Disclaimer: This humble author takes no belief of ownership of the aforementioned copyrighted materials and characters presented in the following text. All preexisting characters, events, locations and background are property of their true owners (Lucas Arts). Further no proceeds will be made of the following work of fiction.
Whew, safe.
Dissecting the Dark
II
Shaak Ti let the Force envelop her essence completely, becoming one with the all powerful bindings that held the universe together. It was a humbling experience and no matter how many times she had gone through this same process she was left wondering at the sheer magnitude of it. The whole planet seemed to resonate with a vast and wild energy, a web of interconnected life just teeming with physic potential. It was why she had come to the world to recover after the horrors of the great betrayal. Due to the unique nature of the Force on the planet, Felucia was the perfect place for a wanted force sensitives like herself and her two students to hide from the all seeing eyes of the empire. The task of maintaining the balance of the force swamped planet and the equally sensitive natives was just an extra bonus. Sensing a presence first through the force and then through her montrals the ex-Jedi master smiled as she sensed the approach of the stealthier of her two students.
"Maris, what troubles bring you to disturb your master today?" the red skinned Togruta serenely asked, not bothering to turn around or open her eyes.
If the young female Zabrak warrior felt any surprise at her master's ability to sense her approach, she did not voice it. "Master, Ahsoka and I, we're concerned. We've both felt the shifting of a new presence, something like we've never felt before. Something dark..." Her tone changed from neutral to worried to scared and Shaak Ti couldn't help but feel sympathy for her quiet student.
She had found Maris Brood years ago, alone and afraid drifting on her former master's abandoned star ship. What had exactly happened to him, Shaak had never been able to completely ascertain, only that he had been killed by Darth Vader while searching for other remnants of the shattered Jedi Order. What kind of master goes and leaves his emotionally unstable Padawan behind she didn't know, but since the man was long dead there was no use faulting him any longer.
However at times she would silently curse the man for leaving Maris like she did. When she had found her she had been obsessed with revenge against the Dark Lord of the Sith and irrational hatred had been slowly driving her into the embrace of madness. Seeing such violent tendencies as indications of a slow descent into the tempting confines of a Dark Side prison, Shaak Ti had taken the young woman under her wing and brought her with Ahsoka when the three of them traveled to Felucia. From there it had been a steady uphill battle to reign in the dark side of Maris' soul but the elder Togruta could proudly say she was happy with the direction that her fair skinned pupil was heading. Although she couldn't foresee what would happen if her erstwhile student was faced with any more loss. Such things would probably not be pretty.
Maris on the hand saw the situation a totally different way. While grateful for her current masters help in training and guiding her, she yet still burned with a secret desire to take revenge on the bastard of a man who took her original master Ki Duntt from her. 'Maybe then the nightmares will finally stop.'
Shaak Ti felt the momentary imbalance in her padawan's aura and she fought the need to smirk. After fourteen years together there was very little her two young students could manage to hide from their master's keen eye and although Maris attempted to be much more secretive than the outgoing Ahsoka, when she was hurting her exposed mind still sang the same old tune. "Maris how many times have I cautioned you about the pitfalls associated with the quest for revenge and the ultimate fate of those controlled by their anger?" she chided.
Maris however didn't feel like receiving a lecture at this moment, something she had found over and over again in the past to be a favorite activity of her master. So instead she quickly attempted to divert the conversation to the previous topic. "Master!" she hissed between clenched teeth. "This presence we've noticed has been growing stronger with each hour! What the frak are we gonna do about it? Are we just going to sit and do nothing!"
Shaak Ti winced noticeably at her students use of foul language and the spike of anger that coincided with it. "Patience my young student we will take care of the problem if and when it arrives, but until then; calm yourself and prepare. All will be well." To add weight to this statement she broke from her meditation and stood, looking down on her dark clothed student and fixing her with her most reassuring smile. However not impressed, Maris snorted and turned to leave.
"As you wish my 'master'." the sarcastic tone of her voice was not lost on the mature Togruta and she knew the younger woman was angry at her for taking a more direct action to the approaching menace. For a minute Shaak Ti watched the Zabrak stalk off angrily into the thick undergrowth before turning back around and gracefully resuming her lotus position.
