So let's review: Snow day equals me updating really fast. And text before chapter title equals disclaimer stating that I do not own any of the characters.

Chapter 10:

Power Play

"Why isn't a mission ever as easy as it sounds?" asked Mandalore with a hand over his helm. "I mean seriously, how hard is it to get one person off of a planet? Weren't your other Jedi in hiding? But no, I choose to come on the mission that goes to hell."

"Vrook was involved on Dantooine, but that wasn't full-scale war," replied Lyna.

"What do you mean full-scale war?" Bao-Dur asked.

"You mean you didn't feel it? Vaklu has aligned himself with the Sith, and now they're at Iziz."

"How would the Sith get into Iziz without alerting anybody?" the Zabrak asked.

Mandalore stood up and cracked his neck, "The same way we did genius, Dxun."

As they landed back at the base, the trio found the Ebon Hawk was repaired and was resting at the Mandalorian landing pad. As he came down the ramp, Mandalore saw that his men were no longer fighting in the dueling circle, fixing various base functions, or repairing swoop bikes. Instead, blades were being sharpened, ammo and rifles checked, and grenades created. Entering the control room revealed Kelborn monitoring the controls with the crew of the Ebon Hawk looking on.

"Mandalore," said Kelborn turning and saluting. "We finally have the entire moon scanned, and we have found several large scale energy fluctuations coming from the far side. We sent Bralor to investigate, and it's the Sith sir. They're guarding some sort of very large temple."

"The tomb of Freedon Nadd," explained Kreia. "He was the Dark King of Onderon and former Sith Lord."

Kelborn's console beeped and Kavar's face came onto the screen. "Well my old Padawan, it seems trouble follows you wherever you go. You're needed immediately in Iziz. The Sith and Vaklu's forces have made their way onto The Wall. Hurry!" Kavar's image disappeared, and eyes went back and forth between Mandalore and Lyna.

Lyna spoke first, "I think we should split up."

"A wise decision," Mandalore and Kreia said in unison. Creepy.

"Mandalore, Visas, and Mira should go to the tomb, while Kreia, Bao-Dur and I go back to Iziz," Lyna said.

"Hold it, if you think you're going without me, you're dead wrong," said Mandalore stepping forward.

"I need Kreia because of our Force bond, and Bao-Dur can hack into all those systems on The Wall we saw and any others in the palace," Lyna reasoned.

Mandalore leaned back against the wall heavily, "Fine, but don't go getting yourself killed."

The trip to the tomb was led by Bralor just outside of the perimeter sensor. First, Mira disabled the mines, and then the alarm. She reminds me of Mission. She's probably a better fighter though. The party ran into very heavy perimeter defenses with the battle lasting the better part of an hour. Troopers, captains, grenadiers, assassins, droids, and Dark Jedi alike all caused significant trouble for the trio. Even the occasional wild boma got involved, and would cause trouble for both sides. Even worse, the Sith had trained bomas that would fight for them.

Once inside the tomb, Canderous found himself flabbergasted by the scope of the building. "I've been to the tombs on that Sith planet Korriban, but this place gives me the creeps."

"I know what you mean," Mira said. "This place feels alive."

"Indeed. Alive with dark energy," Visas chimed in.

Continuing through the tomb, they came to a large room with three doors. One went to the right, another to the left, and the last stood at the end of a large ramp in the center.

"How much do you two want to bet that we have to go through the large middle door, but it's locked, and the side doors lead to places where we can unlock it?" Canderous asked.

"You've traveled with Jedi for too long," joked Mira.

No, not long enough.

"We should split up in order to do this quicker," Visas suggested.

While Mandalore was not happy about leaving the Jedi behind, he agreed that it would make things go faster. He went left, while Mira and the Miraluka went to the right. Fortunately, the Mandalorian found a decommissioned droid and got it functioning. He and the droid quickly ran into trouble, as more Sith followers emerged from somewhere down the hall. Canderous depended heavily on the droid's accuracy, as he charged towards his attackers. Things were going smoothly, as smoothly as they can in a Sith tomb, when the droid opened the door to the computer room and promptly got decapitated by a red double-bladed lightsaber. I worked hard on that hunk of junk. Man, I hate Dark Jedi.

Krath and lightsaber blades met again and again as the two circled each other constantly. The Jedi attempted several times to use different Force attacks, only to be thwarted by Mandalore's armor. The silver attire was not strictly ceremonial by any means. The various upgrades and its natural construction provided protection from Jedi powers, along with fire and ice attacks. With his Force depleted, the Dark Jedi began to slow. Canderous faked low right, and then hit flesh on his enemy's left shoulder. With the Sith on his knees, the Mandalorian put his blade behind the man's neck and brought his knee crashing into the man's face, snapping his neck. "Bitch!"

Canderous followed the blips and beeps to a very large and ancient computer. After solving the math equations, one of the door's locks opened. The warrior then began to inspect the rest of the large circular room. In one corner, he found a purplish cloud filled with lightning.

Enter warrior, and find who you seek.

"You mean Krysta?" he asked, stepping forward

Enter, and taste power.

"Power for what?" he asked, cocking his head and inching closer.

Power to save her.

Before Canderous even entered the energy field, the lightning grabbed him by the arms and legs and dragged him closer. The energy had a life of its own and the lightning wrapped around his head and whispered its words in his ear. Instead of being electrocuted, Canderous felt a pleasant buzzing around his head.

