Chapter Sixty Nine

Aayla had followed the hidden hallway for a while, frowning as the thought crossed her mind that this area did not look lived in at all. So this must be a secret bolt hole, one that probably isn't even on the maps of this place. Which meant that not only could Master Quinlan not see her via the security cameras, but it was very unlikely that it had any other entrances save the one Aayla had entered, unless there was an emergency hatch someplace. That means I'm on my own, for a while at least. That was fine, since in Aayla's opinion she and her master really hadn't done all that much fighting in battle just yet.

Eventually the hallway ended in a warehouse of some kind. It wasn't large by warehouse standards, only four hundred feet square, with a three-story ceiling. There were several dozen pallets of various sizes scattered here and there around the doorway, but otherwise it was relatively empty. Except, that was, for the small cutter sitting near the back wall by what looked like a hatch.

It was a very small but very streamlined, modern-looking spaceship, though Aayla had never seen that particular class of ship before. It looked about the size of a starfighter, but it was definitely not made for combat since it didn't have any weapons visible. Built more for speed than anything else given the size of its engines, Aayla thought.

But that and the clutter around her wasn't what caused Aayla to slowly come to a halt, looking around her keenly. I should've pulled up my Force Cloak! Too late now, I suppose, and I would've had to add Force Stealth to it too from the feel of things.

She swiftly activated her lightsabers, pulling them out with a Force Pull from their places on her belts, crossing them in front of her in a defensive stance. "I know you're there!" It was not actually her normal Force Precognition which had told her that, but her empathy. She had felt a spark of rage and hate, a powerful feeling which had slipped past the cloak of whoever was in here with her.

In the gloom of the warehouse a shadow detached itself from the cutter's larger shadow as another came out from behind one of the larger piles of pallets. Both of them were women, seemingly around Masters Ti's age perhaps or just a little younger. They wore dark black robes, cut off so that they had no sleeves to speak of, but which flowed down to their ankles. A red belt buckle around their middles, and splashes of purple around the shoulders broke the monotonous black, but that was all.

Both women's faces were tattooed heavily, black marks cascading down from their eyes to below their lips. They wore both purple lipstick and heavy eyeliner from what she could see as they moved into the light provided by the scattered overhead lamps. She could tell they also had yellowish eyes, glowing lightly in the dim light of the warehouse. The one by the cutter had a bit of a purple tone to her eyes, while the other had some red mixed in, only becoming visible as they moved into the better lit, central area. Both were also almost entirely bald except for a topknot which flowed down their backs in a cascade of green.

As they moved forward, both women activated red-bladed lightsabers. The hissing sizzles of their movements rose to match that coming from Aayla's own weapons. The blades were shorter than most lightsabers the Jedi Order used, but not quite short enough to be a shoto.

Both of them began to swing their lightsabers in wide flowing arcs as they moved forward, sneering at her. "Run away, little Jedi. Run home to your master. The Night Sisters were commissioned to guard this one," said one of them, gesturing over her shoulder with a flick of her head to the unconscious form of some kind of reptilian alien lying in front of the gangplank leading up to the ship. "This one belongs to us until our contract is fulfilled. Run away and live!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Aayla said calmly, moving through the crates to meet them as the two of them moved backwards, allowing her to get out into the more open area of the warehouse so that they could circle around her like two predators circling a juicy bantha. "That man is wanted for crimes against the Republic. You two can walk away if you wish. But if you don't, might I have your names before we start?"

Despite her tone, inside Aayla was anything but calm. At first after feeling the presence of these two she had indeed thought she should retreat, but something had stopped her. First, of course, was the idea that the person behind this operation might get away. That should have been enough on its own, but it wasn't her main motivator. The fact Aayla would be admitting that she couldn't handle this, the idea that she would have to run to Harry or her master to help her just like Harry had to on Tatooine, this was what drove her. That thought galled Aayla more than it really should have for a Jedi, even a padawan, pushing Aayla to be a little more reckless than she should honestly have been against two unknown, lightsaber wielding Force sensitives of unknown power and abilities.

But the concern that she should have felt against this unknown threat didn't register. The thought uppermost in her mind was simply, I am not a kriffing damsel in distress!

"What, not going to even call for help? How boooring," said the woman who had been nearest the cutter. She looked at Aayla closely for a moment, frowning as if she felt something there but couldn't quite make it out, which was in fact the case. They could sense something was unusual about this Twi'lek Jedi, but not what. It was making them slightly more wary of Aayla than would otherwise have been the case given the Rutian Twi'lek's age, but their inherent arrogance was overcoming that. "As for names, mine is Sister Veroa, and this is Sister Mature."

