Chapter Three is finally here! Hope y'all like it. :)
As always, I do not own the Star Wars Universe (although c'mon, that would be pretty badass). But the character's, story, and everything else is of my own creation and therefore mine. Sit back and enjoy!
Soundtrack for this chapter:
Why Not? - Jónsi
Even through the dimly lit room, Lev was able to observe the minimal but classy furniture which was placed meticulously around the apartment.
Whoever she was, she definitely had a keen eye for detail.
The entire space was an open concept, revealing the kitchen, dining, and living room which were encompassed by a large single paned window to the back of the apartment.
Off to the right, Lev noticed the only bedroom with the door slightly cracked open. Two of the troopers made their way into the room as silently as possible.
Lev followed in pursuit.
On the bed, Lev was able to see a small mass underneath the sheets. As he stepped closer, he immediately knew something was wrong. As he tore off the covers, several pillows were perfectly crafted into the outline of a human.
Both anger and annoyance started to fill every ounce of his tall frame.
She knew they were coming.
"I can sense her. She's still here. Find her!" Lev shouted with an impatient tone in his low voice.
There was no way in hell she was going to get away from him.
As he continued to look around the bedroom, he ever so slightly placed his left hand on the hilt of his lightsaber. If she was planning an attack, he was going to pounce first.
He proceeded to look underneath the bed, and was not entirely surprised when he found nothing of interest.
From there, he made his way into the walk-in-closet which was on the opposite side of the bedroom. His bright blue eyes slowly made their way around the closet, looking at each article of clothing which were hung up in a color coordinated fashion. Some of them were more lavish than others, which once again, created even more questions than answers.
How she was able to afford this apartment was beyond his immediate understanding, and now she had expensive clothing in her closet as well?
Where did this girl get her money from?
For creator sakes, she has a necklace made from Tatooinian jade which was nearly worth half a million credits. In addition to the numerous Nabooian silk gowns which were adorned with different types of pearls and sequins.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed another necklace that was much different from the rest. Right away he knew it was made of Mustafarian Onyx, one of the rarest jewels in the universe. There were several black stones, and in the middle hung a single red gem.
What in Creators name...? Lev pondered in his mind as he lifted a gloved finger to touch the necklace delicately.
How did she even get this?
Was she actually able to afford these pieces of luxury?
Or perhaps they were given to her as a gift?
Another headache started to form in Lev's mind.
Ugh, not this again, Lev sighed.
Once he was done lurking through the walk-in-closet, he made his way back into the young woman's bedroom.
Finally, he reached out through the force to try and find the girl, but barely got a response.
Whoever she was, she knew how to hide her force-signature.
No wonder why she has gone unnoticed for so long… Lev immediately thought to himself.
Even though her force-signature was almost non existent, Lev knew she was still in the proximity of the apartment.
Suddenly, a Death Trooper signaled to the group he had found something.
The trooper pulled the small young woman out of the hall closet by her elaborate braid, causing her to wince in pain as he dragged her into the living room.
Lev entered the living space and right away peered down at the smaller figure in front of him.
Although his helmet covered his face, he could feel her sharp eyes piercing through the visor, looking directly into his.
He closed the gap between them as the trooper let go of her braid while throwing her down on the floor in the process.
Slowly, she got back up, and continued to look up into the mask of the man which was standing in front of her.
She stood there, not wanting to say a single word to the foreign individual in the place she called home.
After a few moments, Lev nearly rolled his eyes knowing he had to be the one to break the ice.
"So, you're the one who's been making a mess down here for the last two years? Pretty nice place you have here, it's a wonder how you pay for the bills," Lev enticed while turning around and running his gloved leather hand against the leather couch. He started to feel the displeasure ignite within her.
Bingo.
This was exactly what he wanted.
With his back turned, the young woman believed this would be the perfect time to strike the unknown men in her home. She looked deep into herself for the power she always had, and started to radiate it throughout the entire space. She focused onto the troopers like she had done in the past. However, this time was different.
No one was contorting in pain.
No one was filled with absolute terror.
No one screamed out for her to stop.
No.
No!
NO!
This could not be happening right now.
Something was stopping her.
It was impossible for her to take control of them, evident by the sweat which was beginning to form near her eyebrow as her eyes began to dart around the room in complete and downright shock.
If only I could take control of them. If only. Then I would be able to escape… the girl thought while still holding onto some ounce of hope as she continued to radiate the energy throughout the entirety of her apartment.
Lev chuckled a tad upon hearing the voice in her head and turned around, "Each of the troopers are wearing a force-suppression vest which causes them to be immune to your powers. You can try all you want. However, it won't work. But of course, you most likely never thought such a thing existed." His gaze fixed back onto the young woman, who still remained silent.
Wait, what? The force? You mean the mythical energy old men talked about while they were piss drunk at the bar? I thought that was all made up! the girl began to wonder to herself.
"Now… we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Either way, you're coming with us." Lev insisted while moving till there was about a yard between himself and the mysterious girl. He looked down at her, and she looked up at him. Even through the dimly lit room, Lev was able to notice her bright lavender eyes cutting through him like a knife. For a moment he became captivated by them.
From prior knowledge, Lev knew there were only several distinct human bloodlines which had a history of purple eyes. As he examined them, he wondered if she had ties to any of the families, or if it was just a luck of the draw that she possessed bright lavender orbs.
