Sometime in the fourth year of the Border Wars...
"General! They've broken-"
A blaster shot burned through the soldier's chest as he crumpled against the crude wooden door. The Jedi Knight in charge of the operation, Zykira, barely had time to react to his demise before more shots were fired her way. Each one bounced off into the wall of what had been her conference hall, planning room and sleeping quarters for two weeks. It was humid, cold, and now on the verge of being overwhelmed by Imperial troopers.
The scene outside was as grim as expected. Her platoon consisted of just over thirty Republic peacekeeping troops. Imperial numbers doubled that easily. Normally that would not be much of an issue, as she could deal with such a force in any number of ways with ease. And yet, she was experiencing an overwhelming sense of danger
"Defensive positions! Beware flanking! Let me engage the front line!"
The sweat of fear was running down her face, matting her black curls down further. It was no longer just the frustrating perspiration that came with the humidity. Something very wrong indeed. The platoon dropship was some distance away. She couldn't go there to request reinforcements herself, and there was a high chance any trooper she sent would be ambushed or worse.
A bad presence was lingering, and she would be facing it alone.
She wasn't waiting long at all for the presence to reveal herself, as it turned out.
The sight was impossible to not recognize based on stories told by those who had witnessed her terrifying power. Battles across the galaxy, turned in an instant by her arrival. Many helpless victims falling to her blade. A horrifying amount of them were Jedi like herself.
"A single Jedi, hm?"
The laughter that came had a faint distortion to it, repeated through whatever vocalizer the mask contained. A purple lightsaber blade was extended out towards her foe, directing most of the blaster fire away from herself when it came.
It was a brief onslaught as the Republic troops also came to the realization Zykira had. They were abysmally outmatched by the presence alone of the White Terror.
"Good, I'm not in a particularly slaughterful mood today." She strode across the firing zone directly towards her opponent.
Zykira's delay had been to make peace with the gods of her homeworld, and with the Force itself, before she raised her blade for what would obviously be a heroic demise. She would not let herself be taken prisoner. "Leave my soldiers, and this village alone."
The demand amused Kiarna immensely, another laugh coming from behind her mask. Her right hand went to her hip, while the left let her blade dip down to the ground, burning the tips off some grass blades with a small hiss.
"Let's not waste time here, Jedi. You're far too young to go out like this, and I have no interest in harming the villagers or your soldiers if they co-operate."
Her hand flicked up in an order for her own troops to hold position as she came within a few metres of Zykira. She had already seen a pair of Republic soldiers moving to attack her from behind, and was currently observing the gestures Zykira herself was making with her fingers. More likely than not committing final words to a nearby holo-recording in Jedi sign.
When the defensive posture was maintained, Kiarna gave a small shrug. "That was my fair warning." Her right hand flicked out straight, yanking the soldier about to attack in her direction. With a swift movement of her arm, his forward motion brought his neck flying against the lightsaber blade.
"Pull that trigger and you'll have a much worse fate." To maintain the illusion, she slowly turned her head to where the other soldier was waiting in ambush. She was in deep shock from just how effortlessly the other had been dispatched.
Sweat was still running down Zykira's face as she held her blade high. So far, the reality was indeed living up to the stories. She didn't want to feel afraid, terrified even. She had heard all too often that fear and pain were known to fuel the White Terror's power. And yet, even with that in mind and years of training, it was damn near impossible to contain the first of those in herself.
The second of which she was convinced was right around the corner. "Stand down, everyone." Her jaws began to throb at just how hard they were being clenched. At any moment, they could be wiped out along with her. That was the reality she didn't want to witness.
Kiarna twisted her head back in a smooth motion. "Smart move." Her right hand motioned for her own troops to advance again, quickly sweeping into the village and disarming all of their Republic counterparts.
Once they were all under control, she motioned for them to be taken elsewhere. "Find a good hall, keep it well guarded. The rest can attend to our real prisoner here."
At that, she deactivated her own lightsaber and placed it back on her belt. Seeing that Zykira was not going to be so cooperative, she shrugged again with more of a gesture from her hands. "Come now, this is not how surrender works."
