Over Hoth, a small blackened ship drifted in calm wait. Within the ship a lone figure meditated as the sun slowly crept across the sky. Hours passed and the figure remained comatose seeming. It was the sound of a small com device crackling into being that disturbed the figure of his revery.

"Z-210 to the Bloodfist.."

"Z-210 to the Bloodfist.. Come in Atrocitus."

With a animalistic growl, the com-channel opened and a gutteral voice barely human rumbled back a reply. "General.." it said, but the sound wasnt one of respect, rather the dull contempt one would show to a lesser being. The voice on the other end flickered into being in the form of a azure hued figure. A middle aged man with a neatly pressed suit and goatee. A blaster hung at his hip and he seemed dressed in the Imperial style. His face showed anger and some discontent. With a calm and reserved candor to his voice he cleared his throat.

"In the future, I expect that you use proper discipline Mr. Kopesh."

Kopesh's face darkened like a dog being growled at by a pathetic whelp. A deeper growl burbled from the depths of his throat as sulfuric yellow eyes gleamed. The reply to the insubordination came as Kopesh himself behaved. Viceral and primal.

"You are not my commander. Only one ever was, and if you wish I can break you General. Break you as I broke her."

The General's face contorted as if a unseen hand had attempted to grasp at him. His hand rose as if to combat it, and then a few moments later the man in the com's voice spoke evenly, and with full restraint. A grave look was etched on his face as he reached into his pocket and withdrew a small data cube.

"Mhm.. Mr. Atrocitus, if that is what we are to call you. I would remind you that I too have been trained in the dark side of the Force. Please do not attempt that again. It would be of immeasurable sorrow to me if I somehow displaced the proof of your part in the murders of Jocelyn Parks, and good Ardelia Moraine; and they wound up in the hands of say.. the New Republic? Perhaps the NRI would be most interested to hear how you committed total genocide upon the Parks Family..? We do have documentation of your true name, and your place of origin.. Trashbin I believe it is called now? Is that not more attention than you enjoy Sarid?"

"Speak."

The General smiled winningly and tucked the datacard into his pocket. Pulling up a small map of Hoth, the general motioned to it.

"According to the trajectory you have supplied, we put Maltrake's ship as having crashed.. here. In the Frost Canyon. When the sun rises I expect for you to eliminate Maltrake (if he survived) and recover the data which he stole. Your problems aside, the good General Taliseth is starting to ask questions. Questions which for both of our sakes should remain unanswered. It was difficult enough destroying all records of Deimos presence on Zhyr. Maltrake is a weak link, and must be silenced."

Mulling over the matter in his bald head, Atrocitus chuckled. Corbald was as were Maltrake and Taliseth blissfully unaware.. Only Deimos and he knew the truth! Ardelia had been a clone herself. Atrocitus had realized this when he poisoned and murdered her. The funeral pyre and lavish state funeral had killed any chance of this becoming public knowledge, ...but Atrocitus knew things that even Corbald was in the dark on. Atrocitus knew that behind Deimos was a second Lord.. once.

Always there were two. A Master and a Apprentice.

Atrocitus however, he alone knew that Clone was the final manifestation of a Dark Lady of the Sith from ancient times. Darth Vorhn. Ardelia had merely been a figurehead to prepare for far larger plans. Plans.. which Atrocitus as the secret apprentice had never been brought into. Plans that he had inadvertently smashed along with the Sith in his own brutal and heavy handed fashion. Whether Zhyr thrived or perished was of no consequence to him. His connection to the Darkside of the force came through blood. Blood and rage. For to Atrocitus the blood was life, and life fueled the Force. He was a force of nature. Nothing more, and nothing less. By destroying Ardelia he had cemented Taliseth, Maltrake and Corbald as the leaders of Zhyr. By destroying Vorhn he had become the master. She was unworthy, and so was Deimos for both had fallen to death. Atrocitus however stood triumphant. The dominant primordial beast who had made his kill and found it good.

He was not Sith.

...He was worse than Sith.

With a sadists grin, Atrocitus entered a predatorial mindframe and blasted toward the surface of Hoth. Soon Maltrake would know his fury, as had their former master. After that.. perhaps he would instruct Taliseth and Corbald on "respect". Or perhaps he would finish what he began with Jocelyn Parks and continue erasing them from the Galaxy.

Perhaps.

