MEMORIES

Leena didn't back down, even when the name of her mother was mentioned. Jaesa grew confused, having her gaze to the man then towards her Master – looking for confirmation on who Lord Zylas Sern was. Her Master's expression didn't soften by the mention of Zylas's name, the apprentice could feel the painful swirl of hatred inside of her.

"Leave. Now." The demand in her tone was rather menacing. At least towards the apprentice.

Ares on the other hand, couldn't help but chuckle in amusement. "You have the temper of your father, I see. I do hope that the Captain—I mean, Moff Zabro hasn't been too much for you."

"Don't you dare speak ill about my father."

"Trust me, my Lord. I have more respect for your father more than you can ever imagine." The moment Ares took a step forward, the deeper Leena's heels dig deep through the soil with her lightsaber up and her free hand ready to draw the other one. But he didn't stop there, he kept walking forward without the fear of being sliced in half by the daughter. "Do you know who is the real power behind the Imperial Military? Your father, Moff Zabro. A man who united the other Moffs in fear of him. Dark Lords who have a higher standing than we respected him – they knew that he was no fool."

There was something in those eyes of his. She couldn't truly read him. Jaesa on the other hand could only sense the danger in him. There was nothing pure or good inside of him. His aura screams of the dark side of the Force and nothing more.

His early gentle smile turned to a smirk as he came closer, and close to the Sith Lord. Leena was about to grab her other lightsaber but Ares's hand stopped her, catching her wrist rather tightly. The young Sith Lord swung her lightsaber towards him, aiming to decapitate him but he was faster than she anticipated. He lifted his arm, commanding the Force as her hand froze, and later on – her whole body followed.

"Master!" Jaesa called out to her, the young apprentice ignited her lightsaber and was about to charge. But with one look, Ares made her stop, she froze like her Master.

He had this satisfied smirk right across his lips. "Such a lovely apprentice, Lord Sern. A Jedi who blindly believes in a non-existing balance between the Force." He turned his wicked face towards the Master who had her eyes widen, filled with the fear of her imagination of what he could be thinking, what he could do to her apprentice. "You look like Zylas. But you act like Erhart."

Ares had his hold on the two with the command of the Force. He turned and slowly walked towards the apprentice, he could feel it through the Force, the trembling fear inside of Jaesa Wilsaam. The fear inside of her Master who struggled to be freed, wanting to break through her shackles – not wanting to see another life die because of her. The trauma began to return, the feeling of fear and tension – she couldn't move. Her eyes were suddenly filled with tears, having images flashed before her eyes.

Images of the slaughter of those who were important to her, displayed right in front of her as they slowly leave the living. 'Please.'

"The more people you love, the weaker you are," Ares spoke as he ignited his lightsaber, standing behind the apprentice with his hand touching her neck. The fear was growing inside. A feeling that satisfied him.

'Leave her alone.'

"Act the fool to keep them safe and even happy," He said as he pushed the girl's chin slightly up. "And here I thought you would be smarter than that. Let me relieve you of your burden."

'Don't!' Leena wanted to shout but no words came out. But as if her plea was answered by the Force, Ares didn't lift his lightsaber as they heard someone cleared their throat.

And another voice emerged from the dark. "Lord Terra, I would advise you to leave the girl alone."

He turned off his lightsaber with a wide smirk. As if he was anticipating such a moment, something he found exciting – a thrill that he had been looking forward to. The Sith Lord took a couple of steps back from the apprentice, from the moment he turned around with a greeting smile, both Leena and her apprentice were released from the grasps from the hold Ares had on them with the Force.

"Ah! Erhart!" Ares greeted happily with his arms wide open. "It's good to see you again after all these decades—"

The Moff raised his hand in front of the Sith Lord. Ares stopped, but the smile was still there and present. Zabro had Imperial soldiers behind him, guarding him against the threat that surrounds them. He was a man of importance and yet here was there, in an open field – could be shot dead at any moment.

