There was a world of difference between the EVA suit the Distant Star came with, and the ones Dana had procured. Beyond the obvious fact that she had a much easier time climbing up and down the access ladder a few times, there was no longer a sense of dread at how vulnerable she really was out in the expanse surrounding the ship.

Far across the port side was a shimmering nebula, the only thing to stand out amongst the endless stars and darkness. Otherwise perfect isolation, in all the peace and terror it brought.

"Check mag cohesion."

"Cohesion registering at 93% stability."

Maarani nodded a little, lifting her right foot up, then planting it back down again to be absolutely certain that the seal would hold. The magnetic thump as her boot clamped back to the hull felt satisfying indeed.

"Alright, so far so good."

She took the opportunity to test the suit's flexibility by turning towards Cecile further up the hull. It felt rather similar to movement in a high inertia flight suit, something she wasn't fond of but could at least tolerate.

"CC, you getting this?"

"Yes Mistress! The transceiver is-!"

"Lower your volume! Agh!" She clutched at the sides of her helmet in a very pointless attempt to muffle out the sound. The extra movement caused her lekku to sway and bounce around in all directions that left her feeling even more disorientated.

"Is this better, Mistress?"

"Stop calling me Mistress!"

"Is this better, angry blue woman who is my owner?"

"Yes!"

"Could you, angry blue woman who is my owner, turn your own volume down?"

Maarani shut off the transceiver at that, making another obscene gesture to get her point across visually.

"Damn lucky I don't throw you off to join M2…"

When the anger subsided, she took a breath and reached for the suit controls on her left wrist. After some tinkering, her boots disconnected from the ship. A slight push was all she needed to put distance between herself and the hull, with a jet boost afterwards effectively halting her there.

Once the anxiety from her previous experience passed, she closed her eyes and reached both hands back down to the ship.

"Just a matter of breaking the block. Simple. The right kind of motivation, like a jack-knife turn, shooting a Sith Lord in the back of the head…"

For a moment, she saw a glimmer of red light passing through her fingertips.

"Or, the absolute terror of drifting off into space with no hope of rescue… Not that that's a problem anymore…"

Her fingertips began to clench up in growing frustration. She hadn't moved even a tiny bit back towards the ship. Nothing to indicate she was touching the powers that had once come without concentration.

"It's fine Maarani. You're never going to get your connection to the Force back. Insane people don't get nice things in life. You're already talking to yourself, not long now…"

The red light returned, though this time it was with growing intensity. No longer just a flicker from the nearby nebula.

She dropped back down to the hull with another tiny burst. The moments in which she had to wait for the magnetic seal to reactivate were agonizing when there was quite possibly a weapon discharge coming right for them.

What she saw when finally able to turn around only brought confusion. Where there had been empty space was now a red giant, and one that had a particularly menacing look to it. Her fingertips also suddenly felt very cold.

"What the hell…"

"That's no way to greet your sister."

Maarani whipped back around on an impulse that also made her reach for her blaster, having momentarily forgotten that it was still back on the ship.

The mangled face of Masaka left her trembling too much to be any good a shot anyway. She looked downright freakish with the lekku missing, and the mass scarring that had persisted from their last encounter looked freshly gored in the red glow.

"Let me guess, you're asking yourself how I got here, how I'm talking to you while in the vacuum of space?" Masaka took that moment to check her nails. "I'm not holding it against you, you always were a stupid schutta-pig. Felt up any other sluts lately?"

Maarani had used her own time to run through the possibilities. Cecile had conveniently vanished from view, and a quick burst of the beacon signal in the suit had done nothing. That and the details Masaka herself had brought up made the whole matter rather obvious.

"You're in my head now too? Tell Kiarna to fuck off in person for me."

"Ooch, some comeback you've got there sis."

"We're not sisters." Now that the confusion had passed, she was far more confident in her own stance, and it showed. "I'm really not in the mood for sibling rivalry crap. Sooner or later I'm going to kill you, and that's the end of it."

Masaka took a few steps across the hull towards her. The amber glow in her eyes grew in intensity as the distance closed.

"Funny you say that. I was about to offer a deal that would leave you alive, as a slave no less, but free to feel up all the tits you want in a corner of the galaxy where I never have to see you again." With a wicked smirk she held her chin to tap along her cheek in a thoughtful way. "But now I'm having second thoughts, oh dear."

