Xarkun could easily read his mind, and he could just as easily read the minds of his torture victims to get the information he needed.

His victims were a treasure trove of information. He learned much, much more than the information he needed at the time when he went through their thoughts, their memories. Suddenly the answer came to him, and he softly stepped up to where Lacus was standing, looking just slightly nervous. Leaning over, he did something he had only seen before in the minds of his victims... he lightly kissed her on the cheek.

Lacus's cheeks changed color, the way a Rebel's cheeks would change when he did something particularly painful, and they were not yet close to death. Concerned, he stepped back, afraid he was hurting her. That thought made him stop in his tracks. Afraid to hurt someone? Why would one fear such a thing? And yet, he did not wish any harm upon this girl.

Leaping up to a staircase that jutted out from the wall, he stopped and motioned for her to follow. Reluctantly, she did, realizing that he could not tell her where they were going. Once they began their ascent, the air became slightly clearer, though not by much, and they emerged into another room... or, rather, half of a room.

The room was open to the air, and it was where the sewer let out. There were force-fields protecting it, of course, as well as security cameras, but Shadow ignored all of those, and led her to one stone outcropping, from which she could see the sewer run like a great river off of the cliff that was the very base of the Imperial Palace, far, far down, like a waterfall. The water smelled, of course, but if she stood a certain way, she could catch a steady breeze of fresh air, and the coloration of the sewer water caused the 'waterfall' to combine hues of pinks, greens, and blues, in a rainbow effect that was actually quite... pretty.

(Since I couldn't think of a good prank at the moment Rimera, you can say what kind of prank Duo left in Shadow's room. I'll have Lacus talk in a minute.)

(That's the best I could come up with. Your turn Rimera.)

Shadow was perplexed at the request, but nodded. He couldn't understand why, but something about this girl drew him to her, he couldn't deny her. Getting up, they made their way back to the interior of the Palace, Lacus talking all the way about a wide variety of things, little of which Shadow could understand, but all of which kept him transfixed as he listened to the melodious sound of her voice. Soon, they were at the door to his room.

Shadow's room was just that... a room. The walls, floor, and ceiling were the dark grey metal that most of the Imperial Palace's dungeon was done in. There were no chairs, there was no bed, almost no furniture of any kind. There was a sonic shower in one corner, and a workbench in another corner, with a wide variety of weapons hanging on the wall. On the workbench was an open box, and upon closer inspection, Lacus saw that the box was filled with various needles, knives, syringes, and other sharp and painful-looking instruments.

However, the Force told them both that something was wrong. They were soon to learn what, as a thermal detonator suddenly went off in the sonic shower, the force of which threw them back out of the room. Getting up, Shadow helped Lacus to her feet, looking her over to see that she was unharmed. Dust and ash covered them both, and suddenly Lacus looked like she was about to kill someone.

Duo felt a shiver go down his spine. "Why do I suddenly have the feeling I'm going to be hurt badily today?" Duo muttered.

Taking Lacus's hand once again, something which he found more and more that he enjoyed doing, he led her to one of the cells in the dungeon below. They could hear cries coming from it, and once they opened the door, they saw a man strapped down onto a table with metal clamps. From the looks of things, he had been awake and struggling for quite some time.

Turning to look at Lacus, who was confused, he placed his finger on her lips, motioning for her to be silent. Lacus understood and nodded, then Shadow turned and walked up to the table, which was lowered for him to work on comfortably.

The rebel began shouting obscenities at the two of them, but Shadow merely shook his head at the man, and roughly placed his hand over the man's mouth. Looking into the man's eyes, he let his power pierce the man's mind, his mental fingers clawing at the Rebel's brain. The man screamed, and soon Shadow's mind left the rebel's, and he gently wiped the sweat from the man's brow, soaking in the rebel's fear. Then, he took a small knife from his belt, and moved to the man's right hand. Picking a place just above the wrist, and ignoring the rebel's pleas, he began to make his incision, making certain to stop and start again as often as possible, to prolong the pain. When he had finally finished cutting through the skin and muscle, and was now scraping bone, he used the Force to remove the metal clamp around the man's wrist, picked up his now unusable hand, and broke the bone right where the meat had been carved from it.

