Jason glared at one of the human Sith standing across the table. He felt disgusted with himself and the situation he found himself in. The Jedi and Sith were never supposed to co-exist. They had made an attempt once before but it never lasted, and just like Cath had said it wouldn't this time.

Tana was preparing the forms for the treaty signing. He and Keelu stood in between Keth and Tana, a precaution for everyone's sake. The less contact the Jedi had with the Sith the better. Jason could feel the dark side of the force throbbing around the room, emanating from the four evil creatures standing on the other side of the stone table.

Jason called on the force to comfort him, but it was difficult with so many dark emotions flooding throughout the monastery. His actions proved unsuccessful, despite the fact that the surrounding planet was so rich in light side energies.

The Sith lord he had been glaring at sneered, showing rows of ugly pointed teeth. "Having trouble with the force Jedi?"

These were the first words any of them had heard from the Sith since their landing. He finally recognized the Sith lord as Darth Trepid, second hand advisor to the current and self anointed Sith Emperor.

"It's none of your business, Sith." Jason spat back. Trepid shrugged and smiled darkly. Tana quickened her pace, pulling the rest of the documents out of her bag and dumping them onto the table.

"We're ready to start" she said hurriedly, but Trepid continued staring Jason down. Either Trepid didn't hear Tana or he didn't care,

"Of course it's my business Jedi. We're all in this mess together."

Jason gave the Sith a suspicious look while Keelu shifted uncomfortably beside him, both unsure as to what the Sith was up to.

"What mess?" Jason asked. The smile was gone from Trepid's face, only to be replaced with a look of seriousness.

"The aliens" he said slowly. "We knew that ship wasn't Republican and I suspect you knew it wasn't ours. This planet is going to be invaded soon, and I believe our arrivals here will trigger it."

Everyone in the room was staring at the Sith lord, all waiting for him to continue.

"I do not know what they are here for, but from a military prospective I can tell you, that ship was moving in to deploy its forces. There is no other reason why a ship of that size would move that close to a planet this small." Trepid looked up. Where a once magnificent ceiling was, there was now a gaping hole revealing a clearing sky. The storm was settling and a pristine blue sky was becoming visible.

The Sith gazed out of the hole, as if looking at the alien ship through the bright atmosphere with his bare eyes.

"We're here for a reason Lord Trepid," Tana said, trying to keep her voice light, "if you wouldn't mind I would like to get this finished before we deal with any other problems" the Sith tore his gaze away and looked at his three comrades and then Tana. He rolled his eyes and nodded his head.

Tana picked up one of the data pads and started to read

"I'm just going to read the first bit of each one to make this short. By the order of the Galactic Republic, the people of the Sith have been ordered to the signing of this peace treaty to bring an end to the recent war. Do you comply?" Trepid crossed his arms and nodded at Tana, annoyed at the obviousness of the question.

"On agreeing to these terms, no force sensitive Sith will be permitted to leave the surface of the planet Korriban, do you comply?" the Sith gritted his teeth and nodded once again, but more slowly. It was quite obvious the Sith hated to loose.

Tana continued once more, "You will also be agreeing to the dismemberment of your military forces and the allowance of a Republican blockade around Korriban. Do you comply?" the Sith gave Tana a murderous stare, but finally nodded.

Tana nodded herself reached down to collect several data pads. There were three in all, one for each of the agreements. Tana signed the first document with a stylus before passing it over to Keelu. The three documents slowly made their way around the stone table and eventually arrived back in Tana's hands.

She gave a satisfied sigh and looked at Trepid. "You were talking about the aliens; do you know anything about them?"

The sneer he gave was spine chilling. "I know just as much as you do. That the aliens are here for a reason, one we have yet to discover. As a matter of fact, they're already on their way here"

"What!" Jason exclaimed, "Why didn't you say anything earlier?" The Sith shrugged as his three comrades laughed darkly.

"You seemed so preoccupied with the peace treaty that it would have been impolite to divulge in another topic. And seeing as there is two Jedi here, I'm slightly surprised that you two haven't sensed the aliens' movements"

Jason's hand raced to his light saber. It was in his hands in a flash, its blue blade glowing bright. Across the table the four Sith had also ignited their own vibrant red weapons. Two Sith, including Trepid, carried single blades like Jason, another carried two, and the last had a double bladed light saber. He looked at his master; she too had ignited her own light saber which shined bright green.

