Chapter 6

AN: Well, after months I finally had the time to update this one. Hope you people enjoy it, also feel free to leave a review.

Messorem-dust: Imglad you like the fic. About the mistakes, I will correct them and have started already, should update the old chapter soon. The fic takes place during the clone wars and will tie into the main plot after some time. Acina will teach Shmi what she knows slowly but not all of it Shmi will get that using another way. Yeah, I too think that the old sith were much more powerful than the current ones. Oh, we will definitely see the Sith version of Shmi interacting with Ahsoka, I do have a whole relationship planned out. Also having another Sith to combat Sidious is going to be fun, especially considering she is the mother of the guy Sidious wants to corrupt and take for himself.

Shmi sped through the forests of Seleucami in her new speeder, courtesy of the pirates who tried to rob the village. She had managed to find out the location of the pirate's hideout from the sole survivor of the group who attacked her, all it took was to force choke him for a few moments and he spilled the information she wanted. She had left him with the villagers, it was up to them to decide his fate, she had other more important things to take care of.

As it turned out, the pirates had reoccupied an old mining installation in the hills and were using it as a base to launch their raids from and to send off the property and people they take from the settlements. In total there should be around sixteen pirates there if that son of a hut didn't lie to her. There used to be more but she took care of some earlier.

The thoughts in her mind were racing, as did her emotions. She felt pity for the people that had to endure all of that torment and anger toward those responsible. She wanted to end the suffering those people were forced to undergo and achieving that meant eradicating the ones who are the cause of it. Throughout the journey to the hideout, Acina encouraged Shmi and told her how to best deal with the lowlifes. The thought of anyone taking someone else's freedom, to make them suffer for the pure enjoyment of it disgusted Shmi, and just wanted to bring the ones responsible to justice. After a while the forest gave away to the sight of a clearing and nestled in the middle of it, on top of a hill was a mining installation. Shmi used the force to sense the people inside, she left the pirates who called the installation home and the people who were terrified for their lives. The fear of those people only drove Shmi forward. She hit the acceleration and made the speeder fly even faster.

Two guards stood at the entrance of the installation, bored looks on their faces.

"Why is it us that have to stand around here all day doing nothing when everyone else is doing whatever they want," one of the guards complained.

"Because we lost two rounds of sabacc, that means two shifts," the second one said, annoyance clear in his voice.

"There is no way Bid had the Idiots Array twice in a row, he cheated, I know he did," the first one said.

"I know he cheated too, but considering no one managed to catch him doing it then that counts as nothing. He won and the two of us have to take over his shift," the second one added.

"I just hope the guys who went out to the village return soon, at least something interesting should happen when they return."

"Speaking of the devil," the second one said pointing towards the oncoming speeder. The speeder was the one their comrades used to travel to the village and it was coming towards them, fast. After the speeder continued to fly at great speed with no signs of slowing down the first one raised an eyebrow at the strange sight.

"Why aren't they slowing down?" he asked.

"Idiots," the second one scoffed. "Probably drunk again," The two of them watched as the speeder continued to come in closer with no sign of stopping. They expected that the idiots driving would stop soon with this lunacy but as the speeder got really close to the point that even if the driver tried to stop it would still not be enough not to collide with them. Their eyes went wide as the speeder got too close. "Jump!" the second one said and did so to get out of the way while the other just dumbly stared at him before turning his attention towards the speeder only to be run over by it. The guards could not do anything but stare in shock at the place where his friend stood just a moment before. Shmi brought the speeder to a stop in the middle of the compound and with the assistance from the force jumped out, igniting her lightsaber and drawing her blaster. A moment later several of the pirates came out from one of the buildings, their attention immediately locked on Shmi. The looks of surprise turned murderess as soon as they noticed the ignited lightsaber.