Atrocitus was not a man accustomed to waiting. Less so when his quarry was a weak-minded coward like Maltrake. As soon as the sun had risen, in the area where his ship had crashed, he had wasted very little time in landing himself and surveying the area. It was into this scenario that he found the ship in far too excellent a shape to be happy chance. As it was now he shuffled about occassionally sniffing the air for some scent, almost like a animal on the hunt. Pausing near a patch of charred Durasteel, the Dark Jedi knelt and studied the remains of what had once been the escape hatch of the shuttle. Running his finger across the cleanly severed incisions on the hatch drew blood. Raising his finger he tasted the liquid thoughtfully, his mind working to make sense of the situation as he saw it.

The incisions would clearly have to have come from a high powered laser. Perhaps a welding implement.. but what could have caused the ship to right itself? Surely the Viceroy wasnt this fine a pilot. Atrocitus had made certain that he destroyed the pompous fool's rear stabilizers, which should have caused the ship to spin out of control and crash. Certainly it had done so from the scattered debris.. and yet the ship sat perfectly erect? Ludicrous. No.. Maltrake, who had not shown up in the search of the wreckage had clearly eluded him.. but where would he go..?

Wrapping himself in his cloak, Atrocitus removed his hood before scanning the white desert around him for signs of life.. He viewed things in the distance with a set of view-glasses, but his mind swept across the wintry expanse seeking out each living thing and taking stock of what it was. Or he tried to. As he crept across the desert he sensed Maltrake briefly, but the feeling was disguised.. as if blurred and masked. The mere fact that he was alive however was ample for Atrocitus to plan his next move. Were he a spineless coward, where would he go to escape? His ship was worthless, and so without transport he was easily stranded. More intriguing to Atrocitus was how a spineless wretch had survived a polar region that even he dared not land in.

Dispatching a scouting droid, Atrocitus climbed on a small speeder which he had brought with him, and after taking the proper precautions to shield himself from the elements, made for the only blip he could find in the distance.. A outdated outpost which held what appeared to be a Ion Cannon..

"So you never exactly mentioned who was after you, or why Viceroy."

The pair came to a stop at one of the many Rebel Outposts. This particular one was a small reconaissance post, about 50 clicks from Celise' home in the Ice Canyon of Laynole. Passed over by the Imperials during the assault on Echo Base, it had served as one of several evacuation points when Vader led the forces to Hoth. Several X-Wings remained here still in fairely good condition, although they had been stripped of most of their armaments in the evacuation. The hope wasnt for a ship of war however so much as conveyance. In the distance a small black dot on the horizon began to draw ever closer, though as of yet unnoticed.

"I told you already, I was ambushed Celise."

Glancing back to the man Celise shook her head. Not buying his evasiveness, Celise paused before a wave of dread struck her senses. The Viceroy seemed to wither under her gaze and stayed back a distance as Celise jogged ahead to see to the doors.

..No the feeling she was getting was not from him. But from where..? Dusting some snow off of a external data pad before hunching over it to check the functionality of the doors. The sound of a speeder could be plainly heard now, a shrill whine against the sound of machinery heard. Despite years of evading its use, the Force flooded Celise as the intruder bore down on the pair and she turned around sharply. The next several things that transpired occurred quickly, but seemed at the same time to occur slowly. Celise screamed for Maltrake to come to her, and instead of dropping or running toward her, he did the worst thing he could have.

He turned around.

Like a womp-rat caught in the headlights of a speeder, he stopped turned around and then gaped. In the same moment, the intruder leapt from his speeder, which on auto pilot whizzed off. A Sinister snap hiss was followed by a scream of horror. A Bloodshine Lightsaber Blade had met with Viceroy Maltrake. With a elegant yet effective motion, Atrocitus clove his target in half at the waist. Maltrake screamed as his legs fell away and both halves of him laid in the snow. Gasping for air he groaned in agony.

"Maltrake!!"

Looking up from his quarry to the other figure, Atrocitus' eyes pierced the figure before him, and he gave a look that clearly spoke of victory and triumph. Stalking forward, he ignored Maltrake and paused as the other figure ignited a silver hued lightsaber. A Jedi.. here? Most Sith would of probably elected to talk at this junction, or boasted on their dominance. Atrocitus was not that sort. The igniting of the Lightsaber against him was a challenge to his dominance. From a woman no less. He would break her.

With a gutteral roar he charged the woman and brough his Lightsaber down with both hands down at Celise's head. Bringing her weapon up in a horizontal parry, Celise strained against the sheer fury of the being she'd locked weapons. Atrocitus slowly began to force the weapon down using his brute force to force his weapon down, before suddenly breaking from the pin and delivering a swift punch to Celise's face. Stumbling backwards, the Jedi barely managed to throw up her guard again and parry a stabbing motion which Atrocitus launched into next as his follow up.