The Night Sisters were a sect of Force users who traditionally stayed on their own planet of Dathomir, due to both agreements with the Jedi Order and with the majority of the planet's Force-using population. While the planet itself was not in the Outer Rim, it was very low-tech, and the Force was strong there, shown in the sheer number of Force users the planet produced. Most of those Force users, however, kept to the light side of things, even if their ways were nowhere near the Jedi norm. This was why the Jedi had never forced the planet into compliance.

The Night Sisters, however, did not subscribe to the beliefs of the rest of the planet. They were a sect that reached out to the Dark Side and to a version of it that looked almost like magic to those who witnessed their high ceremonies.

Veroa and Mature were two of a few Night Sisters who had been sent off-planet, their services loaned out to underworld criminals and other types of that nature as bodyguards and assassins in exchange for supplies for their planet. Their present job had been most unpleasant, keeping the Falleen's pheromones from effecting them and dodging his attempts to flirt with them was a full time job. Despite that, the task paid well, and it looked to be interesting now despite the recent events.

The plan had been to wait until most of the attackers were busy fighting inside the base before trying to get away, then extorting lots and lots of money out of their employer, but that could wait until they dealt with the child Jedi facing them. We did not expect a confrontation with the Jedi, but neither will we run from it! A chance to prove ourselves against the cursed light siders does not come along often, after all.

"I'll say it again," Aayla said, her voice calm as she centered herself in the Force, turning slightly around in a circle to stare first at one so-called Night Sister then the other. "I have no quarrel with you two, only your employer."

"You want him, come take him," Veroa said with a scoff as she took up a position between their employer and the little Jedi. Both sisters assumed the Jedi would try to grab him and run rather than fight two on one like this, since most Jedi were known as cowards and weaklings among the Night Sisters.

"If I have to," Aayla said, then darted, not towards Sister Veroa, but towards Sister Mature, her lightsabers flashing up. But for a split second one of her hands was actually pointing over her shoulder. As she brought her lightsaber downwards in a stroke towards Mature, a finger flicked out, sending a stunning technique towards Sister Veroa.

Veroa blinked, then her lightsaber flashed once, impacting the Force technique, whatever it was, before she charged Aayla's back. "So the Jedi have learned some new tricks. It won't save you!"

Sister Mature didn't say anything, her lightsaber flashing this way and that as she and Aayla danced around one another. Then Aayla turned away slightly, bringing her other lightsaber around in an arc to block Sister Veroa's first blow, deflecting and attacking with both of her slightly shorter blades.

For the next few moments all three of them twisted, danced, jumped, and leaped around one another. The two Night Sisters used a variant of Ataru to match Aayla's Jar'kai, with more attacks and punches and kicks in their style than the normal variant. Despite that, Aayla's Jar'kai gave her a notable edge in comparison to what the two were used to when sparring with one another. But the two Night Sisters fought as a team, pressing Aayla hard.

Occasionally Aayla struck out with a Force technique that they hadn't seen before. For instance, a red colored wave of Force which nearly took Sister Mature in the face once, despite having seen Aayla lob a similar one earlier towards Veroa. Another attack was a blast of cutting air.

But Veroa's Force Precognition warned her, and she ducked underneath it just in time, bringing up her lightsaber to nearly slice Aayla's forearm off. But the Twi'lek had twisted to one side just enough for the attack to miss, lashing out with a kick that caught Veroa in the chest, hurling her backwards.

Mature pressed in before Aayla could capitalize, landing a kick and a punch even as her own lightsaber was directed to one side by Aayla's defense, forcing the Twi'lek backwards and away from her teammate.

Under the impetus of one kick Aayla allowed herself to roll backwards before flinging herself further into a midair barrel roll to get more space faster than Mature could follow. Then she lashed out with more air attacks, coming from both her outstretched hands still holding her lightsabers using her lightsabers to actually direct the attack.

The Night Sisters in return began to jump all around, dodging the attacks while they reached out with the Force, grabbing up the crates all around them and hurling them at the Jedi. This forced Aayla to stop her own assault, and she reached out with her own Force powers in a new configuration. The air in front of the would-be missiles solidified under her direction into the consistency of mud for a moment, slowing then stopping the flotsam.

For a moment the two sides stared at one another, and then Mature spat to one side before speaking up for the first time. "Not bad."

Aayla nodded once. "You too."

Then they all raced forward again, and for the next few seconds none of them used Force techniques except for Precognition, letting their lightsabers do the talking. Aayla realized during this exchange that she couldn't fight both of them like this, lightsaber to lightsaber. They were just too good! Slowly they were overcoming her Force Precognition, nearly breaking through her defenses. That's all right. I have other techniques in my bag of tricks!

