Darkness reached the Mospic High Ridge on the desert planet of Tatooine, and the only light seen are from the search lamps from the top of the mountain. Not only has the two sun's disappeared over the horizon, but there is also a dark and sinister figure guarding the main entrance to an underground Imperial base. Encased in all black protective gear, it stood utterly motionless by the heavy steel doors.

Upon a visual inspection, it didn't appear to be carrying any pistols, rifles, or other weapons. No vital signs or heat signatures were detected by either Boba's or Din's helmet. Yet Nia still felt it's energy, even though it showed signs of being nothing more than a droid. It was the first time Cobb Vanth has seen this trooper guarding the entryway, and Din noticed it resembled the appearance of a death trooper. Yet it was still a total mystery!

NIA'S POV

As the group are busy discussing their plan to take out the guards in the tower, they don't even notice that Nia is already half way down the cliff. As she strategically and carefully places her footing along the ridge, she uses the Force to give her the strength and focus to combat this unknown trooper in black armor. She has never fought a Dark Force User before and doesn't know what to except, especially since it didn't appear to be an organic life form. As her boots hit the soft and sandy ground, she makes her way towards the guard at the entrance. Armed with two lightsabers, spear and pistol, Nia uses the Force to give her courage.

"I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me," she softly repeats this phrase to herself.

DIN'S POV

As Din and Boba both volunteered to take out the two stormtroopers in the watchtower, as Bossk left to keep the ship ready for them to make their quick escape. Meanwhile, Cobb suggested a scenario to tag-team the shadowtrooper by the door with Nia. However, it was Din who eventually realized that she was no longer by their side.

"Where did Nia go?" Din asked as they all frantically looks around.

"Down there, look," Boba pointed out.

"What the hell is she doing?" Cobb says with bewilderment.

Below them they see Nia slowly approach the door, however the shadowtrooper doesn't appear to even notice she is there. The two stormtroopers on top of the watchtower immediately begin calling orders for her to stop.

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"Stop right there! This is a restricted area!" One of the stormtroopers in the watchtower yells. However, Nia doesn't move an inch as she stands in front of the shadowtrooper, intensely focused on the black-clad guard who hasn't moved.

"This is your last warning! Stop or we will open fire!"

Using both hands, she Force-pulls the two troopers over the edge of the tower. As they fall to their deaths, she immediately unsheathes her pistol and takes out the security camera before replacing it back in its holster. The noise resulted in activating the shadowtrooper. Its head lifted up slightly and its eyes lit up with a bright red glow, looking more like a demonic entity. The next thing it does was completely unexpected. It removed a long black hilt from it's holster and activated it.

In its hand was a bright red blade, but it wasn't just a normal weapon. It was a lightsaber! As she stared down this Dark Force User, she unsheathed her two lightsabers from her belt and ignited them. One is a bright yellow blade, the other a teal turquoise. Her braided hair waving in the cold windy night, her stance is wide and ready for attack, and her eyes were fixed on the enemy in front of her.

"Be brave, padawan," a voice is heard inside her head, giving her strength and courage. It was her master, Rig Nema.

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"Damn it! We need to get down there," Din demanded.

"What is that thing?" Cobb cries out.

"That is a weapon of a Sith," Boba says firmly. "I've seen it before."

"A what?" Cobb and Din both blurt out.

"No time to explain. Let's get down there. Vanth, cover us," Boba says as he ignites his jet pack as Din does the same.

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NIA'S POV

Meanwhile, the shadowtrooper slowly creeped towards her, the red saber humming, his heavy footsteps in the sand coming closer, an icy chill hits her and she can feel it in her core. She can sense the anger and pain from the overwhelming power of the dark side, which caused her to tremble. A menacing figure that is no longer living, without a soul or consciousness. Almost programmed and mechanical. It doesn't speak, nor does it breathe.

