Ep. 103.5 - Sara Beckett

Sara Beckett was just a normal girl on some backwater planet in the Outer Rim. She was minding her own business in the town square, thinking about what her mother would prepare for dinner, what they will study at the academy the next day, if she could afford that new dress she saw… You know, normal things a normal girl would think of in the Star Wars universe.

Then, all of the sudden, *whoosh*, starfighters appear and start shooting at each other in the lower atmosphere of the planet. And shit was blowing up, pieces falling, the fountain got crushed, pilots were ejecting here and there… Oh, and those guys that were just appearing and disappearing while shooting down every single ship they came across…

She was way too worried about her family to actually care about what the fuck was happening, so she hurried home. Thing is, Murphy is a bitch in all universes and, as Murphy's Law states, if there's something that can be fucked up, it will be fucked up twice as hard. Maybe that was a little paraphrased, but still true.

Anyway, just as she was about to reach her modest abode, *boom*, a flaming piece of metal falls on her house, causing an explosion. Oh, shit! What will she do? Well, nothing. She just stood there with a stupid expression that was a mix of confusion, sadness, disbelief, and entertainment: how the fuck did a flaming starfighter just destroy her house, with her family inside? I mean, it must be a dream, right? Such coincidences are not normal at all.

What a shame, everything that happened was true, as evidenced by the fact that the rain of debris continued, killing many more people and destroying several properties. In the end, she failed to notice that the guys in black won and were landing for some reason, probably to pick up the ones that ejected during the battle.

She snapped out of her shocked state only when a gloved hand touched her shoulder. She turned around to see the ugliest motherfucker she'd ever seen in her life. If a ballsack suddenly grew a body and had eyes, this would be it.

"Girl, give in to the pain of losing your family. Feel the rage against those that caused it. Let loose." the guy said. She didn't even understand what, why, how, and where, but she felt something welling up inside of her and she let out a grief-riddled shriek. The fact that she was the last surviving member of her family somehow hurt her much more at that moment than in the last hour.

"Good, good. Give in. That is the Force. Join us on the Dark Side. Become strong to avenge your parents. The Dark Side can give you strength easily. And we have cookies, excellent ones from the Core planets." the alien said. What the fuck do cookies have to do with anything? Like, does that actually work? And what the fuck would 'Force' and 'Black Side' mean? No, 'Dark Side'!

"Strength? What would I ever do with 'strength'? For all I know, the pilot of that starfighter is already dead."

"Kid, I am not asking you." The alien said and started dragging her by the hair towards a spaceship.

From that point, 'Hell' was the only word suited to describe her life. Her new 'master' would teach her how to fight and use this 'Force' thing he talked about. Also, what it meant to be a Sith, how the Jedi were ugly motherfuckers that should only be eradicated, and a lot of other bullshit. At least, she was well fed and had a roof on her head. Well, not for much, since her master left her stranded in the middle of a fucking unkown planet, to her, without materials. He called it her 'test': surviving by doing anything necessary and Sith-oriented until he remembered about her.

She spent an entire year killing, stealing, threatening, and beating the population of a small village she found while exploring. After probably three months, she started feeling less guilty and actually heard voices that were pushing her to the Dark Side of the Force. And she fell, after another month of constant harassment from the disembodied voices. Her eyes started glowing orange-red and some tattoos just kinda popped out of nowhere on her arms and neck. Those weren't too bad, so she didn't mind. Actually, she felt proud to have them, for whatever reason.

Her 'master' returned after another year, and by that time, she had subjugated the entire continent she found herself on. She still felt a little conflicted, however. As the alien put it, she still hadn't fully embraced the Dark Side. He brought her to a planet called Malachor, where she had to forge her own lightsaber crystal and make it 'bleed', whatever that entails, before becoming officially Darth Marion. What a shitty name, but then again, all Sith apparently had a shitty name due to an old tradition, so everyone made due with what they got.

The day she finished her crystal, she felt a little closer to the Dark Side, a little more violent and vengeful. Her master then led her to a workshop area where she built her lightsaber hilt. She made a simple crossguard one, because some of the older Siths were apparently studying the structure of the Jedi ones to improve their own. She thought that her lightsaber would soon be switched out, so the important thing was the crystal.

A few weeks of training with this new weapon were not enough, obviously, but she was still flung in the backlines for a battle. On her side, there were about 1500-1700 Siths, while the invaders were almost 2000 Jedi and some Temple Guards. Those were, apparently, the baddest bastards you could find in the Jedi Order. She kinda wanted to see for herself what these guys were all about, so she stayed sharp. However… Out of absolutely nowhere, came this guy with a white robe and an eyepatch on his left eye. He had some snacks with him and was just levitating atop the battlefield.

Obviously, everybody stilled for a second since this guy literally just appeared and started munching on snacks as you would during a movie.

"Come on, I want to watch the show. Entertain me." he said. Sara then felt some kind of 'weight' added to me and I almost couldn't stand up. As if following his order, the frontlines started clashing. It was brutal, and revolting. She was in the backlines because she was quite good at Force Healing, so she was quite a valuable asset. Her master went towards that strange building she was told not to even look at. The alien looked at the white-robed man and smirked. All of a sudden, a pulse came from the building. Sara intuitively knew that it was some kind of weapon and that this was her end.

