Bondo III, three years after Order 66...

The Imperial shuttle touches down on the infected surface.

As imperial troops pour out, Officer Gireth inspects his troop's formation as they set up a perimeter around the shuttle.

"You got east side," contacted one of the troops, "Wolfe is touching down."

Stepping onto the stone ground, Wolfe scans the area. Its dangerously dark.

"Perimeter is secure." Gireth reports to Wolfe,

"The second and third shuttle will enter Bondo's atmosphere at 0300 tomorrow afternoon," Gregor commented as he strode down the ramp in his customized Commando armor, "we'll increase and secure the perimeter by tomorrow morning."

"We'll have it secure within the hour, Commander." Gireth assured.

"The two incoming squads will be welcomed with no threats beyond the hangar bay."

"I hope so for your sake, Captain..." Gregor firmly warned, "Those troops are vital to Vader's endeavors."

 "Yes, sir. You heard the man," the Captain ordered, "increase the perimeter."

 Following Gregor was the two Dark Jedi, Tes Dorlo and Doth.

Breathing in heavily through the nostrils, Doth expanded his senses with the dark side, "The air is...corrupted."

"You have to sniff like an animal to figure that one out?" Tes smirked, "I figured that one out before we entered the atmosphere."

"And I detected the dark, infectious aura from Corascant. Your arrogance blinds you, Dorlo." a dark, grim voice bellowed as its dark shadow loomed over the entire ramp.

His broad shoulders and glistening black armor were hulking compared to the rest of the men, and his very presence sent petrified chills down the troops' spines.

"My apologies, Vader-"

"Lord Vader. Know your place, child. Be grateful that I allowed your presence here on such a dangerous mission for someone of ur lacking abilities."

"As for you, Doth, you will remain here when the remaining two shuttles arrive. You will keep this hangar secure until I send a rendezvous point."

"Yes...Lord Vader."

 "Everyone should know their jobs. Execute them flawlessly. We cannot afford to lose any men. Let's move."

"All do respect, Lord Vader, We are at a major disadvantage. It is too dark, and we have no knowledge of the terrain. We should wait for more light before we move."

Vader almost lashed out at the Dark Jedi. Had Vader not warned him to know his place? But Vader stopped himself, and let go of the hilt of his light saber. Perhaps Dorlo was right. Light was going to be an important factor, one that could determine the success of the mission.

"Perhaps you are correct, Dorlo. We shall leave at 0400."

Tes was immensely surprised. He had just made a suggestion to Vader that he actually accepted. It had been a long time since Tes had seen any action, and already was seeing how different it was from the clone wars. But seeing how Vader had shown discipline and openness, proved to Tes that Vader is already a better commanding officer he'd ever been privileged to serve under. Maybe he was wrong about Vader...maybe he was wrong about the Empire. 

At 0400 Vader's hand selected team set off on their mission, inspecting the damage caused throughout the terrain.

"I haven't seen anything like this since Seresh..." Gregor commented,

"...everything is just...dead; mutilated. So much destruction and we've only traveled for three kilometers."

"We got a body." one of the troops called, "watch my three, I'll take front."

Lord Vader takes the helm as they advanced towards the corpse which was torn completely in half and dismembers from his arms and chunks of his skull.

"By the Force!" Gireth exclaimed, "what could have caused so much to this poor man?"

"It appears as though he's been...eaten...torn to shreds by hand." Wolfe inspected,

"You can see how his intestines are pulled out and torn," Wolfe continued...

"Whoever this man was...something dug into his stomach, and pulled everything out before eating it."

"This is sick!" Gireth gagged, Wolfe turned to the officer, "Easy, Officer. You can do this. You were assigned to this mission. Act like it."

"It's obvious its dead...but look at the eyes," Tes pointed out, "doesn't seem to have a faint glow to you?"

Suddenly the lifeless body gurgled and rasped out a dry growl!

"What the hell?!" Tes stumbled back, "That things alive!"

"I'm gonna be sick." Gireth heaved,

"The debriefing didn't say anything about this," Tes sneered,

"What's the deal here, Vader, what have you gotten us into?!" Tes growled,

"We weren't prepared for whatever this is," Tes continued, "we need to wait for the rest of the teams to arrive before we keep going."

"Tes, look out!" cried Gireth as a shadowy figure loomed from the corner!

"Stay back, stranger!" an officer warned,

But the giant figure kept stumbling loosely towards Tes, the blood curdling growl sent chills down Tes' black spine.

"Shoot that thing," Tes ordered, "that thing's got half a skull missing, he aint alive!"

"Yes, sir!" replied the officer as he fired a single shot into the dead wookiee's skull...

...it's brain exploding into shards of brain an bone matter!

Slumped down against the wall, the Wookiee was silent.

"What do you think this could be?" Tes wondered,

"A dark pestilence," Vader replied, "shrouded and infected by the Dark Side..."

