For Hire...

[Nathaniel Nore]

Nore dipped his fingers in the warm blood,
brought them to his mouth,
tasted the salt,
tasted death.

The man had been in the way,
no one gets in the way,
not Jedi
not Sith,
not anyone.

The needles of rain fell onto the back of Nathaniel Nore as he stretched over the corpse. He quaffed such an aroma of death, drawing every aspect of the agony through his senses. The smell, the feeling the taste, of death had become a drug for him. The guard at the spaceport had also tasted such death. He was an obese black man in his late forties. Ren Campbell was his name, he had been working at the spaceport for twenty years. He never understood how Nathaniel had pulled his gun; he never knew the favor Nathaniel did him. It was only one quick shot through the ear. Ren probably never even felt it. Nore now turned his attention to the body of the lying bounty hunter. Smiling, he put the gun to the alien's temple.

Click.

The bounty hunter felt the gun lift from his face, and heard the steps of Nore fade into the rain. Blood shot through his throat. Nore hadn't killed him. He laid on the ground reflecting on what had occurred. The asphalt was still warm from the heat of the day. The rain trickled over his body. It diluted his blood. It cleansed him.

Why was he alive?

He knew the answer.

It would have been too easy.
The smells of death,
the tastes of death,
would have spoiled.

Nore walked into his ship Bullseye and ignited the twin rear engines. It screeched into the sky as he made his way into the vastness of space. He leaned back in his chair, pondering the situation. He would need a new assignment he thought quietly to himself. He flipped the COM switch to open any lines of communication. A mercenaries work is never finished.

[HunterJodoKast]

The man had a 50,000 credit on his head. He must have pissed off all the wrong people. A mercenary does his job efficiently and quietly. He studies his mark, gains knowledge of his strengths and weaknesses. Then awaits opportunity to pounce on his unsuspecting prey. This new young gun had the bravado sufficient to hold a legion of darktroopers at bay but had the brightness of a piece of coal in an empty bucket. His acquisition is Nathaniel Nore.

The hunter prepared himself, gearing up in his legendary mandalorian shocktrooper armor. Once sitting the duraplast helmet over his head, the hunter looks into the mirror. Staring back through the dark T-visor is an image synonymous with fear and cunning. Jodo Kast lives again!

[Nathaniel Nore]

Nore spun in his command chair toward the left side control panel, he set in the cordinates for the urban planet known as Coruscant. The hyperdrive buzzed to life as the ship disapeared into space. 4 hours untill he reached the planet. He once again sat back in his chair. He put his hand to his mouth and began a deep thought. He felt a slight rift in the force. Something was not right.

[HunterJodoKast]

Jodo Kast had been tracking his quarry relentlessly after receiving a hot tip from an insider led him to the present whereabouts of this one, Nathanial Nore. The bounty hunter had planted three XXt-26 homing beacons aboard the acquisition's ship in keen places, atop and underneath the craft.

Now in flight situated in the cockpit of his highly modified IG-2000, Red Shiva. Jodo Kast pushes a few buttons on the console, interfacing with the Holonet's network of satellites... numbering in the hundreds of thousands across known space. The beacon's coded hyperspace signal is instantly recorded and sent by the Holonet through it's network of satellites back to the beacon's control computer. The very computer Jodo Kast presently sits before.

He taps a few more keys on the console and some coordinate readouts flash across the screen. Jodo Kast massages his throat while grinning. This could not have been more perfect scenario. Nathanial Nore just arrived on Coruscant.

Jodo Kast straps himself in while activating the Red Shiva's hyperdrive. Instantly the G-forces pin him to the padded seat as the stars beyond the cockpit blur into bright beams of light.

Moments later, an IG-2000 fighter screams out of hyperspace just beyond the planet's bright blue atmosphere.

[Nathaniel Nore]

Quietly and un-detected, Nore sat down Bullseye on a landing pad high above the bustling city. Stepping out onto the landing platform, Nore walked over to the edge and took in the surrondings. THIS was the heart of the galaxy alright. Thousands of ships meddled through the city in a hundred different directions.

