Moraband used to be only ruins and abandoned temples, now fresh building are being constructed around them, side-by-side, the old and new together. The streets were narrow, stones, sand, and pebbles everywhere, and Riley wondered how anybody could live here. The merchants weren't out in this terrible weather. She was dressed appropriately for here, her clothes weren't rich or fancy and should protect her from the sand.
Riley figured now that everyone knew who the emperor really was, and it no longer being a secret, he was going to use his budget to memorialize the stones of the Sith temples and make it nicer for future bad guys or maybe encourage tourism. She didn't want to stick around long enough for Zay to get into a fight. She heard Zay's muffled voice right next to her hear.
"The weather isn't always terrible. We should rent a room and maybe from this distance you can get a better read, its our best bet. We cant stay here for long."
They went to check into a motel, and rented one room for them to share. Riley jumped on the bed and stripped off her boots, sand poured out. Zay peeked through the blindfolds to outside.
"Be careful, we just got here and I don't want to run with explosions and shooting aimed at us," Zay muttered and Riley snorted but yeah important warning.
"Me! Get in trouble!" Riley made herself sound indignant. "Absurd but I'll keep that in mind," Riley closed her eyes and focused.
The lightsaber was like goggles and this planet was like the murkiest, filthiest pond Riley could ever swim in. It took three hours of swimming, and looking around but she found a ripple that resonated of Lucas. She smiled, her eyes fluttered open, and had two goals in mind: find Lucas and leave. "We should go." Riley wiggled her boots on, clumsily hopping. When Zay didn't respond she turned in concern and he was sleeping, drooling on his pillow. Her lips twitched, good for him, he did take a nap. "Zay, wake up," Riley shook his arm and spoke to him in her softest tone. He woke up slowly and scanned the room, he was slow on the uptake when he wakes up.
"Where are we?" He asked in a rough voice.
"Moraband remember."
"Oh," he blinks, his brain's engine started working. "Oh! Right."
"The sand storm is gone. Ready to go sightseeing," she joked.
"Let me go brush my teeth first."
Riley was extremely careful when using the force. The emperor had spies everywhere and she thought he was almost omniscient. She followed the trail that the force had shown her, they walked in a normal pace, frequently stopping to point and gawk at statues of Siths or other important figures, she even made a few wrong turns and they pretended to be lost, they couldn't act like they had a specific destination in mind.
Soon they were in front of a giant, looming building that could almost be called a castle and it gave off a malevolent aura. People came entered fine and left like they got run over by a train. The majority were teens and adults, a few children, they were all armed and looked dangerous.
"This is where his presence is most vibrant," Riley whispered.
"Villain school," Zay sighed. "Perfect."
"It's a school?" Apparently the Siths had their own version of a Jedi temple..
"They teach the basics on how to be a good bad guy, useful to the emperor. Propaganda for the small children, make them loyal to the emperor solely. Its too crowded right now, we'll come back and search for Lucas when everyone's asleep."
Riley agreed with his plan."What do you want to do until then?"
Zay smirked. "I could go for a drink. I believe its your turn to treat me."
"I hope they sell blue milk in that bar," Riley chirped.
They walked away and as they were about to pass the corner Riley felt eyes on her. She almost froze at the strong pull to turn around. Instead she followed the instinct to run faster, away from the danger that pulsed inside the temple's shadows. She cant find Lucas if she gets assassinated or kidnapped, there was only one Zay and trying to find two people would be a handful.
The bar had low lighting but besides that everything was beautiful. The chairs were of the best quality, the floor was marble, the table wood had a nice scent to it that almost drowned out the smell of alcohol, and wine was secured behind glass, a tiny machine zoomed to retrieve bottles. Zay whistled appreciatively at the place, sure there were bounty hunters that would shoot them without another thought but hey. Riley took a table as Zay went to order their drinks.
"I'm gonna go play pool with the gentlemen," Zay winked at her and swaggered to the bounty hunters hollering at a successful hit.
She quietly hummed to herself as she waited for her drink. She shut her eyes briefly and let herself relax. She's been tense ever since she found out she was capable to use the force when she was a child. Her child self thought it would be cool to be a butt kicking Jedi, protect and help others, then her parents told her she would be taken away forever from them and she cried. Not worth it, and the remaining Jedi were in hiding that is until Darth Vader found them. Riley shuddered, she saw his images on screen and he freaked her out, there was something almost tragic about him.
