1 year later
Jessi woke with a start. She replayed the dream in her head, trying to decide if it had any meaning. She arrived to the conclusion that it had. Groaning, she tumbled out of the warm cot and dressed.
Walking into the dining area, she saw Luke was up and had made her breakfast.
"'Morning," he said cheerily over a cup of hot chocolate. "You look tired."
Well duh. Curse perkiness in the mornings.
"We have to go to Corellia," she mumbled.
Luke put down his cup and stared at her with an amused expression. "What?"
"Corellia. We have to go to Corellia."
He took another sip, still staring at her. "A dream?" he guessed, right as usual. That bugged her sometimes, but she hadn't really expected anything less. "You sure it means something?" he asked. "This trip will interrupt training."
"Yes, and I know." Missing training was a bad thing?
Luke simply nodded and took another sip of the steaming liquid.
A slender hand pushed an equally slender throttle slowly forward, savoring the g's from the feed of power into the voracious engines. The sleek, modified ship Shadow Chaser sped through the black vacuum of space.
That's me, thought the pilot of the 1-man craft grimly. Chasing shadows.
At least she was doing well. Another client happy. The man she had help had not even got so much as a parking ticket on his speeding smuggler's craft, she thought with a wry smile. He had paid her well, and she was sure she could find another job in Corellia. As the silent crescent of her destination grew closer, Salmina thumbed the cloaking device to full power. Kimiro preferred to go unnoticed.
Even outcast Kimiro, spat her mind, anger sparking a dark cloud that settled around her mind.
She slipped her ship unnoticed onto a relatively sparse area, cursing the lights of the few transports whirring despondently back to their caged lives.
Luke led the way down yet another dark, filthy alley. He wasn't about to turn down a vision, but this was getting old and his patience wasn't as infinite as he would have liked.
"What are we looking for?" he asked for the umpteenth time. He knew what the answer would be.
"I don't know," answered Jessi impatiently.
Luke made a mental note for exercises in patience; for himself as well as his eager apprentice. She would hate them, but it was necessary. He reached out yet again with the Force, trying to locate something that might be trouble. He certainly found it.
"Ssh," he whispered to Jessi. "Stormtroopers."
White armor came around a corner. It spotted the duo and fired the blaster in its hand. Through the Force, Luke was told to get out of there, even though he appeared to have the advantage.
"Run," he murmured to Jessi, who had already put herself in fighting stance. In her hands she held her new, brilliant green lightsaber. Eagerness vibrated from her, then quickly changed to confusion and annoyance.
"What?! Are you nuts?" she shouted, but followed him anyway.
They sprinted down passageways and around corners to make sure they would lose the stormtroopers. Jessi ran ahead, and Luke covered their backs.
As Jessi turned a corner, she ran smack into something solid. Whatever it was swiftly recovered and pulled Jessi's arms back, pushing her face-down against the dirty street. She heard Luke's boots on the cement, then his voice.
"Let her go."
She tuned her head just enough to see a young girl with blackish-red hair jaggedly cut at chin length. Angry dark eyes and loose-fitting black clothes sharply contrasted her pale skin. She was amazingly strong for her size. The girl twisted Jessi's arms back and sat on them, making getting up impossible. As a feeling of fear grew in her stomach, she recognized the cold unfriendly barrel of a blaster against her temple.
"Don't move, Imperial scum, or I'll fire."
Ranash Koshan allowed a thin smile to stretch his lips, deepening the wrinkles on his old face and complementing his trim graying hair to emphasize his stern look. The click of military boots on the marble floor caused him to turn, swirling his long black cloak and revealing its blood-red lining. The two bodyguards beside him, dressed in the bloodred of the Emperor's guards, had already turned. He desperately hoped that this new arrival would not notice that his smile was false.
"Vespash. How good to see you again." He clasped his older brother's weathered hand firmly in his own. The man whose hand he shook was, in appearances, a taller, stronger, more handsome version of himself, despite the fact that Ranash was the younger.
Vespash smiled cockily, charisma, accentuated by the extra frills and garnishes on his own red-lined cloak and black suit, radiating from him like heat from a roaring furnace. He had two guards, also the Emperor's own, showing that the brothers were of equal rank, but Ranash knew that his brother held a monopoly on the ego market.
"Ranash. I am honored you decided to join me on this project."
"The honor is mine, Vespash."
"I had almost thought that you would turn me down. I am glad to see that you have changed your mind."
