Chapter 36 The End
Aspyre's breathing rapidly increased as the electric shocks travelled through her brain. She gritted her teeth as the second wave hit her head and she gripped the chair tightly when the third struck. By the time the fourth was done her legs were crossed and she was trying really hard to get Revan out of her mind. It hurt badly, but Viccal had said it was the only way to quiet her down and eventually drive her out of her mind. The procedure had started six hours ago and she was only granted short breaks for her body to heal, but they needed her mind to be tired, to be weakened for the last part of the treatment. She saw Viccal increase the energy input and she finally screamed in pain as even more shocks covered her until she felt she was about to pass out. She managed to press the safety button located in the underside of the arm rest and Viccal stopped the current before rushing forward towards her.
"Aspyre? Can you hear me?"
"-bit" she managed to blurt out.
"Okay. She's ready!" he yelled at the two men on the other side of the room, who rushed forward, picked her up and took her to another room with an operating table in the middle. "Aspyre are you still awake?"
"Uh."
They finished strapping her and by that point she could barely see, the black lines were covering most of her sight. She turned her head to her left and saw Viccal approaching her with a stun baton.
"Sorry about this, I was hoping you would be unconscious by now."
Had she been able to speak, she would have told him there was no problem, but the shocks she received, plus the extra charge from the stun baton left her in a near comatose state.
00
The temple stood in the middle of a small valley surrounded by sharp rocks. Despite the pouring rain, the rock still managed to look dry and coarse, and as Canderous placed his knee on one to lift himself up, he confirmed the felt the same way. They had travelled as soon as the sun had risen, but still progress had been very slow. It had taken them an extra day than what Canderous had hoped. Still, they had made it, and Canderous was happy. The temple was a square stone structure, built exactly in the middle of the valley, built in such a way the only entrance was facing the rising sun.
"That thing looks like it's going to fall apart any second!" Mission yelled in Canderous' ear.
"Feel free to stay here!"
The grumbling teenager rolled her eyes as she took the lead and eagerly began descending the valley. Canderous had hoped that the temple wasn't very big, and that Revan hadn't gone through too much trouble to hide the mask, after all, she didn't tell him where it was, exactly. But something told him that Revan probably hid it very, very, very carefully. Turns out he was right the first time.
They entered the temple with relative ease. Canderous shot the crumbling door down, and without even waiting for the dust to settle, he entered the temple, expecting to find a complex maze or hordes of droids, or a difficult puzzle or something that would be between them and the mask of Mandalore.
But there it stood, gently placed in a small stand, at the same height where Mandalore the Ultimate would have stood. The skeptical Mandalorian took a careful step forward before he began inspecting every centimeter of the temple he was able to see. He quickly ran his scanner to check there were no vital signs apart from their own and then took forward another step. The mask was right there, he could barely contain his desire to reach out and take it, but something held him back. Years of training had taught him that a situation was never as simple as it looked, and when it involved something as important as the mask of Mandalore, it was even less likely to be as simple as it looked. He carefully inspected the rest of the temple; it was a single room, with no other entrance or exit other than the one in their back. The aged stone walls hid no indentations that Canderous could see and he did not see any lasers, mines or tripwires in the room.
"I don't there's anything else other than the mask in here, Canderous" Dustil said after a few minutes of silence.
"Revan would not have left something as valuable as this without some protection, there's bound to be something guarding it."
"Well, then we'll deal with whatever it is!" Mission said as she rushed forward and joyfully grabbed the mask before Canderous had a chance to stop her. For a few seconds Canderous stood frozen where he stood, waiting for something to shoot her, crush her, vaporize her or decapitate her, but nothing happened. "Ha! I knew there was nothing here."
Canderous silently took the mask from her hands and looked it over again and again. It had to be a fake. Could it really be? Could the mask he held in his hands truly be the mask wore by Mandalore the Ultimate and his predecessors? He wasn't sure he had never seen it from so close before, but it certainly was Mandalorian, it looked like it had seen some combat, but could it really be?
