It was smooth cruising. She had always enjoyed the quietness of space. It was eerily serene, a vast network of stars and planets, among other beautiful creations.
A beep registered on her scanners and she narrowed her eyes. From the coding she gauged it was a Star Destroyer. She wanted to avoid it so she pressed forward the lever, feeding power to the ship.
She twirled her black and white T-65 X-wing starfighter, aligning the nose toward the planet she could see just past the one before her. She went around it, coming upon Lullem. The planet was.. dead..
She landed on the northern continent, just as Leonel said to, spotting the various mountains hugging the area. She had touched down in a small section of flat ground set between two decent sized hills.
The ground was cracked and deep brown, like a desert without sand. Without life. There was no breeze and thick clouds hung in the darkened sky. There was literally no sign of life; no animals, no grass, no nature. It was just barren. And yet fire seemed to be blazing in patches, from open wounds in the ground like a hot spring, just much hotter.
She hopped out of her cooling ship, searching for the nearest cave. There was one relatively close, set at the top of the hill and going down into it at a slope. She dug through her equipment, finding all the parts to make a lightsaber (and food and water) before walking toward it, eager to find the Kyber crystals.
She saw what little light from the outside slowly fade as she moved deeper into the cave, using a flashlight she had brought with her. She walked until she could see a small light.. and it grew as she got closer before she rounded a corner, stopping to study the crystals lining the wall in clusters, providing a glowing light from them.
These were it, she knew.
She moved to stroke one, feeling the cold smooth texture of the hard material. She brought out her blaster before shooting the wall beside this patch. Two more shots were all it took before it cracked and she could pry out enough of the crystals to do what needed to be done. She brought enough parts to build two sabers, which was what she wanted.
She would need to meditate, she had read, in order for this to work. She took off her helmet, setting it aside. The food and water she placed beside it.
She placed the parts for the first saber in a semi-circle before her, the crystals and chamber in the middle. She sat cross-legged and closed her eyes. The force was strong in this place and she could hear the whispers coming from this cave.
She tapped into that energy, feeling the shifting of air as the parts lifted and began to allign together. She worked with the force to build the saber, hearing the final piece snap into place. The chamber sat empty.
Now the crystals.
It took.. several hours. She thought about her friend Rixin, a smile flashing on her face.
She felt her energy depleting, her body exhausted as she opened her eyes to see her creation. The crystals that shimmered in the glow of its fellow stones was a different color. The others shined a bright white.. while these were a beautiful green.
She lifted her hand, pushing them into place in the chamber and sealing them in. She took a break to eat, letting the saber lower to be placed at her left side. Once she had her energy back, with a few brief moments of rest, she began her construction of the second saber. It was built much like the first, except it had a black metal hilt as she wanted them to look different. The last piece clicked around the chamber and so she started her concentration on imbedding the crystals with force energy..
But these were different. Her thoughts turned to the First Order, to the coliseum, before she could stop them. When she opened her eyes.. the crystals were not green like the others.. but a deep, pitching black and she hissed, scooting back.
The crystals pulsed with energy before her eyes turned curious and she moved forward to grab the crystals. She could feel the power coming from them. Black wasn't evil.. right? She decided to use them. She pushed them into the chamber, closing them in.
She slowly rose, pulling the saber to her. She grabbed the first saber in her left hand. The hilt was actually warm, the light grey metal contrasting with the bright green as she activated the saber. It was stunning, to say the least. She powered it off, clipping it to her belt before studying the one in her right, the black hilt saber. She activated it, watching the black beam come to life.
She was speechless at the way it looked and yet.. she felt pleased. She had wanted them both at least the same color, but this turn of events was.. nice. Contrasting. She twirled it before deactivating it, placing it on the right hip. She turned to what remained of her food supply and ate. She rested.
When she felt ready she placed her helmet back on, put her blaster onto her belt and left the cave.
When she stepped out of the cave a ship was coming down from the sky and, judging by the way it looked, she knew it was the First Order. What were they doing here, on this dead world? Only one reason made sense.
Me.
She ran toward her ship, putting away the extra things before rushing up to the top of the hill as the vessel landed about half a mile away. Stormtroopers flooded out.
She was exhausted, she couldn't fight so many.
There was at least 50 and counting, nearly doubling if not more, she couldn't tell. She lifted the green saber from her side and clutched the hilt, waiting.
The stormtroopers spotted her and began to march toward her. Soon they were close to the hill and she walked down to meet them at the base.
"Surrender, mercenary, and no harm will come to you." The commander, a white and grey armored trooper ordered.
Her response was simple. She lifted the saber and it lit up, a green beam purring into life.
The troopers lifted their guns, aiming at her.
She smirked beneath her mask.
"I will not surrender to the First Order. If you want me, come get me."
With those words.. with that tone she spoke with though her filter.. the fight began.
xxx
She fought like a devil, her blade slowly becoming a mere extension of her body. The way she deflected the blasts, utilizing the force to shove back any who got too close.. before finally rushing forth into the wave to hack and slash like a monster.. Like parting the sea.
She was a force to reckon with, her saber a blur as was her armored frame. They foolishly thought they were fighting a man and went all out, which was what she wanted. Only the commander seemed to act differently, hanging back with a device.
Yet, when her body felt at the breaking point.. a few shots pinged off her armor. One managed to cut through the side of her glove, another cutting the side of her left leg. She fell onto her knees, hearing the pause as the remaining handful of troopers approached. She felt power building and she let it out, a force wave rippling out to knock the soldiers back. She jumped up, pushing past pain, past concern, past fear to finish what they started. She slaughtered them for survival. Just like at the coliseum.
All but the commander.
He had been talking into the device, likely with a superior. She stepped toward him, noticing his tensed frame not moving. "If you serve Kylo Ren.. or whatever dog you follow blindly. Tell them this. I will not be pinned down, nor subjected to another's will. I am free! Like a bird in the sky and you shall not trap me within a cage." She hissed, a breeze bringing to them the thick smell of blood.
"Tell them that my name is Atle Elkem and I am a mercenary. Not a prize nor a dead man."
She turned, knowing that whoever was on the communicator could hear every word she said. She waited a heartbeat before spinning to stab the trooper, catching the device to bring it to her as he collapsed.
"Or, better yet, I'll tell you."
A voice she didn't recognize met her ears. "My.. you are one tough nut to crack.. girl."
"I have a stalker? Let me guess.." Elaina wasn't surprised. "The FO has you tagging along on my coat tails. Am I right? That's why I didn't have a tracking device on my ship."
He chuckled from his end, whoever he was. "Indeed."
"Well, quit while you're ahead. Don't waste more lives than you already have."
She was met by silence so she threw down the device and trekked back to her ship. She didn't realize just how far she had gone until she paused to glance back at the field of motionless bodies. She felt her exhaustion hitting her fully as she walked past her ship. She slumped down beside it, laying down. She didn't even care that her helmet was on. She made sure her sabers were at her side before sleep overtook her.