"No tricks, Sith. You didn't include me in your little speech back then." Seeing Kiarna tilt her head, she took a cautious step backwards. Her hands were starting to tremble. "I won't surrender. I know what you, your master, and your fellow sorcerers have done to other Jedi. Not me."
Beneath the mask, Kiarna's lips twisted just a little.
"Funny you should say that…"
In an equally quick motion, she drew her lightsaber back out and activated it mid swing. The very tip of the blade swung over Zykira's, gorging right across her eye line and instantly rendering her blind.
While she collapsed to the ground in agony, dropping her own lightsaber in the process, Kiarna crouched down beside her. "That worked quite well on Rilana'Arani. I think I'll make it a signature mark of sorts, something to remember me by."
She motioned for two of her troopers to pick the fallen Jedi up, who was still clasping at her face and sobbing incessantly. Her lightsaber returned to her belt yet again, Zykira's own weapon half sunken into the mud.
"Bring her to whatever qualifies as the marketplace of this village. And tell the others to politely ask the villagers to gather there as well." Once Zykira was back on her feet, Kiarna lightly took hold of her muddied chin beneath her clenched hands. "The problem with you Jedi is that you overthink things. You had many opportunities to strike first, except you were too busy trying to reassure yourself that you were in the right."
Mud was kicked onto her previously pristine coat in response, to which she shrugged again. "You haven't been trained that well at all. Kicking mud around like a child. I think you needed a lesson in how the real world works."
"Fuck you!"
"Trooper, break her left arm. Below the elbow."
Another wail of pain echoed out in the wake of the sickening crack. She fell to her knees again for a moment before being hauled up again by the pair.
"We're done for the moment. Secure her with the resin bonds, ensure she's guarded well. I'll be along shortly."
She waited there while the troopers carried her off, bending down for a moment to brush the mud off her coat and holding it out so that the light drizzle would do the rest.
It had already inspired quite a lot for her to say to the village, on top of everything else seen so far. A shining example of everything her master had described about the Republic's failings as a whole.
After enough time had passed, she casually walked through the village towards where the people themselves had gathered. A convenient raised platform of stone blocks overlooked them, which she promptly climbed onto and began to pace along. Zykira was brought up and restrained in the area just behind her.
"Now that you're all here, I can finally lay out the terms that you have time enough to discuss amongst yourselves."
She turned her head slowly to ensure that they assumed she was looking over the crowd. "We know this village maintains a mine of lightsaber crystals with a very specific formation pattern to them. Put simply, the Empire has other uses for them, and thus we have come with a proposal."
"Anything she says will be a lie! Don't trust her!"
Kiarna motioned her hand again. The thud of a hard punch being applied to Zykira's gut punctuated her silence rather effectively.
"She's still bitter about the eyes, and the arm too I suppose."
Her ethereal view of the crowd continued to move across them all. She was watching very closely for any sign that one of them was going to attempt an attack.
"I've looked over this village. Twenty six soldiers and a Jedi Knight to protect a mudheap? The Republic has technology that it quite literally disposes of on an hourly basis, and yet I've seen no sign that they have ever thought to share it with you. Is the convenience of fresh water, proper medical care and even standard education for your children too much to ask of the Jedi who should be so grateful to you all?"
"She's… lying…"
Kiarna turned on her heel and lashed her right hand out towards Zykira. Her left drew her lightsaber once more, activating it while she slowly pried open the Jedi's mouth.
"Interrupt me one more time and I'll disintegrate your tongue as well." She levelled the purple blade directly at her now open mouth. "Understood?"
There was no small amount of struggling before Zykira finally relented, her head hanging low in defeat.
"Better." She twisted back around and sheathed her lightsaber yet again. "My offer to you all is this. The Empire is fully prepared to provide you with all the supplies you need, as well as contracted labour to help with repairs, construction, and upgrading the sorry state of the infrastructure of your village in whatever way you choose. We will also provide a well trained physician to assist your current healer, and access to the information resources of over a dozen worlds."
Beneath her mask formed a faint smile.
