Different Paths.

Back on the planet of Aiur, Leah had been keeping up her training the best she could. Now that she knew what darkness was trying to pull her in, she had hoped it would give her a better chance of finding out how she could free herself from it. Sadly though her new found knowledge had done little to help her training. While she knew what her inner darkness was, she had no idea how to rid herself of it. She now knew one of the ancient dark siders called the Primes, was responsible for what had been happening to her. Powerful beings that made most if not all sith look like tiny sparks compared to a raging fire. And the Prime that had been haunting Leah was Diablo, lord of terror. A monster that struck fear in even seasoned jedi masters, which was not comforting in the slightest. Leah just felt like she was cursed. She never wanted any of this, she just wanted to live her life without having to be worried every single moment. All because of an evil she didn't even know about until recently.

Right now, Leah was taking a break from her training and decided to relax in a nice bath. Luckily she had been given her own room where she could bathe in peace. The room didn't have a simple bath tub, instead it looked more like a small pool in the floor, just deep enough to have a nice bath in. After it was filled up, Leah began removing her clothes. Once she was naked in tested the water with her toes before slowly getting. She let out a calm sigh as she allowed herself to sink in to the warm water. She closed her eyes for a minute before she opened them again... and when she saw her reflection in the water... and her eyes were glowing... like a sith.

She gasped and hit her reflection, causing a splash and her reflection was back to normal. She sighs "Damn...".

"Darkness sure is scary if you are not used to it, isn't it?" Came an unfamiliar female voice behind her.

Leah gasped as she turned around and backed away to the other side of her small pool, covering her breasts and hoping the water hid the rest of her body "What the hell!? Who's there?!".

"Language, aren't jedi supposed to teach manners?" The female voice said before a elf woman stepped out of the shadows "But to answer you question, my name is Valeera".

Leah blushed as she did her best to hide her modesty "What do you want? Do you make a habit of sneaking around in the shadows while girls bathe?".

Valeera chuckled "Why are you reacting so strongly? It's not like you have anything I don't see everyday".

"That's not the point! Why are you here? And how did you even get in here?" Leah demanded.

"So many questions. Well you are not the only one who's been trained by a protoss, and I was taught to hide my presence from others, including jedi and sith. So sneaking in here wasn't very hard" Valeera said as she removed her boots "As for why I'm here. I am here to talk to you".

Leah had to pull her legs back as Valeera sits down and puts her feet in the water "Talk about what?".

"You are struggling with the pull of the dark side while trying to remain faithful to the light. But what if I told you there was another way?" Valeera said in a knowing tone.

"What way?" Leah asked.

"I was in the same position as you not long ago. Feeling I was being ripped in half by the the light and dark. But there is another way. The balanced path" Valeera answered.

"Balanced path?" Leah asked.

Valeera nods "Yes, the Jedi and the Sith are both flawed in believing their side of the force is superior to the other. The truth is light and dark are the two sides of the same coin, and one can't exist without the other. If you want to find true peace, and real balance. You need to accept both sides of the force".

"That simple huh? Well my dark side is causing me far more pain than my light side" Leah said.

"I never said it would be easy. Mastering the force in it's entirely, is a long and difficult path. You should've seen me when I started my training. I was hopeless, and I nearly fell to the darkness many times. But Zeratul, my master, he never gave up and helped me find a way to balance out my light and darkness. And now, I finally feel like my life is truly my own, and not tied to what others wanted me to be" Valeera explained.

Leah looked down "Even if what you say is true... I don't believe I could reach such... balance".

Valeera stood up and gently grabbed Leah's hands and pulled her up, making her blush as her body was no longer hidden by the water "I understand you are scared, Leah. I too was an unwilling pawn to a monster. I can sense you an I are more alike than we are different. You feel it too, don't you?".

Leah looks in to Valeera's green eyes "Yes... I believe I do".

Valeera smiled "You are not alone, Leah, nor is anyone going to make the decision for you. This is your choice, no one else can tell you what you should be. Not the Jedi, not the sith, and not even me. Only you can make this choice".

Leah looked at her for several seconds "Could you... stay a while longer? I... I enjoy your company".

"Of course, I will stay for as long as you want me to" Valeera said.

