Here we go guys, hope you all had splendid holidays! Like i said this one is a little quicker than the last few chapters, but it's mostly a prelude to the second part of this arc. I hope you enjoy anyway and please- don't forget to review.
Untamed Anger only leads to one's demise…
Vassek system…
"I know we're in the middle of nowhere, R6, but that's the Republic beacon we're looking for.", said Kit Fisto to his astromech, staring at a grayish planet and its three moons, the radar on his console blinking,"Contact the Outer Rim command."
R6 gave an affirmative, yet unsure beep before placing the call. Fisto waited patiently until a hologram of Jedi Master Luminara UNduli and Padawan Ahsoka Tano appeared on his console,"Master Luminara, I have tracked the location of our stolen ship to the Vassek system."
"So has your old Padawan, Nahdar Vebb. He's on his way now and should be arriving shortly." replied Luminara, making Fisto smile even broader. Having back up on this important mission was a must, but to have his old padawan accompany him? Now that was a pleasant surprise if he's ever seen one.
"It'll be great to see Nahdar again."
"I'll transmit the coordinates for the rendezvous point once you've sent them to us." said Ahsoka, "And Master Fisto, sorry we lost that slimy double-dealer."
"Don't worry, Ahsoka, we'll catch Gunray yet." assured the Nautolan with his seemingly ever present smile. Ahsoka smiled back at him.
"Good hunting."
Third Moon of Vassek ….
Kit-Fisto patiently waited for his former padawan with that ever so infamous smiled plastered on his face, bigger than ever. He smiled even wider as a republic gunship landed several yards away from him, shutting off its engine before sliding it's side doors open. Out stepped a hooded figure and a squad of clone troopers. "That wouldn't happen to be my old padawan is it?" he called out. The figure remove his hood to reveal a young Mon Calamari, a smaller smile on his face as he approached his former master.
"Greetings my old master." said the Mon Calamari as he walked up to Fisto. Fisto's former padawan had grown to become a fine jedi by the looks of it, and it did him proud to see it first hand now. To his knowledge this would be Nahdar's first real mission since his knighting, which would another special moment for any jedi. To finally enter a mission, not as a follower, but as a leader and a true beacon of hope to the galaxy. To say Fisto was glad he at least got to share this with his former padawan would be an understatement.
"It is good to see you again Nahdar." Fisto greeted back, "Sorry, I missed your knighting due to the war effort. It's unfortunate but the front lines were in desperate need of help."
"No worries master, I am just happy we get to fight together again."
"The feeling is like wise, old friend."
"Generals." started the clone commander as he walked up to them "Not to be disrespectful but, perhaps it'd be better to leave pleasantries for later."
"Perhaps you are right." noted Nahdar, nodding at his commander, "Do you have a signal from the ship's tracking beacon?"
"Yes sir," began the clone commander before pointing eastward, " tracker says that the ship is a few miles that direction."
"We're taking the ships right?" asked another clone walking up to the three of them. Kit chuckled shaking his head, arms crossed over his chest before looking at the clone.
"Afraid not trooper, a ship would be too obvious and we wouldn't want to scare away our quarry." explained Fisto, making the clones look at each other. How was Fisto so nonchalant about that? Nahdar sighed, having grown used to his former master's perpetually upbeat attitude. He only wished he had picked up some of that charisma himself while he was learning under the Nautolan.
"Greeeeaaaat." stated the younger jedi not bothering to try and hide the sarcastic tone in his voice. That earned another chuckle from Kit, as he promptly took the lead, motioning for the others to follow. Nahdar was the first to fall in, walking next him follow by three clones and finally the commander who briefly stayed behind to order the last two troopers to stand guard with the ships.
As the troop of six marched through the rocky terrain, their journey was silent but calm. They had yet to encounter any obstacles or possible enemy movement, and they were already about halfway to their destination. That was the bright side. On the other, they had been in the middle of heavy fog since they landed several hours ago. Infact, had it not been for the two jedi using the force to keep the fog at bay, they surely would've lost track of one another by now.