Atrocitus came on again his saber arcing in a harsh downward strike, with his typical heavy handed style. Perhaps had it been Deimos, Celise would of been distracted. But this was not Deimos and Celise' own fighting style kindled. Now she was fully absorbed into the fight and the training of Vorhn finally made sense. This was a enemy entirely consumed by the dark side of the Force. His thoughts were shaped by it and every fiber of his being was bound to it.

Walking forward, Shinzon's eyes narrowed under her muffler. With a yell her Lightsaber met his and for the first time since Atrocitus had taken to the force, he found a opponent as willing to fight him as he was.

Again and again Celise parried, sending Atrocitus Lightsaber wide. But unlike the Dark Jedi, Celise withdrew from the chance to kill and bolstered her own defenses again. It infuriated Atrocitus as the pair danced in the snow on the cliff. Try as he might he could not break through the defense Celise created for herself. Words werent exchanged, but the lesson was clear as their sabers met again. Anger and rage had met with cool thinking and methodic cunning. Like the planet she lived on, Celise was precise, cold and methodic in her actions a complete opposite to the burning volcano that was Atrocitus.

The dance continued as the combatants manuevered from the plateau of the base down into the iced canyon below where winds howled with a haunting whistling melody the pair descended. Lumni-lichen glistened on the walls giving a cold emerald gleam to the iced walls. The battle however still remained a stalemate for the moment. One seeking to break and dominate, the other simply denying him of that pleasure with a shield of impregnable defense, and waiting patiently for the opportunity that would come. The opportunity to end the fight as she had been taught, elegantly effectively and with minimal effort.

Celise of course could have spoken to Atrocitus and tried to turn him to the Light again as the fight continued, but what would that have availed them? The first rule all Jedi Redeemers learned was to make judgment on their foe. Who could be saved and who could not? Who was feigning a desire to atone and who was truly seeking a release? These things were not to be taken lightly, and it was out of that unknown that Celise had left the Republic. Her father was a sore matter, and his feigning of atonement had effected her heavily.

..But Atrocitus. Atrocitus was a animal. He had chosen this path out of simple desire for power, and reveled in the primal fashion his power was achieved. So Shinzon was more than willing to deal with him like a animal. Blades locked again as the wind howled on the cliff's edge. Atrocitus appeared to be tiring, and his blows were slower. Adjusting her posture, Celise shifted her focus from a defense to a offense and began to counter attack.

This however was a mistake. Turning swiftly Atrocitus recovered far quicker than Celise imagined and again began raining blow upon blow upon the Jedi. Celise cursed herself in her mind as she was thrown back from a particularly vicious strike. Striking the icy wall of the canyon, Grasping at the Force with her mind she turned the fight from a battle with lightsabers to a fight with the Force. Tearing a chunk of ice from the wall behind Atrocitus, Celise used it as a battering ram to throw him off his balance as she recovered.

Turning around Atrocitus was driven face first into the snow as a block of ice the size of a small speeder crashed into him. Cleaving the block apart, he shook his head and stood again a look of rage blossoming under his muffler. Celise however stood and bowing her head deactivated her LIghtsaber. Her hands raised, a shrill crackt was heard followed by a deep rumble from the ice floor of the cliff on which they stood.

So.. she intended to bury him alive? Lifting his hand upward himself, Atrocitus created a counter flow with the force. Feeling her presence in the Force he countered the rather small telekinetic thrust she had made with a harsh swell of the force, buffeting Celise into the ice wall again. The shake stopped.

Starting forward, Atrocitus hand strayed to his lightsaber. Then suddenly with brief look of what the Dark Jedi percieved as fear, Celise Shinzon turned and fled up the path. Looking down Atrocitus stopped his attack before laughing. The girl had fled. Her attempt to bring down the cliff on him had failed. Let her run. It would make the chase and final domination all that more moving. His gaze straying to the pathway, the ice shook again this time with deeper intensity, a ancient rumble heard in the distance and yet all around him. The haunting whistle of wind on the ice intensified as Atrocitus looked around the icy canyon.

Dropping to a knee, the ice buckled around Atrocitus and gave way. Raging and seeking for a solid footing Atrocitus howled with anger. How was this possible?! That woman hadnt managed to achieve anything in her effort! What had she done to cause such a effect..? A massive green head tore through the ice in answer to Atrocitus' unspoken query, attracted by the lichen. With a feral roar of anger at finding someone "stealing" from it, the green head opened a seven foot wide mouth, a orange glow seen in the depths.

As Celise exited the small cavern a fatallistic roar came from under the surface, followed by a belch of fire of all things as she rolled away and took several deep breaths. Shaking her head she muttered to herself.

"Dragon Slugs.."