"Listen, Ventress, I swear, if you grew your hair out you'd look so much better."
I wasn't sure if it was the influence of the Dark Side, but teasing the witch gave me genuine satisfaction. I'd never been this snarky before, but she really was creepy‑looking. Still, wipe off that manic grin, put on some decent makeup, grow your hair to shoulder length — boom, transformation!
Sadly, those were just impossible dreams. I'd have to work with a real witch. Sigh…
"Shut up, bucket‑head!" Ventress hissed back, but didn't even try to attack me.
She'd learned her lesson. And with Kem standing behind my right shoulder — now wearing a fashionable new outfit styled like a full medieval suit of plate armor (which he was EXTREMELY unhappy about) — she was even less inclined to try anything. She feared him so much I could feel it through the Force, as much as a Dark Side user can fear anyone.
"Oh, we're doing nicknames now? Hm… what should I call you… Avatar Aang? No, no arrow on your head…"
I clicked my tongue. "Seriously, I can't watch you ruin every good impression you could make. Do you know anythingabout style? Women with super short hair — or none at all — look awful!"
That last jab was the final straw. Her hand twitched toward her sabers — but Kem was already in front of her, blade drawn, grinning smugly, having tossed his helmet aside so his face was fully visible (he ALWAYS does that, I swear I'm going to lose my mind). Ventress had to shove her sabers back with visible irritation and pretend nothing happened as she continued down the corridor of the small ship we were taking to my first official CIS mission.
Surprisingly, they sent us as a pair — apparently I was on probation. Ventress, after a pause, finally snapped at me:
"You're not going to stop this nonsense, are you? Short hair is practical in combat. And it's a tradition of my homeworld…" she forced out through clenched teeth.
See? She can talk normally when pushed hard enough. Instead of growling and hissing like an animal.
"For the record, only male Sith should be terrifying to look at. Trust me, I've met plenty. Female Sith should be beautiful and sexy — so the Jedi get… hm… conflicted. 'To strike or not to strike,' you know?
Although no, Jedi never had that question. Damn celibates.
Okay, I'm getting off track…"
Honestly, if I had one of those dumb "system" interfaces from multiverse fanfics, my reputation with Spider‑Man would've maxed out by now — that's how much I understood him the moment I put on a mask. But let's not think about horrors like that. Hopefully nothing like that exists here.
Anyway, I only let myself act like this around my (temporary) partner. If anyone else is around, I behave properly.
Suddenly, alarms wailed — our modest "Generous"-class frigate had dropped out of hyperspace at our destination. Yes, they gave us a whole frigate for this trip. Probably because there was no time to transfer to something smaller — we had to rush to the target planet before the "jedayuki" chopped up our forces and ran off.
In the time since "taking" Toydaria, I'd even managed to speak with Dooku in person — and with Sidious via hologram. The old man clearly suspected something, but didn't show it. He approved my joining the CIS and assigned me my first mission. Probation, basically.
Nothing complicated on paper — someone (allegedly unknown to me) named Grievous reported a group of Jedi on a planet where the CIS was trying to establish a foothold. The local forces couldn't handle them. He mentioned some mercenary in charge there — someone with a droid‑like callsign — but I didn't remember the name.
Sidious would've ignored it and let that mercenary handle the Jedi… if not for the sudden appearance of an unassigned resource —
Oops, I mean a Sith.
Heh.
And since we were nearby, all the stars aligned. So they sent me to… what was it…
Good thing I have an AR helmet now.
Ah. Hissrich. That's the planet. Sounds ominous.
Sidious didn't say much else. Didn't specify which Jedi were there. Just said they were on a recon mission and ordered us to hurry before they escaped. He also emphasized that our priority was protecting certain resource‑extraction facilities, not killing the Jedi.
I paraphrased, of course — the old man's dramatic speeches made my cheeks twitch under the mask.
When we arrived, the sight was incredible. I'd only seen nighttime Earth from orbit in videos, but this… this was similar, yet alien. A completely black planet dotted with rare lights — but the colors were strange, like cosmic nebulae. Beautiful, mesmerizing. It made me wonder — was that civilization, or glowing flora? It didn't look like city lights. I'd only know once we landed.
Ventress didn't spare the view a single glance. She strode toward the hangar, so I had to follow, still admiring the planet's orbit — where a "Munificent"-class frigate sat with two "Providence"-class ships in defensive formation. No idea how the Jedi got past that. Must've used the Force.
For the mission, we were given a standard CIS shuttle — big enough for all of us, since Ventress's personal ship was too cramped, especially with Kem's size. Sidious completely ignored the giant. I was starting to think pairing Ventress with me was punishment for losing me and failing to deliver me frozen. For which I was, of course, eternally grateful. Honestly! Who knows what the old man is doing to my less fortunate colleagues who didn't escape. Maybe he's trying to erase their minds and use their bodies after death. He's done similar things… I think. Hard to say how his abilities work.