Ranash bit back his frustration. His dear brother had strong-armed him into joining the project. A nervous stormtrooper had shown up at his apartment one day and informed him of a notorious band of pirates invading his sector, scourging for scrap metal and spices. Coincidentally, Vespash announced his intentions the very next day. Ranash was politely informed that he would, on his own free will, join Vespash in his scheme and in return his brother would send one of his fleets over to subdue the dangerous band. Ranash had no choice but to accept this "generous" offer, his fleets being occupied by the rebels in his sector. Fighting the rebels, another resource-eating business he was taking off his brother's shoulders. And they had started out so equal, like... well, like brothers.
They had risen to power together, the two ambitious underdogs struggling to clean the corridors of the Senate chambers. Fortunately an officer noticed the boy's potential when they cornered a spy in the twisting corridors. When their parents abandoned them, the brothers were only the ages of 19 and 26, but they had already worked their way into the corrupted Republic's favor and they were each commanding small fleets with unusual skill. Despite age and consequentially prejudice against them they fought hard and climbed nearly to the top of the ladder. Vespash, being significantly older than Ranash, had more power and used it more than a few times to boost his brother up with him, but they vowed they would aid each other in their struggle to the top. To their delight, Palpatine took a special interest in them and aided their advance into a solid superiority. The Empire's defeat at the second Death Star and the Emperor's death was just the springboard they needed to leap the remaining distance. Silently they grabbed the reigns of the crumbling Empire and vowed to run it together, as equals. Ranash should have been more aware of the dept that he owed Vespash, the greater power that his older brother held, and the corruption of office. He should have listened to the nagging doubts. But he was younger and naïve and blinded by the love and respect he still held for his older sibling. So when they divided up the Empire, Vespash received the most wealth. No matter how many favors Ranash gave to his brother, Vespash always found a way to keep the scales tipped toward himself and left Ranash slipping more and more into dependence on him. And so they remained in a silent, barely perceptible sub-war, the ever-tangling invisible strings holding the remnants of the Empire together.
"So, little brother, I suppose you recieved my plans in their entirety."
"I do. Not only have I gone through them, but I've found a few weaknesses and discovered solutions for them. My strike teams are also training extra-hard."
"You haven't-"
"Don't worry, they think they are training for an attack on the Rebellion, which is also true so there will be no slip-ups."
"Excellent. Now we have only to work out the details. The reason I am here, of course."
"Of course. I had my office swept only minutes ago so it would have optimum security upon your arrival. This way, brother." Ranash gestured toward the open door to his left and followed Vespash's confident lead as their guards left them to patrol the surrounding corridors.
All right, I'll play your game for now. But sometime soon I'm going to get my chance, and you'll see that I have learned from these years. I have learned well.
Luke stood in the shadow and took in the scene for a couple of seconds, a bit surprised that Jessi could so easily be forced down. He sensed deep fear and anger burning like hot coals in this young, dark girl. After the girl pulled a blaster on Jessi he stepped out of the shadow and called the blaster to his own hand. Trying to rid all signs of surprise from his voice, he spoke slowly. "That's enough."
The girl looked back at him, startled. Alert black eyes scanned him briefly, sucking in his image like black holes, then came to rest on the blaster. Her pale face went even whiter and her eyes grew round. She shot one glance at Jessi and sprang to her feet to fade into the shadow against the wall. Fortunately, Luke and Jessi could still sense where she was through the Force.
"Get away," the girl spat through frightened breaths and clenched teeth. "Get away. You won't get me alive. I won't go!"
Luke extended his hand as a gesture of friendliness, but the girl did not take it as such. She acted fast. Before he realized what was happening his eyes were flooded with intense light, piercing temporary blindness into him. When he regained his sight and his senses, the girl was gone. A look towards his disoriented apprentice told him she had fared no better.
"Who was that?" she asked, stunned.
"I think she's a Kimiro. They are people who thrive from shadow. Most have talents in many areas. They travel from planet to planet looking for employers. They are very trustworthy and loyal help. If they are paid enough. I'll bet almost anything that that one's only partially Kimiro and an outcast."
"Why?"
"I sensed fear and anger. Kimiro are usually very confident, almost cocky or vain. She also had reddish hair instead of jet-black." He thought a moment. "I'm guessing that it isn't artificial. Their hair is a trademark of the Kimiro. It must be caused by genetic altering. Someone really wants her hidden. Another reason is this: she had a light. A true Kimiro can only see through shadow. Being people of darkness, light hurts them." He paused, thinking. "She's who we're looking for, isn't she?"
Jessi nodded. "But we're not finished here yet," she answered, staring into the darkness where the girl had stood a moment earlier.
