Lightning cracked across the sky, illuminating the flat planes stretching out for miles in all directions around Cal as he sheltered beneath the tin roof. He stood at the height of a lone hill and watched the wind whip the brush as the storm rolled in around them. This planet reminded him of Bracca in many ways, he used to spend whole nights watching storms break against scuttled ships with Prauf. Cal could almost taste the chemshine and smell the industrial grease coating everything.
"Look at me now Prauf." Cal said to the stormy night. "You'd love a sight like this."
"Who's Prauf?" Rowan asked.
Cal turned around to look at him. Rowan was sitting on a pallet loaded with glass containers of organs, tissue, and something Rowan called Synth-hybrids. As if that sight wasn't odd enough, Rowan was busy knitting a scarf out of a bundle of yarn as they waited for their contacts.
"Prauf was a friend of mine." Cal explained. "Helped me out just after the Purge and he's the whole reason I survived long enough to do any good."
"Sounds like a good friend to have then." Rowan said, his tone reverent to the grief in Cal's. "Had a few of those myself, but never quite enough of them."
"On that I can agree." Cal said, chuckling. "Are you knitting?"
"Yes." Rowan said.
"Why?" Cal asked.
"Because it's fun and we don't know if it's winter on the section of Tython we're going to, so I'm knitting scarves for everyone." Rowan explained. "Can't have my favorite ginger Jedi getting a cold, now can I?"
"Right." Cal said. "How long until your buyer gets here?"
"She should be around soon." Rowan said. "These lot are a bit more cloak and dagger than I'm sure you're used to."
"Mercenaries or crime syndicate?" Cal asked.
"Neither actually." Rowan said, looking at Cal while he effortlessly looped yarn together. "If I had to guess they're some kind of freedom fighters. Cloud riders they call themselves."
"Oh, well at least I'm not privy to selling organs to criminals." Cal said, rolling his eyes. "And tell me again, why are we meeting your buyers on the same planet we're picking up your sisters people?"
"I need credits and I need to pick up my sister's friends." Rowan said. "Might as well do both, plus I like having a heavily armed group of freedom fighters who owe me a favor nearby. Settles my stomach."
"And why isn't Kella here?" Cal asked.
"She's getting her cabin ready." Rowan said, rolling his eyes. "Commandeered my best bottle of skizian ice brandy, all of my candles, and the chocolates I stashed away. All because she's been away from her girlfriend for a few weeks. Some people, I swear."
"Didn't you spend most of the trip back from Solemnance sitting in your wife's lap?" Cal asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That's different." Rowan insisted.
"Sure it is." Cal said, turning back to watch the storm.
As he watched the first heavy drops of rain begin to fall figures appeared in the gloom. Armored sentinels barely visible against the plain grass as it whipped in the wind. Cal looked to his left and then to his right, noting that the figures in the gloom had formed a perimeter around the lean to they were sheltering in. The silhouettes of long barrel blasters standing out as the glare of lightning reflected off them.
"We've got company." Cal said, stepping back.
"Since we're not dead yet I'm going to assume they're my buyers." Rowan said, putting his knitting aside and standing up.
"Astute as always Rowan." A figure said, stepping from the shadows beyond the lean to.
Cal looked to the figure. She was an older woman with light brown skin and russet colored hair, her sturdy frame encased in custom armor. As she stepped into the light, Cal noticed that she was unarmed save for a long dagger strapped to one hip.
"Ensy!" Rowan said, clapping his hands and bowing to the woman. "How have you been you beautiful marauder you? How's Enfy?"
"I'm doing well, we hit a Crimson Dawn smuggling caravan last week, burned through a year's supply of dust." Ensy said, playfully slapping Rowan's forehead. "And don't you bow to me you little shit. Enfy's doing fine, I have her running a small raid on a few safe houses while I'm out dealing with you."
"She still hasn't forgiven me has she?" Rowan asked. "Honestly, if I had any idea that the voice box would make her voice sound that high I would have never sold it to her."
"Oh I'm sure." Ensy said, rolling her eyes before she locked her gaze on Cal. "And who is this? Judging by the hair, I'd say he's a relative of Reyna but he's a bit on the short side."
"Cal Kestis." Cal said, offering his hand. "I'm working with Rowan on a job and decided to tag along."
"Ensy Nest, I've been working with Rowan since before he could reliably use a toilet on his own." Ensy said. "Don't let him fool you into thinking he's some kind of master criminal."
