Chapter 2 – Familiar Faces
Louise groaned as she pulled herself from her bed, into a sitting position. Looking around the room with tired eyes, she blinked slowly as she took in her surroundings. Once again, she was in her bedroom, a sight that was quickly becoming familiar to her, yet it felt different. It was quiet. Too quiet.
The familiar hum of the ship engine was gone, something that had been constant for the few days she had spent in the Fury. Shaking her head, Louise pulled off her blanket and sheet, hopping onto the cold metal floor. Absently, she noted that she needed a carpet as she quickly shuffled to her wardrobe.
Opening one of the lower draws, she pulled out a pair of thick woollen socks she had bought when she realised how cold the floors on Dromund Kaas were. Once she slipped them onto her feet, she quickly removed her negligée, letting it fall to the floor before she began picking out her outfit for the day. As she had a job to do, but felt it was still much too early to do so – at least to her – Louise forewent the armour and robes, choosing a much more casual outfit.
Once dressed, Louise shuffled quietly out of her room, off to find either Khem or Toovee to explain what she had missed. However, finding one of the two proved to be quite difficult as she could not sense her Dashade companion on the ship. The droid, on the other hand, was once again in the cargo hold, though this time not taking inventory but setting up the probes.
"Master, how was your rest?" the droid inquired.
"Fine," Louise replied dismissively, "Now, could you fill me in on what I missed?"
"Of course. When you went to sleep, I began to sort out the reconnaissance supplies and prepped the probes. Master Val took your instructions and began to patrol around the hanger, killing eight pests that had caused superficial damage to the ship-"
"Superficial damage?" Louise questioned sharply.
"Master, it has been repaired! I-it was only minor damage, master." said the droid hastily, "Once repaired, I finished setting up the probes, as you wished, and decided it was prudent to test them. With the probes help, we mapped out most of the compound, however, one of the probes was damaged by the native fauna. Only an hour ago, did Master Val leave to deal with the creature while I repair the droid."
"How far alo-" Louise paused, stifling a yawn that overtook her, causing the Pinkette to stretch involuntarily. Once she recovered, she repeated what she was going to say, "How far along are you with the repairs?"
"Darth Zash has been quite generous and has given us much in the way of parts. I estimate that it will be completed in approximately thirty minutes."
"Good, good. Where's Khem?"
"He has not returned, so I assume he is still in the process of eliminating it."
A trickle of worry began to spread out within Louise's gut as her mind went erratic with thoughts of what could have happened to Khem. Thanking Toovee, she swiftly returned to her bedroom and replaced her clothes with her Sith regalia and armed herself with weapons, including her new sniper rifle.
Once done, she left her room and quickly ran to the exit of the ship. The landing ramp seemed impossibly slow, causing Louise to tap her foot impatiently as she waited for the landing ramp to descend. Before it could fully extend, Louise stormed down it, taking her first step on the Demon Moon. Without thinking much on the significance of the act, she looked around the overgrown compound she found herself in.
It was wide and open, though the drab colours of the buildings would allow it to camouflage against the jungle backdrop. So far, however, she could only see the hanger her ship was nestled in, another identical, but collapsed hanger and a small building. Besides that, she could also see large and thick walls that surrounded the outpost. On the other side of the field she stood in, she could see the top of a large satellite dish, which meant that she was only in one part of the base.
With that in mind, she began walking to the other end of the outpost, her lightsaber in hand just in case she ran into trouble. However, she did not have to go far as from a path between the walls came a familiar dashade.
"Master, I have had a most glorious fight!" Khem called as he neared, his sword propped on his shoulder and a massive grin plastered on his face. Though, his cheerful demeanour was ruined by the fact that his clothes and weapons were caked in blood and the former was torn in various places.
Her woes gone, Louise breathed a sigh of relief and returned the smile, "I can see that," she said, "What did you fight?"
"The droid called it a Zakkeg, and it was a great one!" he cried, "My sword could only cut so deep into its thick scales, and was strong enough to throw me to the ground. Yet it still fell before my might."
