She had been locked in her cabin for days, leaving orders that she was not to be disturbed by anyone. For nothing was her solitude to be broken. None of her guards had any idea why she had locked herself away in her cabin or what she was doing in there. All they knew was that it had something to do with that strange crystal they'd found on Ryloth.
"You got any idea what she's doing in there?" asked one of the two BX-Series droid commandos she had set to guard her chamber.
"No, but it's not my place to ask questions. I just guard," replied the other droid, adjusting his modified DC-15A blaster rifle. "If she wanted us to know, we would know."
There came an angry cry from her chamber accompanied by a sharp, drawn out, cracking noise, something that was occurring in increasing frequency. Both droids looked back at the door and swung their high powered rifles across their chests; it was nothing to do with them yet.
Inside the room was a deep blue twi'lek; there was nothing unusual about her in appearance apart from the large, traditional Ryloth bounty hunter tattoo down her right arm. She sat cross legged on the floor, her arms stretched out in front of her; her orange eyes were closed and her brow knotted deeply above them. All around her floated lightsaber components, hanging steady in the air; ahead of her floated a large, dark blue chunk of Saa'Tik crystal, a rare precious stone found only on Ryloth. Her breathing became heavy, deep as her eyes flicked open. Her brow knotted even deeper as she let out a cry full of rage, her outstretched hands tensing, grasping at the air. There was a loud, drawn out crack and a diagonal shard of Saa'Tik crystal broke off from the main section and fell to the floor with a clink, gathering with other small shards. Her eyes closed again, her breathing became more regular and she returned to a state of meditation.
Ard'ana Cinn was her name. She used to be a Jedi and a very powerful one, but the roots of her past ran too deep. She was the offspring of two highly respected members of a sect of Twi'lek bounty hunters. During her eighth year on Ryloth the Trade Federation set up a blockade around her planet. During this oppressive occupation the Twi'lek race was dragged into a life of slavery. Several Jedi were sent to try and resolve this conflict, the head of this group being Aayla Secura. By this time Ard'ana's training had already been taken up by her parents, immersing her in the bounty hunting world. They taught her to be self-absorbed; she, herself being the only authority she needed to answer to. This quickly became a philosophy she would devote her life to.
Ard'ana's parents were conscribed by the Trade Federation to assassinate the Jedi liberation force that was present on Ryloth. Despite their proficiency within their trade, Ard'ana's parents never fulfilled their contract; Aayla Secura is not easily assassinated. As a powerful Jedi Knight she overcame all attempts on her life and in turn, terminated theirs in an intense battle played out in the forests of Ryloth. Ard'ana, having watched her parents' execution, ran from cover towards their lifeless bodies. As she reached their sides, she crumpled to her knees. Hot tears began to flow down her face, burning her eyes as they escaped. Running angrily towards Aayla Secura, she reached out to push her; however, the effects were much more extreme than she anticipated. The devastating mix of emotion; the anger, the hate, the extreme sadness awakened something deep within Ard'ana. Snapping her eyes shut she pushed Aayla, determined to push her over. When she opened them, Aayla was lying stunned in the dust thirty feet away.
Aayla, sensing the ferocious power welling up within Ard'ana, took her back to Coruscant and presented her before the council. Due to Ard'ana's dark beginning, many council members felt it was extremely unwise to take such a Padawan on. However, she was reluctantly accepted and Aalya Secura took her on as her own Padawan learner. By 18, Ard'ana's roots had grown into a deeply deceptive streak, which was fuelled by the violence and corruption of the beginning Clone Wars. She was deeply rebellious, almost treacherous; her self-absorption growing more intense. Her power slowly grew, giving her the ability to manipulate the minds of others, and even inanimate objects, bending them to her own will. The lessons she learned under her parent's tuition never left her. She always worked subtly, always covering her tracks well. She frequently used her power to manipulate other Jedi, and even members of the Jedi Council, to get her own way. However, eventually the council became aware of her deception due to one fatal mistake; pride. By the time she was 20 she had become so full of pride and confidence in her powers that she became careless. She barely bothered to disguise and mask her silent attacks against the Jedi order. And it was this that proved to be her downfall. She corrupted three, young, inexperienced Jedi and turned them rouge, turning them against the ways of the Jedi order. But she did it messily. The rouges were arrested and cross examined by Master Yoda and it was not long before all was known. Ard'ana had left far too many tracks, too many fingerprints upon the psyches of her victims and the full extent of her corruption was discovered. The Jedi council charged her and banished her to the desert planet of Tatooine. She left the order, her hate burning within her; detesting every Jedi, but none more than her old master. The memory of the death of her parents was sharp in her mind, enhancing her hatred of the Jedi order. She promised herself that she would destroy every Jedi to cross her path; leading to the one action that would avenge her parents' death; she would destroy Aayla Secura.
