Every few minutes, Kiarna could hear the faint echo of another death. It always caused her to stumble briefly as she giggled upon picturing the death itself. There had been at least five now, each one slowing her escape from whatever was in pursuit. For once, she had good reason to hate her condition.
In her moment of anger directed towards her inability to properly deal with the situation, she didn't even notice the swift approach of the Jedi before. Until they slammed right into each other. Both drew lightsabers immediately upon recovering.
"You!"
This time, Kiarna had to be quick in her response. "Before you try run me through, word of warning. You really don't want to hit the mask at any point, because I highly doubt you'll survive what it will do to you." The display of concern seemed to work, as the Jedi looked slightly less eager to slice her in half. Progress was progress. "I can sense their approach easy, if you can do the fighting. Believe it or not I'm not going to hold a grudge when my life is on the line."
The Jedi tightened her grip on the weapon, apparently ready to say that she didn't agree. Another scream of terror quickly changed her mind. "I don't have good depth perception with half my face like this. You'll have to help me get close enough."
Kiarna finally noticed her right leg was missing. Not ideal at all. "I can't support you on my left shoulder."
"Fine by me. I don't want that purple…" The Jedi looked at the lightsaber in confusion. "Why is it purple, ish? Got sick of red?
"Long story." Kiarna moved around to her left and wrapped her right arm around her back. The Jedi was taller, and far more heavily built. Without training she probably would have toppled both of them over upon releasing her grip on the railing. It took a few tries for a slow walking pattern to form, but they were at the very least making some progress.
"So, we sharing names, or are we only co-operating long enough to get out of here?"
The Jedi looked down at her briefly before they crossed an intersecting corridor. There was the constant fear of falling, but it never came to that. "Jayden. You?"
"Azera." About to step into another intersection, she hastily pulled Jayden back and urged them back towards the nearest cupboard. "Two incoming. I don't think they've noticed.
Both switched their blades off before reaching the door, giving Jayden a chance to open it. "Surprised they have force locks on a neutral world." The room itself was rather sparse, plenty of space for both to slip inside and close up before the hooded figures arrived.
There was notable hesitation as Kiarna allowed her perception to move beyond the confined space. She could still feel their cold presence, and just observing in their direction seemed to amplify it. After a minute, she watched them walk through the intersection without even pausing to check. Her relief was short, but welcomed. "They don't have strong perception. Or they've got a new priority."
Jayden was tense as she reached for the door handle. She only had Azera's word to go on, and it was entirely possible that the door would open to one of the figures. As it swung open, they were only greeted by a gust of cool air. "You're not so bad at this, Sith. Any idea what those things are?"
"Either Dark Jedi, or some group I've never heard of before. They're definitely not Darth Lasidia's Sith." Progress was faster now that they had become accustomed to walking together. The sprawling nature of the hospital was already hindering any prospect of reaching the upper levels where escape would be waiting though. If Carudan had actually made it out.
A pain in her chest caused Jayden to stumble briefly, gripping tightly onto the railing. It was soon followed by a coughing spasm, traces of blood present in the spittle. She knew what it meant all too well. "They didn't get around to fixing my ribs." Her left arm began to slide from Azera's shoulder as the coughing subsided. "I've had it. Just get out, and make these butchers pay."
Kiarna moved to do just that when an impulse stopped her. She wanted to leave Jayden behind and hunt down whatever they were being pursued by quite badly. And yet she couldn't bring herself to do it, somehow.
Statement: You healed Tegama'Arani out of pity. As I stated, what she does to others is far worse than execution.
"For Sith apparently…" Her teeth clenched as she shifted her hold around Jayden to rest her back against the wall. "You've still got a war to fight, Jedi. I don't like others doing the killing for me." With her hand raised, she began hovering it around Jayden's ribs, trying to sense exactly where the fracture had occurred. Once located, she pressed her fingers in to make physical contact around the seventh and eighth ribs. "No offence, but I am really glad you weren't hit further up."
