Chapter Eight
The old Jedi woman looked upon the ruin she had created in an important Imperial shipyard and despite her victory, she felt hollow and empty. Nothing had been the same since her daughter Fable Astin had left her to go about her own way in the galaxy. Hermione Astin had raised her well despite the fact that she had been surprised to find Force-sensitivity in her daughter earlier on. But as she shut off her purple-bladed saberstaff, she reflected on just how much she truly missed her little girl.
But Fable was strong like her mother and the old woman would have not too much difficulty adjusting to a lonely existence though she could use some company every now and then. After reflecting on what she had done in this shipyard, she sensed a presence stronger than any she had sensed before. This was too strong to be her daughter, she knew this but it was also too closely balanced between Light and Dark to be her daughter or Lord Vader come to kill her. Whoever or whatever this was, Hermione was not about to leave its intent for her to chance, not just yet anyways.
But as she came closer to meeting the source of the presence, she sensed that it was far more ancient than anything known in the galaxy yet as young as her daughter at the same time. How does this happen? Why is something so young, so ancient? she asked herself. She knew there was only one way to find out: confront the source of this Force-attuned aura personally and that's what she would do.
Arriving to the destroyed shipyard, Arden had to admit that she was somewhat impressed by the power this old Jedi she was sent to fight had displayed. It was almost no wonder that Shira Brie had practically opposed her against going after this warrior of the Light. Hermione Astin proved to be a formidable warrior and when Arden sensed her aura of Light Side energy, she was further impressed. Despite her age, Arden could sense that she still had incredible stamina and could use Force Valor to enhance it when necessary.
I like to use Force Valor as well, let's see if my application of it is great enough to beat hers when combined with Battlemind Arden thought silently. As she walked across the shipyards, she came across an old human woman with a double-sided lightsaber like Savage's at her belt. "Hermione Astin, I imagine?" Arden asked when she was in her hearing range. "Yes, I am she and who are you?" Hermione replied.
"My name is Arden Lyn, the Emperor's Hand and assassin chosen to orchestrate your death," Arden said. Hermione admitted that she had had visions of a warrior with an aura like Arden's bringing about her death though she never guessed it would be here. "Visions only reveal what will happen and who it will happen to, the Force does not care for location nearly as much," Arden stated calmly. "Perhaps you're right but you know, we do not have to fight: I sense a great Light still burning in you," Hermione said grimly.
"My Jedi father once thought as you do now but that was twenty-five thousand years ago and the Council that ruled in the First Schism made sure all hope was taken from us. Because of my father's attempt to stop my heart and my mastery of ancient Palawa techniques, I survived to this point. Tell me Jedi, do you really think there is hope for me to return to the Light in full even now?" Arden asked.
"Maybe not in full no, but close enough that you will earn closure on the sins of your past done by both you and by others: I sense that you will die a family woman," the old Jedi answered. Arden paled slightly for a moment and silently gasped in shock at the revelation Hermione threw at her. The premonition Arden had told of a young man with flowing shoulder-length black hair and a little girl. In the vision, the little girl had hair more like Arden's than the man and her eyes as well.
Could this be the vision of Arden Lyn's future family, a sign that at last she would be able to lay down her arms and have a normal human life? She almost stopped in her intent to kill Hermione and complete the mission that Lord Vader had ordered her to carry out. But she needed the information of lightsaber making and Vader was the only one who would give it to her freely. "Whether that comes to pass or not remains to be seen but now you must die," Arden said reluctantly.
"I would be lying if I said I didn't see this coming though I hoped it would be by the hand of someone like you," Hermione admitted. Arden attacked first with her skills in Jar'Kai and Hermione defended with both ends of her double-sided lightsaber. Her application of it combined with her Force Valor-enhanced application of Ataru with a single blade put up a hellish fight against Arden Lyn's skills. However, it was when Arden used her own Force Valor that the tide slowly began to turn to her favor rather than Hermione's.
