Aubrie sat cross-legged on the crate, her breathing steady as she delved deeper into meditation. The station's vast hangar faded from her awareness, the distant clangs of tools and voices blending into a distant hum. She focused inward, letting the Force flow through her, easing the knot of worry over Jaden.
*BOOM*
A sudden explosion rocked the station, the blast wave shuddering through the deck and jolting Aubrie from her trance. Alarms wailed, red lights flashing across the bay. She hopped off the crate, her heart pounding, and scanned the bay watching as everyone scrambled and pancied. "Foreman!" she shouted, rushing toward the Twi'lek overseer who barked orders at his team. "What's wrong? What was that?"
The foreman didn't spare her a glance, he slapped his comm unit. "Dock Master, come in! Harlan, report status we have explosions in multiple sectors!" Static crackled back, no response. He cursed in Ryl and dashed to a nearby terminal. "Trying again, control this is Bay 47. Please report!"
Aubrie followed, but the foreman waved her off, his focus locked on the screen. Panic spread like wildfire among the engineers. "What were those blasts?" one shouted, a human with oil-smeared cheeks. "Core overload? Sabotage?" Another, a Rodian, gestured wildly. "I felt the whole ring shake, if the harvesters are hit, we're cooked!" Murmurs turned to shouts, speculation fueling fear as more alarms joined the chorus.
Aubrie frowned, a chill creeping up her spine unrelated to the situation. She reached out with the Force, sensing a dark presence... almost... malevolent, like a shadow coiling through the station's life force. It made her shiver, her skin prickling as if icy fingers traced her back. This wasn't an accident; something sinister lurked behind the explosions. She pushed through the growing crowd toward the Vengeance, droids scattering from the ramp as she shoved past them.
She boarded and sprinted to the cockpit, sliding into the pilot's seat. Her fingers stabbed at the comm panel. "Scout, Zule, Fay, Vaylin, anyone copy? We have explosions, get back to the ship now!" Static hissed back, the signal jammed, no response. "Kriff." She flipped switches, initiating startup sequence; the engines whined but sputtered out, consoles flickering before going dark. She tried again, slamming the ignition. Nothing. "Come on!"
"SD8!" she called, her voice echoing down the corridor.
The tall droid entered the cockpit, its frame filling the doorway. "Yes, Mistress Aubrie?"
"Diagnose the ship, I'm having trouble starting the engines," Aubrie instructed, jabbing the controls once more. The startup failed again, lights dimming.
SD8 extended a probe, plugging into the console. Data streamed across its interface. "All systems are functional."
"Then why won't it start?" she pressed, frustration sharpening her tone.
"Unknown," SD8 replied. "No detectable faults."
Aubrie bit her lip, tasting blood from the pressure. Scout knew the systems best, she'd have to find her. She bolted from the cockpit, back down the ramp into the bay. Things only got worse outside, engineers panicked, some rushing for emergency stations, others arguing in clusters. The foremen shouted for order. "This is just a routine test!" one yelled, his voice cracking. "No need to panic, get to your posts!" But doubt rippled through the crowd; whispers turned to shouts. "Routine? There were multiple explosions!" "If the stations stabilisers fail then we won't be able to maintain orbit!" A shove led to a punch, and the riot ignited, fists flying, bodies colliding as fear boiled over.
Aubrie waded in, raising her hands. "Everyone, calm down! Panicking won't help, listen to the foremen!" A elbow caught her side, knocking her to the ground amid trampling feet. Pain flared in her ribs, but she drew on the Force, calming her breath. She pushed outward with a wave of energy, the invisible ripple clearing space around her, shoving people back in a tumble of limbs and cries. She stood, dusting herself off. "Stop! Whatever the problem is, it'll be solved soon. Stay calm and—"
Aubrie's words died in her throat as a sleek black ship pierced the bay's energy field, its engines roaring with a force that made the deck vibrate under her feet. The vessel descended like a predator, casting long shadows that chilled her skin. Everyone fell silent, engineers freezing mid-motion, their panicked shouts cut off as they stared at the unrecognized craft. No Republic markings, nothing at all made it recognisable.
Terror gripped Aubrie, the Force screaming warnings that flooded her senses, a primal dread that squeezed her chest and made her breath hitch. Danger pulsed from the ship like a heartbeat, though she quickly realised that it was her own heart thumping inside her chest. She drew her lightsaber hilt from her belt, fingers trembling around the c metal hilt, but she didn't ignite it yet, she held her instincts back as sweat beaded on her forehead.
The ramp lowered with a hydraulic whine that echoed in the silence, and a small cloaked man stepped off, his presence slamming into her like a wave of pure malice. Darkness radiated from him, wrapping around her body and throat until she struggled to draw air. She gasped, her body shaking, sweat trickling down her back as her mind fogged, thoughts scattering like leaves in a storm. He was one massive Shatterpoint, a nexus of fractures so vast it overwhelmed her vision, branching into infinite possibilities of ruin she couldn't comprehend, her head pounding with the pain of even attempting to understand it.