"Here's my deal. Apologize for killing the rest of my family, all those Jedi including Elira, and for being a bigot about my sexuality, and maybe I'll consider going right for the neck. If you haven't already seen, I'm not squeamish about drawing things out."

"Ha! That pathetic apology for equally pathetic behaviour amused me for all of a few seconds. But you pretending like that means anything to me is so much funnier."

Maarani sighed, her hand reaching up to her helmet in yet another pointless gesture. "I'm really not in the mood. Cut the crap and tell me what you want so I can say no and you leave."

"It really is amazing to see just how much of a meathead the military life has transformed you into. Meanwhile there's not much meat left on my head, so it balances out."

"Kindly fuck off."

"Why bother with insults if you don't even try with them?" Masaka gave an exasperated sigh, closing the gap between them with just a few steps. "Answer me this, sister. Why does Darth Lasidia fear you?"

That made Maarani pause. It was about as far from the question she expected as it could possibly get. It also provided her with yet another way to drive away her hated sibling.

"You said yourself, I like touching tits. That must have her quaking in her boots. Sounds like you have subdued feelings about the matter too."

Masaka began stepping back from her at last. Her form merely dissipated into the void around them, accompanied by the fading of the red light.

"Tribal Togruta don't wear boots, idiot. But that gives me an idea on what to cut off first with you..."

A sharp pain shot through Maarani's head. She reached up to it yet again, only to find her hand bumping against the arm of someone holding her shoulder.

"Maarani! What happened!?"

"Masaka…"

The haze in her vision passed enough for her to make out Dana's face through the visor. Cecile was nowhere to be seen, probably having gone back inside for help.

"Masaka? Did she hurt you in some way?"

"No, she…"

Maarani began shaking her head, feeling confused. The memory was slipping away despite having just happened. At the last moment she held onto it again. The full realization made her latch onto Dana's arms.

"She's coming! She saw the stars here, she knows where we are!"

Dana took just as long to hit the same realization.

"Oh fuck."

"That's really reassuring Dana! The Jedi meant to protect me is shitting herself over this!"

"Well stop swearing and get us out of here already!"

"You swore first!"

"Not the time!"

The argument continued even after both took their helmets off in the rush to the cockpit. More than enough to alert Izan and Jayden that there was more than just another of Maarani's mental blackouts to worry about.

"I think the threat of being hunted by my bloodthirsty not-sister gives me an excuse to swear!"

"All it does is set everyone else off which means they're distracted which means we're in trouble! And a life-or-death situation is exactly when we don't need distractions!"

"What the hell are you two talking about?"

Maarani took that much needed breath while setting the calculations for their next jump.

"Didn't I ever tell you about 'My Sister the Insane Sith Lord'?"

"You mentioned something about that and a woman named Elira I think…"

"She moved so fast that her swing went right through Elira's lightsaber, and her neck. And now, despite having her lekku cut off, she still found a way to track me!"

The ship began turning towards the chosen vector, bringing the nearby nebula into view for a few seconds.

Izan moved to the seat behind Maarani while Jayden took the opposite. Neither wanted to be standing for the Distant Star's typically sharp jumps.

"Small world huh? You've had a run in with the most wanted woman in the galaxy, and your sister is right near the top of that list. How many more people are going to hunt us down before someone actually gets us then?"

Jayden gripped onto his chair to gain his attention. "Speed isn't everything. It may give a large advantage, but there are ways to beat it."

That made Dana scoff.

"Speaking from experience Jayden? Remind me which of us Jedi is the one with the poor perception of danger."

Jayden's teeth clenched down to the point of pain in her jaw, hand clenched around the line that bordered what remained of her hip and the artificial leg.

"You used to be far more considerate, Dana. Now you're coming in with the underhanded insults…"

"Everyone shut up!" Maarani waited for the others to do just that before activating the hyperdrive. The expected jolt was brief, which she tried to take as a good sign for once.

The sigh that followed her relaxation accompanied her slow turn to face the others. "I need time to work out a good hiding place, at least for a little while." Her glances briefly focused on Jayden specifically. "I don't think we should let Zariba loose just yet. She'll have to wait for a mid rim world."

