The Sith Empress
by AJ Marks
Part 11
Jessica made her way down to where the hangar was noticing how everyone around her seemed to stiffen as she walked by. She noticed the pilots were nervous as she approached, as were the two guards nearby. It felt empowering to know she instilled such fear with those around her. She quickly told the pilot where she wanted to go and entered the shuttle and sat down.
The pilot had jumped a bit but quickly recovered as he followed her on board along with the others as the shuttle doors closed before taking off and heading towards the planet and the spot Jessica had pointed out.
The surface of the planet came into view as the shuttle entered the atmosphere. Jessica directed the pilot further along as she was guided by the Force to where she had to go. The shuttle landed close to some ruins.
“Wait for me here,” she said to them before exiting the shuttle and walked a short distance away.
Lifting her hands she used the Force to blast away the debris from the entrance of the old Sith tomb. It was an unknown to many but held the last piece she needed to begin her plan. With the entrance exposed she made her way down into the tomb, a place which hadn’t seen a visitor in probably some two thousand years.
The doors opened with some protest but her will was stronger. They relented even as a wind picked up blowing her hair as she continued with her task of entering the tomb. It was almost a struggle of will as the doors slowly opened for her but she persevered though it.
With the doors open she made her way inside the tomb feeling the power of the Dark Side of the Force flowing all around her as she walked around. There would be traps, which she counted on there being. She listened to the flow of the Force telling her which way to go.
She encountered a few droids but merely brushed them aside with the ease of practice and the Force as she made her way deeper into the tomb. Finally entering the main tomb she was not disappointed to see the grand room, still filled with priceless Sith artifacts.
The torches lit up illuminating the room better than her small light she carried with her. In front of her now stood the spirit of the Sith Lord, there to protect his tomb.
“You know why I’m here,” she said looking at the spirit.
“Then you know what you have to do,” the spirit replied. They both readied themselves for battle and engaged.
*****
Gaia made her way back into the library hoping today she would find something before heading back to Yavin IV later on. She had decided to look up marriage, something of an idea from Han and hoped she had some luck with her search.
Han and Leia mentioned they might be ready to go later on in the day if everything went okay, so she would have to research this morning and pack this afternoon, not that she had much. She also needed to get back up to speed over what had been going on outside of her research.
The shuttle which had the recruits Master Skywalker had gone back to greet had crashed on Yavin. There were also reports of a new threat to the Jedi under the command of someone named Tavion. She had been Desann’s student who had been defeated by Kyle Katarn.
Master Fie-Tel mentioned that Tavion sent loyal troops to areas which were known to have an affinity for the Force and drained them. Gaia managed to report back that she felt her mystery did not fit with what was going on, but had discovered something about a Jedi Master Bri Lightner. Fie-Tel mentioned giving the name to Luke but nothing else had come back yet.
Two hours of searching again yielded nothing and she wondered if the information she wanted had been destroyed, lost to history. Conceding defeat she place the last book back and started to head out when she felt something odd. She concentrated on it realizing it wasn’t the Force she was feeling. Then suddenly she gasped as the feeling took her breathe away and she got dizzy.
She was barely aware that someone else had joined her gently guiding her to a sitting position. Sitting down she no longer really saw what was going on around her, only that it seemed like she was about to lose something, something very important to her which she didn’t understand.
“No!” she unconsciously gasped, trying to figure out what was going on. A strong feeling of sorrow and loneliness overtook her senses.
“Relax little one, concentrate on it,” a voice said near her.
Unsure what else to do she tried to take the advice and focused on the feelings which were swirling around her, foremost was despair of something slipping away.
“Ask it not to leave,” the voice said.
It seemed ridiculous to her to ask for something to stay which she had no idea what it was. But with no other option she concentrated on it, asking it not to leave. A small part of her seemed to know right away how to act and she followed her instinct despite the strangeness of the situation.
A moment later she felt something respond, but it was with a rush of anger and dark energy coursing through her. Finally opening her eyes she realized she was sitting down with an older man sitting next to her keeping an eye on her. She figured he was the one who had been talking to her.
“How do you feel little one?” the man asked.
“Like a whole heard of nerfs ran over me,’ Gaia replied honestly giving him a smile. “Who are you?”
“My name is Percy,” the man replied back to her.