"Listen to me Jedi!" Trepid commanded. Jason stood his ground, waiting for the Sith to make the first move. "Like I said before, these aliens are going to attack. We cannot be fighting amongst ourselves if we hope to survive." Jason didn't say anything, he couldn't. It was too hard to comprehend. The Sith actually wanting to ally with the Jedi? It just didn't seem right.

"Do you really think...?" Keelu didn't even finish her retort when a large explosion rocked the mountain side. All eight of them looked up. Above them, what was left of the ceiling started crumbling and finally collapsed.

Chunks of rock the size of small star fighters came flying towards them. Jason ran to Keth's side and looked up at the falling debris. He gathered the force around him and Keth like a protective cloak. The rocks cascaded down on top of them, but the force shield Jason created kept them from touching the two of them.

As the last of the boulders crashed to the ground, Jason relaxed his hold on the force. Beside him, it seemed Keelu had done the same thing with Tana. On the other side of the table, the four Sith stood exactly where they had been before, the only difference being their blades were now casually facing toward the ground.

"They're here" Trepid said with a smirk, "just like I said." A shadow fell over the table and the first of the creatures smashed down in front of him, an energy weapon in its hand, and a look of murder in its reptilian eyes.

Salleema landed on a large stone table, but he didn't hold his ground for long. As soon as he had recovered from the recoil reverberating up his legs, he gracefully flipped off the table into some clearer space. Rocks littered the ground, no thanks to their drop ship's first plasma barrage.

A black cloaked being stepped in front of his vision. Like Salleema, he wielded a blade of pure energy. The only difference being the human's was tinted a blood red and the blade was directed outwards from the human's hand, not forward like Salleema's blade.

Salleema made these examinations in less than a second. He had never heard of humans wielding energy weapons of their own, let alone heard of humans that dress in robes of black and brown.

The human leapt into the air, higher than physics should have allowed, his sword spinning in his hand. Salleema dove out of the way as the human stabbed at the spot he had stood moments before.

He could feel the speed and power behind the attack as the crimson blade raced passed his head, striking the stone floor. The human didn't stop moving, he drew his blade through the ground. Cutting a deep gouge into the rock, he withdrew his blade from the stone in a flurry of sparks, in an attempt to disorient Salleema. But Salleema was prepared.

As the sparks exploded from the ground, he brought his sword up across his chest in a basic defense. His armour's shield flared as the sparks hit him and left him untouched. The human carried forward with a jab to the chest. The sparks had done their job; he didn't have enough time to deflect the blow, so his already weakened shields were forced to take the full blunt of the attack.

A blaring alarm sounded off in his helmet as his shields popped and disappeared. The human attempted another power slice toward his right side, but it was easily deflected.

Salleema lunged forward, attempting to wound his opponent with a slash to his unarmed arm. With lightning speed, the human kept the momentum from Salleema's block and swept his blade around his head so he could counter Salleema's slash.

He was amazed, Salleema had never seen any being move with such speed or grace. The human seemed to have predicted his every move. Salleema was knocked off balance from his foe's parry.

All that was keeping him alive now was his size and power. Had Salleema been any smaller, the human would have finished him off ages ago.

He began moving backwards, sidestepping or blocking the human's attacks. His blade handle feeling awkward in his hand. In most combat situations his sword was better off when facing another sword of the same design. He now realized it possessed a major design flaw. Unlike his opponent, he had less mobility with his sword. The human could move his blade 360 degrees, while he could barely move his half of that.

Salleema took one last backward leap and felt his back hit the stone wall. The human sneered at him with evil pointed teeth. Salleema had fought longer battles before, but his opponent was more skilled than any Sangheili warrior he had ever confronted before.

He taunted Salleema, goading him on, waiting for him to mess up. The human didn't bother finishing him off; he just wanted to watch him struggle. He and the human both knew Salleema couldn't win under these situations.

Surprisingly enough, the human turned off his blade and let loose a rumbling laughter. Salleema knew it was some sort of trap, but he couldn't just do nothing. He swung with his energy sword, aiming for the human's throat. His sword never came close to its target.

His opponent held one hand in front of him, the smile still spread across his face. Salleema's sword hand was immobile, still in a position to attack, But some invisible force was preventing his sword from moving forward.

He pushed with all his might, but his arm wouldn't move. He tried twisting, to redirect his blade in the opposite direction. But even this action proved futile. The human laughed once again and flicked his hand. Salleema was sent reeling back into the wall.