Suddenly, the shadowtrooper engages in melee combat. Nia clashed her two lightsabers against it's red one as she blocked the strike. It was incredibly powerful, it's arms outstretched and immovable. It swirled it's saber around once again, hitting against her two sabers as she avoided it's every attack. It may have the physical strength, but she had the speed. She ducked, dived and zipped around this dark shadowy figure a few more times, anticipating it's every move. Feeling the weight of her two sabers, focusing on the assailant's movements, and using the Force to give her the power to stay on her feet.

She swings her teal saber as it strikes its red blade. With her other hand, she whips the yellow saber around as it hit its shoulder with a loud buzz. Taking absolutely no damage, it Force-pushes her several feet away with its free hand. The side of her body smashes into the mountainside as she collapsed onto the soft ground. It slowly steps over to her, pointing the tip of its red blade to her chin as it got closer. As she lies on her side, she looks up at this sinister assailant as it draws nearer. She can feel the heat from its blade as it is only a few inches away from her now.

"I've failed, master," she whispers to herself.

Just then, Din and Boba come flying in on their jet packs as Cobb is shooting from on top of the cliff, all are firing wildly at the shadowtrooper, but all of their shots bounce off its black armor.

"It's beskar!" Nia yelled as she stumbles to her feet.

Din takes out his beskar spear and begins swinging it around, attempting to aim for its only weakness. Remembering his experience onboard Gideon's cruiser, underneath the neck was the only part not protected by armor.

Boba flies over on his jet pack and begins launching his mini rockets from his wrists. They collide and explode into its armor but takes no damage.

"Hit his neck!" Din cries out. However, the dark trooper began to Force-chock him.

Nia takes out her beskar spear and tosses it expertly as it flies towards the shadowtrooper. The spear pierced straight through the soft unprotected area in its neck as electrical sparks start erupting. As Din collapsed on the ground and begins gasping air, the shadowtrooper falls over on its side.

Nia runs over to Din and cradles his head, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he chocked. "What the hell were you thinking?"

As Boba and Cobb walk over, Nia helps Din to his feet and cried out, "I was doing my job. That thing was a Dark Force User!"

"You could have been killed!" Din yelled more forcefully as he got to his feet.

"Don't yell at me!" She snapped back.

"She's tough, boss. I'll give her that," Boba says flatly.

"Stay out of this, Fett!" Din shouted.

"Hey, at least he complimented me," Nia snarled.

"Hey! Hate to break up this lover's quarrel, but we really should keep moving," Cobb says as he prepares his rifle.

"Hey, where's Bossk?" Nia asked.

"Back at the ship, ready for when we need to fly out of here," Boba answered.

With her face red with embarrassment and frustration, Nia walks over towards the red lightsaber on the ground. She picks it up and uses the Force to open the hilt to reveal a red crystal, but it wasn't a kyber crystal. It was synthetic, factory made and unnatural. As she investigated the shadowtrooper more closely, she discovered that a green crystal was embedded into the chest of its armor. It's an Artusian crystal, quite similar to a kyber crystal but slightly less effective and even more rare. She removes the two crystals, and placed them into her pocket to add to her collection. She picks up her weapons and heads for the door where she sees the others trying to get the door open.

As the four of them stand by the door, yellling could be heard from inside the base, and an alarm was echoing off of the stone walls. The troopers inside seem to be retreating further back into the compound, most likely they are believing that the attack was carried out by an army, instead of just four individuals.

"Everyone get back," Din warned as he readied his amban rifle and aims it at the door.

"I have an easier and quieter way," Nia says as she placed her hand on his rifle.

With a deep breath, she waved a hand over the locking mechanism on the doorframe as the door panel beeped, then whoosh open to reveal a long narrow passageway. The walls were carved out of the rock as light fixtures were hung on either side of the hallway, which gave everything a strange, reddish luminescence.

"How did you - ?" Cobb began to ask.

"Jedi," Boba scoffed.

"Don't call me that," she snapped back at Boba.

Once all four of them are inside, there was a second before two stormtroopers came running around the corner in their traditional white armor. Din prepared his rifle, then pulls the trigger twice as the two troopers instantly get disintegrated into two piles of ashes.