"Jedi! Kill her!" one of the thugs shouted and the rest immediately scrambled to take up their firearms and open fire upon the intruder. By the time they managed to aim their blasters at Shmi she had already released several shots from her blaster pistol, the first shot founds its mark when it hit one of the Weequay while the other misted its mark. It was then that the rest of the pirate group opened fire upon Shmi who used her lightsaber to deflect the incoming blaster bolts and even return some back at her attackers. The commotion outside had attracted the attention of the rest of the gang and they were making their way out of their shelters. Knowing that she would be at a disadvantage if she gets surrounded by the pirates with long-ranged weapons she decided to move in closer. She quickly dashed towards two of the Weequay pirates and slashed one with her lightsaber while shooting the other from point black range, then she quickly spun around to redirect the shot which was aimed at her beck. Not wasting any time she moved on towards her next targets, decapitating the first, shooting the second, and slicing the third in half. The force gave her a warning of danger and she noticed that one of the pirates had taken a sniper's position on one of the roofs. Thinking quickly Shmi used the force to bring in the closest thug towards her and used him as a shield and it was just in time as the sniper bolt hit the pirate instead of Shmi. She then used the force to launch the body towards the sniper, making him fall off the roof he was standing on.

As the fight went on, Shmi felt her emotions rise, she felt the emotions of her opponents, the anger, the fear, the hate, and she used it to fuel her just like Acina had taught her. She was still somewhat apprehensive about using emotions like hate, she knew that it gave her power and she liked the feeling of having power at the tips of her fingers but she still feared what would happen if she lost herself to that feeling. Acina had counseled her considering that topic, she had assured Shmi that all will be well as long as she controls her emotions not them her. She needed to use her emotions as a tool, not be a slave to them.

The fight continued as Shmi returned a blaster bolt back towards the pirate who fired it, the bolt hitting him straight in the chest. The rest of the pirates went down quickly as each was furiously cut down where he stood. Eventually, only a few remained and they tried to make a run for it but were suddenly stopped when they were lifted into the air and started clutching their throats.

"So you are the ones who have decided to cause all of that havoc in the village, you deserve to die for all the suffering you have caused," Shmi said, anger lacing her voice. She clenched her fist and the invisible grip over the throats of the pirates tightened. "But I will spare you if you tell me where have you hidden the people you abducted and all of the things you stole from the settlers."

One of them tried to speak and Shmi released her grip over him just enough for him to speak. The

Weequay coughed for a moment and took a deep breath before he spoke.

"T-The main building, they...they are in the basement….the r-rest of the stuff we took from the villagers is on the first floor," the pirate said desperately, pointing at the building. "T-There I told you, not release me."

Shmi grunted. "Fine," and released the two remaining pirates, the two of them loudly hit the ground and started desperately taking in as much air as they could. Shmi turned her back on them and started to walk over to the main building. The one she interrogated shopped coughing and looking up to see a blaster in the dirt in front of him.

"Bitch," he said and quickly jumped to grab the pistol, and just as he was about to raise it a blaster bolt hit him directly in the head, ending him. Shmi stood with a smoking blaster in one hand and a lightsaber in the other, she had honestly expected something like that to happen but was hoping that at least some of them had some sense. She looked at the last remaining pirate with fury in her eyes.

"No, no, no, no," the pirate kept saying terrified as he got up and ran towards the exit. Shmi let him flee, honestly not caring what happens to him, will most likely get eaten by something.

"Marvelous work I must say my pupil, well done indeed. It seems all of that training has finally started to pay off," Acina said.

"As it should, I'm done with being knocked to the ground," Shmi said and she heard Acina chuckle in her mind.

She made her way inside the main building and after some searching found the hatch which led to the basement. What little light came from outside quickly turned into darkness and Shmi had to use her lightsaber to illuminate the room. The sight in front of her brought her no small amount of shock and fury. In front of her were at least twenty people, all women, and children with shackles around their wrists. They all looked at Shmi with terrified gazes, some backing away as far as they could, the wall stopping them from going any further.

"It's alright, I'm not here to hurt you, I'm not with the pirates," Shmi said in a soothing tone. "I came here to rescue you. I was sent here by the shop owner to look for his son."

"My father sent you!" a high-pitched voice of a child came from the group and Shmi noticed a blue-skinned twilek boy.

