“Flight Captain, if we aren’t there in the next hour…” K’tana left the threat unfinished. He grunted, but ignored the Twi’lek. Her nerves were wracked and he knew it. She hated the fact that he’d seen her like this. Considering her boredom, she thought two more minutes on the ship was going to be enough to overwhelm her senses and drive her crazy. Again. There was little to no room on the cramped transport vehicle and even Liera was starting to climb the walls, only in the case of the Kowakian Monkey-Lizard, it was literal. The small creature was currently hanging upside down on a beam, nipping at her Mistress’ lekku and occasionally getting a swat or glare. K’tana’s heart was pounding out of her chest. Getting into orbit and close to atmospheric entry, the Twi’lek always became anxious. Her ability to be terrified and bored at the same time was probably a unique trait that stemmed from her former mental break. She could feel cold sweat slide down the skin on her chest and upper lip. She turned away from the bow of the ship, away from the possibility of being seen by the Flight Captain and ran her palm over her mouth then over her chest. Liera hopped down from the overhead beam, and clung to K’tana’s lekku. Then they both felt the ship drop. The Twi’lek dropped to her knees and used all the muscle she’d developed in her long lekku to wrap up and swing Liera into her arms. The violet woman gently shielded her small friend and she fell backwards into the cockpit. The front window and her upper shoulders collided and it knocked the breath from her lungs. The Twi’lek could hear the Flight Captain struggling to regain control. He gasped something in his own tongue and when K’tana gave him a brief glance, his hands were over his heart and he was muttering. K’tana sprung into action, forced herself up, Liera still in her arms, and threw them across the ship, and into the mid-deck where she grabbed a parachute and strapped it on. Turning to look at the distance to the ground they had reached, K’tana slammed open the door. They were still several hundred kilometers from crashing nose first. The Twi’lek woman reached under the little Kowakian’s chin and gave a soft scratch. Time seemed to slow as the two females shared a moment of peace among their impending doom. K’tana smiled, Liera cooed. “Hold tight sama,” purred the Twi’lek, then she flung herself out of the door into the rushing air. The air was cold and it bit K’tana’s nose and cheeks while making her eyes water. She wrapped one lekku around her eyes and the other around Lieras. She let her power guide her to a safe height before she spread her legs and came out of the dive. Using her left hand, she pulled the parachute open and their speed dropped as they shot up several feet before continuing their descent. Pulling her lekku from her eyes and letting them fly behind her, the Twi’lek leaned back, with the added weight of the small creature clinging to her chest, they slowed, but not quite enough. The Twi’lek pried the Kowakian from her chest and dropped her about three feet as she was flung forward, her feet hit the ground and she pitched forwards, rolling and then crashed into a wall of rock. When she managed to open her eyes, she was covered in a bubble of fabric and her head spun. She started to feel sick and her reaction was immediate. She hurled her last meal, with just enough force to miss her forehead, but not enough to keep from the vomit from splashing across her lekku. Noticing the way the liquid moved, she realized she was upside down. Grabbing her shiv, she sliced open the material and peeled herself from the inside of the vile nightmare she’d created. Liera was sitting several feet away, preening her wounds while facing the incoming ship. K’tana bounced into action, her head reeling and her stomachs flipping, as she bolted towards her little friend. Liera squawked as the Twi’lek fetched her from the ground and broke into a dead run. She ran in the direction of the falling ship, just coming from under its shadow before it hit the ground behind her and slid over the area where Liera had sat. K’tana kept running until she heard it crash into the rock wall where she had been sick. The violet woman skidded to a halt and pirouetted to face the wreckage. Liera panting in her arms gazed over her Mistress’s shoulder and let out a slight whine just before a blaster shot rang out next to them. “Turn around very slowly. Or the next one will shoot off a worm-tail.” “Great.” K’tana growled, she sighed and spun around quickly as she ignited her purple lightsaber. Just as the next few bolts came at her, Liera shrieked and clawed her way around the Twi’lek’s ribs and clung to her back. K’tana deflected the shots with rapid flicks of her wrist and she threw herself forward into a run at the strange man. He loosed several more blaster bolts towards her face. Two of which the Twi’lek dodged with ease, the other four took a bit more skill then she had and she barely had time to deflect two more before the last couple made contact. She felt the burning pain as one grazed the flesh of her cheek and the other caught her lekku. She felt nothing but agony as the last one went through and through her head-tail, dropping her to her knees. She let out a piercing scream and threw a bolt of electricity towards the man. He threw up a barrier that K’tana was not familiar with and the electric outburst shot up and dissipated. As she leaned her hands in the hands in the sand, and blood dripping from her lekku she could feel that she didn’t have long before she passed out. Suddenly, the man’s gun was between her brows, tilting her head back. “Sorry ‘bout this darlin’, sad to waste such a pretty piece of flesh.” he smirked down the barrel of the .48. “Any last words?” K’tana smirked and flirtatiously cocked her head to the side, just enough to gaze into the man’s brown eyes, the movement caused near paralyzing agony from her lekku, but she used the adrenaline to get her words out. “Wanna make a deal?” she asked. Then heard him laugh, a satisfying sound of triumph, just before the pain in her brain overwhelmed her and her vision went black. Barely coherent, she felt herself being dragged across the dirt and felt a heavy weight on her chest. The sensations were brief as something hard and sharp hit her wounded lekku and she passed out again. When she fully awoke, Liera was pacing in front of a small fire pit. K’tana could sense the man sitting on the opposite side of the fire and could feel something had been tightly wrapped around her lekku. She slowly sat up and her tiny friend spun around and bounded into her lap. “Shh, little suma. I’m alright.” K’tana stroked the small creatures cheek, “Are you alright? He didn’t hurt you, did he?” The Kowakian burbled and chirped her response. K’tana nodded and let her green gaze drift up towards her captor. “I’m guessing I should thank you for not killing her while I was incapacitated. Most beings would not be so... kind.” He scoffed before lighting a cigarette and smirking at her. “Well, I decided it’d be hard to get on the pretty lady’s good side if I slaughtered her pet. Besides, it kept up and let me bandage you. Gave me no grief until...well, it’s a protective little rodent ain’t it?” “She...can be.” K’tana looked down at Liera then back to the man “but, she’s not a pet. She’s my friend. Her name is Liera. You’ll get further with both of us if you remember that.” “That’s not such a bad name. Figured it’d be something more Twi’lekki. I’m Connor Grey. You got a name with that pretty face? Something...pronounceable?” K’tana giggled, in a nearly sincere voice as she nodded. “I’m Kata’lek Blen. But most simply call me K’tana. I’d say it’s been nice meeting you Mr.Grey, however,” she flickered her uninjured lekku in a flippant remark that he’d doubtfully understand “my mission will be more difficult with brain damage.” “Figured you’d have one of them names with too many syllables. And bloody hells woman! I told you to move slowly,” Connor said with a smirk, his gaze falling from her eyes. “You shot first!” the Twi’lek snapped. “Now, now darlin’,” Connor said as he stood up. “No reason to get snippy.” The violet woman lifted her chin and raised her