Spoilers for the Trooper, Bounty Hunter, Agent, Smuggler, Sith warrior, and Jedi Consular storyline.
Rated T - Language, violence.
In her dreams, the Emperor spoke to her. The whispers had started when she was a simple Padawan. However, what the Emperor sent now while she slept were no longer whispers. The cryptic visions the Emperor delivered to her were vague and haunting, things the Jedi Master wished she could forget. But there was a larger part of her that clung to the Emperor's voice. Aboard the Scimitar, a minor Republic medical frigate, the master Jedi slept. Beneath her eyelids her eyes fluttered with REM sleep.
"Master," The young Sarkhai woman spoke softly. She stood feet away from the Jedi's bed with a nervous expression on her face. Her already white skin seemed shades paler and her deep blue tattoos stood out sharply on her face. When her master did not wake, the girl touched a gentle hand to the other Jedi's exposed shoulder. Her eyes opened instantly, meeting her Padawan's worried gaze.
"What is it, Nadia?" Kumo Condor asked. The woman, though middle-aged, appeared young. She was a Zabrak but of the clan that believed in the Republic and freedom for all. Her light tan skin was flawless her Padawan had to admit.
"There has been a disturbance in the east hanger, master." Nadia said quickly. Despite Kumo's rank of Jedi Master, she still had a bit of a temper that puzzled the Padawan. With a flick of her hand, the Jedi Master had wrapped tan combat robes about her slim figure. As she attached her elegant dual-sided lightsaber to her hip, Kumo spoke calmly to her Padawan.
"What kind of disturbance?"
"It was an unauthorized landing, master. With this being a simple medical vessel without any militaristic capabilities, I was the person Captain Euphrates alerted." Kumo nodded her head without a word.
Kumo Condor was not just a Master, she was a full-fledged member of the Jedi Council. This gave her both immense power in the Republic but a significant amount of blame as well. Following the bloody Sacking of Coruscant, the violent incursion the Empire had executed in the last war, it was the Treaty made by Jedi and Imperial officials that allowed for the capital's freedom. But the cost of this freedom was heavy, something the Republic did not forgive the Jedi of. As she and her Padawan moved through the wide halls of the ship, medical personnel quickly moved out of the way. They still craned their heads to get a look at the famous Jedi. The battles Kumo had fought were countless and incurred many tales of her ruthlessness in the field.
Once they reached the wide doorway to the hanger, Kumo and Nadia were greeted by a nervous crewmember.
"The ship had up-to-date codes," The small human man explained. "There was nothing about the ship that gave away any ill-will." He spoke quickly, as though to slide the blame away from him.
"You are the one who allowed the ship's entry," Kumo said with a slight rise of her hand. It was not a question but the man nodded guiltily. "Open the door," Kumo looked to Nadia.
"Yes, master?"
"What do you sense?" Kumo asked, nodding her head toward the metal door. Nadia focused hard, reaching out with the Force.
"I sense only one being, master. Is that right?" Nadia looked to Kumo with anxious eyes.
"There are two, Nadia. The one with the stronger, darker presence clouds your vision of the other one." Kumo watched Nadia's cheeks color with embarrassment. She touched a hand to her Padawan's shoulder in support as the metal doors slid apart was a hiss. "Get out of here, officer," Kumo commanded of the human man. He rushed away without any more orders. Nadia was quick to reach for her saber but her master discouraged her gently through the Force. Before them, about 50 feet away, stood two immobile figures. Both wore dark robes. The taller of the two was a pure Sith male. His red skin seemed to glow. He reached up to push back his heavy, dark hood. He revealed a deeply scarred face
"You are Jedi Master Kumo Condor." He said. His voice was deep and grated on Nadia's ears.
"What is it you want, Sith?" Kumo asked in a firm voice.
"You're much smaller than I thought you would be," He smirked. "For a master." Kumo did not raise to the bait. It was a common tactic for Sith to fight not only with their sabers but with their jabbing words. Kumo illuminated her dual-sided saber. Two violet beams that formed two sabers grow from her hilt. "Quick to action," The Sith rubbed his gloved hands together, "I'm really going to enjoy this."
Kumo closed the distance between them in an instant, her sabers tucked close behind her. Her lithe body moved with a passive grace Nadia could not understand. Violence for her master was a means to an end, not a crutch as some failed Jedi had seen it. Nadia engaged the silent apprentice in the treacherous dance, their sabers glancing off one another's.
The Sith was not all talk, Kumo was not thrilled to learn. He fought with the knowledge of a veteran, much like herself. Each of his powerful hits of his lightsaber against her own shook her. Internally, Kumo scolded herself. She had spent too much time training younglings on Tython, she thought. Her adversary was young but hardened by the war. He had fought many Jedi, she could tell. She parried every blow with a bit of desperation.
"You're going to need to do better than that, Master Jedi," He taunted with a wide smile. In spite of herself and her training, Kumo gritted her teeth and shifted her tactics to an offensive style. Her violet sabers were soon a blur as she twisted, moving her saberstaff with her. The Sith laughed in delight. At the edge of her awareness, thanks to the Force, Kumo could sense her Padawan struggling. She outstretched a hand, pushing the Sith apprentice to the other side of the hanger with the Force. Nadia was on the ground and met eyes with her master. The disapproval of Nadia's fighting passed from Kumo to her Padawan silently. Nadia got to her feet and leapt after the crippled apprentice. "She's not as strong as you, Kumo." The Sith sneered. His jibes were childish but gnawed at her focus.
"Your apprentice isn't much to boast about either." Kumo said before bringing a leg up to bash the Sith. He was startled by her verbal comeback, causing him to be unready for the physical one. As the Sith was thrust back by her assault, he lifted his hands to issue a thin stream of crackling purple lightning. Kumo had expected this, lifting her saberstaff in a way to redirect the lightning into the metal floor of the hanger. "What do you want, Sith?" Kumo asked again, this time without the calm expression on her face but one of slight irritation.
"Telling you would ruin the fun," He cackled. Kumo narrowed her eyes at him before turning her attention to her Padawan. The Sith apprentice had gripped Nadia in a strong Force choke. With her mind as a guide, the Force yanked the apprentice toward her and then upon her glowing blade. The apprentice's screams filled her head, fueling her concentration. She thrust the young one to the ground before placing a booted foot on his chest as she slid her saberstaff from him convulsing body. Kumo's eyes found Nadia's horrified ones. The Sith was no longer smiling. His red eyes stared at his dying apprentice with obvious pain. Kumo twisted her saberstaff until it was at the ready at her side. Nadia positioned herself beside her master, unable to look away from the fading boy. The Sith deactivated his lightsaber.
"Are we done here?" Kumo spat. Nadia flinched at her master's words.
"Not quite," The Sith snarled. Without warning, Kumo sunk to her knees, her saberstaff slipping from her grasp.
"Master!" Nadia cried, watching Kumo collapse to the floor, her eyes wide open but unseeing. The Sith strode to her master's still body and lifted Kumo up over a shoulder. Before Nadia could even think to ignite her saber, there was a flash of red at her hand. Nadia stared down at where her hand should have been to see only the floor beneath and blood blossoming to the surface of the stump. She allowed herself a strangled moan before struggling to get to her feet. The Sith walked toward his ship without a glance back at his fallen student. Nadia could do nothing more than step forward a couple feet before collapsing beside the boy, clutching her arm to her chest. Silent tears slid down her face, for her missing hand of captured master not even Nadia Grell knew for certain.