This human was controlling him somehow. It was incredible. For the first time in his life, he didn't know what to do to win this battle. This human had abilities he couldn't even begin to fathom. Just then, as Salleema moved in to attempt another slash, the human's hand begin to glow a bright blue.

This time Salleema stopped of his own accord, frightened and amazed at what was coming next. He was able to bring his sword up into another defence pose when a half dozen bolts of electricity arched from the human's hand toward Salleema.

Salleema let out a small sigh of relief when his blade absorbed most of the electricity, leaving his now recharged shields to deflect the rest. As the seconds ticked away, Salleema's relief soon turned to worry. He watched in horror as the electricity began to supercharge his energy sword. It began to brighten until he couldn't stand to keep looking at it. The hilt continued to vibrate and heat up in his hand, scalding the unprotected flesh.

Salleema's mind screamed at him to drop the sword, but he knew it would have meant instant death if he did. Suddenly his blade winked out and he felt the hilt pop. The lightning didn't waste any time. Pure energy rolled over his armour, depleting his shields and cooking his body through his gold armour. He cried out in pain and mercy to the gods, but no answer from the heavens came.

He saw his vision begin to blacken around the edges, His muscles were convulsing all over his body. He had no control over himself, he felt helpless, weak. This was no way to die. He would have preferred to die by his enemy's blade, not his supernatural powers of torture.

He would die dishonoured.

He lost consciousness and he crumpled to the ground.

Salleema regained consciousness faster than he expected. But at least with unconsciousness came no pain. It felt like his entire body was on fire. Once again he found himself thanking the strength of his body. If he wasn't as strong as he was, he would have probably blacked out again from the pain.

Salleema felt helpless. His mind was swimming with memories. Many of his people say that a warrior awaiting death re-experiences their life in an instant. They were right. But then, Salleema saw a memory of him and his father practicing combat together when he was young. The memory showed him the key to his salvation.

This battle isn't over until one of us is dead, he thought to himself. He listened intently over the sounds of battle, trying to find any hints as to the whereabouts of his opponent.

It was difficult; he could hear the discharge of plasma weapons and exploding of plasma grenades. Among the familiar battle sounds came several new ones. He could hear the hum of other energy weapons similar to his enemy's, which meant more of them.

He felt and heard the human's boots crunching the gravel as he walked closer to Salleema, unsheathing his ruby tinted blade as he came. The approaching hum meant death, an honourable death, but it was a death he wasn't ready for.

The human stood over him, his blade hanging at his side.

"Weak, pathetic alien." The human hissed in his native tongue, "You had no idea did you? That when you came to this planet you would be facing a Sith?" Salleema did nothing, giving the appearance of being unconscious.

He had decided to learn as much of the human language as he could at the war's beginning. But this human was stretching his knowledge of their language. What was Sith? It sounded like a title, but like the title of "Spartan" it had no meaning in any covenant dialect.

"Now look at you." he taunted, "defeated, laying at the feet of a Sith lord. Just like all weak beings should. Death awaits you, creature, and I, lord Conqar, will be the deliverer of It."

Salleema heard the hum of the human's blade as he lifted it above his head, preparing to strike. Now or never, Salleema thought. As the blade descended toward him, Salleema reached behind his back to retrieve the two hidden weapons he saw in his memory, the very weapons his father had said would probably save his life one day.

He was right.

The smaller blade hilts ignited and the small blue blades curved over either hand, creating two semi circles of pure energy at least 3 inches long protecting his knuckles.

Unlike the energy sword, these smaller blades were used for short distance, prolonged combat. With them he had much more mobility, and a much better chance against his opponent's single blade. He brought them in a flat defence position as the human's blade crashed into them. If he was angry before, it was nothing compared to the rage the human was emanating now; his face was only inches away from Salleema's, his face contorted by anger.

It was here he could see the true evil in the human's face; he was unlike any human he had seen before. Salleema was actually scared of this human. true fear. But this battle had gone on long enough. Salleema kicked with his hoof, knocking the smaller human back and breaking several of his ribs. Salleema climbed to his feet, his muscles begging him to stop and give up.

He gritted his teeth and tried to ignore his pain. He dropped into a defence stance and waited for the human to make a move. He was rewarded when the "Sith" rushed Salleema's defences. The human was slower because of his broken ribs, but he was still frighteningly fast.

The human attacked in a series of flurries; right shoulder, left leg, head, and right shoulder again, each one Salleema blocked with ease. The human was getting frantic, the only way he could win now was with another lightening trick, but Salleema was too close and wasn't going to give the human a chance to attempt it a second time.