Jayden sighed herself, this time with a hint of defeat. "I'm not going to argue that Masaka's involvement doesn't change things. Just please take the opportunity to settle things with Seradan when it comes."

After smiling in a clearly disdainful way, Maarani got up from her seat and tapped Izan's shoulder. "Keep an eye on things, drop us out if it throws up an alarm before we hit the hyperspace lane. I need to get changed."

By the time he was in the pilot's seat, both Maarani and Jayden had left the cockpit. Dana showed no sign of intent to leave, and that concerned him.

"I know I've made cracks about you being Coldheart, but that just there was really uncalled for."

"She got over it weeks ago; the only thing bothering her now is marital issues that she won't open up to me about. That was to make it clear that Masaka is not someone we assume we're ready for."

While not the most diplomatic answer, there was little objection Izan could offer. "And here I was thinking that being an only child was the worst way to be brought up. Having an evil sister is something else, that's for sure."

"Teegs spent a lot more time with Masaka than her older brothers. And betrayal hurts a lot more than loss."

Izan took his turn to sigh, the chair groaning a little while he leaned back in it. "Maybe having no-one to really care about isn't so bad after all."

Dana twisted her lips to the left.

"Not saying I don't care. Just… Maybe she was right about keeping people at arm's length so they can't stab you in the back or however it went."

That earned a concern frown from the Jedi. After putting the thought aside, she finally left her chair to make her way back to her quarters.

"She certainly wasn't keeping Zariba at arm's length before. Maybe she'll be a little more open when she's had time to calm down."

Culligan was reclined quite significantly into his seat when the feeling of dread struck with great force. The resulting chill nearly made him fall to the floor, but it did also alert him to the observation screen ahead of him.

Masaka had left her handstand position. The sole camera able to capture her face while she stared at the door gave him a glimpse into the look of malice she had suddenly taken on.

His hand fumbled for the alert switch.

"Corporal Culligan reporting! The Twi'lek's doing something!"

"Something? Be specific man!"

"I…" He glanced at the intercom for an instant. When he looked back to the screen, she was very much gone.

Just as abruptly, a hand came to rest on his shoulder. He very nearly passed out in terror.

"Shh, don't ruin the surprise."

Masaka's hand tightened into a grip while she leaned past him to open the security lockouts. The secondary alert went off immediately as expected.

A fierce grin spread her lips as she leaned back. The raw fear was feeding right into her darkness, she couldn't help but fuel it further by planting a chilling kiss on his cheek.

"Doesn't look like I'll be visiting your bunk in the night after all. Not to rip your intestines out and chew on your eyeballs mind you. I still have needs after all. You just had to ask."

She was gone in the next instant. Tiny shards of ice danced around on his shoulders in her wake, a few more falling from the opened weapon locker. A vibrosword and some explosives had been taken.

"Culligan! Report! Damnit man! Report!"

"Report!"

Morgak twisted his head to the doorway as both Silent and Rak'Sakar entered the command deck. There was no time to be wasted.

"Masaka may have just killed one of my men! You assured me that she was under control!"

While Silent was caught by surprise, there was a very suspect calmness to Rak'Sakar's voice when he replied.

"She was going to attempt escape sooner or later, I'm surprised it took this long."

"General! Culligan here! She's taken a sword, explosives. There's blood on every wall, bits of people! Oh fuck!"

Just as quickly, Morgak was back at the console. "Stay at your post Culligan! Don't follow her!" He switched over to the ship wide channel before even receiving an acknowledgement. "General Morgak to all hands! Troopers and officers are to fall back to secure zones immediately! Do not engage the Twi'lek!"

Silent was soon leaning over the console beside him to access ship schematics. "Have droids perform constant sweeps of all corridors, active signal monitoring." He gestured to a few key locations, then stopped when he noted one of the landing bays.

Instinct was drawing him there specifically. "I need a location on Varga while you're at it. Start with the landing bays. I'll deal with Masaka directly."

"Fine. I expect she will finally be put down after this."

Silent glanced at Morgak for a moment, feeling doubtful. "That's not up to me…" He looked over his shoulder expecting to get an answer from Rak'Sakar. He was nowhere to be seen.

When the lockdown went into effect, the entire squad of Sith troopers felt the impending doom approaching their position. The orders had been clear about staying well out of the way, but that was now no longer an option.