We boarded the oddly shaped shuttle — some kind of cargo craft, though I couldn't remember the model. And asking Ventress was… not an option.
Suddenly, a signal beeped from the console. Ventress, irritated, jabbed the button. A droid's head appeared on the screen. I already suspected who it was, but before I could say anything, he spoke:
"What is the meaning of this? Grievous didn't inform me anyone else was coming. Lady, turn around and go back where you came from. This contract is mine, and I'm not sharing with some—"
Ventress cut him off with a furious hiss:
"I don't care about money! There are Jedi on the planet, and I will destroy them! We have orders from Dooku. Send your base coordinates and wait — we'll arrive in five minutes."
She radiated so much hatred it was like the Jedi had burned her house, kicked her dog, and murdered a relative — in that order. I didn't remember her villain origin story, so who knew.
"Impossible. This is my mission, and I won't let anyone land. Leave immediately!"
He REALLY didn't want us there. They warned us he was cunning — clearly he was hiding something. But now wasn't the time to call him out. And honestly, I didn't care if he was stealing CIS resources. Our job was to make sure the Jedi left the planet.
Ventress was about to snap back, so I stepped in and redirected the conversation:
"Do you know which Jedi are present, and how many?" I asked politely — though the mask hid my smile.
He snorted and said something that stunned me:
"Kit Fisto, Prosset Dibs, and Rissa Mano. Mace Windu was here too, but I already killed him. Understand now? The Jedi are my concern. I'll bring Grievous their sabers soon. Don't distract me."
At that moment, his comm beeped, and he disconnected.
I grinned under the mask and looked at Ventress. She nodded.
Now it was clear what was going on.
He killed a Jedi Council member?
Yeah, right.
There was no way I'd butterfly‑effected the galaxy so badly that Mace Windu died on some random planet at the hands of a bucket‑headed nobody. He was obviously lying.
Time to act.
I contacted our "Generous"-class frigate and confirmed our authorization for the ships in orbit. Dooku had given us the necessary codes, so at least we wouldn't get shot by our own forces because of one stubborn, idiotic droid.
I never understood how someone could be arrogant enough to fight Jedi without the Force. Mandalorians — sure. But some random nobody? Please.
Was I afraid of fighting Windu and Kit Fisto — two extremely skilled, dangerous warriors?
Of course I was.
But the moment fear appeared, something else crushed it.
Like a mother soothing a crying child, the Darkness inside me calmed me and filled me with motivation — with rage. Rage at myself, for being afraid. For being weak.
Ventress sensed something and turned toward me, questioning. I growled, barely restraining myself:
"I feel them. The Darkness whispers where they are. Here. Hurry — fly there."
I jabbed a finger at the planet's projection.
It was like a revelation. I had never hungered for battle so intensely that I could sense enemies like this. But today… today was the first time.
And I didn't care who I fought. Even all the Jedi at once — as long as it happened soon.
Still, despite the state I was in, my mind remained clear. I could think strategically. I could pull myself back when anger clouded my judgment.
"It's time to show the Jedi true Power…" I rasped, purely for dramatic effect, staring at the approaching planet.
It worked. Ventress seemed to appreciate the theatrics — and fully agreed with me.
Well, at least we had some rapport now. Hopefully she wouldn't stab me in the back during the fight.
XXXXXXXXXXX
From the perspective of Rissa Mano
Rissa froze in shock, staring at the scene unfolding before her eyes. One of her companions on this mission, Prosset Dibs, was now fighting Mace Windu. At first she had wanted to intervene, to stop the unnecessary conflict, but Fisto warned her not to, and she trusted him, leaving the matter to a member of the Council — Mace Windu.
The mission itself had seemed harmless at first. They had secretly landed on Hissrich, discovered what the CIS wanted here — a new energy source in the form of local plants — and were just about to develop a plan to stop the Separatists from slowly but surely destroying the planet, when Prosset lost his patience. He had been vocal from the beginning about the inadmissibility of Jedi participating in the war, but now he had clearly reached some conclusion. And he burned with the desire to share his thoughts with a sitting member of the High Council.
In a lightsaber duel.
It was dark. Only the faint glow of phosphorescent plants illuminated the area around the small ship they had arrived in, where they had gathered after a recent battle with droids. A torrential downpour fell, and in the countless raindrops the flashes of green and purple blades created a picture both beautiful and wrong. Suddenly, Prosset Dibs' voice cut sharply through the roar of rain and the clash of sabers. He and Windu had been speaking before, but Rissa hadn't listened closely, lost in her own thoughts about the blind Jedi's words — and with each moment she became more certain he was terribly mistaken. She had already opened her mouth to say something, despite Fisto's request not to interfere, when Prosset said:
"From this moment, I sever all ties with the Order and walk my own path. I will no longer serve a Council that serves only itself."
