[Fic] STAR WARS: The Second Sacrifice (Warning: LOTF Spoilers!)

[Tysyacha]

STAR WARS: The Second Sacrifice

 

Forty years after the Battle of Yavin, the galaxy is once again on the verge of all-out war. Corellia has become the first of a series of planets to secede from the Galactic Alliance on account of the Jedi dismantling its most lethal and destructive weapon, called Centerpoint Station. Every day, more and more planets join Corellia's cause, believing that the increasingly-Draconian tactics of JACEN SOLO, head of the Galactic Alliance Guard, are poisoning the democracy that the GA had been and turning it by degrees into the new Empire.

 

Meanwhile, JACEN SOLO'S aunt and LUKE SKYWALKER'S wife, MARA JADE, aims to take out one of the darkest threats to the galaxy since the Emperor: LUMIYA, self-proclaimed Dark Lady of the Sith. After an assassination attempt by Lumiya upon Ben on the ancient Sith world of Ziost, Mara Jade wishes to make sure no one will harm her son again. Believing LUMIYA to be irredeemable, Mara will stop at nothing to remove this Sith from the galaxy.

 

However, a servant of Lumiya's, simply called TYSYACHA, being one of thousands in the galaxy, would give her life for the Dark Lady even though she suspects nothing of Mara Jade's assassination plans. During these turbulent times, TYSYACHA will have to come to terms with her own nature and the side she will eventually be forced to choose in the upcoming war. Will she truly follow the ways of her mistress and JACEN, or be brought to the light through the very Grand Master she's been sent to investigate?...

 

STAR SYSTEM M2X32905, ON THE ASTEROID BIMMIEL

 

It was the middle of the night, and I'd never heard breathing that scared me so badly. Not only labored, but rasping, choking, like a wounded tuk'ata

with only minutes to live. Seconds, even. I sprang from my bed into action. Not caring how I was dressed, I headed straight for the only bedchamber I had ever been allowed to enter that was higher than my own.

 

"Mistress?" Even though I wanted to cry out, I kept my tone soft and low.

 

"Come, Tysyacha. Bring me some painkillers." Her voice was as weak as mine.

 

I scrambled to find them on Lumiya's spartan dresser in only the pale orange light of her atomic clock. It made an effective night-light, although I knew she never needed one. It amazed me, her strength in the dark, and I don't only mean the physical kind. Right now, though, I had to be the strong one.

 

"Here," I said, holding out two tiny capsules in my quivering right palm.

 

"Thank you," said Lumiya, not unkindly, "but please save your pity. I am here to save you, and not the reverse. When you entered my service, you were nothing, and now you are the one who brings me strength in my own weakness. I could have asked for a droid, but mechanical hands and minds can only do so much. They cannot feel as yours do, and it is feelings I wish for now. Connection to another being who's loyal to me. Surely you understand, yes?"

 

I nodded, smiling. "See how I've grown? I'm no longer a trembling child."

 

"A child who was a quarter of a century old. Unemployed through no fault of her own, disenfranchised with Coruscanti life, yearning for something more, wanting, in her own naive way, to change the world. Not settling for mere occupation, but purpose. As we both know, there is a galaxy's worth of difference between the two. Now. Before I sleep, I wish to speak to you."

 

"About what?" I didn't want to be flippant and say she was already doing so.

 

"Jacen Solo. He is to become a Sith Lord, and you must not interfere in any way. Not that you would, but our plans must not be ruined. Dashed to the wind so some Jedi and their sainted Order can plunge the galaxy into chaos again through this war. The time is coming for him to make his greatest sacrifice, and I can't see any person whom he loves enough to kill."

 

I was puzzled. "Whom he loves enough to--kill?" The thought scared me.

 

"It is not only sentiment, some thought of mine, but a prophecy. He will immortalize his love. Whom does he love enough to sacrifice in order to reach the heights of his power and his destiny? You do know why this is so?"

 

Again, but this time lowering my voice to a whisper, I nodded. "The Sith celebrate attachment. Love, and sacrificing love, is the price we must pay for our power. Even though I am not Sith, I do understand this, Mistress."

 

Lumiya took my hand in her mechanical one. "I know. Sacrificing your own life is one thing, and some say it is the only sacrifice worth making. However, having to give up something or someone you love on a permanent basis is the only way to progress beyond selfishness, such as Palpatine's, and move onto a higher plane of Sith knowledge and insight. This is what Jacen must do. However, I cannot see or sense anyone who would be his sacrifice.

 

"This is what you must do. For my sake and the sake of the galaxy, go out into it and to the Jedi Order on Coruscant. For all I know, it could be me he kills, but any Sith Master must expect that of their pupil. I want you to investigate the Jedi, especially those close to him who are not in exile. Grand Master Luke Skywalker, his wife Mara Jade, and his sister Jaina Solo. If you suspect that any of them have the deep bond Jacen needs in order to consider them, report this to me. I have some difficulty tracing Jacen now, and this scares me. Will you do this, Tysyacha, even risking your own life?"

 

I thought for a second and nodded. "Yes. As you said, sometimes your own life is the only sacrifice worth making. I was not hesitating, but deliberating."

 

"Good. I'd be severely disappointed in you if you made this decision like a mother bantha wishing to protect her calves, thinking on a purely brute level instead of a human one. Before you leave, sleep, and then see me in the morning. I'll reveal all to you, or at least all I know, about the people your heart will be watching during this critical task. Good night, and thank you."

 

I went back to bed after I saw that Lumiya had swallowed the painkillers. Without water, I might add, which was another mark of her visceral strength.

 

Sleep well, I prayed, and be strong to teach me what I must know.

 

[JoeDoe 2.0]

One word...NICE, I like the story and how you portray Lumiya. This is based on the events on the LOTF book SACRIFICE, right? I like the Lumiya pic btw.

[Kas'!m]

Too bad Mara got killed instead of Han and Leia.

[Empress Padme]

I'm just beginning to read the Legacy of the Force books ( although you would have to be living under a rock not to know what happens in Sacrifice). I love the Lumiya pic. Its a lovely companion to the books. Look forward to more.