"That's a nice tune," said a dry female voice. Riley opened her eyes and almost fell out of her chair. A blond, the same species as her and around the same age, dressed in the black colors, and she was holding two drinks. "You didn't actually order milk did you?"
"Uhhh," Riley's brain wasn't functioning as best as It could, pretty sharp blue eyes were peering into her soul. Ever meet someone's eyes and immediately connect? "Its good stuff."
The girl passed Riley her blue milk and her calculating eyes softened when she saw Riley heartily drink her glass. She sat down and Riley didn't say anything. To her alarm the blondie sat down next to her, Riley didn't want to admit the intensity of her stare was making her nervous. Immediately she pushed everything important to the darkest corners in her head. Something about this girl rattled her. She didn't want to act suspicious so she went for a friendly smile, and the stranger smirked in response.
"Where did you sprout from?" She probed. Riley wasn't sweating or freaked but when was Zay coming back?
"Coruscant," Riley flinched, her voice was not convincing and the girl leaned in closer.
"The better districts I take it? You have soft warm eyes," the smirk never leaving her face. "So that begs to ask, what is a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?"
"...visiting, sightseeing, doing touristy stuff?" Riley went for the most charming smile in her arsenal and the girl halted her advance for a moment. She searched Riley's face, trying to decipher her words.
"You work here?" Riley wanted to not be interrogated.
"I know the owner of this fine establishment, I work for him part-time. I break up fights and occasionally start them," the girl's smile was a little sinister and enthralling. Her lightsaber was hanging on her belt. Riley was surprised at how beautiful the girl was even though she was a seasoned user of the dark arts. Fooling with the dark force has a way of corrupting the outside. "I'm here to make sure a good girl like yourself isn't approached by our meaner customers. Not many kind foreigners come here, they'll pick you at the first chance," the girl tilted her head to the other customers.
"Oh thank you for the protection," Riley didn't lower her guard, her spirit told her to trust the girl, her brain told her Siths were sly and always had an ulterior motive. Riley knew she sensed good in the young loyal Sith. "Has a human boy come here? Blond, tall, has a build, and haunted green eyes?" Riley rambled, tightening her hold on her glass.
Blue eyes sparkled, a smug smile on the girl's face. "As a matter of fact. I think the school did get a new recruit that matches your description. Are you an assassin," she teased," is that pretty face just a cover?" Riley blushed and her leg almost bounced with all the excitement. Lucas! And a beautiful girl just called her pretty! Riley couldn't say she wasn't flattered.
"No, no I'm just me," Riley waved of her comical accusation, her, a fighter? With her puppy face? Not likely.
Riley's new friend rested her chin on her fist, eyes gleaming. "I would bet all the alcohol in this place that there's more to you than meets the eye. How long are you staying for?"
Riley considered it, they would break into the school in a few hours, run at first light, stop at all the other places Zay had to go and finally return to Naboo.
"In a few hours. I'm here for a business trip."
"Booo," the girl shook her head, tremendously displeased at Riley's answer. "Will your partner miss you for a few hours? I could take you to some cool, restricted places," her voice was husky and Riley remembered she had no idea who she was speaking with. She remembered she wasn't here to have fun or make friends, she was here to get Lucas.
Riley laughed and finished the rest of her milk. "I thought we both agreed that I am a good girl. Good girls don't let bad ones corrupt them. Thank you for the offer. Do you take cash?"
The girl looked like she wasn't about to reply but Zay slumped back, a bit gloomy at losing his money. He stopped crouching when he noticed the girl with a saber on her belt.
"Hey, have a good game?" Riley took out her wupiupi and handed it to the worker. It was brief contact but there palms touched and Riley felt that pull, the same pull that's been tugging at her since they landed her, now stronger. Riley took her hand back like she had touched fire. The other girl withdrew her hand until it was at her side. Did she feel that? Riley noted the interest in the girl's face, the smug smile was gone, and there was something else. Riley wasn't going to stay to find what the girl was radiating.
Zay poked her side and Riley nodded at the girl as a farewell sign. Riley thought she saw the girl's posture stiffen.
"What was that?"Zay asked, concerned about the shocked look in both girls faces when Riley gave her money.
"Nothing," Riley cleared her voice, she shook her hand to get rid of the pulsing sensation. "Lucas is at the school."
