"Looks like she finally tracked us down," Aola asked from where she was lounging lazily, her back pressed against the wall and her hands resting comfortably behind her head; around her, Killian and the other members of 'Killer Frost' were enjoying a brief respite from the constant training that they had been under since leaving Mandalore. All were dressed casually, not needing their armor for the moment, and so had stowed it in their rooms.
Killian was busy taking apart and cleaning his rifle, inspecting every piece with a fine eye before thoroughly cleaning it and placing it on the rag that lay on the floor between his legs. Dani sat next to him, sharpening her knife as she had been for the last half-hour; everyone knew that by now the blade was as sharp as it could be, but no one said anything as they all knew how sharpening it relaxed Dani.
Ben and Alexander were playing chess, an interesting game from Killian's home world that both Alexander and Ben found intriguing as a way of learning tactics. Looking up from his task, Killian stared at his sister in confusion for a moment before she rolled her eyes and lazily pointed a finger across the room. Following her finger, Killian turned and saw, to his annoyance, that the Sith lord had stalked into the hangar where Killian and his friends had retreated to wait out the ride to Dathomir.
"What the kriff is SHE doing here?" Dani asked as she ceased her task and lazily bent her right leg before resting her knife arm on it.
"We can't be there yet. Can we?" Ben asked with a frown as Alexander took his bishop and placed him in check.
"No, we still have a few hours," Alexander replied, "And even if we were, we would have heard the proximity alarm go off."
"She's spotted us," Aola said with a sigh before slowly closing her eyes and pretending to go back to sleep, "Think she'll leave us alone?"
"Not kriffing likely," Killian muttered as he began to reassemble his weapon with the speed and precision of one who had done it hundreds of times.
"There you are," Darth Striga sneered as she stalked over to the group, stopping several feet from them and glaring down in disgust; Killian had nearly snorted when the Sith had introduced herself, given that her name meant witch in Latin. It never ceased to amaze and confuse Killian how words and phrases from Earth seemed to exist here, but he chose not to dwell on that, as he was pretty sure it would drive him mad.
"Here we are…" Killian replied sarcastically, making Dani and Aola snort, as well as causing Striga's eyes to narrow angrily; sliding the last piece of his weapon into place, Killian looked up at the glaring Sith and smirked at her, causing Striga's eyebrow to twitch slightly as her anger grew.
She was dressed, per usual, in her midnight black robes and had her lightsaber dangling menacingly from her hip; her hair, just as wild as always, hung in ringlets around her deathly pale face, from which a pair of volcanic-red eyes glared out hatefully.
"You would do well to remember your place, boy," Striga growled, "I am your commanding officer on this mission. Which means that your life is in my hands."
"I know the Force tends to drive you Sith mad," Killian replied with a sneer, "But I doubt even you're stupid enough to intentionally harm the Mandalore's family. I doubt your emperor would approve of that."
An instant later, Darth Striga's lightsaber was ignited and resting inches from Killian's smiling face.
"You are not fit to speak the emperor's name, boy!" Striga snarled, her eyes blazing with fury; Killian simply smirked at her before glancing down, causing her to do the same. Killian's rifle was currently aimed directly at Striga's stomach, and his finger was on the trigger; added to that, Aola, Ben, and Dani had all drawn their sidearms and were pointing at the Sith with smirks of their own. Alexander had somehow risen to his feet, gotten behind the Sith, and was pointing his blaster at the back of her head.
"Ah, so you miserable rats do have some balls, after all. I was beginning to wonder," Striga purred dangerously, "But do you have the courage to pull that trigger and face what comes next?"
"Try us, bitch," Dani retorted immediately.
For a moment, nobody moved, and a dangerous tension filled the air when suddenly Terra's voice rang out like thunder,
"What in the kriff is going on here! Stand down immediately!"
As Terra stormed over, a look of fury upon her face, Killian knew that a shitstorm was about to begin and quickly lowered his rifle to the floor; seeing Killian lower his weapon, the others quickly followed suit, making Striga sneer in derision.
"Perhaps I spoke too soon," the Sith sneered as she deactivated her lightsaber and stowed it into her robes; turning to face Terra, Striga's sneer deepened as she saw the three other Mandalorians in grey armor who had followed the pink Twi'lek in as her escort.
"Disrespect my mother again," Killian growled as he rose to his feet and glared, his eyes turning yellow for only a second, but it made Striga grin, "I dare you…"
"There you are, little brother," Darth Striga thought with a smirk.
"Killian, that is enough!" Terra snapped, "Stand at attention! All of you, now!"
Training taking over, the group immediately snapped to attention, making Terra nod in approval while Striga sneered in disdain; turning to face the Sith, Terra adopted a sneer of her own and crossed her arms over her chest as she stared haughtily at the glaring girl.
"Listen well, Sith. My people may be allied with your empire, but that does not mean that you can treat my people however you wish!"
"The Emperor put ME in charge of this mission," Striga snarled back, "Which means that you all follow my orders during this mission. You would do well to remember that."
"And you would do well to remember what happened to the last Sith, whose stupid decisions nearly got my family killed…" Terra replied with a hiss, making Striga's eyes widen momentarily.
"Did she kill Darth Avarice?" Striga thought in shock, "All the reports indicated that she died in battle on Bomodon…. Which is the same battle that Killer Frost participated in… How interesting…"
"Well, well, well," Striga said with a smirk, "Look who just became much more interesting."
"What do you want with Killer Frost?" Terra demanded, ignoring the Sith's earlier comment.