Jayden cracked the slightest of smiles at that, trying her best to not laugh or cough. "Guess your husband wouldn't approve. Where'd he go anyway?"
"Back for the ship I'd say. He's very good at getting us out of bad situations." With very careful precision, she began easing the twisted ribs back into position, using all of her concentration to keep Jayden from bleeding out internally. It was a painfully slow process, and certainly no comparison to real medicine. It would give them some time to escape at least.
"Why come here to get your shoulder fixed up, when you've got healing tricks anyway?"
"I don't know how it is for you Jedi, but Sith can't actually heal themselves and make it stick." Once enough had been done to stave off the injury, she released her hand and moved to get Jayden up again. "That's going to need real treatment soon anyway. If we don't get cut down first."
"Optimist."
"Realist."
Kiarna clenched her teeth again as the weight was shifted back onto her shoulder. "How'd you end up all the way out here anyway? Figured they'd want a heavy hitter closer to the action." They began moving forward again, taking a bit to return to the rhythm that had worked earlier.
"If I asked the same, you'd probably make up a fake story as well." The muscles in Jayden's arm were straining as she quickly shifted her grip up along the railing with each step. Not ideal if the figures decided to return in their search. "Imagine if they saw us now, superiors and whatnot. Hobbling away from death while wisecracking about the war beyond.
"Jedi or Republic? I don't think the Sith would mind too much, Imperials are a bunch of hard-asses though."
Jayden shrugged before pausing at the corner. She peered out just enough to get a look in both directions before moving on again. "Both, I guess, though the Republic don't get much of a say at all about Jedi matters."
"Like making friends with a Sith." Kiarna left a thoughtful pause as she tilted her head down. It was occurring to her that this was a potential way to get someone working for her inside the Jedi without them even realizing. "It's hard sometimes, hearing about people you used to be friends with, but had to forget because they have an opposing ideology."
"Only to run into them years later, ready to kill each other. 'Spose that's why-"
Both froze at the same moment, having heard another lightsaber activating behind them. Kiarna's brief distraction on how to manipulate Jayden into her service had just cost their lives. Long enough for whatever had pursued them beforehand to suppress her link to the Force. She was now completely blind.
"Jayden… I'm sorry for getting snappy earlier."
"We've been walking together for ten minutes, and gone about fifteen metres. Don't get sentimental on me."
A shudder went down Kiarna's spine as she heard the all too familiar sound of the swinging blade. She expected to fall to the floor at any moment, probably in two pieces.
Someone behind them fell to the floor instead, accompanied by the clatter of a lightsaber.
"You are safe now, friends."
Kiarna was quite careful in helping Jayden to awkwardly turn around, having already seen their supposed rescuer. "Excuse me for being hesitant when you're wearing clothing like the people who just tried to kill us."
The hooded figure lifted his hand up, drawing the fallen lightsaber from the floor into the cuff of his robes. "They are Fallen from our Following. We do not know their intentions, only that they intend to destroy the One. You have been touched by her presence, Azera Vass of Dakkan, and thus we have a duty to protect you from them."
That rubbed Kiarna the wrong way entirely. The fact that a complete stranger not only knew her full name, but the colony she had originated from was unnerving. Better that he hadn't exposed her deception at least. "What do you mean?"
"You know who I am referring to." The figure turned his attention to Jayden in turn. "I have a request to be made of you, Jayden Mires of Mandalore. Tell the Council that the Jedi must avoid the Fallen at all costs. We will do our best to keep them from taking more lives, but outsiders provoking them will cause more bloodshed."
Jayden was both disturbed and confused by the way he referred to her as well. What he said to Azera was far more confusing in comparison, so she didn't even try to think about it. "I'm going to need more than that. Rogue Jedi going around and butchering people isn't something we can ignore."
The figure lowered his hand to tuck the lightsaber out of view before continuing. "They are neither Jedi nor Sith, and thus not the responsibility of either group. Until the war stops, there is nothing further for us to discuss."