A few foremen approached him sour looks on their faces. "Hey! Who are you? What are you doing here? This bay's restricted—"
The man laughed, a quiet chuckle that sent ice through Aubrie's veins, and gestured with one hand. The foremen lifted off the ground, their bodies twisting unnaturally, spines snapping with cracks that echoed like breaking branches. They crumpled to the deck in heaps, limbs folded wrong, eyes staring vacantly at the rest of the people in the bay. Screams erupted after that and the crowd shattered into panic, everyone with any sense bolted for the exits, but some with less sense grabbed tools to fight back. "He killed them!" one shouted, rushing with a hydrospanner raised. Others joined, a wave surging toward the intruder.
Aubrie tried to shout, to stop them, but her voice choked in her throat, the darkness that emanated from this man pressed on her harder making her legs turn to lead. She could only watch as the man raised both hands, and ripped everyone into pieces. He crushed one attacker's skull with an invisible grip, the head imploding in a wet crunch. Another he hurled into a wall, bones shattering on impact. A group charged together; he swept his arm, and they flew apart, slamming into crates and droids, limbs breaking with sickening snaps. One engineer fired a blaster; the man deflected the bolt back with a casual wave, burning a hole through the shooter's chest. All within five seconds.
Horror built in Aubrie until it overflowed. She couldn't stand it anymore, the slaughter, the helpless screams. She ignited her lightsaber, the blue blade humming to life in her shaking hand, and rushed forward, her feet pounding the deck as she closed the distance. But before her strike landed, he held up one hand, and she froze in space, her body locked mid-motion, saber raised. She strained against it, trying to use her own command of the force to fight back but this man was something else the power he wielded was like a mountain crushing her from all sides. Sweat poured down her face, her arms trembling as she pushed with everything she had, but she couldn't move an inch.
The man tilted his head, his hooded eyes gleaming with amusement. "Weak," he mocked, his voice a rasp that slithered into her ears. "Look at you, struggling like an insect in a web. Pathetic. Is this the best the Jedi have? Laughable."
Aubrie gritted her teeth, her breath ragged, but she kept fighting, willing her limbs to budge, the pressure building until spots danced in her vision. He laughed again. "Fight all you want. It changes nothing, here let me show you."
He released her suddenly, and she stumbled forward, gasping. She swung her saber in a wide arc, aiming for his neck, but he slipped aside effortlessly, his cloak swirling. She pressed the attack, thrusting and slashing in rapid sequence, but he dodged each strike with minimal movement, as if anticipating her every thought.
"I can sense your fear," he said, his tone dripping with contempt. "Your helplessness. Use them. Let them fuel you."
Aubrie wasn't a fool, she did the opposite, she calmed herself, drawing on her training, centering her breath amid the panic. She doubled down, her strikes now faster and more precise, yet even with that she still made no progress in even grazing him.
"Such a disappointment," he said, boredom creeping into his voice. He grabbed her with the Force, an invisible vice lifting her off the ground and slamming her into the Vengeance's hull. Pain exploded in her back as metal dented under the impact, air driven from her lungs. He flung her down, her body hitting the deck hard, ribs cracking with the force. She gasped, rolling to her side, but he pulled her lightsaber from her hand, the hilt flying to his grasp.
"Such weak people don't deserve powerful weapons," he said, igniting the blue blade and holding it before him, the light casting eerie shadows on his hood.
He laughed, a chilling sound, and gestured again. Aubrie felt the pull, her body dragged upright and toward him, feet scraping the deck as she struggled, screaming in frustration, her muscles straining against the inexorable force. She was inches from impaling herself on her own saber when a roar filled the bay.
SD8 burst from the ship in attack mode, boosters flaring as it rocketed toward the Sith, slamming into him with bone-jarring force. The man flew upward, crashing into the ceiling, the impact denting panels as he dropped the lightsaber. SD8 caught the hilt mid-air, pivoting and rushing to Aubrie. It scooped her up, flying out of the bay into the corridor, throwing her further down the passage roughly.
SD8 turned to close the door, its servos whirring, but froze, the Sith had caught it with the Force.
"Run, Mistress," SD8 said as metal buckled and circuits sparked, then the droid was ripped to shreds and crushed all at once.
Aubrie's eyes widened in horror, her hand snatching up her fallen saber as she scrambled to her feet. She ran down the corridor, using the force to hasten herself. She glanced back, lightning sparks circled the passage behind her, the Sith's malevolent laughter echoing down the hallway, the entire corridor compressing and ripping up in a storm of twisted metal and debris and all of it coming towards her.
Terror fueled her sprint, the Force urging her onward as wreckage chased her heels, sparks flying and panels crumpling like paper. She reached the elevator, extending her hand to Force-open the doors before she arrived, the panels sliding apart with a groan. She dove inside, slamming the control for close, the doors grinding shut just as the destruction slammed against them, the car shaking but holding.
She collapsed against the wall, panting as her heart felt like it would be out of her chest. She had never seen such a powerful sick before. Could this have been the Lord of the Sith that was rumoured? Count Dooku's Master?
She didn't know.
But what she didn't know is if she spent her entire life not seeing this man again it would still be too soon.
Taking a deep breath she leaned against the elevator walls, her back pressing into the cold metal as she forced her breaths to slow. Terror still pounded in her chest, but she closed her eyes, drawing on the Force to steady herself. Calm flowed through her eventually, pushing back the panic that clawed at her edges. She reminded herself: survive, find the others, escape. The elevator buzzed faintly around her until...
*BOOM*
(AN: So the Sith Lord has arrived and he has destroyed SD8. Rip. Anyway hope you enjoy)
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