A long time ago in a Galaxy far, far away…

STAR WARS: THE OLD REPUBLIC
WITHIN REACH

War! After a strong initial strike across the Outer Rim, the Sith Empire has secured many of the planets and is slowly moving inwards towards the Mid and Inner Rim. But with the Empire's initial momentum advantage gone the Republic soldiers had time to dig in, stalling the Sith as much as they can. Meanwhile, the Jedi are helping the valiant troops defend their homes while also conducting small strikes against the Empire…

Chapter 1

8 BTC || 3661 BBY

(Lah'Mu)

"Girls come here I have something to tell you." The sound of two sets of feet quickly kicking against the floor could be heard coming closer and closer to the hatch that led to the attic. Then a few moments later the first tiny leg popped out from the hatch, reaching for the first step. Soon after the rest of the barefoot four-year-old Togruta appeared on the ladder wearing her favorite brown dress. And above her also descending the ladder was also a four-year-old human girl with long dark hair that went slightly past her shoulders. These were the Galician twins. Many people got confused the first time they saw them and how could they not be. Usually, if two races mixed a hybrid child would appear, showing both of the races' features but Myria and Keira were exceptions. The chance of twins being a completely separate race was next to none.

Myria was Togruta, taking the orange skin, sharp teeth, lekku with blue stripes, white face marks and montrals from her mother while Keira had her father's black hair and stubbornness. The only thing that was the same about them were their heavenly blue eyes.

"You two certainly are quick," Abala, their mother said with her signature smile. She was a very sociable person who was beloved by the whole village. "We got a letter from Jaran." Jaran was their older brother who went to the Grand Military Academy on Coruscant soon after they were born so they didn't remember him, but their mother told them that he was much smarter than any person she had ever met.

"To my family," she began reading out loud. "I don't have much time, so I'll be quick. I and my battalion are currently stationed on the nearby planet of Agamar on a mission. It feels good being close to home, but I would prefer it if I could actually visit you, so I chatted with the commander and he has granted me a three day long leave after our mission here concludes. I can't wait to finally see you and the girls. And also say hi to Pa for me. Signed, Jaran." Abala closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before opening them and looking towards her bedroom. Myria and Keira shared sad looks as well.

Their father Gavin had enlisted into the military six years prior when the Empire started coming closer and closer towards Lah'mu. He had felt that it was his duty to protect the family and everybody else, so he one day disappeared with some of the other men from the village. Her mother had begged him to stay but he would have none of it. "A display of his stubbornness," his mother would call it if the conversation about him leaving was ever brought up. That was until one day a man showed up at their door carrying a box of their father's things, he took with him. They didn't understand what had happened back then since they were only two years old, but they remember that it was the only time they saw their mother crying.

After that day she talked to the things that were left behind every night. Myria and Keira whose room was right next to their mother's could hear her mumbling and sometimes sobbing due to the house's sound insulation being bad. Jaran's letters always included the say hi to dad part. Knowing that Jaran mourned his father as well made her a bit happier.

"What were you doing up there?" Abala managed to transform herself into her normal smiling self seemingly without effort. If it was genuine happiness or if it was just to make the twins feel better, they never knew.

"We were playing hide and seek," Keira answered.

"Why don't you go play outside? It's nice out."

Two different happy messages of approval rang out instantly and the twins already started running towards the door with grins on their faces.

"Remember. Be home before it gets dark outside," Abala reminded them.

The two girls stormed out of their one-story house into the wide farms and grasslands of Lah'Mu. The sun usually was never able to shine through the thick layer of clouds but today the skies were so clear that the even the so-called Lah'Mu triplets – three very soft blue moons were visible. One thing that was always present was the wind which was usually strong and cold but on that day it was gentle and warm making it seem like the tall grass and crops were being stroked by it.

"Where do you want to go?" Myria asked. Instead of answering Keira ran towards one of the small shell-like structures. Those were in fact houses that were mostly underground. With a bit of trouble and sliding due to the structures wet walls, they managed to climb on top of it. It wasn't much higher up than the ground but the view it provided was stunning.

Giant mountains made of black rock were out far in the distance, large fields of various crops that were almost ready for harvesting were dancing in the wind while the expansive grasslands separated the two.

"You up for some more hide and seek?" Keira asked. Myria nodded in response. Although they've seen the view hundreds of times by now it somehow still managed to amaze them every time. "Let's go to the caves."

"Mom told us to not go there," Myria warned her. She knew Keira didn't mean going deep into the cave but staying on the outer part of it where the light still illuminated the cave but the ground there was made of the same sharp and deadly rock as the mountains. One of the other villagers tripped on those rocks once and nearly killed themselves – the sharp shard missed their heart by mere millimeters.

