A/N: I added a second part to the previous chapter. If you've only read the first part that focuses on Lanoree, go back read the second part or you will be very confused.
Lost, Found, and Lost Again
Cassis (His name was Cassis, right?) stared blankly into the sky. He stirred lightly as he became at least somewhat lucid, and took in his surroundings. He was in a desert, the sun was blaring down upon him, and yet it was oddly cold. The reddish orange sand formed a somewhat rocky landscape, and he could make out a structure in the distance. There was a figure coming towards them, but he could never make out who or what it was.
"You must be in need of help," the figure said. Cassis must have responded with some sort of 'yes', because the figure motioned for him to follow. They quickly obliged, and began walking towards the structure. Dav was with them, and a few others who had survived, but Cassis couldn't remember any of their names, even if he wanted to.
After ten or so standard minutes of hobbling and limping, they finally approached the structure. It was a building, and a seemingly large one at that. The figure led them through the corridors of the temple, towards what seemed like a throne room. By this time, Cassis was aware enough to take in the appearance of the figure on the throne. He wore a large, elaborate suit of armor covered in spikes. Behind his mask, Cassis could notice that his eyes were two different colors. That was...odd, for a what looked to be a human. The figure stood and approached them.
"Take them away, except for this one," he put a finger on Cassis' chest, "I will deal with him first." Now that the figure was up close, Cassis could see that they were roughly the same height. The figure was slightly taller, likely due to his armor. The first figure led the other survivors out of the room. Cassis was now alone with the new figure. "Hello, boy. What is your name?"
"My name is..." he struggled to find the words.
"No matter. You are now Vantos."
"My name is Vantos…." he had a moment of realization, "No, my name is Cassis To-"
"YOUR NAME IS VANTOS," the figure said, sending a wave of Force lighting into Cassis- no, Vantos.
"My name is Vantos…" he coughed out as he stumbled back to his feet.
"And I am Lord Krayt. Your master."
"My master is...Adar-" the figure blasted him with another wave of Force lighting.
"You will learn to be obedient in time, Lord Vantos," he chuckled.
Five years later
Vantos stared blankly into the ceiling of his designated quarters. That was all he could do. His mind was broken. He was nothing more than an errand boy for the higher ranking Sith. Krayt himself was often in stasis, which was generally a good thing. Some of the other Sith were at least somewhat close to merciful. Maybe their lightning would be a bit less potent when he made a mistake on a mission. Maybe their torture would be a bit less miserable if he failed. He ought to have thought that this place was an awful hellhole that he should get away as far away from as possible, but he hardly had his own thoughts anymore. The only thing that occupied his mind was whatever his current objective was, unless he was not on a mission. In that case, he either trained or did nothing at all. Life was bleak, but he did not realize that.
At the moment, he was on his way to Onderon. There were some Jedi there who needed to have their 'living organism' status revoked. He heard a knock at his door, and waved it open.
"We have almost arrived, my lord," the snivelling, pathetic excuse for a slave said. Vantos rose from his cot at pushed the slave out of his way as he left.
0808080808
Vantos breathed in the fresh air of the planet as he stepped off of the ramp, followed by two of his fellow Sith. They had landed in the wilderness a few kilometers away from a small settlement. It was midday, so they had plenty of time to get there before nightfall. They were surrounded by a vast array of rocky structures as they began the hike towards the settlement. It didn't take long, since they were able to move fairly quickly with the power of the Force. They arrived at the settlement and split up to find word of where the Jedi were. Vantos found himself in a sort of plaza.
"Master, I think I found him," Cassis said, motioning for his master to follow."Where? Oh, I see him," Master K'sal said as she approached her apprentice, "The one with the brown hat?""Yeah, that's him, I know it!"
"Be wary of your surroundings, Padawan. Things are not always as they seem." As if on cue, a blaster erupted to life behind them. They barely had enough time to get out of the way and pull out their lightsabers as the plaza erupted into chaos. They turned to see one man running away with the stolen artifact, and another following him closely behind, blaster in hand. Cassis bolted forward to stop the man with a artifact, and K'sal attacked the man with the blaster, easily disarming him and joining her Padawan. Cassis leapt into the air, landing in front of the man, and K'sal Force-pushed him into a wall. They picked up the artifact and started back towards their shuttle.
Vantos shuddered and shook himself back into reality. What just happened? He had no idea, but for some obscure, mildly infuriating reason, it made him feel...good. Nevermind. There was no time for this sentimental garbage right now; not when he had a Jedi to kill. He looked around and saw a man operating a vegetable stand. The Jedi would have likely bought some sort of food, so he would likely have some good information.
"Hello, Cassis," the Chiss woman said. She had blue skin and glowing red eyes, with long, obsidian hair flowing down her shoulders, "My name is Adari K'sal. You've been assigned to be my Padawan.""Hello, Master."
"What in the seven hells of Corellia is going on?" he muttered to himself. Wait, since when did he mutter things to himself? His breath began to quicken as he hurried towards the vegetable stand.
Cassis could barely keep up as the Zabrak boy swung furiously at him with a training saber, eventually catching him on the leg and knocking him over. The boy held out a hand, which Cassis accepted."Thanks…" he said as he was pulled to his feet."The name's Dav.""Oh. My name's Cassis."
"Get out of my head!" Vantos thrust himself back into reality, "This place is cursed. I need to leave." He turned and broke into an all-out sprint towards the nearest exit. He ran all the way back to the shuttle, and it was evening now. He went inside and sank into a chair.
"Back so soon?" an officer said, "Where are the others?" Vantos said nothing and stood. In one smooth motion, he ignited his lightsaber, slashed it through the man's torso, and Force-pushed him out onto the ground. He raised the ramp and sat in the pilot's chair.
'I need to go somewhere else,' he thought, 'Anywhere but here.' He input some coordinates as he rose into the atmosphere.
"Was your mission successfu-" the commlink chimed. Vantos shut it off before the man could finish. He activated the hyperdrive and shot off into space.
"The Vong are approaching far too quickly. We won't have enough time to get out, and we don't have enough men to fight back," the general said."We'll handle the Vong," Cassis said, "You guys leave and get the holocrons to safety.""Knight Tovar, you're going to get yourself killed out there," another officer chimed in."I know, and that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make if it means getting the rest of you out of here.""So are you just going to go out there alone?" another asked."No, he's not," Master K'sal said."I'm going with them as well," Dav said."Well, if the holocrons are so important to you, go gather a team and get going. We haven't much time."
"NO!" Vantos yelled, slamming his fists down on the control panel. He needed some rest. Maybe a good nap would rid him of these awful visions.