The entire planet was one big city, it was a place riddled with crime and pollution, of good and bad.

But he loved it.

He once worked for Xizor of the Black Sun on this very planet. He had killed dozens of people for the dark Prince. His memories ceased. He had other things on his mind.

Walking back to the ship he inspected his fine fighter. A class A starship, it had served him well for man....wait. Nore walked to the wing and took a closer look. A small homing becan lay underneath. He picked it off and turned it in his hands. Something was wrong. He had felt it through the force before he had landed on Corusant. The dark side was a constant ally, something he could say for very little people he knew in the galaxy. If someone was looking for him, so be it.

Nore walked aboard his fighter. Moments later he appeared on the landing dock again, this time 2 twin-blaster pistols tucked in holsters, and a lightsaber dangling from his belt.

He once again stood to the edge of the vast city. He took out micro-bincoulars and began to scan the busy'ness of the city. His eyes came to a rest on a small bar, with little occupants. Perhaps he could gather his thoughts there.

[HunterJodoKast]

Flying above the bustling cityscape, Jodo Kast peers through the large transparisteel viewport of the Red Shiva. Glancing at the city below, the whole of Coruscant resembles one massive luminous organism among a sea of smaller organisms moving in symbiotic harmony. The hunter had visited Coruscant more times than he cared to recount.

Jodo Kast looks down at the console's screen as the Bullseye's location is revealed through coordinates consisting of a cryptical series of numerals and letters. Locking the nav computer, the IG-2000 roars above the metropolis of skyscrappers and industry, weaving through the congested traffic of light freighters, shuttles, and airspeeders.

Arriving at the landing docks perched high atop a towering building. The Red Shiva does a single fly-over before settling on a choice spot situated a story above Nore's ship... unobservable. Jodo Kast unstraps himself from the pilot seat and walks back to the cargo bay to properly prepare and gear-up. He instinctively performs a thorough weapon's and gear check.

The dossier on Nathaniel Nore was informative enough. Now it was time to put some of his preparations into motion. Jodo Kast engages the Red Shiva's landing ramp and awaits it's complete descent before disembarking.

[Nathaniel Nore]

The micro-binoculars lowered from the dark mercenary's eyes. Roars of space engines and modified freighters took in the city. He raised his head slightly and closed his eyes. The force. It was always there. There was a presence. The man he was dying to meet no doubt. The man who so childishly tried to track him. He was hidden not so distant. Unobservable to the keenest of senses. However not to a dark jedi.

He took a deep breathe. Turning back to the platform his ship sat peacefully on, he began to walk toward the transport room.

[HunterJodoKast]

Jodo Kast circled the platform as he surveyed his surroundings, looking for a good area in which to ambush his quarry high up atop the highrise. When by luck he spotted Nore on the dock landing below him peering around. The merc must have just arrived himself. And acting perculiar. Nathaniel knows. This bounty was very unconventional in that he combines the powers of the Darkside with that of the standard small arms. Ducking back into the shadows assured Nore did not detect him.

With nothing but air circumventing them and a several hundred foot drop below... Jodo Kast strikes. Above the noise and rumble of the craft flying through and above the cityscape, another nearer engine is heard as the armored hunter descends before Nathaniel Nore. Landing several metres in front of Nore with his right arm outstretched with the sights of an sawed-off BlasTech EE-3 blaster rifle locked on Nore's chest. His left hand grasping the top of his right forearm to stabilize his aim.

All performed within the span of microseconds, Jodo Kast fires off three crimson bolts in quick succession at Nore's chest while initiating a voice interface command. A stokhli stun net launches from a cylindrical projector attached to his right hip. (Stokhli nets are made of a heavy adhesive substance that are nearly impervious to lightsabers as it constantly re-forms while in flight until strikes the target. It also discharges a powerful stun on contact. On his left hip is an identical device.) The Mandalorian's blaster roars three times followed quickly by a dull thump of the launched net sounds. It is a game of microsecond instincts and reaction. One wins and one loses.

[Nathaniel Nore]

Microseconds.

