Shades of Family
As she dashed through the now collapsing archway, Taranae dove forwards into the chamber beyond. The loud crash behind her and the clouds of billowing dust that surrounded her as she pushed herself up on her hands bore testament to the now blocked entry to the room. Pushing herself upright into a crouch, she surveyed the room as she patted her robes, creating clouds of dust that made her cough harshly. Her black robes now looked grey with black patches where she had tried to brush off the coat of debris that now covered it entirely. Her hood had fallen back in the forward roll she had made and now her fiery red hair hung loosely about her face. Checking her waist, she found her lightsaber and blasters still in place and her spirits perked slightly. Whatever she had to face ahead, she was prepared.
“Tara?” said a voice from the far side of the room.
“Who is it? What do you want?” she replied, unsheathing her DL-44 from her hip holster and aiming it in the voices’ general direction. She could make out a vague shape drifting towards her from the far side of the chamber and she dropped into a firing pose.
“If you don’t stop or tell me who you are, I *will* fire!” she said vehemently.
“Don’t you recognize your sister when she speaks to you Taranae? After all these years you’ve forgotten me?”
The voice sounded hurt and pained and Taranae squinted into the room, trying to make out the figure in the swirling, but now settling dust.
“Vanessa? Is that you? How can that be?” the sith asked quizzically. “You left the Brotherhood and returned home, what are you doing here on the Anchorage?”
“I was brought here against my will by the Tarentum leaders.” she replied. “I was trapped in here by them in the hopes that you would come to rescue me.”
“But why would I need to rescue you?” asked Taranae. “What would they gain in trapping you here for me to find?”
“They hoped to blame Plagueis for my capture and turn you against them.” she replied. “They wanted to make you believe that your Clan betrayed you so you would defect to Tarentum to help them take over the Anchorage.”
“What?” she screamed in return. “My Clan would never betray me!”
“So you discard the warnings of your sister so easily, do you?” Vanessa replied in a sad voice. “I thought I knew you, sis. Obviously I don’t. You’ve changed so much, become so deluded by your dreams of power that you can’t even see problems and betrayal even if they are put in front of your face.”
“Wait. You’re not Vanessa!” said Taranae with a growl, a scowl replacing her look of shock. “Vanessa would never speak that way of me, I know her too well. Who are you, imposter? Speak now or I will kill you where you stand!”
“If you don’t believe me,” she replied, “believe your mother, Tara.”
“My Mother? What are you talking about?” she snapped back at Vanessa.
“Follow me, sis. Tarentum captured her too.” With that, Vanessa turned on her heel and vanished into the swirling dust.
“Wait! Vanessa!” she cried after her. “ Where are you going?”
“Follow…” came the reply from across the room. Taranae pushed to her feet from her firing stance and brushed the dust from her knees. Keeping her weapon drawn, she hesitantly followed the figure. For some reason she had conflicting thoughts of who or what this thing in the form of her sister actually was. As she progressed onwards, she cast nervous glances all around, expecting an attack at any time from within the still settling dust. As the clouds cleared she began to see more easily and almost jumped as a figure stepped out from behind a pillar.
Raising her blaster, she demanded, “Who are you?”
“Don’t you dare speak to your mother like that Taranae!” the figure replied. The sith shrunk back.
“Mother? Why are you here?” She realized that the figure had used the same tone that her actual mother did when she was in trouble or had done something wrong. That was the only time when her mother would use her full first name.
“Your sister must have told you,” she replied, “that we were brought here to convince you that Plagueis had betrayed you.”
“She did, but I don’t understand. Why would they do this?”
“So you would join them and help bring about the downfall of your Clan, dear.” she replied.
Taranae stood stock still, a little unnoticeable twitch of her mouth was the only sign that she thought something amiss.
“It’s been so long, mother.” she sobbed. “I ‘ve missed you.”
“I know, child.” she replied. “Come here.”
Taranae slowly crossed to her, wiping tears from her eyes. “Where’s Vanessa, mother?” she asked. “She was here a moment ago.”
“Her mother seemed to stiffen for a split second but regained her composure as she replied, “I sent her into the other room to retrieve our belongings. At least they let us keep some things.”
As Taranae crossed to her mother, she fumbled with her belt out of her mother’s view. She stretched out her arms, expecting the same from her mother.
She walked into an embrace that seemed odd yet familiar and hugged as hard as she could. She laid her head on her mother’s shoulder and quietly sobbed, “I’m sorry mother.”
“For what, dear?” came the reply.
“Having to do this.” she replied as she moved sharply away, reaching around, both igniting and thrusting her lightsaber through her mother’s torso in one swift movement.
Her mother’s face froze into a look of abject horror, and Taranae wondered if her guess had been wrong. Her fears subsided almost immediately as a shriek erupted from the being in front of her, the mouth opening wider than it should have been able to and the body dissipated into mist, disappearing towards the roof.
“My mother would *never* use that term on me.” she said to the mist. “*Dear* was reserved for Vanessa!” she sneered as the mist vanished. As the air cleared, she thumbed her lightsaber off and picked up the blaster she had dropped in favour of the gamble she had played. It had worked, but she did not know what or who she had just vanquished. But was it vanquished or just sent elsewhere? She shuddered and holstered her weapons once more. Now this debacle was over, she had to find that other exit quickly.