Chapter 2: The Cannon on the Hilltop


The purple sky of the planet loomed over the landscape, nightfall having taken the planet in the midset of the chaos ensuring on the concrete slabs that battled to keep the wilderness from overtaking the grounds. The woman panted heavily, engaged in a full sprint as blaster fire whizzed around her body and panicked screams rang out from unknown and hidden entities. Her eyes glanced around, the occasional explosion and fires erupting on the stone giving the only visual to the war raging on around her.

She then turned her head to the north, watching on as a massive slab of concrete began to rapidly build up into the sky, beginning to take a life of its own. It's shape continued to morph out and overtake the stars in the sky, soon building into the shape of a massive cannon, pointing to an unknown source.

The woman remained frozen in her stance, the sounds and visuals of the war being completely overshadowed from the bright blue hue growing in intensity at the mouth of the massive cannon, the ground rumbling underneath her feet from its roar. But as the massive flare of light intensified to its peak, a fireball of red suddenly burst through the metal framework in the middle of the cannon, the blue light soon fading as even more red fireballs began to erupt in all facets.

The framework of the cannon began to collapse, crashing down into itself with each deafening explosion claiming the weapon's foundation below. The woman watched on, a sinister voice ringing out in her head.

"Your purpose has been served."


The woman paused for a moment, sitting in silence. Her entire vision shown only darkness, yet her steady breathing broke the silence that accompanied the void of sight.

Shifting slightly, the woman sat upright in the cot, realizing she was now awake. She glanced around for a moment, having decided to move her head in spite of her lack of vision, before her eyes immediately darted to the front of the room where light poured into her quarters from the hallway opening.

"Good morning!"

The woman stared at Jerex, watching him turn to the candle resting at the doorframe and lighting the wick, filling the front end of the room with light.

"How does your head feel by the way?"

She paused for a moment, her stare blank.

"Better..."

"Well good."

Jerex stood at the doorway instead of moving even farther into the room, however, and waved towards the door.

"C'mon, let me show you around."

The woman quietly shifted off the side of the cot, wrapping herself in the ragged brown sheets she had used for a cover in the night. She then walked on after him, bare feet lightly tapping onto the ground after the plod of his combat boots entering into the hallway.

Her eyes traveled around at the grim appearance of the stone walls around her, the small space between the surrounding walls forcing Jerex to duck his head slightly.

"You know, these tunnels were first created centuries ago as a means to hide from the very thing we find ourselves at war against now."

The woman turned her eyes to him, clutching her blanket in both hands.

"Who?"

Jerex glanced back down at her over his left shoulder, his disbelief clear in his expression.

"The Sith? You know, the evil version of what the Jedi are?"

The woman offered only silence in response, prompting Jerex to chuckle in amusement as he turned his gaze to the front while they continued to walk through the tunnel.

"I didn't think your case of memory loss was so severe. But to give you an idea, the Sith are a group of religious individuals who have the ability to perform super powered feats through something called the Force."

He glanced down slightly, frowning.

"They're ruthless individuals who believe in only increasing their power, stepping on anyone they can to lift themselves higher and higher. Centuries ago, these tunnels were created to survive and defend against the onslaught brought onto us by the will of only one Sith. Now, there's an entire Empire of them at our doorstep, and we lose more and more numbers each day."

The woman's questioning tone forced his attention once more.

"An Empire of them?"

Jerex nodded his head once.

"The galaxy is currently at war, where an entire star system of planets is at the mercy of two factions fighting for control. We had originally lived under the banner of the Republic, our people having been freed and restored thanks to the work of the Jedi. But after the Sith returned with the Empire, our world was one of the first to fall since we're located very closely to the Imperial capital homeworld."

The woman kept her attention trained on the man, her questioning tone more prevalent.

"What are the Jedi?"

The man huffed lightly, shrugging his shoulders lightly in response.

"I don't really know too much about them, to be honest with you. All I can say that'll help you understand is that they are the Republic's version of the Sith. Weilding the Force, but have different philosophical opinions on it. My father spoke highly of them, telling me how they were revered as peacekeepers and true heroes that inspire."

He glanced back over his shoulder for a moment, before turning his head back to the front with scoff.

"You know, children's stories and all that. He even told me about how Telos' underwent a restoration effort after that one Sith's destructive rampage, and the Jedi prevented a second one from completely consuming the planet."

The woman remained silent in response, her eyes landing on the door frame Jerex suddenly came to a halt in front of. He had turned around to face her, offering a warm smile.

"But enough of that. This is our medical center for the base, where we bring our wounded. It doesn't see much action, mostly because if one of our soldiers is actually wounded out in the field, it's better in most cases that they die than give our location away in a struggle to get back to our base."

