Disclaimer: I still don't speak Scots Gaelic nor Irish Gaeilge aside from a few words ( I do know slightly more Gaeilge though), so if my translations are wrong then blame Google Translate, not me. I also don't own any character that is not my own creation, obviously. Wish I did though. Could use the kind of money Star Wars rakes in. At this point I'm just too lazy to get rid of this disclaimer so it's staying despite getting my point across by now.
Caibideil 20
Dooku's shuttle exited hyperspace in the orbit of Talamh, with its pilot still beaming with his victory and the apprentice still admiring her darksaber. She couldn't wait to get to practice with this instead of her father's simple steel blades. It was weighted differently, more accurate to what a Sith should wield. She hoped that her mam had made haggis tonight, she wanted to celebrate! She had finally earned her blade, killed a rival Sith apprentice, and helped bring down a master! There was no way she'd be coming down from this high anytime soon. At least, until she looked at her home.
The shuttle landed where the far should have been, where now only lay smoldering ruins. Serpeness walked out the door, shaking at the horrifying thought of what she knew to be true: her vision had come true. "Mam? Da? Aodh?" she called, knowing she would not hear an answer. She ran to the ruined house to look for bodies.
Dooku stood on the ramp of the ship, watching his apprentice dash madly all over the desolate farm. She ran from the house, to the barn, to the smithy, the smokehouse, the outhouse, the sheep pastures, the garden and crop fields, every possible place, to no avail. She fell to her knees, crying out in grief however, when she finally found the charred skeleton of her mother and father cast out with the garbage they were treated as by the marauders. He frowned and made towards her to comfort her; until he felt it. The Force itself seemed to rift about her; the Dark Side enveloping her as her grief turned to anger, sorrow to rage. Standing, she walked towards the solar sailor, left largely untouched as the raiders had no idea what it was.
She passed Dooku, "I know who is responsible. I'm going to Inverness Master."
"Be careful, apprentice," Dooku warned her, knowing that he couldn't stop her. Before she walked away, he grabbed her arm, "Remember this, Serpeness. Remember your grief, your anger. Remember why the Sith are more powerful than the Jedi: because we are not afraid to feel. We embrace the spectrum of emotions, from the heights of transcendent joy to the depths of hatred and despair. Embrace the path laid out before you."
"Yes, my Master."
"Good." Dooku locked eyes with Serpeness, her once shimmering blue now solidly yellow. "Wipe them out, Serpeness. Every last one of them."
"With pleasure."
Obi-Wan embraced Satine in Padmé's living room, gently petting the back of her head. He had wanted to do this for years, ever since he was a Padawan. Just hold her as they gently swayed back and forth. He would allow nothing to interrupt this moment as he breathed in the scent of her yellow hair. "How have you been Satine?"
"I'm still alive, thanks to you."
"I can't believe I'm going to say this but, thank Dooku."
"I will if I ever see him," she replied, stroking his beard, "For now though…" she leaned up and gently kissed him. "We should sit and wait for Padmé to come back from the Senate. It should be in a few hours.
"Apparently she's gone into labor."
"Should we go to the hospital?"
"Why? Are they yours? We'll visit her after the twins are born. For now, we enjoy our newfound freedom."
"Don't you think you should keep Skywalker calm?"
"I'm sure he can handle himself for a few hours." Obi-Wan leaned down to kiss her again, deeply and allowing himself to truly feel her passion, her love, his own, for the first time.
Anakin was pacing madly while Ahsoka stared at him, eyebrow marking raised and leaning against a wall, all of her weight on her right foot. "Master?" she asked.
"Yeah?"
"Are you ok?"
"Not in the slightest."
"Just making sure."
"I'm worried about her Ahsoka. I just don't know if she can handle it. I mean, you're seen her dystrophy, right?"
"Master," Ahsoka reassured him, "Didn't you practically memorize that medical textbook Barriss loaned you?"
"I did not memorize the textbook."
"Page 487, chapter 65, first half of paragraph three," Ahsoka mentioned, just to prove her point.
Anakin recited, verbatim, "Although quadriplegic, or tetraplegic, men can have difficulty reaching sexual arousal or pleasure along with pain when attempting to achieve erection or release, there is no notable difference between quadriplegic women or able-bodied women in sexual desire or capacity for child-bearing. Quadriplegic women are capable getting pregnant and of giving natural births unless there is an obstruction or otherwise unrelated difficulty requiring C-section."
"Ok, I was kind of joking when I said you memorizedit."
"Shut up," Anakin replied, "I only memorized the relevant sections, not the entire thing."
"I really wish I had a memory like that."
"You're not helping."
"Master," Ahsoka said, walking up to put a comforting hand on his shoulder, "she'll be fine. Worrying about it isn't going to do anything. At least, nothing productive."
"Sorry, I'm just really on edge right now."
"Want to grab something to eat?"
"I already ate."
"You had one overpriced candy bar from the vending machine… four hours ago."
"That's good enough. I don't want to leave until they call me back there. I don't know how fast this is going and knowing our luck she'll be done the nanosecond I walk out the door."
"Do you want to bring you anything Master?"
"Sure, whatever. Where are you going?"
"Thinking of hitting up Dex's. Baby wants a nerf burger."
"Just, uh, bring me something to drink."
"Master," Ahsoka sighed, "you need actual food, not just a soda."
"Ahsoka, I may be hungry but my stomach is in so many knots I'd just puke if I ate something."
