How I Fell For a Sith (Star Wars)

Chapter 20: House Party

The night air of Poytta tastes like manufactured perfection, too clean, too processed, like someone's idea of what fresh air should be rather than the real thing. We move through shadows between street lamps that cast pools of soft blue light across immaculate lawns. This suburban neighborhood feels surreal after weeks of grimy space stations and backwater outposts.

"This doesn't feel right," I whisper to Vae as we creep along a manicured hedge line. "It's so... normal."

The rounded permacrete houses line the curved street in tidy rows, their tan exteriors gleaming faintly in the moonlight. Speeders sit parked in driveways, sleek models that speak of comfortable middle-class living rather than the desperate survival we usually encounter.

Vae moves beside me like a shadow given form, her black robes blending into the darkness between streetlights. "Focus on the mission," she murmurs, her crimson features hidden beneath her hood.

We pause at the intersection of two winding streets, and I take in the scene, green lawns, ornamental trees, clean sidewalks that glow faintly with embedded lighting. It's like we've stumbled into some bizarre pocket dimension of domestic tranquility.

"Do planets often look like this?" I whisper, gesturing at the suburban paradise surrounding us.

"Sometimes," Vae answers simply, her attention already fixed on our target, the third house down on the right, its windows dark and silent.

We cross the street quickly, keeping to the deepest shadows. My armor feels uncomfortably loud in this quiet neighborhood, each subtle creak magnified by the stillness. Four Twenty waits for us at the corner, her white frame somehow managing to blend with the shadows despite its color.

"Security systems detected," the droid whispers as we approach. "Standard residential package. Nothing I can't handle."

We slip through a gap between houses, cutting across a backyard so pristine it feels artificial. Soft grass cushions our footsteps as we approach the rear of our target's home. A small garden of alien plants I don't recognize borders a modest patio.

Four Twenty extends a slender mechanical arm toward the door panel. "This will take approximately forty-seven seconds," she announces, her voice modulator mercifully lowered to a whisper.

While she works, I scan the surrounding houses for signs of activity. Nothing. The entire neighborhood sleeps, blissfully unaware of the death we're bringing to their community.

"Why does someone living here have a bounty on them?" I ask, keeping my voice low. "This doesn't exactly seem like criminal territory."

Vae shrugs, her robes rippling with the movement. "Who cares? It pays well."

I nod, swallowing the discomfort rising in my throat. Money doesn't erase the wrongness of this, but I've learned to keep certain thoughts to myself.

"Same as last time," she whispers, crimson eyes glinting beneath her hood. "I'll grab him, you shoot. Quick and clean."

I nod again, my hand moving to rest on my blaster.

The door slides open with a soft hiss as Four Twenty's slicing program overrides the lock. We creep inside, moving through the darkened kitchen with practiced stealth. The home smells of cooking spices and some kind of floral cleaning product, mundane scents that make this feel even more wrong.

We reach the bedroom doorway, and I pause for a heartbeat, my conscience screaming one last protest before being silenced by practicality. Vae doesn't hesitate, gliding forward like death itself.

The man in the large bed stirs as we enter, perhaps sensing our presence even in sleep. His eyes flutter open, confusion clouding his features.

"Huh? Who's…"

His words cut off as Vae's hand extends, her power seizing him. His body rises from the bed, suspended in midair, limbs frozen by her invisible grip. The covers beside him suddenly fly back, revealing a woman who seems to have been sleeping peacefully moments before.

Vae reacts instantly, her other hand shooting out. The woman rises too, her nightgown billowing around her as she's lifted without resistance, her mouth opening in a silent scream of terror.

"Please!" the man cries, his voice cracking with desperation as he struggles uselessly against Vae's hold. "Not my wife! She doesn't know anything! Please, just let my wife go!"

I stare at the woman hovering in Vae's invisible grip, her eyes wide with terror. The reality of what's happening crashes down on me. I've accepted killing the target, I've done it before, but his wife? She's just collateral damage, a truly innocent bystander whose only crime was sleeping beside him.

My stomach twists as I imagine what they must be feeling. One moment, peacefully asleep in their suburban home, the next watching masked intruders invade their bedroom. How would I feel if someone burst in while Vae and I were sleeping, if I had to watch someone kill her while I floated helplessly?

"Ty-Lar, shoot them. Come on," Vae says, impatience edging her voice.