"Get cleaned and then tell me about it over breakfast," Louise said, beckoning the Dashade to follow as she walked back to L'Inquisiteur. However, now that she was no longer worried for her companion's safety, she found herself drawn to the skyline, or more importantly, the massive sphere that took up much of the sky: Onderon.
Louise found herself stunned by the mesmerising sight of the massive planet that took up a good portion of the sky. It was simply beautiful in a surreal way.
Once the two entered the ship, they split off, Khem leaving to his room to get changed – later leaving to bathe – while Louise went and asked Toovee to prepare food for both Khem and her before she took a seat at the table.
When the Dashade returned, dressed only in a pair of pants, he was still smiling. Joining her at the table, he began to regale her about his battle with the great Zakkeg between spoonfuls of synthesized food. He told her how the creature had tried to lure him away from the ship, enough so that any backup would have to travel far to help. He spoke of how its unusual cunning was only matched by its power and strength. And soon, he finished his tale with a feral grin, "…when the creature leapt upon me to finish me off, I gutted it with my blade."
"I'm a little upset that you didn't take me along, I would love to have seen the fight," Louise pouted, though inside she felt pleased that her companion was much livelier today than the four days of nothing.
"Perhaps we may find another and we can see how you would defeat such a beast," Khem replied.
"Have you fought many other creatures like that?"
Khem leaned back, looking as nostalgic as ever, "During the Grand Hunt on Urkupp, me and my rival, Veshikk Urk, hunted and battled one of the native beasts. It was a test of our hunting skills and our battle prowess. And it was a glorious few days of hunting and tracking, ending in a magnificent battle between the beast and us."
Louise nodded along, about to ask for more detail as she felt a bit starved of conversation – especially when the only other being she could talk to was a timid droid who feared for his life. But stopped when her curiosity latched onto the name Veshikk Urk. And so, with that in mind, she asked Khem to elaborate.
"Veshikk was a fellow Shadow Killer and my greatest rival on Urkupp. But Tulak Hord's apprentice, Ortan Cela, bested him in an honour duel and reduced him to a slavering monster," Khem growled, his anger at this Ortan noticeable through the Force. He did not say a word for a moment, but when he continued, he was staring at Louise unfathomably, "I thought you and Cela were alike, but I was wrong."
"What do you mean?"
"His ambition outstripped his ability and he did not hesitate to take what he did not deserve," said Khem, "He was weak and Tulak Hord should have replaced him. You have little ambition other than survival and an insatiable lust for knowledge. You are more humble than he, hesitant to take on challenges you feel you are not ready for. Yet, you are a powerful little Sith, despite your training only stretching less than two years at the most. And whereas Cela treated Veshikk like a slave, you've shown me respect and freedom."
Louise looked to Khem, troubled, "Of course I would treat you like that, Khem. I'd never treat another like a slave."
The Shadow Killer merely grunted.
But before they could continue their conversation, Toovee entered the lounge from the port wing. "Master, the probe has been repaired. Do you wish for them to be sent out to begin scouting the Sith Temple?"
Turning to the droid, Louise nodded. "I also want to know if the Jedi or Republic have an outpost built anywhere near the Temple."
"Of course, master." It was about ten minutes later when Louise saw the two probes hover out from the cargo hold. The main body of the probe was domed-shaped with a few scanners, photoreceptors, and antenna. From the bottom of the dome was several appendages with different tools attached to the end. Through the lounge and down the ramp they flew, as Louise got up from the table and followed cautiously behind. Once clear of the ship and hanger, they quickly ascended into the sky, disappearing behind the tree line.
Now all she had to do was wait. Or… she thought, looking over the overgrown outpost with the critical eye. I could explore…
With that, she left back to her ship, calling for Khem and Toovee.
...
I need to get some knitting supplies. Louise thought as she lounged at her desk. One hand lay uselessly by her side, as the other scrolled through the knitting patterns she had found on the HoloNet. From the speakers, the musical stylings of Lord Cantus and the Ziost Symphony Orchestra played. While she could tolerate the modern music that some clubs on Dromund Kaas used, she preferred the more classical songs or even classical renditions of modern songs. They always sounded so much nicer to her ears and she found them relaxing.
