Chapter 8: Tyrant
The heavy rain did not cease as the Wanderer stepped toward the landspeeder. The storm was only getting worse as the falling rain grew harsher and the sounds of thunder booming were accompanied by flashes of lightning. Storms like the one above her head were normal during that time of year, sometimes lasting for weeks without end.
Using her lightsaber, the Wanderer sliced the grappling hooks that were attached to the back of the landspeeder before walking over to the left side of the vehicle. "Hey, open up." the Wanderer spoke, tapping on the driver's side window of the landspeeder, startling Mari. Mari flipped the switch controlling the roof, allowing the Wanderer to quickly hop in, completely drenched, and close the roof once more.
The Wanderer exhaled, removing her hat while shaking some of the water from her hair. Growing up on the planet, the Wanderer was used to the rain, however, it was still an inconvenience to walk around in.
Mari, sitting on the other side of the speeder was stunned, staring directly at the Wanderer's toned midriff which was seemingly glistening, and covered in rainwater. Mari's eyes then made their way up the Wanderer's entire body before stopping at her face, watching as she moved her wet hair away from her eye.
Using a single hand, the Wanderer used a hair tie to tie her soaking, wet hair behind her head before glancing over at Mari, noticing her admiring stare. "You got a real staring problem, lady." her words then knocked Mari out of her trance, causing her to quickly look forward out of the front windshield.
"Sorry." Mari stammered, her fair cheeks turning into a pinkish hue. "Did you get the pirates? I heard blasters go off... and screaming." Mari asked in a soft, innocent voice. She wasn't the type who'd partake in violence, finding the sounds heard from outside the speeder to be particularly unsettling.
"Mandalorians. Three of 'em. They won't be messin' with us again, I made sure of that." the Wanderer flipped the switch to the ignition, prompting the landspeeder to levitate off the ground, however, almost immediately, the landspeeder dropped and nearly hit the floor. "Shit." the Wanderer whispered to herself, checking the diagnostic panel at the center of the landspeeder's dashboard. "The back engine's damaged."
The Wanderer then pulled her holoprojector out of her kimono, activating it and bringing up a map of the area. "So what now?" Mari asked, looking over at the map in the Wanderer's hand.
"There's a small town nearby, they might have someone who can fix this mess... Since we're down an engine, it's gonna take us a while to get there, an hour or so." the Wanderer deactivated her holoprojector and placed it back into her kimono before pressing the accelerator.
Due to the landspeeder being so close to the ground, the landspeeder trembled and shook as it contoured to the uneven terrain beneath them, but it would do its job in getting them to their next destination.
As they drove off, Mari asked the Wanderer a question. "You said there were three Mandalorians, right? Aren't they supposed to be as strong as Jedi? Yet you defeated three of them? Amazing..." Mari had minimal knowledge of both factions, but she'd heard about the many wars between the Jedi and the Mandalorians, many of which the Mandalorians found themselves winning.
The Wanderer exhaled humorously. "So they say. I'll let you in on a little secret. Where you come from or what you are ain't what defines a warrior. They may have been Mandalorian, but I've fought Wookies more worth my time than those three."
"What defines a warrior then?" Mari asked, looking at the Wanderer with studious eyes. The Wanderer was the only person close to a Jedi that she was able to speak with, so she wanted to take the opportunity to pick her brain. However, the answer she received wouldn't be very satisfactory.
"Hell if I know. All I know is no amount of fancy armor and Beskar weapons can turn someone into one." the Wanderer told her. "Take me for example. I wasn't always half-blind with one arm. Lookin' at myself now, I'd say I'm the toughest I've ever been. It's about discipline and a buncha other stuff. You just know once you got it. It's like how being strong in the Force has nothin' to do with your size."
"The Force? Like that magic the Jedi use?" Mari asked. The Wanderer smiled, finding it humorous to hear the force being reduced to being referred to as 'magic'.
"It ain't magic. Some old masters would give you a boring old explanation about how it bounds the universe or somethin' but I'll put it simply." During her time as a Jedi, the Wanderer was the type to take a long-winded explanation of a concept and break it down into something simple, though her master loathed it. "The Force is everywhere, like the air we breathe. People like me can sense the Force, therefore we can control it. That's really it."
"Amazing..." Mari looked over with wide, astonished eyes. "So this Force is even around me?"
"That it is." the Wanderer answered.
"Can you teach me how to sense it?" Mari asked excitedly.
