A Different Scent

Posted on Thu Sep 3rd, 2026 @ 12:20am by Inquisitor Second Sister

1,510 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Daiyu
Location: Daiyu — Various

Something was wrong. Second Sister stopped. Daiyu continued around her. Speeders screamed through the traffic lanes overhead. Neon advertisements crawled across the buildings. Somewhere below, music pounded from one of the entertainment districts while thousands upon thousands of people moved through streets that never truly slept. She ignored all of it. There. For the briefest instant. A presence. Her head turned. Not the woman. Not the one she'd fought. This was different. But unmistakable. The Force. Second Sister began walking.

Three levels below, Taren Voss knew he'd made a mistake. He felt her. Cold. Sharp. Searching. The former Jedi Knight lowered his head and continued through the market. Don't run. Running attracted attention. He'd survived this long by understanding that simple fact. A frightened man running through a crowd was memorable. A tired spacer carrying a bag wasn't. Taren adjusted the strap across his shoulder. Kept walking. Then he felt the presence again. Closer. Far too close. Taren turned into an alley. Walked twenty metres. Turned again. Stopped.

A black figure stood at the far end. Second Sister.

Taren stared at her. She stared back. Neither moved. Then her lightsaber ignited. Red light filled the alley. People screamed. Taren closed his eyes.

"So much for subtle."

His hand disappeared beneath his coat. The weapon he'd sworn he wouldn't use again came free. Snap-hiss. Blue light joined the red.

Second Sister smiled. "Jedi."

Taren raised the blade. "Formerly."

She attacked.
________________________________________

The first impact shattered a window. Taren barely caught the blow. Second Sister was fast. Much faster than he'd expected. Her second strike drove him backward. The third forced him against the wall. Taren twisted aside as the red blade carved through duracrete where his head had been. He kicked. She caught his leg. The Force threw him across the alley. Taren crashed through a market stall. People scattered. Fruit rolled everywhere. The merchant shouted something extremely offensive at both of them. Taren pushed himself upright. Second Sister emerged from the alley. "There is nowhere left to run."

Taren looked around. "That's what everyone keeps telling me." He threw his hand forward. The market stall flew at her. Second Sister sliced through it. Taren ran.

The chase exploded across Daiyu. Taren vaulted a railing. Dropped onto the roof of a passing cargo transport.

Second Sister followed. Her boots struck the vehicle behind him.

Taren spun. Blue met red. Once. Twice. Three times. Traffic screamed around them. The driver began shouting from below. Taren ducked beneath a strike. "You know," he said, "there used to be rules about lightsabers in traffic."

Second Sister attacked harder. "I'll mention it to the Emperor."

Taren's humour disappeared. That name still did that. She saw it. Used it. "You failed." Taren blocked. "The Jedi failed." Another strike. "Your Order is dead." Taren retreated toward the edge of the vehicle. Second Sister advanced. "Your Temple belongs to us."
Something inside him broke. Taren attacked. For the first time, Second Sister gave ground. Blue hammered against red. Again. Again. Again. Taren drove her backward.

Anger strengthened him. Second Sister smiled. There it was. She caught his blade. Locked them together. "Good."

Taren realised what he'd done. Too late. Her head struck his face. He staggered. She kicked him from the transport. Taren fell.

He hit an awning. Tore through it. Hit another. Then crashed onto a pedestrian bridge. People screamed and scattered. Taren groaned. "Getting too old for this." Red light appeared above. Second Sister dropped from the traffic lane. Taren rolled. Her blade struck the bridge. He scrambled upright. Their sabers collided again. The fight carried them across the bridge. Into a building. Through somebody's apartment. The occupants fled through the opposite door. Taren threw a table. Second Sister cut it in half. "Stop doing that!" She attacked.

Taren retreated through the kitchen. A red blade sliced through the counter. Taren jumped through the window. Second Sister followed. By now Imperial channels were alive.

CONFIRMED JEDI.
LIGHTSABER ENGAGEMENT.
LOWER ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT.
INQUISITOR ENGAGED.

Stormtroopers redirected. Security checkpoints shifted. Patrol speeders changed course. Imperial attention across Daiyu began moving toward one location. Away from the docks. Away from the newly purchased freighter quietly taking aboard supplies. Away from the Wayfarer's Promise.

Taren reached the rooftops. Rain had begun again. He was bleeding. His left arm barely worked. Second Sister looked considerably better. That was irritating. She stepped onto the roof. Taren stood near the edge. Behind him was nothing. Hundreds of metres of nothing. Second Sister approached. "You fought well."

