**Ryloth, descending Orbit**
**JumpMaster 5000, Heavens Bound**

“We should be landing shortly Janos. I’d buckle up, Ryloth is not a friendly planet once you get into it’s atmosphere.” Captain Esric Sorin spoke through the ship’s intercom unit. A late model product of the “Han Solo” craze from a couple decades back, Sorin had teamed up with a Quarren named Rel, stole a freighter and made a go of things. The craft itself was in better shape than the Captain which spoke well for the trade he was doing. As it happened this pilot owed a favor to a scientist he met once years ago.
That scientist was now a Sith and sat uncomfortably in a new set of Brotherhood recon armor over top of his robes. He kept his lightsaber hidden for the time being, as it was easier to tell Sorin that he was a bounty hunter instead of a Sith. As it was, transport to and possibly heavy extraction from Ryloth was stretching the limits of the favor owed him. Contacts like Sorin and his co-pilot were the kind that intimidation only worked on once, then you’d never see them again. Janos was glad he had read the man right and played to his sense of adventure rather than threats.
Turbulence and a sudden spike in temperature signaled their entry into the atmosphere. They were currently on the dark side so surface temperatures only reached stifling instead of sweltering. Not that it would matter. Janos put on his helmet and paused a moment while the internal systems came online. He checked the seals of his body glove, the fit of his armor and finally he drew his blaster.
Grace
**Ryloth**
** Three miles from target site*

Janos walked down the gangway and tapped into the shipboard comm. “I’ll be back by dawn. If I’m not, burn the camp from orbit and go.” He clicked off the comm and sprinted off towards his target. His HUD showed him a waypoint tagged from orbit. His information came from Tasha, but who knew how accurate it was. Ryloth’s mountainous terrain and treacherous lava flows may make refining bacta better and the twi’leks happy, but he was already sweating . That any living things could live here, much less become sentient was a marvel. Perhaps their hearty genetic stock could be used for something later? Interesting thought.

His force-enhanced speed brought him close to the target site within a few minutes. He lay on the rocky ground about a half a mile out, concealed by a rocky outcropping. He zoomed the optics of his helmet in on the rudimentary camp. Just a few temporary huts and some space cleared out for a beat up old freighter to land. The ship itself may have been a YT model but the hull had been ripped to shreds and put back together at least twice by the look of it. Put together badly if the smoke coming out of the cockpit and engines was any clue. That solved the mystery of why these treasure hunters were still on planet after they supposedly acquired their treasure.

He scanned a little further. Speaking of the treasure hunters, a pair came into view. One human male, a twi’lek male and a trandoshan came into view. Janos could feel the wicked smile form as he suddenly began to look forward to what he was about to do. Memories of his early life as a slave medic overwhelmed him for a moment, as did the hate for that species. The human suddenly pulled his blaster and looked right at Janos, alerting his fellows who began to scramble.

Blast! Janos had made sure to scan for traps from the ship. He did a quick check of his surroundings just to be sure. Nothing! Then how?!

Realization hit him just as a strange presence seemed to try to pry into his mind. The human was a force user. Janos cursed out loud. Why was nothing ever easy?! The fool was untrained but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a threat. Quickly scanning the camp again three treasure hunters had become five and all of them were crouched behind cover. They must be in worse shape than the Sith realized because not one of them bothered to get the ships weapons online.
Stealth had gone out the window so the next and only option was brute force. He had half a mile to cover and he was alone. Luckily if he moved from outcropping to outcropping he could advance under cover.

The Sith jumped up and sprinted forward to the next bit of cover, a jut of rock a few yards ahead. As he slid into the relative safety of the rock he could feel and hear the thud of blaster bolts burning furrows into the dirt. From this distance their accuracy did not bode well for him. Sprinting to the next jut of rock the scenario was repeated. On the next dash however, his hopes of safety were dashed as a small metal orb landed a few feet away from him. The explosion blew the Sith off his feet and through the air several yards where he landed in a heap.

A cheer went up from the assembled vagabonds. Two immediately abandoned their cover and ran towards the body. The other three hesitated until the others, both human males reached the intruder. They carefully approached while the two younger men nudged the body with their toes to see if it lived. Smoking and tattered, the Sith was still in pretty good shape for some one that had recently been just a yard or so from a thermal detonator. The trandoshan was the third to arrive, young and eager for trophies.

