Crossed Lines: The Shadow In The Void

Chapter 1: Coming Out To Play

Dessah P.O.V.

"The night – as always -- is young." The Thyferran clicked. His slender, insect like fingers picked up the finished glass of cider, and began washing it. His massive red, compound eyes studied me for quite some time. 

"It might be young, but I'm done for the night." I chuckled. I didn't want to drink too much tonight. I could already feel the cider warming me up and leaving me feel buzzed. 

The Thyferran clicked in satisfaction. The tall insect turned away to serve someone else. The music was loud, the club was uncomfortably crowded, and I just wanted to have a drink. This is what I get for stopping in on a busy night.

I got up and closed my tab. I drink only when I needed to clear my mind. I could feel a storm brewing; an on coming wound in the Force. It was unsettling. Since the day I forced myself into hiding, I could feel these things in my mind grow heavier and heavier. The First Order was small at the time I was in training. My Master warned me of the dark side's second coming through the face the First Order. Living out the legacy of the former Empire. But back then, I would have been too young to remember the former Empire.

The numbing sensation was still lingered on my lips as I left the club. There were several prying eyes watching me as I left. I pulled up my gray hood and slid on my white mask. In a club full of people, no one really looks at your face, but outside? I couldn't be too careful of who is watching. I hadn't been in hiding for very long. Five years wasn't long at all, compared to the thirty years my master hid under. It was not until my master died from an attack of the First Order that I realized I too must hide. There was no way to fight back against a strong army, and I was only one against many. 

My home world, Felucia was a trade route. Which meant high traffic of ships and cargo, and if anyone was not quick enough on their feet in the night, raiders would pick up anyone they could as slaves for quick profit. The slavers traveled frequently beyond the Outter Rim, taking what they wanted. My parents were not lucky. I was lucky, however.  

It was when I was five that my parents were captured as work slaves for a mercenary crew. I had been left alone for nearly a week before my master had stumbled upon my hut in the tropical forests of Felucia.   

I was found and trained by my late Master Galen Marek. He never told me much about his past. He would only speak of being a Sith apprentice, only knowing evil and cruelty, then turning against the Sith and seeking a different path. He was searching for another Jedi back then. He never told me who it was, but my Master would speak of reviving the Jedi order. 

Luck. I thought back on my childhood...my parents. 

I do not wholeheartedly believe it was luck that I was rescued, but perhaps it was the Force guiding my master to rescue me.

I kept walking into the night and dimly lit metropolitan streets. Deafening speeders and ships passing thickly overhead. "Damn traffic," I mumbled. After taking one more step, dark figure had approached from my peripherals. Before even speaking, I gently waved my hand in his direction and he stopped in his tracks. I left him behind as I kept my pace. 

This was usual. Dark figures approaching those who they think are weak. I was never weak. From the unforgiving training I received as a young one, I could never be weak.

"Again!" My master would shout. I could recall the feeling of sweat dripping from my brows as I was pushed beyond belief. I balanced on my hands with boulders cradled above my body. The weight of the rock hanging there was crushing my mind. I held on to every breath i took. Clenching my muscles and gritting my teeth, battling will to keep the massive monument from crushing me, keeping it a float. 

I remember struggling to move my head to see the fire in my masters passionate eyes. I was so scared to fail. "Being scared to fail guarantees failure, little one! Be strong! Close your eyes! Feel the power of the force well within you as it guides you!"

But I faltered. I didn't keep the rock up. It fell and nearly crushed me if master was not there to stop it from falling. I didn't meet his gaze for three days because I felt so much shame. It was another time, though. The child in me was weak. But as I grew, so did my power. 

I reached my apartment after some blocks, and collapsed on the lounge. I let my mask drop on the ground, but then I picked it back up. I looked at it, gracing my fingers over the indentations than ran vertical from the crown to the chin. I traced the red paint around the eyes, and the simple engravings in the middle of the forehead. 

 The mask dropped on my chest and I sighed. I tire of the useless hiding. However, my master drilled into me that being in hiding was the wisest thing to do in order to preserve the balance of the force. There were simply not enough Jedi to be a strong force to counter the heavy and growing dark presence of the First Order.

I was lost in a meditative thought until I fell asleep. 

That's when the strikes happened. 

That's when I was forced out of hiding.

I was jolted awake by the rumblings and loud crashed from outside. The whole building shook at its core. Startled, I ran to the large windows that overlooked the skyline. Ships upon ships dropped from the stratosphere and landed on platforms. White troops poured out of the ships and electrified the air with hot red blasters. One large, black ship landed and from it, a tall shrouded figure with a metallic helmet stepped forth. 

"No no no no no!" the overwhelming words bubbled out. This was the moment I feared that I would see. Was this to be my last? I made a quick move for my mask, and ran out the door with my saber in hand.

The First Order had arrived. And they were coming for me.