"Or, you can continue to cling to the Republic, to the Jedi, and I proceed to hunt down and behead anyone I catch as you all flee the burning remains of the village, while the Empire strip mines the region. That is the price of siding with our enemy after all."
She could hear the familiar sound of whimpering spreading through the crowd. What she could make out of their expressions told enough. Fear was only part of what would drive them to accept her offer. The laughable reality was that she really was giving them the better deal after all.
"An Imperial quartermaster will be arriving within the next day. Give him your answer, and the Empire shall proceed accordingly. In the meantime…"
Her wandering gaze finally came across a child within the crowd. At that moment, he was kneeling down in what very clearly looked like a bow in her direction.
"Move aside." She hopped down from the raised section and strode towards the crowd in the direction of the child. Many villagers moved away in growing fear, and those who didn't she forced out of her way with a gesture.
When it became clear who she was headed for, the boy's apparent father fell to his knees in terror over what he assumed was about to happen. "Lord Kiarna, whatever gesture my son made to draw your ire, please overlook it. He's barely eight years of age."
Kiarna turned her head to him in a feigned quizzical look, before turning it back to the boy now at her feet. "The only offence I take is the fact that you are both on your knees. I don't appreciate the misguided notion that I need to be reminded of my superiority."
There was yet more whimpering when she crouched down. A faint sob to her left started up when she extended her hand out to the boy's face, lightly touching his chin to encourage him to look up. When he finally did so, her hidden smile grew a little more.
"Why are you down here on the ground? You're very young to be taking up meditation, and much as I would approve of such activity, doing so in the middle of my speech is hardly polite."
The boy gazed at her, his grey eyes fixated onto her mask. While she didn't realize it at first, it eventually became apparent that they had something in common. She couldn't let that little fact out though of course.
"Jedi say I can't meditate. Say I'm not trained. I'm not right for Jedi." The boy began to sit back up, and eventually stand, his hand fumbling around for support as he did so.
It was Kiarna's gloved hand that he eventually took hold of. By then, she had discerned that it was far more than just blindness in the physical sense that they had in common.
Once more she turned her head to the boy's father, and then looked around for his mother. "You should be glad I came. The Jedi would have brainwashed your son into following their dogma when they realized he has a connection with the Force. More specifically, the side I hail from."
The anguish that it caused in both parents forced her to chuckle. It was actually quite the find, locating such a young mind with a clear focus towards the dark side. Given his surroundings, and his lack of vision, it wasn't hard to guess where his anger and bitterness was drawn from.
"I'll have a Sith instructor sent here as well to appraise his skill. I'd recommend you allow him to be trained. Wouldn't want other children to meet with an unfortunate accident around him after all." Her hand moved up to his shoulder momentarily before slipping away as she finally turned back around to leave the crowd again.
Once up on the platform, she gave a few discrete orders to one of her troopers before making a final address. "As I made clear, I came here to lay out what the Empire is prepared to offer. Already, we have ample supplies ready to be handed out within the hour as a gesture of our intent. My troops will remain here until the quartermaster arrives. You can attend to your former guardian and her own soldiers as you please until they leave. Just know that my forces have orders to shoot anyone who attempts insurgency. I suggest you make use of the grace period we offer."
Before stepping down again, she motioned for the trooper commander to join her aside, making another glance at Zykira while she did so. "Keep a close eye on her. A potential recruit for later corruption isn't worth holding back on appropriate punishment. If she causes too much trouble, use your judgement and act accordingly. In this you have my authority."
"Understood ma'am. Anything else?"
Once more, Kiarna smiled in her own hidden way.
"Introduce yourself and the others to the village. If all goes well, you could be staying here longer if wanted. Just ensure that we don't end up with new parents in our ranks."
A small scoff came from the commander as he nodded in that joking manner. "They've had the talk alright, I'll give a refresh tonight. Pleasure to serve, Lord Kiarna."
"There will be hourly check-ins from my return to the fleet. As you were."
The walk back to her ship was brief thanks to Mirrin's foresight prompting her to reland it much closer to the village. One of the attending droids took the moment to cleanse her coat and boots of the mud as soon as she stepped onto the ramp. Another waited just inside to relay the usual reports.
