Guardians of Light

I Am Become Death

A cacophony of shrill sirens echoed through the large Imperial ship as Lexa headed for the airlock where she had last seen her crew. The memory felt like a different lifetime, blurred and disfigured as if from a dream. Something was clouding her mind, shifting reality out of her grasp. 

The doors before her slid open and her pace slowed as she entered the corridor aligning the airlock, coming to a complete stop as her eyes fell on the suspicious male who was staring back at her with unobscured shock. 

'No...no, not you,' he whispered, fear sparking to life in bright eyes before he backed away unsteadily and charged back to the docking station. 

Lexa followed without pause, her memory of the man somewhat detached as she recalled the distasteful criminal who had been attempting to steal her new ship only a few days ago. The docking bay was empty as she entered, ignoring the cowering criminal as she scanned the area for her ship, and more importantly its crew. 

'Where are they?' she asked, faintly surprised by the impact her voice now had, reverberating with new power. 

'Gone,' Elisan hissed, observing the woman with narrowed eyes. She seemed different, stronger than he remembered. Something evil had gripped her heart. 'Leaving me here like the cowards they are, the scum of-'

He never had a chance to complete his sentence when a swift flick of the wrist from the former Jedi threw him across the room as if he were nothing but a speck of dust, the breath forced from his lungs for the second time that day and the last. 

Lexa barely noticed the sickening sound of crunching bone as he collided with the far wall, her gaze focused on the space that her ship had once occupied. They had left her here. Her head quirked to the side as something deep within her warned of another powerful presence on the ship, nothing compared to the swarming of weak lifeforms that were collecting in the metallic heart of the vessel. 

She left the empty room and the dead criminal behind her, retracing her steps back through the maze of corridors. There was nothing left here for her anymore. This new visitor may have shared a similar darkness with her, but it was nothing compared to the extent of her power. If they opposed her then they would share the same fate of her brother, but they had arrived here on a ship and that was exactly what she needed. She would take it from them with or without bloodshed, it mattered not to her. 

============================================================================

Bellamy was perched on one of the beds in the medical bay, his knee shaking rhythmically up and down as he rested his chin on intertwined fingers to nervously observe the droids actions. NOVA was systematically swiping through the bacta tank display screen, observing each projection for a number of seconds before flicking ahead to the next reading. 

'Well?' the smuggler finally interjected, unable to contain his concerns any longer. 

It had been three hours since they had left the Imperial ship far behind them, having no choice but to evacuate when a second Imperial ship had arrived with what they could only presume to be reinforcements onboard. With the Commander now consumed by darkness, they would have no chance of surviving aboard the Imperial vessel with more troops arriving. Leaving had been their only option. 

'I have observed the squamous cell recovery and tissue healing on the abdominal-'

'The short version,' Bellamy said bluntly, cutting off the rambling explanation that he could barely understand let alone follow. 

NOVA rested bright yellows eyes on the rude visitor and whirred in displeasure, although this was not the time to pick fights with argumentative strangers.