"I'm pretty sure that's the real deal" Dustil said as he too, stared at it in awe.
There! In the top of the mask! With shaking fingers Canderous grabbed the thread of gold golden hair resting on the mask and pulled, and pulled, and pulled until it was finally free and resting on his hands. Revan's golden hair. Aspyre's golden hair.
"This is it" he said with a voice as shaky as his hands. "This is the mask of Mandalore. I can't believe it."
Canderous threw a look at the stand where the mask had rested. There was a small red button under it, and he carefully pressed it. A small hologram appeared where the mask had laid. It was Revan, not wearing her mask, her sickly yellow eyes burning into them as they fell into a trance.
"Congratulations, you found the mask. You're probably wondering if that is the real mask since there were no security measures to protect it. It is" the hologram spoke as it sat down on the ground and stared straight ahead. "I considered it a waste of time and effort, chances are, if you're here, it's because I gave you this location, which mean I wanted you to find this mask... You know why you came for it, you know what you have to do, don't hesitate to do it. When the time comes, you're going to need to be prepared. In case I fail in my revenge, you must carry it out for me. I don't know how you are, but I know you are competent, or you would not be here" the hologram continued as it stood up and placed the black and red mask over her face. "So go, Mandalore. Carry out what you were born to do."
And with that, the hologram turned off. The three of them were silent for a while, until Mission took a step forward and pressed the button again, but nothing happened. Satisfied that there was nothing of interested in the small vault, she turned to face Canderous.
"Try it on" Mission whispered with a smile on her face. Canderous looked at her with eyes wide open before he nodded and slowly turned the mask around. The straps were there, solid as the day it was built. He took it and placed it on his face, then he grabbed the straps and firmly but gently strapped it to his head. He breathed in and out a few times before he dared to open his eyes. No words in Mandalorian, Basic, Twi-lek, Rodian or Huttesse could ever make justice to how Canderous Ordo felt in that moment. It was a unique feeling, a combination of pride, fear, expectation, anxiety, joy, determination and hope that grew inside of him and made him feel alive, more than anything else ever did.
"Wow" Dustil whispered.
"It looks good" Mission said with a bright smile that lit the room.
"It… It feels good" Canderous said with an invisible smile.
"Come on" Dustil said as he slapped his shoulder. "You can show it off to my dad. He'll love it."
"Good to see his sense of humor isn't one of the things you got from him, kid."
The trio exited the temple and began climbing the valley wall in silence, the rain no longer bothering them. Canderous was still somewhat suspicious that it had been so easy to get the mask; all they had had to do was walk in the rain for three days and get inside a crumbling temple. Surely Revan would have had some kind of security measure to protect it? Could it have been deactivated? Could somebody else have come in that time? A cold shudder ran through Canderous' back. What if this wasn't the mask? Sure, a lot of the younger Mandalorians would not know the difference, but some of the older ones; they would definitely recognize it… As he finished climbing the valley wall and started the long trek back to the ship, Canderous thought of a solution. He would need to find an aged Mandalorian, somebody that had seen the mask from up close and would be able to recognize it in private, before he started gathering the clans. And he knew just the man.
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Aspyre woke up, feeling extremely tired and wishing she was still asleep. She grabbed her pillow and hugged it while she covered herself completely with her covers, she did not want to be disturbed. Her body ached and her head was throbbing even worse than it usually did and she simply wished to go back to sleep. After a few minutes she realized she wasn't going to go back to sleep and with a heavy sense of frustration she opened her eyes. She used the Force to turn on the light switch and sat up on her bed. How had she gotten to her bed? As a matter of fact, where the hell was she? This wasn't her room. She didn't know where she was. Yawning, the young girl stood up and headed to the only door. She pressed the release button but nothing happened.
"Aspyre?" a voice behind her said. For a second she froze, fearing that it would be Revan speaking to her, but when she turned around she realized it was just an intercom. "Can you hear me?"