Jessi woke with a start. She replayed the dream in her head, trying to decide if it had any meaning. She arrived to the conclusion that it had. Groaning, she tumbled out of the warm cot and dressed.
Walking into the dining area, she saw Luke was up and had made her breakfast.
"'Morning," he said cheerily over a cup of hot chocolate. "You look tired."
Well duh. Curse perkiness in the mornings.
"We have to go to Corellia," she mumbled.
Luke put down his cup and stared at her with an amused expression. "What?"
"Corellia. We have to go to Corellia."
He took another sip, still staring at her. "A dream?" he guessed, right as usual. That bugged her sometimes, but she hadn't really expected anything less. "You sure it means something?" he asked. "This trip will interrupt training."
"Yes, and I know." Missing training was a bad thing?
Luke simply nodded and took another sip of the steaming liquid.
A slender hand pushed an equally slender throttle slowly forward, savoring the g's from the feed of power into the voracious engines. The sleek, modified ship Shadow Chaser sped through the black vacuum of space.
That's me, thought the pilot of the 1-man craft grimly. Chasing shadows.
At least she was doing well. Another client happy. The man she had help had not even got so much as a parking ticket on his speeding smuggler's craft, she thought with a wry smile. He had paid her well, and she was sure she could find another job in Corellia. As the silent crescent of her destination grew closer, Salmina thumbed the cloaking device to full power. Kimiro preferred to go unnoticed.
Even outcast Kimiro, spat her mind, anger sparking a dark cloud that settled around her mind.
She slipped her ship unnoticed onto a relatively sparse area, cursing the lights of the few transports whirring despondently back to their caged lives.
Luke led the way down yet another dark, filthy alley. He wasn't about to turn down a vision, but this was getting old and his patience wasn't as infinite as he would have liked.
"What are we looking for?" he asked for the umpteenth time. He knew what the answer would be.
"I don't know," answered Jessi impatiently.
Luke made a mental note for exercises in patience; for himself as well as his eager apprentice. She would hate them, but it was necessary. He reached out yet again with the Force, trying to locate something that might be trouble. He certainly found it.
"Ssh," he whispered to Jessi. "Stormtroopers."
White armor came around a corner. It spotted the duo and fired the blaster in its hand. Through the Force, Luke was told to get out of there, even though he appeared to have the advantage.
"Run," he murmured to Jessi, who had already put herself in fighting stance. In her hands she held her new, brilliant green lightsaber. Eagerness vibrated from her, then quickly changed to confusion and annoyance.
"What?! Are you nuts?" she shouted, but followed him anyway.
They sprinted down passageways and around corners to make sure they would lose the stormtroopers. Jessi ran ahead, and Luke covered their backs.
As Jessi turned a corner, she ran smack into something solid. Whatever it was swiftly recovered and pulled Jessi's arms back, pushing her face-down against the dirty street. She heard Luke's boots on the cement, then his voice.
"Let her go."
She tuned her head just enough to see a young girl with blackish-red hair jaggedly cut at chin length. Angry dark eyes and loose-fitting black clothes sharply contrasted her pale skin. She was amazingly strong for her size. The girl twisted Jessi's arms back and sat on them, making getting up impossible. As a feeling of fear grew in her stomach, she recognized the cold unfriendly barrel of a blaster against her temple.
"Don't move, Imperial scum, or I'll fire."
Ranash Koshan allowed a thin smile to stretch his lips, deepening the wrinkles on his old face and complementing his trim graying hair to emphasize his stern look. The click of military boots on the marble floor caused him to turn, swirling his long black cloak and revealing its blood-red lining. The two bodyguards beside him, dressed in the bloodred of the Emperor's guards, had already turned. He desperately hoped that this new arrival would not notice that his smile was false.
"Vespash. How good to see you again." He clasped his older brother's weathered hand firmly in his own. The man whose hand he shook was, in appearances, a taller, stronger, more handsome version of himself, despite the fact that Ranash was the younger.
Vespash smiled cockily, charisma, accentuated by the extra frills and garnishes on his own red-lined cloak and black suit, radiating from him like heat from a roaring furnace. He had two guards, also the Emperor's own, showing that the brothers were of equal rank, but Ranash knew that his brother held a monopoly on the ego market.
"Ranash. I am honored you decided to join me on this project."
"The honor is mine, Vespash."
"I had almost thought that you would turn me down. I am glad to see that you have changed your mind."