The man screamed himself unconscious.

Pleased that the handiwork was still neat, even though he had been in a hurry, he adjusted the controls of the table to move the metal clamp up to the man's elbow, then fastened it shut. Finished with that, he took the hand and walked back over to Lacus, who had gone white as a sheet. He held out the hand to her, and she took it, her own hands shaking.

Thus, the prank wars began.

When he got there, the doors opened for him, and he approached the Emperor's throne, kneeling when he came to the right place. He wasn't sure what he had done, but was extremely frightened... it had been years since he had done something worth being punished, and he was not looking forward to it.

Shadow wasn't certain if he had done anything wrong, but something kept nagging at him in the back of his mind. He couldn't place it, and decided to meditate upon it later. For now, he kept his eyes lowered and his mind opened to his Emperor.

"You fail to answer my question, my young apprentice." the cloaked one hissed dangerously, a three tailed, black, blood encrusted whip held loosely in his hand, he ran his chalk white fingers across it, as though to test a sharpness that did not exhist.

"Master, I'm sorry, I failed. I did not mean to kill them!" the young one cried in a pleading voice.

"THERE IS NO ROOM FOR FAILURE LORD XARKUN!" Darth Agro boomed, his voice echoing about the velvety black room. "You were supposed to extract information from them! How is that possible now that they are DEAD?!"

"I'm sorry master, I could not--"

"Control it?! Then you do not deserve the power I give you Lord Xarkun! How useful can you be if you cannot control your power?! Anger is your weapon, it gives you focus, it makes you stronger, but you must remain in control of it, lest you fail and kill those who hold valuable information! The Jedi is no good to me dead, Lord Xarkun. You must learn to control your anger, focus it, that is your failing today Lord Xarkun, and Lord Agro excepts nothing less than perfection."

A crack of the whip and a gash in his back, but still Lord Xarkun failed to control his anger....

XxX

He barely caught himself in time as Shadow opened his mind. Silently he cursed his former master and all of these damn memories. Why should they be surfacing now?! Lord Xarkun took a deep breath, and brushed his anger aside for a moment as he peered into Shadow's mind, but what he saw just rekindled the fire.

"You," he hissed, pointing a long, chalk white finger at Shadow. "You dare to open your heart to Lacus! Do you not sense their thoughts, those of Duo and Magus?! Do you not sense their desire to betray me, and you, and Sera, the the Empire?! I forbid you to develop a relationship with the lesser ilk of the Sith! The product of Magus's limited skills in training! You will never again so much as touch the arm of that girl, I will not have you be seduced by the soft voice, and fair face of the traitorous brat! I command that, no matter if you are force to be within her proximity, you stay away from her, do not touch her, do not look at her, do not dwell on fantasies that can never come to be, she is a potential enemy Shadow, you will not befriend her, because my punishment will be nothing compared to what Lady Sera or Lord Magus would do if they discovered your feelings for her. Though Lord Magus shall not lay a hand on you unless he has a wish for his flesh to be dissolved by boiling acid. Have I made myself more than perfectly clear, Shadow?"

And then, something else Xarkun had said sunk in. She, and Duo and Magus planned to betray Xarkun? How could they?! How could she?! He had almost thought she was a... a friend. But, she had deceived him, they all had.

She would pay for that deception.

No longer would he open himself up to her. He would obey his Emperor's commands... they were all that mattered. He belonged to Emperor Xarkun, body and soul, and that went for his heart, too. He would overcome this weakness, he would destroy any vestiges of happy feelings he had for Lacus, he would make his heart hard and cold.

He would obey his Master.

