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She felt the flow of everything, from the soft touches of the pilot's hands on the holo-interface in the cockpit to the quartermasters mumbling about a lost pistol. She listened and felt more as she meditated, from Anderson's worried pacing to Shepard's neutral observations of the crew. It was the usual hustle and bustle of a ship… wait… why was that man nervously typing messages and sending them outbound. Perhaps he is agent of the Shadow Broker or Cerberus. She smirked, he will be dealt with in time.

She went deeper into the flow of the force. It felt wounded, and scarred. It always rushed to her like a starving akk dog eager for the scraps in her hand whenever she called upon it. Ever since she came here, Nox had analyzed it best she could. There was something off, it barely graced the inhabitants of the this universe like it didn't want to grow attached. Something had harmed it, but what. These kinds of wounds and scars would only happen if the Galaxy was a graveyard like Katar or Ziost.

Nox was going to go deeper when she sensed the presence of Nihlus. The Turian spectre was looming quietly near her location. The Eden Prime run was supposedly just a test run for the new stealth drive the ship had been fitted with. Of course she had sensed there was more from the captain, Anderson. His surface thoughts were filled with the facts everyone else could only guess at. The beacon on Eden Prime. That was an interesting tidbit. Not that Nox herself was interested in technology that was dripfed by a dead race. The Protheans were no Rakata.

Nihilus was looking for a human recruit for his order. Humanity had been bitching for the longest time for a human Spectre. Granted, Commander Shepard would make a decent prize for the Council. Shepard was a hell of a soldier. He was able to fend of waves of slavers on Elysium while leading a mere rag tag militia five years ago. Who wouldn't want him in the ranks of the most dangerous operatives in the galaxy? He may not be the most subtle agent they ever had, but if the Council needed a hammer, he was it. All they had to do was find a spot to place the nail.

She felt the Turian Spectre silently approach down the walkway. He had been doing that too much to the crew recently, the sneaking. Nox was sure it was harmless. Nihilus had that habit and she always could sense his approach. It urked her... master. Rage boiled in her chest. She was a slave again in a way. She wanted to tear this tiny ship apart just thinking that. Luckily for her she had one more explosive to remove before she could free herself and snuff out the spectre.

"Yes, Spectre?" she asked as he approached, her tone was calm and serene. She kept her face hidden under her mask, and could not help but smile as he hesitated in his step ever so slightly. A clear sign to her at least, she caught him by surprise again.

"Nox," He moved to stand beside her.

She opened her eyes, the force sight that replaced her vision and other senses disappearing as she did so. The computer overlay of her ancestor Kallig's mask replacing the force. She looked up at the Turian who towered over her.

The Spectre's new armor lacked k-barriers, but new tech allowed for armor to block anything but a straight shot. K-barriers were useless nowadays. They were designed to deflect small grains of metal, not plasma which was bigger and ended up using far more power to deflect than a standard power core could produce. Barriers that could deflect bolts were generally gimmicks sold by con men for a quick buck. If she could only recreate an Enchani energy shield than she would be very rich indeed. Well, richer.

"What for?" she asked.

"I would like to inquire as to what you could discern about the Commander?" Nihilus asked, his mandibles twitching slightly as he did so. She sensed something else however, much like with Anderson it wasn't to do with the Commander. No, there was more to this mission and they were hiding it. Of course it did not take a Force User to connect the dots. Scuttlebutt was buzzing with rumors about the supposed shakedown run being more than it was.

Nox frowned as she recalled what she knew about the Commander, "Mostly what everyone else knows. That he is a war hero and a hell of soldier. The rare type that seem to bash through their enemies like tissue paper. Apart from that I couldn't tell any more than you already know."

Nihlus nodded, "That's not what I meant. What do you think of the commander?" Nox knew what he meant.

The Sith sighed, "He is your basic soldier, however he is a skilled leader and great warrior. He'll be a more... direct kind of Spectre. Like that schutta, Tela Vasir. His surface thoughts are filled with anticipation, and excitement. He loves battle and only shows detest for it publicly as to not look like a warhound. It is why he comes off so regimented. I think that is the proper phrase." He would make a great Mandalorian, Nox thought. Nox smirked as Nihilus' mandibles twitched ever so slightly at her deduction. The Spectre went on his way before he paused and looked back at Nox who still sat in a meditative stance resting on the back of her heels in her armor.

