The luxury apartment was bright despite the time of night. The Tholatin sky was alight with a shower of stars, but the young woman sitting at the desk did not even pause to admire its beauty. Her dark brown eyes were focussed intently on the manuals and datapads that littered the marble-like surface of the desk.

She had been at it for hours, studying the history of The Rogue Empire and the Imperial advances of Emperor Fearsons. The Naval reports of various planet systems were enough to make her go cross-eyed, and it was one such document that she was reading. Leaning back in the plush, leather chair she picked up the data pad in one hand and a cigarra in the other. Inhaling the tabacc smoke, she exhaled slowly as she forced herself to continue reading.

A withered hand reached from behind her, snatching the cigarra from her fingers. " The Emperor would not be pleased to learn you had taken up such a filthy habit, Arai."

Sandy blonde curls billowed out behind Arai as she spun the chair to face the woman behind her. She was older, much older than Arai’s seventeen years, and very frumpy appearing in the flowery nightgown she wore. Arai smiled sardonically and quickly plucked the slender stick from the older woman’s hand. " You’ve heard the old saying, Marta. What My Lord doesn’t know, can’t hurt me." She defiantly took another drag.

The woman’s scowl deepened, only adding to the wrinkles on her face. " For someone who will one day be the right hand of the Emperor, you certainly act like a child at times."

" I am a child," Arai chuckled. " Relax, Marta. If I have a cigarra now and again it will not crumble the Empire."

Marta gave an exasperated sigh, shaking her head at the young woman. " What are you doing up this late anyway? You have a meeting with the representative from Sarka Exports first thing in the morning. You really should be getting your rest."

Arai turned back to the desk, tossing the datapads amongst the others, and reached for another. " That meeting has been canceled."

" Canceled?" Marta grabbed the back of the chair, swinging it around to look Arai directly in the eyes. " What do you mean, canceled? We have been waiting for this meeting for months! The representative from Sarka Exports arrived this morning!"

" And I canceled it." Arai replied sternly. " For the past thirteen weeks we have jumped through hoops for Sarka Exports, flying from one place to another, hoping to import Potassite for the Empire. While they were busy playing their games, I have made inquiries and have found a much more reliable group that was willing to export their Potassite at a lower price than Sarka was demanding." The datapad she had picked up was now held out for Marta to read. " As you can see, the negotiated contract has already been sent to Emperor Fearsons for his approval. We will have our Potassite within seven standard days, once the Emperor signs the contact."

Marta quickly scanned the document, a smile slowly forming on her lips the more she read. " Well Arai, it seems you do have a good head on your shoulder. No matter out immature you may seem at times."

" I’ll take that as a compliment," Arai took the datapad back and returned it to the stack.

A soft chime echoed through the apartment, startling the two women but letting them know someone was outside the door. Both glanced at the chronometer on the wall. It was well into the night, in fact only a few hours from the Tholatin dawn. Marta placed a hand on Arai’s shoulder when the girl started to rise from her chair, then left the office.

As soon as the door to the office slid shut behind the older woman, Arai got to her feet. Her skin had begun to prickle the moment the chime sounded, a chill running up her spine.

She had felt it only once before.

Not waiting for Marta, she stepped to the door. It opened as she approached and she entered the main room. Marta was speaking in hush tones to an imposing figure. He looked much like the crimson clad Royal Guards of the old Empire, only dressed completely in black. She approached then hesitantly.

" Report, Lieutenant."

Marta and the PeFauna looked to her when she spoke, the older woman’s face filled with dread. With a nudge from the Lieutenant, Marta left the main room and into Arai’s private chambers.

" Mistress Heishi," The Lieutenant said briskly, " We must get you away from this place. It is no longer safe for you here."

She steeled herself, trying to appear unfazed, even though the prickling feeling was growing more persistent. " What’s happened?"

The guard did not get the chance to answer.

A high pitched whine filled the air outside an instant before the door exploded inward. The force of the blast shook the apartment complex and sent Arai flying across the room. She slammed into the wall and fell to the floor.

Amidst the smoke and growing flames, the prickling feeling grew into a desperate scream only Arai heard. A scream of a frightened child; a scream from the past.