"This is why I should stop doing buisness with mother's friends." Rowan grumbled as he checked the organs.
"Oh, you know Valla?" Cal asked.
"Valla? Oh you mean his biological mother." Ensy said. "No, I've been friends with Verona since I bought my first blaster from her years ago. Rowan, you really should specify which mother you're talking about, might confuse your new friend here which of the three you're talking about."
"Yeah yeah." Rowan said, turning around. "I'll take my payment and you can take both your purchase and snippy comments with you on your way."
"As long as I get my augments my silver tongue will go unused." She said, patting Rowan on the head and handing him a credit chit. "Your payment courtesy of Crimson Dawn's private account on Monarch."
"Robbing banks now?" Rowan asked as he checked the balance.
"When Crimson Dawn is laundering money through them, yes we are." Ensy said, before cocking her head to their left.
Cal followed her gaze and caught sight of a small transport craft cutting through the stormy sky towards them.
"More friends of yours?" Ensy asked, her fingers contorting into a signal to her men.
"Considering they haven't fired on us yet, I'd suppose so." Rowan said, stepping aside as armor clad men appeared to haul the pallet away. "Stay safe out there Ensy.'
"You too." She said, patting him on the shoulder and nodding to Rowan. "I need to get back to my men, but send Verona my love."
"Oh I will." Rowan said, rolling his eyes.
With another nod to Cal, Ensy slipped into the night with her men. They turned their attention back to the ship as it landed. Once it was settled, the ship's hatch opened and two figures hopped out before sprinting at the lean to. Cal and Rowan stepped back and made for their weapons when the ship exploded into a burst of white flame. A shock wave expanded outward and Cal stuck his palm forward pushing against the blast with the Force, just barely managing to keep it from knocking them both off their feet.
"I..." Rowan huffed, as he blinked rapidly. "I have got to learn how to do that."
"It's not something you just pick up." Cal said, watching the pair from the ship slowly stand up at the foot of the hill. "What caused that explosion?"
"If I had to guess, they overloaded a Duo-lithium core." Rowan said. "Kella did say she told them to dispose of their ship, but I expected them to do it after-"
Rowan was interrupted by someone very short dashing up the hill to slam into him. For a moment, Cal thought the figure was trying to strangle him, but as he watched Rowan flounder on the ground he realized that they were trying to hug him. The figure was a short Togruta woman, with her montrails arranged behind her head like slicked back hair and her plump form wrapped in reinforced traveling clothes.
"Kella wasn't lying!" The Togruta chirped as Rowan tried to pry her off him. "You look just like her."
"Yes, twins often resemble the other!" Rowan said, rolling onto his side and wedging the Togruta off him with a leg.
"Bola, we've discussed this." Another woman, a tall skinny woman with dark blue skin and deep red eyes, said. "As affectionate as you are, most sane members of society are not."
"Oh Roella let me have my fun." Bola said, popping up to her feet and blowing Rowan a kiss before turning to Cal. "And you must be the ginger Jedi himself."
"Pleasure to meet you both. "Cal said, suppressing a laugh. "Cal Kestis, I am indeed the ginger Jedi."
"I am Bola Pharles." Bola said, whipping her hand in a flourish through the air before gesturing to the blue skinned woman. "This lovely slice of azure is Zithro'ella'nooroun, but you can just call her Roella if you don't want to tie your tongue with every syllable."
"It's an honor." Roella said, offering them a smile that held more mischief than warmth.
"Now, where is my immovable slab of woman?" Bola asked, throwing her arms over Rowan's shoulders as he stood up.
"On the Cinnamon Wind, my ship." Rowan said, cringing at the woman's hug.
"Oh of course, she's hard at work training isn't she?" Bola asked, fluttering her long eyelashes at him. "Working that body of hers into exhaustion, forging every muscle into a weapon against the evil of the Empire."
"I'm pretty sure she's picking through my music selection at the moment." Rowan grumbled, trying in vain to shake the woman off. "Searching for the perfect reunion track if I heard her right."
"Oh that silly romantic." Bola said, tapping Rowan on the nose before twirling away from. "Then let's be off! I want to be in her arms before my heart gives out from the pain of our separation."
With that, the Togruta woman bounced off towards the silhouette of the Cinnamon Wind partially hidden in the hills.
