**Ohmen

Judecca

Cocytus System**

Xen’Mordin read the accumulated and correlated data. The former Jedi rubbed his temples. Strange things were afoot within the Cocytus system, and almost all of them involved students recently imported from the Shadow academy. One female import had shone outstanding- so very much so that she had insulted and challenged an Equite. Although she had eventually died at the hands of her outraged attacker, the report and holovid showed that she had lasted a few minutes. Which truly should be impossible for a Guardian. The incident bore investigation.

Xen stroked his goatee thoughtfully as he watched the video. His fingers tapped at the rewind button, backing up the frames. “There,” he said to himself quietly. “Again.” At one point dark clutching electricity seemed to crackle around the enraged young Zabrak woman’s fingertips. She had been disarmed of her armory saber, and yet continued to fight. Somehow she barely dodged a stab from her foe’s lightsaber at the last possible instant. Her hand flashed down to clutch at her attacker’s weapon and she seemed to drink the energy into herself with the Stygian wisps. Her opponent’s red blade flickered and sputtered just enough for her to slip by the strike.

It was impossibly fast but Xen’s trained eyes had caught it with the help of modern technology.

“Impossible,” muttered Xen as he stood. “No Guardian can absorb that much energy for a micro-second. A lightsaber has more than five megawatts of power in it’s diatium cells even in a lesser model. Something doesn’t add up.” He reached for his comlink. “This is Quaestor Xen’Mordin. I want a full autopsy of that Zabrak’s body performed, it to be sent to the coroner classified secret, and all holorecords of her since her arrival a week ago from the Academy. This is now classified need-to-know information.” His hands touched a commlink set writ with the symbol of a highly coded receiver.

As the shut-down order was issued the Quaestor pondered the meaning of this strange and enigmatic death. The Force seemed oddly quiet surrounding the event, and Xen could only wonder. Either way he would have answers soon. Even if the answers were pried from still-cooling corpses. Xen’s head began to boil with questions. He grasped his head in his hands. “I am in control of this situation.” He looked up, smoothed his hair, and put his game face on. “I am instituting martial law. The system is now under my control, for the eventual good of all.”

---

**Castle Tarentum

Yridia II

Yridia System**

“I’m listening,” Anshar said quietly. “I know the Shadow Academy well.”

“Something’s up. My sources tell me that students of magnificent caliber have spread out from the S-A in their last batch of graduates.” Master Bloodfyre frowned. “I’m hearing from a contact over in Naga Sadow that some very peculiar students have come their way.”

“Macron Sadow?” The question was interjected rudely in the air. “The rest are a pretty tight-lipped bunch. Master Bloodfyre, you actually talk to that trainwreck? I hear he’s bat-shit insane.” Jason Hunter scowled. “A loose cannon, even according to his own Summit. I’ve heard nothing but bad things through the grapevine.” The Aedile crossed his arms in disdain. “Nutcase.”

“He may be mad, but the insane often have unique insights.” Sith Bloodfyre smiled. “He helped me with some research a while back, and we keep in touch on a strictly professional level. Of course, as he and I are Sith. I don’t trust him.”

Anshar looked puzzled. “I knew him briefly. He served at the Academy as an instructor under me some years back. His naivete is an unfortunate shortcoming among the Sith. The intel is more than likely accurate however. I’ve gathered the same information from my sources in other Houses and Clans.”

“And so, that brings me to this new recruit,” Jason Hunter added as he pointed to the holoscreen.

A wild looking man with dark skin, brown eyes, dreadlocks, a weird mask and a red duraplas synthsuit showed on the screen as he attacked a robed journeyman with spittle flying from his lips. “M’bele Nsuso. He’s a Korun and rumor has it his father was a Seyugi Dervish.” The room was quiet except for the hum of the cooling units that kept the massive electronics operating efficiently. “Adept with a slugthrower, blades, deep into martial arts, pain, misery, and built like a brick house. He’s a raving mass murderer to boot.”

“Very nice. So the Seyugi aren’t extinct.” Bloodfyre regarded the gruesome images on the screen. “Interesting. Graduated two weeks ago. Crack shot with a slug-thrower. Almost impossible to return slugs to their originator with a lightsaber. I’ve heard that’s a Korun thing... Tsainetomo N’Ashar is notorious for it. Clever. And now Nsuso’s gone rogue.”

“Exactly. After one week at the new recruits barracks, he killed his trainer in a rage- a Jedi Hunter. Gutted her like a fish with a sharpened plasteel pipe. He’s murdered ten more civilians. One he sliced... It’s perfection in death.”

“No Journeyman is capable of that, or ever has been,” Bloodfyre watched the screen as the three deliberated. “We must find him and bring him in for interrogation. I’ve heard other issues.... we may have a situation on our hands.”