It had been around eight hours since the probes left, and they had not reported back much. A few of the smaller avian creatures had tried to attack them, but they managed to fell the beasts before they could cause any debilitating damage – apparently, someone in the Sphere of Technology thought it was a good idea to attach a flame thrower to probes. They were right, but it was still an amusing prospect to the Sith who could only imagine how that proposal went down.
Only about two hours ago had the probes informed Toovee that they had arrived at the Temple and had split up – one to scout for the Republic base, and the other to examine the Sith Temple. Louise had not wanted to view the findings right away, wanting to wait for them to finish their work before she started working. So, with this in mind, she had returned to the boredom which had overtaken her since the probes had left.
After watching the probes fly off, Louise had decided to go out and explore the outpost to find anything of note. Unfortunately, it did not end well. Aside from the dilapidated shell of an outpost, which now could only serve as a weak defence against any creatures that tried to attack the trio, there was not much else. The place had been ransacked and everything that could prove useful was damaged beyond repair or required power. Even then, there was not much alive in there, just a small pack of Cannoks which were killed swiftly.
The only thing she could get from the Mandalorian outpost were faint echoes of battle and the presence of the Dark Side which swirled around the place like a cool breeze… whispering its sweet song into her ear. With a tired sigh, Louise had returned to her ship, disappointed in the lack of anything to continue the expedition.
During this time, Louise found herself creating a list of things she wished to invest in for her ship. First and foremost, she wanted some training dummies – or, if it was within her budget, training droids – as she found attacking things that looked vaguely humanoid therapeutic. Another thing she wished was a Pazaak deck as Khem expressed displeasure at playing Dijarik and Toovee had always let her win, despite her wishes otherwise. And finally, she wished for a bookshelf, one with actual books, as she found reading things on her personal terminal not as enthralling as the real thing; not only that, but she wanted to read things that were not just study material.
Once she grew tired from cataloguing the things she wanted to spruce up her ship, she decided that training would prudent but quickly found herself disinterested; though it was fun to push her limits despite her only targets being inanimate objects around the hanger and Mandalorian base.
The latter half of her time was spent surfing the HoloNet listening to music and catching up on the news or looking up a variety of things. So, she found herself quite pleased when her bedroom door hissed open as her personal servant entered the room.
"Master, one of the probes has completed its objective."
"Show me," Louise said, getting up from her chair in one swift movement.
The droid nodded, leaving the room as he beckoned Louise to come, "This way, master." Following Toovee, Louise was taken to the bridge, where the protocol droid gestured to one of the terminals, "You may access the probes data from this terminal."
Louise inclined her head, moving to the terminal and, after a short search, pulled up the data the probes had recovered. From what she could tell, they had created a map – incomplete, yet serviceable – and a few recordings. From the looks of it, probe one had found, and was currently, examining the area around the temple and the temple proper. Meanwhile, the second one had found the Jedi outpost and was awaiting orders.
It did not take much time to input new instructions into the Dumb AI of the probe, telling it to map the base, yet stay undetected.
Now finished with one probe, Louise felt drawn to the data the second one had acquired. Bringing up the map and recordings, Louise felt disappointed. The Jedi had managed to break into the entry room. Apparently, the damage was much more than they thought, and with a few other issues such as the native wildlife, their progress was slow going, especially if she used the Dark Temple as a template.
This is going to take forever! Louise whined. With the probe's use being diminished by the Jedi's lack of progress, she quickly ordered the probe to aid its counterpart with scouting the outpost, ending it with an order to return to the ship once done.
Now, all she could do was wait… some more. An expansive amount of free time, and nothing to do. Never a dull moment in the Sith Empire.
Sighing again, Louise returned to her bedroom, moving into the meditation position without a thought. She had read examples of people entering trances so deep that time passed swiftly – and she herself had experienced it when meditating on her runes. So, with that in mind, Louise delved into the Force, letting the ebbs and flows of the magnificent entity wash over her. But instead of spreading her senses outwards as she usually did as to bask in the Force, she sent it inwards.