Is all it took for Nore to use Force speed. Time slowed. Abruptly stopping for what seemed like enternity.

As the bounty hunter's feet hit the ground. Nore and the force were already working as one. There was no other beings. Just hate, and rage swelling within him. Nore's temper was very short. And his patients were none exsistant.

The blaster rifle fired 3 shots which scorched the backdroping metal wall. The net expanded in the air, only to drop against the ground and slide to a hault.

Nore now stood behind Jodo with a long mercenary knife to his throat.

"I don't scare."
"I don't miss either."

"Especially at this range. So you start spouting answers or you'll be dead before you hit the ground bounty hunter. Is that understood. "

Nore adjusted his weight to his backfoot, tighting the grip of the knife on Jodo's neck.

[HunterJodoKast]

The hunter's instincts and combat skills were for the most part perfect. He had been in these types of circumstances too many times to be caught awares. Force speed or not. Anticipating Nore trying to manuever around him and get the better hand, Jodo Kast smashes his forearm into the crook of Nore's knife-wielding arm while reaching up with his free grasping the actual hand wielding the deadly blade. Twisting Nore's wrist until he hears a crack while placing his leg outside of Nore's leg. Effectually hip-tossing the Merc over his side while freeing his grip... landing Nore hard on his back.

With one smooth motion he flicks the selector switch of his blaster rifle and fires of a stun-ring into the Merc's chest...

[Nathaniel Nore]

Nore hit the ground with a thud before a second has passed the stun circle blunted into his chest.

His body convulsed, and lay motionless.

[HunterJodoKast]

The armored hunter slings his blaster rifle quickly, bends over the unconscious body of Nathaniel, removes the merc's blasters and lightsaber. Tucks the weapons underneath his web belt. Jodo Kast turns Nathaniel over onto his stomache and pins the acquisition's hands behind his back. He reaches into a utility pouche on his belt and grasps an ingenius instrument... an EBR (electromagnetic binary restrainer). First locking Nore's wrists together in a cuff device with his hands bent upwards and secondly wrapping the collar around Nore's neck. Jodo Kast pushes a transmitter on his belt, the restrainer device comes alive. Now both pieces are now bound together by an nearly indescructible electromagnetic force measuring roughly thirty centimeters. Allowing safe transport of a captured bounty with only slight discomfort for it's captive.

Activating his helmet's comm-link to the protocol droid aboard his ship, commanding it to drop the hoversled. The cargo lift begins it's ominous descent with the grind of durasteel, hiss of hydraulics, and hum of servos. Next follows the whistle of a flying platform as the droid flies it down to the landing dock below where the hunter and his fallen acquisition await. Once the hoversled lands, Jodo Kast lifts the limp body of Nathaniel Nore, placing him facedown on the platform behind the droid.

Jodo Kast unslings his blaster rifle and holds it at guard. He takes a moment to quickly peer around the landing dock and beyond. But the city appears completely oblivious to the short exchange that had just occured. Satisfied, the mandalorian hunter steps up onto the platform before the hoversled begins it ascent.

Once the restrained Nathaniel Nore is safely secured in the Force annulifying cell aboard the Red Shiva. Jodo Kast preps the craft for flight and moves over to the control panel of the com-transceiver. Time to contact his employer on a encrypted private frequency.

[Nathaniel Nore]

Lying in the cell, Nore waited for the right moment. His eyes slit and took in the surrondings. A sly grin appeared on his face.

Being a Mercenary you learn quite a few things. Electronic lockpicking was one of them. Nore slid out a small odd shaped device from his sleeve, dropping it into his hands, which were bound behind his back. In moments the decvice dropped from him, and he was free to concentrate on the cell.

In what seemed like seconds, the cell door flew open, taking Jodo by surprise. As he turned to grab his blaster, Nore delivered a swift kick to the bounty hunter's temple, sending him sprawling into the wall.

Nore leaped upon him, cracking his jaw with a roundhouse punch fueld by the force. Watching the bounty hunter slip into un-conciseness, Nore took his lightsaber and blasters back to thier positions.