The girl let out a slight defeated sigh as she looked around at the men which surrounded her.
She had to figure out her best options of escape, but she knew there was logically no way that she would be able to without risking her own life.
As she contemplated her options, she noticed a strange sensation coming from the masked creature.
The same sensation she had been feeling for as long as she could remember.
She was taken back by all of the sensations that she was feeling around her.
Was this man like her?
How did he find her?
Why was he here?
Kriff! How could I have been so foolish? Where did I go wrong... Oh banta shit, I forgot about the new security droid across the street from the bar! For kriffing sake! The girl proceeded to screamed in her head as a bigger smile began to make its way across Lev's lips as he heard her swearing. He was trying his best not to laugh at her profanity, because he could not believe this girl was capable of sounding like a naval cadet.
She was much smaller than he was, around a foot smaller to be exact.
And as she continued to weigh her options, she looked like a rocket that was about to explode.
All of a sudden she felt a rush of panic.
She had to get out of this situation.
Fast.
The girl looked to the window out of her peripheral vision, and decided it would be her best means of escape.
Although her survival would be highly unlikely at this height.
But at the moment, the thought did not cross her mind.
She wanted to get away from the men dressed in black which were inside of her apartment.
As she started to bolt towards the window, one of the troopers sent a shot in her direction, stunning her immediately. The sound of the shot ricocheted throughout the entire space.
She fell to the ground with a immense thump, knocking her head on the living room coffee table in the process.
A small amount of blood started to trickle onto the ivory colored carpet.
One of the troopers kneeled down, pressed two fingers to her neck, found a pulse, and nodded to Count Soumrak indicating that she would be alright. Lev signaled to the same trooper, which prompted the man to pick up the unconscious body in his arms.
Lev pressed a button on the side of his helmet, signaling to his ship, "ZT-967 this is Count Soumrak. We are ready for extraction, sending our coordinates now."
Lev could hear the small droid beeping on the other side of the device in response. Within a few minutes, the ship was outside of the living room window high above the streets of Coruscant. The tallest of the Death Troopers shot open the window, allowing for an easy entry point into the ship. Once all of them were on board, the hatch slowly closed. And with that, they flew off into the distance, leaving city filled planet behind.
As they departed, Lev felt an enormous sense of relief, like the entire galaxy had been lifted from his shoulders.
He did it.
He accomplished the mission.
Two years.
Two long painstaken years.
He had stayed up countless nights, searching databases for any insight into who it could be.
At first he thought it was a group from the Galactic Partisans who at the time had recently come onto the scene.
The main mission of the Galactic Partisans was to destroy the Third Dynasty, no matter the costs.
Since their birth into the world, the Galactic Partisans have inflicted a considerable amount of damage to the Third Dynasty through numerous bombing's and assassinations of high-ranking officials.
However, none of that was able to explain the manner in which each of the officers and men had died.
Each of the autopsy's concluded the same thing: the men's lungs were turned into a bloody-pudding like consistency, which as a result caused them to suffocate to death.
None of them were shot.
None of their necks were broken.
None of them were blown up into a million tiny pieces.
Each and every one of them were killed in the same exact manner.
After following hundreds of leads, he started to lose all hope of ever finding the individual and or individual's responsible for the attacks.
And now there Lev was, with the person who was behind it all.
A girl.
A single girl had done this much damage.
How in Creators name could this have even been possible?
Where did she learn to kill someone in that type of manner?
Why was she able to go so long without even leaving a single trail of evidence behind?
None of it made sense, except for one thing.
The girl had potential.
Potential.
Raw potential, and Lev wanted to harness it.
No matter what it took to do so.
She was certainly capable of great things which the Third Dynasty could use to their advantage against the growing unrest happening on other occupied planets.
Lev could almost imagine it.
Count Soumrak, with his new apprentice, bringing sheer terror to the Galactic Partisans.
What a glorious image that would be.
Once they were in hyperspace heading towards the Sovereignty, Lev got up from the pilot's seat, telling ZT-967 to reach him if anything pressing happened. The small droid was more than willing to take control over the ship, giving several high pitched squeals in response. He patted the droids head as he walked out of the cockpit and into the room adjacent to it.
Each of the Death Troopers were slumped over in their seats.
Lev reached out through the force and sensed each of them were sound asleep.
Once he knew they were not awake, he looked over and saw the girl, laying on a cot which had been set up for her in the corner.
Lev made his way over to the cot before kneeling down on the floor of the ship. He removed his helmet with a hiss and placed it under his arm to get a better look at her. She was still rendered unconscious, but her chest lifted up and down softly with each breath she took. Moving his eyes back to her face, he noticed a stray piece of hair coming undone from her elaborate braid. Carefully, he placed it back into its correct position and then kept his eyes on her face for a moment longer, before getting up to turn around and head back into the cockpit.
ZT-967 disengaged the hyperdrive once they reached the Sovereignty, which prompted Lev to put his helmet back on.
Slowly they made their descent into the destroyer.
As they landed, Lev couldn't help put look back at the girl which was laying down on the cot, curious thoughts rushing through him of who, what, and where she was from.
Again, thanks for finishing the new chapter! What did ya think? Let me know! If you liked it, make sure to send it to some of your friends to see what they think as well! Thanks guys :)