answers to reviewers questions or statements:
rmaracno321: Mara is a member of them, be odd to not mention or at least show them at some point.
Trey Alexander: Who says it'll be her that turns Jacen Solo into a Sith Lord this time around? But yeah, I like her, kinda bummed they didn't replace Snoke with her, would have made much more sense and everyone would have recognized her, least actual Star Wars fans instead of the like ten minute long screen time of what's his face. And it would have ran close to Legends, her corrupting Leia and Han's son to the Dark Side.
gunman: Jixton may seem all laugh's and jokes, but remember he still works for Darth Vader and carries out his will... you don't get to be one of his personal agent's and have some sort of informality with him without proving you can get the job done for him... any job. We'll be seeing more of Peter comparing Sidious's Empire to that of his own and how the man acts compared to Sith Lords tthat Peter knew back in the day throughout the story.
CRUDEN: He may be immersed in the Dark Side, it doesn't mean he still can't crack a witty remark every now and again.
GJAM: Peter's more perplexed by Mara than anything given her great Force potential yet she's only been trained and tapped into a fraction of the Dark side despite serving under two Sith Lords. Plus he enjoys riling her up cause... reasons.
Kharn: He's not and none of those characters will be showing up here and his Same name wont be Arachno.
And to people wondering why I changed the title and the summary to this story, well with the way I'm going to have things go as this story goes on, it wouldn't do for Peter, soon to be Darth Weaver, to be a pseudo apprentice to Vader...
Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel or Star Wars characters seen, mentioned or used.
Since the rise of the Empire almost fourteen years ago, the various worlds, moons and systems that made up the Galaxy's 'Inner Rim' came under the strict and in many cases brutal Imperial rule that made the treatment they received from the Core Worlds prior to the Clone Wars seem lovable in comparison. Because of this, many of the various sentients that inhabited the Inner Rim fled to the Outer Rim to avoid Imperial persecution, taxes, conscription and even enslavement, making the Inner Rim a fairly dangerous place for anyone that held anti-Imperial sentiments… even more so if said person was a former Jedi.
But Elizabeth 'Betsy' Braddock, once Padawan to the late Jedi Master and Council Member, Stass Allie, had business on the planet and as much as she preferred to be back in the Outer Rim, she had a job to do... a very personal one for that matter.
The Kaminoan that personally manufactured and programmed the chips that were placed in the Clones at birth was sighted here by a somewhat reliable contact of her's and she intended to find the long slender neck being.
'It's because of him that my master is dead...' Betsy thought with anger as she sat in a crowded bar, the rendezvous for her and her contact 'It's because of him that my friends were killed... that my entire life was destroyed!'
Granted, said man was under orders from his own government who were tasked by the late Jedi Master Syfo Dyus and to some extent Sidious, to install such a thing in the former Grand Army of the Republic, but the purple haired woman would get to them eventually.
Several minutes passed as Betsy sat at her booth, watching the various off worlders come in and find a table and begin ordering drinks and interacting with the Zeltrons. Betsy made a face when she noticed a female Zeltron straddle a person and begin to shamelessly grind on him. She's heard of the Zeltron's libidos being nigh unrivaled, their entire society was based around sexual intimacy after all, but to see and hear it in person was another thing entirely.
"I'm beginning to see why the Jedi Council forbade us from coming here unless absolutely necessary " Betsy muttered with a shake of her head as she adjusted her dark gray robe and continued to wait.
Soon, the atmosphere in the bar was beginning to turn a bit more... inappropriate for the lack of a better world. To the former Padawan, it was starting to look more and more like some sort of orgy hosted by Prince Xizor. She was just about to get up and wait outside before one of the Zeltrons or other off worlders came and tried to drag her into it before she saw her contact appear in the doorway. His eyes scanned the crowd before he saw Betsy's face and gave her a quick apologetic look and rushed over to her, stepping around and over a few rutting couples.
Betsy watched the Imperial approach her, even without having to know his background she could see that he moved like a Stormtrooper, not the Officer his attire proclaimed him as. He used to attached to the battalion that personally guarded Emperor Palpatine before he was reassigned to Zeltros to make sure the natives stayed docile, for the lack of a better term. He wasn't very old looking, perhaps a few years older than her with a cleanly shaven face, combed hair and somewhat embarrassed expression on his face as he maneuvered his way through the orgy.