A wondering protocol droid peered around the corner and gave a startled jump before he was taken in two by Nore's red glowing saber.

He took Jodo, un-armed, and threw him into the cell as he crashed against the far wall. Nore locked the door back and picked up the COM link.

I'm sorry, your bounty hunter can't talk right now. But perhaps I could relay the message...

[HunterJodoKast]

He quickly awakens from a daze to find himself lying in his own cell. Far from being helpless with his helmet's override available many of the ship's security functions. Damm it, the acquisition escaped. After the voice analysis and a series of encrypted codes, the security programs are now set by verbal command. Jodo Kast shut-downs any audible or visual feed into the cell. After inquiring, the ship's sensors give him precise location of the escaped captive... he is informed Nathaniel Nore's presence standing before the transceiver in communications room. He is still on my ship!

*Master over-ride command, activate internal magnetic blastshields in the communications room and introduce the FGA nerve agent...*

The magnetic blastshield completely seals Nathaniel Nore and the destructiveness of his weapons instantly within a complete force shield bubble. Preserving the ship and it's equipment. Meanwhile beyond the blastshield... the room's blast door and vent seal shut as the nerve agent flows invisibly throughout the room as dry crystals in tiny vaults in the durasteel bulkheads are introduced to a saline solution encouraging vaporization of the potent nerve toxin. Nathaniel Nore begins to feel in his nostril's tingle, his lips go numb, and begins to feel very lightheaded similar to that of a euphoric drug. Too late to hold his breathe, every inhalation causing a tingling sensation to spread through his chest. Quickly his thoughts grow very clouded and muscles relax. He collapses to the bubble's floor because his legs are beyond his motor control. Sleep is so inviting. Nathaniel rolls his eyes up before he finally subcumbs to dreamy unconsciousness.

Jodo Kast walks to the door of his imprisonment rubbing his neck, speaks a simple command. The door obediently opens. The ship's communication equipment escaped possible complete ruin today. Hours later when Nore finally escapes the toxin's powerful iron-grip, he find himself once again in a Force nullyfing high security cell with no internal lock available and imprisoned in the EBR again including foot shackles. With no tools available for escape.

He recalls a very adolescent but wise saying as he puts the ship's small cell-block on full status alert, something about being fooled once then twice. The armored hunter will have his protocol droid repaired once the job is fulfilled.

[Nathaniel Nore]

Nore rolled onto his back and propped himself up against the wall. Feeling the effects of the gas fade away, Nore takes a deep breathe. His eyes fall upon the destroyed Protocol droid. Eyeing Jodo he leans toward him with a cold voice.

Hmmm...so sorry about your friend there, I'm sure he'll be alright.

Nore's evil grin played upon his lips. Jodo knew the man was too dangerous to get near, so he kept his distance on the outside of the cell.

And where, if you don't mind me asking, do you plan to take me junoir?

[HunterJodoKast]

Jodo Kast absently caresses the barrel of his BlasTech EE-3 blaster rifle, listening to the merc speak boisterously. All he cared about right now was his ship and that he suffered no financial loss neither any the craft's important rudimentary functions.

He silently vowed he would never imprison a captive without verifying they're completely secured and locked down. What happened today was an aberration and a perilous miscalculation of his attention. If allowed to happen again could mean his life.

When he acquired the mandalorian armor that once belonged to the deceased hunter Jodo Kast, his first action was thoroughly training himself in combating Force-users. To defeat them on their terms. The present influx of sith and jedi demands it. His thoughts fade to the present, taking one last glance at Nathaniel Nore before the door hisses close. High above the merc's head, beyond all reach in the center of the ceiling, is an armored rotating surveillance camera globe.

Jodo Kast commands a drone droid to gather the protocol's severed body and store it in the cargo hold with itself. The hunter finishes prepping the ship for departure and enters the communication room. Opening the encrypted private frequency to the employer.

[Nathaniel Nore]

Hmphh... Nore smirked as the door came to a close.