"Don't worry, we'll be extra careful. Come on." Keira ran off before Myria could object and it wasn't like she knew that nothing would change due to her sister's stubbornness. She caught up with her quickly and they began traversing the Nysillin fields.

"Hey!" a voice called out to them. "What did I tell you about running through my field." It turned out to be Bren – an old farmer who was the owner of a few fields alongside that one. He usually wasn't angry if they ran through any of his other fields, but he was very particular about them not running through that one due to Nysillin being a very expensive crop. It could only grow in very fertile soil in very specific conditions which Lah'Mu was perfect for but due to the planet being in the middle of nowhere very few people ever came here to set up farms.

"Sorry," Myria responded looking back at the old man with an innocent smile. She then turned her attention back to Keira who kept on running. "Wait up."

The grass just as wet as the shell structure and almost as tall as them soaked them on their way there. They kept running and running all the while Keira's tracks that she left behind in the form of moved grass faded and Myria was left alone. Her montrals albeit underdeveloped were still better than ears she could hear Keira running on the squishy and muddy ground.

She froze as all of the sudden the sounds stopped, and she was left alone with only the wind and the grass that moved with it. "Keira?" she said, her voice shaking. Down on the ground, she spotted small footsteps and decided to follow them. She kept on calling her sister's name but to no avail. She seemed to have just vanished. She ascended a hill which suddenly stopped leading down into a several meter-high drop.

After a lot of hesitation Myria looked down and slowly opened her eyes but to her relief nothing but the sharp rocks were there. It then dawned on her that she was standing on top of the cave.

"Where did you go?" Myria jumped in surprise.

"Don't do that!" she warned Keira as her heartbeat finally started slowing down.

"Do what?" Keira said with a mischievous grin. "Come on it's gonna be dark soon," she continued beckoning Myria to follow her.

"You remember the rules right?" Myria asked her. They were standing in the middle of the area where instead of the ground being made of dirt it was made of layers upon layers of sharp black rocks. There were actually three caves there, each one being hidden under a hill.

"No hiding in the grass and no going too deep inside the cave," Keira said as if she was reciting. "You seek first."

"Why me?"

"Mom was a hunter so…"

"Just go hide," Myria said stretching out her right arm towards the surrounding area. She began loudly counting from zero all the way up to twenty while carefully listening to where Keira was headed. A small smile appeared on her face as she figured out exactly in which cave Keira was hiding without even seeing her go there. After she said twenty, she immediately ran to the cave she knew Keira was in. The ground forced her to be slow as she opted to go out bare-footed.

She searched the outside parts where she had hope she would find Keira. Myria never liked the dark. She wasn't afraid of the darkness, but she got frightened by sounds which origin she couldn't determine and weird shapes she couldn't make out, so it didn't help that the further she got in the more sounds there were. Everything from a drop of water hitting the floor to a sudden weak gust of wind made her freeze in place and carefully look around for any hazards. The deeper she went the more solid and slick the ground and walls became causing her to almost fall at certain points. "Where is she?" she asked herself quietly as she searched the last hiding place in the lit part of the cave.

Myria turned her attention to the narrower passage that went further into the cave. Every instinct in her body told her to not go deeper. "Maybe I misheard her going in here," she thought. Just as she began walking towards an exit a pebble flew her way almost hitting her. "Keira stop!" she yelled in irritation. "We said no dark parts."

After not receiving an answer she continued. "If you think I'm scared you're wrong," she called out with no response yet again. She growled in irritation and began fiercely walking towards the dark passage with a frown on her face. She took a deep breath before the darkness swallowed her whole.

Everything in her body was telling her to stop but her determination kept her going. Every step became heavier and heavier until she eventually stopped. She felt like she had been walking for ages. She turned the way she came, however, there was no sign of light anymore. The only things that were accompanying her were the drops of water, the sound of her footsteps and burbling that caught her attention especially. Due to her eyes now being adjusted to the dark she managed to gain one last bit of courage and head even deeper.

She kept on walking and the sound became louder and louder. Next thing she knew a dim light crept its way into the passage in front of her. She quickened her pace a bit, still being careful of the slippery floor. The ground in front of her disappeared and she was left in shock. A large cavern with a waterfall forming into a river that gently flowed through a wide hole that led to the outside greeted her. She brought up her hand to her mouth as she gasped. The water combined with the light from the outside painted ever-moving streaks of blue light on the walls.

"Whoa," was all she managed, her eyes wide open.

"Boo." Myria jumped once again.

"Stop doing that," she demanded shoving Keira away.

Keira immediately reacted by shoving her back, causing Myria to lose her footing. It was as if time stopped. The realization of what she had done only hit her when she was hanging over the edge calling out her sister's name as she bounced off one of the edges before falling into the water and disappearing. Pain shot through Keira's body paralyzing her. It was as if her sister's pain got transferred onto her.