"Stay close together and keep formation." ordered Nahdar, turning to his men. Fisto felt a certain degree of pride, watching his former padawan interacting with the clone troopers. Nahdar Vebb had come a long way since his days as Fisto's padawan and it showed. Not just in the way he commanded his troops, but also in the very way he stood and walked. Fisto remembered when the young Mon Calamari did deem himself worthy enough to even walk beside his master on mission, but now he not only walked beside fisto, but held his head high while doing so. He seemed more confident, more aggressive. He would be a skilled warrior and hopefully an even better jedi knight.
The jedi paused as the mist began to lift revealing a the mouth of a valley ahead, with their missing ship sitting right dead center of it. Fisto eyed the ship warily, not liking this one bit. A skilled tactician like general Bloodfeud wouldn't leave the ship in such an exposed and easy to find place unless he had plans for it. And something in the air made Fisto highly confident in what that plan was. His former padawan didn't seem to share the sentiment however as he had already begun moving forward once more only for Fisto to grab him by the sleeve. Nahdar turned to look at his former master, wondering why he would impede his progress, when he saw the look on Fisto's face.
"Commander stay behind while me and Nadaar scout the ship." Ordered Kit, "Stay hidden and be on guard, I have a bad feeling about this" The clone commander nods ordering his men to take cover behind a group of rocks. Nadaar and Kit approach the ship slowly, lightsaber hilts at hand. They stay low, opting to move under the shuttle where Fisto gave an affirmative nod to Nahdar. The former padawan cut a hole in the bottom of the ship, slowly as to avoid to much noise. Fisto then used the fore to slowly lower the circular piece of metal to the ground, before entering the ship. He briefly check his flanks, looking for any hostiles, before giving Nadaar the all clear. Nahdar enters the ship. They sense nothing as they silently creep toward the control room, but it does not discourage them. Someone was there recently, that much was apparent to them. They can see the control room for the ship ahead, Kit taking point, he made out a man in the pilot's seat. He points this out to Nahdar who promptly smirks, holding his lightsaber hilt.
The two slowly approach the control room, heartbeats racing as they kept their eyes on whoever was in the pilot's chair. A droid perhaps, using their training in the force to quiet their steps as not to alert their only lead before shooting up and activating their weapons. Fist turns the chair around and aims his lightsaber at the culprits throat...only to light up the crush cavity that had formerly been a man's skull. Fisto reals back in surprise and disgust, for he had seen many horrors during this war, but that was definitely new. He cold vaguely make out bits and pieces that should belong to a farce, like the flattened nose and one of the fragment eye sockets. However most of the broken skull was either destroyed beyond recognition or had completely given was to show the inside of the skull. Crushed brains and others things would haunt the Nautolan, he was sure of that.
Nahdar grimaced at body noticing his blue trooper armor, "Looks like we found our traitor."
"And it appears he and Bloodfeud had a… 'disagreement of sort." noted Fisto looking at the gore covered control console, siding stepping pool of Blood between the pilot and front passenger chair. Nahdar scoffed, eyeing the corpse with disdain.
"No less than this a traitor deserves." Growled Nadaar. Kit turned to his old friend, shock evident on his green features. He was about to voice his immense disapproval of the statement when the ship began to rock. The structure whined under intense pressure, followed by a heavy disturbance in the force.
"Bloodfeud is crushing the ship!" said Kit in alarm. Nahdar acted quick and destroyed the window with force push, giving them their one and only opening to escape in time. The two jedi narrowly jumped out of the ship just before it was crushed, it's structure caving in on it's. No sooner than when they landed the huge piece of essentially scrap metal was lifted into the air and promptly thrown at them. They halt it's advancement on them with force and throw it off to this side, allowing into to disappear in the mist. They ignited their weapons as Bloodfeud leaped from the tree line and landed in front of them, followed by a squad of his red painted commando droids.
"They must be the welcoming committee." quiped the Nautolan. The sith had a dark smile on, laughing as the eight droids behind lined up into a firing line. The jedi tensed as they heard the blasters charge up, sights on them.
"Greetings Jedi." He said casually. Nahdar attacked instantly. Bloodfeud blocked his diagonal slash and delivered a hard left to his stomach. He then gripped him with the force and threw him into a tree.
"Next!" said Bloodfeud eyeing up Fisto, before turning to his droids.