Her commitment to becoming as deadly a fighter as possible was evidenced by her devastating skill with a lightsaber; the only word to describe her was lethal. She would grin inwardly when she came to think of her self-forged weapons and personal fighting style: it was the only thing the Jedi order had done for her, it taught her to fight. But she was not an out and out duellist; that was too direct, too conspicuous. She was an assassin at heart; a phantom, an invisible force. She would appear from the shadows, slaughter her unexpectant victims and disappear like a ghost. The only evidences of her existence she left were exit wounds, lightsaber burns and lifeless bodies. She was the greatest assassin that never existed...
"Be careful down there. Remember what Master Yoda said; don't listen to a word she says and stay alert. Don't let her get to you," spoke the bright blue, flickering hologram of Jedi Master Windu, beaming down from the Republic Attack Cruiser from which they had dropped.
"Yes sir. It should all go smoothly," replied Dex. He was an elite ARC trooper, the red of his armour identifying him as a captain. "We'll reach the surface in ten clicks and, when we do, Warp and I will exit to the surface. We'll leave the shuttle to circle round while we make a sweep of the area. We've got to make sure the landing site is secure; we don't want any of those Tusken Raiders taking us off guard."
"Do not become complacent," Master Windu warned. "She will take advantage of that state of mind. Give her no opportunities, take care, and may the force be with you." The holo-image of Mace Windi buzzed and cut out. The trooper lowered the holoprojector and slipped it into its storage pouch, dwelling on Master Windu's last words; this Twi'lek was more powerful than she appeared. Looking down the hold at her, he adjusted his heavy Westair-M5 blaster; it would not do for him, for any of them, to be caught off guard.
Ard'ana sat in silence between two clone guards at the rear of the hold; her head was bowed and her eyes were closed tight and twitching at the corners, betraying her deep concentration. Facing her, the two ARC troopers stood near the shuttle hatch, deep in discussion about the mission at hand. Along with Dex there stood a lieutenant, the blue livery of his armour scratch free, betraying his recent promotion; Warp was his name. Dex, who had been briefed by Master Yoda about what to expect had in turn briefed the landing crew. The details of Master Yoda's briefing were sparse, but one thing was absolutely clear; Ard'ana was to be treated with absolute caution. Nothing she said was to be heeded.
"Stay frosty back there." Dex called to Ard'ana's flanking guards.
"Roger sir, but she's been quiet as a mouse. She can't be that dangerous..."
"Trooper! Stay alert! Don't let her trick you. She's Ard'ana Cinn and she's a clever one; if you don't stay on your guard she'll get into your mind, twist you. Make you do her bidding like one of them clankers."
"Sir! Sorry Sir!" replied the trooper sharply, snapping away from the subtle, gentle twisting grip of the fallen Jedi's mind. Her eyes cracked open and she scowled up at him, feeling the connection snap.
Dex ran his hand slowly over the top of his helmet; an action that always indicated he was deep in thought.
"She's up to something..." he said under his breath, expressing his inward concerns.
