Manually added by Prophet Dacien Victae

Dathomir - Nightsister Enclave

The dying light of Damir reflected off the chrome of the Chelandion-class cruiser like a beacon.

“Kark, how did they find me?” Sinya’ni asked as she watched the Hutt ship descend next to a nearby settlement. The diminutive Twi’lek had been hiding out on Dathomir for over a year now and was finally starting to feel at home among the witches and nightbrothers.

“What makes you so sure they are here for you?” asked Callum, a large yellow skinned Nightbrother. The Zabrak had been Sinya’s martial arts instructor and mentor since she arrived in this coven.

“I can sense it. I can sense her.” Sinya’s old mercenary partner, Ash, was the only one to survive their last mission. She was on that ship, and she wasn’t alone. The ship was bustling with what Sinya assumed were slavers. “She must have tracked *The Pestilence* somehow.”

*The Pestilence* was a YT 2000 that served as home and headquarters for the crew of mercs that double crossed her. She never could get the smell of their burning flesh out of the walls. Ash had not been there when it happened. Sinya wondered if the Clawdite had learned the fate of her comrades and if she was here to avenge their deaths. Well, the Twi’lek wasn’t going to wait around to find out.

“It is time I moved on. Blue skin and lekku don’t exactly blend in here,” she stated. “I need to find a ship.”

“I thought you had a ship,” Callum teased. “Did you forget where you parked?”

“No! Of course not. That is not my ship. Besides...The smell is a reminder of...well, let’s just say I need a new ship. Besides, if Ash tracked it here, she’ll track it again.” The Twi’lek looked equal parts worried and annoyed. “Care to accompany me to the shipyards?”

“Nope, you are on your own little sister. I avoid the...visitors. But if you think you are ready to return to the rest of the galaxy, we will not stop you.” With that the seven foot tall horned warrior walked back into the cave.

——————————

Dathomir - Aurilia

“This here is the best ship in the yard, guaranteed to outrun the most persistent pursuer! It can be yours for merely...four hundred thousand credits.” The human looked expectantly at the undersized Twi’lek.

Sinya studied the Aka'jor-class Shuttle intently. It would certainly outclass anything she’d flown; however, the price would be a problem.

“Do you have anything for about...thirty thousand?” she inquired reluctantly.

The salesman’s face visibly fell. “Well, we have a couple options in that price range,” he said dejectedly while glancing around the yard for any other customers. “They are over there,” he continued while pointing to two old ships. One was a decent looking little ship. A small brick that could hold about three people. The other was slightly bigger but in much worse condition.

“How about that little one? Will it get me off world?” she queried.

“The YT Dart? Sure it will, not sure where you’d go from there. It will take you years to get anywhere habitable with those sublight engines,” he scoffed. “You’d be better off in that bucket of bolts.” He pointed at the larger ship. “It’s got a standard hyperdrive. And the good news is it costs less than the ionization fluid needed to power it!” he laughed.

Sinya inspected the Sheathipede-class transport. It wasn’t much to look at, but it had good bones and the price was right.

“Does it fly?” she asked skeptically. “It looks like it’s seen better days.”

“Of course it flies. It may be old and in need of a paint job, but it’s space worthy. You can have it for ten thousand. Take it or leave it.” The man was done handholding the demihuman for a sale that would not make him much commission. He was ready to take the credits and move on to bigger fish so to speak. Like the quarren that had just walked onto the lot.

“I will pay you ten thousand, and you will give it a tune up, a paint job, and top off all the fluids for free.” As she spoke, she gestured with her hand dismissively. “And it will be ready for lift off tomorrow morning at first light.”

“Ok, deal. Tony! Get this junk a tuneup and a paint job. Fill it up for an early morning departure.” The salesman grabbed the credit chit Sinya held out as he hurried off to his new customer.

—————————

Dathomir - leaving orbit

Sinya sat in the pilot’s seat programming the navicomputer. She punched in the last coordinates and locked in the route. As the familiar stars stretched into lines, she breathed a sigh of relief. “Alone at last. I have...twenty days, six hours, and thirty-four minutes before I have to pretend again...and I’m talking to myself. Not a good start Sinya’ni. But look at this ship! Finally, a ship of my own that doesn’t come with memories of betrayal and death and regrets.” She got up and walked around, taking it all in. Her hand trailed along the wall as she explored her new home. “Yes, you will do nicely, New Leaf,” she said, patting the side of the ship. “It’s time to finally leave the past behind…”

__Reflections of the Past__

The mission started like any other, just a quick in and out theft. No problem. But something was bound to go wrong eventually, and this time, her past caught her off guard.