"Defensive positions! Avoid concentrated fire, prioritize arms and legs, minimize the shots she can deflect!"

A brief clatter of weapons being readied followed, then near silence. Only the repeating alarm remained.

Eight troopers, all poised to attack at the first sight of a blur coming towards them.

There was a flicker of panic at the sound of approaching footsteps. The metallic sound definitive of a droid soon became clear.

"Patrol droid. Let it route back, give us extra warning."

The temperature began to drop at that moment. A slow descent that matched a little too well to the approaching sound. Some of the troopers began displaying signs of nervousness, fidgeting in how they held their weapons, breathing a little harder…

"Steady, no harm in destroying the droid if this is a trick. Don't hold back."

A few began to shiver from the now chilling ambient that was permeating their armour. At any moment, they were either going to have a dead Twi'lek, or the rush of death in front of them.

The droid came around the corner, preceded briefly by the glare of its scanning eyes. Upon scanning the formation ahead, it beeped a few times and came to a standstill.

"So, how long until it routes back…?"

"Give it a few more seconds-"

The squad leader froze in both ways. A hand had come to rest on his shoulder, colder than the ice sheets of Nelvaan.

"It stopped because it found me…"

What followed was brief, all captured by the droid once it had begun relaying a visual feed to the bridge. Every single dismemberment, and subsequent decapitation. The few blaster shots that went off, one of which found its mark in Masaka's gut. Pained death cries that came from those she hadn't killed immediately. Her departure from the massacre scene without so much as a limp from her wound.

Masaka herself was still quite calm on her dash towards the landing bay. The wound was nothing more than a mind inconvenience she would have to deal with eventually. Her body was effectively dead without the Force, or her lekku to keep it going after all.

Her arrival at the landing bay itself brought with it a small shower of ice shards, and a snicker from herself upon seeing Varga in the cockpit. The need for blood had been well sated indeed, and the rest of her remaining needs were within arm's reach.

"Oh, if only Lasidia were here to see the epitome of her incompetence…"

Before taking the first step towards the ship in her dash, she gestured to some of the other vessels around her. Caught in the drawn out instant of her perception, they were set to wreak utter havoc around the rest of the landing bay while she escaped. The pursuit would be much harder for Rak'Sakar to co-ordinate.

A twinge went through the stump on the right side of her head. Her left foot landed the first step.

The twinge came again when her right foot came down. Her speed meant the sprint would have her on the ship within a fraction of perceivable time.

Her left foot rose again. The twinge finally caught her attention as a sense of danger.

Her head turned to the right. A dark blur rushed from a nearby corridor in that next second, ending with a scaled hand grabbing her by the throat and throwing her down to the floor.

The ships she had scattered were still very slowly moving towards their impact zones. The distortion of reality was being maintained by the sole other capable of such a feat.

Why wait this long, Masaka? What changed? Speak!

At first, she merely smirked. Hearing Rak'Sakar's voice in her head amused her. They couldn't actually speak to each other verbally obviously, as the soundwaves would take far too long to travel between them. The fact that he was bowing to necessity amused her nonetheless.

My sister is falling in with Mandalore the Steadfast, which means we have a mutual enemy to deal with.

The response was his clawed foot clasping around her neck, which she scoffed at more. She had learnt from her previous experience, whereas he was clearly still holding back.

Got your interest, lizard? Lasidia isn't around to keep you leashed. I do wonder why she's been holding you back from revenge all this time…

The grip around her neck tightened as she was met with a snarl. Her composure remained calm.

I don't need yet another complication out in the galaxy! Respect the agreement, or die here and now!

She felt her throat beginning to cave inward. A little harder, and it was possible she'd suffer damage that even her full power couldn't undo. And yet, she still managed to laugh.

You're not looking to kill me. Lasidia failed, Kiarna failed; I'm the only one who can give you what you want now.

Her hand clenched at his ankle in a last ditch effort to free herself from his hold.

Let me go get my lekku, kill my sister, and find the rest of the holocrons. I'll give you Mandalore, and I certainly won't try to put bombs in your gut when we next meet.

She felt the claws driving into her neck for a few moments for a second time, before his foot finally withdrew altogether. She had won.