eyebrow as he came and sat near to her. She let forced her muscles to stay relaxed as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Liera, on the other hand, stiffened and made a snapping noise with her beak. K’tana smiled inwardly at the thought as she sent a trickle of the Force through her finger against Liera temple. “Shh, let him think he’ll get his way. We can use him.” “Mistress, he’ll!...” “I know, dear one. Males commonly do. We’ll kill him while he sleeps once we’ve completed our mission.” “What if he hurts you?” K’tana had to keep the grin from her face as the human began tracing her cheek with his fingertips. “Then we’ll make him suffer before we let him die.” ----- She woke several hours before dawn. The Human kark-up looked unconscious. Visions of stabbing him to death flitted through her mind as she looked down at him. Pathetic Human. He grunted in his sleep as she pushed his arm from her lap and stood up. She gathered her clothing and dressed slowly, never taking her eyes from him. She walked out of the campsite and up a hill. In the dark, it took some time, but she looked over the area to where he’d dragged her. She could make out very little of the surroundings, but she had time to wait. Liera was somewhere to the west, doing...something. Digging? K’tana pried into her friend’s mind, just enough to be noticed. Liera immediately stopped, sat up, sniffed the air and came running to K’tana. The Monkey-Lizard had stopped inside the camp and snagged Connor’s water and brought the canteen to K’tana. Being a desert creature, her body could store water for a bit longer than other humanoids. However, she still needed as much as any other being. Since she wasn’t sure how long it would be until her next drink, she took the container and had a long draught of the contents. Her muscles tensed as the sky began to light up and she could feel eyes on her. “I thought you may need extra sleep, “ she forced a smile as she turned to face the Human, “I’d have hated to start the day with a groggy male tagging along and being grumpy.” “Ain’t you just a sweet thing?” he laughed sarcastically as he walked up to her and quickly smacked her rear. K’tana clenched her teeth into a grin as she forced herself to giggle like an infatuated girl without guile. Flipping her lekku over her shoulders, the pain mostly dissipated from her injury, was just enough to keep her focus off driving her shiv, hilt deep, into the bridge of the Human’s nose. “Wanna go find the other ladies and get this party started? I’ve got a good idea where we can find them. Just don’t get all jealous when they try to steal me away from ya,” he smirked, that typical jerk smile as he patted her butt, turned away and walked back down towards the camp. K’tana’s smile slid into her blank face as she felt the entertainment factor of using this male fade into boredom and revulsion. Maybe she could get the two Twi’leks to see her as a sister and work the female of the same race angle. Perhaps, they’d even revel in killing this scum for her. She flipped her head-tails. No, that wouldn’t do. She wanted the feel of his blood on her hands. Liera cooed and crawled up the Twi’lek’s leg, clutching her thigh as the Knight began down the hill behind Connor. They packed up the campsite and headed out. They walked for several hours towards the sisters, where he told K’tana he’d nearly encountered them. His blathering of how he escaped their notice and his prideful boasting nearly had K’tana losing her patience with the man. She began flipping her shiv around or throwing it into the dust several feet away for Liera to retrieve. The Kowakian loved the game. It kept the Monkey-Lizard from growing too bored. Occasionally, while flipping the dagger around between hands, she’d catch the blade and let it dig into the side of her palms. The pain kept her mind focused on her mission and prevented her from flipping the blade into the man’s mouth to shut him up. He noticed. “You know, as pretty as I think you are, you sure ain’t the smartest little tart, are’ya?” K’tana forced a giggle, “Oh! Well my former Mistress told me practice makes perfect!” He grabbed her again and shook his head as he walked with his hand on her. A bubble of thought that came from Liera popped into her mind. His hand severed and the two of him washing his filth off with his blood. K’tana legitimately giggled, which encouraged the male. “We’re getting close, how about a... break?” he grinned wolfishly. K’tana’s stomach flipped. “Wouldn’t three of us head-tails be more fun?” she smirked and batted her lashes. She hoped he’d take it. Otherwise, she would kill him and continue alone. She had no idea how far she’d make it alone, but it would be preferable. The wrath of Kika’lekki would be preferable to this Gamorrean-slug bait. “Huh, maybe there’s some sense in that pretty head of yours after all,” he grinned again as he pushed her into a quicker pace. -------- Connor Grey knew, from the moment he set eyes upon the alien woman, that she wasn’t to be trusted. He knew that the way she acted towards him was exactly that, an act. The second he’d lay a hand on her, her body would tense up and forcefully relax. She reminded him of a snake. One of the small, poisonous ones. Coiled up and waiting to sink her teeth into him, intent on waiting to give him a lingering death. He knew to trust his feelings, and they were telling him to get away from this lovely beast as soon as he could. However, there was a slight problem; currently they needed each other. Once he managed to get her to convince the Jedi twins that he was no threat, perhaps he could use his charm and tact to convince them into helping him get into the Sith Academy. He thought the purple schutta would be able to help him get into the Academy last night, but unlike last night there was now an emptiness in her eyes that he didn’t like, or trust. It was decided. Once she was no longer needed, he would eliminate her. ------ The walk had changed him. She realized she’d allowed something about her to slip that she shouldn’t have done. He’d grown quiet, smoked more and when she batted her eyelashes and smiled at him, he’d hardly paid attention. She felt that this was more than a simple slight. He was on to her. She smiled, in spite of herself. He was good. She’d have to change her tactics. She was in the middle of a crazy thought when he put his arm in front of her, holding her back. “They should be just down the cliff, in the crevice of the valley.” The Twi’lek took in her surroundings. They were half a days walk from the campsite, but the giant tear in the ground would take, at least, several more hours to get into. The surroundings behind them had the desert taper up to sheer rocks and golden cliffs. In front of them it dropped into a deep canyon. She couldn’t see a way down, so she looked to Connor. “How can we get down to them?” she looked at him out of the corner of her eyes. “We go the long way around.” he led her further away from the edge and they walked further south until the cliff face turned into a steep hill. “It’ll be nightfall by the time we get down there. We should set camp soon to prevent being spotted.” “No.” K’tana shook her head, her lekku swaying with the motion, “I’m sure they already know we’re coming. It won’t matter if we show up in the morning or during the night. We won’t be able to sneak up on them.” Connor eyed her suspiciously, but he nodded in agreement. He started walking towards the edge when she stopped him. “I want you to take this,” the Twi’lek stated, holding out the hilt of her lightsaber. “What?” clearly shocked he took a step back from her, “What the hell for?!” “I need them to not see me as a threat. Especially, not as a Force user.” I need you to think you’re in control, she thought to herself. “You think they’ll not notice the fact that you’re karking eyeballs sometimes glow? Or that you can throw electricity from your fingers? Have your worms-tails eaten your brain, schutta?” he laughed sarcastically at her. “I think they’ll see me as a Sensitive. Perhaps your apprentice. Maybe even as a redeemable creature they can sway to their... beliefs.” “You mean...wait!” he busted out a loud laugh, “You actually think these two