Chapter 1

INVERSE


TEAL MIST AND SMOKE swim in the invisible currents of a sea-green night sky. Embers float within these currents while sparks shoot through them. These sparks burst from a red ship floating down... trailed by smoke. But it wasn't shot down by blaster fire. Like this one, blaster fire bounces off other red ships, but they fall when hit by electromagnetic pulse-bombs shot by Rebellion ships.

The Inverse Sea—the murky teal sky of this moon-sized planet—is filled with dozens of malfunctioning Imperial ships floating to the charcoal soil. Most of the ship's crews await their capture from Rebellion ground troops, but some of the crew rush to their cargo with blasters. When Rebellion troops open the doors to these cargo bays, shots fire from the center of high-pitched screams. Screams of shabby uniformed children. The oldest—preteens—shoot with the Imperial crew, only in confusion and fear of the Rebel enemies; anything to make these strangers stop shooting at their crew's living crying shields: their younger friends held by their hair.

|•| ‹•› |•|

Among the pitch-black clay of this planet, two specks of flesh seem to float above it in the distance, bobbing towards the red sparks. The specks appear to avoid the chaos of the main shipyard and speed up to reach a private ship away from the Rebellion fleet.

A Rebel scout spots the specks a few meters away, but at the split-second of recognizing them as faces, he's slammed unconscious into a tree by an invisible force. The two faces continue their float through the darkness, unaffected. Red sparks flashing nearby reveal black clothing covering every inch of the face's bodies; one decorative, one simple. Both were dressed for active roles in skirmishes, but more-so the simple one.

Though making good speed, the two harbor no fear or alarm, despite the sounds of death and destruction just beyond the hill. The older one however solemnly contains his anger over leaving his establishment to the Rebel scum.

The simple one speaks with a well-carried female voice, "You're not using your blond pet this time? Or have you still not solved the mysteries of your toy?" adding a hint of good-natured sarcasm.

The decorative one's aged voice replies, "Self-appointed-Darth: Cicatrice (sik-uh-tris), is no longer my ally—self-appointed ally, the pious narcissist. He continues to make attempts at stealing my possessions—including her—to fuel his efforts to take my place as Emperor. Yesterday marked a day of desperate measures, otherwise I would not be employing you to kill him. Before he converts you too, as I'm sure you could be..."

This was the first she had heard of this assignment, but her lack of reaction was as if she already knew. Her silence served as his favorite acknowledgment: servile and aware.

He adds, "And you're no more my toy than I am yours."

Her whole face smiles. She uses a tone as if speaking to a retirement-home resident, "Is that a joke? You old man. Since, when, do, you, joke."

His face winces as if burned by the gleam of her smile, "Blazen."

Her face quickly returns to the emotionless of before, "Sorry lord. I do it just to piss you off. I figure it helps strengthen your Dark powers."

"We both know you do it for more reasons than that."

|•| ‹•› |•|

"LANDING SECURE! MOVE IT OUT!" commands a Rebellion captain into his comlink, focusing on the massive cargo bay doors of a Rebellion ship. He lowers his blaster to command surrounding troops, flinging his whole arm with utmost urgency.

With a clunk and hiss, the bay doors open to reveal three men each rolling out a single-manned mini-cannon on wheels fit for rough terrain. Behind them, four armored bodyguards surround Lieutenant Leia Organa storming out to join the battalion. The captain waves his men to hand her and her men red shields they took from local guards. Dozens of them. The stern captain nearly beams with delight. Suddenly, with these shields, thousands of his men will be saved, as will millions of credits in repairs and medics. He couldn't be happier with their new treasures, yet still feels the urgency of danger at hand.

Leia says, "These are the P.E.R.C Shields? They're huge," weary of taking one without it pulling her down with its presumed weight.

"Oh yes, but they're very lightweight," tossing one to her.

She catches, "Ah, oh. Well—"

"It's the P and the R of the coating's acronym: the plasma and red-mercury. And we just pronounce it Perk."

Noticing it looks made of tinted glass, she says, "Oh wow, and—"

"Indeed. Nearly transparent too. The two combined allow for such a thin—nearly invisible—coating, yet it still reflects blaster fire—of all types. Everything red here like the ships has the same Perk coating. Even the red Imperial guards. But if that Darth Sacrifus uses that electricity you spoke of, then you'll be had."

After they discuss the more urgent matters of the campaign, she looks around to the horizon, scanning for hidden clearings where a ship might escape. In one such direction, she closes her eyes and calms...

The noises around fade to nothing...

The distant spaces between trees and lampposts become a thin chill on her skin from her Force essence...

The presence of three distant troops becomes a nearly real coldness, flowing into her...

She feels a sudden hot singe thrust through the air, pushing troops into a ravine...

And beyond them, she feels the essence of a searing body walking alongside a cool one. Bingo. She had found her second objective. A Sith Lord.

