Felucia
- - -
No sapient in their right mind would ever choose to live on Felucia. It was a harsh, hostile jungle world, ruled by creatures that fed from the Force itself. What colonies had been established were few and far between, heavily guarded and walled.
In all honesty, Bariss had no idea of where to start. The bounty hunter report Ventress had given her wasn't too specific-Just a set of grid coordinates where someone with a lightsaber had been seen.
She was sure showing up in an Imperial corvette would spook them. And a Lambda shuttle to boot, that Mynar piloted with his expert skill over the gigantic flowers and trees of the steaming jungle world.
Or maybe it would let them see her coming...
Bariss closed her eyes. She reached out through the Force, as far as she could.
The world was teeming with life, so rich and strong... And yet...
There was a source of darkness here. Something strong, and unnatural.
Nearby was something just as strong, unnatural... But bright.
Bariss opened her eyes. She looked at the navigational computer screen. She pointed to a location beacon.
"There," she said, "land there."
"Are you sure, Mother?" Mynar asked. Bariss nodded.
"Absolutely," she stated, "go."
Mynar punched it, and out of the colorful jungle top rose a tethered mining platform. It floated above the jungle, covered in rust and grime visible even from here.
Mynar made a face, but slowly came in for a landing on one of the landing platforms. The wings folded up the landing gear lowered, and the lumbering shuttle settled down. The landing ramp lowered, and Bariss and Mynar walked out slowly.
Discarded bins of rusty supplies dotted the area around the landing platform. A few structures, providing shelter, towered over them like the rotting remains of a great beast. Bariss frowned deeply, scanning about.
"It still has power, despite however long it's been online," Mynar commented, "I don't like this."
"Neither do I," Bariss murmured. The Force
flashed through her mind, and she held up her hand. A rocket flew at her from one of the abandoned buildings. She reached out with the Force, and the rocket hung in midair, its thruster burning loud and hard against the energy holding it back. Bariss grit her teeth as Mynar ignited his lightsaber.
"Mother!" He shouted.
Four more rockets burst from another building. Mynar switched to his blaster, and fired-He hit one, and it exploded with a deafening bang! The blast caught the other rockets, but the follow up blaster bolts forced him to rely on his saber.
"Nngh...!" Bariss threw both hands forward, and twisted the rocket around. It flew right back at its sender, exploding on impact and sending several troops flying. Bariss' eyes widened as she recognized the armor they wore.
"SCAR Troopers!" Bariss cried, pulling out her own lightsaber to deflect blaster bolts, "make for the shuttle-!"
Another flash in the Force, and Bariss yanked her son down. The shuttle exploded, the force of the blast knocking Bariss and Mynar into the center of the floating mining platform. They were on their feet in an instant, back to back, blue lightsabers humming loudly.
Out of the shadows, a man in scarred Stormtrooper armor with a bandolier and a heavy repeating blaster walked out. Alongside him walked... A Zabrak woman, with black hair and burning red lightsaber tonfas. Her short black hair waved slightly in the breeze, as she approached with a smirk.
There were dozens of troopers all around them. That they were acting this openly didn't bode well for what they thought of Bariss and Mynar's chances against them.
A distant memory tugged at Bariss's mind... Someone...
"My name is Maris Brood," the Zabrak woman introduced herself, "Bariss Offee. I remember the day you bombed the Temple... My best friend died that day."
Shame and guilt ate at Bariss, even as she tried to retain her composure.
"You were a Padawan?" Bariss whispered, horrified. Maris nodded.
"I tried... I tried to stay on the lightside," she admitted, "but my old master... She's gone now. Can't help me." Pain filled her features briefly, before she grinned back at them. She fixed her glowing yellow eyes on Bariss.
"My new master saved her. Can't let her out yet, but when she's ready... We'll save the galaxy from itself," Maris went on. She held up her sabers, but the trooper rested a hand on her shoulder.
"Brood. Remember," the trooper stated. Maris scoffed.
"I don't have to do everything-!"
The trooper just stared intensely at Maris. Maris scowled, then turned back to Bariss.
"You and your handsome son should join the winning side," she said, her grin slowly returning as she looked Mynar up and down.
"And whose side would that be? A Sith's?" Bariss asked calmly, "don't be ridiculous."
"You fell to the Darkside before," Maris chuckled, "it wouldn't take much to fall again... Maybe then you'd understand..."
"You'll have to kill us!" Mynar growled. Maris licked her lips.
"Mmm... Handsome
and stupid? Just my type," she hissed.
"Brood," the trooper stated coldly. Maris sighed.
"Fine," she huffed, "I've got the kid though."
Maris raced forward, swinging her lightsaber tonfas right for Mynar's head. Mynar parried the two strikes, but a loud sonic wail screamed and he fell back, trying to cover his ears. Bariss winced, but focused on using the Force to block out the noise.
The trooper charged her, wielding an electro baton. Bariss swung to slice it in half... But the electro field repelled her strikes. They came hard and fast, as the trooper swung the weapon around with expert finesse and brutal strength.
Bariss slammed her hand down into the floor, unleashing a Force Wave in all directions-But the trooper, anticipating this, leaped over and threw flashbangs. Bariss closed her eyes, focusing entirely on the Force, as she deflected the trooper's next brutal strikes.
Mynar was still fighting against Maris, but the former Padawan clearly had more experience-She was toying with Mynar, letting him think he had control over the fight, before she resumed dictating the pace easily. She knocked his feet right out from under him, and tried to slice his lightsaber in half!
