BALANCE | A Star Wars story

XXXVII

Mazal leaves soon after, having to return to his post before they notice he's gone. I fall onto my bunk and lie there looking up at the ceiling and before long I've fallen into a, for once, dreamless sleep.

      When I wake, it's to the loud banging of fists against my door. Groggily, I push myself out of the bunk and open the door. A guard stands there impatiently,

      "We'll be arriving in 20 minutes." Is all he says before turning on his heel and walking down the corridor. I sigh and close the door before entering the refresher. I run my fingers through my hair, weaving out any knots, before tying it back in a high ponytail. I find a spare pair of clothes hidden in the room and have a quick shower before changing into the simple garments that cling to my body just right. I leave the room and head to the meeting room where my parents are waiting.

       I nod at them just as there is a telltale bump of landing. My parents and I walk back out of the meeting room, flanked by Generals and superior officers, and head down the ramp back onto Iokath.

       The force sings a dangerous yet familiar song as I walk down the same corridors I did with the Hutt so long ago. Thinking of the Hutt I feel something shift slightly in the force and I can almost feel—

        No it can't be. He escaped. He must've done. Him and that other Bounty Hunter. They had to of left. Yet I can feel his presence weakly in the force, deep in the lower levels of Iokath.

        "I can feel your troubles woyunoks," my mother says. "Hide them better."

"Yes mother," I say like an obedient slave. I try to not flinch at the same she calls me, it's the one I once hear in a dream and thought nothing of but now I have my memories I know and understand the language she speaks. Sith, obviously. Woyunoks meaning 'little one'.

         I make a silent vow to find the Hutt the second I have the chance before pulling my shields tightly around myself and casting away any remaining emotions.

        We reach a grand hall, it is lined with soldiers. The apprentices from before. I don't see the monks anywhere, they must be over on their side of the planet. I don't suppose the monks will have much to do with the upcoming fight, they're just there to spread the message of the Sith. Once all the fighting is done the Nuns and Monks will arrive and set up new Churches and force people into joining the Church of the Sith. I sigh at how messed up this all is but it just further reinforces my need to stop my parents.

Me, my parents and all the Generals that were in the meeting room walk down an aisle in between the apprentices and the guards from Korriban go to take their places at the sides of the hall. Once we're at the front of hall, we turn to face the apprentices. Soldiers, every single one of them, in a pointless war.

"In two weeks," my father begins in a big booming voice that reverberates off the walls. "We march upon the Jedi temple and destroy the Jedi once and for all. Your training is almost complete, my wife, daughter and I have arrived to oversee the final stages of your training and aid you in any way we can." He says it like he cares. He then goes on about the boring stuff about getting ready for the upcoming war, I mostly zone out my attention fixated on the faint force presence below me.

My father finishes his speech and we walk back out the room, I catch Mazal's eye as we exit the hall and he gives the smallest of smiles. Once we have exited the room my father turns to me.

"General Zrohti will escort you to your quarters, we will meet back here in the morning," that all he says before stalking off, my mother following after him. I turn to the General and smile slightly, he huffs but marches in the opposite direction to my parents and I'm left with no choice but to follow him.

○ ○ ○

The second I feel the General's presence round a corner I quietly slip out of the room and hurry down the labyrinth of corridors and hallways. I fix my focus onto the Hutt's presence in the force, it's very dim and I don't like that one bit. I make my way down several flights of stairs until I reach the very bottom of the staircase.

At the bottom is a small circular room with a large door opposite the staircase, two Sith guards wait outside. I approach them, trying to control my breathing so they can't tell I've been running.

"Excuse me Miss only authorised personnel are allowed down here," one of them says sticking his hand up in a foolish gesture for me to stop. I don't have time to mess about, I wave my hand and preform a simple mind trick.

"You will let me through and then promptly forget this ever happened."

"We will let you through and then promptly forget this ever happened." They repeat back to me before the one on the left unlocks the door and pushes it open for me. I make my way through the door into the darkness of the Iokath dungeons.