"Welcome to Zeltros" he said with a sheepish grin as he sat across from Betsy.
"Thank you" Betsy replied in a icy tone.
The man flinched at this "Sorry. But honestly, this isn't so bad-"
"Bucket, their are over forty people in here having sex" Betsy interrupted the man as she gestured to the people surrounding them "And it's taking every ounce of my willpower to resist the pheromones the Zeltrons are produce-"
Betsy's eyes suddenly widened before they narrowed at her contact and she spoke with a growl in her voice as her hand wandered to where she kept her Lightsaber hidden "I swear to every Jedi Master that ever existed, if this is some sort of sick attempt to seduce me-"
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" 'Bucket' said with a pleading look, sensing the danger he was in "I swear on my grandmother that's not what this is!"
Betsy looked at him with an unconvinced look even though she could sense he was honest. That, and she could clearly see the ring on his finger and further sense great attachment to whoever wore the other. Though secretly, she was surprised with just how resistant he was to the cocktail of pheromones in the air. After several tense seconds, Betsy made a show of somewhat relaxing but kept her guard up.
"Very well Bucket..." she said to the relieved Imperial.
"I wish you'd stop calling me that" he said in regards to the term that Betsy has been calling him since they first met only a few months ago.
"Would you prefer cappy?" Betsy asked as she gestured to his officer's cover on the table.
"...No please" Bucket said with a sigh as he reached into his pocket slowly, aware that the former Jedi before him was watching him like a hawk. If he showed any signs of hostility... well he's seen what a Lightsaber could do to someone like him. He then showed Betsy a small data chip "This is where you can find the Kaminoan. A small hotel on the outskirts of the city, near a Spaceport. You'll also find a few ships preparing to leave within the next two hours, a quick get away after you... meet with him"
"Thank you Bucket" Betsy said as she took the chip from the man before she pulled out a small data chip of her own and passed it to the Imperial "And here's instructions on how to get you and your wife out of the Empire. And a list of possible safe havens"
Bucket snorted grimly at this "Is there anywhere safe anymore? The Empire adds more worlds to it's ranks every day. Eventually, even the 'untamable' Outer Rim will be under it's total control"
"So I'm told..." Betsy said as she adverted her attention to a pair of Zeltron females, both of incredible beauty, like just about every other member of their race, mauling each other's faces while they grinded into one another like a pair of Banthas in heat. She shook her head at the pair and willed the growing arousal she was feeling from all the moans, gasps and skin smacking into other skin and stood up "If you have nothing else to report, I shall be on my way-"
"There's... one other thing I think you should know about" Bucket said as he pulled out a datapad and typed in a few commands and brought up a Holo image.
"What am I looking at Bucket?" Betsy said with a frown as she eyed the image of some sort of armored man. There was something familiar about him, but she couldn't quite place her finger on it.
"He's..." Bucket trailed off as he tried to think of an answer before he signed "Well, it started not too long ago. The Emperor, from what some of my friends still in the battalion that guards the Palace mentioned, has started to comb through the old Empire that belonged to the Sith. You know, the one that-"
Betsy interrupted the man with a impatient wave "That was led by Lord Vitiate, sacked Curoscant after making a false pledge for peace, started a cold war that lasted for years, started up another Great war and did a number of other things. Yes, I know, your point?"
Bucket licked his lips at this while he adjusted his seat "Well... a team was sent to Dromund Kaas and while they were there they found a chamber of old cryo tubes"
Betsy's eyes widened as she began to understand where this conversation was going "Are you telling me that this man was found in one of those cryo tubes?"
"Yeah... apparently he was some sort of assassin for that Vitiate guy, so I guess that means he's-"
"A kriffin Sith Lord" Betsy cursed as she rubbed her brows at this.
Bucket nodded "I guess so. And apparently, the Emperor has decided to offer this guy a place in his Empire. Not sure his position, but it's probably up there with Lord Vader's"
Betsy didn't respond as she continued to stare at the image of this revived Sith warrior. Just looking at the way he stood unnerved her, it was like looking at a rabid Nexu getting ready to lash out and attack. A armored, armed and highly dangerous predator, brought back into the Galaxy after thousands of years of sleep.