Thoughts halted progress but were easily banished as she cleared her mind and focused on her objective. The outside world dulled and dimmed the deeper she went, and soon what scant thoughts managed to breach the void she tried to conjure became manifest. These thoughts proved more difficult to dispel, forming new thoughts as she focused on them, yet still, she managed to quieten her mind and empty her mind.
Yet her mind did not become like a white void as she had thought – faint visions of memories flickered in and out of existent, even ones from as a little babe unable to fully control her limbs – it was a surprise, one that caused the Pinkette to lose her grip on concentration, her mind soon flooding with thoughts once again.
Frustration bore, bringing anger and annoyance with it, but she forced herself to calm down. This type of meditation would not work well when one's unruly emotions reigned. With a few breathing exercises taught to her by Lyira, she bottled up and sealed the emotions away for later use.
Soon, she returned to the memories, quickly dismissing them to dig deeper and deeper. However, she was once again distracted when she found something odd. The best description she could give it was that they were strings, chains. There were many of them, each with varying intensities in which they existed with different textures. Where the strings led, Louise did not know other than outwards into the vastness of the Force.
It was strange, yet she felt that they were not dangerous in the slightest.
Her attention soon found itself placed upon a string, one that felt intense and emanating strange feelings of comfort for Louise. Deciding to throw caution to the wind, Louise focused on it before she found herself assaulted by emotions that did not belong to her – Curiosity, wonder, joy, and so much more.
Recoiling, Louise lost her concentration once again, but quickly fought her way back, this time expecting a reaction as she tugged. Immediately, she felt eyes rest on her, not with malice or suspicion, but with a loving tenderness that spread warmth throughout her very being. Drawn to the strange yet familiar entity, Louise probed curiously only to hear a name resonate within her: Lyira.
It was then, that she realised what she had found. A Force Bond. One she had forged with Lyira. A connection to the one who loved her and who she loved in turn. Louise returned the feeling twice fold, excitement following along with it as she focused more and more upon the bond; part of her fearful that should she leave, that she would lose it forever.
Comfort and amusement returned and Louise knew that Lyira was trying to calm her worries. Despite her reservations, she knew she had to leave – the Pureblood had either entered a war zone or was going to soon. So, with one final comforting pulse, she lost focus on that bond, looking to the others she had forged.
There were a few and most she could not recognise, but one in particular drew her attention. It was a new one, but it had an underlining feeling of something old and dead. It was a curiosity and so she had to examine it. What she discovered was that it was a new bond, but near death, only kept alive by her presence. Despite knowing that she should have left it alone, the sheer knowledge that she had nothing else to do compelled her to tug upon the bond.
Suddenly, it felt like the room had dropped ten degrees – the warmth of Lyira's presence gone, replaced by death.
"Flesh of my Flesh. You have called me?"
Louise's eyes flashed open in an instant, immediately locking onto the ghostly presence sitting down in front of her. "Lord Kallig, you're here?"
"Did you not call me?" questioned the dead Sith Lord.
"…No, I was just experimenting," Louise said after a moment's hesitation, "I saw the bond but I did not know who it belonged to…"
"You create bonds, yet know not who they are attached?" he asked, sounding astonished by the fact. Louise frowned at the hinted accusation, but held her tongue, "Your education seems somewhat haphazard, especially when comparing your combat prowess to other abilities."
"I've only trained for a year and a half," Louise replied with a huff. Who is he to judge… "Some of that time was catching up in my basic studies as I wasn't afforded the Primary Schools of Ziost and Dromund Kaas. After all, who would want to waste such knowledge on a Slave Caste."
Kallig nodded in agreement, "I also assume it was your master's fault as well, keeping you as a tool to be used, instead of training you as a Sith. Yet, despite this setback, you've proven yourself to be quite intelligent, regardless of the gaps in your education. I'm proud of you."
"It was your fault in the first place," Louise shot back, crossing her arms.
