Serana's ship dropped out of hyperspace in orbit of the planet.
She hadn't brought anybody with her. Not to this place. Even from orbit, she could feel it, a dark pit pulling at her, sapping her will to live. The Force was a distant thing here. She clung on to what little she could, a faint spark of light in the darkness.
Nathema. Ancient world of the Sith Emperor, scoured of life by his insane experiment to achieve immortality. Supposedly, the world had regenerated upon his death, but there was no evidence of that now. The world was barren, wracked by storms. A Void in the Force. Rain pounded the windows as she guided the ship towards the only structure on the planet. No ships, no defence turrets, nobody tried to stop her. And why should they? Nobody left Nathema alive.
The rain blew in her eyes as she stepped off the ship. A long bridge led from the landing platform to the buildings. The Void was worse here, worse than when the Jedi had used their weapons that could cut off the Force, worse than anything. It was a struggle to hold on. Depression smothered her, drowning her emotions. She almost stopped right there. She couldn't go on.
She had to.
There were two guards inside the doors. They didn't even try to stop her. They just glanced at her. One of them even smirked.
Anger, thick and hot, flooded into her mind. Before she could stop herself, she had her lightsabers out, killed one, the other tried to scream, and she cut him down where he stood. She held on to the anger. Anything was better than the depression that this place caused.
She didn't put her lightsabers away. Gripping them tightly helped her to focus. Every guard she saw, she killed them where they stood. She couldn't have them raise the alarm. She could have incapacitated them, but she didn't. She wanted them dead. Doors blasted open as she approached, smashed and shattered. She knew what she was doing. She held on to the Dark Side as tightly as she could. It was better than nothing.
She found them at the centre of the complex. People in robes and masks, chanting. Complex runes and diagrams drawn on the floor. Ashla floated in the middle, eyes open but seeing nothing. They'd cut her hair. Tattoos covered her upper arms, symbols of power that she almost recognised.
It was almost too easy. Their chanting faltered as she tore through them. She didn't use her lightsabers. They reacted like they were coming out of a trance, and she ripped through them before they could react. Blood and viscera spattered the walls.
Ashla lay in the centre of the circle. Once it was done, Serana scooped her up. She moaned faintly. She was still alive.
"Serana?" she whispered.
"It's me," Serana cried. "It's me."
She smiled faintly. "I knew you'd come."
"Can you stand?" Ashla shook her head weakly. Serana hefted her over one shoulder and started making her way back to the ship.
She came alive more as the rain hit her. She managed to stand up as Serana put her down.
Several Jedi stood on the bridge. Their lightsabers illuminated the night.
"Stay behind me," Serana said.
She attacked. She needed to end it as quickly as possible. She didn't have the time for a drawn-out battle. One of them raised their lightsaber and she blocked with one hand, sliced them in half with the other. She ducked between the next two, came up spinning. They cried out as she slashed at their legs and arms. One of them fell, and she pushed them over the edge. The others attacked in unison and a lightning bolt tore down from the sky, smashing a hole in the bridge and ripping them to shreds.
Serana turned. Ashla stood there, one hand extended towards her. She couldn't tell through the rain, but she thought she was crying.
"Ashla, come on," she said quietly.
"I can't," she whispered. More Jedi began pouring out of the building, surrounded Ashla, heading for Serana.
She jumped over the break in the bridge. The ship started lifting off as she stepped onto the cargo ramp.
She saw Ashla crying as she met her eyes. She saw one of the Jedi smirk at her. He thought he'd won.
She focused on him, let his smug little smirk stoke her anger, and she grabbed hold of Ashla and yanked her upwards.
Ashla screamed as she flew upwards and landed on the ramp. Before she could do anything, Serana knocked her out and dragged her into the ship. The Jedi was staring in shock, the others were yelling, but it was far too late for them to do anything. The ramp closed and the ship streaked upwards on autopilot.
The Void vanished as Serana laughed in triumph. She'd done the impossible.
She managed to drag Ashla up to the cockpit and strapped her into the co-pilot's seat. She took over flying the ship. They were almost there.
Jedi ships dropped out of hyperspace. A warning flashed across the console. They'd deployed an interdiction field. She reached for the stars behind her eyes, and jerked back. Someone was blocking her.
Ashla moaned as she came to. "What's… what's happening?" She looked around. "Did you knock me out?"
"Sorry about that. I couldn't be sure what you'd do. Are you alright? Still feel like you can't leave?"
"I can't feel it." She trembled. "I can't feel the Force."
The white Loth-cat jumped into her lap. She laughed faintly and scratched it behind the ears as it snuggled against her, purring warmly.
"What are we going to do?" she whispered.
"It's only a short-range interdiction field," Serana said. "If we can get far enough away, we should be able to jump to hyperspace. So, of course, we're going to fly straight at them." She fired up the engines.
"You're mad," Ashla croaked.
"It's been suggested," Serana smiled. "Look, if we go right at the, they won't be able to turn around in time to follow us, and we'll have a better chance of getting away."
Several of the ships opened fire. Missiles streaked through the void between them.
"What's your plan for this?" Ashla asked.
Serana laughed. "This is the easy part. You don't think I came here without making a plan, did you?"
The radio crackled to life.