'The Galaxy suffers enough with just two Sith Lords running around... now we have a third to contend with' Betsy thought with anger running through her mind as she stared at the Holo image for what felt like hours.
Betsy just knew that things, as bad as they've been for the Galaxy and it's people these past few years were about to get even worse.
...
Several hours and a lot more shots of some sort of foul tasting alcohol later, Betsy slowly made her way towards the hotel that Bucket's chip identified as the current residence of the Kaminoan that she was looking for. She still had no idea why the former scientist chose Zeltros of all places to 'retire' to and frankly she didn't care, all that mattered was that he'd soon be drawing his last breath. A small part of her wondered what her late master would think, hunting people down and murdering them all in the name of revenge. Disappointment for sure, perhaps even disgust and a few choice words along the lines of being no better than the Sith she's fighting against.
But then she remembers that her late master didn't have to watch her own master be cut down by the men they fought beside for years. Her master didn't have to watch the temple that raised her burn, the corpses of her fellow Jedi littering the floor by the dozens. Her master didn't have to flee her home and spend the better part of a decade running from planet to planet in the Outer Rim, doing whatever she could to survive... her master didn't have yo sacrifice what was left of her soul, her innocence just to make it through the night in some occasions, hoping that she'd live to see tomorrow.
Betsy came to a stop and stared at the ground as numerous people passed on, her eyes slightly watered as memories of her 'life' after Order Sixty-Six flashed through her mind. After a few seconds, Betsy closed her eyes and deeply inhaled before slowly exhaling, her anger, her loathing, her sadness, all the emotions she was trained as a child to fight, to over come, slowly began to burn brighter and brighter within her. She did her best to remain level headed as she continued her trek to the hotel, mentally preparing herself for what was to come, what had to come.
Finally, she arrived at the small unassuming hotel and looked up at the bright glowing neon lights with narrowed eyes. She could hear laughter in side along with music, yelling, moans, the clanging of liquor filled glasses and numerous other merry making sounds. Betsy took a deep breath and entered the hotel, her hand beginning to drift to where she kept her Lightsaber at the ready.
'Where are you...' she thought as she pushed her way through the crowd into a large dimly lit room that appeared to be sixty meters wide and almost twice that length long 'Why couldn't Bucket's intel be a little more specific on where the damn slender neck bastard was?'
It made little difference she supposed, her prey was a Kaminoan, he'll stick out like a sore thumb anyway.
'And if not, I'm sure someone in here still has enough clarity to know where I can find him' Betsy thought as she passed several booths and tables that were being used for something straight out of an adult Holofilm.
She continued pushing through the crowd, searching for the illusive Kaminoan before she caught sight of a tall, long slender neck being at the far end of the room. Betsy's eyes narrowed as she stopped and stared at the being for several long seconds. It was him, the Kaminoan that manufactured and programmed Order Sixty-Six into the chips.
'Disgusting...' Betsy thought with barely held contempt as the Kaminoan laughed at something a half naked Bothan said while taking a drink of some sort of neon green drink.
Betsy didn't know why, but the sight of the being that stole the free will of millions sitting, drinking and doing Force who knows what with a bunch of sluts enraged her far more than the latest atrocity of the Empire ever could. Maybe it was because the beings this man hurt, the Clones that Betsy admired and looked up to for fighting side by side with her late master and friends, held a special place in her heart, despite the crimes they committed because of the chips. Or maybe it was the repulsive feeling of lust she sensed from the man even from across the room as he eyed the half naked Togruta before him. Regardless of why, she began to slowly approach the Kaminoan, pulling her hood off as she came to a stop just a few feet from the aquatic evolved being.
"Orun Wa?" she said in a blank tone.
The now named Orun Wa paused in his leering and turned his large eyes to Betsy with a frown before she pulled the hilt of her Lightsaber from her belt. She almost smirked at the shock in his eyes as he stared at the weapon and his mind quickly put together that she was a Jedi, or former one at least.
"What-" he began only to be cut off by the sound of Betsy's purple blade springing to life only a second before she severed the former scientist's head clean off in an almost naturally fluid motion that only years of practice and application could produce.
Several women of varying species, most Zeltrons, screamed and backed away while Betsy stood still and watched as the Kaminoan's head rolled on to the floor, his wide blank blue eyes staring up at her in shock and even some fear. Betsy silently deactivated her Lightsaber and placed it back within the folds of her robe before she turned on her heel and made her way back outside.