Mynar reached out with the Force, and threw a flurry of metal shards and shrapnel into Maris' face. The Zabrak screamed, and unleashed a Force blast right back. He was sent flying back into a hard bulkhead.
"Mynar!" Bariss shouted. The trooper swung his electro mace hard, and launched an electrowhip at her. Bariss tried to catch it with the Force, but it wrapped around her wrist. Electricity screamed through her, ripping a shriek of pain from her mouth.
"AAAAHHHHH!"
She blocked the next strike by the trooper, but she was slammed into the deck. She rolled away, back onto her feet, facing Maris and the trooper.
Maris grinned, holding up Mynar by his collar.
"It's really for the best," Maris said, almost consolingly, "he'll never make it under your tutelage... But under my master's...?"
"Mother! Don't!" Mynar shouted, "Keep fighting!"
Bariss sucked in a breath. The trooper shook his head.
"You should never have had a son, if you couldn't sacrifice him when it was necessary," the trooper intoned.
A presence in the Force erupted behind her. Several troopers screamed and fell out of the nearby building behind her, their limbs in pieces. Maris and the trooper looked up, shocked.
"What in the hell-?!" Maris tried, as the second level soon erupted with screaming Stormtroopers and droids.
The lone doorway to the building slowly opened. A figure stepped out, wearing metallic heels that clanked against the metal deck.
Whoever it was wore a deep blue cloak over her face and body, but Bariss could sense her... Her presence in the Force was strong... And bright.
"It's been a while since I've had visitors," the woman spoke, "certainly not here."
"Who the hell are you?" The trooper demanded, as Maris growled. She held her burning lightsaber against Mynar's throat.
The woman tilted her head slightly.
"I came to the Temple with just one word on it... And that's what they called me," she said. She lowered her hood, revealing a woman only a little younger than Bariss, with deep black hair and dark blue eyes. A scar decorated the underside of her chin. She took a careful stance, and ignited her yellow lightsaber.
"Call me Eff," she introduced herself, "and holding hostages isn't the Jedi way... Wouldn't you agree, Lady Pelaeon?"
Bariss smiled, and settled into her own combat stance.
"I agree, Master Eff," she said. She charged!
Bariss fell upon the trooper, casting debris into his face with the Force. He deflected some of it with his electro baton, but Bariss was getting strikes in now. He tried the sonic blaster again, but Bariss lashed out with the Force and crushed it.
Maris laughed as Eff pointed her lightsaber right at her.
"You really think you can move faster than me? At that distance?" Maris laughed mockingly.
Eff's eyes narrowed. Her heels unlocked.
"My master trained me in his technique," Eff explained, "simple... But effective."
"And what's tha-?!"
Eff
moved. Maris barely dodged out of the way as the yellow lightsaber blade passed scant centimeters from her stomach. Mynar got back on his feet, reigniting his lightsaber, as Eff stood next to him.
"The battle is over," Eff stated.
"What the kriff do you-?!" Maris gaped-Her lightsaber tonfa had been
cut in half. "Wha-How-?!"
Mynar used the Force, and blasted Maris Brood back into the nearby building. She fell down, limp and unconscious. He panted hard, trying to stay on his feet. Eff rested a hand on his shoulder.
"Take it easy," she said gently.
"Can't," Mynar grunted, as his mother continued to fight the trooper. He clicked his communicator, "Rally Gren, now!"
TIE Fighters soon screamed overhead, one blasting the nearby building to pieces. The trooper looked up at that, at Eff, Mynar, and Bariss as she threw a rusty droid at him.
He ducked down, ran for Maris, scooped her up, and sprinted for the edge of the platform. He jumped off, and ignited a jetpack he used to fly down into the jungle. His surviving fellows followed, soon leaving the platform deserted as TIE fighters circled overhead.
Eff raised her lightsaber, but Bariss shook her head.
"They won't attack you, I promise," Bariss said.
"The Empire has been hunting me a long time," Eff stated.
"I know," Bariss sighed, "but... I'm trying to create a new Jedi Order. One that will make the Empire... into what it was supposed to be! Not the monstrous abomination Palpatine made it into!"
"I've heard," Eff said warily, "but... Your past is a bit worrisome."
Bariss bowed her head.
"I know," she said softly, "I won't pretend otherwise... But if I can come back from the darkness..." She looked up, determined, "then so can the Empire. We can't end this war by choosing sides. We can only do it... By making both sides able to come together. In peace!"
Eff stared back at Bariss for a long, silent moment. She then sighed.
"And you want... Me to help?" She asked.
"Please," Mynar said, "the only alternative is that Darksiders will take over the Empire... And the war will never end, that way!"
Eff sighed softly. She then nodded.
"I'll go along... On the condition," she held up her hand, "that I can leave at any time."
Bariss nodded slowly.
"Agreed," she said. Eff nodded back. She smiled and offered an arm to Mynar, who gladly took it.
"Now then... Let's get back to your ship. I think we have a lot to talk about...
- - -
I know Eff is spelled "F" in the Star Wars Visions short "The Village Bride", but that doesn't really work in the Aurabesh alphabet. So she's "Eff".
Her master's, and now her, signature skill is the lightning dash strike. One fast strike, guided by the Force, virtually unstoppable.
And yeah, I know you were expecting Shaak Ti... But I've got other plans for her.
The trooper will be gone into more in a later chapter, but Superspleen is the one who created him.