"Your application of Light Side powers has impressed me thus far, are there any Dark Side powers I've yet to see?" Hermione asked. "Yes," Arden answered before then beginning her use of Battlemind in conjunction to the enhancing effects of Force Valor. Hermione did the best she could to keep up with her usage of Force Valor but her old age combined with her low endurance slowed her. Soon, it was all she could do to defend against the ferocity of Arden Lyn's lightsaber attacks without getting cut to pieces.
Shira Brie was training herself in the ways of the Force and concentrating her abilities in Telekinesis when Lord Vader's breathing disrupted her concentration. "You wished to see me, Master?" she asked immediately. "Yes, Arden Lyn has engaged Hermione Astin and I foresee it only being a matter of time before she destroys the hag," he answered. "Then the bargain is completed?" she inquired.
"Not quite yet, however, I will give you the chip with the information you need just in case the transaction is done. Return it to me, unaccessed, if she fails which I think you will sense now that you are immersed in the Force," he explained. Then he handed her the chip and she simply put it on the terminal she had in her room before turning her eyes back to Lord Vader. "You know Shira, the Emperor has seen your progress and is most impressed by how rapidly you have developed," he said.
I can already tell this is going to affect Arden in some way for better or for worse Shira thought to herself quietly. "If it's not impolite to ask it of you Lord Vader, could you get to the point?" she asked aloud. "The Emperor is thinking of giving you the same rank he gave Arden Lyn. In addition, he is also thinking of training you himself if you say yes," he answered.
Shira was shocked, unbelieving that Palpatine would actually have an interest in training her himself. "Why would he be interested in me? He showed disgust when Arden asked him to examine my potential in the Force," she asked. "The Emperor tends to be hasty at times and, while right mostly, he was wrong about this one and has had a change of heart," he answered.
Shira knew that holding the Emperor's Hand title would mean more than anything she had dreamed of before. She wanted to wield a lightsaber and work for the Empire, she was being offered a chance to wield a lightsaber and work as one of the Emperor's left-hand agents. Only Vader would equal her and only the Emperor would be greater than her in the scheme of authority. But it was a title that Arden possessed and she knew that if Arden learned about this, it would be Shira's end.
"If it's not too much to ask, Lord Vader... I'd like to think about this. I need to get back to my training so perhaps, I'll think it over while meditating," Shira requested. "He knew you would say that, he fears that your attachment to Arden Lyn is already growing too great. To think it would happen after a little less than a month is impressive even by the standards of human beings," Vader replied.
"I will be the judge of my attachments to others, Lord Vader. That's not for you or the Emperor to decide, regardless of my servitude to you," Shira warned. Vader remained silent except for his breathing for several moments but when he spoke, his tone indicated annoyance at the teenager. "Be grateful that the Emperor's interest in you surpasses my ability to strangle you.
"That defiant attitude would get you nowhere except to an early grave and a crushed windpipe if he cared less about you. I will give you another a day to think about his offer unless he commands otherwise," Vader said before leaving her alone. After he left, Shira Brie did her best to get back to her training but found that it was impossible now that she had promised to think about his offer. It was all too enticing to let her focus go back on practicing basic telekinesis applications for Force training.
Heaving a massive sigh, Shira reflected on the course of her life though it was very short compared to most other servants of the Emperor. Since infancy, she had been trained in the ways of the assassin by many adepts of the Dark Side. Count Dooku had taught her about the intricacies of politics and finance, in addition to why Palpatine had to be gone most of the time. General Grievous had taught her some of the basics of military strategy and how to apply it to combat later on.
He had also taught her some basics of bladework and even gave her a vibroblade to practice with when he couldn't watch her. Though she never truly mastered the arts before the Clone Wars ended and Palpatine had moved her to chambers that she had to stay at for three years. When she returned, she had difficult time finding work in the Empire and was lucky to get a position at all. Let alone, one that would allow her some contact with the Emperor like the one she had had before.
But in all her years alive, she had learned to be lonely and how to love only herself since the closest thing to a father was never there half the time. And when he was, he was nothing but cruel to her and even somewhat tortuous in how he hardened her for later life. She didn't even have the social ability to desire boys when she hit puberty unlike other teenage girls her age. So disinterested was she, in fact, that when a boy advanced on her she only broke his arm for three weeks in response.