Betsy heard the distant sounds of sirens already on their way, but she paid them no mind. She'd be long gone by the time they arrived. Betsy pulled her hood back up and quickly melted into the crowds and made her way to the nearest Space port. If the process took as much time here as it did on other worlds, it'd be only an hour until the proper authorities, with a combination of obvious physical evidence, Holo recordings and eye witness accounts to deduce that a Jedi had committed the murder. Then not even a half hour later, a report will be delivered to the planet's resident Stormtrooper garrison who will in turn send said report to this region of space's command who will then either call for Vader or the Inquisitors to come and deal with said Jedi, assuming it was still on the planet.
'They'll probably be mustering a force to come here by the time the ship I'm on is in Hyperspace... hopefully' Betsy thought as she made her way through the crowds of Zeltros.
She idly reached out with her mind to see what the general mood was and was unsurprised to find that it was fairly high. Even the Empire could not diminish Zeltros's near legendary party mood or behavior, even with two Star Destroyers and three legions stationed on it. As Betsy neared the Spaceport, she noticed a few squads of Stormtrooper patrolling, seemingly oblivious to Zeltros's atmosphere, though it's possible their helmets were filtering out the pheromones of the Zeltrons and their 'conditioning' had a part in said obliviousness. She pulled her hood up and adjusted it as she passed the cheap pail successors of the Clone Troopers. It was a little insulting with how easy it could be to sneak pass them, even the droids of the long disbanded Confederacy weren't this seemingly incompetent, and she's heard and seen enough to know such a feat was difficult to achieve.
'I guess the Empire isn't expecting to fight any wars anytime soon' Betsy thought as he tried to think of a reason behind the substandard training for most Stormtroopers 'Or the Empire just doesn't give a damn anymore'
Still, such a thing could prove advantageous to whoever decided to wage open war against the Empire. The only advantage the Imperials would have would be superior numbers, at least on the army side of things.
'It's the Fleet that will make things difficult' Betsy thought as she glanced up at the sky and just made out the distant shape of a Star Destroyer high over the city she was in. The Navy, unlike the Imperial Army, had retained the Republic's effectiveness after the Clone Wars.
"You there, in the purple, halt!" a voice rang out from behind the former Jedi.
Betsy glanced back to see a Stormtrooper Sargent approaching her with two other Troopers behind him.
"Yes?" she asked in a bored tone.
"We need to see your identification" he said in a brisk tone.
Betsy quirked a brow at this before she spoke, the Force influencing her words slightly "You don't need to see my identification"
The Stormtrooper stared at her for several seconds before he spoke, more to himself and his men who were also affected by Betsy's suggestion "We don't need to see your identification"
"Your going to let me go and never remember seeing me again" she said while turning to leave.
"We're gonna let you go and never remember seeing you" he said in a trance like tone.
"Thank you" Betsy said with a smirk as she began to leave.
"Thank you..." the trooper said as he kept staring straight ahead, causing Betsy to almost giggle at hw easy and amusing it could be to manipulate such weak and fragile minds.
She met no more obstacles and quickly boarded a freighter that was scheduled to depart for the Outer Rim within a few minutes. Another Force suggestion and a bit of sneaking by and Betsy was making her way through the passenger seats for a spot to rest in. There wasn't many people on the ship, few beings were willing to leave a place such as Zeltros for the harsh, dark reality that the Galaxy has been the past few decades and Betsy couldn't blame them.
'What is worse...' she thought to herself 'To live in ignorance or to live in terror?'
She had no answer for that and she doubted even her late master would either. Betsy sighed as she finally found a comfortable spot to spend the journey and took her seat by the window and looked out as the ship rose through the atmosphere and into space. Soon, it'll make the jump to some distant planet in the Outer rim worlds and for the time being, she would know peace...
Until her next hunt, that is.
Betsy smirked a little and was just about to nod off for a quick nap when she heard her communicator go off. She scowled in annoyance as she retrieved the device from her hand and activated it's holo projection to see who had called her.
"Hello Elizabeth..."
Betsy scowled at the voice, the caller's appearance and the sound of her name on said person's lips even though a small part of her liked it for one reason or another.
