The Sith Empress
by AJ Marks
Part 1
Jessica sat in the back of the transport bouncing along as it sped through hyperspace towards a location which had not been given to them. She was among some hundred or so hand-picked storm troopers for a special assignment. No one knew what the assignment was but that didn’t mean no one speculated about it. They were going to strike back against the new Republic. She silently hoped it might be true, but would wait and see.
The soldiers around were part of an elite group under the command of General Garret of the Imperial army. It only fueled rumors they were going to be striking against targets of the Republic. She also heard other rumors when it came to the General’s name, like he was a rogue general.
Jessica cared not if he was rogue or part of the Imperial Empire, all she cared about was quenching her thirst for blood and violence. Because of that desire she rose quickly in the ranks of her unit. She gained a reputation for completing her tasks quickly and efficiently. But that same nature meant few people talked to her, not that she cared. Action was the only thing she craved.
Taking a moment to stretch her legs in the cramped space but it didn’t do much to alleviate the cramped nature of the space. Her height didn’t help much either considering how crowded the cargo hold was. But they were all in the same predicament coping like she was.
The shuttle’s bumps changed slightly indicating it had entered the atmosphere of some planet. The bumps increased as they moved to wherever they were going as heads bobbed along with the bumps. Soon they might see action, or at least know what the action would be.
The shuttle touched down on the surface. She figured there were no threats there simply because they had not been briefed about a potential enemy upon leaving. So no action yet.
The doors opened allowing them all to exit in the order they boarded. She waited patiently for her turn in line and walked out looking around the area. It seemed almost barren except for a cave nearby which was heavily guarded. A large man standing nearby who reminded Jessica of a lizard stood in front and appeared to be the person in charge.
Everyone lined up waiting to see what might happen next. Part of her felt an odd presence in the air, almost as if it swirled around her, a brush of the wind yet felt like a bit more to her.
“Welcome my troopers,” the lizard looking man said to them. She looked at him as he looked out at them and noticed he thought of them as tools even as he continued. “My name is Desann, and you are my reborn troopers, my new shadow troopers. Together we will destroy the Jedi and the Empire will be reborn under me.”
Jessica had a feeling he wasn’t quite tell them the entire truth, and he would probably clarify what he was saying a bit later on. When that happened she would be ready for any action he had for her. She also knew attacking the Jedi with normal weapons usually proved the least effective for a soldier and hoped they would be provided with better weapons. She turned her attention back to Desann.
“I know many of you are thinking what can we do against the Jedi? We are not Force users,” Desann said, and he laughed a bit here before continuing on. “That is why you are here, the Valley of the Jedi. Each of you will walk through the fountain inside the cave. This will intensify your ability to use the Force. With this new connection you will have the power to destroy the Jedi once and for all.”
Jessica felt a bit strange by what she had heard. The fabled Valley of the Jedi was something she always thought had been a myth to cover a defeat of the Sith eons ago. Had someone actually found it? Even if they had how could they use it to give someone with no power to the Force the ability to use the Force. It seemed very odd to her but would wait and find out what happened next.
She watched as the people in front of her went into the cave, one at a time before exiting the cave. Each was given a lightsaber and tested. It was amazing to see normal soldier able to use the Force and act more like a Jedi. She also realized by watching some were more powerful than others. Desann separated the groups as those who appeared more powerful were led off to another group which she assumed was the elite group.
The line in front of her slowly disappeared until she was the next person. She was told to enter and walked in not sure what to expect. They told her to walk into the light in front of her. She was unsure what to expect as she walked forward, but it seemed to draw her in.
What do you want?
She turned around not seeing anyone despite her thinking she wanted to be in the middle of the action. With that thought a figure dressed in black appeared not far away.
If action is what you desire, then follow me.
“Who are you?” she asked taking a fighting stance
I am Darth Zaris your new master, when the time is right go to Ouspent. There you will find your answers.
Jessica wondered about the voice and figure, who was this person calling himself Darth Zaris and telling her he was her master. Who did he think she was? Before she could ponder the new question much more a sudden surge of power coursing through her. The power was intoxicating and wonderful yet in the midst of it all she felt the sensation of something, or someone else very important nearby.
*****
Four students faced off against several training droids in order to gain experience in lightsaber dueling, an important part of being a Jedi. Something they all went though and for this exercise it was deliberately frustrating for one master.