When Aayla felt she had a chance to trap one of her attackers into a mistake, she took it without hesitation. Instead of attacking as her assailants predicted, she took up a defensive stance for just a split second, a seeming weakness that Veroa could not stop herself from attacking. Her lightsaber flashed out in an attack to the alien's side that should have bisected the Twi'lek.

But instead Veroa gasped as a Force Shield appeared around Aayla's side, taking the blow. Aayla could feel the Shield fading, but it lasted long enough. One of Aayla's lightsaber's took the surprised Veroa in the throat, the plasma blade bisecting her neck without even pausing before the Night Sister could recover from rage-induced lunge.

In response Mature howled, the sound vibrating in Aayla's ears as she made the Force reverberate with the power of her hate. It was all Aayla could do to not drop her lightsabers and reach to cover her ears as the woman bellowed. But a quick silencing technique over herself protected Aayla so that she didn't have to, which saved her life in the next few seconds. Her concentration on her Force Shield having faded under the auditory assault, Aayla had to rely just on her lightsabers again to defend her from Mature's furious assault. Even so the Night Sister's attack got through here and there to burn Aayla's skin in a series of close calls, causing her nearly enough pain to drop her blades anyway.

But she didn't, and having slipped into a modified Soresu stance Aayla weathered her opponent's assault. Then, when she sensed Mature beginning to run out of steam, Aayla once again changed the battlefield, conjuring up a series of air attacks behind her and launching them forward.

Mature deflected or absorbed two of them with her lightsaber, but couldn't stop Aayla from going on the attack now. She furiously brought her lightsaber down with enough Force to Force Aayla to use both of her lightsabers to block a blow directed at her side but Aayla used one lightsaber to carry Mature's blade down to the ground pinning it there with her other blade for a second, freeing her first to lash up and cut through the other woman right below her shoulders. Mature's body fell in two pieces, and Aayla stepped back, watching as it hit the ground with a thump.

Exhaling once, Aayla brought her lightsabers up in a salute, then turned them off, sliding them onto her belt. "I wonder what these Night Sisters are supposed to be? Good fighters, whatever they were." She stood there for a moment looking down at the bodies of her former opponents before moving over to the body of the gangster boss, hitting him with a stun bolt for good measure.

Up close she could see that he was a Falleen. They were a green-skinned semi-reptilian race who were normally thought to be quite handsome and which could breed with many other races, something which was helped along by the pheromones they let out which affected the bodies of the opposite gender of many species.

At the moment, though, Aayla frankly couldn't see it. Not with this one, anyway. He was fat, overweight, and looked almost sallow faced on top of it. "So one of Zule's parents was a Falleen Like this… If you're an example of what the men look like, I hope it was her mother."

With that she reached down and grabbed his foot, then looked over at the bodies of the two Night Sisters. With a brief moment of concentration both the Night Sisters and the lightsabers rose into the air. She tied off the Force powering the technique, and they floated, following behind her as she made her way back down to the hidden passageway.

She was met at the entrance not by Master Quinlan as she thought she would be, but by Harry, with Lily hovering in the air above him. Though she had, of course, felt Harry's presence long before she came within sight of him.

Lily leaned down to buss Aayla on the cheek while Aayla gratefully allowed Harry to take over levitating the two dead bodies behind her. After he had, she crossed her arms over her chest, looking at him mock-accusingly. "Were you trying to run to my rescue again?"

"Not at all," Harry said with aplomb. "I never doubted you for a moment."

Aayla suddenly giggled, her brief flicker of irritation leaving her at Harry's acting, and she leaned up slightly to kiss him lovingly on the lips, delighting in the feel of them against her own and his arms around her even as she sent the thought through their link, "liar."

Harry could only nod agreement to that, knowing that she had felt the truth through their bond. In return Harry felt Aayla's determination to never need rescuing again, which he acknowledged, but refuted by saying he would always be there if she ever did need it.

Rolling her eyes, Aayla acknowledged that point but fired back with, "Just make sure I need rescuing in the first place, okay?" Then her mental self put Harry's in a headlock until he acquiesced, and the two of them returned their concentration to the physical plane.

Walking with Harry down the corridors of the base, Aayla noticed the looks Harry was getting from the various Wookies, who would stop and raise their fists to him. He occasionally stopped to talk to a few of them before moving on, slapping backs and basically getting along with all of them. "So, I take it you've made friends?"

"Definitely a mutual respect sort of thing, at the very least," Harry said with a chuckle through their link while exchanging hand clasps with one of the larger, older Wookies.