She was called a freak for having no interest in boys and was an outcast in regular school even to the principal of the institution. In her whole time, before meeting Arden Lyn, she had had only friend but that friend had not remained very long. She had given into the foolish desire to fit in after about four months and the two of them never spoke again. But for Shira, this was not a substantial loss like Palpatine had thought it would be but her relationship with Arden Lyn was different.
Unlike her equal-aged friend in regular secondary school, Arden was physiologically ten years older than Shira though more than wise enough from her true age to be like a mother to Shira. She had trained her in the art of Terras Kasi, honing in on her stature and giving her the Variant of the Assassin. Each time she stood next to the woman, Shira never needed to feel alone or keep her vigil of living without another soul in her life except for those that commanded her. For the first time in her life, Shira had found herself genuinely touched by someone else's involvement in her life to the point of caring.
In that moment, the implications of being an Emperor's Hand and the nail it would drive between Shira and Arden Lyn if the latter found out was overwhelming. Clenching a fist to the point of cutting into her palm, she tried her best to remain the stone-cold figure she knew herself to have been. But her feelings for Arden-were they love of a daughter-mother sort?- forced tears from out the back of her eyes for the first time since she was very young, little more than a toddler. She had never cared for anyone in her life beyond herself the way she cared for Arden now, fear of her rapidly maddening her.
The fear left her with nothing but weeping sorrow that she had come to care for another so much just as she was coming to the fulfillment of her lifetime dream. But it wouldn't have been so bad if she didn't see how it could come into conflict with Arden's belief in the uniqueness of her rank. Lower jaw trembling despite the closure of her lips, she decided to tend to her bleeding hand and think later. After all, it was best to think about these things on a cooler head than she possessed at present though she wondered if she ever would have a cool head to think about this before speaking with Arden.
"Did she react to the news as I anticipated?" Palpatine asked. "Yes but I sensed something else about her, something that might interest you," Vader answered. "What is it, my apprentice?" Palpatine inquired suspiciously. "I sensed that she had grown to genuinely care about Arden Lyn, perhaps even to the point of a sort of love for her," Vader explained. So one of my assassins has grown soft over the presence of an elder woman in her life, I'll remedy that after Arden is no more Palpatine thought.
"She knows that Arden Lyn is the only one to date that holds the title of Emperor's Hand though I have been training others for it. Already, I have nominated Cronal and Roganda Ismaren to the position and await their acceptance of the nomination," he said aloud. "But they are already full-grown adults who are more than obliged to serve you even if it means taking that title unto themselves. Shira is merely a teenage-girl that you nominated because she could still be molded into one," Vader stated.
"Precisely the point of nominating her, Lord Vader. She is still too young to not be molded into something more than what she already is, the others have years of experience in their belt. There is still time to completely and permanently break her of any ability to care for someone," Palpatine countered. "But sir, if you do that to her at this age, she could go into a permanent state of psychosis triggered by loneliness," Vader warned.
"If she goes crazy after we break her, so be it. Even the insane are useful to me if they have potential talents such as Arden does," Palpatine snapped. The lengths to which he'll go to get a powerful servant have never ceased to astound me Vader thought to himself silently. "So will there be any time beyond the day I have given her to decide if she accepts the nomination?" he asked aloud.
"Of course, she'll naturally want to wait until her beloved mother figure returns and explain the situation to her then. But then, at the last moment, she'll freeze and wait until it's too late for her to speak to Arden and the two of them are off on another mission. If the pattern is kept up, it could be a long time before she gets around to telling Arden about the nomination without killing her for talking. Better to at least postpone the inevitable revelation of another Emperor's Hand than to silence the one who'd tell if your subjects are still useful to your regime," Palpatine answered.
"All too easily, you have thwarted Arden's revelation and kept her as our slave without any bloodshed for the time-being," Vader said. "I have detailed files on the psychology of all different types of human personalities as well as other related and unrelated species. They can be borrowed if you wish to examine them for your own future endeavors, Lord Vader," Palpatine offered. "If I need them, I will be sure to request them of you milord but in the meantime, I am content," Vader replied.
