Problems at the power plant

The silence of the castle's corridors was punctuated only by the soft patter of my footsteps as I trailed my father and sister. My mind was still foggy from the lack of sleep. 

'Maybe I should cool it with the late night gooning? hmmm'

Still, curiosity had gripped me. Whatever "suspicious activity" was reported had to be more interesting than anything else in my life right now.

I reached the hangar just in time to see the ship's ramp retract and the engines hum to life. I slipped into the shadows, making my way to a small maintenance alcove just before the hatch closed. The ship's vibrations soothed my frayed nerves as we lifted off the ground, heading towards the unknown.

"What's the situation, Father?" 

Zenna's voice was calm but edged with impatience.

"A minor disturbance at the southern power plant," Syko replied. "Probably just some unruly workers. Nothing you can't handle, my dear."

I rolled my eyes. My father, ever the optimist. If it was just unruly workers, why drag Zenna out of bed? We have a local enforcement brigade, so this feels a bit odd.

The journey was short, and soon we were descending into the industrial district. The plant was a sprawling complex, lit dimly by flickering lights. The air was thick with the smell of burning fuel and the low hum of machinery. The perfect place for some solid anti government excitement.

As the ship landed, I slipped out of my hiding spot and grabbed a space suit. It had a mask to cover my face and was actually pretty tight to the skin, so I had good movement. God forbid anyone sees me they won't recognize me. 

I used my Sith stealth ability making me functionally a ghost. It seems no one could even sense me, let alone see me. 

The shadows of the power plant provided ample cover as I watched Zenna and Father approach a group of guards.

"What seems to be the problem here?" Father demanded.

One of the guards stepped forward, visibly shaken by the presence of the Sith baron. 

"My lord, there's been a breach. Someone's tampering with the reactor controls. We've locked down the area, but we can't get close enough to stop them."

Father nodded, turning to Zenna. "Take care of this, my dear. I have faith in you."

Zenna didn't need any more encouragement. She strode forward, into the facility, the guards trailing behind her.

I felt very nervous. 

'Is it really worth following them? What if I get caught?'

But the allure of potentially seeing my sister kill dissidents seems too hard to resist.

'I'm not a sadist, I'm really not. Attacking a power plant is basically terrorism. Plus, this is a Sith planet, so there is no way someone would do this without knowing the risk….. I think?'

As I crept closer, I saw two figures near a control panel. Zenna is in her sith training attire, and someone is in a brownish robe. 

"Who the frek are you." Zenna swears at the robed man. 

I cringe inwardly at the extremely lame swear word.

'Man, I wish the writers didn't make their fake swears sound so cringe-worthy, oh well.'

The man laughs at Zenna's provocation.

"There is no need to swear Sith. I was merely trying to shut this slave station down."

As he spoke, he reached for something off his belt. Then it ignited. A bright blue lightsaber. Part of me was excited to see it. Its humming brings a nerdy joy to my ears. I smiled wide behind my blacked-out helmet.

Without any more words, I hear two more lightsabers ignite. Fathers and Zennas. Father quickly flipped onto the scene, positioning himself between the Jedi and Zenna. My heart melted that he would protect her. A good father, as always.

A good father, yes, but dear god was he shaking in fear.

"Wha..what are you here for Jedi!" He yelled whilst stuttering his words in fear.

'Wait, why is he afraid of a Jedi? Dad is a Sith lord? Oh Jesus Christ, does he know he's weak?'

Fear overcame me. So much so that I could see Zenna flinch briefly in my direction despite my invisibility. She turned her head back to the Jedi as he spoke.

"Oh? Perhaps you don't know the true value of the world we are standing on, then I dare not be the one to tell you."

The Jedi laughed again. Father jumped to action. I could see the fear in his eyes. I could feel him, he was trying to use it to get angry to give himself more power. It wasn't enough. Not even thirty seconds passed, and the Jedi rag-dolled Father into a wall. My father was knocked out cold. His lightsaber rolled from his unconscious hands onto the ground. 

'Fuck. Is Father going to die?' 

Then, even more fear hit me. 

'Am I going to watch my sister die?'

I was paralyzed with fear. 

My sister began crossing blades with the Jedi. Blue and red sparks shooting from their fight. She was too strong to just be easily ragdolled unlike Father. She was a prodigy after all.

'Is she strong enough'

I couldn't tell, but my heightened anxiety was making my throat feel wet. 

'Oh god, please don't vomit, not right now.'

As I tried to get my bearings together, I could hear the hum of lightsabers clashing, the crackle of force lightning. Zenna was locked in combat. My heart pounded in my chest. 

'This is serious. This was the first time that this life and my new family felt real. This loving family raised me, nurtured me, and didn't complain when I stayed up too late or slept in. The family that accepted me.'

