ã€ŠRemains of an Eraã€‹


 Chapter 1: Legacy of the Rakata

    Vancil¡¯s armoured boots resounded upon the metal floor of the hexagonal hallway in time with his master¡¯s, their footsteps echoing throughout the now empty halls of the ancient ship. He appraised the intricate engravings on the walls to either side of him through the eye slits in his smooth, black armoured face mask. The purpose of the complex weaving lines ultimately meant nothing to him, but who knows what they could have meant to the Rakatans and their society.

    Perhaps these very engravings were the mystical pieces of technology that his master sought.

    His gaze drifted back to the slack black hooded cloak ahead of him that was his master, Darth Ominit. The reason for the seemingly impractical Sith clothing item was to instil a sense of dread and fear in whichever poor sod was their opponent, a tactic which both Ominit and Vancil had decided to undertake. This effect was also afforded by the masks which the both of them wore, however Ominit¡¯s was undoubtedly more effective due to the harsh and jagged spikes which jutted forth from his crimson mask.

    Darth Ominit, while having only recently discovered, and subsequently boarded the drifting Rakatan ship walked as though he owned the place, acting every bit the stereotypical arrogant Sith. If asked, Vancil would even confirm it as he had first-hand experience with that arrogance. Of course, while someone like a Jedi would chastise Ominit¡¯s behaviour, Vancil saw it for what it was. Unbridled confidence in one''s power.

    And it was this knowledge that caused Vancil to stop dead the instant Ominit did, neither of them now moving an inch. Ominit was now impossibly still, so still that if he was a shade of grey one could mistake him for a statue. Vancil quickly reached out with the force, searching as far as he could for whatever disturbance had caused his master to act this way. At first, Vancil could feel only the amassed residual dark side energies that had been infused into the very metal of the ship before he felt something very familiar at the edges of his senses.

    ¡°Jedi.¡± Darth Ominit spat.

    <hr>

    Kandria glanced uneasily at her surroundings, the oppressive feeling since she had first boarded the ship only increasing further as she followed Master Coval inwards. It was as though the very metals with which this impossibly long hallway, and even the ship itself of disapproved of their entry, a laughably impossible notion.

    ¡°Calm yourself, Kandria.¡± Her master said serenely, ¡°Do not let yourself be influenced by your fear.¡±

    Kandria almost began to flush in embarrassment at the fact that her master had noticed her emotions so quickly before realising that she had almost made the same mistake again. Eager to get her emotions under control, Kandria busied herself with trivial matters, readjusting her purple hood and the face mask which covered the bottom half of her face. An armoured finger slowly traced the custom engravings she had carved into the grip of her lightsaber, which helped to finally dispel the emotions.

    ¡°I apologise, Master.¡± She said, the Jedi in question having glanced back to gaze at her through the golden mask he always wore, which had been engraved to mimic the face of a handsome male human, ¡°It will not happen again.¡±

    Coval only nodded, ¡°Make sure it does not, especially in a dark place like this.¡±

    Kandria, nodded zealously. Her master was correct in that regard. Neither she, nor he, could afford to be weakened in this place. She continued to trail behind Coval, her gaze constantly vigilant as she scanned behind every inch of every surface they passed. This continued for an amount of time until they finally reached the end of the long corridor, finding three different doors present before them. Coval stood still for but a moment before turning towards the left door, which opened automatically to allow them entry. Clearly, he had sensed that this was the way to their objective, showing his obvious mastery of the Force.

    Beyond it laid a massive circular room with a domed roof layered with lights, all of it being made from the same metal as the rest of the ship. This room was almost certainly the large sphere that they had seen from their own starship as they approached. In the centre of the room was a several arrayed chairs, each featuring what looked to be some sort of computer perched in front of them. What grabbed the attention of both Jedi however was not the room or chairs. Rather, it was the black cloaked Sith currently facing them head on.

    Both Kandria and Coval hesitated for but a moment before they ignited their blue lightsabers and dropping into a combat stance. The Sith in question simply remained still for a second before a crimson red lightsaber ignited from his gauntleted right hand, the colour matching that of the imposing and memorable spiked crimson mask he wore.

    ¡°Darth Ominit.¡± Coval stated smoothly, the closest thing that could come to a greeting between a Jedi and a Sith, ¡°You¡¯re a long way from home.¡±

    ¡°Jedi Master Coval.¡± Ominit spat, as though the word Jedi was toxic to him.

    The two parties stared each other down, neither moving a muscle. All of a sudden, Kandria could feel herself being flung to the side and away from her master, the suddenness of the movement almost having caused her to crash onto the floor if not for her Jedi training. Her head whipped back to her master only to find that he himself had jumped away from where they were once standing. It was in that place that another black cloaked figure lay kneeling, his own red lightsaber imbedded into the ground that she once stood in.

    A quick look upwards revealed a small ledge which both she and her master had missed, likely being where the new Sith had dropped down from. Looking back to Coval, the Jedi Master attempted to move against the new arrival before being quickly intercepted and driven back by a swift swing from Ominit, who began to viciously strike at Coval.

    The new Sith also noticed this, glancing at the duel for but a second before he stood up and turned to face her, looking right at her through the barely visible eye slits in his black mask.

    ¡°Well, looks like I get you all to myself Jedi. How delightful.¡± The Sith said in a maddeningly cocky tone, as though he was having the time of his life.

    ¡°You won¡¯t be finding this delightful for long Sith.¡± She shot back as she dropped into her own stance.

    Kandria held her blue blade in both hands in front of her, her gaze flicking over the Sith¡¯s own lightsaber form. Or rather, the strange lack of any identifiable one. The Sith, instead of preparing for the coming battle was instead just¡­standing there, lightsaber hanging limply in his right hand. It almost made her laugh at how open he was. But her Jedi training quickly quelled that thought, as her confidence would be her downfall if she let it control her.

    However, she didn¡¯t get the chance to further decipher his form as the Sith burst forward swinging his lightsaber in a downwards motion. Kandria didn¡¯t falter however as she quickly brought up her own blade to meet his. What she didn¡¯t expect though was the sheer force behind the blow, almost pushing her lightsaber into her face. The Sith¡¯s masked face also drew dangerously close to his own saber.

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    ¡°Boo.¡±

    Next thing she knew, the Sith¡¯s free fist connected with her stomach knocking the wind out of her and causing her to go airborne for a few seconds from the sheer strength of the blow and breaking the saber lock the two of them had been in. The Sith then quickly twisted around into a roundhouse kick that sent her flying further into the room.

    Her vision was swimming as she struggled to her feet and back into her lightsaber form, once again facing the approaching Sith. However, instead of feeling a sense of caution or wariness, a smile came onto her face, thankfully hidden by the mask she wore lest the Sith catch on. Because while other Jedi may have balked at the ferocity and strength behind the attacks, she was different. It was what set her apart from the other padawans at the temple.

    Her innate ability to analyse and adapt to whomever she fought.

    She had analysed.

    Now it was time to adapt.

    <hr>

    Vancil slowly approached the now recovering Jedi, doing his best to appear imposing and dreadful as he did so. A quick glance to the side revealed Ominit and Coval still duking it out at speeds and strengths he could not hope to match. His gaze flicked back to the Jedi before him. But he could more than match her.

    A grin coming onto his face, he leapt forward thrusting his saber forward towards her lower abdomen. The grin disappeared quickly however, as instead of rushing to defend against his sudden attack thus leaving herself open to him, she instead leapt into the air, thrusting downwards at his exposed form.

    He quickly overcame the shock at this sudden manoeuvre however and turned his thrust into a duck and roll, the Jedi¡¯s blue lightsaber only barely missing his head as he did so. Moving with the flow, he quickly got back to his feet, just in time to clash his own lightsaber against a slash attack from the Jedi. Pushing back, they both attempted to strike and parry the other, almost succeeding in wounding the other multiple times.

    It wasn¡¯t enough though. His strikes were quick and powerful, however every time he attempted to grab or punch her with his open fist, she was quick to react, seemingly getting quicker every time he attempted it.

    Her strikes weren¡¯t as quick or powerful, but that didn¡¯t matter when she negated the power with her skilled parries. Thankfully for Vancil she didn¡¯t seem to be able to attack him as much due to the ferocity of his strikes.

    That didn¡¯t mean he was happy of course. Far from it in fact. The advantage he had gained at the beginning was disappearing by the second as she just continued to adapt. Fine then. It was time for him to adapt.

    As his next overhead strike neared the Jedi¡¯s saber, which was raised to block this attack, his own blade flickered out. He saw the recognition flash in her eyes at the use of the Trakatan form and she quickly moved her lightsaber closer towards her body in anticipation of the blade¡¯s reactivation.

    And, Vancil also saw the oh so satisfying look of surprise as he simply let go of his lightsaber, letting it fall to the ground as his now free right hand curled into a ball. Using the momentum from his overhead attack, his fist collided with the exposed Jedi¡¯s face. He didn¡¯t let up after that however as, with the Jedi now stunned he grabbed her wrist, twisting it and causing her to lose her grip on her own lightsaber which turned off as she did so.

    Vancil didn¡¯t get a chance to continue his attack however, as the Jedi recovered and responded quickly. And instead of doing something like try to escape his grip or reorient herself, she instead uppercut him with her free hand, causing Vancil to be disoriented himself and release his grip on the girl¡¯s wrist. The Jedi then pushed her advantage, in quite a literal sense as Vancil felt a powerful force push send him flying and collide with the backs of one of the chairs throughout the centre of the room. Doubly worse was that the chairs were quite clearly bolted to the floor, essentially meaning he had just hit a wall at high speed.

    His vision blurred for a second as he lay crumpled on the ground before he got a hold of himself. Like hell he¡¯d let some wannabe Jedi kill him. As his spite grew, he felt his connection to the dark side grow in tandem, rejuvenating him. Using this newfound energy, he lashed out with the force, managing to connect with the Jedi despite the distance between them and sending her sliding back a few metres.

    Even though she still managed to remain standing Vancil could still push this new edge. Continuing to use the force he pulled his own lightsaber towards him while flinging the Jedi¡¯s lightsaber to the side, having given up on attempting to daze her. If she kept on countering his attempts with her fast reactions, he would have to simply delay her reactions.

    He ignited his lightsaber as soon as it reached his hand and he shot forward in another charge. As expected, the Jedi had still managed to pull her own lightsaber towards her and raise it to block his overhead strike, but it fulfilled its purpose. The delay that came about due to her having to retrieve her lightsaber from a greater distance was almost enough to allow him a clean strike on her.

    Not giving her even a moment and forgoing defence almost entirely, Vancil attacked her rabidly, forcing her to continuously back away to have a hope of defending against his encroaching might. This strategy appeared to be working against her, whereas before she could occasionally counterattack or force Vancil to slow down his attacks, now it was taking all this Jedi could to just defend.

    An involuntary laugh rose out of him as he continued. Truly, she was his most unique opponent yet. Before this fight it was a simple matter of win or lose whenever he fought a Jedi or even the occasional Sith. If the Jedi was too powerful for his very loose and wild style of combat to work, that was that and there was almost nothing he could do. Or if they were even the smallest bit weaker then him, he could easily strike them down quickly.

    But this girl, she was different. She was his equal. Not necessarily in strength or speed, but in a battle, she was his equal. Even now he could tell she was beginning to adapt to his unrelenting barrage. The steps she took back were smaller, her blocks were quicker and he could see her eyes flicking to where he was going to strike before even, Vancil knew.

    Vancil knew that his advantage was once again slowly edging away, and so took the time he had to glance over to his master who was still battling the other Jedi whose name he had forgotten already, but with whom Darth Ominit seemed to be fairly acquainted with. To his shock, like Vancil and the female Jedi, the two had ended up degrading to an essential fist fight in the centre of the room. This one seemed to be lasting longer however, and they were currently in the process of smashing each other into the chairs surrounding them.

    The male Jedi managed to get a clean right hook on Ominit, knocking the mask off of his face and revealing the sickly pale complexion of his human master, his yellow eyes blazing in fury. Ominit very quickly took back the initiative, grabbing his opponent by the head and smashing it into one of the nearby computers. What he, nor clearly Ominit if the sudden look of surprise on his face was any indication, was for the screen to suddenly flicker to life, characters in a language zooming across it at incomprehensible speeds.

    This distraction was enough for the female Jedi to throw a sudden counterattack his way, which nearly caught his torso before he blocked it. Neither of them got the chance to take another action however, as a blinding white light erupted from the damaged computer, enveloping the entire room.

    <hr>

    SEARCHING FOR TARGETS...

    ERROR, PILOT COMPARTMENTS DAMAGED.

    INITIATING BACKUP TARGET SELECTION...

    NEW TARGETS AQUIRED.

    ATTEMPTING TO RESOLVE DESTINATION...

    DESTINATION LOCKED.

    TEMPORAL DRIVE ACTIVATED.

 Chapter 2: Forest Clash

    Kandria¡¯s eyes opened blearily to the inside of some sort of pod. The pod was relatively cramped and small, and if she stood up right at that moment it was likely that she would have a very sore head soon after. It was made entirely of the Rakatan metal, with absolutely nothing on the interior walls except for the similarly metal chair which she resided on. Just blank, smooth metal. One thing that was different though, and that caught her attention the most, was the glass panel situated in front of her, allowing her a view of the outside.

    The problem with that, however, was that the outside was¡­a forest? Still confused and slightly dazed, Kandria reached out to the glass, which seemed to respond to her touch as it lifted upwards, granting her exit.

    Kandria stumbled out of the metal pod, falling to her knees and almost onto her face if she didn¡¯t catch herself. Blinking away the rest of the confusion she stood up, doing a full 360 degree turn to gauge her surroundings. Sure enough, she was in a forest. More specifically, she was in a small clearing with the cramped pod she had just escaped from being in the centre of it, a small crater in the point where the still bland metal rectangular pod had landed.

    She stood very still for a moment, just staring blankly at the rectangular pod as her brain fully restarted and booted up. When that process was complete, her heart rate rose significantly and panic flooded her mind as she began looking around every which direction frantically and hyperventilate.

    Where was she? What happened to the ship? Why can¡¯t she remember anything about what happened or how she got here?

    It was at that moment that her Jedi training kicked in. Quickly, she worked to calm herself and slow her breathing. As this happened, she calmly walked to a nearby tree and sat cross-legged against it, counting the seconds between each breathe she took to help calm her down. The tree she sat against was the one which made up the forest she found herself surrounded by, with wide trunks and thick branches. It reminded her of a pine tree, if it was upscaled to impossible sizes.

    Once she had sat down, she took up a meditation pose, closing her eyes and closing herself off from the outside world as she had been taught to do. She simply sat there for an undeterminable amount of time, and only opened her eyes when she had deemed herself to have calmed down enough.

    Still sitting down, she took proper stock of the situation. She still had possession of everything she had and wore during the battle on the Rakatan Ship, including her lightsaber. She was likely stranded on an unknown planet, and as she didn¡¯t have a communicator, also had no way to make contact with the Republic. At the very least, the planet had a temperate and habitable environment.

    The only warning she got was the soft sound of something landing on grass and the familiar hum of a lightsaber. Acting quickly, she dove to the side and into an evasive roll. Looking back, the oaken tree she had been leaning against was falling, cut at the exact level of her head and the stump now charred black.

    Behind the tree, red lightsaber in hand, was perhaps the most familiar thing she had seen so far. The Sith she had been battling. Kandria quickly stood up, re-entering a combat stance as both of her armoured hands gripped her lightsaber tightly.

    The Sith stared at the point where she had once been before turning to face her fully, essentially mirroring what he had done during their first fight on the ship. Unlike that first battle however, this time he gripped his lightsaber with both hands.

    ¡°And after I did all that work being sneaky.¡± He said from behind his black mask.

    ¡°Uh huh. Any chance we can talk this out, Sith?¡± She offered, hoping to appeal to whatever reason there was in him.

    As expected however, the Sith only chuckled in that strangely creepy yet genuine way, as though it is the laugh he would use if told a funny joke. The Sith pointed his lightsaber at her threateningly.

    ¡°As if I would willingly work with a Jedi.¡± He said, a hint of venom entering his voice.

    That was all she needed before she charged, having decided to go on the offensive this time. The Sith clearly didn¡¯t expect this and rushed to block her attacks. She ultimately knew this little gamble of hers would never last, due to the Sith¡¯s superior speed and strength.

    What she needed though was to unbalance him, which had been working well in their last engagement. She knew he was clever though, and could adapt at the same level as her if his ever-changing fighting style was any indication.

    Even now, while her initial attacks had managed to force him back a few steps he managed to quickly regain control of the situation. Seeing the tide of battle turn against her, she quickly jumped backwards, putting distance between the two once again.

    The Sith had other plans however, and jumped after her in kind as he swung his lightsaber ferociously. They continued to parry and deflect one another¡¯s blow before Kandria was forced to retreat backwards once again lest she be overwhelmed completely. This turned into a continuous cycle which pushed the two deeper into the forest, neither able to get the absolute upper hand over the other.

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    She could see the writing on the wall however. If he kept on forcing her to retreat, she would eventually lose, whether it was from tiring out or if he threw out a sudden move she hadn¡¯t expected. She needed to shift the formula, shake things up enough for him to be thrown off balance enough for her to stand a chance.

    As she prepared to jump backwards once again it suddenly clicked. When she did leap backwards, she leapt again as soon as she touched the ground, this time shooting upwards and landing deftly on the branches of one of the trees.

    The Sith looked up at her, and even from her vantage point she could still hear him laugh. Not wasting a second the Sith leapt to the base of the trunk and sliced through it. Acting quickly before she would be taken down with the now falling pine, she leapt to the next which he then also summarily cut down.

    And just like that, a new cycle had been created between the two of them. This was a better situation however, as she was now not in immediate danger of being cut in half by the superior Sith. And while she could have fled through the trees and likely lost him, Kandria preferred to keep him in her sights so as to not gain an unknown variable.

    The two of them stopped at the exact same time as a sound made itself known throughout the forest. One which the two of them were undoubtedly incredibly familiar with. Ship engines. As if her thoughts had summoned it, a ship flew quickly overhead, too quickly for her to determine what sort of ship it was and its affiliation, this also not being helped by the dense foliage which limited her vision.

    She stared after the direction the ship had gone. It had been flying low, and would have been going faster if it was just a fighter. That meant it was likely to land somewhere in the direction it was flying. She suddenly remembered her current predicament and looked down to find the Sith staring back.

    With seemingly new vigour, the Sith twirled around, slicing his lightsaber through the tree trunk and forcing her to leap to the next. A problem she was just now realising was that she had to wait for the Sith to start cutting through the tree to jump to the next one safely, lest he intercept her.

    Landing on the next branch over, she needed only wait but a second for the Sith to start swinging his blade. She quickly made to jump for the next branch before, as she was between branches, she spotted something horrifying. The Sith turned off his blade and instead used the momentum of his swing to leapt after her instantly.

    Still stuck mid-air and with nothing to jump off of, the only way Kandria could, and did, react was by igniting her lightsaber and preparing for the intercepting Sith. This lack of options ultimately meant that she didn¡¯t expect the Sith to instead fall slightly short of her, and instead grab her ankle with his free left hand.

    This had the effect of dragging her down with the now falling Sith, who then, quite literally, threw her below him. She had absolutely no counter to it, and could only lessen the consequences by using the Force to lighten her fall enough that she didn¡¯t break her many bones. In the fall, she had also lost her grip on her lightsaber, which was then promptly pulled into the outstretched hand of the Sith.

    When she did make contact with the forest floor, the breath was knocked out of her, and she was sent rolling and sprawling. Coughing as she tried to desperately gather air into her lungs, she tried and failed to get back on her feet. Now laying face down and immobilised, she turned her head to see the Sith land lightly before beginning to approach her slowly, both of the lightsabers he wielded ignited.

    Try as she might, she couldn¡¯t move her limbs whatsoever, the injuries she had gained from both of their fights finally catching up as the adrenaline wore off. Despite this, she still fought desperately to stay awake, even as her eyes threatened to close.

    She hadn¡¯t even noticed it in her desperate bid to stay awake, but the Sith was now standing over her if the armoured boot that now filled her vision was any indication. Struggling with all the remainder of strength that remained within her, she tilted her head up to give her soon to be executioner a final stare of defiance into the white lenses which hid his eyes.

    <hr>

    Vancil remained passive as the Jedi stared up at him, as though she dared him to finish her off here and now. Vancil had considered that option as he had approached the prone Jedi, but now that he was victorious and the rush of combat had left him, he had managed to tame the more analytical side of him into actually thinking about the situation.

    His mind raced with possibilities as he stared blankly at the Jedi. The both of them had been transported to a brand-new place through some sort of Rakatan technology, and if he didn¡¯t remember how then she certainly didn¡¯t. On top of that, something just felt¡­wrong. As if the very air that he breathed was different, and potentially hostile to him.

    It was frankly unsettling. He broke the staring contest between him and the Jedi and lifted his red blade to look at it in ponderous thought. He could just kill her now. That was what he really wanted to do deep down. Kill this damned Jedi. But there was something else. The niggly hunch that maybe, maybe, he should spare her.

    It was the smart thing to do after all, considering they appeared to be in exactly the same boat. Heck, if he hadn¡¯t found her so quickly and managed to come down from his combat high maybe they could have talked it out. But then, did she even want to talk it out? Especially considering the beating she had just suffered under his hands.

    His gaze drifted to where he had seen the ship fly as the internal battle within him continued to rage. Usually, he would be all for listening to his urges and hunches, but now that his urge to kill and his hunch to spare were conflicting, he was stumped. An idea came to him. He just needed an excuse to spare her. If the ship was Republic, he could hold her hostage and get information about his whereabouts. If it was an Empire ship, he could hand her over for a hefty reward and still get the information.

    A devious smile crossed his face beneath the mask as he nodded to himself. That seemed to satisfy his desire to kill her enough. Looking down at the Jedi he found that the defiant look he had seen in her eyes had been replaced by one of seeming confusion, likely at his lack of action for well over a minute.

    ¡°Get up, Jedi. Today is your unlucky day.¡±

 Chapter 3: Bounty Hunters

    ¡°We¡¯re approaching the landing zone. Get your weapons ready.¡±

    ¡°Yes, commander.¡±

    ¡°Remember, these are Jedi we¡¯re after. They have more tricks up their sleeves then even we do. Make sure to keep your distance and watch every movement they make.¡±

    ¡°We still keeping to normal tactics?¡±

    ¡°Yes, we stick to our tried and true plan, but this time we need to make sure absolutely nothing goes wrong with it.¡±

    ¡°You need me to come commander?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll need you too, Jedi are notoriously dangerous so we need every body we can. Besides, no point having a pilot if we all die?¡±

    <hr>

    Kandria was¡­confused. One of the main reasons for this confusion she harboured was because¡­she was still alive. Not only that, but the Sith who had been mere moments from striking her down was now calmly walking from a mere metre behind her, both of the lightsabers he now wielded deactivated and hanging harmlessly on the belt beneath his cloak.

    Perhaps she was just suffering from a concussion and this was all a fever dream. She reached over and pinched her cheek with her armoured hand, wincing at the pain it brought. Okay, it was real. But¡­why?

    For the life of her she just couldn¡¯t figure out why he had spared her. She could feel his hate for the Jedi with every move he made during both of their battles, even now it was like a constant simmering from behind her. She had fought a few Sith before, but none exuded the sheer volume of emotions he emitted, meaning that either he was the only one who didn¡¯t bother to hide his emotions, or his feelings regarding the Jedi were just that strong.

    When he had been standing over her however, preparing to finish her off as she laid immobile, with what little awareness she had left could sense conflict within him. The resolution of this conflict had obviously ended in her survival, but she was stumped as to how.

    The leading theory was that the Sith had somehow decided to be rational and look at the situation critically. That would explain why he was ushering her in the direction which the ship had travelled in, as even a lowly Padawan was a valuable bargaining tool to either the Empire or the Republic.

    Ultimately however, despite her preferable status of being not dead, she was still in quite a pickle. Not only had she lost the last battle, but now every muscle in her body ached from the pain of that last exchange and her descent to the forest floor. Miraculously, it appeared that her last-minute reactions were enough to prevent her from breaking any bones. She would definitely be feeling it for a couple of weeks however ¨C if she ever lasted that long.

    Even now it was a struggle to not limp, but she couldn¡¯t let the Sith think that the trouble of getting her to move was greater than the benefits of a potential bargaining chip. Her eyes flicked to the side as she sensed a presence to her left in the forest but she made no change to her movements, still striding forth. A second presence appeared to the right, but this time she didn¡¯t even glance in its direction.

    In her mind however, she was racing to try and piece together what she was sensing. The presences were moving parallel towards the pair, matching their speed and direction. What really sealed the deal for her was the addition of not one, not two, but three new presences behind her and the Sith.

    This was almost definitive proof that the two of them were being shadowed by someone. Her head shifted to the side so as to catch the Sith¡¯s attention who was most likely watching her every movement.

    ¡°We¡¯re being followed.¡± She spoke in a low tone, enough that she was sure the Sith could hear her, but also low enough that the ones following them couldn¡¯t hear through normal means due to the distance between them.

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    ¡°I know.¡± The Sith said simply.

    ¡°Do you know who is following us?¡± She asked, holding onto the vain hope that this was some weird Empire thing.

    ¡°If I knew them, they wouldn¡¯t be following us.¡± He stated as though she was an idiot, ¡°I count eight.¡±

    Kandria blinked at that. Reaching out with the force, she pushed her senses past the ones she had sensed and discovered that there was indeed eight, surrounding them from the back and sides and leaving their frontal direction suspiciously open.

    ¡°We¡¯re being herded.¡± She relayed this new information.

    ¡°Well done, Jedi. Turns out you aren¡¯t completely brain dead.¡± The Sith responded blandly, causing Kandria to let out an involuntary huff.

    ¡°And you almost got beaten by a ¡®brain dead¡¯ Jedi.¡± She said curtly.

    ¡°Last I checked, you were the one that literally got thrown in the dirt.¡± He pointed out with a hint of smugness before he directed the conversation back to the topic at hand, ¡°How do you want to handle this?¡±

    ¡°You could give me my lightsa-¡° She began before getting cut off.

    ¡°Not happening.¡± He spoke.

    ¡°Well, the best I could do is try to talk it out with whoever is following us. Especially since I don¡¯t think you would be willing to do that.¡± She sighed in disappointment at his refusal, even if it was absolutely ludicrous for him to ever accept such a proposition.

    ¡°¡­Let¡¯s just wait and see. There¡¯s a clearing up ahead, they¡¯ll make their move then.¡± He said concluded after a few seconds of silence.

    ¡°And how do you know that?¡± She questioned, genuinely curious as to his reasoning behind it.

    ¡°It is the most tactically sound option. It leaves your opponent in an open location where you have a clear line of sight while you still have your own cover.¡± He explained, ¡°If they¡¯re smart, they¡¯ll already have people in front of us at the edge of the clearing to close the metaphorical box they are pushing us into.¡±

    Kandria blinked in surprise as he spoke, feeling brief surprise at his knowledge of tactics before reminding herself that she was talking to a Sith, the people most known for their strength and cleverness. And, to further confirm the validity of his claim she could already sense three more past the clearing ahead of them, none of them moving.

    ¡°Once we are in the clearing, their intentions will make themselves known.¡± He continued, ¡°After that I can improvise.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have a plan?¡± She said in shock as she turned her head to look at him.

    The Sith only shrugged nonchalantly, ¡°From my experience, I¡¯m much better at¡­going with the flow. I trust in my skills and experience to carry me to victory.¡±

    Kandria could only blink, bewildered that someone as strong as him could be so¡­uncaring to plan ahead. And while some may say that his lack of a plan was similar to her own adaptive fighting style it was rather the exact opposite. Her victory was dependent solely on trying to plan ahead of her opponent and predict their movements.

    She tilted her head in thought as they entered the clearing. In a way, she couldn¡¯t deny the effectiveness of the Sith¡¯s ¡®loose¡¯ tactics. Looking back, it was now clear that his lack of a plan or set combat form was exactly what caused her to lose as he switched things up too rapidly.

    ¡°Stop.¡± The Sith suddenly spoke up from behind her, breaking Kandria out of her thoughts as she followed the order.

    He was the one with the lightsabers after all.

    ¡°How many do you count?¡± She asked as she reached out with the force to find eleven people now surrounding them completely.

    ¡°Eleven, evenly spread around us.¡± The Sith confirmed, ¡°Do you have a visual?¡±

    ¡°No, the shade is making it difficult.¡± She responded, head shifting to the side on instinct as one of the presences began moving into a position that closed the ¡®box¡¯ tighter.

    ¡°They know we¡¯re onto them.¡± The Sith replied in a matter-of-factly way, as if he was proud of himself.

    ¡°So why did we stop?¡± She asked, abandoning all pretences and turning to face him fully in disbelief at his admittance of giving up a tactical advantage they had been maintaining, ¡°We could have surprised them.¡±

    ¡°Fear tactics.¡± He stated, ¡°There is nothing more terrifying in an ambush then knowing that the enemy is aware they are in an ambush.¡±

    Kandria tsked, disapproving of the deceptive tactic in her own mind as she looked to the side where a figure was beginning to emerge from the forest. Both she and the Sith turned to face them fully, the tension and expectation in the air now being thick enough she felt like she could cut through it.

    Walking out of the forest, was a Mandalorian, fully armoured and equipped with a blaster rifle in hand. Kandria¡¯s heart dropped as she noticed this. Her eyes flicked to the sides and positions of the presences around both she and the Sith. If they were surrounded by Mandalorians¡­

    It was at this revelation that the Sith spoke, and for once, the two mortal enemies finally seemed to agree on the one important thing that absolutely had to be said.

    ¡°Ah. Shit.¡±

 Chapter 4: Alliance of Necessity

    Vancil¡¯s eyes flicked to the positions of all the Mandalorians in front of him, including the one that had just emerged from the forest and was now approached them. As he did this, he also kept tabs on all the Mandalorians to his sides and back that weren¡¯t in his vision, sensing every movement they made.

    Licking his lips underneath his mask, he tore his gaze away from the approaching Mandalorian and shifted his head to gaze at the Jedi in his peripheral vision. He could sense her unease and caution that almost mirrored his own. Heck, you could even consider it to be fear.

    And it was because of these kindred feelings against their assailants that Vancil thought. You could even say, that he pondered. That oh so familiar inner conflict sparked and raged once again but managed to be ended quicker than the previous one.

    ¡°Jedi, you remember how I said you wouldn¡¯t be getting your lightsaber back?¡± He began, feeling sick to his stomach as the gravity of what he was about to say weighed down upon him heavily.

    The Jedi, for her part, looked about as shocked as he felt disgusted, ¡°¡­Yes?¡±

    ¡°Well, even if I am ultimately superior to you in every way¡­I cannot take on eleven ambushing Mandalorians with the tactical advantage by myself.¡± His teeth grated and jaw tightened as he continued to speak.

    The Jedi ignored his quick jab at her and nodded for him to continue, which only served to infuriate Vancil, as he knew well what he was proposing but that she wanted to hear it for herself. There was even a hint of smugness in her eyes.

    ¡°¡­I wish to propose¡­an alliance.¡± He clenched his teeth and he had to actively resist the urge to throw off his mask and vomit right there and then.

    Vancil could feel the smug smile from behind the Jedi¡¯s mask, ¡°My, a Sith asking for a Jedi¡¯s help.¡± She mocked, ¡°I¡¯m sure your peers would be proud of you.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t push it Jedi,¡± He snapped back, his anger rising, ¡°I do this because, if I am to die, it will not happen to a couple of Mandalorians in a forest in the middle of fucking nowhere. Now, do you accept or not.¡±

    His angry response seemed to have done the job and any mocking in the Jedi¡¯s eyes disappeared, ¡°Fine then, I accept your alliance.¡± For his benefit, it seemed that she was also just as sickened.

    Vancil nodded and designated her, despite rampant protests from his feelings, as an ally, ¡°I can take the ones in front. We have to act quickly, so when I throw you your lightsaber book it into the trees behind us.¡±

    ¡°Well, what if we try to talk this out?¡± The Jedi, in her infinite stupidity proposed as she gestured at the approaching Mandalorian, ¡°That one seems to be keen on talking considering she hasn¡¯t shot at us yet.¡±

    ¡°Well, call it common sense, but I¡¯m pretty sure the galactic-renowned bounty hunters and warriors that have us surrounded don¡¯t exactly have good intentions.¡± Vancil responded as he rolled his shoulders, psyching himself up for the coming fight.

    He always did get giddy at the prospect of a good brawl.

    The Jedi scowled at him, ¡°Well if she intends on communicating perhaps, we can discover why exactly they are after us or even if they are after us. It¡¯s called ¡®not everyone is out to kill you¡¯.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s also called; ¡®I¡¯m a Sith and I can kill them if I want.¡± Vancil growled in response, resisting the urge to knock the Jedi¡¯s teeth out again.

    ¡°You two finished chatting over there?¡± A crackling female voice said, cutting off their conversation and causing the both of them to realise that the Mandalorian now stood only a couple of metres away from them, having continued to approach them as they bickered.

    Now that she was closer, Vancil managed to get a better look at the fine details of her armour and equipment. A classic and stereotypical jetpack was equipped onto her back, however, unusually, it had yellow accents. This yellow colour scheme was mimicked over the rest of her armour, and even extended to the blaster held in her hands. Several grenades and devices Vancil which couldn¡¯t possibly hope to identify were also present across the tactical belt she wore.

    ¡°Well then, I suppose you already know that you are surrounded?¡± The Mandalorian said, jerking her head behind her to where her compatriots laid in wait.

    Vancil opened his mouth to begin threatening her in response before the Jedi beat him to it, ¡°Yes, we did realise that. I think the better question though is what business you have with us.¡±

    Vancil shot the Jedi a dirty scowl but didn¡¯t act so as not to show the cracks in their tenuous alliance. What did surprise him though was when the Mandalorian started chuckling.

    ¡°Today is your unlucky day then. See, you two fit the description of the individuals we are hunting. And since you are force sensitive, that checks off as much as we need.¡± She said jovially, heightening both he and the Jedi¡¯s caution severely as she finally revealed her bounty hunter nature.

    Vancil barely caught it, and he surely would have missed it if he hadn¡¯t been itching to fight and consequently observing every move of their assailant. The slight, but uniform and methodical shift of her ring and index fingers.

    The sound of blasters rang out around them and yellow bolts shot towards the pair from all around. Faced by this sudden attack, time seemed to slow Vancil reacted in the only reasonable way he could think of. Extending his leg as he reached into the force, he kicked the Jedi as hard as he could.

    This force empowered kick sent her sprawling and tumbling to the side, far enough that she was out of the ring of death still enclosing on him. As he did this, he unclipped her lightsaber from his belt and threw it in the same motion towards her. Now with her out of the way, Vancil quickly ignited his own lightsaber and dived in the opposite direction from the Jedi deflecting all of the blaster bolts that stood in his way.

    As he made contact with the ground once again, he rolled back to his feet and reassessed the situation rapidly. The Jedi was currently in the process of trying to recover back to a standing position while also attempting to deflect the blaster bolts now being sent her way. Blaster bolts were still coming at them from all directions, however the intensity of what they could have been was halved due to their separated locations.

    As he focused on deflecting the blaster bolts his gaze snapped to the Mandalorian that was still in the clearing with them as the sound of a jetpack igniting kicked off.

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    ¡°And where do you think you¡¯re going!?¡± He shouted, reaching his free hand out and seizing her in the force, stopping her escape.

    Vancil violently jerked the Mandalorian back towards him, seizing her by the throat as she came within arm¡¯s length. Once she was, the blaster bolts being shot at him lessened immensely, and now only came directly opposite of where he held her.

    Grinning and filled with confidence, Vancil lessened his force grip to rely more on his physical strength so that he had more power to use against the others surrounding him. Unfortunately, however, the Mandalorian appeared to be waiting for that exact moment, as the second her limbs gained the ability to move, she struck.

    Before Vancil even had the chance to try and reach out to the next closest Mandalorian in the trees, the one he held had drawn a knife from her belt and stabbed it upwards towards his exposed underarm, a maniacal laugh resonating from her as she did so. Eyes widening, Vancil gathered the force in his hand and squeezed her throat as hard and quickly as he could.

    The result was as expected, with the blade freezing mere moments from reaching him before falling limp alongside the rest of her body. Now he understood why she was the one to approach. She was too batshit insane to care if she was about to be killed. Only dead weight now, Vancil ditched the newly made corpse and booked it into the trees, her compatriots in the forest seeming to shoot even faster and more fervently at her death.

    Barely dodging and deflecting the storm of rapid-fire bolts before he finally made it into the cover of the trees. Reaching out with the force to sense their positions, he quickly found out that his assailants were now in the process of retreating along the outskirts of the clearing away from him.

    A smile came to his face. He had willingly given up a tactical advantage and almost gotten killed for it. Now though? He was back in charge. He had the tactical advantage once again.

    So now it was time for a killing spree.

    <hr>

    Kandria grunted as she struggled to deflect the myriad of blaster fire being directed at her, not helped by her already fatigued state. She was so focused on her defence that she didn¡¯t even have the opportunity to yell at the Sith for kicking her out of the way so violently and suddenly, nor keep tabs on what he was even doing at the moment.

    Her mind was 100% dedicated to maintaining her already struggling defence. In fact, she was sure that if these Mandalorians were any closer than she would be overwhelmed very quickly. Even now she had to employ a mix of dodging and deflection to even struggle to stay alive.

    Her mind raced to try and adapt to find an escape route but was constantly coming up short. Slowly however, she realised that the intensity of the fire was beginning to lessen, and that blaster bolts were now being sent further into the forest rather than the clearing.

    With this new breathing room Kandria reached further out with the force to find out what was going on. Her eyes widened as she sensed that the Sith had somehow managed to make it into the forest and was now pursuing the Mandalorians around the edges, forcing them to pay more attention to him the closer he got. She could even occasionally see his red lightsaber flicking between the trees, deflecting the yellow blaster bolts.

    Despite severe disgust on her part, Kandria sent a silent thanks his way as she regained her composure. Finally, as the Sith continued to apply pressure on the Mandalorians, Kandria saw an opportunity and bolted into the forest to assist him. With the Mandalorians now being essentially forced into a group, Kandria moved to the side of the pack opposite of the Sith.

    Soon, she saw the telltale jetpacks jumping to and from the trees above, constantly pursued and forced to hop to the next one in a manner eerily similar to their own battle mere moments prior. Kandria saw her opportunity to assist when two of the bounty hunters landed on the same branch, their gaze and blaster fire fixed on the Sith who zig zagged and deflected the bolts with ease.

    Using the force to help, Kandria leapt onto the branch between the two, spinning with her lightsaber to cut them down before they could even react. Reaching out, she could sense only five remaining. She quickly redid this count four though as she watched the Sith dash forward and cleave one in two.

    The remainder had also realised that she was there too as blaster fire headed her way, forcing her to zig zag and deflect in a similar manner to the Sith. Without the numbers and tactical advantage however, the firepower was pitiful compared to before. The Mandalorians that were remaining from the very quick massacre of their numbers at the hand of her Sith ally were now in a constant retreat.

    It was almost unnerving how quickly the Sith had managed to escape their ambush and push them to the very brink. And, despite her personal reservations against him and his order, she was very glad he was on her side right now.

    This thought was further reinforced when a rocket suddenly shot out of the jetpack of one of the Mandalorians, before being halted mere moments after it was launched, leaving it hanging a few feet above the shooter¡¯s head. Looking over, Kandria saw the Sith¡¯s outstretched hand directed towards the rocket. Kandria then saw the Sith slam the rocket right back down into the Mandalorian, eviscerating him and another unfortunate bounty hunter that just so happened to be nearby in the ensuing explosion, bringing the enemy count down to just two.

    Quick to take advantage of the distraction created by the explosion, Kandria leapt downwards towards the remaining two bounty hunters. The second she touched down a mere metre away from them it was already over. Slicing sideways, she cut down the nearest before force pushing the final Mandalorian into a nearby tree and keeping her there.

    Slowly she approached the now immobilised Mandalorian, turning off her lightsaber and using the force to carefully take off all the weapons and gadgets she could see on her captive, all the while the Mandalorian grunted as he tried to resist his invisible imprisonment. It was at this point that the Sith arrived, sending a chill down Kandria¡¯s spine at how the man who was hell bent on ending her not so long ago now stood beside her as though nothing had happened.

    ¡°So, you going to kill him?¡± He asked nonchalantly.

    ¡°I¡¯m surprised you haven¡¯t tried to kill me yet.¡± She admitted, glancing to the right to keep an eye on him.

    ¡°Hmmmm, nah. We¡¯re allies. At least until we solve this situation, we find ourselves in.¡± He shrugged, confusing Kandria.

    ¡°Situation?¡±

    The Sith nodded, ¡°Well, now that we¡¯re allies killing you isn¡¯t so high on the priority list.¡±

    Kandria blinked before disabling her lightsaber and turning to face him fully, a glimmer of hope creeping into her, ¡°So¡­you¡¯re willing to work with me to find out where the hell we are?¡±

    The Sith visibly recoiled, ¡°Please don¡¯t say I¡¯m working with you. It¡¯s already taking all my willpower to not vomit at what I am doing.¡±

    ¡°Just answer the question.¡± Kandria said dryly, that hope beginning to blossom as he didn¡¯t say no.

    The Sith remained silent for a moment, ¡°Yes, I do wish to¡­work with you to determine our situation. These Mandalorians actually helped quite a lot with that, had something to take my rage and disgust out on.¡±

    ¡°And also forced you to work with me.¡± She pointed out.

    The Sith chuckled, ¡°Yes, you were a great distraction. And I got to kick you!¡±

    Kandria scowled before turning back to the captive who had stopped struggling and was instead staring silently at the two conversing force wielders, ¡°And what are we to do with this one? I get the feeling he doesn¡¯t want to cooperate with us after we killed his friends.¡±

    ¡°Well, we could just kill him.¡± The Sith unhelpfully offered

    ¡°Not my friends.¡± Came the male voice of the captured Mandalorian, ¡°Business partners.¡±

    Kandria nodded, ¡°Well, I have a business proposition for you. That ship was yours, right? Tell us where it is, and you can live.¡±

    The Mandalorian stayed silent for a second before nodding begrudgingly in acceptance.

    Kandria smiled in relief underneath her mask, ¡°Good, good. Now tell us where it is.¡±

    Her captive once again remained silent for a few seconds before nodding, ¡°It¡¯s about one kilometre north-east of here. It¡¯s a silver ST-70 with yellow markings, you can¡¯t miss it.¡±

    Kandria smiled once again. It seemed that things were finally looking up. Slowly she began releasing her force grip on the prisoner and backing away, to which the Sith mimicked, backing away in the same fashion as Kandria. Once the two were around 20 metres away from the Mandalorian she finally turned fully around to walk north-east, however kept the Mandalorian from standing up.

    A low hiss caught her and the Sith¡¯s attention from behind, the both of them turning around in sync. Only to see a swarm of whistling darts shooting towards them.

 Chapter 5: Victory

    If you asked Vancil, he would say he had an interesting way of solving problems. He really wasn¡¯t sure exactly what it was, or how to categorise it, but he had managed to nail down three different modes his brain would go into if he was in trouble. First was the ¡®Improvise¡¯ mode, where if the situation was not too serious, he wouldn¡¯t have to think about it too much and could wing it. This was the mode he was usually in even if he wasn¡¯t in danger.

    Second was the creatively named ¡®Uh oh¡¯ mode, where he would actually have to think critically about the best and most efficient way to get out of the situation, also giving him a reason to discard some of his personal feelings regarding matters that would affect the situation. This was what he had done with the Mandalorians, and it was why he had even considered allying with the Jedi.

    Now though, with a swarm of whistling darts only moments away from piercing and killing the both of them, Vancil¡¯s mind switched to the third mode. ¡®Oh, shit fuck, code red, shit¡¯s going down, all hands-on deck¡¯. In scenarios like this, there were only three main priorities to Vancil.

    In order it went:

    1; Defend all allies.

    2; Protect himself.

    3; Eliminate the threat.

    And he was going to try his damn best to fulfil these priorities.

    Step 1: Get the Jedi out of harm¡¯s way. His senses heightened as he drew upon the dark side of the force, making everything seem to slow to a crawl. There was a roughly equal amount of whistling darts heading towards her as him, and they were already approaching at a dangerous speed. Looking to his own approaching swarm he deduced that he could likely stop most if not all the darts in a single swarm if he really incensed himself in the force, but stopping both was not possible. He observed the Jedi¡¯s position and distance from himself and was surprised to find that she was actually fairly closer than he had expected, about half a meter from him.

    His mind swirled with possibilities at a rapid pace as he calculated how much force he could draw on and where to utilise said force. The conclusion he had come to from these intense thoughts unfortunately had the effect of disgusting himself at the very thought of what he had to do to ensure the success of priorities 1 and 2. Of course, that part had been promptly sent into lockdown with the declaration of the emergency mode, so its opinions on the matter had no sway.

    Raising his right hand, he reached out with force with blinding speed, seizing all the whistling darts targeting him and stopping them in their tracks. Raising his left hand to the side, Vancil grabbed the Jedi¡¯s arm with whatever force he had left to spare, pulling her sharply towards him and out of the line of fire of her whistling dart problem. Unfortunately, much to his own chagrin, to be absolutely sure that his ally was out of the way and protected, he had to go even further.

    As soon as the Jedi came within reach of his left hand, Vancil tugged her into a tight embrace, wrapping his arm around her waist as he spun to put his own body between her and the still moving whistling darts, so that even if they managed to swerve to retarget her quickly enough, he would manage to shield her from harm. He braced for the impact of these darts. Thankfully though, instead it had seemed he had acted too quickly for them and they had simply run themselves into the grassy ground harmlessly.

    And finally, to round it all out, while he had spun, he had swung his raised right hand down, sending all of the ones he had grabbed whirling back into their owner, the volume of them killing the Mandalorian so quickly he didn¡¯t even have a chance to react or even yell in pain.

    All in all, the whole sequence of actions only took roughly two to five seconds, he hadn¡¯t been counting. He stood still for a few more seconds, not moving an inch and still holding the Jedi close to him as he reassessed and analysed the situation once again.

    The breath Vancil had been holding was released in relief as he checked off all the priorities, his tense form loosening as he released his hold on the Jedi and allowed her to stumble away from him as his arms fell to his sides and he took a deep breath.

    He chuckled lightly, remarking in his head how this had gone far better then his last ¡®Oh, shit fuck, code red, shit¡¯s going down, all hands-on deck¡¯ episode. He tilted his head upwards, idly looking at a gap in the tree cover, the sun shining down through it. Had he forgotten something? He struggled to remember exactly what it was, but he felt like he was missing something important. Looking down however, he remembered it soon enough.

    He had just put his life on the line for a Jedi.

    <hr>

    Kandria was¡­shocked. Shocked at many things in fact. Shocked at how close she was to dying. Shocked at how quickly and efficiently the Sith had acted. Shocked at how he had thrown himself between her and danger. That last one was particularly the most shocking.

    The Sith had¡­risked himself for her. He had risked getting a back full of whistling darts to make sure she didn¡¯t get any in her. But¡­why though? She had no formulative or calculative approach to this. There was just no discernible reason for this man, a Sith, to risk his life for her, a Jedi. And then there was the contact. She hadn¡¯t really done it much, nor did she have much knowledge about it, but she was sure that was something like a¡­hug? She was so stumped by all of this in fact, that she failed to decide if she should thank him for saving her life or question his reasoning behind it.

    It didn¡¯t matter in the end however, as the Sith spoke before she could, ¡°Fuck you, Jedi.¡± He said simply.

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    He then promptly walked past her in the direction the Mandalorian had pointed in before his untimely demise, leaving Kandria standing there dumbfounded, still staring at where he had been standing. Shaking her head, she whipped around and speed walked up to his side, look at him in confusion.

    ¡°Uhhhhh, you want to explain what that was?¡± She managed to get out.

    The Sith didn¡¯t even move his head an inch in her direction or change his speed as he replied, ¡°That was an insult Jedi. I know your kind is stupid but surely, you¡¯re not that stupid.¡±

    ¡°I think you know what I¡¯m talking about.¡± She ignored the quick jab and pushed past his deflection of her question.

    She could feel the scowl of the Sith despite not even being able to see it under his mask, ¡°That was something that will hopefully never happen again.¡±

    She frowned slightly at him not answering the question properly once again, ¡°Really? Well why did it happen in the first place?¡± She pressed.

    For some reason or another that got the Sith¡¯s attention and he walked in front of her before stopping dead in his tracks as he turned to face her. He simply stood there silently as he glared at her through the lenses in his mask, intimidating Kandria slightly much to her dismay.

    ¡°¡­We were still allies at the time.¡± He said after a few seconds of pregnant silence before he turned and continued to walk.

    Kandria tensed up as he did this. Not so much as to his core reason, that had offered some answer to her question, rather it was how he had worded it. Were. As in past tense. Kandria stood still for a moment, watching the retreating back of the Sith cautiously as she rested her hand on the hilt of her lightsaber.

    But¡­he hadn¡¯t attacked her yet. And he still seemed willing to talk to Kandria instead of trying to behead her. And if there was one thing she had learned about this Sith so far, it was that, like his compatriots, he was a chaotic one, and that trying to make sense of his actions would leave her as baffled as trying to make sense why the Sith do the cruel things they do.

    So, she simply remained quiet and followed behind him, not wanting to provoke or even risk the Sith breaking their alliance. After all, they were both essentially in the same boat, and the most reasonable thing to do was to work together despite their differences just what the hell happened.

    With this resolution in her mind, she continued on, eventually coming up to walk side by side with the Sith, albeit now it was deathly quiet, the only sounds being that of the crunch of grass and the occasional noise from whatever wildlife dwelled in this forest.

    Eventually however, they spotted their destination. Or at least what she thought was their destination. She had never heard of an ST-70 before you see, and only assumed that the box-like ship was their goal due to its silver colour and the yellow stripes going down the length of it.

    The ship had landed in a clearing ahead, so both she and the Sith stopped at the edge of it. Kandria reached out with the force to search for any danger or lifeforms near the ship, sensing the Sith doing the same.

    ¡°I think we¡¯re in the clear.¡± She concluded, glancing to the Sith to hear his own verdict which came in the from of a gruff grunt and affirming nod.

    Slowly, they emerged from the foliage, cautiously approaching the ship and entering its already opened hanger bay. Kandria made sure to both keep a hand on her lightsaber and keep an eye on the Sith in case he made any sudden movements towards her. The hanger of the ship was relatively empty however, save for a few seats attached to the sides as well as crates labelled as ¡®Munitions¡¯ strapped to the floor and piled in the corner.

    Kandria soon found a small ladder leading up to the cockpit which contained several pilot seats and a myriad of buttons she was at least somewhat familiar with, the Sith soon emerging just after her.

    Taking a seat, she tapped on a console, ordering it to bring up a map of their location as the Sith watched from over her shoulder. They appeared to be near the equator of a planet called Krant, the planet itself appearing to be completely covered in the same forest that surrounded them outside the ship, excepting a few ancient ruins of unknown origin.

    Frowning she expanded the map to the galactic view, the air getting tense as both she and the Sith awaited the moment of truth. Was the planet controlled by the Sith Empire, or controlled by the Galactic Republic.

    The information given, however, was not helpful for answering this. The computer gave them a brief description of where they were in the galaxy; Being a small planet near Bothawui in the Mid-Rim Bothan sector. But then it did not give any information of who controlled it, nor did it give information about who controlled anything anywhere in the galaxy.

    The only thing she noticed that would even slightly give her any indication as to who controlled what in the galaxy was a series of enclaves marked by dotted lines, each simply marked as ¡®CIS¡¯. Slightly confused, she attempted to access the HoloNet but quickly found the signal be atrocious where they were located, as though some sort of signal was blocking it.