Rak'Sakar held the moment for a while longer, contemplating the decision just made at length. The resulting chaos that erupted when he finally did release the moment summed up the consequences quite aptly. There was no way to hold Masaka indefinitely, she had no intention of divulging anything more about the superweapon, and killing her would make no real difference in the end.

She was right after all. The future Empress, and her mentor had both failed their duty. How could he possibly do any worse?

"Doing alright?"

Maarani gave a nonchalant gesture in response. She barely flinched when Jayden sank into the seat to her right.

"I wish I could say we know what you're going through. But unless Dana's got some distant sibling, you really are the only one here who isn't an only child." She couldn't help but take notice of the slow stare it drew. "I'm still trying to patch things up here. Usually the people I do this with are Imperial spies, agents working for the Hutts, and the occasional sack of lies and deception we refer to as Senators."

"Oh ha ha. Quit the life of a Jedi to become a comedian already."

Jayden smiled, albeit in a forced way. "At least the sarcasm has come back. "

"And that's a good thing now? I have a distinct memory of having to be super careful about what I said around you when we first met!"

"Did you? All I remember is being surprised by the tattoos and getting the impression Dana didn't like my attitude."

Maarani pursed her lips. In retrospect, a lot of what led to that encounter came from Dana's observations. And despite being a professional…

"She has been acting weird since you arrived, being honest. Back on Coruscant, she was real nice and considerate, and even while we were hiding out on Twa'janii she got me through a real bad phase. Maybe she's got something against Mandalorians?"

"Hardly the first I've met to think that way." Jayden sighed, her gloves slowly coming off while she stared ahead into the currently empty kitchen. "Truth be told I barely knew anything about her before we met in person. She made it clear she has nothing nice to say about Master Shan, given how she looks I'm surprised she was around to know her that well."

"Apparently she's well over sixty years old. The most I got is that she's not human, beats me what offshoot she comes from."

"Who knows? Twi'lek are a distant offshoot of humans after all, anything is possible."

Maarani's head slowly looked up to Jayden's. The thought of them being extremely distant relatives had suddenly left her feeling unsettled.

"How did we go from attitude problems to the history of divergent evolution?"

A small shrug was all Jayden could give. It was the first time they were conversing without a crisis to be resolved after all.

"That's just how conversations go, rather much like journeys, or soul searching."

At that, Maarani clenched onto the seat below her, slowly rising to her feet and starting a pace around the common room.

"You know what's funny? I've been soul searching for eight years, trying to work out why the universe loves to torment me. And then, right when I get some of the answers I want from the Jedi, all the problems get multiplied on me. Why is that?"

Jayden gave another of her shrugs.

"This started out as training for me. Away from other padawans, because I guess they thought all my swearing and suicidal tendencies and other crap would be a bad influence on them. Only since Telos, I've had maybe one actual lesson from Dana, none from you, and we don't even have any semblance of a plan anymore."

Her face was slightly flushed from the outburst when she finally stopped to breathe. For once, seeing Jayden's look of dismay actually got right through to her.

"I'm not blaming you. I know we can't stay anywhere for too long and bring everyone to where Jedi allies are based. But there has to be something we can do in the meantime! Something that doesn't leave me feeling like I'm sitting on my ass just waiting for the next crisis to come!"

"Well, we could go over basic lightsaber forms…"

Maarani sighed in a very exaggerated manner. "My lightsaber still doesn't work, seeing as it's still missing half the parts. And apparently I'm not supposed to be learning combat anyway."

The real irony hit her then and there. Rather than making another remark, she went back to her pacing.

"Learning the forms won't help when I still can't use the Force anyway." There was another sigh, this time in defeat. "I want my powers back. Is that so much to ask after what I've been through?"

Jayden took her turn to stand, only needing a few steps to reach the Twi'lek's side for her show of support.

"I don't know exactly what Master Pala had in mind, but I think it's fair to say that you're capable of making your own decisions about this." She paused briefly when she heard a door opening in the starboard corridor. "I say that because what I'm about to propose is something she'd never agree to."

When Dana made her way into the common room, looking bemused, she straightened herself up and looked to Maarani directly.

Jayden ignored the look and continued "Bastila may be able to help, either through her own power or through guidance to someone who knows how."

"No."

For a moment, Jayden's fist clenched as she looked over at Dana. "This is Maarani's decision. Don't bring personal feuds into this."