He backed away until out of sight before either of them could ask much more. Eventually they just looked at each other again.
The awkward realizations began to set in. "You weren't happy about my crack about Mandalore, I take it? Didn't think they even produced Jedi."
"I'm only half Mandalorian, Miraluka." Jayden reached her free hand to scratch around the back of her head. For a moment, a truce to stop the war so they could find out more about whomever they had just encountered seemed a very prudent goal. However unlikely it was to happen. "What happens now? Do we pretend this never happened?"
Normally, she would have continued her deceit just long enough to finish Jayden off without further issue. Another casualty of the attack. By now it was all too obvious that she was incapable of behaving like her usual self. "We go back and tell others what happened. Unaligned force users fighting each other, HK droids running rampant…"
She shook her head at last, looking around the corridor again. "I can get you to a Republic ship if you contact them ahead of arrival. After that we go our separate ways, no guarantees if we run into each other again."
"Fine by me. Next time I won't be standing on one leg."
"And I won't have a crippled shoulder that I can't risk swinging around."
Jayden tightened her lip at that, the unburned part anyway. It was almost sad to face the fact that they were still going to be enemies, after they had gotten past initial distrust. And she still hadn't seen what Azera looked like at all, given her full mask. Strange choice for a Miraluka who usually settled for blindfolds. "I expect a good fight. Can't blame me for that Mandalorian attitude."
Kiarna's smile beneath the mask wasn't malicious, to her own surprise. "I'll do my best. Let's go."
"Taking visitors?"
Maarani looked up from the table CC-13 was laid out on, immediately smiling as she laid eyes on Koor. "Wouldn't exactly be polite to turn everyone away after the lengths they've gone to for me." Her eyes darted back down to the open panel on the droid's back. While old, a lot of the circuitry was still in good condition surprisingly. "Any luck on that maintenance control chip?"
"Not yet." Koor approached the table with curiosity. Dana had mentioned the droid in passing, and Maarani's strangely dismissive attitude towards it. "Are you certain that you just wanted a shell to read guide books out to you?"
"What else is it gonna do? I'm not planning on kids, and it looks like I'll have Dana around if I need someone to talk to." She closed the panel up and tapped the droid's head. While it got back up, she stepped out of the way until she could sit up on the table instead. "I'm not gonna deny there's some droids that have something like a personality. But, it's still artificial in the end. Can't be friends with a dreary looking nanny droid."
"Not while she's locked inside her own body."
Maarani rolled her eyes. It was starting to reach a bothersome amount of repetition. "If it goes mad, then time will end up being wasted on wiping it anyway, if that even works. Someone really didn't want it to be unrestrained."
Koor pondered what had been said for a bit. It wasn't entirely inconsistent, as Maarani had become frustrated by droids on a few occasions in the previous month. She seemed very insistent on her stance with the one she had purchased though. "We are still discussing things, there won't be an issue with time wasted, believe me."
She looked at the droid again, this time with a bit more focus. It was definitely a lot older than Maarani herself, judging by how much the synthskin had decayed. The clamp was much older though. "I am starting to see a pattern though. Lightsaber cobbled together from parts, an old droid that you intend to repurpose, and a ship full of spare parts that may or may not have any use. Perhaps you don't even need a droid to help with maintaining the ship?"
"Yeah, I'll use the Force to become a better mechanic. And track down Miraluka with brain defects. And pull off maneuvers in a ship that's not designed for them at all. Oh, and let's not forget the eventual Sith killing when I become a Jedi Knight in ten years."
"Five years actually, if that." Koor shrugged as the expected look of confusion came. "We needed more knights out in the field, not padawans chasing after masters."
Maarani didn't question it further. Her existence was because of a willingness to forgo previously laid out rules of the Jedi after all. Instead, she opted to inquire about another question that had been resting on her mind for some time. "I keep hearing that they can't devote time from people here to help me alone. What makes sending Dana out with me to all these other places any different?"