Jerex nodded towards a lone man, sitting at a holoterminal in the southwest corner of the room.

"Our doctor, Kandar, can possibly help you with your case of memory loss."

She glanced into the room after his explanation, making her way past him inside silently. Jerex's eyes remained locked onto her as she advanced further in the room towards Kandar, turning on his heel and rapidly walking further down the hallway once he was satisfied that she had shifted her focus away from him.

The woman came to a halt, clutching the ragged cloth covering her body in both hands even more tightly and speaking with a soft tone.

"Excuse me...Kandar?"

Kandar perked up from his terminal, whirling around in his seat at the sound of her voice. The pale skin on the top of his head created a small glare from the light above, diverting the woman's attention for a moment. He looked over her once before breaking out into a wide smile, opening his arms out slightly.

"Ah good! You're up and moving about!"

He then dropped his arms down into his lap, maintaining his warm and happy appearance.

"I am, indeed, Kandar and it's good to finally meet you. Jerex told me you have a little bit of a memory problem, is that correct?"

The woman nodded her head once.

"Yes, that's right."

Kandar rubbed his chin, humming to himself.

"Is there anything you can recall about your past? A name, family, what you ate for dinner the night before you crashed her on planet? Anything?"

"No."

Kandar nodded his head once, slowly rising up to his feet with a heavy sigh.

"Alright, let's go ahead and run a few tests to see if we can jog your memory a bit."

He then reached out, taking the cloth the woman clutched onto in his hands.

"Let's go ahead and get rid of this old, dirty sheet..."

Kandar pulled the cloth off her body smoothly, bundling up the brown sheet in his hands and tossing it close to his chair. His eyes widened once they landed back on her body, the woman stared back blankly at him.

"Oh my...Jerex didn't...get you any clothe-Let me go find you some clothes."

He quickly hopped into a fast paced walk, darting towards the back of the room towards a large storage closet on the opposite wall of the room, ducking his head inside and digging into the materials in search of a patient robe. The woman followed him with her eyes, keeping her blank stare and sitting down on top of a padded cot hanging off the wall behind her, completely nude without the blanket.


"Enjoying the view?"

A small, Chiss man huffed lightly in shock at the sound of Jerex's voice, turning his attention away from the monitor the covered the entire medical bay and whirling around in his seat to face towards the man stepping into the room, watching him move up to the command table in the center of the room full of terminals lining the walls. He stood still at the opposite end, facing towards three men gathered across from him. The first, standing in the middle of the trio, was a Mirialan with black hair buzzed and yellow eyes that narrowed heavily at Jerex.

"At least he's keeping an eye on her, Jerex. You feel comfortable leaving that Sith with Kandar alone like that?"

Jerex nodded his head once.

"I do. She isn't going to make her ploy yet, you know it as well as I do."

The man to the right of the Mirialan, another Chiss male with light blue skin, frowned heavily.

"I still don't understand why you are bent on keeping this Sith around. What do you hope to benefit from someone that is trying to find a way into our ranks and looking for a weakness of ours to exploit?"

The dark skinned human to the left of the Mirialan nodded in agreement.

"We're taking a huge chance following your lead on this one Jerex, and right now, I also don't see a point in entertaining this ruse that the Sith is currently playing on us. There is no benefit we gain from following along with this Sith's ploy that we could've gained over killing her in her sleep."

His eyes narrowed slightly.

"Unless you actually believe this fairy tale that is being forced onto us."

Jerex nodded his head.

"I understand your concern, and believe me, I know she's merely trying to dupe us. But look-"

He pointed towards the monitor across the room, making his way up to the screen and brushing past the operative who had been studying the monitor.

"Come over here and look at her eyes."

The three men remained still, the Mirialan's tone impatient.

"Just tell us what you're on about Jerex."

Jerex glanced back to the three from the monitor, his expression stern.

"She's got that look in her eyes, not of fear and confusion. But guilt...her guilt is the key."

The three men offered no response, watching Jerex with narrowed eyes as he continued.

"Just give me a little more time with her. She thinks she's playing us, but believe me when I tell you that I can change her. She's clearly distraught over what she may have done, and I can see that she has regrets over coming here to destroy us from the inside."

Jerex smiled.

"And then, if all goes well, we'll have the power of a Sith on our side. Nothing is greater than to turn an enemy you turn to your cause."

"And what if you fail, hmm? What happens then?"

Jerex's smiled dropped, shrugging his shoulders lightly.

"Then we kill her in her sleep, just as you suggested."