A/N: It's been a while, and still will be before I update, so I have a long chapter. I really have a vision for this story, and it's about to transfer into TCW, and I promise I won't give up on it.
Oriana, Phanon, Erona, Anahil, Nadiri/Riari, Liuna, Chattu, Riu, Gaji, Kianli, Najhi, Thantin, and anyone else you don't recognize is mine. Shae Vizla, for example, is not mine.
Review, and alert me if you see mistakes!
Sith Lords Anahil and Erona were both in a splendid mood, although they were slightly anxious. It wasn't everyday one was about to betray the Sith Empire, Erona mused, as she slashed down a Jedi Padawan. The ground rocked under her feet, and the air was filled with the stenches of ozone, burnt flesh, and smoke. The attack was going well for the Sith, to say the least. The two sisters cut down the Kel Dor Jedi they had been toying with, not really wanted to kill another Jedi, but they jumped onto a broken column to survey the fight and catch their breath.
A blue Togruta stabbed a Sith Warrior in the back and as he writhed, she brought her other green blade around and beheaded him. She looked around for another opponent, and was rewarded with a black Togorian Warrior, who quickly forced the Togruta back against the wall on the defensive. Everywhere the Togruta slashed, a red blade intercepted. Lord Phanon wasn't human or Pureblood, but she had earned her place on the Dark Council, even among old prejudices regarding aliens. Very few Sith would dare go behind the back of a warrior as talented, sly, and skilled.
There were rumors about a Sith Lord named Darth Oriana, a female Lethan Twi'lek currently electrocuting three Padawans foolish enough to approach her. She was regarded as Phanon's equal, and her rival for leadership of the Council. Erona had to smile. Only those two could pull off a disguise that good.
Erona, Anahil, Oriana, and Phanon were the best of friends. They were all originally from worlds on the fringe of the Republic, and could all remember times when their lives were not guided by the pursuit of power, and the four of them had banded together. A later addition to their group was the female Pureblood Warrior, Lord Nadiri, Phanon's apprentice, who had been sent to Ord Mantell to encourage a rebellion against the Republic.
With a slight twinge of regret, Erona leaped back into the fray as Lord Malgus strode back towards the Jedi still standing, although more were pouring in from deeper in the Temple. out of the corner of her eye, she saw Anahil blast a Bothan Padawan back with a burst of dark energy. A purple Theelin raced to engage Oriana, and Erona leaped, her blonde sister not far behind. The Theelin blocked their blows with twin purple blades, and twirled, blocking and weaving with the two Sith in an elegant and lethal dance.
Erona grinned at the Theelin, who just so happened to be acquainted with them. Chattu Rerik was helping the four turncoat Sith at the Temple desert the Empire, and travel far enough away that neither the Empire nor the eternal war between light and dark could bother them. It wasn't just them of course. Sinyata and Zani Enfilu, two of the Empire's most talented agents, had already deserted, and were waiting for them at Eiyla.
Erona was slightly upset with Chattu at the moment, though. She hissed, "We need to get going. You know it's crazy to fight us out here, where any other Sith can see us."
The Theelin blocked and retaliated, and Erona parried just barely catching the Theelin's next words, "Riu and Kyina haven't gotten the credits and disguises ready yet. And Riu's old Master is coming with us."
Erona slammed Chattu back into the wall, then leaped with saber outstretched, "That wasn't part of the plan!"
A Miralian leaped into the fight, and Erona quickly parried all three blades before feinting at Chattu's head then slashing down at her legs. "It is now," The Miralian growled. Kyina Offee was one of the best Jedi if you wanted undercover work, but she was a poor duelist. Erona almost lazily blocked a clumsy stab.
The Miralian whirled, wobbling slightly, and added, "Nice to finally meet you. You two follow me, and Chattu will draw Oriana and Phanon away."
Chattu leaped away suddenly, propelling Erona and Anahil, who had been fighting nearby into another broken column. The Temple's defenders blasted at the two Sith, who leaped away after the Miralian, who backed away and ran. The defenders gave chase, but Erona threw her saber back, slicing through their ranks, and then they were alone, but they kept running until they could no longer hear the screams, yells, and blaster shots. Chattu, Phanon, and Oriana caught up to them, and they hurried deeper into the Temple, Chattu leading, her bright purple blades carving a path into the darkness.
