FicWad

-There was no doubt about it; there was a dark force user on the planet, and a strong one too. It was probably a Sith, but why a Sith would be on such a backwater planet was a mystery to Jex. The planet had no importance to the Jedi so there was little to be gained by attacking it. Jex decided the answer would be found by pushing forward and so he entered the palace.

-He tried to limit his reliance on the force while he slipped through the shadows and avoided the guards. He had sensed the other force user and if that person hadn't sensed Jex's presence already Jex wanted to keep it that way. Instead he relied on his wit and training to do without his superhuman abilities. The hallways of the palace had guards patrolling up and down each corridor. Every intersection had one sentry and every door had two guards.

-In order to move about unseen, Jex was forced to climb along the top of the tall walls. He made quick movements, darting around ledges and corners, using the elaborate architecture to his advantage and only moving in the light when a guard's back was turned. Inch by inch Jex made his way to the inner court where he found the double doors guarded by four soldiers standing side by side.

-Jex considered the situation and decided that he had to talk to the planets leader. He jumped down, activating his light sabers as he did, and decapitated the two guards closest to him with one swipe. He then spun around and did the same to the other two with a back hand swipe of the other sword. It had all been one fluid motion that occurred to quickly for the guards to even raise their weapons. Four bodies fell to the floor and four heads rolled away.

-Jex listened for a moment but heard no one call out in query or alarm, and no one came to investigate. Satisfied that he had not been detected, Jex pressed his ear to the door to listen. He could hear several hushed voices whispering to each other franticly. It was probably the king with his aids and advisors discussing what to do. If guards had been inside with them the men would not be talking at all so Jex guessed it was safe.

-He took out his electronic lock pick, a cylindrical device with a squared center where the keypad was, and placed it on the door. The computer rapidly ran through numbers, selecting them one at a time and displaying them on the readout. When it was done, Jex typed in the code and the door opened for him.

-Inside the room Jex instantly recognized king Croaxis. The large man was surrounded by several very timid looking politicians that loyally shielded their king. Such loyalty told Jex that Croaxis was probably a good leader, or at least friends with those he worked with. The rest of the room was devoid of soldiers and Jex deactivated his weapons and returned them to his belt.

-"Are...are you a Jedi?" one of the men asked. The other men looked at each other and at Jex, hopeful of the possibility of a savior.

-"I'm here to help," Jex answered, "let's leave it at that. Now what's the situation?"

-"We don't know who they are," Croaxis said as he stepped out from behind the protective wall of his companions, "they attacked without warning and before we knew what was happening they had occupied our world. They took many of our people to excavate the Zedon ruins while my statesmen and I were kept as hostages."

-"What are the Zedon ruins?" Jex asked.

-"They are an ancient structure of unknown origin. We have no record of their construction or function in our history. I don't know what anyone could possibly want there but my people are being used as slave labor to unearth the area. I beg you, save my people."

-"Where is this place located?"

-"Several leagues from here," one of the politicians answered.
Jex thought for a moment. It would be a pain to move that far on foot, and he didn't want to risk flying there. Then he got an idea, why fly when he could be flown? "Alright, they will discover the dead guards outside soon and when they come in and question you tell them that some of your soldiers are heading to free the slaves at the ruins."

-"But...won't they stop you?" one of the men asked, looking confused.

-Jex smiled slyly, "Actually they'll help me." He stepped into the hallway, picked up one of the deceased soldiers weapons and fired it down the hallway. He heard several surprised shouts and he hurried back into the room. the soldiers called for help when they discovered their dead comrades and then they burst into the room. they pointed their weapons at the startled politicians.

-Several of the soldiers secured the room while their commander walked up to Croaxis. "What happened?" he asked. The king looked at his advisors; he knew he would have to make it sound convincing, but that was something politicians excelled at.

-Jex made his way to the hanger and found what he was looking for. He waited in the shadows on the overhead crossbeams for a few minutes and sure enough a large contingent of soldiers ran into the hanger and boarded a transport ship. Jex dropped down onto the ship and laid down, grabbing a hold of the antenna array as the ship lifted off. It flew out of the hanger and stayed low as it headed for the Zedon ruins, exactly where Jex wanted to go.

