A Moving Shadow of Darkness
A/N: Star Wars belongs to George Lucas and Disney.
This is a NaNoWriMo prompt!
Chapter 1 – Prologue – A Growing Shadow
4 BBY, three days after the Siege of Lothal
What had been a pleasant sleep not unlike that of deep peaceful meditation for Ahsoka Tano gave way to something else.
She was her fourteen year old self, in the Jedi Temple. Her white lekku with blue stripes were slightly past her shoulders, blue eyes contrasted her orange skin, and she was wearing a dark red backless shirt with matching pants inclusive of boots.
And her quarters where she was had a well kept bed, desk, chair, and red carpeted floor. Typically of Jedi, she had hardly anything else except some trinkets given by those she helped along with needed gadgets and tech.
Things at first seemed normal but a look out the window of her quarters revealed an ominous blood red sky. Something's really not right...
Ahsoka heard a scream of agony from outside her quarters, and ran to the door, which opened. She quickly stepped into the hallway.
To her horror she saw the Kel Dor Jedi Master Plo Koon laying dead on the marble and red carpet in the corridor, a lightsaber burn through his chest. His orange thick leathery skin had paled in death, the gray protective googles over his eyes were cracked along with his antiox mask. "Master Plo! No!" Ahsoka felt a cold, dark presence and looked to her left.
And that dreadful mechanical breathing and wheezing, a tall dark figure stood over the lifeless body. Black helmet and matching suit, long cape, and holding a blood-red lightsaber. "You know who I am. You can't run from it."
Ahsoka heard her master Anakin Skywalker's voice. "Ahsoka! Get back!"
Ahsoka turned and swiftly ran to Anakin, only stopping to turn to him once she was behind him.
Skywalker ignited his blue lightsaber. "Go! Find Master Cin Drallig!" His brown hair was well kept, a fierce determination in his blue eyes which matched his lightsaber and Jedi uniform. And despite the determined look he was clearly a little on edge, sweat on his fair skin.
"Yes, master! Be careful!" Ahsoka ran down the hall away from the two. She was about to round the corner into another corridor before a feeling in the Force deep inside told her to look back, and she stopped to do so. Something's not right…
Anakin was clashing against the dark figure. His determination and mastery of Form VI of lightsaber combat appeared to be working in his favor. He swung his blade furiously, and every time he did an overhead swing which was blocked by the sleemo, the caped one was pushed back slightly.
The Sith, the only way she could describe the feeling of his Force signature, appeared to be on the back foot.
Something shifted in the air, and the two now appeared to be equal in strength and Force power.
Ahsoka realized something was wrong. "Master! Watch out!"
The figure quickly turned the tables on Skywalker, swinging his saber with such might Anakin was nearly buckling under the blows. Even then, Anakin desperately fought back and tried to go back on the offense, but it was clear he was losing the duel.
And to Ahsoka's utter horror the dark figure found an opening. And ruthlessly cut Anakin's remaining flesh hand off, and then removed his legs. "Master! No!"
The dark figure did some Force technique which sucked the life out of Anakin in wisps of black energy entering into the Sith. Moments later, the Jedi Knight went still and his Force presence disappeared The dark one turned to Ahsoka, speaking in Anakin's voice. "It's alright. Come here snips."
Ahsoka screamed. "No!" She ran away from the dark figure. No matter how hard and fast she tried to flee down halls and rooms, when she looked back she saw the figure and the red blade it carried getting closer. And worse shadows of pure darkness were spreading from the figure, engulfing everything.
She finally reached the front entrance of the Jedi Temple, but the Jedi Master she was supposed to find was laying dead right at the front steps between pillars.
The Human male Jedi Master Cin Drallig's face stared at her from the ground, frozen in sheer terror; his blue eyes dull, long brown hair a mess, and fair skin pale from death. His throat looked crushed, and his body bore the marks of lightsaber lancing, a cruel tactic used by some Dark Side Force users to prolong suffering. And his hands were missing, a short distance from his body.
Ahsoka screamed and turned around. The figure was still coming.
Ahsoka thought about running, then thought about her master who the figure killed. She reached down, felt her lightsabers on her belt, and took them off. The tight grip on the hilts offered some comfort, and she ignited the blades, a blazing blue. "I'm not afraid of you! I won't run!" She charged straight at the Sith.
The figure caught her mid dash with the Force and brought her close. When the figure spoke, it was a twisted mockery combination of the figure's voice and Master Anakin's. "Foolish Padawan. You should have joined me, but instead you will die."
Ahsoka felt her throat being constricted, before a searing hot pain went through her torso. She screamed in sheer agony.
Ahsoka Tano awoke with a scream, a cold sweat on her forehead, and panting. After a few moments, she sat up and wiped off the sweat. Again…
She was on her bed in her quarters onboard her ship Guardian of the Light.
Ahsoka sighed and stood up from the bed. She was currently in a black under-suit with matching pants, and her lekku were longer than her younger days, down to her waist almost.
