Endless fires burned around the two duelers, and embers clung to their faces as the heat radiated around them.

The two cared little, however. To them, what mattered was the battle, progressing with the roar of the volcanoes surrounding them. Grunts of exhaustion filled the air, each dueler drawing further on one another's hate to give them the strength to complete the duel. With every clash came droplets of sweat, quickly evaporated by the intense heat. The endless fires soared onward.

The clashing continued until the two duelists found themselves in a lock they could not escape. The duel of wills to determine the victor, and neither would show weakness, for both wanted to please their master.

When they were alone, they considered themselves friends, if not brothers. But here, in the heat of the duel, they were no more than mortal enemies clashing for the survival of the fittest.

Their strikes quickened as the lock broke, and each dared the other to let up as the battle's pace quickened once again. Each one danced around as though performing a show, as each strike struck one another. A beautiful dance, known as the dance of death. The name told no lies.

Finally, the dance broke, as the younger of the two duelists made an impressive leap through the air, swinging his lightsaber around backwards and landing awkwardly as he attempted to twist himself around to break the new lock he had put himself in with the other in an uncomfortable, backwards position. Finally, the lock gave out and the victim stumbled to the floor, lightsaber in hand, barely managing to escape the grasp of the other as the lightsabers locked once again. One was determined to get up and gain his ground, the other, to finish the duel. The latter won out as the lightsaber flung from the younger one's hand, landing silently to the ground as the older boy pointed his lightsaber at him and helped him up, allowing him to retrieve his lightsaber.

The Sith Lord laughed, and the platform grew silent aside from the constant roar of volcanoes and the fiery of the molten magma river below. On Mustafar, there was no break from darkness. "You have done well, young Luke. Impressive, most impressive indeed." He stated, then turned his back on the two figures. "Again." He said.

Once again, the two crimson blades clashed upon one another, each having no relent in their blows. Once again, the elder won out by the younger's lack of footing, landing him on the hard ground and causing him to gasp in pain. He was met with the angry, hoarse air of Mustafar, causing him to sputter further. "Do it again." The Sith Lord stated, as the elder brother looked at his younger in concern and helped him up. "Father, he's not feeling good, perhaps we can practice later." The older brother suggested, as the Sith Lord turned to face him. The older brother winced, although he could not see his father through the black helmet and visor, he knew that his father's anger had turned on him. "Do not call me father while we are training. Do you think a Jedi will take pity on you, Jackson? The Jedi stop at nothing, they are merciless, cold hearted, stealers that fuel the Republic with lies. Their high council is no more than a shadow, they have lost their original ideals, and they have even allowed Jedi to break the pathetic code that they have held dear. They will show no mercy, not even to a fifteen-year-old." His voice spoke harshly through the vocoder that allowed its projection, and Jackson could feel his father's anger within the force as clearly as if it were own. If he could have, Jackson was sure that he would be spitting the words inside his helmet.

Jackson winced once again as the gloved hand came down on his face, followed by his twelve-year-old brother's pleas to stop as his father shoved him to the ground and kicked him aside. His dark jumpsuit glistened in the glow of the fiery of embers that settled around the platform, protected only by a shield that held the platform and the rest of the facility in place. He was donned with silver plates of armor that marked him as emperor and a red, interlocking hexagon that marked the symbol of The Confederacy of Independent Systems patched onto his right shoulder. On his left shoulder, a similar patch marked in Basic as the 50th Elite battalion sat, with two red sabers slashed across the Confederacy's symbol so the symbol was recognized as the battalion. "Again." The Sith Lord stated, raising an eyebrow as the two boys shook their heads in defiance.

Two lightsabers ignited at once, and the Sith Lord smiled under his mask. "Have you ever heard the phrase, to kill two birds with one stone?" The Sith Lord asked, as he slid a black grill over his visor from the side of his helmet. The visor inside started to glow an eerie, red glow, emanating light from behind the two slit visor. The two boys shook their heads, swinging their lightsabers in their hands eagerly. "Pity, perhaps I shall explain it to you afterwards." The Sith lord stated, igniting his own lightsaber as the two boys lunged at him. The computer system inside the Sith Lord's helmet started focusing rapidly, identifying where each swing was going to strike and beeping at him for strikes at his left or right, outside his peripheral vision, which was fairly limited by the mask. He did not need it, however, as the force provided all he needed.

