The Jedi exile stared out the Ebon Hawk's viewport, her deep blue eyes unfocused. It was easy to tell the Arkanian Offshoot's mind was far away from the ship was currently sitting in, but it was impossible to tell where her mind was wondering. She hadn't exactly been the same since everything had happened and her life's course had been forever altered. Then again, she hadn't expected everything to be the same. After everything she had found out and everything she had been told, there hadn't been a doubt in her mind what she was going to do. That didn't make it any less easy though.
A quiet beeping jerked the young woman out of her thoughts and she stood up in a graceful movement, spinning around as her hand fell to her newly constructed double-bladed orange lightsaber. While she missed the familiar glow of her viridian and silver blades, she had figured out back on Dantooine that it was time for a change. Yet another piece of her had died that day back with her husband, and she didn't need any more reminders of her failing. If only she had gotten there sooner or managed to convince him or been strong enough to stop…no. She needed to stop. Those thoughts served no purpose but to weaken her and she knew it. The time for mourning and grieving had passed. She had things to do now that didn't include any of the now deceased Jedi masters. All she could do was hope that her hastily trained crew of Jedi would be strong enough to handle the new Jedi Order.
"What is it T3?" The exile questioned, brushing her pale white hair out of her face. She really should get it cut soon, but she wasn't exactly aware of any place to get her hair cut in the Unknown Regions. That wasn't exactly a business that was advertised out here. She could always cut it off with her lightsaber, but whatever was left of her vanity wouldn't let her do that. It wasn't like she had anyone else left in the universe to impress, but she couldn't help it.
The droid beeped at her a few more times and she nodded, understanding what the noises had meant. She reached up with hollow movements and pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail, letting her bangs fall messily into her face. At least it kept most of her hair out of her face in the event of a fight. And that was an event that was fairly common out here. She quickly ordered T3-M4 to awaken HK-47 from her rest cycle as she calmly walked away from her empty room to the cockpit. She tried to ignore the pang of regret as she sat in the seat that had usually always been occupied by the Sith-turned-scoundrel-turned-Jedi Atton. Although their relationship had started on rocky terms at best, they had become friends and she missed him dearly. But then again, she missed everyone that had been on her crew so much it hurt. She still had the droids with her, but it just wasn't the same.
"This is Loridan, capital city of Nyverin. Your arrival was not scheduled today. Please confirm who you are," A voice ordered and the exile sat down in the pilot's chair, flipping on the comm.
"This is…" The exile paused, wondering if she should use her real name or one of her several fake names. "Tyla Moore, captain of the Ebon Hawk. I'm asking permission to land. I have business in Loridan," She explained, leaning back in the chair. She knew that her assumed name and the name of her ship were famous in the Outer Rim, but she figured nobody would really know of her or the ship in the Unknown Regions. And if anybody did happen to know her, then she would burn that bridge when she got there. She had grown more comfortable with her true name of Rhai'liah and it would be hard to go by the name Tyla again, but she would have to deal until she finished what she needed to do on Loridan. The person on the other end of the communication channel was silent for a few moments before she heard a click.
"You are clear for landing Miss Moore. Please land in docking bay 238. We hope your stay in Loridan is enjoyable," The man said before he clicked off. Sighing in relief, the exile easily piloted the ship through Loridan's air traffic before safely landing in her assigned docking bay.
"Query: Master, will other meatbags be referring to you as Rhai'liah, Tyla, or Kiana on this trip?" HK questioned and Rhai'liah sighed. She really wished that she could go ahead and go by Rhai'liah instead of Tyla, but she wasn't quite ready for people to start knowing her real name yet. Not when she had never heard anyone call her that besides the witch Kreia. Tyla was a safer name for now anyway.
"Tyla, HK. And please refrain from killing anyone unless I order it. Although Loridan is known for not being very strict on their criminals, I don't want to cause a scene if it isn't needed," Rhai'liah explained. She didn't let HK respond as she went back to the room she had once shared with Visas and Mira, trying to ignore the memories that had been created in this room. They had all been such good friends before she had left them behind. Mira had called her crazy and that she should just stay and help rebuild the order, but she hadn't listened. She had known what needed to be done, despite how much it hurt to do it.
The Offshoot bent down and dug through the footlocker she kept on the floor at the end of her bed. It contained a few different outfits she had collected over her journey and she laid each and every one out on the floor, trying to figure out which one she should wear. There were three different Jedi robes and she threw them back into the footlocker immediately. Wearing Jedi robes out here probably wasn't the best idea. There was the skin tight body suit that had been given to her as a gift, but she also tossed that back into the locker. She wasn't going to wear that. Not when she knew who had given it to her. The only two outfits left were the armor she had worn during the Mandalorian War and the dress she had worn in exile.
