Eight years ago...
Maintaining a pebble garden in a temple dedicated to training young Jedi was more of an hourly task than a daily one. For however much they taught discipline and respect, Rilana always found stones out of place whenever she passed by the swirling blue arrangement. The small dents and marks on the wall across from the pebble garden told all too well what the stones were being used for. As if the actual training stones across the temple grounds weren't satisfactory enough for hurling at designated targets.
Her annoyed sigh drew the attention of another Twi'lek passing by, who glanced at the misaligned stones and immediately came to the same conclusion. "You could always glue them down Rilana."
"As I've said several times Yuthura, the patterns must be free to change as needed." She waved her blue-green hand over the garden, causing the swirled pattern to gradually transform into a series of waves, after a large amount of clacking from the pebbles.
"Yes, but the fact of the matter is that children are going to change the garden according to their needs no matter what we do." Yuthura was cautious as she sat down to avoid disturbing the garden right after the new arrangement. It certainly looked interesting, but if there was any deeper meaning to the pattern it eluded her. "I suppose this is where you explain what part of the emotional spectrum is demonstrated here. Or is it meant to be an ocean?"
Rilana tilted her head at the pattern in a moment of contemplation. "It represents…" No answer came to mind, so she glanced to her purple friend with the best smile she could form. "Whatever you want it to represent." The expected light nudge to her side came. Terrible as the answer was, it did save both of them from one of her infamous theories.
"Let's assume it means individuality, even though that's not remotely close to the impression I got." A soft chuckle followed up as she glanced across to the array of shrubbery growing just in front of the wall. Native plants from their homeworld, brought there by Masadar the year before.
It was a sudden reminder for her original purpose. "Nearly forgot, I needed to speak with your husband. He wasn't at the meditation hall when I checked."
"He mentioned the tranquility pool actually. Might I ask what the matter is?"
Yuthura didn't make eye contact at first, instead looking over the temple at the mountain ridge beyond. There was a concern weighing on her mind that she had been hesitant to discuss with anyone, Rilana especially. At the same time, she needed to know. "I spoke with the Council just an hour ago. They've sensed a dark disturbance in the galaxy."
"The Sith have returned then." Rilana's head tilted forward into her hand. Now more than ever she didn't feel ready to face her past. Finding inner peace had taken so long, and now it was in great danger of being lost to her again. Already, fear for her children was starting to grow.
Someone began to approach from the main temple building, prompting Rilana out of her despaired look for the moment. "Who else needs to know first?"
"Just the masters for now. We need to be certain that panic does not-" Yuthura twisted her head around as a hand took hold of her shoulder. It was Master Dukon fortunately, and it seemed many of the other leaders weren't far behind.
"You left the communication room in a hurry, and we assumed the news from the Council was not good."
"Essentially yes." She stood back up and gestured her head towards the meeting hall. "Gather the other Masters there once the padawans and initiates are in their rooms. We can organize the Knights after the meeting." As the others went about that, she returned to Rilana who was about to go off as well. "I'll make sure that Kadano and Masaka are safe, just find your husband."
Rilana nodded, about to continue on to the inner courtyard when she stopped again. There was something being held back from her. "What does the Council want my husband alone to know?"
Again, Yuthura had to glance away. Visas had been very clear in her instructions, foremost of which was not telling Rilana anything. "After the meeting I'll explain, to both of you. One issue at a time." This time she glared back at her, which seemed to be enough to get her point across.
Word had gotten around the entire complex by the time she reached the dormitory. Many of the older Jedi were trying to guide their younger companions through the sprawling building, for once paying very little attention to her presence. Normally she was met with almost scared looks from anyone intimidated by her heavy tattooing.
"Master Ban! Master Ban!"
She was nearly knocked flat on her face by Kadano, who was somehow taller than her despite being over forty years younger. And far too eager to help her back up from stumbling to her knee. When she eventually shooed him off enough to stand back up on her own, she took a few seconds to calm herself before getting upset at him. "This is a precautionary exercise, not a crisis. Now, what's the issue, aside from said exercise?"
