Leo'Ren threw the saber hilt back into the box, disgusted.
"Whatever game you are trying is not going to happen!" he growled under his breath and turned his attention to the reason of his visit. With all the business in order, his eyes glared a brighter gold when he glanced at the box, a couple of hours later, and decided in one split second to take care of it before too late. He dialed the frequency that was on the bottom of the note and Darth Jassina didn't delay to answer.
"Darth Athran…I trust you have received my gift…" she saluted him right away with a humble but fake reverence, and Leo'Ren sensed the deceit in it the same instant.
"Yes I have, and I will get it right back to you. I do not need your gifts, or to be entertained by your games." His tone and body language told her right away that she had started with less than satisfactory results. She needed some damage control and fast.
"Please come see me. I apologize if the gift is not worthy enough for you, My Lord! I promise I will make it worth your while…I am at my estate, near Kaas City…" she insisted, and Leo'Ren decided to go see her and end whatever it was that she was looking to start.
"Very well. I will be there shortly," he answered and terminated the connection.
Leo'Ren knew her well, unfortunately... He knew she had tried to interfere with his uncle's business, all the rumors about her, but mostly he knew she used to be Darth Vythius's apprentice. He was familiar with what had happened years ago, when his mother killed him, after he nearly killed his father. It was not the first time he would be face to face with her either, and the first time wasn't in her favor at all. With the box secured on the speeder, he started on his way to her estate. His mind was invaded with memories again. He was still his father's apprentice and was on a mission in the depths of one of the tombs on Korriban. Darth Jassina was visiting the academy in search for an apprentice at the time and she was following closely a couple of her favorites. Even if they had different missions, Leo'Ren found himself in the same place with the other two students and felt her presence too…He got distracted and as soon as the other two went in a different direction than him, she appeared in front of him. Even if he was only about fifteen at the time, she tried to seduce him. Leo was at first flattered, then amused, but soon he understood that she was playing with him. She managed to make him lower his guard, gained his trust and bound him to one of the columns in the tomb. Her laugh resonated in his ears for hours…If it wasn't for his father worried about him not returning in spite of the late hours, he would have probably spent the night there, or be attacked by the mindless beasts roaming in the depths. Leo'Ren was ashamed for letting himself be fooled, and his father's words stayed in his mind ever since. "Deceit and danger can take many forms and shapes. Always be wary! You have to learn to sense the deceit and protect yourself against the dangers, it is called survival. No matter how old or young you are, danger will always be ready to strike, it will not wait for you grow up. The sooner you learn, the more chances to survive you will have." With his ego severely bruised, Leo'Ren learned that day to see beyond the surface, he learned that skin deep beauty is just as dangerous as any foe. Next time he saw her was minutes after the ceremony of his graduation, when he got his Sith ring. She walked to him and congratulated him, adding on the same seductive tone he was familiar with: "I hope there are no hard feelings…It was just a lesson you needed to learn…" His answer was polite and adequate: "Of course, Darth Jassina, and I thank you for it." The speeder was taking him on the wavy road to her estate, and Leo'Ren almost felt his father's presence around him. Is this a warning? Why am I remembering all this right now? I know who she is and how to deal with snakes like her! He slowed down in front of the guards at the massive gates and was let go through right away. Only a few short minutes later he stopped his speeder and reached for the box in front of the main building, her residence. Suddenly he had a strange feeling being there, he felt a faint presence he couldn't place. He looked around him while walking to the entrance. Nothing seemed unusual, just servants and slaves running around, doing their jobs, guards watching over…What exactly is it that I am sensing? he asked himself, but continued his way. As soon as he entered her home, Leo'Ren tuned to the force, he knew better than to let his guard down and advanced in the spacious room where she was waiting for him.
"Darth Athran, My Lord…" she greeted him right away while he threw the box at her feet.
"Darth Jassina," came his answer and a slight nod in her direction.
She glanced at the opened box and then looked at him with brilliant red eyes. She straightened her posture and took a couple of steps aside, inviting him to sit.
"Please My Lord, make yourself comfortable…"
"I am not here to make myself comfortable. The only reason I am here for is to tell you to stop whatever it is that you want to start. It will not work!" he insisted and cut the air in front of him with a quick movement of his gloved hand.
A servant walked in the room next and brought a tray with drinks, and refreshments bowing almost to the ground and retreating just as quickly. Before she exited the room, Darth Jassina threw a small lightning in her direction, making her scream.
"You were late…' she hissed at the poor servant that apologized and took another bow before finally running out of the room.
