THE THREE
A STAR WARS STORY
WRITTEN BY
JOSHUA HILTON, ERIC LITTIG AND MICHAEL PERRY
It has been over fifteen years since the fall of the galactic empire and a relative peace has been established thanks to the efforts of a coalition led by grand master Luke Skywalker of the new jedi order.
Standing beside him are the representatives and leaders of the new galactic senate and its military forces.
While the reestablished Mandalorian protectors now assuming the title of the neo death watch serve honorably under the leadership of Tor Ordo and his supporters.
But deep in the outer rim a terrible threat rises, one that the galaxy has long since forgotten. One whose hunger nearly devoured everything and everyone in the galaxy.
Who can stand against this terrible force of annihilation?
PART ONE
21ABY-TYTHON
The jungles of the planet Tython are brutal and unforgiving, when you are not trying to traverse the landscape then you are fighting off wild tuk'ata and cannibalistic flesh eaters. Surviving here is a difficult accomplishment to achieve... for most people at least.
"this is alpha squad leader checking in, nothing to report."
The crackle of a communicator fades away as two more similar voices echo through the comms units signaling that there are at least three squads within this area of jungle. The eerie silence of the jungle explodes as a miniaturized seismic charge detonates in the center of alpha squad and instantly liquifies the unsuspecting jungletroopers.
"report... report in now!"
A voice yells over the comms units of the squad leaders' helmets as trees and rocks turn to airborne fragments. Splintering and flying away from the epicenter of the violent detonation.
"this is bravo squad... this is charlie squad."
The once confident voices of the remaining squad leaders are now panicked and rattled as they try to get a handle on their dire situation.
"Bravo squad make your way to the last known coordinates of alpha and give me a sitrep as soon as you get there, charlie squad circle around and re-enforce the troopers at the temple entrance."
The sound of rattling plasteel trooper armor is soon gone when a thermal detonator incinerates all four members of bravo squad in a fiery ball of destruction.
"What's happening?"
The commanding officer of the trooper platoon yells over the radio as he cowers inside of his ship not far from the entrance of the crumbling ruin, the screams of charlie squad can be heard all the way at the temple entrance. Bones snap and flesh is cleaved by an unknown attacker, their weapon of carnage sings as it slices through the air and dismantles the four-remaining panicked jungletroopers clad in their camouflage armor. One by one they fall to the ground missing their limbs and heads until none remain standing.
"charlie squad report in immediately"
The shaky voice of the platoon commander practically pleads over the comms as he slowly walks out of the t4a lambda shuttle.
"what is that?"
He asks as he watches an imposing figure in white and gold armor over a black flight suit breach the clearing beyond the jungle, the commander focuses his optics and finally makes out the sigil on the stranger's pauldrons and combat skirt.
He receives an unwanted answer to his question when he gets a full view of the strangers t-visor helmet.
"A Mandalorian"
He says as he drops to his knees on the cargo ramp just before the Mando starts sprinting towards the two remaining jungletroopers at the entrance, the panicked troopers shoot franticly and hit everything but their intended target, they scream as the armored warrior lunges and slams his weapon through the chest of one and then rips it out violently and swings his sword so hard that the impact on the torso of the last one standing cleaves him in half.
As he stares at the remains of the two troopers laying on the grass, the Mando turns and walks towards the shuttle.
With a lightning-fast movement, the armor-clad warrior has the commander by his throat, picking him up off his feet as he slams the black blade of the fabled Mandalorian darksaber through the commander's chest eliciting a scream from him.
"I'm told that's painful."
The impaled trooper commander gasps one final time before perishing and going limp, the young warrior grunts as he tosses the troopers corpse onto the ground and heads up the ramp of the lambda. The cargo hold is empty save for a workbench and a black and silver astromech droid that beeps and whirs as it faces the Mando. With a flick of his thumb the Mandalorian shuts off the dark saber and slides it into its sheath that is mounted on the back side of his right shoulder.
"yes, I know I've killed most of your companions... i'm the one that killed them."
The astromech follows as the Mando looks around the cargo bay of the lambda shuttle, occasionally beeping at him.
"Ok r2r4, I'm Malachor Ordo and I would like to take possession of this ship, and you if you don't mind."
A loud celebratory whir is followed by a series of beeps as the astromech inserts its scomp link into a nearby data port until it begins beeping again.
