Christmas Story

Darth Rogue strode out of his personal quarters on his flagship and entered the bridge, gazing out of one of the observation windows at the planet Makeb.

"Sir, we're approaching the planet," announced Lanat, the Masked Sith member overseeing the ship's flight crew. "I still don't quite understand why we're here."

"I have a meeting with some… 'friends'," Rogue replied. "Even a Dark Lord of the Sith needs to celebrate Life Day every now and then."

"Life Day? Isn't that a Wookiee holiday?" Lanat asked.

"Do I look like a Wookiee to you?" Rogue inquired. He raised his eyebrow at the overseer, but realized that the helmet he wore only took away from the intended effect.

"…No, sir," Lanat sighed.

"This will do," said Rogue. "I'll take it from here."

The Sith Lord left the ship's control room and boarded one of the many shuttles, which he personally piloted towards the surface of Makeb. He didn't trust anyone with the location of the base of the League of Shadows; ever since Lord Oryis tried to assassinate him for his title, he had been on his guard for quite some time.

Not the time to be thinking of that, though. This was supposed to be his time off, where he could actually enjoy himself without asserting his dominance over his fellow ambitious Sith. He expected Goldvanius to be on his best behavior as well.

The shuttle docked inside of a hangar bay. Rogue strolled out of the ship as its ramp opened up; Durby was stiffly standing in front of him with a goofy grin wide across his face.

"Hai Roje," Durby greeted, his grinning mouth barely moving. "Howsitgon"

"It's pronounced 'Rogue'," the Sith replied. "And things could be better. But enough of that; it's time to enjoy Life Day."

"Didja brinme a presnt?" asked Durby, pressing his face against the front of Rogue's helmet. "I gotcha one."

"Kriff. I left it back on the ship," Rogue lied. In reality, he probably couldn't care less.

"Das kay, you can gettit tahme next year," said Durby, still smiling.

"Where are the others?" Rogue asked, trying to escape the uncomfortable atmosphere.

"Fahow me."

Durby escorted Rogue to a door across the hangar bay from the shuttle and led him through a long, dark hallway adorned with lights&mdash;or rather, lightsabers that were kept active by tape holding the buttons down.

"Ahcut muh robes on them," said Durby, pointing to the lightsabers. "Don't touchum."

"Thank you for the heads-up, Durby," Rogue pretended to thank.

"It's Dur-BAY!" Durby exclaimed, pushing Rogue at one of the lightsabers as his smile twisted into an angry glare for a split second. The Sith Lord quickly held his foot out behind him and stuck it against the wall, keeping himself from being eviscerated by the beams.

"Okay, Durby-I mean, Durbe," Rogue sighed. "Carry on."

Durby continued to lead Rogue through the corridors of the base. The two could hear chatter nearby, following it to a sealed door. Durby punched in some numbers to open it up, and there they were; Goldvanius, Mizael, Merag, Goldium, Dentface, and a few others were inside of a dimly-lit room with a fireplace on the other side. Everyone was enjoying fine cuts of juicy Wampa meat and glasses containing various types of exotic drinks&mdash;alcoholic or otherwise. Though typically masked, they were not in this case, exposing their faces for once in a long time to enjoy the holiday.

"Where's dear old Evasic?" Rogue inquired.

"Haven't seen him," Mizael replied.

"He is off doing what he usually does," Vanius vaguely answered.

"And what would that be?" Rogue questioned, removing his helmet as he made his way over to a table to pour himself a drink.

"Nobody really knows," said Vanius, "but he's somewhere in this building, I can tell you that."

"Fair enough. How is everybody doing?" Rogue asked, flashing a charming smile at his fellow guests.

"Very good, thanks for the concern," Dentface responded.

"Am doin gud," said Durby, still grinning.

"No one asked you, Durby," Goldvanius commented, shooing the Barian away.

"My name. Is… DUR-BAAAAYYYY!" Durby screeched, leaping at Vanius.

"Oh, please," the Zabrak muttered, rolling his eyes as he flicked his wrist, catching Durby in mid air with the Force. "Your name is whatever I want it to be, you damn sausage. Go check the hangar and see if Reklaw is here yet."

Durby lowered his head and obediently shuffled out the door. Vanius and the guests continued to enjoy themselves for about a half hour before they exited as well, making their way through the hallways to the main dining room. Rogue heard the sounds of high-pitched grunting and what appeared to be… barking? His curiosity getting the better of him, the Sith Lord followed the sounds and diverted from the crowd.

"Just keep heading forward, it's through that door," said Vanius, having taken notice of Rogue's absence.

He sensed his way through the hallways to find Rogue, encountering the Sith looking down into a room made mostly of durable windows that provided a view of the main room, which was used mainly for training&mdash;but in this case, celebrating. A staircase led up from the room to where Rogue was, but it was sealed off by a metal barricade that electrocuted at the touch. Darth Evasic was scurrying around on all fours, headbutting a foul-smelling bowl into one of the windows.

"What… the hell… is that?" Rogue asked, apparently having noticed Vanius.

"That's the Boogie Cage," Vanius replied, standing next to Rogue. Evasic, foaming at the mouth, lunged at the two and caught his foot on the barricade, electrocuting him. He hung upside down&mdash;his foot still stuck on it. "…Moving on."