will mistake you for an innocent girl who can be turned towards the Jedi? I think the heat has stewed your insides.” K’tana’s exterior remained very calm. She wondered if her eyes were glowing with the rage that was burning her insides. She tried to grasp onto the emotion, to hold onto it. She was a placid lake with frenzied gundark hiding below the glass surface. “I can be very convincing,” she said with only a slight tremor to her voice as she pressed the weapon into his hands. The feeling faded and died in her, once again leaving her feeling hollow. “I’m sure,” he replied quietly wrapping his hands around the offered lightsaber. They climbed down the rocks and then slid down sand, scrambling their way into the valley. Not a word was spoken between them as they moved; little Liera had even stopped her incessant burbling. The silence agitated the Twi’lek almost as much as the Human’s boasting had. It gave her mind too much time to itself. It left her distracted. She realized that Connor had begun trailing behind her and when she gazed back, he had a disconcerting look on his face as his fingers toyed with her lightsaber. “Tired old man?” she said, walking backwards and giving him a slight smirk. He looked up, his face unreadable and he quickened his pace slightly. Liera nipped the Twi’lek’s lekku, causing K’tana to jerk around. “Ow! Liera! No.” the Twi’lek said before seeing why her little friend had done so. Ahead of them, standing on either side of the narrowing valley, were the sisters they’d been looking for. K’tana stopped walking and Connor moved up next to her and placed his hand on her back. “Now what?” his voice resonated loudly in her head. “You’re the Master. You lead,” she replied as she lowered her head. He removed his hand and lifted his chin. “Hello ladies! We’ve been looking for you! I’m...:” he was quickly cut off. “We don’t care,” one interrupted. “We suggest you leave now,” said the other. “Not even slightly curious as to why we’re here?” he laughed, “That’s unfortunate.” The two Rutian Twi’leks ignited their blades simultaneously in a form of intimidation. “We would rather you leave-” “Lest we be forced to harm you.” K’tana stepped forward, in front of Connor, but kept her chin down and eyes lowered. “Please, Mistresses…” she said meekly, “I am injured and we have traveled a long way to find you. My Master only wishes to talk.” The women’s eyes snapped up to Connor and a menacing look came over the two women. They reacted as one and both started walking towards K’tana and the Human, lightsabers still blazing. “You will release your weapons to us-” “Then we will talk.” Connor nodded and gave up the lightsaber to one of the twins as the other took K’tana’s vibroshiv. He kept his .48 tightly concealed in the waistband of his lower back. They both shared a glance when Liera popped her head over the violet woman’s shoulder and began clicking her beak at them. After their look, they pulled K’tana a few steps away from Connor, looking at the bandage on her lekku and the bruises on her ribs and chest. Bruises she’d received from the drop ship crashing. Each new injury found, the sisters would share a look and a quick glance at the man. “I’m Rhiaen Ust’essi,” she inclined her head to the identical woman, “My sister Nalia. What’s your name, child?” It had been years since anyone had commented on her age. Even she forgot sometimes that she had only seen a scarce twenty one years and was commonly mistaken for being younger, due to her short stature and being less willowy than most Twi’leks her age. A feature more common to the youth of her species, although not unheard of in adults. So despite the twins being only five years older, they’d mistaken her being younger than she was. “My name is Kata’lek. Clan name, Blen.” she said in hardly a whisper while her head remained down. The one whose sister had spoken for her lifted K’tana’s chin and held her face until the Tyrian Twi’lek lifted her gaze. “You need not lower your eyes to us Kata’lek Blen. We have been where you are.” Nalia said with a small, sad smile. “If you are quite finished manhandling my Apprentice, I’d like to have that talk now,” Connor said, forcefully enough to be convincing. Rhiaen and Nalia shared a look of disdain before looking at the Human. Their lekku twitched out an insult, one so rude that K’tana had to stifle a giggle. Connor scowled appropriately at her and she quickly lowered her eyes again. “We’ll go to our camp.” “Last thing we need are tuk’ata interrupting our…” “...discussion.” the twins completed each others sentences in a way that had K’tana quite entertained. The Twi’lek twins lead Connor to the northernmost part of the narrows in the canyon. The Rutian women’s camp was in an alcove carved into the ledge not far from where Connor and K’tana had first stopped, overlooking the valley. The twins placed K’tana between them as they guided her to a spot by the red coals of the burned-down fire pit and sat on either side of her. Connor paced, which reminded K’tana so much of a man she once knew, and he looked worried. “So, how can we help you sama?” Nalia, smiling at K’tana. “We need to get into the Sith Academy. We’re looking for an artifact of great power that will help my Master keep me hidden from... people.” she replied, keeping her eyes towards the fire pit. And Connor in her peripheral. K’tana felt strange being spoken to so familiarly by women of her race. The only other Twi’lek she’d ever considered slightly more than a friend was her former Mistress. Inarya was also the only other being in the entire Brotherhood in which she felt not only indebted to, but a familiar kinship with. Frequently calling her sister after her Knightship was announced and K’tana no longer had need of a Master. It felt almost good to be called clan-sister again. She realized the sisters were speaking with their lekku when she looked up and caught only part of the silent conversation. “...don’t trust him.” “I know. She needs us.” “Are you sure?” They noticed her looking and Connor scowling at them, having stopped his pacing. “Don’t worry sama.” Rhiaen signed to K’tana, “Kah’lehalle.” K’tana nearly laughed at the promise of protection, but instead slightly nodded and faced down again. “For kark’s sakes, women!” Connor erupted, his patience thin. “Will you help us or not? Stop waggling your bloody tentacles around and answer the question!!” All three women looked at him, the Rutian’s glowered and K’tana held back a smirk. Rhiaen straightened her back as her sister stood, directing his attention with the back of her hand to a large map that was laid out by the large, single bedroll. “This is the majority of the information and the blueprints we have on the former Academy. From what we know, the entirety of the ruins have been...ransacked. I don’t know what you expect to find there…” “...but we’re sure that it’s been long gone for several decades, if not centuries.” K’tana let an old memory of anguish slip into the forefront of her mind and began to shake. “N-no! I-it has to still be there!” she cried, letting water slip from her eyes, “I-I was promised!” Connor glared at his “Apprentice” and shook his head. “Stop blubbering, girl.” he directed his scowl at Rhiaen. “I have it on good authority that it has not been removed. The creator of the artifact hid it very well. He was...well, he was extremely paranoid. Although that didn’t help him in the end.” Nalia cocked her head and the sisters waited for a more detailed explanation. One they had no idea was just popping into the Human’s mind as he continued to speak. “An old Master of the Academy was being hunted by Jedi. He created a Darkside infused jewel that would hide him from those who hunted him. He was, unfortunately for him, murdered by a student instead. Most knowledge of the jewel was lost, however rumors had fallen about within the Jedi order, and thus onto the ears of Sith spy’s. So if you two are trying to hide the existence of the artifact, don’t bother. We know.” The sisters shared a look of exasperation. “Neither have we heard of this artifact-” “Nor would we care if something of such limited power fell-” “...to a single Sith and his abused slave.” “Abused?” Connor erupted into