Prologue

10 years ago

The temple stood out against the stark blackness of the night as the flames slowly consume its architecture. What was once a great monument of hope, now lay in ruins due to the actions of one. A traitor to his friends and his family as he allowed his mind to be shrouded in darkness.

The one in question stood with his back to the fire, closing in on his final target. A few metres from where he was, lay a girl. Face down, she was sluggishly crawling away from the light of the blaze behind her. Her clothes, once cream, were now soaked in mud and blood which ran down the wound on her back. Black hair that matched his own obscured her face from view as she desperately edged further away.

The man's long strides reached the girl quickly, despite her attempts to escape and retrieve her fallen weapon which rested a mere few inches from her hand. After kicking it further from her reach, he crouched down beside her. His hand stretched out and pushed her over on to her back. The girl cried out at the feeling of the ground pushing against the fresh wound on her back.

"I'm sorry dear sister," the man spoke, his voice barely a whisper. "I wanted us both to remain side by side like we always promised, but you refused my offer."

His gloved hand brushed away the tears which ran freely down his sister's face. "However, since we are blood, I will offer one last time. Join me. Let go of the light and help me finish what our grandfather started."

"No," the girl choked. "Please, Ben, this is not the way. Don't do this."

Her breathing stuttered as the internal damage of her injuries began to set in. Blood escaped from the side of her mouth as she coughed in pain. But the man…no, her brother only watched on. His eyes steeled as he took in her final refusal.

"So be it then. Goodbye little sister." He bent forward to place a kiss on her forehead before standing once more.

Blackness overtook the girl's vision as the pain became too much. The last thing running through her mind being the hum of a newly ignited lightsabre and a flash of red.

Alex shot up from her bed, gasping for breath. Her eyes darted around the room, searching for a figure cloaked in darkness.

Finding nothing, she focussed on settling her breathing to slow, deep breaths. The droid, which stood sentinel by her bed, beeped in concern. His eye piece fixated on the panicked form of his master.

"I'm fine, R4. Just a bad dream," Alex muttered, running her trembling hand through her hair.

The droid beeped again.

"No. No need to alert the General. She's busy enough as it is. Go back into recharge, we've got an early start tomorrow."

R4 rolled back over to his charging dock but turned so that he could still keep an eye on his master. He watched as she settled down for sleep once again but, despite her assurances, he knew she wasn't fine. She had been experiencing malfunctions like this ever since that day. R4 only hoped that one day she may get better. But, for now, he would watch over her.