A scream she herself had sounded nine years ago…

… her mother’s scream muffled her own as the explosions tore through their village on Empress Teta. The woman clutched the child in her arms as she ran through the fires and falling bodies. Another blast went off directly behind them, sending them into the blood soaked mud

It was then that she first felt the prickling of her skin, the chill running up her spine. Her mother’s dead weight fell onto her, pushing her deeper into the mud. Something - like a soft voice in her mind - told her to hold her breath, to close her eyes and hide. And that’s when she felt it…

A hand on her arm roused her from her daze.

Blinking through the smoke, Arai lifted herself onto her elbow and looked into Marta’s fright filled face. The older woman was crouched next to her, a long gray cylinder in her hand. " Are you alright," Marta asked, taking Arai under the arm and helping her to her knees.

She nodded absently, trying to look through the black smoke. " Lieutenant?" Her voice carried through the apartment, but no answer came back. "Frell!" Arai started to rise to her feet, only to fall back to her knees as a wave of dizziness washed over her. She put a hand to her head and felt the sticky warmth beneath it.

Marta took Arai’s arm and rested it over her shoulder. Carefully she assisted the young woman to her feet, supporting her weight. " We have to leave. Now!"

Arai hastily looked around as they started to move." The Lieutenant-"

" Can take care of himself." Marta steered them toward the now open doorway and the only way out of the apartment.

From off to the side of them there came a snap-hiss sound, the smoke illuminating into an eerie deep red. Marta shoved the cylinder she had been carrying into Arai’s hand an instant before a glowing blade sliced through the smoke and across the other woman’s chest.

Arai stumbled back into a piece of furniture as Marta’s body fell to the floor. The red glow was gone, but she knew that the wielder of the blade was still somewhere in the smoke. Her hand tightened around the cylinder in her hand, and she looked down at what she held.

It was a Lightsaber - her Lightsaber. Emperor Fearsons had given it to her their last meeting, insisting she spend some time getting the feel of the weapon. Unfortunately, now was the first time she had every held the thing.

There came another snap-hiss and the glow returned. Instinctively she activated her own blade and brought it up to block the attack. Red and yellow light mixed together, but the strength behind the red blade was too much for her. Her elbows started to give beneath the effort, both blades moving dangerously close to her face. She cringed at the heat from the weapons as they were now millimeters from her skin.

Desperately she lashed out with her foot, the stiletto of her boot catching her attacker in the thigh. She felt the slight resistance before the heel pieced through the flesh of the leg. A male voice cried out and the red Lightsaber jerked back suddenly. The tip of the heel broke off as he took a step back.

Through the smoke she never saw the fist sailing toward her. It backhanded her across the face, sending her sprawling to the floor once again. She was unable to keep hold of her weapon and it skittered from her hand. Her vision faltered, but cleared in time for her to see the yellow of her blade being picked up.

Her heart racing, her breath coming in ragged gasps, she watched as a dark shadow stepped through the smoke and toward her. In one hand was held her Lightsaber, in the other was the deadly red of its own blade. He stood over her, his face finally clear to her.

She didn’t recognize him.

The red Lightsaber lowered until it was only a few centimeters from her throat.

She closed her eyes…

… she could feel someone standing over her even though she could not see them. That same soft voice that had told her to "hide" came again, whispering that everything would be alright if she could just stay hidden long enough. Her pounding heart slowed, and a calmness overcame her.

As she lay there, she felt the weight of her mother’s body lifted off her and a gentle hand touched her cheek. But beneath the touch, her skin burned and it took all she had not to scream or cry. "So sad that I had to kill such a sweet angel."

A sweet angel.

His sweet angel…

Another voice bellowed, and she could hear two body’s colliding next to her. Her eyes snapped open when she was lifted off the floor.

" Lieutenant!"

" Can you stand?" The urgency was evident in his voice, and she nodded. One arm wrapped around her waist to support her all the same, and the other drew a blaster from within his robes.

She looked around the room and the smoke that was beginning to thin. " Where is he?"

" Quiet," he hissed, backing toward the door.

Arai found herself holding her breath as they moved, slowly step by step. They were almost to the door when the prickling sensation returned. It was almost as if the Lieutenant felt it as well, for he pulled her to the ground beneath him a heartbeat before the blaster fire erupted. " Get to the lift, Mistress! I will provide you with cover fire!" The PeFauna didn’t wait for an answer, rolled onto his side and started to shoot back at the attacker.

She managed to get to her hands and knees and scrambled for the door of the apartment. A blaster bolt tore through the wall beside her head as she made it through the archway and into the hall. Stopping to catch her breath she flattened herself against the wall. A moment later the solid black of the Lieutenant came running out of the room. Without a word he grabbed Arai’s wrist and hauled her to her feet.