laughter. “Her? Silly wormtails, I’ll show you abuse!” He lept over the fire pit, extended one hand towards the lightsaber and his other hand snatched K’tanas closest lekku, pulling her to her knees in front of him as he ignited the blade. He managed to grab her uninjured head tail and squeeze it only hard enough to keep her from pulling her head away. “WHAT IN THE NAME OF KIKA’LEKKI ARE YOU DOING?!” she screeched into his mind, causing him to wince. “It’s obvious they’re not going to help both of us into the Academy, and you and I both know that either you, or them, are going to try killing me before they tell us anything.” K’tana felt the hand around her lekku, quickly drop something into the back of her shirt as he brought the purple lightsaber blade under her lifted lekku, just as the sisters both took a step towards him. “One more step and I slice it off at the base of her skull. It’ll do you no good to save someone who’s doomed to spend her life in a hospice!” “That was a tracker. Also an explosive. A little piece of invention I’ve created. You try to removed it from your back and it goes boom. Only I can take it off.” K’tana let out a believable sob as she felt something crawl down her back and pinch through her skin. However, she was far more angry, and a bit impressed, then she was afraid. “P-please!” she cried, looking up into the faces of the stunned Jedi sisters “Don’t let him cut it off! Don’t let him cripple me!” “What do you want?” Rhiaen asked quietly. “Negotiate with us. Her life for what you will” Nalia added. “I want you to help me get inside the ruins. Once you get them to take you inside, you’ll leave a trail to get me in, I’ll come find you, and we can take that device off of you. Perhaps even return your weapon to you, but we’ll see how you do.” Connor scowled at the three Twi’leks in turn, then gave a quick smirk to the Rutians. “I want you all to die. However, I’ve watched you three and your tentacle wiggling. I know there’s some plot to kill me and steal my Apprentice. So you can have her. But I want your word, on your code, that you’ll let me leave, alive.” “You have my word, on the Jedi Code, that you may take your life and leave.” both sisters said in unison. “You have 48 hours to get inside, little darlin’, then you go boom.” he said before he lifted her by the lekku, causing her to scream in pain and fury, and threw her into the closest sister and ran off into the desert night. With K’tana’s lightsaber. She sobbed in rage as the sisters wrapped a blanket around her. Rhiaen began massaging the bruise that had started forming around the area of her lekku where Connor had squeezed as he threw her. It wasn’t as bad as pain she’d dealt with before in her life, but it still hurt. Despite that, she slid her lekku from the other womans hands and she signed out a message. “He placed a...thing. On me.” As far as she knew, there was no word in the silent Twi’lekki language that described a bomb, so she just reached up to Nalia and gently, weakly, pushed her way into the other Twi’leks mind. “boom” was all she said. Rhiaen and Nalia shared their thoughts with a look and nodded to one another as they pet K’tana like a child. Realizing that she felt very small, a thought clicked. “Liera!” she gasped as she tried to stand with the sisters pushing her down. “The Kowakian! Where is she?” Something small skittered from the furthest reach of the alcove and under the Twi’leks blanket. Sharp little claws scratched K’tana’s side. And just as she was about to grin, she bolted up and threw the blanket and “thing” off of her with a disgusted yelp. “What the kriff!?” Nalia shouted, looking at the Tyrian Twi’lek. K’tana had gone a pale shade of lavender as she shook uncontrollably. Rhiaen grabbed K’tana’s arms and pulled them to the side to look at the bleeding scratches along the younger womans ribs. The teal woman gazed towards the wiggling blanket and her jaw dropped as a baby k’lor’slug writhed out from beneath the blanket. The sudden silence of the desert was heard no more as the shout of K’tana spurred the rest of the full grown larvae into action. A clamour of sharp feet scrambling down the interior of the alcove snapped the three Twi’leks into action. Rhiaen snatched up the blueprints as Nalia grabbed K’tana’s arm and ran with her to the entrance of the canyon. As soon as the women met in the center, the sisters ignited their blue sabers and held their ground. K’tana became panicked and began searching the surrounding area for Liera, calling the Monkey-Lizards name as she did so. She felt nothing of her little friend. She felt alone, despite the doting sisters. No lightsaber, her best friend was missing, she had an explosive attached to her spine and a small army of sharp legged worm-bugs were after her blood. This mission sucked. She’d be sure to complain to some Dark Lord or something-or-other when she got back to the Brotherhood. The first wave of foot long K’lor’slug hatchlings came wriggling in unison from the indent of the valley. Their long sharp legs, clattered together through the sand, causing a most disturbing sound. Although there were several waves of the hideous creatures about to crash upon them, the little beasts made hardly any noise above the sharp claws dragging through sand and occasionally skittering upon a rock. The Twi’leks sisters stood at the ready with their lightsabers out. Nalia and Rhiaen lept out to meet the attack, their azure blades flashing and worm guts spraying into the night. The sisters cut a swath through the creatures until they stood surrounded by amputated legs and writhing slug bodies. As the second wave rushed towards the Ruitian Twi’leks, K’tana heard an unmistakable shriek from back in the alcove. She bolted past the sisters, leaping over the slugs and driving her foot into the side of face of one of the creatures as it came too close. “What are you doing?” Nalia yelled. “You’re going to get yourself killed!” came the sisters’ expected response. “I will not leave Liera!” the Tyrian screamed over her shoulder as she continued to run over and around the foot long monstrosities. As she came to the entrance of the alcove, something dropped from the sky in front of her. The flood of emotion nearly overwhelmed her. So often her insides were dead and empty. Feelings this powerful were rare. She reveled in the pain. “Don’t die here, darlin’. I still need you.” K’tana laughed at the sound of Connor’s voice emanating in her mind as she quickly dashed towards the falling object, igniting it mid fall and slaying a larger bug that was about to bite into her thigh. Her violet blade blistering the creatures flesh and sending a spray of green goo across the former camp site. She quickly looked up, but in the darkness she could not see the human male on the ledge at the top of the canyon, watching her and tracking her with the device he’d implanted. Giving a quick wave of her lightsaber, she grinned as she began her attack. Throwing herself into the thickest of the K’Lor’Slugs, the violet woman hacked off limbs and heads as the creatures. She ignored most of her Niman training, preferring to fight by instinct and her skills as a dancer to know where to place her feet, her training to avoid being bit and more instinct to know when to strike out. She had to adapt her technique in order to destroy this slew of creatures.. Against a humanoid opponent the Twi’lek was good at avoiding injury and debilitating her enemy so she could come in for the kill with her shiv. She could cause more pain, prolong her enemy’s death and feel something other than hollow Her lightsaber was too quick. Killed too cleanly. This battle, however, was different. The bugs didn’t feel that kind of pain. There were so many of them that if she stopped for a moment to see if she could drive her vibroshiv into one’s mouth and see anguish in it’s eyes, a hoard would overwhelm within seconds. She had to move faster than the footwork of her training, strike vitals and deflect less. Her blade stopped being her shield and started being her friend. Everything about this fight was different. She felt different. Every step she took was exactly right, every twist was just in time, every backslash caught just the right