Leo'Ren looked at her with even more disgust. He had grown up surrounded by slaves and servants, but he never seen his parents punishing any of them, he never did it either. Their slaves were treated fairly, they were well fed, taken care of, dressed in clean uniforms, just like the servants. Their living quarters were clean and even if not luxurious, better than some places he had been sleeping.
"Your display of cruelty is disgusting."
"She is a slave! What do you expect me to do? Ask her nicely to be less lazy? You are too soft, just like everyone else! No wonder that our Empire has fallen, that Prince Arcann has taken our galaxy prisoner! I am going to change that!" she added and Leo'Ren looked at her with interest for the first time since he stepped in her house.
"And how are you going to achieve that? By being a self-proclaim empress?" he asked her, letting her know that her plans were no secret to him.
His tone, his attitude, made her reconsider her plan for a second, but she decided to go ahead anyways. After all he was a man, a Sith Lord, and power was what was driving him, she knew that much, or she thought she did.
"Yes, but I need you…" she spoke this time in a softer voice, almost seductive and Leo'Ren instinctively became careful, his senses in high alert.
"You seem to be doing all right by yourself. What do you need me for?"
Next second she came close to him, and Leo'Ren watched her turning into the seductress he knew. She was a pureblood, and even if she was a little taller than most humans, she was still about a head shorter than him. Her expensive looking dress, in shades of red and black let her red skin glow on her shoulders in the soft light of the afternoon sun. He noticed right away that she had tuned to the force and made sure he was at maximum alert.
"Would you like to long version, or the short one?" she asked him next looking into his eyes.
"The short one, I do not have all day to waste…"
"That was hurtful…What have I done to deserve it?" she insisted with the same seductive tone that was ringing all kinds of bells in his mind.
"You either get to the point or I am leaving!"
With the corner of his eye, Leo'Ren noticed the thin, discreet red clouds mixed with black forming some creeping vines, alive, moving towards him, gripping at his feet and going up his legs. The power in them was weak, he knew he could break free from them anytime he wanted. He decided to play her game for a while and find out what exactly it was she was after.
"I want you by my side…I can offer you everything you want…" she spoke while walking around him slowly, tracing a thin line over his wide chest, continuing over his arm, then across his back. He felt her long black fingernails and controlled the shiver. It was more disgust that anything else. When she finished her short walk around him and her fingers were back on his chest, he lifted her face to him. His gloved hand held her chin up, caressing the soft tendrils.
"And what could you offer me that I don't already have?" he asked her in a whisper while his eyes narrowed down to two gold slits.
"Power. Marry me and I will make you the new emperor! Me and the whole galaxy would be at your feet…"
Leo'Ren controlled his laugh, and looked at her amused.
"I do not like things at my feet…I tend to kick them."
She noticed his sarcasm, but swallowed her bruised pride and continued, convinced that she could still have a chance.
"I can still bear children…Yours…"
"Good for you, that is…admirable!" he finally found the word he looked for and then continued. "But not mine. That will never happen! Just out of curiosity, why me?"
Darth Jassina felt that she was losing control over him, not aware that she never had it, not even for one second.
"You are one of the last members of the Dark Council…With you by my side everyone will fear me, us…Besides, you are…Just what I want."
"Well…You are not! I will never marry you!" said this time Leo'Ren and started to walk towards the exit, with the red and black vines still wrapped around his body.
Darth Jassina tightened the grip of her clouds on him and Leo'Ren stopped. Laughing he turned around, and in a second he surrounded himself in his indigo, dark clouds that made hers vanish the same instant.
"You are more powerful than I thought…" she whispered, surprised and retreated a couple of steps while Leo'Ren closed the distance between them. He looked frightening, his threat obvious in his eyes.
"You have no idea…Stay away from me and my family. Is that clear?"
"If you refuse my offer, you will regret it!" she suddenly threatened him with red glowing eyes.
"Is that so?" he insisted this time grabbing her arm and lowering his head to her height.
"I am going to ruin you! You will come back and beg me…"
"If you do anything against me, if you take the slightest action against me, if you even breath against me, I am going to kill you."
His cold, calculated threat sent chills down her back. She knew he meant it, but that didn't stop her anger to surface. "You are just as arrogant as your father…"
"And you are just as weak as your old master!" growled Leo'Ren and released her arm, turning his back to her. He started again to walk towards the door when her uncontrolled anger erupted. Lighting filled the room the same instant and Leo'Ren shielded himself, turning around for the last time. His right hand extended in front of him and the same instant her body flew across the room, against the far wall. He held her pinned to that wall making sure he will not kill her even if it was tempting. Her tries to free herself were in vain, and she had to admit that she had no way in defeating him, not in a fight anyways…
"You never met him! You have no idea…" she tried to defend her old master, remembering how mad she was at him that day for favoring another one of his apprentices that went with him at the bunker, while sending her to do small errands. It was the reason she was still alive.
