Chapter Thirty-Three, Part One

"How much longer do we need to stay here?" May sighed as she sipped her drink. Mission and Zaalbar were occupied, convincing their contacts to help when the cure for the Rakghoul plague arrived. "We've done nothing but visit a droid shop and a few entertainment districts…"

"It won't be long now," Dan glanced skyward. The Endar Spire had yet to arrive, but T3-M4 was under construction. "Once Revan and the others land in their escape pods, things will move quickly."

The Sith fleet that would arrive was stronger than the modern starships of the Republic he knew, but they wouldn't be a difficult foe. Even Malak would fall easily enough. Force users were the most vulnerable in space, with only the weak shells of their starships to protect them.

"Good… Mission and Zaalbar can handle things here, especially with their new symbiotes." May finished her drink and sighed. "Their underworld buddies can mass produce the cure you steal from the Sith, while we move on to a less… toxic smelling place."

"It's time…" Dan smiled at the sky beyond the layers of city above their heads. The Endar Spire had jumped from hyperspace, headed toward a stable orbit. "I'm going to get into position, you should do the same!"

May nodded and rose to her feet. A quick kiss and they separated. She would head lower, to the undercity where Bastila's escape pod would land. Dan was headed up, to the freedom of space. Once Revan left the Spire, he would say hello to the so-called 'Lord of the Sith.' Malak barely deserved the title, but he did well enough for himself, despite his general lack of power.

Dan accelerated free of the atmosphere and settled himself into the shadow of a broken down space station. Minutes slipped by, until a cain of flashes blossomed around the planet. Dozens of escort vessels, alongside several carriers, emerged from hyperspace. Alongside a wedge shaped, round edged star destroyer, they bombarded the Old Republic ships around Taris without hesitation.

"Without the Jedi, even the Old Republic is pretty useless…" Dan sighed as the majority of the Republic's fleet vanished under Sith guns. Only the Spire remained intact, targeted for boarding. "Bastila's battle meditation has the same drawbacks as Palpatine's, without it the soldiers can't coordinate at all."

Eventually the last escape pod launched and Malak's flagship obliterated the Endar Spire. Dan rolled his shoulder and drifted from cover. That was his cue, it was time to act. He didn't bother with his ki as he accelerated toward the clustered Sith vessels. It would be overkill, a waste of power.

"Let's see…" A quick scan found the serum he needed, stored aboard Malak's ship. "Looks like the rest of you can go first!"

Dan blitzed through the fleet, faster than the pilots could react, a battering ram that turned fighters into scrap and severed larger ships in two. In secords, only the Leviathan remained. Malak's interdictor star destroyer floated alone amongst the remnants of the Sith battle fleet, guns silent as if shocked to stillness.

"Now for the main event…" Dan speared through the side of the flagship. Twin lines of red melted over the wound in the hull and halted the loss of atmosphere. A glance showed him the storage lab, three levels below. Another burst of heat vision and a molten hole opened to his destination.

Dan ignored the blasterfire of Sith soldiers and scooped up a dozen vials of the Rakghoul cure. Another pulse from his eyes carved a path straight to the bridge, a gaping wound that opened at a startled Malak's feet. The Sith Lord backflipped away as Dan rose from below, into a rain of blaster fire.

"That won't work," Dan waved a hand and his biofield slammed over the bridge like the tides. Normal soldiers collapsed to the ground, while Malak was forced to one knee."Even that lightsaber on your waist won't help you, Alek."

Darth Malak's brow tightened in fury at the mention of his former name. The voice box on his throat erupted in a mechanical snarl as he forced himself to his feet. Lightsaber ignited, he advanced toward Dan despite the pressure of the biolfield.

"You remind me of another force user I know," Dan smiled as Darth Malak closed, lightsaber raised to strike. Darth Maul had similar abilities. "Your physical power is very impressive, for a Sith…"

Dan blurred forward and grabbed hold of Malak's wrists in a single hand. The other held the Sith's weapon, fingers wrapped around the crimson blade. Even without ki, a standard lightsaber like this couldn't reach his skin.

"But it's nowhere near enough, I'm afraid," Dan angled his body, a headbutt that dropped Malak to his knees. A flick of his fingers sent a symbiote clone into the man's flesh. "I'll give you a choice," Dan released the Sith's arms and held up a finger. "Either you join me, and the symbiote I injected you with will monitor your loyalty, or…" Dan curled his raised hand into a fist and smiled. "Your story ends here, you decide!"

Malak trembled, a mixture of rage and fear that battled within the Sith's eyes. He raised his head, but was interrupted before he could speak.

"This one has no loyalty in his heart, not even ground fertile enough to plant the seed…" Venom's symbiote rose to the surface and shackled Malak's body. "His worlds have no meaning, he has already chosen betrayal."

"Too bad," Dan sighed. Darth Maul had proven useful, and obedient enough. The small schemes and plots of the former Sith were harmless, focused on the creation of his own little empire. "You could have lived forever…"

Dan's fist blurred and Malak's body turned to hypersonic vapour, a stream of blood that pierced the hull of the ship and into the vacuum of space. He'd never like Malak, but the man was talented enough. He shook his head at the waste and accelerated through the already crippled ship.

"Problem solved," Dan emerged from the explosion and cruised toward Taris' surface. May had probably rounded up the crashed survivors, now all that remained was to convince them to join his cause. "Let's go meet Lady Revan and her kidnapper Bastila Shan!"