"Fulcrum" Betsy replied in a even tone as she stared at the image of Ahsoka Tano "To what do I owe such a... pleasant... call from you?"
The former Padawan of Anakin Skywalker frowned at Betsy before she cleared her throat "Are you somewhere safe that you can-"
"Yes" Betsy interrupted the elder Force-Sensitive with a impatient sigh "Now what is it?"
"Classy as ever Betsy, nice to see that hasn't changed..." Ahsoka muttered with an eye roll before she cleared her throat "I was calling to see if you've thought on Senator Organa's offer-"
"To join his little band of terrorists?" Betsy said with a quirked brow.
"Rebellion" Ahsoka countered.
"What's the difference?" Betsy said in an uncaring tone.
"Well for one, they don't go around killing people on a whim" Ahsoka said with a pointed look at Betsy.
The purple haired woman glared at Ahsoka "Excuse me for hunting down the people that brainwashed our friends and stole their free will and turned them into nearly unfeeling killing machines"
"I'm not saying they shouldn't have paid, but you could have gone about it in a better way" Ahsoka countered with a sigh "Hunting them down and slaughtering them isn't what master-"
"Don't" Betsy warned with a snarl and narrowed eyes.
Ahsoka paused in what she was about to say before she nodded and adverted her gaze "I'm sorry..."
An awkward silence fell between the two before the Togruta spoke "So, have you thought of his answer, at least a little?"
"Who else has Organa spoken with?" Betsy asked, ignoring Ahsoka's question.
"Aside from you? Master A'Sharad Hett, Master Rahm Kota, Master K'Kruhk, Master Quinlan Vos-" Ahsoka began to name off the other Jedi that Bail Organa has been speaking to before Betsy interrupted her again.
"Their still alive?" she said in slight surprise.
"Well, the only masters left with any knowledgeable experience at least" Ahsoka said with a frown "Darth Vader was quite determined to hunt down the Order's masters"
Betsy hummed at this while Ahsoka watched her, waiting for an answer. after a few minutes, Betsy sighed and turned her attention back to the Togruta female.
"No..."
Ahsoka's eyes widened slightly at this "Why?"
"I have more important things to do then help a bunch of disgruntled Senators restore a corrupt government that benefitted them" Betsy stated.
"I will admit, I'm not entirely on board with restoring the Republic as it was in it's final days..." Ahsoka said with a nod, she shared the human's reservations on restoring a government that was hardy any better then the Empire when it came to corruption "But, we can't allow the Empire to remain in power at the very least. I refuse to live in a Galaxy under the rule of the Sith, and I like to believe you feel the same"
"Then I'll head out into the Unknown regions when my work is done" Betsy said with a shrug "I'm sure the Chiss Ascendency will take me in"
"Well, considering Thrawn's high ranking in the Empire, there's no guarantee that they'll greet you with open arms" Ahsoka pointed out "They also had a number of people working for Dooku during the Clone Wars who also worked for Sidious. I wouldn't be surprised if he had them all under his thumb by this point"
"Then I'll find somewhere else to live, the Unknown Regions is big enough to house a civilization out there that's friendly enough" Betsy said.
"And if there isn't?" Ahsoka demanded.
"Then I'll simply shack it up on some remote planet and spend the rest of my life as a hermit" Betsy said with a eye roll "Better than fighting and dying for something pointless like restoring the Republic.
"Betsy-" Ashoka began before she was cut off by Betsy.
"Ahsoka, the Galaxy, or at the very least the Inner Core and Deep Core chose to become the Empire of their own free will. Wasn't that the whole thing about the Republic, that it's people could choose how they wanted to live?"
"I don't think they understood what living under the rule of the Sith would really be like Betsy..." Ahsoka said with a tired sigh "They were tired of fighting a war, tired of the bloodshed, the horror... Palpatine gave them what looked like a way out and they took it. Hell, even I might have..."
Betsy grew quiet as she and Ahsoka stared at one another for several long minutes before Betsy adverted her attention from the former Padawan "Look, unless your calling to tell me that you'll be coming with me, don't bother"
"Betsy-" Ahsoka began before Betsy promptly shut off her communicator and placed it back in her robes.
She's already fought one war that led to the destruction of a galactic government, she's not fighting another one with the same outcome.
...
And done.
Next chapter, the Jedi temple...