"Viccal? Is that you?"
"Yeah. How are you feeling?"
"Not very well, my head really hurts, more than it ever has. What's going on? Where am I?"
"We're done, Aspyre" he calmly said. Aspyre tried to process the words, but her head was pounding to hard and she couldn't think straight. "Did you hear me?"
"Done?"
"It worked."
Aspyre shot her head up and looked at the mirror located on the wall. Her reflection stared back at her, wearing a surprised and scared mask over its face.
"She's… is she gone?"
"You tell me."
For everlasting minutes Aspyre stared at herself, exploring every inch of her body, looking for the smallest trace of Revan she could find, she stared at her hands, her arms, she looked at her eyes, she ran her fingers through her hair, she turned around and looked at her back, she took of her shirt and shorts and looked at her naked body, she took a step forward and touched the cold mirror. Was she herself? Was Revan gone? Without even bothering to put her clothes back on she sat down on the ground in standard meditating position and began looking inside her mind. She slowly began ignoring the outside world and focused only on herself. She began reading herself, watching her, reliving her memories. No trace of Revan. She looked around until she found on particular memory, the one when she dreamt of visiting the Star Map in Dantooine with Malak. It was there, and she saw Revan and Malak walking inside the temple… She froze there. She remembered it again and saw Revan and Malak walking inside the temple. Just to be certain she tried one more time and saw Revan and Malak walking inside the temple. She saw Revan and Malak walking inside the temple, not herself and Malak. She opened her eyes and took a deep breath. That was it. She stood up in shock and looked at the opening door. Viccal stepped inside and wrapped her with a white robe. She stared at him silently until her brain managed to respond.
"She's gone."
Viccal smiled and placed his hand on her shoulder, firmly shaking her. His smile widened to the point Aspyre thought it wasn't going to fit inside his mouth.
"Good."
00
Zaalbar eagerly waited for Aspyre to come out of her room alongside Carth. For the first time since they discovered she was in Revan's body, the rest would see her like he did, a kind individual, a selfless individual, and one that he was proud to serve. Zaalbar's thoughts went towards his life debt. Now that the Jedi Civil War was over, would Aspyre allow him to return to Kashyyyk a free wookie? Or would she ask him to continue protecting her? He contemplated on that for a moment, and concluded that both options would be fine by his standards. Aspyre didn't understand it, she thought that he was forced to serve her, that he was unwillingly serving her, what she didn't understand was that fulfilling a life debt was done willingly or it was not done, that performing a life debt was to be free, because he had, out of his own desire, chosen to follow her, which proved that his life was his own, it was in its own way, the ultimate expression of freedom. Much like the way being a Jedi was being the ultimate expression of power, exemplified by the choice of not using it.
Zaalbar was brought back from his thought by the sound of footsteps approaching. Lifting his head quickly and standing as straight as he could he saw two Republic troopers walking down the hall, Aspyre right behind them, more radiant and beautiful than he had ever seen her. She walked down the hallway confidently, with a smile on her face that showed off her bright white teeth. She was wearing her hair tied up in a tall ponytail that ended in her lower back, her hair had grown even longer since they first met, yet it had lost none of its glow. She was wearing her white Jedi robes, both lightsabers clipped to her belt. Her boots were new, they shined a bright blue that matched the color of her eyes, belt and gloves. Custom made, Zaalbar suspected.
"Hi" she breathed to both of them.
"Aspyre, how are you feeling?" he growled a softly as he could in the hopes of not rousing the guards, but still he failed.
"Better than ever, Big Z. Better than ever" she said with barely controlled joy.
"It looks like everything turned out okay in the end" Carth said, beaming too.
"Much better than okay."
"What do you mean?"
"Let's get back to the Hawk, I want to tell everybody what happened."
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Jolee sat back and lifted his boots on the Ebon Hawk's main room table and listened to what Aspyre was saying with a broad smile on his face. So in the end everything had worked out not as bad as he thought it would for the lass.