"Don't worry. She's weak. She has no weapons, and as long as we keep our guard up, we'll be fine. We have the upper hand," Warp said, the self-assurance was thick behind his voice. His state of mind was confirmed as he leant casually against the wall of the hold, checking over his M5 blaster rifle. He was a toughened trooper, a veteran; deep scars tore into the sharp features hidden beneath his helmet. He was one of the most reliable troopers Dex had ever served with, but he was prone to over confidence.
"Warp; you're falling into the exact state of mind she wants us to be in... Complacency is easy to exploit." Dex shifted his balance and, putting his rifle down, he took out one of his DC-15 hand blasters. He hoped he wouldn't need them...
The descent through the atmosphere was smooth and uneventful. Ard'ana bade her time and waited for the initial touchdown; for Dex and Warp to exit the hold and perform their perimeter sweep. Clearing the area of a handful of Tuskens would be simple for the two ARC troopers. Tusken Raiders are one thing; she was something altogether different. The shuttle came to a gradual halt, opening its hatch onto a rocky outcrop. As the desert wind whipped into the hold, Dex and Warp quickly ran out and prepared to make their sweep. Signalling the pilot, the shuttle turned to circle the area; once they'd secured the landing site, they'd radio the shuttle to return.
In a flurry of light sand and blinding sunlight they were gone; her flanking troopers obviously on edge due to Dex and Warp's abscence. She saw her opportunity and took hold of it; slipping into a state of shallow meditation. The fingers of her mind started to stretch out, investigating the depths of their psyches, beginning to probe their minds; her invisible fingers wrapping around their free will and stifling it. As her brow knotted in concentration, she focussed on the mind of one trooper, never breaking the connection with either of them. Silently, she mouthed, "You hear nothing, you see nothing; I do not exist." The trooper turned his back on her and, with a shallow, slow nod, moved towards the access hatch. As the trooper stopped and stood motionless the corner of her mouth twitched, betraying her twisted pleasure; she never tired of seeing a weaker being bent to her will. She then turned her mind back to the other trooper, gripping and twisting his mind with her invisible fingers. She probed deeper and deeper, bending him to her will, taking control of him. Lifting her bound wrists, she said "unlock them... now," her voice quiet, firm and deliberate. The trooper turned and moved slowly towards her in a disjointed way, his movements sluggish, as if he was sleepwalking. As the binders were released they dropped and her hand flashed out to catch them before they hit the deck; she needed to make as little noise as possible.
In one fluid movement, she rose; her focus maintaining her control over them.
"Take off your helmets and switch off your communication devices," she commanded. Her lips mouthed the words but no sounds escaped from them. Both clones performed her command at exactly the same time, removing their helmets and placing them silently on the floor. As they stared straight ahead their faces were blank, emotionless. Staring them down, she raised her arms, reinforcing her mental grip. "Silence," she hissed through gritted teeth, scowling at them; preparing to finish them. They disgusted her; their minds were so pathetically weak that she could have broken them in her sleep.
The air inside the hold was still; the only sound was the monotonous droning of the ships engines rolling away behind her. Ard'ana breathed in deeply, closing her mind to any distractions. Her eyes became bright, almost glowing with hatred and power and she slowly hooded them, hiding them behind her dark lids. She gritted her teeth, baring them in a feral snarl as she reached deep within the minds of the troopers. Then, embracing their consciousnesses with the force, she ripped their memories, everything they knew wide open and searched through the wreckage. Their backs arched as they sunk to their knees, their limbs twitching; everything that made them individual was being destroyed. Finally, she found what she was looking for deep within them: all of their deepest, darkest, most primal fears were exposed. Her eyes flashed open and suddenly, sharply, she clenched her fists tightly; wrenching at everything the troopers were afraid of. Their bodies were racked with terror as they struggled; lashing out at invisible monsters and enemies conjured by Ard'ana's dark skill. Within their minds the terror kept coming, becoming more and more intense; inducing a state of hysteria. Finally, with one horrible wrenching, twisting contortion of their bodies, the troopers collapsed forward and lay still at Ard'ana's feet.
"That was far too easy," she gloated silently, standing over the bodies of the dead troopers.