-After a short flight the ship reached the excavation area. The ruins looked more like a temple of some sort, and Jex was surprised to see how much it resembled Jedi architecture. There were hundreds of slaves working tirelessly to rescue the ancient structure from the clutches of the jungle. Despite the workers efforts the vines seemed to reach out to reclaim their prisoner and if the slaves let up for a second it seemed that they would.

-Jex spotted over a dozen guards keeping watch over their charges. Three of them approached the transport ship as its hatch opened and the reinforcements disembarked. The squad's commander spoke briefly with one of the guards and then all of them headed into the structure through an opening that led underground. Jex figured that the leader, and probably force user, was who the soldier wanted to see. So that was where Jex would have to go.

-He slipped off of the ship and made his way into a nearby shadow. One of the soldiers stood out from the others and was closest to Jex. The man wore the same shiny armor as the others and wandered just out of the view of his companions. Jex saw the opportunity and tossed a stone to distract the man before rushing out and decapitating him with his black light saber.

-Jex pulled the corpse into the bushes and stripped him. After putting on the man's armor Jex casually moved through the camp towards the tomb's entrance. The guards pointed their weapons at him and asked for him to explain himself. Jex knew it was dangerous to use the force so close to where the other force user might be but he had little choice.

-"I need to go inside," Jex said as he made a small wave of his hand. He reached into the man's mind with the force, felt his will and dominated it with his own. The soldier lowered his weapon and looked to his companion.

-"He's ok," the man said, and Jex was allowed to pass.

-Inside the tomb there were not as many soldiers which made it easier for Jex to move around. The slave's that toiled to uncover the tomb's secrets wouldn't question someone they perceived as one of their captors and it was doubtful the other force user would be able to identify him either.

-Jex moved through the underground tunnels until he found his way to an opening. He stood at the top of a narrow ramp that led down into a large central chamber where nine soldiers addressed someone wearing a black cloak in front of a sarcophagus. There was little doubt in Jex's mind that the hooded figure was the force user, and probably a Sith. Jex wasn't close enough to hear what they were talking about but he didn't think he could move closer without being noticed.

-One of the soldiers which was overlooking some slave workers started to kick one of them. Jex felt the urge to intervene but he knew that hasty action wouldn't do anyone any good. The Sith also seemed to notice the action and slowly raised a hand with fingers outstretched. Jex watched as lightning shot from the Sith's finger tips and was surprised to see it hit the soldier instead of the slave. The man screamed in pain as the force charged electricity shot through his body until the Sith released him. The man collapsed to the ground, smoke emanating from inside his armor.

-The other soldiers didn't lift a finger to intervene and the slave covered her head and cowered in place. The Sith resumed speaking with the soldier commander as if nothing had transpired and Jex knew without a doubt that he was dealing with a Sith. The sooner he liberated the locals the better.

-Jex thought it over for a moment and decided that the best way to find out what was going on, and to free the prisoners, would be to interrogate and kill the people in the room. he placed two micro bombs in the sides of the doorway, activated his personal shield and took aim with his blaster rifle. He knew that the Sith would more than likely block any shots within reach of a light saber so Jex switched the weapon to full auto and opened up on the soldiers standing furthest from the cloaked figure.

-The blaster bolts crossed the distance of the room in less than a second and right away two of the soldiers dropped to the ground. the force user turned and activated a double bladed, red light saber to fend off any nearby shots while the slaves in the room ducked for cover. The remaining soldiers opened fire one Jex's position but he jumped off the side of the ramp and used it as cover while he fired another burst when the soldiers moved to get a better angle on him. three more of them took direct hits as their friends opened fire on Jex, trying to avenge their fallen comrades.

-Jex rolled out of the way and threw the remaining micro bombs up and the ceiling above the soldiers. The marble sized spheres struck the ancient stone and detonated in unison with the two in the entranceway and the ruble came down to burry the men. They let out screams as several tons of rock crushed their bodies. With the remaining men out of the way Jex slowly stepped out of hiding to face the Sith who had not moved since his initial attack. Seeing no more soldiers nearby, Jex deactivated his shield to conserve its energy. The device would protect him from a few glancing blaster bolts but would do nothing against a light saber.

-Jex knew that there were two kinds of Sith. Those that became Sith for self gratification loved to hear themselves talk and were easy to kill, the other kind were those that became Sith in order to accomplish some higher goal. They were far more professional and focused, and more dangerous. Jex hoped that his opponent was the former.

