Again I own zippo, zilch, and nada! I profit to the zero degree!
Chapter 2:
Korriban
Korriban, another world the Mandalorians refused to touch, thought Canderous as he peered out the viewpoint. Malachor V and Korriban were both places of pure evil. It didn't make much sense to Canderous though. The Mandalorians have made deals with the Sith, the Jedi and the Republic whenever it suited their cause. So why avoid worlds filled with something they were familiar with? Perhaps it's because we Mandalorians aren't evil and that just craved the glory of battle.
"Carth, Canderous, you're with me let's go," ordered Krysta snapping Canderous out of his contemplations
"Won't people recognize you seeing how you and Malak established the Academy?" asked Carth
Canderous sighed, "When did anybody ever see Revan's face? Hands? Anything? Remember, the mask, cloaked in black? Ring a bell Republic?"
"Insistent Plea: Master, let me come please oh please I desire to exterminate any meatbags that will not bow to your power," pleaded HK as innocently as an assassin droid could be.
"HK, we are trying to be subtle, the key is for people NOT to recognize me, and toting around with a unique assassin droid that served as Revan's favorite toy is not very inconspicuous," reasoned the former Dark Lord.
"Depressed statement: But master I haven't fired at anything in days," sulked the droid eerily human-like.
"Why don't you and T3 have target practice with the gizka?" suggested Canderous, let's go already.
"Pleased statement: I knew I liked you Mandalorian. Those gizka will rue the day they tried to mate in my chassis!" and with that HK, stalked off.
As the shore party exited the Ebon Hawk they could hear HK demand, "Pull Carpeted One!" followed by blaster fire. Looking around, Canderous noticed Czerka slime crawling all over the station. A quick Force Persuasion waived the docking fee on the fourth straight planet. Canderous marveled at how many people were swayed by a simple wave of a hand.
Once past the gate Canderous spied some Sith hopefuls getting Force Shocked for not being evil enough. Being evil doesn't win wars, superior tactics and strategy do as Exar Kun and later Krysta proved, noted the Mandalorian. Krysta scared the Sith newbie off only to run into another group thinking she was a fallen Jedi. If only they knew, they would quake in their boots. After enduring the cliché Mandalorian joke that pacified the new Sith, they continued to the cantina.
Before entering the cantina, Krysta turned to Carth and him, "There is somebody in here that can get us in, but we need identities."
"I'll be your 'man-thing', and Republic will be your slave," Canderous teased.
"I think two slaves will be fine," glared Krysta.
"Why slaves? Why not friends?" asked Carth dubiously.
"The Sith see friendships as a weakness, your friend is viewed as a person close to you that will easily betray you. If the slaves are afraid like you two will pretend to be, it is an advantage and supposedly perfectly evil," replied Krysta knowingly.
Canderous began staring at the floor with slumped shoulders, and shuffled footsteps and fell behind Krysta, signaling Carth to do the same. Once inside the cantina Canderous knew who his leader was going to meet. The dark energy radiated off of the purple Twi'lek like compassion fell off of Krysta. Canderous felt his lover shift her emotions and project dark feelings. But a tendril reached out to him from the woman he was following. It caressed his scruff and gave off the thought of, "Don't worry, it's my plan not this place." Canderous understood; if the purple alien felt Krysta's compassion she would be rejected.
After some ridiculous conversing, they were in and met the master of the Academy Uthar Wynn. As he talked about excelling as a Sith it seemed to Canderous that he stared knowingly at Krysta. Once dismissed, they went in search of their room hoping they wouldn't be there that long.
"That guy, Uthar, he knows who you are," Canderous stated.
"I know. I trained him. While Malak was my official apprentice, he required no teaching, but Uthar did. He was one of the few people to see my face. I was hoping that Malak killed him to wipe out any of my supporters. If he was smart he would have," Krysta explained.
Sure enough, a comm. beeped in the room's terminal from Wynn, "Revan," it said in hushed tones. "Listen, there are cameras in your room that I cannot disable otherwise it would raise suspicion. I know what you seek but first you must do something for me. Meet me tomorrow at the ruins entrance."
"So…" Canderous drawled quietly, "a night at an evil academy. Well I'm aroused."
"I'm still here," hissed Carth.
"Yes and the cameras," snarled Krysta.
"I bet there's none in the fresher," teased Canderous.
"Enough! I trust Uthar, but not the students or his apprentice Yuthura. Now Carth, guard the door, and Canderous relieve him in two hours. In the mean time sleep at the foot of the bed on the floor, yes the floor. Chop-chop slaves," she ordered.
Canderous awoke with a start exactly two hours later as his training kicked in. After relieving a frightened looking Carth, he questioned the man's resolve. However, it was not until later that he realized why. Shrieks, moans, and snarling filled the night. No doubt prisoners and kath hounds, thought the warrior.