"Geological surveys have uncovered at least three more potential mining sites for exploitation. Another village has been pacified, four more wiped out for acts of insurrection. Darth Lasidia has requested a personal audience this evening. General Morgak wishes to conduct a debriefing of the decisive battle and troop deployments upon your return. Silent has requested handpicked subjects for his next line of research by yours truly."
By then, Kiarna had taken her seat beside Mirrin, who was already preparing for a proper launch off the planet itself. A single gesture was all she needed to give in approval to continue.
"Darth Lasidia knows I wouldn't willingly miss our evenings together. Inform the General that I will attend that debriefing an hour after my return, and no sooner. And remind Silent that he needs to be more specific about what he wants. I saw plenty of degenerate humans with a very poor sense of self-worth, so unless he wanted disposable subjects…"
"Understood. Messages will be relayed immediately."
While the droid shuffled off to descend to the main deck, Kiarna slowly turned in her chair to physically face Mirrin. "No problems with bold Republic soldiers I take it?"
"None master."
"Good. I'd hate to be told that there are scorch marks on the ship." She twisted her chair back around, then slowly let herself recline back in it with a softer sigh. "Mirrin, what does it look like from orbit?"
Mirrin glanced up from the control systems very briefly, still solemn in her expression as she always was.
"Grey, brown, dark green and blue. A bleak world. Depressing I believe is the best way to describe it."
Kiarna smirked at that, lifting her freshly cleaned boots up onto an empty section of the control panel before her. "Maybe I'll come back sometime. Sounds suitably dreary for brooding."
As always, there was a small row of troopers standing to attention in preparation for the Vastes as it came to rest on the flight deck. The other side was lined by Kiarna's maintenance crew, and a few random officers that would give the more routine reports from across the galaxy for her to think about during her walk.
As always, she strode past them with her head forward constantly, listening to every word said and filing it away for later thought.
The first thing to actually catch her attention was Vale Runon at the airlock ahead of her. From the look of it, he was waiting for someone else to arrive, but still paid notice to her presence as she approached.
"Lord Kiarna, looking pristine as ever. Don't let me keep you from recuperation."
Kiarna stopped in her walk anyway, the four troopers escorting her coming to a half immediately after. Only then did she turn her head towards him.
"I trust the Herald of Karath is in one piece. Losing the Revenant Dawn at Mandalore was bad enough…"
Vale brushed the shoulder piece of his heavily armoured suit off with a small smirk. "Naryan was a fool. I have no intention of letting pride get in the way of sensibility. No, my presence here is actually to meet with some strategists from our recent conquests in the Corva Sector. Your concern and trust is appreciated in any case."
"I'm sure it is, Vale…"
She returned to the forward position and proceeded onward. At the end of the corridor, the escorting guards moved to either side as they always did, leaving her to continue on through the ship alone.
Her quarters were located on the command level of the tower towards the centre. Unlike Lasidia and the others, she had no need for a window after all. Indeed, few things at all were present in the space she called her home when not living on the Vastes. The room itself was lined with racks of lightsabers from previous battles, and more waiting for the battles yet to come. In the middle remained a solitary mat that she knelt on when meditating for rest. It was well insulated from the hum of day to day operations, and empty enough to keep her from any distraction that could arise during the quiet moments.
Her destination was the secondary room, where the necessary facilities for maintaining her pristine hygiene were located. There, she slowly undressed, the gloves slipping off her extremely pale hands, followed by the long coat and vest beneath to leave her in a singular form fitting suit of white.
It was there that she paused in the routine exercise to undo the cord binding her hair together. Normally she would ask two handmaidens to attend to her from that moment, ensuring what had been described as sandy coloured locks were cleaned and tied back again to precision.
Something had touched her inner being, and she soon concluded it was directly related to the blind boy. Just a frail human with an unfortunate defect as far as everyone else was concerned. And so far lacking in the benefits that her own species enjoyed from abandoning an otherwise frivolous sense.
An opportunity to explore the other side of things. Potential just waiting to be unlocked. The perfect place to start with an apprentice.