place to sever the lifeforce of a K’Lor’Slug. She didn’t realize it, but this was the first time she was fighting to save something other than herself. She was fighting for something that she loved. Truly, loved and cared for. She dodged another circular maw as she sent a burst of electricity from her fingertips in between the creatures teeth. The current clung to the poisonous saliva and the beast’s head cooked from the inside out. Another long shriek coming from the back of the alcove drove K’tana into overdrive. She was afraid and she was in a rage. She raced through the K’lor’slugs, her lightsaber a purple blur that raced back and forth along the ground in front of her. When she reached the back she saw a trail of bright red blood, that had been splashed with the K’Lor’Slug green. “Liera!” the Twi’lek yelled her little friends name in a panic, “Come on, where are you?” She had to turn her back as another dozen of slugs came up on her. Her blade flashed down and divided two creatures in half as the two sisters ran up behind the rest and began carving their way past them. Rhiaen and Nalia were covered in sweat, green blood and were breathing heavily. K’tana wondered if she looked like them. Outfits torn, smothered in goo, panting like animals. She shrugged her vanity off and quietly called Liera’s name once more. She found her little friend. Liera had climbed up the wall of the alcove, into a sandy spot and dug a hole in the wall. A long stream of blood ran down the wall and K’tana felt the throbbing thing in her chest skip a beat. A small whine escaped the Twi’leks lips as she ran to the wall, stood on her tip toes and pulled her limp friend out of the bloody, wet sand. Pain, unadulterated, exquisite anguish washed through her body like a cleansing storm. It had been so long since she had felt something other than physical pain and this was rapture. She could feel her heart. Could feel the pressure in her chest as it broke, as her favorite being lay dying in her arms, she clutched the agony to her soul and vowed to remember this feeling forever. Without wasting a second, she wrapped her arms around the Kowakian and sobbed. The sisters walked up to the younger female and each placed a hand on the Tyrian’s shoulder. They felt her heartbeat, her sadness, her love and her empathy with this creature. They took pity on K’tana. “Why don’t you heal her?” Rhiaen asked causing K’tana to let out a pitiful wail. “I’ve never healed anyone other than myself. I’m not sure I know how. I..”she fell into tears again and the Jedi sisters exchanged a glance. They were both thinking the same thing. The understanding of why Jedi don’t allow pets. However, this Twi’lek was not a Jedi, but she didn’t seem like a Sith. Nalia nodded to her sister in a silent understanding and the Rutian’s helped K’tana sit, the small creature barely clinging to life lay in her arms. “Don’t worry sama-” Rhiaen smiled. “We will guide you.” Nalia purred. The two sisters shut their eyes, took K’tana by the elbows and let their conjoined power flow through the other woman. K’tana felt a burst of sheer, overwhelming emotion flow through her. All the sadness, fear and love coursed through her body and she exhaled in a grunt. Never having experienced such force of raw emotion, K’tana felt as though her body were about to burst. Her eye and lungs burned. Her muscles throbbed and wasn’t sure if she was going to vomit or suffocate. She saw the Force as a light shining through her as she poured every ounce of that emotion into her dear friend. She felt all the pain Liera felt and tears streamed down the Twi’lek’s face as she gave into the rush of power. Soon the pain ended and all that was left was the beating of the four beings hearts as one. Liera squirmed and K’tana’s eyes shot open. She stared into the shining amber eyes of her beloved friend. Liera burbled and clicked her beak as she buried her face into the Twi’leks chest. The Rutian sisters let go of K’tana’s arms as she threw her arms into a protective embrace around the Kowakian. Then it was gone. All of that pure emotion vanished. K’tana was left with a ghost, a slight whisp of remembrance, and all was once again hollow. The respite was short lived as the twins reached under K’tana’s arms and hefted her to her feet. “We have to leave.” “More are coming.” the women watched as K’tana’s face dropped the smile she had and went back to the unreadable look she commonly wore. The Tyrian nodded her agreement, lifted Liera to her neck and wrapped her lekku around her. Then they ran. Their lungs were burning, their bodies ached and their exhaustion was catching up. None of them had slept that night and daybreak was upon them. K’tana felt drained and numb. The sisters were tired and although more experienced than K’tana, they too felt the cold wash of sleep draining them. For them it had been two days of no sleep and they were as spent as she was. “We have to rest soon. Liera is still not fully healed and I feel like I will collapse at any moment.” K’tana said quietly to Rhiaen as her sister kept the pace in front of the three women. “We’re close to the academy. We will stop when we’re about an hour away and each take a few hours to rest before we get there.” Nalia said over her shoulder and slowing her pace. “The beasts stopped following shortly after twilight and we should be safely enough away soon.” Rhiaen agreed. They trekked close enough to the Academy to see the pillars of the Valley of the Dark Lords rising above the hills. Instead of going through the Valley, they looked at the map and found there was a way into the ruins through a cave around the back of the ancient school. The women continued walking until they could see the entrance to the cave in a near dune ahead of them. They bunkered down with what they had, which was simply the clothes on their backs and the map, but made due. “Kata’lek. Rhiaen. You two sleep. I’ll keep watch.” Nalia suggested “Then when I wake you, the two of you can take watch as I rest.” The two women nodded and K’tana wrapped her lekku behind her head, pulled Liera close and was asleep almost as fast as her head touched the sand. Her dreams were vivid, but nonsensical, and by the time she started to get a grip on what was happening in them she was awoken by Nalia shaking her arm. “We have to leave. Something is coming.” Nalia’s voice seemed shaken. K’tana bolted up, seeing that Rhiaen was already awake and smiling at her. “We let you sleep a little longer then we planned on, but you needed it more than we did.” Rhiaen said to her, still smiling. K’tana nodded in gratitude, still feeling exhausted but better than before. Liera was still snuggled under her arms, eyes open and purring contently. The Tyrian smiled at her and lifted the Kowakian onto her back while standing up and stretching her legs. The Ruitian sisters smiled and they headed towards the cave. Getting through the cave system was easier with the map, K’tana walked behind the Rutians, giving them a smile each time they looked back and drawing arrows at each fork they came across. Connor wouldn’t get lost this way and she wouldn’t explode, a threat she’d not forgotten and still hadn’t thought a way around it. K’tana knew that she had to take this all one moment at a time. She paid no heed to the future, the Goddess would place her where she needed to be. “This is it.” Nalia said in hardly a whisper. “Well, all things considering, this was really easy.” Rhiaen stepped up next to her sister and smiled over her shoulder to K’tana. Behind them was a huge stone door. Each woman tried her best to move it, then searched for an opening switch. When they found nothing they attempted to use the Force together, but still the door didn’t budge. K’tana frowned and looked behind them. “I was expecting shyracks.” K’tana said in somewhat of a pout. “What? Why?” the sisters asked as one, causing K’tana to give a giggle. “It’s what I was taught. The old holocrons and the datapads I’d read. They all taught that all caves on Korriban had the winged creatures. Said they were easy to kill and bred like crazy.” the Tyrian explained. The sisters shared a look and shrugged. “Whatever you say kiddo. We heard they’d all been killed off and were