Reading within the boy's mind that he would obey, Emperor Xarkun dismissed him with a wave of his hand. Shadow stood, wiping the tears from his face, and left the Emperor to go back to his room, destroyed though it was.

In the corridor, he saw Lacus, who was about to ask what was going on, but he looked away and just continued to walk. He would not let her get to him... he wouldn't! He would be cold and hard inside, like his Emperor was. Reaching his room, he used the Force to replace the heavy metal door, which had been blown off, and locked it shut. He waved his hand, and all the debris that had littered the middle of the floor was swept away, and he sat down in the middle of the floor. Pulling out his lightsaber, which was much like the training sabers used to train the Force Wraiths in that the handle put out an electrical charge, he upped the voltage as high as it could go, and, holding the painful tool in both hands, began to meditate on all that had happened.

With a mental sigh, he said, "I won't betray Xarkun just yet, unless some sort of situtation arises where I could take him down. I'll wait until I'm stronger or strong enough to kill him." Magus finally decided.

"No."

"Why?"

"He is evil, he likes the Jedi." the young boy replied.

Wont

SILENCE! SILENCE! He could not take these anymore, and now random voices were...

"In that case it is crucial that you--"

Betray

Everything flashed black, and white, and gray... and he saw himself and Lord Agro once more.

"Are you sure Master?"

Xarkun... yet

No! No, Magus would not! Never in his lifetime would he be betrayed by...

"Yes, quite sure Lord Xarkun."

Silence! He wished he could block it out of his memories.

"But then what master?"

"Then you may speak to your brother about his point of view, and about how he stole so many luxuries from you Lord Xarkun."

He didn't want to face it again, he could not watch it happen once more, that had been his turning point... it was where it all ended, and it all began for him.

"Alright master,"

"Follow me Lord Xarkun."

No! He'd not face it again! He would not face it again, not ever!

The vision of the small boy and the tall Sith Lord vanished, replaced by a thousand images at once, crimson streaked wall, the sound of screaming, laughter, Magus's voice, wont... betray... Xarkun... yet.

And suddenly his head was quiet. He was still sitting upon his throne... completed isolated from the rest of the universe, save those two crimson robed guard near the entrance... crimson... the blood on the walls. He'd not be reminded! How dare they stand before him in those robes after that! He waved his hand like a slashing sword and both men flew in opposite directiones towards the railings that guarded two endless pits... both made contact at the same time and they split in half, spewing blood everywhere before falling into darkness.

He stood up, fell to his knees and bellowed into the air, the window behind his throne grew hairline cracks... the blood on the floor began to flow slowly... like a river of red... The floor shook.... And the Emperor cried in rage. These memories... how they plagued his only sanctuary... how Lord Agro managed to torture him even from the grave. He would not have it!

Lord Xarkun shut his mind, but not before he heard another whisper...

Wont... betray... Xarkun... yet.

Oh yes... no one would dare betray him now... not now... they would be terribly sorry, Magus would a fool, and was still a fool for even considering it... yet? The Emperor scowled and waved his hand, sending the situation table at the foot of the platform flying, it crashed into the wall with such force that the durasteel cracked, and the table fell in two pieces.

The Sith Lord was breathing hard now, a trickle of cold sweat rand down his neck, his black eyes looked nonexistent.... He might have been dead, if not for his constant movement, the ripples in the Force, and objects flying around the throne room, crashing into walls and one another, but wasn't he dead? He'd been a dead man for a long time now... since the age of... seven? Yes... no, six... it did not matter, since his spirit had been broken and he had embraced the dark side he had become a demonic entity that stalked the galaxy, hurting, killing, slaughtering as he went. But that was his nature, he had to accept it, he had to accept that Magus still had thoughts of betrayal, and that one day soon it could happen, he had to accept the moron Duo probably shared these thoughts, and that Shadow had been close to falling for the brat Lacus... he had to accept there were yet rebels to his regime, rebels he had to slaughter like cattle.... He had to accept his nature, force upon him by the bastard Agro... but there was one thing Lord Xarkun, Dark Lord of the Sith could never accept. His memories of those days long ago.

