The harsh sun spread color across the thin clouds as it rose above the horizon. The cloaked figure watched the sunrise; standing silently on a wide rock ledge between ancient, carved monuments overlooking the valley far below. She took a deep breath, releasing it in a quiet sigh as she considered what was to come. A wry smile touched the corner of the Sith's lips.
"Fitting that this would happen here." she mused to herself.
A short distance away, a small shuttle landed and she watched the ebon clad figure exit the craft. Rasilvenaira nodded to herself, knowing that the time had come. She studied the figure approaching her with a heavy heart. She had tried reaching out to her half sister, but her efforts had constantly been rejected by the more arrogant Sith. Kilishandra had made her hatred of her older half sister quite plain from the very beginning. Rasilvenaira had spent time as a slave, and to Kilishandra that made her a blight upon their shared bloodline.
Rasilvenaira had finally grown tired of avoiding her half sister's attempts to end her life, and agreed to one final confrontation. It was still her fervent hope that she could some how reach her sister, to convince the fiery young Sith that they should work together, not keep trying to kill one another. However, she also knew that if she kept trying to avoid confrontations, Kilishandra would just keep trying to have her killed. One way or another, this had to be settled, now.
"Hmph, I didn't really expect you to show up." Kilishandra's voice dripped contempt as Rasilvenaira turned to face her. The steady breeze ruffled her platinum hued hair, which formed a sharp contrast to her older sister's nearly black hair.
"And why wouldn't I? After all, you sent such a polite request to see me." Rasilvenaira's own voice was calm but the sarcasm in the statement was unmistakable.
The older Sith pushed the hood of her cloak back, and her dark eyes met her sister's icy blue glare. They were evenly matched with only an inch or two difference in height. Both adhered to their own regimen of training, which kept them lean and in top shape for fighting. Both had succeeded in rising to positions of power among the Sith. A frown flickered over Rasilvenaira's face. They had so much in common, she regretted that her younger sister refused to see it.
The angry snap-hiss of twin sabers drew her focus back to the moment as Kilishandra ignited her weapons. She sighed and pulled off her cloak.
"So eager to kill me that we can't talk first?" She let the cloak fall over a rock jutting up on the side nearby and unclipped her own saber from her belt. However, she still hesitated to ignite it immediately.
"There's nothing to talk about." Kilishandra growled.
She lunged, both sabers poised and hungry. Rasilvenaira vanished, wrapping the Force around herself, and Kilishandra's attack met only empty air. The Marauder snarled and cursed.
"Damn you, stop hiding or are you truly that much of a coward?" She spun slowly around, anticipating a counter attack.
"I am not a coward, Kilishandra. You are. You refuse to consider the whole truth. Instead you act blindly like a child having tantrums. We should not be fighting one another." Rasilvenaira's voice remained steady. She knew the guise of stealth would only work for a short time, but hoped it would buy her enough time to plant the seeds. "Come on, Kilishandra. Think. You want to kill me simply because I spent time as a slave? That wasn't by birth or choice, and I doubt you would have fared any better at the age of four against raiders."
Kilishandra shook her head, "You were still a slave, and a slave should not be allowed to be Sith."
Rasilvenaira sighed deeply, and resigned herself to combat. Lashing out, she hit her sister with a blast of lightning. Kilishandra hissed in pain, but quickly channeled it to fuel her anger. She lunged at the Assassin again, and twin blades sparked and hissed as they were blocked by Rasilvenaira's saberstaff. The sisters' eyes met beneath the shower of sparks from their sabers.
"Kilishandra, I know you're smarter than that. I don't want to kill you. Can't you just stop and listen to reason?"
The younger Sith growled. "I am not here to talk." She pulled her blades free of the lock and renewed her attack.
Rasilvenaira's jaws tightened as she realized the futility of trying to change her sister's mind. Finally, she turned her full attention to the fight, twisting just in time to avoid the vicious black-green blades. Her own deep violet blade hummed as she spun the staff around in a sweep for Kilishandra's exposed flank.
At the far edge of her awareness, Rasilvenaira noticed as she turned, that in the valley below, their confrontation was drawing the attention of fresh young acolytes. Another near miss forced her on the defensive momentarily. From that moment on, they were both completely focused on one another.
The sisters' were well matched in skill as well as physical abilities. Their rhythm of attack and counter attack so in synch that neither was able to gain any ground. Their battle became a beautiful but deadly dance, each keenly aware that the moment they did make a mistake it would be over. Minutes stretched into hours but neither Sith seemed to notice the passage of time.
It wasn't until the brutal heat of Korriban's midday sun started sapping their endurance that either faltered. Kilishandra lunged forward at her sister again, and Rasilvenaira sidestepped, using the Force to push her sister off balance. Kilishandra found herself too close to the edge of the rock ledge, and her foot slipped off. In the split instant that Rasilvenaira realized her sister was falling, she reached out with the Force and caught Kilishandra, pulling her back up on the ledge.
She reached over and clasped Kilishandra's hand in hers and saw the disbelief in her sister's ice colored eyes.
"Why?" The Marauder demanded, still trying to regain her breath.
Rasilvenaira tilted her head, "Oh come on, Kili. Open your eyes. For all that we may be different, we are still sisters, whether you want to accept it or not. I've never wanted to harm you, much less kill you. We need to be working together, not fighting. That is what's wrong with the Empire."
Kilishandra sighed, shaking off her sister's hand and struggled to regain some semblance of her former composure. "What do you mean by that?"
Rasilvenaira frowned. "Take a look around you. Half the members of the Dark Council are plotting against each other, or against the Emperor himself. Even among the military, moffs and admirals seek their own agendas for personal glory. All that accomplishes is weakening the Empire while the Republic continues to grow in strength. If things don't change, Kili, there won't be an Empire left to fight for."
The fatigue of the fight finally caught up with her, and as the adrenaline from her near fatal fall drained away, Kilishandra sank down to the sun baked reddish rock beneath her. Rasilvenaira knelt down beside her, feeling her equal share of fatigue now that there had been a pause in the fighting. Her sister looked over at her, and she hoped that Kilishandra would truly consider what she had said.
Kilishandra remained silent for a long moment. She thought over what Rasilvenaira had said, and as much as she hated to admit it, she knew her sister was right. She had seen first hand enough betrayal and backstabbing among the Sith to deny the truth any longer. The Empire was indeed tearing itself apart.
She sighed deeply, "So what happens now?"
Rasilvenaira reached over and put a hand on her shoulder. "If you're done with trying to kill me, then I say we start working together. If we pool our combined resources then I think we can begin finding others who are willing to work toward the same goal. We have to save the Empire from itself first before we can even dream of defeating the Republic. We need to be careful of course, there are too many ambitious Sith who would see us as nothing but threats to their own plans."
Kilishandra nodded, and the pair stood, dusting themselves off. "Alright." She glanced back over the edge of the ledge, and then back to Rasilvenaira. "Thank you."
Rasilvenaira smiled and nodded, "You're welcome. Let's go see if we can find your sabers."