" I said to the lift!" He pushed her in front of him as they ran down the corridor.

They had no sooner got to the car of the elevator when a thought suddenly came to Arai and she turned as if to go back to the apartment. The guard grabbed onto her as she went to run by. " You don’t understand!" Arai snarled. " I have documents in that apartment that are not meant to be seen! Things only the Emperor and his chosen are suppose to know!"

The doors opened and he unceremoniously shoved her into the car. " What I cannot retrieve, I will see destroyed. Go now, Mistress."

"Lieutenant!" The doors closed, but not before Arai saw the PeFauna hit by a blaster bolt.

The adrenaline from the attack began to fade and she could suddenly feel every ache and pain. She pressed her hand to the side of her head, taking it away to examine the blood that now saturated her palm. Slumping to the floor, she closed her eyes to the pain and to the nauseating movement of the rapidly descending elevator.

The car came to a stop a minute later and when the doors opened she forced herself to her feet. With her broken boot, she limped out of the elevator and into the elaborate lobby of the apartment complex.

" How predictable." A rough hand grabbed her by the arm

Her heart leapt into her throat as she was tossed onto one of the many sofa’s that decorated the lobby. A dark skinned man in an even darker robe stood before her, a lightsaber hanging of his belt. His eyes danced menacingly as he looked down at her. " Give the guard something to play with, leave the girl vulnerable to me."

Arai screamed when he seized her by the hair and pulled her off the sofa. Her feet touched the floor and she brought her knee viciously into his groin. She saw his eyes widen at the sudden shock and pain, and raked her fingernails down his face.

Still his grip on her hair did not falter.

With his other hand he grabbed her by the throat. Her hands grabbed onto his wrist, digging in with her nails when he started to squeeze. The pressure of his hand closed off her windpipe, cutting of her intake of air. Only then did he release his hold on her hair and leaned his face in so he was only centimeters from her own.

" You’re lucky you are wanted alive, girl. Empress Teta force users bring in a rather large fortune."

Through the thumping sound of her racing pulse in her ear, she could hear the thunderous sound of armored boots running across the hard tiled floor of the lobby. The dark man kept his hand around her throat but spun her around and held her to his chest as though she were a shield. Through clouded eyes she saw dozens of stormtroopers taking up positions only meters away. Each one had a blaster riffle aimed at the dark man behind her.

" Well, this I was not expecting," Dark man whispered in her ear. " Just how important are you my dear?"

" Let the woman go!"

Dark man chuckled and shouted back, " If you wish her dead, by all means, refuse me passage."

The lobby was silent as the standoff stretched into a minute. Her body could not take the lack of air much longer, and desperately she scanned the sea of stormtroopers. Her eyes fell onto the one she was searching for, a stormtrooper near the front of the group and just to her right with a black stripe on his shoulder. She locked her fading gaze on his helmet, on a spot where she figured his eyes would be, and prayed he was a mind reader.

She let her body go limp, her sudden increase of weight shifting her position in front of the Dark man. She heard the order to fire, the sound of multiple blasters firing at once. Then Arai was suddenly on the floor, gasping for breath. She pried the now limp hand from her throat as the tension in the air dropped significantly.

Wordlessly she was scooped up into strong arms and hurried out of the building. Noticing the tiny chip on the collar of the trooper carrying her, she allowed herself to relax at the realization that they were part of The Rogue Empire and fainted.

..... " How’s she doing?"

" She’s in shock, Emperor. The stun bolts did their job a little too well."

" She attacked my stormtroopers when they got to close, they had no choice."

" Six times?"

The Emperor’s voice chuckled. " She wouldn’t stay down. How old do you figure she is?"

" Fourteen, fifteen at the most. She won’t tell us anything, just sits there and glares at myself and the medical-droids."

" Intriguing. She fights like someone possessed. If she were properly trained…."


Arai batted away the arm of the droid, blinking in annoyance at the light it shined in her eyes. " Enough!"

" But Madame Heishi-" The Medical Droid started to protest but was silenced by a dangerous glare from its patient.

She slid from the exam table in the small Medical Bay. Her head spun briefly, forcing her to steady herself by resting against the table. The droid moved toward her, but stopped when she glared at him yet again. She hated Medical-droid. They always fussed over ever little scratch as though it were a fatal wound.