'I wonder how long he thinks he can keep me in this cell...' Nore thought to himself. A smile crossed his face. Not a smile of joy or even evil. A smile of madness. The force was clouded, as if a great disturbance had interupted his thought. He had heard of these Force nullifying cells, but this was his first encounter with one. A mild setback.

He glanced up at the camera monitoring the room. A waiting game was all that was left. He knew there would be a chance, a slight opportunity. And when it arrived, this bounty hunter's blood would attone for his actions.

[HunterJodoKast]

With the acquisition safely secured in a high security cell and with various alarm devices activated through out the prison hold. No one is going to escape any cell and take him unawares ever again. Today's hunt was an education in preparedness. With the encrypted frequency open, Jodo Kast delivers the message to his employer. The hunter had the proper equipment for delivery of unstable and unpredictable Force-users ready for Nore. Soon to leave Nore at their mercy. The hunter looks once at the security monitor receiving feed from the surveillance camera high above the restrained and now placid Nore lying on the floor. Everything is in order, now to wait for his employer's response.

[HunterJodoKast]

Finally receiving word from his employer, Jodo Kast punches a button and instantly the cargo lift rises while the ship's thrusters kick-in. Red Shiva rolls some under the power of the engines before launching off from the docking bay towards Coruscant's skies, departing the congested traffic of the planetary metropolis. Once Jodo Kast and his live cargo are beyond Coruscant's atmosphere, Red Shiva's hyperdrive kicks in... screaming through the starlines racing towards a completely different planet. One reknowned for it's harsh climate and desolate wastelands.

Moments later, Red Shiva arrives at the planet Hoth. Landing near the ruins of what was once Echo Base, Jodo Kast shutdowns the engines and arms himself with his sawed-off blaster rifle. After dropping the cargo ramp, He walks back toward the hold and enters the proper code on the cell's external lock. The door quickly hisses open and there is Nore lying on the floor. The hunter aims the weapon's large bore at the acquisition's chest.

*Time to meet destiny, Nathaniel Nore. And do not think of fighting or fleeing because...*

Jodo Kast punches a button on his webgear and instantly 75,000 volts flow through Nore's body causing him to scream and convulse.

*That was just a second's worth of the shackles stun charge. Now get up!*

The hunter leads the shuffling Nathaniel Nore in front and down the ramp. Out into the icey grip of Hoth. Once they have both cleared the craft, Jodo Kast kicks the back of one of Nore's legs causing him to fall down onto his knees. Movement stirs in the shadows before them.

[Taylor Millard]

"Ah Mister Nathanial Nore..." the man spoke as he stepped from the shadows.

His brown hair was frosted from the cold around him, but the man himself was not. Grand Admiral Taylor Millard did have a smile on his face, his breath frosting as he breathed in and out.

"Your damage to my ship, as little as it was did do damager to several TIEs and Shuttles. It is time for you to pay."

In reality it was only a half-truth. The damage done to The Superior was only superficial, the Imperial Star Destroyer had been damaged in far worst ways during its service to the Empire. But the Dark Jedi and Sith Knight wanted to show Nore what a Dark Jedi truly was.

It was also...another test.

"You have done your duty, bounty hunter. The credits will be transferred to your account. You may leave now.

"Mister Nore," Millard removed his lightsaber from his belt, "It is time to see how good of a lightsaber fighter you are. Attack me."

[HunterJodoKast]

*Yes sir*

The hunter quietly retreated to his craft. As he walked up the ramp he deactivated the restraints which held Nathianel Nore. Red Shiva's cargo ramp closed. A minute later the engines roar to life. The ground trembles as the ship lifts off, quickly disappearing into the clouds above the icy unforgiving surface of Hoth.

[Nathaniel Nore]

Nore rose to his feet.

Rubbing his wrists where the restraints had been he looked over his situation. Looking to the sky as the starship set off into the atmosphere, Nore smiled. The cold planet of Hoth blew by the individuals as they stood to face each other.

"There is a reason I let that bounty hunter live. But now that I know the idenity of his employer, that reason has ceased."

Nore unclipped his lightsaber.