Luke struck at him first, aiming for his weaker neck zone, and the Sith Lord was hard pressed to block it, the heavy armor weighing his strikes down as he continuously switched lightsaber forms to make up for it. He pushed Luke back just as his own son struck at him, barely missing his left shoulder. He smiled at the two boys once again as he watched their progress and strategy, but their forms were no match for his, he just needed the right moment to separate the two.

The moment came when Luke charged at him once again in anger, the blades clashing against each other, fighting to keep up. The Sith Lord easily kicked his footing, pushing Luke to the ground and causing his lightsaber to roll away, off the edge of the platform. The Sith lord raised his blade, preparing to strike Luke down as Jackson jumped in, locking the two crimson blades in an underhand lock just below the Sith Lord's chest. "Very good, Jackson." He stated.

Jackson smirked at him, keeping his focus on his lock. "I have other tricks, Malvus." Jackson replied, as he twisted his lightsaber around to break the lock. But Malvus held on, bring the lock dangerously high above Jackson's height and causing Jackson to have to break the lock and move out of the way as Malvus used the power of the lock into his swing, narrowly missing Jackson.

Malvus laughed, and deactivated his lightsaber. "You have done well, both of you, but you left your friend here undefended. I could have easily cut him down in his injured state." Malvus stated, and offered Luke a hand. Luke scrambled away, only to fall into his brother's grasp in his struggles.

"Calm down, Luke. It's over." Jackson said, and Luke glared at him. "So this was all a test? You liar! You agreed to help me defeat him." He said pointing a finger at his father.

Malvus smiled and snapped off his helmet, allowing the grill and the visor to retract into its inner works. "And so he almost did, Luke. This was simply a test of both your abilities." He nodded towards Jackson then, who let Luke go. "Go, Vestali is making dinner. I shall retrieve your lightsaber, Luke." Malvus said, and the two boys nodded, turning on their heels towards the entrance to their small apartment within the large facility.

The facility was a temporary testing zone where all the leaders of the Separatist army had gathered after they had learned of their imminent defeat, scared for their lives. Once knowledge got out of Palpatine's,and supposedly, Sidious' death, the Separatist leaders had freaked. Many systems had surrendered themselves over to Republic, choosing to undergo reformation and be stripped of all power as a military district until they readopt the Republic laws than face certain death at the hands of the Republic. It was around this time that Malvus ceased power, taking control of the remaining Separatist army and forming an empire.

The war had continued on for days later, but the Jedi had never suspected a Sith Lord to be in control. With as much force as possible, the Jedi sent forth their remaining troops, focusing on the new reorganization point of the many Separatist leaders, Corellia. The battle dealt a crucial blow towards the Separatist fleet, as the capital was besieged, forcing Corellia to surrender. The droid army was destroyed, and Malvus went into hiding, reforming the remaining loyalists on Separatist controlled Mustafar. It was there that he raised his two children, Jackson and Luke,in the ways of the force, and reformed the Confederacy of Independent Systems.

To the republic, the Confederacy of Independent Systems was dead. It was merely a background political party controlled by the notorious Trade Federation, who now reported to the republic on their every action, giving up their foremost technologies to the Republic. The defeat of the Trade Federation was critical, but it did not stop Malvus. His own technological team, previously members of the Trade Federation as well as loyal separatists, were now his providers, shipping material from Corellia as discreetly as possible through non-public trade lines only accessible to Corellia. Despite its defeat, Corellia had managed to convince the Republic to continue as a member of the Confederacy's political party. They were now the heart of Malvus' secret revival, educating the youth over the Confederacy while managing to barely slip by on the Republic's standard of democratic forms of education. The truth was simple for Corellia; the Republic was no longer in control.

Malvus knew it was only a matter of time before he unleashed his ideals to the Republic and crushed it firmly under his boot. He had learned from the past, and this time, he would not fail again. The Republic would be dead by an apprentice that was once one of their own, and they would never know it.