Her armor was black with overlapping plates of Mandolorian iron and phrick. The Sith Lord's shoulder and knee armor had small krayt dragon teeth poking out. They were a minor prize compared to the pearl in her lightsword. A black belt-skirt hung from her hips to her knees. A giant black puffy fur collar that went up to the base of her ears was wrapped around her shoulders. They were a minor prize compared to the pearl in her lightsword. A rarity among rarities. Her pearl was the first one recorded to have a violet blade. Her mask kept her features hidden and she looked serene and unmovable. People didn't stick around long when she meditated. The dark aura that surrounded her and seeped into their bones generally drove them away.

Whatever the case was she resumed her meditation, recalling memories of her former life with almost perfect clarity. It was a technique she learned a while ago and she applied it to her force abilities. She could get lost for hours in the memories of her old comrades and nemeses. The most painful were of her love, Lana Beniko.

She still remembered the day they were introduced. She was invited by Darth Arkcus to attend a war briefing. Lana was there as an advisor and apprentice. She smiled at how she was struck breathless when she saw Lana. It wasn't just her natural beauty that caught the great and powerful Darth Nox off guard. It was her poise and the way she carried herself. Her voice flowed like water much like her beautiful golden mane of hair.

The moment their eyes met, Nox had felt something that she had never truly felt before… love. She was no stranger to passion. In the brothel she grew up in, passion was its very life-blood. Love was entirely new to her. Painfully so.

When Darth Arkcus revealed himself to be a fanatical follower of Revan. The insane ex-Jedi/Sith who wanted to resurrect the Sith Emperor. The very same Sith Emperor who wanted to consume all life in the galaxy. Did she mention Revan was insane?

After the resurrection, Revan planned to kill the Sith Emperor which was foolish to believe he could. In the end, Revan died as he lived, a coward. He chose to end his worthless life and live as force ghost far away from the Emperor's grasp and the problem he created. Nox had plans for him upon her hopeful return, oh yes she did.

Prior to Arkcus' betrayal he declared Lana a criminal and forced her to go into hiding, it was the most grueling month Nox had ever felt. No amount of trying on clothes, buying new shoes, and or even having her agents' dose Darth Ravage's caffa with a mild sedative before Dark Council meetings to keep that di'kut from talking too much. It couldn't take her mind of the reserved and patient Sith.

She remembered the joy that replaced her anxiety when they reunited on Rishi. Nox chuckled as she remembered how she could barely keep up her cool façade, resisting the urge to swoon every time she heard the soft sound of blonde's voice. She felt an even worse pain after defeating that fool of fools, Revan. Lana ended their relationship because she was promoted to the Head of Imperial Intelligence, Nox felt as if her heart was crushed by an invisible hand.

Even through the pain Nox understood why, they had too many enemies, both foreign and domestic that would turn their love into a weapon. It wasn't until the resurrected Emperor, now an incorporeal entity. Again, thanks Revan. It was when he consumed all the life on the Imperial planet of Ziost that they rekindled their relationship. The galaxy was ending after all.

The Emperor disappeared for a time. It didn't last as the Emperor showed his ugly face once again. Heroes of the Empire and of the Republic, faced him and trapped him a Rakata Mind trap on Tatooine. That arrogant Jedi knight thought he should be the one to take on the Emperor's essence and burn it off as force energy. Unfortunately for her she was the only one qualified. She was changed by the Mother Machine on Belsavis, giving her body the ability to handle the degradation a body went through when housing any and many types of Force spirits. Another long story that one. Her mind was also fortified through Voss rituals. She, very reluctantly did so.

She remembered Lana rushing up to her, tears lining her eyes, though never falling. The Blonde's normally calm face was fractured, on the verge of shattering with emotion. Nox remembered how their last kiss seemed like an eternity. So long, yet not long enough. Nox bid her love goodbye and touched the Mind Trap. She remembered the power she felt as she siphoned off the Emperor's energy killing him, increasing her own and for a brief moment she was the most powerful person to ever exist in the galaxy. It sent her here, to this alternate universe, where she was trapped.

Nox opened her eyes and held back the tears that were building. She blinked them back and stood as if nothing was wrong. Sith did not show weakness. She turned around only to bump into the Commander. The man had a long scar down the right side of his face over his eye and down to his jaw. His brown hair was buzzed down to the skin of his head. His pale skin was pocket marked with what looked like shrapnel scars.

"Everything fine, I'm sorry, who were you again?" he asked.

"None of your concern," Waving him off, she walked past him not caring about what questions he wanted to ask.