The blue blade came to life with a screeching hiss.

"You should not have hired him Admiral. Now your destiny lies with me."

As the last words were spoke Nore rotated his lightsaber at his side with the turn of a wrist.

He stuck down a slanted blow.

HISS. Millard activated his saber right in time to block the incoming swipe. The blades locked together to a rather horrid crackling sound.

Nore stuck again with a horizontal swipe followed by a uppercut lunge. The sabers danced in the backdrop of an icy tundra.

[Taylor Millard]

Millard ducked back as Nore pressed on the attack on the icry plaine. The Sith Knight allowed the pretend Dark Jedi fight hard, expending his own energy as the battle raged.

The Dark Jedi ducked Nore's blue blade, then brought his own blue-red blade come down upon it, forcing Nore back. Taylor had not used the Force, but was relying on his own ability in sword fighting to keep the younger man at bay.

As the fight continued, Millard leaped over Nore onto one of the icy rocks of the Hoth Plain. As Nore brought his lightsaber down, Taylor leaped again leaving the rock in a two smoking pieces.

It was then, Taylor began using the Force to help his actions. His right hand shot out, throwing Nore to the ground sending him rolling. As Nore stood up, Taylor sent him back again.

"My destiny lies with you, Mister Nore? Come...show me how good you are..."

He waited...allowing Nore to stagger to his feet, then hurled the pieces of the rock directly at Nore. As the rocks headed towards Nore, their speed increased threatening to dispatch NOre from the fight.

[Nathaniel Nore]

Nore raised a hand to the incoming projectiles as they swiftly pulled a U-turn back towards Millard, collading with the ground in front of him, send him flying. Nore leaped with a flip down on the lying man and swiped. Millard rolled to the right as the blade singed the ground. Nore stood and looked down at the man who was lying several feet away. Nore pushed back his dark hood, revealing his twisted face and head.

Millard's eyes glanced over the flowing black Sith tattoos that covered his dark blue face, and the horns that protruded like deadly weapons, a common trait of most Zabrak.

He turned his blade in a circular motion with a turn of his wrist.

"Come. Now we shall see how good you are."

[Taylor Millard]

Millard almost laughed.

"An easy trick, Mister Nore," he emphasized 'Mister' to continue his insult.

"You expect your gruesome tattoes to affect me? It is your skills I am more interested in. How good are you?"

The two blades collided again, as the duel began anew. Millard blocked several jabs from Nore, saw his opening, then sent a closed fist into Nore's fact, knocking him back.

Another Force push, and there was distance between the two again. Charging again, Millard leaped over Nore, sending his blade down upon him. It was blocked as Millard expected, but Nore pushed Millard back, sending the older man tumbling in the snow and ice.

Taylor leaped up, brushing ice from his forehead. He smelled burning fabric, then realized a part of Nore's lightsaber blade had singed his jacket. His cold blue eyes narrowed as he look towards the horned alien.

Careful, you got cocky. Work him down...make him tired. You are the more experienced fighter. Use it to your advantage. Remeber your preparations.

The Dark Jedi smiled, "Congratulations Mister Nore, you have drawn first damage."

He leaped in the air, watching as Nore attempted to match his height. Taylor flew over Nore, then shot his booted feet out, catching Nore in the back. An Oof! came from Nore as he fell to the ground.

Taylor landed, rolled, then was on Nore again...slashing, jabbing, thrusting, forcing the man back again and again. The butt on his saber collided with Nore's face throwing him back. Then Taylor's blue-red blade shot across Nore's chest, slicing the fabric on his outfit causing them to separate.

Another fist to the face, and Nore fell again.

[Nathaniel Nore]

Nore rolled back onto his side as another blade swipe singed the ground. Nore leaped to his feet and swung the mighty blade around for an incoming frontal assualt. Matching blows, the two continued to fight on into the mid-day chill.

Millard's blade came to the left side of Nore as he doged to the right. Sending a fist to Millard's stomach, he doubled over, which was met with a knee square in the teeth. Sending Millard reeling back from the knee, Nore charged in again jabbing, all were blocked, as expected.