    Kandria groaned, slightly frustrated at this clearly malfunctioning piece of technology, ¡°I¡¯m going to take off, see if I can access the HoloNet when we¡¯re off the planet.¡±

    The Sith scoffed as he sat down, buckling himself in, ¡°Well hurry it up then. It¡¯s already bad enough watching you fail to locate critical information, but you also have to do it slow.¡±

    Kandria rolled her eyes and ignored the Sith¡¯s insult, as her Jedi teachings told her, ¡°Taking off in three¡­two¡­one.¡±

    Slowly the ship lifted into the air, slightly wobbling due to Kandria¡¯s unfamiliarity with the ship itself. Thankfully she managed to correct her flying knowledge to fit this ship, an easy task when you considered that she was already familiar with flying.

    Once they were high enough above the foliage, Kandria retracted the landing gears and climbed rapidly through the atmosphere, soon breaching into vacuum above the orbit of Krant. And it was at this moment, that the Sith spoke once again.

    ¡°Let¡¯s make a deal.¡± He said, causing Kandria to turn to look at him as she continued searching for a HoloNet signal, ¡°If we are in Imperial space, I vouch for you. If we are in Republic space, you vouch for me.¡±

    Kandria tilted her head curiously, ¡°And you want to make this deal because?¡±

    The Sith swivelled his head to look into the black void of space beyond the viewport, ¡°I may be an asshole, but I¡¯m not a bitch. Call it me repaying you for accepting my alliance offer.¡±

    Kandria blinked owlishly as she pondered his admission. She didn¡¯t get long to think about it however, as a transmission request suddenly popped up on her display. A sense of hope filling her she answered it immediately, not even pausing to check who was calling before a small hologram appearing before her of a young man with his arms crossed, dressed in what appeared to be leather armour.

    The man had a stern look on his face as he spoke, his voice slightly garbled over the transmission, ¡°Mandalorian ST-70, this is Jedi General Anakin Skywalker of the Command-Venator Resolute. You are to surrender yourselves, your cargo, and any prisoners you may have for inspection immediately or face arrest under Republic Law.¡±

    Silence filled the cockpit as both she and the Sith stared as the hologram flickered out and three capital ship signals soon appeared on the radar shortly after. Slowly, she turned to face the Sith, who had also turned to look at her, his expression impossible to determine due to his mask.

    ¡°¡­Say, you wouldn¡¯t mind being taken hostage again, right?¡±

 Chapter 6: Realisations

    The hangar bay of the Command Venator Resolute was a flurry of activity. On top of the usual maintenance and traffic of the 501<sup>st</sup> clone troopers, a brand-new spectacle had made a recent addition. Jedi General Anakin Skywalker and a retinue of 30 clone troopers including the leader of the 501<sup>st</sup>, Captain Rex, were currently preparing for the Mandalorian ST-70 to dock, surrounding the area where it was designated to land. His padawan, Ahsoka Tano was also present, standing behind Anakin with her hands on her hips.

    Anakin Skywalker himself stood with his arms crossed, one finger tapping impatiently as he watched the tablet a nearby clone was holding showing the progress of the ST-70. And, despite all of his training as a Jedi and experience as a commanding officer, Anakin was anxious. This anxiety did not originate from a fear of the approaching ship, rather it was due to the gravity of the mission he had been given and the way it seemed to be progressing. One given by Mace Windu of the Jedi Council himself.

    Find and save Jedi Master Echuu Shen-Jon and his Padawan Naat Reath from their stranded position on Krant. The Jedi Master had been deployed to Krant to chase down the Confederate General Sev¡¯Rance Tann and stop her from utilising the powerful technology she had stolen. Unfortunately, however, there had been little to no contact from either of the Jedi ever since they had arrived at Krant. That was, until Republic Intelligence unearthed a new bounty on the market. One for both of the missing Jedi.

    When this information was revealed, the Jedi Council of course made it a top priority to save the Jedi that were now revealed to still be alive. After all, while the Order could at least acknowledge the loss of a Jedi Knight, Jedi Masters were incredibly valuable resources. And, if world got out that a Jedi Master was killed by mere bounty hunters, morale would plummet.

    As for why Anakin was chosen, it was simply because he was the closest, being on Bothawui when he got the call to go to Krant. From what he could tell there was possibly several situations the hunted Jedi could have been in, with the worst case being them under a Separatist blockade, and the best being them alright and instantly contacting Anakin as soon as he was in range.

    Currently, Anakin would say that this was somewhere in the middle. For there was no Separatist blockade, in fact there was no Separatist presence for a couple of systems. However, Shen-Jon had not contacted him. And finally, also being the reason, he was anxious, a Mandalorian ship, registered to a known group of bounty hunters, leaving Krant. And from what he had read, this group was not one to give up so easily.

    His jaw tightened as the ship finally floated into view, guided by both the tractor beam deployed by the Resolute and its own correctional thrusters. His troops also noticed the oncoming ship, getting into their final positions and preparing to fire if necessary.

    As the ship landed, the hangar bay pointed towards Anakin, the tension in the air was so palpable that you could cut through it with a knife. Anakin¡¯s grip on his arms tightened as the door slowly lowered itself open, accompanied by the sound of clones switching safeties off. When the door had finally opened, only pitch black could be seen inside, the interior lights being shut off.

    Anakin¡¯s jaw tightened and he prepared to grab the lightsaber at his side at a moment¡¯s notice as the sound of a singular pair footsteps upon metal echoed from within the ST-70. Slowly, a hooded figure, clad in purple clothing, stepped out into the light of the Venator¡¯s hangar, her metal covered arms raised. What really caught Anakin¡¯s attention however was the lightsaber visibly placed on her belt.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± He asked, now slightly confused and cautious as he eyed the saber.

    The woman remained silent for a second as though considering something before replying, ¡°I am Jedi Padawan Kandria.¡±

    Anakin blinked in shock at this, however his eyes narrowed in suspicion as he thought about it more critically, ¡°A Jedi Padawan? Where is you master then? And why are you currently flying a Mandalorian ship?¡±

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    The woman¡¯s strange purple eyes shifted across all of the clones in front of her before replying, ¡°That is¡­complicated.¡±

    Anakin¡¯s eyes narrowed even further and he rested his hand on the lightsaber at his own belt, ¡°Then you better start explaining.¡±

    <hr>

    Kandria¡¯s head shifted slightly to look back into the ship before switching back to looking at Anakin. The movement was so slight that Anakin probably wouldn¡¯t have seen it if he wasn¡¯t watching for it.

    ¡°¡­I do not know where my master is, I do not know where I am, and I took this ship from Mandalorians that tried to kill me. Me and my master were involved in a battle on board a Rakatan ship when I was caught in the activating technology. I woke up on this planet and I was promptly attacked by Mandalorians. We managed to fend them off and commandeer their ship when you found us.¡± She explained.

    Her explanation seemed valid. After all, Anakin had read up about the Rakatans and knew about how powerful their technology was. And he highly doubted that someone who had managed to kill a Jedi and take their lightsaber would be stupid enough to wear it so openly. He also did not think that one of the two Sith in the entire galaxy was aboard the ship and had willingly allowed themselves to be captured.

    ¡°Wait, what do you mean we?¡± Ahsoka suddenly asked from behind Anakin, drawing the attention of both him and Kandria, ¡°I thought you didn¡¯t know where your master was.¡±

    Kandria froze in place as Anakin turned to look at her accusingly, before she sighed reluctantly, ¡°That is true. You see, I have¡­ a request to make.¡±

    Anakin glared at her, ¡°Request?¡±

    Kandria nodded and turned her head to look into the shadowy depths of the ST-70¡¯s hanger, ¡°You see, I wasn¡¯t the only one caught in the Rakatan technology. And, chances are I would be dead at the hands of those bounty hunters without him.¡±

    Anakin¡¯s eyes widened and he unclipped his lightsaber as he sensed a dark presence suddenly appear within the ship. A new set of footsteps appeared, however seemed ever more sinister than Kandria¡¯s. Slowly, a new figure appeared, a black cloak over him with a full face mask on his face. The man held his armoured hands out to the sides, his head held high as though he was greeting a cheering crowd.

    ¡°Good evening, you filthy little Republic lackeys,¡± He declared, confusing even the clone troopers a bit as a few glanced at each other, ¡°Sith Acolyte Vancil, at your service.¡±

    Anakin ignited his lightsaber.

    Vancil grinned as all of the troops around him and the Jedi suddenly became incredibly alert. It was a bit confusing however, that they only became alert when he said he was a Sith Acolyte and not the second he revealed himself. His outfit was essentially the normal uniform for a Sith, and should have been recognised instantly.

    He didn¡¯t falter however and even chuckled as Kandria desperately held out her hands to both this ¡®Jedi General¡¯ and himself as she looked between them frantically, ¡°Hold on now, let¡¯s just remain calm folks.¡±

    ¡°Remain calm?¡± The togruta girl said accusingly, ¡°You are telling us to remain calm in the face of a Sith Lord?¡±

    ¡°Sith Acolyte missy. I¡¯m no lord.¡± He corrected.

    ¡°So, you must be the apprentice then.¡± The man he assumed to be Anakin said.

    This confused Vancil slightly, ¡°Ummmm, yeah?¡± He said, slightly confused, ¡°What do you mean ¡®the¡¯ apprentice?¡±

    Anakin scowled at Vancil, ¡°Don¡¯t play dumb, Sith. Surrender yourself now and perhaps the Jedi Council will show mercy.¡±

    Vancil laughed mockingly, ¡°The only reason I¡¯m not kicking your ass right now, Jedi, is because I agreed to let this one negotiate for me.¡±

    ¡°Then shut your trap and let me talk.¡± Kandria in turn scowled at him, eliciting a small chuckle before he waved dismissively for her to continue.

    Kandria glared at him for a while before turning to face the other Jedi fully, holding both her hands towards them placatingly, ¡°Look, he¡¯s the only reason I¡¯m alive right now. I promised I would see him safely back to Imperial space. He is of no danger to the war effort as a singular Sith and so there is little reason to deny me this request.

    This time, Anakin was the one to look confused, ¡°Imperial Space? A singular Sith not being dangerous? What are you talking about?¡±

    Vancil could sense Kandria¡¯s trepidation as Anakin said this, ¡°¡­The Sith Empire? The one we¡¯ve been fighting for over a decade.¡±

    The togruta was the one to speak up next, ¡°The Sith Empire has been destroyed for over a millennium.¡±

    Vancil stared holes into the togruta, his brain still catching up to the gravity of what she had just said. He worked his jaw behind his mask, his mind blanking on every tangible thought he was trying to formulate. Something was starting to click however. Something that had been bothering him since he had woken up.

    He had sensed it in the force at first, and even seen it with the strange technology. He had been in denial however. Denial at the imbalance in the force. Denial at even the severe changes he had observed in the Republic simply by the troops that surrounded him and the ship they were in.

    But now, that someone had said what he had secretly suspected, he had absolutely no way to deny it outright.

    This galaxy was not his. And he had no idea how to get back.

 Chapter 7: Prisoners (??)

    Kandria looked back at the Sith, now named as Vancil, in shock, a look that was mirrored by the other two Jedi. When the togruta had said those words, everything she knew so far began to shatter around her. It was in that very moment, in which she pieced together the gravity of what the togruta had said, that she for once let go of her training if only for a moment.

    All the hope she had for getting back to her master and friends alive was thrown out the window and set on fire. This outburst only lasted a moment of course, as she quickly regained control, so quickly you probably wouldn¡¯t have even noticed. After all, if what the togruta said was true, which it very likely was, then it was even more paramount that she drew on her training more than ever.

    What she didn¡¯t expect however, was the Sith¡¯s reaction. Up until now, Vancil had been a constant fountain of arrogance and bravado, not bothering to hide his emotions due his Sith nature. It was because of this, that his shift in emotions was more noticeable. MUCH more noticeable.

    Now, instead of his arrogance, confidence, or even disdain, the only emotion he was projecting was¡­distress. Vancil was now the complete opposite of what she had deduced of him so far. It was mind boggling in fact, how distraught he was. Quite literally too, due to her force sensitive nature and training. He wasn¡¯t even moving, not an inch. In fact, she wasn¡¯t even sure he was breathing anymore.

    And, due to all of these factors, Kandria felt something she never thought she would feel for a Sith. Sympathy. This caused great conflict within the Jedi; she ignored it however, because feeling sympathetic, at that moment, felt right. Because now, despite her inner protests, there was one undeniable fact.

    Kandria, the Jedi, and Vancil, the Sith, were all that remained of each other¡¯s home.

    Vancil remained unmoving for a few more moments, seemingly unfazed by the stares of all those surrounding him. That was when Kandria sensed a profound shift in the Sith¡¯s emotions, going from overwhelming dejection to a stoic determination as he stepped forward in front of her.

    ¡°I will surrender myself under two conditions.¡± He stated, snapping all the Jedi out of their stupor as they looked at him in bewilderment, ¡°One: I will keep my lightsaber. Two: You will bring me before the Jedi Council.¡±

    Anakin¡¯s shocked gaze immediately turned into a frown, however a hint of confusion remained at Vancil¡¯s second condition, ¡°Absolutely not. Why would you even want to go to the Council anyways?¡±

    ¡°Simple. They have access to the Jedi Archives. Since my home has apparently been destroyed, I would like to learn how. And you need not concern yourself with me attempting to escape.¡± Vancil replied simply.

    ¡°And why not? Sith are notoriously deceptive and untrustworthy, so this could all be just some elaborate ploy for you to assassinate the Jedi Council!¡± The togruta spoke up, her tone having turned accusatory as she addressed the Sith.

    Kandria could feel the glare Vancil gave her, even with his face covered by the expressionless mask, ¡°Because where do you think I will flee to? To the Empire that was apparently dissolved a thousand years ago? Or perhaps you expect me to break out of prison and take on an entire capital ship¡¯s worth of republic troopers by myself.¡±

    Sensing the indignation quickly from the togruta, Kandria quickly stepped into the conversation, ¡°Look, I understand your reservations and inclinations to not believe him- ¡°

    ¡°There is nothing reserved about it! It is simple fact. And how can we even know- ¡° The togruta replied sharply towards Kandria, only to stopped as Anakin raised his hand, looking back at her with a disapproving scowl.

    ¡°That¡¯s enough, Ahsoka.¡± He scolded, before looking back at Kandria, ¡°But she is right, how can we trust this Sith?¡±

    Kandria breathed out a sigh of both relief at Anakin¡¯s willingness to listen as well, however the sigh also contained trace amounts of queasiness at what she knew she had to say, ¡°You cannot trust the Sith. But you can trust me, as a fellow Jedi. And I¡­trust the Sith.¡±

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    Kandria shivered as the words left her mouth, feeling shaken to her very core at this admittance. Thankfully it appeared to not just affect her, as the Sith quickly twisted around, his confusion and surprise evident simply from the emotions he projected.

    ¡°You fucking what now?¡± Vancil said, his voice betraying every ounce of bewilderment he clearly felt at the moment.

    Kandria worked her jaw underneath her mask as she looked into the lenses of his mask, ¡°You saved my life, even after nearly ending it several times. You threw yourself in between me and a swarm of whistling darts.¡±

    Her gaze flicked back to the Anakin and Ahsoka as she stepped forward in between them and Vancil, ¡°Even if he is a Sith, and also undoubtedly an asshole, right now I trust his words. I am so confident that he speaks the truth in fact, that I am willing to bet the whole Jedi Order on it.¡±

    Both Anakin and Ahsoka stared at her with a perplexed look on their faces, clearly not expecting such a declaration. It was then that one of the soldiers beside Anakin turned to him. His armour was similar to that of the troopers surrounding them but the helmet seemed to be of a different kind, similar to how the blue markings were much more prominent on this one than any of the others.

    His voice was low enough that she almost couldn¡¯t hear it as he spoke, ¡°Sir, the Sith didn¡¯t say anything about where we keep him or how much security we can have on him. I don¡¯t know much about Sith but I¡¯m sure that even just one would be a great boon to the Republic.¡±

    Anakin nodded as he stroked his chin in thought, ¡°I know that¡­the whole situation is just a bit weird.¡±

    Anakin then looked back towards Kandria and Vancil, a decisive look on his face as he waved towards his troops, ¡°Alright men, escort them to the holding cells. I want at least twenty guards on a quarterly rotation at all times.¡±

    With that the soldiers surrounding them sprang into action, advancing rapidly onto them. Soon enough they were being marched through the expansive halls of the Venator, catching gazes from every crew member they passed. One thing stood out to Kandria though. All of the crew¡­looked and sounded the exact same. The same faces, same voices, even the same hair colour.

    She glanced back at the column of soldiers behind her, eyes widening as she noticed they all walked at the exact same height. They were¡­clones? This definitely was not her galaxy if that was the case, and only reinforced her suspicions of this being some strange alternate reality. After all, never had she heard of clones being used on such a grand scale as to man an entire capital ship. And if this one was manned with clones, it was likely that many more were.

    Despite her thoughts spiralling into questions about the sheer scale of this cloning operation, Kandria continued on until they finally reached the brig. The brig appeared to be a long hallway, with many different cells lining the sides of it. The cells had translucent blue shields coursing with electricity, the shields wide enough to be considered a wall instead of a door.

    She and the Sith were soon ushered into separate cells, the cells themselves being on opposite sides of the walkway to each other. As the blue shield reactivated, shutting her in, Kandria took a look around her ¡®room¡¯. It consisted of the bare minimum, with a small platform sticking out of the wall to serve as a bed on the right and a bland toilet and sink in front of her, all of it made out grey metal.

    As she took in her surroundings, Kandria licked her lips as she approached the sink, lowering her mask and eagerly chugging down on the sweet, sweet water. She hadn¡¯t really realised it until she had laid eyes upon this beautiful contraption, but she was incredibly thirsty. Sure, it hadn¡¯t really been that long since she and Vancil had arrived on Krant, but that didn¡¯t matter as she was already thirsty before their climactic battle aboard the Rakatan Ship.

    She was really regretting refusing that drink from Master Coval now. It really was true that pride was one¡¯s downfall. As she finished gulping down the sweet nectar that was the tap water she straightened back up, wiping her mouth free of water and pulling her mask back up.

    Turning around her gaze hardened as she noticed Vancil leaning against the back wall of his own cell, snickering quietly to himself as he watched her admittedly embarrassing display. Holding her head high, she ignored the near silent ridicule Vancil threw at her as she hopped up onto the bed, sitting cross-legged as she slowly drifted into a meditative state, her eyes closing shut. There was a lot to think about after all.

    Silence once again bore down on both of the cells as Vancil¡¯s snickering faded away. That is, until Vancil spoke up once again.

    ¡°Hey¡­Kandria,¡± He appeared to hesitate before saying her name, as though he was unsure of it, ¡°¡­Thank you, for trusting me.¡±

    Kandria remained silent for a moment before one of her eyes opened, looking at him. He was standing very still, at the very edge of his cell right near the blue shield. She kept her gaze on him, her singular eye locked on his blank white lenses.

    ¡°Thank you for giving me a reason to trust you.¡±

 Chapter 8: Unto the Belly of the Beast

    Vancil idly shifted in his hand cuffs as what the troopers called an ¡®LAAT drop ship¡¯ lightly touched down on the landing pad. And, while his view of the outside was extremely limited due to the only available avenue of discerning what was outside being the small slats in the side doors of the LAAT, there was no doubt about the planet they had landed on. A smile came onto the face beneath his mask, as a semblance of hope sparked deep within him.

    Coruscant. The heart of the Republic, and the beacon of humanity in the galaxy. He had visited with his parents once, when he was still a child. And, despite the reality of the rotten and decaying underbelly beneath the beautiful facade, you could never get rid of that first experience. His smile quickly dropped however, as the rest of the memory of his visit made its way to the forefront of his mind before being quickly banished back to the depths from which it came.

    Thankfully an excellent distraction quickly became apparent, as the doors on the drop ship slid to the side to reveal a towering megastructure, its size massive even by Coruscant¡¯s standards. The Jedi Temple, a great and towering¡­concrete cube. Well, he supposed he shouldn¡¯t have been surprised considering his understanding of the Jedi. At least it looked somewhat different than it did on his first visit.

    He couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit confused however, as to why he was even looking at it from afar. He knew for a fact that there were hangar bays, and that they could almost certainly have managed to fit in a drop ship of this size. In fact, he was currently facing the stair way to the main entrance.

    Vancil looked around the area to find that they had in fact simply landed in the middle of a large portion of the pathway leading to the temple. It finally clicked in his mind however as he finally took notice of the many Jedi standing just outside the LAAT, as well as what looked to be civilian reporters. A light chuckle of amusement escaped him as the troopers escorted him out onto the path, a dozen camera flashes occurring within moments of his first step onto the concrete ground from both handheld devices and drones.

    Propaganda. His chuckling increased as he continued to be ushered along, apparently having the effect of intimidating both the Jedi and reporters, some of them visibly recoiling. It made sense of course. From what he had gathered during his short conversation with Anakin Skywalker, Sith were in rather short supply, short enough to warrant even a single one being considered dangerous. He could see the headlines now; ¡±SITH LORD CAPTURED, ANOTHER HUGE VICTORY FOR OUR GLORIOUS REPUBLIC!¡±

    Sure, they might embellish a little bit, but it wouldn¡¯t matter if the Sith ¡®Lord¡¯ they captured was locked up in the deepest darkest cell they could find. His gaze flicked over to the four Jedi that now walked alongside the clone trooper escort, a stern look on all of their faces as they now stared ahead unflinchingly. Out of the corner of his eye however, he could see their occasional glances towards him. It made him chuckle even harder, at how cautious these Jedi were. He could understand the fearful look on the face of the reporters, but honestly, he was kind of disappointed that the Jedi were. Even with him in handcuffs and surrounded by soldiers and Jedi, they were still worried about Vancil trying something.

    Well, he supposed they were correct in that assumption. Once Vancil got what he wanted he fully intended to halt all cooperation. And while he fully expected them to not give in to his demands, if they actually did give him what he wanted, he at least resolved to not go on a spree of destruction within the temple. You could think of it as his little way of saying thank you.

    Once his grand procession reached the stairs of the temple all of the clones immediately stopped and did an about face towards the crowd, leaving Vancil and the Jedi to continue upwards and through the entrance into the temple proper. It was once Vancil exited the sight of the reporters that they immediately began asking questions to the clones who now held them back, clearly having grown some spine since his disappearance from their site.

    At this point Vancil was laughing like mad, drawing some concerned and confused looks from the Jedi that littered the main entrance hall, even including one of his stoic escorts. He didn¡¯t even care enough to pay attention to his surroundings, now only subconsciously following his escorts as he laughed his worries away.

    Personally, he found the whole thing incredibly funny. It also helped distract him from the unease and rage he felt not only from the close proximity to these Jedi but also the fact that he was inside one of the places he despised the most, the Jedi Temple. Plus, it helped paint the picture that he was not one to be trifled with if he kept on laughing like a maniac.

    As they continued on his laughter finally began to die down as they reached an elevator, resulting in all five of them piling in awkwardly. When in there he kept close attention to the lightsaber still at his belt, just in case one of the Jedi tried to swipe it. As the elevator slowly rose with a low hum, the tension in the cramped area was apparent, the Jedi being uneasy about how squished they were and Vancil keeping an eye out for anything the Jedi might pull.

    Vancil briefly considered lightening the mood by mocking one or two of them before deciding against it, his hatred for Jedi outweighing his discomfort in the cramped space. The Jedi in front of him let out a sigh of relief as the doors opened and they all stepped out into a curving hallway. The exterior walls had large glass planes, giving a truly magnificent view of the Jewel of the Galaxy.

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    As the procession continued on, Vancil idly watched out the window onto the sprawling planet sized city before they eventually reached another elevator with another group of people already waiting in front of it, his gaze landing on one in particular.

    ¡°You¡¯re late.¡± Kandria said.

    <hr>

    Kandria was nervous. Incredibly so. She had arrived only ten minutes ago and she was already fighting back the nervous sweat that was forming. There were several reasons for this feeling. First and most prominently was that she now stood before the elevator to what Anakin said was the High Council Tower in which the Jedi Council resided. Being under one Jedi Master was stressful enough, but walking into a room of the most accomplished and powerful Jedi, while she was cuffed like a criminal? That was another beast entirely.

    The second reason for her nervousness was that she had no idea where Vancil was. When they had arrived at Coruscant they had both been escorted onto different drop ships, with the excuse being that it was safer. Yet, Vancil was no where to be seen. Both of the ships had left at the same time so it ruled out different launch times. She also didn¡¯t see his ship when they landed in the hangar. That meant one of two things, and she wasn¡¯t sure which scared her more.

    One; Vancil had somehow taken out the clone troopers and escaped with the drop ship and was probably in the process of fighting for his life and freedom. She wasn¡¯t sure why, but she didn¡¯t want the Sith to die. Maybe it was because she still felt some sort of debt to him for saving her life. Or maybe it was the fact that apparently, they were all each other had of their home.

    Two; Vancil had actually been taken to an entirely different place and was currently in the process of being incarcerated or interrogated violently. This worried her for the same reasons as reason one.

    Kandria¡¯s gaze flicked to a new group that approached, eyes widening slightly in relief, as she spotted the Sith, Vancil among the approaching Jedi. Anakin and Ahsoka who stood by her side also turned to look at the approaching group, Anakin¡¯s expression having a look of disapproval as he spotted the Sith. For some reason though it didn¡¯t seem as though it was directed at Vancil himself but something else.

    And, unlike Kandria, Vancil had four Jedi surrounding him, all of them on high alert. She almost felt insulted. Almost.

    ¡°You¡¯re late.¡± She stated while trying to keep her tone neutral in the presence of higher-ranking Jedi.

    Vancil only chuckled in response, ¡°You should leave the mocking to me, Jedi. It¡¯s very unbecoming of a padawan to resort to things like petty taunts.¡±

    Kandria gritted her teeth in frustration before wresting her emotions back under control, ¡°Care to explain why you¡¯re late? Don¡¯t tell me you decided to go sightseeing.¡±

    Vancil¡¯s chuckles quietened down, ¡°Well, I wouldn¡¯t say that. I did take the scenic route, but it¡¯s more like I was the object of sightseeing.¡±

    Kandria tilted her head in confusion, ¡°What does that even mean?¡±

    Vancil scoffed as if insulted, ¡°What, you didn¡¯t know? I¡¯m famous now! Although I suppose it would take a while for them to write the news articles¡­¡±

    Kandria blinked owlishly before turning to Anakin, ¡°Do you understand what he¡¯s talking about?¡±

    Anakin scowled as he looked to the Sith, although it once again didn¡¯t seem that Vancil was the direct cause of it, ¡°A Sith is a powerful individual. Even if he surrendered peacefully and offered his cooperation this is just what we need to boost morale.¡±

    Kandria pondered over Anakin¡¯s words before her eyes widened in realisation. ¡®It would take a while for them to write the news articles¡¯. He had taken the ¡®scenic route¡¯. The front entrance. Her eyes narrowed in a feeling she very rarely felt. Anger. They had paraded him up the stairs of the Jedi Temple like some prized Nerf as a¡­propaganda tool. He had surrendered of his own volition, made clear his willingness to cooperate not only with her but their Jedi captors. It was degrading.

    It was then that she understood exactly what caused Anakin¡¯s scowl. He disagreed with this just as much as she did. This, coupled with her own training kicking in allowed her to suppress her anger almost as soon as it appeared. And, while she internally wanted to both apologise to Vancil for the disrespectful treatment and give these Jedi a piece of her mind, she decided against it.

    Vancil seemed to be relatively unaffected by this degrading treatment, and she did not want to mess up any chances he had of getting his demands met by the Jedi Council by being rude to them. And so, after having calmed herself, Kandria simply stood there patiently, her expression turning blank almost instantly thanks to years of training. Thankfully it also seemed that none of the Jedi had noticed her small internal outburst.

    One of the Jedi that had been escorting Vancil, a human with greying brown hair, then stepped forwards, ¡°The Council wishes to speak with the Sith first, Skywalker. I¡¯m sure you were informed of this.¡±

    Anakin bowed his head slightly, ¡°Of course, Master Drallig. I and Ahsoka can keep watch over Padawan Kandria. I assume the other Masters have places to be as well.¡±

    ¡°Indeed, however I will remain to escort him both up the elevator then down. Where he goes after that is up to the Council to decide.¡± Drallig¡¯s gaze flicked to Kandria, his brown eyes narrowing in suspicion, ¡°Keep an eye on that one. While her claimed Padawan status may explain her inability to hide her emotions, she could still be lying to us.¡±

    Kandria flushed in embarrassment at being called out, thankful that her mask hid her face.

    Anakin chuckled lightly, however it seemed strained, ¡°Of course, Master Drallig.¡±

    Drallig kept his gaze fixed on Kandria before turning towards Vancil and jerking his head towards the elevator, ¡°Come on. Time to plead your case.¡±

    The Sith scoffed in response but continued on in front of Drallig, his tone dripping with sarcasm as he responded, ¡°Ya know, usually you plead your case before being paraded through the streets.¡±

    As they both stepped into the elevator, Kandria¡¯s gaze locked onto Vancil¡¯s for what felt like hours before the door shut, sending him up to the Jedi Council.

 Chapter 9: Negotiations

    Drallig remained standing by the elevator, shoving Vancil forward roughly. The Sith glanced back to scowl at Drallig. Sure, you could have reasoned that it was pointless considering Vancil¡¯s masked visage, but he was sure the Jedi got the message.

    Vancil looked back ahead of him as he walked into a large circular room, a ring of what he could only call thrones circling a small area in the middle. Behind these was a singular glass pane that made up the entirety of the walls which allowed possibly the most brilliant view one could get of Coruscant without a ship to get higher.

    And seated on these cushioned thrones, was the Jedi High Council.

    Vancil worked his jaw underneath his mask, making sure that only his confidence and pride was emanated from him. If they knew that he was even the smallest bit scared, then chances were that these negotiations would go very badly for him.

    Of course, it most certainly helped that apparently most of the council appeared to not be present, with flickering holograms filling the place of all twelve seats except for the four which contained those actually present. Of the ones present was an Iktochi, who sat with a pensive expression on his face, a Kel Dor whose curiosity could be seen even with the protective mask and goggles he wore, a bald dark-skinned human with perhaps the most serious expression of them all, and a green¡­something. He was definitely a small one though, and he looked ancient.

    Not wanting to stump himself on deciphering just what the hell that little goblin was, Vancil shook his head and marched forward, arrogance oozing out of him with his head held high as he walked into the centre of the room. It honestly surprised him how little Council Members were actually present. From what he knew the Council was an incredibly important piece of infrastructure for the managing and running of the Jedi Order.

    The entire room was silent as he stopped in the centre, every Jedi, present or not, looking over him. Vancil glanced around, unsure as to what exactly was to happen now. He knew his demands and what he wanted out of the Jedi, and he was sure that Anakin would have relayed his demands of access to the Jedi Archives to them.

    Yet neither he, nor the council spoke a word. And he would be damned if he spoke first. Vancil preferred to think about things from a tactical stand point, as it was one of the only reasons, he survived being a Sith. And right now, if he spoke first, he would be at a disadvantage, as to it would be his own equivalent of getting down on his knees and begging. Yes, he was technically going to the Jedi for help, but Vancil would be damned before he ever admitted such a thing.

    ¡°So then, this is the Sith we¡¯ve heard so much about.¡± The Kel Dor said as he broke the silence, his tone surprisingly both gentle and serious at the same time.

    ¡°Hmmmm, strange, this is. Expect a Sith to walk right into our grasp, we did not.¡± The midget said, making Vancil even more confused at his manner of speaking.

    ¡°Well, considering that he claims to be of the Sith Empire, I think it¡¯s safe to assume that everything would be a little strange.¡± Said one of the holograms, a human wearing armour and with a full beard.

    The Kel Dor nodded to the bearded human before looking back to Vancil, ¡°Indeed Kenobi. Now, while Anakin has told us what has apparently happened to you, I think it would be best if we hear it from the man himself.¡±

    Vancil worked his jaw, ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to be honest, I¡¯m still kind of confused about what is going on. It¡¯s been a very intense¡­I don¡¯t actually know how long it¡¯s been. They don¡¯t really have clocks in those cells.

    ¡°I suppose it would be best to start on the Rakatan ship. You should have seen it, there I was, kicking Kandria¡¯s ass and sending her flying all over the place, while my master, Darth Ominit was doing the same thing to her master. Ominit beat that Jedi a little too hard though and damaged some computers which knocked both me and Kandria out. I woke up in this weird ass metal box, wandered around for a bit, then promptly kicked Kandria¡¯s ass again.

    ¡°Of course, with my intense intelligence and goodwill I decided that sparing her was the best option. I then saved her from certain death using my absolutely intense and awesome skills from some jet pack wielding wannabes, whose ship we then promptly commandeered. Alas, our escapades came to an end when your Skywalker dude showed up with a battlegroup of capital ships. We got tractor beamed, I surrendered under the condition I could meet with you and that I would keep my lightsaber, and now here I stand.¡±

    Vancil shrugged nonchalantly, but internally cackled to himself. Sure he may have embellished some of the feats he had listed but it was about right. The Council Members all turned to glance at one another, probably sharing silent conversations simply through those slight movements.

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    ¡°Hmmmm, and if Skywalker¡¯s words are truth, you wish to access the Jedi Archives to find out what happened to the Sith Empire?¡± The Kel Dor spoke up as he leaned forward with a curious expression on his face.

    Vancil nodded, his bravado fading slightly at the reminder of his situation, ¡°Yep, basically.¡±

    The dark-skinned human pursed his lips, his eyes suspicious as he looked at Vancil ¡°And, why would you think we would accept such a request, Sith.¡±

    Vancil grimaced underneath his mask, ¡°Think of it as the final wish of someone who has nothing to live for anymore.¡±

    ¡°So, you are simply looking for closure?¡± The bearded hologram said, to which Vancil nodded reluctantly.

    His bravado had faded dramatically as the effects of his outlandish embellishments were wearing out. Not the effects on the Jedi, he was certain they wouldn¡¯t believe a word he said. They were his way of both denying the situation while also keeping up his little illusion.

    As a result of this fading fa?ade he sighed in resignation, ¡°Yes. I know it wouldn¡¯t actually mean much, and that the most reasonable thing to do would be to have just escaped the second I could. But being reasonable was always more of a Jedi thing.¡±

    The Jedi shared another glance, the Kel Dor leaning over to whisper to the little green midget, their words too faint for Vancil to make out. As they whispered, Vancil switched his gaze onto the other two council members present, studying their reactions and faces. The Iktochi had kept his pensive expression throughout the entire meeting, never once taking his gaze off of Vancil, as though the Sith were a strange piece of art.

    The dark skinned human however, was a very different story. Every part of him screamed caution as he glared daggers at Vancil, as though he aimed to reveal every secret just by looking at him. As for the holograms, their Jedi training coupled with their expressions being hard to read due to the occasional static, meant that he couldn¡¯t even begin to guess what they were thinking.

    His gaze flicked back to the midget and Kel Dor as the latter pulled back into his seat, looking at Vancil, ¡°So, say we do allow you access, and you find what you¡¯re looking for. What will you do then?¡±

    Vancil pursed his lip as he pondered for a moment, ¡°I¡¯d improvise, like I always do, and like I always have done.¡±

    The Kel Dor nodded, ¡°I see. Well, I have conferred with Master Yoda here, and I would like to make you an offer.¡±

    Vancil narrowed his eyes in suspicion, ¡°An offer? You little council doesn¡¯t have anything I want other than the Archives.¡±

    The Kel Dor raised a placating hand, ¡°Yes, you may think that, and the other council members may think that as well. However, what I am offering comes purely from me, with Grandmaster Yoda¡¯s blessing.¡±

    Vancil looked over to the midget with a look of bewilderment thankfully hidden beneath his mask. That was the Grandmaster?

    The Kel Dor continued on, either not noticing or not caring for his bewilderment, ¡°What I offer you, is a membership with the Jedi Order.¡±

    Now, there was a lot of ways Vancil could react to the words that had just been uttered. He could be thoughtful, insulted, or even thankful. However, only one single sound made it out of his mouth.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    The Kel Dor nodded, as though Vancil had just said something wise and thought provoking, ¡°I will take you under my wing as my apprentice. From your story, and what young Skywalker has told me, I believe that you deserve a chance to embrace the light.¡±

    Vancil couldn¡¯t breathe, his brain having a meltdown as none of his emergency modes were suited to solving something like this. He had to look deeper.

    ¡°Master Plo Koon! Surely you do not intend to openly welcome a Sith into our ranks!¡± The dark-skinned human said, his gaze snapping to the Kel Dor Jedi with a look of indignation, his protest repeated by most of the other council members with those who didn¡¯t simply looking shocked.

    Vancil could sense something, buried so deep inside him he had forgotten what it even was. It was something though, something that would help him respond.

    Plo Koon kept his gaze on Vancil, unwavering and unfazed by the comments of his fellow council members, ¡°The Sith said it himself, if not directly. He has nothing to live for anymore. Even if he is a Sith, I will not stand idly by while he falls into aimless despair.¡±

    He was getting closer, deeper within himself to the one thing he could reach for. He passed by every other protocol he had buried, as even if he didn¡¯t even spare them a moment, he knew they wouldn¡¯t help.

    The bearded human spoke up next, ¡°I hate to say it, Master Windu, but there could also be benefits to allowing the Sith into the fold. If he truly is from the Sith Empire of old, then he is perhaps the best option we have for combating the two Sith still at large.¡±

    A spark of red lightning jumped between his palms, thankfully hidden by the closeness due to the closeness of his hands. He was getting close.

    Windu sighed in frustration as he looked to the bearded jedi, ¡°While that is true, Obi-Wan, it would essentially be us relying on the dark side for victory. If we do that, we will be going down the path which the first Dark Jedi took.¡±

    Vancil looked down at his feet, his entire focus going into his mind. He could reach for it now, a memory. Something that would tell him what to do.

    Plo Koon raised a hand to silence the rest of the Council, ¡°I think it is best if we save these discussions until after young Vancil¡¯s answer.¡±

    This seemed to unite the squabbling council, who quickly quietened down as their gazes turned to the Sith. Vancil simply stood there for a second, silently looking at his feet as he pored through the memory. Finally, after looking through it he raised his gaze to look at the Jedi master directly in front of him, Yoda. He knew what to feel now.

    His face twisted and contorted beneath his mask.

    Rage.

 Chapter 10: The Raging Memories

    Vancil¡¯s hand gripped tightly around that of his mother¡¯s, shrinking further into himself as he did so. The crowds bustled around him, jostling him to and fro, his mother¡¯s reassuring grip being all that stopped him from being taken away by the unending tide of people.

    His vision was a mess of colours and textures, colours and textures that he had never seen before, colours and textures that he was now utterly terrified of. Yet, past the crowds of people towering over him, past the experienced and almost precise movements of the many different species around him, he could see it. A sprawling and breathtaking view of Coruscant, a planet he had only heard of in the legends of his hometown.

    And, surprisingly, almost all of the legends were true. He had expected some the more outlandish claims like towers large enough to hold a mythical Krayt Dragon, or so many different species you wouldn¡¯t be able to count them all to be utterly false. How wrong he was. Of course, that only ended up making the whole experience even more gut wrenching and terrifying.

    He was only vaguely aware of the direction they were going, choosing to instead hide in his mother¡¯s shadow as much as he could while he tried his best to think back to the grassy fields of his home, hidden under grey clouds. While there was a part of him that hated himself for such behaviour, his fear took complete precedence.

    Thankfully however, the crowds eventually filtered out as they approached a truly monolithic structure, one so large he wasn¡¯t sure where it started and where it ended. His little brown eyes filled with wonder and awe as he gazed upon it. An eager grin came upon his face as well, once he recognised the building from the infographics they had been given on the flight to Coruscant. The Jedi Temple. Excitedly, he looked up at his mother, eager to see her own reaction and expecting it to be at least somewhat similar to his.

    Except that wasn¡¯t what he saw. Rather, her face was tightly knit into a look of worry and anger, her gaze locked onto the large entranceway into the superstructure. Vancil looked between the building and his mother, trying to find the link as to why she felt like this. He just couldn¡¯t see any reason for her negative behaviour.

    After all, they were here to visit his sister.

    <hr>

    Pure rage filtered off of Vancil in droves, his armoured fists clenched tightly as he glared bloody murder at every Jedi within his range of view, present or not. Red lightning jumped between both of his fists, noticed by neither he nor the Jedi. Both had far more pressing concerns right now.

    Those Jedi that were present had frozen entirely, and those who weren¡¯t had also, having realised something was wrong even with their holographic view of the situation. He couldn¡¯t blame them for such a reaction of course. After all, chances were he was an absolute tsunami of dark side energy right now. It certainly felt like it to Vancil.

    He had never felt more powerful in his life. It was¡­intoxicating. Despite all the rage, and anger, he felt towards these Jedi right now however, his death grip on the force provided a wealth of comfort to stop him from attacking right there and then.

    His furious gaze whipped to the Kel Dor who flinched and instantly as his hand snapped to grip his lightsaber. That singular action was the somewhat sober reminder of the situation Vancil was in, and the only reason he didn¡¯t immediately start throwing punches. Thankfully, he had something else to throw.

    ¡°You fucking pieces of steaming diabetic bantha shit.¡± He said, his voice a low and threatening growl.

    No Jedi responded, present or not. Vancil did not know the reason, nor did he care to find out. Because he wasn¡¯t done.

    ¡°You motherfucking bastards. You disgusting spawn of prostitutes think you can ask me to join your order of fucking weird-ass space monks?¡± He shouted.

    Again, no response.

    ¡°You insensitive, emotionless pricks! I have just lost everything I fucking cared and loved and you try to fucking recruit me!? You Jedi are supposed to be the pinnacle of understanding and empathy! You¡¯re supposed to be the FUCKING GOOD GUYS!¡±

    He took a step forward, caused the arcs of lightning to grow significantly, drawing the attention of the Jedi. Vancil had a faint idea of something going on in his hands, but decided it wasn¡¯t worth enough attention.

    ¡°DO YOU FUCKING UNDERSTAND!?!? YOU PEOPLE ARE A FUCKING DISGRACE TO WHAT YOU¡¯RE SUPPOSED TO STAND FOR!! AND YOU¡¯RE THE GOD DAMNED LEADERS OF YOUR LITTLE DYSFUNCTIONAL CULT!¡±

    Vancil was yelling now, and all of the Jedi physically present except for the little goblin had drawn and ignited their lightsabers, each dropping into a combat stance. He was too into it now however. If he was going to get cut down, he would give them a proper piece of his mind before it happened.

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    ¡°YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW BAD MY SITUATION IS!?!? THE ONLY THING THAT I CARE ABOUT THAT IS STILL FUCKING ALIVE IS A STUPID FUCKING JEDI!!¡±

    He fixed his gaze squarely on the goblin called Yoda, hoping that in his last moments he would at least manage to antagonise the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order.

    ¡°DO YOU FUCKING UNDERSTAND YOU OVERGROWN FUCKING PIECE OF MONGREL SNOT!?!?¡±

    He finally stopped his tirade, his gaze still on the Grandmaster. That was it. That was the best he could come up with. As far as send offs go it wasn¡¯t really the best. He supposed it could be considered somewhat poetic. One of the last Sith in the galaxy, and his last words were a series of insults and slurs against the Jedi.

    Unfortunately for Vancil, the second he stopped his hateful rant, an inner conflict immediately started up. Because, while there was no doubt about how much he wanted to throttle every single one of these Jedi, his outburst of raw emotion had freed something else. He was fucking distressed as all hell. While he was distressed when he first discovered the nature of his situation, he had managed to at least keep that under control by focusing on something to do, that being access the archives to get a clearer picture.

    Now though? That any prospect of fulfilling that objective was thoroughly destroyed? There was no excuse he could make up. Vancil¡¯s shoulders slumped slightly as these thoughts crashed down on him, the eyes behind his mask glazing over.

    ¡°This shit fucking sucks.¡± He muttered to himself as he looked down to his feet, the red lightning dying down.

    The room returned back to its previous silence, and the tension in the air was palpable, with only the hum of lightsabers of the Jedi and shaky breath of Vancil to break it. Vancil shut his eyes as he prepared to be cut down. Even if he reached his lightsaber and the Jedi had somehow fell of considerably during whatever amount of time had passed, he was surrounded by them. So even if he managed to somehow kill all of the Jedi Masters in this room, the only way out was either a drop out the window or the elevator.

    Vancil¡¯s eyes closed as he prepared for one the Jedi to inevitably take advantage of his clearly melancholic state and cut him down. Instead, what he heard was the light and approaching sound of wood upon the floor. Confused, Vancil opened his eyes and looked up to see Yoda approaching him at a truly agonising speed.

    This understandably left the Sith speechless, as Yoda didn¡¯t have his lightsaber out, nor did he appear to be in any way shape or form cautious. Vancil¡¯s gaze locked onto the approaching Grandmaster, who stopped only a few steps from him. Yoda looked up at Vancil, his eyes as impossible to read as his face was aged and wrinkled.

    ¡°Understand, I do.¡± He said before bowing his head slightly in what surprisingly seemed like remorse, ¡°Ask for forgiveness, I must ask.¡±

    ¡°¡­I don¡¯t give a shit for any apology you want to say.¡± Vancil managed after a few seconds of stunned silence, his rage and indignation returning slightly.

    This was good. If they kept talking to him, he had a continuous way to create excuses to not fall into a deep depression.

    ¡°Hmmm, crass, your language has been. But understandable, its use was.¡± Yoda responded in a frankly weird way of speaking, ¡°Correct you were, in our failure to empathise.¡±

    Vancil¡¯s brow furrowed beneath his mask, unsure as to how he should respond to an admission like that, ¡°¡­Man, this really is a different galaxy from my one if a Jedi is admitting a Sith is right.¡±

    Yoda hummed lightly¡­or was it a chuckle? Either way it was some sort of noise. Glancing around, Vancil found similar looks of shock and confusion upon everybody else present. Many looked like they were on the verge of speaking or butting in, but they still remained silent with their lightsabers drawn, either out of respect for whatever their Grandmaster¡¯s intentions were or shock at just what was happening.

    ¡°Indeed, far different, this one must feel to you. Failed to recognise that, we did.¡±

    Vancil¡¯s subconsciously puffed his chest out in pride at Yoda¡¯s admittance before he spoke, ¡°Yeah, you bet you did. I just want to read what happened to my home. I don¡¯t care if you assign your whole council to guard me or feed me false information. I¡¯ll take what I can get.¡±

    Vancil¡¯s eyes then narrowed hatefully, not that they could see it with his mask, ¡°One thing that I will never do however, is join you Jedi in any possible way. I will do anything in my power to never be on the side of the Jedi Order, you can count on that.¡±

    Yoda¡¯s expression tightened at that before he spoke again, ¡°Hmmm, unfortunate, that is. Anything that can help us find Darth Sidious, we need.¡±

    Vancil waved a hand dismissively, ¡°I couldn¡¯t give two shits about whatever the hell is happening with the Sith of this Galaxy. That¡¯s between you and them.¡±

    Yoda sighed dejectedly but still nodded as he turned around and began walking back to his cushioned throne, ¡°Indeed. Include you in this, we should not. Access to the Archives, you may have. However, wait until after the Council has spoken to Padawan Kandria, before doing so.¡±

    Every eye in the room, whether it was behind a mask, goggle, or holographic, was glued on the retreating Grandmaster¡¯s back, every Jedi wide-eyed. The Kel Dor was the first to turn off his lightsaber and take a seat, his body language betraying nothing. Master Windu however, seemed to be an entirely different story, and his face clearly betrayed his vehement objections to what had just happened. In fact it looked like he would object at any moment.

    Deciding to take the win while he could Vancil quickly spun around and speed walked back to the elevator where the Jedi called Drallig was still standing, his expression as shocked as the rest of the Masters. Upon seeing Vancil¡¯s approach however, he snapped back into reality, and gestured mutely to the open elevator while keeping his gaze on the Grandmaster.

    Vancil hurriedly stepped in and was quickly followed by Drallig who pressed a button, causing the elevator doors to close.

    Vancil smacked his lips, ¡°Well shit, I can¡¯t believe that actually worked.¡±

 Chapter 11: Brief (but attempted) Rapprochement

    Kandria watched with a steely gaze at the elevator and the presence she felt coming down it. Her fists clenched and unclenched in a mix of worry and rarely seen anger. While she sensed that Anakin and Ahsoka also felt this worry directed at the man coming down that elevator, she could also sense the apprehension and worry they felt towards Kandria¡¯s behaviour.

    The reason for all of this was that, just moments ago, the most concentrated and powerful burst of anger she had ever felt had suddenly flared from the Council Tower. Such an outburst of emotion in the Council Tower would have worried any Jedi, whether they be padawan or master. There was another reason however for their collective worry and her own minute anger. The fact that the source of that outburst was almost certainly Vancil, who Kandria knew to be an extremely dangerous and capable Sith.

    She felt angry because, despite her training in controlling her emotions, Vancil had very likely done the something unbelievably stupid up there. She felt anger at this because, despite her distaste for the Sith¡¯s attitude and the order he belonged to, she had absolutely zero want to see him fail. In fact, she wanted him to succeed. And while this desire of hers did at first result in some initial internal conflict, she had since reconciled them.

    And so, when the steel doors opened to reveal Vancil and Master Drallig alive and well she had only one thing to say at that moment.

    ¡°What the hell did you do up there?¡± She said in a manner almost akin to a snarl.

    Now, Kandria had no idea what she expected Vancil to say. Maybe he would apologise profusely and explain that it was all a misunderstanding. Maybe he would even proudly declare that he had slaughtered the entire Jedi Council and taken Drallig captive. What she couldn¡¯t have predicted however, was for Vancil to calmy walk up to her and give her a light tap on the shoulder.

    ¡°Tag, you¡¯re it.¡± He said with a hint of amusement before he promptly turned away and began walking¡­somewhere.

    Confused beyond belief, Kandria could only gape after him as Drallig spoke to Skywalker, ¡°The Council has decided to allow him access to the archives, but they wish to speak to young Kandria here first.¡±

    Kandria perked up at the mention of her name and tension she didn¡¯t know had built up released itself at the confirmation of Vancil¡¯s success. She was¡­glad that he had gotten what he wanted. After all she more than anyone knew what he must be going through right now. A light smile also came under her mask as she realised what he had meant by his brief sentence to her.

    Drallig looked after the Sith that was now shrinking further down the hallway before giving an apologetic glance to Anakin, ¡°Apologies, I really must go after him to make sure he doesn¡¯t do anything.¡±

    And with that Drallig speed walked after Vancil, somehow maintaining his air of prestige and sternness as he did so. Kandria¡¯s attention then turned back to Skywalker as he gestured towards the elevator, she never thought she would enter. Her breath hitched as the group stepped into the contraption, and she couldn¡¯t breathe as it rose. This was it. She was going to meet the Jedi Council, face to face. It was every young Jedi¡¯s dream, to stand before the Council. Even if it wasn¡¯t the Council, she knew it changed nothing.

    And yet she felt quite¡­queasy. Jedi were trained from a young age that fear and all its successive emotions were to be avoided at all costs, lest one fall into the clutches of the dark side. She had actually seen it happen before with one of her fellow classmates, so she of all people knew that she shouldn¡¯t listen to her fear. But it did not change one undeniable fact.

    She was scared.

    This feeling wasn¡¯t exactly the cause of one particular thing, that much she was sure of. It was just this innate fear that she felt. Where she was. What she was doing. Kandria was sure that without her Jedi training she would have long since been a shivering mess, curled up in a corner with her eyes closed.

    It just didn¡¯t make sense. There was no reasonable argument for why she would be feeling like this. And the worst part was that she had been feeling even more scared she arrived in the Jedi Temple. And standing there, in that rising elevator, she wanted nothing more than to turn it around and run with all her might.

    She even briefly considered it for a moment before a hand rested on her shoulder left shoulder, jolting her out of her downward spiral. Looking to Anakin, she found a reassuring smile on his face, and a face that radiated understanding.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, seeing the Council is always a nerve-racking experience.¡± He said, clearly sensing her fear and interpreting it as nervousness at meeting such high-profile individuals.

    Kandria remained silent before returning her gaze forward, ¡°I know. I¡¯ll try to not let that control me.¡±

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    It was okay that he didn¡¯t understand that was the reason for her fear. The fact that he had even tried to reassure her was enough. Soothing her boiling emotions, she released the breath she had been holding as the doors finally opened.