"Well, they began asking all these questions about Revan and myself and the war and where they had gone. One really mean senator tried to get me to confess that I actually knew where I had gone and that if I didn't tell the Republic I would be incarcerated for life, but Viccal and Admiral Dodona stepped in and helped me."
"But surely they must have asked for further proof and other bureaucratic things like that, right?" Dustil asked with closed eyes.
"Yup, but Viccal had many other doctors and psychologists come and check me, they all agreed that I was fine and that his procedure was a success, the Senate couldn't do anything. After that they wanted to appeal to the Regional courts, but the voting was unsuccessful for that too."
"So… What? Are you free?" Mission impatiently asked.
Aspyre nodded before smiling wide.
"Not only that. We are going to be awarded the cross of glory for our actions!"
"You're kidding" Carth breathed out in surprise. He had expected them to be awarded something alright, but never the Cross of Glory. That was the highest honor that The Republic could bestow on an individual, there was no greater honor to be gained once a man had been given the Cross of Glory. It had only been given twice before in the entire history of the Republic, and now it was going to be given to them. Carth knees shook when he understood Aspyre's words.
"And Master Vaandar said he's going to give me and Jolee the title of Jedi Knight!" she exclaimed as she happily jumped up and down. At that moment Jolee stood up and looked at Aspyre closely, his face a combination of surprise and rejection, but curiosity as well. Becoming a Jedi Knight was every Padawan's dream, but was he even a Padawan still? He pondered for a second on what his choice was, he could say no to Master Vaandar, he would understand, but then again, the order had been dealt a devastating blow, having lost the Enclave in Dantooine like that. Maybe now he had a chance to help rebuild it and install his own philosophies, help improve the Jedi order, fix the flaws he saw in it. "If you want to."
"Yeah, why not, after all these years I might as well finish the way it's supposed to, right?" he said with fake exasperation. Aspyre giddily screamed and hugged him tightly before kissing him in the cheek and turning towards Dustil.
"And you" she said as she pointed at him.
"Me."
"Yup. Master Vaandar says you are welcomed into the order, should you wish to accept the calling of the light, as he put it?"
"If I join I guess I can't have attachments, right?"
Aspyre looked over at Mission and pondered for a second. The council had accepted Revan and Alek's relationship, they had accepted Bastila's and hers… would they accept another one? Something told her that because Dustil dabbled with the Dark Side of the Force they would be skeptical about allowing him that.
"I guess… I don't think they would let you."
"But they let me keep my lightsaber, right?"
"Like it or not, that's yours, they can't take that away from you without it being stealing. Unless you perform a crime with it, in which case then they will hunt you for it."
"Alright… Then I'm afraid I'm going to have to pass."
"Mmm… too bad… Anyways, that's the news I wanted to give you, and… Where's Canderous?"
"He's in the garage" Mission whispered in her ear. "He really wants to talk to you. He's been dying to see you ever since we left. Even when he went inside the temple, and he got the mask, all he could think about was getting back to you. Before he entered the temple he told us in case he died there, we had to come back to you and-"
"Mission!" Dustil hissed at her. "He's going to kill you if you finish that sentence!"
Aspyre raised her eyebrows at the blushing teenager, who simply smiled at her before dashing out of the Ebon Hawk as fast as her little legs would carry her. But it didn't matter where she was, not even the Supreme Chancellor's office would protect her from the Mandalorian's wrath if he found out. After smiling at the rest of the crew and ordering HK and T3 to stay outside the garage, she slapped the release button and entered, quickly locking the door behind her. Canderous was sitting on the workbench, quietly looking at the Mask of Mandalore.
"You found it" she whispered softly.
"Yeah… I can't believe I'm actually holding it in my hands."
"She didn't lie to you, then."
"No, she spoke the truth."
"Too bad you can't thank her anymore."