"A boy from the middle of nowhere, rising to the Right Hand of the Empress…"
In a silent motion, she reached up to the seam of her mask just in front of her ears and detached it from her face. Cool air rushed in over her facial skin for just a moment before settling into stillness again.
For the first time in a long while, she could hear her natural voice.
"Such potential indeed…"
As always, Lasidia was already kneeling in the place she always took, back towards the stars outside. Her solitary lekku barely touching against her knee, eyes closed in deep thought.
Kiarna was already removing her boots to kneel down opposite her when the eyes opened at last, slowly lifting up towards her masked face.
"You did well today, Kiarna. A little surprising to see you let the Jedi go, but I certainly understand the sheer lack of satisfaction she would have given."
A simple gesture of her crimson fingers set some nearby incense rods alight. While the aroma began to emerge, she reached out and took the young Miraluka's hands in her own.
"This blind boy you encountered…"
It brought the slightest of sigh's on for Kiarna. She knew that exact tone of voice, what it meant. First and foremost was that she was now expected to remain silent while her master spoke, no matter what.
"Your power is exceeding that of some Jedi Masters now. You have learned so many ways of the dark side, forms of combat. Passing on your knowledge is part of the journey to claiming the throne yes, but I do not believe this boy is suitable."
She took a small breath, letting the faintest hints of the incense awaken her larger connection to the Force.
"His darkness comes from the feeble teasing of other children. Their village lives in squallor, dripfed by Republic trinkets and rations. There is no determination to be moulded. His inner anger would flicker out within days, and I doubt there is even a hint of loathing to be found."
A small hiss passed through her now clenched teeth. There was more to it than she wanted to share at first, but Kiarna was clearly expecting every answer she could give.
"He cannot be made to hate. Despite what you may think, he has already begun to grasp the gift of sight. He thinks you are beautiful, even without knowing what lies beneath the mask. Following either through lust, desire, or the mere appreciation of a form is not how any apprentice should come to serve their master."
The thought made Kiarna choke a bit. "Lust? His parents said he is no older than eight." The small outburst did indicate to her that she was not going to be scolded for speaking up again, thus she began her case at last.
"A motivation to grow in power from his age is not necessary. I can bend his will to mine unwaveringly. Send him out into the galaxy to retrieve the artifacts of our predecessors, the dark side will corrupt him towards a fulfilling purpose soon enough. And even if he falls too far he could never hope to match my own power."
Lasidia just shook her head slowly for a few moments, her gaze moving back down to the space between them. "I do not see this potential in him. But, you are more than capable of learning these things from experience now. And, perhaps I might yet be proven wrong."
She breathed out at last in a long, quiet manner. Calm as ever, the fire of her anger burning away silently within. "We needn't discuss the matter further. This battle has been won, and the next has dawned on the horizon."
"I stay my blade, waiting for the moment to strike."
"Before you stands your enemies."
"They see me, fear in their hearts."
"Courage tells them to strike out. Fell the White Terror, and the Sith fall."
"Fell ten Jedi, ten more will return in their stead."
"Fear tells them to flee in terror, to throw themselves at the ground in a plea for mercy from the Force itself."
"There is none to be given. They have chosen their path, and those who will not stand by their choices are worthless to me."
"Anger tells them to become ruthless in turn. You are not to be treated as a valiant enemy, but as an animal to be destroyed."
"They fall because they hide from the truth. They fail to master their own nature."
"Hatred tells them to loathe you as they limp away from the battlefield. So many have fallen by your blade, and yet they lived. You showed power over them."
"I decide who lives and who dies by my hand. They submit to my choice when they face me."
"In suffering, they find despair. They have fallen from the Code. By your presence alone, you have undone everything they believed about themselves. They have become nothing."
"Kiarna!"
What had otherwise been a pleasantly quiet three weeks was now being sharply interrupted by the bellows of Morgak as he strode across the deck towards her. For once, he seemed to have zero concern for who else was watching. Especially bold given the verbal dressing down to a Sith Lord was already dangerous enough in private.
It was with that line of bemused thinking that she turned to him, hands on her hips. "Lord Kiarna for starters. Now I assume you have a perfectly good reason for not calling me to a private meeting for this, aside from wanting witnesses about."