The human swung his blade from his right side, trying for another power strike. But Salleema saw his mistake and exploited it. He was inside the human's range of motion faster than the human could have predicted. He swiped his blades across the human's torso. Almost slicing him in half. There was no blood, which was a benefit of energy weapons.

The human's own energy sword clattered to the ground with his mangled body and shut off, but by some miracle the human still clung to life. He gasped for breath, but his exposed and severed lungs whistled as air escaped

"You were mistaken human" Salleema said in the human dialect, his breathing heavy from over excursion. "I will not be defeated by you, Sith. Because of your heresy, honour will never be yours. Die in damnation heretic!" he lifted his right knuckle blade and brought it down on the human's face. Ending his life in a brutal crunch and hiss.

Jason's blade stabbed into the small alien's orange backpack, its exposed interior venting methane. He leapt out of the way as his lightsaber lit the explosive gas and caused the alien's body to explode into a fireball, engulfing two of its comrades. He shot a glance to his left and caught sight of Tana and Keth crouched behind the rock table, taking pot shots on unsuspecting enemies with blaster pistols while the Jedi and Sith commanded the battle.

His master was in the thick of the fighting alongside Darth Trepid. The two were back to back, taking on half a dozen of the large serpent creatures, each one anticipating and reacting to the moves of the other. They were an unlikely pair, but they worked well together. Jason gathered the force and leapt across the room toward his master, batting away plasma bolts as he flew.

Jason rolled with the momentum from his landing and came up with his lightsaber in an upward slash, almost cutting in half one of the serpent aliens. He held up both his hands and blew away two more with a powerful force push and sent them flying into a bird like alien with a wrist shield.

With a combined effort, the three of them were able to push some of the aliens back into one of the hallways leading into the monastery, allowing them more room to maneuver.

Jason weaved and dove for cover behind a boulder as thin plasma beams flew at him from a second story balcony inside the circular room. He stole a glance and noticed several more of the bird creatures raining thin plasma beams down on his comrades, long purple sniper rifles recoiling in their callused hands.

From what Jason figured, these creatures were very accurate and scarcely missed, except when they were deflected by a lightsaber. One wrong move and Jason knew he'd be cooked by those beam weapons.

Jason was fed up; he was tired and even a little angry that such an easy mission had gone so wrong so fast. He made his decision.

He glanced around the battle field and found what he needed to get the job done.

In one swift movement Jason leapt from behind his pillar and gripped one of the snipers with the force, its companions staring in bewilderment as it floated clutching at its throat. With a flick of his wrist, Jason sent the creature crashing into the others.

While they were distracted he found the small purple ball he had assumed was a grenade lying a few feet away. He summoned it with the force and then force jumped up to the balcony.

Jason grabbed the guard rail and pulled himself onto the second story floor. Upon landing he felt something crack under his left boot. He was horrified to find the head of one of the snipers crushed beneath his boot. He shut out the image and focused on what needed to be done.

The disoriented creatures were beginning to realize what had happened and started firing their beam weapons at him. The creatures were good shots at a long distance but they were horrible up close, especially against a foe wielding a deadly lightsaber.

While fending off horribly placed plasma beams with his saber, Jason gripped the purple grenade and pressed what he hoped was the activation mechanism. Almost instantly the sphere began to glow blue and create a high pitched whining sound.

The creatures knew what was coming and tried to run, but they were already too late. Jason let the grenade fly. The alien explosive landed in their midst, stuck to the shoulder of a large sniper. The light from the grenade grew until it seemed it would burst, and then, it did.

The concussive force caused the old balcony to shake and crumble. Jason and any of his companions below were able to jump clear of the ancient rock, but some of the aliens weren't as lucky.

Jason jumped from the collapsing balcony and landed in front of Keth and Tana and redirected any plasma bolts that came too close to hitting the two non force users. He looked back at his friends for a split second and knew there was something wrong, they weren't firing back.

With a massive force push he sent over a dozen enemies reeling into walls and stone pillars. He spun around and what he saw almost made him cry. Tana, beautiful and strong, was being cradled in Keth's arms, a deep plasma burn carved into her mid section. Keth looked up from his sister, his face stained with his tears.

"Keth, I..." Jason began, but the plasma was being fired again and the need to protect his friends was enough to pull him out of this living nightmare. He turned to face his enemies and brought his saber to bear.