Star Wars: Legacy of the Darkness

Chapter 17

"This is a bad idea," Ciella huffed. She was walking down the silent cell hall with Xilia, flanked by a number of armed guards, "Giving them their weapons..."

"You demanded 'entertainment'," Xilia responded coldly, her arms crossed over her armored chest, "They would be slaughtered if they were to use what we were to give them. And where's the entertainment in that?"

"That seems smart," Ciella sarcastically mumbled, "Give two of our most powerful enemies weapons and put them into battle with..." Xilia cocked her head to the side before stopping in her tracks, as did everyone else. The guards looked around feverishly while Ciella stood in front of them, her hands resting nervously at her sides.

"Ladies..." Xilia said, "Could you give us a minute? I would like to have a word with Ciella, please." The guards all bowed slowly before hurrying ahead of them, leaving the two alone in the dimly lit halls. Ciella gazed to her right side, noticing another charred skeleton reaching out of the rusted metal bars.

"You know who that is?" Xilia asked. Ciella reluctantly shook her head.

"That was another girl just like you," she continued, "She was abandoned by her parents because she was Force-sensitive. She was sentenced to death for fear of the Empire finding her and making her into another Vader. So, I adopted her just like I did with you. Trained her, nurtured her, cared for her like nobody ever had. Until she became arrogant. She began to question my authority. And so I had her here, under the watchful eye of some of my trusted guards until one day she tried to escape. And so I had to...execute her myself." Ciella looked on as her mentor slowly walked up behind her. As Xilia put a slow hand on Ciella's shoulder, she could feel a slight jolt of electricity coursing through her.

"The sad thing is though," Xilia continued, "I shared no remorse. No second guessing, no wishing I had went back and undid what I had done. She had questioned me. Tried to undermine my authority. And so, the necessary punishment was put in place." Before Ciella could respond, Xilia grabbed her by the throat and pushed her closer to the charred skull. Being so close, Ciella could smell the burnt and rotten flesh of the corpse.

"Now I want you to listen carefully," Xilia cooed softly, running a finger along Ciella's cheek, "You may be strong. More powerful than I could have ever imagined...but you are still just as replaceable as she was. And if you try anything that could undermine me, there will be no imprisonment. No stern warning. If you ever betray me, you will end up exactly like her. Am I clear?" Ciella nodded, her face red with fear. Xilia nodded slowly before letting her go. Ciella fell back, coughing and clutching at her neck.

"Good," Xilia smiled, "Now get up. We're about to miss the fun."

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Both Kylas and Alo walked outside to a large, sandy arena. Thousands and thousands of women of all races and species were hooting and hollering at the two men, tossing garbage down at them.

"I can feel the love," Alo huffed, looking around. Kylas looked over at the young Jedi before he heard a loud trumpet sound coming from above the. The two men turned to see Xilia and Ciella walking onto a balcony box high above the arena. Xilia raised her hand and the arena fell dead silent. Kylas glared at them, before noticing Ciella's face was still red. He nudged Alo and gestured for him to look up.

"Kylas Zolo and Alo Nara," Xilia shouted down to the men, "Welcome to the fighting pits. Here, you will fight and fight and fight for entertainment. You obviously are not workers and, as it pains me to admit, I won't have you both doing that."

"Appreciated," Alo continued.

"However," Xilia said, "Don't think this is going to be easy." She waved her hand towards a large wooden door. From the door, more than a hundred armed warriors charged out, hooting and hollering, circling around in speeders with blasters and electric staffs in hand.