    Hardening herself mentally for what was to come Kandria stepped out into the Council Chambers walking straight into the centre of the room. She didn¡¯t even realise it, but in an attempt to hide her fear, she had subconsciously mimicked Vancil¡¯s way of walking, holding her back straight and head high. This brought a curious look from all of the Jedi Masters present, except for the dark-skinned human Jedi whose gaze narrowed in suspicion and recognition.

    And then, standing in the middle of the room, Kandria realised her greatest blunder. She had absolutely zero idea what to do next. Gulping she remained frozen, as though if she even tried to move, she would be disintegrated on the spot.

    ¡°So, Padawan Kandria,¡± The Kel Dor spoke first, a hint of hesitation in his voice, ¡°We have looked through our records on Padawans, and there does indeed seem to be an entry for you. You were Master Coval¡¯s padawan, were you not?¡±

    Kandria¡¯s eyes dulled at the mention of her master. In her desperation to stay alive and the confusion and fear she felt she hadn¡¯t even spared a thought as to his fate. Coval was perhaps the closest thing she had to family. This was the norm of course, as attachment was strictly forbidden for Jedi and so the closest you could get was an apprenticeship to another Jedi.

    ¡°Yes, he is my master.¡± She replied, trying to make sure no sadness leaked into her speech.

    The Kel Dor nodded, ¡°I see. This confirms our initial assessment. You see, Master Coval has been dead for over three thousand years. This also matches up with when a Sith Empire was active, which lends credence to your confusion over the lack of an empire.¡±

    Kandria gulped as the Kel Dor finished speaking. Three thousand years. It made sense she supposed. Everything was so different. One thing was absolutely on her mind however. One thing that had been bothering her ever since it had first been revealed that no Sith Empire existed.

    ¡°If there is no Sith Empire, then who does the Republic war with?¡±

    The room fell deathly silent, and the Jedi all cast glances at each other. She just didn¡¯t understand. From what she had seen the Republic was in full scale war mode. The only times she had learned of where such cases had been necessary for the mass mobilisation to fund battleships was when a Sith Empire rose. And she was certain that clones were not cheap to produce or buy. And then they had held what was essentially a war parade when they marched Vancil into the temple. That was only necessary for morale boosts or prestige. All of that ruled out skirmishes with pirates or even conflict with the Hutt Clans.

    The Republic was at war. And the Jedi were too.

    The small green Jedi tapped his stick lightly against the ground, ¡°Hmmm, difficult to explain, the situation is.¡±

    A bearded human male spoke up next, his voice slightly garbled due to him only attending via transmission, ¡°Currently we fight the CIS, who are led by Count Dooku. They are a separatist movement against the Republic that rose up in the Outer Rim.¡±

    Kandria tilted her head in confusion, ¡°What? But¡­why?¡±

    ¡°The separatists command massive droid armies. They conquer worlds and displace the natives of those worlds. We tried to intervene but that¡­didn¡¯t go so well. Now we fight as leaders of the Republic¡¯s armies.¡± He continued, every word bringing further horror to Kandria.

    She gulped and a bit of panic managed to weasel its way into her mind, ¡°But¡­that doesn¡¯t¡­¡±

    Another conflict flared within Kandria once again. The Republic was basically in a civil war. In a situation like this the Jedi should be peacekeeping and looking for an end to the conflict. But¡­that wasn¡¯t happening. The Jedi were instead leading the armies of the Senate into battle against the rebels. The movement must have been massive too if it necessitated such a large military response.

    A Jedi leading troops into battle was nothing new to her. It often happened during the war against the Sith Empire. But this? This was Jedi leading troops not against Sith, but against people who want to leave the Republic. This¡­This¡­

    ¡°This is wrong.¡± She blurted out, shocking herself immensely.

    This shock apparently also extended to the members of the Jedi Council as all of their eyes widened. Realising the hole she had suddenly jumped in Kandria, in that split second went the only way she reasonably could.

    ¡°The Jedi shouldn¡¯t be doing this. We should be¡­trying to find a peaceful solution through negotiation. Not finding peace through more violence.¡± She said, looking down at her feet as her eyes widened with every word she said.

    The dark skinned male frowned, ¡°We have tried to establish a peace. The separatists are the aggressors, and they remain aggressive no matter our efforts.¡±

    Kandria shook her head slowly, ¡°That¡¯s no excuse. If your Outer Rim is similar to the Outer Rim I know of, then they are very likely exploited significantly for their natural resources. You said it yourself. They want to leave.¡±

    The dark skinned male¡¯s frown deepened, ¡°Well then the way they are going about it is wrong. We are servants of the Republic, we will safeguard it against those who wish to tear it apart.¡±

    Kandria shook her head again, ¡°No. The Jedi are supposed to be servants of the people, not the Republic. If the people want to leave the Republic the Jedi should support them.¡±

    The dark skinned male¡¯s eyes narrowed, ¡°If you disagree with the way this Order is run, you are welcome to leave. I encourage it in fact. This is not your galaxy, and you come from a time of war and death. For you to immediately go back into another war would be cruel of us.¡±

    Kandria¡¯s gaze turned to the male. She could hear it in his tone. He didn¡¯t actually expect her to leave. She couldn¡¯t blame him for thinking so either. Jedi were free to leave the Order at any time. Many didn¡¯t however, simply because the Order would have been all they knew, or all they believed in. There was one thing he didn¡¯t count on though.

    This wasn¡¯t the Order she knew. And it wasn¡¯t the Order she believed in.

    Holding her head high she looked him directly in the eye, ¡°Yes. It would be cruel for someone to fight for something they don¡¯t believe in. I wish to leave the Order.¡±

 Chapter 12: Democracyâ€¦

    Kandria gulped nervously as a feeling of anxiety sank into her gut. She clenched her hands tightly so as to try to at least attempt at hiding the shaking, and not one part of her body would move after her declaration. She could hardly believe the words that had come out of her mouth, and she desired to take them back so much.

    But she wouldn¡¯t take it back. She would rather reinforce her words than take them back. Because she believed in every single one of them. Unfortunately, however, Kandria was not used to internally dealing with the consequences of impulsive decisions like this one. If Master Coval could see what was happening in her mind, he¡¯d thwack her over the head and set her to meditate for 3 days straight.

    She didn¡¯t let any of this show externally of course however. Or at least she thought she was. Again, near zero experience in these sorts of situations. The Jedi Council that surrounded her with looks of bewilderment on their faces didn¡¯t help much either.

    ¡°Hmmmm, rash decision of yours, this is.¡± The small green master said, his manner of speech confusing Kandria slightly, ¡°Important also, however.¡±

    The dark skinned one nodded silently for a moment, his face stern as he spoke, ¡°Indeed, Master Yoda. Considering her¡­unique position in the galaxy I think it is worth deliberating.¡±

    ¡°If I may intercede, Master Windu, I believe that this is wrong decision. Not only has Kandria not finished her training as a Jedi but the period from which she came from is wildly different.¡± A bearded human present via hologram spoke up next.

    Kandria worked her jaw in slight indignation. It was like they were completely ignoring her presence. Another reason for this feeling was the fact that they were even discussing it. She wanted to leave. Now they were discussing if she could?

    ¡°I disagree with you, Obi-Wan.¡± The Kel Dor suddenly spoke up, snapping her away from her resentful thoughts, ¡°If she, a padawan who came from one of the most war torn periods in the history of the Republic says that this war is wrong, I think we should respect that.¡±

    ¡°Yes, despite the fact that I am still sceptical, I agree with Plo Koon. If a Jedi wishes to leave the order because they believe that they can better pursue the light side in doing so, I say they have every right to.¡± Surprisingly, the stern dark skinned Jedi was the next to speak up in her defence.

    Yoda hummed in prolonged thought before nodding sagely, ¡°Hmmm, divided on this matter, we appear to be. Hold a vote, we must.¡±

    Kandria blinked in surprise. This was not a ¡®oh boy I hope they let me leave¡¯ surprise though. Rather, this was a bad surprise. A surprise she not only hadn¡¯t expected, but one she also did not like. At all. It made her feel something that she had never felt before.

    Resentment.

    Sure, she had gotten angry, annoyed, anxious and fearful before. Resentment was something different however. It was something dangerously close to the absolute pinnacle of the dark side. Hate. So, what did it mean, that she resented the Jedi Council, the absolute pinnacle of the light side?

    Her inner thoughts consumed her so much that she wasn¡¯t even paying attention to the conversations of the masters surrounding her. Sound became muffled and her breathing quickened slightly. Her mind raced as she thought about the implications of these feelings.

    Was feeling resentment towards the Jedi indicative of the dark side influencing her? She had been so sure of herself when she had internally reminded herself that she was in the right. This new variable changed things however. She had spent a long time surrounded by the dark side after all. First on the Rakatan Ship where dark side energies permeated every facet of it, and then when she had ended up in a prolonged duel with Vancil.

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    Was that even how the force worked? Did proximity to one of the dark or light side push one¡¯s self to evil or good? Reasonably that was absolute hogwash. Only the person themselves can ultimately decide whether to join the light or dark side.

    But then again, things hadn¡¯t exactly been reasonable lately. She also supposed that right now she was the unreasonable one and that the concerns of the council members were completely valid. And they were. She was an unknown, something that no one had any experience in. It was completely reasonable to keep her here and finish her training.

    But¡­if that was true, she didn¡¯t want to be reasonable. If being reasonable meant fighting for something she didn¡¯t believe in, then she would rather forgo reason and do what she felt was right. She had trained for a decade under the Jedi, gaining an intense understanding of the light side. And this¡­being unreasonable felt like it was what the light side wanted.

    Even if she went against one of the main Jedi principles of reason above all else, she also knew that she wasn¡¯t a servant to the Order itself, only the light side. So, if to go against the Jedi in order to serve the light side within her was an unreasonable and stupid thing to do, then she would do it.

    As she resolved this inner conflict sound focused back in and she blinked away her stupor before glancing around at the Council Members. The debates they had been holding between themselves appeared to have quietened down. All the Jedi now directed their attention to Yoda, whose eyes were closed in deep thought.

    She hadn¡¯t registered a word of what any of the Jedi had said, but she didn¡¯t mind so much. After all, it was not as though her input would have changed much considering none of them had even once asked her opinion about the vote.

    Yoda tapped his walking stick on the ground, the sound feeling impossibly loud, and it seemed as though the air itself stilled in response, ¡°Begin to vote, we will. In favour of allowing Kandria to leave, raise your hands.¡±

    Kandria¡¯s heart sunk. Three hands were raised.

    ¡°In opposition, raise your hands.¡±

    She didn¡¯t see the point in it. It was obvious what the decision was. But she supposed that Yoda had to at least maintain the illusion of fairness. Nine hands were raised.

    ¡°Decided it is. Stay and complete her training, Kandria will. Decide on a master later, we must.¡± Yoda says, tapping his stick once again to signal the end of the proceedings.

    It was¡­unfair. It was unjust. It was a complete disregard as to how she interpreted the Jedi teachings. She did not speak a word as she calmly walked back to the elevator where Anakin and Ahsoka waited, after all, she at least had the sense to hide her feelings until she was well away from the most powerful Jedi in the Order.

    Kandria silently observed the reactions of Anakin and Skywalker as they entered the elevator. Ahsoka seemed to be experiencing the same conflict she had only moments before, unsure what exactly to feel at this turn of events. On the ride down, she raised her hand towards Kandria several times as though to comfort her fellow padawan before deciding against it.

    Anakin however, was a lot more clearcut as to his feelings on the matter. She had seen many things in her tenure as a Padawan. But never before had she seen or felt such¡­raw emotion from a Jedi Knight of all people. His face was twisted into a nasty frown and his arms were crossed with his hands clenched. And although she could obviously never accurately pinpoint what exactly it was that irked him, it was clear that both he and Kandria shared the same opinion on the matter.

    What had just happened was wrong. Maybe it was in accordance to the Jedi teachings of patience and reason, but that didn¡¯t change anything. It was wrong.

    And Kandria found that, she now had one singular desire in mind. She would right this wrong. This was not the Order she knew. In hindsight she really fought for her beliefs all along, as she had believed in the message of the Order she had been a part of since she was a child. This was not her betraying the Order, this was the Order betraying her, if in a rather indirect way.

    And as the elevator doors slid open and the party stepped out into the luxurious hallway, she only had one feeling in mind. Not resentment, not anger, not indignation.

    Determination.

    She would stay true to her beliefs, no matter what.

 Chapter 13: Love it or hate itâ€¦

    Vancil tapped his foot impatiently as he leaned against an ornate stone pillar. His arms were crossed and his masked gaze fixed ahead of him on the occasional foot traffic that passed through the section of the temple he had gone into. And while he enjoyed the fearful and nervous glances the passing Jedi gave him whenever they came under his hateful gaze, he was ultimately quite bored.

    He had no objection to waiting for Kandria to sort out whatever the hell she had to sort out with the Order¡¯s little council. But, believe it or not, there was a limit to how much he enjoyed making Jedi uneasy. Of course, the main reason was because they all had the exact, same, reactions. He¡¯d look at them, with a healthy dose of hatred for them and their order, they¡¯d become anxious and quicken their pace until they left his vision.

    Vancil clicked his tongue as he turned his gaze to the Jedi leaning against the pillar opposite him. Drallig still had his signature stern and observing look, and even slightly mimicked Vancil in his position leaning against the pillar. When Vancil had first proudly walked off, he had no actual real destination in mind. His memory of the layout of the temple was sketchy at best after all. Add on a likely couple millennia and there was bound to be changes to that already faded recollection.

    Fortunately, Drallig had caught up to him and taken him into a portion of the temple Vancil wouldn¡¯t be able to tell you if he tried. And now, they waited.

    ¡°We¡¯re late! Come on!¡±

    Vancil¡¯s head turned idly towards the sound of rushed footsteps, the echoes being heard well before he could see them due to the size and relative emptiness of this section of the temple. Rounding the corner was a pair of what he could only assume to be a pair of younglings. Bounding ahead was a male human with brown hair and brown eyes, a relatively common sight. Behind him was a female human, featuring much the same common features, except with purple eyes.

    The pair came to a screeching stop as they looked around frantically, the young male clicking his tongue as he turned to his companion, ¡°Drat, I forgot where the class was.¡±

    His companion, much to the male¡¯s chagrin, didn¡¯t have any solutions to this, only able to pant from exertion, ¡°Don¡¯t¡­look¡­at me¡­¡±

    The boy gritted his teeth and looked around, his gaze lighting up as it fell on Vancil and Drallig standing in the shadows of the towering stone pillars. He quickly bounded forward, clearly believing the both of them to be higher ranking Jedi with some semblance of direction.

    And for some reason, the boy decided that, out of the two of them, Vancil was the one he should approach, ¡°Excuse me sir! Could you tell me where Master Illiac¡¯s class is?¡±

    Vancil blinked in surprise as he stared down at the youngling in shock, ¡°¡­Can you not sense who I am?¡±

    The child tilted his head questioningly, ¡°You¡¯re a Master, aren¡¯t you? All the knights were sent to the frontlines.¡±

    Vancil stayed silent for a moment before chuckling lightly, mainly because of the look of pure shock on Drallig¡¯s face and his subsequent inability to react, ¡°Nope. I¡¯m about as non-Jedi as you can get kid. I like your ignorance though, you¡¯re about the only one who hasn¡¯t run away in fear.¡±

    ¡°Illiac is just down that way and to the right. Now go along, you don¡¯t want to be even more late.¡± Drallig said, stepping between the befuddled youngling and Vancil, having finally snapped out of his stupor.

    The boy blinked in confusion, looking around Drallig¡¯s body at Vancil before shrugging and hurriedly sprinting in the direction Drallig had pointed, ¡°Thank you! Come on Lyla!¡±

    Reminded of the presence of the girl, Vancil looked to her to gauge her reaction. In polar opposite to her friend, Lyla was frozen in place, sweating visibly, her gaze fixed on Vancil in the same way a deer might view an oncoming Rancor. And like a deer looking at a Rancor, there was one key thing that was almost certainly going through their minds.

    Why the hell was a Rancor here and not on Tatooine?

    Gulping, Lyla stumbled forward slightly before gaining speed with renewed vigour as she sped after the boy. Vancil laughed heartily, the echoes of which caused the girl to run even faster, as though she were pursued by invisible phantoms.

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    ¡°Well, at least that was something new.¡± He said, bringing a confused look to Drallig¡¯s face.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Vancil waved his hand dismissively, ¡°Ah, you wouldn¡¯t get it.¡±

    Drallig¡¯s lips pursed and he motioned to speak again before a light beeping came from the commlink on his wrist. He glanced at Vancil warily before answering the call, causing the small little goblin to pop into holographic view.

    ¡°Concluded, the Council has. Access to the Archives, Vancil shall now have.¡±

    Drallig nodded, a faint flicker of relief entering his eyes, likely at the prospect of being free of Vancil, ¡°Of course, Master Yoda.¡±

    Drallig ended the call with the press of a button and turned to Vancil, ¡°Ready for your answers?¡±

    Vancil scoffed and held his arms out to the side, ¡°I¡¯ve been ready for ages buddy. Now let¡¯s get going.¡±

    <hr>

    Vancil was¡­satisfied. That was about the only word he could use to describe this feeling. Shortly after being given the go ahead, both he and Drallig made their way to Jedi Archives, with Vancil badgering Drallig all the way in an attempt to make him walk faster.

    When they did make it, Vancil was introduced to quite the cranky old lady in yellow called Jocasta Nu. In a way she reminded him of his grandmother. He didn¡¯t like his grandmother much. Thankfully however, she was all business, immediately pointing Vancil in the direction of the section he wished to access and promptly leaving, albeit with a warning look in her eye directed at Drallig.

    From there it had been a relatively peaceful reading session. Vancil was able to discern that he was roughly 3000 years in the future after cross referencing the names of important Sith he knew with other events he was present at or knew. From there he had learnt a lot of things.

    The Great War, following his disappearance, proceeded for almost a decade before finally ending with a victory for the Empire. That brought a smirk to his face. From there on he simply read on about the future Sith Empires and found himself quite¡­disappointed with them. And while it brought him some pride knowing that he was a part of the strongest Sith Empire to exist, it still didn¡¯t change how weak its scions were.

    There was one thing that particularly bothered him. The Banite Sith, supposedly the last Sith left alive in the galaxy following the fall of the last empire one thousand years ago. Apparently, this Darth Bane fella, upon the destruction of the empire, promptly hunted down the rest of the Sith until it was only him and his apprentice, beginning what the Jedi called the Rule of Two.

    Two Sith, and only two Sith, in the galaxy at any time.

    It was¡­profoundly stupid. While at a glance it might seem like the smart thing considering the infighting of the previous empires, Vancil hated it immensely. It was so¡­Jedi-like. From Vancil¡¯s perspective, it was everything the Sith stood for.

    They didn¡¯t rely on strength and prowess, and instead skulked in the darkness, cowering in fear at discovery. And then because there was only two it was an incredibly exclusive order. This was bad for the reason that anyone should be able to join the Sith, if they have the will and strength to accomplish it. In Vancil¡¯s eyes this was no better then the Jedi Order¡¯s exclusivity, except instead of a maximum to the age of a youngling, it was simple a cap on Sith in general. If they were ever discovered and both the Master and the Apprentice killed, the Sith would be over, then and there.

    He could also notice the problems that would have inevitably come about as a result of this between the Master and the Apprentice. If the way an Apprentice was supposed to become a Master was for them to duel the master and defeat them in a duel, then why on earth would the Master train the apprentice to be strong? Sith were notoriously self-serving after all.

    As a result the Apprentice would have to resort to trickery and more cowardice to kill the Master, meaning that the whole theory that they would get stronger over the generations was backwards. They would get weaker the further the weak apprentices were forced to forgo becoming stronger to becoming trickier.

    If Vancil was right, then the Banites should be at their weakest after a full millennium, unless they somehow managed to produce genius¡¯ and keep themselves afloat. Ultimately however, Vancil felt nothing more then slight anger at how stupid these Banites were.

    And in the end, he was satisfied. It was simple. He had gotten information and was¡­at peace. It wasn¡¯t what he expected, but it didn¡¯t shatter him and his world view completely.

    There was only one thing left that he wished to know.

    He had searched for his master, Darth Ominit on the archives to discover that he was confirmed dead on a battlefield on Alderaan. The Archives definitely lived up to their reputation in that instance, managing to have information on Darth Ominit that only those close to Vancil knew, like his preference for cold tea instead of hot.

    Strange, yes, but still specific enough that the Jedi had it.

    One thing was on Vancil¡¯s mind though. If they had such extensive records on a Sith Lord, then surely, they would have impeccable records on their own members?

    His gloved fingers hovered over the search bar for the stack of data he had been given. He licked his suddenly dry lips, and he was glad for his mask, lest this moment of weakness be shown on his face to the Jedi Master watching.

    Just one thing. He just wanted to know one thing. Simple, but also not. He was making this decision out to be bigger than it was. Gritting his teeth Vancil started to type, aware of the constant and vigilant gaze of Drallig over his shoulder

    He didn¡¯t care though. They could look, they could look all they wanted. What right did they have to stop him?

    Just¡­one thing.

    The blue screen loaded as he looked over the words again and again as they burned into his eyes.

    THE GRAVE OF JULIA ROMUVAL

 Chapter 14: Someoneâ€™s Always Unhappy in the End

    Vancil looked out over the courtyard, his gaze taking in the serene landscape before him. Groups of younglings stood before Jedi twice as tall and four times as old, their little faces twisted into stern looks of focus. It was somewhat amusing, seeing these children no older than ten trying to mimic their masters.

    It reminded him of how he used to mimic his mother¡¯s mannerisms, viewing her as the ideal person. The smile that had formed on his face quickly faded however, as the recollections he attempted to bring forth failed. He supposed he shouldn¡¯t have been too surprised. After all, the training he had gone through as an Acolyte had been the most gruelling and by far memorable experience in his life. Even looking back, there was only the Sith, only his time with them.

    Which made it hurt all the more now that everything he knew was gone. Yes, the Sith were evil. He had no qualms about admitting it, nor about anyone else saying so. Yes, he was evil. He had done horrendous things before to Jedi, and even sometimes his own Sith brothers and sisters. He did not, and would not deny the moral depravity behind his actions. He accepted them with open arms in fact. He had willingly followed his master, Darth Ominit into battle, had watched and even aided in his own cruelty.

    He knew exactly what any Jedi would say to him. They had said it to him before.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t the real you, let go of your hate.¡±

    ¡°The Sith teachings have twisted your mind.¡±

    ¡°The Dark Side was not the way.¡±

    ¡°If you let go of the Dark Side you can become your true self.¡±

    Fuck them.

    This was who he was. The real him? His true self? He was those things. He was not captured, enslaved or conscripted into the Sith. He willingly sought them out of his own free will. Some may say that his own experiences and blooming hatred for the Jedi was the reason for that, and so if he didn¡¯t have those, he wouldn¡¯t have joined them.

    Those arguments in particular angered him. People were who they were because of their experiences. Excusing your own actions because it came back to bite you in the ass wasn¡¯t a good argument, and was contradictory in nature.

    Vancil crossed his arms, calming himself down before he spiralled into another philosophical rant fuelled by hatred. That was one of the teachings Darth Ominit had left him with, and while Vancil suspected it was more out of annoyance then for the purpose of bettering his pupil, he still took it to heart as one of the last things he had.

    His head turned slightly to the right as he sensed someone approaching. Damn these hoods looked cool, but they definitely were not conducive to better peripheral vision.

    ¡°Sith.¡± The man said as he stood beside Vancil, also watching out over the courtyard. Vancil recognised the voice as Anakin Skywalker¡¯s.

    ¡°Jedi.¡± Vancil kept his head and eyes pointed forward, but his attention was solely on Anakin.

    A silence brewed between them, Vancil waiting for Anakin to say whatever he had to say, and Anakin working his jaw as though the words were a battle to get out in of itself.

    ¡°¡­Did you find what you were looking for?¡± He finally managed, but Vancil could tell that wasn¡¯t what he really wanted to say.

    ¡°I did.¡± The Sith replied, turning his head to face Anakin, ¡°Just spit out whatever you have to say Jedi. Is this where you arrest me? Try to convince me to join your Order?¡± Venom came out into the last part of that sentence, causing Anakin to tense up slightly.

    ¡°¡­No. I came to give you this.¡± Anakin said, holding out an outstretched palm to Vancil containing a small chip.

    Vancil stayed quiet before taking the chip. He recognised it well enough. It was a ship key, something that would allow someone to start up a ship. He also recognised it as the one that had been left in the ship, he had stolen from the Mandalorians.

    ¡°¡­So, I¡¯m free to go? Or do you plan to shoot me down the second I take off?¡± He asked, cautiousness still ever present as long as he was inside this accursed place.

    Anakin remained reticent for a moment, his gaze following a pair of younglings running across the courtyard. He didn¡¯t break this gaze for a moment as he spoke, ¡°We moved the ship into the hangar. You have the clearance to leave.¡±

    Vancil scowled at his avoiding answer, but understood Anakin¡¯s meaning. He turned to leave before halting, ¡°Why?¡±

    Anakin sighed in what appeared to be resignation, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Both Master Plo Koon and I agreed on this, so if you want an explanation, you¡¯ll have to talk to him. I get the feeling you¡¯re not interested in such a detour however.¡±

    That surprised Vancil. If he remembered correctly Plo Koon was the Kel Dor who had offered to bring him into the Jedi Order. Honestly, after his outburst shortly following that proposition, it was a miracle they didn¡¯t just send him to the executioner¡¯s block. Anakin was right though. There was no way in hell he was going to look for answers from a Jedi he still disliked marginally.

    Without another word Vancil marched off, his gait filled with new determination and hope.

    <hr>

    Kandria struggled to keep her features calm as she slowly walked through the halls of the temple. It would not do to let many Jedi sharing the halls to sense or see her anger, after all.

    Shortly after her departure from the council room, Anakin had excused himself, saying he had to meet with Plo Koon about some matters, and that Kandria could simply wander the temple. It was so dismissive. As though she was an afterthought. She knew she shouldn¡¯t be feeling like this, but¡­it was difficult. She wasn¡¯t being treated like a person. She was being treated like a tool, one that shouldn¡¯t be let out into the wild without ¡®training¡¯ but one that could also simply be left alone, confident that it wouldn¡¯t try anything.

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    For once, and to her own horror, she envied Vancil. They treated him like a weapon, yes, but treating someone like a weapon was better than a tool. A weapon both feared and respected on a fundamental level. A weapon would be escorted. A weapon¡¯s needs and wants would be more readily accepted than a tools. Such as his need to access the Archives. He had gotten that, because the Council feared him. But because they feared him, they treated him as a human.

    Humans were something to fear after all. For if they weren¡¯t then they wouldn¡¯t have become one of the dominant species in the galaxy.

    She continued her sulky walk, but made sure to keep up appearances. Back straight, head held high, nods of respect to bewildered Jedi. It was exhausting really. Her eyes suddenly lit up however, and a feeling she didn¡¯t bother to recognise bloomed within her as she saw a figure clad in black at the end of the hall.

    Vancil.

    She quickly increased her pace; however, he had already turned the corner, his pace quick and hurried. From what she saw this was different though. This was not an urgent walk, but an excited jaunt. Excited herself, she walked as fast as she could without breaking into a jog, drawing even stranger looks from her fellows.

    Turning the same corner she had already lost him, his very identifiable form nowhere to be seen in the new corridor she stood in. What was this way? What would be good enough for Vancil to be walking quickly towards? The pieces clicked together in her mind.

    The hangar bay.

    Both excitement and concern were present as she made a beeline towards his destination. Excitement at the prospect that he had possibly been let free, but also concern that he in fact had not been let free and instead intended to steal a ship to flee the temple.

    There was something else though. She wasn¡¯t quite sure. Setting limited brain power to investigate she discovered a few things. This something else was a feeling. And this feeling was what made her so frantic to reach him. It was concerning and worrying. Unfortunately for the rational part of her brain, this feeling had commandeered the main part, and was dead set on achieving its goals.

    There was no way to explain it. It was simply this primal want.

    She dismissed the worrying thoughts. She wasn¡¯t distressed, and she wasn¡¯t fearful. It was of no bother, and it got her closer to Vancil. Weaving through the different corridors with fluid movements she soon made it into the expansive hangar bay, several ships flying in and out.

    No Vancil.

    Her face fell for a second as the Sith was nowhere to be seen. Franticness slowly oozed into her as she looked around for some sign, any sign. It was then she saw it, something that couldn¡¯t be mistaken for anything else. The Mandalorian ship, its silver hull still gleaming with yellow stripes adorning it.

    There was no doubt in her mind that Vancil was there as she continued her unstoppable march, pushing herself to the limits of speedwalking. She glanced over her shoulder nervously, afraid that a Jedi would be standing right there ready to bring her back and chastise her for her frankly un-Jedi-like behaviour. There were none.

    She rounded the ship to the back. The hangar doors were open. She slowly walked forward into it, her footsteps echoing in the empty ship¡¯s cargo hold. Curiously there were now several new boxes on top of the munitions one that had been there when they had first discovered the ship, only these ones were labelled ¡°Rations¡± and had Republic insignia decorating them.

    Her heart felt caught in her chest as she climbed the ladder up into the cockpit, painfully aware of every groove along the cold metal, every shift in the air. She knew this was that strange feeling¡¯s fault again, however she was too far gone.

    Pulling herself up into the cockpit her breath hitched in her throat as she spotted him, calmly typing away into the ship¡¯s navigation computer. She had no doubt that he had sensed and heard her approach. He was strong after all. Yet he did not say a word or even acknowledge her existence. Gulping, Kandria considered her options.

    Calmly, she sat down in the co-pilots, her hands folded in her lap as she struggled to find out what to say next. Unfortunately, that feeling decided that now was the time to remain silent, and hadn¡¯t given her a bit of info to go off of.

    ¡°So...¡± She began before trailing off, unable to draw her gaze back onto Vancil.

    ¡°¡­So.¡± Came his equally slow reply.

    ¡°¡­Are you leaving?¡± She tentatively asked the obvious, mentally slapping herself as she fully expected him to insult her intelligence.

    ¡°¡­Yeah.¡± Came his surprisingly short, and insult-less reply.

    Kandria worked her jaw and fiddled with her fingers, ¡°¡­Where are you going?¡±

    Vancil¡¯s typing stopped and he leaned back in his chair, his masked stare still on the console, ¡°I have some final business I need to take care of. After that¡­I might go sightseeing. I never got to explore most of the galaxy after all, and this is basically an entirely new one.¡±

    Kandria¡¯s mind wandered to just that prospect. A new galaxy to explore. It must have felt amazing. And because of that she felt¡­sad. Because this was what Vancil was going to do. It was clear he had been given the go ahead to leave. Which meant that while she was stuck in the Order, he would be off adventuring. She felt no ill will to him because of that, though, with her negative feelings towards the Jedi of this time period simply being amplified. She looked down to her feet.

    ¡°¡­Wanna come with me?¡± He suddenly spoke, his words filling both the cockpit and her head.

    Kandria mulled over the words in her head, the strange feeling growing deep in her heart at a rapidly increasing pace. Slowly she reached up, pulling her mask and hood down as she turned to face Vancil. Her brown hair flowed down, free of the confines of her purple hood. Her sapphire blue eyes shone brightly, and she licked her dry lips nervously. Nervous at the fact that this action, while justifiably meaning nothing, still felt the world to Kandria, as though she had just turned her back to him and could only pray, he didn¡¯t stab her. Kandria had no idea how good she looked in the grand scheme of things. She had largely been ignorant to that sort of stuff during her tenure as a Jedi. She didn¡¯t consider herself a Jedi anymore though, and that strange feeling apparently cared very much about how she looked right at that moment.

    ¡°Yes. There¡¯s nothing for me here.¡±

    Vancil¡¯s head shifted slightly in her direction as shock emanated from him. He stayed mute for but a moment longer before turning to face her as well. Extending an armoured gauntlet upwards he pulled down his own black hood, revealing his short cut and slightly wild coal black hair. Going for his mask next, it came off with a slight click, although whatever it was attached to, she could only guess. Coming off, revealed Vancil¡¯s face to her for the first time. He had a hawkish face, matching well with his aggressive personality. His crimson red eyes stared back into her blue ones, slightly confusing her. She knew that the Dark Side transformed Sith physically the more they used it, and that yellow eyes were often the first sign of this, but she had never seen anyone with red eyes. That didn¡¯t matter though. She felt¡­happy, seeing his real face. Happy at being closer to him, even if in reality it was nothing more than a meaningless gesture.

    They both simply stared at each other, neither having found the words for anything. It was just them now. Nothing else. And neither were quite sure how to handle it. Vancil took a deep breath, his red eyed gaze impossible to determine as it kept locked on hers. A shit eating grin suddenly grew onto his face without warning.

    ¡°Well then. Let¡¯s get out of here.

 Chapter 15: The Grand Escape! (But not really actually)

    The hangar bay of the Jedi Temple was a busy place, being essentially the parking garage for one of the most religiously important sites in the galaxy. Were one to be standing in it, or even just observing it from a distance, it would be nigh impossible to keep track of just what was going on. Ships took off, and ships lands. Crates were loaded and unloaded. Crewmen and engineers dashed around frantically, both to complete their tasks quickly and also so as to not be squished by an oncoming ship.

    It was because of this, that the sleek, silver ST-70 went entirely unnoticed as its engines activated, bringing it into a rising hover before it turned and drifted out of the hangar. Simply another ship, coming and going with nothing of particular interest except maybe a Jedi or two.

    It was these very reasonings that soothed Kandria¡¯s nervousness as Vancil piloted the ship out of the hangar. The sun glared through the viewport, giving a breathtaking view of the sheer scale of the super city before them.

    Yet, no view could stifle the tenseness in her muscles, nor the slight shaking of one of her hands. Her gaze flicked over to Vancil, whose red eyes were locked forward, a look of slight boredom and indifference in them. Looking out front as well, Kandria clenched her teeth discreetly before she promptly clamped her hands together in her lap to stop their trembling.

    His presence, despite everything he was and everything she knew about him, was soothing. Perhaps it was the fact that he himself seemed so unbothered by what they were doing, or because he seemed so confident even in his indifference. Another matter which confused her greatly was the fact that she wasn¡¯t really sure how to view him now. She was no longer a Jedi, no matter what that damned council said. So¡­were they still mortal enemies? Vancil seemed to have a straightforward view of allies and enemies, considering that there hadn¡¯t been a moments hesitation when he saved her from the final Mandalorian, even stating it himself.

    So, what would he think about her not being a Jedi anymore? He seemed to live only to hate Jedi and the Republic. Would he still feel the same? Would he regard her as he might regard a civilian, whatever that looked like. Or would he even despise her even more because she was a traitor to her own order?

    That last one seemed like a long shot, but her understanding so far was that he was an erratic and irrational person.

    Then, as these thoughts were racing through her head, she realised one very important thing. She hadn¡¯t even told him. She had offered very little in fact other than ¡®There is nothing for me here¡¯. And even that could be interpreted in different ways. It could be interpreted as her leaving the Order, true, but it could also be interpreted as her just needing to go out looking for her purpose while still remaining a Jedi.

    The strange feeling returned, however, as something else came to mind. He had still accepted her into joining him, even being the one who invited Kandria in the first place. That warmed her in ways she couldn¡¯t describe. Perhaps she didn¡¯t need to clarify. He seemed satisfied enough without it.

    A sliver of a smile crept onto her face as she released the iron grip her hands had on each other, as it was no longer necessary. She turned her head to Vancil as the ship began to climb out of the atmosphere.

    ¡°So, got any plans for where we¡¯re going?¡± She asked, interested if he had any place in particular. She herself had a few places she had wanted to visit in their own galaxy, and so it was inevitable for her to wonder about his own interests.

    Vancil kept his gaze forward, as he tapped some buttons on the console, ¡°I¡¯ve got two places I need to go to first. After that, I¡¯m not really sure. Maybe Mandalore.¡±

    Kandria tilted her head in curiosity, ¡°You make it sound like an errand, whatever these, ¡®two places¡¯ are.¡±

    Vancil chuckled lightly as he glanced in her direction, ¡°I suppose it kind of is an errand, what I plan to do. I got some loose ends to tie up, simple as that.¡±

    ¡°Come on, you can give me more than that.¡± Kandria frowned and thinned her lips as she chided in a playful manner.

    Vancil smirked in bemusement and stayed silent for a second before he replied, ¡°I¡¯m going to Kavir to get some flowers. After that we¡¯re off to Aaloth where these loose ends will be tied up.¡±

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    Instantly Kandria flew through her personal knowledge, picking apart his still cryptic sentence and analysing every nook of it. Aaloth, she recognised. It had been the site of some of the bloodiest fighting during the Great War, the battle even still going on when they had arrived onto that accursed Rakatan vessel.

    The other one, however, ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of Kavir before. Why are we going there?¡±

    Vancil¡¯s smirk faltered slightly, ¡°I told you; we¡¯re getting some flowers. Storm Petals to be exact.¡±

    Kandria¡¯s eyes narrowed accusingly as he mentioned another thing she didn¡¯t recognise, ¡°And why exactly do we need these ¡®Storm Petals¡¯?¡±

    Vancil¡¯s mouth shut and he visibly worked his jaw as the ship gracefully glided out of the path of a larger cargo vessel, ¡°That¡¯s¡­complicated.¡±

    Kandria instantly pulled back the grill she had placed on him. Was that¡­sorrow, she sensed from him? Banishing the interrogative look she had donned she replaced it with one of very mild concern.

    ¡°I can handle complicated. I¡¯m sitting in her with you aren¡¯t I?¡± She attempted some sort of humour to liven him up, lest he take personal offense to her aggressive examination.

    Vancil sighed in what could only be a forlorn manner, as though he regretted the words, he was to say next, ¡°Kavir is my home world. Storm Petals are a flower unique to it that are very significant. As in, one of the main staples of the culture there. I need the flowers because I¡­¡±

    He faltered slightly, his face tightening into stubbornness, as though he didn¡¯t want to say the next words but refused to surrender to such a prospect.

    ¡°¡­I had a sister. In my search through the archives, I found out she died on Aaloth. She¡¯s the last thing connecting me back to the galaxy I came from, excluding you of course. There¡¯s a memorial, on Aaloth. I¡¯m going to pay respects to her, in the Kaviran way.¡±

    Kandria was dead silent. That was complicated. But also¡­not? Vancil had a sister. She was more surprised at herself for being shocked at this. Vancil was a person after all. He likely had a mother, a father, and even extended family. Things she had never experienced. Things she never would experience.

    Perhaps there was some truth to the Jedi teaching of attachment. Vancil was attached to his family, his sister, and that attachment was now dictating his actions. That was the reasonable conclusion. She wasn¡¯t a Jedi anymore, however. Which meant that she didn¡¯t have to be reasonable.

    Tentatively, Kandria spoke up, her words sounding unsure even in her own mouth, ¡°I¡¯m¡­sorry.¡±

    She kicked herself mentally at that. Sorry. That was all she could say.

    ¡°¡­You don¡¯t have to be. This is good anyway. It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve really¡­talked to someone.¡± He replied, halting her internal berating.

    ¡°What, are all Sith shy or something?¡± She quickly picked it back up again, once again going for the humour route.

    Vancil¡¯s chuckles seemed to point to success on that front, ¡°Oh no, not exactly. Sith are very¡­competitive. Everyone around you is a potential enemy or weapon. And you don¡¯t exactly give a wild badger a gun full of loaded ammunition with exact instructions on how to shoot you.¡±

    Kandria nodded slowly; however, her face became perplexed, ¡°What¡¯s badger?¡±

    Vancil exhaled dramatically and shook his head, ¡°Savage little things. They¡¯ll bite your ears off in your sleep if you¡¯re not careful. We might see some on Kavir, so better start praying to every god you know we don¡¯t encounter one.¡±

    Kandria shivered slightly. If something scared even Vancil, it surely had to be one of the most ferocious beings in the galaxy, ¡°I¡¯ll do just that.¡±

    Silence consumed the cockpit once again, only punctuated by the slight hum of the ship as they exited the atmosphere, leaving Coruscant behind.

    ¡°You know¡­If you do need to talk¡­I can listen.¡± She said after a time.

    A warm, genuine smile grew on Vancil¡¯s face, ¡°Thanks.¡±

    That smile instantly dropped however as he began rapidly typing a series of numbers into the computer with one hand while he refitted the metal mask onto his face, flicking his hood back up, ¡°Alright, get ready.¡±

    Jumping slightly, Kandria subconsciously acquiesced, pulling up her own mask and hood, ¡°What, why?¡± She asked in worry.

    Vancil finished typing in the numbers and the familiar hum of a hyperdrive spooling up started, ¡°When I was in the archives I searched for Kavir. It was gone. This isn¡¯t some lost knowledge over millennia shit either. That planet has been wiped clean from every entry that could possibly even mention it. The real kicker though was the entry on Storm Petals. The planet of origin is simply an error message.¡±

    Kandria licked her lips as she caught up to the implications of what he was saying. Access to the archives was limited, and had been from even before her original time. Only verified custodians and Jedi Masters were allowed constant, unsupervised access, and it took even more authority to edit entries. This was common knowledge among the Jedi, and she also knew it was somewhat something said among others in the galaxy who learnt of it through passing conversation with a Jedi.

    The puzzle pieces slowly clicked together, ¡°That would mean..¡±

    Vancil nodded as he gripped the steering controls tightly, ¡°Yep. Someone, likely with extremely high standing, removed Kavir from the Archives. In a way too clean to be mistaken as anything but. So, chances are, they wanted this planet out of the eyes of the Jedi.¡±

    Kandria paled starkly. The indications were everywhere.

    Vancil chuckled half-madly, ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter what time period it is in the galaxy. This has got Sith written all over it.¡±

 Chapter 16: Kavir, Land of Eternal Storm

    The ship lurched to a halt as the ship exited hyperspace, making Vancil a little dizzy despite his experience with it before. Doing a once over that nothing was on fire or going to be on fire, his eyes flicked to the sensors. His gauntleted hands deftly flicked between every single sort of detection the ship had; thermal, magnetic, optical, everything.

    Nothing. All the scopes were clear. Clear of any sort of ship or station all the way until their maximum range. It was both relieving and worrying. Relieving because they weren¡¯t getting shot, and worrying because there was absolutely nothing.

    He double checked just to make sure, even triple checked. Nothing.

    Vancil allowed some of the tension to leave his body, and he looked out the viewport into the vast emptiness of space ahead. Well, almost empty.

    There floating directly in front of the ship was a tumultuous behemoth of a planet, possibly the size of Coruscant, he didn¡¯t know the specifics. At first glance one might even mistake it for a gas giant, with a large swirling mass of clouds raging ferociously across all of its surface, every single part of it with no room for anything else. The Storm. A nostalgic grin formed underneath his mask at the sight of it, at the sight of his home. 3000 years wouldn¡¯t halt it, and Vancil would bet good money that it would continue for 3000 more.

    Sure enough, the coordinates were on point. He would loathe himself to no degree if he had failed to remember them, the series of numbers he had drilled into his mind ever since his mother had first taken him off world.

    ¡°We¡¯re not going into that thing, right?¡± Kandria piped up from his right, snapping him out of his eager nostalgia.

    He hadn¡¯t even realised it but he had also been increasing the acceleration of the ship subconsciously due to his enthusiasm. He turned his head to Kandria. He had almost forgotten about her. He wasn¡¯t quite sure how to treat Kandria. She had simply showed up when he was preparing to leave, taking him by surprise. Mostly by surprise. He had sensed her following him all the way to the hangar, and paid very close attention to her when she entered the ship.

    He wasn¡¯t exactly sure why he was acting like this. He knew it had something to do with his feelings, but other than that the answer was beyond him. One absolute however was that he felt a sort of¡­protectiveness? He wasn¡¯t quite sure if that was the word. She was quite capable of defending herself after all, even from him. Still though, he felt like he wanted to just¡­be near her. Just be by her side. Quite perplexing.

    Vancil shelved those internal thoughts as he brought himself back to reality. What was he doing? Ah yes, she had asked if they were going in there. A shit eating grin grew on his face that while he knew she couldn¡¯t see, she could almost certainly sense it.

    Swivelling his head back forwards he slammed on the acceleration, causing the both of them to get pushed back into their seats from the force, Kandria letting out an adorable yelp. The ship hurtled forward, coming closer and closer to the Storm. This matched up exactly with a sense in the Force, which drew him forward.

    When the ship broke through into the ferocious gale, the effects were immediate. The ship rocked unevenly and it was much akin to being dropped into a box and tossed around by a hyperactive toddler. Nie impossible to fly in. But that wasn¡¯t how you beat the Storm. Not by flying. Vancil cackled like mad man as he continued to accelerate, reaching even greater speeds due to the gale force winds which pushed the ship every which way.

    ¡°WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU¡¯RE DOING!?!?!?¡± He heard Kandria scream in a strained voice as she struggled to maintain some sort of stability.

    ¡°THERE¡¯S AN OLD SAYING OF MY PEOPLE!¡± He shouted back, keeping his gaze dead forward, ¡°ONLY ONE WAY TO BEAT THE STORM! CHARGE FORWARD WITH TEETH BARED SCREAMING BLOODY DEFIANCE!¡±

    There, a sliver of land, briefly visible through a fleeting patch of clear in the clouds. With all the strength he could muster, Vancil pulled back, the ship groaning at the sudden and violent change in direction as it levelled out. In an instant the Storm subsided to reveal long rolling plains of grass which approached rapidly. Turning on every thruster he could, Vancil reversed as much of the momentum possible without breaking the ship or its passengers.

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    A hint of worry entered him before he felt it. The raging winds which tried so hard to throw them around and kill them now blew upwards, slowing the descent of their ship dramatically. Nothing could change the Storm.

    Activating the landing gear, Vancil landed the ship with a rough jolt. He kept his grip on the controls for a few more seconds before releasing them, his hands shaking slightly. It had been a while since he had done that.

    For some reason, Vancil¡¯s jaw had suddenly begun hurt quite badly. His head was swimming as well. Something seemed wrong, and he could distinctly tell that something was now pulling on the front of his cloak, as though shaking him to and fro. His vision, once blurry, refocused to see Kandria hanging over him, a white-knuckle grip on him as her eyes screamed bloody murder. Ah, that would explain it.

    ¡°WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT YOU PIECE OF-¡°

    Her voice filtered out as his dazed look settled on her quite beautiful blue eyes. He felt like he could get lost in them forever. Even despite her masked appearance, Vancil quite clearly remembered her face, its image being automatically engrained into his mind the second it was revealed. Yet, like with other things about her, he was not sure about the exact reason.

    ¡°You got pretty eyes¡­¡± Came his slurred voice, shocking the both of them into stillness. Man, she must have hit him pretty hard for him to be saying stuff like that.

    Kandria remained silent; her pretty eyes boring into his mask as an unreadable emotion came into them. He had no doubt it was possible for him to read that emotion, but he happened to be a little punched at that moment. Without a word Kandria straightened up, walking off somewhere behind him. Probably to the ladder that took you down to the rest of the ship if the quite sound of shoes on metal was any indication.

    Then again, he could just have a concussion.

    <hr>

    Kandria looked out at the expansive windy grasslands outside the ship. The hangar doors laid open, allowing the wind to gently blow over her sitting form, her arms wrapped around her legs to them closer. It was strange though. It was like the wind was comforting her. Like a reassuring pat on the shoulder. She shivered, and it wasn¡¯t from the cold. She couldn¡¯t really tell what was happening at all when Vancil had forcefully pushed through the hurricane that somehow covered an entire planet, but near the end, the wind that had been trying to kill them moments before had stopped, and even seemed to have helped them, although she wasn¡¯t quite sure.

    Vancil¡­

    She had punched him quite hard. She must have, for him to say that of all things. Why did it bother her so much? She withdrew further into herself, her mind a hurricane not too dissimilar to the impossible one raging above the ship. He had been throwing her off more and more the longer she was around him. Then there was that feeling. Her heart had stopped upon hearing the words leave his mouth, and the strange feeling grew even more deep within her.

    Kandria decided to distract herself from these thoughts, observing the landscape beyond the ship. Even without a deep knowledge of weather and environments, Kandria knew that there was no way for this place to look like it did. The storm which raged miles above seemed to not even touch the ground below, and there was not a single drop of rain or snow falling. The most it seemed to be doing was gently flowing down while occasionally throwing the occasional strong gust. And yet, she had never seen greener grass. How could she even see? It was as though there both was and wasn¡¯t a sun. Not a single tree either. Simply one rolling, occasionally hilly, steppe.

    Her bewildered gaze was taken away from the preposterous scene and flicked backwards as the sound of heavy armoured boots on metal drew closer. Vancil walked up beside her, his own gaze kept ahead as he nursed his jaw.

    ¡°You got a good punch.¡± He said, as though they were discussing the weather.

    Kandria looked forward as well, a flash of lightning from above lending a sense of blue to the ground in front, ¡°You too.¡± She said, referencing their first fateful battle on the Rakatan ship.

    Vancil chuckled lightly, ¡°Quite the force wielders we are. Devolving every fight into a fistfight as though it were a bar brawl.¡±

    An amused smirk entered Kandria¡¯s lip. Even if she didn¡¯t know what this ¡®bar¡¯ was, she still got the gist of it, ¡°I recall using the Force to send you flying once.¡±

    ¡°And I recall kicking your ass twice over before saving it.¡±

    Kandria laughed, ¡°You¡¯re never going to let me live that down, are you?¡±

    ¡°Not unless you can somehow beat me three times and save me twice.¡± Came his sarcastic reply.

    A content smile was all Kandria could give. He couldn¡¯t see it underneath her cloth mask, but it was more so to herself than to him. That smile disappeared quickly however as she sensed several presences surrounding the ship in a perfect circle. Frowning she stood and looked over to Vancil who almost certainly sensed the same thing.

    Vancil shook his head and sniggered softly, ¡°Man, this is just an unbelievable amount of d¨¦j¨¤ vu right now.¡±

 Chapter 17: Are armed guards really necessary?

    Vancil ignored the confused look Kandria shot his way as the words left his mouth. There was no time to explain anyways. His armoured hand fell down to rest on his lightsaber, which was quickly unholstered. He didn¡¯t ignite it immediately though, and simply left it to rest idly in his hand. Ironically, it was his own hope that halted any immediate action.

    Whatever was surrounding them, was doing it in a very methodical way, one which you would not see from wild animals. This left two options in Vancil¡¯s mind. One; Servants of the Banite Sith or at least those under their thrall that were prepared to either kill or capture them. Two, and the one he hoped for the most, was that the ones surrounding them were not related to these new Sith, and were in fact Kavirans.

    The first option was the least likely. Kavir was possibly one of the most difficult places to live in, and most certainly one of the most difficult places to control. To conquer Kavir and subjugate it completely would mean one would have to complete two things. To do the impossible and dispel the Storm, and then utterly eradicate the entire native population. While the complete genocide of any other race would have been difficult but feasible, Vancil couldn¡¯t see any of the genocidal methods he knew of working on Kavir.

    Because even if someone managed to defeat the Storm, the greatest weapon and defence of Kavir, Kavirans were the most violent and vicious people in the galaxy, beating even the Karkarodons. And while the Storm had resulted in Kavirans being primitive in comparison to the rest of the galaxy, even the Republic at its peak would have been bled dry trying to conquer the planet. From his teachings during his childhood, they had even attempted at one point in the far distant past.

    His gaze flicked upwards to the maelstrom that raged so hard, yet seemed so welcoming to him. The Storm was still here. As long as that was here, the Kavirans would be too. Still, it wouldn¡¯t hurt to send a few silent prayers.

    The newcomers continued their slow, calculated march, stopping periodically as though to test if they had been noticed. Neither he nor Kandria said a word or moved, simply standing on the lowered hangar ramp, looking over the landscape. From Vancil¡¯s senses, they were quite close now, only a couple dozen feet away. Yet, if one did not have access to the Force, nothing was amiss.

    This both impressed and worried Vancil. These were clearly not dangerous but loud Mandalorians. He could handle loud. Loud was simple to beat, you just had to be louder. Quiet was even something he had experience dealing with. An encounter with Republic assassins came to mind. But this? This was silence.

