The War

Prologue

There was a knock at the door one day. It was in the middle of the day, Iira and Jaelyn Sinya, two sisters barely older than 5 years old, had been playing. They were twins, both Twi'lek. Jaelyn had a softer complexion, her white skin seeming to glow in a sort of sterile manner, but with a fierce glint in her golden eyes. Iira, on the other hand, was always falling over things and getting into trouble, her blue skin was always covered in dirt, but there was always a playful manner to her hazel eyes.

Their mother had gone to greet the visitors, leaving the twins in the living room muttering to each other.

"Who is it?" Jaelyn said, her voice sharp.

"I don't know," Iira responded, curious, trying to peek down the hallway "I can't see,"

"Move over," Jaelyn complained, trying to take her place just as their mother let the strangers inside. As the three adults walked into the living room, Jaelyn and Iira stepped aside and pretended they weren't trying to eavesdrop.

Their mother was joined by two women in lightly colored robes. Both of them had some kind of silver handle by their waist. The first one was obviously a Togruta with red and white skin and a kind face, the other was a Tholothian.

"Thank you again for inviting us into your home," the Tholothian said kindly to the girls' mother.

"You're very welcome, I wouldn't dream of turning down a Jedi,"

The Togruta was watching Iira and Jaelyn, as her associate talked, before finally getting down on her knees and joining the two.

"My name is Shaak Ti," she said warmly to the twins, "I'm a Jedi, do you know who the Jedi are?"

"It means you're a warrior!" Iira said with childish awe,

Shaak Ti smiled slightly, "I prefer to think the opposite. The Jedi are peaceful, we wish only to avoid conflict, but we will fight in case of conflict,"

Iira nodded.

"Which one of you is Jaelyn?"

The twins looked at each other, shocked, before Jaelyn spoke up.

"I am, miss,"

Shaak Ti gave that warm smile again, "We have learned that you have the Force, we'd like to train you how to use your powers,"

Jaelyn's face lit up, "Really?! When?! How is it gonna happen?"

"We'll bring you to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant today if all goes according to plan," Shaak Ti said, "Sadly that'll mean—"

Jaelyn finally understood, "I'd have to leave my family behind,"

Shaak Ti nodded sadly. Behind her, the Tholothian murmured something to Jaelyn's mother.

"But— but I still get to visit them, right? From time to time?"

Shaak Ti looked down, "We'd have to see,"

While Jaelyn was thinking hard on it, Iira spoke up again.

"What about me? I don't have any special powers?" she glanced over at Jaelyn, "We're sisters, shouldn't I have the force too?"

"Not as far as we know,"

Iira frowned, just as Jaelyn finally spoke up.

"I want to go with you," she said, surprisingly determined, "I want to be Jedi too,"

"Are you sure?"

Jaelyn nodded.

Shaak Ti got to her feet and turned to Jaelyn's mother. She had tears in her eyes but nodded.

The Tholothian spoke up, "Pack your things, we'll wait for you outside," and then the Jedi left the living room. Jaelyn and her mother embraced each other in a hug.

"It's alright honey," her mother said, pulling back "I'm so happy to have a Jedi in the family,"

"But what about me?"

Jaelyn turned around to her sister, Iira, sadly hugging herself.

"You're leaving me behind,"

Jaelyn hugged her sister, "I'll come back. I swear I'll come back and visit,"

"You better come back,"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Just come back,"

"Okay, I promise," she said, "I wouldn't miss it for the world,"

"Jaelyn, you should probably go pack up your things," their mother said, "You wouldn't want to keep them waiting,"

Jaelyn nodded and quickly ran off to her room, dragging a suitcase out from under her bed and throwing clothes and toys in, closed it, and ran back out to the hallway where Iira and her mother were waiting. She hugged the two of them.

"Goodbye, I guess," she said breaking away from Iira,

"I love you," her mother said as Jaelyn hurried for the door. Iira just waved.

And just like that, the door had closed again and Jaelyn was gone, leaving her twin and her mother behind in the hallway. So much had changed in so little time. Only ten minutes or so ago, Iira and Jaelyn had been playing together.

—

A week later Iira woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of the door creaking open, and then muffled cursing. Iira slid out of bed and listened by the door. It sounded like there were two men, trying to sneak into their house, but only ended up making as much noise as possible.

"What are you doing? Put that back, we're only here for the Twi'leks," one of the men said, trying — and failing — to whisper.

"What's it gonna matter whether they lose something or not?" the other man said.

Another door opened, probably her mother's door.

"Get out of here," her mother said fiercely,

"Or what? You're gonna shoot us?" the first man responded,

There was a sound of a blaster as the man cursed, but then there was another shot and Iira heard her mother cry out in pain. Iira gasped.

She couldn't hear what either of the men said next, but then heard footsteps.

"No! No! Please! Leave her alone!"

She heard another shot as the first guy said "That'll shut you up,"

The footsteps sounded closer now, and her door handle started to turn. Iira gasped again, terrified, and moved away from the door to the corner of the room.

The door opened and a Weequay walked in, his eyes scanning the room before landing on her.

"Hey you," he said smoothly, she recognized his voice as the second man, "You're coming with us,"

Tears started to roll down her cheeks, "Pl- please, just go away,"

He didn't go away, instead moving closer and closer, his feet hitting the ground hard. Then he grabbed her arm, his grip tight and painful, dragging her to her feet.

"No!" she cried, "No! Let me go!"

She was dragged out of her bedroom and into the hallway. The Weequay's friend was a Devarian, looking particularly nasty, he was holding a blaster. In the hallway was her mother, but something was wrong. She was completely limp, like she was sleeping, and she looked pale. A blaster had fallen out of her hand. Her eyes were still open.

The Weequay dragged her over her mother's body and out of the door, taking her into his spaceship, and finally into a cage, locking her in.

"Let me go!" she yelled, the Weequay and Devarian getting into the cockpit and starting the ship. She was definitely crying now, terrified, she'd never been so alone before and had never been so scared. She had been ripped away from her home and from her mother. Why was this all happening?

She sat huddled in the corner of the cage, her lekku sliding through the bars, as the ship left the planet of Ryloth and took her far, far away from her home.