The forest was quiet this night. Throughout the forest, the usual hustle and bustle of nocturnal life was disturbingly absent. The silence stretched so thin, in fact, that the falling of their feet almost caused footsteps. Almost. The group of shadows moved at a fast pace, weaving their way through the underbrush with catlike grace. There were perhaps two dozen individuals in the group, all of them seemingly bedecked in armor of leather and hide. One of the figures in the group bent down and scooped up a small reptilian that was struggling to get out of the way of trampling feet. Throwing a hand into the air to bring the group to a halt, this shadow gently deposited the lizard on a tree trunk before spinning to face the group.

"Chastina!" the figure hissed quietly, the whisper seeming dangerously loud in the lasting silence. Another shadow detached itself from the group and moved forward, following behind the first as she moved beyond the group into the underbrush. Chastina took measured breaths as she and Augwynne-Djo crept through the branches and settled down on their haunches to peer into the clearing ahead of them. There were two figures standing there that were definitely not Dathomiri. One was tall, with broad shoulders cloaked in black. The other was shorter, but similarly garbed. Strange ones, Chastina thought the herself, almost so disgusted that she spoke the word aloud. Augwynne-Djo looked back at her as if she had sensed the younger woman's thoughts. The two women gazed at each other for a moment, a silent conversation being carried on through their eyes. After a time, the white haired clan-mother stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled.

It should have come out as a harsh sound, but the Dathomirian's masterful tongue turned it into the light trill of a birdsong. Chastina could barely detect the movement of her clan sister's into the forest around the clearing. Ahead of them, the shadows were arguing with each other in low whispers. Their mistake. Chastina felt her lips pulling back from her teeth ever so slightly as her muscles began to tense. In the silence, the younger woman adjusted her grip on her spear, noticing out of the corner of her eye that Augwynne had drawn the two short blades she preferred to carry. The moments stretched on for what seemed like an eternity before a second whistle floated across the air in the clearing and settled on the pair's ears. Augwynne-Djo sprung into action so fast that Chastina found herself staring at empty space for a moment before she managed to follow.

Augwynne bounded into the clearing in a single leap, aiming for the larger of the two shadows. Even as she saw the hooded head swing around to see her, she jumped a second time. Astoundingly agile for her apparent age, the clan-mother twisted her body in midair, bringing her knee across the figure's face with a resounding crack. The shadow staggered away from the Dathomirian, giving her ample time and room to perform her next stunt. Leaping slightly to the side, Augwynne locked her knees on either side of the man's shoulders. Using the sideways momentum of her jump, the clan-mother spun her body around, forcing the man off balance and to the ground. With a harsh thump the pair hit the ground. Amazingly, Augwynne had maintained her grip on the man's shoulders and now sat astride his chest, knees keeping his arms closely tucked at his side.

"Now you die," she hissed angrily, raising her blades together, fists touching each other as they were wrapped around the hilts. The shadow's hood fell away from his head, revealing a shock of ever so slightly curly blonde hair and brilliantly blue eyes.

"Jedi Skywalker?" Augwynne-Djo gasped, sounding unsure of her memory. To his eternal credit, the Jedi master grinned.

"Nice to see you again, Clan Mother, " he answered, his voice low but unafraid. He saw the glimmer of distrust that swept across the elder woman's face as she attempted to determine whether he was really there or if it were some foul trick. Her blades wavered up and down as she debated with herself. As suddenly as the encounter began, the clan mother pulled away and jumped to her feet.

"They have come!" she called quietly to the surrounding forest. The brush around the clearing dissolved into the rest of Augwynne-Djo's warriors. "The Republic has sent aid!" Before Anakin could say anything to correct the woman, a loud hiss echoed from the other side of the clearing. Many pairs of eyes turned to stare at Chastina, who had not moved from atop her victim. The spear point was held dangerously close to a ridged crimson neck. The younger woman's lips were pulled back over her teeth, transforming her face into a terrifyingly savage visage.