Leah had tears in her eyes and hugged Valeera, no longer caring that the elf girl could see her naked... She needed this. Valeera hugged her back, gently stroking her hair. Leah let out a sob... the jedi had tried to help her by telling her to reject the dark side... But the truth was that non of them truly understood her, and non of them knew what she really needed. They tried to solve the problem as jedi, following their code of: There is no emotion, there is peace. But what Leah needed was someone who could offer emotional support. She couldn't just ignore her emotions, she needed someone who could help her through her emotions.

And now... for the first time in her life... she finally felt that she had a real friend who understood her... who could give her the help she really needed... She didn't even know Valeera yet, and she still felt safer with her than she ever did with the jedi... She could feel it... Valeera was the only one who could really help her.

Meanwhile, in the Empire, a powerful sith lord was watching the sith Academy of Korriban from his window. Normally this would not be a smart move for a sith, as standing near an open window made him a clear target for sniper assassins. But this was no mere sith lord, this was Darth Marr, The Empire's Defender. One of the longest-serving members of the Dark Council, Darth Marr is a terrifying warrior and a true believer in the Sith Code. In the early days of the Great Galactic War, he seized world after world for the expanding Empire and gained a reputation for personally leading charges against Republic defenders. However, once the Empire had established its power and the war began to drag on, Marr found fewer opportunities to directly engage in the fray, a situation that embittered the Sith Lord. While the treaty was still enforced, Marr had little tolerance for the Republic and the Jedi. And while he does not plan on breaking the treaty, he had sensed something... tremors in the force, something so dark that it even made the Sith Lord himself feel a small amount of worry.

He stood in silence for a while before he finally spoke "You made it just in time. I expected nothing less from you, Vanessa VanCleef".

Behind him stood a woman with black hair and a red mask over her mouth "What can I say? Being hired by a dark lord of the Sith is a good motivator for arriving on time".

"Good to know that you are aware of your place. I have a task for you, one that needs to be handled in a way that can't be traced back to me or the sith" Marr said.

"Me and my crew will take on any dirty job as long as you pay us. What do you need?" Vanessa asked.

"I need you to infiltrate Republic Space and locate someone with a very powerful darkness inside her. I am aware of your low but precise connection to the force, so you should be able to track her down" Marr explained.

"Her? How do you know it's a girl?" Vanessa asked.

"I had a vision through the force. I know not her name, but I do know she resides somewhere within Republic space" Marr answered.

"If you say so. And if I do find her, what do you want me to do with her?" Vanessa asked.

"Bring her back alive if possible. But should she prove more trouble than she's worth. Kill her. Either way I will be rid of a potential threat, and you will still get paid" Marr answered.

"You know if the Republic finds out it's me there would be real problems. I would be taking a very big risk" Vanessa said.

"Complete the task I gave you and I will make sure you are fairly compensated. If you fail, don't even dare to return. I am not that forgiving" Marr said in a calm but serious tone.

"You make your point loud and clear, Lord Marr. Make sure the money is ready, because the job is already as good as done" Vanessa said before she left the room.

Vanessa was an dangerous person. She is the daughter of Edwin VanCleef and his successor as head of a group called Defias Brotherhood. Years ago, her father and his crew were helping the Republic rebuild after the brutal war, which had caused a lot for destruction. However, since the Republic's budget had already been stretched thin, Edwin and his people where not paid anywhere near the amount of money they were promised. They had argued hard for the rest of the payment for their hard work, but since the Republic kept on refusing to pay them, their demands grew more and more violent, forcing the Republic to use force in order to drive them back. However this would result in Edwin forming the Defias Brotherhood, which was made up by people who were tired of suffering due to the Republic's failure to fix the damage their war caused. This would pressure the Republic in to sending in military force to quell the uprising before they could do to much damage... and Edwin VanCleef was killed in the resulting battle.

Vanessa was there when her father was killed, and she would become his successor in leading the Defias Brotherhood. She harbored a great hatred for the Republic ever since.

This made her perfect for the job Marr assigned her. She would rather die than ever doing anything that could help the Republic. So even if she is caught, she will not reveal that Marr was involved.

Now he only had to hope she could complete the task... Because Marr needs to make sure the Sith order isn't threatened by something even darker than themselves.

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