Koor couldn't help the look of discomfort that followed. "Truth be told, her expertise is those with strong emotional states. I know you're sick of hearing that, but Dana is very subtle in her ways. That, and she's been wanting to get off Coruscant for a while now." It was technically the truth, just twisted around slightly. Reminding herself of that fact didn't make her feel any better about deceiving her Twi'lek friend.
"Helping a Jedi hitchhike around the galaxy. I think I can work with that actually." Maarani finally slid herself off the table and began wandering around the ship. It was certainly growing on her, despite the messy state. Beneath the scrap and parts was something that had clearly held up well over the years.
Eventually she turned back to Koor, unable to help noticing CC-13 standing in the corner beyond. She didn't want to admit it out loud, but at that angle, the droid almost looked sad. Staring out from the clamp, mouth blocked out in just the right way to form a frown.
It finally got under her skin. "Fine, I'll get the clamp taken off, assuming there's someone around who actually knows how to fix droids, unlike myself." Even from a quick glance, she could tell Koor was trying her best to conceal the pride she was now feeling at being right along with everyone else.
"I'll ask around. In the meantime, have you worked out where you want to stay now?"
"I'm not sure I'm gonna feel comfortable sleeping in an empty wing of the temple. And this still needs some work before it's good to live in." Maarani motioned to CC-13 at that point, who stepped out of the corner and moved to follow her. "There will be some place on Coruscant that I can stay at for a few days no trouble. Right?"
"The entirety of the Sith forces at this moment in time."
Only one word was present in Masaka's mind.
Underwhelming.
Two hundred thousand soldiers scattered across fourteen destroyers. Roughly three hundred Sith of varying levels of capability. Next to no droid support.
For the past eight years, she had assumed what she saw around her was only a tiny fraction of their forces. It was more like two thirds of it all combined. "This is why you've retreated from a majority of engagements, then? We literally cannot risk losing too many because there is nothing to fall back on."
Lasidia nodded with her usual lack of emotion. She probably would have been frustrated at their status as well if she hadn't spent decades cobbling that alone together. Masaka was looking at it from the perspective of ancient Sith who wielded power beyond imagination, not a lone woman who had a lust for knowledge, and a fierce determination to drive her on.
"Numbers have never been the true advantage of the Sith. Surely you would know this." Rak'Sakar approached the pair as they looked over the deck before them. His hood had been raised higher, an unusual occurrence even in Lasidia's presence. This was the first face to face encounter between himself and Masaka however. "You have kept Lasidia here despite her need to depart in pursuit of knowledge. Why?"
Masaka glared at the reptilian eyes looking her over. There was strong menace behind them, blazing with a blood lust. Such a wild contrast to the cold nature of their Togruta overlord. "I was locked in that room for over a month. A month that could have been spent bolstering our forces, rather than pacing around while I wasn't dispensing information."
"So you claim…" He trailed off into something that sounded like a muttered hiss as his eyes continued to dart around her. "I see the presence of the other three around you. Very curious that you have been able to continue keeping them subdued."
"They are shadows of what they once were, Rak'Sakar. As the Sith are today." When he finally stopped examining her, she turned to look at the gathered forces below again. "The Jedi will find out about all this sooner or later. And they will strike when we go for the superweapon, so they can use it for their own purposes."
Rak'Sakar made another guttural hiss in her direction as he approached the railing as well. "Let them come. The hour of blood is approaching, as is our reclamation of Korriban."
A frown formed on Masaka's face at that. "You are a fool, then. There is nothing left on Korriban. I went there from the tomb, saw the wasteland, and returned to Lasidia after that. Retaking a dead world for dead people will only give us more dead."
"I do not know why she has decided to release you, little worm-brain. You are only alive because you carry too much knowledge to lose just yet."
"Try and kill me. I can warp your wretched body into oblivion before the first strike even begins."