"My mother killed him with one shot in the middle of his forehead, a non-force user, one shot. He could not have been that great…" answered Leo'Ren with superiority.
"You are going to eat your words!" she lashed at him one more time with her eyes so bright, they could have been on fire.
"Enough!" his voice filled the room and she could taste his power, feel his restraint and control. "This is your last warning!" he added and after sending a painful shock throughout her body, Leo'Ren walked to the exit, his leather robes billowing behind him. Her body hit the floor the second he exited the room. She was in pain, her body shaking, but hate and anger was building inside her.
"You are going to pay for this…One day…" she whispered the second she heard his speeder.
Xollin had been meditating for a few hours. The feeling that something was about to happen was stronger by the minute and went to talk to his parents. He found them outside, in the garden, just sitting on a bench, his father's arm around his mother and her head resting on his shoulder. Xollin stopped for a few seconds and just looked at them. He was used to blocking their emotions since he could remember, but their image there was just as powerful and made his mind wander for a little while. He shook his head right away and approached them.
"Xollin, what is it wrong?" asked his mother first, seeing him troubled.
"I have this feeling that something is about to happen…When we left Belsavis it felt somehow final," he answered and sat in the grass in front of them.
"Perhaps it's all the commotion with Arria and Leo'Ren's birthdays…" Xander tried to take his mind away even if only for a short time.
Arria showed up that moment and dropped in the grass beside her cousin. She looked exhausted, and Clarisse smiled at her. "Trying on dresses got you this tired?"
"I have no idea how other women do it! I am so happy with my leather suit…" she added right away making everyone smile.
"What are you talking about? You have always worn dresses…" interrupted her Xollin.
"Yeah…But I didn't have to try twenty of them in two hours!" Like always, her answer brought laughter and they just continued talking about the party that was going to be right there next day. It was going to be a small gathering this time, nothing fancy, just a few friends.
"I have to admit, I was surprised that you are not having a big party…" said Xander finally.
"We wanted to initially, but then Xollin and his bad feelings made us change our plans," explained Arria and looked at her cousin. "You still think that something is going down?"
He nodded the next second and they all heard Leo'Ren's question.
"Something else beside me killing Darth Jassina?"
They all looked at him joining them and pacing, still furious. Arria hardly contained her laugh and asked him first: "Why would you do that? I mean…She is insufferable, but…" Arria stopped in the middle of her phrase when she saw her brother's gaze, felt his anger.
"She asked me to marry her!" he finally erupted and this time Arria could not contain her laugh.
"Not funny!" he insisted and after a deep breath he told them what happened that day. All throughout his story Arria was biting her tongue and made serious efforts not to laugh again. Her brother was obviously upset, bothered by everything, and their uncle's warning didn't delay.
"Just be careful, Leo…Very careful! She can be very dangerous…"
"Then she is going to be very dead!" answered Leo'Ren right away and nobody missed his determination.
Later that night, after everyone went to their rooms, Xander found Clarisse outside, on the small terrace, looking up, at the night sky. He joined her and wrapped his arms around her body, while she let her head back, on his chest.
"What is bothering you, beautiful?" he whispered, kissing the top of her head.
"Xollin is right…I can sense it too. Something is about to happen…"
"And you are going to find the answer in that 'guardian'? he insisted noticing her stare.
Clarisse smiled and closed her eyes for a few seconds. "I can't stop wondering how everything would have been if Cleo and Marr were here, if…"
"Do not do this to yourself, Clara. You know very well that Marr believed in his vision, that he…"
"Why didn't she come back? Why did she have to die too?" she interrupted Xander with her whispered questions and tears filling her eyes.
"She did not want to live without him…Our Captain had always been a mystery for me, I never understood her, but at the end, it all made sense…"
"I miss them…So much…." This time Clarisse turned around and cried with her face hidden in his chest.
"I miss them too, beautiful…We all do."
In the opposite side of the residence, Leo'Ren stripped from his leather robes, throwing the gloves on top, followed by the pants and the heavy boots. He called Vonn right away after he pulled on a robe and as soon as he entered the room, Leo'Ren ordered him sharply:
"Burn them! I do not want to touch them ever again" and he pointed to the pile of clothes in the middle of the room.
"My Lord? "
"They are tainted. Burn them and replace them," he ordered again and rushed to take a shower. Vonn gathered the clothes and left to execute his order, knowing that he must have a reason.