"It ain't taught. You either got it or you don't. Once you can sense it though, that's when it'll take years of training and discipline to use it. For most people at least." What the Wanderer was referring to was the fact that not every single person was Force-Sensitive. It didn't matter how much training one would go through, if they were not Force-Sensitive, they could never wield the Force.
"How do I know if I 'got it'?" Mari asked, looking down at her own hands before looking back at the Wanderer.
"Maybe the Force will call out to you. I don't know. Depends on the person." the Wanderer answered simply. She of course had a deep connection with the Force, deeper than most, however, that connection was one without words. "For me... it was as if a mother was embracing me." the Wanderer's past started to flash in her mind, seeing herself in that very moment when the Force first called out to her.
She saw herself as a little girl hiding, all alone in the dark. She could hear the sounds of people screaming, blasters firing, and ships flying by and destroying buildings. However, that darkness was soon filled with light as a door opened in front of her.
It was a battle droid, one of human proportions, with a blaster rifle in its hands. The droid pointed its blaster at the child, and it was at that moment with the warmth of the Force embraced the young girl. However, she was just a child, one too weak to do anything despite feeling the Force all around her.
The sound of a blaster firing inside her own mind jolted the Wanderer out of her trance, bringing her back to the present. "Are you alright?" Mari asked, seeing the horrified look on the Wanderer's face, the look her past self shared with her.
The Wanderer fixed her face, putting back on that confident facade as she continued to drive the speeder. "Yeah, I just remembered something. That's enough about that. I'm not a teacher. You'll have to ask a Jedi."
Silently, the two trekked on for a few miles. Mari then glanced over toward the Wanderer curiously before asking her a question. "I know you said no more personal questions... but do you have a name?" Mari asked, wanting to at least be able to call the woman if she needed her help. However, the Wanderer simply shook her head. "Not anymore." she said, glaring forward through the watery windshield. They were close to the town, so she was trying her best to spot it through the rain.
"Not anymore?" Mari repeated. "A name cannot disappear, can it?" she asked, wanting to understand what exactly the Wanderer meant.
"That name is attached to someone who no longer exists. She is dead." the Wanderer replied.
"Who killed her?" Mari asked.
"I did." Annoyance was clearly building up within the Wanderer, but Mari wouldn't let up.
"Why?" she asked.
"Because she was weak." the Wanderer spoke plainly.
"I bet she was awesome." Mari told her, causing the Wanderer to look over at her with a confused grimace. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well, I think you're amazing. So, I'd imagine back then, so was she." Mari admitted shyly, looking away from the Wanderer as she spoke with rosy cheeks.
"Well, I can tell you that I was a nobody back then. And I'm a nobody now. A nobody doesn't need a name."
"That is why you choose not to have a name? Do you truly believe you're a nobody?" Mari asked in a somewhat concerned voice, one that nearly broke through the metaphorical walls that the Wanderer built around herself.
The Wanderer didn't answer, though she did have something else to say. "No more talking." she told her, glaring forward through the drowning windshield.
"I don't think you're a nobody." Mari told her gently. "I think-" Mari tried to continue with her sweet talking, only for the Wanderer to cut her off.
"Quite frankly, I don't care what you think. Listen, stop asking me personal questions. Stop asking me about my past 'cause I ain't interested in being nothin' past strangers with you. Got it?"
Mari chuckled to herself. "You're a real grumpy one aren't you?" She didn't let the Wanderer's words ruin her mood. She could tell that the Wanderer was someone who must have lived a painful past, causing her to become cold and distant. However, Mari could somehow sense that the Wanderer was also afraid of something, though she didn't have the answer just yet.
The Wanderer ignored her, looking forward as the fog started to become less dense, though the rain and thunder did not cease. She could see the city they were looking for in the distance, though she'd be oblivious to the current state of the city of Shiboka.
𝑨 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓...
A human woman wearing an all-black cloak could be seen standing on top of a stage in what looked to be a town square. This was one of the wealthier towns of Inskako, though it still paled in comparison to Kyotara. The roads and buildings were made of stone, each building having slanted roofing to defend against the rain.
There were shops, cantinas, and the like all around, though they were completely empty, along with the homes of those who lived in this city of stone.
Littering the rainy, murky streets were the corpses of men, women, and children of different races, along with battle droids, all holding blasters as civilians made their way to the town square in front of the woman. There were hundreds of them, all being forced out of their homes by the droids that seemingly belonged to the mysterious woman.