"Excuse her." Roella said. "She comes from a very...passionate family."
"So do I, but you don't see me throwing myself onto strangers." Rowan said, eyebrow raised as he watched the woman bounce off towards the ship.
?
She savored the feel of the burning air as she walked through the ash soaked ground. The Ninth Sister could feel the heat of the massive lava flows hundred of feet below her, and savored how it seeped into her muscles. Inundating her flesh with warmth, fighting back the deep cold spreading across every nerve as the metal twisted with her muscles and bones. Even here, on a planet soaked in the most potent energies of the dark side, she could feel a slight balance between her sense of self and the alien thing feeding her with cold energy.
"Ninth Sister." The commander of her purge troopers said as he appeared from their craft. "Lord Vader has approved your entry into his...castle, ma'am."
"About time." She growled as she turned towards the soaring tower.
It was like gazing at a mountain peak, majesty and raw natural power combining into a sliver of obsidian that rose from the planet's scorched ground like a blade. If Mustafar was a natural source of dark side energy then this castle was a conduit cutting directly into the planet's black core. By simply existing, the tower dominated and channeled the planet's chaotic energies into itself to be wielded by Lord Vader. Indeed, the tower itself had the aura of the Sith lord himself, and as she began the long walk towards it she could feel his perception on her.
Vader's presence was so oppressive and unrestrained that stepping into the castle itself was like stepping into the eye of a storm. The Ninth Sister withstood it easily, the cold metal spreading through her nervous system gorged itself on this energy as it did hers, but it almost incapacitated the two Purge troopers accompanying her. Thankfully for them both, the troopers steeled their resolve and didn't drop the armored case they were carrying. If its contents was so much as scuffed, she had no doubt that they would all be meeting the famous lava flows of Mustafar personally.
Eventually they navigated the labyrinthine tunnels and found themselves in a chamber at the heart of the castle. There, bathed in the dull red light of a massive doorway carved out of pure obsidian stood Lord Vader, the air around him distorting as he channeled red tongues of energy coiling off the stone. At the center of the door stood a bacta tank and a small army of advanced, albeit small, medical droids picking over segments of old armors and cutting edge prosthetics. Runes and geometric lines covered every spare inch of the room and the Ninth Sister noticed that some even seemed to move, as if the segment of wall or floor was designed to rotate.
She suppressed the urge to wince as the metal spreading up her arm began to push out of the skin like reddish black scales, fraying the nerves with joyous ease. Every cell throbbing as cold dark side energies flooded into them, fattening them up for the metal to soon consume. Biting her lip until it bled, the Ninth Sister straightened her back and banished the thought, asserting her control over the pain.
You are not so weak that a bit of alien metal will kill you. She mentally to her self. You are destined to usher in a thousand year empire, not to die a wounded beast.
"Ninth Sister." Vader said, lowering his hand and letting the coiling energies retreat back into the stone. "I sense discomfort, I would hate to think of my fortress as...less than accommodating to guests."
"I am fine Lord Vader." The Ninth Sister said, savoring the taste of blood as she saluted him. "We have arrived with the object from Parnassos, as you ordered, sir."
"Ah yes, good work inquisitor." Vader said. "Is it intact?"
"Mostly my lord." The Ninth Sister said. "It appears that the kyber crystal powering it was destroyed along with some of the finer controls, but the mechanism for contacting the greater device seems to be intact."
"Good, if power is all that is required then my plans shall go forward on schedule." Vader said turning away to once again gaze at the bacta tank. "Tell your men to set the device in the notch by the stair way and join me, Ninth Sister."
"Yes Lord Vader." The Ninth Sister said, suppressing the strong urge to flee as she gestured to her troopers. "Do as Lord Vader commands."
The troopers went to work and she stepped forward, wading into dark side energies so thick she may as well have been walking through dense fog. Every step making it harder to breathe and feeding the metal assimilating her flesh, drowning her in darkness. After what seemed like an eternity she joined Vader at his side, directly in front of the modified bacta tank.
"Tell me Ninth Sister." Vader said, as he handled an ancient helmet in one hand. "Do you consider the mysteries of the Force often?"
"What is there to consider, Lord Vader?" The Ninth Sister. "The Force is a tool, a weapon to be dominated so that the Sith can dominate the universe. As is your right."