My heart felt like it was going to rip out of my chest. I was so afraid. The Jedi moved with grace and precision, his lightsaber a blur of motion. Zenna was holding her own, but she was clearly outmatched. As I watched, the Jedi landed a heavy blow across her back, sending Zenna sprawling to the ground and leaving her with a huge scar.

'What the Fuck is going on.'

I could feel my fear turning to anger.

'That piece of shit just fucking scarred my sister, this is our fucking planet. He came in here to INVADE US! To bring the war to OUR FRONT DOOR! LIKE FUCKING HELL'

My sister lay on the ground, struggling to get up. The Jedi raised his lightsaber for the final blow. 

'Yeah right, cowboy'

My fear gave way to anger, and my anger gave me power. I will not allow you to hurt my family anymore.

I stepped out of the shadows with my cringey ass space suit and blacked-out helmet. I channeled the power within me, drawing out the full strength of my inner Sith warrior. 

Zenna and the Jedi both looked up at me in surprise. They could sense the immense anger dripping off me like it was the sweat of an ovulating woman. 

'Wait, what the fuck?'

Zenna interrupted my thoughts.

"Who the kriff are you?"

With the anger of a thousand suns, I was no longer Vex Eras, the gooner son of an idiot Baron Noble. I was reborn as my most cringe Sith fantasy.

"I am Darth Relic.

With a flick of my wrist, I summoned Father's fallen lightsaber to my hand. The red blade ignited, casting an ominous glow. The Jedi turned, surprise flickering in his eyes.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

"I…" 

'I feel like this guy isn't listening? I just told him.'

"I just fucking said who I was. I am Darth Relic," I replied, my voice steady and cold. "And you have made a grave mistake."

I lunged forward, my movements are fluid and precise, very clearly not my own. The Jedi blocked my initial strike, but I pressed on, forcing him back. The power flowed through me, every strike and parry coming naturally. The Jedi faltered, clearly unprepared for the ferocity of my attack.

With a final push, I knocked the Jedi off balance. He stumbled, and I seized the opportunity, disarming him with a swift motion. He fell to the ground, breathing heavily.

"You... you're not like the others," he gasped, looking up at me. "Who are you really?"

A surge of power like I've never felt before came over me. I can feel something new. Something I've never felt in this life or my past one.

"I win you cuck bitch"

Just as I was about to strike him down, I realized I overlooked something. The Jedi's light lightsaber was not in his hand. 

'Fuck, where the hell is it.'

Suddenly, I felt it. It was spinning towards Zenna, who was still on the ground. That rat bastard thought I would try to save her instead of pursuing him.

'Fuck fuck fuck fuck'

He was right. Stopping my movements I refocused all of my effort to use the force to pull in the flying lightsaber. It flew to my hand like it had found its new home. When I looked to where the Jedi had been he was gone, nowhere to be seen. 

'FUCK'

I was massively underprepared for this fight. May he pray to not run into me again, for I will never be this unprepared in the future. 

As the adrenaline faded, reality set in. I had just fought a Jedi and won. But I couldn't let anyone know the truth.

'So annoying. If they find out it's me, there goes any chance at a chill life.'

I turned to Zenna, who was now standing, albeit shakily. Her eyes widened as she took in my appearance.

"Who... who are you?" she whispered.

I deactivated Father's lightsaber and handed it back to her. I was anxious in a new way. When the adrenaline left, the cringe slowly took over. I felt like a high school student who thought magic spells were real. My face beneath my helmet blushed with embarrassment.

"A friend," I muttered in a terrible Batman impression to further hide my identity from Zenna. The cringe I felt towards my own impression pushed me over the edge, and at this point, I was just trying not to kill myself from all of the embarrassment I felt.

Without waiting for a response, I melted back into the shadows, making my way back to the ship. The night was over, I just had to wait for Zenna to get back here with Dad.

*****

[Zenna's POV]

As I watched Darth Relic back away into the shadows beyond the power plant, I had a striking thought.

'That guy was hot as frek'

My face was as red as my lightsaber. Feelings inside me swelled in ways they never had before. I began to fan myself like a maiden in love.

'Is this love? He said he was a friend, does that mean he already sees me as such? He had such a gruff voice, nothing like I've ever heard before. WAIT!!

My thoughts were running wild, faster than ever before.

'Come on, Zenna, think about this. If he was following you he must be your stalker. Mother always tells me that I am likely the most beautiful Sith in all of space, and she barely ever lies or deceives me, right? So if Darth Relic is my stalker, he must already love me.'

My eyes become hearts as I use my expert deductive reasoning to figure this out.

"Oh darling, if you love me so much, I wish you would have stayed. Saving me from that Jedi was clearly fate." 

I speak out in the hopes he can hear me, but there is no response. I frown. After a few minutes of light sulking I grab father using the force and bring him to the ship. I laid his body on a bed and used the autopilot to head home.

"Just wait, darling. Someday I'll meet you again."