" Ah, you’re awake Madame Heishi." A soft voice spoke a second after the doors to the Bay slid open. " I was just coming to see how you were doing."

" I’m fine," she grumbled. With a sigh, she looked over her shoulder at him. She recognized his concerned face from some of the dossiers she had been reviewing. " Lt. Michroft, isn’t it?"

He nodded and bowed to her. " At your service, Madame.

" You flew with the Emperor at Halowan."

" Aye, Madame." He stepped around the table, eyeing the blood caked side of her head. " You really should let the droid look at that gash, Madame."

" I tried sir but-"

Arai silence the droid yet again with another look. " I’m fine. It’s nothing, just a scratch."

" It may be more than nothing," he moved toward her as if to take a look at the wound, but stopped himself. " May I?"

She pulled her head back, raising a delicate eyebrow at him. " I don’t remember reading anything about medical training in your file, Mr. Michroft."

He gave her a mischievous smile. " Well, no. But I have been a patient on rather numerous occasions that I think I’ve picked up a thing or two."

She sighed again. " Fine, the droid can take a look at it."

" As you say, Madame Heishi." Michroft backed off a few steps, allowing the droid to move back in.

Arai glared at the droid the entire time. It’s mechanical fingers brushed aside her blood stained hair, exposing the cut. After only a moment, the droid too stepped back. " It has already closed, and there is nothing else I can do for it. However, I believe you suffer from a mild concussion."

" So I’ll live?"

" Yes, your wounds are not-"

Arai ignored the rest of the droid’s prattle and turned to Michroft. " Now that that is taken care of, perhaps you can fill me in on what has happened, and where I am."

" You are aboard the Lady Fire, a Vibre-Class Assault Cruiser in the service of the Rogue Empire." Michroft’s voice loss all playfulness as he spoke. " We were present on Tholatin replacing crew, and refueling, when we were contacted by your PeFauna requesting transport off Tholatin. A rather strange request, he insisted that we bring the Lady Fire to your location. Upon arrival we understood the nature of the request."

She nodded. " They were Dark Jedi?"

" They, Madame?"

" They. There were two of them. One in the apartment, the other in the lobby." She fought the sudden rising fear, keeping her calm composure as she continued. " You did not apprehend the second?"

He shook his head solemnly. " No, Madame. Our first concern was to get you off of Tholatin."

" Any news from the Lieutenant? The PeFauna that was assigned to me."

" He contacted us shortly after we left Tholatin, confirming that you were on board. We arranged transport for him as well, he should be arriving at our destination a few hours after we arrive."

She nodded again, her eyes roaming to the view-port. Stars flew past in the tell-tale sign of Hyperspeed. " And what is our destination, Mr. Michroft?"

" The Celestial Corrupter, the flag ship of the Order of Shadow Jedi. They have been notified and will rendezvous with us in a few days."

The Celestial Corrupter. The Emperor was on that ship. She was scheduled to meet with the Emperor in six weeks, and in another six months she was to start her training with him as a Shadow Jedi. But would she survive another six months? Even with the PeFauna - the most skilled soldier and protector in the Rogue Empire - she had been vulnerable to the Dark Jedi’s attack. Had it not been for luck of timing by Lt. Michroft and his crew…

" You’re lucky you are wanted alive, girl. Empress Teta force users bring in a rather large fortune."

Arai absently heard the Medical-droid tell Michroft that she needed her rest, and stopped him as he started to leave. " Mr. Michroft, I will not be staying in the Medical bay for the next few days. If you would be so kind as to arrange for quarters and a change of clothing, I would be most gracious."

" Aye, Madame Heishi." He started for the door.

" Also, I will need access to the ships computer. Specifically to the History of Empress Teta."

He turned to her, a questioning look on his face - but he did not ask. " Aye, Madame Heishi. I will see it done."

With a distracted thank-you, Arai turned her attention back to the view-port. There was much she had to learn before she reached the Celestial Corrupter.

Kamon's guard corps had already gone over the blast sight. Nothing had been found except for the particles from whatever had blown up the place. He wanted to check it ou for himself. As he walked through the rest of the building, he saw decorations and other articles that suggestesd that a girl had lived there. He had his suspicions, but he wouldn't tell anyone. It was best to let this be lost from everyone's memory. He walked back out of the building, and drew on the Force. He used it to scan the sky. Merchant ships were busy coming and going. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. 'Too many ships. It is best to just let her go.' he thought. He left the area went back to the palace, and forgot that the incident had ever happened.