"Yes, it was my blunder that caused your enslavement, yet even then I kept an eye on you. I did not want my mistake to end in your death."
"I was tortured," she hissed, her eyes flashing as she glared contemptuously at her ancestor.
"Yet you live," he replied simply, "Had you been in mortal peril, I would have summoned all my strength to protect you. Fortunately for us both, you are a highly capable Sith, despite your training faults." Lord Kallig sighed, looking at Louise with what she assumed was regret despite the emotionlessness of his mask, "If you should ask, I will teach you in the ways of the old Sith, give you knowledge that the Neo-Empire wishes it could grasp."
Louise considered the offer, still glaring at the ghost. On the one hand, he had been the root cause of everything that had happened to her since the summoning. On the other, he was a Sith Lord who was killed because the Dark Lord of the Sith at the time felt threatened by him. "Your daughter knew Sith Sorcery. Could you teach me?"
Aloysius paused, "How do you know that my daughter was blessed with Sorcery?"
Merde. Louise cursed, looking to the ghost suspiciously as she considered her words carefully, "I… have an ability to see far into the past," she began, knowing that there were similar powers to what she was describing, "Not anywhere or when, as I am stuck following one person. I know what happened to your Teralyn."
"How much have you seen?" he asked, sitting up straighter, all his attention on Louise with his unwavering blank stare.
"…Only a day or two," Louise replied hesitantly, "She was sent to my homeworld, around six thousand years before my birth. She's in good hands."
Lord Kallig paused, his features obscured by the mask he wore, but Louise could not help but think that he was feeling relief and interest in his daughter's well-being. But before he said anything, he shook his head, "I would ask you to tell me more, but that is the past and I do not have much time here – You may have given me your strength when you summoned me here, but I will soon need to return to my crypt to rejuvenate. For now, I shall teach you how to properly channel your anger, to control your emotions and to fix the poorly built foundations to make you a formidable Sith. Perhaps then, I may pass on my knowledge of more mundane, yet important things."
"Then let us begin."
Eight days passed without too much fuss, especially with the basic lesson plan that her ancestor had given her. Aside from that, Louise had been watching the progress of the Republic from the relative safety of her ship while another probe was off mapping a path to the Temple and ship. It was on this eighth day of this operation, that the probes reported back some important news. The Jedi had managed to breach into the main chamber of the Temple.
Of course, Louise found herself filled with energy at the news ("Finally, something else to do!") and almost at once, she got ready to leave with her Shadow Killer by her side. This marked the first time Louise had left the relative safety of the Mandalorian outpost, something she had not done earlier as to not put herself in senseless danger.
Using the maps the probes had crafted for her, Louise managed to make her way to the Temple faster than she had expected, especially considering it was a few kilometres away. So, instead of wasting twelve hours getting lost in the jungles of the Demon Moon, Louise arrived at a vantage point at the outskirts of the Temple ground in under half the time.
From all the way up there, Louise could only grimace as she took in the entire sight of the Temple
Even from all the way up on a cliff face, she could see the entrance of the derelict Temple – time having stripped all grandeur that it may have had. The entire thing had been built into a mountain, which she assumed was to keep the temple safe from an orbital bombardment or something of the sort. Yet, the mountain did little to defend against the old Republic ship that had fallen from the sky which caused most of the damage.
Using her sniper rifle as a makeshift macromonocular, Louise could make out the main entrance of the Temple where workers wearing Republic colours and bearing mining lasers to aid in excavating. She could see hints of what she assumed to be pillars that had been reclaimed by the unrelenting flora of Dxun, forsaken by the Republic who's only goal was to pillage Sith secrets and "cleanse" the Darkness. It was a disgusting sight for the Pinkette who took it as a slight against herself along with the Empire.
A twig snapped and Louise felt the Force call in warning. The snap-hiss of a lightsaber kicked her instincts into gear and she quickly rolled away from the source of the sound, just in time to see an aqua lightsaber impale the ground beside her. Discarding her sniper rifle, she pulled up her lightsaber to block a follow-up strike from her attacker.