She had foreseen this presence's coming long before she was able to detect it, she already knew how this would end. Precognition was a times both a blessing and a curse, she knew what destiny had in store but at the same time just knowing the inevitable before it became so to be so was enough to drive a lesser mind to madness. Thank the force she had enough will to see this through.
A gentle smile formed itself on her grayish lips as she sat back down and slipped back into a meditative state. "What might be and what will be will always come to pass, only in the end of all things can one look back and say which was which."
Maris crashed through the thick undergrowth that threatened to choke the path back to the village. Normally she would use this sort of walk to practice her stealth, she was getting pretty good at moving silently and suppressing her force signature to minimal levels, but right now she just wanted to destroy things. Not that that really though, suppressing her aura, mattered here as the sheer presence of the force made separating one aura from the next near to impossible. But right now she didn't care about any of that.
"Stupid kiff headed old hag!" She cursed and viciously kicked a lone pitcher plant that had decided to drift over her intended path. The pustule covered plant exploded with the impact and the Zabrak cursed as her leg was covered in sticky white sap.
Finally she reached the village, which in reality was a squalid little collection of huts set in a rough semi-circle shaped clearing in the middle of the jungle. As usual there was none of the so called Jungle Felucians there to greet her, they seemed to avoid her when at all possible. According to master it had something to do with her rough presence in the Force and since all of the plant-people were sensitive to such things they generally stayed away. Not that she minded. 'Nasty plant-people, all tentacles and teeth. Slimy.' she shuddered as she thought of the indigenous inhabitants brought on a wave of disgust. If they weren't so Force damned important to her master she would have been perfectly fine with destroying every last one of the mendicant minded mutants.
As she approached the house she shared with Ahsoka and her master she took in it's countenance with a sigh. 'Well at least we have the privilege of owning a shack that has a roof and a door.' she admitted and true enough that alone set it apart from the other village inhabitants who seemed more than content to rut around on the bare dirt like wild animals. 'Frakkin plant-people!'
As she lifted the latch to their dwelling and stepped inside she threw her dark hood back and gratefully exposed her pale white skin, dark black braided hair and red vestigial forehead horns. 'Force I hate this planet!' she moaned. Sure it was great if you were like her master or her friend Ahsoka, their Togruta physiology and darker skin soaking up the planets intense ultra-violet light like it was nothing. But no, set her out there with her pale skin and she'd be sporting an intensely painful sunburn within the hour. As it was she was forced to wear her heavy cloak and hood outside which made life intensely miserable as she was always hot and sticky with sweat. If only she had been able to procure this "sun-screen" Ahsoka had told her about but unfortunately their trips to Kway Teo (the largest city 'Hmp, more like a town' on the planet) were few and far in between in order to avoid detection by the Imperial garrison and when the time finally came she would always forget.
Hanging her cloak up on a small rack designed just for that purpose, she slipped off her shoes and headed to her room. This had always been enforced by her master which was strange because like most Togruta she never wore shoes to begin with. Along the way she passed their primitive kitchen and the meeting/dining area. Hunting trophies seemed to covered every available space on the walls, from acklay chitin to bull gelagrub hides and even the bleached skull of a full grown rancor. Not exactly her idea of appropriate interior decorating but Master Ti and Ahsoka seemed to think it just made the place homey. 'Whatever.'
She passed through the beaded curtain that separated her living quarters from the common rooms and collapsed on her hard straw mattress with an exacerbated sigh. Why didn't Master Ti seem concerned about this ominous presence that seemed to be growing by the hour, couldn't she see that no good would come of it. Even Ahsoka with her limited scrying ability had been able to pick this threat up and if she could then pretty much anyone could. Just the fact that it could be felt through the miasma of a vortex that was the Felucian Force signature. Just that fact worried her even more
'What are you doing master? What are we going to do? We can't fight this alone I know we can't and what if it's...him.' The mere thought of meeting her arch nemesis brought Maris to a panic, but also in a strange way excited her more than she had been for a long time. It was on the desire for revenge that she had so genuinely thrown herself into improving under Master Ti' s tutelage. Darth Vader would die by her hand that was for sure, but when she was ready and on her terms. Anything other would be definite suicide and Shaak Ti's constant reminders that in vengeance she would only suffer greater wasn't helping either.
She had returned her planning on either taking a nap or meditating but neither of those seemed appealing so she decided on practicing some katas and maybe if Ahsoka was back a light spar. So she got up grabbed her cloak by the front door and then moved out the back door to the yard.