Having to adjust her balance, she felt the shuttle turn and start the return descent. There was not much time now... she had to move swiftly. Moving to the back of the hold, she hopped lightly onto the bench that ran down the side and along the back. Steadying herself against the shuttle's jerks and bumps, she reached up. She ran her hands along the cold metal, sliding her fingers along and through the interworking grooves, searching for the loose plate. For a second her heart stopped as she thought about the eventuality that she had forced from her mind; what if the hangar attendant hadn't been able to get in, loosen the plate and leave the package in the space behind. He'd been easy enough to convince; she hadn't even needed to use her powers. All it took was some gentle seduction... She let out a sigh of satisfaction as she felt the metal plate hidden by the shadow of one corner slip beneath her hands. Reaching into the space behind she paused for a moment; the landing sequence had been initiated, the new whirring and buzzing sounds of machinery telling her that the wings were being folded up. Moving quickly, she drew out what she'd been looking for: a small, brown leather package. Balancing on the edge of the bench, she undid it and slid out two black, cylindrical, metallic objects. She balanced them in her hands, examining her craftsmanship; they were light, simple and beautifully built. As she attached them to her belt she turned swiftly on the edge of the bench, swaying with the movement of the shuttle. Her sharp eyes pierced through the dim light of the hold to the cockpit access hatch; it was in the perfect position to conceal her. Its extension down into the hold provided a ledge; a ridge obscuring the ceiling behind and Ard'ana along with it. Her eyes then flicked down from the ceiling to the lifeless bodies of the troopers at her feet. As soon as Dex and Warp saw them and realised that she was inexplicably gone, they were bound to investigate. Absent mindedly, she lazily swept her hand up and round, blowing the lights that ran along the ceiling; she didn't want to make it any easier for them. She crouched back against the rear wall, steadying herself against the movement of the settling shuttle, preparing to pounce. Leaping up she grasped the handholds in the ceiling, swinging herself up and closing her eyes.
The shuttle descended towards the landing area. It was a shallow bowl out in the dune sea, about a day's walk from Mos Isley and about a day's walk from half a dozen small homesteads. All around, the rocky outcrops reached up to the sky like the giant claws of a massive buried creature, about to close down and trap them all. The area was bleak; perfect for rejects, exiles and those who do not wish to be found...
"It's all clear, you can bring her down now. And remember, Steady," Dex remarked to the pilot. "You definitely don't want to misjudge the landing here."
"That only happened once sir," replied the pilot. "And you and I both know it wasn't my fault. Commander Skywalker distracted me," there was a mock tone of offence in his voice.
"Oh come on, that was hardly a distraction," the lieutenant joked.
"Sir... He Blew up the rock face next to the landing pad..."
There was a burst of laughter from Dex and Warp.
"Don't take life so seriously, Kid. I jest. I jest." Dex laughed back as he kicked away a stone which rolled off a ledge into the bowl below. "Relax. You'll enjoy life a lot more if you just... take it easy," a wry smile crossing his lips as the sound of exasperated laughter echoed over the commlink.
"Yes sir," The pilot reluctantly replied.
"Warp," said Dex, turning to the ARC lietenant, taking a more serious tone. "Be careful when we're dealing with her, you hear? She's sneaky and she'll get inside your head given half a chance. Guard your mind, block her out."
"Don't worry. I'm not easily manipulated," Warp growled back, becoming exasperated by Dex's again repeated words of warning.
"Exactly; she specialises in breaking strong minds... Now," the last word he spoke into his wrist mounted commlink. "Ground watch to air watch; how you two doing up there? How's the prisoner?" There was no response but empty static. The clone captain waited for a few moments and snapped back into the commlink. "Air watch... Do you copy..."
"I don't like this," he said, turning to Warp. "I don't like this one bit. Better prepare yourself for a fight... Let's make it a clean one."
"Do you really think we can outfight a Dark Jedi?" asked Warp, the cocky edge to his voice had disappeared, eroded away by a wave of uncertainty.