"Whoever did this, took advantage of the Dark Side's power, and must be destroyed."

"All do respect sir, if this is a matter of the Force, perhaps us soldiers are under paid for this sorta escapade." Gregor dared to say,

"You are paid to serve the Empire. If you do not, you will die. I do not care of your feelings or emotions, they are expendable..."

"We will press on, and you will learn as you go. If you do not, you will perish and return infected by the dark corners of the Dark Side."

"I understand, sir." Gregor replied subtly. Gregor knew he was expendable. After all, there were thousands like him, and he could easily be replaced. But actually hearing from someone who wasn't a clone was something he'd never been told before. The Jedi respected clones, and looked at them as people. But now, Gregor feels like just another ant among thousands of others.

Hours later, the sun had risen high enough to light their way.

"Wolfe's team should be here any moment." Tes reminded,

Walking through a small opening, the crew stopped just as Wolfe and his team regrouped with them.

"The reanimated corpses seem to be attracted to sound," Wolfe stated,

"We find one and take it out, seconds later we got a dozen on our tales!"

"Perhaps we should seek out silent weapons, and avoid using blasters as often as possible."

Gregor smirked under his yellow helmet. He had already modified his blaster to silence mode before he left Corascant.

"We managed to clear most of them out, so unless another group of corpses heard the uproar, we should be clear." Wolfe concluded,

"We have to assume they did." Tes warned,

"I'd feel a whole lot better with a light saber in the front guiding the way." one of Wolfe's men commented matter of fact.

"I'll take the helm, the rest of you follow a few yards behind." Tes volunteered.

Leading the rest of the squad, Tes opened himself to the dark side, letting it protect him and guide him.

"He sure likes to feel in charge of things..." Wolfe commented to Vader,

"He served as the lead Temple guard in the Jedi Temple before he turned," Vader stated, "he has since been in charge of training new Dark Jedi. I fear the position has gone to his head. It will be his undoing."

"You think he will be a threat to the mission?" Wolfe questioned,

"My vision into the future is clouded...by unknown forces. But I have sensed weeks ago that Tes will become an imminent threat. That is why I brought him with us on this mission: to destroy him."

After an hours worth of walking the group come down into an open memorial park ridden with debris and unrecognizable body parts.

"We should set up camp here." Gregor suggested,

"We still got several hours of daylight, there's no reason to stop."

"We can rendezvous with the rest of the squads. We'll be more prepared and stronger in greater numbers. We don't know exactly what we're-"

"What we're dealing with is a disease. Nothing more..." Wolfe growled,

"Time to get your head outa the clouds, old man. This isn't the clone wars anymore. Or did you forget all that too?"

"This old clone used to work with you're father; the real Wolfe, and I know all there is to know about warfare..."

"...and you...you're just the clone of a clone." Gregor fired back.

"Gregor's right," Tes supported, "it would be wise to camp here and wait for the rest of the squads to catch up. They should be here in an hour or so."

"This place is like a riddled with bodies," a fellow officer observed,

"I don't wanna spend another second here!"

"You will do as you are told. Nothing a good clean up job won't be able to handle." Gregor reminded. His eyes caught a glimpse of a severed leg hidden against the wall.

The area where the knee would be was completely chewed to shreds of flesh.

Gregor's thoughts wandered endlessly. How could such a grand planet be violated to such an extreme? It made him think of the many other planets that the Empire had abused and enslaved. The spice mines of Kessel, Tattoine, and the Void: the place where Gregor developed amnesia, and was redeemed by the Republic. He was stuck there never to return to Corascant as he promised...until the Empire found him.

Gregor thought about it often, and if he hadn't promised that officer there on the Void, he would have never stepped on that Imperial cruiser.

Just then, a pair of undead shuffled towards the commando!

"There's more of them! Get in formation!" Wolfe barked,

From every side, more of the infected began to surround the squad, the herd's loud growling only drawing more in!

"Hold your ground!" Tes commanded, "They are slow and fragile, aim for their heads!"

Holding their positions, the troops opened fire on the corpses!

"There's too many of them, we'll run out of ammunition before we get an opening!" Wolfe calculated, 

"We should retreat, Vader. Staying here will cost you your entire squad!" Officer Gireth proposed,

Suddenly, a pair of rotting arms snuck up behind Gireth and pulled him deeper into the crowd of the undead.

Vader watched in fascination as the herd tore so easily into Gireth's body, ripping him to shreds and feeding on his blood ridden form.

Holding his ground as two groups of infected came at him, Wolfe managed to take down one after the other.

"I've only got so much ammo left, commander!" one of Wolfe's men commented,

The amount of ammo within the ranks of troops drained faster than the corpses that came...

...and the herd showed no signs of stopping!


"Vader we can't stay here any longer.." Wolfe cried,

"We've already lost Gireth and there will be more casualties if we stay here."

"Very well," Vader responded, "we will keep moving."

In a frenzy, the squad fired their way out of the opening and into a stone corridor.

Just then, Tes received a signal from the second shuttle of troops.

"This is Master Dorlo, what's your status?"

"We were taken under heavy siege by those...things," the Imperial officer responded, 

"We've lost so many! Either dead or left behind. It's just me and Doth now."

"It's a nightmare over here at the hangar, I had to shoot my own men...one of them my own brother!"

"I'm sorry to hear that, Officer, but we're in a tight spot ourselves. I'll fill you in once we clear this horde! Tes out!"

"You with me, Vader?" Tes questioned hopefully,

"I wonder the same concerns towards you, former Jedi." Vader fired back.

Brandishing their weapons, the two swordsman stood at the ready pose...

...As the horde began to surround them!

"Well seeing that my choices are limited I might as well stick around to help you." Tes replied with a blood thirsty smile,

"I am the Sith," Vader responded coldly, "I need no help..."

"...From the likes of you!"

The air sizzled and smoked as the smell of smoldering flesh and ozone blades filled the area.

Vader had become the image of brutal fury, ramming his crimson blade into as many corpses that came near...

But something seemed odd. He sensed the corpses weren't drawn of their attention towards Vader...

They all moved towards Tes, and Vader was simply in the way! How could this be?

Calling out to the Force for clarity, suddenly, Vader understood. They weren't attacking Vader...

...Because the corpses weren't hungry for a half man-half machine!

Vader watched as the horde swarmed in on Tes.

"Vader, a little help here?!" Tes cried out,

Vader only stood there like a lifeless beast looming over everything that moved.

"Screw you, Vader!" Tes growled furiously as he desperately slashed at the horde!

Tes' mind was so conflicted with a dozen feelings and hundreds of different thoughts all at once...

His steps slowed, his balance swayed, his strikes weakened...

His confusion and anger overwhelmed his concentration and thus forth faltered his ability to fight. What had he done to deserve this? He was loyal to the Empire, he fought hard to keep it safe and secure, and this is how he's repaid.

"My master was right," Tes realized as the horde overwhelmed him, "joining the Empire would only result in betrayal and demise."

Suddenly, Tes got hold of himself, focusing on the present, and ruptured the air with an explosive show of the Light side of the Force.

It had been a long time since he used the power of the light side. That one moment felt amazing. He felt like he was with true purpose. He no longer felt depressed and clingy to an empty future. For that split second he felt happy.

Vader was gone. Escaped during the fight.

Now faced with a decision, Tes must choose where his path will be from here:

To die and rise with the dead just as the dead have recovered the from the blast?

To follow the Imperials, and forget everything Vader had done to him, and stay loyal to the Empire where he would be generally safe from most threats the galaxy had to offer?

Or fight for the Republic once more? Or at least what remained. To join the small and feeble ranks of the rebels and help them survive this epidemic, and then continue serving what was left of the Light side after this was over?

Tes' choice was soon clear.

Managing to hide in the corner of an alley and buying themselves two minutes to take a breather before the horde catches up to them, dark Jedi Doth and the Imperial Officer find themselves overwhelmed with exhaustion and fear.

"I've only got three shots left." the officer gasped,

"That's what I'm here for." Doth replied cooly.

The horde found them.

"Doth!" the officer cried,

Fear stricken, Doth frantically backed to the other side of the alley. Watching the horde swarm towards him, Doth found himself choosing his options, In his case...there was only one.

Scrambling for his life, Doth escapes back to the shuttle to hide!

"Doth! Help me!" the officer screamed as he was cornered by the last three corpses!

Firing his last shot, the officer screamed in terror as the one remaining corpse shuffled towards him, a giant shard of debris impaled in its chest.

Before the corpse could sink its infected teeth in, the sharp debris jammed into the officer's rib cage where his left lung was.

Chocking on his own blood, the officer watched in horror as the corpse gnawed the skin off his neck.

He was betrayed by the dark Jedi...he was betrayed by the Empire...

It was clear now. Only at the climax did Tes Dorlo and the Officer see: the back bones of the Empire only wish to help themselves and no others.

The air is silent, and corrupted with the stench of death.

Rising from the depths is a weak Tes Dorlo.

He had been betrayed by the fist of the Emperor; betrayed by the very Empire he betrayed his republic to.

His master was right. This dark collection of false hope would only destroy him.

And that small taste of the power of the light felt so good within his soul, how could he not use it again, and again, and again?

Suddenly, is eyes caught sight of a tree. Many of these grew here. They reminded Tes Dorlo of his Master. 

Tes could still feel him. He was alive, and he was still on Bondo III. Tes had to find him. That was his new mission.

Deep within the forest temple, Master Jay was meditating among the trees when suddenly he felt something...

It was faint, but it was familiar. The presence he felt was something he had missed since the fall of the Jedi. Jay smiled gently as his eyes welled with tears and his lips opened so as to speak, 

"The misguided son returns."