Taren raised his saber. "That almost sounded like a compliment."

"It wasn't."

"Shame."

She attacked. Taren blocked. Their blades illuminated the rain. Red. Blue. Red. Blue. Second Sister forced him backward. Taren's heel reached the edge. Nowhere left.
She struck. Taren caught the blade. Barely. Second Sister leaned closer. "You survived Order Sixty-Six."

Taren's arms shook. "For now."

"You survived your clones." She pushed harder. "You survived the Purge."

Taren's blade lowered. "But you won't survive me."

Taren looked down. Then smiled. Second Sister saw it. Her eyes narrowed. "What?"

"You people always make the same mistake."

"What mistake?"

"You assume running means losing." Taren released the blade lock. And stepped backward. Second Sister lunged. Too late. Taren disappeared over the edge. She reached the roofline. Nothing. Then— A cargo speeder shot from beneath the building. Taren hung from its underside with one hand. Second Sister stared. Taren looked up. For just an instant their eyes met. Then the speeder disappeared into Daiyu's traffic.

Second Sister remained at the edge of the rooftop. Rain hissed against the duracrete around her boots. Somewhere beneath the endless maze of lights, traffic lanes and buildings, the Jedi was disappearing into Daiyu. Her comlink activated.

"Second Sister. Target status?"

She didn't immediately answer. Her eyes followed the stream of traffic into which the cargo speeder had vanished. "Confirmed Jedi."

A pause. "Identity?"

"Unknown."

"Shall we initiate containment protocols?" Her jaw tightened. The instinctive answer was yes. Close the spaceports. Lock down the traffic lanes. Establish checkpoints at every major transit hub. Flood the district with stormtroopers until there was nowhere left for him to hide. She could have him before sunrise. But the Emperor's orders had been explicit. Daiyu was not to be sealed. Traffic was not to be disrupted unnecessarily.

The planet's criminal population was useful precisely because people believed they could disappear here. Turn Daiyu into an Imperial fortress and those people would simply find somewhere else to conduct their business. Worse, the Emperor had made it perfectly clear that the activities of one Inquisitor were not important enough to interfere with the greater purpose Daiyu served.

Second Sister hated the restriction. She obeyed it. "No."

The officer on the other end hesitated. "Second Sister?"

"No lockdown. No closure of the ports. No interruption to civilian departures." Even saying it irritated her.

"Understood."
She stepped away from the edge. "Pull every surveillance recording within six blocks of my position. I want facial recognition run against Jedi Temple records and Republic military archives."

"Yes, Second Sister."

"Quietly." Another pause.

"No public alerts. No announcements. Patrols continue their normal patterns." She looked toward the distant glow of Daiyu's spaceport.

"If he believes the city remains open, he'll try to leave."

"And when he does?"

Second Sister's expression hardened.

"We'll be waiting."

She disconnected. Behind her, stormtroopers emerged onto the rooftop. One looked toward the edge. "The Jedi escaped?" Second Sister slowly turned her head. The trooper immediately reconsidered his choice of words. "We... lost visual contact with the target."

"Then find him."

"Yes, Second Sister."

They hurried away. Second Sister remained where she was. Something bothered her. Not the escape. Jedi ran. They always ran eventually. It was the timing. One Jedi had already appeared on Daiyu. Now another. Coincidence was possible. She had learned not to trust it. But this one felt different. Different presence. Different technique. Different lightsaber. Different man. A genuine Jedi survivor. Which meant Daiyu had just given her a second trail to follow. Perhaps the woman she had fought was no longer the most promising one.

Far below, Taren Voss finally released his grip on the cargo speeder. He dropped. Hit a balcony. Rolled. And disappeared through an open service door before anyone inside had time to object. He was hurt. His shoulder screamed whenever he moved it. Blood ran down one side of his face. His ribs suggested that breathing was an optional luxury. But he was alive. For now. Taren leaned against the wall and listened. No sirens. That surprised him. No announcement ordering citizens indoors. No sudden change in the traffic outside. No swarm of Imperial patrol craft. Nothing. He frowned. Interesting. They hadn't sealed the city. Which meant either the Inquisitor was considerably more subtle than he'd expected... ...or she couldn't. Taren smiled despite the blood in his mouth. "Well." He pushed himself away from the wall. "That's useful." He needed somewhere to disappear. Then he needed transport. Because one thing had become abundantly clear. It was time to get off Daiyu.

TBC

 

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