Chapter 6 Stirrings of Deceit
Coming upon the blue swirling planet below, Padmé expertly steered the ship into the atmosphere of Lillith6. Clouds and several ships passed by them as the trip found themselves looking out into a bustling city, evidently landing almost directly into a major metropolitan area. Ships passed at almost amazing speeds, not caring who or where they could collision with another ship. "Ben, could you call to find us a dealer around here for parts?"
Obi-Wan nodded and searched the graphs that began to download to the ship upon their entry. He found an open transmission line and called information for the city. Moments later, he slid the commlink into his pocket. "There's a dealer just about a kilometer from here. The droid connected me directly to the man in charge of a shop. He told me that he has a few hyperdrive parts and whole mechanisms for sale."
"Great," Anakin said. "What's the address?"
Obi-Wan told them and Anakin relayed the information to Padmé, who guided the ship to a port where they could land and walk the rest of the way. After everyone disembarked, they made their way up the bustling streets to the shop.
Swirling masses of industrial smog rose from the planet's surface, towering high over the city, nearly blocking out the sun. People of all species and races seemed out and about, going to various destinations. Padmé clung tightly to Anakin's hand, followed by Obi-Wan and Artoo as they made their way to the dealer's shop.
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A soft bell rang as two Jedi and a small woman made their way into the dusty, old shop. A soft, kind voice called from the back. "Be with you in a moment!"
Padmé looked all around. The shop itself reminded her of Watto's many years ago when she first visited Tatootine. Anakin seemed to get the same feeling as he looked around in boyish amazement as well.
"How can I help you all today?"
The trio turned, but it was Obi-Wan that was caught off-guard. The small, young lady had long black hair, swept into a loose braid, leaving her tanned face and fresh green eyes to behold them. "I am Nalia, the owner of this shop. Are you the ones that called about the hyperdrive?"
Anakin nodded and turned to Obi-Wan, who seemed to be lost in some reverie. "My colleagues and I have a leaking hyperdrive that has now run dry. We'll need some parts to fix it before we began our journey again," he said, trying to carefully examine the young woman before him. She appeared to be about the same age as Obi-Wan, but her eyes were young and vibrant. Her sleeveless, dirty top matched with the same kind of makeshift apron showed off her well-toned muscles, leading anyone to believe she did most of the repair work herself, most unusual for women in these places, far out of the eyes of the Republic and in open territory.
"Well, what kind are you looking for? My shop has many odd and end pieces, so I may be able to match up the replacement you need," Nalia spoke, wiping her greasy hands on the apron and approaching them. Anakin retrieved a small disc and pressed the button on its side, bringing up a hologram of the ship's schematics. "It's a J-728 Nubian cruiser," said Padmé to the woman.
"A J-728 Nubian, eh?" she said, seeming in thought. She waved her hand after a few moments and led them to the back. "Come on, I think I may have something out back."
Anakin and Padmé followed in step behind Nalia, with Obi-Wan walking slowly behind them all. There's something about this woman, he thought, as he gave a reassuring nod to his former apprentice when the young man turned around to look for him. Something very different, but I just can't place my finger on it...
He sighed. Whatever it is, the Force will bring it to light soon enough.
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Dark clouds swarm around a small farmland on the edge of a village on the lone moon called Lillith6. A couple laugh brightly, one woman with long brown hair and a pale complexion and a man with a ruddy face and hearty laugh. They seem so happy, without a care in the world. Suddenly, a dark figure appears on the horizon of the couple's farmland. Two rich, crimson blades blaze forth and a dark curtain falls across the land. Screams of horror and pain are heard abroad and soon, all was silent. All was dark. All was dead.
This is the dream she keeps having each and every night since that night. The night that happened a year ago. When her first instruction was given. When Siv Miraluka was first issued to do her duty as a Sith apprentice... and kill her closest relatives.
Since the beginning, every Sith's first instruction, usually as a trial to their loyalty to their master, was to kill their immediate relatives. A Sith knows no compassion, nor do they know any sort of love; it is only passion and hatred that command and move them to their deeds. That was the first instruction given to Siv, at seventeen, a rather young age for such heinous acts, but for Siv Miraluka, it was natural. Since her escape from the Jedi holding cells below the Temple, and her master whisking her away to Mustafar with other Separatists, she had learned alot, to say the least. She learned more about a fighting style, which in which she held her saber high in the air over her head and attacked more fluidly. She found this style very helpful when she came against opponents in close combat.
It was tonight, on the eve of the massacre of her mother and father, that she felt something. Strange as it was, she felt no remorse. She was beyond remorse for what she had done, knowing full the consequences of her act and how she had fallen from grace and become one of the most wanted gray Jedi the universe had seen. She could still remember the screams of her mother, the terror and betrayal in her father's eyes and the smell of their flesh searing beneath her newly-fashioned crimson blades. She recalled the pain and hurt in the headlines the following morning when the HoloNet reported the slaying of a farmer and his wife in the small village of Corin, on Dantooine. Normally, slayings of such small variety were not reported, but it was they manner in which they were violated and killed: sliced in half, then hung by their legs and necks in a draped fashion.
And so began her career as the newly-appointed Sith apprentice to Darth Tyranus. Soon, just as every apprentice does, she began to plot a way to destroy her master. Not because she disliked him; not in the least. She respected the man and had more than on one occassion that he was like a father to her. But she had to do it. Now she was twenty-three and still devising a plan. She had begun to despise his remarks toward her and she loathed how he would look at her as if she was pathetic because she had been Anakin Skywalker's padawan.
It was a beep on her commlink that awoke her from her reverie. "Yes?" she replied, somewhat aggravated.
"Have you landed on Lillith6 yet?" came the much too familiar, dark voice.
"No, Master, I have not. Touchdown isn't for another hour. I have restrained his daughter in her cell. The probe droid has her now," she said with a cluck of her tongue. "I believe she'll be sleeping soundly very, very soon..."