"Chastina!" Augwynne-Djo called, expecting the younger woman to respond to the command. Instead, the sister raised angry, betrayed eyes to Anakin and pressed her spear tip close enough to draw a drop of blood from his companion's throat. Augwynne-Djo moved to step closer to her clanmate, but Chastina cut her short by reaching her left hand up and throwing the hood back from the other shadow's face. As Nastala's equally enraged visage was revealed, Anakin felt his heart sink. The clan mother turned on him, betrayal evident in the flaring of her nostrils. "You travel with this monster?" she asked him, accusatorily.

"This is not what you think, clan mother. My - " Anakin started to explain. Nastala cut him off.

"I do not need your defense, Jedi. Do your worst, savage," she snarled up at Chastina. Anakin groaned.

"Please, hear me out, Clan Mother - "

"Do you come from the Republic or not? I have no time for games. Our people are dying. These warriors you see now are my last. If you are not here to help me, then I have no use for you," Augwynne-Djo snarled angrily. She had one hand held out to keep Chastina from driving the spear through Nastala's neck. To her credit, Nastala could have dismounted to slightly distracted younger woman, but she held herself in check with one pleading glance from Anakin.

"The short answer is no." Augwynne-Djo moved to drop her hand. "Wait! Wait. Please, just wait. I need her alive," Anakin cried. Finally, he had captured the clan mother's attention for real. Her eyes narrowed dangerously. When her hand remained still and she did open her mouth to say anything, Anakin took it as his permission to continue. "My son was kidnapped by the, uh, the strange ones. I'm trying to find him, and Nastala is the only person who knows where he might be. If you kill her, I have no chance of getting my son back safely."

"You told me the Republic would help us. You said you would tell them. You are a liar, Jedi Skywalker," Augwynne-Djo answered simply. Anakin shook his head vehemently.

"I never said they would come. I did alert them to your plight, but there is something you must not have heard about. Coruscant, the seat of the Republic, was attacked by the strange ones. The Jedi Order is in ruins, the Senate was mostly wiped out. My... my wife was killed. The Jedi are doing what they can, I am sure, but surely you understand why they have not been able to come to your aid." For the first time, the clan mother's features softened.

"I am sorry to hear of your loss. I will allow you to leave, but I do not believe I can allow this one to go. She will tell them of our movements, she knows too much about us already," the elder woman replied. Anakin's heart fell a second time.

"Wait. I am here now. I will help you, if you will only let Nastala go. I trust her, Augwynne-Djo. I trust her and I need her alive. Please, just tell me how I can help you." Anakin was nearly begging at this point, his voice breaking slightly. Nastala's face twisted strangely. Was it perhaps pity that was shown there? Augwynne-Djo's face clouded in thought as she weighed her options, her shoulders dropping as she was immersed in her own mind. Very suddenly, she straightened.

"Very well. It so happens that we are on our way to the colony. The strange ones have taken your colonists captive. We had hoped that, should we intervene on the colony's behalf, the Republic would be convinced of our intentions and send aid. Now I believe that we must free the people of the colony on principle alone. With or without the Republic, the fate of all Dathomirians, colonists or not, lies only in our hands now. Come with us. Help what few warriors I have to defeat the strange ones at the colony. Then you may go your own way," the elder woman answered at length, bringing her hands to rest on the hilts of her blades.

"Anakin, come on, we don't have time for this. Do you want to find your son or not?" Nastala asked from the ground, irritated now. Chastina veritably growled down at her.

"Nastala, I honestly do not believe you are in any position to make demands here," Anakin replied, before he turned back to the Dathomirian. "We will help you."

The Clan mother nodded tersely before waving her hand dismissively at Chastina. With a grimace, the younger woman pulled herself to her feet and removed the spear from Nastala's throat. The Sith moved to quickly retake her footing, but the way several spears instantly flickered toward her led her to move slowly and carefully. As she stood, Nastala shot a fiery glance Anakin's direction. The renegade shrugged to indicate there was really nothing he could do to make them trust her. Once Nastala was standing again, Augwynne nodded a second time.