The lights were out, although they occasionally flickered, throwing light onto the occasional statue, making everyone jump. Shae Vizla had done her job too well, knocking out the power along with Coruscant's defense grid. Oriana pointed out as much, her lekku twisting anxiously, then murmured, "Can we hurry?"
Riu met them on the landing pad, gesturing to the old XS Freighter. "Get to the cannons!"
Erona scowled. She hated ships with a passion, still, or moving, and being in the middle of a dogfight was not her idea of a good time. Anahil raced to the cockpit, and Riu, a blond Jedi Knight, followed.
Erona caught a glimpse of an older human female with grey hair as she climbed down into the turret, and aimed at the Empire's fleet. Phanon, Kyina, Oriuna, and Chattu also grabbed a turret, and Riu controlled the forward facing guns from the cockpit
As the ship bobbled and weaving, rapidly making it's way to outer space, Erona let her rage at being trapped in a kriffing cockpit, of all places flow through her, making the space battle clearer. Several fighter's fell to her newfound sight, and as the XS jumped into hyperspace, she rattled off her count proudly, "19!"
"16," Chattu scowled.
"I got 17," the old Master chuckled, a satisfied edge to her voice.
"17 here, too." Kyina rattle off her own score, sounding content.
"Fierfek! I only got 11," Phanon exclaimed disgust clearly evident.
Riu laughed, "Well, Phanon, I only got 7, so don't feel too bad. How did you do, Oriana?"
"21," The Twi'lek crowed. Erona rolled her eyes as she climbed into the cargo bay. Oriana hated to be outdone.
The old woman smiled at them all, fetching herself a cup of caf. "I'm Najhi Talu, Council Member and Jedi Master. I also trained Riu."
The Sith nodded, having heard of the legendary Master. She rarely fought with a lightsaber, and had defeated three Dark Council members by herself without a lightsaber, and was one of the Jedi Order's top Healers. She also had the rare skill of Battle Meditation.
Oriana said quietly, "I thought you were on Alderaan, Master."
"Oh no, Oriana. I decided to stay on Coruscant. Fighting isn't my thing, really." Phanon rolled her yellow eyes, and flicked her tail.
"Where are we headed, anyways? I wasn't told." Oriana asked, her face turning an even darker red, her leku curling up.
"We're going to Eiyla," Anahil began, "and it's a planet like Korriban or Tython, Force-strong. On Eiyla, however, there is a place called the TimeSpring. It's guarded by aliite Tano and Thyko." Phanon's eyes widened, but she didn't interrupt the Sith Sorceror. "The TimeSpring is a massive sinkhole that sends you to another place and time, be it the future or the past, and you can choose where to go."
As the implications settled in, Phanon swallowed, "Who knows about it? If that go into the hands of the wrong chakaar..."
"Only us, and the two clans. We're taking lots of detours, and we'll meet Nadiri and Liuna and Ronin there. We'll take no chances on Thantin, Chimeri, or Mysterik finding it."
Lieutenant Liuna Marten and the mercenary, Riari, had to smile. Sergeant Ronin Sisera was completely clueless, as usual, and scowled, "What in the nine Corellian hells is so funny?"
"Not funny, just... satisfied." Liuna shook her head at the Miralian commando, and added, "You do realize we just wiped out half their force, and we weren't even trying. Intal actually underestimated. They never do that! It's always more. I was expecting literally ten times more."
Ronin broke into a grin, "That's true, Liu."
The mercenary chuckled, her armor clanking softly, heavy plastoid, some of the best armor out there. Liuna knew very well how the mercenary got the experimental armor, and knew exactly who she was under the helmet.
Ronin, however, was clueless. He may have had a good heart, but the brawny male was eternally oblivious.
They were crouched in the burnt out cockpit of a freighter that had gotten into a slight mishap with a large pile of explosives. Liuna's left cybernetic eye focused in a Trandoshan mercenary, probably being being bankrolled by the Sith Empire from the look of the armor and rocket launcher he had with him.
The control panel sparked next to Ronin's hand, and he jumped. They were all jumpy though, even with less enemies than expected. Intel usually never underestimated, so where were they? The island had been at the epicenter of a rebellion, and after the rebellion failed, the Seps had moved back to the island, and destroyed the bridge, which was going to be rebuilt anyway. Liuna and Ronin had been sent to clear out the island, and they had met the mercenary there. Riari was wicked with her double-bladed saber, and had slashed through most of the armor like it was just simple cloth.