"Enough!" Lasidia turned to both of them in turn with a deadly glare. "This is what destroyed our predecessors, and exactly why I hesitated to release you Masaka." She could tell that the outburst had already gained the attention of those below. Undoubtedly waiting to see if the argument would come to blows. That couldn't be allowed to happen.
The arrival of Morgak helped break down the tension somewhat, which Lasidia was quick to take advantage of. "Stand straight Masaka. General Morgak is the finest Imperial officer I have known. You will show him respect."
"You flatter me, Dark Lord." His brief smile quickly faded as he noted the Twi'lek's expression of disgust. Not unlike how he imagined Kiarna looked at every one of their encounters. "I have just been informed of a series of attacks close to Ryloth space, by HK-50 droids and a cult of unknown Force users. Both have attacked Jedi and Sith alike." There was a pause as a smug smile formed. "The first report was from Dalchon, where witnesses also claim to have seen a woman in white fighting the droids…"
That immediately grabbed Lasidia's full attention, making no effort to conceal her sudden moment of concern. "Where is she?"
"Fled the planet on her ship as far as we know. She has not tried to make contact yet, not through conventional means anyway.
The concern grew a little more, forcing Lasidia to look away from the others. She hadn't felt anything happen to Kiarna, or heard anything for that matter. Not since she had departed, which should not have affected their ability to communicate mentally. Unless something was interfering.
Her head slowly turned to Masaka as the amber in her eyes began to flare. A few sparks flickered between her fingertips. "What else were you doing in my mind, Twi'lek? Cutting me off from my apprentice so you could take her place, perhaps?"
Rak'Sakar snarled as he drew his lightsaber, ready to cut down the young woman on command. He could see Morgak grinning at the unfolding development.
Trapped between them, Masaka quickly grew defensive as she stared back at Lasidia. "When she ran into my sister, you stopped communicating with her mentally, didn't you? Since then you haven't had a reason to until now." Her theory seemed to convince Lasidia at least, the fire in her eyes dying down as she backed off a bit. The others were less eager to let their guard down.
"Do you now see why I was so fearful of her?" She turned to Rak'Sakar, who finally released his weapon upon her approval. "I cannot delay any further. Continue with the plan as we agreed, and if contact is established with Kiarna, I want her recalled." As he nodded and moved away, she looked back to Masaka. "Whatever you may think, he will be able to kill you before you know it. Do not antagonize him again, seeing as you will be staying here."
At last, she returned to Morgak, taking hold of his shoulder as her tone returned to complete calm. "I am sure you will do your best to keep them from killing each other, friend."
"It may not be any safer out there than it will be here. Too many uncertainties either way." He smiled before following Rak'Sakar to the command deck.
Lasidia was left alone with Masaka once more. At that she returned to the railing, looking over the deck below as the maintenance crews continued their consistent efforts. "In ten years, this will be nothing compared to the forces Kiarna will command. If you intend to live to that day, or even rule under her, remember your place."
"My place as attack dog for Darth… whatever she decides to call herself then. Darth Kiarna doesn't really invoke a sense of dread like White Terror, does it." Masaka rolled her eyes before starting to wander off in a different direction. Less time listening to the reptilian slimeball or self-important old man was a thing to be grateful for.
"Kiarna was born Sith, something even I cannot claim. And I doubt you could either, Twi'lek. Ruling the Empire is her birthright." Her eyes narrowed a little as Masaka continued on without even a flinch. So far, she had seemingly retained a relatively large amount of emotional sensation despite the removal of her lekku, on top of still being able to talk and walk about freely. And yet she apparently had no reaction to being called a fallen Jedi, something others had seen as a grave insult.
The thought was pushed aside as she returned her concerns to that of Maarani. The threat she represented anyway. She had spent some time learning from the collection of Sith holocrons, but had never felt the need to seek out something specific from them before, aside from where to find the weapons of the Rakata anyway.
It was time to revisit them, despite the risk it carried.