"Leave the jedi to me. Find the clones and-" a bolt struck the droid he was talking to in the head, "Well that was easy- get them!" ordered the sith turned to second Jedi, who had seemed to decide on his tactic of attack. Kit proved to be much smarter with his approach, coming in at a control pace, fast enough to reach Bloodfeud with force but slow enough not to simply run right into a counter as Nahdar had.
He attacked with a quick combo and jumped away from the Sith's attack. Bloodfeud slashed twice with his claws and then sends a wave of force lighting. Kit dodges the first two swipes and blocks the lighting. Kit sends a force push. Bloodfeud blocks it but barely stops the attack from Nahdar who just got back up and into the fight. Nahdar and slashes three times but Bloodfeud blocks and slashes. Nahdar evade hi attack as Kit slashes at Bloodfeud with a diagonal swipe followed by a stab. Bloodfeud maneuvers around each attack. He counters with force lighting and shocks Kit. Kit is sent on his back while Nahdar continues to fight Bloodfeud. He stabs at him and the twists his body to create a powerful slash followed by a horizontal swing. Bloodfeud dodges the stab and blocks the swings. Kit gets back up as Nadaar jumps back toward him to avoid Bloodfeud's force repulse.
"You are truly skilled Bloodfeud. If only we were allies." Said Kit with a smirk. Nadaar was surprised that master Fisto was complimenting the Sith, looking at him as if he had just cursed the order and all its teachings. Which, as far the Mon calamari was concern, he basically did.
"You two are not bad yourselves." Replied Bloodfeud. Nadaar attacked, already growing tired of the conversation. Bloodfeud dodged his vertical swing and kneed him in the face sending to the ground. He grabs him by the neck before throwing into a boulder, stunning the young jedi knight. Kit comes to his former padawan's aid engages the sith lord once more.
The clones currently had their own issues, being advanced on by bloodfeud's commando droids. The commander looked down the sights of his DC-15s taking the head off of another commando droid before being forced to take cover. He growled before looking at his men.
"Hot-shot and Mutt, grenades now! 8-Ball and I are gonna use this fog to flank!" ordered the commander making the others nod. He raised his hand, using it to silently count down to three, which was promptly followed by Hot-shot and Mutt, throwing their grenades over cover and in the general direction of the droids. One of the explosions was close enough to take out a trinity of droids and both kicked up enough dust to temporarily block their view. Soon after the commander and 8-Ball disappeared deep into the fog, the droids once again pinned down Mutt and Hot-shot.
"Those clankers are getting close." noted Hot-shot with worry.
"Hope 8-Ball and Frag get here soon." added Mutt right before a blaster bolt raced over the cover next to him making the trooper flinch.
"Think they got lost?" drawled out Hot-shot, with heavy sarcasm. Then, as if on cue, a eruption of blue blaster bolts drew the droid's attention away from them.
"Doesn't look like it, open fire!" shouted Mutt as he and Hot-shot popped out of cover, blaster ablazing.
Meanwhile the Jedi still had their hands full with the sith lord lightsabers flashing through the air. Bloodfeud blocked several strikes from Nahdar, before kicking him back. The young jedi knight glared at him, before getting low, allowing his fellow jedi to use him as a platformer to launch himself at the sith. Bloodfeud blocked several attacks from Fisto, rolling back and out of the way of an upward slash. The sith lord sent out a wave of force lightning which Fisto blocked, Nahdar promptly rushed past his former teacher and attack the sith with a combo of his own, ending the lightning. Fisto quickly joined in, putting Bloodfeud on the defensive as he defended against both jedi. However, compared to the like of Rahm Kota and Mace Windu's tag team. This wasn't as ferocious or well balanced. No, due to Nahdar's over aggression Bloodfeud was able to easily push him back so he could handle the greater threat of Fisto. This gave him the need space to regain his bearing in time for the next dual barrage.
Fisto decided it was time for a change in tactics, leaping over the sith while Nahdar kept him busy, landing behind him and striking. The sith moved his arms backward to block Fisto's attack before corkscrewing in the air to avoid Kit's following leg strike and Nahdar's simultaneous head strike. The sith landed, cartwheeling out of the way of another, perfectly timed, dual strike along the jedi to merely hit one another's lightsaber. While Nahdar briefly looked surprised at the sith's speed, Fisto mere capitalized on the sith lack of sturdy footing and turned with a massive force push, sending the sith flying into the mist.
