Chapter 8 - The Path of the Dark Side

Novus continued watching through his electrobinoculars for a strike team to land on Earth while the Sailor Scouts tried to occupy themselves with something to do. Under instructions from the Sith Warrior, Mina practiced Shii-Cho blast deflection with her lightsaber and a seeker remote that Novus had provided for her to use while Lita and Amy watched over her progress.

"Man, I'm bored..." Serena yawned.

"We know, Serena. You said that three times already..." Raye said in irritation.

"If I knew we would have to wait this long, I would have stayed home and read my comics." she moaned. Her complaining was beginning to annoy Novus as well.

"By the Force... What a whiner! Is she always like this?" he thought as he looked over at the group in annoyance.

"It's no big deal, Serena." Amy mentioned. "I'm sure we won't have to wait very long."

"I only wish I'd brought some snacks. I missed breakfast only cause you brought us out here, Mina." Serena griped.

"Hey! Don't blame me!" Mina snapped as she barely avoided a shot by the remote. "I'm only trying to master my new powers here."

"Hey, you said Novus here has a ship, didn't you? How come we can't just use it to take the fight to the pirates right now?" Lita asked.

"Oh, trust me. If I could, I would have done so already then I wouldn't have to waste my time with the rest of you little ship-rats." Novus insulted, provoking Lita, Raye, and Serena. "But unfortunately, my ship is in no condition to take me, or any of you for that matter, off this planet so I'm left with no other choice. You can thank the pirates for that."

"What's all the commotion here?" a voice said. Everyone turned to look and saw Amara and Michelle walking up to them.

"Amara! Michelle! What are you doing out here?" Lita asked.

"We thought we shouldn't miss out on this." Michelle replied. Just then, Trista came up behind Michelle with Rini by her side.

"Plus, it's better if all of us fought together to combat this new threat." Trista added.

"Rini!" Serena exclaimed. "You brought her here too?"

"I'm not missing this for the world, Serena!" Rini declared with a smirk. "Besides, I always wanted to see a spaceship."

"Oh great... They brought the pink midget too. Now, all we need is that weakling in the tuxedo, and we'll have the whole set." Novus scoffed just as Darien approached the group.

"I heard that you know!" Darien snapped at the Sith.

"And your point is?" Novus rolled his eyes which only made a vein bulge on Darien's forehead. He looked the group over and eyed Amara. "You! 'Emera', come over here." he ordered. Amara sported a distrusting look before complying and walking over to the Sith.

"It's 'Amara'." she corrected.

"Whatever, I don't care." Novus remarked before handing Amara his electrobinoculars. "Here. Make yourself useful and let me know if you see any signs of a ship."

"And why would I do that?" Amara asked in a displeased manner.

"Because I told you to. What other reason do you need?" Novus spat before heading over to the others. "Just notify me when you see something. Can you do that?"

"Jerk..." Amara remarked.

"Schutta..." the young Sith remarked back. He made his way over to Mina who was still practicing blast deflection but was having some trouble. She wasn't able to deflect many blaster bolts and more so dodged most of them.

"What are you doing?" Novus asked.

"Uh... I'm training." Mina answered as she deflected a bolt.

"I can see that. You're going about it all wrong." Novus stated, making the blonde look at him with confusion.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"You're too concerned about being hit, and it's making you tense. Remember, a Force-Sensitive can feel the Force flowing through them, allowing it to guide them in various situations." the Sith said, folding his arms behind his back.

"You mean it can control you and your actions!?" Serena and Rini asked incredulously.

"Not in the sense that the two of you may be thinking, but it does obey one's command." Novus clarified. Just then, the seeker remote fired two shots almost simultaneously at Mina. She avoided the first shot be the second hit her on her left arm.

"OW!" she cried out in pain while some of the others laughed.

"Is your little exercise becoming too much for you, Mina?" Raye teased.

"Shut up! I'm doing the best I can!" Mina snapped.

"Haha! It looks like your best is being outdone then." Lita laughed as did everyone else. A look of anger appeared on Mina's face which Novus quickly took notice of. It seemed that verbal taunts stoked the blonde's fire within her and this presented an opportunity to exploit.