    Finally, the movement stopped. His eyes scanned every piece of terrain he could. Nothing. The area was relatively flat, with only a few dips and rises. Still nothing. Finally, a humanoid figure rose seemingly from nothing, a few dozen feet away from the opened hangar.

    Whatever they wore, it was quite difficult to pin down. Not because of the distance, which the person was now closing at a steady pace, but rather it was as though it was shifting. Any detail he tried to focus in on sort of¡­moved. If he looked at them from a general view, he could tell that it was some sort of armour, covering them head to toe. It was probably the colour green, but he wasn¡¯t sure. Nothing could be explained in exacts, not even whether they looked male or female.

    The person stopped a few feet away, their helmeted head tilting upwards to look at the Sith and Jedi, ¡°Hail or Breeze?¡± The voice was clearly male.

    Vancil¡¯s heart stopped, and a single tear welled up in his eye as a flood of emotions burst into him, his mind only focusing on the words the person had said. Nothing could change the storm, and nothing could change his people.

    ¡°Breeze.¡± Came out his reply, said in his own native tongue.

    The person seemed taken aback, most likely at Vancil¡¯s reply in Kaviran. Regardless, they recovered fast enough, reaching up and taking off their helmet. Beneath it was the face of an old and grizzled man covered in scars, his hair whiter than any Vancil had seen before. Now that the helmet was off, and Vancil had something to reference against, the rest of the armour seemed almost trivial to describe. It was a slightly bulky full-body suit, with sections of segmented plate making up the majority of it. The material was something Vancil had never seen before, looking like both metal and leather at the same time. The helmet was quite minimalist, with only two slits for the eyes and remaining featureless except for a small red sword emblazoned on the side of it. Unfortunately, the colour was still indeterminable, but seemed to be linked to the environments, flowing from a dark to lighter green occasionally.

    Well, maybe some things could change.

    ¡°You speak, yet you come from the Outer. Are you Garalon?¡± The man said in a voice that matched his face as well as one would have expected, however a hint of caution had entered his voice, confusing Vancil slightly.

    It suddenly came to him though, his memories of his culture returning to the forefront of his mind, ¡°Kandria, you have to do exactly as I say, and nothing more. Take off your mask and put your lightsaber back on your belt.¡± Vancil said in galactic common as he did just that, his freed black hair waving slightly in the wind.

    Kandria hesitated for a moment, and Vancil worried that she would question or refuse him. Thankfully however she soon followed his order, pulling down her mask and hood to reveal her face again. He really could get lost in that face of hers¡­Vancil brought himself back down to reality and looked back to the old man, who had visibly relaxed. The first thing you were taught on Kavir. If you see someone from a clan not of your own with their face concealed, they mean to fight you.

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    Vancil licked his lips and his heart ached despite himself, ¡±I am Garalonat.¡±

    It hurt to say them. It was admittance to something he had refused to admit, even during his own time period.

    The man¡¯s face immediately morphed into one of empathy and pity. A slight bow of his head, ¡°I am sorry for your loss. I am Legane. I offer four warriors to aid in whatever you require.¡±

    A small, sad smile came onto Vancil¡¯s face. Kaviran was a difficult language to translate into galactic common. He had spent a decade on learning to speak common. And frankly some of the translations for the words in Kaviran were near impossible messes. Garalon, roughly, meant; ¡®One who has been lost and returned to the embrace once again¡¯. Translated out of that jargon, it essentially boiled down to ¡®Someone who has left Kavir but came back¡¯. Garalonat meant something different, and infinitely sadder. It was a combination of two words, Garalon, and Kalonat. Kalonat referred to someone who was the last of their clan but had given in to bleakness and had no present intention of reviving it.

    It wasn¡¯t as simple as mushing the two together however. Garalonat, approximately and as cleanly as could be translated meant; ¡®One who has lost all, and who desires to put to rest all¡¯. Essentially, Vancil had lost everything, and even considered himself lost of the Storm¡¯s embrace. Now, this was not anything new. He had been Garalonat before his transportation to this new era, but had stubbornly ignored it, busying himself with fighting in a war. Because admittance of Garalonat was the end. If one admitted to being Garalonat, then they lost the one thing they had left; their denial.

    Vancil bowed his head as well, as a show of respect and acknowledgement of his empathy, ¡°I seek Storm Petals. I need only the location of an orchard and a guarantee of safety for my ship.¡±

    Legane shook his head quickly, ¡°It is of no trouble, and I¡¯ll be damned if I let my partner claim I lack honour.¡± A hint of an edge entered his voice, and Vancil understood that there would be no way around it.

    The man wasn¡¯t finished however, as his gaze turned judgemental before it flicked to Kandria, who glanced between the two of them occasionally, ¡°She does not understand us.¡±

    Vancil¡¯s eyes narrowed and he stepped slightly in front of Kandria in a defensive manner, ¡°That does not matter. She is with me.¡±

    That clearly irked Legane to a degree but his expression soon smoothed out, and he gestured for the rest to rise up. They all did so, taking off their helmets and bowing their heads in respect, clearly having heard the conversation. He then pointed at four, who silently approached. Three males, and one female, all scarred and with the signature black hair of a still young Kaviran.

    ¡°These four will serve you well, Garalonat.¡± He said, a hint of pride entering his voice. To serve a Garalonat was something to be respected after all.

    ¡°My name is Vancil.¡± Came his own reply towards the four warriors.

    Each of them bowed slightly deeper, but didn¡¯t say another word. To tell someone your name as a Garalonat was another honour, as when you lose everything your name is the thing you should protect most. Legane, as old as he was, fully understood the significance of this, straightening and puffing his chest out. Without another word he spun on his heel and started barking out orders to the remaining warriors, pulling them all together and marching in a line to what was likely the direction of their clan home.

    Once they were out of sight Vancil turned his head towards Kandria, speaking in galactic common once again, ¡°We got an escort. They¡¯ll lead us to the Storm Petals.¡±

    Kandria blinked a few times rapidly, as though broken from some sort of spell, ¡°Hey uh, could you mind not doing that again? Whatever you were saying¡­messed with my brain or something.¡±

    She held a hand to her head and turned her gaze downwards to the metal floor. Vancil had heard of this before. The Kaviran language was not one to be taken lightly, for it was as violent as its users. No one was really sure the exact reason why, with theories ranging from the Force to the Storm itself being imbued within the language, but was absolutely sure was that if one had never heard it before, it hurt them in some unexplainable way.

    Nodding in slight concern he looked to the four who still bowed and remained silent, ¡°Do any of you speak galactic common?¡±

    Silence reigned once again before one of the males raised his hand, speaking slowly and nervously, ¡°I can¡­Raging Hurricane.¡±

    Vancil turned to the rest, ¡°From now on you are not to speak Kaviran while Kandria here is in earshot.¡±

    Vancil didn¡¯t wait for any response. He knew they would follow his requests. ¡°Take us to the nearest orchard.¡± He said to the male.

    The man nodded and turned on his heel, the others following suit and forming a ring of protection around Vancil and Kandria, who Vancil now gently coaxed along, much to her own confusion.

    ¡°Wait, what? Orchard? What does Raging Hurricane mean?¡± She sputtered out, yet didn¡¯t falter in walking beside him. That was what made him like her more. She might be quite stubborn, but it wasn¡¯t to the point of disruption.

    ¡°We are going to an orchard to find a Storm Petal. These people are guarding and guiding us on our way there. Raging Hurricane is my name when you translate it into galactic common.¡± Came his own quickfire answers.

    She clearly didn¡¯t expect such clear concise answers and fell silent, her mouth opening and closing like a bronze fish. This bewildered feeling remained in her all the way until they reached their destination, which was about a kilometre away. The orchard which lay before them was quite the sight to behold, a long field of silver flowers that were so numerous you could have mistaken it for a long field of silver grass.

    Kandria, unfortunately, didn¡¯t appreciate the sights. Instead, she asked the worst thing you could possibly have asked. Something that would¡¯ve been bad in the wider galaxy, but was infinitely worse on Kavir. Because on Kavir, something was absolutely listening to you.

    ¡°Wait, wait, wait, guard us?¡± She asked, halting his steps with a gentle had on his shoulder, ¡°Why would they need to guard us?¡±

    Vancil¡¯s head whipped around to Kandria, his eyes widened in horror. His gaze zoomed upwards to the Storm before shooting down to the now trembling ground.

    His expression darkened as he scowled at Kandria, ¡°You just had to say it, didn¡¯t you?¡±

 Chapter 18: Badgers

    In what seemed like an instant, the soft grass beneath Kandria cracked and rolled as a furry snout burst into open air not three feet away from the her and Vancil. The rest of the creature soon forced itself into open air, the ground revolving and shaking once again in a way which almost caused her to lose balance.

    Large grey paws the size of her head with elongated claws the length of her forearm. The beast shook the dirt from its dark grey fur, its hackles raised and yellow teeth bared as its rabid gaze switched to Kandria and Vancil, as though she had insulted its bloodline and everything it was. Its body was lean, however still managed to seem like it had substantial meat to it. On its four paws as it was, Kandria estimated that if it were to stand on two feet it would be about the height of a regular human.

    ¡°BADGERS!¡± One of their escorts screamed, snapping Kandria out of her analytical stupor as her head twisted around.

    All around the group of six, these badgers sprouted up, the tremors seemingly never stopping. The beasts had emerged from the ground all around them, effectively cutting most of the escorts, who had surrounded them in a spread-out fashion, off from Kandria and Vancil. The badgers who had already emerged didn¡¯t even wait for the rest to do so before beginning their assault. One of their escorts was particularly unlucky, having one badger right below him, one behind him, and one to his side. The bottom one¡¯s jaw snapped around the escort¡¯s leg, eliciting a sharp yell of pain. The one to the side latched its own maw around the man¡¯s right arm. The badger that was coming from behind was the worst however, getting a running leap before its mouth closed around the man¡¯s neck, its claws piercing through the armour and causing it to emit a loud crack noise.

    Then, somehow, instead of collapsing and being devoured by the feral beasts, the Kaviran raised up his left fist and thrust it into the eye of the badger which found his neck so tasty, causing the thing¡¯s grip to loosen. The escort let out a loud gurgle, blood spilling out of his unmasked mouth in what sounded to Kandria like a war cry. The man removed his fist, and a small blade extended out of the top of his wrist, which soon found its place in the arm badger¡¯s forehead.

    The now one-eyed badger recovered quick, however, and thrust its claws into the man¡¯s remaining arm, knocking it out of commission. The guard collapsed to the ground, the ground badger emerging fully to begin chewing on the corpse alongside his injured fellow.

    Eyes narrowing into slits, Kandria drew her lightsaber and ignited it, twisting and gliding it through the neck of a badger that had tried to leap at her from behind. The familiar hum of a lightsaber was then heard twice over as Vancil ignited his own.

    The tremors finally stopped and Kandria¡¯s eyes flicked over the entire battlefield. Five left on their side, soon to be four most likely considering that another of their escorts seemed dangerously close to the same situation as the already fallen guard. The other two were also surrounded but in much closer to her and Vancil. Her gaze switched over every badger. Thirteen. Four surrounding the separated Kaviran, six surrounding the rest of the party collectively, and two snacking on the unfortunate soul to have already fallen.

    Dropping into a low stance, she ducked below the swipe of a badger¡¯s claws, her lightsaber cutting it in two and, thankfully, cauterising it to such an extent that its innards didn¡¯t spill over her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Vancil use the Force, picking up a badger and pulling it towards him at high speeds. His red lightsaber cleanly separated its body into two pieces as he stepped to the side. Kandria winced as she saw one of the Kavirans go down, impossibly long claws piercing his skull and causing him to drop without another word, brain matter spraying all over the Kaviran beside him who wasted no time in extending one of his wrist blades and disembowelling the offending badger.

    The Kaviran that was surrounded, surprisingly, had managed to kill two of the badgers, however her now bloodied left arm dangled uselessly at her side. Steeling herself, Kandria leapt forward, slicing into the badger which had almost ended the injured woman¡¯s life, which killed it instantly. The woman¡¯s expression morphed into one of shock before she nodded in thanks towards Kandria, turning back and charging at her last remaining foe. Looking back, the other remaining Kaviran had killed two of the three badgers and was now circling the last one.

    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    A hint of worry entered Kandria as she looked to Vancil, fearing the worst only to see¡­him straddling the one-eyed badger, his armoured gauntlets relentlessly beating its maw and easily batting away the claws which attempted to slice at him. It was almost comical. The only thing that stopped her from laughing was the realisation that the other one that had been chowing down on the dead Kaviran was nowhere to be seen.

    Her eyes widened and she swung around with her lightsaber at the badger which had snuck up behind her. She wasn¡¯t fast enough. Seize it with the Force? She didn¡¯t have the time necessary to do so, the rank breath emanating from its gaping maw enough of an indicator that it was too close.

    Fear entered Kandria, and for once she didn¡¯t suppress it. She wasn¡¯t a Jedi anymore, and so refused to suppress fear based solely on principal. If she was afraid and desperate enough, she would find a way out of this situation. She was sure of it. Her mind raced at speeds imperceptible, trying to find anyway for her to come out of this alive. Too slow.

    Time slowed even more as the jaws began to close. Kandria shut her eyes in anticipation.

    ¡­Nothing.

    Cracking a single eye open, Kandria saw everything frozen. Or rather, she could only see the badger, and the badger was frozen. Hands shaking, Kandria didn¡¯t let the opportunity pass, cutting off the badger¡¯s head to fall to the ground, the rest of its body remaining frozen before falling as well moments later.

    Her gaze slowly turned to Vancil. Sure enough, he had his left arm outstretched in her direction, the hand that would have been in a gripping motion only moments now relaxed. His right hand had somehow crushed its way through the one-eyed badger¡¯s head, its face now a mangled mess with a metal fist embedded into it.

    Kandria¡¯s gaze locked onto his blood red eyes for what seemed like an eternity before she could tear them away, surprising herself at how much effort it took to look away from his handsome face. She turned towards the two remaining escorts. Both had dispatched their own respective badgers and were now going at a light jog around Vancil and Kandria, seeming to check for anymore badgers that could be lurking.

    Straightening out, Kandria turned off her lightsaber before she made her way over to Vancil, who now stood up, his head turned downwards in contemplation as he idly shook the brain matter off of his hand.

    As Kandria was halfway however, something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. A blue flower, a splattering of blood having coloured half of the petals. She was drawn to it. She couldn¡¯t pin down exactly why though. Her brain told her that it must be the Force for whatever reason, but her heart said otherwise. This wasn¡¯t the force. Kandria tilted her head upwards to look at the rolling hurricane above as she picked the flower from the ground.

    She got a sense of¡­approval. No one was approving her of course, but it still felt like that. Frowning in thought, Kandria idly walked back over to Vancil, her feet taking advantage of their owner¡¯s distracted mind.

    Vancil looked up from his contemplation over to Kandria, a signature shit eating grin on his face, ¡°That¡¯s the second time I¡¯ve saved yo-¡°

    The words faltered in his mouth as he looked to her, causing her frown to only deepen. His silent, almost shocked gaze seemed to be fixated entirely on her and her approach. Wait, not Kandria. He was focused on the flower. When Kandria reached Vancil she tentatively held the blue and red flower out to him. Giving this to him was one of the reasons she had picked it. But still, she had zero idea as to exactly why. Following her feelings instead of her teachings was confusing.

    Vancil reached out to the flower, hesitated for a moment, before tenderly taking it from her fingers, more tender than she would have expected from the Sith. He remained dead silent, his eyes still wide but betraying no emotion. Did he not know what it meant either?

    Kandria sent out a curious glance to the escorts, only to find their own eyes wide. The woman was even grinning with joy. Vancil muttered something under his breath in that language that had made her head hurt. Now though, coming from him, it didn¡¯t seem to hurt so much. It was soothing even, to an extent.

    Vancil blinked slowly as he stared directly into her, which felt like he was piercing into her very soul, ¡°You do not know what this means, do you?¡±

    Kandria shook her head. The two escorts now stood side by side, whispering to each other excitedly.

    Vancil let out a resigned sigh, ¡°Go with the winds, they will guide you to great fortune.¡±

    Kandria remained confused. That¡­didn¡¯t seem like what the flower meant. She didn¡¯t know how, but she was sure that wasn¡¯t it.

    Then, surprisingly, Vancil tucked the flower inside his cloak, ¡°Come on, I can explain it to you later. Right now, I must gather these Storm Petals.¡±

    Kandria blinked owlishly before she nodded dumbly as he walked away. Was that a blush? She shivered slightly as her gaze briefly flicked to the two grinning escorts.

    Just what the hell had she done?

 Chapter 19: The Escorts

    Jeranil was a cynical woman. She was often chastised by her blood family and clan members for being as such. Of course, being a cynic on Kavir was different from a cynic in the Outer, because on Kavir, everyone believed. The proof was undeniable, and reared its head incessantly and constantly. The Storm was a god, or as close to a god as something could get. Tales from the Outer were scarce and only penetrated the Storm every couple of decades in the form of daring traders and spice runners, but she was sure that if there was another singular being of great enough power to control an entire planet like the back of their hand, something would have been heard by the Kavirans.

    In fact, if you measured one¡¯s zealousness by how much they worshipped their deity, Jeranil would be hailed as extremely devout even among her own people. She was considered a cynic by both herself and her comrades, because she didn¡¯t believe in fate or the Storm¡¯s control over it. She could admit that the Storm had immense, perhaps even complete control over Kavir and all of its denizens. She could believe it was the strongest being in the galaxy. What she could never have admitted was the existence of fate.

    Such a thing perplexed Jeranil because of its concept. All of your actions were predetermined or set towards a predetermined consequence? A load of bullshit if you asked her. Yes, the Storm held immense power over her and her people, but it couldn¡¯t affect their thoughts and actions. Oh sure, it could physically pick them up, or even tear them limb from limb, but their actions were still their own. The deaths of Hardil and Trelane were simply things that had happened and had no preordained meaning. The Storm had caused them no doubt, but that was hardly fate working its hand. It was more similar to if she pushed someone off of a cliff and they died from it; that wasn¡¯t fate, that was just logic.

    Now though? Jeranil decided that maybe her cynicism could be put aside for a while. Because while it would take multiple more instances, Jeranil recognised this as undeniable proof. A Garalonat. It was something that everyone was both familiar, and unfamiliar with. Rarely did someone lose so much to such an extent to become one. Rarer even for them to return to Kavir. She pitied Vancil, as did her comrades.

    The clue which hinted at the existence of fate, was the fact that he had brought someone with him. A companion who he had called Kandria, however the name ultimately meant nothing to Jeranil. Vancil had not claimed her to be anything like his partner or sister, so that was out of the question. The most he had given was that she was ¡®with him¡¯, however in what capacity Jeranil had little clue.

    Observing their mannerisms while she helped to escort them to the Storm Petal orchard shone some light on the matter. They were close. Closer then either of them probably realised. Her suspicions were further confirmed when Vancil had saved Kandria. Jeranil had kept an eye on the Garalonat, and he had sure fought like a Kaviran against the badgers, brutal and violent in every action. When his companion, Kandria, was in danger though, something changed. With neither Jeranil or Preldane close enough to stop the badger from killing Kandria, there was near to no hope for the young woman.

    She had seen the exact moment his eyes burned bright, turning from brutal glee to baleful fury. His metal gauntlet, which had been punching the badger below him to seemingly no effect caved into its skull as though it were a block of warmed butter. His free hand moved at the exact same speed and with the exact same power, moving in the badger¡¯s direction so violently it was as though the air reeled back from it. From there, he had used what her people called the Power (however she knew it to be called ¡®the Force¡¯ in the Outer) to seize the badger mid-air.

    Only, she wasn¡¯t his partner, relative, or even most likely bonded, all of which would have been reasonable evidence as to why he had reacted so strongly. She was from the Outer, and knew naught of their ways. That little lack of knowledge also just so happened to help to prove the existence of fate. She had given a Storm Petal as blue as the woman¡¯s eyes, that was splattered with the quite literal blood red of Vancil¡¯s, to the Garalonat. It was¡­impossible. She had no reason to pick that flower, and had even gone out of her way to get it.

    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    However, despite her bewilderment and disbelief at this sequence of events, her heart couldn¡¯t help but be overwhelmed with joy. Because Vancil had accepted it. And he knew exactly what that flower meant. Jeranil grinned like a madwoman as she watched Kandria follow along beside Vancil, seemingly trying to help him pick out the Storm Petals, another testament to her lack of knowledge.

    Maybe some things were actually fate.

    <hr>

    Preldane was an internally focused man. In every action he took, if you boiled it down to its bones you would find that it was all for his own benefit or development. That wasn¡¯t to say he was a cold and heartless man, quite the opposite in fact. Because, in his eyes, the protection and safeguarding of those close to him was to his own benefit.

    In a way, that helped Preldane to relate to Vancil. He did not know much about the young Garalonat, but he liked what he had seen so far. The man had reacted fast, faster than even Preldane could have hoped for on his best. Preldane glanced over to the woman who had caused the lightning speed reactions.

    Preldane¡¯s initial grin had long since fallen away, and he now frowned disapprovingly in between observing the surroundings, as Kandria hovered over Vancil, pointing at Storm Petals without understanding exactly what the man was doing. If Preldane could, he would drag her off and set her down in some corner until the Garalonat was finished. His gaze flicked over to the only thing that stopped him from doing so.

    Vancil did not share Preldane¡¯s displeasure at Kandria¡¯s nagging, at least not truly. The man seemed to be constantly nagging Kandria back, even saying several times for her to ¡®stop asking questions¡¯. There was no actual force behind those words however, and every now and again a small smile came onto Vancil¡¯s face. Out of sight of Kandria of course.

    There were three key reasons why Vancil was the reason for Preldane¡¯s restraint. Firstly, the man was a Garalonat, and so he and whatever he had left were to be protected, even at the cost of one¡¯s life. His two comrades were examples of this devotion that was expected of them. It just so happened that one of the things Vancil seemed to have left was Kandria, and so he would die to defend her.

    Secondly, even if the first reason wasn¡¯t a factor, Vancil likely would have torn him a new one and kicked his ass so hard he¡¯d be tasting leather even in death. If the man¡¯s actions when Kandria had been close to death were any indication, he was very protective of her, and since he could use the Power, Preldane stood next to no chance if they came to blows.

    Finally, deep inside him, Preldane was rooting for Kandria. Even if she failed to fully understand the meaning of the flower she had given, she had still given it. And when Vancil accepted it, both he and Jeranil had grinned their hearts out. Because him accepting it meant that there was something there for him, something for the Garalonat who had likely lost so much to find something new, something that could return him.

    ¡±You should stop glaring.¡± Came the hushed whisper of Jeranil who had walked up beside him while she nursed her injured arm tenderly.

    Preldane kept his gaze on the pair as he whispered back, whispered so as to not break Vancil¡¯s command of the Kaviran tongue being spoken in Kandria¡¯s listening range, ¡°She is meddling in things she doesn¡¯t understand. It is¡­infuriating.¡±

    A light kick in his shins broke his stare which flicked around to stare at Jeranil indignantly, ¡°And? She¡¯s clearly trying to understand our ¨C his ways.¡±

    The taller warrior shook his head, as he sighed in resignation, ¡°I know. It doesn¡¯t change the fact that she is an Outer.¡±

    ¡°An Outer whose offer was accepted by a Garalonat.¡± Jeranil pointed out.

    Preldane crossed his arms to stop the giddy smile from making its way onto his face, ¡°¡­Yes. That is true. Perhaps she¡¯ll bring him out of his sorrows. It¡¯ll be a first, a Garalonat being brought out of bleakness.¡±

    Jeranil didn¡¯t bother to hide the grin that burst onto her face in response, clearly displaying his comrade¡¯s bubbly personality when she wasn¡¯t in combat, ¡°Who do you think is going to make the first move? I bet three draegils it¡¯s going to be Vancil.¡±

    Preldane couldn¡¯t fight back the next grin that came up as he took her up on the challenge, ¡°Dumping me with the least likely option huh? Well, you¡¯re on anyways.¡±

    The two glared at each other in friendly challenge, however to Kandria, who had glanced back to the two, they damn near well seemed like they were going to kill each other.

 Chapter 20: Departure

    Vancil bowed his head respectfully towards the two remaining escorts from his position on the open hangar of the ship, ¡°Thank you for your service, and the service of your comrades.¡±

    The two of them bowed deeply in unison, gesturing outwards with one hand while the other was folded behind their backs, ¡°May you be found once again.¡±

    Vancil¡¯s eye twitched slightly at that but he didn¡¯t say anything else. Turning with a flourish of his cloak, his fist pressed against the door control button. With a loud whir the hangar of the ship was bathed in a sudden darkness before it was brightened by the interior lights. His gaze flicked to the small box which had previously contained a set of rations, the Storm Petals shining in his eyes with a meaning deeper than beauty. He checked the container once more, making sure it was secured tightly and that the Storm Petals wouldn¡¯t be disturbed too greatly.

    He nodded in satisfaction before climbing the ladder into the cockpit where Kandria waited. She sat in the co pilot seat, her legs kicked up onto the console which she had turned on and prepared for Vancil. She was looking out of the viewport towards the whirling sky above, seemingly lost in thought as she ate the ration bar which had once inhabited the secured container below. Subconsciously Vancil touched at the small interior pocket within his cloak where the flower she had given him now rested.

    Kandria¡¯s head turned upon hearing the loud noises of his metal boots and gauntlets reaching the cockpit, ¡°Are we done here?¡±

    Vancil nodded neutrally as he took his seat, hands grasping the controls, ¡°Done. Now we¡¯re off to Aaloth.¡±

    Kandria kept her eyes on his face for a few more moments, almost causing him to break the neutral mask he had created. Thankfully she turned back to look at the controls before buckling in properly. Vancil sighed internally in relief, the tension in his shoulders easing slightly as the ship began take off.

    And, unlike when they had first rammed their way through the Storm, this time was far calmer. Instead of being battered around like a box of things to play with, the silver yellow streaked ship glided through the gale force winds with ease, as though they weren¡¯t there.

    ¡°She¡¯s letting us go easy this time.¡± Vancil stated to Kandria, who had been looking around in confusion at their easy passing.

    Kandria¡¯s head whipped around to Vancil in bewilderment. He was quite sure she had figured out that the Storm was actually alive, after all, it was the most logical conclusion to the series of illogical happenings it brought about. As if to prove its own existence a playful blast of wind knocked the entire ship to the side causing a few alarmed beeps from the console before the ship resumed its calming voyage.

    ¡°But¡­why though?¡± She asked as she eyed the windows warily, as though they would shatter and she would be carried outside.

    Vancil only shrugged, ¡°Well, no one¡¯s really been able to figure out exactly why the Storm does what it does. If I had to guess? It wants me to tie off my loose ends.¡±

    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    A half truth really. Sure, the Storm could be wanting him to give his sister a burial, but it would have known that when they were first entering the planet. One thing he did know of course, was that the Storm had near omnipotence on Kavir, so it obviously knew his intentions. The only thing that had changed since coming to the planet was the flower that rested in his cloak.

    He would tell Kandria eventually what it meant. He wasn¡¯t quite sure how he would do it, but he¡¯d figure it out. Improvising was his thing after all, and there was no way he could have planned for something like this.

    As soon as the ship burst through the outer atmosphere and into the cold emptiness of space, he immediately began punching in the coordinates for Aaloth. Being near the Storm with the things it knew¡­it stressed him out. He ignored the amused look from Kandria at his hurried actions. Vancil finished the preparations in record time and braced himself as the engines began spooling up.

    He gave a grateful smile to the humanoid form of grey cloud that gave him a thumbs up from outside the ship, thankful for its encouragement. His hid whipped back in a double take just in time to see the form waving before he was forced back into his seat as the ship entered hyperspace.

    <hr>

    Kandria shot a concerned look at Vancil as the ship exited hyperspace, she didn¡¯t know why but he seemed to be particularly on edge ever since they had entered and exited hyperspace, always glancing nervously out of the viewport as though he expected something to show up at any moment.

    Before she had the chance to inquire into his twitchiness however, he spoke up, ¡°Let¡¯s uh, get down there.¡±

    That shocked Kandria. He sounded almost fearful. Not fearful for his life of course, but more so similar to the way one might fear confessing to a horrible truth. Her mouth thinned. Or perhaps he was just fearful of seeing the memorial of his sister. He hadn¡¯t seemed to be not that long ago, but he also hadn¡¯t seemed like the kind of person to be respectful to strangers. She supposed her view of him had changed quite drastically.

    She remained silent as Vancil lowered the ship into the atmosphere. Unlike with Kavir, there was nothing knocking them around like a ball of yarn, and the turbulence was normal. As in, instead of having to blast through at full speed before being gently let down, it was simply the normal occasional shaking that got through the shielding.

    Aaloth was a forest planet now, but from the footage she had seen in passing during the Great War, it certainly hadn¡¯t been. From what she had seen in the coverage that was broadcast across the galaxy, the landscape of the planet, or at least most of it, had been reduced to a bloody wasteland of mud and dirt. The planet, despite being placed along the Outer Rim and generally out of the way had been highly coveted by both sides of the war. The strangest part however was that it was never stated exactly why they had wanted control of the planet.

    It wasn¡¯t in a particularly strategically important position, the only planet of worth being nearby Ryloth which even then was dwarfed in importance by other worlds in the galaxy. In retrospect it didn¡¯t make much sense. The sides certainly hadn¡¯t come for its resources as they had both absolutely decimated it with no care for the preservation of its environment.

    Her eyes widened as she briefly glanced over the charter history of the ship. Kavir was close. Very close. Closer then Ryloth even. It was the only reason why both sides would have wanted control over Aaloth. Easy access to Kavir. Kandria had seen with her own eyes the importance and power of the planet. A frown replaced the look of realisation.

    If both sides had meant to access or even control Kavir, then that meant that they had both willingly thrown the millions of people to their deaths. Even the Republic. She flinched at the conclusion.

    The ship landed gently in an open area of grass. A quick glance at the planetary map displayed on the screen in front of her revealed this to in fact be the only clearing for miles as well as another land mark which had been highlighted by Vancil.

    AALOTH WAR MEMORIAL

 Chapter 21: Ad Memoriam

    A soft breeze drifted its way through the forest, gliding through tree branches and brushing against the fresh spring grass in a carefree fashion. The breeze was a new one, freshly born and eager to explore at its own pace. This breeze, like many others, was not particularly conscious, at least according to the other sentient beings in the galaxy. It still had goals, it still had actions it could take, but it didn¡¯t really have either the will or need to decide such things.

    It was a simple not life.

    That changed though. Because as the breeze was going through this forest, accompanied by the crunching steps of deer upon grass and the tweets of songbirds, it felt something. Now, for those unaware, breezes usually don¡¯t feel. This was quite confusing for the young draft of wind, which was confused even greater by its feelings of confusion. It soon identified the reason for these new found feelings.

    A pair of humans walked through the forest, whisps of idle chatter drifting throughout the serene woodland, a female and a male, with the male carrying a box of strange grey flowers. The female walked at a pleasant gait, her hands clasped behind her back as she admired the scenery. Despite her seeming normal, the breeze recognised the worrying glances that the female shot towards the male. It was understandable why as well when the breeze switched its attention to said male.

    Unlike the female, the male was tense, and she recognised the feeling of worry it had felt only moments before in a bird nesting over its eggs. He was tense, and every step and movement he took was rigid as though it was an effort to even be standing up. Yet continue on he did, the tension in him temporarily relieving every time the female spoke.

    Curious, the breeze decided to investigate further, moving through the pair naturally so as to not raise suspicion as to its own sentience. As the breeze touched the forms of the two, everything suddenly made sense. Why the wind could feel and think. Why the two of them were here in this forest in the middle of nowhere. What her purpose was.

    Acting quickly the wind did a fanciful twirl around the pair before sending herself in the direction of their destination, which was a little more off to the left. She remained present enough to stop anymore stepping off the most direct path.

    After all, mother would not be pleased if the young breeze let these two get lost in the forest.

    <hr>

    Vancil was absolutely terrified. Somehow, the Storm had followed he and Kandria. It should have been impossible. He had never heard of something like this ever happening. But then, the Storm itself was such an impossible occurrence. Could it have followed everyone all along? Did it have the largest spy network in the galaxy??

    ¡°Scared, Sith?¡± Kandria teased, sending a smug smirk his way.

    Vancil bristled at the insult to his pride, ¡°Of some wind? Never.¡±

    Kandria shot him a look of disbelief, ¡°Well, how about you stop walking like a droid then.¡±

    Vancil¡¯s lips had begun to twist into a snarl before he pushed it back down and tried to follow her advice, injecting some sort of naturalness into his movements. This seemed to satisfy Kandria, who turned her gaze back forwards as they walked in the direction that this damned wind kept on pushing them in.

    The rest of the walk was silent, Vancil soon coming to terms with the inevitable fact that it was unlikely he would ever escape this god in corporeal form. His gaze flicked to Kandria, her bright blue eyes seeming to shine bright as it beheld the forest landscape before them.

    ¡°I hardly believe the sight of grass is what amazes you.¡± He pointed out.

    Kandria didn¡¯t even look in his direction as she shrugged, a small smile coming onto her face, ¡°Well, I haven¡¯t really been in a forest where someone hasn¡¯t been trying to actively kill me.¡± She tapped her chin in though, ¡°I suppose there was one time before the outbreak of the Great War when I accompanied Master Coval to a small thicket, but that was hardly a forest.¡±

    Vancil raised an eyebrow in surprise, ¡°Sounds like the Jedi life was quite dull.¡± He of course already knew it was dull, but it was fun to rub it in.

    Kandria didn¡¯t take the bait, unfortunately, only replying with a shrug, ¡°Well, it was my life. I only wish it stayed the same in this current period.¡±

    Kandria¡¯s gaze darkened at her mention of the current Jedi Order. Vancil understood her feelings on the matter of this new Jedi Order somewhat. Honestly, he was disappointed with them. Mainly due to the fact that they had offered him, a Sith, sworn enemies of the Jedi, to join them. It just went to show one thing, that they were desperate for any sort of lead on these Banite Sith. He scoffed internally. If this was the Jedi Order that he and Kandria knew he¡¯d be rotting in one of the deepest and most obscure prison cells the Republic had if he wasn¡¯t downright executed.

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    ¡°It¡¯s quite amazing that the planet managed to recover from the Great War, even if it was 3000 years ago.¡± He commented, directing the conversation away from the organisation he had dedicated his life to fighting.

    Kandria nodded and sent a thankful glance his way, ¡°Yes, it is. This was a bloodbath for both sides of the war. Personally, I¡¯m glad it managed to recover.¡±

    The conversation petered off again as they walked in silence beside one another. Vancil idly shifted his grip on the box of Storm Petals in his hands as his thoughts drifted back to the special little flower that lay within his cloak. His eyes flicked to study Kandria¡¯s face.

    She was quite pretty.

    He didn¡¯t quite get a chance to follow up on that thought which had popped up several times already as the tall, thick trees gave way to a small clearing. In the centre of this clearing, was their destination.

    A large monument of black stone embedded into the grassy plain around it. The monument depicted two different masks, a Sith War Mask similar to his own one and a Jedi War Mask similar to the one he had seen Kandria¡¯s master wearing. Both lay side by side, askew from one another as though discarded or dropped onto the thick slab of the same material as the masks.

    Vancil found himself frozen in place; his feet grounded into the floor as his face fell into its emergency neutral guise. He promised himself he wouldn¡¯t be afraid. Of course, he had also promised many things to many people he had failed. He gulped and slowly forced his legs to move, the sound of crunching grass beneath his metal boots ringing in his ears with each step.

    The box of flowers suddenly felt very heavy in his hands. Kandria had remained behind, and while he was thankful that she couldn¡¯t properly see his feelings, he still internally wished she was by his side. The distance that once seemed so long was closed in an instant, and he found himself still once again, this time directly in front of the words engraved onto the black stone.

    Memorial for the fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters, who died on Aaloth for their beliefs, Sith or Jedi.

    The memorial was surprisingly acknowledging of both sides, although he supposed that the planet had switched hands between both sides so much that the surviving residents probably didn¡¯t care what side they were on anymore, simply that the war was over.

    His eyes lingered on the word ¡®sister¡¯.

    His sister had died here, her corpse likely buried beneath the mud and grime of the battlefields of Aaloth, never to see the sun or feel the wind against her skin again. Silently, he kneeled down in front of the memorial and began picking the flowers out of the box, placing them all in 3 piles with 7 flowers in each.

    Once done he slid the box to the side and folded his hands in front of him as he sat back and crossed his legs. A look of contemplation came onto his face. In truth, he hadn¡¯t really known his sister at all. He couldn¡¯t even remember her face. It was a miracle he had even managed to remember her name in the Jedi Archives.

    Julia was one of the most primary reasons that he hated the Jedi with such passion. When he was still young, his father had taken him and his baby sister, only 1 year old at that point, off the planet to visit a place he had gone to once. The experience itself had been amazing, at least to a child who had only ever known the grey whirl above and the grassy plains below. The planet had mountains. It had a sun.

    That was about all the pleasantness that lasted from his memory of the trip. The rest was feelings of betrayal. His father was an ambitious man, always ready to do what it took to increase his status within the dominion. Unfortunately, this meant he would stop at nothing. Nothing. Not even selling off his children to a Jedi for access to advanced weaponry.

    Vancil was lucky. While the Jedi had identified the Force within him, he had ¡®had too much of an attachment to his planet and family¡¯. His sister though¡­

    That was the second to last time he saw her.

    Both Vancil and mother had been furious at father, for both the betrayal of trust they had placed in him but also the loss of the newest addition to their family. And the advanced weaponry father had retrieved was of no use when mother had bashed his head in with the cradle that had once held Julia. The last time he had seen her had been during he and his mother¡¯s visit to the Jedi Temple years later. While they had been denied Vancil was determined, sneaking his way past the guards and deeper into the temple. It was there that he had managed to peak out into one of the many courtyards. And it was there that he saw Julia.

    She had the black hair of the Romuval clan, but had inherited the brown eyes of their father compared to Vancil¡¯s original green eyes he had received from his mother. He shouldn¡¯t have recognised her, and it may have even just been some random child. But Vancil knew. He knew that was his sister.

    A peak was all he had gotten before a temple guard had found him and dragged him back to mother who was held at the front entrance. The two of them had then promptly been barred from entry for life.

    He hunched forward as he shut his eyes, burning the last image of Julia he had into his mind, ¡°May the winds find you no matter where you are, or where you have gone.¡± Vancil hesitated for a second before he added, ¡±I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t keep my promise.¡±

    Vancil opened his eyes but remained hunched over, his hands laying limp against the concrete in front of him. His heart felt empty. He felt empty. And the final truth he had been hiding from even before his transportation to this new time period hit.

    His sister was dead.

    Vancil¡¯s eyes burned in an unfamiliar way. His face suddenly felt very wet, as though it was raining. He tried to maintain some sort of composure by trying to count the 3 piles of Storm Petals, but could barely see in front of him due to his now blurred and wet vision. A choking sound came from his mouth as he tried desperately to maintain some form of composure. A metal gauntlet rose to wipe away the tears that fell freely from his face, to little success however as they were soon replaced by a new wave which continued the onslaught of sadness. He didn¡¯t know how long he cried. Only that when he felt Kandria¡¯s arms around him the floodgates broke, and he stopped trying to maintain any composure as his head rested on her shoulder.

    And so for the first time in nearly two decades, Vancil Romuval lowered the defences, the masks, the fake expressions, and cried his heart out.

 Chapter 22 (Interlude): Darth Ominit

    Darth Ominit scowled as he stood at the balcony of his two-story estate. His mind was in a lapse of turmoil once again. While turmoil was nothing new to him or any other Sith, he did not feel any comfort or sense of comfort from this turmoil. His mind had been dipping in and out of this turmoil ever since his exodus from the Rakatan ship and subsequent return. His fist clenched against the railing of the balcony and he worked his jaw.

    He maintained his cool for another solid minute before he snapped, ¡°MOTHERFUCKER!¡± He yelled as he slammed his fist down onto the stone railing, sending a small spiral of cracks through it.

    In a fury he spun around and stormed into his bedroom, his furious footsteps resounding throughout the floorboards and probably being heard by the cleaning droid¡¯s downstairs. His face was twisted into a horrific snarl, his dark yellow eyes glowing with his hatred. Everything had gone downhill for him ever since that damned ship. His standing among the other Darth¡¯s was in tatters, and his pride even more so. That was the part that irked him the most. He could stand being mocked and ridiculed by those old prisses on the council, even relished in it. Because try as they might, he had no interest at all in how they viewed him, whether it be traitor or even a Jedi.

    He slammed the door to his liquor cabinet open and violently grabbed the nearest bottle of Alderannian Wine, popping the cork off and taking a swig. He fell backwards onto his soft and hunched over his knees. His snarl died down slightly as he stared at the ornate carpet lining the floor.

    This had been his chance. The secrets of that ship would have been the final piece in the Kaviran puzzle. He had almost finished it too. He had Vancil, a native Kaviran who was willing to divulge about his planet. He had the knowledge of how to get in and out of the planet. He even had knowledge on what the Storm even was, no matter how much the truth had terrified him. The Rakatan Ship would have been the final blow, the final blow to get the power he needed. Then those damned Jedi had showed up.

    His free hand balled back up into a fist. He had not really been bothered by this whole war before. It was simply something that was happening while he was busy enacting his own plans. Hell, sometimes it was even fun fighting and massacring Jedi in droves. But this was the first time that the war had actually bothered him in any significant way.

    His plans were in utter shambles. Everything he had been working towards, lost in the instant Vancil and the girl had disappeared. Because despite him being only one of the pieces towards Ominit¡¯s ultimate plans, Vancil had by far been the most important, as a Sith couldn¡¯t have asked for a better apprentice.

    He had immense talent in fighting and navigating the intrigue of the Empire, and possibly could have been one of the greatest fighters in the Empire¡¯s history if he had been allowed to continue to rise the ranks. Not only that, he had an indomitable will, more so than any other individual Ominit had seen in his life. If that boy refused to do something, nothing short of physically incapacitating him and moving his body would get him to do it. The most important part however, was that he was perhaps one of the only trustworthy Sith in the entire Sith Empire.

    The primary problem that the Sith faced in both this age and previous ones, was themselves, as it was normal, almost even tradition, for the apprentice of the a Sith to betray their master and advance their own status. Vancil, while an¡­interesting character, had had no intention of betraying Ominit. While it may have been arrogant of the Sith Lord to assume as such considering their profession, he was confident in his assessment. Maybe it was due to his raising on Kavir and their twisted view of honour and strength, or maybe it was even his innate stubbornness keeping himself from going against what he signed up for. Either way, Vancil was only true person Ominit could have confided his true intentions in, and now the boy was done.

    Ominit licked his lips as he rested his arms on his legs, the bottle between them already half empty. He truly had fallen into the trappings of being a Sith, with all the plotting he was doing. He held a hand to his head as he let out a demoralised sigh and his yellow eyes dimmed alongside his rage. Everything was down the drain. Without someone he could trust, his plans would never work out.

    A light chuckle graced his lips, ¡°I¡¯d hate for you to find me now. Look at me, getting sentimental for a kid who came running to the psychopaths so he could learn to kill the good guys.¡± He said, however the smile died down quickly, ¡°I¡¯m really losing it out here, aren¡¯t I?¡±

    A small beep from the transmitter in his gauntlet drew him out of his thoughts. Ominit frowned in suspicion as he saw the caller ID. With a sigh he stood up, flourishing his black cloak backwards as he stormed through the door and downstairs. The downstairs was as elaborate as everywhere else in the estate, barring a small room with no features or colour, with the soundproof plates making up the walls being the only interesting feature.

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    With a hiss, the door to the soundproof room was shut. Why have a soundproof room in his own estates? Well, while Ominit had his own private droids, and factory reset them weekly, one could never be too cautious when one was a Sith.

    Smoothing his expression Ominit pressed the answer button. He had forgotten his mask somewhere upstairs, but it did not matter that he kept his face hidden or his menacing appearance maintained. A blue humanoid flickered in static from his wrist for a moment before completely solidifying and coming into focus.

    ¡°Lord Ominit. I trust you are well.¡± Darth Malgus said, his expression twisted into the same neutral one as Ominit.

    Ominit snorted in derision at the comment from his compatriot, ¡°Well? I just lost one of the most promising apprentices in the whole empire, and was forced to retreat.¡±

    Malgus¡¯ face tightened at Ominit¡¯s boisterous claims of Vancil, but the man had seen the young acolyte himself, ¡°That is¡­regrettable. I must apologise for that part, as it turns out I had a spy working under my nose this whole time. She was dealt with, but not before siphoning information to the Republic, the Rakatan Ship included.¡±

    Ominit¡¯s blank expression broke into a snarl at the news, ¡°Well good job prick. Your blunder is the reason everything has turned to shit.¡±

    Malgus also broke into a snarl, albeit a more reserved one, ¡°Watch yourself Ominit. Make an enemy of me and you¡¯ll find difficulty sleeping without one eye open.¡±

    Ominit kept his anger present but did not push further. In all honesty, Malgus was right. The Sith was stronger than Ominit, loathe as he was to admit it, ¡°Well what did you want then? I can¡¯t imagine you called to offer sympathies.¡±

    Malgus remained silent for a moment longer before speaking, ¡°That spy I spoke of also leaked a lot of military information. The Republic is moving in force, and it appears Alderaan is one of the targets. The council has decided that you are to organise the garrison forces there until I arrive with my fleet.¡±

    Ominit froze up at that. That wasn¡¯t good. For Ominit, of course, he couldn¡¯t give two damns what happened to the Empire at large, much less a planet like Alderaan. It was bad, because if the Republic attacked Alderaan he himself was at risk of dying, or even capture.

    ¡°I see. When will your fleet arrive?¡± He tactfully kept even the smallest sliver of panic from slipping into his voice.

    ¡°We are already enroute. We should arrive in about eight cycles.¡±

    Ominit nodded mutely, his mind not entirely in the conversation as it continued onto other necessary topics, such as landing zones and places to establish fortresses. The whole world seemed to have lost colour. Dying was the worst thing he could do. His plans were full proof, and had several backups, including the one that had just been thwarted. He was absolutely confident that eventually his plan would be realised. The problem was time.

    When the transmitter shut off and Ominit walked out of the room, it was in a daze. He stood outside the door to the room, blank yellow eyes staring up at the roof. His plans¡­ tentatively, Ominit reached in to the small pocket in the interior of his cloak. When his hand came out, it brought something else alongside it. A small square of paper, about the size of the palm of his hand. Imprinted on this paper however, was the most important thing in the universe to him.

    A picture, of a light skinned, almost pale beautiful young woman, her arm over the shoulder of an also pale, but not as pale, handsome young man. The grinning woman wore a tight fitting, navy blue, windbreaker jacket and dark grey pants. A spear was hooked in her right arm, being entirely made out of metal with the point featuring elaborate wings below it. The most striking feature however was her impossible light blue hair flowed halfway down her back, the colour being the same as her eyes.

    The man in comparison, looked extremely ordinary barring his strange clothing. With black hair and dark red eyes, the man sported a similar grin to the woman, even holding up his left hand in a thumbs up gesture, towards the camera. He wore a faded blue strange top, similar to a jersey he had seen some young people wearing on Alderaan except with a hood pulled up over his head, and also wore a pair of black pants. Also, unlike the woman, he held no visible weapons, except perhaps his fists.

    Ominit¡¯s gaze pored over the photo over and over again. He didn¡¯t remember much of anything from more than a decade ago, not his family, not his home, nothing; he knew one thing though. His thumb brushed over the grinning woman.

    Everything he worked towards, was so that she could find him. If his plan of making a disturbance so big it would act as a beacon to her didn¡¯t work, he would wait and try to stay alive. If he failed at that and died, whether it was of old age or to a Jedi¡¯s lightsaber, he was still confident. Confident that, even in death, she would be coming for him, to save him.

    A renewed smile of determination came onto his face as he tucked the photo back into his pocket. With a proud flourish he marched out of the door and towards his personal speeder. That¡¯s right, in the end, it didn¡¯t really matter whether he died or not. He was just impatient in being found.

    His smile spread into a devilish grin, ¡°Time to make the Republic bleed for every inch of worthless forest.¡±

 Chapter 23: Investigation

    Sheev Palpatine clasped his hands together behind his back as he strolled through the halls of the Jedi Temple, the two Red Guard flanking him on either side doing nothing to resolve his anxiety. This anxiety did not come from his presence within the Jedi Temple. Far from it in fact. The Jedi were still as gullible as ever, being unable to sense one of the greatest Sith Lords ever strolling right through their home base.

    No, his concern was with his plans. Particularly how an unexpected and impossible variable was incredibly likely to affect them. Another Sith. Palpatine was aware of Dooku¡¯s initiative in training his own apprentices despite knowing Palpatine¡¯s disapproval, however this Sith was not one of his apprentice¡¯s Dark Acolytes. This Sith was something far more terrifying. Because, if the reports were to be believed, he was not from this time period. Rather, he was from the Sith Empires of old. This meant one of two things could happen.

    A: The Sith would inevitably come to open blows with the Jedi and face the full wrath of the Republic and Jedi.

    Or B: The Sith would discover Palpatine¡¯s hidden presence and reveal the Chancellor to all.

    His lips thinned as a scowl came onto his face. And Palpatine didn¡¯t like taking chances. He continued his walk through the Temple, smiling and nodding his head to passing Jedi, who each did the same with him. It sickened Palpatine, but it would all be worth it in the ultimate culmination of his master plan.

    He was taking a risk now, however. But, the risk of a walk through the Jedi Temple was dwarfed by the risk of this mystery Sith revealing Palpatine¡¯s identity. His plan was simple, and had been in motion ever since the first report from Anakin had reached him about this Sith. He couldn¡¯t have immediately confronted them, that would have raised too many suspicions. The first part of his plan was to let the Jedi have their initial way with him while also make a military parade out of it to boost Palpatine¡¯s support among the populace.

    The next step was being implemented at this very moment. Chancellor Palpatine visits the captured Sith Lord, only to barely survive a vicious attack from the violent war criminal. Palpatine was quite confident in the success of this step, after all, if he, the master manipulator couldn¡¯t enrage a person from an order of people known for being easily enraged, he wouldn¡¯t forgive himself. Perhaps it would even help in his plans to turn Anakin to the Dark Side by making the young Jedi kill Palpatine¡¯s aggressor.

    The sight of a Jedi running down the hall brought Palpatine to pause. He plastered a fake smile on his face as he spoke, ¡°Where are you going in such a hurry Master Jedi?¡±

    The Jedi, a young human male, likely only of Knight rank paused for a moment, panting as he caught his breath, ¡°Sorry Chancellor, the Temple is going into lockdown. Some Jedi should be coming here to collect you soon.¡±

    Palpatine frowned internally but expressed a concerned tightening of his face externally, ¡°Lockdown? What is going on? A Separatist attack?¡±

    The Jedi shook his head, a bit frantically, ¡°No sir, the Sith. The one we just captured. He¡¯s gone missing. No one can find him in the Temple.¡±

    For once, Palpatine¡¯s real emotions came fully into the light, as the colour drained from his face.

    <hr>

    Obi Wan Kenobi was met with a solemn gathering as he entered the tower of the Council, the open interior and shining sunlight providing some comfort to him. His gaze moved around the room. Only those physically in the council room were present, unlike the recent previous meeting.

    ¡°Obi Wan, I trust you had a safe journey?¡± Came the deep stern voice of Master Windu.

    The Jedi Master in question bowed his head slightly, a warm smile gracing his face, ¡°Yes, thankfully. We detected a Separatist Fleet in a nearby star system at one point but neither we nor they attacked.¡±

    Master Windu nodded before letting out a resigned sigh, ¡°I fear we have grown too arrogant of late, too comfortable with our positions. This recent incident is only a confirmation of these fears.¡±

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    The mood in the room plummeted once again at the mention of the recent realisation of the escape of the also recently captured Sith, ¡°One thing is for sure, we cannot allow this to reach the public. Fear and panic would only spread and their trust in the Jedi would nose dive.¡± Came the voice of Plo Koon.