The rebel hadn't told him this. He had simply screamed. A lot. But still, Shadow knew... little by little, the rebel's defenses began to crack, and more and more thoughts would float to the surface of his mind, where Shadow's mental claws had a firm grip.

"Get them off of me! Please get them off!" the rebel would howl between screams, but Shadow was not listening. There were no spiders on the rebel anyway... it was simply an illusion, a manipulation of his mind, that his Master had taught him when he was little. Fears were easy to make, because the mind was always ready to believe what it feared.

Shadow did not hear the man's pleas. He heard the man's thoughts... epecially one of them, an important one, which the rebel's weakened mind was trying to defend at all costs. Shadow was patient.

He looked into the man's eyes, which wasn't difficult, as the man no longer had a face. His eyes were blue... his ex-wife loved blue eyes. Shadow smiled tightly at the man, his mind wrapping around that thought the pirate tried so desperately to keep from him. Very gently, he laid a hand on the man's skinless cheek, his mind clutching tightly onto the thought. The man shuddered. 'Don't you want the pain to end?' Shadow's mind echoed through the pirate's thoughts. The vision of the man's ex-wife tried to come back up, to block him, but Shadow was too strong-willed. Suddenly, the thought opened up to him, and Shadow saw what the rebel had been hiding. His smile widened, and all of the man's defenses dropped, flooding Shadow's mind with images and information. The pirate had given up... had given him what he wanted. His mind now begged for death.

Shadow obliged the man.

Getting his bearings after the rebel was dead, Shadow left the room and walked toward the throne room. As he approached it, he heard loud crashes, and could feel the disturbance coming from the Emperor. Xarkun reminded Shadow of his Master, Lady Sera, in so many ways. On his guard, lest his Emperor mistake him for an enemy in his anger, Shadow slowly entered the throne room, and knelt before his Emperor.

(Okay, Anime, Lacus should try to talk to Shadow after this meeting. I was going to have it before, but then Sith Master and I planned for Shadow and Lacus's mission together soon, so they will have plenty of opportunity to talk very shortly.)

"SILENCE!" Xarkun bellowed into the air, he had barely even noticed Shadow kneeling before him.

Agro haunted his memories, and now he had come to haunt his thoughts?! He would not have it, he would not have it! Lord Xarkun shut his mind tightly, throwing up walls of stone, and metal around his thoughts so nothing could invade them, calming his mind with... regretably, a Jedi technique, despite the fact that Agro was a bastard he was correct, he had to control his anger. Xarkun's eyelids fell over his black eyes for a moment, he inhaled deeply, and everything that was suspended by his power fell.

"What is it?" he asked quietly as he folded his hands in front of him, not bothering to open his eyes yet, or to explain anything to Shadow.

Duo cursed himself for having forgotten to erase the records of him being in Lacus's room. "Looks like I'll have to come up with another prank....." Duo muttered. "Duo, it's good to see you again." a voice said to Duo. He turned around and saw the Force Ghost of Shaak Ti.

"You're to soft my apprentice." Agro's voiced hissed. But how?! He'd... no, he'd forgotten, his mind was closed now....

"I shall have an asset confirm the location of this Rebel cell, for now you may go. I shall call upon you later, you've done well."

"But you have not."

What?! How?! It did not matter....

"SILENCE! I WILL NOT HAVE THIS! LEAVE NOW!"

"You're ever so irritating my former apprentice.... you always were, farewell Lord Xarkun."

Xarkun kept his face static as he waited for Shadow to leave, then he would attempt to clear his head, yet again, and contact an asset.

Shadow's thoughts were interrupted when the Force gave him a shrill warning, just before a spray of black dye washed over him the moment he opened his door. His face, hands, hair and clothes were covered in it. Closing the door, he allowed his anger to grow exponentially within him. Duo.

Duo would pay.

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