"We have to. But first..." he flipped some switches on his cuff commlink, contacting the orbiting transport. "This is drop to home, drop to home; come in home."
"We read you, drop. What news have you got?" came back the crackling voice.
"We've lost communications with the prisoner's guards. I'm not optimistic. We're going in live but if you don't hear from us in twenty, expect the worst. And send down backup." replied the commander. There was a moment's pause and then the reply came.
"Standby backup request acknowledged. Awaiting your signal, or lack of. Good luck sir."
"We'll need it..."
The shuttle came down to rest amongst the rocky outcrops; the repulsor-lift engines sending sand clouds swirling away. Making their way down towards it, Dex signalled to the pilot that he and the gunner were to stay in the cockpit and seal the entry hatch. A voice came over the commlink...
"Sir," the pilot asked, voice steady. "Is she loose...?"
"Most likely," Dex answered shortly in a matter of fact tone.
After a pause, the pilot responded, "Good luck, sir."
Both clones walked slowly round the shuttle to the forward hatch in combat stance, rifles cocked. No sound came from inside the hold; no struggling, no muffled shouts, nothing. Dex nodded to Warp, his hands silently signalling that he would take up position on the right flank while Warp was to fall back and take the high ground. He nodded and moved backwards, keeping his sights on the closed hatch. Looking up to the cockpit, Dex smoothly and quickly raised his clenched fist in the air, pumped it once and moved it back to support his rifle, aiming towards the door. The pilot registered the signal and pressed the controls within the cockpit, releasing the locks and engaging the motors. The hatch began to move smoothly down, exposing the deep, gaping, empty hold behind. Dex dipped his rifle, standing up straight and surveying the hold containing two clone bodies... and no prisoner. He had been expecting a kamikaze rush from the hold, a full frontal attack or at least some blaster fire. The last thing he had expected was nothing...
The calm in the landing area became so intense it seemed like the slowly drifting desert wind passing over the top of the bowl was in fact blowing a gale. Every whistle and low howl caused by each gust passing over numerous jagged cracks and crevices in the rock seemed enhanced and deafening. Dex was grateful when Warp's voice crackled over the commlink, breaking his concentration away from the near silence in the pit.
"Dex...," warp's voice was steady, calm but he was incapable of hiding the anxiety that edged it. "How can she not be in there...? Where can she have gone?"
After a few moments Dex replied slowly, "Nowhere, warp..." There was a cool, sharp determination in his voice. He'd never lost a prisoner; this was a fact that stood clear and sharp in his mind and he was determined that he wasn't going to start now. "She's in there alright and I'm not going to let her slip through my fingers." He shifted his weight, readying himself to advance into the shadowed hold.
"Warp; I want you to move across and cover me. Make sure you have full view into the hold."
"Where sir?"
"That's up to you; somewhere with no blind spots, somewhere you can see right into the hold. And Warp? Try not to shoot me." Dex chuckled slightly, trying to relax and in turn remove Warp's edge.
A short laugh echoed over the commlink and Warp replied, "I'll try my best sir. Good luck." With that, Warp set off down the slope; moving rapidly, but steadily. Dex focussed once more on the hold, his sights fixed on the two lifeless bodies that lay in a heap of contorted limbs and armour panels. Even from out here he could see that there was no mark on them; no blaster points, no signs of broken necks... what the hell had she done? As Warp drew level with him, Dex signalled for him to stay silent. Warp nodded and cocked his rifle, resting it into his shoulder and fixing his eyes down the barrel. Suddenly crashing through the near silence in the bowl, there was the sound of rocks falling from an outcrop behind them. Dex and Warp swirled round, rifles panning left and right; their sharp eyes digging into the shadows, trying to pick out any slight movement that would betray any presence.
"Dex..." Warp whispered. "Do you think it's her?"
