56 Tulpaa Surprise I

"She's at it again, with that yearning look on her face..." An annoyed voice sounded amongst a crowd of people on board what looked to be an orbital fighter hangar facility.

Force Hounds were no longer sent out to find force sensitive rich worlds, instead they were employed as Members of the Slave Armies, bodyguards and personal gladiators. They were the token that showed the wealth of a Rakatan.

"Why is she constantly staring out into space? Is this the reason why her master sent her up here?" An older gent asked one of the people walking with him as they were passing the girl.

Of course, should the Rakatan Master feel they were useless or defective, they sent them into the military outpost above the planet. They were the first defense, and even if it was unlikely, they'd be the first to fall against the enemy should they be invaded.

"Hey, kid. Why the hell do you keep staring out into deep space? It's just gonna look back at you?" A scruffy looking Zabrak walked up to the girl, he had midnight black skin, with purple undertones.

Oh course as pertradiation of being Force Hounds, they had their skill in sensing through the force heightened. So they could sense assassins and the like, maybe act as a pre-warning system to an invasion.

Standing in front of a large viewport was a small fifteen year old Zabrak female, her skin was a yellow-gold with black tribal tattoos littered about her body, reminiscent of Darth Maul's Sith Tattoos. She had short brown hair done up in cornrows, three spikes down either side of her Jaw right below the ear. There were several others on her forehead and amongst her hair.

Her eyes were yellow, but they still at a slight tone of green in them, making a sick neon green appearance to them with dark outline. Her almond eyes shifted over towards the man who asked the question.

"I feel.. Something fami–" She silenced herself mid-sentence as she saw something in the corner of her eye. A massive sleek, reflective and dark, structure which was akin to a space station. Yet, it had the same wedge shape as a star destroyer.

She turned her head to look forward once more and stared at the object which completely vanished in a matter of seconds. The man followed her sight to the darkness before them and shook his head.

"You're a strange one..." He was about to walk away when he felt over a hundred force sensitives coming into range. His eyes turned back towards the viewport, "What?"

DA-DOW a massive force reverberated against the entire hull of the facility, as if over a hundred heavy weapon emplacements were fired at once. Blue beams of light could be seen, coming out of thin air, smashing into another orbital hangar facility and tearing it apart.

Everyone froze for that moment, surprise and fear. Were they actually being invaded?!

"EVERYONE GET TO YOUR FIGHTERS! PREPARE TO EN–"

Suddenly the loudspeaker screeched and went silent. Then a voice boomed from overhead, it was rather unfamiliar. "Do not enter your fighters. Do not try to fight back. That was a warning. You will now be occupied by the Imperial Federation."

The warning was ignored. All Force Hounds and regular personnel began to scramble into their fighters.

Valad who was on the bridge of his vessel was watching as the small ancient fighters came out of the hangar bays. His eyes narrowed on them, "Use the ion cannons and turrets, deploy the Predators to deter them." He commanded as he glanced over towards his Apprentice who nodded solemnly.

Within moments swarms of TIE Predators began to explode out of the hangars of the massive vessel Engaging with the Force Hound's fighters.

The Golden Zabrak was sitting in her cockpit, she hadn't taken off yet. She simply stared out at the fighters which few by, oddly familiar ones. Her eyes darkened slightly, she had no idea who was attacking them. Yet, the name of the faction which wanted to Occupy them was mysteriously familiar with their architecture. She couldn't quite lay a finger on it.

She strapped herself in and placed her force saber into its holder. Activating the fighter's main engine, she scraped along the hangar floor before taking off and blasting out of the hangar, just as a missile came flying in and pulverizing the interior.

Immediately as she approached the destination of which the sleek vessel was last seen, she had three TIEs on her back. She spun, dodging the heavy blaster bolts which went by. She then pulled back and got behind them.

She didn't feel any life signs in these ships, yet she could clearly see armored soldiers through their viewports. It was strange, why couldn't she feel anything?

Releasing a volley of bolts as she swiftly moved behind them. She watched as the canopy of one of the fighters burst open and a droid corpse came flying out of it. Partially dressed in armor, apparently the rest of it melted away due to the explosion.

"... Droids?" She recognized the appearance of the droid too. Squinting, she would pull away from the last TIE as the massive vessel became visible once again. It measured at twenty two kilometers in length. There was over a hundred force sensitives on board.

The Rakatan would see this as a motherload to reinforce their count of Force Hounds.

She began flying towards what looked like the dome-like superstructure in the center of the ship. It had multiple towers, so she decided to investigate.

