Power

03.

I stand in the command room of the fortress, Maul standing only a few steps behind me.

"How goes the search for Kenobi?" I ask him without turning around.

"No new leads, Grand Inquisitor. The Jedi hides well, but I will find him." He tells me, I nod.

"Good. You will have your revenge Master, I assure you." An officer walks up to me.

"Grand Inquisitor, we've tracked the Jedi to Zeffo. Shall I alert the sisters?" He asks me, I shake my head.

"No, I'll take care of this one myself." I say, turning around. "Would you like to join me?" Maul nods and follows me to my ship.

...

"You're doing well, Lyra. You only continue to prove me right to the Emperor." Maul tells me, his face rock hard. The Sith Lord is a merciless man who is ruthless to his enemy, but only to me does he show any form of compassion.

"Thank you, Master." I say as we arrive at Zeffo.

"You've grown from the scared little girl I found at that temple. You have become a powerful woman right before my eyes, daughter. It has been a pleasure to see you conquer everything thrown at you." I smile beneath my mask as my chest swells with pride.

"I could not have done it without your help." He nods at me.

"We're coming up on the landing zone." The pilot says. When the ramp to the outside drops, I quickly walk down it.

"I'll be back soon. Do what you will." I say to Maul before heading into the Imperial base. I can sense him, Cal, roaming the halls. He searches for the Tomb of Miktrull, following in the path of Cordova. I climb down though the base and arrive at the bottom of an elevator he will soon travel down. I stand waiting as he arrives at the base of it and the doors open.

"Cal Kestis." I say, clasping my hands behind my back. "How predictable, you follow in the path of Cordova." His eyes grow, I grin at him. I begin to pace back and forth in front of him. "Tell me, where did he hide the holocron?" Without a word, Cal ignites his lightsaber. "Outstanding." I quickly ignite my own and wait for him to come to me.

He runs toward me, I block his blows with little effort. I swing at him, hitting him on the arm and he stumbles to the side.

"With Tapal as your master, I thought this fight would be much more difficult." I say, I can see the anger within him. He will likely begin to lose control if I keep toying with him. He comes to swing at me, I deflect his saber once more and push him back. This time, it is I who goes after him.

I quickly ignite both sides of my double bladed saber and swing, swiping across his chest and legs. I float into the air, raising my lightsaber to soar down and stab into him. He just barely avoids the strike.

"I will destroy you." He hits me once on the arm, I force push him into the wall behind him. He rushes back to his feet, picking up his saber. I force run to him, clashing my lightsaber against his. "Not quick enough, padawan." I take a step back and pull him towards me, he struggles in the air in front of me. I then throw him across the room, the metal gate breaks upon his impact. I then force run across the room, but just before I can strike him, the red force field on the door activates. I tap my saber against it as Cal climbs to his feet.

"You're learning. Not quite as gifted as Cere's last apprentice, but not bad." I say, walking back and forth in front of the force field.

"You've been keeping count." He quietly says.

"I'm surprised she didn't tell you, Cere never was skilled at keeping secrets." He shakes his head.

"And you know her so well, huh?" I chuckle.

"She was weak, cracked in an Imperial torture chamber overseen by my Master. I watched as she surrendered the location of her naive padawan. They would have never found the Second Sister if it wasn't for her." I watch as realization floods his face.

"Trilla is the second sister? You're lying, the dark side is not the way of the Jedi." I stare at him for a moment.

"Oh Cal, so optimistic." He walks closer to the force field.

"Who are you? How do you know me?" I slowly remove the mask from my face. "Lyra, they said you were dead."

"I was saved, shown my true power. Something the temple could have never given me. The council left me for dead, the Sith saved me. You would be wise to do the same, your master is nothing but a liar." He begins to walk away.

"I won't let you manipulate me."

"So sure are you? When faced with the choice to protect herself or her padawan, she chose self interest. She'll sell you out too, and I will be there to kill you myself." He turns and walks back toward me.

"Well, I can handle myself." I chuckle and walk inches away from the force field.

"But can you afford to take that chance? Your new master harbors great darkness, I saw it within that torture chamber. The look on her face when she saw what we had done to Trilla, as she is now, she turned. Exposing her true nature, she used the dark side. She killed everyone within that chamber, and would have killed me, a young apprentice of the dark side, if the man who I consider my father had not saved me from her destruction." Cal's face has changed, his demeanor is defensive.

"She cut herself off from the force."

"Oh? How long before she cracks and betrays you too? Is that who you want beside you when you find the holocron?" I grin and stare directly at him. "What would Jaro Tapal say?" His emotions begin to take over, he storms closer to me.

"You have no right to mention his name." I begin to pace in front of him.

"I wonder, what would he think if he could see his padawan now? Skulking in the shadows with a betrayer. Granting her access to a legion of impressionable students." Our faces are inches apart, only the force field blocking them.

"No, I won't let anyone touch them." I turn to walk from them, using the force to take my helmet off the floor.

"I thought the same thing once."