"Hmph... I advise you to try again, Mina." Novus reached for Mina's red bow and untied it from her hair. "But this time, I want you to let go of your conscious self and let your passions guide you." he instructed as he blindfolded his student.

"Wha-? But- but with my bow over my eyes, I can't see. How do you expect me to fight?" Mina questioned.

"I expect you to trust in the Dark Side of the Force. Not your eyes." Novus answered firmly. Everyone paid close attention to what was going on. They were starting to fear what the Sith Warrior was beginning to teach their friend, especially Serena.

Mina decided to try the exercise again and unsheathed her lightsaber. The seeker remote once more began making quick short movements around the area and firing shots at Mina. Now blindfolded, it was near impossible to anticipate the incoming bolts.

"Mina! Stop trying to deflect the shots by prediction!" Novus shouted sternly. "Think back! Think back to when your friends just now mocked you for your inability to succeed. Remember the emotions that ran through you when you first fought against me. Let that fuel your passions! Through passion, you gain strength!"

As the words sank into her mind, Mina's anger began to grow. All the emotions she had felt during her first duel with Novus up to being teased by her friends stirred within her. Tapping into the Dark Side and allowing it to sharpen her focus, Mina gnashed her teeth and held her blade tightly. The remote continued making quick paces around her until it began firing random shots.

But instead of missing or being hit, Mina batted away the shot. Everyone gasped while Novus gave a pleased smirk. The remote fired several more shots, but Mina continued deflecting every single blaster bolt. She even managed to redirect a shot back at the droid which disabled it.

This left everyone at a loss for words while Novus was delighted with the blonde's performance. "You see? You can do it." he said as Mina removed her bow over her eyes.

"Wow!" Serena and Darien exclaimed.

"Amazing!" Amy agreed.

"How did she-?" Trista and Michelle wondered aloud. Mina too was equally surprised at her accomplishment but elated as well.

"Yes!" she cheered. "Strange though... I feel different for some reason-"

"Hey, Novus!" Amara called. "I think I got something."

"What do you see?" Novus asked as he made his way over to her. Amara handed over the electrobinoculars to him; he looked through to see a small ship landing not far from their location.

"They're here..." he sneered. "Everyone get ready! We are moving out!"

Everybody gathered their things and followed behind the Sith as they made their way to their destination. The dropship landed, and a group of pirates consisting of a few twi'leks, grans, zabraks, and humans made their way down the loading ramp to investigate the area. Novus and the Scouts crept toward the trees and bushes and took over.

"How are we gonna get past them?" Sailor Mars whispered.

"We could all take them by surprise." Sailor Mercury quietly suggested.

"I don't know about that." Sailor Moon mentioned.

"We have to do something, guys." Sailor Jupiter urged. "Let's move in and take them out."

"Be careful!" Novus quietly warned them. "None of you are familiar with blasters and have no armor. If you get hit, you're done."

"Aww, so you do care about us." Jupiter teased, provoking the Sith Warrior to give a sour look at her before turning his attention to his apprentice.

"Mina... Remember your training and what I've taught you." he advised. Mina looked at her master then held her lightsaber in her hands and remembered the words Novus said earlier.

"Through passion, I gain strength." she thought.

As the group of pirates came closer to their position, Novus drew his lightsaber as did Mina and they charged out to attack with the rest of the Scouts behind them.

"Open fire!" one of the zabrak pirates yelled as they fired their blasters.

"Jupiter Supreme Thunder Crash!" Sailor Jupiter shocked her enemies with torrents of lightning

Darth Novus defended his team and batted away the shots with Sailor Venus doing the same. Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter lashed out a few of the pirates with a tag team strike.

"Mars Celestial Fire Surround!"

"Supreme Thunder Dragon!"

The attack managed to subdue a few of the pirates, but one of them fired a blaster shot and managed to hit Sailor Neptune's leg, making her cry out in pain.

"Neptune!" Sailor Uranus shouted.

"I'm okay..!" she responded. Darth Novus took notice and grunted in frustration. He redirected a few of the bolts back at the pirates, including the one that shot Neptune. Thanks to her Shii-Cho practicing, Venus managed to slay a few attackers.

"Venus Crescent Beam!"