Fortunately, or maybe not, a barrier surrounded her and protected her from the blast. Once the explosion cleared, everyone on the battlefield was confused and the fighting stopped for a minute or two.

"I am not nearly as entertained as I should be. Continue fighting. Die for my enjoyment." said the floating guy. 'He's fucking crazy!' thought Sara, and oh, how right she was. All this bloodshed was just entertainment according to this looney.

"Who are you?!" shouted a Sith

"You red idiots gave me a moniker. 'First Ghost', I believe it was. Now, continue, or I will get rid of you myself."

'Oh… Oh, shit… HOLY FUCKING SHIT! It's that guy!' Sara thought. There was no way that anyone even remotely involved in fighting hadn't heard of the '30 Ghosts', those legends that just showed up on the battlefield, killed everything that crossed their path, collected the lightsabers, and disappeared as if they were never there. Those guys were designated as 'Don't fuck with them' targets. Well, that's paraphrasing, but the concept is correct. At that point, after her realization, she lost the will to even live: she had crossed paths with him, so she would die. 'Years of forced training with an ugly alien, just to die. Well, at least it will be at the hands of a legend…'

The white-robed man descended slowly and took out a lightsaber. And shit got real. No one had ever seen 'First Ghost's lightsaber because he apparently killed everyone with just a look. 'Him taking out his weapon means that there's no way I am leaving here alive. Oh well, guess that I will find out if there's life after death. Who knows, I might meet one of those primordial beings from that old legend…'

As expected, the man slaughtered everyone, except for her and a female Togruta Jedi. 'What is this? Are we being captured and sold as slaves? Is he some kind of pervert? Could be… The battlefield changes people…'

The man gestured to come closer, and Sara couldn't see a way out of this situation, so she moved. He first looked at the girls from top to bottom, as if assessing their worth. 'Here goes my very limited freedom. I hope that my new owner isn't a pervert, or at least a handsome man, like some fairy tale.'

"What are two children doing here?" he said. 'What? Children? My weapon! Where did it go?!' she thought to herself.

The Jedi girl answered with quite a bit of sass in her voice, to which the man responded with a… Joke? A sarcastic statement?

'Oh, shit, he's looking at me!'

"My 'master' was training me when the Jedi attacked. I just barely got my lightsaber and finished my initial training…" she said, not hiding anything. What was there to hide? Nothing, and it would probably be useless either way.

The man offered the two girls a choice: following him, or being left alone. He also made a very valid point, that the Jedi girl would never let Sara live as long as they are on the same planet. 'I can't face off against a Jedi, even a weak one… Guess I have no real choice, then.'

"I… I will follow you." she said. 'God, I sounded unsure. Will he kill me?'

"I won't. I have the Republic to defend." said the Togruta. 'Is she fucking mental?! You're talking to a monster that just killed thousands!'

"Fine, suit yourself. As for you, girly, what's your name?"

'Wait. What? He… Isn't killing her? Ah, my name.'

"Darth-"

"Real name."

"S-Sara… Beckett." Oh, how much time since she had used that name...

"Very well, Sara. Come with me, to the 30th Haven." the man said and extended a hand. 'The fuck is this? A sect or something? No, sounds more like the name of a brothel. Ah, I knew it…' She tentatively took hold of the hand, not like she had much choice at that point.

In front of her eyes, the scenery changed in an instant. She could see a beautiful beach, like the ones she used to see on the net… 'What's this? A paradise? No brothels in sight… Ah, no. Wait. Those women are wearing skimpy outfits, this must be one of those high-class places. At least I won't be mistreated, hopefully.'

The robed man changed his clothes with a snap of his fingers and went towards the women. He was wearing… Underwear? 'What is he, a gigolo? Are these '30 Ghosts' just a bunch of high-class prostitutes?'

Why the fuck does she have an obsession with brothels, slaves, and such will remain a mystery until the end of times.

A woman with iridescent bluish hair turned around and grinned.

"Dear, who is she? Did you finally resort to kidnapping?"

"Rimuru dear, you know I still have standards! She's… A war prisoner? Guest? Ugh, I dunno, I just kinda felt like taking her with me. She's Sara Beckett, theoretically a Sith."

'Tula, so that's his name. And, oh shit, he didn't kill me just to have these women do so!'

Now, Sara stiffened and got ready to be struck down due to her affiliation.

"Huh, cool. Give her a swimsuit or something. We will talk afterwards. Oh, Jaune was talking about fishing for tonight's barbecue. Might want to see what he's doing and if he wants some help." said another blonde, busty woman.

'Swimsuit? Those? What kind of perverted civilization uses those?!'

Her clothes suddenly changed to something similar to what the other women were wearing and the man created two seats. He was eyeing the scars Sara got from 'training'. 'Ugh, will he dislike them? Wait, why am I even worried about that? Oh, right. I am his prisoner, so my life literally depends on his mood.'

Like so started the days of Sara Beckett, the first and only Sith war prisoner taken by the 'First Ghost', Tula.