The War

Sisters

The heels of her boots echoed in the halls as Iira Sinya walked through the grand palace of Mandalore. She passed by a few Mandalorians clad in their red armor, each one with different markings, none of them lingered on the sight of her for too long. Finally, she came across a set of double doors and pushed them open. Luckily for her, the throne room was completely empty, no politicians or criminals to delay her. There, sitting on the throne as she knew he would be, was Mandalore's Lord, Maul. He had seemed sad for a moment there, but as she approached, any hint of grief or remorse diminished, and he watched her approach with a contemplative mask.

"What is it, Sinya?" he asked, he didn't quite seem annoyed, but he was definitely not expecting her.

"I have some things I have to do," she said, clasping her hands behind her back, "Vengeance against the many who have wronged me. Thanks to your training, I can finally go after them, destroy them and make them pay for what they did,"

"I will not keep you here, then," Maul said, as she expected, he knew what it was like to crave vengeance as much as she did. He paused, and then stood and strode towards the windows, she joined his side, "Recently, a small band of mercenaries have joined my Shadow Collective calling themselves Crimson Dawn. As repayment for your support in my conquest of Mandalore and your assistance in delivering me from my imprisonment, I give control of this Crimson Dawn to you. Do with it what you wish,"

Her heart thundered through her chest.

She once had the opportunity to take Mandalore for herself and she refused, telling herself that she would not be given power, it would not be handed down to her unless she earned it. Now, she had been slaving for nearly a month in training and learning all she could from Maul, and now, she had been given power yet again. And yet something about this seemed different. He said it was a small band of mercenaries, it seemed pathetic, and yet she knew there was a hidden message behind his words. This Crimson Dawn had potential, and through her, she could make it grow, she could build it from the ground up, create one of the strongest Crime Syndicates in the galaxy.

She gave a slight smile, and a small bow of her head, "Thank you,"

Then she turned and returned to her room, pride and excitement coursing through her, her heels ringing against the smooth floors.

As she returned to her room, she began packing her few belongings, a sith holocron that she had received, her old clothes, a few books she'd collected over the ways of the force and over Mandalore, and a pile of credits. She closed the bag, and the light caught on the gold of her ring and she froze.

Alsha... It had been two months since she last saw her wife or her son. She still couldn't bring herself to go home. She was only supposed to be gone for a day or two, and now all of this had happened instead. She wondered if she was still looking for her, then shook the thought from her mind. Of course she would be. She thought of Jaelyn and her padawan Juno, did they still plan to kill her when they found her. She knew she could win if faced with a fight against her sister, but did she want to win? Would she ever be able to kill her?

Her lip rose into a snarl, of course she would be able to. Jaelyn was a fool, a helpless liar, she wouldn't hesitate to kill her. But would Alsha join her attempt to kill her? Would Juno? Iira would never be able to bring herself to kill her wife, she still felt some love for her, she still sought to protect her. Juno was an innocent kid who had only ever tried to do the right thing, Iira could do it, but it would pain her to.

Then, staring down at the ring upon her finger, she remembered the sight of her wife over two years before, beaten and bruised, malnourished, frantically reaching out for her even after months of enslavement. She clenched her hand into a fist as she remembered the hellish night that ensued. Kaldana would be first to fall beneath her.