bordering on extinct. At least on this planet.” Rhiaen shook her lekku and the two twins ignited their blades in unison. “The amount of Sith that come here every year, I’m still surprised any life continues on this planet.” Nalia agreed as she leveled her lightsaber to the door. “We should be able to cut through this door, although it may take time.” Rhiaen told K’tana as she followed her sisters movements. “Wait.” K’tana said as she moved towards the door. “Instead of cutting our own huge door, why don’t we just jam all three in this spot and work outwards until there’s a hole we can fit through. It’d take less time...right?” The sisters looked to the place at the bottom of the door where the Tyrian was pointing. Near the center of the bottom, just above where the floor met with the door. The sisters were use to cutting body sized holes in doors to get through, but K’tana’s idea made sense. With all three sabers driven as tight as possible through the spot and then slowly the women pulled their weapons apart in three different directions, causing a large enough hole for them to squeeze through. It shaved off several hours of their original plan. The twins were more narrow than K’tana and they went through first, followed by Liera and the Dark Jedi at the end. They came out to a long corridor and were immediately surrounded by Brotherhood guards. “Hand where we can see them Jedi scum!” one of the men in a stupid looking helmet yelled as the platoon of people rushed towards them, weapons drawn. “What the-!” Nalia exclaimed as she threw her hands up. “Get commander Skybender here now!” another guard yelled to someone behind them. A skinny female took off running down the hallway and disappeared behind the guards. “I am Sergeant K’tana of Battle Team Dark Forge. I belong to Arcona.” K’tana said as she stepped forward. She heard the slight exhalation of frustration come from the sisters behind her. “I need to get to Commander Colyn immediately.” “Sir, we-” “I don’t want your excuses! Bring me to him right now!” K’tana said forcefully, without raising her voice. “And don’t call me ‘Sir’. You will refer to me by Mistress or by K’tana. Nothing else.” The man faltered and cleared his throat. “Mistress, do you know who your companions are? Are you aware-” K’tana tilted her head, tossed out her hand and shot a long stream of electricity into the man’s face. He dropped to the ground with a scream. A slow, cruel smile spread across the Tyrian’s lovely face. “To whomever is next in line, these two are MY guests. You will not touch them, you will not ask me about them and you WILL bring me to the Commander. Right. Now.” she said, letting her gaze pass to each guard. Each of the Loyalists raised their fist to their hearts and began to part. “No need to bother.” a man coming down the hall. His helmet was tucked under his arm and his stern face took in the three Twi’leks with a frown. “Who exactly are you to give my men orders.” K’tana relaxed her pose. In combat this man was her superior, but she was still above the other guards. “I am a Knight of Arcona. I was sent here to help secure the Academy.” she said, lifting her chin. “My name is K’tana. You are Commander Colyn Skybender, yes?” The human’s slate colored eyes took her in and narrowed. He obviously didn’t like what he saw. Then Liera popped her head up. She burbled at the man, nipped K’tana’s lekku and then made a rude noise in his direction. K’tana giggle and nodded to the man. “What’s the situation Commander?” she said still smiling. The guards began to form behind the three Twi’lek women, several waited by the hole in the door and the rest accompanied the Commander to a room just past the hallway. Inside there was a table that had an esoteric map laid out, with blueprints to the Academy. It looked identical to the one the twins had. K’tana took a brief look and walked around the table to a wall that had a hologram image of a sickly looking, male Bpfasshi. The image flashed from him to three droids. K’tana was no tech-wiz and had no idea what type or designation they were. She hated droids, found them aggravatingly tolerant to pain. “That’s Synin Torin of the One Sith. He’s blocked off an entire wing of the Academy. I’ve lost as least a dozen good men to his traps and those karking droids. Not to mention the massively trapped corridor that leads to the wing. Those men that you saw back there are the majority of who I have left. I have guards paired up doing patrols around the secured areas, but I don’t have enough to do a full attack on the bastard.” K’tana nodded to the man and turned back to the map. “Show me where.” she inclined her head to the blueprints and looked up to the sisters. Rhiaen and Nalia were watching her like a prey animal keeps an eye on a predator. They stood close to each other, their lekku touching and K’tana knew they were conversing about their situation. Colyn pointed out the wing and the Tyrian took note that he’d marked off traps that his men had discovered. She turned from the map to the Commander and pulled him aside. K’tana could feel the azure eyes of the twins on her back. “They now know I’ve betrayed them. They’re not going to be happy with me and I’m going to need some help.” “I can order my men to-” “Absolutely not, Commander.” she silenced him with a glare. “I will deal with them when I must. You are not to touch them.” “With all due respect Ma’am, they are Jedi. They may obstruct the mission. Your mission.” “Or they will help me accomplish it.” K’tana flickered her lekku in annoyance. “I need to get in touch with Connor Grey.” “When?” the Human asked, looking at the Twi’lek sisters from the corner of his eye. “An hour ago. I am also in need of a techy-person. Someone good with machines, devices and explosives.” “Um, yes Ma’am. We have one. She’s a little difficult to work with though.” Commander Colyn tilted his head and looked K’tana in they eyes, giving her a stern look. “Why are you in need of her? She won’t go back into that hallway. She saw her...friend blown to bits by a mine and has been a mess since.” “Never mind Commander. Just get her for me and find an area the two of us can talk.” The Commander hesitated, giving K’tana an odd look. “First, Ma’am, I have to tell you...Kulika isn’t really a she.” K’tana cocked her head and smirked. “Excuse me?” she grinned. “Well, she’s...an it. Verpine. They don’t have genders Ma’am. But this one and her mate needed to be easy to identify. So we requested that one allow us to call them her and the other him. Gurlt had his pieces blown all over the halls and Kulika saw it happen. So she’s not in the best headspace. So, don’t let her, well, just don’t mention genders to her. She’s become unstable when they’re mentioned.” K’tana laughed and shooed the Commander away. He promptly stalked off to do as he was ordered and K’tana walked over to the twins. “I realize that you are bound to be somewhat upset with me, but hear me out.” K’tana dropped her gaze. “My life has been a constant struggle of brutality, cruelty and bloody death. No one has given me the kindness that you have. I never knew another way could exist. My word as an Arconan will mean little to you, so you will have my word as a lia’ry, a Clan-sister: No harm will come to you. These men will follow their Commanders orders and he follows mine. You are safe here. Whatever you came for is of no concern to me. Should you find it, you may take it and go. My Brotherhood need not know.” Without waiting for a response, K’tana headed to where she saw the Commander leave. Her heart pounding in her chest and a hollowness replacing that lingering feeling of companionship she’d felt with the Rutians. As she raised her head once again, the Human came around the corner followed by a strange looking being. Never having seen a Verpine before, K’tana had to stop herself from staring. The Field Engineer gaze up at K’tana with large black eyes and made a chirping sound in the back of it’s throat. At the sound, Liera snaked her way down the Twi’lek’s leg and over to Kulika. The Kowakian mimicked the Verpine’s chirp and burbled, as if to ask if she’d done it right. Kulika jerked her head to look down at the small creature and made a few more chirps and