Chapter Five: Secrets (Part One)
The sky is on fire.
Over the battleground of a contested ordinance world, Imperial starfighters howled above the heads of marching ground forces. The heavy treads of armored crawlers dug into the mud as they led the forward charge against a weapons depot. Bolts of energy from opposing troopers darted back and forth as the Imperials pressed the retreating Republic line.
Atop a distant hill, an armored figure watched over the unfolding battle through a telescopic visor held to her eyes. The warrior was clad in black plates beset by a matching cloak, only the crimson flesh of her face remaining uncovered. Lowering the binoculars, the Pureblood warrior took the entire scene in as the lambent flames of destruction warmed her young, but determined face. Turning upon her heels, the Sith tossed the visor to the ground, focusing her attention on the facility that stood in front of her. The building had been emptied of its personnel long ago, but not of its contents.
Reaching to her belt, the warrior retrieved not a weapon, but a compact holocommunicator. Holding the device in her palm, the digital image of her superior appeared. Human. Male. Supremely her elder. Layers upon layers of dark and extravagant robes.
"Master, I've arrived at the munitions depot," the Pureblood calmly stated. "The Republic forces have fortified their position, but I'll have the facility secured shortly."
"Wait, my apprentice, Ravek is finishing his task in the adjacent sector," the master slowly rasped. "He can join you in your siege."
"I can handle this myself, Lord Zyos," the Pureblood quick replied, shutting off the comm.
Walking past the threshold of the munitions depot, the warrior calmly made her way deeper into the unpopulated facility. Past the first hall, she entered a stockroom with crates of weaponry and explosive ordinance stacked high and lining each wall. Miniature devices baring flashing red lights had been affixed to the containers at random intervals only minutes prior.
Shedding her outer coat, she laid the garment at her feet before retrieving the lightsaber from her waist. Rotating the weapon in her hand, she offered it a longing stare before tossing it into the center of the storeroom. As the cylinder clanged and slid across the metallic floor, the Pureblood once more turned her attention to her comm device. Turning back toward the entrance, the warrior twisted a dial before setting the comm on a shelf and walking away. The device joined its flashing and beeping compatriots as it began to flash a warning light.
"Liasha, are you in trouble?" a voice called out from the communicator. "We're picking up a distress beacon."
Liasha continued her calm and composed exit out of the facility, free of physical and emotional burden. The Pureblood retained possession of only one single item. Held within her hand, a metallic cylinder far too compact to be a proper weapon. Instead, the nondescript device possessed only a single, vibrant, red button upon its tip.
Once more standing upon the hill overlooking the Imperial invasion, the sights and sounds of war were dying down, though the flames of destruction still lashed out at the sky alongside pillars of black smoke. They'd soon have company. Holding the cylinder within her hand, the warrior took in one last deep breath before triggering the detonator.
Explosions rang out one right after another from deep within the bowels of the munitions depot, consuming the facility in an unrelenting fire that conformed and contorted to the sprawling interior, before releasing a deadly exhaust from the building's mouth. Not a moment later, the depot collapsed upon itself, trapping and sealing any evidence of past occurrences within.
The fire once more warmed the warrior's face as she looked upon her work, basking in the heat emanating from her supposed burial site. Crushing the detonator in her hand, she tossed the wrecked device with a furious throw over the edge of the overlook, where it would land amongst the tracks and footprints of the emptied battlefield below.
Liasha only had so much time to gaze upon the remarkable scene. Keeping her feet upon sturdy ground, the warrior abandoned the premises with haste, making her way toward a nondescript shuttle she had tucked away. The Sith had cut her ties. She had died, so that she might start a new life.
Over the gentle hills of a fringe Republic colonial world, a flock of migrating birds flapped their wings above a quaint homestead. Constructed upon a serene knoll, the discreet house offered respite amongst the flowing greens that surrounded it. The picturesque home was compact in its design, its interior possessing minimal rooms and partitions.
Entered into by way of the front door, the main living area was populated with sparse sitting arrangements and a circular rug, upon which sat a child. The young boy propped himself up upon his knees, making whooshing noises with his mouth as he waved around a toy starship held within his grasp. Sitting in an armchair in the same room, the boy's father observed the child play with a reserved smile, eyes occasionally darting to the door before returning to his son. The boy possessed a vibrant red skin tone, while his father's was a more muted orange. The elder possessed muted features and a thin build atypical of his heritage. The two were Sith. But not Sith. Not in creed. Not in status. Not in makeup.
The two Purebloods jumped when they heard a knock on the door. The boy hopped to his feet with a wide smile, while the father rose with a more tempered haste. Bringing his finger to his mouth, the father silently hushed his son as he made his way toward the door. Putting his eye to the entrance's viewport, the man breathed a sigh of relief. Opening the door, the man adopted a smile as vibrant as his son's when he laid eyes upon a woman with the same.
"Liasha…" the man muttered as he swung the door open, wrapping his arms around his beloved as they succumbed to an enduring embrace.
"Orbek… it is done. It's finally over," Liasha declared.
"Truly?" Orbek asked with wondrous disbelief.
"Yes," Liasha admitted as the two broke off their tender cuddle. "Zyos and his other apprentices believe I perished in the last campaign. They won't be a bother to us anymore. We've finally escaped the watchful eyes of the Sith. We can finally live a proper life together, with our son."
"Mom!" the child shouted with joy as he ran toward his mother.
"Jresh!" the mother shouted back, catching the boy mid sprint and hoisting him up into the air. Hugging her son close, she gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek before setting him back on the ground. "It's good to be home."