"And your mother, they are worried for you," Shmi said offering the child the kindest smile she had.

"T-That blade. Are you a Jedi?" one of the older women said in a shaky tone.

Shmi shook her head. "No I'm not a Jedi but I'm someone to seeks to help where she can. The pirates have been dealt with so it is safe not to venture outside," the former hostages looked at her warily. "I promise that all will be alright, all of you will be returned to your homes soon enough."

With those reassuring towards Shmi proceeded to cut off the shackles which were holding the people prisoner and each one carefully exited the basement and came outside. When the last person was freed Shmi joined them. The people stared in shock, awe, and a small dose of fear at the sight of them. The area was covered in clear signs of a fight, marks from blaster bolts were everywhere and the dead bodies lying around were clear indicators of it. Some of the women covered the eyes of the children so as not to see the horrible sight in front of them. Some children turned around not to look at it while one of them, a zabrak continued to look on at the sight in front of her.

"Yeah, it was probably not the best idea to immediately get the kids out," Shmi said remorsefully. "Listen, let us get them back inside. There are things that have been stolen from you on the floor and there are a few more speeders in the hanger. We will loud up everything you can carry, if anything stays behind you can come back later for it. Is that alright?"

"It is fine," one of the women said. And so as the children were kept inside to minimize potential trauma the grown-ups took all the belongings they could carry and loaded them on the speeders. When it was all set and done, the children were brought outside and told to climb into the vehicles. After a ride that lasted a while, the group finally returned to the village. The people who were taken were met by their families with open arms and crying eyes. Everyone thanked Shmi for what she had done and congratulated her for a job well done. When the situation had settled somewhat and the people started to return to their homes to be with their loved ones the shopkeeper, his wife, and son approached Shmi.

"Thank you for bringing our son back to us, thank you," the pair said with watery eyes.

"You are welcome. I have dealt with the pirates so there should not be any more raids from them," Shmi said.

"And what if more come," the wife said fearfully. It was then that she tossed a bag filled with blasters towards the shopkeeper.

"You will need to fight for yourself, I won't be here to do it for you," Shmi said.

"But, but..." the wife started but Shmi cut her off.

"I'm sorry but I can't stay to keep you safe forever, I have my own things to do," Shmi said with a hint of remorse. She sympathized with what these people went through, but she can't be there for them always, they need to learn to defend themselves on their own. The husband put an arm on his wife's shoulder.

"She is right, we can't ask of her to give up her life just so we would feel safe dear. If the pirates ever come again then… then I guess we will be the ones to drive them off the next time," the husband said hopefully.

"That's good to hear," Shmi said. After a few more pleasant words and thanks yous Shmi noticed the girl staring at her, the same girl had stared at her when she was helping with the loading of the stolen goods and with the evacuation. This picked her curiosity. "That girl over there, who is she?"

The two adults looked over to where the girl was standing and noticed the zabrak teen. Both the husband and wife had a sorrowful look on their face. "Her name is Nula, her parents were killed when the pirates first came and she was among the first to be taken. A child should not go through what she has been."

"What will happen to her?"

"One of the families in the village will most likely take her in until she grows up," the husband said. Shmi hummed in acknowledgment. She had an odd feeling about the girl. Shmi looked at the girl once more and locked eyes with her. This was enough for the girl to lower her head and leave.

"I guess this is where we part ways then," Shmi said returning her attention to the family. The three gave Shmi bright smiles and then suddenly Shmi felt her head ache and a vision of a small human boy with blond hair came to her mind. It was over as quickly as it began.

"Are, Are you alright?" the wife asked.

"Y-Yes I'm, just stressed from the fight, that is all," Shmi said. "Well then, I wish you good fortune and thank you for the supplies."

"You are welcome and good luck to you as well, where ever the galaxy may take you," the husband said and with those final words, Shmi started walking back towards her ship.

"It is a wise decision to leave this place. So, do you have any idea where we are heading next?" Acina asked.

"I have a few worlds on mind I wish to visit," Shmi said.