Star Wars: The Emperor's Wrath (Act II:Jedi Hunter)

The Jedi Hunter

Zalos knew that Master Soros, leader of Valiance, would sense him coming. His mark was on the bodies of all the fallen Jedi, and Soros' was next. Zalos hated him with a burning passion, almost as much as Carmina, for he had put the mission together. He was responsible for the deaths of Zane and Bux.

The Stalker spent hours in his meditation chambers aboard the Dark Crusader, the Emperor's personal flagship. Kayla grew worried about him, and paced outside the room. She felt a dark presence, and turned. Emperor Valen stood in the shadows. He smiled warmly and slowly limped over to her. She quickly dropped to her knee in respect for the mighty Sith. The Emperor nodded and flourished with his hand. "Rise, young Kayla." She stood as suddenly as she had kneeled, only it took the wind out of her to stand. She rested a hand on her stomach and breathed hard. The two Sith locked eyes, and in an instant he knew. "You are with child." He stated. He didn't even need to ask. She slowly nodded. Valen folded his arms and looked towards the meditation room. "Not only does he do this for revenge...but to secure his family's future..I always knew him to be noble."

"Where is he?" Zalos thought to himself. He had entered into the Force Realm, a place few ever could enter. The Dark Side was strong enough, however, for him to simply pass in whenever he wanted, given he had the focus for it. He walked among the stars and solar systems as he sensed for him. Soros was hiding himself, and since he was a Master he was strong enough to hide his Force signature. "Where are you?!" He growled, clenching his fists. "Show yourself, coward!" Suddenly, he felt a wave of Light Side energy flood over him. Zalos found him. He leaned over and frowned. "Really? Now why there..?"

He emerged from his meditation room and looked at Kayla, then he noticed the Emperor and immediately kneeled down before his mentor.
"Rise, my old friend. You have work to do."
"Where are we going?" Asked Kayla.
"Hoth...we're going to Hoth."

The flight was long and nerve-wracking. It was the end of their crusade, and it wouldn't end without one more dead, either way.

The snow and ice covered world of Hoth was nearly unknown to the galaxy, only being spotted after several valuable Republic ships crashed here. It was said this lost fleet had weapons of mass destruction, treasures, and ancient Jedi artifacts aboard, so both factions could clearly find an advantage here for the war

Zalos stood at the ramp of his ship, Kayla by his side. The air was cold and bitter, and the wind was sharp. He wore a full body suit so that he didn't freeze to death. In front was the staging base.
"Zalos, are you sure about this?" Kayla asked, shivering in the cold. Zalos crouched in front of her and whispered, "Trust me. Once this is done you and I can leave this war. We'll be able to live freely, now please, stay on the ship and wait for me." She nodded and took his hands.
"Zalos...I love you..be safe." He slightly tightened his hands around hers.
"I love you too..be safe." and in an instant, he was gone.

He commandeered a speeder, kicked it into gear, and zoomed out into the frozen wastelands, towards the Republic stronghold. Soros was in command there, but not for long, because Zalos had his scent.

The Republic stronghold was deeply etched into a mountainside. The Jedi himself set up its "defenses", which were large spikes of ice pointed out  in jagged positions, and the Republic had set up dozens of blaster turrets and cannons along the single bridge into the fortress. An army would be decimated in seconds if it dared to enter. The Republic was, however, not prepared for a single assailant, let alone a Sith Stalker.

Zalos parked the speeder at the edge of the cliff, directly above the ice fortress, and hopped off. The snow crunched beneath his durasteel boots as he slowly approached the cliffside, crouched down. He rested a hand on his saber and peered over the edge. Below, dozens, if not hundreds, of Republic troops were below him. He smiled slightly andpulled out both of his lightsabers. "Here we go...time to see what I can do.." and dove down.