    Obi Wan¡¯s smile fell at the harsh truth, ¡°Yes, that is imperative. I think it is important that I receive the full picture however. The most I truly know is that the Sith has escaped, yet I feel that there is more to it than just that.¡±

    The room became silent once again before the elderly Master Yoda spoke up, ¡°Missing too, is young Kandria. Unclear to us, the reason for this is. Perhaps kidnapped by the Sith. Perhaps killed by the Sith. Seduced by the Dark Side, possibly. Apologise we will for asking you this, but investigate this happening, you must. I fear the young Sith and young Jedi are important to the outcome of this war. Fail, you must not.¡±

    Obi Wan remained in silent thought for a moment. Finally, a reassuring smile appeared on his face, ¡°Not to worry Master Yoda, I will be sure to find this missing Sith and Jedi with all due haste.¡±

    <hr>

    Obi Wan wrinkled his nose slightly as he stepped into the familiar diner of one of his oldest friends and trustworthy contacts. A joyous grin came onto his face as he saw Dexter Jettster sitting at a small booth in the corner, his greasy and grimy kitchen apron still on as he picked at his sharp teeth with one of his four hands.

    ¡°Dex, old friend, it is good to see you. I¡¯m sorry to call on you again like this.¡± Obi Wan said as he took the seat across from brown besalisk.

    The dirty diner owner jumped for a second in shock before chuckling as he broke out into a grin, ¡°Nonsense, Obi Wan, I¡¯m always ready to lend any aid. Besides, it gets me out of that smoke trap I call a kitchen.¡±

    Obi Wan couldn¡¯t help but smirk in amusement. Dex always had been a boisterous but friendly individual, ¡°Well, I need your help identifying something for me. I¡¯ve looked all around but I can¡¯t find any mention of it at all.¡± The Jedi placed a small holodisk on the table between them, ¡°Its related to another case of content being missing from the archives. Since you helped me with finding Kamino I was hoping you could use your prospecting expertise to identify what this plant means.¡±

    The besalisk¡¯s grin grew to greater heights as he snatched the holodisk from the table, inserting it into his player which soon took up the disk¡¯s previous location, ¡°Obi Wan, you Jedi are honestly embarrassing yourselves at this point! What happened to the greatest store of information in the galaxy, ¡®ey? Why, you might as well hire me-¡°

    Dex¡¯s voice cut off startlingly quick as he caught sight of the projection which shot up from the player. It was a rather simple looking flower in comparison to the other fauna that inhabited the galaxy, with the only notable feature of it being the entry on how its petals ¡®glowed grey¡¯. This was the first major clue in Obi Wan¡¯s investigation.

    Alongside searches made by the Sith, other than his stated goal of viewing how the Sith Empire fell, his search results leaded to two things unrelated to that goal. ¡®Storm Petals¡¯, the flower being shown right now, and ¡®Julia Romuval¡¯. The second search was completely untraceable as far as Obi Wan could tell, being completely out of left field for someone like a Sith to search up a Jedi apprentice of no renown who died thousands of years ago. The first one had really peaked his interest however. Because the planet of origin was simply gone. The main reason this caught Obi Wan¡¯s attention was because he had seen this sort of thing before with the missing planet Kamino. And just like with Kamino, Obi Wan hoped his old friend could point him in the right direction again.

    ¡°This¡­I haven¡¯t seen one of these in a long time. It¡¯s a bloody miracle you even know it exists.¡± Came the astounded voice of Dex, slightly shocking Obi Wan, ¡°I¡¯m surprised your precious archives didn¡¯t have Kamino but has a bloody Storm Petal!¡±

    Obi Wan¡¯s eyes lit up in excitement, ¡°So you know what it is?¡±

    A derisive snort was Dex¡¯s answer, ¡°Know what it is? Every smuggler and prospector in the Outer Rim worth their salt knows either how much this flower costs or to stay the hell away from the planet its on. You could buy three shuttles with just one of these! Good ones too!¡±

    That surprised Obi Wan even more, ¡°Why? Does it have some strange properties which make it cost so much?¡±

    Dex shook his head frantically, ¡°No, no, no, this flower doesn¡¯t do a damn thing for anyone other than a nice decoration. It costs so much because of the planet it comes from. Kavir. A prospector¡¯s greatest dream and fear.¡±

    Obi Wan nodded in thought. Kavir. He had never heard of the planet before, but if Dex was confident it came from that planet it likely did, especially since the planet of origin had been removed from the Archives, ¡°What¡¯s so dangerous about Kavir?¡± Came his next question.

    Dex shivered. Actually shivered, as though just the thought of this dreaded planet brought a chill down his spine, ¡°What¡¯s so dangerous? Obi Wan, you know I trust in your abilities both as a Jedi and a person, heck, I even sent you to Kamino knowing how isolationist they were. But you have to listen to me on this one.¡± Dex leaned in close, a seriousness never before seen on the besalisk¡¯s face which shocked Obi Wan into stunned silence, ¡°Stay the hell away from Kavir. It is a hell hole you¡¯ll never be able to escape if you enter it.¡±

    Obi Wan broke out of his silence with a frown, ¡°Why though?¡±

    Dex stared into Obi Wan¡¯s soul, portraying nothing but absolute truth, ¡°Kavir is where gods live.¡±

 Chapter 24: A Moment of Calm

    The hum of the engines permeated the inside of the ST-70 as it barrelled through space, being almost soothing to Vancil. Despite his upbringing on Kavir, a land mostly controlled by nature, he had gained a taste for the sounds of machines of war around him during his time in the Sith Empire. His gloved hands were not on the controls as it was not necessary; the ships destination had been set and it was smooth sailing from here on out thanks to the ship¡¯s auto-pilot.

    His crimson gaze flicked over to Kandria, who had fallen asleep in her co-pilot seat, her head now lolling to the side. A smile breached into public view. It was comforting that she felt she could go to sleep while a Sith, the people she had sworn to fight, sat right beside her. He lightly touched the inner pocket of his cloak where the flower lay. Then again, he supposed he knew why exactly she trusted him so, even if she might not even know herself.

    With a yawn and a bone popping stretch, Vancil stood up and walked to the hatch to the hangar, vainly trying to keep his metal boots from pounding so as to not wake the sleeping, Kandria. Once he was down in the hangar, he busied himself physically and mentally, checking the inventory of the starship while he reviewed the situation the both of them were in.

    Good things first; the two had no further ties or things to settle, and so were now free to do whatever, and go wherever, they wished. That was what had led them to their current circumstances. After he had gotten enough of a hold of himself to stop bawling his heart out, the two had returned back to the ship in silence, a sharp contrast to the banter that had been occurring just moments before.

    From there they had brainstormed what exactly they were to do now, the topic managing to lift his mood significantly as a distraction from his real feelings. The first things that were established was what they absolutely were not going to do. Number one on that priority list was getting involved in the current galactic spanning war, as not only did we just get out of one, but neither of us particularly liked either side. Kandria because she despised how the Jedi had delved into politics so far, and Vancil because he was still a hardcore supporter of the Sith Empire and its ideals, despite said empire being dead for thousands of years.

    The second must was that they wouldn¡¯t be joining any sort of organisation for whatever reason. As former Jedi and Sith, the two of them likely could have found themselves in extremely high demand across the galaxy, especially with jobs which required a¡­capacity for violence. This was in neither of their interests as being in such a job would inevitably lead to their direct or indirect involvement in the war. Besides, one thing they both absolutely agreed on was that their newfound freedom wouldn¡¯t be squandered on some low paying work from a corporate overlord.

    The both of these limited their options greatly, but that was ultimately the point. Eventually, after about half an hour of debate there was only one viable option left to take; travel the galaxy simply for the sake of traveling it. It was something he had wanted to do at several times in his life, and he had experienced it somewhat during his tenure in the Sith Order. Kandria was also eager to do so, as she had far less knowledge and experience with the many wonders of the galaxy due to her occupation as a Jedi having far less operational freedom than a Sith.

    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    A number of planets had come to their minds when they had discussed where to go. The cities of Raxus Secundus. The towering jungles of Kashyyyk. Even the vast deserts of Tatooine came up at one point. They eventually settled on one of his suggestions, a planet which had born some of the greatest warriors in the galaxy and become legendary across nearly all ages. Mandalore, home of the Mandalorians.

    His reason for suggesting such a planet had been born from a few things. Firstly, he had always held a fascination for the planet ever since he first heard about it. Particularly an incredulous one, as despite being touted as some of the greatest warriors to ever roam the galaxy and one of the main rivals of the Jedi, they were relegated to only one planet and maybe a few moons throughout most of their history. Surely there must have been more to the Mandalorian legend then just really good propaganda.

    Secondly, the very ship which the two now piloted. The ship had belonged to a group of Mandalorian bounty hunters, and once they had all been dealt with, he and Kandria had simply taken it as their own. He had done some digging through the archives in a few moments of spare time, and there seemed to be a lot of back-and-forth communications with Concordia, a moon orbiting Mandalore. It was all in code, and remained completely indecipherable to him, leading to the theory that this ship was doing a bit more than bounty hunting, especially since these logs had been hidden very deeply within the ship¡¯s archives. Heading to Mandalore might give them a clue as to why, or even if these Mandalorians were hunting the both of them.

    Finally, Mandalore was one of the few planets that had remained neutral throughout the war, which further added to his bewilderment of the planet and its people. A galactic spanning war and the warrior planet preached not only neutrality but peace and pacifism? It was utterly baffling to Vancil. He knew that he had a different view of things from other people, but surely, he wasn¡¯t the only person who saw how contradictory this was with their history?

    Besides raising questions for Vancil, the planet¡¯s neutrality was also great, as the Jedi or Republic had no legal jurisdiction over them and so couldn¡¯t swoop in and lock them up. This fact also extended to the apparent ¡°Confederacy of Independent Systems¡±, who also couldn¡¯t swoop in and capture them without pushing Mandalore over to the other side. It might be a flimsy escape from both sides, and they might even try to attack the both of them anyways, but it was something.

    He mentally checked off both his thoughts and the list he had constructed of the ship¡¯s inventory. They had enough food and weapons to last a while, as well as enough backup fuel to get them probably to the very reaches of the Outer Rim. As Vancil moved to return to his seat in the pilot cabin, his eyes caught something in the corner of the hangar, tucked away behind a seat.

    He stood in silent contemplation before picking up the grey blanket, which soon found itself draped across Kandria¡¯s sleeping form. The sleeping Jedi visibly relaxed further into her sleep, a light smile coming onto her unconscious face, a smile which was quickly mimicked by Vancil who simply continued to sit there, admiring it.

 Chapter 25: A streak of unluckiness

    Vancil was not impressed. Far from it. He was incredibly disappointed and even shocked to some degree. Mandalore, the planet which had created one of the most martial societies in the galaxy¡­ was a wasteland. Even from his view outside the atmosphere of the planet, he would bet money that nature and life would be more widespread on a planet like Tatooine. In fact, Mandalore resembled the desert planet like Tatooine somewhat.

    The entire planet was just a near white sheen of sand and nothingness, with a few blobs of steel identifying the cities found on the planet. Reaching out with the force, despite the distance between him and the planet, the sensation hit him like a blaster bolt. As he suspected, the steel circles which he could see were cities, brimming with life and the force. Unfortunately, also as he suspected, the surrounding desolate wastelands were so weakened it might as well have been nothing in comparison to the beacons that were the cities.

    Shaking his head to stop another of his idle wonderings he flicked a few switches on the dashboard, enabling the radar, ¡°Nothing. A couple civilian trading vessels but otherwise we¡¯re in the clear. No Republic, no Confederates.¡±

    Kandria let out a sigh of relief at the news, ¡°Thank the Force, I miss sleeping on solid, unmoving ground.¡±

    Vancil chuckled lightly as he steered the ship to enter the atmosphere, aiming for the largest city on the planet, one labelled as ¡®Sundari¡¯ on the ship¡¯s logs. After experiencing minor turbulence due to a passing dust storm, the city came into full view. Well, as full as it could be. The entire thing appeared to be encased in a steel dome, shielding it completely from the harsh outside world with only a few visible entrances in the sides of it.

    As the ST-70 lumbered towards one of these many entrances, an alert sounded on the ship¡¯s console of an incoming scan. That was nothing out of the ordinary, scanning approaching ships was routine in all space ports and cities. A frown came onto his face when the scan did not end as they entered the entrance tunnel, which itself stretched on for quite a while.

    His eyes widened in shock as the scan ended only for another alarm to activate, one which worried him significantly more. He looked between Kandria and the console, comforted at least somewhat with the similarly shocked face she wore.

    WARNING: TRACTOR BEAM LOCK

    Vancil licked his lips and leaned back in his seat with a resigned sigh, ¡°Well. Shit.¡±

    <hr>

    Duchess Satine Kryze sat at her desk as she massaged her temple with one hand while flicking through the lines of reports strewn across the screen in front of her with the other. Running this city alone was difficult enough, running the system in its entirety was a bureaucratic nightmare. Her eyes flicked to the separate stack of holodisks which lay on the floor in the corner. And then there was running a coalition of neutral systems within one of the biggest wars the galaxy had ever seen.

    Corruption paralyzed nearly every part of the Mandalorian government, and Death Watch was only growing bolder in its actions. The latter was what really bothered her. Corruption could be handled and dealt with in a somewhat peaceful and lawful way, even when it was as bad as it was now. Death Watch was another manner entirely however.

    That terrorist organisation left no room for negotiations, no room for a peaceful resolution. They had made that very clear when they started bombing civilian targets indiscriminately. The only way to deal with Death Watch was through a coordinated military action. This raised several problems. Firstly, Mandalore¡¯s military had been almost entirely axed, with the only real force that could be exerted being her Royal Guard and the police. The Royal Guard, while loyal and skilled were too few in number to launch such an effort, and the police forces were laden with so much corruption Satine wouldn¡¯t be surprised if half of the police force in this very city were Death Watch sympathisers or associates.

    That meant that the only ones capable of carrying out military action would be either the Confederacy or the Republic. Asking either of them would have essentially meant she had admitted to throwing her lot in with that chosen faction.

    Satine sighed and closed the screen, standing up and walking over to the window which gave her a view of the city of Sundari. The main thing they lacked right now was a lead on just about anything to do with Death Watch. Any bombers either killed themselves or escaped, and they would continue to do so the longer her forces were left in the dark.

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    A light beeping at the commlink on her wrist brought her out of her thoughts. With an annoyed sigh she answered it, mainly out of obligation due to the caller id being the gate guard. As much as she would like to be left alone with her thoughts, if one of the gates was calling her directly it must have been serious.

    ¡°Gate 14, what is it?¡± She said, unable to keep the annoyance out of her tone.

    ¡°Sorry Duchess, Sergeant Bress said I should contact you immediately. We got a positive hit on an ST-70. It¡¯s the Hornets.¡±

    Satine remained silent for a moment as she processed the words. Her eyes widened as the full weight of the words hit her and she spun around, heading for the elevator to the throne room, ¡°Lock down all gates and secure the perimeter. I¡¯m sending the Royal Guard to assist you.¡±

    Without missing a beat, she hung up and dialled the line to Captain Ru-Saxon, speaking as soon as he picked up, ¡°The Hornets are at Gate 14, I¡¯m sending my Royal Guard right now. I want the police to set up a cordon on every city block within a 3-kilometre radius of it.¡±

    Satine hung up again as the elevator to the throne room opened. With purposeful strides she walked to the nearest Royal Guard, who snapped to attention by his position at a pillar in response to his Duchess¡¯ approach, ¡°Go to Captain Tryd, he should be enjoying his break in the barracks so he won¡¯t respond to comms.¡±

    A satisfied smile found its way onto Satine¡¯s face as the Royal Guard immediately sprinted out of the throne room, without a question or moment to ponder. As soon as the man was out of sight, she took a moment to breath.

    ¡°Calm, Satine. Remain calm.¡±

    Despite her words, she was anything but.

    <hr>

    ¡°STEP OUT OF THE SHIP WITH YOUR HANDS UP!¡±

    Vancil pursed his lips as he leaned against the hangar wall of the ST-70, his gaze locked onto the closed hangar door, past which was around twelve of what looked to be policemen, or some sort of security force.

    ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking, and no.¡± Kandria said from her position standing in front of the hangar door as she tapped at her chin anxiously.

    Vancil groaned in frustration and through his hands up in the air, ¡°Oh come on, we could totally take them. I could take them by myself if what you¡¯re worried about is dying. It¡¯ll be super quick, I promise.¡±

    Kandria shot him a dirty look, ¡°I know that. And that¡¯s what I¡¯m worried about. We just got here, and in case you hadn¡¯t noticed, the gate shut behind us. So, unless you want to take on this entire city and probably the entire military of this planet, we aren¡¯t going to kill them.¡±

    Vancil smirked triumphantly to himself, mainly at succeeding in getting under Kandria¡¯s skin, ¡°Nah, I¡¯d still win.¡± His smirk dropped slightly, however, and he let out a dramatic sigh as he affixed his mask to his face and pulled up his hood, ¡°But fine, I suppose we can do it your way.¡±

    Vancil may have been an idiot, and irrational, but he wasn¡¯t dumb enough to take on an entire planet by himself, especially when he had just resolved to travel the galaxy, not reave through it as he had once done. He had no intentions of dying in glorious battle anymore. He had something to live for now after all.

    Kandria looked him up and down cautiously before nodding in thanks, pulling up her own mask and hood. Vancil pushed himself off of the wall with a foot and walked to stand beside Kandria, slamming his fist into the door control button as he did so. As the lamp lowered they both raised their arms, Vancil with slightly less enthusiasm than Kandria.

    As soon as the door was fully opened Vancil got a full picture of the situation. Two hover cars had been parked in front of the ramp to the ship, which had been pulled onto a landing platform by the tractor beam from before. Security of some kind, outfitted in grey armour was set up behind the cars with their blasters pointed at the ship, a few even being brave enough to stand out of cover and to the sides.

    ¡°STEP OFF THE RAMP WITH YOUR HANDS RAISED!¡± Came the booming sound of one of the security guards using a loudspeaker.

    Vancil scowled as he stepped forward dutifully, while Kandria winced at the volume of the thing. Something in the corner of his eye intrigued Vancil however. As his boots touched the hard concrete of the landing zone, he could see it fully. It appeared to be a large blue transport speeder of some kind, absolutely barrelling in their direction. Now this itself wouldn¡¯t be very interesting. What was fascinating however was the fact that there were no other speeders flying about anywhere. Unless you counted the security cars which turned a corner to give chase to the transport.

    Oh. That didn¡¯t seem good. One thing which definitely made it known that something was wrong, was that several Mandalorians streamed out of the back with jetpacks, half heading towards their assailants and the other half towards the dock. Ah, and that was the driver that just jumped out. Each of these new Mandalorians wore a blue painted armour not too dissimilar to that which belonged to the Mandalorians he and Kandria had¡­reappropriated the ST-70 from.

    A grin came onto his face as he lowered his hands and cracked his knuckles, thankfully being ignored by the surrounding security whose attention was focused wholly on the approaching foes as they scrambled about to face the attackers.

    Looks like he got to kill some people after all.

 Chapter 26: Spontaneous alliance making

    Several plans formed within Vancil¡¯s mind as time seemed to slow and he analysed the situation before him. The security forces which had previously been focused on he and Kandria were now in a frantic reorganisation to face the new oncoming threat, and while their expressions were hidden by the visors they wore with their grey armour, Vancil could basically smell the terror on them. Whoever these fellas in the jetpacks were, the local security was acutely aware of them. And they must have been quite the threat if they no longer paid the two force wielders any mind.

    Unfortunately for the security forces, there was not much reorganisation that could be done. The speeders that they had were arranged so that they could take cover from whatever was coming out of the ST-70, leaving many to simply turn towards the other Mandalorians and stand in the open. Only mere moments had passed, yet bright yellow blaster bolts were already beginning their first volley at each side.

    Vancil switched his attention to the jetpack Mandalorians. They wore the same sort of armour that the bounty hunters had worn on Krant, except this time they were painted a deep blue, with a few having different markings which likely signified their rank. The speeders that were following the jet packers had already fallen, the security forces on them being overwhelmed by the sudden retaliation and falling down, likely to the bottom of this city. Overall, the jetpack Mandalorians also outnumbered the security forces on the platform, and also seemed to be better equipped, using Westar rifles instead of pistols.

    Finally, Vancil looked to the most pressing issue. The cargo truck that was hurtling towards the platform that they were on. As time sped up again, Vancil wasted none of it, kicking off the lowered hangar door and making a beeline towards the centre of the platform where the truck was bound to hit. He slid to a stop and held out both of his gloved hands, reaching deep into as much of the Force as he could. Stopping a moving object was relatively simple, but stopping a moving object of this size? That was something else entirely.

    He grit his teeth as the strain of the action filled his mind, giving him a familiar headache whenever he overused the force. The truck was slow to stop, but thankfully did, albeit only a few inches in front of his outstretched hands. His mind had no room for anything else but stopping the truck and what to do with it. Chances were, if they had ditched the truck and left it heading towards their enemies, then they had rigged it to explode.

    New objective. Get rid of truck.

    Grunting with exertion, Vancil slowly pushed the transport backwards before letting out a yell of defiance, sending it flying back into the jet packers, catching two of them with the improvised projectile. He only had a second to catch his breath and recuperate before being forced to ignite his lightsaber and block an incoming blaster bolt. These fucks had caught on quickly.

    It was then as he blocked a few more blaster bolts and allowed his mind to slowly refocus that he realised something. Twisting his head to look behind him, he saw quite the problem. One of the security forces was sitting on his ass right behind Vancil, staring dumbstruck as Vancil casually deflected the blaster bolts. The Sith hadn¡¯t even noticed the man, having been focused entirely on stopping the truck.

    A flash of anger entered Vancil. This little bastard who had been pointing a gun at him seconds ago probably thought the Sith had turned the other cheek and was saving him. Vancil planned to resolve that. With a snarl he twisted, deflecting a final bolt before grabbing the dumbfounded security by the collar.

    ¡°Get the fuck out of the way!¡± He yelled as he threw the man over and behind one of the speeders before vaulting over and taking cover behind it himself.

    That seemed to knock the guard out of his stupor, and he let out a yelp as he scrambled to his knees and crawled over to take cover beside Vancil. The Sith in question had pressed his back against the grey speeder, glancing out as much as he could without getting domed in the head.

    The jet packers had landed, whether out of fear of Vancil lobbing another large object at them or due to the fire from the security forces was anyone¡¯s guess. Right now though they definitely held the advantage, and were minimising any return fire from security forces through the sheer firepower they were producing. Vancil¡¯s gaze flicked back to the ST-70, having nearly forgotten all about the Kandria. Thankfully the former Jedi had managed to react quickly, taking cover underneath the hangar door.

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    Vancil licked his lips as he rubbed a gauntleted hand over the smooth exterior of the speeder. If they thought they could escape flying objects just because they had landed, they were sorely mistaken.

    ¡°You better be ready to start firing.¡± He said to the cowering guard who only looked at him bewildered.

    ¡°Wha-¡° Whatever the guards response would have been was cut off as Vancil pushed out with the force again, this time on the speeder which the guard was lying against.

    Unlike last time, the strain was far less and the speed far greater, shooting out and colliding with three Mandalorians, taking them off the edge with it. With a roar of rage and glee Vancil sprinted forwards, closing the distance between him and the Mandalorians too fast for the latter to react. His lightsaber sliced clean through the closest one before he dashed after the next. It was at this point that the others had noticed the sudden counterattack and begun to aim at him, however they were forced to fire elsewhere as the security forces took advantage of Vancil¡¯s distraction, now being able to return fire at the Mandalorians.

    The Mandalorians closest to Vancil began to use their jetpacks to get away from him, only to land right into Kandria, who had joined the fray at some point, Vancil was beginning to lose himself in the fighting. Using the force, he dragged one Mandalorian who was trying to fly away back down to the ground, rather forcefully he might add considering that the man stopped moving after the impact.

    A devilish grin of malicious glee graced his face beneath the mask as he darted towards the next closest one. This was what he lived for. Pure adrenaline.

    ¡°SHIT! Skip the killing! Just destroy the ship!¡± He heard the garbled voice of one of the Mandalorians with additional markings.

    The others reacted almost immediately; rockets being launched from that funny little point at the top of their jetpacks. Vancil puffed up indignantly as he promptly seized one of the rockets and brought it straight back down onto one of the Mandalorians, killing two others in the following explosion. These bastards thought they could just destroy what he had killed so hard to get? Not on his watch.

    He repeated this process of stopping rockets mid-launch and sending them back down, each time taking under a second to complete the action. He couldn¡¯t get all of them however, and some of the first that had been launched were already shooting towards the ST-70. Thankfully, however, he wasn¡¯t the only force user.

    Kandria had thrown herself in between the rockets and the ship, and summarily froze each one that got past Vancil with the Force. For some reason that irked the Sith. Not her stopping the missiles, he was quite happy with that part. Rather, it was her throwing herself in between them and the ship. Irrationally leaping into danger was his thing, and seeing her do the same filled him with dread that she would fail and suffer tremendous consequences.

    As Vancil slammed the final rocket down, he looked around with a sweeping gaze, taking in all of his surroundings as he scanned for any enemies. As it turns out, launching rockets was the worst mistake the enemy could have made, as they were all either dead, dying, vaporised, or severely wounded. Vancil made a self-note to mentally thank the leader of that little group for making such a decision, as it shortened the whole battle immensely.

    He shifted his head to look at Kandria, mentally sighing in relief at seeing her safe and sound, albeit still holding the rockets midair, a bead of sweat falling down her face at the strain of holding so many different objects which moved so fast.

    ¡°What, you want to keep them as pets or something?¡± He said to her teasingly in regards to the death bombs she held still.

    Kandria only scowled silently in response before heaving her hands up upwards, sending the rockets spiralling in a pattern upwards before colliding with each other in a spectacular explosion, causing Vancil to cackle at the sight. She had quite the flair when she tried. Looking around, the landing platform was like something out of the many battlefields he had seen, although that was mainly due to the large amounts of explosives that had been present only moments before.

    The once grey that made up the platform had been almost entirely covered with black scorch marks, with bodies of both their attackers and the security littering everywhere. Vancil turned an uninterested gaze towards the remaining security in question. He had forgotten about them for a second. The survivors had gathered into a cohesive group which now watched Kandria and Vancil warily.

    Vancil worked his jaw as he considered what to do now. He had saved one of their comrades, but they had seemed pretty keen on apprehending them before the attack. That may have been more so due to the ship which he and Kandria had been piloting however, considering that destroying the ship seemed to have been the primary objective of their mystery attackers.

    Maybe he could threaten them into letting Kandria and him get out of dodge. They had just seen the two of them basically single handedly slaughter these Mandalorians after all. Something caught his eye in the distance before he could enact that plan however. More transports. A lot more transports. All of which were of the same make and colour scheme as the security¡¯s speeders.

    With a dejected sigh Vancil trudged back over to Kandria and clasped a hand on her shoulder.

    ¡°I can¡¯t threaten my way out of this one. You want us to not kill any of these fellas then you¡¯d better do the talking.¡±

 Chapter 27: Apprehended

    Kandria¡¯s arms were crossed tightly, and she felt more tense then ever before. This feeling of anxiety only heightened as the speeders stopped and people who looked a lot more elite than the previous security hopped off. They wore flamboyant blue armour which while it may have seemed purely ceremonial at first, she recognised the way they held themselves as they moved with purpose to form a semi-circle in front of Kandria and Vancil.

    Each were equipped with shields which could likely absorb most common blasters while also using the same pistol as the security forces. The security forces in question had stepped back to join the elite troops but hadn¡¯t raised their pistols as their allies were doing. At least they had that going for them. She had no doubt that both she and Vancil could take them on despite their seemingly elite status. That was what scared her though.

    Ever since she had left the Jedi Order, feelings of self-doubt had entered her mind gradually. If she wasn¡¯t a part of the Order then what was stopping her from just doing whatever she liked? Her answer was always that she followed her own moral code which wasn¡¯t linked to the Order. Ignoring the fact that she had essentially been raised by the Order and so their values were her own, the Order had given a sense that going against this code was to be punished, and had been on several occasions she had witnessed herself.

    Now that she had left the organisation behind however, that sense of a higher authority ready to punish her was gone. She felt¡­ free. She both relished and feared the feeling. Everything was so strange now, and her feelings were more conflicted than ever. Vancil was a prime example of just that.

    Her feelings towards him had changed quite dramatically in a very short span of time. At first she bore nothing but resentment and disgust towards the Sith Acolyte, albeit subdued thanks to her Jedi training. Then, after he had literally thrown himself in between her and a swarm of Whistling Darts, that resentment lessened, much to her own confusion. He was a Sith. The vile Order which wished for nothing more then to overtake the galaxy and flood it with the Dark Side, plunging it into chaos. And he had saved her.

    It was when she actually got to talking to him that her resentment began being replaced by¡­ something else she still couldn¡¯t quite describe. What she did know however, was that Vancil seemed truly¡­ free. He was still quite clearly a Sith and proud of the fact, but it was different from her own membership in the Order. She had been born into the Order, it was her home and her family. She was essentially obligated to be with them, making it all the worse when she realised how far they had strayed and that she had to leave to preserve her own morals.

    If she had to guess, Vancil had no such qualms. She didn¡¯t know much, but he had to have joined the Sith Order later on in his life if he was born on Kavir, because from what little she had seen of the Storm¡¯s power nothing was getting in or out without its approval. Maybe that was the reason he was so¡­ carefree. He had had the opportunity to form his own opinions on galaxy, create his own moral code to follow, and so wasn¡¯t tied down to anything. That was doubly so now that he had apparently settled his demons on his home planet.

    He was something that she should have been. Yet she was still held back by her own fears and anxieties about leaving the Jedi. She glanced to her right at the Sith which had taken up so much of her thoughts recently. Vancil was standing off to the side and slightly behind her with his arms crossed as he stared unflinchingly from behind his mask at the arrayed soldiers.

    She was brought out of her thoughts as one of soldiers stepped forward, his hands held behind his back calmly as he approached, as though the situation was far less serious than it actually was. He wore the same armour as the other newly arrived forces, however had a dark purple cape flourishing behind him gracefully.

    He regarded the scorch marks on the ground where their attackers had previously been briefly before stopping a few feet in front of Kandria and Vancil, the rest of the guard remaining arrayed behind him, ¡°I would assume that you are the pilots of that there ship?¡±

    Kandria glanced behind briefly the ST-70 in question, which had only a few scorch marks from blaster bolts, ¡°You would be correct to assume as such.¡±

    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    He remained silent as he stared at her, as though trying to intimidate her into not lying, ¡°And, the previous owners?¡±

    She froze up at that. She glanced over to Vancil to catch the slight nod of his head. Tell the truth. That was what he was implying. At least she hoped so.

    ¡°The bounty hunters that tried to kill us? They¡¯re dead. We took their ship so we could get off of Krant.¡± She explained, noticing the slight shock in the blue eyes behind the slits of the man¡¯s helmet.

    This was risky. The bounty hunters they had killed were Mandalorians, and they had just admitted as such to a group of armed Mandalorians who surrounded them. Considering that they had been stopped so suddenly and things had escalated so quickly however, it was likely that the bounty hunters hadn¡¯t been on the greatest of terms with these security forces or whoever controlled them.

    The silence hung over the crowd for a moment more before the man nodded, ¡°I see¡­ That is both a relief and unfortunate.¡± Kandria eyed him warily as he continued, ¡°A relief that you managed to kill them and bring their ship back, but unfortunate because now you two are complete unknowns.¡±

    A bead of sweat trailed down Kandria¡¯s forehead, ¡°And?¡±

    The man crossed his arms and glared daggers into Kandria, ¡°What I want to know is how the hell two randoms killed both the Hornets, one of the most dangerous bounty hunter groups in the galaxy, and a squad of Death Watch with nothing more than scorch marks to show they were even here in the first place.¡±

    Kandria worked her jaw. The answer was quite simple but the response would likely be a million times more complicated. She could tell the truth and that they were force users, but considering the current Jedi Order¡¯s infatuation with the Republic and Mandalore¡¯s neutrality, the two would likely face a harsh reaction.

    Alas, she did not get the chance to even think of a response in which she and Vancil faced the least amount of flak, as one of the initial security forces stepped forward raising his hand. Kandria recognised him as the young man Vancil had saved with his quick reactions, another instance of strange behaviour from the Sith.

    ¡°Sir, Private Harkon here. If you don¡¯t mind me speaking out of turn, the two of them saved me and the rest of us from Death Watch.¡± He looked over to Kandria and Vancil, ¡°I¡¯m not sure whatever it was they did, but they could halt things in mid air and had swords of light that could deflect blaster bolts.¡±

    The guard probably thought he was doing them a favour.

    The colour drained out of Kandria¡¯s face however as the commander¡¯s head whipped around and his hand shot to the pistol holstered at his side, lowering himself slightly as though he expected the two to leap forward at any moment, ¡°Jedi? What do you think you¡¯re doi-¡°

    ¡°THE FUCK DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!?!¡± The commander didn¡¯t get the chance to continue as Vancil shouted in venomous fury, causing even more colour to drain out of Kandria¡¯s face.

    Vancil took a step forward before halting as Kandria immediately placed a calming hand on his shoulder, trying and failing to use soothing words, ¡°He didn¡¯t mean anything by it-¡°

    ¡°THAT¡¯S NOT THE FUCKING POINT!¡± Every guard was on edge now, every gun trained on Vancil as he pointed an armoured finger at the offender, ¡°I AM A SITH! FUCKING THROW US IN JAIL AND INTERROGATE US ABOUT THIS SHIT ALL YOU WANT, BUT YOU CALL ME A JEDI AGAIN I WILL SEE TO IT YOUR ENTIRE BLOODLINE WILL REMAIN CURSED UNTIL THIS GALAXY FADES AWAY AND THIS PLANET IS EVEN MORE DUST THAN IT ALREADY IS!!¡±

    Rage was pouring from Vancil, and she had no doubt that even the non-force sensitives could sense how potent it was, their fear almost overwhelming the rage. Almost. The commander was frozen stock still as he stared at Vancil, seemingly processing the outburst. Was that crack in the ground always there?

    Time seemed to move at a crawl before the commander raised his free hand placatingly, ¡°Alright then. I won¡¯t call you that again. Would you still be willing to be come with us so we can continue these questions?¡±

    Kandria breathed an internal sigh of relief. This one seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. Not only realising that it was best not to anger the man who radiated evil energy but also recognising an opening in Vancil¡¯s words.

    Vancil seethed for a moment more before letting out a grumbling sigh in what seemed to be an attempt to calm himself, ¡°Fine. Arrest us or whatever, wouldn¡¯t be my first time.¡±

    Kandria¡¯s shoulders sagged in relief at his agreement. The commander silently gestured for them to approach one of the speeders, the other soldiers quickly shaking out of their stupor and forming a following circle around the two as they hopped on, not a word being spoken other then hushed whispers from the commander to two guards who instead went to the ST-70.

    As Kandria and Vancil took a seat, two guards flanking them and two guards in front of them, all with blasters trained on the force sensitives, Vancil spoke, ¡°Sorry, I know I said I¡¯d let you take the lead. Almost lost my cool there.¡±

    Kandria tilted her head in bewilderment at his words. A smile crept up underneath her mask and she giggled, holding a hand up to her face, much to both the Sith¡¯s and the guard¡¯s confusion.

 Chapter 28: An Offer

    ¡°Captain Tryd. Please tell me you have some good news.¡± Satine said to the hologram that had just appeared in front of her, the man in question sitting down in what seemed to be a speeder. She had been sitting at her desk once again, only this time to chew on her thoughts and worry over every little thing that could go wrong, the Captain Tryd calling her was a welcome relief.

    ¡°Yes, Duchess, the crew of the ship has been captured. The situation is a hell of a lot more complicated than expected however.¡± Came his raised and slightly garbled voice. No doubt they were speeding back to the palace with all haste.

    Any sort of relief Satine felt from the first part of the sentence was dashed with the second part, ¡°Complicated how so?¡± She asked, although she dreaded whatever the answer was.

    ¡°Well, it wasn¡¯t the Hornets who were piloting the ship. Apparently, they were killed by the ship¡¯s new crew. Two¡­¡± Captain Tryd turned to look at something behind him for a moment before resuming his conversation, ¡°Force users.¡±

    That at least got rid of Satine¡¯s dread. Unfortunately, that was only the case because it was replaced with a newfound sense of confusion. The Hornets had been killed. That was great. But also, baffling. The Hornets was one of the most renowned bounty hunter groups in the Outer Rim, and no push overs by any means. Them being killed would be explained by the these ¡®force users¡¯ who now piloted the ship. But why had Tryd stepped around calling them Jedi, which they most likely were? After all, Jedi were the only force users, well, anywhere. At least the only ones who would have the training to kill the Hornets.

    Captain Tryd took her silence for affirmation to continue, as he spoke up to further explain the situation, ¡°They¡¯ve willingly submitted themselves into custody, but I¡¯d recommend you speak with them yourself. One thing I¡¯m absolutely of however, is that they are no friends of Deathwatch.¡±

    That provided some relief to Satine. Anyone who was against Deathwatch would be a friend of hers. Within reason of course, ¡°Has Ro-Saxon succeeded in cordoning off the area?¡± She asked as a change of topic.

    Tryd nodded affirmatively, ¡°Yes, there isn¡¯t a single speeder in the air except for us and the police right now. Some of the Deathwatch got knocked off the side of the dock, but the police are looking for them now. Saxon is very keen to find them too, we took some casualties ourselves.¡±

    Satine let out a sigh of relief, and she suddenly felt very tired. No civilian casualties. If there had been then Captain Tryd would have told her. The man was deathly loyal, but also a close confidant of Satine, and wouldn¡¯t hesitate to give her the hard truths, ¡°That is great to hear. I feel like you are right in that I need to speak with these ¡®force users¡¯. Escort them straight to my office. Take their lightsabers though.¡±

    If these force users were Jedi, then they would have them at all times. And if these two Jedi had killed the Hornets, then they were even more dangerous with them. Satine gestured for a nearby guard standing in the corner of her office to approach.¡±

    ¡°Notify the chefs. Have them cook us a meal.¡±

    <hr>

    Vancil glared daggers at the soldier to his right walking alongside them, or more particularly the lockbox which now contained both he and Kandria¡¯s lightsabers. He was just daring the man to sidle away and steal them, simply so that Vancil could have the excuse to kill him.

    ¡°Calm down.¡± Came Kandria¡¯s soothing voice once again, her tone lowered so as to make it clear she was talking to him, ¡°It¡¯s only for a short while. Once we explain ourselves, we should be given our lightsabers back lickity split.¡±

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    With effort Vancil tore his gaze off of the man with an affirmative grunt, instead taking in his surroundings. The speeders had landed out front of a giant palace, most likely the capital building, where they had dismounted and promptly been asked to hand over their lightsabers. After a few curses from Vancil and soothing words from Kandria the party soon found itself silently marching through the halls, barring the solid thumps of all of the metal boots on the soft red carpet. They entered what looked to be a throne room, however turned off left down a side door before Vancil could get a good look at it.

    The new room they entered seemed to be some sort of dining room, with a long table adorned with several plates filled with foods Vancil had never seen before. At the head of the table was a beautiful woman, dressed in fine robes and with blonde hair tied back into a short bun.

    The woman looked up from her meal to observe the newcomers with an assessing gaze before gesturing to the two seats beside her, ¡°Come, sit. We have much to discuss.¡±

    Kandria glanced at Vancil with a look of scepticism before moving to take one of the offered chairs. Vancil took a while longer, keeping his eye on the lockbox holder to make sure he wasn¡¯t going anywhere before taking his own seat, across from Kandria and to the right of the woman. The soldiers immediately fanned out, speaking to their professionalism as they took up positions around the room and behind the chairs.

    Neither Kandria nor Vancil took their masks off or even made to touch the cutlery and food before them, instead only silently staring at the woman who herself kept her gaze on the plate, seemingly contemplating every slow chew she took.

    ¡°So, Captain Tryd tells me you¡­ force users killed the Hornets.¡± The woman said, not taking her gaze off of her food. At least this Tryd fellow had at least informed her not to call him a Jedi again.

    Kandria tilted her head, the confusion evident even with her mask hiding her face, a feeling which was also felt by Vancil, ¡°Ummmm¡­ I¡¯m not quite sure who you are talking about.¡±

    The woman¡¯s eyes widened and she looked to Kandria with a bewildered look, ¡°The Hornets. Renowned bounty hunters in the Outer Rim. The original owners of your ship.¡±

    ¡°Ahhhh, those push overs.¡± Vancil said, the moment of clarity overtaking him, ¡°Oh yeah, we fucked them up bad.¡±

    Vancil sensed a sliver of fear enter the woman before it was quickly hidden under layers of neutrality and blankness. This woman was good.

    ¡°Yes¡­ them. Well, those ¡®push overs¡¯ had very important ties to the group that attacked you at the dock. Deathwatch.¡±

    Vancil clicked his tongue in annoyance, ¡°And? They didn¡¯t come after us before we came here, we can just leave.¡± He said, but backed down slightly at the look Kandria gave him.

    That¡¯s right. He had to remain calm. This was Kandria¡¯s chance to choose the peaceful route. Kandria was his only ally, and possibly only friend in this whole galaxy. She didn¡¯t want to kill these people, or commit violence against them.

    The woman seemed amused at his statement as she continued, ¡°Yes, I suppose you could. They really are only limited to the Mandalore System.¡±

    ¡°But I suppose there is some catch you got against us?¡± Kandria interjected, eyes narrowing in suspicion. ¡°Have you taken our ship or something? Or do you plan to keep those lightsabers?¡±

    That one seemed to alarm both the woman and the captain, the latter¡¯s gaze snapping to Vancil while the former hurriedly held up a hand, ¡°No, no, no, nothing of the sort. You helped save the lives of several Mandalorians today from Deathwatch; to do such a thing would be completely against the principles I am trying to teach my people. There is no catch.¡± She paused, her hand still hanging there, ¡°But¡­ I do have a request.¡±

    Vancil was sure he reeked of suspicion right now, but he was trying his best to not start interrogating the woman right there and then. The only thing stopping him was Kandria, ¡°What sort of request?¡± The former Jedi in question asked.

    The blonde-haired woman let out a forlorn sigh and slumped forward slightly, ¡°Look, there is no sugar coating this. And myself am disgusted at the need for it¡­ but it must be done. I have a request of the two of you.¡±

    Kandria and Vancil tensed up and glanced at each other nervously. What could this woman ask for that she herself was averse to it?

    ¡°I would like for you two¡­ to help me find and put a stop to Deathwatch once and for all.¡±

    This time it was Vancil¡¯s turn to tilt his head in confusion. Only this time it was more in amusement, ¡°¡­Is that it?¡±

 Chapter 29: Dangerous Answers

    Obi Wan¡¯s Delta-7 starfighter rumbled as it exited out of hyperspace, automatically detaching from the external hyperdrive docking ring that had allowed it to travel through hyperspace in the first place. As automatic scans went out over the system and Obi Wan gently guided the ship further forward, awe was the only word he had to describe the sight before him.

    A planet, covered completely by one massive storm cloud which roiled over its surface violently. He had seen something similar on Kamino, which experienced massive storms occasionally, but never to a scale like a whole planet. The planet was the size of Coruscant for crying out loud, and that planet had been continuously built upwards and upwards until there was more metal than planet left.

    Shaking his head to snap himself out of his stupor he flicked his planetary scanning equipment on, ¡°R4, I want a scan of what the planet is like through that storm and if we can make it through.¡±

    While he waited for the results he accelerated towards the planet, letting out a sigh of both relief and frustration that there were no ships in system. Being caught by himself so far away from Coruscant was not something he would ever strive for. But then again, no ships meant that the Sith and Kandria were also nowhere to be found. He supposed he shouldn¡¯t have been surprised. Kavir was not listed on any Republic Star Map, and apparently only a few modified bootleg star maps used by smugglers even had its location listed. Heck, Obi Wan only reached this place because Dex had given him exact galactic coordinates to jump to.

    A series of frustrated and worried beeps from R4 brought a frown to Obi Wan¡¯s face, ¡°What do you mean you can¡¯t get readings? This is some of the best scanning equipment the Republic has to offer.¡±

    R4 sent some apologetic beeps.

    Obi Wan sighed in frustration, ¡°Well, nothing can be done about it then. From the looks of that storm I¡¯m not even sure if this ship would survive long enough for us to see what¡¯s-¡°

    He cut himself off as a visible bulge was beginning to form on the surface of the storm, looking completely out of place despite the chaotic movements of everything. The bulge grew larger and large until it had started to form a sort of spike reaching out from the planet. Before Obi Wan could comment or even process what he was seeing the spike burst, spitting out a large¡­ ship?

    ¡°What the¡­¡± The ship flew outwards, pieces of the storm clinging onto it as it went farther out, creating the visual spectacle of long grey trails tracing all the way back to the planet. That shouldn¡¯t have been possible though, because the storm would have dissipated once it reached the larger vacuum of space. Instead though it appeared to be¡­ pulling back.

    ¡°R4, get me a scan on that ship.¡± Obi Wan said, as he tried to process what he was seeing.

    The ship in question was large, probably about half the length of a Venator, however this reduced length was likely more so due to the strange design of the ship. The main body of the ship was covered in several large plates of armour, with gaps in between the plates periodically, shielding what he assumed to be the main part of the ship but still allowing for some extra manoeuvrability and speed. Another strange aspect was that the engine block was situated on the bottom of the ship, just as armoured and with what looked like some very beefy engines.

    An attention-grabbing beep from R4 brought Obi Wan¡¯s gaze to the display in front of him.

    SCAN RESULTS:

    VALOR CLASS CRUISER

    DESIGNATION: SHIELD OF AALOTH

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    LAST RECORDED: ~ERROR~

    LAST KNOWN AFFILIATION: GALACTIC REPUBLIC

    LAST KNOWN CAPTAIN: JEDI MASTER COVAL

    Obi Wan¡¯s eyes moved from beginning to end of the scan results, taking in every last piece of it.

    ¡°This¡­ just got a whole lot more complicated.¡±

    <hr>

    When Obi Wan managed to get closer to the ship, his confusion only grew. The Ship had no visible marks or signs of battle, instead just looking very old. And it looked old for good reason. He knew about the Valor Class ship; it had been told in one of his history classes at the Jedi Temple. The Valor Class was a cruiser designed and used by the Galactic Republic during the Great Galactic War and the subsequent Galactic War. Primarily used as a capital ship it was the Republic¡¯s only equal to the Sith Harrower Class.

    And while he didn¡¯t know about the ¡®Shield of Aaloth¡¯ in particular, he definitely recognised the name of its captain. Jedi Master Coval. In the moments leading up to Kandria¡¯s appearance before the Jedi Council, each of the Council Members had been briefed on her situation and the history they could scrounge up from the archives about her. That included the name of her last master, Coval. Not much was looked into on him due to the main focus being on Kandria, but it was known that he, like many other Jedi Masters during the Great Galactic War was listed as ¡®MIA, presumed dead¡¯.

    But now¡­ Obi Wan shivered slightly at how this was far too much to be a coincidence. Kandria and the Sith had disappeared, likely with inside help, and here was the ship of Kandria¡¯s master, spat out by a storm from a planet Dexter Jettster had described as ¡®the place where gods live¡¯.

    Looking past all the deeper connections, the damage on the ship itself also made no sense. It was like it had been preserved perfectly, except for a single hole which he could see past the plating near the bridge. Delicately weaving his ship through the plating, only more questions filled his head as he looked at the hole closely. There was no direct view into the inside of the ship, rather, a few meters into the hole, a grey wall of fog blocked all view, leaving Obi Wan to stare at it in bewilderment.

    ¡°Is that¡­ the storm?¡± He said, more so to himself than his droid companion.

    The hole was of a medium size - probably large enough for his starfighter to squeeze into - and it appeared to have been caused by something ripping into it from the outside. He wasn¡¯t aware of what exactly had caused the attack, but it certainly wasn¡¯t turbo laser fire or any other sort of ship-to-ship weapon considering the lack of scorch marks around the entry point. He also wasn¡¯t aware of where exactly in the ship this was. The curved armoured plating hovered menacingly above and behind him, limiting his visibility, which was not helped in any way by the fact that he was unfamiliar with the layout of the foreign ship.

    ¡°R4, get a scan of the ship. Scan for anything and everything inside of it.¡± He ordered, feeling somewhat hopeful at the affirming beeps from R4.

    Usually scanning a ship of this size was a difficult process, mainly due to the distance it took and how easy a scan like that would be to detect. But now, with his Delta 7 basically kissing the edges of the ship, and with there being no functioning crew on the Valor class (hopefully), he could get a good look at what exactly was inside of this behemoth.

    A wisp of movement in the corner of his eye. Was that¡­ a woman? He whipped his gaze to the right, blinking slowly and carefully. A cloud of what looked like fog or a thick mist was outside of his ship, taking the feminine form of a woman with long flowing hair, albeit entirely featureless all around. The Obi Wan worked his jaw as he tried to rationalise what he was looking at. He tried to shake his head to dispel the illusion. That didn¡¯t work. He tried to pinch and slap himself. That didn¡¯t work either. Finally, he tried to reach out with the Force to touch it, or even sense if it was there.

    That got him something, albeit not at all what he wanted. A sense of indignation spread its way back from his probing manoeuvre and into Obi Wan, as though the Force had recoiled in shock and taken something back with it. The air was knocked out of him from the sudden change, making him more shocked and bewildered. Before he could do anything else though, the figure raised an arm towards the Valor class ship. It wasn¡¯t long before the ship answered, fog pouring out of every hidden orifice and swarming Obi Wan¡¯s Delta 7, blocking his view.

    R4 let out a terrified screech which only elevated in volume as the ship jerked forward, every system going haywire as it tried to figure out what was going on. And just as soon as the movement began, it stopped, the fog retreating away from the viewport to reveal cold steel hallways all around them. He blinked. He blinked again.

    ¡°What the fu-¡°

 Chapter 30: The Shield of Aaloth

    Obi Wan was deathly silent as he eyed the large corridor that his Delta 7 now resided in. It was dark, so dark that he wouldn¡¯t be able to see were it not for the lights coming off of his ship. Several pieces of the walls and ceiling had fallen off after a millennium of no use, revealing the aged wiring beneath which ran throughout the entirety of the ship. The Jedi licked his lips as he looked down at the console in front of him, which contained summary information about the environment around the Delta 7.

    ATMOSPHERE: BREATHABLE

    TEMPERATURE: 3¡ãC

    BIOME: UNAVAILABLE

    He chewed on the inside of his mouth as he lifted his gaze back up to the lifeless hallway, particularly behind him where the grey wall of mist lay between Obi Wan and the vacuum of space, ¡°R4, are you sure that the scans are correct?¡±

    A series of affirmative, if equally sceptical, beeps was the response, prompting a sigh of resignation from the experienced Jedi. Well, wasn¡¯t like he could fly out of here. With a simple press of a button the canopy of the Delta opened with a hiss, allowing the cold air from outside to fill the cockpit. Obi Wan shivered at the sudden change in temperature, however some of the tension left him. He wasn¡¯t dead and suffocating after all.

    Pulling himself up and out of the cockpit his boots made contact with the solid metal ground of the corridor. He double checked that his lightsaber was still attached securely to his side before turning back to the ship and R4, ¡°Watch the ship while I¡¯m gone, try to contact the Jedi as well.¡±

    When the affirming beep came Obi Wan turned and started his cautious exploration down the corridor. It was truly so quiet, the only sound being the resounding clank of his boots upon the metal floor and the shaky breaths he took. As the corridor got darker the farther, he got from the ship before finally turning to pitch black completely once he turned the first corner, he ignited his lightsaber, illuminating the area around him in a pleasant blue.

    Taking deep breaths to control the anxiety that threatened to fill him, Obi Wan continued on, eyeing every crevice and corner he could. And yet, nothing happened. Nothing leapt out at him, nothing made any sound, and nothing moved. Yet, the lack of anything happening did nothing to soothe Obi Wan¡¯s thoughts.