Leo'Ren took his time in the shower, he felt dirty, tainted himself…The confrontation with Darth Jassina finally settling in. He was still mad at her, he hated her for years and her resurfacing and having the nerve to ask him to marry her only amplified his hate. He remembered how good it felt to throw her against the wall, how much control he needed to not kill her right then and a superior, satisfied smile appeared on his face. Knowing that he could kill her anytime felt good, almost as good as he felt when he killed all those rebels on Alderaan…He looked at his own hands and still could see the blood, taste that power, the darkness… When one of the light bulbs exploded he realized his clouds surrounded him, he was so dark and tuned to the force without even noticing. Without many preparations he went to bed, but suddenly his eyes opened wide fixating the ceiling, one question in his mind: What was it that I felt on her estate? It was definitely a force connection, and not with her…
In the early hours of the morning, Arria jumped from her bed, abruptly woken by the ring of her holo. It was just starting to get light outside, when she looked at the frequency calling, it was one of the lieutenants from Belsavis.
"Seriously? Couldn't wait? It's only five o'clock…" she muttered and reached for the insistent holo. "Yeah…" The blue image of the scared lieutenant woke her up the same instant.
"Darth Arria…We need your help, please…" he added and angled the holo so she could see his surroundings. She took in a sharp breath the same instant, Rex was lying on the grass, with almost half of his body missing. Somewhere behind them she could see in the distance one of the relay stations that were powering and shielding the 'guardians'.
"What happened? Where are you?"
"We are on Dromund Kaas…Near the relay station…Rex is…barely alive, we need help, please!"
"Send me the exact coordinates. I will be there in a few minutes. Are you safe there?" she asked while she ran out of bed to get dressed.
"Yes, for now…Please hurry!" he added and the connection was lost the same second.
To her surprise, a few minutes later when she rushed out of her room, on her way to the speeder, she met the rest of the family.
"Why are you all up? Did you get a call too?" she asked looking around confused.
"A call? What are you talking about? You didn't feel it?" asked her Xollin.
"Feel what?" was Arria's turn to ask.
"The surge in the force…It felt like a lot of people died…"
"Some did," she interrupted him quickly and told them about the call while she was still walking to the speeder.
"I am coming with you," they all heard Leo'Ren and nobody objected.
Less than twenty minutes from the call, Arria jumped off the speeder beside Rex and lieutenant Skor followed by her brother.
"Darth Athran…" he saluted quickly while Leo'Ren knelt on the grass beside Rex's body.
"Can you help him?" asked Arria with tears in her eyes, looking at her brother with hope.
He shook his head. "It is not much I can do…I am surprised he is still alive" added Leo'Ren and she looked at Rex's body. He was completely missing the right side of his body, blood covering his wounds. He was slipping in and out of consciousness, and Arria rushed to hold his left hand.
"Rex! Rex, I am here…"
"Arria…' he whispered and with a visible effort he opened his eyes, while she ran a hand along his left side of the face. "I loved you since the first…"
"Shh…Save your strength…" she tried to interrupt him. She knew already, and now seeing him dying, she felt guilty that she had never answered his feelings.
"I will always…I love you…Arria…" he insisted to speak and saw her tears. "Don't cry, it's all right…I will soon be one with the force…" Arria leaned forward and kissed him lightly, it was the least she could do. Rex smiled the same second. "Thank you…" he whispered again and then looked at Leo'Ren. He was doing his best to ease his pain. He knew there was no way he would have survived, but at least his pain was manageable for those last few minutes. "Darth Athran…"
"Rex, try not to talk," he interrupted him.
Rex closed his eyes for a few seconds and Arria hid her face into her brother's chest. She could not stand to look at his body anymore…His right leg was gone from the hip, the right arm missing from the shoulder, his insides were slipping out through his side, into a mass of blood and broken bones… All the right side of his face was burned…
"Darth Athran…Please…Find her…" they heard Rex whispering again.
Leo'Ren looked at him and felt his hand grabbing his forearm into a strong hold.
"Who?" asked Leo'Ren confused, worried that he was talking just nonsense.
"My sister…Please…Promise…" insisted Rex and Arria continued to cry silently.
"I am going to look for her…I promise!" assured him Leo'Ren.
"Please…Find my sister…" spoke Rex for the last time and after his hand gripped one more time at Leo'Ren's arm slid lifeless to the grass.
Minutes later they were all gathered around the lieutenant, in the medical station, while his injuries were taken care of. The sun was just rising, flooding the room with light.
"Can you tell us what had happened?" Xander asked finally out loud what everyone was thinking.