While she couldn't tell for herself, a red twinge had crossed his scowling face.
"Thirty elite troopers dead! There are four Jedi Masters in that village of yours right now, sent to wipe out those good men because of you!"
A small sigh was her only audible reaction as she reached up to the side of her head. "I don't have to explain myself, General. I gave the village a clear warning, and I saw no reason to waste time piling up Republic bodies when my troopers had other things to do."
"My troopers Kiarna!" Morgak glanced at the slowly forming crowd, causing some of them to disperse again awkwardly. When his glare returned to Kiarna, it was as menacing as it had ever been. "The bodies now being piled up are those of people loyal until death to the Empire. You should have stayed there and protected them as is your unsworn duty."
The sigh became a scoff, Kiarna giving a rather belated shrug as her posture relaxed further.
"They died letting me know who I'm up against. Undoubtedly they'll expect me to return, but they won't be ready I assure you."
She made no small gesture about shoving past, her stride now more determined at last.
"If it's piles of Republic bodies you want, I'll give you just that."
On her way back to the ship, she took the arm of a nearby colonel in a manner that indicated he was to walk alongside her.
"Gather your forces, and some of the other colonels as well. It seems we need to re-secure a planet of interest. I want a perimeter established around one village in particular, the details will be laid out on the way."
As if the world itself was attempting to reject her presence again, a downpour had occurred just hours before Kiarna landed on the planet again. This time she made no pretence about hiding her presence. The Vastes was first on the ground just outside the perimeter she had described earlier, while several dropships marked out the other points of it for an effective encirclement of the place.
The first thing she noticed when crossing the muck was the lack of Republic soldiers firing at her. A quick look through the village itself revealed nothing. But then, Jedi Masters would know how to protect themselves from being spotted out so easily. Even if they didn't know how natural her gift was.
"Four."
She approached the outer perimeter of the village itself, marked by what had been the start of new groundwork.
"You didn't send enough. I've killed a lot more than just four Masters in one battle."
Still nothing at the threshold of the village square. People were huddled in their homes, terrified of her return. If the Jedi were among them, they were knowingly resisting the impulse to spread calm.
"Hiding in the shadows, seems like more of a Sith tactic to employ. I don't expect any of you to fight fairly of course. It's impossible after all, you can't win a fair fight when you've already been outmatched by one woman."
"It is also a Sith tactic to vastly exaggerate their odds."
A tall man ascended to the platform she had stood on previously. On closer inspection, she made out the shape of small horns. Yet another Zabrak.
"I'm hardly exaggerating though, nor am I lying. My speech to this village was sincere. They broke the terms, and now they will face the outcome."
The Jedi activated his lightsaber, raising it up into a defensive position. Already she could tell that he actually knew how to wield it effectively.
"Terrorizing defenceless people after mutilating their guardian is not a contract to begin with."
"Oh, that sorry excuse for a Jedi was the guardian here? I think I actually did your kind a favour by teaching her humility…"
Two more of the Jedi revealed themselves to her vastly extended vision at that moment. A Kel-Dor woman from the alleyway over her left shoulder, blade in hand, looking to catch her off guard. On her right, a bustling human with a heavy plasma cannon, apparently working under the assumption that the projectiles would be too large to deflect.
Her smile became a grin.
Ankles twisting into the mud, she launched herself right at the Zabrak with a pose looking to stab over his raised blade. As expected, his posture shifted to deflect her lightsaber away while also catching her in a Force grip in that window of exposure.
At the moment their blades clashed, her right hand made contact with his chest.
The yell of excruciating pain that followed caused the other two Jedi to falter momentarily. Lightning was arcing off everywhere from his body, flowing directly from Kiarna's fingertips as she cackled away in unnatural delight at his pain.
It was time enough for her to circle around after finding her footing and shove him off the platform in a hard motion. Almost immediately after, the Kel Dor leaped up to clash blades with her instead, employing a very rapid attack form to keep her distracted while the other charged his weapon.
She needed an opening to extend her mask's protection around herself, a difficult matter with the impressive resilience her current opponent was showing. A distraction was needed.
