Qai'zon's mother had been the one who taught him how to shoot a blaster.
Growing up in the Citadel on Dromund Kaas he was surrounded by many other children of all different species. Not only his siblings, but the kids of Imperial bureaucrats and Military officers and the children of his father's fellow Sith Lords. That sort of upbringing, being surrounded by such diverse people had really played a part in the person he was now. He was able to learn many things from those around him, but no such lessons had influenced him as much as the first shooting lessons he had had with his mother.
He was four. He can still remember his mother kneeling next to him, pregnant with his brother Kirtos, placing his small hands in the right places on the blaster rifle. The weapon felt gigantic in his hands, almost as big as him.
"Now you want to rest your finger right here Qai. Right until the last possible moment."
She had placed his hand right near the trigger, resting his index finger on it.
"Look through here. You see the target?" she points to the remote she had set up about 100 meters away.
"Yes momma."
"Good. Now see if you can take a shot."
He still remembers that moment like it was yesterday, the breath he took, his index finger moving like a spring, and the target exploding.
His mother smiled proudly "You'll be a sharpshooter yet buddy."
Those first lessons stuck with Qai'zon into adulthood and into his career in Imperial Intelligence.
His custom built Aratech sniper rifle was a weapon he had spent years designing to perfectly fit his needs. It was comfortable to use, had a fantastic long range scope and could easily be broken apart to carry around. The shots were silent and Qai'zon never missed.
He had counted three guards in the turret tower. Lightly armed. They would be easy to take care of.
"Are you guys ready?" he whispered into his comlink.
"Ready when you are." came Nyax's reply.
Darth Nyax and Qai'zon's best friend Kraw'el Carsen were waiting for Qai'zon to deal with the guards, after which they would take control of Iziz City's guard turrets.
The young Prince took a breath and closed his eyes, remembering all the lessons his mother had taught him.
His trigger finger fell like a hammer and before the first guard hit the ground, Qai'zon was lining up and firing his next shot at the second. Time was precious, miliseconds could make the difference between maintaining secrecy and a guard calling for backup.
It took him 2.1 seconds exactly to kill all three guards. Not his best time ever but it would do.
"You're clear."
He watched through his rifle's scope as he saw Nyax clad in her beskar'gam armor and Kraw'el in his own custom armor set, leap up into the turret tower with the help of their jetpacks.
"We're good here. The turret's been disabled. On to the next."
Qai'zon sighed and began to pack up his rifle. No rest for the wicked.
"You can't be serious!"
Vette stared down her 13 year old daughter, voice firm. "I'm very serious."
"B-b-but I'm ready to go and fight I swear!"
Vette put her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "Roshi, you are 13 years old. A war is no place for you yet."
"But that's not fair! Kirtos is 15 and he gets to fight!"
"Kirtos also has a Master and has responsibilities as his apprentice. You know that you're going to have to go through the Academy and prove yourself just like your brothers and sister did. You have to earn everything."
The princess pouted. "It's not fair."
"Life's not fair my darling. Your father and I had to earn everything we have. And so did your brothers and sister. And so did Aunt Jaesa and Aunt Casia."
She turned her so that they were making eye contact. "You've had it better than most my little one. Your father and I only make you work hard because we love you."
"I know..." the girl looked down and Vette could see tears form in her eyes. "I wanna be with you mom."
She smiled "Sooner than you think. Soon you'll get to be with us on the frontlines. But promise me you'll be good while you're here? You got to hold down the fort for us. Make sure everyone plays nice in the Capital
Roshi burst into tears and flung her arms around her Mom. "I promise mom. I love you."
And who says teenagers are always moody?
Several years ago Jaesa and Vette decided that they enjoyed fighting together so much that they would take up a joint command together. They had commissioned two new capital ships to lead this combined fleet. The Scoundrel and The Seer were only rivaled by The Glory and The Shadow, the ships of their spouses. They had command of about four thousand soldiers and 50 Sith. Everyone was eager to taste the rush of war.
"How'd it go with Roshi?" Jaesa asked as Vette joined her on the bridge of The Seer.
"It was only slightly heartbreaking. There were tears. How did Obrienec hold up?"
Jaesa sighed thinking of her own youngest. "I told him he was the man of the house now. I could tell he was holding back how upset he was."
Vette squeezed her shoulder helpfully. "I wish they didn't have to grow up so fast like we did."
"I do too. But the Galaxy is a tough place now. We can't hide our children from it forever. We can only do our best to keep them safe."
Vette nodded staring out the viewport as the Fleet prepared to make the jump to hyperspace. "It is a mother's job after all."
If Odelio had been born a Wookiee, then this whole excursion would've definitely been easier. Wookiees were raised climbing the sky-high trees of Kashyyyk and evolution had helped them adapt to climbing.
But alas! He had sadly been born without such genetic innovations so improvisation was in order.
He had built the climbing blades himself in preparation for something like this. They were curved and made out of a special Mustafarian steel, strong enough to cut through the tough bark of the wroshyyr tree. The blades were attached to wooden handles that his gauntleted hands clutched tightly. There were a second pair of blades attached to his boots. It was slow going, he had to be cautious in his movements for if he moved without securing his blades into the bark of the tree, he would fall for miles.
Venturing down into the Shadowlands would take a long time, a very very long time.
Crimson blades whirling, Kira, Darth Nox and Prince Augustus made quick work of the camp of InterStellar Regulators. The trio moved with the ease and synchronicity of practiced warriors.
Nox stopped when they had disarmed the mercenaries' lead officer and force pushed him back against some rocks.
"Alright, we're going to make this real easy. You will tell me where Dr. Lemda Avesta is."
Auggie could feel the power of the Force behind his Master's words. Hopefully this would be enough.
"The...the Doctor? She's...she's at our base..."
"Good." Nox said helpfully as she knelt down next to him. "Put in the coordinates for me."
The man, in a haze, did as he was ordered.
"What should we do with him?" Kira asked.
"I distorted his mind so if we let him go he'll have no idea who any of us are or what happened here."
"Works for me." the red headed Sith Lord sheathed her saberstaff.
Augustus consulted his Master's datapad, "Master. The Regulators base is quite -"
Another groundquake began to erupt. And before they could anchor themselves all three Sith were tossed to the ground.
"...far."
Nox pulled herself up and offered her hand to Kira and Augustus to do the same. They brushed off their robes and headed back toward their speeders.
"Well let's get going. The sooner we get off Makeb the better."