She thought she heard footsteps, and her bulky, cyborg body twisted silently, her joints quick and agile. Her left eye had been replaced, and her new cybernetic eye could sense lifeforms and droids, and had telescopic vision. Her pair of cyborg arms split into two pairs, and the metal on the back of her normal arms everyone assumed was just there for reinforcement became a whole 'nother pair of arms. She grabbed two lightsabers from her belt.
"That's not right," Riari muttered.
"So I've heard," retorted Liuna. Half-machine, she repulsed many people wherever she went, and dispatched her enemies with a droid like efficiency. The cyborg female had gotten reinforcements for her spine, what was left of her legs, ribs, and arms, and her hearing, reflexes, balance, speed, strength, and agility had been enhanced. She should have been the Republic's new super-soldier, but instead, the Republic had signed the stoopa peace treaty, and she was shoved to the side, rejected, and deemed an embarrassment to the Republic Army.
Ronin was one of her only friends, along with Chattu, Kyina, and Riu, the three Jedi Knights she usually went on missions with.
It wasn't like she wasn't capable. She had killed 19 Sith, taking their sabers as trophies. The only wound she had ever suffered had been when four Sith ganged up on her, and one cut her legs off half way down her thigh. Chattu and Kyina had driven the Sith away from her, and her legs had been replaced, ending in claw like feet, and she constantly felt like she was walking on tiptoe.
Her feet clicked quietly on the floor, inaudible to a normal human, and she held the two sabers in her hands, ready for a fight. Riari and Ronin stayed in the cockpit, nodding at her, and continuing to watch the guards on the outside of the warehouse. The split wreckage of an astromech sent sparks skidding across the floor, sending flickers of light around the corridor. A thin Rodian male crept around the corner, and Liuna crouched, still unseen.
His round black eyes caught the red light given off by her eye, and she leapt, breaking his neck before he could react, and throwing his body into a droid, turning it into a scrap heap. She ignited the red sabers, throwing even more red light around the corridor, and slashed through the torso of one of the droids. She leaped onto the male Trandoshan, knocking him over, and stabbed him in the chest. The last attacker, a male Weequay threw a punch, but before his fist even came close, she slashed his chest open.
The sabers hissed as they turned off, and she started to turn back to the cockpit, but something hit her in the head, and the collapsed, the world going dark.
Zani paced in between two stalagmites, anger caused her to growl slightly and clench her fists. "They should have be here by now. Where is Liuna?" Zani scowled. The usually punctual Lieutenant should have arrived with Ronin and Nadiri two hours ago.
Sinyata leaned up against a stalagmite, eyes half closed. Her grey skin, in what little light there was in the cave, now had a deathly appearance. The Rattataki shrugged, "Relax. Liuna has always been trustworthy. She's probably just finishing her mission. You know she can't break cover."
"And you know what the Force said!" Zani spun and glared at her twin,and snarled, "WE can't be off at all, or we might cause the galaxy to forever be at war! We all had the dream, and you should know this is important. Liuna's late, and the others barely got away. I'm a little on edge, why aren't you?" Zani stamped her foot as she finished her rant and turned away towards the TimeSpring, hidden in the back of the massive cave.
Sinyata just shrugged, and nodded towards something behind Zani. Zani turned to see Gaji, a green and black togruta with grey armor, and Kianli, a creamy-pink and sunset orange togruta with black armor. Gaji was going with them into the TimeSpring, and a member of aliit Tano, she had received Jedi and Mandalorian training, same as the aliit alor, Kianli Tano, who had once been a powerful Jedi Master. Her daughter, Kaati, would be going with another group while her son stayed behind with his family.
Zani glance towards the TimeSpring. Hidden in the massive cave, a half-pyramid had been built around it. The top was flat, with a gaping hole large enough to swallow a freighter. Green mist floated from the top of the sinkhole, pierced by beams of light reflecting from Khyber Crystals and sunstones poking out from the stalactites. Giant mushrooms and smaller shrubs, shining in every color of the rainbow, gave off their own light, crowding around the stalactites.
Zani looked back at the mouth of the cave, before starting towards the mouth with Gaji and Sinyata, hoping her friends could make it in time.
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