Nore shot out a half opened hand as the icy overhang above them collapsed, sending tons of ice and debris down upon Millard. He was completely covered up. Nore took a slow pace toward the pile, his steps crunching in the light snow.

Not seeing a slight movement under the ice, Nore began to talk to the pile of rubble.

"Indeed you are powerful Admiral. It was a shame you had to die."

[Taylor Millard]

"Mister Nore if you think I would allow you to do something like that to me, you are gravely mistaken," a voice spoke in Nore's head, "Whether I am dead or not, is for me to know and you to find out."

"Am I here?" an image of Millard suddenly popped up, behind Nore, smiling as it waved its lightsaber. As Nore moved towards it, then it disappeared.

"Or am I here?" Another image appeared. To his credit, Nore did not move to attack the image as it faded away.

"Or perhaps," a voice spoke from the rubble, "I have been here all along waiting for you to stand right in that very spot."

The debris suddenly shot out towards the pretend Dark Jedi, catching him full in the face. Although Nore was able to block some of the rubble, most of it knocked him back.

The Dark Jedi, plunged upon Nore forcing him back...back and back again. A Force Push, and Nore was on the ground.

It was then, he felt it. The twinge at his throat, his vocal chords collapsed and his breathing ceased. Slowly, Nore rose from the air, clutching at his throat as Millard choked the life out of him. Then, the weaker Force User was flung through the air, smashing into the side of a cave.

Taylor leaped, landed, then fought Nore again. They crisscrossed their paths, continuing their battle across the icy plain.

[Nathaniel Nore]

The choke had been painful. His vocal chords still reeled in pain and he could feel the tingle it left within him. Such a powerful weapon was the force.

The lightsaber was a critical weapon, but nothing compared to the force itself. It was, in fact, the being that fueld the lightsaber's deadly accuracy. So many before had used Sith magic and the ways of the force as one, to further the Darkside.

As Millard and Nore fought on, the day had began to grow colder. A sure sign that night was going to fall. And night on Hoth meant death.

With incredible speed, Nore crouched low and swung his left ankle in a flawless arc, while pivoting on his right heel and springing upwards in a twirl that allowed him to deliver an upwards, chest-high kick. Millard fell backwards into the pain of a icy wall.

Again, Nore twirled his lightsaber with amazing agility, and then flipped backwards, kicking his right toe forward, placing it square on the chin. Reeling back, Millard was also met with a force push from his back, whiplashing him forward into a knee that connected with his stomach.

[Taylor Millard]

The Force is a tool to use when needed. It is my ally as well.

Using the Force, Millard absorbed the impact to his stomach, converting the kinetic energy into his own body. His left hand went low, smashing into Nore's most sensitive spot. The latter doubled over in pain, then the Imperial Grand Admiral sent the butt of his lightsaber into Nore's head, breaking one of the horns on the head.

Nore shot up into the air again as Millard gripped his body with the Force. The Dark Jedi was focussed, watching everything around him, and everything Nore could do.

Millard walked forward, keeping Nore at a distace. The younger alien, swung his lightsaber, trying to break Millard's concentration...then he threw it at Taylor. Nore fell with a *thud to the ground as Millard blocked the lightsaber, then sent it flying away along the icy ground.

[Nathaniel Nore]

Nore's bony exoskeleton healed back as it regenerated to a full horned tip. The pain from the wound burned in his skin. A opened hand returned the lightsaber to Nore as he stood once again to face the Admiral.

Nore clenched his black gloved hand as anger from the wound inspired his rage. Nore quickly flashed his hand forward, his leathery fingers outstretched as he used the Force to pull Millard's saber into his hand, turning on his heel he fled upon the Dark Jedi, spinning as the saber's hummed in a poetic motion. Millard ducked from the attack, being forced backward by the 2 deadly sabers. Millard rolled and sent a foot under Nore's left leg, causing him to stumble. Millard shot his saber back to his hand and the two began to exchange blows once more.