"What's wrong Keira?" Abala asked Keira. She returned home a couple of hours after they had originally left the house. Keira was breathing heavily and was struggling to get words out. She then buried her face into her mother's thigh and began crying.

"I… I… I."

"Calm down sweetie," Abala said stroking her dark hair. Keira calmed down a bit after a few moments. "Now sweetie, tell me what's wrong."

"We-we were pl-playing and Myria fell into the river," Keira managed to get out. Her mother's face immediately turned from a happy one to a face full of focus.

"Where?"

Myria reawakened feeling pain like no other before. She laid on her stomach and began coughing wildly, spitting out water with each one. Her head ached, and she was freezing – the sun had gone down and she was left alone. Out in the middle of the darkness and further down the stream she spotted a faint orange light. Most of the pain was coming from her right leg and whenever she attempted to move it even more pain shot up from it. She was too afraid to look so she began dragging herself across the muddy ground towards the light.

"Help!" she began calling out the closer she got. Her voice was shaking just as much as the rest of her body and she began feeling lightheaded. As she dragged herself ever closer to what resembled a wooden dock her calls for help were ever weaker and quieter.

Two beings appeared on the dock walking out of the tall grass. They began fishing out boxes out of the water and loading them onto a vehicle that was hidden by the grass. With the last ounce of her strength, she called for help as loud as she could before falling into unconsciousness.

Her vision bleary she saw the two forms approach her. "Is that a little girl?"

"What happened to her?" The pain and nausea made it so the voices sounded distorted, so she had to guess who was talking by the gestures they were making.

"I don't know but it doesn't look good. We should get her to camp," the more slender man said as he crouched down in front of her. "She won't make it if we leave her out here."

"You know it's not a good idea. The captain won't be happy. Maybe we should try finding her family," the other one suggested.

"We don't have time for that. We're pulling out in the next two hours. Let's get back to fishing the spice out."

"And just leave her here?" The bigger man who didn't look human said aggressively. "Do you want to have a dead girl on your conscience?"

The slander man sighed and stood up. "You know what he'll do to her," he said quietly.

"I know but it's better than leaving her to die." The larger man approached her and carefully picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder. "Get back to fishing."

Abala gathered most of the village folk and as the night fell onto the grasslands of Lah'mu the villagers all followed Keira out of their cozy homes into the harsher and stronger winds of the night. All of them donned various fur jackets and coats to protect themselves from the cold and in their hands were various sources of light.

"It happened here." Keira led them to where the river emerged from the cave. She didn't want her mother to add on another layer of fear and anger by saying that they were in the cave when she fell. She didn't believe that her sister survived the fall but something in her head was telling her that she was alive, yet she still didn't understand why she was feeling such pain especially in her right leg. It wasn't as paralyzing as before but it still hurt.

"Let's find a safe place where we can cross," Abala recommended looking down into the deep crevice where the river flowed.

"I promise I'll find you Miri," Keira told herself.

"What did you two idiots do!?" The voices were now much clearer. Myria opened her eyes and the pain she hoped would've stopped was still there. She also noticed that she was in a small cage that looked to have been made for an animal. On her leg were a bunch of dirty rags with two sticks underneath which prevented her leg from bending.

"We're sorry Brass but we just couldn't let her die out there," the bigger man who turned out to be a Weequay said. He was so large that his frame covered the person who he was talking to who as it seemed was his boss. "You can do whatever you want with her."

"You're lucky this didn't take a lot of time which if I have to remind you again, we're running short on!" He yelled at the Weequay who cowered back a bit. "Agamar fell and the Empire is mere days if not hours away. If they catch us, we're dead."

It dawned on Myria what he had just said. 'Agamar fell.' The place where her brother was at. She gasped gaining the two men's attention.

The Weequay turned, exposing a human. His skin was dark, and his natural eyes were replaced by two cybernetic eyes. There were various metal bits connected across the various areas of his face and arms. "Well look who woke up," he said as he begun approaching the cage.

Myria fearing the man began to crawl back slowly, using mostly her hands due to her incapacitated leg but was soon stopped by the bars of the cage. He crouched down in front of the cage and looked her in the eyes. "Don't worry little girl we'll fix you right up," he said with a fiendish smile.

"Will you get me back to my family?" Myria managed to ask.

The cyborg barked out a laugh. "Of course, sweetie. We would have it no other way." And with a tap on the cage, he got up and left the dark room with his colleague. The door closed behind them and she was left in complete darkness. A few minutes later the whole room began shaking violently and the faint sound of thrusters could be heard and that's when Myria realized she wasn't going home.