Bloodfeud landed with a 'thud' bouncing off the stone ground and spring to his feet. The sith lord smile, the ecstasy of battle filling him with sadistic pleasure as readied himself for round two. But before he could launch himself back into the fray, a device on his belt went off, making him curse. Bloodfeud brought the blinking device, eyeing it's flashing green light with almost betrayal. Looking up to see topaz rays starting to break through the heavy cloud cover, the sith growled. He couldn't risk himself like this, he barely had a few minutes at best. He glanced over to the approaching foot of clone troopers and smiled, maybe he could have fun on the way.
Fisto narrowed his eye in suspicion when he felt Bloodfeud seem to retreat. Odd, none of the stories he heard of the sith would suggest such an easy victory over him. What was he planning? That would have to wait as the clones approached them
"Nice job sir." Commented the clone commander as he approached the jedi.
"Commander Frag, how you and your men?" asked Nahdar turning to the four clone troopers before him.
"We're fine sir. We'll better when we get out of this place though."
"I'm afraid it's not over yet trooper." began Fisto with a slight grimace, "I don't think Gunray is here, in the middle of all this but we can still capture General Bloodfeud." said Fisto said.
"Then what're we waiting for, I felt Bloodfeud retreating in that direction." said Nahdar already pushing ahead.
"Hold on Nahdar," called Fisto making Nahdar sighed before turning to face him, "That ahead is a gulch, or in other words, the perfect environment for another ambush"
"We handled one of that beast's assaults, another will not faze us." countered Vebb crossing his arms, clearly impatient to continue on. He was determined to bring that wretched animal to justice. And he would do so, no matter the cost, even with his former master quickly becoming a hindrance to that goal.
"Things are different when your enemy has the high ground Nahdar." Kit reminded, rather patient with his former padawan's bravado.
"And we are to just sit and do nothing? Come on!" and with those words of stubbornness, Nahdar pushed heedlessly forward, ignoring any further warnings from Fisto. The clones began walking past him with Frag stopping beside him.
"He's got a point general. Can't exactly wait here." and with that the commander was off leaving Fisto to shake his head with a sigh before following as well. The group continued to walk, following the canyon's towards it's end. Everyone was on guard, everyone tense for battle. The two jedi kept their senses cleared and open, looking for the sith general, knowing he could appear at any moment. That moment being now, as they sense his dark presence, quickly follow by the sound of tumbling rock.
"Look out!" shouted one of the clones as boulders came rushing towards them, the team scattered, dodging the incoming boulders. They rolled, ducked and dived out of the way until the largest of the boulder came rolling towards them, forcing Kit and Nahdar to band together to stop it. They reach out, gripping the giant stone with the force, slowing its roll, until it slowed to a full stop in front them. They stood there panting for all the exertion of energy until Kit sensed one of the clone's life forces had drop. He quickly stopped and looked behind them to see one of the clones were gone without a trace. The clones and Nadaar soon caught onto this development as well, much to their understandable dismay.
"H-How could he have taken Hot-shot without us even knowing?" Said 8-Ball a bit panicked.
"It's not too far fetch to believe. Not with all that commotion." pointed out Fisto, realising now that the boulder were meant only to distract them while the sith made his move. Bloodfeud was a master at ambush and intimidation, and this stunt had the clones nervous. He was trying to weaken their fortitude through psychological warfare, something they could not allow to happen if they were to survive.
"Damn that sith dog! I'm going to make sure he pays for this." growled Nahdar.
"Calm yourselves, everyone. Losing control of our emotions serves only to benefit our enemy." said Fisto with a sigh. Nahdar looked off to the side, anger evident in his face. Perhaps Nahder had become too aggressive since they last met. Did he not teach him control? Fisto shook his head before looking ahead, "Perhaps we should try and disperse this fog. Even if it's only for the time being, it'll increase our odds if we aren't blind."
"Allow me." ground Nahdar moving ahead, and with a wave of his hands, parted the fog ahead of them. Their jaws dropped at what they saw.
"Was that there this entire time?" questioned Frag looking up at a grand building carved into the mountain side. The large door to the castle like building stared back at them, daring them to try and open it. "This should open that right up." Said Commander Frag as he pulled out a grenade, eager to answer the challenge.