Nore seized the opportunity to somersault over Millard, with a vibrating hiss from the arc of his saber he leaped. After two midair flips, Nathaniel landed in front of Millard and sliced down upon him.

[Taylor Millard]

Spinning around, Millard blocked the blade- his mind surrendering to the Force as he fought. It was a sensation not many could sense, an almost complete resigning of one's feelings and movements to the Force. There was a certain trust given to the Force by Millard- a trust he normally reserved for certain individuals. The Force had betrayed him before, but the Dark Jedi knew if he used the Force as a tool, he would win.

As the sabers collided, Millard pressed his saber forward- the two blue blades locking, with their holders pressing forward. Millard hadn't broken a true sweat yet, even with the cuts to his jacket from the rubble and Nore's saber.

"Enough of this," Millard pushed Nore away, deactivating his lightsaber, "What is it you want Nore? You told me you wanted the Black Hand and to join. It is not endearing to you to damage the ship of your host as he graciously releases you into space. Were you trying to prove a point? And if so, what then?"

[Nathaniel Nore]

It was begining to grow colder as the seconds ticked away. Nightfall would be upon the men shortly. Nore's saber hiss ended quietly in the dawn air of the ice planet.

"Not a point Admiral. What I did was out of anger, therefore I cannot regret my actions. I did what I had to do, what the darkside demanded I do.

[Taylor Millard]

"And how is it you use the Dark Side, Mister Nore?" Millard walked forward, noticing the chill around him as the Hoth Night began falling upon them.

Close, very close now.

"I find it interesting, Mister Nore, you say what the Dark Side demanded, that is more of a Sith trait than a Dark Jedi trait. Are you certain you call yourself a Dark Jedi- or are you deceiving yourself, and acting more like the Sith, than the Dark Jedi."

[Nathaniel Nore]

Nore almost laughed. His yellowish teeth hinted a slight smile.

"Mr.Millard, I assure you, you do not need to doubt my loyality to the Dark Jedi sect. The Sith ways are none of my concern, they are futile and weak.

[Taylor Millard]

"Mister Nore you are indeed deceiving yourself. Until you decide what you are, I fear, you are of no usage to anyone. My suggestion is to go to The Sith Order and talk with them. They might be able to help you."

He began walking away from Nore, his boots crunching on the icy ground.

"If you're willing to accept your fate."

[Nathaniel Nore]

"I suggest you keep your foolish comments to yourself, Admiral."

Millard stopped short in his tracks.

[Taylor Millard]

Millard chuckled, "And you assume too much...Mister Nore."

He kept walking, his back to Nore and his senses still alert for anything that might happen.

[Evil Hobgoblin]

A curious twist to the icy wind swirled and flowed around Millard as he walked, somehow protecting him from the fullest of Hoth's cold. It was all that signified the watcher.

Though it did not usually happen, someone was tracking Taylor at the current point in time. Someone wise and someone powerful who obviously had no interest in seeing a Grand Admiral and Dark Jedi come to harm.

This presence had witnessed the width and depth of Millard's encounter with Nore and was unimpressed. From a place far beyond the Hoth system that was safe from prying eyes, it continued its' silent vigil.

[Nathaniel Nore]

"Perhaps I do Admiral. Perhaps you aren't as powerful as I once thought. Leave this planet if you will, coward."

[Evil Hobgoblin]

There was a sudden updraft at Nore's feet, sending snow flying everywhere and obscuring his vision. In the temporary blindness he suffered before he could make the transition to his Force senses, something cold, wet, and hard hit him in the side of the face.

It was a snowball.

Nore had just been razzed.

[Taylor Millard]

Millard smiled, "Mister Nore, insults will not help your cause."

He stopped then watched as the snowball hit Nore's face.

"I believe you now have even more problems than just dealing with me."

[Nathaniel Nore]

"So be it."

The snowball had indeed been an insult. The one responsible had masked his presence well. Whoever this man was, he had Nore's respect.

Nore held his deactivated lightsaber waist high, still feeling the metal beneath his hands, still feeling the fight that had taken place earlier. He stood poised, ready for anything.