"I can thank you" he said as he raised his gaze and landed it on her face. "It's because of you that I was able to find this. It's because of you that I gained the confidence to actually go and search for this mask. And it was you that forced Revan to speak the truth. I highly doubt she would have told me otherwise."
Aspyre blushed and she silently wished that she had not left her white mask in her quarters.
"You're flattering me" she said softly. The large Mandalorian took a step forward and took something from his back pocket, handing it to her gently. Aspyre looked down at the shielded mask looking straight back at her and she smiled at the gesture. "Thank you" she said as she placed it on. She grabbed her white hood and lifted it, covering half her face just like Revan used to do. "What do you say we go and scare some politicians?"
"You read my mind" Canderous said as he placed on his own mask.
Mandalore and Revan exited the garage and were about to exit the Ebon Hawk before they were stopped by Carth, looking at them both with a stern face.
"Really?"
"Oh, sir! Please, they have put me through hell, can't I get a little payback?" Aspyre asked as she clasped her hands and cocked her head to the right, batting her eyebrows in the cutest way she could before she remember he couldn't see her eyes very well with her mask.
"Revenge, Aspyre? That's sounding awfully close to Revan talk if you ask me." With a heavy sigh, Aspyre took of her mask and hooked it next to her blue lightsaber before crossing her arms and grumpily looking at her superior officer. The satisfied Carth looked at Canderous with a smile on his face before he left. "It suits you" he said over his shoulder.
"What do you say we go to the women's quarters? I'm sure Mission won't need to go in right now" Aspyre said once Carth wasn't within earshot.
"I don't know, I liked the idea of scaring those wimpy Republic bureaucrats, it would have been-" Canderous started, before Aspyre lifted the mask, pulled his head down and forcefully kissed him. "Well, if you insist."
With a big smile on her face Aspyre led the way into the women's quarters and locked the door, last thing she wanted was Mission recording them just like last time.
00
Aspyre stood in front of Bastila's burial site. They had cremated her with all the honors a Jedi Master deserved, and a large stone plate had been placed over her grave. She silently placed a single flower she had found on the way there. She didn't even know what the flower was called, she just thought it was appropriate. With a heavy sigh she sat down and rested her back next to the grave. The demolished ruins of the Dantooine Enclave were visible from where she stood, but somehow they didn't look so gloomy from over here. The truth was she would be unable to find a more beautiful place in all of Dantooine. She was located in the middle of the plains, where strong winds gushed by, a few trees grew close by, and some bushes decorated the area with their beautiful flowers. Aspyre looked around her and decided this was a nice place to be. She looked over at what the inscription in the tablet said.
"Here lies Jedi Knight Bastila Shan, Heroine of the Republic. The Force fights with me" She read softly. Smiling to herself, she took out her blue blade and quickly carved a few extra words in the bottom. She stood up and looked down at her work. Satisfied she took one last look at the beautiful plains around her. The midday sun was bathing her in a delicious warmth that soothed her completely, it truly was divine.
She got up and walked back towards the Ebon Hawk, where the rest of the crew was waiting for her. It was interesting but despite each having being offered their own positions and given their own path, nobody really had wanted to leave. Carth had told the Republic he would accept the promotion to Admiral, but not just yet, he said he wanted to travel with Aspyre for a little longer, and the Republic had accepted. Dustil had decided he wanted to stay in Telos and help in the reconstruction program that The Republic was planning for it, but again, he would wait until the plan was actually ready. Mission of course, wanted to go with him. Only Jolee had decided to accept being reintegrated into the Jedi Order with the hopes of righting some wrongs he saw in it. Aspyre had told Zaalbar he was free to go back to Kashyyyk, but the young wookies had told her he wanted to stay with her, until he had decided that she no longer needed him. T3 and HK were obviously going where she was going, and Canderous…
Canderous. He said he wanted to go and meet with a man that could help him make sure that the mask he was wearing was really the mask of Mandalore, although very little doubt was actually running among the crew of The Ebon Hawk. Aspyre supposed she would go with him, for the moment she wanted to spend as much time with him as she could… She turned around and looked at Bastila's tombstone. She couldn't really postpone what she had to do much longer. She really didn't want to go, but she had no choice, too many lives were at stake. Three months had passed since the destruction of the Star Forge, and the Republic was doing well in the rebuilding department, but they would be unable to withstand the fury of the Sith. For the Sith would strike soon, and they would strike hard and precise into the heart of the Republic. A thousand years of hate had made them strong, and it would take the best men and women in the Republic to hold them back. But even with that, even with the Republic at full strength, even with the aid of the Mandalorians, Aspyre wondered if they would be able to survive. Despite her best efforts, Revan had failed, and where she had failed, Aspyre had to succeed, failure was not an option.