He hit the ground with the strength of a meteor. The momentum, Force strength, and weight of the impact sent half the soldiers in the yard flying into the walls and spikes. He landed in a crouching position with his head down, then he looked up at the surviving troops as they readied their weapons. Zalos pulled out his two lightsabers, then ignited them one at a time. He snarled, making himself look almost animalistic in order to terrify his enemies. It worked. Within seconds an order went out:
"Retreat! Into the fort! Move!" Zalos sneered and darted towards them, his sabers behind him in a V formation. The soldiers yelled in terror and banged on the door into the fort.
"It's him! The Stalker! Let us in!"
They were too late.

Zalos came at them like a starving wolf, slashing wildly at them, until there was nothing left but steaming corpses. He looked at the door and growled. With a raised hand he crinkled the steel door like tissue paper, and tossed it at an unexpecting guard's head. He stood at the doorway, sabers drawn, and stared into the darkened hall. At the heart of the bees hive was the honey, the prize of this crusade. Vengeance against the last of Valiance squadron.

The Stalker dove through the hallway, evading traps and destroying any trooper in his path. Suddenly, a group of Jedi, all hooded and cloaked, came in and used the Force to knock him back. Zalos did a backroll, landing on his feet, and crouched back in a defensive position.
"Move, scum!" He snarled at them. They remained silent, and the leader simply pulled up a holocom. A short, blue figure flickered onto the screen: Soros. A normally green, giant Twi'lek Jedi. His crystalline blue eyes stared at the fallen Jedi.
"Zane. Stand down, that's enough." He growled and shouted back.
"Zane is dead..I am Zalos." And smacked his chest with his fist. Soros looked at the Jedi leader, then back at Zalos.
"We have your lover. Turn back or we WILL kill her." Zalos' heart dropped.
"Liar!" He shouted. Soros gestured with his hand, and the light turned on. Kayla was across the room, bound to a chair with a saber hilt to her throat."Kayla..." he grit his teeth and looked at the Jedi. "Here's a deal. Let her go and your Jedi live." Soros chuckled and gestured again.
"Kill them both."

The room erupted into chaos.

Zalos used the Force to kill the Jedi by Kayla, snapping his neck. He ripped his blades across the room and decapitated two of the four attackers, then yanked them back and engaged in a one-versus-two battle. The Jedi with a blue saber struck at his head while the Jedi with a green saberstaff struck at his chest. The duo were met with a flurry of strikes and blocks. Zalos neatly cut the saberstaff Jedi's blade in half, then force pushed him into a spike, impaling him. The blue saber Jedi panicked and yelled in anger as his friend died, and pushed Zalos back. This Jedi, who happened to be the leader, was clearly a Knight, but a young one. The two warriors dueled across the cavern, neither gaining an advantage. Despite being unbalanced, the Jedi was extremely powerful. It was almost a shame he was on the opposite side. The battle didn't last long, however. Zalos sensed he was weakening, and decided to toy with him. The two locked their blades together, their faces inches apart, when Zalos spoke.
"You have failed, Jedi." He said in a low voice. "You have failed your companions, and your master. Now..you will die. Here. Now." The Jedi howled in rage, pushed back, and slashed at his midsection. Zalos leaped back, causing the blade to zoom by, then he dove in for the kill, striking the Jedi with both blades in the chest. He gagged and stared at the Stalker, his eyes nearly bulging out of his skull. Zalos smirked and yanked the blades out, and the corpse fell into the snow, making a soft crunch as it collapsed.

Soros entered in moments later and gaped at the carnage his former student had caused.
"Zalos!" He called out from across the cavern. Zalos had just freed Kayla when he heard him. Kayla looked into his eyes with fear in hers.
"Run..now!" He whispered to her, then turned and faced down the Jedi. The tall, powerful Twi'lek approached Zalos with his saberstaff in hand. The Stalker did the same, and the two quickly ran to each other. Zalos' breathing grew quicker as his enemy approached. He snapped out his lightsabers, a loud snap-hiss filled the room, followed by Soros' low voomp of his saberstaff. The two jumped, and their weapons clashed.