Enclosed with a stout wooden fence the yard served as both a training ground and sparring ring. Currently there was one other person utilizing the space provided and Maris couldn't help but smile as she watched her lithe friend work with her dual lightsabers blazing through her Ataru routine, effortlessly pulling off a series of acrobatic combat movements that would of put the best gymnast in the galaxy to shame. Ataru, or form IV was a type of lightsaber combat that focused on quick deadly strikes with a large amount of Force augmented acrobatic evasions. Ahsoka was also pretty good at using shien grip, a style in which the combatant holds their weapons in a reverse grip. This made these attacks harder to predict but also less powerful which was a decent trade off in her friends eyes.
Maris herself didn't specialize in any one style or form of combat as her guard shotos were more suited to hit and run tactics and defense, not having the striking power or the reach of a traditional lightsaber.
Still she had to admit that her friends form was impressive. She had changed greatly since the two had first met all those years ago, maturing from a arrogant and cocky teenager to an arrogant and cocky adult. Okay well maybe she hadn't changed that much but just seeing her friend training she was impressed with the level of skill displayed. Ahsoka had always been a physical presence and it looked as though her fighting style was finally evolving to fit her need.
Like her master Ahsoka was a Togruta, but unlike Shaak Ti with her dark red skin, her hue was light orange. She still had the normal pattern of female Togruta though, white patches around her eye and black and white stripes on her montrals and lekku. She also had baby blue eyes and was extremely proud of it. This was apparently a rare genetic strain in her species and which according to Ahsoka made her a very lucky catch for any male Togruta. Maris would always laugh at this and point out that just the fact that she was pure-blood Zabrak and still had hair was a much rarer feature and then the two would begin arguing. At that point Ahsoka's lekku would be swimming angrily and Maris' horns would tingle in rage as the two prepared for vain combat. At that point the only thing that would stop the inevitable brawl would be the sudden appearance of Master Ti or a rather larger Rancor stampede. Maris hated to admit it but she lost more time than she won, but it was close!
"Hey Spike what's up?" Ahsoka called cheerfully, not stopping her rolls to jibe at her friend. Dropping low after the successful completion of a flying back flip, Ahsoka spun both of her sabers in a 360 degree strike that would of kneecapped anyone who was standing around her. Finishing her routine and turning off her sabers; Ahsoka popped up from her kneeling position and put her arm around Maris' cloaked shoulders and leaned heavily on the smaller girl. "Careful pasty it's pretty hot out today, don't want you overheating or anything."
Maris shrugged the over-friendly Togruta off with a shove and pulled out her dual guard shotos which hissed to life their short crimson red blades spinning as she twirled the tonfa-like weapons in her hands. "We'll see who's panting in pain by the end, snake brains."
Ahsoka merely grinned at the insult and reactivated her green saber and shoto combination. The two stared each other down each waiting for the other to make the first move. The hot Felucian sun Felix beat down mercilessly on the duo of fighter and Maris watched as a single bead of sweat formed on her opponents left montral, moved slowly down past her cheek. down her lekku until it sat on the very tip of the sensitive organ. It hung there for a second and then.. plip.
In the end Maris made the first move, with a burst of Force assisted speed she closed the distance and at the same time spun her guard shotos so the deadly blades was pointing forward in her hands.
Twisting her body she aimed one of her tonfas in a quick jab like strike towards Ahsoka's chest. Without very much effort at all Ahsoka batted aside the strike with her shoto before lifting one foot in the air and gracefully pirouetting, bringing her primary weapon down in an overhead strike. Reacting to the danger, Maris raised her left tonfa and blocked the strike, the two locked plasma blades allowing the women to test their strength as they both pushed against the other. Teeth clenched and neither retreating, the gridlock lasted for another couple seconds before they both simultaneously threw another strike and ended up twice as entangled.
Ahsoka took the moment to voice a question that had been on her mind as she thrust Maris back and threw another spinning strike she asked "What did master say about that aura?"
The Zabrak turned her strike aside and launched a salvo of strikes. "She said" Maris redirected the other woman's sabers away and "not to worry." launched a high kick that connected with Ahsoka's ribs. Reacting to the strike Asoka shifted her shortened lightsaber, the shoto, to guard her injured side. Spinning to the right she switched her blade mid swing to a reverse grip and swiped at an upward angle, only to have her strike blocked again.