"This should be a little bit quieter." Said Nadaar as he ignited his lightsaber. Kit shook his head as he halted both from advancing. Now he knew why the two worked so well together. Fisto motioned for them to wait as began search the nearby wall with his hand. He then pressed a button hidden in the wall that slowly opened the door. He smirked as the ornate, gothic style door opened with a creak, it's hinges whining as they were forced into work so suddenly.
"Next time be patient. Not forceful." He said, turning to the others with a smile. Nahdar rolled his eyes, bypassing the Nautolan and entering the building. When they walked in they saw they place had a fantastic structure and had cutting edge tech. It was mostly of old fashion gothic design combined with modern touches. The halls were dimly lit by low power lighting, and several walls had item such tapestry adorning them.
"What is this place." Questioned a clone as they entered a wide corridor with several columns going down the center of it.
"I don't know but I have a very bad feeling about this place." Said Kit. Nadaar nodded in agreement, examining the design of the building. Dark gothic, in a fashion Nahdar had rarely seen before. Then again, not many people actually used stone and wrought iron for building materials anymore. One of the clones opened a door leading to a room of a large statue, of two warriors, one on the floor helpless as his defeat was to be delivered by the other warrior, standing over him. Nahdar grimaced realizing they were holding lightsabers, already realizing what this was depicting, judging by the look of hatred on the triumphant 'warrior's' face.
Frag and the clones stumbled upon another room, empty except for the various deactivated training droids lining the wall. Their were training droids of all variants and sizes, and the way they just sat their, waiting made the clones nervous. "Let's not go in there." said Mutt immediately shutting the door.
"Agreed. Knowing that psycho, he probably have those things set to 'kill' at all times. Even during sparring sessions...Damn Bloodsucker." replied 8-ball as they followed Frag as he fell in behind Fisto and Nahdar. Fisto sighed as he reached the very end of the hallway, see the last door in this corridor. He check behind him to see the others were ready and waiting. Fisto nodded before stealing himself, lightsaber in hand, before opening the door to reveal a chilling sight. Blood bags. Dozens of them perhaps even hundreds, all inside a cold, temperature controlled room. The group gingerly entered the room of chilled blood, eyeing the bags of plasma with weary disgust. Even when he wasn't on the battlefield he delighted in this taboo of his.
"Perhaps this became more than just a simple intimidation tactic." noted Fisto, gingerly handling one of the blood bags. Nahdar sneered in disgust, noticing how the blood bags were even organized by type and age.
"Sick bastard!" growled Nahdar.
"Sir! I found Hot-shot." Said a clone. The jedi raced to his position, finding the clones surrounding Hot-shot as he was slumped in the corner of the room. They found a wound in his neck with the blood drained from his body. The wound was large, but do to the little amounts of blood on his armor, Fisto quickly decided it had been a control affair. His helmet had been removed showing that his eyes were still wide with fear, even in death.
"What is this a warehouse?" questioned Nahdar, with a sigh trying to get his mind off of that and unto where they were.
"With a training facility? No, and a base would have more guard with less architecture." noted Frag closing the clone's eye. Something about this exchange made it Kit was suddenly pieced it together. Why Bloodfeud was here. This place. The clone's corpse, the training room and architecture. It could all only mean one thing, one reason for such a secluded building to be built in such a way.
"This is the lair of General Bloodfeud!" he said. A laughing was heard, all throughout the room, surrounding them entirely
"Welcome to my humble home." came the sith's voice, mirthful and antagonizing as per usual. Fisto pointed to the camera watching them, it's orange eye like lens pointed straight at them. Nahdar narrowed his eye at the device, lashing out with his blade and impaling the camera in a furry.
"What did you says about having a bad feeling sir?" questioned Frag as dread overtook the group when the door they came in from, slammed shut. The sound of the locking mechanism activating was almost damning. It was clear that this was only the beginning of their nightmarish adventure.
There it is folks, can our heroes survive their stay at 'Casa Bloodfeud'? What horrors will they face? Find out next time, lol! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and I'll probably be posting the second part either later today or early tomorrow. Oh the joys of having a pre-existing item to work with XD. Catch you later, my jedi and sith friends! See you all next chapter!