Master Dooku and Master Fay then appeared around a bend in the corridor, walking towards them. The two padawans bowed formally, and Master Dooku acknowledged them with a nod while Master Fay stepped forward, enfolding them in a gentle hug and kissing them lightly on the foreheads. Aayla shivered a little at that. She'd not gotten used to the fact that Master Fay was so much more touchy-feely than she had been while on the Explorer. Aayla loved it, but it was just unusual for a Jedi to be so effusive, though of course any other individual would have scoffed at the very idea that such gentle touches could be called effusive at all.

"And what have you discovered for us here, Padawan Secura?" Master Dooku asked, looking at the two bodies, or rather four pieces of two bodies hovering behind Harry and Aayla.

"I…" Aayla paused, then shrugged her shoulders. "I honestly don't know, Master Dooku. These two were Dark Side users. They didn't use any real Force powers other than telekinesis and precognition, so I don't know if they're half trained or what, but I felt their hate and anger around them in the Force, and it definitely gave them power…"

Dooku held up a hand, forestalling further discussion there as he moved forward to look at the two bodies, which Harry obligingly floated forward. After a moment he nodded thoughtfully. "Night Sisters."

"That's they called themselves, yes. But I've never heard the name before," Aayla replied just as Quinlan and Komari came within sight down the corridor. He was followed by several other Wookies, who immediately began to bark orders to the surrounding Wookies as they passed them, organizing them.

"They are a sect of Force users from a planet named Dathomir. The planet itself has hundreds of Force users broken into a dozen or so clans, and only the Night Sisters, a single clan among many, have fallen to the Dark Side," Fay said thoughtfully.

Harry frowned. "Um, don't take this the wrong way, Master, but why hasn't the Jedi Order moved against them? Given the way the High Council reacted to the revelations about my mother and I and the lengths we've had to go to in order to keep my abilities a secret, it doesn't seem as if the Order is all that open to other Force users operating outside their purview."

The deadpan manner in which Harry delivered this line caused Lily to snort in laughter. "Mastered the technique of understatement, you have, hrhrhrm…." Lily said, imitating Yoda's speech patterns, which caused both padawans to grin.

"Because the rest of the planet is not willing to join the Order, and there are, as I said, hundreds of Force users there, possibly as many as two thousand. Bringing the entire planet to heel would mean war, and what would be the point? Most of the Dathomiri witches follow the Light, it is only a single clan that does not, as Master Dooku said," Master Fay replied with a smile at her friend's antics, while Dooku merely rolled his eyes. "I actually have been there in my travels. They are not exactly gentle, but they are a learned and ancient people."

Harry nodded but looked over at his mother quizzically. "Witches?"

"Master Fay and I talked about them, but their 'magic' isn't anything like ours Harry. Don't worry. If it had been we would have mentioned it to you before this," Lily replied, before chuckling. "Actually, we would've mentioned it to you anyway if their entire society wasn't so matriarchal. Men there are second-class citizens, and I know you well enough to know you wouldn't put up with that kind of thing even for a short visit."

"Yeah, I'd probably start a revolt there," Harry muttered, scratching at the scar on his forehead sheepishly.

"As amusing as this discussion is, I believe that we need to discuss this one," Dooku said, a flick of his hand encompassing the unconscious Falleen.

Master Fay looked at him, her lips twitching almost into a scowl. The amount of arrogance she had felt off this one during her earlier telepathic assault had astonished her.

"Master Fay, will you join me in the interrogation? I feel we need to get as much as we can out of him as quickly as possible just in case he has anything we can use to shut down further criminal activities," Dooku stated. "Knight Vos, I will need you as well for this. Your knowledge of the criminal element may allow us to better direct our questions."

"Done," Master Fay said briskly. "I can tell if he's lying, and I can also use my abilities to Force him to be more complacent and compliant without any undue physical or mental stress. Knight Vosa, can I trust you to continue to organize the ground work here while the medical teams get to work?"

"Of course, Master Fay," the younger woman said briskly,

"The space fortress also has a unregistered Holonet emitter, which we will be using to contact the Jedi Order shortly. After that," Dooku said thoughtfully, "I'm thinking of having it dismantled and stored for us on one of the Wookies' ships. I'm certain I can find a use for that later."

The Order, of course, had several small Holonet emitters, but they were few and far between because they were expensive to build and also technically illegal. The Republic controlled the Holonet relay system. It was one of the main sources of its income as a body, as well as it its power to control communication galaxy-wide. Even the Jedi Order would get in trouble if anyone knew they had those emitters, though tracing them, of course, was an issue.