With Boba taking the lead, he peaks around a bend and sees four troopers with their blasters held high. He doesn't hesitate to step away from the corner, then firing four precise shots into each of the troopers' heads. The closer they get to the center of the base, the louder the noises got. Another group of troopers of about eight start shouting at them from down a hallway on the north side of the base.

"Hey look over there!" The captain trooper calls out. This time, Nia ignites her two sabers and jumps out from behind a pillar.

"It's a Jedi, kill her!" The captain shouted. As each trooper shoots, each blasts ricocheted off her sabers and strikes a trooper. Too easy!

Soon they arrive at the main control room, in the middle of the area they see ten troopers guarding an officer behind a desk computer. Din instantly activated his whistling birds as the tiny rockets found their marks. Each piercing the necks of six troopers in a series of high-pitched bursts, while Cobb and Boba take care of the remaining troopers with their rifles.

Nia immediately runs behind the desk, takes out her scramble key and inserts it into the computer system. After pressing some button and flicking switches, Din walks up and begins questioning her.

"What are you doing?"

"Turning off the emergency alarm," Nia says as the loud beeping immediately shuts off. "I've also discovered a recent transmission," Nia continued to say as an image of a female Kaminoan scientist appears on the holoprojector.

"This Nala Se contacting Moff Gideon. The specimens here are to be secured and protected at all cost. It is essential for our continued expansion of this project. Our newest clone has already been proven effective, but more are still needed to create a full military force. We must find a new donor with a high M-count in order to satisfy your demand. I will report back with any new developments."

As the image disappears, the entire team is in shock as Nia resumes her work and begins punching more buttons and turning dials.

"When was that message sent?" Din asked.

"Two days ago. Now all this makes more sense. No wonder I felt that thing. It was a clone, but it still doesn't explain how it didn't have any vital signs," Nia says as she works on accessing the main operating controls for the base.

"That's the same scientist who created me and the clone army," Boba added.

"She said the specimens are here, right?" Cobb asked.

"She did say that, yes. I'm checking the computer now. There's a locked unit on the other side of this base, guarded by a four troopers. I've also deactivated the security system and sealed the doors," Nia explains as the blast doors suddenly close. Then she takes out her datapad from her backpack and hooks it up to the computer. "Just give me one another minute..."

"Slicing is illegal you know," Boba chuckled. "Not so innocent, aren't you?"

"At least I'm not a drug dealer who locks people up in dungeons," Nia replied back with a firm tone of voice. Boba was about to respond when Din interrupted them.

"We should split up to cover more ground. Let's start placing our charges here," Din says as he and the other men begin placing their explosives throughout the control room.

"Sounds like a plan, but I'd rather go with you, Mando," Cobb says as he planted an explosive along the inside wall of the room.

"Hey, I've discovered the rooftop gunners are all automated, but now they will no longer be a problem for our escape," Nia added.

"And why's that?" Din asked.

"Because I've scrambled their signals and implanted a virus in their defense system."

"Impressive, perhaps there's a job waiting for you in my operation after all," Boba snickered.

"I don't work with criminals."

"Let's not forget that what you do is against the law as well."

"We don't have time for this! We need to locate those specimens," Din blurts out.

"I can do that," Nia volunteered.

"Why you?" Din cries out.

"Because I know the location."

"I'll go with her, boss," Boba added.

"No, I'll go with her!" Din replied firmly.

"Come on you three, we don't have time for this!" Cobb yelled. "Mando, I'm going with you. Let's get this done!"

With a heavy sigh Din says, "Fine, just don't leave her sight, Fett!"

"I wasn't planning to, boss," Boba says as the blast doors open with a whoosh. Meanwhile, Nia disconnects her datapad and packs away her items.

"Even though there's only one main entrance, but there is also a door to the top of mountain where the watchtower is. The entrance to this door is located near the west side of the base. We should meet up there so that Bossk can fly in and pull us out," Nia says.

"Sounds like a plan, let's go," Cobb says as he runs towards the door with Din behind him.