"Oh, Erhart…" Ares chuckled as he began to walk towards the Moff and gently placed his hand onto his shoulder. The Moff narrowed down his eyes on the Sith, the men around them watching the tension surrounding them. It was not often that Moff Zabro would go face-to-face with a Sith Lord who could slice him open on the spot. "…relax for a moment. We are all comrades here."

"As Zylas's apprentice, you were perfectly aware of her instructions."

"Oh, I was perfectly aware of the legacy that should have been mine, until those runts where born."

"Those runts are my children." He warned. His men had his eyes on him and then the Sith Lord in front of him. Moff Zabro didn't seem to care about Sith politics at all. "And the children of your Master."

Ares chuckled as he turned around to face the current Lord Sern who seemed protective of her apprentice. She stood tall in front of Jaesa with a lightsaber at hand. Narrowing her grey eyes at him as if he was an enemy that needed to be eradicated on the next moment. "My Master's child indeed."

When the Sith turned back to Zabro, his smile didn't waver even at the sight of a blaster right in front of his face. The Moff had serious business on Taris by the request of Darth Baras and yet, he wondered why a Sith who exiled himself from the Empire would be on a planet like Taris. "Remember the last time you taunted me, my Lord?"

He chuckled. "Oh, trust me, Moff Zabro." Ares folded his sleeves up to the shoulder for a moment with that smirk still on his lips. "I have a whole arm as a reminder."

"Blood of my blood." Zabro still had his blaster pointed at the Sith Lord. Such defiance wasn't allowed for an Imperial soldier to do such a thing toward a Sith and yet, he did. Without second thoughts, without any doubts – it was easy to see why Dark Lords would find him so useful compared to the other Moffs of the Empire.

"Temper Erhart," Ares said calmly as he gently placed down the blaster with his finger. Having eye contact with those familiar emerald eyes. "Temper. As my late Master would preach. Well then, I will leave you to your… reunion. I will see you soon, Lord Sern."

When the Sith Lord walked away, Zabro hid his blaster and signaled his men to leave them alone. A respected man of his stature was no easy fret. He could have been dead if Ares wasn't so playful. Dark Lords such as Marr or Vengean would have sliced him down without hesitation and yet he dared.

When they were left alone, the Sith Lord spoke. "It's not every day you find Moffs out with only a few guards at his disposal. What brings you out here, Moff Zabro?"

Zabro bowed in respect, knowing his place in front of the apprentice of Lord Baras. The Imperial Military was the backbone of Imperial society and the Empire itself, as Imperial culture and society had been highly militarized since the Empire's early years on Dromand Kaas – he dared to take his chances on Lord Ares Terra because of their shared history.

Lord Leena Sern on the other hand, was unaware of this young woman was still his daughter. Or has ceased to be his child from the moment she was named apprentice or Sith. "I was on my way to meet with Moff Hurdenn at the base. Until I heard that Lord Terra… has made an appearance after his longtime self-exile here on Taris of all planets."

"You don't like accommodating lunatics."

"Hurdenn is not a lunatic, Broysc is." Zabro corrected. "We must continue to the base. We shall talk after we finish the mission here on Taris, my Lord."

"As you were." Excusing himself, his men followed suit. Jaesa stood by her Master as she watched the Moff vanish into the dark.

She felt the loneliness inside of her Master. Though her eyes seemed cold in the distance, there was no mistake – this was a reunion the Sith Lord waited for years. The feelings the apprentice managed to sense from her Master were no problem towards the task at hand once they set off before the sun went up. Leena wore her helmet as she danced around with her lightsaber at ease, cutting down Republic men as well as armed droids that would stand in her way.

Jaesa didn't say a word after their encounter with Ares and Moff Zabro. A part of her knew that Leena would brush it off, telling her to focus on what was needed for the task at hand. And the other half said that her Master would trust her enough for it, but now is not the right time. There were so many questions she wanted to ask.

Who was Zylas Sern? What was she like? That man that attacked them, what did he want? What was he to her Master?

