How I Fell For a Sith (Star Wars)

Chapter 16: Better Dead than Read

The datapad trembles in Vae’s grip, her crimson knuckles whitening as yellow rage blazes from her eyes. It’s like watching a supernova form—beautiful, terrifying, and potentially fatal to anyone in its blast radius.

“Read it out loud, husband,” she commands, each word a razor sliding between my ribs.

My throat tightens as she thrusts the datapad at me. The message from Tinos glows innocently on the screen, completely unaware it’s just triggered a thermonuclear event in my ship’s common area.

“Vae, maybe we should…”

“READ IT!” The bulkhead behind me dents with a metallic groan as an invisible force pressure radiates from her trembling form.

I take the datapad with unsteady hands, scanning Tinos’s message quickly before clearing my throat. Better to get this over with before Vae tears the ship apart.

“Hey, Rax,” I begin, trying to keep my voice steady. “I did it. Knight at last. Remember when we used to play Jedi and smugglers in the fields behind your house? Guess which role I ended up with.”

Vae’s lips curl back in a snarl, exposing teeth that suddenly look much sharper than I remember. I swallow hard and continue.

“I’ve kept my promise. Twelve years of training, and I finally have permission to maintain personal correspondence without oversight. The Council believes I’ve mastered non-attachment.”

A low, dangerous laugh escapes Vae. “Non-attachment,” she hisses, the words dripping with contempt. “Continue.”

“The Council has tasked me with a diplomatic mission to Hutt space next month. Apparently, certain trade negotiations between the Republic and Hutt cartels require a ‘delicate touch.’ Their words, not mine.”

I pause, already knowing the next part will be the true detonator. Vae’s eyes narrow, sensing my hesitation.

“I’m allowed to assemble a small security detail for the journey, independent contractors, not Republic forces. Politics, you understand.” I take a deep breath before finishing. “Your name was the first that came to mind. The Council wouldn’t question hiring a bounty hunter in training, and I’d feel safer knowing you were there.”

The silence that follows is absolute. Even Four Twenty, who seems pathologically incapable of shutting up, remains perfectly still, her visor dimmed as if trying to become invisible.

Then, like a volcano finally erupting, Vae explodes.

“A JEDI?!” she roars, surging to her feet. The furniture around us begins to vibrate, small objects lifting into the air as her rage manifests through the Force. “DARES TO TRY TO TAKE WHAT’S RIGHTFULLY MINE.”

My heart pounds against my ribs like it’s trying to escape. The datapad slips from my sweaty fingers and clatters to the floor as items around us continue to float. The pressure in the cabin feels like we’re deep underwater, the Force so thick I can barely breathe.

“Vae, listen,” I stammer, panic rising in my throat. “I haven’t hidden anything from you. I haven’t even talked to Tinos in four years! It’s like you said, the past is dead, right?”

The ship’s metal groans around us. A warning light flashes on the control panel as systems strain under the invisible pressure of her rage. Four Twenty retreats to a corner, her visor dimmed to its lowest setting.

I feel like the ship might actually implode. Vae’s fury is a living thing, coiling around us, squeezing tighter with each passing second. Her yellow eyes burn with such intensity I almost can’t look at them.

But instead of backing away, I step forward.

“Vae,” I whisper, my voice shaking. I throw my arms around her rigid form, pulling her against me in a desperate embrace. “You know I’m not lying. You can feel it, can’t you? So who cares about some stupid Jedi?”

I hold her tighter, my face pressed against her neck. “I’m yours, remember? Only yours.”

Her body remains tense in my arms, but I don’t let go. I can feel her reading me through the Force, probing the truth of my words. When I finally pull back enough to meet her gaze, those burning yellow eyes bore into mine. I know she can see how terrified I am, and how I chose to hold her anyway.

Something shifts in her expression. The pressure in the cabin gradually eases as objects around us settle back to their original positions. She exhales slowly, her shoulders dropping as the rage drains from her body.

“When you’re so obedient,” she whispers, her eyes fading back to their natural red, “it’s hard to stay mad at you, Ty-Lar.”

Her arms wrap around me, returning the embrace with that supernatural strength of hers. The relief is so overwhelming I nearly collapse against her.

“Good,” I mumble into her shoulder. “Because I think you were about to tear a hole in our hull.”

She laughs softly, her breath warm against my ear. One hand slides up to cradle the back of my head, fingers threading through my hair with surprising gentleness.

“I would have protected you,” she says, as if the idea of us being sucked into the vacuum of space is a minor inconvenience.

I exhale deeply, my heart rate finally slowing down to something resembling normal. Four Twenty’s visor flickers back to full brightness as the immediate danger passes, but she wisely remains in her corner.

“Vae,” I say, pulling back slightly to look at her face, “what’s our end game here?”

Her brow furrows, those crimson features scrunching in confusion. “End game?”

“Yeah, like...” I gesture vaguely around the ship, “our goal. What are we doing all this for? The bounties, the credits, what do we need the money for?”

Her expression clears, replaced by that confident certainty I’ve come to rely on. “We need a new ship,” she explains, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “This one is barely holding together. And you need better armor, more advanced weapons.” She ticks each item off on her fingers. “With those improvements, we can take higher-paying bounties, which means more credits, which means…”

“No, Vae,” I interrupt, shaking my head. “I’m asking why. What’s the point of all this?”

She blinks, genuinely puzzled. “Why what?”

“This cycle we’re in.” I run a hand through my hair, struggling to articulate the question that’s been nagging at me since Diyu. “Get credits to get better gear to get more credits... what’s it all for?”

Her expression softens, and she cups my face between her warm palms. “To keep you safe, of course.”

I place my hands over hers, holding them against my cheeks. “But wouldn’t it be safer if we just... fucked off to some resort planet? Retired early and lived every day like it was a vacation?”

For a moment, she looks completely blindsided, like the thought has never once crossed her mind. Her lips part slightly, but no words come out.

“I mean,” I continue, warming to the idea, “we could find some peaceful world where nobody knows us. No bounties, no Sith hunters, no constant looking over our shoulders. Just us, living our lives.”

Vae’s expression darkens, her crimson features hardening into something more resolute. She pulls away from me, her eyes scanning the ship’s interior as if checking for unseen threats.

“We can’t do that,” she says firmly. “Not yet.”

“Why not? We’ve got credits. No one’s tracking us that we know of.”

“That’s exactly it, Ty-Lar,” she cuts me off, her voice dropping to that dangerous purr that always makes my spine tingle. “That we know of.”

She paces the small common area, her movements fluid and predatory. Four Twenty wisely remains motionless in her corner.

“I’ve seen many visions over the years,” Vae continues, her fingers trailing along the bulkhead. “Our adventures together are just beginning.” She turns to face me, those crimson eyes intense with conviction. “It’s only a matter of time before Lyra Vess tracks us down. Or one of Master Nohr’s other apprentices.”

My stomach sinks. “So what’s your solution? Keep bounty hunting forever?”

“We have to kill them all,” she states, her tone matter-of-fact, as if discussing the weather rather than multiple assassinations. “As long as I’m alive, Nohr isn’t going to just let me go. And Vess...” Her lip curls in disgust. “She’ll want to finish what she started.”

I sink back onto the couch, the weight of her words pressing down on me. This isn’t the answer I wanted. Not even close.

Vae’s expression softens slightly as she notices my disappointment. She sits beside me, taking my hands in hers. “Someday,” she sighs, her thumb tracing circles on my palm, “we can retire on any planet you like. I promise you that, Ty-Lar.”

Her eyes meet mine, and for a moment I glimpse something vulnerable beneath her usual confidence, a longing that matches my own.

“But until then,” she adds, her grip tightening just enough to emphasize her point, “we have to play by my rules. Only my rules will keep us alive.”

I nod slowly, not trusting myself to speak. What can I say? She’s probably right. In this galaxy of Sith and Jedi and bounty hunters, her paranoia is probably justified. But the thought of endlessly looking over our shoulders, of never finding peace, settles like a stone in my gut.

“So what about Tinos’s message?” I ask finally. “Do we just ignore it?”

Vae’s eyes flash dangerously. “Absolutely. No contact with the Jedi.”