"As you wish, Master," Ahsoka sighed in defeat.
Luminara had refused to cut ties with her former Padawan and was summarily expelled from the Order. She couldn't believe it; she was an exemplary Jedi! She was one empty seat away from being on the High Council, hell, she already advised practically everyone on it except Yoda! Pride may not have been a very "Jedi" trait to have, but she couldn't help facts! She may as well have been on the Council as it were. She shook her head in aggravation. Windu was going mad as he aged, increasingly paranoid but still too blind and stubborn to change anything. Anyone who dared suggest anything aside from what he wanted must have been a willing agent of Sidious. If he waited a month then he would have ended up driving out half the Order without the expulsion orders. She threw her bag over her shoulder, containing what few possessions she had as a Jedi, mostly spare clothes and a toothbrush, and continued down the steps, not even wanting to look back at the Temple which was now overrun with paranoid lunatics. She reached the sidewalk where it met the steps of the Temple and paused, looking either way. She just realized she had nowhere else to go.
"Hmm," she muttered, "I've never been homeless before." She pondered where she could stay; the isolation of the Temple left her with few friends outside the Order. She could live on the street, at least temporarily, but Coruscanti criminal elements had been going wild since the Senate Purge had kept law enforcement totally occupied. She had her lightsaber with her for protection, but she had to sleep at some point. She recoiled at the thought of some drug addict forcing himself onto her while she slept on a bench. She had to eat, and she had little idea on how to go about dumpster diving safely. She reached in her pockets and pulled out all the money she had on her: twenty-three credits. That was it. That was all she had to live off of until she found employment elsewhere. Even that would be near-impossible, since Jedi training wasn't good for much outside of being a Jedi. She hadn't really kept up with the Reformist faction so she had no clue where they were going, all she knew was that some people she knew were in it, hence her new predicament. Barriss, she could always at least try to contact her again but apparently her commlink was off. Skywalker, but he already had the currently deposed Duchess Satine sleeping on his couch and I doubt that with the twins on the way he would be able to make his house into a homeless shelter. Kenobi… her lips turned slightly upwards as she thought about that, but he had no idea where he was going, for all she knew he could still be in the Order or in the same predicament as herself.
Perhaps she could try to find her family, apparently, Master Ti… well, just Shaak Ti now, had managed to find her parents and stay with them for the past month. Trouble was, with the impoverished Mirial having been enslaved by the Trade Federation before its recent dissolution she wasn't even sure that her family was still alive, and even if they were there was still the trouble of only having twenty-three credits to deal with. At the very least, she might be able to borrow some money from Barriss and her wife. After all, her old Padawan could easily trust her to pay them back when she could. She nodded to herself and began to walk towards the 500 Republica living complex. It was a good twenty kilometers away, but she'd make it eventually.
Serpeness landed the shuttle outside of the city walls, just over a hill. She threw on her purple cloak and exited the ship, darksaber deactivated but in-hand. Clan Frasier would perish today. As she walked up to the gate, she meditated on the Sith Code she had recently been taught.
Peace is a Lie,
As she walked up, city guards ordered her to state her business and lower her hood. She activated her darksaber and dismembered three of them, tossed her saber to decapitate the guards atop the wall, Force Pushed two more into the wall to squash them as the darksaber returned to her hand. She deactivated it and latched it back onto her belt. She didn't even stop walking.
There is only Passion,
She walked through the crowded streets, wanting to cut down every clansman of the Frasiers. She restrained herself, tempering her lust for justice with iron focus. She would slaughter their leaders and make Frasier submit to her and her Master.
Through Passion I gain Strength,
She reached the gate of the castle. Choking the guards she reactivated her darksaber and sliced through the doors, blasting them open with the Force. Soldiers began to charge at her while archers on the walls started to rain arrows and crossbow bolts upon her.
Through Strength I gain Power,
Easily redirecting the arrows to fall around her, she pulled the archers off the walls to plummet to their deaths. Slicing through the swordsmen and axmen around her like butter, she grew tired of this ease of slaughter. These pathetic worms were only getting in her way. She unleashed a furious storm of Lightning upon the soldiers, atomizing at least several dozen and frying the rest.
Through Power I gain Victory,
She blasted the door to the keep and she immediately saw the high chieftain of clan Frasier. Her eyes glowed with hatred as she flung her saber at him, instantly decapitating him as his wife fled screaming with their infant son. She grabbed the woman through the Force and pulled her towards her, her neck landing in Serpeness's hand.
Through Victory my chains are broken,
She grabbed the crying infant with her free hand and snapped the mother's neck. The few guards who survived this long were radiating fear. She dropped the corpse and looked at them. Two archers, a pikeman, and two axmen in light leather armor. They were quivering but still held their weapons. Idiots dared stand against her? She would have laughed were she not consumed with her fury.
The Force shall free me.
She wanted to kill them for their crimes but decided to stall their execution for but a moment. She ordered in Gaelic, "Go and tell Inverness they have a new ruler. The lands of Clan Frasier now belong to Count Dooku and Darth Serpeness, Dark Lords of the Sith." They instantly ran out of the building to follow her command, terrified at the idea of insubordination, which would mean instant death. She would kill them later. For now, Gràinne wanted them to spread the righteous fear of Darth Serpeness. Her justice was swift, and her family would be avenged a thousand-fold. She inhaled deeply, yes, the survivors of her onslaught would prove most useful to her master's cause.