Vette would tell her stories of their adventure when they were on Korriban and Dromand Kaas. Their problematic situation back on Nar Shaddaa, Alderaan and Tatooine. Quinn would correct the Twi'lek if she said something inaccurate or overly exaggerated. But none of them mentioned Leena's relatives, no mention of her mother, her father, or if she even had siblings. She took her Master's lessons very seriously, from lightsaber combat to the philosophies of the Force and the Sith Code.

But there was nothing personal there. It was a strict Master-Apprentice relationship, Jaesa wanted to form a friendship with her Master and perhaps even a sisterhood that was similar to her and Vette.

As Leena was on the holocom with Pierce, Jaesa unconsciously touched her neck. Remembering how she was almost dead and her Master was rather powerless on the situation, but she felt it. The pure fear. There was no boast of confidence or even the assurance she once senses in her Master, it was fear.

'Was she always like this?' Jaesa wondered to herself. She once saw a confident and strong individual within her Master, was it all a façade? A mere trick of manipulation so she could go against the Jedi? Master Karr? 'She's not like that.'

The young apprentice refused to believe in the delusion that her Master would manipulate her for her powers. To see the true nature of ones' enemies was a rare gift from the Force, it was only natural that there would be people who were willing to murder her for it but her Master gave her a choice. A chance that even Master Karr couldn't grant her. She always felt limited with the Jedi but could not express her concerns.

Patience. They would council. Ironically, Leena would sometimes preach patience to her.

When they arrived at the coordinates the Lieutenant sent, she watched her Master dismantling the droids that stood in their way. The mission was to eliminate the War Trust, the first one to fall was a General named Frellka. It was difficult to go against the Republic like this, but she knew that standing by her Master was the right choice for her.

Leena would leave the miners alone which made the apprentice wonder even more, what her Master would think about from time to time, what were the thoughts in her mind. The Republic was her enemy, she hated them for reasons unknown to the apprentice. But she spared the innocent, people who had nothing to do with the war between the Republic and the Empire.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You got all the soldiers. We ain't fighters, just miners. Contracted miners at that." One of the men spoke, hoping to reason with the Sith to let him and his men live.

Jaesa carefully watched her Master. "Where is General Frellka?"

"He's the overseer, but he ain't exactly hands-on – hasn't been by in weeks. You gonna kill him?"

"Yes." Jaesa couldn't help but be confused about such a direct answer. "You have a problem with that?"

"Hm, not really. Every job ends at some point. The Republic doesn't pay me enough to get in your way, believe me. If I hit the silent alarm, Frellka'll come with his guard. If that's really what you want. I can bring him here."

"If I wanted you dead, you would be." Jaesa could sense the truth in her Master's words. Sometimes it was hard to believe that Leena Sern was truly Sith.

"I'm gonna trust you on that." He gestured to his man to press the silent alarm and they did. "There, it's done. The general's been summoned. Now, please, just let us leave."

"Get out of here." Jaesa Wilsaam approves.

"Pack it up, boys! Job's over!"

The apprentice walked towards her Master, having this small smile upon her lips. As pleased as she was, her Master still stood as a mystery for her. As the workers left, Leena sighed as she turned to her young apprentice – her innocent young apprentice who deserved more than what she, the Master was giving her.

The silence of the mine was a sheer, solid reminder of the cold loneliness she felt when she was around Jaesa's age. Leena knew she wasn't ready, but no one ever is. No one gets to choose their time.

'Death is what gives life meaning.' She heard it again. The voice of her late husband, her mentor, her friend. 'Time is always short, but you have given me a wonderful life.'

She wondered if it was a voice from the Force or it was a memory in her mind. That's how stories go, forgetting, or being forgotten. If they forget where they've been and what they have done, they're not people anymore – just beast. Because memories don't come from recorded data, stories aren't just stories.

'Next time we see each other, we'll talk about your mother. I promise.' She remembered what Zabro told her all those years ago. Back when she was nothing more than a little girl. Right now there is sorrow, pain but deep down Leena knew that she didn't want to just survive in a galaxy that didn't want her.

She wanted to truly live. But how can she, when she's in the middle of an endless war between the Sith and the Jedi? She could never be safe, there is no such thing as peace for people like her and she came in terms with it.