"Master Mira said something about uncovering unauthorized transmissions beamed deep into space that-"
"Someone's giving away our location?"
Kadano nodded, swallowing back the rest of his rambled recollection of what he had been told in the space of a minute.
By then Yuthura had taken hold of his shoulders, and was now locked in a shocked expression with no sign of letting him go. A horrific situation was beginning to unfold in her mind.
"Why is that so important? There's no-one to come after us."
Yuthura forced her gaze back to the young Twi'lek's as she finally released his shoulders. "Stay in your room until your parents come for you." Even as she slipped past to continue on to Masaka's room, it was all too clear that his fears had only been heightened like her own. Of course he didn't appreciate the full scope of the danger they were being faced with.
To her surprise, Masaka was already in her room, the door slightly ajar. Just before forcing it open, she could hear the young girl carrying out a one-sided conversation. The unauthorized transmission.
"Masaka! Cut it off now!" Upon actually bursting into the room, she found her cross-legged on the bed with a holocommunicator in her lap. The image itself cut off before she could make out who it was, but for the moment it didn't matter. "Why didn't you ask any of us for permission to open up a comm channel?"
"I… I was just going to be a few minutes…" She began tugging at her left lekku, her other hand curling around the communicator as Yuthura approached slowly. "It's been months since I was home. Teegs misses me y'know. Just wanted a few minutes."
The lie was all too obvious to the older Twi'lek, however innocent she appeared to be. "Masaka, this is not the time for fibs. I need to know who or wherever you were talking to is at this moment."
A dark look began to cross her face, pushing away the false sorrow and defensive expressions. The hand holding onto her lekku began drifting towards the lightsaber by her side. "My chains are broken. The Force will free me."
Yuthura had her thrown up against the wall before her fingertips even touched the lightsaber. Having to use the Force to restrain a child, especially Rilana's youngest, cut very deep into the pure nature she had worked very hard to achieve. And it was going to get far worse very soon.
"Sith are self-destructive. Don't fall for their lies-"
The outer wall blasted her back into the hallway as it was struck by a thundering blast. Screams and cries hummed in the background behind a loud ringing in her ears. The itch of trickling blood running down from her head and lekku led to burning across her raw skin.
Horrid as the thought was, Masaka being crushed into Twi'lek soup seemed almost fitting for condemning the odd thousand young Jedi there to death.
Masadar had been kneeling just in front of the square pool with several padawans when the strikes landed, waking from meditation to his wife calling for him. It turned to a warning as they both noticed a glow turning the tranquility pool bright red.
One of the bricks from the perimeter wall behind them had glanced the left ridge on his forehead, evident by the fact that it now felt twice as large and was quite painful to touch. More bricks were weighing down on his lower back and legs, easily pushed aside with a wave of his hand.
The first thing he could see properly was Rilana. Something had gashed her arm, but she was otherwise able to walk about and help the others. His next priority became those kneeling right behind him at the moment of impact. Many were buried under rubble, and unable to move even after it was cleared away. A human boy towards the back had been killed outright.
Past his teal lekku, he could see ships descending towards their location. Many of them were transports, all bearing the mark of the Sith.
Everything around him gravitated back towards Rilana. All of the horrific stories he had given consolation over as they came back to torment her. Every time they had sat down with the children to explain why the dark Force was so dangerous and terrifying. He could see those painful memories on her face as she too stared up at their approaching doom.
By some coincidence, they looked back to each other at the same time. Both knew what the other was thinking. What they had to do, for the sake of their own children as well as all the others under their care. Both would give their lives for that cause, even if it meant leaving four orphans behind.
He returned to getting the padawans out from the scattered debris, doing his best to carry them to the nearest secure building at speed.
Rilana bolted for her own quarters when the opportunity arose. Her Jedi lightsaber never left her side, but there was another that she would have need of very soon. The room itself had escaped the bombardment, leaving little in the way of the box she kept under the bed.
Just lifting the lid released a cold feeling over her. The black metal of her Sith lightsaber gleaming in the minimal light. She could feel the crystal within calling to the darker parts of her mind, just as Darth Revan had all those years ago.
A stinging pain ran through her fingertips as they clasped around the handle. The emotional charge, drawing on the need to protect her children, there on the planet and back on Ryloth.
The others would object. But maintaining purity meant nothing if all they had worked for would be wiped out anyway.
All Jedi Masters except Mira, Masadar and Yuthura had gathered in front of the main gates when she returned. Her husband was obviously doing his best to maintain order amongst the younger Jedi. There was no time left to speculate on where the others were, as the first transports had already landed not far beyond the walls.
"Form up, weapons ready! Do not hold back against these Sith, as they will not hesitate to stab you in the back!" She could see some heads turn as she ignited her red lightsaber, lifting it above and behind her head, the blue held out in front of her at a right angle to it. None openly remarked or questioned it.
Blaster fire began to strike the solid gates. It lasted mere seconds, dying back down into tense silence.
"Hold steady!"
Over the wall, all nine of them could hear the sound of a marching army. A mix of foot soldiers and droids. Some had to regrip their lightsabers as new realization dawned. They were being goaded into killing virtually helpless soldiers first.
It had also occurred to Rilana, who looked to either side quickly. "Target droids first, disabling people second. When the actual Sith show up, they become the priority." Her own hands were beginning to shake a little. The attack so far had been unusual for Sith, geared heavily towards intimidation and unrest. Whoever led them now was very different from Revan and Nihilus in strategy.
The gates were blown open by an otherwise mild explosion, allowing a new surge of blaster fire to pour through into the courtyard. Every single lightsaber twisted around to deflect the blasts back into the haze.
A volley flew over their heads from the direction of the tranquility pool. HK droids were already clambering through the breached wall.
"Sagon! Get your Knights over there! And watch out for other holes!"
At the gates, the first Imperial troops and droids began to appear through the dust haze, fanning to either side and using the plants as visual cover. The constant gunfire kept the defending Jedi too distracted to push them back, allowing them to slowly gain a foothold inside the temple grounds.
Further through the haze, a figure began to emerge between the two lines of troops, a purple lightsaber hanging from the left hand. As it drew closer, a red handprint at head level slowly became visible. The new Sith leader.
"Cease fire!"
Every droid and soldier obeyed immediately, allowing the eight Jedi a tense moment to breathe. All of them were watching as the Sith approached the threshold of the courtyard, while remaining attentive to other danger around them. The silence had spread over to Sagon and his group as well.
When she did finally emerge, Kiarna tilted her head a little as a grin formed underneath her mask. "This is the best the Jedi Order has to offer?" She took another step forward, deactivating her lightsaber for the moment. "We were summoned by a Twi'lek girl who wished to join us. Naturally we couldn't just knock on the door and ask for her to be handed over."
Rilana's mouth went very dry. There weren't many Twi'lek girls in training there. "Is that why you bombed us? Just to retrieve a traitor in our midst?"
"Humourous, Rilana. My master tells me you are a traitor to us, but you are of lesser concern. We want the girl named Masaka, and the woman named Yuthura out here. Now!"
All eight Jedi tightened the grip on their lightsabers again, tilting them towards the Sith in a threatening manner. Rilana's red blade began to grow warmer in her hand as the weight of her daughter's betrayal began to set in. There was no other way the Sith would know her name.
"We do not take demands from Sith. Especially not the pawns of cowards who dare not show themselves to us!"
Kiarna placed a hand on her hip as she kept her head focused on Rilana, maintaining the perception that she was actually looking at her. "You are making a very bad mistake asking for my master, old woman. I laugh at suffering. She revels in it. Now, you have one last chance to hand them over before-"
A rocket shot past the Jedi line directly at her head. In the momentary time to react, she brought her arms back out of the way and allowed it to detonate on the surface of her mask. For a fraction of a second, it projected an energy field around itself and her upper body, absorbing the brunt of the explosion. The handprint itself glowed a very bright red for all to see as she directed her attention to the attacker.
"Worth a shot." Mira bolted forward, leaping off the top of the stairs and drawing her lightsaber. It crashed against the purple blade on impact, stopping short of the glowing mask. The light it cast on her hair gave it an even more fiery look. "I've fought Sith bitches before. You're nothing compared to Traya."
"Is that so?" Kiarna stepped back and twisted her lightsaber around to force Mira's away from her body. Now with space between them, she took the opportunity to examine the micro-rocket launcher on her wrist. That would be her target. "Leave Mira for me, kill the rest."
Rilana motioned for the others to fall back as the blaster fire resumed, unable to tear her eyes away from the duel unfolding before them. She didn't doubt Mira's confidence as a fighter by any stretch, but she was fighting against someone with access to powers they had never seen before.
Mira herself was quickly finding her initial judgement to be somewhat misplaced. With every blocked blow, she could feel a jolt of rage coming from the Sith. Traya's anger had always been restrained, focused down into her power without letting it out altogether. The woman she was fighting had a raw savageness to her nature. Every one of her attacks was accompanied by a bloodthirsty cry.
Worse, she was just the apprentice.
A dozen Sith adepts leapt over the walls to attack Rilana and the others in the meantime, their faces also concealed with tight black wrappings. Unlike their leader, they struck with silent precision, pairing up to single out Jedi from amongst the others as they moved back towards the main temple building.
Two more Sith came from the direction of the dormitory, carrying a badly injured Masaka between them right towards where Kiarna was continuing to fight.
It caught Rilana off guard as she moved to strike down one of the attackers. Whatever she had done, seeing her dragged towards her death was too much. Both of her blades came down on the nearest Sith, splitting him into several pieces as she pushed past to rescue her daughter. The warnings of her fellow Jedi followed right on her heels.
"Let go of her!"
Kiarna's grin returned as events were set in motion. Mira was momentarily distracted, giving her the opportunity to swipe her blade around and hurl her up against the nearest wall. On cue, the two Sith dragging Masaka dropped to the ground right before Rilana's lightsaber came for their heads, allowing her excessive swing to twist her body around to the right. An opportunity was created for Kiarna to swing her own lightsaber across the Twi'lek's face, carving a scorched channel from eye to eye.
The cry of horrific pain rocked through the entire courtyard as she dropped to the ground, her trembling hands rushing up to feel where her eyes had been. A further distraction for the other Jedi that the attacking Sith swiftly took advantage of.
"I suppose this is why Jedi don't have children. They can't bring themselves to dispose of the rotten ones." She knelt down in front of her huddled form, reaching her right hand out and taking hold of her chin. "Funny, isn't it? I'm probably a third your age, and yet I know how to wield a lightsaber better than you do."
From out of the bushes to her left, she could see Mira leaping right for, lightsaber drawn again in an attempt to kill her. This time she chose not to react, allowing her master to deal with the situation instead.
Right before her green blade divided the leading Sith in two, Mira felt herself hurtled across the courtyard towards a towering figure cloaked in black. Before she could even attempt a swing, her neck landed right into a terrifying maw of sharp teeth.
Her vision blurred, Masaka could only see Mira drop to the ground as she clutched at her neck, red quickly spreading over her hand before she ceased to move.
The other Jedi were soon shoved over into a line beside Rilana and forced to kneel. Another pair of Sith arrived shortly after, this time with Yuthura between them. Unlike Masaka, she was struggling wildly against her captors, and growing increasingly distressed by the sights before her. She was eventually knelt down away from the line with a clear view of the carnage so far.
Lasidia finally advanced towards Rilana, wiping her mouth clean of Mira's blood as she drew close. "I did not want events to go this way, you should know. But, I simply could not allow the Jedi to breed a new army to hunt us down, could I? You should be grateful your daughter saw the true nature of why she came to be. To be used as cannon fodder against us."
She turned around to Yuthura, nodding to Kiarna standing by her side. "Yuthura, is this where you saw the Jedi in thirty years from when you followed Revan back to Dantooine? Kneeling at my feet in pain, when we could have simply forged a truce to stay away from each other." The twisted look of disgust that followed brought a faint smile to her beneath the darkness of her hood.
"Sith do not forge truces. They kill and destroy everyone else, then each other. Sooner or later you will destroy yourselves anyway. Who you are, what you planned to do, it does not matter in the end." A trail of saliva and blood dripped from her mouth, stopped from touching the ground by the purple lightsaber of her captor. The sizzling stench that came back up only made her sickness worse.
"They already lost, Yuthura. We've won anyway."
Lasidia's gaze returned to Rilana, who had lifted her head back up in defiance. "Confident words for Twi'lek scum."
"Twi'lek scum will destroy the Sith for good. You won't even see it coming, you murderous bitch." A trembling laugh grew as she felt her body growing numb. It was just loud enough to disguise the sound of her lightsaber crawling along the pavement behind her. Whoever else was trying to grab it needed every bit of help they could get.
Rather than striking her for the insult, Lasidia beckoned for Masaka to be brought over. "Let me guess, one of your two sons is destined to destroy me. Will they still be able to do that when their heads roll across the ground?" She raised her hand up towards Rilana's head, very slowly reaching into her mind through the Force.
Rilana twitched her head as she felt the presence, trembling a little more as every last bit of her defiance went into resisting. "Schutta."
Lasidia's own hand began to shake as the memory she was looking for began to surface. Something buried very deep down, further than the memories of her time among the Sith even. Another girl, one who could…
"Lasidia, and Kiarna. Two perfect psychopaths, a Togruta and-"
Rilana's head rolled to the ground behind her before she could finish the sentence. From inside the hood, a deep snarl began to build. Rage at being so easily deceived by a Twi'lek into letting out her own secrets.
The Jedi next to her decapitated corpse flinched, his last move before Lasidia's lightsaber tore through his upper torso.
Her angry roar startled many of the troops still in the courtyard as she swung wildly, killing each of the Jedi in succession until the last fell to the ground.
Even while being dragged back through the gates, Masaka's mouth was gaping at the sight she had witnessed, torn between horror at the violence, and satisfaction at seeing the arrogance and lies finally brought to an end.
Yuthura was forced to watch the bloodbath, her eyes kept open by Kiarna's gloved fingers. Every single blow drove the shock of Rilana's decapitation deeper into her soul. Not at all dissimilar to things she had done on Korriban to failed initiates, and paid dearly for in guilt.
"Bring every Twi'lek out here! Kill the rest on sight! Kiarna, if you would give me Rilana's lightsaber, and deal with this traitor…"
The hand gripping her face lifted away, allowing it to hang forward in defeat. Unlike the others however, the last thing she felt was a hard blow to the back of her head, rather than an incinerating blade severing her neck.
They had seen the carnage from orbit. Black craters dotted around the complex.
On the aerial survey, they saw countless bodies. Blood had seeped over a great amount of the paved pathways outside. In the middle of the courtyard lay six of the Jedi Masters. Further towards the temple, a pile of Twi'lek bodies had been gathered.
It was somehow even worse on the ground itself. Scorch marks had coated the once white walls in char. Imperial bodies and destroyed droids littered the approach to the wrecked gates. Just inside lay Mira, a large pool of blood centred around her neck.
Visas nearly dropped to her knees as her stomach churned, held up by Sereti's quick arm guiding her back away from the carnage.
The impact was less visible in Brianna's composure, but it was just as deep. She made it as far as the gateway itself before having to lean against the wall for support.
