Chapter 8: Honoghr
(Reminder: Darth Filius = Luke and Darth Filia = Leia)
The three members of the Skywalker family stood back to back in the Honoghr swamp as the dozens of Noghri warriors began to surround them. Many came from beneath the swamp's mud beneath Sith Lords, whilst others appeared from the trees above them.
For any normal man, these Noghri would be considered a threat. In fact, it is said that a single Noghri warrior is equivalent to ten Imperial soldiers. However, it didn't matter if they were worth one thousand soldiers each as just the presence of Lord Vader, on top of him being with his two twin apprentices, nullified their strength in numbers.
"Kill kay'meni!" A Noghri leader who was hanging from a tree screamed with his arm raised, sending his soldiers to battle the Sith Lords before them.
*CRRSSH*
In what felt like an instant, the Noghri leader saw a flash of red. In his peripheral vision, just for a split second, the Noghri leader could see his decapitated arm flying away, right before one final red flash from Darth Filius' lightsaber sliced his head in half from the eyes up, ending his life before he or his minions could even register what happened.
Both Darth Vader and his daughter Darth Filia didn't even feel the Skywalker boy move, he was so fast. Filia immediately dashed toward one of the many Noghri warriors surrounding them, slicing it in half vertically with ease. Looking over her shoulder, she saw her twin brother slicing and dicing the Noghri people by the dozen, flipping and spinning gracefully with his saber before sending powerful swings and thrusts into the rest of the helpless Noghri warriors surrounding him.
They tried to fight him off. They tried to run. They tried to hide. But not a single warrior was any match for Darth Filius, especially with their primitive weapons and tactics.
"Tch." Filia scoffed, realizing her brother was absolutely destroying her in their competition of reaching the highest body count, realizing she was quickly running out of men to kill.
*SHRMM*
Darth Filia activated the other side of her lightsaber, doubling her deadliness, before running into the fray once more. Twirling and jumping like a madwoman, Filia began cutting down each lowly Nohgri with her double-sided saber by the double.
Vader, taking his time and allowing his children to do most of the work, struck down the Noghri people using nothing but powerful slashes using Form V. Each strike was packed with so much strength that it seemed as if his slashes were capable of cutting through the entire planet if he willed it.
Filius, holding his lightsaber straightforwardly as if he were jousting, sprinted with haste toward a group of three Noghri fighters before implaing all three of them through the chest like skewered meat. The boy smirked under his helmet as he watched the life slowly leave their black beady eyes.
As if it weren't violent enough, the Skywalker boy then cut them horizontally, causing their bodies to open up like a mouth and fold into themselves. This was the moment that Luke was craving for years. He was finally able to let loose and kill those who opposed his father's Empire, just as he was taught to do.
"Fire!" At the center of the head village on the planet, which happened to be nearby, multiple Noghri soldiers released their catapults, launching massive boulders toward the direction in which the Sith were thoughtlessly murdering their brothers.
Though the twins were distracted by trying to best each other in their murder spree, Lord Vader was able to sense the attack as soon as it was commenced. Quickly, the Sith Lord shifted his focus to the sky before simply using a single hand to stop the dozens of boulders in mid-air.
"Twenty-seven!" Darth Filius announced, confident in the fact that he had bested his sister in their childish, yet devious competition of bloodshed.
"Nineteen…" His sister mumbled, though her sad expression beneath her mask soon shifted to that of awe as her attention was diverted toward her father and his impressive feat. Though it was taking an insurmountable amount of strength, Darth Vader was showing nary sign of straining as he continued to use his advanced prowess in the force to keep the boulders suspended hundreds of feet in the air.
"Father…" Darth Filius breathlessly spoke, he was astonished. Both he and his sister had never seen such a powerful display of the Force outside of their shared vision during their Kyber Crystal bleeding ritual. They both knew that their father was known as the most powerful man in the universe, but this still surprised them. Little did the two know, they were destined to one day surpass him.
With extreme focus, Darth Vader began pushing the boulders backward before giving each of them one great push with the Force, causing a stone rainstorm to form above the village.
Back at the center of the village, all of the villagers, whether it be men, women, children, or warriors were completely enamored. Not only was this ridiculous feat the first time they had ever seen anything close in terms of strength, but due to their primitive nature, they had never even seen the Force being used in their lives.
However, to one single Noghri warrior, the Force was more than familiar to him.