Leia commands seven men to follow her: the men with cannons and her bodyguards. But only these seven men. She had tried to kill the lord before, so she came prepared with artillery that she hoped his power couldn't stop. Blasters and swarms of men were long-proven as pointless and useless deaths, but their honorable deaths had at least proven his power. She would have bombed the tiny planet from the stars, but he always kept himself among his particular troops that were considered unkillable by both Rebellion laws and stray morals alike: innocent children.

Following a rugged path, Leia's small group trudges closer to an industrial tunnel entrance. Leia points to two white specks poking behind a corner and tells her bodyguards to get ready while the cannons and drivers stay back.

"Come out with your hands up! You're outnumbered," she commands.

They come out, one behind the other. The first one has his hands up, the second—he shoots—hits Leia's red shield—four shots hit the first stormtrooper—Leia's hand locks onto the second's mind—"Drop it!" she orders. It only partially works, so she reluctantly closes her eyes and repeats "Drop it" with more emotional control over the Force. He drops his blaster and the closest bodyguard kicks his shin to knock him on his knees. "Open this door," she commands his mind again. He starts to move, but stops, so, "Open this door," she orders again, and he fully obeys.

"Good work," a bodyguard says, "You're getting better."

Sighing, "Thanks, let's go."

And they enter the tunnel.

.

A ship in a small forest clearing opens its door and a red Imperial guard comes out.

"Get inside, we're waiting," the Sith Lord tells the guard. Turning to the woman, "I sense the Rebel Princess coming."

The woman turns with her Lord to wait.

.

Leia exits the tunnel behind her guards with the cannons behind her. They see a lit platform far ahead with two silhouettes backlit between darkened trees and the lightened ship.

After a quick moment with her eyes closed, "That's him! Number 1, aim and fire! NOW!"

"Can't get a clear shot, hitting ship instead!"

A bright green streak trails an iron ball flying into the end of the ship, just past the silhouettes. The Lord's hood flies off and his beaded necklace hula-hoops around his neck from the draft while he shows a sobering surprise, mildly so. The ship's end explodes and two Imperial guards race out. The woman only straitens, hand ready on her hip, awaiting anything.

"Keep moving!" Leia commands.

They race to the waiting figures and the Imperials open fire, able to command precision between the trees from their stable position. Leia's guards however shoot aimlessly while trotting with the cannons, hiding behind their shields.

A yellow beam flashes, blocking a shot inches from hitting an Imperial. Whoosh, again, another blocked. The woman deflects shots with a yellow-bladed lightsaber, holding it by a perpendicular handle like a nightstick.

"Get closer!" the Lord commands. "Kill them before the cannons get in range. Blazen, stay."

The Imperials rush up to shoot closer, but the red shields of Leia's team absorbs the shots. A cannon shoots through the trees, hitting the last bunch, making way for a second shot that hits just before the Imperials, blasting them into unconsciousness.

The Lord puts his hood back on to cover his eyes, and focuses on Leia's troops.

"Careful, Defense One! He has range!" Leia warns her bodyguards. "Single file!"

Her guards form a staggered line, allowing all of them to continue shooting while hopefully the Lord can only take out the first, therefore the troops would know where to stop outside his range. But with the woman whipping away all shots, would he just wait until they were all in range to take them all out at once?

"We're nearly clear Lieutenant!"

"Defense One, switch positions with Artillery One, now!"

The bodyguards slow to allow the cannons to lead.

The Lord focuses further.

The trees become thinner.

The yellow blade whips shots until—

click zwoom clackity clackity clack clack clack

—the perpendicular handle clicked to rotate and stop at her back, black necklace beads clacking on the steel platform, rolling towards the troops, along with the Lord's head, body hitting the floor.

The woman holds her position allowing the Rebels to clearly see what just happened.

Leia yells "STOP!" nearly shrieking it, nearly horror struck, unable to comprehend what just happened.

"Rebel Princess Leia!" the distant woman shouts, "My name is Terigo of the Light of Audinic. I have been secretly working against the Sith religion and wish to join your cause." She had sheathed her lightsaber and placed it gently at her feet, then raises her arms over her head.

Mouth gaping and panting, Leia stands bewildered. Her blaster droops but she stays ready to shoot. "J—" panting out thoughts, "Stay, there! Don't move! Kick your lightsaber as far away as possible!" Then Leia speaks into her comlink, "Captain Sel, Objective 2 has been accomplished, as far as I can tell, but I need back up. Send two squads. Fast."

.

After a long discussion with her Captain over what to do, Leia sends a man of one squad to kick the lightsaber further away, so it couldn't be activated with the Force or possibly explode from a hidden bomb. Leia approaches the woman with a squad of men surrounding them both, keeping their distance, blasters aimed. They confirm the dismembered head is truly the Sith Lord. Leia notices the woman stands strong but that her face is soft, unlike any Dark Side user. The woman continues to keep her arms over her head and wears a subtle, pleased smile as Leia speaks to her from a distance. Throughout the following discussion, the woman's voice remains a motherly pitch, soft and comforting.

Leia says, "What was your name again?"