a buzzing sound, then walked passed Liera to K’tana. “What did you need me for Jeedai?” the Verpine asked with a rude tone to her already strange voice. K’tana gave a tolerant smirk and followed the Commander to a secluded room. He left, K’tana thanked him and she turned her back to the Verpine. “I need this removed without letting the person who stuck it to me, know that it’s off.” K’tana said lifting up the back of her shirt and showing the device to Kulika. She felt the strange fingers on her back and was pleasantly surprised. They were rough but had a soft enough touch that K’tana got goosebumps. Until the Verpine spoke again. “I will need to remove this part of your carapace.” Kulika said as a matter-of-fact. “Would you like to take the part of my spine it’s connected to as well?” K’tana snapped. “It would help. However, your species needs it to live. So I will just remove enough skin to pull the barbs out of the tendons and muscle it’s attached itself to.” “You can do this without making it explode?” K’tana said giving the Verpine a sharp look over her shoulder. Kulika clutched her thorax and burst into sound. Chirps, buzzing, clicks and grunts separated by large gasps of air. “Are you laughing at me?!” K’tana spun around to face the creature. “S-sorry!” Kulika chirped between breaths. Then collected herself. “Whoever told you that it’s a bomb lied. It’s a tracker. Not an explosive.” “That Hutt brained, frazlat!” K’tana yelled, then snickered. “Alright. Just rip it out then. “I still have to remove your outer carapace.” “It’s called skin.” K’tana sighed. What was one more scar? “Alright, but lets be quick.” The Verpine managed to do as she said and K’tana needed only minor healing to make the large gouge out of her flesh tolerable. She refused to heal herself as she felt as though she would need every ounce of her energy to take on the One Sith. “Ma’am, we captured Connor Grey. I think.” the Commander said hesitating. “What do you mean ‘I think’” K’tana frowned at him. “Ma’am, it only took three guards and he came peacefully.” said Colyn with a frown. “That’s because he needed to get in here. Bring him to me. Bring the sisters as well.” the Commander nodded and left the room. He came back with the brown eyed Human and the two nervous looking Twi’leks. “Well, hello there darlin’. Seems to me you’ve got some friends in high places.” K’tana walked over to him, placed her hand on his cheek and smiled. “You have no idea sweetheart” K’tana purred at him. She took his hand and placed it on her back where the tracker had been. “Well, jeeze girl. All ya’had to do was ask” he smirked back at her. “I need you Connor. Otherwise I’d have left you to rot in the desert.” “That’s what all the ladies say.” he laughed. K’tana caught the eye of one of Nalia as she gave a sneer of contempt for the man. “That’s nice dear, but I need you for something a lot more, shall we say, explosive.” K’tana nodded her head so they’d know to follow her. She walked back into the main room with the map of the Academy and pointed out the areas that had been crossed out. “These are where Commander Skybender’s men had found most of the traps, here and here-“ K’tana said as she pointed to the map, “are body parts from where most of them were found. We need to get passed them and take out the One Sith and the three droids guarding him.” “More like the the droids that he protects” Colyn pointed out. “We’ve encountered him once and he was pissed when we shot at his “children”, as he called them.” “Well, he sounds charming. “Rhiaen said with a smirk. “At least he’s honest.” Nalia quipped giving K’tana a quick scowl. “Don’t hold that face Nalia. “K’tana grinned “It’ll give you wrinkles. "If you wormtail heads are finished-" Connor smiled, "I think I may have a plan.” K’tana with Liera clung to her neck, Rhiaen, Nalia and Connor were escorted by the Loyalist guards to the hallway leading to the segregated wing. They immediately separated to different sections of the hall and took a long wire that Connor had rigged up to some weird device that he had placed just outside the mine field. K’tana had no idea what they were doing and Connor felt no need to waste time explaining it to her. “Take the wire, place it against the wall facing the minefield, go back to the other end.” he growled at her when she tried to get him to explain, so she gave up, not really caring in the first place. The sisters had their wires placed and were heading to the device Connor was setting up opposite to the one he’d placed by the mines. A few guards came back with a requested item, a large shield barrier created by the Verpine. He took it to the mine’s device and set it up so the curve faced them. “Ok, when I hit this switch it’s going to cause a trigger reaction. Things will go boom.” the human said making sure to use small enough words to be understood. The women nodded and backed around the corner off the corridor. “Silly shuttas.”Connor muttered as he flicked the switch. The wires crackled with electricity, and buzzed towards the device by the mines. It exploded in a ball of electricity and fire, hit the barrier shield and rushed down the hallway, setting off each mine. The Twi’leks came back around the corner and smiled at each other, momentarily forgetting they were no longer on the same side. K’tana’s smile dwindled last when she remembered the situation they were unfortunately in. “After you ladies” Connor smirked. K’tana’s lightsaber flashed and she pointed it at the man. “No, Mr.Grey.” She smiled “After you. I insist.” He pouted his way to the lead and walked past several mines, others he avoided as though they could explode at any moment. K’tana realized that they probably could. She hurried past them and waved her arm to make sure the others would do the same. “Ma’am…” the communicator Commander Colyn had given her buzzed and cut out. K’tana slicked the button “What is it Commander?” K’tana demanded as she watched Connor skirt another mine and lift his feet in a particular manner. “The Brotherhood has arrived. Ma’am. The Shadow Lord is demanding to know if the building is secure.” “Shadow-what?” “The Shadow Lord, Ma’am. Lord Marick Arconae.” Kark. It would be him. K’tana heaved a sigh. “Is he with you now, Commander?” K’tana asked, almost hesitantly. “I am.” said the Hapan males’ voice. She’d only met the Shadow Lord once in passing. This was going to be fun. “Well your High Lord hoity-toity pants” she said with a grin, knowing very well he was not going to be welcoming her success with much fervor after this disrespect. “I would have the place secured if you’d been here on time and not bothering me every twenty seconds now that you are.” “K’tana!” she heard a familiar baritone roar over the device. “You WILL respect your leaders.” “Ohai Cethgus! Long time since I’ve heard your prepubescent voice!” K’tana giggled into the comm. “Sooo, I’m almost done and would just LOVE it if you and Mr. High-and-Mighty could just rightly KARK OFF!” She side-stepped a fourth mine and reached the end of the minefield. Connor had a small smirk on his face as the fury of the Primarch flooded the speakers of the comm. “I think you pissed him off lovely.” the Human chuckled at her. K’tana smiled in return. “Cethgus?” she made sure the Iridonian could hear her, “Nah, he’s in love with me.Got a thing for Twi’leks/ This is just how he speaks to everyone. That or he’s always pissed off. A rancor frang for a face will do that to a person.” She could hear the comm go silent and could almost feel the rage coming from the device. She couldn’t have been more thrilled. The Shadow Lord had obviously retrieved the device from Cethgus as a softer voice came back through. “Are you finished?” Marick said evenly. “Not even close” she said with a smirk, “WHOOPS!” She heaved the communicator from her body and into the furthest mine causing it to explode. “Now, your worship,” she hissed, “now I am done.” The Rutian sisters shared a look of utter shock as they walked over to her. “You speak to your Lord like that?!” Nalia gasped “How are you not dead?” Rhiaen shook her head as she stared at the Tyrian. K’tana’s face went blank as a smirk played across her lips, but didn’t make it to her eyes. “I’ve been