While being chased by TIE fighters, she constantly avoids being hit, her eyes gazing over the viewports on these towers as she flew close to them. Just who was here? Who was in charge?

She came across the command center and blinked a few times. There was a single man standing close to the viewport window, dressed in back Zakuul attire, there was also a girl dressed similarly in white next to him, with a shaved head. Her eyes then shifted towards the one talking into the command interface after receiving commands from the man in black.

His presence was intoxicating, familiar.

The Golden Zabrak pulled her fighter away and began to dive down towards the hangars below. Firing several shots against the hull, there was no damage given, not even scorch marks. "Dammit..." Suddenly an ion cannon struck a hit on her ship and she lost control

The fighter began to spiral, but then found itself behind held in place by a tractor beam. She blinked a few times. She thought she was going to enter the ship at her own volition and take it down from the inside. Yet, it seemed they were taking her inside?

That's when she began to notice, all the force hound fighters were being torn apart by the tractor beams, they weren't being captured. A horrible way to die.

"No way..." She stared out towards the others before looking forward herself as she was being towed into the central hangar. Why was she being captured out of everyone else?

Once the fighter entered the hangar, she used the force to break the canopy open and drew her saber from its hold. She jumped out of the fighter and scurried behind one of the many crates. Crouched, she waited.

Twenty four command droids crowded into the hangar and dispersed immediately. Their weapons drawn, F-11D carbine blasters in their hands. It matched their black and white plastic mando'a gear.

"Spread out, find the pilot."

"Roger, roger."

She could hear their talkings, she could tell they were definitely droids even with the modulators. Her eyes stared at the door which was remaining open, guarded by two droids.

Suddenly she felt herself being pulled through the crates, bruising her all over as the stack collapsed. She found herself sliding along the ground, her skin squeaking against the polished hangar floor.

With her eyes squeezed shut, she would open them and again use the force to throw herself back onto her feet. Igniting her force saber with the anger and negative emotions welling up inside of her, she glared around at her surroundings.

Then suddenly, there he was. The man in black was standing several meters away from her. He had a pair of sabers. One of them was a saber staff, Darth Maul's. The other was a saber which wreaked of the force, as if it had been modified and heavily attuned.

Valad looked over the female Zabrak. She was dressed in a pair of trousers, held up by what looked like a cloth belt. She had a tube top covering her breasts and that was generally about it other than the boots on her feet. However despite her being alien to him, she felt incredibly familiar.

She gritted her teeth at the sight of him, not really sure of what she should do. However she was giving off a vibe of hostility and possibility of an imminent attack.

There was a miniature war waged outside, fighters from hangar facilities and even the planet surface. They didn't have any massive warships that were manned. They hadn't expected nor felt this attack.

"Surrender Rakatan Remnant," Valad stated callously, igniting his single bladed lightsaber. Revealing a permafrost saber which sent a chill down her spine.

Her eyes narrowed, the saber staff had disappeared? Her eyes gazed side to side, looking around. Had he thrown it? Her eyes centered on his form once more. She held her saber firmly in front of her, its silver blade encompassing her in its light.

"Vlad!" Vaylin rushed into the hangar and slid along on her boots as she tried to change direction as she made her way over towards Valad.

Hearing the name, the Zabrak's blade wavered slightly. Her brows creased downward as she frowned. It was yet again a familiar and rather intimate name. She drew her weapon to her side, bending her knees slightly, one behind the other.

Vaylin drew her saber pike, another blue saber.

"What's your name?" Valad asked looking at the girl who had defiantly drew what looked like a defective or unstable weapon.

"Madeleine," her upper lip twitched as she gave her name to a stranger.

Valad's eyes wandered towards the ground, the feeling for battle dwindling even though it wasn't really there in the first place. Just the will to fight a girl with this name wasn't something he could bare. Even though he had shared the feelings he had with Vaylin.

Seeing her savior falter, she pointed her weapon towards Madeleine like that of a pike master, with two hands.

"Surname?" Valad asked which made both of them raise a brow hearing this.

Vaylin looked over at him curious at his inquiry, slightly distracted.

"Wilkson."

Valad almost felt like he was going to puke blood hearing this. Was this the reason for the whole system thing giving him this direction to form an empire? He knew he wanted to make something big like a Kingdom, but this was too much.

He stared at the girl for a few moments who was now hesitating on even trying to attack him, seeing his confliction with her name. She had her own confliction, his name was Vlad.