A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

A threat from the shadows.

No longer protected by the Separatist Alliance, the people of KALEE are being attacked by a mysterious group of Force users.

With their army still decimated, Kalee's leaders, the IZVOSHRA have begun hiring mercenaries to defend their home.

But as the attacks continue to escalate, RONDERU, leader of the Izvoshra, finds both herself and her people in desperate need of hope….

Prologue

Trapped was the only way Ronderu could describe how she was feeling. The streets of Kaleela were still blocked off from when the Wild Pack had invaded the city during the Clone Wars. The skies above her were shrouded by the hundreds of power lines that still stretched between the old, decrepit buildings. Mounds of garbage, debris and dead vermin cluttered the roads, yards and parks. And on top of all that, Ronderu was alone.

She had returned to the abandoned city to collect supplies for her and the rest of the Izvoshra. Unfortunately, the area had long been picked clean. She'd wasted an entire day traveling to a bare, resourceless stretch of land and would now have to travel all the way back. With her Lig swords in hand, she cautiously headed back towards the way she'd come in.

The silence was eery and all-encompassing. She felt as though she were in a dream. She could still remember when the streets were filled with other Kaleesh. Adults walking to work, adolescents wrestling in the parks and children playing with their toys and pets.

She could barely believe this was the same city.

But before she could keep reminiscing, she heard the sound of glass shattering down one of the adjacent streets. Turning to face the noise and baring her weapons, she waited.

Then, she heard another noise on her left.

And another on her right.

And one more above her before she was attacked.

An old commando droid in a dusty shroud swung its vibrosword at Ronderu's back. She swung one of her Lig swords just in time to block the attack. She kept up her momentum and blocked every single attack from the droid, giving her just enough time to raise her other sword and stab the droid in the head, taking it offline.

Then came the other droids.

Three other commando droids quickly swarmed her, forcing her to stay on her feet and keep up with their offenses. Their blades clashed and clanged dozens of times as they fought through the littered streets. As Ronderu went for another attack, one of the droids swung at her left leg, leaving a cut just below her knee. Crying out in pain, she tried to keep up with the droids. But when another one of them struck her in the back and right hip, the pain in her body forced her to fall forward.

As she groaned and struggled, she looked back up at the droids and saw one of them lifting its sword above its head. But before the droid could deliver the killing blow, it was cut down from behind by a yellow lightsaber blade. The other droids attempted to fight back, but the tall, hooded figure wielding the saber made short work of them as well.

Once the droids were dealt with, the figure deactivated her lightsaber and knelt down in front of Ronderu. The figure's pale, tattooed face and silver hair peaked out from beneath her hood as she offered Ronderu a hand.

Ronderu sighed with relief.

"Asajj. Thanks."

Asajj Ventress smirked as she took Ronderu's hand.

"No problem."

Ronderu winced as Asajj pulled her back up to her feet. She reached into her pockets to pull out a few bandages. While she tended to her wounds, Asajj couldn't help but brag.

"Told you I'd save your ass."

Ronderu conceded as she tied her bandages.

"Alright, alright. Yeah. You saved me."

"And you're glad you hired me?"

Ronderu rolled her eyes.

"Yes, I am very glad I hired you. You are truly my guardian angel."

Asajj raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't say you had to flirt."

Ronderu snorted.

"Please. I'm already taken."

"With how you and Tillodei get along sometimes, it doesn't always seem that way."

"You can play marriage counselor later. Right now, let's just get out of here before more droids show up."

They continued to talk as they headed back to their speeders.

"So they're using droids now?"

Ronderu rubbed one of her bandages.

"I guess. I mean it'd make sense. If you've got a bunch of old droids lying around, you might as well use them."

"Tell that to the Empire."

"The Empire doesn't seem interested in droids. Or clones for that matter. Hard to believe after the number they did on the Jedi, right?"

Asajj thought to herself for a second before speaking again.

"Ronderu, I've been thinking. We're clearly outmatched by these people. And you're going to need more help than just me and a few other mercenaries."

"Okay then. You got anyone specific in mind?"

"As a matter of fact, I…"

Just then, Asajj was struck in the shoulder by a laserbolt. She shouted in pain as she knelt down and held onto her wound. Looking back at where the shot had been fired, Ronderu saw three IG-series assassin droids aiming at them from the roof of a tower. She turned back to Asajj.

"Snipers! We've gotta move!"

Pushing through the pain, Asajj stood back up and ran alongside Ronderu. As dozens of bolts flew past them, they came upon a line of broken, abandoned landspeeders.

"Take cover!"

They then dove behind the speeders as Ronderu was hit in the right arm by another bolt. She cursed herself and fell back on the pavement alongside Asajj, covering her own wound while they took cover.

"Krik…me…"

Asajj pulled out another bandage from her pocket.

"Keep holding it!"

