Skirmish at Sith Training Facility

Skirmish at Sith Training Facility was a conflict that occurred during 2 ABY, after the successful quarantine and cleanup of a viral mutagenic outbreak at a secret Sith Training Facility. The battle commenced after Amaris Jade, sister of Arrow Squadron pilot Sam Usaran, discovered the Chiss identity of Usaran’s partner, Thale.

Prelude
Several months after Thale joined Arrow Squadron, Usaran discovered a message from his sister, Amaris Jade, calling for his assistance. She had used the special code to encrypt the message that they had developed when they were young, in case of emergencies. Happy to hear from her, but wary of a trap, Sam discussed the situation with his Commander, who allowed him to set out on this personal mission, but not without the help of his wingman, Thale. To allow themselves to travel in a single vehicle, they borrowed one of the Squadron’s decrepit-looking Y-wings. That particular bomber was actually a powerplant testbed and had more powerful engines than a typical Y-wing would have, greatly enhancing its speed and acceleration.

Under the guise of security, Sam had Thale wear a mask, though his real purpose was to hide Thale’s skin color from his sister. He was convinced that Thale had to be the blue-skinned woman his sister had spoke of as a teenager, but still kept the prophecy to himself, as he didn’t want to freak Thale out.

After a complicated hyperspace route to hide their world of origin, they made it to the training facility. The facility was plagued by a viral mutagenic outbreak and many people had already been killed. The contagion was created through Sith alchemy but was released when the vial containing it was accidentally dropped onto duracrete. Throughout the process of quarantine and clean-up, everyone wore protective gear covering their entire bodies, so Thale’s identity as a Chiss remained a secret.

The whole process took several weeks to complete, but at last the deadly agent was completely quarantined and disposed of. Since Sam never told Thale about the vision his sister had, and her jealous reaction to its retelling, Thale didn’t hesitate to remove her protective gear once the “all clear” was given. Though Thale’s mask was still on, Amaris looked wide-eyed at the blue legs and arms of her brother’s helper, realizing that her brother had deceived her (though Sam had only done so trying to protect both Thale and Amaris). Furious, Amaris drew and activated her red-bladed lightwhip.

The battle
Luckily for Sam and Thale, a storage bin containing cortosis blades lay nearby, as they were in the training area of the facility. Though it would’ve been easily cut through by a lightsaber, Sam’s custom Force pike was able to deflect the fleeting strikes of the lightwhip while Thale defended herself with one of the cortosis blades. Amaris commanded the other Sith trainees to stay out of the fight, as it was personal and one she would handle herself.

Sam and Thale knew they couldn’t ward off Amaris forever, so they decided to split up to confuse her. The tactic worked, as Amaris took too long to pick which opponent to pursue and as a result lost both of them. Meeting in a place they had designated early on in case of an emergency, Sam and Thale were able to come up with a plan of escape. Thale was still bewildered by Amaris’ sudden turning on them, but Sam told her he would tell her the whole story on the way home. Thale used her miniature droid, Pi, to communicate with Mara, the droid Sam had brought on this trip. Sam had a comlink that could communicate with his droids, but its range wasn’t as great as Pi’s and they needed to be sure Mara got the command to begin the startup sequence on the Y-Wing.

Sam knew that Amaris would never rest until she had killed Thale, now that she knew she definitely existed. To trick her into thinking Thale was dead, they staged a fight in front of a high-security area where they knew there would be holocams. Sam accused Thale of turning him against Amaris, and appeared to stab her with his Force pike before pushing her body into the cavern below.

However, the stabbing was just an illusion and when Thale fell, she safely landed into the open cockpit of the Y-Wing, which Mara had flown into position. Sam trotted off towards the hangar, though not before stopping by the surveillance room of the facility. Using his slicing abilities, he made it appear that the Y-Wing had stayed in the hangar, an image which would continue to loop until its second departure.

The ship made it back to the hangar two minutes before Sam, who arrived just before Amaris. Sam quickly leapt into the cockpit and began to lift off, just as Amaris reached the ship. Thale was also in the cockpit, but was bent forward so she couldn’t be seen from the outside. Even from inside the ship, Sam and Thale could hear the screams of fury and frustration as Amaris watched her brother fly out of her life forever.

Aftermath
Once they returned to base on Ord Mantell, Sam and Thale were debriefed by Commander Oolron. Sam sent a reply to his sister’s original message, encrypted in the same way, telling her to never try to contact him again. Possibly content with Thale’s supposed death, Amaris complied.

Sam did tell Thale all about his sister’s prophecy, once they had a chance to rest. Though it was an odd story, the events that transpired at the Sith Training Facility began to make more sense, now that she knew the backstory. Sam and Thale then headed out to the cantina to meet their squadmates for some much-needed R&R.