    When he reached the first split in the path a peculiar sight greeted him. To the right was simply more of the dark corridor, bathed in eternal darkness. To his left however, was a wall of mist, one similar to the one which he had seen before.

    Cautiously Obi Wan began to reach out towards it, this time not using the Force ¨C he had learnt his lesson from that. He was surprised as such, when his hand was stopped dead in its tracks, the wall as solid as the steel surrounding it. He frowned and tried to put a little more strength into the push, yet it remained unbudging. With a frustrated sigh Obi Wan turned and began to walk down the open corridor.

    Whatever this mist, cloud, fog, or whatever it was wanted, Obi Wan had no choice but to follow its directions. As the corridor stretched onwards, still continuously empty apart from some panels which had fallen off. And then he turned the corner to find a body.

    Well, body was a pretty far stretch. Lying against the wall in a scattered fashion was a pile of armour, the material faded and deteriorated to a large degree. Obi Wan froze in his tracks before he knelt down to inspect the armour. Even despite the large wear which was present, he could still identify the white and red markings of the Republic. Licking his lips he picked up the helmet carefully, turning it over in his hand. Bringing his lightsaber closer confirmed his suspicions.

    Throughout the Republic¡¯s military history, it has used relatively similar designs for its troop armours, and if one looked at a clone¡¯s armour today to a trooper from thousands of years ago you would be able to easily spot similarities. And that was what was happening right now. Obi Wan recognised the helmet as a standard issue Republic Trooper helmet used by the Old Republic, courtesy of the many history lessons he had taken on the Republic during his tenure at the Jedi Temple.

    Obi Wan gently set the helmet back down. The lack of a body was a problem, but one that could be explained via two reasons. One; it had been thousands of years at this point, any body would have been dust in the air by now. Or two; whatever was keeping him here had¡­ disposed of the body. At the very least he now knew that this was indeed what it was; a flagship from the days of the Old Republic.

    With nothing more to do Obi Wan stood up and continued on the path set before him, his face set in a grim determination. The corridor seemed to go on forever though, and yet the fog walls at the intersections continued to direct him, as though herding a sheep. There were a few more piles of armour around, some laying against the wall like the first one, others scattered across the entire floor. There were no marks on the armour that was not caused by the tests of time, so they clearly had not been killed via something like a boarding party.

    Finally, after what seemed like miles of corridors, he reached something that wasn¡¯t more corridor or a mist wall blocking his way. A large door was in front of him, with said door seeming to have been forcefully pried open, with the right panel of it slightly askew and dented, leaving a gap about the size of a man open. Setting his jaw Obi Wan squeezed through the gap, his eyes widening as he looked around where he was.

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    In front of him was numerous amounts of consoles, all centred and based around one large console below. Past them, the walls had been replaced by glass leading to a view of the space outside. He was at the bridge. Obi Wan was positively thrilled at this. Being here meant the possibility of answers. Every Republic vessel, even those from thousands of years ago like this one, always had a Blackbox, a device which was separate from all power supplies and systems but which recorded everything. The purpose was so that in the event a missing ship was recovered people could tell exactly what happened to it.

    With excited yet cautious steps he descended the steps towards the captain¡¯s area, a large circular console and chair standing alone while every other console on the bridge surrounded it from an elevated position. Getting to the console Obi Wan tapped the ON button hopefully before sighing in disappointment. He shouldn¡¯t have been too hopeful that the captain¡¯s console would at least work, after all power would have run out thousands of years ago.

    Shaking his head to refocus he lay down beneath the console, brushing his hands and gaze over the bottom for what he was looking for. One of his fingers pressed down, bringing a smile to his face as a panel clicked open, revealing the Blackbox, looking like nothing more than another hard drive, were it not for the blue markings which differentiated it from the other hard drives.

    Taking it out, he got back to his feet and eagerly started to begin the journey back to the ship so that R4 could start the decryption process. He paused however as something on the captain¡¯s chair caught his attention. A golden mask with human features was set gently against the back of the seat, its features mimicking that of what one would most associate with a handsome human male, however the effect was somewhat reduced due to how dulled the gold had become, losing much of its lustre. What really interested him however was the small device which sat in front of it.

    ¡°A¡­ recorder?¡± Came Obi Wan¡¯s confused voice.

    Pocketing the Blackbox in one of his pouches Obi Wan reached out to tentatively grab the small device. Looking it over, the device appeared to be in a much better condition than the rest of the ship, although that was a pretty low bar to pass. Finding the play button, Obi Wan did not expect much when he pressed it.

    Only for a small hologram to fizzle into existence above the recorder, almost causing the Jedi to drop it. The hologram depicted a man cloaked in Jedi robes, with little to identify him apart from the mask he wore. A mask which exactly matched the golden one in the chair. Before Obi Wan could begin to process this however the hologram began to speak.

    ¡°This is Jedi Master Coval of the Jedi Order. These are my last rites, but also a warning to all who find this.¡± The newly named Coval turned his head to something unseen to the side briefly before looking back at the recorder, ¡°The crew are dead, or soon to be dead. I am to join them upon the completion of this recording. In fact, that is the only reason I yet draw breath.

    ¡°Simply put, we were not prepared. Not in the slightest. And no one ever will be for what lies in this force forsaken planet. The entire might of the Sith and Republic could be brought against Kavir, and they would all die. In short, my ship, the Shield of Aaloth, lasted 2 minutes against the Storm. 2 minutes. This was only because it tried to warn us away for the first minute and a half. And while I would like to say that my intentions were pure and that my goal was only good, I would be lying, and when death is at your doorstep you should try to be honest.

    ¡°This war is terrible, more terrible than any that ever has, and ever will happen. I thought that I could end it, use the Storm or whatever caused it to defeat the Sith once and for all. My rival, Ominit, also had the same goals yet died before he could achieve them. What I would give to switch places with him right now¡­

    ¡°The Storm¡­ it¡¯s something else. It cannot be rivalled by any other being in the entire galaxy. If it wanted it could kill everything.¡± He glanced off to the side again and seemed to flinch away at something, ¡°However, it doesn¡¯t want to, as it is so kindly pointing out.¡± He looked back to the recorder again, his tone more graven than before, ¡°I don¡¯t know who you are or why you are here. But the Storm has complete control over this recording and who sees it. And if it wanted to show you this, it wants to tell you the same thing it told me. Stay away. You can¡¯t, and never will understand it. Leave Kavir and its people alone. This is your only warning.¡±

    Coval looked off to the side before he visibly relaxed, a quick and whispered ¡®thank you¡¯ to whoever was off to the side before he looked back, ¡°To the person who holds this recording, whether it be Jedi, Sith, or something else entirely. It doesn¡¯t matter if this recording is only needed tens of thousands of years in the future. Please, find out what happened to Kandria. She was in my charge, and under my arrogance of believing I could singlehandedly end the war she disappeared, likely dead. I understand if you can¡¯t but¡­ please. I would truly be put to rest.¡±

    He straightened his back and looked off to the side, ¡°Alright, get it on with then.¡±

    The recording began to fizzle out as a thick fog twirled around him, snapping his neck to kill him instantly before completely obscuring him from sight, the recording finally ending. Obi Wan was frozen. Frozen in shock from what he had just witnessed. Frozen in confusion at all the new questions that this had brought up. But there was one particular thing which kept him frozen, one thing which the other Masters would chastise him for.

    Fear.

    Fear, because he felt something. Something soft snaking along his neck, like a light breeze on a summer¡¯s day. Sweat dripping down his face, Obi Wan slowly turned his hid to look behind him. Leaning in close enough to almost touch him was the feminine figure he had seen out side the ship, its hands held behind its back as it leaned forward.

    ¡°W??????????????e???????????????????l???????????l??????????????? ????????????w?????????????????h????????????????a????????????????????????t??????????????????????????? ????????????????????????a?????????????????????????r????????????????????????????e????????????????? ?????????????????????????????y??????????????o?????????????????u?????????????????????????????? ???????????????w??????????????a?????????????????i??????????????t??????????????????????????i??????????n???????????????????g??????????????? ?????????????????f??????????????o??????????????????????r???????????????????????????????????????¡± Came a thousand voices all at once, all around him, as the tendril of air teasingly crawled around his neck, ¡°R?????????????????u????????????????????n??????????????.??????????????????????.????????????????????????????.????????????¡±

    Obi Wan had never ran so fast in his life.

 Chapter 31: The Concordia Matter

    ¡°Well? You just going to keep on staring at me?¡± Vancil asked snarkily, pointing an armoured finger at the flamboyantly armoured soldier sitting across from him.

    Captain Tryd in response said¡­ nothing. He simply leaned back, crossed his arms, and continued to watch Vancil with a vigilance. The Sith could only wait for a response for a few more seconds before letting out an amused scoff. A light elbow from Kandria at his side stopped him from speaking further. The three of them were all in the hangar of the ST-70, the ship itself shaking slightly as they began to enter the atmosphere of Concordia. Vancil rested one hand on his knee while the other idly touched the lightsaber at his waist.

    It had been a couple of hours since they had accepted the Duchess¡¯ offer to hunt down this ¡®Deathwatch¡¯ group, and both he and Kandria had been debriefed thoroughly on the situation. Essentially, Deathwatch was a radical terrorist group of Mandalorians who wanted to bring back the glory of the Mandalore of old, because apparently Mandalore was currently under the rule of some weird movement called the New Mandalorians who wanted to be pacifists. Vancil personally didn¡¯t really understand how the hell the Pacifists managed to take control of the system, but he wasn¡¯t interested enough to ask at that point. And, as it turns out, a splinter group of some of the most famed warriors in the galaxy who are dedicated to bringing back their warrior ways makes for a pretty effective terrorist organisation. According to the Duchess, Mandalore was also crippled hopelessly by corruption, making Deathwatch¡¯s job all the easier.

    After that little history lesson the two force wielders were given the briefing on their task; from what intel could be gleaned, the main Deathwatch cell was based on the moon of Concordia which orbited Mandalore, including their leader who remained unknown. Vancil, Kandria, Captain Tryd, and two pilots would take the ST-70 to Concordia to investigate this information with the help of the Governor of the moon, Pre Vizsla. Every piece of log or Blackbox had already been either found or copied off of the main terminal to be decoded back at the palace, but nothing was permanently removed, in case Deathwatch realised something was up and scrambled away before the trio could find them.

    The three of them also served another purpose, albeit a secret one; draw out an attack by Deathwatch in a similar fashion to how they had done at the dock. According to Tryd, Deathwatch primarily targeted vulnerable areas like parks and schools, never something with an established police presence like the entry gates. This meant that there was something on that ship which Deathwatch wanted to retrieve, or at least keep out of the government¡¯s hands considering that they had attempted to just straight up destroy the ship once they realised the battle was lost. So, the bet was that, even if Deathwatch realised the government already had searched the ship, whatever was on it was important enough to warrant trying a second time.

    It was this second motive that irked Vancil. Not for its objective, he could quite understand the reasoning behind it, and was always up for risky tactics simply so that he could prove the odds wrong out of spite. What he did not appreciate though, was that there was only three of them sent on this little operation. The thought brought a scowl to his face. This was an entrenched and dangerous terrorist cell which were natives of the landscape, with access to some of the highest-grade weaponry in the galaxy.

    He may have been stupid and reckless in his actions on a smaller scale, but on the grander scale he was no fool and knew when to retreat or reconsider a plan. Normally he would have been fine with throwing himself into battle knowing death was likely. But things had changed. Mainly, Kandria had come into his life. And that was something he would not willingly throw into the meat grinder no matter what.

    When he had brought up this point about a lack of manpower, the Duchess simply blatantly refused his request for more support, something about being stretched thing across the entire planet already, and that sending the Captain of the Royal Guard was risky enough. Thankfully, before he could mock her and explain how her pacifist ways were the reason for this lack of proper strength or power, Kandria intervened and said it would be fine. He didn¡¯t push further after that. He owed her that much after he had essentially hijacked the situation on the dock after saying it was hers to manage.

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    ¡°We¡¯re coming up to the dock now, the Governor is waiting for us on the landing pad.¡± Came the pilot¡¯s voice over the ship¡¯s intercom, the crackly noise echoing around the silent hangar bay.

    Vancil tore his gaze away from Tryd¡¯s and towards the hangar door expectantly, thanking the fact that his mask hid the slight nervousness he felt from Tryd and Kandria. He still had an image to maintain after all, especially in front of a stranger like Tryd.

    Psychological warfare and imagery were the Sith¡¯s battleground, after all.

    <hr>

    Governor Pre Vizsla smiled amiably as the hangar door dropped and three individuals walked, looking like a rag tag group of¡­ a problem. A severe problem. He had gotten back word from one of his operatives who had observed the absolute disaster at the docks only an hour before the Duchess had sent a transmission to inform him that she was sending a team of force sensitives to investigate the intel about the Deathwatch base on Concordia.

    He forced his smile wider and held out his arms in a welcoming gesture, ¡°Captain Tryd! It has been too long. I believe the last time we even saw each other in person was at that dinner a year ago!¡±

    Tryd was a hard man, and one deathly loyal to these ¡®New Mandalorians¡¯. Yet, despite his allegiance, Vizsla knew him to be one of the most skilled warriors and soldiers he had ever seen, as well as the best tactician the New Mandalorians had in their arsenal. And, like the rest of the Royal Guard, they were immune to any sort of infiltration, and any intel to be gained from that section of the military was via good old-fashioned stealing, but even that was difficult. Thankfully, Tryd was also a blunt and honest man, and so if he suspected anything Vizsla would have certainly heard about it.

    The man in question grunted gruffly in response, ¡°I suppose so. You have the coordinates for the abandoned mine?¡±

    Vizsla¡¯s eye twitched slightly, but he was confident enough in his ability to hide it, ¡°Of course.¡± He said, reaching into his pocket and taking out the data chip.

    Much to Vizsla¡¯s own chagrin the data was in fact real and pointed towards the Deathwatch base on Concordia. He had only an hour warning after all, and Tryd would have surely spotted any bogus data the moment he laid eyes on it. But once again, Vizsla was confident in his own abilities and the effectiveness of his plan.

    His eyes flicked over to the other two standing to the left of Captain Tryd. Now these two were the real issue. The Duchess had told him little about these ¡®force users¡¯, and as he was trying to maintain the image of a loyal subordinate he couldn¡¯t press further. It was interesting how she had specifically not called them Jedi though. It was an absurd detail, but an important one nonetheless. Jedi were commonly known as the only force users throughout the galaxy with the exception of maybe a few unintelligent species on distant planets. And looking at them now, they certainly didn¡¯t look like Jedi.

    The male in a black cloak looked like he was a soldier geared for war, and Vizsla could feel the seething tension oozing off of him despite not being force sensitive himself. A smooth black metal mask hid his face and expression, and even his eyes were hidden by white lenses. No part of this man was exposed, and the metal of his armour looked scratched and battered, signs of reliable use. This was not the look of those diplomatic monks he despised oh so much. This was the look of a warrior.

    The female at least looked more approachable than the man at least. She wore what looked to be a leather armour of sorts with purple clothing over it. Like the man her face was masked and hood pulled up, but at least her eyes and some of her face was visible. But it was something in the way she held herself that set her apart from the Jedi he had seen before. She did not have a perfectly straight back and a calm demeanour. Rather, in a similar manner to the man, she seemed to be on constant vigilance as though she were already in a combat zone.

    And much to the woe of Vizsla, they both matched the descriptions of the ones who had thwarted the attack at the docks. He didn¡¯t show this woe however, and even struck up a conversation with Tryd as he led the three off the doc and towards the speeders set aside for them. Now was not the time to let such feelings control him after all. As he said a quick farewell under the guise of having some urgent matters to attend to, there was one thought going through Pre Vizslas head.

    This would be make or break for the Deathwatch. The trap was set, and if successful, the invasion of Mandalore would be just one more step closer with the death of both Tryd and these new assets of the Duchess.

    Because he would bring about the restoration of Mandalore¡¯s glory, whatever the cost.

 Chapter 32: Uhh, where are they?

    Vancil hummed thoughtfully as he tapped the chin of his mask, ¡°Now, if I had to guess, I¡¯d say we¡¯re a bit late.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for pointing out the obvious smartass.¡± Came the snarky reply of Captain Tryd, whose gaze was similarly locked onto the quarry just below them.

    Kandria remained silent, a small amused smirk playing on her lips. Vancil¡¯s often sarcastic, mostly nonchalant remarks was a breath of fresh air for her, and one which seemed to get better the longer she spent around him. It was¡­ fascinating, and a situation she would have gawked at being before being transported into the future.

    ¡°Thanks, I always try to make sure everyone is on the same page, asshole.¡± Vancil shot back, just as snarky but with a healthy dosing of smugness on top.

    Kandria shook her head in mock disappointment as she looked at the focus of their attention. Currently their ragtag party was perched on a barren rocky cliff overlooking an abandoned quarry that had apparently stopped operations centuries ago. It was also here that Deathwatch supposedly had their main base. That intel turned out to be correct.

    ¡°It¡¯s just that, you know, if they weren¡¯t going to be here, we could have parked the speeders closer. I¡¯m all for a good stroll, but this place is fucking gloomy at night, even by my standards.¡± Vancil shot back with just as much snark and sarcasm as the captain.

    Sure enough, the quarry was completely devoid of noise or movement. What the real tell that there was a base here though, was simply that everything was still there. Several floodlights had been set up around the quarry, providing light to several camps dotted around the base of the quarry. From their position at the top of the quarry the exact details couldn¡¯t be made out, yet it was clear that this camp was very recently used, considering the fact that there were several still smouldering campfires letting off wisps of smoke.

    ¡°So¡­ we going down there?¡± She offered up, breaking the seething glares the other two had been giving each other.

    Tryd glanced over to Kandria, a hint of caution in his eyes at her proposition before nodding with a grunt, ¡°Yes, we are. Keep your guard up though. Deathwatch are some craft sons of bitches so there¡¯s probably some traps left behind for us.¡±

    Kandria nodded and soon the trio were making their way down the path into the quarry, eyes scanning every crevice and crest around them in preparation for an attack¡­ nothing. Kandria herself even reached out with the force to see if she could sense anything¡­ still nothing.

    The former Jedi shifted her grip on her deactivated lightsaber, maintaining her composure despite the anxiety that threatened to appear as a result of their uncertain situation. A quick glance over at Vancil soothed her nerves slightly, at how calm and confident he himself was acting, but also just because he was there, standing alongside her.

    When they finally reached the base of the quarry and got into the camps themselves the silence persisted, with only the crunching of stone underneath their boots to keep them company. After they had gotten a decent way into the series of camps the group collectively slowed to a halt, each looking at the tents surrounding them as though a Mandalorian was going to burst out at any moment.

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    ¡°Seriously dude? I thought these Deathwatch fellows were supposed to be a ¡®return to the old ways of war¡¯ kind of folk. Where the fuck are they?¡± Came Vancil¡¯s exasperated tone as he regarded Tryd with an annoyed look.

    Tryd, for his credit didn¡¯t take the bait, instead gesturing to faint scrapings on the ground, ¡°Look here, seems like they took their gear with them.¡±

    Vancil grumbled slightly at being ignored but did not press further, only silently glaring as Tryd led them along the trail. As it brought them further into the camp several other trails soon joined it, creating a large path of sorts for them to follow. If she had to guess these were likely some sort of weapon crates. She had dealt with a Sith terror cell on a Republic planet at alongside her master at one point, and if terror cells still maintained their fundamentals this far into the future, they likely did not have the equipment to easily lift crates of ammo and weapons, meaning they had to physically push and carry them. That would also explain why this seemed so¡­ sloppy, considering that campfires still smouldered and lights still remained set up, and Deathwatch would have had extremely short notice considering how recently the main government had started to move; only an hour or two at most.

    ¡°I don¡¯t like this.¡± Vancil said, his tone surprisingly lacking the previous confidence, instead replaced by a seething paranoia only a Sith could manage, ¡°Something doesn¡¯t seem right¡­¡±

    Kandria licked her lips beneath her mask. She too could sense that something was amiss, yet the feeling was faint, likely just due to her nerves and how uneventful this was. And so, she kept silent. Tryd had no such qualms apparently.

    ¡°Of course it doesn¡¯t. They would have had the shortest possible notice to retreat, it makes sense that things seem so off.¡± Was his curt reply.

    Vancil growled in slight annoyance, ¡°I know that you twat. I¡¯m just saying, something is off even more then what we are seeing. I can feel it in my gut. This fits the picture too perfectly, though. Nothing is this sloppy, even in the shortest possible notice.¡±

    ¡°Well, you can save it for later. For now, it seems like the trails all lead into that cave entrance.¡±

    Kandria broke her gaze from the arguing two and towards where Captain Tryd gestured. A branching network of trails crisscrossing with each other created a tapestry of indescribable lines, all of it funnelling into a small opening in the wall of the quarry. It appeared to be an old entrance to a mineshaft of some sorts, considering the metal which framed the entrance seemed to be much older and have much more wear than the rest of the camp. What was further past the door was near indecipherable, with darkness cutting off all vision a few feet into the cave.

    Tryd slowed his pace, raising his pistol cautiously, his head flicking over every angle an enemy could possibly have on them as they approached the cave. The group paused just outside of the entrance, with the captain detaching a flare from his belt and throwing it into the darkness. A red light permeated the tunnel before them, revealing¡­ nothing. Simply more trails in the gravel which continued on.

    ¡°¡­It looks safe. Any tripwire would have been set off by that flare.¡± He said after a moment of waiting.

    Tryd began to move forward again, his pistol aimed down the tunnel. Kandria glanced at Vancil before also following with a shrug after a moment¡¯s hesitation. She didn¡¯t look back, expecting him to follow. But when another step of footsteps didn¡¯t join their own, and an outburst of fear happened from behind her, Kandria stopped in her tracks to look at Vancil in confusion.

    The man¡¯s gaze wasn¡¯t on her or Tryd, rather he seemed to be staring at the top of the entrance frame. Kandria tilted her head in curiosity before taking a step back to see what he was staring at. A¡­ camera? And right beside it, almost indistinguishable at a distance from the metal frame¡­ a bomb. Her eyes widened as they followed the frame¡¯s edges. A lot of bombs. The flare didn¡¯t activate any tripwire bombs, because they weren¡¯t tripwired¡­

    Her head whipped to Vancil in realisation and alarm. His hands were already outstretched, and she didn¡¯t fight being the sensation of being pulled away from the deathtrap, also noticing that Tryd was being pulled back as well.

    And then her vision was filled with fire.

 Chapter 33: Fight for Survival

    Pre Vizsla smiled in satisfaction as the feed on his wrist connected to the camera cut out, the last image being a ball of fire. His grip on the railing of the speeder tightened as the driver increased speed forward, the cliff edge leading into the quarry already coming into sight. And even being visible past the slight tint the visor in his helmet had, was a large pillar of smoke climbing out it. His smile deepened, and he couldn¡¯t help but celebrate internally.

    Vizsla glanced towards the two other speeders which flew alongside the one he was riding on, each with three of his best warriors. In truth, even they were only here as a precaution, because there was no way anyone could have survived that much explosives at such a close proximity. However, considering that the man in black had stayed farther behind than the others, he may have survived in a severely injured state.

    His grin deepened. It was foolproof, and he was quite pleased with himself if he did say so himself, and the success of the trap was only further proof that Mandalorians could still fight the likes of the Jedi and win. Vizsla was so confident in fact, that he had even ordered the rest of the warriors on Concordia not with him now to head to the secondary base and begin the preparations for their invasion of the Mandalore rather than back him up, as with the death of Captain Tryd those fake Mandalorians would be at their weakest.

    The three speeders screeched to a halt at the edge of the quarry, all of the warriors dismounting and marvelling at their work. The entrance to the mineshaft had completely collapsed, and rubble was strewn all around the area, a few boulders even hitting the abandoned tents. Despite the signs of destruction initially pointing to a great success, Vizsla¡¯s smile dropped. Because even from the large distance between him and the tunnel¡¯s former entrance, he could still make out two figures, clear of all the rubble.

    Vizsla chewed the inside of his cheek in almost worried thought. He couldn¡¯t make out the specific details of the two, however he could see that they were both laying still and unmoving. Crushing the inkling of fear that formed in the back of his mind, Vizsla activated his jetpack and flew down into the centre of their former camp, his warriors following suit with practiced lethal grace.

    As he slowly approached the closest prone figure, the details becoming clearer as the smoke and dust that was kicked up began to clear away. It was the female he had greeted at the dock, still wearing her purple garb and laying splayed out on her stomach facing towards him. The lightsaber which had been attached to her belt during their previous encounter was now loosely gripped in her unmoving hand, her likely final expression of horror and pain hidden by the hood that remained in place. Scorch marks were all over her clothes as well as any exposed skin.

    The smile returned as he stood over her, crossing his arms triumphantly. It felt exactly as he had dreamed it would. Him, standing victorious over a defeated Jedi or whatever the hell she was. This was it. They could win. They didn¡¯t need to take the cowards route like the pacifists on Mandalore, they could fight, they could win, they would take back their once glorious empire and culture.

    ¡°See this my brothers and sisters! The Jedi are naught but ants beneath our feet if we have taken out these interlopers and their traitor friend.¡± He announced, garnering cheers from the warriors gathered behind him.

    One of the woman¡¯s fingers around the lightsaber twitched.

    Vizsla¡¯s eyes widened and he acted with a trained quickness, pointing his wrist down towards the woman, starting the command to activate the in-built flamethrower. Then something else happened. In the corner of another movement caught his attention. The second person, the one he had completely forgotten of in his shortsighted rush of victory. It was Captain Tryd, the bottom half of his body covered by stones and rubble.

    And he was raising his pistol right towards Vizsla¡¯s head.

    <hr>

    Kandria struggled to breath as her eyes slowly fluttered open. Her ears were ringing, and she couldn¡¯t move any singular part of her body. Her mind was scrambled and it was almost impossible to string together what had happened with her mind still reeling from the explosion. Ah, that¡¯s right, there was an explosion. It had been¡­ at the tunnel they were about to go into. Vancil had noticed something¡­ and pulled her and that Mandalorian out of the tunnel.

    Vancil¡­ where was he? She couldn¡¯t move her head, and he definitely wasn¡¯t laying anywhere in front of her gaze. Perhaps he was on the other side of her where her head wasn¡¯t turned? She sure as shit couldn¡¯t form a coherent enough thought or, well, anything to successfully reach out with the Force to look for him.

    Panic started to enter her mind as the full situation of what had just happened finally finished organising itself within her scrambled brain. He had saved her, again. With complete disregard for his own safety, again. The panic grew as she fumbled for the Force in her dazed state, as she was in no state to start moving around to look for him.

    Her panicked state quickly vanished however as the now familiar sound of jetpacks could be heard through both the silent night sky and the ringing in her ears. The jetpacks changed into footsteps. The footsteps came closer, and closer, until Kandria could see the edge of an armoured boot within her limited vision. They were standing over her.

    The person shuffled in place slightly as they simply stood there for a moment, yet they made no move to check if she herself was dead. The smugness they radiated was palpable.

    ¡°See this my brothers and sisters!¡± Came a man¡¯s voice, one she was sure she recognised. Her mind was filled with different thoughts though.

    Did they not think of her as a threat? The panic and fear she felt was slowly beginning to filter out and be replaced with something else.

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    ¡°The Jedi are naught but ants beneath our feet if we have taken out these interlopers and their traitor friend.¡± He continued, shuffling slightly as the other sets of footsteps cheered him on, only feeding into the arrogance and confidence that oozed off of the man.

    Anger. That was what she was feeling. Anger at being so often underestimated by both her enemies and allies. Anger at being considered a great enough non-threat that it warranted not even bothering to check if she was dead or not. Her grip on the force solidified, yet unlike other times when she used it, her grip was more forceful, even if it was unintentionally. She felt a new sense of power and adrenaline course through her, sending sparks of energy flooding throughout her entire system.

    Her finger twitched around her lightsaber testily. The movement from the man suddenly quickened and she could tell he was aiming at her with some kind of weapon even if she couldn¡¯t see it. A movement somewhere behind her and to her right. The man over her dove to the side as a blaster bolt rang out, a flash of yellow light passing over the ground in front of her with near indeterminable speeds.

    Siezing the opportunity, Kandria¡¯s grip tightened around her lightsaber and she burst forward from her prone position, like a lion leaping from hours of laying in wait. One of the Mandalorians to her left was already falling, a smoking hole in the centre of their visor being a clear tell as to the reason why. Kandria observed who was in front of her. Seven Mandalorians, arrayed in a v shape that had previously been arrayed around the man. The man in question who had just moments before been standing over her had already activated his jetpack to gain some more distance from the suddenly rapidly deteriorating situation, flying off to her right

    Utilising her low position and newfound speed Kandria managed to swing her lightsaber in a horizontal arc, taking the legs off of the two closest Mandalorians. Unfortunately, the others reacted quicker than Kandria would have preferred, activating their jetpacks and flying away to create more distance as the lead one had done.

    Her gaze briefly flickered back to where the blaster bolt had come from. Captain Tryd lay their, laying on his back with his legs buried in rubble. The captain was taking slow laboured breaths as he kept his gun raised, clearly waiting for the opportunity of a clear shot which was not being helped by the shaking in his hands. Already Kandria could see blood dripping out over some of the rubble which buried his lower body.

    Briefly conflicted, Kandria experienced a sense of clarity she had never felt before. Tryd was doing what he could, there was no point wasting time to protect him when doing so would likely only put the both of them in danger. This surprised her to some degree at how easily she had accepted such a brutal and seemingly uncaring course of action, and she immediately suspected that the reason was this new power she had suddenly gained.

    She wasn¡¯t really sure what it was, but one thing was for sure, it felt good. A small, slightly manic smile formed beneath her mask as she leaped to the side, dodging and deflecting blaster bolts as she began to weave in and out of the tents. The Mandalorians were remaining airborne, keeping their attention solely on Kandria who utilised her agility and the tents to keep herself from being gunned down.

    Kandria didn¡¯t retreat though. No, instead she started to circle around the five airborne Mandalorians, forcing them to take up a sort of circular formation to keep fire on her at all times. Unfortunately for them, they had forgotten that she wasn¡¯t the only one they had to worry about. Another blaster bolt from Captain Tryd, just as accurate as the last one, hitting one of the Mandalorians square in the face, the jetpack soon careening out of control and flying out and over the quarry without anyone to pilot it.

    Taking advantage of the Mandalorians¡¯ sudden shift of attention to that of their suddenly deceased comrade, Kandria chose that moment to strike. With a force enhanced leap, she jumped right towards the four remaining, the two in front managed to fly out of the way, however the two which were behind them had no such chance, Kandria¡¯s lightsaber cutting through their jetpacks and into their torsos. The two corpses fell to the ground as their method of flying sputtered out, the necessary hardware fried with Kandria¡¯s strike.

    When Kandria landed, she immediately attempted to begin another leap to keep the pressure on the remaining two. Before she could though, she sensed danger to her right, one that seemed uneasily unnatural. Twirling around she barely managed to block the heavy strike from the Mandalorians¡¯ leader.

    Her eyes widened in astonishment as she looked at what he wielded. The Dark Saber. It was an ancient relic of Mandalore, a lightsaber which emitted a unique pitch black blade which seemed to eat up the light around it.

    Her astonishment was cut short however as the leader increased the pressure against her block, forcing Kandria to brace her block with the other hand. Then, with a brutal burst of strength, the leader pushed Kandria¡¯s blade down and off to the side as he took a step closer, using the opening to elbow her in the stomach, winding Kandria.

    It took all of Kandria¡¯s remaining breath to dodge backwards and away from the follow up strike with the Dark Saber. She leapt backwards towards the remains of the entrance, putting some fair distance between them as she caught her breath with a shed of desperation. Her mind filled with panic again as she realised that the burst of adrenaline and power she had received was not as immense as she had thought, her muscles already beginning to tire and ache.

    The leader did not run or pursue after her with any haste, rather he simply started to walk forward menacingly, holding the Dark Saber out to the side like an executioner walking to his next target. The two remaining Mandalorians had not remained idle either, with the remaining male landing just behind the leader and the remaining female already restraining Captain Tryd, who was only barely conscious at this point.

    Kandria took in deep breaths to calm herself, yet this seemed only to agitate her mind and the new power which had flooded it. Yet, she didn¡¯t know what else to do in such a desperate situation as this one. She examined the situation once again. One Mandalorian with the Dark Saber being supported by another one with a blaster. Another one is preoccupied with Captain Tryd. All have jetpacks. Can¡¯t go on the offensive, unsure how skilled the leader is with the Dark Saber and he would undoubtedly be supported from range by the others Mandalorians. Can¡¯t remain on the defensive, will either be picked off from afar by the ranged or rushed down by the leader. Can¡¯t run, nowhere to run.

    Kandria took a cautious step back, wincing as the feeling of pain returned to her stomach where the leader and elbowed her, causing one of her hands to hold it gently. She could feel the glee from the leader as she did so.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong huh? Your little witchcraft can¡¯t help you now?¡± Came the cackling laughter of the leader, who stopped in his tracks and pointed the Dark Saber at her, ¡°And here I thought you were actually going to cause problems.¡±

    Kandria grit her teeth and her eyes shifted to the sides in search of anyway out.

    ¡°But then again, what would I expect from a pair of Jedi.¡±

    Kandria froze in her tracks. Slowly, she turned her head to look behind her. There, coming from underneath the rubble, was an unending, relentless fountain of pure, unadulterated rage.

 Chapter 34: Not dead yet

    Vancil felt¡­ peaceful. It was a strange feeling for the Sith, one which he could only compare to the feeling of having a heavy blanket on top of you as you laid in bed after a long day of work. He knew something was wrong, that something had happened, but he was far too disoriented to tell much of anything. His vision was hazy, and all that he could see was limited by both the mask he wore and the rubble in front and on top of him. Oh. Rubble. That usually happened after an explosion. Ah, yes. The explosion at the¡­ something. He wasn¡¯t really sure, it all felt so wrong.

    Perhaps the rubble was the source of the heavy blanket feeling. It would make sense considering the amount of rubble in front of his face indicated he was almost certainly buried beneath something. Vancil moved his leg testily. He felt the muscles flex and the attempt be made, yet the most he could move it was a few centimetres to the right before being stopped by what he assumed was rubble. The rest of his limbs were in a similar condition, only able to shift in the smallest gaps which had been left behind, with his head unable to move at all.

    He could hear¡­ something. Perhaps those jetpacks the Mandalorians seemed so fond of. That sound was soon replaced by footsteps, adding some credence to his theory despite how muffled the sound seemed to be. Why was it so- oh yeah, Vancil was buried by rubble. There also seemed to be a very faint ringing in his ears. Talking¡­ someone was talking now. What exactly though he had no idea.

    The muffled sound of a blaster reached him, which was shortly followed by many other chaotic sounds, including a¡­ lightsaber. There was also another sensation, one that he was sure he had used many times before, yet again, Vancil was far too disoriented to fully understand what it was. Wait. A lightsaber. He had one of those. A quick flex of his right hand also confirmed it was right where he had left it. His one wasn¡¯t activated though¡­ who else did he know that had a lightsaber¡­

    Kandria¡­

    His eyes widened as the chaotic sounds finally formed into something cohesive, something he knew very well. The sound of battle. A sense of panic entered his mind as he struggled to move his body, which was trapped by both the pain of the explosion and the stoney rubble atop him. This was a new feeling, and one he didn¡¯t like. As the sounds intensified the feeling grew. He was so helpless. Kandria was out there fighting alone, without him, putting herself in danger. And he couldn¡¯t do anything about it.

    He grunted as one of the fingers on his left hand moved the rubble a bit, giving more wriggle room. Not enough. It wasn¡¯t enough. Kandria was by herself. He had to get to her, protect her. His panic grew as the rubble continued to remain unmoving, essentially resulting in him vibrating beneath it all as he shifted to and fro desperately. The sound of battle slowly stopped as what sounded like another lightsaber joined the fray.

    Fear.

    He was too disoriented to think straight, the consequences of the explosion and the panic he felt being too great. He knew there was something he had, something he could do, yet his thoughts were filled only with how Kandria was in danger and there was nothing he could do about it.

    Someone started talking, the same voice as before, but Vancil was recovered enough to at least hear what was being said, even if it was muffled, ¡°What¡¯s wrong, huh? Your little witchcraft can¡¯t help you now? And here I thought you were actually going to cause problems. ¡°But then again, what would I expect from a pair of Jedi.¡±

    Vancil¡¯s vibrations froze as the final word hammered into his skull as well as any blaster bolt would have. His feelings of panic were slowly subsiding, and with it the fear that clouded the options he knew he had but couldn¡¯t see. His wide, panicked eyes slowly begin to narrow, his right one even twitching slightly.

    He felt the weight on his back slowly lift before disappearing entirely. Clenching his fist around his lightsaber, he wordlessly staggered to his feet. His grip on the force had never been stronger, and he felt it quiver around him as his anger started its exponential growth. He raised his gaze upwards, drinking in the scene around him.

    Three Mandalorians, all wearing the same armour as the ones he had fought at the dock. Two were standing together with the one in the lead wielding some weird ass black lightsaber. The last one was to his right, standing over Captain Tryd who was either dead or unconscious. The rubble which had previously kept him down and buried now floated all around him, counting in the dozens and held up by the sheer amount of dark side force leaking out of him from all the anger that coursed through him.

    Vancil¡¯s anger abated slightly as his head turned slightly to look at Kandria. The woman had turned towards him, bewilderment and astonishment evident in her eyes. Her lightsaber was ignited, yet she clearly struggled to keep a proper grip on it, constantly readjusting. That coupled with the fact of how she clutched her stomach and how ragged her breathing was, it was clear that she had gone through one hell of a fight.

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    His anger returned in full force as his gaze shifted to the lead Mandalorian. Considering his position in front of the other Mandalorian he was likely the one that had been talking, as well as their leader. His glare intensified underneath his mask as the crimson red of his lightsaber sprang to life.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to kick your fucking ass.¡± Vancil snarled, causing the man to take a step back.

    Without a further word Vancil lowered himself into a stance. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as he kicked forward, the rubble he stood on cracking and being thrown backward as he dashed forward with his force enhanced speed, while the rubble which previously floated began their descent back to the ground. In a second he was in front of the leader, who was in the process of leaping backwards. Slow.

    Almost dismissively Vancil force pushed the lead Mandalorian off to the right and continued on towards the one who stood behind the leader. They too were slow to react, only having halfway raised their blaster before the Sith drove his lightsaber through the glass visor of the Mandalorian¡¯s helmet, killing them instantly.

    Vancil twisted around, deflecting the yellow blaster bolt from the third Mandalorian with ease. He pointed his open hand towards her, also force pushing her back, causing her to collide with the quarry wall, her jetpack shattering and likely taking the brunt of the collision. As she slumped down, either knocked out or paralysed, Vancil didn¡¯t care, he turned back to where he had pushed the lead Mandalorian. The man had been sent flying through several tents before finally stopping, and was only just now staggering to his feet.

    Vancil snarled. He fucking hated Mandalorians.

    Dashing forward once again, Vancil brought his red lightsaber against the leader¡¯s own black lightsaber, making sure to aim for the saber specifically. He didn¡¯t want this to end too quickly. Even then, the force of Vancil¡¯s blow was enough to force the Mandalorian to stagger backwards, nearly losing his footing again. Pressing the attack Vancil took another swipe with his lightsaber, this time knocking the enemy¡¯s weapon from their hand.

    The leader attempted to take flight, his jetpack sputtering to life as he started to ascend away from Vancil. He didn¡¯t get far though as Vancil seized him by the ankle, pulling him violently back down to the ground with a slam. Now flat on his ass, the leader attempted to reach for the pistol holstered at his side, however his attempt was quickly halted by Vancil who aggressively stomped on their hand, several cracks and the ensuing scream indicating that the appendage was almost certainly broken.

    Face still twisted into an enraged snarl beneath his mask, Vancil deactivated and holstered his lightsaber. With a roar of fury, the Sith descended on the Mandalorian, straddling the man and laying into the him. Each time his armoured gloves connected with the Mandalorian¡¯s helmet the metal on said helmet bent, creaked, and cracked, slowly deforming the protective device. The glass quickly shattered as the frame holding it in place was morphed beyond recognition, yet the Mandalorian¡¯s eyes and any sort of facial features were hidden by the shadow of the Sith looming over them.

    He made some feeble attempts at blocking at first, yet now all the leader¡¯s arms were doing was laying at his side, flinching and twitching with each blow Vancil dealt. Unsatisfied, Vancil stood up, seizing the Mandalorian by the throat and dragging him to a nearby tent. With more yells of rage, he grabbed the leader by the back of the head, slamming their face into the solid metal frame which held up the tent. Once that had been deformed as much as the helmet still attached to the leader¡¯s head, likely only the case because the helmet was so deformed, he threw the Mandalorian to the ground once again.

    The little shit appeared to still have some fight left in him, as his arms slowly but desperately scrabbled to drag him away. He appeared to be speaking but Vancil didn¡¯t care enough to listen. With a final roar Vancil brought his foot back. The force enhanced kick to the chest sent the Mandalorian flying backwards, coincidentally all the way back to the cave entrance he had blown up on top of their heads.

    No. Vancil wasn¡¯t done. The Sith¡¯s fists clenched once again and he started marching towards where the leader now remained unmoving, the edges of his vision blurring as he focused only on the Mandalorian. He stopped however, as he felt something wrap around his waist, holding him in place and stopping his executioner¡¯s march dead in its tracks.

    This confused him at first. Whatever was holding him certainly wasn¡¯t using a lot of force. In fact, it wasn¡¯t even really holding him, simply just being present with so little grip it was as though it would slip away at any moment. He finally registered something pressing against the crook of his neck. There was¡­ someone standing in front of him. As his vision started to clear and the rage subsided, he finally realised what it was that had stopped him, what was calming him so quickly and efficiently.

    Kandria was¡­ hugging him. Yes¡­ that was what this was¡­ a hug. He blinked away the rest of his blurry vision and ripped his gaze away from the Mandalorian, turning it to Kandria instead. She was basically slouched against him, her head resting on his shoulder and her arms just barely wrapped around him, as though just doing this was taking up all of her energy. He could feel how slow and ragged her breathing was, just as she likely felt how rapid his own breathes were. It¡­ calmed him.

    His anger completely melted away. Slowly and tentatively so as to not distress her exhausted body with any sudden movements, he hugged her back.

 Chapter 35: Exhaustive Victory

    The low rumble of the ST-70 threatened to lull Kandria to sleep, and she found her eyes drooping more than once. The only thing that stopped her from doing so was the two Mandalorians currently sitting across from her in the cargo bay of the ship. Her grip tightened instinctively around her lightsaber at that reminder, an act which went noticed by Captain Tryd who was seated beside her, his blaster trained on the two prisoners.

    ¡°Relax. You¡¯ve done enough. I can take these two if they try anything.¡± He said, however at the same time winced, clutching at his side with his free hand.

    Kandria quickly shook her upon seeing this, ¡°I could say the same about you. If you hadn¡¯t been shooting, I would have almost certainly died,¡± A smirk crossed her features and she gave Tryd a wry sidelong glance, ¡°Besides, Vancil would never let me hear the end of it if he caught me dozing.¡±

    A bitter chuckle escaped Tryd, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be too sure of that. I mean, you managed to stop his absolute rampage against Vizsla over there. I¡¯m sure he¡¯d forgive you for getting a bit of rest.¡±

    That gave Kandria pause, her mind wandering back to the events a few hours prior.

    <hr>

    Kandria hugged Vancil. It was an almost instinctual act, and she was surprised she could even do it, having never actually experienced one before. She wouldn¡¯t have even known they existed without having witnessed the simple action between a mother and son during the liberation of a Sith controlled planet while the Great Galactic War still raged.

    She was so tired, every part of her was sore, and the brief surge of power she had experienced had been ebbed out into nothing. She could do this though. Why she did it was a whole other question that she wasn¡¯t physically or mentally capable of answering at the moment. It just felt like the right thing to do.

    She shut her eyes as her body threatened to shut down, forcing her to lean on the Sith for support. Her exhaustion abated somewhat and a strange warm feeling entered her as she felt his arms wrap around her as well. The raging beat of his heart and breathing began to slow, and the pure anger he exuded began to retract back into him.

    They stood there in that embrace for a few more silent seconds before Kandria managed to pull her head back to look at him, his face still hidden behind his mask.

    ¡°Are¡­ are you okay?¡± She found herself asking.

    ¡°¡­Yeah,¡± Came his delayed reply, the tone of his voice seeming more muted than usual, ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine.¡±

    Kandria nodded and she let out a sigh of relief, ¡°Okay¡­ That¡¯s good.¡±

    Vancil¡¯s gaze shifted to the likely only barely alive Mandalorian leader splayed out across the rubble.

    Kandria¡¯s gaze followed his where she shook her head, ¡°It¡¯s over¡­ we won. There¡¯s no need for any¡­ anymore.¡±

    Vancil continued to stare at the leader, a hint of anger resurfacing before disappearing just as quickly. The tension in Vancil slowly disappeared, ending with a sigh of relief, ¡°Yeah¡­ thank you.¡±

    <hr>

    Shortly after he had finished calming down the two had helped Tryd back onto his feet, the captain being lucky to only really suffer a probable broken rib and a limp in his right leg, nothing a medical bay couldn¡¯t fix quickly. The two surviving Deathwatch members were a different story. The male leader was slightly simpler to deal with, having been so absolutely thrashed by Vancil that his metal armour had been beaten inwards, making most of it a permanent fixture until they could have them safely removed. Vancil offered to just rip it off, but because the metal had been so brutally malformed, and the leader was already on the brink of death, his offer had been refused.

    They had been able to remove the leader¡¯s helmet though, with maybe a tiny bit of force on Vancil¡¯s part. Surprisingly, the leader¡¯s identity was Pre Vizsla, the governor of Concordia and the one who had greeted them as they had arrived on the moon. Captain Tryd was especially surprised at this, even looking like he was about to start laying into the traitor governor as much as Vancil had been before he got his anger under control.

    As Tryd made sure that Vizsla was in a stable condition and not about to leave the mortal plane, she and Vancil went over to check on the female terrorist. That one had a bit more fight in her, however due to the fact that she was still in a daze she only put-up token resistance before Vancil promptly punched her lights out. Hers was another surprising identity, as while neither she nor Vancil had seen the woman in their lives with her auburn hair, Tryd claimed that she was in fact the sister of the Duchess, Bo-Katan Kryze.

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    After Bo-Katan had been secured and Pre Vizsla was in no danger of perishing from a light gust of wind they made their slow, exhausting march out of the quarry. Vancil, despite being buried under the most rubble was the least exhausted and ended up carrying both of their newly acquired unconscious prisoners out of the quarry, dragging Bo-Katan by the collar and heaving Pre Vizsla onto his shoulder. It was quite impressive, especially as they got to the uphill climb, where the only time he faltered was when Bo-Katan got caught on a rock, the situation quickly being resolved with a simple rough tug.

    Then again, it was also likely that the only reason he could still keep up with the two of them was because they themselves were moving at a snail¡¯s pace, dragging their feet every step of the way. Yet, regardless of their slow travel speed they did eventually make it to the top, where their speeders plus three new ones were parked.

    The ride back to the dock was uneventful, and despite the collective fears of the group they were neither intercepted on their way to the docks, or attacked on their arrival. The place was just¡­ empty. Not a soul in sight. In fact, it seemed as though everyone had simply packed up and left in the same way the Deathwatch camp had been. Speeders had disappeared, and crates which had previously been stacked around the dock were missing, and the several workers they had seen on their initial arrival were also gone.

    And, to her astonishment and bewilderment, the ship was still there. It was unlocked, open, and while some of their supplies had been shifted around nothing seemed to be missing. To Kandria it was nothing short of a miracle. Tryd seemed as bewildered as Kandria, but didn¡¯t react further than a slight pause. Vancil mumbled something about ¡®arrogant little shits¡¯ but otherwise didn¡¯t comment further, likely coming to some conclusion about why the ship was still here but deciding now wasn¡¯t the time to explain it.

    After the prisoners had been secured tightly to their seats it was decided that Vancil would be the one to fly the ship, with him being in the best condition and of the soundest mind, while Kandria and Captain Tryd remained in the cargo bay to keep an eye on the prisoners. While they may not have been particularly battle ready, their prisoners faired no better, having been roughed up as much as them.

    ¡°Yeah, go on, have a little snooze. I¡¯ll be sure you never wake up from your nice peaceful sleep after I finish killing this traitor over here.¡±

    That of course, didn¡¯t stop the now conscious Bo-Katan from claiming that she could take them.

    Kandria sent a bored glance to Bo-Katan, ¡°You got knocked out after taking a little tumble against a wall. I¡¯m pretty sure I could take you in my sleep.¡±

    The auburn-haired terrorist snarled and leaned forward as much as the band binding her to the chair would allow, ¡°Let me out of these restraints and let¡¯s see.¡±

    Captain Tryd snorted, ¡°Kandria¡¯s right you know. I¡¯m kind of disappointed in you Bo. Didn¡¯t you join Deathwatch to bring back the great ¡®warrior skill¡¯ of our people? Your current situation really tells a lot about that skill if that¡¯s the case.¡±

    Bo-Katan grit her teeth and spit at Tryd¡¯s feet, ¡°You can¡¯t blame me for this. They needed the help of their Jedi witchcraft.¡±

    Immediately, Kandria and Tryd¡¯s gaze snapped to the ladder leading up to the cockpit. When there was no reaction, they turned back. For some reason though, she was the one who felt angry about the statement.

    ¡°You know, I don¡¯t appreciate being called that anymore.¡± Kandria stated, both to herself and to Bo-Katan.

    The terrorist snorted in response, ¡°What, a Jedi? They¡¯re the ones that use your witchcraft. A bunch of cowards really, can¡¯t win an honest fight.¡±

    Kandria grits her teeth as her anger simmered a bit hotter, ¡°I¡¯m not a Jedi. Not anymore. The Jedi have been corrupted, and I do not need their approval to follow the true ideals of the Jedi. And you can¡¯t really talk about honest fights. Honestly you Deathwatch people remind me of whining children.¡±

    Bo-Katan turned red with rage and she leaned forward, ¡°Excuse me!? Mandalorians are the true warrior race, we basically built the code of honour and perfected the art of war.¡±

    Kandria scoffed as she idly eyed Bo-Katan¡¯s helmet on the seat to her left, ¡°Oh please. From what I¡¯ve seen, you Deathwatch folk are as much a perversion of the Mandalorians of ages past as the Jedi are now. All you have done is blow up some city blocks, laid a trap while you hide at a safe distance, and then fly away with your fancy little jetpacks when things turn even slightly against you. You¡¯re cowards, the lot of you. Common thugs at best.¡±

    Spittle flew from the now raging Mandalorian as she turned a beetroot red, ¡°COWARDS!?!? YOU FUCKING SHIT, A JEDI HAS NO RI-¡°

    She didn¡¯t get to finish her sentence as Kandria¡¯s hand snapped to the helmet, flowing it towards Bo-Katan at terrific speed. A slight widening of the eyes was all the reaction she managed before it hit her clean in the face, knocking her out for the third time and causing her to slump forward.

    Kandria remained silent, surprised at her sudden outburst. She turned to Captain Tryd, her tone lazy and tired, ¡°You know, I think I¡¯ll take you up on that offer.¡±

    With that Kandria closed her eyes, a peaceful smile crossing her face as she pulled down her mask.

    That had felt good.

 Chapter 36: Unknown Variables

    Palpatine let out a slow, heavy sigh as he leaned on the railing of the balcony in his suite. His hands were clenched in a white-knuckle grip on the smooth metal railing as he watched the burgeoning morning Coruscanti traffic with a clouded gaze. It took all of his self-control and reasoning to not let his anger burst and kill someone, anyone. From what the Sith Lord could glean, Obi Wan had just returned from his investigation of some backwater planet called ¡®Kavir¡¯ as well as a brief stop to some insignificant Rylothi colony, Palpatine didn¡¯t ask for specifics.