“The Ssscorekeeper is generoussss with this bounty hunter. The gear alone will fetch a pretty price.” The scaled hunter hissed with glee.

“Be careful guys. I felt something when I spotted him. This isn’t your normal bounty hunter.” The force sensitive human was a few yards off, his weapon still leveled. His expression was one of unease and very much like a man with something on the tip of his tongue that he couldn’t quite get.

“Relax. Sserik blew him up. The TD was only a meter away from him! There’s no way he survived that!” One of the younger human males, poor fool.

“I don’t think we should-“ the Twi’lek was about 2 meters from the Sith when his speech was cut off. A blur of motion and a snap hiss cleanly bifurcated the two humans and a heartbeat later, decapitated the twi’lek.
The force sensitive and the trandoshan opened fire mostly striking the bodies of their comrades as they fell. The Sith battered bolts aside with his saber. The movement was odd, as if the wielder wasn’t used to fighting with his left hand, even still it was enough to cause the two remaining rogues to cut and run for the relative safety of their ship. Janos paused for a moment and let them go, allowing his barrier to deflect any of the panicked shots that might come too close.
He cradled his ruined right arm. If not for his force enhanced reflexes and his snap up Barrier he would be as dead as they thought. As much as laying on the ground in a smoldering heap had rankled his pride, he’d needed the time to stop the bleeding and make sure he wasn’t as broken as he felt. His armor had saved him from most of the shrapnel but one bit had nearly taken his right arm off just above the elbow. A multitude of curses flowed through his mind.

The remaining two treasure hunters had holed up at the top of the gangway of the derelict freighter. A prudent move were he just a bounty hunter. But Janos Breaker was Sith, and now he was mad.
Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion I gain strength
Through strength I gain power
Through power I gain Victory
Through Victory my chains are broken
The Force shall set me Free.
Janos stalked forward with the Sith Code in firmly in his mind. The Dark Side, normally a sweet whisper, once again roared in his ears. He removed the thermal detonator from his belt and telekinetically launched it into the open gangway. The explosion rocked the freighter up on it’s rear landing struts causing them to buckle. As it came down the forward struts were crushed up into the hull.
Janos put his saber away, knowing that there was no one and nothing left to oppose him. Cradling his ruined arm he approached the decimated gangway knowing what he would find. Next to the bits of scaled flesh, most of the human man lay twisted amongst the wreckage.
“You knew what I am. Why?”

“I knew as soon as we found that damn thing one of your kind would show up sooner or later.” The dying man did his best to smile but it came out as more of a grimace. “But I expected you to try and buy it. I didn’t think you’d risk hurting it but just coming in and killing us all.”
“Fool.” Janos turned towards the collection of huts and began his search. Trying to think through the pain, he guessed he should look in the best looking hut. It didn’t take long. Sitting in a padded crate was a deep red pyramid. Janos looked at it in awe.
Keying in his helmet comm he signaled Sorin to come to his location to pick him up. It would be a shame to give this up but he had sworn to do so. He may be Sith but he believed in honor.

**Ryloth**
**Versea Estate**
With his tattered black robes, scuffed armor and stump of a right arm in a bacta cast, Janos was very much at odds with the splendor around him. The gardens of this estate made him question which planet he was on. The one he had just nearly been killed on was a volcanic world covered in mostly rock and pain. This….this was a paradise!
A pair of ornate doors opened up to admit the battered Sith. Inside was a well appointed room with a Twi’lek woman seated at the far end. Various Clan force users were assembled around her. Janos approached at a swift walk, holocron under his good arm. As he neared Tasha he slowed and knelt. Placing the holocron at her feet he looked her in the eye.
“As ordered. A treasure of Ryloth delivered to you as my offering and application for the position of Black Guard. Forgive my appearance, as I have recently been very literally blown up. I’ll fix the arm soon enough. Should I be chosen, it will not hamper my abilities.”
He stood an stepped back.
Tasha looked down at the holocron and considered a moment. “Your offer is accepted. We will be in touch. See to your injuries.”
“Of course, Matriarch.” Janos stood and retreated to his waiting ship.