"I am in need of one of your people to act as an intermediary between my troops and yours," Striga replied, "And since Killer Frost has such an…. Intimidating reputation, I decided to choose one of them as my volunteer." Turning back to the still-at-attention group, Striga smirked as she saw them fighting not to explode in anger, "And I think I just made my choice. Killian, was it? I choose you."
"Like hell!" Aola and Dani snarled as one, stepping forward before stopping as Terra raised her hand and cast a stern glare, making them return to attention.
"And why should I permit such a request? Why should I allow you to take my son?"
"For two reasons, actually," Striga replied with a smirk, "First, because, as we've already established, I am in charge of this mission. So really, you don't have a choice in the matter, I'm just being polite by asking."
Darth Striga examined her nails with an arrogant smile at that, causing all the Mandalorians present to suddenly tense in impotent fury and outrage, none more so than Terra, who suddenly looked murderous. But before Terra could say anything, Darth Striga continued in the same condescending tone of voice as before.
"And secondly, because of the great honor that it will bring both himself and his clan. Isn't that what you people are all about? Honor and glory, and all that drivel… So! Now that we've established that, I'll be on my way with Killian. We have much to discuss."
Without another word, Striga spun on her heel and grabbed Killian by his braid before quickly stalking away, dragging a cursing Killian behind her while the watching Mandalorians gaped in silent shock.
"Did that bitch just abduct my baby brother?" Aola said finally, taking a step to follow, only for Terra to drop her hand on her daughter's shoulder.
"Leave it be," Terra commanded,
"Wha?" Aola gaped, "But mom….!"
"I said leave it!" Terra snapped, causing Aola to stare in shock at her mother's anger, "I don't like it any better than you, but that bitch is right! She's in command here, and we are honor-bound to obey."
"But you heard her, general!" Dani cried, "She doesn't give a damn about honor!"
"Maybe she doesn't," Terra agreed, "But we do! That is what marks us apart!"
"And what of Killian?" Alexander asked, "It is well known, now, that he can use the Force. It's very dangerous for him to be so close to a Sith, wouldn't you agree?"
"Killian can handle himself," Terra replied softly, "I have faith in him, as should all of you."
"I do have faith in him," Aola replied quickly, "It's HER I don't trust."
Staring at the door where the Sith and her son had just disappeared, Terra couldn't help but feel a worm of worry shiver through her, which she quickly tried to smother.
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"Will you let the kriff go, already!" Killian snapped as he desperately tried to free his braid from Striga's grip, only to yelp in pain as she gave another playful tug, followed by a laugh at his misfortune.
"Aw, what's the matter, little Mandalorian? I thought your people were accustomed to enduring a little pain."
Rather than reply, Killian growled, dug in his heels, and thrust both hands out before him, sending a blast of the Force straight at the unsuspecting Sith's back. With a cry of both pain and surprise, Striga was sent tumbling down the hallway end over end, finally coming to a stop in a pouncing position with her lightsaber held unlit at the ready, with a hateful expression on her face aimed at Killian.
Killian glared right back at her, already having pulled his new dagger from its sheath, and lowered himself into a defensive position as he held his weapon in a reverse grip, his other hand curled into a tight fist.
After several tense seconds, Striga finally smiled in delight and rose to her full height, stowing her lightsaber back in her robes,
"Perhaps you won't be a waste of my time after all," Striga said silkily, eyeing Killian in a way that made him uncomfortable, but for what reason, he couldn't say.
"What exactly do you want from me?" Killian demanded as he, too, rose to his full height, though he still kept his knife at the ready.
"To set you free, Killian," Striga replied with a tilt of her head as though it was obvious,
"What the hell are you on about?" Killian demanded.
"I've heard of how you learned the basics from Darth Malgus and had such potential. Yet, you allowed your fear of your own power to take that potential from you. I'm here to offer you another chance at reaching that potential."
"I turned my back on Malgus' teachings because I didn't want to be a monster!" Killian snarled back, making Striga sneer in derision.
"Monster?" Striga replied with a snort, "What is a monster? To the fly, a spider is a monster. And to the spider, a boot is a monster. Do you not see? To the weak, the strong will always be considered monsters. That's just the way the galaxy is."
"You're wrong!" Killian snarled, his eyes flashing yellow with his fury, "I have seen the very worst that humanity has to offer! I have seen cruelty and evil! But I have also seen kindness and compassion. And that is not a weakness!"
The two glared at one another for a moment, and the hallway groaned as the power rolling off of the two twisted the metal around them; after a few more seconds, Striga finally relaxed, and the pressure in the hallway seemed to drop by a great deal.
Taking a slow breath, Striga opened her eyes and glared at Killian for a moment before a cruel smile stretched across her face,
"We will arrive on Dathomir in a few hours, and when we do, I will show you what true power looks like. Then, you will see that there is no good and evil, only power. And those too weak to seek it."
Killian snorted in amusement at that, causing Striga to stare at him in confusion for a moment before Killian regained control of himself,
"Okay, Voldemort," Killian chirped,
"Who?" Striga snapped back, causing another round of giggles from Killian,
"Sorry, inside joke. You wouldn't get it."
"Regardless," Striga growled back, already fed up with the boy's antics, "You will be mine!"
"If that's your game," Killian sneered as he sheathed his blade and turned to walk away, "Then I look forward to disappointing you."
As Killian
strode away, his back straight as an arrow, he could feel Darth Striga's eyes on his back,
"Fight against it all you want," the Sith's voice echoed, "You will be mine, Killian Farr!"
XXXX