Immediately, each and every last boulder in the sky was sent back down to the village, stirring up mass panic amongst the villagers. Though they tried, it didn't matter how fast they'd run, where they'd hide, or how much they prayed to their god, there was no escaping Darth Vader's wrath.
*SRCCHH*
A random foot soldier was one of the first victims of the raining boulders, crushing his body into a paste in front of a small child. Frozen with fear and pain in his eyes as if he had recognized the nameless soldier, the boy's eyes remained locked on the mess in front of him. This brief moment of hesitation was his last, as a boulder that was over double the boy's body mass crushed him into nothingness.
All around the village, the storm of boulders crushed, amputated, mutilated, and decimated hundreds of Noghri people. Whether it had been a child, adult, or elderly, Lord Vader's might did not discriminate, leaving hundreds dead or severely injured.
However, despite Vader's might seeming unstoppable, a single Noghri warrior held up his hand, blocking a couple of boulders using the force. Surrounding the man were about ten scared citizens, including the chief of the village, all in complete awe as they never knew a Jedi was amongst them. He knew what the result of his compassion would be, but he just couldn't allow himself to watch those people die.
Back at the swamp, the twins watched their father from behind in amazement. "Father, that was incredible." Darth Filius praised.
"I never knew you possessed such strength." Filia added.
Vader ignored their praise, tilting his head slightly as if he were lost in thought. He felt a disturbance in the Force. He could sense the Jedi.
"There is a Jedi here." Vader, without any hesitation, began walking toward the village with a thunderous stride, each step seemingly being filled with pure resentment. His hatred for the Jedi completely took control of him at the moment. The twins watched him walk before exchanging glances amongst each other, both sharing the same thought. 'So this is what Father is like on the battlefield.'
Sensing their hesitation, Vader spoke. "Our job isn't finished yet. Why are you stopped?"
Immediately, both twins tensed up before speedwalking behind him to catch up with him. "Sorry, Father." They both spoke simultaneously as they headed toward the village together.
The three Sith Lords marched side by side, though Vader was slightly in front as they strolled past the bloodbath. The twins couldn't believe the sight before them. All of the dead bodies, or what was left of them, and the destoyed huts were a brilliant display of their father's power to them.
The sight enlivened Luke as he grew excited at the idea that he could one day do something as powerful.
Eventually, Lord Vader and his children found themselves standing before a single Noghri warrior protecting his people behind him, including the chief and a few dozen surviving Noghri villagers. At his hip, a lightsaber could be seen by all.
"You Jedi are foolish. You threw away your life to save these lowly people. You're pathetic." Darth Vader ignited his saber as he spoke, causing all of the villagers to flinch in reaction.
The Jedi took a step forward, only being stopped by a woman holding onto his arm before begging him not to leave. She wanted him to run away with her instead. "Plise, mi meni kan still run, Makhlekem!"
Makhlekem, the Jedi, shook his head as he grabbed her hand and removed it from his arm. "Mi meni cannot escape Darth Vader. Mi taym heb kom, mi love. Mi'm sorry."
As he walked away, the woman fell to her knees with tears in her eyes. Her husband was going to fight an unwinnable fight, despite her wishes.
Due to having been raised a Jedi, Makhlekem spoke in English to his former comrade, though that fact was unknown to him. "I am no coward, like you Sith. I will go down fighting until the end."
This offended Vader. To him, this man even considering that he could even think about calling what was about to happen to him a fair fight was a mockery of the Sith Lord's strength. Once again with thunder in his steps, Vader walked toward the Jedi.
The Jedi ran toward him, swinging his yellow lightsaber down at the Sith Lord with every last ounce of power he had in his body.
*KSSH*
Their sabers clashed. As if he were fighting a child, Vader used a single hand on his saber to block the Jedi's attack. The Noghri Jedi, not giving up just yet, continued to send multiple strikes at the Sith Lord, though all were futile.
Playing with his food, Vader punched the man directly in the jaw, sending him down into the dirt. If it were any normal Noghri, this punch would have done severe damage, but he took the attack like a true warrior.
"Get up." Vader demanded the man, wanting to humiliate him more and make an example out of him.
The man got back up and continued the same useless strategy of sending a barrage of strikes with his saber. Once again, each attack was a waste of energy as the Sith who was once the chosen one continued to block them with as little effort as possible.
Eventually, the Noghri man tired himself out. Growing bored, Vader simply lifted the man in the air without even lifting a finger, choking him to near death. He then flung the man backward, sending him to his children's feet as if he were feeding a pack of wolves.