The small Rutian Twi’lek made her way through the small settlement. The little town was a slapped together eyesore on the outer rim world of Bandomeer. It’s only purpose, to house the miners and families sent to extract the plentiful minerals the small farming world had been plagued with.

At one end of town stood the mine entrance. Its gaping maw swallowed the miners whole every morning before spitting them back out at the end of the day. At the other, a large walled structure dominated the landscape. There were no signs or placards telling people what it was, but Sinya could read between the lines, and the heavily fortified wall clearly said “FUCK OFF”.

It wasn’t the first time she ignored such a warning and it wouldn’t be the last. Her target was the maps in the overseer’s office–buried behind that wall. But first some reconnaissance. The small Twi’lek was clothed in a ratty brown cloak and was blending into the everyday bustle of workers. If anyone noticed her, a brief wave of a hand and a soft word convinced them she was where she belonged.

It was on her second day of blending in with the locals that things took a turn. She was pretending to work at a street vendor while watching the changing of the guard, when the shop owner exploded out of the stall–

“Stop right there, you street rat!!” He bellowed at a young human girl. The juvenile glanced back at the enraged Abyssin. His one eye filled with hatred.

Sinya’ni watched the exchange, willing herself not to get involved. However, it was too late. The little human had reminded her of her own past. She couldn’t just turn s blind eye.

The Rutian left the stall and slipped through the crowd of onlookers. Using the Force and her knowledge of the settlement, she moved to intercept the little thief. She didn’t have to wait long. The little street urchin ran right into her.

“Leave me alone! I didn’t do anything!” the girl yelled when the Twi’lek caught her.

“Hey, now. Slow down little one. A stunt like that could get you killed–or worse. What is your name?” Sinya’ni asked.

“Why should I tell you?” the young human inquired.

“Fine. Have it your way. We don’t have to be friends, but come, let me show you something.” Sinya’ni walked out of the alley, beckoning the youth to join her. “If you’re going to survive on your own, you need to do better.”

“First thing you need to know...it’s better to blend in than to disappear. Act like you belong. As a child, wait for an adult to walk up to your target and follow them. Close enough that the clerk thinks you’re with them but not so close as to elicit a response from the adult.”

“The most important thing is to look like you belong.” She walked up to a stall and started looking at things. Picking them up and setting them back before turning away and walking back to the shadows. “See, the vendor just saw a customer looking over his wares. What he didn’t see was my left hand subtly picking things up as well.”

Sinya’ni handed the child some stolen fruit. “Take care young one. It’s a hard life, but you can survive it.” She walked away leaving the little human to her meal. It was time to get her mission back on track.

“Inner Peace”

Galaxy in flames.
I sit here and watch it burn.
My soul feels Nothing.

The sky above Dromund Kaas was dark with the black clouds of the turbulent storm raging across the deserted valley. Sinya’ni pulled the hood of her red nightsister robes more tightly over her cyan lekku as she picked her way through the rubble of yet another failed Sith temple.

“They never learn,” she mused aloud. The Rutian may have been working under a Sith regime; however, her own beliefs stayed closer to grey. She avoided the cult-like adherence to what was called the Dark Side. To truly empower oneself, you had to let go of the foolish duality of the Force and accept it as one unified source. The darkness comes from the user. To accept that means you can no longer view yourself as a guiltless pawn of a dark agenda and take responsibility for who you are.

A flash of lightning lit up the valley, followed by a deafening thunder. The entrance to the ruins lay only a dozen meters ahead. Malevolent creatures were lurking in the shadows, and the diminutive Twi’lek could feel their eyes watching her. She paused–the archeologist should be nearby, if he was still alive. She reached out with her senses, pushing past the abhorrent creatures now tensed with anticipation, past the dark energies emanating from the mute walls...there, she felt it. The fear, the loathing. She could sense him deep in the ruined temple. She closed her eyes and thought at him *”Hang on, help coming.”*

The creatures were getting impatient. She hadn’t entered their trap yet. Drawing back from her probe and communication with the target, she shifted her focus to the creatures. Three of them were hunkered down in a small cave just to the left of the temple entrance. It was a simple thing really. A tug on a couple stones in strategic spots and the rock face over the cave collapsed. The three unknown hunters pinned beneath and behind several feet of rubble.