"Very well then, is there anything else that you wish to bring to my attention?" Palpatine asked. "No sir, not at all," Vader answered. "Off you go then to bring me another dead Jedi, I left you a hitlist in your office to go on," Palpatine stated. Vader bowed and let his Master be to mediate and meditate on all that he planned to do to the galaxy, Shira Brie, and especially Arden Lyn.
Hermione's wounds were too deep and Arden knew that she was not going to last much longer. But she had fought a good long fight with Arden Lyn and outlasted being impaled in the chest by both of Arden's blades after she managed to outpace her saberstaff defense and attack techniques. Nevertheless, her well-earned endurance paid off and Arden watched with pity as she slowly died from the toll of the wounds on her old body. "You are a slave to the Emperor and his right-hand executioner but your power is wasted with them, escape while you can," Hermione begged.
"I have no choice, I have to believe that the Emperor will bring back the man I loved if I am to have any ability to keep fighting. It's all I have to hold onto, after all," Arden replied. "Poor girl, do you really think that the Emperor has the power to revive the dead? And even if he did, do you really think he will?" Hermione asked.
"I don't like it anymore than you do but I have to in order to keep fighting until my time comes," Arden answered. "That can't be all you aim for, I sense more to you than that. There's a little girl back at Coruscant with whom you have a bond, isn't there?" Hermione pressed. The old woman had done it, she had looked right into Arden's mind and seen Shira Brie who had been coming into Arden's mind more and more frequently.
It wasn't lesbian love that brought her to care for the girl, that much she figured out for herself. For the first time in her life, she found herself having to examine her relationship with that girl and perhaps even talk to her about it. "Her name, her whole name, Shira Elan Colla Brie though she goes by Shira or Shira Brie for short. She is but a teenager, no more than about fifteen and a half or sixteen years old," Arden admitted.
"Live for her, fight for her while you still have her. I once had a daughter too but now she will be lost to me forever," Hermione stated. And just when she made to say something else, hesitated, and closed her eyes. Then she pushed her back over the edge of the pit that she was standing by and Arden watched helplessly as she fell into the vacuum of space.
Arden knew Hermione would likely have died of the wounds if she hadn't done that but she wished the Jedi hadn't taken her own life. However, Arden was not so guilt-ridden by this development to be unable to collect the Jedi's fallen saberstaff before heading back to the ship. Even so, she knew she was going to need to think about Hermione's words as well as her own bond with Shira. It had taken them two weeks to catch Hoar and Thok in addition to the week that they met on.
They had known each other barely more than a month but their discussions had been deep, long, and even meaningful to each other. Shira was educated in the true history of the events surrounding the First Great Jedi Schism and Arden learned of Shira's pains. They struck a common bond, having been the oddballs of the people surrounding them even if for different reasons. But both had had a common anger towards people that, though born from different reasons, was sympathetic for them.
And as Shira continued to show improvement in her mastery of Terras Kasi's Variant of the Assassin, Arden found that she was also like her in that she had been a prodigy at a young age. However, the most important factor that had brought their bond to such a strong point was that they both had lived very lonely lives and could share this loneliness with one another even if others hated that. It would seem as though Arden had made the right choice in persuading Shira to become her first Terras Kasi student when she came to the sparring chamber on that fateful night of their meeting. Now this encounter with a Jedi had encouraged her to consider spending a little more time with Shira.
More than even the teenager was capable of knowing, she needed a mother figure to watch over her. With Arden, Shira had to know that she had a guardian angel who would watch over and protect her. Most importantly though, she needed to know that Arden would be able to say the words, "You are not alone", and genuinely mean it in times where Shira was hurting. This teenage stage that Shira was going through was the last time anyone was going to be able to make an impact on her.
For years to come if at all, one might add, and Arden knew that though it was too late for her it wasn't too late for this young child. But was it truly too late for Arden as she thought? Could acting as this child's foster mother and her guardian angel redeem her more than anything else? Would Shira Elan Colla Brie mark the beginning of Arden's chances at a normal human life at last? Only the Force knew that for certain and Arden vowed she would find out its will for them before the end of her life.