True North - Vol 1

Chapter 1 - Thunderstorm

★・・・・・★

Her evening began as any other; she slid her entry card into the reader and walked through the brightly lit housekeeping corridor. Coworkers with deadened faces shifted silently through the halls, making little effort to notice anything beyond their own dreary existence. Her eyes quickly scanned the screen for vacant apartments that needed attending and gathered the necessary supplies.

A hint of smoke in the air alluded to the endless war that was transpiring all around her, simply ignoring it, as it made little difference in the monotony of her life, working day after day without purpose. She let out a heavy sigh as she reached the stairs and willed herself to move forward, knowing that if she ever stopped moving she would simply collapse into an ashy heap on the ground, trampled over and forgotten like every other soul that fell during wartime.

Minutes go by; she slowly scaled the staircase, remaining numb until her body propelled her to Senator Amidala's floor by muscle memory alone. She scanned her entry card and the door quietly slid open. Inside the dimly lit apartment of warm gold and pastel tones, there was silence, only broken by the muffled sounds of the uproarious city beyond the set of panoramic windows.

She effortlessly moved through the darkened apartment, having been there at least hundreds of times before. She picked up the strewn articles of clothing that trailed into the bedroom, a set of darkened robes that smelled heavily of ash and soot, causing her eye to quirk as she made note that they did not belong to the Senator. She quickly shook the notion from her head, and hung them over a chair, not wanting to make the exhaustive mental effort to continue down that train of thought.

As she made her way into the bedroom, she noticed the light in the refresher was left on; the soft glow of light under the door illuminated the empty glasses on the Senator's nightstand, throwing sharp contrasting shadows along the wall. She carefully picked them up in her arms, balancing them awkwardly as she noticed the shadows shift and dance across the floor.

"What are you doing here?" she heard echo throughout the room.

Startled, she let out a gasp, clutching the slipping glasses tightly to her chest. Her eyes flickered up and she saw a silhouette of a shirtless man standing in the refresher's doorway. "I'm sorry Sir, I didn't realize anyone was here, Senator Amidala's log said she was in a senate meeting."

A soft "Hmm..." left his lips, the figure stepping forward into the neon lights that bled through the windows of the Senator's bedroom. She froze as a flicker of recognition flittered through her memory, realizing the man that stood before her was Master Skywalker, the Senator's longtime bodyguard.

He sauntered towards her, plucking each glass out of her arms and soundlessly set them down on the table beside her. He looked freshly showered, adorned in dark tunic pants, smelling of crisp soap, his damp and sandy colored hair framed his tanned, chiseled face.

She couldn't help staring, she had never seen a Jedi up close before, he was god-like; tight muscles coiled across his tall frame, silvery scars intricately placed along his skin of his lean torso, even his aura extruded unimaginable power.

"Enjoying the view?" he playfully smirked.

She let out an uneasy gasp, feeling the heat of embarrassment rise to her cheeks. "No! I mean..." she took a step back in defense, "I'm-m sorry Master Skywalker," she stammered, noticing his smile fade, and the corner of his eye twitch at the sound of his name. He took a sudden leap forward, and grabbed her by the throat.

"Skywalker is dead!" he seethed, feeling the anger rolling off his body in hot waves. Her eyes widened in horror as her body lifted off of the ground. "You will address me as Darth Vader!" he said in a vicious growl that ripped from his throat. Her eyes locked into his, the blue suddenly transformed into a menacing yellow, sending a rippling shiver of fear up her spine.