"Finish him." Vader instructed. His disgust and disdain for the Jedi were evident in his voice.
Both Skywalker children looked down at the helpless Jedi, feeling absolutely no remorse for the man. In fact, if a single emotion were to be described, it would be that of disgusts. If their masks weren't on, either Filius or Filia would have spit at the worthless man's face.
"Don't look at me with those eyes, Jedi scum." As Filia spoke, she stomped the man's head, sending his face down into the dirt. Hearing her young voice surprised him, which prompted the man to speak.
"Why must you hunt Jedi? You are but children." Hearing the man say this brought a nasty frown on Filius's face beneath his helmet as he crouched down onto the man's level.
Filius grabbed the Noghri Jedi's head with a single hand before placing his saber's hilt into his mouth, silencing him. "Shut up, Jedi. You Jedi are despicable. You talk about us being children as if that means anything to you. You Jedi kidnapped children against their will, taking them away from their families."
Though this may sound hypocritical, in the young Skywalker's eyes, the lives of children that were lost during his father's reign were all necessary sacrifices in the grand scheme of things. They were mere obstacles in the way of the Empire as it slowly gained control of the entire galaxy, truly bringing balance to the force. At least, that is what he was told as a youngling.
One single tear began to fall from the man's face as his mouth was forced open by the Sith's inactive lightsaber. It was true what the boy said to him, in fact, that was one of Makhlekem's qualms with the Jedi. Unknown to anyone but himself, that is part of the reason why he left the Jedi order, though he was still hunted as if he were one of them.
His wife, in the background, could be seen trying to break free from the grasp of the rest of the villagers. As she began to break free, Luke spoke to him once again. "Is that your lover, Jedi? I thought the Jedi Order didn't allow that?"
The wife eventually broke free, reaching out to her husband while she ran as fast as she could toward him, stumbling under her own feet with every few steps. With the eyes of a demon, Filius glared at the woman from under his mask before taking the man's life.
*SSKKK*
Filius ignited his saber, sending it straight through the man's mouth and throat to the other side of his neck. The man was dead in an instant. The only sounds that could be heard were the humming of Filius's saber, the man's body slumping onto the ground, and the screams of the Jedi's wife.
"NOOOOOOO!" The woman screamed before falling to her knees onto the dirt near Vader's feet.
Darth Vader ignored the woman, walking past her and toward the village chief. As the Sith Lord began to pass her, the woman noticed her husband's lightsaber next to her. She had never held the weapon before, she didn't even know how to operate it, though she had nothing left to live for. Just as how her husband died fighting, she opted to do the same while taking Lord Vader with her.
Right as he passed by her, she grabbed the lightsaber, igniting it before swinging it down onto the Sith Lord.
*SRRCHH*
The sound of a lightsaber hitting flesh was heard by all, though the flesh was not the Sith Lord's. It was the Noghri Jedi's wife's.
Behind her, Darth Filia stood with one arm extended, holding her lightsaber in mid-air with the Force as it stabbed the woman from behind.
Vader of course, could sense the woman's attack and could have stopped it himself, but the woman was nothing more than a waste of energy to him, that is why he allowed his daughter to do take the worthless life instead.
The three Sith Lords then approached the small group of Noghri villagers, all trembling in fear as the Sith warriors stood before them.
"Filia." Vader spoke sternly, immediately communicating to his daughter what he wanted her to do without any elaboration being necessary.
"Yes, Father."
Filia approached the leader, clearing her throat before speaking to him in his native tongue and repeating what she said before they slaughtered the warriors.
"Mi nem stan Darth Filia. A empire stan wata fi bargen bisayd u, a fok bilong noghri an aksa dat u join a empire so warriors. Insayd return, mi meni chusa restore u planet. Kha u refuse, mi meni chusa tek a planet way force." Once again, Filia asked that the Noghri people volunteer warriors to join the Empire. In exchange, the Empire will cure the plague killing the planet's plant life, as well as give them protection from any attackers.
Having no choice, the man accepted her offer, sending the message to the many scattered villages throughout the planet that they were now under the Empire's control, joining the hundreds of planets conquered by Lord Vader himself.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
SurelyNotEli
SurelyNotEli Hey, thank you for reading! If you're liking the book so far, please leave a review! If you hate it, you can also leave a review and tell me what's wrong. Thank you!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone