A/N: Well, how do I even start this. I had this idea for a while and due to a certain someone they told me to post it. I know I just recently put out "Rise to Power" as well for when I finish Octane but I decided to change it up a bit.

I'm going to start a poll on my profile for which story I should keep writing once Octane is over. This one or Rise to Power.

As you might have noticed from the title of this story, this one will be a Star Wars AU (SWToR timeline). And will be pretty... different from my other stories with what I have planned for the plot so far. I only gave a brief insight in this chapter, not wanting to go too deep.

But anyways, be sure to vote on the poll on my profile for which story you'd like to see continued! I'll keep the poll up probably until November 20th!

Shadows of the Force

The year is 3643 BBY

Out in the fringes of known space, a heated war takes

place. The Republic who stands for peace in these troubled

times and the resolute Empire which aims to conquer all in its path.

Between these two factions, the once peaceful galaxy has found itself plunged

into war yet again. But as the two super powers clash on worlds and in space alike,

there are those whom would like nothing more than to just live

their lives in tranquility and peace. The same people who had no reason to be caught

up in the endless bickering between the galactic Republic and the iron-fisted Empire…

But sometimes, fate dictates otherwise…

And quite usually in the most unlikely of places.

"Ruby, come on! We have to head back!"

A girl no more than the age of thirteen stood waiting for her younger sister. With long blonde hair that reached to the small of her back, and a bright smile that reached all the way to her twinkling lilac eyes, she waved towards the shorter girl who jogged towards her.

"Wait! Yang, hold on!" The shorter girl, whom Yang had called Ruby shouted.

The shorter crimson haired girl jogged hurriedly, her short hair bobbing with each step. Her silver eyes were furrowed with worry as if she didn't think her older sister would actually wait for her. Once she caught up with her though, Ruby placed her arms on her legs, trying to catch her breath.

"Slow poke, I was gonna leave you, you know?" The blonde girl named Yang joked as she flicked her little sister on the forehead.

"Ow! What was that for?" Ruby cried as she stood up to full height, holding her head where Yang had flicked it.

But the blonde never answered, only turning on her foot and giggling. She walked towards a rusted dark blue speeder that sat parked a few feet away in the shade. Currently both she and her little sister were at the bazaar in the local town, a few miles where they lived. Tasked with grabbing a few supplies for her mother, Yang was just finishing her chores, carrying a sack of food they'd most likely be eating later this week.

But when she was about to leave their house, Yang saw Ruby running from inside begging to come along. Their mother of course let her. And Yang knew the reason why, she always looked out for Ruby. Being only eleven, Ruby grew up to rely on her, and Yang didn't mind it at all. Plus her little sister had a knack for building useful inventions that proved handy at home. That of course was the real reason she wanted to come along… to buy scrap metal.

Reaching the speeder, Yang hopped over the door and got comfortable in the hard leather seat, glancing over towards Ruby. The girl carried two burlap sacks full of rusted metal pipes and pieces as she tried to hurry towards the waiting vehicle, the metal clanging together with every step.

"Come on Rubes!" Yang laughed as she powered up the speeder, pretending she was getting ready to leave.

She saw Ruby's silver eyes grow wide and desperate as she moved just a little faster to catch up.

"Yang! Wait please!"

Tapping her hand on the wheel, the blonde smiled. She'd never leave Ruby but she did enjoy picking on her a little bit. She never got to at home since their mother would always punish her when she got caught, but when they were alone… Yang believed it was her right as the older sister.

Finally reaching the speeder, Ruby let out a sigh of relief, nearly collapsing inside the cabin as she dropped her heavy bags onto the floor inside.

"Safe!" she breathed out just as she shut the door.

Looking over and making sure she was strapped in; Yang hit the gas and felt herself be pushed back in her seat. Swerving around the bazaar's shoppers who walked in front of her, the blonde was confident in her driving abilities, never once hitting anyone or anything, even if she did get a few insults thrown her way for her reckless driving inside the town.

"Yang!" Ruby cried. "You know mom said not to drive like that in town!"

Yang on the other hand ignored her sister's complaints. She wasn't going to hit anything. It was too easy! It was almost like things were moving in slow motion when she drove the speeder.

"We'll be fine." Yang chuckled out as she made a sharp right turn, towards the gates of the town. "Plus what mom doesn't know won't hurt her."

With those words out, Yang shot Ruby a knowing look and could see the younger girl gulp in terror. Just in case she thought about ratting on her, Yang made sure to intimidate the younger girl beforehand.

"I- I won't tell." Ruby mumbled.

And with that Yang smiled triumphantly. Driving the speeder was one of the only times she felt freedom. She, Ruby, and their mother were almost always cooped up in their home on the outskirts of the city, living miles away. Where they lived was empty… with nothing but trees and bushes for as long as the eye can see. There were no buildings, houses, or even tents. They were secluded from anyone else. This wasn't really a bad thing to Yang but it made it quite boring.

She and Ruby had to make up their own games to play outside at home, but their "yard" was almost an entire forest. The planet they lived on, Alderaan, was beautiful, vast, and green. Even now, Yang could see the distant mountain peaks with the snow that covered them year round, the large trees that dotted the entire landscape, and even the large flying beasts whose wings cast shadows large enough to engulf a house.

Though she did wish she lived in the city, remembering when she asked her mom why they didn't that it was because of all the political games. Whatever that meant. At least Yang got to drive the speeder out though!

"I can't wait to get home!" Ruby beamed as she hopped in the seat next to Yang, her silver eyes sparkling with joy. "I think I can finally finish perfecting my traps I wanna finish!"

Yang sighed at that, Ruby had been trying to build little traps to place around the house just in case one of those Killik creatures came near. Yang had only seen them once and was both fascinated and disgusted by them. They looked like bugs, but bigger! Almost the size of a person. What she heard from people talking in town though was that they weren't exactly friendly.

And when Ruby heard about them as well, she began working on trying to protect their home from the bug people.

"Ruby you've never even seen a Killik before!" Yang teased. "Plus how do you know your trap will work?"

She looked over at Ruby as her sister gave her a sour look.

"You've only seen them once!" She whined as she kicked the bags at her feet. "And my traps will work! Everything I build works!" She stated with a smug look then, crossing her arms in a snobbish manner.

Yang fought the urge to shove her sister while she was driving though. She couldn't deny that Ruby was skilled at building things. She had built countless stuff in their home ranging from their transceiver, to their holo, and even a transponder for a ship that they sold in the market last year. They made a lot of credits off that. Both Yang and their mother had no idea how Ruby became so gifted in crafting things without any sort of guidance but they sure didn't mind it. It was one of the reasons why she let Ruby go to town with her to pick up more materials.

"My inventions always work, Yang!" Ruby whined, puffing her cheeks out as she stared down her older sister. "I even fixed your holo-book when you dropped it the other day, remember?"

Yang only huffed as she kept driving. They'd reach home in a few more minutes. As the paved path she rode on started to crumble and give way, leading off into one of the many forests on the planet, she took a left off the road and decided to cut through the forest to save some time. If her mother knew that she'd taken this shortcut, Yang was sure that she'd be grounded from driving the speeder for weeks. But like before, dodging things while driving was like second nature to her.

"Yang…" Ruby mumbled out as she realized just what her sister was about to do.

But Yang only grinned, gripping the wheel with both hands.

"You're good at making and fixing things Ruby." Yang uttered lowly as she pressed the accelerator further and further down. "And I'm good at piloting!"

And with that, Yang pressed the pedal down as far as it'd go; gaining more and more momentum until the trees she passed by were nothing more than just green blurs. She heard Ruby yelp in surprise but Yang didn't dare take her eyes off the path in front of her. She was confident, but not confident enough to not see where she was going. She kept the pedal to the floor as she yanked the wheel back and forth, left and right, easily dodging and avoiding any and everything in her path. It was almost like a game to her.