I draw my blaster, my hand suddenly heavy. The husband's eyes lock with mine, pleading, desperate. I can see the love for his wife in them, the pure terror not for himself but for her.

"I'm so sorry," I whisper, the words utterly inadequate.

I squeeze the trigger. The blaster bolt catches him square in the chest. His body jerks violently, then goes still, suspended for a moment before Vae releases her grip and lets him crumple to the floor.

The wife's scream is silent, trapped in her throat by Vae's Force hold, but her face contorts with anguish as she stares at her husband's lifeless form. Tears stream down her cheeks, her eyes reflecting a pain so raw it cuts straight through me.

"One more, Ty-Lar," Vae says, her tone matter-of-fact.

I lower my blaster slightly. "Can't we just…"

"No," Vae cuts me off sharply. "There is no way we're letting her go, especially after the last time."

The memory flashes through my mind, the woman on Diyu pretending to be pregnant, the thermal detonators strapped to her belly, the explosion that nearly killed us both. My compassion almost got Vae killed then. I can't make the same mistake again.

I blink away the tears forming in my eyes and raise my blaster. The woman's gaze meets mine, no longer just afraid but broken, devastated by what she's witnessed. I take a deep breath, steel myself against the guilt threatening to overwhelm me, and pull the trigger.

The shot echoes in the quiet bedroom. Vae releases her hold, and the woman's body falls beside her husband's. The silence that follows feels absolute, crushing.

"Good job," Vae says, moving to check the bodies. "Clean shots, both of them."

I holster my weapon mechanically, my hand trembling slightly. Four Twenty appears in the doorway, her visor pulsing softly.

"Subjects terminated. Recommended departure time: immediately," the droid states flatly.

"Do we need to take his head?" I ask, my voice sounding hollow and distant to my own ears. I can't tear my gaze from the two bodies on the floor, the way their hands fell just inches from touching.

Vae walks over to the man's corpse. She crouches beside him, examining his features with clinical detachment.

"Nope," she decides, pulling a vibroblade from within her robes. "A thumb will do this time."

The blade hums to life with a soft, menacing buzz. With practiced precision, she positions it over the man's right hand, then slices through flesh and bone in one swift motion. The thumb separates cleanly.

"Four Twenty," Vae calls, tossing the severed digit across the room. "Hold onto that for us."

The droid catches it with surprising dexterity, her mechanical fingers closing around the grisly trophy. "Storing biological sample," she confirms, opening a small compartment in her chassis.

My eyes falls on a framed holo-image on the bedside table, the couple we just murdered, smiling on what looks like a beach somewhere, arms around each other, happier times frozen forever.

"Let's get out of here," I mutter, already moving toward the door. I need air, need to escape this home we've just shattered.

We're barely out the back door when Vae catches me by the arm, spinning me around. Her arms encircle me in a fierce embrace, pulling me tight against her robed form.

"You did so well in there," she whispers, her voice warm with pride.

I stiffen in her embrace, my mind still trapped in that bedroom with the couple whose lives we just ended.

"Can we save this for the ship?" I mutter, trying to pull away. "We need to get out of here."

Instead of releasing me, Vae cups my face with one hand and pulls me into a kiss. Her lips move against mine with hungry intensity, like she's feeding off the death we just caused. I remain unresponsive, my body going through the motions while my mind recoils.

When she breaks the kiss, her crimson fingers remain on my jaw, forcing my gaze to meet hers.

"Look at me," she commands softly.

I do as she asks, staring into those scarlet eyes that seem to glow in the darkness. What I see there makes my stomach clench, desire, raw and primal. The kill has aroused her. I recognize that predatory gleam, the slight dilation of her pupils, the quickened breath. She looks ready to take me right here on this stranger's lawn, surrounded by the perfect suburban silence we've just violated.

"Don't forget," she purrs, her thumb tracing my lower lip. "When we get back to the ship, I told you I’d take care of you, remember?"

The thought of sex after what we just did turns my stomach. How can she want that now? How can she think I would?

"I'm not sure I'll be in the mood," I reply, my voice harder than intended.

Her expression shifts instantly, warmth bleeding away like color from a dying star. Those scarlet eyes narrow, her jaw tightening as she gives me a stare cold enough to freeze blood.

"We'll see.”

Poytta: