Ch.1: Ice Cold Hatred.
Tipoca City, Kamino, eight years before Geonosis
T'lana walked down the ramp from her ship on Tipoca City, she wore Faberian armor and knee-length black soft-soled boots. She had a carbine blaster rifle slung across her back within easy reach but she doubted that anything would happen to her here. She carried a pair of personalized blaster pistols—which she capped with silencers when necessary—which she holstered on her armor's thigh plates. Her utility belt was adorned with several pouches, and she wore fingerless black gloves. She had up to shield her face from the unforgiving rain. Her long dark brown hair was pulled back into a long braid and she had a slender yet toned build. But what people didn't know was that this fifteen standard year old Faberian was actually the Empress Regnant of Faber.
I hate cloning…
T'lana walked into the building and drew back her hood and looked around, she saw Tendra walking towards her already, that was a good thing about being a Force-sensitive species: they were able to sense each other.
"Hello, little bit." Tendra said as she pulled her younger sister into a big hug.
T'lana smiled and said, "It's good to see you, sister."
"You are probably the only one that feels that way," Tendra said as she wrapped her arm around her younger sister's shoulder and walked her away from the door. She was surprised that Tendra had agreed to come here given that fact that all Faberians frowned down on cloning.
"So you've found new Handmaidens to replace our mother's?" T'lana asked.
"Yes but I will warn you now…they are different from us."
T'lana just looked at her older sister, confused and curious.
Tendra sighs and said, "One of them does not like Mandalorians and it's because of that hatred that I had made it a rule that she can only leave my room when she is with one of the other girls. That girl is nothing but ice cold hatred and anger."
"Are they that dangerous?" T'lana asked as they arrived outside Tendra's room.
Tendra pushed the button to open her door and said, "You tell me, little bit."
The door opened with a soft hiss and they both walked in, the door closed just as softly behind them.
T'lana froze when she sensed the disjointed turmoil of emotions, held in place by a ferociously intelligent logic. Amidst all the violence and anger, she could sense the dark side in them and for some odd reason, that didn't frightened her maybe it has to do with the fact that her family carries the bloodline of one of the Old Sith.
She looks and sees six, actually five since the sixth one was lying unconscious on the couch, young girls in front of her. T'lana can sense that whatever had happened to do them had left deep emotional scars as well as physical scars.
T'lana looked at her older sister and said, "Some people would say that they are dangerous but me on the other hand says that they are only dangerous to those who made them dangerous."
"Spoken like a true Empress Regnant, sister," Tendra said smiling slightly then she turns towards the girls. "This is your Empress Regnant, the one that I have been telling you about for the past two days."
Tendra looks at T'lana again and said, "Their names are Ranek, Ori, Reese who is the one on the couch, Parell, Saricia and Talura."
The one named Ranek walked up to her and went down on one knee, bowing her head in submission the others followed closely. "We swear our loyalty to you and to alone, Empress Regnant."
Tendra placed her hand on her sister's shoulder and said, "And they mean it too, sister. Their capacity for loyalty is greatly enhanced; they were either one's best friend or worst enemy."
T'lana nodded and said, "So I can see since they had only heard about me through your lips, sister."
T'lana turns and motions for them to follow, two of the girls picked up Reese. T'lana looks at her older sister and said, "We'll be going now, Tendra…I wish you luck."
Tendra chuckled and said, "I am training only one Commando Squad, apparently Jango thinks that I am going to corrupt my squads if he had given me anymore."
T'lana laughs and said, "Like you're not going to corrupt this one, sister?"
"That's right. I am doing to drill our cultural into these boys' heads. And I have named their squad Rogue Squad and already got names for them."
T'lana walks out of her room, smiling with the girls are her heels. She walked out the building and towards her Dynamic-class freighter, the Ka'rta Tor. She walked up the ramp, Talura and Saricia carried Reese to the medical bay. She walked past three droids; she'll turn them on after they take off. T'lana slips into the pilot seat as Ranek sat down in the copilot seat and began to push buttons, the Ka'rta Tor started up with a roar and T'lana grabs the steering yokes and pulled up. The old freighter responded easily to her touch and lifted up and out of Kamino atmosphere; she began punching in the coordinates for Faber.
T'lana leaned back in her seat as the freighter prepared to make the jump into hyperspace and thought, I have a bad feeling about all this.
The light turned green, T'lana leaned forward and punched the button to go into hyperspace, she watched as the stars streaked together as the freighter jumped into hyperspace.
Eight years later, Coruscant, five days after the Battle of Geonosis.
Ranek dragged the unconscious man after her, leaving a trail of smeared blood as she did so. She wore black and gray form-fitting Faberian armor with her hood drawn back and knee-length black soft-soled boots. She wielded the carbine blaster rifle that was slung across her back. She also carried a pair of personalized blaster pistols—which she capped with silencers when necessary—which she holstered on her armor's thigh plates. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a long braid which she tosses around her neck like a scarf.
The other five Handmaidens were with her, but they were waiting for her and their "guest" in one of the rooms deep in the catacombs on Geonosis. The Republic didn't know that they were here since this was a secret mission; one of the scientists that worked under the Doctor was here and they were sent here by the Empress Regnant. The unconscious man had helped with "modifications" that the Handmaidens went through at the hands of the Doctor and now it was his time to die. Ranek showed no outside emotion but inside her anger was rising, she had learned at a young age to use her anger as strength.
Ori looks up when she walks into the room that they were hiding in and said, "Ah, I see you had found our old friend, Ranek."
Ranek doesn't respond as she puts the unconscious man in the middle of the room, she moves away from him and crosses her arms over her chest. Reese walks over to him and kneels down next to him and said, "I remember him…he use to beat us."
"We're deep enough where no one can hear his screams." Parell said as she walked over to him and opened a vial of smelling salts, she waved it under his nose and pulled away when he woke up slowly. When he saw them, he sat up quickly and looked at all si women with fear in his eyes. Ranek could both see and sense his fear, and she sensed his fear grow when he saw her, he had always been afraid of her because even as a child, Ranek was emotionless and cold. Also, she had always reminded the Doctor and his lackeys of a predator since she was watching, unmoving and never missing anything.
Saricia smiled and said, "My, has the tables have turned. I remember when it was us that had fear in our eyes."
He would look between the other five women but when Ranek shifted slightly his eyes would snap back to her.
At least he knows who he should fear more here, Ranek thought.
"Though not as much fear as he has…I can sense his fear from here." Talura said she was keeping watch near another doorway.
Ranek walked towards the man and spoke in her emotionless and cold voice, "You won't get out of here alive but they will find your body…though not in one piece."
Ranek raised her hand lifted him up using Force Grip and as she lifted him from the ground he finally spoke, "P-please…show some compassion."
Ranek blinked and cocked her head to the side and said, "Why? You showed no compassion to us so why should I show you compassion?"
The man only gulped in response and Ranek smiled then, though her smile had no real emotion. They had beaten all emotion expect hatred and anger out of her a long time ago.
"In fact, I am just going to kill you now." Ranek said with no change of facial expression and before he can even scream, she curled her hand into a fist and crushed him using Force Crush, blood splattered everywhere and some of it landed on Ranek though she didn't even blink or showed any emotion other than cold detachment. She dropped his crushed corpse to the ground and stares down at the mangled body.
Ori looks at her and asked, "He pissed you off, Ranek?"
Though they were raised together, there were times when the other Handmaidens never knew how Ranek was going to act. Ranek was nothing but ice cold hatred and anger and for now that was something she would rather be. Any other emotion wasn't needed.
"No, I just wanted him dead," Ranek said as she turned away and walks out of the room, with the others behind her. "Let's go we are done here."