 The juddering pschoww of Imperial repeater rifles sounded from above the alcove in which the rebel Dark Jedi skulked, dirty and exhausted, their pale knuckles clutching the crimson lightsabers that served as the only source of light in the darkness. Gargled screams rent the air and were suddenly cut short, the dull thuds that followed them echoing downward through the corrugated durasteel. The group's youngest apprentice jumped, moaning softly as the blaster fire faded to nothingness, the brief movement of his blade illuminating a face caught in a rictus grin of fear. The ominous thudding of a dozen heavy boots slowly became indistinct; the subtle click of muffled troopers' voices gradually became no more. Stillness reigned. A sewage pipe gurgled in the gloom.
"Move," a tall, imperious Human commanded, hate and frustration in his gaunt features.
The small band of Dark Jedi haltingly obeyed. They capered down the corridor ahead of them at a slow pace, haunted eyes darting left and right, springing at shadows. They moved deeper into the sewers, up to their knees in stinking sludge. Behind them, their leader looked over his shoulder incessantly, as if expecting their pursuers to appear like apparitions out of the void. A turbolift whirred - where, he was unable to tell. The Dark Jedi Knight smiled the smile of the condemned, the bitter grasp he held on his lightsaber tightening perceptibly.
Zex Ruhl knelt by the awning that led into the sewer complex and removed the thermal resonator from her belt. Watching the orange-red figures crawl across the screen for a time, she marked their biosigns, communicating the location of the Dark Jedi to the squad of elite stormtroopers flanking her.
"TX-4066, advise."
The addressed stormtrooper turned to gaze at the Zabrak, thoughts unreadable through the dauntless visor. Barely a moment passed before the response came.
"Sewer complex terminates here," the stormtrooper captain responded, indicating the region the figures were heading towards. "Advise we get there first and set up an ambush." Ruhl wasted no time, trusting the captain's better judgment. "Agreed," came the Acolyte's curt response. She hastened into the access tunnel ahead of them, trailed by the soldiers.
Reaching the sewer complex's terminus, the stormtroopers set up their ambush with wordless efficiency. Zex hovered close by, her heartrate increasing, flesh beneath her jerkin slick with sweat. She could hear them now, the words of Supreme Leader Virilium, pounding in her cerebellum, burning through her consciousness. Liquidate them, he'd commanded. Leave none alive. She knew they would not be easy prey. Worse - she knew she could not fail. It was then that she sensed them. Four, maybe five of them, getting closer and closer - moving fast - running. She gasped, faltering, catching herself on the wall. She realized her error too late. It would cost them.
A blood curdling howl and the caustic stench of burning flesh signalled the arrival of the Dark Jedi. Zex whirled, eyes failing to track the blur of motion as three stormtroopers died instantly, slashed apart by shards of red light moving at impossible speed. As the composite plastoid husks crumpled the shards turned as one, bearing down on her. The Force thrummed in her blood; she reacted on instinct. Blood red blade bursting to life in her hands, Virilium's apprentice cut a sharp pirouette, dodging a blow that would have split her in two. Ruhl's eyes caught up with her; she could see him now, the worm on the other end of the lightsaber. He was a runt of a man, short and stocky, wielding his weapon with all the grace of a rancor. She hated him. Dodging a further strike and parrying another she returned with furious blows of her own. Barely evading her attacks, the man screamed, lunging clumsily - it was his death knell. Zex whirled past him, slashing him in the chest. She felt the victory rush in her veins as the enemy expired and using her forward momentum as a fulcrum to deliver another blow, hacked a Dark Jedi bearing down on TX-4066 across the back, killing him instantly. Stumbling as the Herglic fell dead, she looked about her. The remaining Dark Jedi screamed as they died, bodies perforated and limbs rent to pieces by the heavy guns of the stormtroopers, slaughtered like dogs. Their leader, blood pooling about him from wounds that the blasters failed to cauterize, gurgled and spat. Ruhl stood above him, grinning hatefully, shaking with fury and adrenaline.
"This i--" the gaunt-faced Knight began before a repeater salvo obliterated him, splattering Zex with gore.
"Call it in," Zex commanded. "We're done here."
| 
| Name: | Zex Ruhl
| | Age: | 31
| | Sex: | Female
| | Species: | Zabrak
| | Homeworld: | Iridonia
| | Faction: | Sith
| | Rank: | Apprentice
|
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