She couldn't help the laugh that escaped her nor the smile that stayed on her face. She truly loved this feeling, the feeling of breaking free and flying off. It was her dream one day to pilot one of the many starships she's seen leave the docks in the city. To fly into the stars above and see other planets… But for now, this rusted speeder was the next best thing.

And she'd pilot the hell out of it!

They'd be home in no time with her behind the wheel!

As soon as they reached their home, Yang parked the speeder in the little garage they had and helped Ruby carry her bags of metal inside. Though as they prepared to walk through the door, already she could smell the sweet aroma of her mother's cooking.

"We're back mom!"

At those words, their mother, Summer, turned around from the stove and smiled at her two daughters. With long dark crimson hair that was the same colors as Ruby's and gentle silver eyes she smiled warmly at her two girls.

"Welcome home you two."

As if spurred on by the smell of dinner, both Yang and Ruby hurried to clean themselves up and get ready to eat. Much to Summer's amusement. Once they were all seated at the table however, it didn't take long for conversation to fill the air between them.

"How was the city today?" Summer asked; a seemingly innocent question but Yang felt her heart skip a beat at it as she subtly glanced over towards Ruby.

Ruby however didn't see the death glare from her sister, and as if she had forgotten Yang's earlier threat, she blabbed about Yang's driving habits.

"The city was fun mom!" Ruby started, wiping her mouth with her sleeve. "But when we were driving back Yang took the shortcut in the forest really really fast!"

This earned the eldest daughter of course a disapproving look from her mom as Yang quickly found that her meal was the most interesting thing in the room.

"Well, I'm just glad you two are safe." Summer answered, though she still kept her eyes on her blonde daughter. "Even if one of you is reckless."

Quickly mumbling an apology, the rest of dinner passed by uneventful for the girls. After dinner they helped their mother clean up and as the sun fell behind the mountain peaks in the distance, as another moonless night quickly descended upon their little home.

In the garage working on the speeder, Yang shared the small workspace with Ruby and her creations. Even now, her younger sister tinkered with her trap that she was so adamant on setting up. Trying her best to ignore the loud sounds of hammering, welding, and gleeful shouts, Yang continued trying to make the family speeder not look like a rusted hunk of bolts. It quickly dawned on her though that no amount of elbow grease was going to fix that problem without a complete overhaul of the body.

"It's finished!"

Jumping from the sudden shout that echoed in the small garage, Yang banged her head against the underside of the speeder while trying to sit up.

"Ow! Damn it!"

Rolling out from under the speeder, Yang saw Ruby holding what could only be described as a large metal plate above her head.

"I finished it!" Ruby stated again. "The trap, it's done!"

Rolling her eyes, Yang gave the girl a doubtful look as she stood up and leaned against the speeder she was just under.

"Oh yeah?" She goaded. "It doesn't look like much, how do you know it'll work?"

Doubt crossed Ruby's features for half of a second before she retained her triumphant look.

"I know it'll work because I made it." She said, sticking her tongue out at Yang, much to the other girl's chagrin. "Unlike you, who's been working on the speeder for weeks while it still looks like that."

With a growl, Yang leapt off the speeder she was leaning on and reached for her younger sister, ready to make her eat those words. At the sudden sight of danger however, Ruby yelped and threw her newly created trap to the ground with a loud clank.

Just as Yang took another step towards Ruby though her left foot landed right on the metal disk, which instantly emitted a loud and distinct beeping before a spark of electricity shot upwards. A bright arc of lightning quickly wrapped itself around Yang's body as the girl froze for a moment before falling forward right onto the ground with a groan. At seeing this however, Ruby only cheered in success before feeling dread at releasing Yang from the electric prison trap she ensnared her in.

"Ru…by…" Yang spat through gritted teeth. "Get… me… out of… THIS!"

Not needing any further motivation, the shorter sister quickly tapped a button on the underside of the disk and the dark blue lightning arcs that were traveling across Yang's entire frame vanished without a trace.