"It can't be... But then it has to be..." Dex murmured slowly as he shifted his weight and began to move slowly along the rock wall. The wind had dropped immersing the bowl in almost total silence, the only sound being the occasional, distant mournful bellowing of a Bantha herd that drifted over the desert sands. The silence, combined with the painful anxiety of knowing that nearby there could be an invisible assassin preparing to silently slaughter him was maddening. Warp simultaneously dropped his rifle and his head, listening for the slightest sound. His brows creased into a frown as he thought he heard a tiny, metallic sound; feet touching metal. Suddenly his head whipped up, he had heard something; nearly silent, rapid footsteps moving away from them.
"Dex!" he called. "I hear her, behind us."
They both spun on their heels, fingers pressed against triggers; again, there was nothing. Feeling the panic beginning to rise within him, Dex moved swiftly towards the shuttle, swinging his rifle back and across his shoulders.
"Warp; keep a sharp eye," came the sharp command as he moved away from the ARC lieutenant. He kept himself low as he reached the shuttle, dropping to one knee and examining the sand around. There was no sign of foot prints anywhere, no disturbance of the sand... No sign of anything. Remaining crouched, he moved slowly round the shuttle to the back keeping his eyes fixed on the sand at his feet, desperate for the slightest sign of disturbance. But the sand was too light; with even the slightest drift of wind the surface layer of sand would shift. She had disappeared without a trace.
Opening her eyes, Ard'ana listened to the shuffling of military boots on the sand outside and the few low commands that drifted to her, breaking through the frequent whistles and moans of the gusting wind. She looked up as she heard the locking mechanism of the cockpit hatch clunk into place, sealing off the pilot and the gunner from the hold. Good; that meant they weren't going anywhere... Switching her concentration to the outside world, she focussed in on the two ARC troopers. She could sense their confusion, their anxiety, the slowly rising fear that was creeping into their minds and clouding their judgement. Playing on that, she reached out with the force to the rock face above them. Searching over the ledges and inside the crevices, she collected a pile of small rocks, building them up at the edge of a small outcrop. She waited until the quietest moment possible; then falling rocks would have a greater effect, a more startling impact. Suddenly, the wind died, immersing the crater in silence, creating the perfect moment. She tipped the pile of rubble over the edge, bouncing them back against the steep wall of red stone. As the rocks clattered down into the bowl below, Ard'ana felt the sudden flood of worry flash into the minds of both troopers as the rocks, to them, betrayed her presence outside.
The minds of the troopers were now far from the hold; as far as they were concerned she had escaped from there long ago, it was of no importance any more. She chuckled as she swung quickly and silently down, hanging still before suddenly dropping and landing lightly, her boots making barely any sound against the metallic floor of the hold. She crept slowly towards the open hatch, always remaining in the shadows, her eyes fixed on the frantically searching troopers; it was amusing to see them sweep their rifles to and fro in vain. They were pathetic, she thought as she smiled darkly to herself. She stood in the mouth of the hold, surrounded by a curtain of shadow watching as the two of them moved here and there along the wall. She was about to set foot outside of the hold when suddenly she froze, her body tense; one of them, the blue one, had stopped. His head was dropped and turned to one side, his rifle was dipped, and he didn't move a muscle. "Surely he can't have heard me..." Ard'ana pondered. She edged slowly out onto the sand, keeping her body close to the side of the shuttle until she was hidden by its shadow, her bright eyes never leaving the frozen form of the listening trooper. Then, in one swift movement, she turned and raced away silently across the sand. She paused at the foot of the opposing wall and leapt, cat like, up into the concealing shadows and rocky outcrops, letting them envelope and conceal her. She peered down at the two troopers as they turned to skirt round the shuttle, keeping their backs close to the side and their rifles directed outwards; panic had set in. Separating, they moved off in different directions; the shuttle now lay between them like some giant resting insect. She bit her lip, forcing herself to keep quiet, preventing herself from bursting into laughter. "They seem to be intent on making their deaths as easy for me as possible," she mumbles sarcastically to herself. "Poor, stupid creatures..." Shifting her weight, she adjusted her position, springing down and across to another cleft in the rock, melting into the shadows around it. She was in her element, her habitat; the crater was now her battleground and neither Dex nor Warp would leave.