Of course for Jedi Master Fie-Tel it was more than just his students which were training. He heard the whispers of what was going on as well as anyone else. A new problem facing the Jedi. It seemed they could not catch a break with everything going on. They needed a bit of time to fully recover and gain numbers where they might actually help the galaxy as they once did.
Even the other students had caught on to the worries of the masters. Shaking the though from the head he looked back at his four students seeing they were all doing well, all except one of his students. He looked over to where she was standing, her green lightsaber on and in a defensive position and doing all right. But that is where it stopped, she was only defensive and seemed to refuse to attack her opponent.
He watched as she easily deflected ay blows the training droid used. However, she didn’t use the openings to attack at all. He had tried several times to get her to attack and even his patience was stretched by her refusal to do so. He would have to talk to Master Skywalker about her again.
At that moment she froze before collapsing to her knees. Something was wrong and even as he watched the training droid refused to stop. He called out but she didn’t respond.
Fie-Tel started to move but realized he would be too far away to help out in time. Fortunately another student was paying attention jumped into action. He blocked the blade saving a life but now he had a problem as well. He was facing off against two droids as the one which had been fighting him refused to stop as well.
Quickly moving into the battle Fie-Tel activated his own lightsaber and quickly dispatched the two droids much to the relief of the student. He then looked at the two students before looking at Pacy who had stepped in to help out before looking at his other student and felt relief that she had only passed out and was unharmed.
“Pacy, take her to the med lab, I’ll join you shortly,” Fie-Tel said to her before looking at the rest of the group. “The rest of you go back to your studies.”
With that he went out in search of Master Skywalker and hoped he could think of something. He passed Kyle Katarn walking out of Master Skywalker’s office and hoped nothing new had happened. Kyle seemed determined about something and Fie-Tel didn’t ask as he moved into the office.
“Master Fie-Tel, what can I do for you today?” Luke asked.
“Master Skywalker, I’m having a problem with one of my students,” Fie-Tel replied walking into the office, more like a large room inside the temple with a desk in the middle. “She collapsed during training just now.”
“Gaia, right,” Luck said not surprising Fie-Tel. It wasn’t the first time he had come to him over her. She had been giving him fits for a while now and Luke stated he was going to talk with her but recent events had stopped him.
“Yes, she collapsed during training, just fell down for now reason. If Pacy hadn’t stepped in she would have been seriously injured by the training droid,” Fie-Tel replied recalling what had happened.
“I really should talk to her then,” Luke stated. “She’s in the med lab?”
Fie-Tel nodded.
“Then I’ll meet you there, I just have to fill out some information and send it to the New Republic’s intelligence agency,” Luke said, watching as Fie-Tel walked out of the room.
There was so much to do and so much going on he almost had no idea where to start. Speaking with a student was almost easy compared to some things. He turned back to the computer and stopped, feeling a presence close by. Turning to noticed Master Yoda standing there. Something important must have happened for him to show up.
“Master Yoda,” Luke said surprised at the appearance of the great Jedi Master. While he felt apprehensive he still welcomed the visit of an old friend and mentor. It was really strange considering the last time he had seen Obi-Wan he mentioned it was getting harder to bridge the gap between the worlds.
“Great disturbance in the Force there is,” Yoda said to him.
“Yes, I’ve felt it,” Luke said wondering what it might mean.
“No, a new Sith Lord there is,” Yoda said to him. “On the path of darkness this one is, to defeat you will need more than the Force. Powerful this one is, and ancient.”
Luke was about to respond again when Yoda disappeared leaving Luke alone to try and decipher what he was told.
He wondered if Yoda was talking about the current situation with Desann, or something else. Perhaps he had awakened something even larger than them all, some ancient Sith Lord who had been sleeping. It would not be the first time such a thing had happened. The news didn’t leave him feeling any better about the situation or who to look out for. In fact, he felt even worse than before and the second part of the message. He would need something else to defeat him? What could that be?
Luke pushed it from him mind at the moment and focused instead on one of his students and wondered what Master Yoda would tell Gaia. What words of wisdom would he have for such a padawan? He knew he had to come up with something. Gaia was an unusual student with strong morals which she would not break, yet her desire to help, intelligence and even abilities were evident to everyone.
Standing he made his way to the med lab to talk with her and hopefully find a way to get her to grow even more in her abilities.
End part 1