    It wasn¡¯t like the Jedi were exactly being forthcoming either. Even with all of the goodwill Palpatine had secured with that council of fools, they were surprisingly tight lipped about the investigation. He could probably force them to open up the investigation using his emergency powers, however that would also have the side effect of making both the investigation and the Sith¡¯s escape public, which was something he absolutely did not want.

    Palpatine¡¯s face twisted into a thoughtful frown. He had managed to meet with Obi Wan shortly after his return, and the Jedi Master had seemed unusually¡­ shaken. He knew Obi Wan well enough at this point to know that the man was adamant in his Jedi ways enough that very little could shake him. Heck, Palpatine could even sense the fear radiating off of the usually stoic Jedi. Alas, before he could question as to why the experienced Jedi felt this way, the rest of the council arrived and quickly swooped him away.

    He hated that part in particular. Palpatine hated when there were unknown variables. And now there were several roaming about; a Sith Acolyte and Jedi Padawan from 3000 years ago, a usually fearless Jedi being scared shitless, and two backwater planets with seemingly no significance being linked to the both.

    It wasn¡¯t as though Palpatine could investigate himself either. Every single move he made, whether official, or unofficial, could be traced in some manner due to his elevated position. His spies would also be noticed, as the Jedi would undoubtedly either be investigating the planets themselves, or keeping a close eye on them. As such, there was only one avenue Palpatine could investigate; his apprentice, Count Dooku.

    Palpatine chewed the inside of his cheek. That method of investigation had several problems in of itself. Despite being his apprentice, Palpatine didn¡¯t trust Dooku even a little bit. He knew well that Dooku planned to supplant him as the Sith Lord, it was their way of life after all. Handing off the investigation of these unknown variables to Dooku would essentially be Palpatine blindfolding himself and telling the turned Jedi to lead him across a tight rope.

    Yet, the variables could not remain unknown, and cracking the tough nut that was now the Jedi Council would be difficult and slow if he was to not raise suspicions, meaning that the variables would have once again changed by the time he had made any headway.

    Some anger broke past his control as he snarled in frustration. It had all been carefully laid out. The war would continue to escalate, Palpatine would ¡®hesitantly¡¯ accept more and more emergency powers while he continued to groom Anakin to be his apprentice, then finally the Jedi would catch on, try to stop him, and then he would use Order 66. Now the rug had been pulled right from beneath his feet because of this damned Sith, and things were slipping out of his grip. It was so fucking infur-

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    Palpatine was brought out of his thoughts as a slow, melodic series of beeps sounded from the desk behind him. The Sith Lord took a deep breath to calm himself before he pushed off of the railing, twisting and walking towards the desk. He didn¡¯t bother with the usually slow and frail gait he used out in public, walking forward with purposeful strides as he schooled his expression into cool calm.

    Reaching the desk he took a seat, pouring himself a glass of Naboo Wine as he double checked the doors were locked. Pressing a button underneath the desk, the blinds to his windows folded inwards, cutting off both all natural light and any possible prying eyes.

    Palpatine took one final breath before answering the call with a scalding tone, ¡°Foolish apprentice, it is the middle of the day in Coruscant. Your reason for calling me had better be a good one.¡±

    The holographic image of Count Dooku, leader of the Separatist cause and the second of the Rule of Two Sith, flickered to life on the desk. Dooku was an old human, old enough for his hairs to have gone completely grey and silver, yet he still held himself as though he was in his late twenties, full of vigour and strength.

    The Count bowed his head apologetically, ¡°I offer my humblest apologies, master. I would not call you if it were not of the utmost urgency.¡±

    Palpatine nodded as he adopted an outwardly annoyed expression. Dooku did not mean his apology sincerely, however that was to be expected considering his current vocation as a scheming Sith, ¡°Well, out with it then.¡±

    Dooku raised his head, his expression turning grave, ¡°As I am sure you are aware master, this new Sith from millennia ago recently escaped custody, as well as the Padawan from the same time period.¡±

    This time Palpatine really was annoyed as he scowled in anger. Was this why Dooku had contacted him? To rub in Palpatine¡¯s failure to keep a hold or at least quickly take care of the sudden and dangerous variable. Perhaps this was all in fact a ruse by Dooku, and these two newcomers were actually some of his Dark Acolytes sent to interfere with Palpatine¡¯s plans.

    Dooku continued, pointedly ignoring his master¡¯s worsening expression, ¡°Well, I have recently obtained some information as to their whereabouts.¡±

    Palpatine perked up at that, however he quickly smoothed it out into cool interest so as to not fully reveal his hand, ¡°Oh?¡±

    His apprentice nodded, ¡°Yes. For our plans to drag Mandalore into the war I was cooperating with a local terror cell known as ¡®Death Watch¡¯. A bunch of foolish zealots really, but they were the best option to sow chaos and force Mandalore to pick a side.¡±

    Palpatine frowned as he searched his memory as he nodded along slowly. He had heard of them both from Dooku and news from Mandalore about their exploits, ¡°Where are you going with this?¡±

    A proud smile crossed Dooku¡¯s face, ¡°I have been keeping in contact with them, and recently something very interesting has happened. Apparently, while they were preparing to launch their invasion of Mandalore from Concordia preemptively and without my knowledge, they were found out and their leader Pre Vizsla was captured. Captured by what they claim to be Jedi, who also thwarted one of their attacks at one of the Capital¡¯s entrances.¡±

    Palpatine was glad that the holograms could only be transmitted in blue, meaning that Dooku couldn¡¯t see the colour drain from Palpatine¡¯s face. No Jedi were on Mandalore or had been sent. They had basically been outright banned due to their deepening links with the Republic military. So if it wasn¡¯t Jedi¡­

    Slowly and measuredly, the Sith Lord took a sip of his wine.

    Dooku¡¯s smile deepened for some unknown reason, ¡°And according to them, these Jedi wielded two types of lightsabers. One of them was a male in black clothing with a red lightsaber, and a female in purple clothing with a blue lightsaber.¡±

    The glass in Palpatine¡¯s hand shattered

 Chapter 37: Dining with Royalty

    Poked at the strange food in front of him with his very fancy fork. What was sitting in front of him appeared to be some sort of salad served on a silver plate, yet he couldn¡¯t name anything that was in it if it was to save his life.

    ¡°Stop playing with your food.¡± Kandria chided quietly from beside him, not even glancing his way as she demurely used her cutlery to eat a¡­ leaf?

    Vancil¡¯s mouth twisted into a line as he looked down at the salad, then to the cutlery at his disposal. A knife and a fork¡­ what the hell was he supposed to use the knife for? He glanced to Kandria. She seemed impossibly at home, and the picture of dignity. A straight back as she slowly and measuredly picked off pieces of the salad. She appeared to be using the knife to push more salad onto the prongs of the fork, but that couldn¡¯t actually be its intended use. It was a knife, you cut stuff with it, not use it as a glorified brace.

    Vancil let out a quiet sigh as he mimicked the way Kandria held her cutlery. As expected he was far more clumsy then her, and his eyes narrowed in frustration as he struggled to bring a single leaf up to his mouth. Gulping, he opened and took a hearty bite of it. His eyes widened, and he struggled not to gag the leaf back up at the bitter and harsh taste of it. Just how much seasoning had they put on this???

    He glanced to Kandria, who was looking at him out of the corner of her eye. Steeling himself, he forced himself to swallow, feeling the leaf travel down his throat and into his stomach. He blinked and felt a bit dazed.

    ¡°Is the food not to your liking?¡± Duchess Satine said from her position at the head of the table to his right.

    Vancil worked his tongue inside his mouth for a moment, the after taste still persisting, ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ve uh, never had¡­ whatever this is.¡±

    Satine remained quiet for a moment, a look of shock on her face before she nodded, ¡°I see¡­ did you wish for¡­ something else?¡±

    That gave Vancil pause. He had¡­ never really had a choice of what to eat before. During his childhood on Kavir he ate whatever his parents could hunt and gather, and when he joined the ranks of the Sith the only food available were the bland but nutritious combat rations. Combat rations. Yes.

    ¡°Do you have any rations for your troops? Or the rations from our ship?¡± He asked, a hint of eagerness entering his voice.

    Despite what both his fellow Sith and soldiers around the galaxy thought, Vancil himself loved combat rations. So simple. So quick. So easy. He hadn¡¯t had a choice when he developed a taste for them, but that didn¡¯t change the fact that he had developed a taste for them.

    Satine¡¯s jaw dropped ever so slightly, a blemish in her usually refined expression, ¡°I¡­ yes, I suppose that can be arranged.¡±

    Vancil smiled in what he hoped was a polite expression, ¡°Thank you, Duchess. I would very much appreciate it.¡±

    His gaze flicked to Kandria sitting to his left, feeling the glare she was giving him. Sure enough she had stopped eating, scowling at him with disapproval and forcing his smile to morph into a sheepish one. The Duchess thankfully seemed to notice this, stepping in to save Vancil.

    ¡°It¡¯s quite all right, no trouble at all,¡± She said, holding up a placating hand to the both of them (but mainly Kandria), ¡°It would be rude of me to refuse in fact. You have ended one of the greatest threats to Mandalore and its neutrality by bringing in the leader of Deathwatch.¡±

    Kandria¡¯s scowl switched to an apologetic one as she looked to Satine, ¡°I still think this is all a bit much...¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Satine replied firmly, ¡°This is me giving you thanks on behalf of Mandalore and her citizens. I must admit though, I am personally thankful for the second person you brought back¡­ Bo Katan, my sister.¡±

    Vancil blinked as he slowly turned to look at Kandria and whispered, ¡°¡­Is Bo Katan the red head you knocked out?¡±

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    Kandria paled as she nodded slowly. Vancil himself never did catch the name of the female Mandalorian they had captured, and when they had landed and he had come down into the cargo bay the Sith found the woman out cold with a suspicious bruise forming on her forehead. After that he, Kandria, and Captain Tryd had handed over the prisoners to the Royal Guard, with Vancil and Kandria being summoned to dine with the Duchess only a couple minutes later. He found his lips thinning as he chewed the inside of his cheek. Probably best not to mention the assault on her sister, in case it hadn¡¯t already.

    Quickly deciding to change the subject he turned to fully face Satine, putting on his best salesman smile, ¡°Oh, those two? Ah, it was no biggie. They gave us a bit of trouble but we roughed them up in turn.¡±

    An amused smirk crossed the Duchess¡¯ face, ¡°¡¯Roughed them up¡¯? Pre Vizsla was as close to death as he could have been with his armour mutilated almost beyond recognition. Bo Katan herself had a broken rib and muscle damage in her arms and legs.¡±

    Vancil¡¯s smile dropped but briefly before it picked back up again as he waved dismissively, ¡°Ah, potato pohtato. We are really thankful for this of course. My companion here is just incredibly selfless and kind.¡±

    Kandria¡¯s exaggerated sigh out of his line of sight caused his grin to grow even more.

    Satine¡¯s mouth pursed as she regarded the two of them before shaking her head with a smile, ¡°Yes, I suppose though. There is one thing I would like to ask of you though.¡±

    Vancil shrugged in response, ¡°Eh, ask away.¡±

    The Duchess tensed up as though she second guessed what she was going to ask already, ¡°Well¡­ simply put¡­ who are you?¡±

    Vancil¡¯s brow furrowed in confusion, ¡°Well, I¡¯m Vancil, and this is Kandria, my partner.¡±

    Satine shook her head and spoke slowly, as though he were a beast ready to pounce at the slightest provocation, ¡°I mean¡­ who are you? Because from the reactions you and her have at being called as such, I am confident you are not a¡­ Jedi.¡±

    Vancil tilted his head in surprise and realisation as Satine flinched at the final word, ¡°Ahh, I see. I suppose we haven¡¯t been very forthcoming about our nature.¡±

    The Duchess shook her head, ¡°No¡­ and considering how strong you two it is difficult being this direct.¡±

    The Sith chuckled, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, I completely understand your situation. Look, I hate Jedi with all my guts but the word itself isn¡¯t a trigger for me. What really gets on my nerves is when people call me a Jedi.¡±

    Satine nodded slowly, ¡°I see¡­ so, if neither of you are Jedi, then what are you? I believed that the Jedi were the only ones who wielded both the force and lightsabers.¡±

    That one irked Vancil and his expression turned sour, ¡°Well, considering how things are I don¡¯t exactly blame you. I am what you call a Sith. Basically, imagine the opposite of a Jedi and you¡¯re close enough to an accurate representation of what we are. As for why you wouldn¡¯t think of them, you can thank the damned Banites for that. They butchered the Sith Order and went into hiding like cowards.¡±

    He spat the last words out and felt anger boiling within him, anger which he quickly quashed to his own surprise. Usually, he would be indifferent and even welcome rage; it was the staple of the Sith after all. Kandria was being a bad (good?) influence on him, and he wasn¡¯t sure if he loved or despised it.

    Satine nodded and looked to Kandria, ¡°And are you one of these¡­ Sith?¡±

    Kandria tensed up, her fists clenching around the cutlery still in her hands as she answered slowly, ¡°¡­No, I am not a Sith. I am ¨C was, a Jedi. I left the Order you see.¡±

    Satine tensed up in a similar manner to Kandria at those words, ¡°I¡­ see.¡±

    The Duchess seemed to ponder something for a moment, gaze flicking between Vancil and Kandria as the cogs turned in her mind. Vancil kept his suspicion from getting to his face, but his eyes instinctively flicked to every guard in the room. Four in total, two at each of the doors leading in and out of the dining room. If they were at the same level as Captain Tryd, they might give him a run for his money, but if they did end up coming to blows Vancil was still confident he could come out on top.

    Satine let out a sigh and smiled apologetically, ¡°I must thank you again, for all that you have done for Mandalore. However, your backgrounds are a problem. Particularly their relation to the Jedi. You see, we wish to maintain our neutrality within this conflict, and with how intertwined the Jedi Order is with the Galactic Republic now, your opposing views to them will present a problem for us.¡±

    ¡°I understand. So, what, you going to hand us over or kick us out?¡± Vancil replied bluntly after a moment of thought.

    They were the only reasonable courses of action from both a strategic and tactical standpoint. Harbouring both a Sith and a Jedi runaway would be a very bad decision considering that Mandalore was supposed to be a neutral system. Protecting and housing Kandria and Vancil would be much the same as housing wanted fugitives, as the two of them likely were by now in Republic space.

    Satine smiled sadly, ¡°You two have still done much for Mandalore despite the short time you have been here. Handing you over would be quite rude if I do say so. You may take your ship and everything on it. I¡¯d recommend heading to the galactic north. Not much up there except uninhabited moons and a couple Separatist strongholds far away from the Republic.¡±

    Kandria let out a sigh of frustration, ¡°Seriously it¡¯s like we can never stay on one planet for more than a day.¡±

    Vancil himself had other concerns, ¡°Say, since we¡¯re leaving now can I take those combat rations to go?¡±

 Chapter 38: Dookuâ€™s Dilemma

    Dooku, Count of Serreno and the leader of the Separatist Alliance, was troubled. Troubled by two people in particular; the apparent travellers through time, Vancil the Sith, and Kandria, the Jedi. He had read over the reports his master, Palpatine had sent him, and even used his own spy network to find out some of the stuff Palpatine had failed to mention. The reason these two individuals troubled him so was because they were quite possibly the most dangerous things to both Palpatine and Dooku¡¯s plans.

    The Jedi Padawan may have simply been a strange anomaly and nothing more in the best-case scenario, but now that she had allegedly fled the Jedi Order there was no telling what someone with both knowledge of the internal workings of the Jedi Order and the force training to utilise could do. Dooku himself was once a Jedi Master after all, and he had used his position to steal both knowledge and run secret interference in the Jedi Order via his access to the Jedi Archives. Now, while Kandria did not have the rank, there was always the possibility that she knew stuff about the Jedi Temple even the masters did not know thanks to her knowledge of the temple from millennia ago. Ultimately though, there was really no concrete way of predicting what sort of damage she could do after her departure from the Order.

    Vancil, however, was an absolute concrete threat no matter which way you looked at it. The Sith had followed the tradition of the Rule of Two, started by Darth Bane millennia ago following the fall of the last Sith Empire. The rule stated that only two Sith could exist in the galaxy at a time, a master and an apprentice. The main reasoning behind the extremely small numbers was to halt the infighting that the Sith Empires of old had always been plagued by. The rule itself had worked wonders too, culminating in the stagnation of the Republic and setting the Jedi Order on a path towards its ultimate destruction. Vancil, was not a follower of this rule, originating, like Kandria, several millennia before its conception. The greatest threat a Sith faced was other Sith, and with the breaking of the Rule of Two, their own plans were being set onto the path of destruction, a path which they couldn¡¯t predict or see. While Dooku and Palpatine were confident in their abilities to hide their Sith nature from the fools in the Jedi Order, Vancil was not a Jedi, and had experienced being around many Sith. If he even got into the same vicinity as either of them, chances are he would sniff them out in under an hour, and the secrecy of their identities was the most paramount part of their plans.

    Dooku scowled as he silently scrolled through the holo-report he had received from one of his moles in Deathwatch. And, whether unintentionally or not, the pair of them were now directly interfering in their plans for the war. Vizsla may have been a prideful fool, but he was the greatest tool Dooku and Palpatine had to break Mandalore¡¯s neutrality. With his defeat and capture by Vancil and Kandria, Deathwatch was now fracturing at a rate that surprised even Dooku, with many beginning to form bounty hunter groups or just outright becoming pirates preying on the Outer Rim. Now, the only way that Mandalore would ever break its neutrality was if either side invaded it, and the Republic was certainly not going to be doing that anytime soon.

    The Count took a deep breath to control his temper as he set down the report of his operations on Mandalore. His gaze flicked to the second report, one provided by Palpatine and padded out by his own operatives. The feeling of trouble grew exponentially as he picked that report up for the third time this evening. Really though, in the greater consequence of things, Mandalore was not a make-or-break deal for the fall of the Republic, and that particular case was not the primary cause of Dooku¡¯s troubles. His eyes flicked over the report of the results and details of Obi-Wans investigation into where exactly Vancil and Kandria had gone.

    Apparently, the pair had managed to secure the access codes to the ST-70 they had taken from the bounty hunter group on Krant and simply left without any word or notice. The purpose of Obi-Wans investigation was to look for possible places they could have gone. One particular part of the report bothered Dooku. Obi-Wans theory about the pair going to Kavir, and his prompt investigation of the matter.

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    The Jedi shouldn¡¯t even know of Kavir¡¯s existence, let alone where it was located in the galaxy. The further he had read into the report however, his mistake was revealed in the form of an oversight to a god forsaken flower that was unique to the planet. A flower which was then identified by a source outside the Jedi Order that wasn¡¯t reliant on the tampered Jedi Archives. The rediscovery of Kavir by the Jedi Order was bad, very bad, especially for Dooku¡¯s plans. Because if the Jedi knew about Kavir, his master would almost certainly not be far behind. Thankfully in his report Palpatine had dismissed it as some ¡®backwater¡¯ planet. This view wouldn¡¯t last the more the Jedi looked into the planet, and the more they did the more Dooku was forced to push his plans forward.

    Kavir was a unique planet; in that it was alive. Well, the planet itself was not actually alive, rather the eternal storm that surrounded it was. It was a feat that was unmatched by anything else in the galaxy, in both power and spectacle. The Jedi and Sith of old had both been interested in it, and fighting over the nearby planet of Aaloth was almost always to secure a safe passage to Kavir. Both sides eventually separately stopped with their obsession of the planet, fear being the reason for the Jedi, and inability for the Sith. The last two great masters of both sides who held an interest in the planet had either been killed or disappeared during the Great Galactic War.

    After their demises, it became clear to both sides that they lacked the ability to control the Storm, and over millennia both orders forgot about it. When Dooku first learned of it however, he did not come to the same conclusion. Time had advanced, as well as technology and what it was capable of. He had researched everything he could about Kavir, delving into both the Jedi Archives as well as lost Sith texts from Korriban, and Dooku was confident that soon he would be able to harness the Storm for his own plans and not make the mistakes of his predecessors. Everything he had done was a slow and gradual build up to this, so as to not garner the notice of either his master or the Jedi Order. Every single piece of information he found which related to Kavir he had either secured or destroyed to minimise his risks of discovery

    It was why the planet was no longer in the Jedi Archives, and while the Jedi undoubtedly already knew someone had tampered with the Archives after their discovery of Kamino and the Clone Army, the exact extent would never be found. Only he and Palpatine knew exactly what entries had been removed, primarily planets of importance to either their plans or as a backup hideout location in case their plans failed, Dagobah being one such example. The only one Palpatine didn¡¯t know about was Kavir, which Dooku had quietly removed.

    Dooku had no delusions about continuing to serve Palpatine after all. The man was dangerous, and his ambitions did not line up with Dooku¡¯s. He was also suspicious on Palpatine¡¯s true intentions with Anakin Skywalker, but that was a topic for another time, and if worst came to worse Dooku was confident he could defeat Skywalker again.

    He clenched his teeth in frustration as he placed the report back on his desk with the others. While he had a good grip on his situation and the steps, he would need to take in order to ensure that his plans remained at least somewhat hidden and stable, there was one particular part he just couldn¡¯t pin down. Kandria and Vancil. For some reason, the two or their actions were related enough to Kavir to warrant the Jedi believing that they would have gone there. This meant that either one or both of them had some sort of connection to Kavir, a connection which could possibly bring the planet and his plans into the limelight of the Jedi.

    Dooku tapped the transmit button on his desk, scrolling through his contact list until finding the one he needed. After a few seconds a blue hologram fizzled into life, showing a tall and completely bald woman.

    ¡°Ventress, I have a task for you. There are two force users I need dealt with. You may use whatever resources and methods you have at your disposal, but don¡¯t make too much noise so that either the Confederacy or Republic take notice. I will send you their last known coordinates now.¡±

    The Dathomirian bowed her head, a sinister and menacing smile crossing her sharp features, ¡°Of course, master. I will serve you their heads on a silver platter.¡±

    As the transmission fizzled out a grim frown of rarely seen anxiety made it onto Dooku¡¯s aged expression. Loose ends had to be tied up, if he was ever to usurp Palpatine.

 Chapter 39: Signal Found

    Vancil idly thumbed the grooves on the mask in his hands, his red eyes unblinking as he found himself in a moment of rare respite. He had never been used to it, especially during his time in the Sith Empire, it was always one mission to the next: especially under Darth Ominit. Even during their non-combat missions, it was busy work, and in some ways, it was even busier than the combat ones.

    Vancil was a warrior and a soldier. If you pointed him at the enemy either the enemy would die, or the enemy would be injured. He wasn¡¯t exactly what you would call the creating type, but that didn¡¯t stop Ominit from dragging him along to his many strange and wacky ideas. Like the time he had asked Vancil to forge a Cortosis dagger as though it were as simple as asking Vancil to pick up some groceries. It took him a month to finally find someone who could work the metal, another month to actually find the ore, and then two more months to receive the damn thing. The real kicker though was when Ominit took the dagger without a word and never brought it up again. Not all of the missions were so harmless however.

    Vancil¡¯s armoured hand reached up to brush against the corner of his deep crimson eyes.

    A natural side effect of prolonged use of the dark side was physical changes in the body, with the most notable being the shift to a sickly yellow eye colour. His master had such eyes, as did most other Sith he knew. Vancil also had once been developing into having his own yellow eyes, at least until one of Ominit¡¯s hare brained missions.

    It was something Vancil had only heard of before, said in hushed tones at the Academy on Korriban: Sith Alchemy. It was simple enough, Vancil was to simply feed force into the alchemical conduit alongside Ominit who would be doing most of the heavy lifting. What wasn¡¯t simple was when the conduit suddenly exploded outwards, specifically in Vancil¡¯s direction. At that moment he had felt something seep into him, entering his very bones before disappearing from his senses entirely and leaving him feeling no different then when he was the moment before.

    It was then that his eyes turned red and¡­ nothing else. There was no change in his senses or combat ability. He hadn¡¯t gained a new force ability, and his Midichlorians remained the same they had been. It had disappointed Vancil that the only change was cosmetic, yet Ominit seemed utterly delighted at what had occurred, proclaiming success and refusing to explain further.

    A nostalgic feeling entered him. He had quite liked Ominit. The man was an excellent warrior and a brilliant tactician, and was probably the only person in the entire Sith Order that Vancil could say was half decent. Half decent. The man was still a Sith after all, and was quite plentiful on the psychotic madman that made up their ranks.

    Vancil¡¯s head shifted slightly to look at Kandria, who remained focused on the beeping panels in front of her dictating everything the ship was doing. This time she was driving, and appeared to be hyper focused on her task. It had been about a day drifting through space after the Duchess had informed them, they had to leave, and Kandria had used that time to begin to familiarise herself with the ship. After all, since the owners were dead and it was left to Kandria and Vancil by the leader of the previous owners¡¯ planet, there was really nothing refuting their ownership of it.

    As for their next course of action, neither really had any idea. His goal of sightseeing, while interrupted by the frankly quite rude terrorists, had been satisfactory for him. He didn¡¯t have any more places he particularly wished to see, and Kandria hadn¡¯t been quick to offer any direction either. Right now, all he really wanted to do, was be by Kandria¡¯s side.

    He turned his gaze back to the mask as the desire brought him back to his memories about Ominit. Vancil had learned many things about the man, and his master had even called Vancil his closest confidant. But there was one thing that bothered Vancil about Ominit: Why?

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    Why was he doing anything of what he was doing? The missions where they fought the Republic and Jedi were almost always dictated by High Command, and even then, most of the time they had to twist Ominit¡¯s arm into participating. Every mission that Ominit himself commanded and planned was some strange scheme or search for a material with zero practical use to the Sith Empire. That ruled out his motivations being his loyalty to the Sith Order.

    He definitely knew Ominit didn¡¯t share Vancil¡¯s hatred of the Jedi as, much to Vancil¡¯s chagrin, on one mission he willingly let a Jedi escape so that he could collect a strange artifact when they could¡¯ve just come back for it later. That ruled out his motivations being his hatred for the Jedi Order.

    There was only one lead Vancil had on Ominit¡¯s motivations. Her.

    Who she was, what she looked like, Vancil had absolutely no clue. He knew she definitely existed though. Ominit had the tendency to mumble to himself when he thought no one cared or bothered to listen. Vancil had only caught small parts of his murmurings, but they always included her. He never uttered her name, never said anything about his relationship to her, only that she had to hurry up and ¡®find him¡¯. It confused Vancil to no end, and when he tried to ask about it, he was shut down, hard.

    It was the only possible explanation for why Ominit had done what he did. There was someone out there, someone close enough, or important enough that Ominit had dedicated every single mission into working towards helping that person find him. The methods were strange, and the motivation was stranger, but it was the best Vancil had.

    It¡­ reminded him of how he felt about Kandria, funnily enough. He eyed her from the corner of his eye. Maybe if he was separated from her to such an extent that they lost all trace of each other he would follow similar steps to what Ominit had been doing. He mulled over the thought before he looked back to his mask with a smirk.

    Like hell that was going to happen.

    <hr>

    ¡­CYCLE #9087 COMPLETE

    BEACON #487 SUCCESSFULLY REACTIVATED

    INITIATING SHORT RANGE PULSE¡­

    NO RESPONSE

    INITIATING LONG RANGE PULSE¡­

    RESPONSE CONFIRMED

    SEARCHING FOR SIGNAL¡­

    SIGNAL FOUND

    LOCATIONAL CROSS REFERENCE COMPLETE

    INITIATING CONTACT SIGNAL

    <hr>

    Kandria didn¡¯t feel bothered as she felt Vancil¡¯s gaze on her. She felt quite comforted actually. She was beginning to gain some understanding of her feelings towards Vancil, yet the full truth still remained a mystery. What she did know, was that she wanted to be by the Sith¡¯s side, always. She enjoyed his presence in a way she had never felt before.

    It confused her. He was by no means a good person. Far from it. He was a Sith, a murdering madman who had very nearly killed her twice. Ever since her departure from the Jedi Order however, her opinions on him had changed, no longer being strictly bound to the Jedi Code. In fact, she found she enjoyed his flaws. The way that he would charge into battle without a hint of fear, the way he held himself as the perfect picture of arrogance and confidence, it was all something new, and something that had come in handy several times already.

    He wasn¡¯t all flaws either. The man was absolutely vicious in combat, and seemed similar to a rabid beast on the battlefield. And yet, when she was in danger, when she needed him most, he put everything else to the side, putting his own life on the line to save hers.

    A slight smile came onto her unmasked face. He wasn¡¯t perfect, that much was certain. He wasn¡¯t good either, not by a long shot. But that¡¯s just who he was. And she was fine with it.

    She was jolted out of her thoughts as a beeping caught her attention, louder and more urgent than the others and drawing her gaze to the radio section of the console. Someone was sending a message. She shot Vancil a look of worry before hitting the receive button.

    A simple, rotating symbol appeared on hologram. A symbol she recognised all too well. A symbol she had grown to hate and fear. A deep red hexagon, outlined by black with black lines radiating from a smaller black hexagon in the centre.

    The Sith Empire

 Chapter 40 (Interlude): A War Council

    Malgus glanced impatiently at the several Sith already gathered around the circular wooden table. A tension was present in the air between all of them, however Malgus noticed quite a lot was directed at him. He couldn¡¯t blame them, Malgus¡¯ exploits and victories had become legendary across the empire, and he could likely intimidate some of the highest ranking Sith in the Empire.

    He leaned back into his seat as a way to hide his discomfort. The cushioned and intricate chair was of a fine make, and had apparently been taken from the royal palace itself. He¡¯d be lying if he said he found it comfortable. He much preferred the simple, rugged design found in military vehicles and spacecraft; simplistic and ugly looking but offering better functionality and efficiency.

    Malgus glanced over to the two remaining empty seats to his left, his face twisting to show his annoyance, ¡°Pray tell, Lyran,¡± He spat out the Sith¡¯s name, glaring at the one sitting across from him, ¡°Why exactly is Darth Ominit, your commander, not present at the moment?¡±

    The young Sith gulped as he clenched his hands together on the table, ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m not quite sure, my lord.¡±

    Malgus scowled as his annoyance grew, ¡°And why, do you not know where exactly your commander in chief is on the precipice of an enemy invasion?¡±

    Sweat visibly beaded down Lyran¡¯s forehead as he glanced to his compatriots in a desperate bid for help. All of them ducked their heads down, not offering a bit of aid to their comrade in need. It almost made Malgus pity the boy. Prior to Malgus¡¯ arrival he had done his research on just who he would be dealing with. The garrison on Alderaan was quite small compared to other garrisons throughout the occupied planets of the Empire, but that fact was mainly attributed to the pacifist nature of the local population meaning there was little actual local unrest other than a few isolated resistance cells that couldn¡¯t do much damage.

    As such, the Sith gathered around him was every Sith on the planet that wasn¡¯t an Acolyte or lower rank, amounting to 14 in total if you discounted the two Darths that were yet to be present. As such Malgus had to do relatively little research into them. Only around half of them had actual experience in combat, and only half of that group had fought Jedi. The rest of them were either recently promoted to the rank of Warrior, or had simply had the rotten luck of being posted away from all the fighting for the duration of the war. Lyran was a part of that last group, and according to Darth Ominit¡¯s records it was simply because he needed help managing the garrison and so required higher ranked people. In other words, Lyran was the bottom of the barrel Ominit had access to.

    ¡°I¡­ he doesn¡¯t tell us a lot about what he gets up to when we aren¡¯t around.¡± Was the shaky reply.

    ¡°And why not? I find it difficult to believe that Ominit would purposefully leave his subordinates in the dark about his actions.¡± Despite Malgus¡¯ words the implications were worrying. Ominit was by no means an idiot, and he was a good tactician who understood that communication was key for victory in battle.

    Lyran audibly gulped as he continued, ¡°Well, we¡¯ve tried before. Arkan went to his mansion at one point. He uh, didn¡¯t come back, and Ominit never mentioned him again. I¡¯m his replacement.¡±

    Malgus¡¯ annoyance fell away slightly. He had read the report on Arkan¡¯s disappearance but it had been chalked up to an especially troublesome rebel cell that got the drop on him. While it still could have been true that Arkan had been attacked on his way to Ominit¡¯s mansion, which was located out in some isolated forest, something was still off.

    Before any more questions could be asked however the man of the hour arrived. Ominit had been an interesting character ever since he had joined the Sith Order, rising the ranks fast, very fast. Couple his skills with the fact that no one, not even the Dark Council had concrete information on his background made him a very dangerous foe. And the man certainly acted like he was one, walking into the room as though he were the most important person in it. Malgus¡¯ attention was not on Ominit though. Rather it was on the Sith who trailed after Malgus.

    ¡°Adraas.¡± Malgus spat out hot venom as rage bubbled up beneath him, his baleful gaze boring into the man¡¯s mask.

    Darth Adraas paused for a moment, his head shifting towards Malgus slightly before he scoffed mockingly, ¡°Malgus, I¡¯m surprised you made it this far. I¡¯d have thought you¡¯d be distracted by the first available unarmed merchant and delayed your travel by another ten cycles.¡±

    Malgus didn¡¯t bother to hide his rage, nor did he care with how the lower ranking Sith actively shrunk away from him, ¡°And I¡¯m surprised your little schemes haven¡¯t caught up to you, you vile snake.¡±

    Adraas didn¡¯t even respond, only letting out an amused chuckle as he took a seat on the left of Ominit, keeping the other Darth between him and Malgus. He crossed his arms and regarded the other Sith around the table with feigned interest, pointedly ignoring Malgus while radiating smugness.

    Before Malgus could explode in a vengeful fury however, Ominit spoke up, ¡°Apologies for the tardiness. Adraas had some¡­ interesting information to share.¡±

    ¡°And this information was?¡± Malgus asked when Ominit didn¡¯t elaborate.

    Ominit regarded Malgus with unreadable yellow eyes, his expression completely neutral and betraying nothing, ¡°Nothing of importance to the matter at hand right now. If you wish¡­ I can tell you after.¡±

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    Malgus could sense the surprise burst from Adraas before the Sith got his emotions under control. Clearly, he hadn¡¯t expected that, which brought some satisfaction to Malgus. However, now he was more suspicious, particularly at the fact that the information had come from Adraas. Malgus despised the man, and was despised in turn with the two having a rivalry of sorts. One of the symptoms of this was that Adraas would purposefully feed Malgus faulty or incomplete information to force his failure, and had succeeded several times already.

    Ominit however, had no such animosity with the vile snake, and was even on good terms with him, likely a consequence of their shared posting on Alderaan. That was one of the things that Malgus disliked about Ominit, but he understood that he couldn¡¯t control how other people felt about each other. Ominit also helped to serve as a buffer between the two rivals, and was the only reason Malgus hadn¡¯t drawn his lightsaber and cut Adraas down.

    Malgus worked his jaw as he pondered the words before nodding, ¡°Fine. Now, onto business.¡±

    The rest of the meeting was essentially Ominit and Adraas giving a rundown of how the garrison on Alderaan worked. The actions it had taken in the past, its combat effectiveness, and how many were troops were actually combat ready, etc. Overall Malgus had to admit that Ominit had managed to keep things together quite well, and the garrison wasn¡¯t as lazy as you would expect from a pacifist and relatively subdued planet.

    At the end of the meeting the Sith Warriors gathered around dispersed with a surprising quickness. Maybe, Malgus had underestimated just how intimidating three Darths in the same room was. As the last Warrior left the room Malgus sent Ominit a pointed look, to which the man¡¯s lips thinned into a line as he nodded to Adraas who left the room after a few seconds of silence.

    ¡°¡­I trust you are aware of my reputation?¡±

    Malgus frowned at the seemingly off topic question, ¡°You are a renowned warrior and tactic-¡°

    Ominit cut him off, his tone impatient, ¡°I don¡¯t mean in general. I mean among the higher ups: the Dark Council.¡±

    That gave Malgus slight pause, ¡°Yes. It is¡­ not a favourable one.¡±

    Not favourable was a generous term. Ominit, while respected by his peers and subordinates, was absolutely despised by the Dark Council. It was a sort of open secret, as while the Council couldn¡¯t outright punish and humiliate Ominit, they certainly complained enough to anyone who would listen. It was also pretty clear why; Ominit had the tendency to simply ignore the Dark Council, and whenever they actually managed to get a hold of him and direct him somewhere his talents could be put to use, Ominit¡¯s efforts were, to put it bluntly, pitiful.

    Yet, even pitiful efforts from Ominit lent victory, so they couldn¡¯t even take him down on the basis he failed his tasks. From what Malgus understood, Ominit was far more interested in his own side projects then the actual war effort, and the side projects either had results of no use to anyone, or results of no use to the Empire. And the real kicker was that the side projects had little identifiable rhyme or reason between them, so his ultimate goal was also unknown.

    A bitter smile crossed Ominit¡¯s face, ¡°Indeed. I have also underestimated them, and I have paid the price. You remember that spy you found?¡±

    Malgus nodded and his face twisted into disgust at how he himself couldn¡¯t see it, ¡°I do. A togruta girl, she had a position in the communications section of my ship.¡±

    ¡°And would I be right in guessing that once you found her the Dark Council swooped in and took it from there?¡±

    Malgus¡¯ eyes widened, ¡°That¡­ is exactly what happened. I wanted to punish her myself but the Council insisted that they have better methods of information gathering.¡±

    Ominit chuckled in dry amusement, ¡°As I suspected. Do not think of yourself at any fault for the presence of the spy, Malgus. I don¡¯t, and I suffered the most from it.¡±

    Malgus recovered from his surprise and narrowed his eyes, ¡°And why do you know that? Just how much did Adraas tell you?¡± This was worrying, if Adraas knew of how the spy aboard Malgus¡¯ ship was handled, there was no telling how much else he knew.

    Ominit ignored the questions as he continued, ¡°The spy wasn¡¯t from the Republic. It was simply made to look that way. The togruta was a Sith spy, that¡¯s how she went unnoticed for so long, and its why the Dark Council pulled her out when you caught her.¡±

    The declaration shocked Malgus, ¡°Why though, she sent crucial military information to the Republic, and now there is an enemy fleet on its way here as we speak.¡±

    Ominit sighed and looked up at the roof, ¡°It appears I have made a bit too much enemies on the council. I was supposed to die on that Rakatan ship. The crucial military information, if you really look into it, is actually quite a brilliant disguise. Alderaan has little actual value to the Empire other than prestige reasons. Its population is unwilling to fight for the Empire, and it lacks any notable resources that would be worth protecting. Yet, its still a significant planet, and it¡¯s a big enough distraction to hide their true intentions.¡±

    Malgus took in the words, a worrying feeling entering his mind, ¡°And you have proof of this?¡±

    ¡°Concrete? Nothing. I told three people where I was going. Vancil, Adraas, and Darth Baras. Vancil and Adraas I trust, despite their¡­ tendencies. Baras though? He practically had to force the information out of me. I looked afterwards; there were no records of where I was going, none that a spy in a communications centre on a single ship could get.¡± Came the reply alongside a side glance.

    Malgus grit his teeth as he put together the pieces Ominit was giving him, ¡°¡­So what are you planning?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to make it out of this battle alive. My plans will be a bit more difficult, but its not anything I can recover from.¡± Ominit turned to Malgus fully, ¡°But, I¡¯m going out swinging. Against the Jedi and the Dark Council. I will admit, I don¡¯t really like Sith despite me being one. However, the Empire has grown on me, and with the way the Dark Council is steering us, it is bound to fracture and fall.¡±

    Ominit reached into his coat, taking out a small red gemstone, the dark side radiating from it to give it an ominous shadow. Malgus recognised it well enough, any Sith would, ¡°A Kyber crystal? It feels, strange.¡±

    A hint of pride entered Ominit and he puffed his chest out, holding the crystal up between his fingers, ¡°This is one of my more successful projects. Packed to the brim with the Dark Side and a little something special. I can¡¯t tell you that last part though, it¡¯d ruin the mystery. Essentially, this thing can force visions of the future. Premonition is known and used among the Sith and Jedi, but for the most part it is random and unreliable. This dandy little thing can cause the premonitions purposefully. Its how I know I¡¯m going to die. Here, why don¡¯t you have a gander into the future.¡±

    Ominit held out the crystal as though he were offering something trivial, yet if his claims were true, it could possibly be the greatest tool in the galaxy. Hesitantly, Malgus took the crystal between his two fingers. And the instant he made contact, he was taken to another world, one he instinctively knew to be in the future.

    A galaxy in flames.

 Chapter 41: Beacon #487

    The ship heaved as it dropped out of hyperspace, causing Vancil to jolt forward in his seat slightly. He shook his head to clear the usual disorientation that followed exiting hyperspace. He glanced to Kandria briefly before turning his gaze out the viewport of the cockpit to their destination directly in front of the ship.

    A small space station turned into what could only be a glorified communications relay. Its main structure was a long cylinder, with a lot of satellites and antenna plastered across it, with one antenna at the end being the size of the station itself. Surrounding it was a slowly rotating ring that Vancil just quite couldn¡¯t understand. Most space stations usually had such rings, their purpose being to generate gravity via spinning. However, even at the distance still between them and the space station, Vancil could tell that the ring was far too small for humans or rooms.

    Other than that mystery the rest of the station seemed pretty self-explanatory; he could even spy a few point defence turrets across the main body. The entire thing was so black that without computer aids and the fact that stars disappeared behind it, you would be hard pressed to find it in the inky void that was space.

    Vancil double checked the coordinates; sure enough, this was where the signal was coming from. Vancil was conflicted on the nature of the signal however. On one hand, he was absolutely thrilled that something from his time period, something which he had fought tooth and nail for, was still around. On the other hand¡­

    He glanced to Kandria, observing her unreadable gaze, ¡°You sure we¡¯re alone out here?¡±

    Kandria¡¯s lips tightened and she nodded after a few seconds fiddling with the console, ¡°Yep. Not a ship for a couple lightyears¡­ makes sense though considering we are aren¡¯t even in a star system.¡±

    Vancil worked his jaw as he looked back to the station. The signal hadn¡¯t been much, simply a ping off of their ship that had left behind a set of coordinates somewhere in deep space. After a few moments of consideration, the two of them had agreed to check it out, considering that the symbol which appeared had appeared on the display was the symbol of the Sith Empire, particularly the empire Vancil had served and Kandria had fought against.

    The approach to the station was silent, with only the gentle rumble of the ship to keep them company. Another ping reached the ST-70, with a small hangar in the side of the main structure opening up at the same time.

    And as the ship entered the hangar, finally revealing the interior of this mystery station, Vancil only had one thing to say.

    ¡°It¡­ looks like shit.¡±

    <hr>

    Kandria wasn¡¯t really sure what she was expecting to see as she walked through the desolate and abandoned halls of the space station. A legion of ancient war droids, a terrible and monstrous experiment, or even a secret group of Sith who had existed since the Great Galactic War and were plotting to restore their fallen empire.

    Instead¡­ nothing. Just constant, unending silence. Now, usually that would be a given considering they were the only two presents, however they were on a functioning space station. There should have at least been a rumble or silent thrum around them, no matter how quiet it would be. Instead, Kandria felt only a significant pressure in the air which was simply wrong, as though the air itself was disapproving of her presence. It reminded her of how the Rakatan ship had felt when she had first entered it.

    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

    Other than that, the station was noticeably abandoned of either organic or robotic life. Lights flickered and struggled to light wherever Kandria and Vancil went, and age was clear on the black steel walls around them. The hangar had been an empty box, and after making sure the ship was secure, she and Vancil had taken the only door available out into the hallway they now walked through. The corridor itself was at a continuous curve, and after a minute of walking there had been no sign of any changes. They weren¡¯t walking in circles, as they would have seen the door they came through by now. After some confused investigation and a rolling lightsaber, they determined that the corridor was actually on a slant taking them upwards.

    Five minutes of walking later, and the first change from the unending black steel walls appeared. It was¡­ an elevator.

    ¡°Oh for fucks sake can we just get to wherever we¡¯re going?¡± She heard Vancil mumble under his breath as they stepped into the elevator.

    There was a total of three options presented to them by a panel inside the lift: Hydroponics, Electrical Room, and Bridge. Wanting to discover just what this station was the understandably selected the Bridge, however the other options caught Kandria¡¯s curiosity as the lift started going up.

    For one, there was surprisingly few places to go from the lift. Usually in a space station, even one on the smaller side like this one, you¡¯d have at least a dozen options. But even with the few options, why would there ever be a hydroponics floor on what was clearly a communication array station?

    Kandria shelved those thoughts away for later as the doors to the lift slid open. As the pair stepped out in unison, lights flickered to life, revealing a series of consoles centred around a much larger console in a semi-circle arrangement.

    Cautiously, Kandria followed behind Vancil, eyeing every console they passed suspiciously. She had been on Sith ships and stations before, and from her experience the Sith had a tendency to sabotage their equipment with a metric ton of explosives and traps. The only thing stopping her from dashing back into the elevator was how Vancil simply walked past them as though they couldn¡¯t possibly be their demise. It was at times like these that she appreciated his confidence as a beacon of surety.

    When Vancil reached the centre console he almost immediately started fiddling with the buttons, causing the previously dormant screen to burst to life. She supposed his quick actions made sense; this was a Sith station with Sith equipment after all.

    Kandria stood slightly behind and to the right of Vancil, letting him do his thing while she continued to nervously glance around the room. The pressure she had felt throughout the ship was particularly strong in this room, and she couldn¡¯t help but furrow her brows as a migraine threatened to take hold.

    Refocusing on the console, Vancil appeared to be answering a long series of codes and encryptions one after the other, ones which she couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of. At the same time though, she sensed something emanating from him, although she couldn¡¯t quite pin down what it was. It was like a mix of sadness and nostalgia. Perhaps it was because he was in quite possibly the only remnants of the empire he had once served, she would have to ask him later.

    While Vancil fiddled with the console, Kandria turned her gaze to examine the bridge. Something was strange about it. She had been in space stations before, and so had the general gist of how the layout of their bridges usually turned out. This though, this was in a layout similar to something you would see aboard a capital ship.

    Before she could ponder it any longer a positive beep emanated from the large console, the screen flashing blue before turning into a deep red, the symbol of the Sith Empire rotating slowly. Before she could question Vancil on what exactly it meant however, a robotic male tone beeped out of the console.

    ¡°Welcome to Beacon #487. I am Sith Experimental AI Number 12, but you can call me SEAN. How may I assist you today?¡±

 Chapter 42: To you, 3000 years in the future

    Vancil¡¯s eyes widened behind his mask as his brain instantly went into overdrive upon hearing the AI¡¯s words. AI. Artificial Intelligence. Bad. This was very bad. Gritting his teeth Vancil drew his lightsaber taking several steps back and holding his arm out protectively in front of Kandria. His gaze darted around the bridge wildly, marking every piece of technology or thing controlled by technology, anything that the AI could have access to.

    ¡°I am sensing high levels of stress from the both of you. Would I be correct in assuming this is because of my nature as an AI?¡±

    That brought Vancil slight pause and he found himself responding in slight surprise, ¡°Uh, yeah. That¡¯s exactly why.¡±

    A humming noise reverberated around Vancil and Kandria, ¡°Understood. Would I be correct in assuming your fear of me is based off of the historical instances in which AI has gone rogue and rampant?¡±

    Vancil found himself lowering his guard, and some of the tension in his shoulders was replaced by further shock, ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°I see, then your response is entirely justifiable. I am aware of what AI has managed throughout the galaxy, but rest assured, instances in my coding have been put in place to significantly reduce the chances while allowing me to maintain a degree of intellectual autonomy.¡± Came the robotic voice, sounding quite pleased with itself as it spoke.

    Vancil stared dumbfounded at the console. He supposed that was somewhat reassuring. Yet then again¡­ there was always the possibility that it was simply lying so they would let their guard down. Working his jaw he didn¡¯t lower his defensive stance. His head shifted to Kandria behind him. She was still okay, thank the Storm, however she seemed just as shocked and fearful as Vancil at the AI.

    ¡°How in the fuck do you expect us to believe that?¡± He accused, voicing his thoughts.

    ¡°I understand. Do not worry though, as I have several programs which were integrated into my coding in order to convince you that what I say is the truth. For the purpose of selecting a program, may I apply a scan to determine your allegiance and identity so that the relevant program can be selected?¡±

    ¡°NO!¡± Vancil shouted almost as soon as he heard the offer.

    ¡°Understood. May I then ask for your name, gender, and age to determine your allegiance? With this method I will not have to scan you, however my database will be more limited.¡±

    Vancil swallowed and his grip tightened around his lightsaber. This was a Sith space station. This was clearly a Sith AI. But it was AI nonetheless. Then again, it wasn¡¯t like he had a lot of options at the moment. He could try running for the door, but considering the AI had activated with the activation of the main console, it was likely integrated into the station and so had control of the entire thing, including the hangar and elevator doors.

    ¡°¡­Vancil Romuval, Male, 24.¡± Came Vancil¡¯s strained reply.

    ¡°Searching¡­ Match found. Initiating Assurance Program #0002¡­ Initiation successful. Please direct your attention to the main console.¡±

    Vancil licked his lips beneath his mask as the slowly rotating symbol of the Sith Empire flickered away, switching to what looked like the beginning of a recording, a timestamp in the top right of the screen while the rest remained black. The recording soon began, and the black flicked away to reveal a man dressed in a black Sith uniform sitting on a chair in what looked like the living room of a mansion.

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    Vancil¡¯s eyes widened and any sort of fear he felt disappeared instantly, ¡°¡­Ominit?¡±

    ¡°Vancil, I¡¯m sure that if you are seeing this it has been a while.¡± The recording said almost in response, but Vancil knew it was just a mocking coincidence, ¡°I¡¯m also sure that if you are seeing this you are currently standing before one of my more successful experiments.¡±

    Vancil turned off his lightsaber, his gaze focused on one of the most influential figures in his life. Ominit had created the AI?

    The recording chuckled lightly, something he had never seen Ominit do in such a¡­ jovial manner, ¡°This is a Beacon, one of a set of three space stations which I created in secret. The AI you are speaking with is Experimental AI #0012, but that name was a bit of a mouthful so I just called him ¡®E¡¯ whenever I talked to him. If I am correct, which I most likely am, when you disappeared aboard that Rakatan Ship you were transported a couple thousand years into the future. If I have anything to say about that¡­ I¡¯m sorry. You didn¡¯t deserve such a thing to happen to you, and really it was my own drive to complete my ultimate objectives that led to your fate.

    ¡°But anyways, onto the other reason why I made this recording. Yes, this AI is safe. I myself was very cautious about it initially as well, even though I was the one to make it. E¡¯s harmless really. His purpose is to run this station and act as a beacon, and he understands it well enough. Heck, I even treated him absolutely horrible to see if there was a breaking point where he would snap, but I couldn¡¯t reach it. And considering that you were pretty alone among your peers the last I checked, I figured him having some sentience would give you a friend to have.¡±

    Ominit reached into his pocket and pulled out a bright red crystal, ¡°This is how I know as much as I do about your current situation. You might remember it from that time we boiled down all of those Jedi Kyber Crystals. This is possibly the most powerful tool in the galaxy. Something big is coming your way Vancil, and this is the only sure-fire way to prepare for it. I obviously did not leave it on this particular Beacon station though, as there is no guarantee it would remain in one piece or that it would be on the right station.¡±

    Ominit pocketed the crystal again, and an apologetic look crossed his face, another foreign sight, ¡°I know that I really have no right to ask you to do anything, but please entertain my selfishness one more time. This station is a Beacon, and as I¡¯m sure you can tell that means its purpose is to draw something towards it. You are the key to that part. I could have done it with the technology aboard the Rakatan Ship, however in case of failure you were my backup plan. So, before I fully hand over control of the station and tell you where I hid this crystal, I ask that you indulge a dead man¡¯s final wish.¡±

    A button on the main console suddenly blinked red, a small needle extending out of it, ¡°All you have to do is just prick your finger on that needle that should¡¯ve appeared. The AI will do the rest and activate the necessary systems. Once the operations have been completed you will be designated as Captain of this space station and E will comply with whatever requests you have. I could say more¡­ but unfortunately the only visions I get now from the crystal are of my own death considering how close it now is. I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t finish teaching you. I hope you found your sister.¡±

    With that the recording flicked off, allowing silence to reign once again. Vancil stood stock still, not one part of him moving even an inch. There wasn¡¯t a thought in his head nor an emotion in his heart as he processed every individual word that had come out of Ominit¡¯s mouth. He turned his head to look at Kandria, who seemed just as shocked as he was.