Yes Mandalorian, use your hate. Do you feel that power? This is only a taste of what is to come. Your anger and passion is what will save her.

Canderous suddenly found himself being knocked to the hard floor by two women. As his vision cleared, Mandalore saw Visas kneeling next to him. She carefully unlatched his helmet, and began 'looking' at him.

"How can you see?" Canderous asked groggily.

"I see through the Force. I can see if people are good or evil. Blue is found in those that follow the light, red is for the dark side, and grey for neutral. You were mostly red when I first met you, with blue around your heart and head. No doubt from Krysta's influence," explained Visas.

"And now?"

"Now…it is similar, but the blue that was in your head is significantly dimmed," replied Visas.

Mira offered her hand and his helmet to Canderous, "Come on, your big fat door is open, let's go."

As he stood, Canderous looked to where the cloud was and asked, "What was that?"

Visas answered first, "Pure dark side energy. Freedon Nadd was a Sith Lord that constantly found ways to survive through the Force several times throughout history. This tomb appears to feed off of his ethereal energy and creates the very essence of the dark side."

"That must be why they're here," said Mira. "Not only is it a good staging location, they probably wanted to harvest the dark energy."

"That sucks," replied Canderous donning his helmet and picking up his blade. "That just gives us more reason to kick some Sith tail."

Mira chuckled and led the team back to the incredibly large door. If I ever design a base or tomb, the important rooms will be behind a really small door in the shadows. The large door of course led to a very gigantic room. Energy flowed from the ceiling and repeatedly hit the three Dark Jedi that were standing there.

Why can't these guys ever just fight using their own power? Maybe if they spent more time training and less time looking for the easy way out, they wouldn't get their butts kicked every time I walk in the room.

The combatants did not speak, they did not try to intimidate or sway. They simply drew their weapons and started battling. Canderous found his opponent surprisingly easy to defeat. The man seemed surprised at the Mandalorian's speed and ferocity. You're not ready to face me.

Finding Mira and Visas still in battle, Canderous drew the rifle he had not used in over five years. I know the last time I used you was to defend Krysta, but now we're protecting her allies. While he was unable to hit or kill the two Sith warriors, Canderous was able to distract and pester the two enough to let his companions slay the Sith.

With the tomb once again devoid of life, the three comrades left and trekked back to the base with Bralor.

"She took what?" asked Canderous as he arrived back at the base.

"Yes, the Basilisk sir. You did say that she could use whatever she needed to get to Iziz," replied Kelborn.

"Humph, so I did. What's her status?"

"Lyna is alive and on her way back. Vaklu will stand trial and Talia is back in power. And Master Kavar will meet her on Dantooine."

Mandalore let out a sigh of relief, and sat down. He's not going to like what I'm about to say.

Kelborn sat next to his tired leader, "You're leaving with her aren't you?"

Mandalore chuckled, "Very perceptive Kelborn, which is why I'm leaving you in charge."

"M-me Mandalore?"

"Yes, Kelborn you. Not Kex, not Bralor, you and not anybody else."

Lyna arrived back on Dxun with several sore muscles and bags under her eyes. Without exchanging words, Mandalore followed the Jedi aboard the Ebon Hawk. As he entered the swoop garage, Canderous noticed a familiar bunk arrangement laid out. Some things never change.

Before they left, Lyna made it a point to visit each member of the crew. Atton was happy he became a Jedi, Mical was once Lyna's student, Visas felt her master coming, Mira did not like to kill her targets, Kreia was cryptic and annoying as hell, and G0-T0 was just weird. HK's conversation with his new master was very interesting to Canderous.

"Query: Master, what is your fascination with the Zabrak?"

Lyna chuckled, "I love him."

"Statement: I see."

"Do you even know what love is droid?"

"Theory: Love is making a shot to the knees of a target 120 kilometers away using an Aratech sniper rifle with a tri-light scope. Love is knowing your target, putting them in your targeting reticle, and together, achieving a singular purpose against statistically long odds."

At this, Canderous burst out laughing at the droid's interpretation on what he had told the assassin over five years ago. Finally, Lyna made her way over to the warrior and asked him why he had joined her.

Let's face it; you're going to my help and my men. Maybe not right away, maybe never, but you have our support. More importantly, Krysta needs you to help her. So I'm here to make sure you do just that."

Canderous then decided to find out more about his leader. "Sooo…" he drawled. "Are you bunking with the Zabrak? 'Cause if so, I'll find someplace else to make stimulants and twiddle my thumbs as I wait to kill something."

Lyna blushed and then laughed, "You're just as bad as HK, but uh, just give us some privacy at 'night'."

"Sure kid, just keep it to a dull roar," Canderous then turned serious. "He loves you, you know. He's a good man; the Republic could use a man that can repair like he can."

Lyna nodded and continued her rounds. Canderous soon felt the Ebon Hawk rise and began its familiar route to Dantooine. Dantooine, I thought it was just a farm world just a few years ago. Back to the Enclave, back to the fields, same ship, and the same circumstances: save the galaxy. Yep, some things never change.

Chapter 10 is completed. Never thought that I would get this far. Thanks mostly to general man for his reviews and everybody else! Review this chapter and let me know what you think. Next chapter might be short or really long as it will either include Dantooine and Telos or just Dantooine.