"That bitch very nearly destroyed the Order out of spite. If we waltz over to Dantooine with another reminder that things didn't go her way-"

"She didn't have a problem with me being sent there!"

"You're a half-blood Mandalorian, not a born and raised Jedi! She doesn't want anything that reminds her of her own failings, and that includes people like Maarani!"

She very nearly said it. One word out of line. Now was definitely not the time to open up about herself.

Her hand went to her face, regret quick to set in. "I didn't mean anything by that Teegs. She's just a spiteful woman who never let go of her ego."

That was met with a questioning glare from Maarani herself.

"She was also a hero to me, Dana. I'm starting to wonder if Mission is the only one left out there without some massive flaw in her life's story."

Another sigh later, she was shoving past both Jedi towards the cockpit. "Maybe Bastila can't help me as much as I'd hope. I certainly can't stay on Dantooine for long."

She whapped Izan's shoulder upon entering, cringing a little when his feet dragged over the console from their uplifted position. After some sleepy grumbling he clambered over into the copilot's seat.

"Gonna meet more Jedi with checkered histories, Izan, you game?"

"What…"

Maarani made some quick adjustments that brought them out of hyperspace, then looked back over her shoulder to be certain Dana and Jayden had followed her.

"So far, I've been told that there's one other person who knew my parents best. And Bastila would be the closest person to her left, right?"

"Where is this going Teegs?"

For the first time in a while, Maarani smiled, quickly pointing at her face.

"It's about time I meet Yuthura Ban, however long this takes. Jedi-turned-hermit are great for pulling off miracles and giving wise advice, right?"

Empty space lay ahead. The freedom of the void at long last. No more looking over his shoulder to see other Sith looking disappointed in his progress. There was little to be left behind, and much to be gained without the restrictions imposed on his new tutor.

He was barely fazed when Masaka's hands slipped down over his chest, though couldn't help but crack a bit of a smile at the way she twisted her head around to begin smooching his neck.

"Don't think I deserve this. They didn't even try to stop me, you had the worst of it."

"Mm, too modest Varga."

Her mouth came away from his neck shortly after, while her hands fumbled at his robes, making no attempt to hide that she was trying to remove them.

After a while longer, her hands moved to grab his wrists instead. "Come, I've been needing this for a long time now."

Varga remained quite calm as he followed Masaka into the rear compartment of the ship. At the threshold of their quarters, her own robes came off, and soon her pants did as well before she laid herself out on the bed with a large grin. The only logical thing to do was to disrobe as well.

Small chuckles began to pass between the two, Varga settling in over her while she ran her hands over his chest, feeling the varied scars and burns that came with the gruelling training of Sith. Little comparison to the array of gouging marks that ran all over her body from the head.

"I really wouldn't have come this far without you. You've become such a vital person in my life…"

One hand slipped up behind his neck to pull him in for the deep kiss, her eyes fluttering closed for a moment.

He met it quite comfortably, hands moving in to hold her physically.

In the next moment, her sultry hold became fierce. A harrowing red glow beamed from her eyes to his while she screamed into his mouth, muffling out the cries of anguish.

The struggle lasted only a few seconds. When it ended, Varga's body was covered in haphazard scars.

Masaka had been cleansed of them, save for the single line running right down the middle of her head and body.

It took a small while for Properatus to settle into his new body. At first, he was barely able to lean up from her, fixated on the hand resting on her left hip. With some concentration, he pulled it away, and finally began to flex his fingers.

"Thousands of years in a holocron… I've forgotten what it's like to exist in a body…"

He brought his other arm up, slowly turning both in front of him to look over the scars. Just as he remembered them, albeit on the body of a much younger man.

"Yes, this is a very good form indeed. You chose well my dear."

Masaka's wicked grin appeared at last, her eyes flaring red.

"Next we find my sister. Or perhaps a way to restore Trutinavi that won't require me to lock lips with a Kaleesh woman. Or even touch one preferably."

Properatus grinned at that, awkwardly straightening out a finger to press to her lips. "Hush now. We can deal with your sister, and finding new bodies for the others in due time. Solidifying your position as the true Sith Lord is what matters most."

Another laugh from Masaka followed, her hand snaking back up to pull him close once more.

"How about you give your new body a test run first? I'm ready, and waiting."