The commander nodded, thankfully not prying as he stepped past her. He went to his sleeper pod to retrieve his gear to outfit his arsenal with his own weapons. She herself had already been suited up so she left the pods and walked past the Med-bay where the nice medical officer by the name of Chakwas was going over the crews notes. She kept walking until she reached the elevator and took it down to the engineering bay.

That is when it struck her, a vision. She saw many things Nihilus being killed, shot through the back of the head by a shadow, a large ship that looked like some sort of aquatic squid, a young marine being torn to pieces by blaster fire, and Shepard being lifted into the air by a device.

A hand moved in front of her face. She looked up to see a young engineer looking at her with a confused expression. She found she was leaning on the wall of the elevator for support.

"Out the way," Nox admonished as she shoved past him. Making her way to the armory, she couldn't help but remember the vision. Something was going down and she needed to be ready.

Nox had never gotten used to being a glorified babysitter. When Nihilus went out on his own she jumped after. They moved to find the Prothean beacon that was apparently the big secret that they were keeping aboard the ship. The beacon currently resided on a colony called Eden Prime. Completely disappearing from sight using the Force she would flank the geth droids that were infesting the area giving Nihlus some extra cover. Her vision still made her nervous. She had to preserve the Spectre long enough to remove the last of the explosives.

Zash, her former Master often said that future was hard to predict. It changed constantly and was never truly set in stone. Nox never really payed her master much mind as Zash would often go on about visions of her apprentice's great future making the lesson's lesson null.

She tried not to think of Zash too much, as it would sour her mood for the entire mission. She focused her rifle on a geth trooper droid letting loose a powerful shot from her sniper rifle. The compressed plasma bolt shattered the droids heads bypassing its powerful shields in a signal shot. As it fell she fired another shot taking careful aim, downing another droid. Cloaked in the force the other droids couldn't see her until she shot once more and calculated a lock on her position.

They had passed a clearing were the alliance troops defending the beacon were cut down by geth weapons. There were few survivors. Nox and Nihilus left them as the Beacon was the priority. It had been moved so they continued on.

She fired again. The droids proved smarter than most and locked to her position and let loose a hail of blind fire on the area she was at. She smirked as she saw Nihilus sneaking past them, completely unaware of his presence. She ran along the side of the cliff and stopped quickly to re-aim, dropping yet another two geth. They swiveled their guns at her again, their own unique plasma weapons shredding and scorching the area around her. She was already gone. She ran, dropping her force cloak as she approached Nihlus' position. He kept his eyes forward, scanning the area as she silently crept up beside him.

"Nice work," He silently greeted not taking his eyes off the area in front of him.

"I really am the best." She shrugged stating it as a fact, earning the turian equivalent of a raised eyebrow from the Spectre.

"Shepard, I am approaching the tram station. It appears the beacon had been moved already. I'm going to go on ahead." Nihilus commed Shepard.

Shepard didn't reply over the radio as there was no need. Nox could hear the shots and explosions down the way behind her via her Force enhanced senses. She turned to see Nihilus already gone. She rolled her eyes and shrouded herself in the Force once again, covering Nihilus' advance toward the unloading bay once more.

She kept her Force senses open, it did her little good other to act as an early warning signal. Droids, even ones like the geth held no Force signature. They could sit in the outlying parts of the clearing wait until the last second to turn on. One could only sense energy flowing through them. That was something that took great concentration.

Nox didn't follow Nihilus up the loading ramp instead she kept her distance. The current backdrop Nihilus had entered looked very similar to where she saw him dying in her vision. She kept her movement slow and deliberate, trying not to draw attention to herself via her outline. That is when she saw the other Turian from her vision. He was half a head taller than Nihlus and had a prosthetic arm. His armor was a dull blue and gray color. Nihilus let down his guard instantly as he recognized his fellow Turian, his rigid stance becoming more relaxed.

Nox read the surface thoughts of the Turian only to recoil slightly at the metallic scream that resonated through out the thing's mind. She shook her head. That was something terrible, like a wookie tracing its claws along a bulkhead.

"Saren?" he called out unsure of what to make of his colleague's presence in a battle zone.

Nox after composing her thoughts, watched the conversation play out and waited for the inevitable betrayal. This Saren had to be the shadow from her vision. Her rifle pointed in the turian's direction. Nihilus looked around trying to discern her position. He could not. Saren seemed to notice as well.

"Someone else with you?" Saren asked a bit concerned.

Saren was a big name among the Spectres. He was at least considered one of if not the greatest Spectre in history of their organization. Why would he be here?