Merena had elected to stay in the ship upon seeing the Twi'lek corpses, leaving Utan and Torbut to continue on through the ruined complex. Neither of them spoke for a long while, afraid to break the heavy silence.
Both circled around the Twi'leks to reach the temple entrance. Yuthura was sitting in the doorway, her face buried deep into her arms.
To avoid startling them, she lifted her hand before speaking up. "Masaka brought them here. Lasidia, their leader, may know about Tegama's power. Ryloth needs to be warned." She lifted her head up a little, glancing at the two as Torbut reached out to offer consolation. The tears had stopped over an hour ago, but the prickling around her eyes remained.
"Yuthura…" Torbut swallowed, looking to Utan for anything he could possibly say at that moment. He too was lost for words, bringing the focus back to the bloodshot eyes in front of him. "We have a ship ready to take you anywhere you need to go. Nothing will be asked of you."
Her hands shot out, grabbing onto his coat and pulling him closer to her fierce eyes. For a brief moment, there was a flicker of red inside her purple irises. "Don't bring Tegama into this. You don't tell her anything about what we did to her, or even bring her to Coruscant. The Sith will know if we make contact."
"Alright, I'll make sure Merena knows. But what if she comes to us on her own?"
A shuddering breath passed through her lips. In her mind, the decisions had already been made. "Then we tell her that she was experimented on, by us, and that the Sith killed her family because of it. Now who will break that news to her face?" The anger was brief, and she allowed it to pass as soon as it became apparent to her.
It was a while before she finally felt ready to leave. By then, more Jedi and Republic aid had arrived, working quickly to secure the walls and gate before night fell.
Her walk back to the ship was silent. Everyone could clearly see that the last thing she needed was words of sympathy. Nothing could come remotely close to taking away the anguish experienced within.
Worst of all was knowing that it could have been prevented if they were just a little more diligent in monitoring communicator activity.
For the past two weeks, Elira had constantly debated if trying to talk to Yuthura would be in any way beneficial. A two day recall had saved her life, and left a feeling of guilt that she had failed to guide her padawan.
She still hadn't truly decided when she approached the Twi'lek in the garden area, finding her way by the bright moonlight above. Once there, it was near impossible to bring herself to back out and leave.
Yuthura had been aware of her presence for much longer, finally acknowledging it when she drew closer. "If you are here to convince me not to leave, save your breath. I cannot stay here any longer."
"You're going to need someone to continue in your place then, and I don't mean on the Council." Elira slowly sat down beside her, staring up at the few stars visible to them. "Tegama doesn't remember you, but she will know of me. I can get her started on the right track when she does show up, explain the truth of this mess in small steps."
"And if she does not come after all?"
Elira brought her head back down, lips tightened while giving further thought to the matter. "Sooner or later Masaka will be brought out of hiding amongst the Sith. Tegama may just look past being ignored to bring her back." Somehow she found herself laughing at such a far-fetched situation actually occurring. Then again, any important sounding goal would probably be enough.
"I suppose it matters little to me at this point." Yuthura reached to her left side and retrieved the lightsaber clipped there, resting it across her lap. "I switched Rilana's for Masaka's before it was taken. If Tegama needs something to pursue, tell her she can come looking for it. Might take up a year or two of her time."
A cold silence settled as she stared at the lightsaber in deeper thought. Rilana's last act had been to identify their new enemy, at the risk of everything else. However important that information would prove to be, neither of them would be around to see it put to use.
Her holocommunicator beeped once, indicating that her ship was ready for departure. "Here's hoping the Force finds balance at last. Good luck to you Elira."
It was the last time she would speak to another Jedi in a very long time, if ever. The few that had been working on her ship had left by the time she arrived at the hangar. She had plenty of supplies, charts of the outer sectors, and a sizeable amount of copied archives to study in her isolation.
The plan she had formulated would continue in her absence.