Quickly regaining control of her body, the blonde felt a soreness she hadn't experienced ever since she had fallen off a tree she had climbed years ago. All over her body too, she felt little spasms. Almost like she was still being stung by little jolts of electricity. She could even feel her hair sticking up all over as if it had been frazzled by the machine.

"S- Sorry Yang." Ruby muttered, though the girl didn't look sorry at all as she was bent over and inspecting her new toy. "Though you proved to be a great test subject!"

Yang growled towards Ruby with the intention of strangling the girl, but their mother's voice reached their ears as she called the two of them to come inside for the night. Taking a look outside the garage, Yang was surprised to see that it was pitch black, not even the stars casting any light as they were hidden behind the clouds. The only light coming from the interior of the garage they were inside.

"You're lucky." Yang noted as she brushed herself off.

Ruby only smirked towards her older sister, holding her trap under her arm. "I told you it would work though!"

As they exited the garage and locked it up, Ruby ran out towards the front of the house however, trap in hand. Watching the girl from the front steps, Yang wondered where Ruby was going to as she faded from view, quickly vanishing into the darkness. But the thuds of her footsteps quickly sounded again as she spotted the shorter girl jogging back towards her, this time without her prized trap.

"What did you do?" Yang asked just as she opened the door for the both of them to head inside.

Ruby smirked and help up a thumbs-up as she cast one last glance towards their front yard.

"I planted the trap out front. Just in case!"

Yang chortled at that as they both made their way towards the bathroom of their small home.

"One trap isn't going to do anything, dummy."

"Yeah huh!"

"Nuh uh!"

"Yes it will!"

"No it won't!"

With those words, Yang pushed Ruby forward, watching the girl stumble off-balance but never falling over.

"Yang, stop picking on your sister!" A voice shouted from the kitchen belonging to Summer.

Exhaling while slightly annoyed at being caught, she saw Ruby giving her another smug look to which Yang only ground her teeth.

"Whatever. Your trap is stupid!" She whispered quietly, making sure their mother wouldn't hear her.

"You're just mad because you got caught in it!"

The girls continued bickering all the way until they reached their shared bedroom. It took the intervention of their mother to quiet them down until finally they were both in their respective beds. Once the door closed however, Yang remembered how Ruby had tattled on her about taking that short cut as her mind drifted. She'd have to remember getting her back tomorrow for that.

Rolling over on her bed, she looked out towards the lone window that was in their room, slightly disappointed at not being able to see any of the stars dotting the night sky, the clouds blocking her view of them.

She hoped one day soon to be able to go out in space and travel around and see the galaxy. Her mother told her of the stories of when she had once been on a ship and had seen other planets, planets that looked nothing like Alderaan. There were ones that were nothing but desert or planets as cold as the mountain peaks just full of snow. Yang wanted to see them all. She just couldn't believe how many different types of worlds there were out there.

As she slowly drifted off to sleep, she kept thinking of ways to be able to go to space. She had seen both Republic and Imperial soldiers in the city sometimes and she knew that she could join one of them to be able to see the galaxy, but her mother would never allow it. Or even if she could be one of the noble Jedi! Her mother would approve of that, wouldn't she?

Even now, Yang pictured herself as a Jedi, garbed in those tan robes with a lightsaber as bright as the sun. She contemplated which color she would have just as she nodded off to sleep, images of dreams that she hoped would become a reality one day flashing through her mind…

Until a loud and familiar sound assaulted her ears. Quickly sitting up in her bed, Yang glanced around her room, seeing Ruby jump up awake as well…

"W- What is that?" Yang asked, a hint of fear in her voice.

She glanced around the room once again, suddenly untrusting of the shadows that were dancing around the walls.

Wait… shadows?

Looking back at Ruby, Yang felt her eyes widen as she saw her little sister staring out the window. With one arm extended, the smaller girl was pointing outside with her other hand covering her mouth in an unbelieving expression.

It took all the courage Yang had to follow where her sister was pointing at, and it was then that she saw a familiar arc of lightning dancing around somewhere in front of the yard… The same arc of lightning she had been caught in earlier that night.

Ruby's trap had caught something.