"Yes, the human I told you about was with me. What are you doing here?" Nihilus asked seeing the other Turian looking for Nox.

"They sent me as extra help. They feared that a Terminus warlord or the like would try and take it. Granted the Geth were not what they expected," Nihilus took the information at face value. Nox could see that they knew each other well. Well enough for Nihlus to turn his back. Saren drew his pistol quickly and tried to get a shot off. Nox was faster and shot his prosthetic arm, her Force cloak fading as she did so. Years of training kicked in and Nihilus sprang into action. Trading blows with the other Turian. Nox couldn't shoot without risking Nihilus. She was about to use the Force to slow Saren's movements. That was until the the giant ship above them made an awful sound. She resisted the urge to grab her head and scream. She focused and was able to block it out that hideous mind numbing noise burning through her skull. She turned her attention back to the fight.

Saren kept the fight hand-to-hand, no doubt realizing the same thing she did. If he pulled away then Nox would have a clear shot. She was ready to fire though as they exchanged blows, waiting for an opening. When the opportunity came she took it. The round from her sniper hit Saren in the shoulder joint, and severed his prosthetic from his shoulder socket. Nihilus took advantage of the opening and lashed out with a kick to Seran's midsection forcing the other Spectre back.

Nox had the shot lined up on Saren's skull when two Geth destroyers rounded the corner to the walkway that lead to the tram. She swiveled, Nihilus' life, and by extension hers took priority rather than Saren's death. Nox fired at the first killing it. The other got a shot off and managed to shred Nihlus in the torso with a fully charged shotgun blast. He fell to the ground with a grunt, smoke rising up from the many shotgun wounds. Teri choose to destroy the Geth before it fired another round. Saren was gone however, using the Geth interruption to cover his escape. She saw as he turned the corner to the ramp which led to the tram. Nox took off after him, her speed augmented by the Force she bounded around the corner.

She skidded to a halt seeing a red-armored juggernaut class geth droid. That was if her Quarian classifications were correct. It was flanked by several troopers. They opened fire. She smirked. Being out of sight of Nihilus allowed her leap above their fire. When she landed she was enshrouded in Force lighting. She cast out her hands and unleashed a torrent of purple lighting on the droids. Their circuits overloaded and some even exploded into piles of wires and cooling fluid. The Juggernaut itself convulsed violently before slamming to the ground, a smoking steel husk.

With the Geth out of the picture, she saw Saren just reaching one of the trams. The traitor must have seen the fight as he looked back. He turned to see her as one of the two trams started off down the rail line. His mandibles in the turian equivalent of shock and rage. Nox snarled and turned back to heal Nihilus. She could feel the Turian's life starting to fade away.

She ran back, but she was too late. Her gut erupted. Nox was halted in her tracks. The pain was delayed a few moments as the shock had yet to wear off. Her knees felt weak and she collapsed. She focused all her remaining energy into brute forcing her internal organs back to together with the Force. That was when she felt a presence nearby. Life. A lazy dock worker who was napping when this whole mess started. He would do. She latched onto it and sucked him dry of life. Nox didn't see the man dry up and collapse into a pile of dust, but she felt it. She felt her body begin healing properly now. The life energy giving her what she needed to fix herself, nothing more. When she finished, she passed out. Her world went dark.

Nox's opinion of Revan: Sorry to any Revan fans for what seemed like bashing. It wasn't. It was just Nox's warped Sith-like opinion of the man. They have a tendency of seeing things their way. She also fails to acknowledge that without Revan and his cult, she would have never met Lana to begin with.

If you are wondering who my other Star Wars: the Old Republic heroes for this story are:

Imperial classes:

Ixati Darkken: Female Human/Enchani cross Sith Inquistior with Lana Beniko romance (Darkside)

Megor Duskbringer: Male Sith Pureblood Warrior with Jaesa Romance. (Dark side)

Cipher Nine (Teri's brother and his real name along with Teri's are too hard to pronounce): male Chiss Imperial Agent with Raina Temple romance. (Dark side)

Teri Cadara: female Chiss Bounty Hunter with Torian and Mako romance. (Neutral)

Republic classes:

Kolf Spacerider: male human Jedi Knight with Kira romance (Light side)

Joana Spark: female Miraluka with Felix Iresso romance (Light Side)

Erikira Darkken: female Human with Corso Riggs romance (Mostly light side with a little Dark thrown in.) (IXati's half-sister.)

Jer Okkar: Male Mirialan Republic trooper with Elara Dorn romance. (Neutral leaning toward light.)