-He tossed away the rifle and reached inside his armor to pull out his light sabers. The fact that the Sith he was facing used a double bladed weapon wasn't a good sign. Normally those light sabers were only used as training tools, when used as a weapon in combat they could prove just as deadly to the user as to the opponent. Even a plain light saber could prove unwieldy to a non force user. The blade held no weight and those not properly trained could easily kill themselves. His opponent was either exceptionally skilled, or the Sith could simply be an overconfident fool.

-Either way Jex knew better than to underestimate anyone who held a light saber. Jex activated his weapons and the Sith seemed surprised to see white and black blades. Jex capitalized on the momentary distraction and took the offensive. He attacked with both blades, hoping for a quick win but the Sith quickly refocused and blocked the attacks. They finished the short engagement and then they backed off from each other.

-They circled each other slowly, sizing each other up. Jex was discouraged by the fact that his opponent was a skilled duelist. The Sith removed the cloak and Jex was surprised to see a woman staring back at him with cool eyes. The dark side had done its work on her complexion but she was still attractive. Her dark hair was short on the sides and the center was pulled back into a braded ponytail.

-"I've never seen a Jedi use a blaster riffle before," she said accusingly. Jex smiled inside his helmet, he hated the assumption of his allegiance but had to admit it was understandable. Only a rouge as crazy as he was would jump into this kind of conflict without the support of the Jedi council.

-"I guess that means I'm not a Jedi," Jex said as he tapped into the force, drew it into himself and let it explode outward. The burst of energy ripped his stolen armor off and he lunged at the Sith again. He brought the white blade down and the black one up from opposite sides but the Sith angled her own weapon to deflect the attack and countered with a few strikes of her own. They exchanged several blows until they fought each other to another draw and drew back again.

-"So, you want to tell me what a Sith is doing in a place like this?" Jex asked. The woman smirked at the question and shook her head. "Ok then, how about your name?" the women seemed to consider the question for a moment. Jex knew she was probably deciding if the information could be used against her, like most Sith she was paranoid.

-Her eyes sharpened and Jex knew he had his answer when she raised one hand with her fingers outstretched. Jex brought his blades up just in time as lightning shot from the Sith's fingers. He held his blades in a crossed X in front of him and the strands of electricity wrapped around them like a lightning rod. The woman ceased her attack and the two considered each other again.

-Jex had sealed the room with his explosives so the Sith had no help coming and there was no escape for either of them. Her only option would be to kill Jex and wait for her men to rescue her, but Jex wasn't about to let that happen. Yet again he took the offensive and the Sith defended herself. They exchanged several attacks until Jex made a wide swipe at the Sith's midsection with his right hand. She jumped back to avoid it which gave Jex room to throw his black saber at her.

-The Sith bent over backwards to avoid the blade and as she came back up Jex tilted his wrist up and aimed hi palm toward her. She had no time to react before Jex tapped into the force and pushed out through his outstretched hand. The Sith was struck with the invisible impact and sent flying backwards. While she was still in mid air Jex reached out with the force to his lost light saber and called it back to him.

-The black bladed weapon spun through the air and found its mark, slicing the Sith's weapon in half before returning to the hand of its owner. The Sith landed on her back and tried to get up but Jex dashed over to her and pointed his white blade at her throat, she was beaten.

-"Tell me what I want to know," Jex said, trying to catch his breath. Even beaten the Sith seemed unwilling to answer his question but Jex was out of patience. "look either you tell me or a get it out of one of your men. Either way I will find out what's going on and I'd prefer not to kill you."

-It seemed the Sith couldn't argue with that logic and she reluctantly nodded. "There is an artifact hidden here," she said, "one piece of a greater whole. When combined with the other pieces the device grants the wielder great power. Power my master wants."

-Jex didn't like the sound of that at all. He was about to ask how many pieces her master already had when the entire chamber started to shake. There were sounds of weapons fire from the other side of the collapsed entrance and the radio on one of the dead soldiers crackled to life.

-"Alert, all available men topside now!" the panicked voice said. It distracted Jex long enough for the Sith to raise a hand and blast him with a strong jolt of force lightning at point blank range. Jex screamed in pain as the energy sent him flying through the air. The energy penetrated into his body and wreaked havoc with his nervous system. he slammed into a far wall and collapsed to the ground. Jex tried to get up but he slipped into to darkness and was at the mercy of the Sith.