"A Jedi with a cannon. How quaint."
Their blades locked again. Her hand went in for another direct shock to the chest…
…only to find her wrist being grabbed and violently twisted back on itself. The blades came dangerously close to her neck in the moment that she was forced to a knee. Every muscle in her right arm was straining heavily, barely holding on to the threshold of tearing.
"Yield before I break your arm!"
In a desperate moment, she twisted her fingertips around to spray lighting right into the Kel Dor's mask. Several small jolts ran right back down through the arm into her own wrist, causing a spasm that in turn made her muscles tear at last. The laughter mixed in with cries of her own anguish.
There was just enough strength, and raw determination left in her to grab the Jedi by her robes and hurl her in the path of the incoming plasma discharge. Her uncontrollable urge to laugh hysterically was all she needed to know that the blast had been successfully blocked.
She didn't even have time to see if the woman now slumped beside her had survived the blast as she shoved herself back up and leapt down from the platform again. Despite the friendly fire, her remaining assailant was already preparing another shot.
"I'm ready this time!"
Her mask began to glow red in time with the green core of energy forming inside the cannon barrel. Right arm limp against her side, left arm crossed over her chest to hold her lightsaber defensively. The irony that she was now the one to take that pose was not lost on her in that moment.
"I don't think you are White Terror!"
Her perception of energy was enough to determine that the flash of light made by the plasma discharge would blind the gunner to her position for a fraction of a second. In that last instant, her mask spread the shield over her form, while her left hand regripped her lightsaber and tossed it right over the beam at his head.
The heat from the blast seared her body for a moment, deflecting all around to flash bake the mud into coarse dirt. Her blade was lodged inside the Jedi's face, having made a clean penetration through.
All she needed to hear was the rolling thud that ended in a thick splash to know he was done for good. At last, she could take a moment to breathe.
A hand yanked her back over in a sharp tug. In the confusion, she had failed to notice the Zabrak scrambling through the mud behind her. And now she was left on her back, with his lightsaber pointed directly at her heart.
"You killed two good people this day. No more-"
From across the square came a blaster shot that caught him in the shoulder. The distraction was enough for her to gesture at her lightsaber, letting it fling from the mud and impale him right through the stomach.
"You were saying?"
Once more she pushed herself off the ground in a fluid motion, using the movement to drive the lightsaber through his spine. As he fell to his knees in turn, having now lost all control of them, she pulled hard to bring her lightsaber back up through his chest until it swung free at last.
Her breathing was fierce when she finally sheathed her lightsaber, letting it return to her belt while she looked to the captain that had fired the saving shot. Even as she approached, her right arm still swinging by her side in agonizing pain, she could feel the nervousness radiating off him. As if he was afraid she'd strike him down just to hide her weakness.
Instead, she clasped his shoulder with her good arm.
"Thank you, Captain Rasters."
"My deepest honour to assist the Sith." The show of appreciation was quick in relieving him of his apprehension. "I came to inform you that the perimeter is secured, and troops are ready to move in on the village."
Kiarna gave a small nod as her hand fell away. "Get everyone out here. Children included." She took a deeper breath while glancing around the village yet again. "Four Jedi Masters?"
Rasters gave a small nod at that, soon noticing there were three bodies. "That is what the quartermaster reported before his death."
"I don't doubt his final words… Something isn't right…"
The final echoes of her joyful lust for pain faded altogether, leaving her to wince at her arm as she walked back to the square. Her legs, back and hair were coated in mud, but this time she had no remark to make about her perceived appearance. The pain was making her angry, above all else at herself for allowing such an injury to befall her. A simple mistake that would be rectified in an hour of treatment. But a mistake nonetheless
Troopers soon flooded the village, shoving the occupants out into the open, some being physically thrown out in haste. Soon enough, what appeared to be the entirety was once again herded out in front of the platform.
This time, all of her charm and soft manner was gone.
"I warned you all! I gave you all a chance to serve the Empire willingly and be spared this devastation that I will bring upon you and your children! We will strip every last exploitable resource from this world! We will have retribution for the lives lost to the Jedi this day! And those of you who survive my lust for blood will have the rest of your existence to contemplate your mistakes in the worst kinds of slavery!"