Luke pushed his food around on his plate with anger unprecedented in his eyes. For the second time that night, they had turned cold yellow, a surprising feature of Luke's, considering his eyes rarely did such things more than once. Unlike his father, Luke preferred to keep his feelings hidden under a cold, piercing gaze of blue unforgiving of those around him. It was the exact stare he gave Vestali now. "You should eat your food, Luke." Vestali suggested as Luke pushed his food away. "I'm not hungry." He stated, leaving the table and hurrying off towards his room. The metallic door clicked behind him with as much force as possible.

Vestali got up to follow, but a hand held her back. "Leave him." Jackson said, and she sighed, glancing over at Jackson. "I want to help him so badly, but I'll never understand his pain."

Jackson nodded, for he had felt the same way. Luke had always been different. He did not share Jackson's feelings, nor did he share Jackson's traits of jet-black hair and brown eyes. "He'll come to us when he's ready." Jackson said with reassurance, though something in the force told him it was not true.

Vestali took the statement to heart, however, not caring to notice the falsity of the terms despite her faint force sensitivity. "I've always seen you two as my brothers, even if you are not." She said as her eyes bore into Jackson's wistful eyes.

Jackson had loved her ever since he had first laid eyes on her. Her red hair curled down in waves, whooshing in the wind as she had approached the two boys and their father. Her perfect, green eyes, and her lean body that gave off a feeling of viciousness and ingenuity. It had hurt to learn that she was seventeen, which, according to his father, was "not in his age range." It had hurt even worse to finally accept that she would never love him back.

Vestali always felt Jackson's pain, but as a seventeen year old assassin serving his father, she had always felt awkward around him. It wasn't his fault that she had never noticed him, it was her own. But Jackson would never realize this, and she would never be able to truly love him. At least, that's what she thought.

Luke snuck out as soon as everyone had left for bed and headed for the hangar, hiding himself within the force to prevent force-sensitives, particularly his father, from finding him. Something was drawing him to leave, for he knew exactly where he was going as he meandered down the vast halls of the facility towards the public hangar. There, he knew, he could take off without anyone questioning him. He was the notorious son of a Sith Lord, he could easily get by without much trouble or someone putting a tracking device on his ship. Despite these reassurances, Luke still made his way around cautiously, taking cover every time a group of troopers, clad in white armor and helmets with their visors down, pass by.

Finally, Luke reached the hangar and chose a starfighter that he knew could jump to hyperspace, bypassing the systems easily through his identity. He was about to takeoff when the comlink beeped on his arm, and he hesitantly answered it. "Luke?" Jackson's voice came through. Luke frowned slightly before answering, "I'm fine, Jackson. Go back to bed."

Jackson must have sensed something wrong, however, as his voice came in for another reply. "Don't do this Luke."

Luke frowned at the statement. How could Jackson know? The two had a force bond, but Luke had shut it off. "Who says I'm doing anything?" Luke retorted.

This time, Vestali's voice came in. "I do. Don't be foolish, Luke. I know where this is headed. Your father will kill you if he finds out. Get out of the ship, and come home. Now."

Luke growled in frustration, starting up the engine and cursing himself for his momentary distraction as he sensed two familiar presences enter the hangar. "Stop that ship!" Jackson yelled towards the storm troopers, who reacted immediately. Alarms went off, and the hangar doors started to close as storm troopers began to fire electrical charges at the ship, attempting to bring it down.

The shields beeped at Luke as they started to fail as Luke navigated towards the hangar exit, narrowly avoiding the hangar doors as he slid through the exit. "That was close." He said as his comlink beeped once again. "Luke…" Jackson began, but the transmission cut off as Luke flicked a switch on his arm.

Luke smiled at his frenzied escape, he was free now, and he knew exactly where to go. "R-14, set a course for Coruscant." The droid beeped at him in confusion, and Luke looked down to observe the translation. "I know, I know. We're not supposed to go there. Just do it. Please." The droid beeped once more in worry, but complied.

Luke sat back and relaxed as the ship slid into the familiar sounds of hyperspace.

He was free.