As people continued trickling in, the cloaked woman spoke. "People of Shiboka, I have come to you with an offer. Who here is the leader, so we can discuss how this town will operate moving forward."
"I am." an older man with yellow skin and a yellow tail coming from the top of his head spoke, standing in place using a cane to hold himself up. He was a Twi'lek, a race similar to humans in terms of body type and facial structure with their defining features being the tails, or Lekku, on their heads and brightly colored skin. The man was weak, clearly, but despite his body being fragile, he was not afraid to stand up to this woman and protect his people.
"Ah, greetings, then." the woman flourished her arms and bowed to the man before continuing. "I would like to offer my protection of this very town, and in exchange, you and your people will be my underlings."
"We will never let ourselves succumb to a Sith's rule!" the old man shouted, causing a young Twi'lek woman with yellow skin and two Lekku growing from her head to then grab his arm in an attempt to calm him down. "Grandfather, stop it!" she told him, compelling the woman to chortle.
"You should listen to your granddaughter. It would be a shame if she was forced to watch her poor, poor grandfather die by my hand... Don't you think?" The woman's gaudy, taunting tone infuriated the old man. With a grimace, the man simply glared at her.
"Grandfather... please." the granddaughter whispered, only for the grandfather to shrug off her hand and shout at the woman. "Kill me if you must. I will never hand my people over to the likes of you!"
The woman in black stared at him blankly before scoffing and rolling her eyes. "If you say you must die, then die you must." the woman proclaimed before extending her arm outward, pointing it directly at the old man. Using the Force, she lifted the man in the air, which then caused the entire crowd of citizens to gasp in fear.
"Grandfather!" the young Twi'lek shouted, reaching out her hand toward the levitating old man. The woman in black chuckled before speaking to the old man once more. "Last chance, old man." She was enjoying this, glaring at the man with her glowing, orange Sith eyes as a warped smile grew across her face.
"Mono. Do not- Let her-" the man tried to speak through his throat being crushed by the woman, but it was soon proven to be fruitless.
"Time's up!" the woman shouted before using the Force to pull the man toward her. As his body soared through the air, the woman reached into her cloak, pulling out what looked to be the handle of a lightsaber, though it would be clear that this was no ordinary lightsaber once it started to transform.
The metallic hilt extended outward like a staff before the firey energy generated from her bleeding, red kyber crystal was heard and the crimson, scythe-shaped blade was revealed. The woman in black spun the scythe in her hand before twirling her body and slicing the man's body in half.
The crowd once again gasped, looking on with wide eyes as the old man's split body hit the ground behind the scythe-wielding woman. "Grandfather!" Mono shouted with a heart-wrenching, trembling voice.
The woman in black then deactivated her lightsaber's blade and the hilt retracted back down to handheld size. With confident eyes and a cocky grin, the woman scanned the crowd before locking eyes with Mono, the granddaughter of their leader. "Would it be a fair assessment to believe that you, his heir, are now the leader?" the woman in black's fanged smile sent a shiver down Mono's spine as she said this, striking so much fear into the woman that she could barely speak.
"Y- yes." Mono muttered, her voice quivering along with her body as she was becoming overwhelmed.
"What say you to my offer, young Twi'lek? Do you accept? Or would you prefer to share the same fate as your old man..." The woman's smile faded, and her glowing Sith eyes looked deeply into the young woman's soul as she waited for an answer.
The entire crowd then looked to their new leader, only making this moment all the more horrifying. At that moment, it was almost as if she could hear her grandfather speaking to her, telling her to stand her ground. However, the voice of her own fear was far louder.
"Should I kill more?" the woman in black asked her, using the Force to lift up a child, a young human boy who looked no older than a few years old. "Kuro!" his mother shouted, reaching out to the boy who was then far beyond her reach.
With her free hand, the woman once again activated her crimson scythe, pointing it at the boy while looking directly at the young woman with those glowing eyes of hers.
"Fine. I accept." Mono told her, though reluctantly.
"Smart girl." the woman released the boy, allowing the mother to catch him in her arms and embrace him.
With a proud voice, the Sith woman proclaimed her newfound ownership over all of them. "People of Shiboka, my name is Xetha. From here on, I am your new magistrate."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
TheWanderingWriter
TheWanderingWriter I like the idea of lightsabers being absolutely nonsensical or just different from the norm. So far, we have the MC's katana, a Zweihander, and now a scythe. Many of her lightsaber-wielding enemies will have strange weapons, though some will have normal ones.
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