"A lack curiosity betrays a lack of adaptability." Vader said, placing the helmet on a stand so a droid could begin coating it in crystalline paint. "Even if the Sith way is to dominate the Force, is it not prudent to contemplate the mysteries of the tool we so liberally use? Take this helmet for example, it once belonged to a man who despite it all turned from the light, then to the dark, and then...something beyond either. Beyond even that, the Force responds to intent more than morality, wouldn't you agree?"
"I'm afraid I'm not following." The Ninth sister said.
"Take the casting of lightning for example." Vader said, tracing a set of baskar pauldrons that looked older than the obsidian the castle was built out of. "Jedi and those on the light have access to the same energy as we do, yet in all the history of the Jedi do you recall anyone of them using lightning? Lightning is a natural phenomenon, so why is that only we "unnatural" Force users make use of it?"
"I don't know." The Ninth Sister said, panic and confusion throbbing through her as she listened.
"Did you know a Jedi by the name of Qui-Gon Jinn?" Vader asked.
"I never worked with him when I was a Jedi, no." She said. "I did know that he was something of a heretic to the old guard of the Jedi."
"Yes, he was." Vader agreed. "I have been thinking of him recently, even dug up some of his writings recovered from the temple. Sometimes, I wonder what today would look like if he hadn't been slain by Darth Maul. Just as I wonder what it would be like if there was a Sith who asked questions in the same vein as Qui-Gon Jinn. Don't you ever have questions, Ninth Sister? Doubts about our venerable master's plans and wisdom?"
"N...no...no." The Ninth Sister sputtered. "I am loyal to the Emperor and to the Sith."
Vader looked at her then, the black eyes of his mask staring into her with the intensity of a blaster bolt. She saw past the blackness, to the pain and unending rage of the soul beneath the mask. The Force shuddered between them and she felt Vader's mind invade not just her own mind, but her body as well. All around her, the runes and lines lit with red energy and before she could move tendrils of power sliced into her flesh. Ripping through the skin and muscle all the way to the bone and further down until they were pulling at her very essence. They coiled tighter and tighter, deeper than she thought possible to suckle at her very soul, warping flesh and alien metal as they gorged on her very being.
"Loyalty comes with a price, Ninth Sister." Vader said, raising his open palm to rest an inch from her face. "No, I will offer you the kindness of using your true name, Masana Tide. I thank you for your sacrifice, as paltry as it is."
He closed his fist and Masana, for indeed she was Masana Tide again, screamed as the hungry energies ripped her apart down to the very atoms. Her last perceptions were filled with the release of energy into a great sea of coiling power beyond the strange doorway and the answering call as a tidal wave of power answered her erasure. With a sigh of relief, both she and the metal that had been slowly assimilating her ceased to be. Each replaced down to the smallest subatomic particle by the rawest and most pure form of the Force itself. Energy that Vader channeled through himself, into the castle, and drew into himself again.
With a scream, his body was inundated with unimaginable power. A fragment of what he planned to channel soon enough, but far more than he had anticipated. The energy, neither of the dark or the light, filled every atom with thrumming power. For the first time in years, his connection to the Force was restored then amplified as he reached out across his castle, now an extension of his will, to dominate the massive energies stored within its foundation. Wielding them like a youngling would a training saber.
"Yes!" He yelled into the force itself, a gateway slowly closing as the last of his "catalyst" burned away.
His augments sparked and sputtered as the gate closed and when it was done Vader fell to his knees. Pain sizzled on every nerve and he suspected that almost all of his augments were barely functioning, but none of that mattered as he felt his new power nestled in his center. Once again, Darth Vader could reach out to the Force as he once had as Anakin Skywalker, and now, he had the wisdom to wield the power correctly.
Coughing, he stood and stared at the remains of the Purge Troopers arrayed around a crystalline pillar. With a flick of his wrist he sent the remains flying into a corner, and approached the pillar. The troopers had managed to connect it to the castle's power systems, and it lit up as he approached. He placed a hand on the strange controls and beneath his mask, smiled.
"The lure is set." He croaked as the pillar shuddered at his touch. "Now, to inform the prey."
?
Trilla stepped out of the Mantis onto the docking platform, a thermos in one hand and a small pack of food in the other. She walked to an isolated corner of the platform where abandoned loaders formed a small alcove with a view of the ice fields Rowan's home base was hidden in. It had become a regular spot for her to eat and stare into the void as she contemplated the state of her life. Today was no different, save for the intruder in her little space. It was Merrin, because of course it was. The Nightsister had been glued to her old book ever since Rowan had given it to her.