Ronderu did so until Asajj finished tying the bandage. She tried to shout over the sounds of laser bolts pelting the speeders behind them.

"What do we do now?!"

"Our speeders are just over there! We can make it!"

"You might make it! But I won't!"

"Well we can't just sit here! They're shooting at us!"

"I can see that!"

Another bolt flew between two of the speeders and just barely missed Asajj's face.

"So what do you want to do?!"

Ronderu took a deep breath and motioned toward the building next to them.

"We can sneak up that building and then work our way to them via the rooftops!"

"And how long will that take?"

"At least we'll have cover!"

"But for how long?!"

"Long enough for…"

Suddenly, Ronderu heard a faint noise in the distance. She stopped talking and tried to listen over the sounds of blasterfire. Asajj tried to get her attention.

"Long enough for what?!"

The noise swelled until Ronderu realized what it was.

"Backup!"

A few seconds later, three other speeders came barreling around the street corner. On the speeders were Tillodei, Silvya and Goliida, who pulled up to Asajj and Ronderu and ducked down beside them as more bolts flew by. Tillodei noticed Ronderu's bandages.

"I see the mission's going well!"

"Just shut up and help us!"

"No problem! So what's the plan?"

"Work our way around, get up to the rooftops and take out those droids!"

Silvya smiled.

"Sounds good to me!"

Goliida rolled her eyes.

"Of course it does…"

Tillodei motioned toward the same building.

"Alright then! Let's move!"

With their weapons drawn, the five of them dove behind the building and ran for the staircase. Reaching the top of the building, they came upon another assassin droid. Ronderu fired upon the droid with her slugthrower rifle, striking it in the head and stunning it for a moment. As the droid tried to recover, Ronderu charged at it and cut its head off with her Lig swords. They then ran over to the edge of the roof and jumped across the gap, putting them on the same roof as the two other droids. The droids quickly turned their attention away from the streets below and fired at their new targets. The five of them then took cover once again while Silvya shouted to Asajj.

"Asajj! You wanna take these two with me and Goliida?"

"Is that even a question?"

"Guess not!"

Without even thinking, Asajj leapt out from behind cover and pushed the two droids back with the Force. As they fell backwards, Silvya and Goliida both left cover as well and used their own rifles to blast the droid's weapons out of their hands. The two sisters then reached out with the Force and held the droids in place. With the droids subdued, Asajj reignited her lightsaber and leapt at them, effortlessly cutting them apart with her blade.

Once the droids were eliminated, Asajj finally caught her breath and put her saber away for the day. As Ronderu and Tillodei stepped out from behind cover, Silvya pumped her fists in the air in celebration.

"Woo! That was wizard!"

Goliida raised an eyebrow.

"It's wizard that we almost died?"

"Hell yeah! We should get ambushed more often!"

"You scare me, you know that?"

Ronderu couldn't help but be impressed.

"I've gotta admit. You two are becoming more in sync every day."

Silvya crossed her arms with pride.

"Well what do you expect from two force-sensitive sisters? We're practically the same person. Right, Goliida?"

"I don't think you want me to answer that."

"Ah, whatever."

Asajj picked up one of the droid's heads and examined it for a moment. She noticed something on the back of its head and walked over to Ronderu, who was having her wounds looked over by Tillodei.

"Damn. They got you pretty good, huh?"

"Don't rub it in. I just need a nice, hot shower."

"I think I can arrange that."

Asajj spoke up.

"Ronderu. We were right."

She then held up the droid's head and showed the back of it to Ronderu. Burned onto the head was a circle with four dots inside of it.

"These droids were sent by the Shadows."

Ronderu sighed.

"Great. As if they weren't enough of a problem. Guess we'll need to contact the Durand family again."

Tillodei cut in.

"Ru, we can't just keep hiring mercenaries. How much longer until one of them crosses us?"

"The Shadows were already doing a number on our villages. And now that they're using assassin droids..."

Asajj chimed in.

"Wait. Ronderu. Remember what I was telling you earlier? About someone who could help us?"

"Oh yeah. I remember. So...who do you have in mind?"

Asajj took a moment to think about what she was about to say. And then she went for it.

"I know that you and your people have a bad history with the Jedi. But there's one Jedi I know who would be both able and willing to help you."

Tillodei titled her head.

"I thought the Jedi were dead. At least the ones who didn't leave like you, Silvya and Goliida."

"Well, this one left too. And for good reason. She and I had a…complicated relationship during the Clone Wars. But I've no doubt that she would help us against the Shadows. All we have to do is ask her."

Ronderu nodded.

"Okay, so…who is she?"

Asajj couldn't believe what she was about to say. Who she was about to bring back into her life. But at this point, the former Jedi was their best and only option. And so, with great reluctance, Asajj spoke her name.

"Her name is Ahsoka Tano."

Star Wars

Students of the Jedi