Her war armor was more protective but it was also more easily recognizable. It didn't look like it would be that protective, but as always, looks were deceiving. Most of the outfit was made of strong leather armor that allowed her freedom of movement as well. The slight low-cutness of the outfit made no sense to Tyla, but Revan had been the one to get the armor for her and Revan's whims were always a mystery to her. The leather wrapped around the top half of her body, leaving her arms and neck exposed. Her stomach was also left exposed, but this was on Tyla's own request. Having tight material over her stomach would make it harder to move. Yes, she sacrificed protection, but she always relied more on speed anyway.
The pants were tight leather armor as well, and her boots went all the way up to half way up her thigh. Gloves also protected her hands and her arms all the way up to her elbow. Dark red accents were everywhere, contrasting perfectly with her snow white skin and hair. It was a beautiful set of armor, but she really did love the outfit she had worn in exile.
The white dress was much shorter than she usually wore, stopping several inches above her knees. There was also a slit on both sides that ran up to her hip, revealing a little bit more of her snow white skin. The dress was outlined in gold around the bottom sections and went up the slits until changing direction and going into the main section of the dress to swirl about and cause a beautifully entrancing effect. The section that covered her chest was made of golden armor, protecting that area of her well. The dark brown gauntlets that came with it went all the way up to her elbow, protecting her forearms perfectly. Her white boots had sections of gold armor on them and the boots themselves went up to her knees, leaving most of her leg protected. It wasn't quite as protective as her war armor, but she had designed and built this armor herself so it held a special place in her heart.
After looking at both sets of armor, she finally decided on her exiled outfit. She slipped the war armor back into the footlocker and took off her normal clothes. She wouldn't need them while she was on Loridan, and if she did need clothes she would just purchase new ones. Of all the things in the universe, she was least lacking on money. After equipping her armor she reached down and grabbed the gold collar, locking it around her neck and letting the attached jeweled necklace fall to her throat and chest. The collar was good at not only protecting her neck, but also hiding the nasty scar she had on her neck from where one of the many people she had fought had tried to kill her. Quickly remembering her lightsaber, she latched a gold belt around her waist and slid it inside the conveniently lightsaber-shaped pouch she just happened to have. Nobody had questioned her about it yet, so hopefully her luck wouldn't run out yet.
Turning around, she went over to her weapons chest and opened it, looking inside. Her old lightsabers were in there and she tried not to wince when she looked at them. Those were reminders of a past long gone now and she had no need of them. She only kept them around for foolish sentimental reasons now days anyway. She carefully avoided touching the lightsabers and instead went to her custom made twin blaster pistols. They were highly and illegally modified, but they had come in handy during the days she hadn't had her Force powers and needed to attack something from range. She never had been a fan of blasters, but she had to admit they got the job done. Rhai'liah hooked those onto her belt and then grabbed her custom made twin vibroblades.
The craftsmanship was truly beautiful and both blades deserved more attention than she gave them, but she preferred her lightsaber. Both blades were totally unique to her and only her, but they were twins of each other. The handle was tipped with a single, onyx stone that glinted dangerously in the light. The blade itself was curved ever-so-slightly at the end to give it an extra-deadly whip that sliced through bodies as easily as a knife through thin cheese. The tang itself was covered by a dark, swirling design that caught the eye and was a good distraction for the easily amused. The exile slid the weapons onto her belt and turned to her bed, grabbing the double-bladed vibrosword that was resting against the wall. One could never have too many weapons on them. She strapped that weapon onto her back and sighed, finally deciding she was ready.
T3 beeped at her a few more times impatiently and Rhai'liah rolled her eyes, ignoring the little droid. It wasn't like they were on a time limit or something. As far as she knew, she had all the time in the universe to go find Revan and see what had happened to her older sister. If she didn't have a lot of time, then the universe was screwed. Revan was good at covering up her tracks. It had taken her months just to find out about Nyverin.
Shaking her head, Rhai'liah stepped out of the room and hit the button to the loading ramp and T3 and HK approached her. She turned to face her loyal droids before speaking. As much as she liked having the droids as backup in bad situations, she had a bad feeling that something bad would happen if she didn't leave them behind.
"I'm heading out there by myself this time. Guard the Hawk and make sure nobody tries to steal the ship. I should be back within the week. If I'm not, you know what to do," Rhai'liah explained, turning around and walking off the ship before either droid could respond. She loved both of them, but they could get very annoying. Before she even got a chance to look around the new city she had entered, a voice stopped her.
"Tyla Kian Moore! You are under arrest!"
Anything familiar belongs to LucasArts/Bioware/Obsidian. Tyla Moore/Kiana Shale belongs to Shadows of the Storm.
Destiny of Shadow © Shadows of the Storm