She heard a knock on the door. And she used the Force to push the button and it opened.
Vaara Ti stood near the doorway. He had blue skin, gentle blue eyes, and matching stripes on his lekku which were as long as Ahsoka's. "Had to check on you, was walking by and heard something."
Ahsoka replied. "Yes. I apologize. A nightmare. I told you of the dream after I read that Sith's mind." She sighed. "And tonight was something similar." She looked to Vaara with a slight smile. "Thank you for checking on me. Don't worry too much, I'm getting to the bottom of this."
Vaara smiled. "You are welcome and won't do so. And hope you can get to the bottom of it, sounds like a very...perplexing mystery the way you described it."
Ahsoka quickly replied. "That's one way to put it."
Vaara paused for a moment. "Will be off then, need to take tally of supplies." He walked down the hallway and the door closed.
Tano walked to the nearby desk and sat in the chair. She brought up the terminal, and looked over her contacts for anything they had found. Anything that might relate to the Sith Lord and to what she had sensed during the battle to protect the Phoenix Cell.
After doing so, Ahsoka sighed and put her face in her hands, elbows on the desk. Why did I detect part of Master Anakin in him? Did the Sith steal his life force? Some ancient long forgotten Sith sorcery? She made a mental note to ask Nightsisters Ventress and Merrin to see if such techniques exist among Nightsister spells. While the Sith had many evil techniques, one couldn't rule out a Nightsister working with the Sith. Despite General Grievous's attack on the heart of Nightsister civilization, they weren't all dead. Many were scattered across the planet, while there were those out in the galaxy on various worlds.
The void between systems
A lone starship cruised along at sub-light speed, a ship known as the Animiasma. It was not Imperial or Rebel, but rather a slaver ship, owned by the infamous Chevin slaver Phylus Mon.
It was an oval shape and several kilometers in size. There were four hangar bays, two on each side at the middle. And its bridge was at the front top but the command center where Phylus commanded things was located safely in the exact center of the ship with multiple decks above and below it.
Within the port-side hangar bay, a team of salvagers were preparing to depart to search for treasure in a nearby star cluster. They stood near their ship. It wasn't pretty, rather blocky with attached weapons but it got the job done. They even affectionately called it "The Rustbucket".
Tirts Tilton, the Zygerrian team leader, stood near the landing ramp of the ship he and the team were going to use for their salvage operations. His appearance was feline, angular features on his face with gray fur along his sides and top of his head, long pointed ears, yellow eyes, and bony spurs along his chin. "Ready, team? We've got tasks to attend to, don't want to upset our boss by dillydallying around." He had on a full suit of protective form fitting black armor.
Lanlakno Grund, a Weequay, stood near the team leader. His thick leathery skin was dark brown, his sunken eyes were gray; and his other prominent features were a pair of thickly braided yellow hairs down his back, lipless mouth, and frills along each of his jowls. "Yes. Hope we find some good treasure. Even a single Force infused artifact would be a good thing...our boss seems a little upset we haven't found something like that in some time...and I'd hate to become 'useless'...you've heard the rumors right?" He had on a set of armor that was form fitting but allowed movement, green and yellow.
Treir Jaulrosk, a Devaronian, stood in front of the two. He had red eyes, two pointed ears along with a pair of horns at the top of his head, red skin, and was a head taller than the rest of the team. "Yes. But wouldn't worry too much. We've brought in the most useful stuff and resources. So I doubt he'd do anything to us for a dry spell." He smiled. "Remember when we brought back that Sith Sword? Ke Len was so happy, she had something to really use and give herself the nickname 'blood carver' for real." He wore a blue under-suit with armor plating that allowed him to use his great strength.
Baudeemen Zouvram, a Togruta, stood to Treir's left. Her blue skin contrasted with her brown eyes and matching stripes on her white lekku. She wore an orange cloak over her clothing. "So overjoyed, and when we brought back the old Sith Lightsaber, Mischa Vorfren finally had a weapon he loved. The way his face lit up when he was given the blade and he activated it first time...he once had a Jedi's lightsaber he stole but lost it and had been so bummed out."
Madu Kiscill, a female Twi'lek, stood to Trier's right. Her teal skin contrasted against her black eyes, and her lekku trailed down her back. "That was a good day for all of us when he got that." She wore a loose fitting green shirt with dark green pants along with black boots.
The team boarded the ramp and headed into the ship.
Tirts took the pilot seat, while Lanlakno took the co-pilot seat. The rest took seats in the back of the cockpit.
Tirts started up the ship, and guided it out of the hangar shortly before making the jump to Hyperspace.
A/N- As a NaNoWriMo, I won't fix errors until after it's all done, as one has limited time and I started late...but after it's all and done will be fixing errors, making updates, etc.
Though I still appreciate constructive criticism and feedback for sure! Especially with descriptions, feels like my nemesis sometimes, same with dialogue. So I'll know what needs fixing once I've done and posted the final chapter further down the line.