She began combining her traditional attacks in sequence with her saber swings for a more efficient offense. The fight continued onward until finally the strike team had been subdued. Sailor Moon tended to Neptune's injured leg and healed it with her magic.

"Thank you, Sailor Moon." Neptune smiled.

"No problem. I'm just glad that's over..." Sailor Moon sighed.

"Me too." Sailor Jupiter replied.

"Novus!" Sailor Pluto called the Sith Warrior over and revealed to the group one twi'lek pirate had survived the skirmish. "Look's like we have a survivor."

"What is he?" Sailor Mercury asked curiously.

"I've never seen an alien like him before." Sailor Venus said.

"He's a Twi'lek..." Novus explained. He stepped over toward the prisoner and menacingly looked down at him. "Who are you working for?" he asked the alien.

"You can not understand anything I'm saying, and even if you could, I still wouldn't tell you anything, Sith scum!" the Twi'lek answered in his native tongue. This made the Sailor Scouts look on in confusion.

"Uh... What did he just say?" Sailor Moon sweatdropped.

"No clue." Sailor Mini-Moon said in the same manner. Novus looked at the Twi'lek in anger while narrowing his eyes.

"I can... and you will answer me." he replied in the alien's language. The young Sith picked up the pirate with the Force and strangled him into submission.

"Tell me who your boss is!" he demanded.

"I won't talk! Do your worst!" the Twi'lek retorted as he struggled with his breath.

"Wrong answer." Novus tightened his grip further on the alien. Sailor Mercury shielded Mini Moon from the scene as the torment continued. The Scouts were beginning to feel uneasy until Sailor Venus intervened.

"Novus, why don't you let me try?" she asked, making all the Scouts gasped. Novus looked over at her for a minute before releasing the Twi'lek.

"Very well... but make haste." he responded, crossing his arms. Venus nodded and knelt down next to the alien and gave a gentle smile. "I know you don't want to get hurt or worse. Please, just tell us what we want to know, and I promise I'll convince my master to let you go. Please?" she offered.

The Twi'lek looked at the blonde for a moment and realized that this one was different. He didn't want to die, and she was offering an easy way out. He nodded his head and agreed to comply.

"Alright, I will tell you everything. My boss is a powerful Sith Lord. He and his apprentice had promised us riches if we swore loyalty to him and followed his plan. We agreed, and since then we have been in service to them as a gang." he revealed.

"Another Sith Lord?" Darth Novus said in surprise. "Who is he?"

"I don't know. None of us know his true name. We call him "The Leader" within our group. Only the apprentice knows his true identity."

"I see... Then I guess we will pay them a visit then." the Sith mused.

"So am I free to go? Like we agreed?" the Twi'lek asked.

"He gave you what you wanted to know, and we did agree to let him go." Tuxedo Mask reminded.

"Yeah." Sailor Moon agreed. "We should hold up our end of the deal."

"She's right! C'mon, Novus!" Jupiter protested.

"Novus... Please?" Mina pleaded with her master. Novus looked at the group for a moment then looked at the Twi'lek before giving out a disgusted snarl.

"Rrr! Fine! You're free to leave. Get out of her before I change my mind." he said. The alien immediately smiled and nodded as he took off running away from the scene. Venus smiled cheerfully as did the rest of the Sailor Scouts.

"I didn't think he had it in him." Uranus whispered to Neptune and Pluto cheekily which made them giggle.

"You say something!?" Novus shouted to which Uranus smirked, making the others laugh.

"Oh, don't be so sensitive." Mars teased. "We're just saying that you're capable of feeling is all." This only annoyed the Sith even further.

"Just get on the damn ship, or I'm leaving without you all!" he snapped. The grouped continued laughing at him as they boarded the ship. Venus looked at her master and was glad to see that he was capable of restraint. Murder was not always a necessity.

"Um... Novus?" Venus said.

"What is it?" the Sith asked.

"Thank you." she said.

"For what?" he asked in confusion.

"Nothing. Just thank you." the blonde replied as she stepped on the ship. Novus couldn't help but feel something strange about his student; as if she was trying to change something about him. He rolled his eyes and brushed the thought aside and boarded the vessel.

Chapter End

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