"Good, now here is what we need to do. We believe that the Sith have rounded up the remaining colonists in the large, central structure of the place. My scouts tell me they have sentries positioned around the outer buildings. My warriors can handle unsuspecting sentries, but I have word that there is someone…else. Someone powerful. We need you to handle him. Are you sure you'll be able to do that?" Augwynne explained. With her last question, her eyes flickered with distrust in Nastala's direction. The pureblood scoffed.

"I agreed to help you find your son, Anakin. I didn't sign up to kill my own," Nastala snapped. Anakin turned to her, a pleading look on his face.

"Nastala, please-" Anakin started, but the pureblood cut him off.

"You will not ask me to kill my own people, Jedi," she spat. "I will help you free these colonists, but I will not spill blood on your behalf."

"If you are done arguing…" Augwynne started, her voice low but hurried. She let the words hang in the still forest air. Anakin started at Nastala for an extended moment before he turned and nodded to the clan mother.

"Let's do this."

"Anyone else feeling the urge to act up?" the Sith asked as he tossed the limp body, still clad in layers of shining white plastoid armor, to the floor in front of the cowering group of colonists. One of the other clones in the group dared to reach a single ungloved hand out to pull the body back toward the group. Malékum smirked at this motion. Pitiful humans, ever holding on to their precious relationships.

"He's still alive," someone whispered from the middle of the group, where several of the colonists were hunched over the prone figure, inspecting the damage. Enraged that they were so willing to ignore his presence, Malékum threw a hand out toward the group and the body was pulled through the air to him again. Nearly screaming in his anger, the Sith threw his arm out wildly to the side, the body sailing through the air to smash against the opposite wall. Plastoid cracked and squealed in protest, and the figure seemed to levitate against the wall for a moment before falling into a pitiful heap.

"Oops. I suspect he did not live through that," Malékum growled, happily drinking in the gaping mouths and terrified eyes. After a moment, the Sith spun on his heel and strode out of the building. "Destroy everything. You may leave the colonists alive, for now," he said to the two cloaked Sith that were standing guard at the doorway. They nodded, smiling wickedly before they passed through the portal. From inside, Malékum heard the smashing of monitors and the electronic squeals of destroyed computer equipment. Anger satiated now, he stepped into the center of the arrangement of buildings that made up the colony.

"Dejna!" he called, glancing around. One of the cloaked figures detached itself from the shadows and moved to stand before the Sith Lord.

"Yes, my lord?" the younger Sith questioned as he fell into attention.

"Has the Sith'ari made contact? I can only assume that the boy made it to Dromund Kaas by now," Malékum replied, already turning away to stride calmly toward the speeders and transport vehicles neatly arranged in the center of the colony. Dejna followed obediently in his footsteps.

"We were alerted that the shuttle had landed, but we have had no other word since then. If it is not too much to ask...what does the Sith'ari want with this boy anyways?" Seeing the way Malékum swung his head around to peer dangerously over his shoulder, Dejna spread his hands before him. "I understand. It is not my place to ask. May I at least know what our next move is?"

"We are here for only one reason, Dejna. The colonists mean nothing to us, but their plight is the perfect bait."

"Bait? For the elder Skywalker?"

"Precisely, Dejna. Can you not feel his presence? It is overwhelming to most. There is someone else with him though...Someone..."

"One of the natives?"

"Oh, there are several of the natives with him, Dejna. Rest assured of that. No, there is someone else. Someone that feels much like...like one of our own," Malékum face darkened, if such a thing were possible. The tendrils than hung by his jowl twitched angrily as his glinting yellow eyes narrowed.

"Surely none of our own would work with the Jedi," Dejna exclaimed, the idea so incredulous to him that his words were accompanied by a sort of snickering laugh. The look the elder Sith shot him was so full of hatred that the younger man fell silent immediately and lowered his eyes to the ground.

"They will be upon us momentarily. Have the sentries to their stations. We must make this appear as believable as possible. We do not want to startle our prey," Malékum said at length. Dejna nodded curtly and spun on his heel to relay the news. One corner of Malékum's lips lifted in distaste as if he had smelled something unpleasant. He lingered in the middle of the colony for a moment longer before he slunk away to join the long shadows along the edge of the buildings.

The group split as they came upon the edge of the colony. Augwynne-Djo took her clan mates away from Anakin and Nastala, moving around the far edge of the colony. They would come in from the opposing side, eliminating the sentries in their way, hopefully in silence. Anakin and Nastala intended to approach the main building along its side, taking advantage of the distraction Augwynne-Djo would stir up to liberate the colonists. If they could get weapons in the remaining clones' hands, the battle would surely swing in their favor. Lucky that Augwynne knew where they were keeping the colonists, Anakin thought fleetingly as he stepped from the edge of the brush line into the deep shadow alongside the main building's wall. The plastoid of the wall was cool and slick against his arm as he slid along it, clinging to the shadows desperately.

There was a pair of sentries standing guard before the two assassins. Neither of them seemed to be paying much attention to their surroundings. Glancing over his shoulder, Anakin made eye contact with Nastala. The woman had agreed to help free the colonists, but she had made it perfectly clear that she would not be killing any of her own kind. The look on her face was veiled, and Anakin decided that he was doing this on his own.

The rogue studied the pair of sentries for a long moment, taking note of how their were carrying themselves, their posture, and where they were holding their weapons. Breathing in carefully metered bursts, Anakin leapt into motion at last, finally hearing the sound of combat from the opposite side of the colony. The sentries had turned their attention across the clearing at the first sound of clashes. Anakin held both hands out as he sprinted toward them, summoning the blades from their waists into his hands. The sentries turned in time to see the Jedi leap into the air. When he landed, both sentries fell to the ground, smoldering holes through both of their throats. Disgusted, Anakin threw the blades down on top of their bodies before he glanced up to see if anyone had taken note of their appearance. Seeing nothing now, Anakin continued to slink forward. He vaguely became aware of Nastala moving away from the building and toward the sounds of combat.

"Sounds like they could use some help," she whispered simply as he turned questioning eyes on her. Anakin thought for a moment, debating the chances of there being more defense than he could handle on his own in the main building. Deciding that he could probably handle whatever was waiting for him, he nodded once and watched her lurk away. Gritting his teeth, Anakin edged along the wall until he came to the corner. Steeling himself, Anakin glanced around the corner carefully.

A sizzling crimson blade nearly took his head off as he did.

Stumbling backwards, taken off guard by the fact that someone had known he was there the whole time, Anakin barely got his own lightsaber up to guard before the next vicious slash came. He parried blow after blow, yielding ground, as he struggled to recover from the initial surprise of the attack.

"I have been waiting ever so long for this moment," a very familiar voice growled from the direction of his opponent. Anakin's jaw locked in rage as he realized where he remembered that voice from. "If I am not mistaken, it was here that we met for the first time. Tell me, how did it feel when your blade struck home in your own son? Did it have any resistance? Or did his flesh just melt away like ice?"

"Shut up, you disgusting excuse for a lifeform," Anakin growled in response, finally managing to set his feet in attack position and launching forward with a neck-high slash. It was easily parried by his opponent, who pressed Anakin's blade back before swiping low at the Jedi's legs. Anakin leapt over the slash. Using the wall as a kick-off point, Anakin spun his body around and was met with the gratifying feeling of his booted foot slamming into solid bone as it connected with Malékum's skull. As he came down, the Jedi took advantage of the moment and pressed forward with a flurry of attacks. The reeling Sith barely managed to dodge and parry them all as he blinked the haze back from his eyes.