Moving on, Sinya’ni entered the temple. It looked much like most other Sith structures. Severe, foreboding, and completely Brobdingnagian. She carefully picked her way through the ruined halls to the waiting scholar. He was truly helpless hiding behind a downed pillar.

“Doctor Livingston, I presume? Come, let’s get out of here,” she said and offered a him a hand out from behind the rubble. “Stay close, we aren’t alone in here.”

“You think? What gave you that impression?” mocked Dr. Livingston, but he accepted the help and followed closely. They were only about halfway to the exit when an angry mutated creature attacked.

“Ahhhhhhhhh! Save me!” cried the cowardly archeologist as he started to run again. But Sinya’ni had the beast sliced in two before he had even rounded the corner.

“Get back here, you big baby!” The Twi’lek called out to him. Reluctantly he came back and they escaped the temple without another incident. Outside however–that’s a different story.

The three pinned gundarks were no longer buried and charged the two sentients exiting the temple. The scholar ran off once more. This time towards the ships.

“Fine! Run off and leave, why don’t you?” Sinya’ni called after him before fading from view. The gundarks circled a few times, trying to figure out where she went. She slowly walked all the way back to her ship. She didn’t even check to see if he made it to his ship safely. She made the liftoff as soon as possible.

“So long you ugly pile of Rocks…”

—-A Dance With Death—-

The smoke cleared and dust settled in the street exposing the bodies strewn across the ground like discarded litter.Principate soldiers walked around finishing off any Revenants still breathing. It was a massacre as the restoration soldiers had slaughtered the peaceful expansionists with little resistance. Well, that was about to change.

The small blue Twi’lek watched the aftermath of the atrocity from the shadows of an alleyway, waiting for her opportunity. She didn’t have to wait long. A trooper moved near the alley. He didn’t see what hit him as he was bleeding out on the ground. Several more troopers suffered similar fates before the commander noticed the missing soldiers.

Sinya’ni continued taking out the Principate’s oppressors one at a time until she heard a sound from behind her in the alley. The wall at the other end exploded outwards and a monstrous man stepped through the rubble behind the hidden Rutian. She spun around to face the threat and stopped–

Before her stood a seven foot tall Principate Trooper. It was hard to tell, but it may have been human at some point in its past. Now, large red crystals protruded out of his body at weird angles and he lumbered forward like a giant zombie. Sinya’ni heard a little girl scream in terror. The sound snapped her out of her stunned silence, only to realize she hadn’t been silent at all. She had been the one screaming!

The Twi’lek slowly backed away from the abomination. She had heard that the Principate had been using some crystal augmented soldier, but nothing prepared her for the grotesque creature ambling toward her.

The remaining soldiers in the street had come to investigate but quickly backed away. They were as afraid of the super soldier as the Revenants were. As Sinya’ni exited the alley, none of her enemies moved to stop her. They all backed off to give the super trooper room to work. The Twi’lek pulled out her heavy blaster and fired four shots–.

*pew, pew–pew, pew.* She soon realized why that thing’s allies gave it a wide berth. Not only was it scary as kark, but as the blaster’s crimson plasma blasts impacted the crystalline protrusions, they refracted through the prism and redirected in a random direction. Sinya’ni quickly transitioned to her lightsaber. The familiar snap hiss announced the amethyst blade as it sprang to life.

The creature continued forward unhindered. It didn’t even flinch at the attack. As it began closing the distance, Sinya’ni went on the attack lunging at the monstrosity. She vaulted over it plunging the hot energy blade into the thing’s shoulder. The satisfying smell of burning flesh gave her a glimmer of hope that was extinguished as soon as the blade touched the crystals. Before she had even landed, the saber was dead. The crystal created a feedback resonance that burned out the power supply in an instant.

Fear flooded her body as she desperately tried to reignite her lightsaber to no avail. Her thoughts turned to escape as the crystal creature backhanded her across the face. The strike sent her flying back into the ally where she landed into a rubbish pile. Stumbling back to her feet, she saw the creature resume its slow, methodical March towards her. The end seemed near as she threw her gaze around for anything that could save her. Using her years of practice and fueled by fear, Sinya’ni made a run for it. Leaping from wall to wall, she parkoured up the building and disappeared into the night.

Manually added by Master Idris Adenn

Manually added by Master Dacien Victae