"Cleanse the rot."
Quintus had broken.
The resistance against the temporary Imperial occupation had crumbled beneath the weight of a tyranny many believed long dead. It had taken only two weeks of fighting. Spice traders and criminals did not make for loyal soldiers, especially when no real army stood beside them. For now, the people of the planet could do little more than clasp their hands together and pray that the demons in white would spare them from judgment.
But they were not the only demons stalking this doomed world.
Far darker entities prowled beneath the cover of night. They too sought vengeance against a population that had dared defy their authority, though they had a very specific target in mind. A local band of Jedi, long ago cast out from the Galactic Alliance, had dedicated themselves to building an enclave and improving the lives of those who called Quintus home. To some, it was noble work.
To others, it was a fatal mistake.
Footsteps rang softly through the darkness as figures clad in black made their way toward the small village of Celia. Nothing but hushed conversations and the occasional cry of a child disturbed the silence of the night. The villagers knew the troubles of the wider galaxy had finally turned their gaze toward them. Fugitives had hidden themselves among the settlement—those who had dared resist the 9th Mechanized and now waited for the Imperials to depart so they could rebuild what had been lost.
It came as no surprise, then, that the first order issued by the newly formed Inquisition was to hunt them down, to deliver the sentence deemed appropriate for extremist cultists who had dared attack the forces of the Empire. There had never been any doubt in the First Sister's mind what her mission was, nor how she would serve the cause of order, only the small smirk of someone who enjoyed her terrible mandate.
Slowly, flickering pillars of orange and yellow tore into the crimson night sky. The shrieks and desperate cries for mercy drowned out the rustling leaves and whispering winds, for it was not a gentle night.
No one awoke for the morning harvest.