Pushing back on the locked lightsaber, she jumped a few feet away to gain distance between her and her foe. With her eyes working quickly, she took in the figure; male, Zebrak, adolescent, large build, Jedi robes.
Louise flourished her lightsaber, glaring at the Jedi while cursing her lack of awareness.
The Jedi sneered, shouting, "Sith!" before it made a move to leave.
Not wanting the Zabrak to inform the other Jedi, Louise raced towards him, arching his blade to cut at his legs. His blade came down to defend, redirecting her attack away from her, before following up with an attack of his own. The Sith evaded the strike and used the Force to slam the Jedi into a tree. The Jedi grunted in pain, pulling himself up and into the ready stance of Form III Soresu.
Yet, as he did so, Louise heard the sound of heavy footfalls moving closer. A quick glance to her side saw that Khem Val had arrived with his own blade at the ready.
"Pink Sith, it seems stealth has failed you once again," he said, mirth at the situation obvious, "Shall I eat him?"
"I'd much rather his death be swift as I don't want the Jedi to know we're here," Louise said, tightening the grip on her lightsaber. But before she could execute the Jedi, a powerful voice shouted aloud, causing the three to snap their heads to the source, "What's going on-" then the sound of a slight sputter before the masculine voice practically screeched, "Louise!?"
Upon spotting the man, her body jolted as she instantly recognised the man. With wide eyes, she began to study his face to make sure what she was seeing was real. His face was just as she remembered, but he also looked so much more different, healthier.
His dark brown hair was still cut close to his head in stripes and his dark brown eyes, no longer glassy, but hardened. The only other difference was his dress; no longer did he wear the prison garb of the Empire, but the robes of a Jedi Knight, a Guardian of the Republic with his azure lightsaber held defensively towards her, humming serenely. "Sir Dorjis…? What are you doing here?" Louise asked, gobsmacked by the unexpected arrival.
"I could ask you the same question," said Quorian, regarding Louise with an icy expression that caused her pause, "Last I saw you, you were on Korriban as an Acolyte."
"Quorian, you know this Sith?" the Zebrak Jedi hissed, quickly moving to Dorjis' side.
The former prisoner nodded slowly, never taking his eyes off Louise, "I assumed so." And with those three words, Louise felt as if she had been slapped. "What are you doing here?" he continued, ignoring the hurt that briefly shone through her eyes.
"My job. Simple as that." Louise replied guardedly, her expression darkening as she realised that, unless this entire event could be handled diplomatically, she would have to kill Quorian.
"Yeah, and what job is that?" the other Jedi sneered, "Sabotage our base? Kill us? Steal some artefacts? You are unwelcome here, Sith."
"Actually, Jedi," Louise snapped back, "I was doing nothing of the sort. In fact, I was planning on leaving you Jedi alone, as long as you don't interfere. And it's not stealing if it already belongs to me. That" she said, jabbing her thumb at the Temple off in the distance, "is a Sith Temple, and most if not all artefacts inside are Sith. They belong to us!"
The nameless Jedi turned to Quorian, "I say we kill her and the monster. Nobody will have to know and the Treaty will still be intact."
Louise shifted into a more aggressive stance. "Do you wish to try your chances? Khem and I will not be executed just for existing, Jedi!" Behind her, Khem sneered.
"Urik, we are not killing her. It is not the Jedi way."
"They have killed countless Jedi over the millennia! Killing anyone who serves the light! She was about to kill me! I could see it in her eyes. And don't forget what happened to you on Korriban. You were barely lucid when we found you." Urik replied, looking quite shocked by the other Jedi's response.
Sir Dorjis sighed, "…She was the reason for that, Urik. Without her, I would have been a lot worse off. She saved me and several other Jedi. It's been some time, but I will at least give her the benefit of the doubt."
Urik rolled his shoulders, his displeasure by his ally's statement obvious, "You had a rifle aimed at the temple. Why?" he asked Louise.
"Because I find weapons easier to use than macrobinoculars," Louise replied truthfully, "There was no other reason than that."
He considered her words, obviously not believing her words to be true, but willing to act as if he did. "Fine. But you're coming with us. We'll let Master Korr deal with you."
"Fine," said Louise, "But I will not be a prisoner. We have the Treaty to uphold, and I'd much rather not have the war renew because the Jedi were not so trusting."
"Last time we trusted the Sith, they sacked Coruscant." Urik retorted with narrow eyes.
"And?" Louise scoffed, "It's not like the Jedi haven't done worse."
"Worse?" he laughed, "During the Sacking of Coruscant, your people killed countless civilians, murdered the Supreme Chancellor-"
Louise went to interrupt, to educate the poorly informed Jedi. But before she could, Dorjis growled, "Urik, Enough."
"We shouldn't trust her," argued Urik again.
Finally deciding to weigh in on the conversation, Khem, "These Jedi speak too much. Can we eat them?" contempt clear from his tone
The Jedi's heads snapped to the Dashade, Urik demanding, "What did it say?"
"He said you speak too much, then asked if he could eat you," replied Louise with a slight smirk.
"Not. Funny," Urik growled, stepping forwards in an attempt to intimidate her.
"I found it amusing," Khem replied, not that the others could understand, obviously not taking the threat of the Jedi too seriously.
Louise mealy raised an eyebrow, her body tensing slightly for a fight, "Do not threaten me, Jedi. You have no idea who you are dealing with and I can and will kill you if you give me a reason."
"Put it away, Urik," Dorjis ordered, eyeing Louise disapprovingly. "We'll take you back to the compound to see what shall be done about you."
"Fine. Let's get going," the Jedi grumbled, "But the second you make a move against us, I will kill you." With that, he turned around and began storming off into the jungle.
Bemused, Louise thought. Turning your back on a Sith. Either he's got balls of durasteel, or he doesn't think we're a threat. To her side, she could tell that Khem was thinking something similar if the hungry smirk was anything to go by.
"Do you think we should trust them?" Louise asked, seamlessly changing from galactic basic to the tongue of the ancient Sith.
"I would prefer to eat them, but it would be unwise," Khem replied.
Nodding, Louise said, "I agree. There are more Jedi around, and I'd much rather not have them hunting me down like some dog."
Turning her attention from her companion, Louise looked to Quorian who was giving the two weary looks before gesturing for them to follow. Without anything better to do and a shaky promise of peace, Louise summoned her sniper rifle to hand, slinging it to her back, and began her journey with the Jedi to their outpost.
It was only five minutes into the walk that she realised that she should have returned to her ship to inform Tooveee of what had happened. Though, she doubted the Jedi would be so curious as to let her return to her ship willingly. All she could do was wish that she had connected her holo-comm to the ship, or at least invest in a commlink.
Despite the uneasy peace they had agreed on, the Jedi always kept a pair of eyes on them, whether with Urik looking over his shoulder as if a knife were to appear in his back magically or Quorian who preferred to hang back with Louise. It was early in their walk when the Jedi Knight spoke up.
"Was that really necessary?" he whispered to Louise as they set down through the overgrowth.
"I've been under threat since the day I arrived in the wider galaxy," Louise replied with a wave of her hand, "I may have to hold my tongue with my superiors, but I will not take it from anyone else."
Quorian nodded slowly, a sort of understanding flashing through his eyes. Silence prevailed for a moment, the only sounds were the hum of Urik's still active lightsaber and the rustling of flora. After about ten minutes of walking, her old Jedi acquaintance asked, "…What did he really say?"
"I already told you," Said Louise with a shrug, "He literally said 'These Jedi speak too much. Can we eat them.'"
"You're joking, right?"
"Don't ask questions you don't want answers to." Said Louise with a shake of her head, proceeding to hum the Martial Theme of the Empire as she stalked closer to Khem's side.
AN: Sorry for the shortness of the chapter, but this segment is more of a bridge between the actual chapters, and to add this to the next would probably be around ten + thousand words, which is a bit much for the second chapter. Also, my translator fucked up and apparently Inquisitor is spelt Inquisiteur, so the ship should be called L'Inquisiteur de Vide.