Looking on as Krysta laid in her bed he asked to no one in particular, "How can she be sleeping?"
"I'm not," came the reply from under the covers. "I not only hear them, I feel them. I feel their pain, their despair, everything. One just defecated himself."
"I'm assuming we'll save them," inquired Canderous.
"I want to, but they'll just attack, or get wiped out. How can I save the galaxy if I can't save prisoners?" inquired the Jedi beginning to cry. "I can't do this Canderous."
"Hey, I didn't choose to follow you because you're weak, and nobody expects you to save everyone. Some people can't be saved, refused to be saved or are hopeless. Personally I think these prisoners have a better chance at staying alive here."
Drying her tears, Krysta studied the camera from her still prone position. Concentrating, she slowly unplugged the camera using the Force. Once completed, she went to Canderous and joined him in his sitting position in the doorway. Leaning her head on her shoulder she ran her hands through his military cut grey hair.
"Exactly how old are you? Your hair is grey, but I've never seen somebody so fit."
"Forty. War changes people. For some it makes them feel young others it makes them tired. For me, it was both. I always felt more alive while fighting, but after battles, and traveling without knowing the location of the enemy was hell. What about you? I bet you're older than you look."
Punching him she replied, "I'm not sure if that's a compliment or an insult. I'm thirty seven if you must know. Don't make it a habit of asking women their age or weight slag head."
"You may handle a saber well, but your punch needs some work. Maybe I'll show you tomorrow after we wake up at the butt crack of dawn. Now get back to bed and reconnect that damn camera, yeah I saw you do that."
Two hours later Carth relieved the tired Mandalorian. Shaking his head in an attempt to clear it of the horrible sounds, he decided to sleep on one side of the bed hidden from the camera. As he settled down he took Krysta's hand that was hanging from the side of her bed in his own. They fell asleep apart and connected at the same time.
The next morning, Canderous brought in caffa for Krysta. When Carth asked why he didn't receive any caffa, Canderous whispered, "Because you're the slave, and she's the master idiot."
Once at the ruins entrance, Wynn approached and informed Krysta about how he didn't trust Yuthura. Blah blah blah, weaken the stupid apprentice, blah, get Star Map, Canderous thought.
Wynn guaranteed that they would 'earn' the most prestige, granting the right to the sacred tomb that contained the Star Map. "Once Yuthura is dead, your ship will land in this valley and you must leave. I will then slay these students here. I've never really followed the Sith way, just you Revan. You've shown me how we all have a shot at redemption. I will become a hermit afterwards in search of the truth in life."
After the meeting, Krysta had decided to split up. She and Carth would look for Dustil while Canderous was to investigate the prisoner situation, and give Wynn's assistant the datapad that told him to poison Yuthura's bath.
As he entered the training room the Sith students gave him a wide berth. After an angry glare, they left the room entirely. He went to each cell to check on the psychological state of each prisoner. Sighing at the realization they would all kill him upon release, he radioed to Krysta.
"I was right. These guys can't even tell friend from foe. That's training 101, they're completely gone. Let me end their suffering, especially in front of the cameras."
"Fine, make it quick and take their tags."
Before unlocking the cages, Canderous noticed some files about the students. Noticing the name Dustil, Canderous downloaded the files onto his datapad with the help of T3's spikes. Sighing, he pressed the release button and unsheathed his Krath double-blade.
The fight was quick and Canderous collected only two tags off of the five soldiers. Wondering who the other three were, he closed their eyes and lined them up against the far wall. He clicked the comm. once to signal the first task was completed. Finding the assistant was easy, and upon reading the datapad the man just smirked and walked off.
Canderous clicked the comm. twice signaling the completion of the second task. He met up with his party at another room with a young man inside. Assuming this was Dustil, he handed the datapad to Krysta she looked from the datapad to him in surprise. She quickly hugged him with a kiss on his nose and turned back to Dustil and Carth.
"You want proof the Sith are evil?" she asked. "Here it is."
With some reasoning, Dustil left the planet in a hurry.
"We should get some rest, the prestige meeting is tomorrow," Canderous noted. "Then it's show time."
The night passed on as before. This time, the groaning was gone and it seemed that the kath hounds had run off or had been fed by the corpses provided by Canderous. Once again, Krysta joined him during his first watch after unplugging the camera, and later they held hands again. Tomorrow is the day we get off this place and we can fix this sleeping arrangement, thought Canderous thankfully.
Staring up at the slumbering Jedi, he whispered his vow, "Bah darasuum." To eternity. Krysta smiled in her sleep, and her face was the last thing he saw that night.
Chapter 3 coming soon.