Dark Empire: A Star Wars Tale

Prologue

"Where's the Jedi?" Though the sound of blaster fire cut through the air, the reverberating voice of the sith assassin was sending goosebumps up the body of the rebellion soldier. Even while their face was hidden behind a black metal mask, the soldier could feel the sith's eyes piercing right through him, trying to compel an answer.

Suspended in the air, the power of the force held complete control over the rebel soldier. The sith could feel their fear, the racing of their heart, the panic that flooded through their whole body. All it would take was one little push, normally, and the hunter would have their answers. Unfortunately, the rebellion bred the one thing that allowed the common masses to resist such basic fear tactics. Hope.

"I will never betray the cause! I'd rather die!" The soldier gagged as he felt his throat closing, the hand of the sith starting to close into a fist.

"Oh come now," the sith said, his voice still completely calm. "You don't really mean that, do you? Even the sith don't send their soldiers in to die for nothing." They seemed almost sympathetic, as though he forgave the rebel soldier for choosing the wrong side.

The soldier scoffed, barely managing to speak with the force choke in effect. "You terrorize the galaxy with your metal legion, that's not the same. You-" he coughed mid-sentence, then continued. "You trample over the lives of everyone who doesn't surrender to your tyranny until there is nothing but ash and blood."

"Told you the gentle approach wasn't going to work," a female sith crept up behind the first, her lightsaber in hand.

The first waved her off, never looking away from the rebel fighter. "Nobody would ever find out. You could go home. See..." There was a pause. "Sandra... you could see Sandra again. Your wife, right? She worries about you." The smirk on his lips was evident in his tone, even though his face was hidden. "She'll be so grateful, to see you safe, to know you're done fighting a war that will most likely cost you your life."

And there it was. Doubt. In that instant, the soldier wasn't thinking of the cause he'd sworn an oath to defend, but of the woman that he wished to return to in the future. "I... I can't..." yet his words were softer, his defiance fading.

"Nobody has to know, I could just let you go, forget I ever saw you." The thing about the sith assassin's words was that they were truthful, and you knew it. He didn't care for the soldier at all, he just wanted the Jedi he and his compatriots were hunting. If getting that location meant letting one rebel fighter go, then it'd be worth it.

"Val, Fey, we see her." A voice spoke through the sith's comms. "She's pinned down inside an abandoned building with a squadron of rebels."

The sith sighed, and Fey, the female inquisitor, tried her best to stifle a joyless laugh. "We're on our way, just have to clean up here. Send your geo-location."

"Already sent," the voice responded.

A holographic map of the city appeared over the top of her left forearm, two blinking lights highlighting their position with the location of their teammates.

Val, the male sith, sighed. "You know, I would have gotten it out of him. He was literally just about to confess, but Cor doesn't care about finesse or prisoners for interrogation."

"You're just mad that he asked our master for command of the army before you."

The soldier flew towards Val, and there was a brief flash of red light coupled with the sound of a lightsaber ignition. His hand relaxed, and the body dropped onto the ground. "I wanted to give them a chance. Besides, the Sorcerer only cares about who eliminates the target, not who finds them."

"Come on, you know he doesn't like us playing games on the hunt," the female inquisitor chastised as they began to run through the newly ruined city. "And this one is personal to him, we can't fail."