The Loyalty of the Dark

Chapter 42

"Imposter!"

It was the first answer that entered Zilla's mind and therefore the first thing that left her mouth. The only answer for what was standing in front of her.

Because that had to be the reason behind the person in the doorway. The person who dared dress in Vader's armor and draw a blade on her.

The imposter made no comment, striking at her, but Zilla was too quick, her long lost lightsaber already out and blocking, holding strong and forcing them into a blade lock.

"You mock his memory," she growled, slipping out of the lock and sending a flurry of attacks his way, anger building and overcoming the surprise and pain that came from the armored man's appearance.

Not real, not real, Zilla told herself even as the imposter responded with strikes and perries to drive her back into the room and allow him more movement, something she would have expected from the real thing. Because it couldn't be real.

She had only just seen Anakin after all.

"Who are you?!" the imposter growled, vocoder sounding identical to the real Vader's as they went into another blade lock.

"You have no right for an answer," Zilla hissed in response, pulling on the Force as she slipped back and shot lightning at him. He blocked with the saber only for her to quickly follow with another round of attacks as she cut off the lightning, mindful even in her anger, of not wanting to damage her body too much—it would make vengeance rather difficult.

After all, since this was an imposter, it was more than likely that his weakness wouldn't be the same weakness Vader's had been. Lightning might be nothing more than a waste unless she used it right.

They traded blows again, this time landing in a blade lock that had Zilla nearly bent over backwards. She disregarded hiding herself to gather enough strength to hold it—he, like Vader, outdid her when it came to sheer brute strength.

This time the enemy disengaged first, using the Force to take the Shadow Empress off guard and throw her into a chest of drawers, knocking the breath from Zilla's lungs.

That wasn't why she gasped. The imposter's presence....

Force presences can be faked, the Shadows' Leader reminded herself. How someone could make such a believable fake presence was a different matter, but not one she could afford to be distracted by.

Zilla sprung to her feet, though the shock had taken the air out of her anger and left her too stunned to do anything besides defend.

This imposter was an insult of the highest order to both herself and her Master, but Zilla could already tell she was in no state to rectify it. She wasn't prepared enough, mentaly or physically, for the encounter.

Which left retreat. Of the many things Vader had taught her, knowing when to run was something she had to teach herself.

But that didn't mean he hadn't planned for such instances.

Zilla let the imposter herd her through another doorway before activating the emergency sequence on the control panel with the Force—something she was only capable of because she knew the internal mechanisms by heart and her Master had forced her to practice for such an emergency, no one else could have done it with the Force alone. A blast door slammed down, separating them. It wouldn't hold for long, but it would hold for long enough.

The girl raced across the room, opening the door that led from her chambers to Vader's before closing and locking that door as well and racing to the meditation room, dodging the meditation pod as she ran to the far wall where several hidden panels lay. Zilla's hands flew across the metal, opening up the panels and inserting codes. Each flashed with green acceptance, even as she felt the imposter growing near.

Only one last bypass and she'd be off the floor.

The words Please prepare for facial scan ran across the screen. Zilla pulled down the black scarf to leave her face bare, facing the sensors which lit up and quickly scanned her face, reading the wire patterns on her cheeks to ensure complete recognition—it was the one thing no one would ever be able to fake.

Scan accepted. Identity: Lady Eclipse.

The gears in the wall started turning and a single red button seemed to pop out from nowhere. Half a second later she could feel the imposter storming towards her. Zilla looked up to find the Sith rounding the pod.

He hesitated just as she blindly reached for where she knew the button was, deactivating her lightsaber.

The Shadow would never learn that the enemy Sith hadn't just hesitated but froze, nor would she care to know why he had hesitated, simply grateful that the codes had been implanted quickly enough and that she had already pressed the button.

Because before the Sith started towards Zilla again, the floor had dropped out from under her, stealing her away.