dead for a long time.” she said simply and turned back to the exit of the hall. There was only only one door and she knew what it held. “Well darlins’, you all ready for this?” Connor asked, raising an eyebrow at K’tana. “More ready for this then what comes after.” K’tana sighed as she walked up to the door and it opened. The Bpfasshi stood in the center of the room, his three droids encircling him. K’tana entered, followed by Connor, then by the twins. Liera climbed off and scampered out of the door to await the end of the battle, having been consoled by her Mistress that she’d not be abandoned, that her Mistress would be coming back. “Well, well, well, well!” Synin Torin laughed, his voice sickly and high pitched. “I never knew that my power would attract such pretty members of the Brotherhood! Are they so low on warriors that they send their whores to do their jobs for them?” “Oh hey now!” Connor said, taken aback, “I am a high class escort at worst!” K’tana was through with words, as the One Sith opened his mouth again, she dashed forward and sent a bolt of Force Shock at one of the Droids. The current raced through the machine, causing sparks to fly and Synin to screech. K’tana doesn’t hear him. She pours her all into the ghost of emotion that she has left from this day and finally the droid sputters and collapses to the ground with a loud clang. “You will pay for that you-” the twins spring into action, racing at him while zig-zagging back and forth. Connor already has his .48 out and begins firing rounds into the other droid. He knows where to shoot and soon the machine begins to whirr and twitch. It begins sending shots around the room, aiming for the third droid, a machine that stands on two legs and K’tana notices too late that it had begun preparing a weapon. “Rhiaen ! Get down!” the Tyrian screamed, only a second too late. A heavy wave of fire consumed the Rutian just before her barrier went up. Rhiaen screamed in pain for only a moment before her charred remains collapsed to the floor. Nalia sent out a shriek of rage as she ignited her saber and leapt towards the droid, hacking wildly. K’tana went for the One Sith, sending a short burst of her remaining Force at the man. He deflected it with ease and his golden eyes burned as he sent the current back at the Tyrian with much greater force. Expecting this move from him she threw up a barrier and used her lightsaber to absorb the flow. Years of attempting to use Force Shock on her superiors had taught her well. Synin ignited his violet lightsaber and attacked. K’tana barely managed to block his blade with her own as he drove into her with a flurry of strikes. She suddenly dropped to her butt and rolled backwards out of the way as he came running towards her with his blade raised high. She placed her weight on her arms and shoulders and used the momentum to kick up, hitting him in the gut with both her feet as she rolled back to standing. Taking the second she had, where he was stunned, she looked behind him. Nalia was still hacking at the broken droid and Connor was standing back, his eyes on K’tana. A smirk played over his face as he nodded in her direction, causing her to snap back to the attention on Synin. The One Sith struck at her again, but this time the Tyrian spun, causing the Bpfasshi to take one step to many and throw himself off balance. She grinned as she kicked the back of his left knee, dropping him to the ground. She flipped her lightsaber up and attempted to strike at the top of his ugly head. Her arrogance blinded her and the One Sith rolled, grabbed her leg and flipped her onto her back. His boot drove into her windpipe and his blade pointed between her eyes. “Goodbye.” he smiled as he raised the lightsaber. She choked on a laugh. She couldn’t count the amount of times her first Master had held her down like this. She smirked, threw her hand up and clenched her fingers into a fist. Her nails driving into the sensitive flesh that dangled between his legs. She squeezed as she ripped her arm back towards her body whilst using her legs to push him back away from her. She had good cause to squirm in delight as his shriek echoed through the large, circular room. Biting her lip, she stood up and pranced to wear he knelt, bleeding and wretching. She placed her boot to the back of his neck, driving his face into his own vomit. Without words or hesitation, she drove the blade into the back of his head and let it linger. His limp body caused his head to rotate and the lightsabers blade seared through the man’s face. She gave an extra stir with her blade, gazing into the puddle of charred flesh and bloody gore. “That was for Rhiaen .” she snarled. behind her Connor was applauding and Nalia was sobbing over her sister's body. “Well, sweetface, as much as I’d love to-” Connor was interrupted as the door flew open. K’tana scowled at the men entering and sat down next to the One Sith’s corpse, stabbing her finger into the ooze that remained of his face. Cethgus stormed over to her and pulled her to her feet. K’tana flinched at the contact, snapped at his hand with her teeth and wiped the area where he touched her with disdain. He scowled at her and she could see his burly frame tense. “You’re going to give yourself a hernia Cethgus. Try to relax once in a while, steroid junkie.” she spat. His cool gaze matched her own as he looked up into her glowing green eyes. She grabbed his cheek and gave it a pat. “Now, now don’t get all up in a roid-rage in front of the Billowy Cloak Lord.” Cethgus grit his teeth a glowered at the Knight. She will never learn her place. Her hand still on his cheek and his thought so loud it nearly deafened her. “I have no place.” she pushed her thought to him as her face went blank and she removed her hand from his face. Marick’s cold gaze out matched both the Twi’lek and Iridonian ten-fold. He just stood there silently. K’tana figured he was waiting to be properly addressed. The Tyrian tilted her head and looked at him. Really looked at him. Her whole being went silent. She felt a cold shard of sorrow when she looked at him, but something else gnawed at her. Something familiar. Then it hit her. Looking at him was like seeing a reflection of her soul. His exterior was blank, cold and empty. She continued to just stare, her own face vacant, waiting for...something. “Well!” Connor said loudly, “this has been awkward and uncomfortable for everyone. I’ll just be going now.” “Cethgus,” Marick said, not breaking the blank face staring contest, “take him into our custody. The Twi’lek Jedi as well.” “Yes, my Lord.” the Primarch said obediently. Loyalist guards took Connor by the arms, as the Human protested, and heaved him out into the corridor. Cethgus went to pick the Twi’lek up when K’tana felt it was her turn to speak. “Ceth.” she said, also not dropping her gaze, “if you hurt her, you’ll disappear as Jaek did.” Cethgus stopped moving. The Tyrian had never admitted to the death of her former Master. Now doing so in front of the Shadow Lord...it was very strange behaviour, even for her. He continued towards Nalia, grumbling. “I don’t take orders from you.” he grunted. “Cethgus, please do as she requests.” Marick said evenly giving only a slight inclination of his head towards his old friend. Cethgus continued grumbling, but he gently lifted Nalia to her feet and helped her out the door. Once the room was clear of all but two guards K’tana tilted her head, still not taking her eyes off Marick’s. “Are you trying to impress me or intimidate me?” his voice, like his eyes, were void of emotion. “I’m trying to figure out if I would ever want to be like you, Lord Arconae.” she managed to make the title come out like a challenge. Everyone she knew was devoted to this man. They were loyal to him. Respected him. Looked up to him. Some even feared him. None of those described how she felt. The one thought that popped into her mind was Pity. I think I pity him. She broke the eye contact and walked away. “You’ve come to a conclusion then.” he said, not turning towards her, but instead looking around the room, his eyes falling on the mangled body of the One Sith. “I would hate it.” she said with a laugh, as she lifted her chin and left the room.