"She told you that? I mean I know you said he was there but the backing of a baby Sith sounds like...not good. What are your feelings?" They dragged their feet back to their motel
Riley shrugged, she wasn't successful of sorting things out, everything became more muddled after meeting the girl hiding her pain. "Mixed feelings."
Zay snorts. "Women, of course its mixed."
"No," Riley laughs. "I don't think she was lying but she was holding back. I couldn't dig any deeper without giving myself away," she shrugs. "I do think we should try to sneak in."
Zay sighed, shaking his head in pitiful acceptance. "We're going to break into a Sith school for villains. Just how insane are we?"
"The perfect amount of insane in our time," Riley slid her arm around his waist and his arm went over her shoulder. She felt him relax, he trusted her instincts.
They went back to their room and Riley let Zay sleep off the alcohol in his system. She laid down next to him and closed her eyes, she preferred to meditate sitting but if someone barged in and saw her position. She wasn't deeply inside the force, she was doing this to calm her nerves. They would have to be sneaky to find Lucas, she had to use the minimal touch in the force to locate him, wherever he was sleeping. She didn't consider that maybe he wouldn't want to go with them, too bad she'd let Zay punch his lights out, she'd prefer that he come with them peacefully. Lucas wasn't hard headed, he'd come back.
When Zay woke up he prepared all the tools he'd need to break in.
"You should get a droid," Riley's mom had one and the thing was handy.
Zay scoffed, he believed otherwise. "Those things can be compromised and I have the terrible luck of finding danger in all my job assignment. The poor thing will be trashed by the first mission. My brain is good enough," Zay tapped his head, chin up. "Besides this one time a few years ago a little blue thing zapped me, permanently soured the idea of getting a droid."
Riley thought he got lonely on his trips and droids could be fun. After this whole thing was over maybe she would get him a monkey or parrot. He stopped her when she tried to go to the door, his hand drifted to where her lightsaber was. Should she leave it? All Zay had was his blasters and they might need the saber. They weren't the traditional blue or green.
They took a different route to the school this time, longer and with more unnecessary turns. Riley kept her senses broad in case anyone was following them.
They made it to the Sith school undetected and Zay knelt down next to the square mechanism that they needed to crack for the doors of the school to open.
"Maybe we should have just crashed through a window," Riley whispered next to him.
"Because that wont raise any alarms," he snorted. He plugged in his deciphering device and Riley guarded him.
It took longer than a minute but eventually the doors slowly creaked open. Zay went in first and Riley shut the door behind them. Zay put his night googles on and activated them. The ceiling was extremely high up, the giant pillars between were intricately carved, the statues of bowed men were lined in the middle of a path, and there were two stone stairways. Riley slipped her hand into Zay's, she couldn't see but she felt the darkness choking her.
"Lets find Lucas and get out of here," she whispered and he squeezed her hand.
Riley could only blindly follow the will of the force. Zay made sure she didn't trip over a step or walk into the wall. She just hoped that the inside of the school wasn't as monstrously big as the Jedi temple. The barracks shouldn't be too far right, and it was late. Somehow Riley seriously doubted this place had intense security, no one was stupid enough to break into a school training well killers. Just in case Zay had a radius device that told them if any droids were nearby.
The dark corridor led them to large double doors. Riley placed her hand on the smooth wooden door, she needed to go in there. She pushed and they quietly walked. Riley blinked at the green light coming from the high windows, they were in a large sparring ring, and Riley really hoped that the skulls on the walls were fake and for decorations. The door on the opposite side opened and they were too surprised too back track. The three froze and Riley realized with a start that it was the girl from the bar and she...was eating a sandwich?
The blond lets her shock appear for only a minute when the amused smirk crawls to her face. "Huh, and here I thought good girls didn't trespass at these hours," she taunted.
Riley was never good under pressure or at lying, she was also jarred that the force led her here to be caught on purpose. "Uhm, I-we got lost on the way to... to the restroom," Riley said weakly, she didn't look behind her too see Zay take out his blaster.
"Right, right, nothing to do with that tall guy that showed up a few days ago," Riley thought the girl was having too much fun with them. "Lucas right?"
They both tensed up at Lucas's name and the blond grinned even wider like bingo. "Here I have something from him to you guys," she chirped pleasantly.
Riley felt a foreboding that she did not like. The girl put the last bits of the sandwich in her mouth and walked to a drawer by the wall. She pulled out a pouch and threw it at Zay who almost missed.