She turned around and saw Canderous in the distance, he was staring off at the place where they had once fought the Mandalorian pirates, so long ago. She saw him and a small tear formed in her right eye, for she could not be with him. Not for long anyways. If she stayed with him, then she would be dooming everybody to die, including him… if she wanted him to live, she would have to let him go, just like she had let Bastila go.
Taking a deep breath Aspyre returned to the Ebon Hawk and silently climbed aboard, pulling Canderous with her. She went directly for the women's quarters and laid down in her bed, taking soothing breaths to calm herself while she heard Canderous heading yet again to the garage. She heard the engines start and after a few minutes she felt Carth lifting the Ebon Hawk into the skies of Dantooine. So to Coruscant they went, to leave Jolee with the Jedi order, where he would begin his new life. A short new life, Canderous had pointed out with glee, but a new one nonetheless. After a while she stood up and saw Mission standing in the doorway. The teenager walked next to her and hugged her silently as Aspyre showed her with her mind's eye what she had written in Bastila's gravestone.
"I said yes, my love."
She tried, but Mission found herself unable to suppress a laugh.
"You hypocrite" the young blue Twi-lek said while the blonde human girl stroked her lekku.
"Hey, nobody's perfect, right?" Aspyre Venar shot back as she hugged her friend tightly.
00
"So where are we going after everybody leaves?" a naked Aspyre asked as she laid down next to an equally naked Canderous.
"Why are you so curious?"
"You know me, inquisitive by nature."
"Yeah, I guess I do… We're going back to Ordo, there is a man there that might be able to tell me where the man I'm looking for is."
"Who is he?"
"Jagi's father."
"Oh…"
"Yeah…"
"Are you going to tell him?"
"I have to."
"Will he get mad?"
"Not with me, but with Jagi."
"I see… and the mask?"
"I'm not going to take it with me, not there. Until I can find him, I won't show it to any Mandalorian we might find."
"Good call."
"I'm going to miss that old man, he was fun to hang out with" the veteran warrior unexpectedly said, earning a raised eyebrow from the girl next to him.
"Is that a touch of sentiment I'm hearing from Canderous Ordo, the same man that destroyed cities with his weapons, the same man that fought the Sith in the Star Forge, the same man that mocked and made fun of our pilot for being too soft?" she jokingly asked as she stroked his chest with her soft hand.
"Don't you dare tell anybody" he warned her. Laughing, Aspyre planted a kiss on his cheek and closed her eyes.
"Me too."
00
Ok, this a somewhat revised version of the final chapter, with a few changes to it. Mostly some grammatical and spelling horrors I had made, but I also added some lines of dialogue and a new paragraph when Canderous and co. find the mask of Mandalore, hopefully it now makes sense why it was so easy for them to get it :D Let's see, what else? Oh, I'm writing another novel, this one set in the Old Republic video game, it features the female trooper (also voiced by Jennifer Hale, so read her lines with her voice ^_^) other than that, there's not much else to tell, I didn't receive much feed back on the Canderous story so I skipped that, I'll focus on the old republic for now Happy reading!
P.S: don't be afraid to add reviews to this, I really don't mind, I swear I don't mind XD