"Well talk about a load of drek!" Ahsoka hissed taking both blades and spinning them horizontally in a fast rotation that caused the younger woman to jump back. "We should be preparing defenses" Maris attempted to throw a few swipes but the Togruta easily batted them away "or at least planning some contingencies."
Ahsoka had been a general of the Republic Army during the Clone Wars and while she didn't like to talk about it, from the way Master Ti talked about her she was actually pretty effect as a commander. While only sixteen at the time she had managed to pick up a few things about strategy, namely always having a plan.
Sensing she had gained the advantage Ahsoka leaped into the air and rotated her body until she was spinning diagonally towards her sparring partner, a whir of blades moving too fast to see. Flashy, showy with no real purpose beside showing off her skills, it was class Ahsoka.
So rather than try and block the tornado of certain doom Maris merely rolled out of the way, while a decent combatant she was not nearly confident enough in her dueling skills to try and counter her friend's brand of lightsaber insanity. Instead she focused on barely dodging the almost lighting fast chain of strikes that her Togrutan friend was chaining together, a trend that didn't look to be slowing down any time soon. Realizing she had to break the other girls rhythm before she built up more momentum and became truly unstoppable, he looked for an opening and in the mean time simply concentrated deflected strike.
Waiting until she felt that the other student had overextended herself, Maris slid one of her guard shotos along the length of Ahsoka's primary saber, sparks shooting up as the two plasma weapons scraped each other. The Zabrak then followed the blade with the rest of her body and stepped inside the Togruta woman's guard. The blunt end of her shoto was jammed into the woman's already wounded side. While this was going on she twisted her non dominant weapon and trapped the other fighter's shoto and pulled back towards her body, causing her opponent to drop the weapon or else risk injuring herself with her own weapon. However under this assault, Ahsoka being the superior dualist merely grunted, gritted her teeth and boot kicked Maris straight in the chest with a Force enhanced foot that sent the Zabrak falling back onto her backside. Before she could recover Ahsoka placed the edge of her lightsaber up against her neck.
"Yield?" it was a question not a demand. Maris looked up to the other woman's unwavering sword and bobbed her head slightly.
"I yield." she sighed and Ahsoka squealed and clapped her hands like a little girl. Helping her friend to her feet she couldn't help but rub the victory in, just a little.
"What is that 93 to 45?"
"More like 95 to 60. And it doesn't matter I won regardless." the Zabrak grumbled. Ahsoka raised the muscles on her forehead in confusion so Maris explained herself. "That second strike to your right side, if we were fighting for real I would of speared you with the blade not the blunt end. Second you used the Force to assist that kick and we said no abilities."
Ahsoka however, to stubborn to concede, merely turned up here nose and "hmphed" then switched off her still active lightsabers, prompting Maris to do the same. If felt good to put Ahsoka in her place, more often than not it was her who was on the losing end. Ahsoka after all had trained for about 14 years under Master Ti who was a legendary duelist in her own right. And it also didn't help that her montrals gave her an unfair advantage.
Now if they dueled through the force, in a pure power on power fight, well that was a different matter entirely.
Finished now with their duel Ahsoka asked a question that was begging to be asked. "So what are we going to do about that aura?"
Maris honestly could say she didn't have the slightest idea, but their master didn't seemed worried so she wouldn't let panic get the best of her, especially in front of her friend. Looking up in the sky she felt Ahsoka placed her arm comfortingly around her shoulders.
"I don't know but with my skills and Master Ti's awesomeness there isn't anything between the three of us we can't handle!"
Maris gave her friend a conciliatory smile but deep down she was still troubled. The approaching force was unlike anything she had ever felt before and she knew that they were going to need more than confidence to defeat whatever trials lay ahead.
A/N Well in this chapter I introduce the other primary characters and set up the upcoming conflict that will happen two chappies ahead. It'll be a pretty interesting fight and will loosely follow the canon fight on Felucia but only barely. As for my Starkiller's power level, he honestly isn't going to be near to the strongest thing out there, maybe later but not definitely not right away. The guy did pull a freaking star destroyer out of the air though, pretty badass so we'll see. Oh and he won't have all those magical force powers he got in the game, just traditional canon ones. Anyways I'm probably gonna post the next chapter today sometime just have to give it a once over.
Deuces PuMe