The embattled pair had passed the corner of the building now, and the shadows fell away into moonlight. Anakin was able to look upon the face of his attacker for the first time now, and as he did he smiled at the long gash that ran across the alien's eye. Malékum seemed to recover then, and Anakin noticed his gaze had fallen on something on the ground. Too late, Anakin realized that he had seen the bodies of the Sith lying where the Jedi had left them. The lightsabers! Anakin had a moment to curse his foolishness, as both he and Malékum attempted to summon the abandoned blades to their hands. They were each rewarded with one.

"Well, this is a shame," Malékum noted as the two stood for an extended moment in confused silence, their own blades still locked together in a chorus of electronic tones. The extra blades ignited simultaneously, as if both combatants had sensed the other's thoughts. The two came together again in a furious exchange of blows, spinning about each other in what would have appeared as a carefully orchestrated dance if not for the growls of sheer hatred echoing from the pair.

"I really wish you would just die," Malékum said, his voice seeming disinterested. Anakin barked a laugh.

"I can assure you the feeling is mutual," he answered before he feinted to the left while driving hard in with his right blade. The Sith called his feint and danced easily to the left, avoiding the right-hand thrust. He launched his own one-two slash that caught Anakin's left-hand blade in a blade-lock. Anakin tried to turn the attack around, bringing his right hand blade in for an attack, but the Sith easily slid one of his own blades out to block. With all four blades caught in locks, Malékum suddenly dropped toward the ground , his blades sliding out of the locks with great squeals of protest. Anakin jumped back in time to avoid the spinning criss-cross attack the followed as Malékum pulled himself to his feet again. Instead of empty space, Anakin felt his back hit the hard and unrelenting surface of the building. He had been so focused on the fight that he had not been paying attention their movements. The sudden cool wall behind him caught him off guard and distracted him long enough that when he recovered, Malekum had disarmed first his left blade and then his right. Pressed against the wall, Anakin had nowhere to go as one gloved hand lanced in to grip his throat.

"I expected so much better from you, Skywalker," Malékum said through clenched teeth. Anakin choked as the grip tightened on his throat and the flow of air to his lungs stopped. "After all, the things they say about your combat skills…Well, I suppose they did seem extremely fantastical to be true. It is always such a shame to see such a… hero, die in such a way." Anakin's vision began to blur, and he felt the muscles of his legs twitching erratically as they cried out for oxygen. He suddenly realized that he was about to die. The truth hit him hard, and he felt his stomach clenching tight.

"Ur-kaa!" a feminine voice called from behind Malékum. The grip on Anakin's throat loosened slightly, ever so slightly. Blinking against the growing darkness, Anakin was able to make out the figure of Nastala standing there.

"Ur-kaa, Malékum'ari. Zhol kash dinora. Châts tu asha," she went on, seeing that she had gotten the man's attention somewhat. Anakin was dismayed to see that her saberstaff was still securely belted to her waist.

"Nastala. I should have known," Malékum answered. Nastala's brow furrowed when she realized that he was not going to speak their language with her. "I always knew you were trouble, from the very first time I laid eyes on you. I could tell you were weak then. I should have killed you when I had the chance."

"Ja'ak! Ja'ak sith'ari. Come with me!" Nastala cried, frustration evident on her face. Even with his limited understanding of the conversation, Anakin could see that she was clearly very emotional. Her voice was borderline pleading now, and Malékum's face twisted into a visage of pure disgust. If Nastala was attempting to speak reason with him, it clearly wasn't working. Anakin refocused his thoughts as he felt the grip on his throat loosen by another millimeter. The blood was rushing back to his head now, his tingling fingers were regaining feeling slowly.

"I would sooner die than work with you. With the Jedi. You are a traitor to our cause, a traitor to the Sith'ari. When I finish with this fool, I will put you to death the way I should have all those years ago. The way I killed your mother." At that, Nastala's jaw set, her lip trembled.

"You told me she was killed by the Jedi. You told me..."