“You seem to know what just happened to me, and I don’t have a clue, so enlighten me,” Gaia asked confused by what had happened. She was sure it wasn’t connected with the Force but she had no idea what else it might have been. The unknown was beginning to scare her considering it seemed to happen more frequently and the energy and anger was also gaining in strength.
“I don’t know,” Percy said after a few seconds.
Gaia looked at him already knowing the truth, he knew more than he said. “I think we both know you know what’s going on here,” she said looking him in the eye.
She watched as he looked at the floor lost in thought before looking back up at her.
“I’m afraid I can’t tell you much, its too dangerous for us,” he finally said. “Telling others, especially you, could endanger a lot of special people I know.”
“I don’t wish to harm anyone,” Gaia said wondering what it was the man could tell her.
“I have an idea of what I might be able to tell you, but I need to speak with someone else first. Will you be around later on today?” he asked her.
“Till about supper time, I think we want to head back To the Jedi Academy this evening.
“Then I shall return before then to the library,” he said, standing and heading out of the room leaving her to wonder what was going on.
She went over in her mind what happened and nothing logical made any sense about it. The one thing she understood was something felt like it was slipping away, something very important to her, more important than anything else and yet, she had no idea what it might be. And this dark energy and anger, what did that have to do with anything? Was it a part of some threat to the New Republic. Did she have some sort of mental connection to someone she never saw.
That thought seemed far-fetched causing her to dismiss it. Deciding to grab some lunch she headed out to eat before returning back and going over what she might have to pack to head back to Yavin IV.
*****
Jessica dodged the first couple of attacks from the Force that the Sith spirit sent her way. She returned with her own attacks watching as the spirit easily blocked them and realized this battle would be more formidable than the others and doubled her efforts.
They attacked and counter-attacked at will with Jessica trying to find some weakness in the spirit’s attacks. She tried a few combination moves which the Sith lord easily seemed to dodge before attacking her again. She managed to roll out of the way and came up facing him again as they looked at each other.
“Not bad little girl,” the spirit said with a bit of a crackle. “But you’re not good enough,” it said to her. He watched as it seemed to gather more energy and attacked her with a speed she had yet to see.
Blue lightly bolts of pure Force energy crackled all around her sending her to the ground in pain. The spirit’s energy seemed to burn right past her defenses as if they were not there making her wonder if she was weak.
“You thought to challenge me did you?” the spirit said in a mocking tone as he ended the attack and looked pitifully down at her. “I have defeated many like you, none were worthy of the title of Sith Lord.”
It then renewed her attack on Jessica, its face twisted into one of glee as Force lightning coursed through her. She had never been on the receiving end of such power and it was beginning to overwhelm her.
She could feel herself slipping away when something strange began to happen. She seemed to hear another voice in her head cutting through the pain and agony she felt. It was asking her to say, something she had never been asked before, yet she couldn’t ignore the request either.
Latching onto the feeling, it calmed her for a second and she fought to stand up even under the relentless Force power in front of her. The fact the spirit was trying to separate her from this voice angered her more than anything else and she deflected the Force lightning away from her.
“Impressive little girl, but you haven’t won yet,” the spirit said to her gearing up for another attack. Force energy pulsed from both combatants as the ground vibrated. Jessica reached for the anger and feelings knowing it made her even more powerful and watched as the spirit seemed to realize the battle wasn’t as easy as it thought. She would not be as easy as previous challengers.
Her next attack caught it off guard as she mustered all the power she had for a counter attack as fast as possible. She gained confidence as she struck out feeling more and more power coming to her. With a final burst the spirit shrieked and burst apart defeated. She collapsed to her knees breathing hard after the battle before standing back up and looking around.
The spirit reappeared in the room and Jessica mentally prepared for another battle with it as it looked on at her.
“You are the first, welcome Sith Lord Rizon,” the spirit said to her before disappearing into a Force storm.
Standing alone in the tomb she looked around for what she wanted. There in the center of the tomb a chamber opened up revealing a small storage area. Walking over she realized it was what she was looking for and picked up the object before taking out a few other objects she had with her.
The objects hummed as they were put together. Power coursed through the room as the objects began to fuse together as a bright light shown forth from it. Jessica stood unfazed by it all watching and waiting until finally it stopped.
Jessica now understood where she had to go and what was waiting for her once they arrived at their destination. Picking up the object she placed it back and headed back to the shuttle and to the ship. She had a destiny to fulfill and she finally knew where it would start. Her empire and reign would begin now.
End part 11