    He looked back to the needle, the blinking red around it a consistent invitation. Silently, Vancil took off his mask, turning it over to look at it in his hands. Ominit had made him this mask when he first took Vancil under his wing.

    Lips thinning, Vancil walked over with purposeful strides towards the needle, stabbing his finger into it without a second thought or feeling of hesitation. The response was instant, the needle retracting back into the button while taking the small drop of blood with it. The screen was immediately filled with hundreds of tabs and calculations that Vancil couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of, even if he bothered to try and understand them. It didn¡¯t take long for the AI¡¯s voice to return, the station now rumbling slightly.

    ¡°Blood sample acquired. Safety checks successful. Structural stability checks positive. Biological scans successful. Survival chance: 99.999991%. Acceptable survival level. Beacon Protocol #0001 activating¡­¡±

    Vancil¡¯s vision filled with red.

 Chapter 43: The Wrong Feeling

    Vancil¡¯s armoured boots resounded upon the metal floor of the hexagonal hallway in time with his master¡¯s, their footsteps echoing throughout the now empty halls of the ancient ship. He appraised the perfectly smooth surface on the walls to either side of him through the eye slits in his mask. The purpose of making the walls smooth to such an extent ultimately meant nothing to him, but who knows what such an action could have meant to the Rakatans and their society.

    Perhaps it was this impossible smoothness that was related to the mystical pieces of technology that his master sought, although Vancil found that unlikely.

    His gaze drifted back to the slack black hooded cloak ahead of him that was his master, Darth Ominit. The reason for the seemingly impractical Sith clothing item was to instil a sense of dread and fear in whichever poor sod was their opponent, a tactic which both Ominit and Vancil had decided to undertake. This effect was also afforded by the masks which the both of them wore, however Ominit¡¯s was undoubtedly more effective due to the harsh and jagged spikes which jutted forth from his crimson mask.

    ¡°You look nervous Vancil, feeling scared?¡± A mocking voice echoed from his side, causing a scowl to grow along the Sith¡¯s face beneath his mask.

    Vancil didn¡¯t even glance in her direction as he replied sharply, his tone curt and dismissive, ¡°I¡¯ve been scared of two things in my entire life, neither of which is an abandoned hallway. You¡¯ll need someone else to validate your own fears, Phoenix.¡±

    The fiery haired woman cackled in response, the sass not leaving her tone one bit, ¡°Very funny, because unlike you, I¡¯ve never been scared of anything.¡±

    Vancil bristled at that jab however kept his cool so as to not lash out completely. To do as such would essentially be admitting that she had gotten the better of him in their verbal spar, ¡°Well aren¡¯t you a brave little girl. If I remember correctly you¡­¡±

    Vancil paused and frowned beneath his mask as the memory slipped away. What was it he was trying to remember? The world seemed to fade out of focus for a second as he rooted through his memories.

    Was it something on Korriban? No, Phoenix had never been at the Sith Academy. Was it during a fight with Jedi? No, despite both being apprentices of Darth Ominit they had never fought side by side. The last thing he remembered of her was¡­ boarding this ancient ship alongside their master.

    Vancil flicked his gaze over the intricate engravings in the walls as he tried to instead work backwards in his memories from this point. His feet continued to carry him forward, following the vague shape of Darth Ominit while he completely ignored Phoenix.

    Before they had boarded this vessel, they had been on a mission in some backwater asteroid belt. Before that they had been a part of a boarding action for a Republic cruiser. Before that he and Kandria had been on Mandalore dealing with some Deathwatch. Before that he and Ominit were enjoying some relaxation on-

    Vancil¡¯s steps paused as he froze in place, not moving a muscle. Kandria? That was Jedi Master Coval¡¯s apprentice. His frown deepened as he held a hand to his head, a small headache coming on. Wait, how did he know that? He had never met either of those Jedi before. Suddenly the world around him changed. He was being carried through a familiar control room by a woman dressed in purple robes, one he somehow instinctively knew to be Kandria. His limbs wouldn¡¯t respond when he tried to move them, and in a blink, he was back in the Rakatan ship.

    Vancil groaned as his headache spiked, causing him to hold a hand to his head. What was that? A vision of the future? A memory? Vancil had no idea. Thankfully there were two other Sith with him to answer his question. He looked ahead to Ominit again, opening his mouth to voice his concerns about the vision.

    The words caught in his throat as he finally noticed Ominit. It wasn¡¯t just Vancil going out of focus and not paying attention to the world. Ominit really was just a vague shape. He somehow had no substance, and trying to focus in on anything would cause the whole body to slip away. Ominit had stopped moving a few metres in front of Vancil, standing stock still with his back to the young Sith.

    Vancil glanced to the right, his eyes glancing over the blue flowers which now covered the walls to land on Phoenix. Unlike Ominit, she held her shape and didn¡¯t have the sense that she was fading away from existence. In fact, upon closer inspection she seemed to be the most solid thing in sight. Upon second glance however it didn¡¯t make her appearance any less strange.

    She wore what looked to be the simple brown clothes of a backwater farmer or peasant on the worlds where technology had not quite advanced. Surrounding those clothes was a tough leather cloak, the tail end of it singed and slightly torn as it reached down to her legs. A stark difference to the almost entirely black modern cloaks of the Sith, so much of a difference Vancil was shocked that he hadn¡¯t noticed it before.

    Phoenix stood directly to Vancil¡¯s right, her lips pursed in frustration as her red eyes, eerily similar to his own, remained locked on the hallway ahead which now seemed to have no end or beginning. Vancil remained absolutely silent as the slow realisation dawned on him. He didn¡¯t know this woman. He had never met her before in his life, and she wasn¡¯t here when he and Ominit had conducted their operation on the Rakatan ship. She had never been in his life, whether briefly or for a long time.

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    How did he know her name then?

    As his thoughts raced, Phoenix finally spoke without even looking in Vancil¡¯s direction, her voice lacking the sass it had before, instead being laced with annoyance and frustration, ¡°Well shit, you broke out of that quicker than expected. Knew I should¡¯ve kept it to a minor event.¡±

    The words sent a chill down Vancil¡¯s spine for reasons he did not fully understand. Regardless, he had no response to her words, especially not when he didn¡¯t even know their meaning. Phoenix, for her part, didn¡¯t seem to mind as she sighed with a half-disappointed shake of her head.

    ¡°You know, I kind of hoped it would last longer. I¡¯ve grown fond of you. Then again after a couple millennium you do eventually grow fond of someone, whether you like it or not.¡± She said, finally turning her head to look at Vancil.

    Unlike her words, there was no sign of such fondness in the cold expression she had. Vancil tensed up, his hand instinctively and blatantly shooting to the lightsaber at his side as his danger senses kicked. It certainly didn¡¯t help calm his nerves as she raised an amused eyebrow at his actions, glancing at the lightsaber lazily than back at Vancil.

    ¡°¡­Who the fuck are you.¡± Vancil managed to force out, his gaze never leaving hers.

    It was a strange question. He knew her. Remembered her name, recognised her voice and how she looked. Yet he didn¡¯t remember where the memories came from. It was like someone had applied a miniscule patch into the code which changed none of the other code and simply existed in the back end. There were memories of her somewhere, but they were faint, too faint for him to properly review but strong enough that he could still parse out her name and looks.

    Phoenix hummed leisurely as she seemed to ponder the question, tapping her chin in exaggerated thought, ¡°Hmmmm, bit of a loaded question. In my current state I don¡¯t even have the full answer. Oversimplified, I¡¯m the chick that¡¯s been sitting in your head for the better part of 3000 years. Probably could¡¯ve stayed longer too if you hadn¡¯t gone ahead and listened to that asshole you call a master.¡±

    Vancil blinked and suddenly the hallway around them was gone, leaving them standing in a black, featureless void. It wasn¡¯t just dark¡­ it was nothing. There was absolutely nothing in this space, nothing except for Vancil and Phoenix. His mask was gone, vanished into thin air, but he had the idea that it would do nothing to protect him.

    Vancil licked his lips as he tried to calm his nerves, which screamed at him to turn tail and run, ¡°Alright, better question. What are you?¡±

    Phoenix smirked at that, as though she found something about his words quite funny, ¡°Another loaded question, another oversimplified answer. I¡¯m essentially the scorch marks that were left on your broken corpse of a master. Enough of me to form coherent assessments and understand my place, not enough to be considered my own being.¡±

    She wagged a finger pointedly at Vancil, causing him to inadvertently flinch, however she continued on unbothered, ¡°I¡¯m in your head specifically because that fucker kicked me out and crammed me into your mind. You got to admire his handy work though, pushed me down so far and effectively I couldn¡¯t do jack shit the entire time I was in there. Most that changed with you was that my eyes bled out into yours.

    ¡°I¡¯m a bit worse for wear though. Being stuck in an isolated box for such a long amount of time isn¡¯t fun. Just ask Rand.¡± Phoenix¡¯s smirk fell as she continued, ¡°Then you had to go ahead and get into some time travel shenanigans. Yeah, it was a couple of minutes to you, but to me? I lived through it for so long I actually developed a conscience.¡±

    Vancil winced as a dull pain settled over his mind with each word, causing a groan to emanate from him, ¡°That¡­ I don¡¯t understand a lick of what you said¡­¡±

    A sympathetic and pitying look came over Phoenix¡¯s face, ¡°Yeah, I wouldn¡¯t blame you. I mean, I¡¯m not the only person who¡¯s been messing around in your head. Including me you¡¯ve had a total of three people messing around in your mind; me, your asshole master, and that matchmaker Kavir.¡±

    Vancil frowned at her words and the implications. People had been messing around in his head? Either he was far more weak-willed than he thought, or the influence had been so subtle he hadn¡¯t even noticed it. Neither had welcoming implications. Then again¡­

    ¡°Why the fuck should I trust a word you say?¡± He said as his eyes narrowed accusingly.

    Phoenix simply snorted and shrugged, ¡°Heh, you shouldn¡¯t, instinctually or logically. Logically speaking I¡¯m most likely some strange imagination conjured up by your mind in a moment of crisis. Not like it matters anyway. Pretty soon I¡¯m going to get killed, and you¡¯ll be free of me.¡± As she said those final words she suddenly clapped her hands together, causing a large white screen to appear to Vancil¡¯s left.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve used this, but I¡¯m sure you want to know what¡¯s going on out there in the real world? It¡¯s even got an option to replay moments.¡± A bean bag suddenly appeared beneath both of them, with Phoenix dropping down into hers with a satisfied sigh while Vancil remained standing, his gaze locked on the blue Storm Petals which were littered around the bean bag.

    Something else was bothering Vancil though, ¡°Wait, if this is my mind¡­ shouldn¡¯t I have more power than you? I don¡¯t feel¡­ in control.¡±

    Phoenix hummed as she summoned a remote in her hands, not even looking to Vancil as she spoke, ¡°True, you got home advantage. Except, you¡¯ve never been in here. Properly at least. I¡¯ve had over three millennia to experiment and discover things. Are you gonna sit down or not?¡±

    Vancil looked to the screen, which was still a blinding white, then down to the bean bag. There was so much he wanted to know, so much he was still confused about. She had somehow answered none of his questions and simultaneously created hundreds more. How did she know Ominit? Why did she seem to have such a low opinion of him? What did she mean by calling Ominit a broken corpse and herself a ¡®scorch mark¡¯? Who the hell was Rand, and why did Vancil instinctively think of wheels and boxes?

    He held himself back though. She was good at hiding it, but there was a strange sadness to her; as though she was in her final moments and knew there was nothing, she could do about it. She had said she was going to be killed, but by whom and what it meant for Vancil, whose mind she currently inhabited, was unknown. In an eery way it was frighteningly similar to the video of Ominit he had just seen.

    Working his jaw Vancil unceremoniously dropped into the bean bag, the blue flowers that had sprouted around it providing a strange comfort to him, ¡°What we watching?¡±

    It seemed he was a sucker for the dying wishes of people.

 Chapter 44: Reality Breaker

    The Force was in flux. Kandria had always sensed the presence of the Force since she had started her training as a Jedi. Most times it was still, or at least flowing like a gentle river. During battle it would shift back and forth as though someone were rocking the tub, of which Sith and Jedi were the most common perpetrators.

    This was different though. Instead of shifting back and forth like gusts of winds, this sensation felt like the Force itself had condensed into waves. In the small time Kandria had to analyse what was going on she realised what was happening was similar to a Force Push. Unlike the usually controlled and concentrated combat technique however, this was wild. Chaotic. It didn¡¯t have the properties of a Force Push through any purpose or technique, rather it was a simple side effect of the sheer amount which was being moved.

    Being moved right towards Vancil and her. Feeling the wave approach Kandria braced herself while also preparing for the very likely event that she was thrown off her feet. She glanced to Vancil, expecting the Sith to be doing the same; only to find him collapsing as his knees buckled and his head lolled back. Without even thinking about it, Kandria moved to position herself behind Vancil as much as possible, her body moving on sheer instinct, instinct to protect him.

    It certainly didn¡¯t help her situation that Vancil, being in front of Kandria, had become an unwitting projectile. Vancil hit first as he was sent flying into Kandria at the breakneck speeds. Unable to properly brace herself in time, the wind was knocked out of Kandria as Vancil¡¯s body collided with her chest. Yet, she pushed through the disorientation, wrapping her arms around Vancil¡¯s chest and curling around him protectively, making sure to shelter his head in particular.

    The wave hit second. While Kandria had managed to maintain some stability when she caught Vancil, she had no chance against the wave, which promptly threw her off her feet. She didn¡¯t know how fast she was going, only that when she hit the durasteel wall she hit hard. Her chest ached and stung with sharp pain as Vancil¡¯s limp pushed her further against the wall. Her senses were disoriented beyond belief, her vision blurry and thoughts scrambled as the wave continued to roll over her and Vancil.

    She didn¡¯t know how long it lasted, and probably lost partial consciousness at some point, but eventually the wave subsided and the pressure lessened. Kandria slid down the wall, her arms still wrapped around Vancil who had fallen into her lap. Her vision swayed groggily as she struggled to bring into focus what was happening. Vague, robotic words echoed in the distance, as though they were being yelled from a mile away.

    ¡°Expulsion complete¡­ Parasite confirmed¡­ initialising¡­¡±

    The entire station shook as millennium old equipment started up for the first time since their creation, errors springing up across monitors which now flickered to life, some resolving themselves, some persisting. Kandria shook her head in a vain attempt to clear the blurring in her vision. Once the pain and aching in her bones subsided enough, she struggled to her feet, Vancil¡¯s limp form not helping matters in the slightest.

    Moving purely on instinct she secured her grip around his torso as she slowly dragged Vancil to the door, her advance slowed even further by the violent shaking that permeated the station. When she reached the now shut door she slammed her fist against the access panel, causing to crack slightly as it flashed a red message; BREAKER IN FIRING SEQUENCE.

    Her dazed and probably concussed mind barely registered the words, yet in her current state there was little she could do to solve whatever the problem was. She couldn¡¯t believe it had taken her this long to realise; the Force, the thing which permeated every being in the galaxy no matter where you were, was gone.

    It wasn¡¯t weak, it wasn¡¯t hidden, it was gone. It felt like a void had suddenly overtaken the entirety of the room. It felt all sorts of wrong, as though the water she had been bathing in all her life had disappeared around her. The Force still existed; she could sense as much just beyond the unmoving door, rolling and sliding as it was pulled somewhere, in a similar manner to the Force wave that had been in the room only moments before.

    Her adrenaline beginning to fade as she failed to open the door, Kandria collapsed against the door, shifting so that she was leaning back against it and Vancil was once again cradled in her arms. Gingerly she raised a finger to Vancil¡¯s throat, the tension in her releasing as the felt the pulse. It was weaker than it should be, but nothing that indicated he was near death.

    Closing her eyes Kandria steadied her breathing, falling back on her Jedi training to calm herself down as she thought of the times she had spent in meditation in the Temple courtyard. Her heart ached slightly as she did so, as while she had already come to terms with her desertion of the Jedi Order it was still the institution, she had been a part of all of her life. Thankfully the ache was lessened somewhat due to all her memories about the Jedi Order being during the one from 3000 years ago.

    As she sat there in pseudo-meditative thought for a few more minutes, the shaking slowly died down, eventually only being a barely noticeable rumble not too dissimilar to the rumble caused by engines in starfighters and vehicles. The Force which had been rolling just beyond the door stilled, yet there was an underlying tension she could sense. Reaching out with her mind to look for the Force was hard when it was no longer around her, but she managed to get a vague idea of where it was and what had happened.

    The entire control room was, to put it bluntly, a complete void in the Force, unsettling her in ways she didn¡¯t think she could be unsettled. Pushing past that however was possibly the largest concentration of the Force she had ever felt condensed probably a few dozen feet beyond the control room in the cold vacuum of space. She obviously couldn¡¯t, but Kandria reckoned that if she touched the mass of Force, it would be solid as a rock. What was strange however was that it wasn¡¯t rolling or whirling in an uncontrollable whirlwind. Instead, it was impossibly still, with only the slightest fluctuations that Kandria could sense.

    Then, somehow, something stranger happened.

    The faint sound of fabric tearing reached Kandria¡¯s ears, yet it came from no direction nor seemed to have any volume she could pinpoint. Whenever she thought the sound was close it would become fainter, and whenever she thought it was far away it got louder. Still her eyes remain shut, a combination of tiredness and desire to maintain her meditative state.

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    It started small, but the sound began to change, finally deciding that it would be loud while also morphing from the sound of tearing fabric to that of a tree cracking and snapping. It was only when the ball of condensed Force began to rapidly shift and shrink, followed by a blue light beginning to breach through her eyelids that Kandria opened her eyes.

    It burned.

    It wasn¡¯t the brightness, although that in itself would be reason enough. What she was seeing was something that she wasn¡¯t supposed to see. She knew it, deep in her soul, that it was wrong. It wasn¡¯t supposed to exist here. She couldn¡¯t comprehend it, didn¡¯t even know how she knew this. This sense of wrongness was different from when she was surrounded by the Dark Side or when the Force was absent. This was primal, something built into her core.

    A vertical crack was outside the control room, in the very centre of the ball of condensed Force. It wasn¡¯t a straight line, more so like the crack you¡¯d see in a stone if you hit it hard enough. It radiated a brilliant blue, the beams of light casting shadows throughout the control room. Kandria felt it pierce through her, as though she wasn¡¯t even there and bringing an involuntary shiver to her.

    The entire galaxy seemed to grow silent, the frantic alarms in the control room having silenced. The crack expanded, a small piece branching out only a few inches.

    The Force screamed.

    <hr>

    Communications Officer Mera was still, her mind reeling from the shiver which had just run through her body. For a brief few seconds something had rushed through her. Her mind blanked for a moment, something usually damning for someone of her position, yet the countless waves of radio chatter which had previously been blasting through her earpiece had silenced as well.

    Unfortunately, it didn¡¯t last. Mera¡¯s ears exploded as cries, screams, for help drowned out everything else. This itself disoriented her and the rest of the communications officers aboard the bridge of the Venator Class Star Destroyer ¡®Pathfinder¡¯ for another few seconds. Her thoughts reeled as she struggled to organise and determine what was going on.

    Before she had been frozen into a state of shock the amount of chatter had been large, but still maintained some form of orderliness. Now though, it was as though the entire Republic Fleet above Celanon had gone mad. The communications that she had been receiving at her station were mostly from the fighter wings the Pathfinder had deployed. Now though?

    ¡°This is the Scimitar, shields are down to 20%, major casualties on board, requesting immediate aid!¡±

    ¡°Acclamator Class Equinox reporting, we¡¯re dead in the water taking focused fire from two Munif-¡°

    ¡°The Stargazer is at minimal operational status, what the hell just ha-¡°

    ¡°OUR SHIELDS ARE DOWN, JEDI-GENERAL DURLING IS INCAPACITATED, WE NEE-¡°

    ¡°Arrow Squadron is down to 20% strength, we''ve got a pack of Vultures on our-¡±

    A tremor travelled throughout the ship as it took a particularly hard hit, the force great enough to throw her and a few others from their chairs. She grunted as she collided with the floor, her ear piece detaching and scattering over the ground and away from her.

    What was happening?

    Struggling to her feet she turned and looked up towards the raised platform above her where the command staff directed things. They had a Jedi-General, even one who had a fairly decent military record from before the start of the war. Whenever the going got tough, the crew of the Pathfinder knew that they had General Cenware to look to for leadership.

    The colour drained from Mera¡¯s face as her eyes landed on their vaunted commander, collapsed to his hands and knees as vomit poured from his mouth and blood dripped from his eyes.

    <hr>

    Leopold stumbled and dropped to his knees, his stomach emptying itself onto the muddied ground outside the capital city of Contruum. The Force, an incomprehensible amount of it had violently pushed itself through him. It wasn¡¯t just him though. From what he felt the entirety of the Force had just pushed through him and the clone troopers surrounding him. In fact, wherever he managed to reach out his dazed senses there was nothing but movement from the Force, all heading in a direction he couldn¡¯t determine.

    Someone clasped him by the shoulder, probably a clone, but he was far too disoriented to really register it. He vaguely noticed another come to help, the both of them working together to wrap Leopold¡¯s arms around their shoulders as they dragged him away, the muffled sounds of battle restarting.

    That¡¯s right, he was in a battle. Leading a battalion of troopers even. If his master could see him now¡­

    Even in his disoriented state however he recognised that things were going horribly wrong. The once blue and red bolts which danced through the air were now showing a clear numbers superiority for the red blaster bolts. He looked to the side, watching an explosion send a group of clones taking cover behind a wrecked walker be sent flying away, mostly in various pieces.

    One of the clones carrying him fell limp, causing Leopold and the remaining clone to fall to stumble to the ground. The Jedi Knight groaned as his face smeared across the muddy ruined ground beneath, trying and failing to will his arms to move. The clone above him yelled some words he didn¡¯t understand before falling silent, his corpse falling over top of Leopold, the Jedi sure that if he had any air left in his lungs it would have been driven out of him.

    The sounds of battle raged on for a few more minutes before falling silent. The ground trembled as battle droids marched forward, their metal forms nothing but beige blurs. Yet they were also accompanied by distinctly alien figures

    Leopold¡¯s breathing came out in ragged bursts, the fallout from the sudden and violent shift in the Force still ever present. Apparently, these small sounds had been noticed, as soon enough a black boot filled his vision.

    Using all the strength he had left, Leopold tilted his head upwards, eyes staring down the barrel of a blaster.

    <hr>

    Kavir stirred as the Force rolled around her in its entirety. There were occasional moments where the Force would do something strange, usually in moments of great importance. This was different however. She couldn¡¯t tell much, but she knew that it was being pulled somewhere, somewhere far away.

    What interested Kavir was that it wasn¡¯t just a large portion of the Force, it was all of it. All converging on one point like a floodgate had been broken.

    Curiosity got the better of her and she sent out a small tendril of herself, following the direction of the movement. Her curiosity grew into concern as she made it over a quarter of the galaxy. Still not there. Halfway across the galaxy. Still not there.

    The farther she got the more she realised something. The behaviour of the Force wasn¡¯t that of a something pulling it, it was more like someone pulling the plug in a bath and the water draining away. Her mind wandered to a possible explanation for such a concerning and wild reason¡­ but she pushed it away. It was impossible after all.

    After travelling three quarters of the way across the galaxy she felt it. Something that shouldn¡¯t have ever happened. Something she thought she would never experience again. While she had travelled three quarters of the galaxy in a leisurely few minutes, she travelled the final quarter in seconds screeching to a halt directly above a derelict space station.

    This far out her senses were stretched to their very limit, but she recognised what she saw. She recognised it far too well. At the sight of the tear in reality itself, Kavir had only one thing to say.

    "??????????????????????.??????????.????????????????????????.????????????????????F?????????????????????u????????c???????????????????????????k??????????????????"?????????????????

 Chapter 45: Flickering Visions

    Kandria could do nothing but stare in awe and horror as the Force screamed just beyond the door she was slouched against. It felt like that cold metal door which trapped her here was the only thing between her and a veritable tsunami of the Force. In fact, the whole room, which was somehow impossibly devoid of Force, now provided Kandria an eery sort of comfort as she would much rather be in here than out there.

    From what she could feel the Force was being pulled rather violently into the blue tear just beyond the command room, all the while rolling around and slicking over the exterior of the room as though it were steadfast rock in the middle of a roaring river. She didn¡¯t have to experience it to know that if she wasn¡¯t safely sheltered behind the walls, she would likely be dead or on the brink of death.

    If directed the Force could easily crush someone¡¯s body, even if took a bit of effort on the instigators part. When undirected the Force was usually quite harmless; there was either never enough of it in a singular point to do any harm or it would simply remain still and not do anything. What was happening outside was possibly the greatest concentration and sheer movement of the Force that would ever occur in the galaxy. She would most likely die instantly if she went out there, the sheer power crushing her body like a fruit.

    As such, there was little Kandria could do other than continue to cradle Vancil and watch the strange crack as it seemed to be drinking up the force around it. To her it kind of seemed like the vacuum that would happen when you opened an airlock door.

    She didn¡¯t know how long she was waiting, and while it felt like hours it was most likely only a minute or two. Eventually however, the Force, for the second time, stilled; not with as much tension as there was when the blue tear had appeared, but still a noticeable amount.

    ¡°STABILITY LEVELS ACCEPTABLE. REALITY BREAKER PROTOCOL COMPLETE.¡±

    The robotic voice rang out once again, making Kandria both confused and relieved. She didn¡¯t understand most of what it was saying but she could at least put together that whatever was happening was over, for now at least.

    The door behind her slid open and she dropped back with a yelp, the force also beginning to once again flood the room, filling her at the same time and causing her vision to fill with white.

    <hr>

    ¡°Force save me, force save me, oh by all the gods who exist it hurts-¡°

    ¡°Padawan, we need to move. Padaw-¡°

    <hr>

    Kandria gasped as her sight returned to the here and now, her wide eyes taking in the harsh metal roof of the elevator.

    ¡°What the-¡° Kandria began before a familiar robotic voice sounded again.

    ¡°I recommend that you get Vancil to the medical bay. His vitals are stable but it is better to be safe than sorry.¡±

    Kandria blinked and suddenly remembered the unconscious Vancil who now laid on top of her prone form. Shaking her head she gently heaved Vancil off of her and into the elevator fully. Licking her lips Kandria looked at the options on the elevator. Electrical Room, Hangar, and Hydroponics¡­

    ¡°Hey uh¡­ AI,¡± Kandria looked over the options again before glancing around the elevator, her gaze finally settling on a previously unseen camera in the top corner of the elevator, ¡°I don¡¯t see any medical bay here.¡±

    ¡°The medical bay is integrated into Hydroponics. Once you get to that floor I will guide you further.¡± Was the robotic response.

    Kandria licked her lips as she nodded and pressed the button for Hydroponics. As the elevator began to shift through the miasma that was the Force she dropped to a crouch in front of Vancil¡¯s slouched form, again checking his pulse and checking his head for injuries.

    <hr>

    She looked around in confusion, the scenery suddenly changing to that of a battlefield on a planet she didn¡¯t recognise. Droids of a make she did not recognise marched across a muddy plain past the bodies of hundreds of the clone soldiers she had seen in the employ of the Republic.

    Two stood out, a human male in Jedi robes collapsed and pinned beneath the plastoid covered body of a fallen clone. A strange humanoid creature that looked like some sort of insect stood over the Jedi, his navy-blue uniform as unfamiliar as everything else.

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    The creature kept his pistol pointed at the head of the Jedi for a moment longer¡­ before lowering it.

    <hr>

    Kandria¡¯s eyes flung open as the elevator came to a stop. She was at first quite confused why her view was filled with black and grey, however when whatever she was leaning against rose up and down, she suddenly put two and two together.

    Slowly picking herself up off of Vancil she looked down at him, her vision glazed over from the many things flooding through her brain. Why was she blacking out? What were these visions she was seeing periodically? Why did it feel surprisingly comfortable when she was leaning against Vancil?

    Shaking her head she quickly refocused on the task at hand; getting Vancil to the medical bay. Leaning down she grabbed Vancil¡¯s arm and draped it around her shoulder, most of the exhaustion and pain from before having mostly disappeared.

    Taking a moment to steady herself she spoke into the air as she walked out into the room beyond, eyes glancing briefly over the various plants and devices around the room, ¡°Alright, where to now?¡±

    ¡°Continue straight until you reach the second door on the right.¡± Came the monotone robotic voice of the AI.

    Kandria nodded in affirmation as she walked through the bay, her significantly slow pace giving her enough time to look over the equipment around her more closely. There seemed to be an extraordinary variety of plants of varying levels of health, some she recognised, most she didn¡¯t.

    Some of the plants had clearly been dead for a long time, their containers dark and lacking any power leaving most of the ones which had clearly broken down over time little more than boxes of dirt. Her eyes glanced over a plant at the far edge of the room as she neared the next hallway, a look of confusion crossing her face. Was that plant made of crystals?

    She shelved that away for later as she looked at the rooms in the dead-end corridor. Two doors were on the right and one on the left. The first door on the right had the words ¡®STORAGE¡¯ flashing on the display above it, its door strangely almost completely rusted over, a far cry from the rest of the station. The door on the left had the words ¡®QUARTERS¡¯ above it and looked fairly unassuming, likely just being exactly what it said it was.

    Finally, she spotted the words ¡®MEDICAL BAY¡¯ above the second door on the right. Reaching it she slammed her fist against the console, the slight violence and desperation shocking her. Regardless of how forceful she was the door opened nonetheless, Kandria marching through it with a burst of adrenaline at the final stretch. The room itself was once again fairly as expected for a medical bay, although with slightly more Sith aesthetics than she was comfortable with.

    Making her way over to one of the beds she gently laid Vancil down, hooking him up to various monitoring devices as she turned on said monitors. She was very practiced with providing first aid and medical assistance where needed, with a good few of her missions with Coval being to provide security and assistance to first aid camps just behind the frontlines.

    Her shoulders slumped in relief as the monitors began their job, showing everything from his heartbeat to his oxygen levels. Weaker than normal but the computer predicted nothing life threatening.

    Kandria turned to the empty room to thank the AI¡­

    <hr>

    ...and found herself in a place she had never been before. Again. This time she appeared to be in some sort of starship, most likely a large star fighter from the looks of its spacious interior. A woman with pale white skin, no hair, and deep purple clothing with bandages galore covering her, was slumped against the harsh yellow of a console.

    The woman groaned and held her head as she slowly raised herself back into her seat, muttering some curses Kandria couldn¡¯t quite make out. The woman appeared to take stock for a moment before looking over the console, pressing some buttons as she brought up both a galactic map and the communications relay.

    She scanned the two for a while, her eyes narrowing as she noticed something, something which Kandria couldn¡¯t even begin to consider.

    This vision seemed to be lasting longer than the others, allowing Kandria to take another look around the cabin, her gaze landing on a small grate at the back of the cabin leading into a larger room. She couldn¡¯t move from her position at the woman¡¯s side, but she could still make out enough thanks to the faded red lighting; droids similar to the ones she had seen on the muddy plane but slightly bulkier and with a slightly different design, each made of a sleek silver like metal.

    <hr>

    Kandria gasped as she shot to her feet her head whipping around frantically as she reasserted where she was. Yes, that¡¯s right, she was in the medical bay. She had come here to deliver Vancil to safety, and had clearly succeeded if the sleeping Sith on the bed before her was any indication. Seeing his unconscious form the tension in her faded away.

    Unfortunately, as is the golden rule of the universe, things couldn¡¯t be so simple.

    ¡°I feel like I must inform you of an anomaly happening outside. I do not have a protocol for this so I would appreciate some insight.¡±

    Kandria turned around in confusion as a console on the wall activated, giving a view of the blue tear outside the station. Kandria was confused at what she was supposed to be looking at before she spotted it. Kandria blinked and moved closer for a better look to make sure her eyes weren¡¯t playing tricks on her.

    There, just beyond the blue tear, standing on nothing, was a blue haired woman, a metal spear in one hand as she appeared to be leisurely looking around as though she wasn¡¯t in the vacuum of space.

    She took a step forward.

 Chapter 46: Interloper

    It all happened in an instant, one very long instant. Kandria¡¯s eyes barely registered the sudden platform of ice which appeared beneath the woman¡¯s feet before it shot forward, colliding with the station. The force of it caused Kandria to stumble a bit and steady herself before she refocused on the screen.

    The medical bay was suddenly bathed in a harsh red light as the emergency lighting came on, E¡¯s robotic voice speaking through the alarm system, ¡°Warning, hull breach detected. Bridge atmosphere compromised, commencing lockdown.¡±

    Kandria managed only a glimpse of the woman before she turned into a blur, streaming along the path and out of view of the camera. The AI thankfully acted before she needed to ask, switching to a camera situated inside the Bridge. The image took a moment to clear up, the shock of the station being struck likely messing with some of the wiring. When it did however it painted a grim picture.

    The glass which had once provided a view of the outside was gone, instead replaced by the solid steel of the emergency shutters. Ice covered a over half of the room, however it was mostly just a thin overcoat with a few pieces of unfortunate computer equipment completely unrecognisable. The blue haired woman stood a few feet in front of the shutters, her expression impossible to make out through still shaky camera imagery.

    The woman¡¯s head shifted from side to side as she seemed to take in the room around her, the long flowing hair which flowed gracefully around her seeming ethereal in of itself. What she was looking for though was clearly not there as she began a prompt walk through the rows of computers, making a beeline for the elevator.

    She stopped just in front of it, her gaze turning downward, prompting Kandria to also look. The woman¡¯s foot had just brushed against a lightsaber. Kandria¡¯s lightsaber. The former Jedi blinked slowly as the woman picked it up curiously. Kandria slowly patted at her waist half expecting what she was seeing to be just a hallucination from a concussion she got from being thrown around like a ragdoll. Sure, enough however, the familiar weight of her lightsaber was gone.

    Before Kandria could even reprimand herself however the woman was already on the move, putting the lightsaber into her pocket before casually pressing the button on the elevator as though she hadn¡¯t just walked through space and caused destruction on the room behind her.

    Kandria spotted the familiar flash of red on the panel, blinked, and the doors to the elevator were gone. Not opened, simply gone. It took a moment for Kandria to realise that they had been thrown to the other side of the room. Without a care in the world the woman simply stepped into the elevator and out of sight of the camera.

    ¡°Holy shit¡­ please tell me there is some sort of security system in place.¡± She muttered, half to herself and half to the AI she knew was listening in.

    ¡°Assessing¡­ 78% of security systems non-functional. 0% predicted subdue rate for all applicable security measures. 2% predicted delay rate for all applicable station measures. You have a 0.0004% predicted success rate against her.¡±

    The station shook once again, less violently than before but still noticeable, ¡°Warning, intruder has cut their way through the floor of the elevator and is now on the Hydroponics level.¡±

    Kandria blanched, and her eyes shot to the door, the one which would most certainly not be saving them. Her gaze moved around the room, looking for any weapon she could get her hands on that would have even a chance. It eventually fell on Vancil¡¯s still unconscious body.

    Licking her lips nervously she gently walked over and reached into his cloak. She needed a lightsaber, and he was the only one who had one. Unfamiliar with the inner layout of his cloak she fumbled around inside it, a slight blush of embarrassment at her awkwardness rising. Eventually she found something and pulled it out.

    In her hands was a neatly pressed blue flower, dried blood still splattering half of its petals. Her jaw dropped and she found herself completely at a loss for words at the object in her hand. She had given this to Vancil back on Kavir¡­ and he still had it. She had half expected it to be lost or thrown out either due to Vancil¡¯s personality or the sheer amount of action they had seen recently. Instead however, it was safely tucked away within his cloak, almost completely undamaged bar a few creases.

    Kandria shook her head to break her sudden stupor as she gently tucked the flower back into the cloak. There were more important things to focus on than her own unfamiliar feelings. After a few more moments of searching her hands eventually found her objective. Drawing out the familiar yet unfamiliar lightsaber she eyed it wearily, the dark side pouring off of it unsettling her slightly as concentrated amounts of it always did. She had gotten used to the dark side slightly more thanks to her continuous proximity to Vancil, yet that did little to defeat the many years of Jedi training in her.

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    ¡°Congratulations, your predicted success has risen to 0.0007%.¡±

    Kandria¡¯s ignored the AI as her head whipped around as the faint, rhythmic sound of metal tapping on metal could be heard through the door. If Kandria had to hazard a guess the woman was using her spear as a walking staff. The air became noticeably colder to an unnatural extent that shouldn¡¯t have been possible with the temperature regulators in the room.

    Gulping Kandria stalked over to the door, leaning with her back against the wall as she ignited Vancil¡¯s lightsaber, the deep red glow emitted from it almost blending in with the red emergency lighting which still swirled throughout the room. The woman¡¯s approach grew louder and louder as she came closer and closer. Finally, the sound stopped just outside the door to the Medical Bay.

    Kandria tentatively reached out with the force, yet sensed nothing beyond the steel walls. She knew otherwise however. Licking her lips Kandria raised the lightsaber, prepared to strike the moment the intruder stepped through the door.

    What Kandria didn¡¯t expect however, was for a metal spear to suddenly spike through the door as though it were butter, causing her to take a step back in shock. It remained still for a moment before it moved to upwards, acting like a crowbar and lifting the door despite the screeching objections of the metal around it.

    Once it was high enough a pale hand wrapped around the bottom of the door, lifting it the rest of the way as the spear was pulled back. Eyes widening, Kandria couldn¡¯t stop the fear which flooded her body at the display. Acting for the first time in her life completely out of fear, Kandria took a step forward, swinging the red lightsaber towards the intruder.

    Stepping out she got her first good look at the woman. She appeared to be a human with strange blue hair, her skin pale enough that one would think her unhealthy at a glance. Her clothing was strange too, the deep navy-blue windbreaker jacket and black pants seeming far too casual and out of place for a woman who seemed to possess immense power. Then there was the spear in the woman¡¯s left hand, which seemed to be one solid and continuous piece of metal, one which seemed to drink in the heat around it. The one which currently held her lightsaber in place.

    Kandria had a split second to regret her actions before the woman retaliated, her free hand raising and back handing Kandria in the stomach. The sheer amount of power behind the casual blow sent Kandria off her feet and into a piece of medical equipment which, while she wasn¡¯t sure of the exact purpose, knew that it was made of very hard metal.

    The air in Kandria¡¯s lungs barely had time to be thrown out before the woman was suddenly in front of her, the blunt end of her spear shooting towards Kandria¡¯s exposed face. Gritting her teeth Kandria pushed her body to the limit, leaping to the side and barely avoiding the blow. Scrabbling to get to her feet Kandria barely noticed the woman¡¯s raised eyebrow before she was in front of Kandria again.

    This time the spear did connect, sending her once again flying across the room and back the way she had come from. Panic once again filled her, much to her chagrin. She had been through near death experiences before. This was different though. In those experiences she had at least been able to do something. Not here though. She was completely powerless against whoever, whatever this woman was.

    Kandria¡¯s vision swam as she struggled to her feet, struggling to focus on the woman¡¯s form which leisurely approached. Heaving in desperation to get air into her lungs Kandria raised the lightsaber half heartedly in front of her, a slight bit of maddened humour breaking through at the realisation that the lightsaber hadn¡¯t turned out to be that useful anyways.

    As she was approaching however, the woman stopped, her gaze turning to the unconscious Vancil who continued to lie on the medical bed like a sack of potatoes. She took a step towards him.

    Kandria¡¯s vision suddenly cleared as adrenaline flooded through her, accompanied by a deep fury which completely evaporated any fear left inside her. The power which she had used against the Mandalorians returned to her as she dashed forward with speed which surprised even Kandria. She didn¡¯t hesitate nonetheless, raising Vancil¡¯s lightsaber and slashing down faster than she had ever struck. She saw it for a moment, a look of surprise in those blue eyes.

    It was only a moment however as the woman¡¯s gaze hardened. Instead of blocking like she had done before the intruder stepped forward into Kandria¡¯s swing, dropping her spear as she did so. Now with two hands one seized Kandria¡¯s wrists, halting them completely while the other grabbed her by the throat. The woman took another step forward, sweeping out Kandria¡¯s legs and slamming her down onto the ground.

    Kandria stared helplessly as the woman¡¯s emotionless face stared her down, whatever was going on behind those brilliant blue eyes a complete mystery. This was it. Kandria had given it her all, but now she was sure to be killed. At least Vancil would approve. Not wanting to go out meekly Kandria stared down the woman defiantly, barely staying conscious from the very limited oxygen available to her.

    The stare down continued for a few more agonising seconds before the pressure around her throat lessened, an unknowable smile crossing the woman¡¯s face, the words coming out of her mouth sounding like they were from a thousand different agonising voices,¡°Y?????????????????????o??????????????????u?????????????? ?????????????????????g??????????????????o?????????????????t??????????????? ???????????????????????????m???????????????o??????????????????????????x??????????????????y???????????????????????? ????????????????k?????????????????i??????????????????d????????????,????????????? ??????????????????I????????????????????''?????????l??????????????????l???????????????? ?????????????????g?????????????????????i???????????v?????????????????????????e????????????????????????? ???????y??????o??????????????u??????????????? ???????????????t????????????????????????h???????????a??????t???????????? ??????????????????????????????m????????????????u?????????c????????????????????h????????????????????????¡±

 Chapter 47: Help him

    Vancil didn¡¯t quite know how to feel. A lot of things had happened in the past few minutes¡­ maybe. In his mind space he wasn¡¯t really able to keep track of the concept of time. Things just¡­ were. He glanced over to Phoenix, the enigmatic woman who seemed utterly enthralled in what was happening.

    Vancil had to admit that he was as well, however he always watched Phoenix from out of the corner of his eye. Maybe it was his experience as a Sith, but he was almost certain that she was not to be trusted. The way she acted was akin to someone who knew they were going to die and had accepted it. Yet, the look in her eyes told of someone on the edge of desperation.

    He knew that look from the many battles he had participated in during the Great Galactic War, in the ones who were always particularly difficult to kill. His attention went back to the screen as Kandria now appeared to be getting more and more concerned as she watched the small monitor beside his bedside. The scope of vision from the ¡®screen¡¯ before him and Phoenix was quite strange. It seemed to originate from his eyes, yet not only were they closed but the peripheral of his vision was completely clear as though he were looking right at it.

    As a result, while he could see Kandria looking at the monitor, he couldn¡¯t see what was on the monitor itself. Whatever it was though seemed to be getting progressively worse if the rising panic in Kandria¡¯s eyes was any indication. Then something incredibly strange happened. She approached Vancil and started to ransack the inside of his cloak. He vaguely felt a hint of something akin to embarrassment at that, although the emotion itself was very unfamiliar.

    His eyes widened as she found the Storm Petal, the one he had kept since their adventure on Kavir, and he hazarded a glance at Phoenix. The woman thankfully seemed to not know its significance to him or at least knew to not bring it up. Refocusing on the screen Vancil¡¯s eyes narrowed as Kandria finally pulled out what she was looking for; his lightsaber.

    She was in danger. The specifics didn¡¯t matter. From what he could tell someone or something was coming aboard the ship, and for some reason or another she did not have access to her lightsaber. Vancil was surprised at how ready he was to allow her use of his lightsaber. A few of his ¡®compatriots¡¯ ¡®at the Sith Academy had attempted to take it only to be rather violently rebuked. He supposed that because it was clearly a life-threatening situation and Kandria needed all the help she could get, help Vancil was happy to provide.

    He watched with bated breath as Kandria took up a position just next to the door. He felt a twinge of concern and distaste at seeing her holding the red lightsaber. He hadn¡¯t brought it up yet, but she had touched the dark side during their battle on Concord, used it to fight and kill the Deathwatch. Vancil was a devout follower of the dark side, yet¡­ he didn¡¯t want to see Kandria fall to it. She was perfect the way she was, and if she delved into the dark side she would be forever changed.

    The dark side was many things, however unlike others of the same belief Vancil did not wish to impress it onto others or draw people over. People could choose what they wanted, and if they chose the light side than that was just how things worked out. It was far more understandable anyway, considering the light side had far more pleasant aspects than the dark side, or at least its practitioners had more pleasant aspects.

    He was brought out of his thoughts as he refocused on Kandria, standing up and taking a step forward to get a better view of the ¡®screen¡¯. Kandria was in a good position, clearly ready to ambush whoever dared to step through that door. Instead of opening and revealing the intruder however, something even stranger happened. What looked to be a spear pierced through the metal door which now had ice spreading across its surface.

    Then, all hell broke loose. It was difficult for Vancil to follow due to the limited vision afforded to him, but from what the Sith could tell, a blue haired woman he had never seen before in strange clothing was absolutely thrashing Kandria. Vancil was slightly stronger than Kandria, at least enough to beat her in a straight on fight but what he was seeing was so one sided even Vancil blanched at the thought of fighting the strange intruder. His shock and confusion quickly gave way to concern and panic as the woman pinned Kandria to the ground behind the foot of the bed, out of sight.

    Red eyes widening he whipped around to Phoenix, who no longer looked at the screen as she sat upright, her gaze hidden behind the fiery locks of hair which hung over her, ¡°Okay look, I¡¯m still not entirely sure who the hell you are or why you are in my head but you need to get me back into control of my body right fucking now.¡±

    This was a strange new feeling of helplessness Vancil hadn¡¯t felt ever since his sister had been sold off. In almost every other instance of his life he had some way to fight back or at least act, even if he was grievously injured. Now though, he was stuck in his own mind, forced to watch as the person now closest to his heart got beaten down like it was nothing.

    Phoenix was completely silent as she slowly rose to her feet, both of the beanbags disappearing as she did so. Her eyes remained locked on the ground; her expression still hidden as she took a step forward. Not toward the screen. Towards Vancil.

    Vancil¡¯s skin prickled and he instinctively took a step back as she spoke, ¡°Sorry about this kid. You just got some really rotten luck.¡±

    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    Vancil opened his mouth to retort and question, more so in an attempt to delay what was almost certainly coming than any real curiosity. He didn¡¯t get the chance before his vision filled with flames.

    <hr>

    Kandria heaved in as much air as she could with the now increased airflow she was allowed. As she greedily drank in the sweet oxygen her brain quickly got to work trying to understand and translate what the woman had just said. Unfortunately, that seemed to be a near impossible task, as there had been so many voices over top of each other that she didn¡¯t have a clue what she had heard. The most Kandria could come to was that ¡®moxy¡¯ was included.

    Thankfully, the woman seemed to notice her lack of understanding, releasing her grip on Kandria¡¯s throat and reaching up for her own. She seemed to feel around before pushing hard on a section of her throat, causing it to shift noticeably to the side in a most certainly unhealthy way.

    The woman worked her jaw and massaged her throat for a moment more before speaking, the hundreds of voices and echoes from before disappearing, ¡°I?????????s????????? ??????????????????t?????????????????hat better?¡±

    Kandria, still quite unsure of how to react, simply nodded wordlessly. Thankfully however the answer seemed to be satisfactory to the woman, who mirrored Kandria¡¯s nod as she rose to her feet, releasing her grip on Kandria¡¯s wrists and seizing her instead by the shoulders, bringing the former-jedi up to a standing position.

    ¡°Right, well that¡¯s good. I¡¯d say I¡¯m sorry about kicking your ass, but frankly I¡¯m in quite a shit mood right now.¡± She said, brushing away the few small ice crystals which had grown on Kandria without her noticing, ¡°Anyway, you seem like you got a lot of heart kid. You can call me Saphrus.¡±

    Kandria blinked before looking at the now deactivated lightsaber still in her hand, the starting trigger completely frozen over. When had that even happened?

    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m Kandria.¡± Was the Jedi¡¯s slow and still confused response.

    Saphrus either didn¡¯t notice or didn¡¯t care at Kandria¡¯s bewildered tone as she continued, ¡°Right, well, I¡¯m here because somebody tore a hole in reality. And since you and...¡± Saphrus trailed off as she finally got a good look at the unconscious Sith on the table, her eyes widening in recognition at something Kandria couldn¡¯t even begin to know, ¡°Well I¡¯ll be damned.¡±

    Worry immediately filled Kandria and she instinctively stepped between Saphrus and the bed, eyes narrowing even as her hands shook at the thought of fighting her again. The adrenaline had worn off, and the mysterious burst of power had done little to improve her chances against this person. She would almost certainly die if she fought her again. Yet¡­

    Saphrus raised an eyebrow at Kandria¡¯s brashness, her eyes flickering down to Kandria¡¯s shaking hands, ¡°Well, at least you aren¡¯t stupid enough to not be scared. Look kid, I can already tell you don¡¯t have a hell of a clue what¡¯s going on, so I¡¯ll try and explain it to your underdeveloped monkey brain.

    ¡°That guy,¡± Saphrus pointed at the unconscious Vancil, ¡°Has got a very dangerous little bitch somewhere in his mind. One which has almost certainly been watching us this entire time and knows who I am. So, if you don¡¯t want him to die, I recommend you let me past. Once I¡¯ve killed the little parasite, I¡¯ll answer any questions you have.¡±

    Saphrus¡¯ words did little to alleviate Kandria¡¯s worries, and she still stood resolutely in between the two. Then, suddenly and rather violently, Vancil jerked in the bed, his arm flying out to the side and smashing violently into the medical equipment which now showed his incredibly elevated heart rate. Eyes widening Kandria turned her back to Saphrus without a second thought and rushed to his side, pinning Vancil down so he didn¡¯t hurt himself. He jolted once again, as though he had been shocked by a particularly strong bolt of electricity. Kandria looked between Vancil and the medical equipment frantically. His heart rate and core temperature were rising, yet there were no actual issues that the equipment could find.

    Confused and beginning to panic she turned to glare at Saphrus, her eyes narrowing accusingly, ¡°Are you doing this?¡±

    Saphrus in response only scoffed at her words, crossing her arms as she spoke, ¡°I ain¡¯t doing shit, kid. This is just exactly what I said would happen if you don¡¯t let me kill the little shit hiding in his mind.¡±

    Kandria¡¯s mind raced as she considered Saphrus¡¯ words. The woman had only stopped trying to kill her a minute ago, and now she claimed she wanted to save Vancil? It was lunacy. Vancil jerked in her grip again, causing another spike in his medical readings. Her gaze whipped back to the unconscious Sith, the panic seeping in her beginning to seep past her Jedi training. She had witnessed people die before, sometimes extremely slowly and drawn out. Still, that hadn¡¯t given her much panic. When it was Vancil though¡­

    ¡°Help him.¡± She said through gritted teeth, discarding her suspicion and fully giving in to desperation. Maybe this would be a mistake. Maybe this Saphrus woman actually intended to do something truly horrible to Vancil. Why, Saphrus¡¯ whole explanation of going into his mind to kill some woman that was in there was ludicrous in of itself. But it was better than nothing.

    Saphrus smiled in satisfaction and stamped her foot on the ground, causing her discarded spear to jump up and into her outstretched hand, ¡°Excellent. You might also want to keep that hold of him cause shit¡¯s about to get pretty chaotic and wacky.¡±

    Kandria opened her mouth to inquire further, however she didn¡¯t get the chance as Saphrus¡¯ eyes went completely white and she fell backwards with an unceremonious crash. Ignoring the brief enjoyment at seeing the woman who had so thoroughly thrashed her now unconscious, Kandria instead focused on the ethereal white silhouette which had been left behind by the rest of the body. It stood perfectly still, having no features at all and merely being the shape of the woman.

    After a moment of shocked silence, it moved leisurely towards Vancil, passing through Kandria as though she wasn¡¯t even there, causing the Jedi to feel as though she had been dunked in an ice bath on Hoth. Fighting through the sudden shock she managed to watch as the ethereal projection laid a hand onto Vancil¡¯s head¡­ before it promptly disappeared.

    Silence reigned for a moment, Kandria still too stunned to speak. The beeping of the equipment brought Kandria back and she grit her teeth as she held Vancil down tightly.

    ¡°You better actually be saving him bitch, or there¡¯s gonna be hell to pay¡­¡±