She raised her arm to the commanding trooper beside Rasters. "You have thirty seconds to run to the perimeter! Anyone I catch will suffer and die! Go!"
Screams began to run through the crowd as they tried to escape the village through the muddy streets, troopers readying their arms, while Kiarna herself activated her lightsaber once more in preparation to further threaten the crowd.
After counting to fifteen in her head, she nodded to the commander and sheathed her weapon yet again. "You and your men are free to shoot them down without mercy. I know where the last Jedi is waiting."
While he and the troopers under him dispersed, Kiarna got down from the platform and stood in the middle of the square, looking to Rasters at last.
"Move out of sight. Keep your blaster ready."
"Yes ma'am."
While he did so, the first sounds of blaster fire and more screaming began ringing out from beyond the village. Too far for her to feel the compulsion to laugh, which is exactly how she wanted it.
"Get out here Jedi!"
The door of one of the nearby buildings swung open, two troopers dead on the floor made visible. Out from the dark came Zykira, holding her lightsaber to the blind boy's throat.
"Now we all have something in common, Azera Vass."
Kiarna's left hand clenched into a fist at that moment. It was very hard indeed to conceal the sheer amount of emotions hitting her at that moment, not least of which was utter shock.
"Taking a little boy hostage is not the Jedi way you bitch."
This time it was Zykira's turn to laugh. It sounded rather forced in the sense of making it appear as if her mind had snapped. There was a definite layer of deception to it.
"I'm about to be kicked out of the Jedi because of you. Oh no, I represent some other people now." Her nails began digging into the boy's shoulder sharply, causing him to whimper a little.
All Kiarna could think of at that moment was learning as much as she could. Anyone who knew enough to identify her without any revelation from herself was a threat she had to deal with.
"Cut the crap already. If you're looking for a rematch, you've got one, because quite frankly I've had enough of fighting Jedi today and I want this dealt with quickly."
Zykira laughed again, the pain burning in where her eyes had been urging her to continue. Whispering the words to say.
"The False One is on the move. She is searching for her mate. They say that her mate is blind to the world, but all-seeing in the Force. All they have to do is kill her mate, and it all comes crumbling down…"
"I don't deal in prophecy and other superstitious crap, or the mating rituals of others. You let that boy go, or I remove your limbs one inch at a time."
A small hiss came as Zykira lowered her own thumb into the lightsaber. While her smile remained, it was now entirely forced to prevent her from screaming. Of course, Kiarna had no way of knowing that for herself.
"You opened my mind to the sight of the Force. You made me a target for the False One, Azera. I won't fall into her trap. I cannot fall into her tra-"
Her plea was cut short by an intense lightning bolt fired straight through her heart from Kiarna's fingertips.
As the Jedi fell, so too did the boy.
The implant on his chest installed by the Imperial physician just a day earlier was known to Kiarna. There to improve the circulation through his body, as had been explained in the report given. It was a problem that could be healed altogether in a few years with regular treatment, provided the implant was kept functional in the meantime.
By the time she had knelt down by his side, left glove removed so that she could rest her hand on his chest, the damage had been done through and through. Just as it had happened earlier, the jolt had passed from her target into another
"Such potential indeed. Squandered by the ravings of a mad Jedi. By my own arrogance in singling you out to her…"
She held onto his hand until the last moment, listening to his soft whisperings despite not being able to discern anything. Zykira had been killed instantly by the attack at least, leaving her without solid answers, but also without regret.
When the small hand slipped from her own, she sighed to herself and stood back up, slowly making her way around the corner to where he was waiting.
"Captain Rasters, round up anyone you find, collect our dead, and have them return to the fleet. I want this entire village bombarded from orbit. Leave the villagers and the Jedi as they are."
"Yes ma'am."
All he could do was watch her leave in silence, almost too afraid to ask if he should have taken a second shot without orders. Too afraid to even think about learning the name of the future Empress, and what consequences that held for them all.
Terrified to ponder on who the False One was supposed to be...