Lieutenant Skor nodded and started to talk. "Rex had a plan, we were going to take down the 'guardians'…He was convinced that the relay stations were the key. We all split in teams…"
"All? Everyone on Taris and Belsavis?" interrupted Xollin right away.
"Yes…We split into teams of about twenty in each. We had all attacked the relay stations at the same time and took control. You should have seen everyone fighting! You all have trained us well…" he added and stopped for a few seconds to get his thoughts back together. "The first part of the mission was a complete success…On all twelve relay stations we were in control. At countdown, we were all supposed to deactivate the power at the exact same time…Rex was the one to do it for our team, here on Dromund Kaas…I was right behind him and the rest of the group gathered inside. The second he powered down, a terrible explosion threw both of us back a few feet, near the door. You saw the results of that explosion…Suddenly, some turrets came out from the floor and the walls opened up, droids pouring from them…It was a complete massacre…Not even one survivor…I was lucky and pulled Rex out, since we were near the door. We made it to where you found us…I have tried to call the other teams, but there was no response…I assume same thing happened everywhere and they are all dead."
A few seconds of silence covered the room, everyone sad and angry at the same time.
"It seemed that the second we powered down the relay station, some back-up system came on line. Those turrets and droids were activated right after…For a split second we thought we did it, we thought we took them out…"
"There were any people left behind? Is anyone from the alliance left?" asked Leo'Ren this time and the lieutenant shook his head with guilt.
"No…Everyone wanted to be a part of it…The camps are empty…"
"Over two hundred and fifty people…" whispered Clarisse and everyone looked at her, then down.
"All the time, the effort everyone put in is gone…I should have been dead, but somehow Rex's body protected me, he took the explosion…"
Suddenly Arria turned on her feet and ran out of the room under everyone's surprised looks. Clarisse was about to ask something, when one of the servants came running in, alerted and scared.
"My Lord, the holo…Prince Arcann is on…"
The whole group rushed to the nearest holo and turned it on. The blue image of Prince Arcann appeared in the middle of the room the same second. He looked just as scary and powerful, but they all could sense something else in him. It was not anger, or any other emotion, just a calculated decision waiting to come out. His speech was just as emotionless as always when Arria walked in and her anger filled the room, her eyes fixating on him. He was acknowledging the attack and classified it as a rebellion, for which everyone was going to suffer. "The reckless actions of a few rebels will have consequences, and you are all going to see for the first time what the 'guardian stars' are capable of. Your leaders should have made sure the treaty would be honored. With this attack your part of the deal is broken. I will, however, show mercy, since this is the first time happening, but know that it is one time only." He went silent for a second and held a control in his hand, setting it on number two on a scale from one to ten, and the next second he pressed a button. The holo was invaded with the images of Coruscant and Dromund Kaas. The Citadel and the Senate Tower were glimmering in the morning sun, for a few seconds. Suddenly, beams started to shoot down from the 'guardian stars' under countless eyes. In only seconds they were ruins, the ground around shaken by the explosions, people running in terror, screaming…"You have two days to send your new representatives. The old ones are no longer!"
The silence in the room was heavy, louder that any words…
"What have we done…" whispered lieutenant Skor and shook his head looking down.
To everyone surprise, Arria burst into a furious attack and stabbed the prince's hologram with both her light sabers. "I am going to kill you with my own hands!" she yelled next at his image. Her anger, hate, pain, all together left no doubt in anyone's mind that she would follow through with her threat. With her sabers back on her belt, and their humming reduced to silence, Arria left the room. And everyone's eyes turned to Xander.
"Are going to talk to him now?" asked Xollin breaking the silence.
"No. We will go back to our lives…The alliance was bad idea and now we pay for it."
They all went in different directions, and Leo'Ren didn't have to search long for his sister. He found her outside, sitting on the ledge at the end of the terrace, overlooking the valley. He sat down, by her side in silence and looked over the quiet valley.
"Happy birthday, Leo…" he heard her whisper after a while and smiled.
"Happy birthday, Arria…" came his whisper while he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she let her head rest on him.
"We should cancel the party."
"Already done" answered Leo'Ren and next second Arria looked at him.
"Now what?"
"I will need a few more days to finish some business and then we go back to Yavin…" he started but she interrupted him right away.
"Like nothing happened? We should go and kill that son of a …"
"And we will…When the time is right. For now, we need more information. We need to be prepared better for the next attack…" continued Leo'Ren and his sister looked at him again.
"I hope that will happen before I die of old age…"
Leo'Ren smiled and pulled her closer. "It will! I promise!"