"Terigo..."

"Ah..."

"Of the Light of Audinic."

Leia becomes partially distracted by thoughts. "...I've never heard of such a place—or religion, whatever it is..."

"We are... were a small but powerful planet and had cut off ties to the galaxy about a century ago. But our Visionaries foresaw our planet's destruction, from a ray of some kind. The ray was from the Empire and Sith religion as I've found out" —and her expression and tone drop dead to say— "when they succeeded."

Something in Leia's chest wrenched. Her heart. Knowing what losing her home feels like. The sadness and empathy eased some of her concern. "So..." again distracted by internal focus, "How long have you been a Sith Apprentice?"

"I wasn't exactly an apprentice yet. I was taken by Sith Lord Darth Sacrifus to be groomed as one," nodding to the prune-like head on the ground. "I went along so I could prevent my home from being destroyed by taking out the threat, and destroying the Sith."

Leia pauses to focus even deeper, not in herself, but in the woman. Leia was trying to pay more attention to her instincts—the Force—rather than the woman's body language, but both were revealing that the woman was telling the truth.

Aside from the woman's eyes looking sane and full of thoughts, there was this unusual warmth in her. It was flowing through her body like Alderaan's summer breeze, something Leia had forgotten until now. Before the Lord's death, the woman's presence had seemed cool and solid. But was that just distance giving an inaccurate reading? But Darth Sacrifus' presence had always felt the same... Both of the woman's sensations were drastically different than the searing that Leia felt from the Sith Lord. Leia stood without direction. She didn't know what this difference was. She only had Luke to compare to, who was anywhere between cool and hot at times. And Luke had said she felt between cool and pleasantly warm at times. Maybe every Force user has their own signature, or range, or what? But this warm, peaceful feeling... Could it be a mind trick? But I know what it feels like when Luke showed me where in my mind. But the feeling was so very inviting...

And Leia felt some other energy flow in and out of her own body, her own mind especially. It wasn't Leia's Force extension, No, it must be this woman. Of course it would be. And the woman's smile had grown gradually, as if what she felt in Leia comforted her. With the smile and warmth, it felt mildly like when Luke hugged her. The love of siblings.

"Well..." Leia forces out a sigh. "You can come with us, until we can investigate you further. Squad 12, keep her surrounded and 100 feet ahead of me. Squad 7, keep around me. Let's head back—you can put your arms down now."

The woman does, but was looking to her lightsaber, or where it would be, hidden in the shadows. Leia follows her gaze and contemplates whether to give it back now or—

The woman speaks, "May I ask you to hold onto it for a while? I can't right now."

"Your lig... Yes. Why."

"My arms are numb," her genuinely friendly smile grew from finding it a little humorous, yet half the smile was forced due to ache. "They've been up for some time."

"...Sorry." Then turning to one of her men, "Go grab it, it's over there. It's a metal rod-looking thing. And carry it far ahead of us."

The woman raises her voice so everyone can hear, "I'm going to shake my arms to return blood to them, so don't be alarmed by the quick movements."

Leia watches anyhow, more in admiration than concern, but certainly both.

.

Back at the main shipyard, Leia asks the guards to keep the woman surrounded with their new cargo: orphan trainees of Darth Sacrifus. This way, the woman could be fed when the orphans are.

A few hundred feet away, Leia speaks with her Captain, unable to take her eyes off the black-clothed but otherwise pleasant looking woman.

"I still don't know," Leia says, such worry in her sigh. "I can only imagine she could still be a spy or assassin from another Sith Lord, or that maybe she intends to kill leaders among us too to appease for apprenticeship of other Lords. Luke says the different religious sects never get along and hold grudges towards each other."

"I have a Plasma Carriage I can put her in for the trip back," he says, dismissively confident.

The woman sits at eye level to some of the more patient and scared of the hungry children. She scans all of them while food is passed out. As the rest swarm over to the distributor, she ducks out of view to greet a crying one behind her, a pre-teen trembling with a blaster he was hiding in his uniform.

Further in their discussion, Leia says, "I have access to Luke's channel too. It'll be quicker if I—"

—Zzzt thud—

Everyone turns their head to the sound, near the woman and child.

The woman turns to Leia with the same tender smile of those whose hearts were warmed by giving food to the children. Her eyes were unalarmed. Sane. Focused. With detailed thoughts behind them.

It took a moment for the men to point their blasters at her. Now Leia and the Captain see why.

The woman stands over the child on the floor, his chest steaming, and she drops his blaster from her hand.

As Leia's gaze stiffens and horror grows throughout every inch of her, the woman's expression also becomes grave, as if feeling Leia's horror, realizing she must have done something terribly wrong in their eyes...

Leia flings her hand out to the woman's head and commands, "Drop to your knees and don't move!"

Leia stops her own tension to calm herself to try again, knowing her Force command couldn't possibly have worked with so much anger and fear—couldn't possibly on a Jedi—"Drop to—"

But the woman obeys... calmly, and solemnly putting her hands up once more...