"Hello Merrin." Trilla said, stepping over the Nightsister to take a seat in the small alcove. "How are you?"
"Fine." She said, eyes still glued to a page filled to the margins with finely scrawled lettering. "How are Greez and Cere doing?"
"Fine, Greez is perturbed by Rowan sniffing around the Mantis' engines for whatever reason and Cere..." Trilla trailed off as she thought of her former master. "...she's taken to meditating at all hours to try and reconnect to the Force. Shed all the baggage and just commune with the Force like Cal did."
"I imagine that is a trying process, yes?" Merrin asked looking up from her book.
"Trying is putting it lightly." Trilla said, leaning back against a power loader. "I've had difficulties myself, reaching for the Force and resisting the urge to dominate rather than channel it is difficult on a good day. I can't imagine what it's like for Cere who cut herself off from the Force completely only to be overwhelmed by anger."
"Should we be worried?" Merrin asked.
"You trust my answer?" Trilla asked, raising an eyebrow at the Nightsister.
"Yes, you fought alongside us against this Vader and I don't believe you will harm Cal or I." Merrin said, smiling slightly as she looked Trilla in the eye. "You have lost much, from your arm to your path through life, but at the end of it all here you are. With us. That means something."
"Cal's optimism is rubbing off on you." Trilla said, unable to stop the smile from reaching her lips. "I don't think we should worry about Cere, she has been tempted by the darkness to be sure, but it won't consume her. I owe it to her to promise that at least."
"A promise-" Merrin began before her back arched and she grabbed her head.
"Merrin what's-" Trilla tried to say before a wave of vertigo passed through her.
All at once, it seemed that the universe seemed to shift on its axis and Trilla fell to the floor clutching her head. The station spun in her vision and Trilla felt her stomach flip over and over as the wave moved through her. Every sensation knocked out of alignment as whatever disturbance in the Force was causing this acted upon the universe. Then, just as it had come, the wave dissipated and Trilla's senses returned to normal and she managed the strength to stand.
"Merr...Merrin." She huffed. "Merrin, are you alright?"
"I..." Merrin groaned as she rolled onto her back. "I am...okay."
Somewhere in the distance, children were crying and an alarm was going off. Trilla drug herself over to help Merrin up, and together they made their way out of the alcove to find Cal sprawled out on the docking platform's floor. Blood leaking from a gash on the side of his head.
"Cal!" Merrin said, jumping forward in a flash of green light to crouch at his side.
"Get him to the infirmary, I'll check on the others." Trilla ordered.
Merrin looked up at her and with a nod, disappeared with Cal in a burst of green light.
"Cere!" Trilla yelled at the still open entry hatch to the Mantis. "Greez!"
"Trilla!" Greez yelled as he hauled an unconscious Cere out of the Mantis. "What happened?"
"I don't know." Trilla said, stumbling against an empty crate. "Is Cere injured?"
"No, one minute she was sitting at the kitchen table eating and the next she's unconscious in her sandwich." Greez explained as he laid Cere down and stared to fan her face.
"Something...disrupted the Force, Greez." Trilla said. "Something reached into the Force itself and struck it like a tuning fork. We just got caught in the shock wave."
"What in the name of all that is good could do that?!" Greez said.
"No idea." Trilla said, using him to hoist herself back onto her feet. "Take Cere to the infirmary, I'll go and check on the others."
Greez nodded and with surprising strength, carried Cere off towards the infirmary. Trilla made sure he made it around the bend before heading towards the living section of the station. As she walked some of her strength returned and she managed the walk in less than ten minutes. When she arrived, Trilla found Rowan sprawled on a chair, both of his daughters in his arms cry-hiccuping and clutching his shirt.
"Trilla..." Rowan said, gently rocking his daughters. "What..."
"I don't know what happened." Trilla said, cutting him off. "Where's your..."
"She's heading to the infirmary while we're regrouping here." Rowan said. "I can't walk just yet and the girls are just now calming down."
"The key." Kella huffed, pushing through the doorway to Rowan's workshop with the key in her hands. "It reacted to...whatever that was."
She stumbled forward and held up the key, now a split open pentagon instead of a sleek pyramid with its rune etched interior now full visible. No, it wasn't just the interior that was visible but a glowing set string of glyphs floating at its center. A string of glyphs that after a moment changed at one end.