Ranash bit back his frustration. His dear brother had strong-armed him into joining the project. A nervous stormtrooper had shown up at his apartment one day and informed him of a notorious band of pirates invading his sector, scourging for scrap metal and spices. Coincidentally, Vespash announced his intentions the very next day. Ranash was politely informed that he would, on his own free will, join Vespash in his scheme and in return his brother would send one of his fleets over to subdue the dangerous band. Ranash had no choice but to accept this "generous" offer, his fleets being occupied by the rebels in his sector. Fighting the rebels, another resource-eating business he was taking off his brother's shoulders. And they had started out so equal, like... well, like brothers.
They had risen to power together, the two ambitious underdogs struggling to clean the corridors of the Senate chambers. Fortunately an officer noticed the boy's potential when they cornered a spy in the twisting corridors. When their parents abandoned them, the brothers were only the ages of 19 and 26, but they had already worked their way into the corrupted Republic's favor and they were each commanding small fleets with unusual skill. Despite age and consequentially prejudice against them they fought hard and climbed nearly to the top of the ladder. Vespash, being significantly older than Ranash, had more power and used it more than a few times to boost his brother up with him, but they vowed they would aid each other in their struggle to the top. To their delight, Palpatine took a special interest in them and aided their advance into a solid superiority. The Empire's defeat at the second Death Star and the Emperor's death was just the springboard they needed to leap the remaining distance. Silently they grabbed the reigns of the crumbling Empire and vowed to run it together, as equals. Ranash should have been more aware of the dept that he owed Vespash, the greater power that his older brother held, and the corruption of office. He should have listened to the nagging doubts. But he was younger and naïve and blinded by the love and respect he still held for his older sibling. So when they divided up the Empire, Vespash received the most wealth. No matter how many favors Ranash gave to his brother, Vespash always found a way to keep the scales tipped toward himself and left Ranash slipping more and more into dependence on him. And so they remained in a silent, barely perceptible sub-war, the ever-tangling invisible strings holding the remnants of the Empire together.
"So, little brother, I suppose you recieved my plans in their entirety."
"I do. Not only have I gone through them, but I've found a few weaknesses and discovered solutions for them. My strike teams are also training extra-hard."
"You haven't-"
"Don't worry, they think they are training for an attack on the Rebellion, which is also true so there will be no slip-ups."
"Excellent. Now we have only to work out the details. The reason I am here, of course."
"Of course. I had my office swept only minutes ago so it would have optimum security upon your arrival. This way, brother." Ranash gestured toward the open door to his left and followed Vespash's confident lead as their guards left them to patrol the surrounding corridors.
All right, I'll play your game for now. But sometime soon I'm going to get my chance, and you'll see that I have learned from these years. I have learned well.
Luke stood in the shadow and took in the scene for a couple of seconds, a bit surprised that Jessi could so easily be forced down. He sensed deep fear and anger burning like hot coals in this young, dark girl. After the girl pulled a blaster on Jessi he stepped out of the shadow and called the blaster to his own hand. Trying to rid all signs of surprise from his voice, he spoke slowly. "That's enough."
The girl looked back at him, startled. Alert black eyes scanned him briefly, sucking in his image like black holes, then came to rest on the blaster. Her pale face went even whiter and her eyes grew round. She shot one glance at Jessi and sprang to her feet to fade into the shadow against the wall. Fortunately, Luke and Jessi could still sense where she was through the Force.
"Get away," the girl spat through frightened breaths and clenched teeth. "Get away. You won't get me alive. I won't go!"
Luke extended his hand as a gesture of friendliness, but the girl did not take it as such. She acted fast. Before he realized what was happening his eyes were flooded with intense light, piercing temporary blindness into him. When he regained his sight and his senses, the girl was gone. A look towards his disoriented apprentice told him she had fared no better.
"Who was that?" she asked, stunned.
"I think she's a Kimiro. They are people who thrive from shadow. Most have talents in many areas. They travel from planet to planet looking for employers. They are very trustworthy and loyal help. If they are paid enough. I'll bet almost anything that that one's only partially Kimiro and an outcast."
"Why?"
"I sensed fear and anger. Kimiro are usually very confident, almost cocky or vain. She also had reddish hair instead of jet-black." He thought a moment. "I'm guessing that it isn't artificial. Their hair is a trademark of the Kimiro. It must be caused by genetic altering. Someone really wants her hidden. Another reason is this: she had a light. A true Kimiro can only see through shadow. Being people of darkness, light hurts them." He paused, thinking. "She's who we're looking for, isn't she?"
Jessi nodded. "But we're not finished here yet," she answered, staring into the darkness where the girl had stood a moment earlier.