"Come now, you pitiful whelp. Your mother had become a liability. I had what I needed from her, as disappointing as you turned out. I've had quite enough of this. It is time for the Jedi to die, and then - "

Malékum's words ended in a spluttering gasp. His eyes fell to the sapphire blade that had impaled his throat. The hand fell away from Anakin's own as the Sith stumbled backwards. Gasping for breath, Anakin fell away from the man, sliding down the wall into a crumpled mess.

"Father!" Nastala cried, falling to her knees as Malékum's body folded on itself and he fell to the ground. Even as she tried to pull his failing body towards her, the Sith pushed her away. With his last sputtering gasp, the man reached a hand up and twisted it painfully into Nastala's hair.

"You are no daughter of mine," he gasped, before he coughed once more, spraying her face with a fine mist of blood. The glinting fire of hatred vanished from his eyes then as the bright yellow orbs began to glaze over. Nastala bowed her head, and Anakin thought for a moment she might have been crying. Before she could say anything, the woman cried out angrily, shoving the corpse away from her. She put her back against the wall beside Anakin and brought her knees to her chest, racking sobs echoing from her throat. Finally catching his breath, Anakin pulled himself to his feet and stepped away in silence. He had many questions to ask her, but he understood that it was clearly not the time to press the issue.

Instead, Anakin turned to the doorway of the main building. Pressing his hand to the activation panel, he was pleased to see the door slide open easily. Inside, the building looked like a warzone. Anakin stepped cautiously into the darkened interior. Every now and again, a spark would illuminate the center of the room in brilliant white light, but all he was able to see was destroyed equipment. Raising his lightsaber in his right hand, Anakin ignited it and used the dim blue glow to guide his movements.

"Hello?" he called into the silent interior. He thought he heard something. A whimper, maybe? "My name is Anakin Skywalker. I mean you no harm."

"We know who you are," a gruff voice sounded from his right. Anakin turned to address the speaker, and found himself staring face to face with the bruised and bloodied face of Major Bast.

"Major Bast, I'm so glad you're alright. I - "

"Shut up. Do you think we have not heard of your actions? The Jedi Council has removed you from the Order. You are to be considered armed and extremely dangerous. We thank you for your help in liberating the colony, but I am asking you to leave," Major Bast explained. There was no sympathy in his voice. Anakin was so caught off guard that he had to swallow down the dry feeling in his throat. He made no immediate move toward the door, causing Major Bast to raise a blaster rifle toward him.

"Now," the clone growled with a sense of finality. Anakin spread his hands in surrender and backed out of the building. As the door slid shut between him and Major Bast, Anakin's shoulders slumped in defeat. For the first time, the renegade realized exactly how far he had fallen from grace. He had expected a similar response, but for some reason actually being rebuffed felt much worse than he had thought it would. Throwing his hands into the air in righteous indignation, Anakin turned back to where Nastala was still sitting against the wall.

"Well, he isn't here, that's for sure," Anakin said with a tone of mock cheer in his voice. His shoulders slumped sadly, belying the cheerful note. "Are you alright?" he asked a moment later, when it became clear that Nastala wasn't going to respond.

"I'm fine," she growled, shortly before she jumped to her feet. Anakin noticed the way her hand snaked quickly across her face to wipe off any tears. With a sense of finality, the pureblood kicked the limp corpse that lay on the ground before her.

"Nastala, if-" Anakin started, but the woman sent him a look so filled with fire that the words died in his throat before he even had a chance to give life to them.

"If they had attacked the Republic colony, it means they must feel secure in their position. I doubt your son is on Dathomir any longer," Nastala said in a low, deadly voice. "And if he isn't on Dathomir, than there's only one place they would have taken him." With that, she turned and started back in the direction they had originally come, checking a locater on her comlink to make sure the ship was where they had left it.

"Wait, where do you think they've taken him?" Anakin called as he hurried to catch up with her, hope creeping back into his voice. As quickly as the hope arrived, Nastala crushed it.

"Dromund Kaas. And you better hope we can come up with a damn good plan for getting ourselves onto that particular planet."