"Oh fuck." Rowan cursed despite the girls in his arms.
"Tell me that isn't what I think it is." Trilla said.
"It's a countdown." Rowan said, proving Trilla's thoughts true. "The key's counting down to something."
?
Starkiller sat in the chair, strapped to it more like, but he didn't mind. The chair was comfortable compared to the solid metal furniture he was used to, and besides Proxy told him today they wouldn't have to duel. Even if the restraints were a little too tight and the strange helmet strapped to his head itched, he wouldn't have to fight for his life like usual. If there was one thing Starkiller could appreciate, it was the little moments of reprieve his strange life sometimes offered up to him.
"Alright Master." Proxy said, stepping into the infirmary carrying a huge black box. "We'll be beginning in a moment. You did void your bladder before going into the chair correct?"
"Yes Proxy." Starkiller said, nodding as the droid plugged the memory drive into the machinery linked to the chair. "I voided and took the pills and drank the medicine you gave me."
"Good job, Master." Proxy said, clapping his metal hands together. "Just for that I will prepare an extra slice of protein loaf for your dinner tonight."
"Thank you Proxy." Starkiller said, happily fantasizing the extra slice when a question entered his mind. "Proxy, why did Lord Vader order you to use this machine on me?"
"He did not divulge his reasoning, Master." Proxy explained as he activated machines built into the side of the chair, pumping cool liquid into Star killer's arms. "But, seeing as this technology is based upon Spaarti flash memory implantation I assume it's to expedite the mental aspect of your training."
"Flash memory." Starkiller said as his eyes grew heavier and he sank back into the chair. "What...does...that…"
If Proxy replied Starkiller didn't hear it as his eyes closed and he fell into an abyss so deep that he couldn't feel the electrical charges interacting with his neurons. He fell until his feet met solid ground and suddenly Starkiller was standing in a small room cluttered with the remains of droids. Looking around, he felt hot air on his dry skin and could taste sand in the air as he stepped forward towards the small room's only entry way.
"Starkiller!" a voice that was both familiar and not said from beyond the doorway. "Wake up sweetie, time to eat breakfast. We have a long way today."
"Coming mom!" He called, surprised at the words even as they left his mouth.
That wasn't his mother's voice, he knew that much, except it was his mother's voice. This was his room on Tatooine. He'd lived there all of his life, with his mother and working alongside her at Watto's shop. Of course, that was right. Starkiller was just a bit confused this morning, he had stayed up late the night before and was paying the price for it this morning.
"Starkiller! Come on!" His mother called again.
"Coming mom!" He called and bounded out of the room.
When he stepped into their small living area Starkiller saw his mother and smiled at her, only for the smile to sour as he saw what was standing beside her. A hulking humanoid draped in robes the color of the desert with its head wrapped into a monstrous bundle. He called out to her just as a spear point went through her back and through her stomach.
"I...love-" His mother said, her eyes losing their light as the monster slid the spear out and tossed her aside.
"Mom!" Starkiller yelled.
The beast screamed at him in a tongue that burned Starkiller's ears and rushed him. Starkiller grabbed a droid leg and raised it to block the spear only for the world to change as metal met metal. Light bloomed around him and suddenly, Starkiller was holding a blade of light and found himself staring into the eyes of a young man.
"Focus Starkiller!" He insisted. "You cannot let your mind wander in combat. A real opponent won't hesitate to capitalize on it."
"Yes Obi-wan." Starkiller said as his master disengaged and stepped back.
"You have great potential Starkiller." Obi-wan said, as they started to circle each other. "It is my duty to bring it out, but I cannot unless you remain focused. Do you understand?"
"Yes master." Starkiller said.
"Good, then strike at me using form four." Obi-wan ordered, raising his blade to block. "You tend towards strong attacks, and form four will suit you well as a foundation."
He sprung forward to slash at Obi-wan and brought his blade down to clash with his master's. Only for the blade to give way to soft flesh and the warm mist of blood leaving the body. Starkiller stared in horror as he withdrew his light saber from the corpse of a child wearing the same robes he'd once worn. Stepping back, he looked at the half dozen or so dead children on the floor, and watched their blood pool beneath their eviscerated bodies.
"Master Starkiller." The one he just killed said with a lips have cut off. "There are too many of them. What are we going to do?"
Starkiller's only response was to scream.