That threw her off completely, and the words of rebuttal died on her lips.
And in that dramatic moment, everyone suddenly turned in the same direction. She felt it too — in fact, she realized she had felt it for a while, but had been too distracted to pay attention. And now, with the source of the Dark Side so close, her mind could no longer ignore it — nor could the other Jedi.
Apparently realizing he had been detected, a humanoid of average build stepped out of the foliage, wearing a mercenary‑style mask — but the lightsaber hilt glinting beneath his long black cloak left no doubt about his allegiance to the Sith. Behind him came a massive being, fully encased in some kind of black armor, holding a primitive‑looking sword covered in scorch marks — clearly used against a lightsaber, and more than once. Last to emerge from behind the giant was a bald woman who, judging by certain signs, was a witch from Dathomir.
Rissa recognized them all. The last one — Ventress, Dooku's apprentice. And the first two, according to the latest intel she had read right before departure, had recently disrupted Yoda's negotiations and threatened to unleash some horrifying virus capable of destroying an entire planet. The others present seemed to realize this as well.
"Oh, don't mind us, continue," said the masked one. "It's not every day you get to watch Jedi destroy each other. I know people who'd pay good money for a show like this."
He was the one the report called Brut.
"I've prepared what I told you," Ventress hissed, glaring at the frozen Jedi and addressing Brut, activating her sabers. At the same time, Windu threw an accusatory:
"Dibs, don't tell me—"
But the blind Jedi cut him off sharply:
"Of course not! I think the Council is misguided, but the Sith's methods disgust me even more!"
Saying this, he stepped slightly away from Mace and turned toward the Sith, taking a combat stance.
"And what disgusts you, my blind friend?" Brut's voice dripped with venom as he continued:
"Is peace and prosperity under unified leadership really so terrible? No Hutts, no endless pirates your precious Republic has failed to deal with for so many years… You fear that those with power will rise to rule — but why? Isn't violence the only pillar on which any state stands? And how can one impose their will without power?"
His voice, slightly mechanized, boomed at the end — apparently amplified by his helmet.
"I won't let you impose your will on anyone!" Windu replied simply and charged.
But the Korun was immediately intercepted by the nameless giant who had been itching for action behind Brut. A battle erupted — and from what Rissa managed to see, it was a duel between two masters. Neither yielded, and even the Force pushes and pulls Mace used had no effect on the massive warrior.
Ventress, meanwhile, attacked the Nautolan Kit Fisto, drawing him away from the main fight.
That left Brut facing her (Rissa) and Prosset, who looked uncertainly at the dark figure. Until finally the Sith's blade ignited — an unusual orange color with a black "core."
The Sith walked toward her slowly, lazily, as if not acknowledging Dibs at all. Was this the famous Sith arrogance? Yes, the blind Jedi didn't look like a dangerous fighter, but Rissa was sure he was far from weak.
When the enemy came close enough, she struck first, hoping to disable him quickly. Yes, cutting off his hand would be painful, but she saw no other way to stop him — and judging by her senses, he was stronger than she was. A sudden, decisive strike was the best option… or so she thought at first. She soon realized she was wrong.
The enemy not only blocked her attack, but with his other hand flung Prosset aside toward their ship. The blind Jedi had clearly tried to resist the push — but failed.
Only after a few more seconds of fighting did Rissa notice the object clutched in the Sith's second hand… radiating the Force. Some kind of relic, clearly empowering him. So cutting off one hand wouldn't be enough…
Then she would have to try to stun him. To do that, she needed to remove his helmet. Reaching that conclusion, she focused her strikes on his head. The enemy muttered something unintelligible:
"I usually don't hit women, but how did it go…? Once a woman picks up a weapon and attacks you, she becomes a sparring partner, right?"
Rissa had no time for his taunts — his fighting style was almost completely unfamiliar. She had never seen most of these movements before — smooth, precise, almost automatic, with only faint echoes of standard Jedi forms. And all the while, the Sith kept turning his head, monitoring the battlefield. As if she wasn't even there. It didn't anger her — anger led to the Dark Side — but it did sting a little.
At that moment, behind her, she heard the sound of an engine starting. Disbelieving her eyes, Rissa turned — only to see their ship lifting off. The ship they had arrived in. There could only be one person aboard — the one recently thrown there — and the Sith confirmed her suspicion:
"Looks like your blind friend decided to leave us. How rude of him. Good thing we planted explosives on that bucket in advance, just for this scenario. When he reaches open space, we'll blow his engines, and the nearest CIS ship will pick up the abandoned property — along with the captured Jedi. I'm sure he knows many interesting things…"
Rissa only tightened her grip on her lightsaber.
It seemed their mission on Hissrich had just become far more complicated.