"What's this?" He asked as he pulled the strings loose.
"His hand," she hummed and he dropped it, jumping back.
"You cut off his hand!" Riley squeaked.
"He was vindictive. A good quality to have in the dark force but when its directed at the emperor," the girl shrugged.
Riley felt Zay's rage and stepped away when he shot his blaster at the girl. In one fluid move the girl had her red saber out and redirected it to him, hitting him squarely on the upper of his arm. He yelps and falls to the ground, no cut off limbs thankfully. Riley feels dangerously close to what people would call anger, and she took back every nice thought she ever had about the Sith girl.
"You can scream if you want. These walls are sound proof," she tells them.
Curious blue eyes are on her now and Riley grits her teeth. "What can you do?" Her voice is light and teasing, Riley glares harder and the girl goes, "aww is that supposed to be intimidating. That's cute."
The girl lifts her hand and Riley mirrors it because the girl is throwing boulders at them. Riley has to throw the momentum and direction another way, she cant move or she risks the rocks hitting Zay. She's breathing heavily, she's never had to use the force this much, the most she's ever practiced with were lifting bricks. The need to protect her friend was fueling her. Riley can sense that the girl is getting more annoyed that Riley hasn't moved, that she risks getting slammed by the giant rocks so Zay wont get hurt.
"Enough! I know you have a lightsaber with you. How about we see if you're as good as your friend. He didn't last long with me," the girl boasts as she twirls her saber.
"Zay," Riley didn't move her gaze," can you get up? Can you run?"
"Ugh, y-yeah," his voice is strained and brimmed with pain.
The girl rolls her eyes exasperatedly. "Guess I'll cut you down where you stand and then kill and torture your friend."
Riley really doesn't like her when the girl used the force to increase her speed and appeared right in front of her, she took back every nice thought she had for the other girl when her opponent tried to connect her elbow with Riley's nose. Riley also thinks that the red glow emitting from the saber shouldn't make the girl more alluring and terrifying, its just not fair. She needed to calm down and focus, but she was certain that she was about to get killed by a ruthless small blond. Riley swiveled to her left as mean the mean bloodthirsty blond thrusted at her, she slid her foot between the blonde's legs, her arm stretched past the blonde's chest and Riley tried to use their momentum to push her down.
She failed because the girl's legs were like steel stuck firmly to the ground. Instead Riley was flying and crashing to the wall, she fell to the ground hissing from the pain in her back.
"Riley!" Zay shouted. He forced himself up and shrieked when the blond wickedly used the force to increase the pain in his arm.
"Stay down and worry about your self," she warned him and then she directed her attention to Riley. "Is that all you got? You don't fight like a Jedi or a padawan. Please tell me you're holding back or I'm going to bed still full," she gloated and Riley gritted her teeth.
Fine! Riley used the force and Lucas's saber was in her hand. She pressed the nub and the yellow light it emitted made her feel stronger.
"That's a good girl," the player chuckled. "The name of the person that's going to whoop you, its Maya," she curtsied.
Riley measured her breaths. "Zay stay back. I'll handle this, go find Lucas."
"He's going to stay right where he is," Maya shook her head.
Riley initiated the fight this time, she focused on one of the boulders and launched it at Maya, when it was close enough she made a fist and turned it into dust. Momentarily stunned from Riley's attack, Riley leapt to her and swung, aiming for a non-vital place. Maya dispersed the dust and easily blocked Riley's attack. Riley grunted and pressed the attack but Maya wouldn't budge and even with using the force to add to her strength Maya wasn't using much effort.
Maya pushed Riley back and redirected another blaster shot from Zay. Now she was playing the both of them and they still didn't have the edge. Riley has never been so frustrated and Maya's increasingly bored face wasn't helping. Maya threw one hand out to Zay and pushed him to the wall, she force jumped to Riley, her saber coming down so hard that two incredible things happened. One was that Maya's red saber broke Riley's, and two was at the last second before it could graze her and she could feel its heat, Riley put both her hands up and focused.
Maya blinked, more than amazed. "Huh," she smirked, "I knew there was more to you than met the eye," Maya mused and kicked Riley to her back. Her red lightsaber went back to its normal length. "Interesting."
Exhausted and drained, Riley was almost grateful when Maya's fist hit her face and she blacked out.