"Lieutenant Malachor Ordo of the Mandalorian neo death watch. You know I figured you wouldn't be so compliant, but I guess like most things the imperials don't treat their droids very well either."
Malachor nods at the astromech as it inputs the information into the ship's mainframe and within minutes the ship and the droid are registered to him.
"I'm going into the temple R2... I've got to do something about that name, I already know one r2 and that shit will get confusing."
After a brief pause malachor places his hand on top of the droid.
"Since you're a recon astromech how about I call you Specter"
A loud whir signals the droids acceptance of its new name.
"Specter arm all weapons and security protocols... i'm going hunting."
The temple entrance is easily breached and traversing it is relatively easier than moving through the jungle, the temple halls are lined with statues of robed figures wielding lightsaber pikes. The hud in Malachor's helmet shows him a description of the statues, telling him they are of jedi temple guards from the pre imperial era, a sudden beep alerts him that there are two stormtroopers standing guard at the end of the hall. The young lieutenant reaches down and pulls out both of his mythosaur daggers and with lightning quick speed sprints out from behind one of the statues and lunges at the troopers. Burying a dagger into each of their carotid arteries then twisting the blades before ripping them out.
Both troopers drop to the floor as they gurgle and choke on their own blood before expiring. As he squats down and wipes the blood from his daggers on the cloth parts of the trooper's uniforms malachor smirks behind his helmet and sheathes his ceremonial weapons.
"let's see who you were guarding shall we."
It takes only a matter of minutes for Malachor to traverse the great hall of the temple, hiding in the shadows of the massive statues that are casted thanks to the three robed individuals and their glow rods and data scanners at the very back of the room. With relative ease Malachor uses his wrist mounted whipcord and is soon perched high above them on the head of one of the jedi statues. The lieutenant presses a button on his left gauntlet and begins scanning the targets.
"Three humanoid targets... Target one, female, unarmed and positioned directly below this statue. Target two, male, armed with a vibro-knife and ten yards out. Target three, male, unarmed and seventeen yards out."
The sound of the woman's bones snapping as all one hundred and sixty-seven kilograms of armored Mandalorian drops feet first on to her shoulders is deafening when mixed with the guttural scream, she made, but the force of the stomp to her mangled face ends her pathetic pleas for mercy. The nearest man screams as he draws his vibro-knife and charges malachor without a second thought. The shocked look mixed with the tears streaming down his face relays the message that he and the woman were far more than associates. His hysterical reaction is soon negated as Malachor's whipcord ensnares him. The robed stranger screams as he is pulled towards malachor and lifted off his feet just in time for the Mando to bury one of his daggers into the man's skull.
After wiping off his blade and stowing it away Malachor retracts his whipcord and slowly stalks forward.
"I hope you're more of a challenge than your friends were."
Whether it was the sight of his companions being brutally slaughtered or watching the person that has just tore his team apart get closer and closer, the leader of the group was frozen in fear and unable to say anything let alone run for the entrance to the ruin.
"Die without honor imperial trash."
Was the last words Malachor said as he pulled the darksaber from its sheath and ignited the black blade? The Mandalorian warrior lunges forward and slams his beskar plated left forearm into the man's mouth, practically shattering every bone in his face. The armored right leg of malachor quickly sweeps his feet out from under him while simultaneously driving the darksaber down through his chest ending his life.
20ABY-CONCORDIA
Jaten Ordo and Xarr Vizsla stand on the outskirts of the neo death watch base watching the sun begin to set over the mountains of Concordia. When suddenly malachor ordo shoves them both before jerking them back by their armor and throwing them in a headlock.
"Are you two going to stand here all evening and wish you were back on the farm or are you actually going to help me secure the new weapon shipment in the armory like Mand'alor asked us to?"
After struggling for a few moments, the two Mando's can break free and spin around, both gripping their westar-35 blasters but not unholstering them. Malachor grunts as he nods his head and motions towards the base, the squad leader of the three picks his war sword up off the grass and begins to walk towards the heavily fortified entrance to the base.
Jaten and Xarr are soon walking on either side of their lieutenant as they adjust their armor.
"Hey Malachor, I know that sword was a gift from Mand'alor, but wouldn't it make more sense for you to use a blaster like me and Jaten or at least use a vibro-staff."
The young lieutenant does not say a word as he drives his shoulder into the helmet of Xarr and then kicks his legs out from under him, effectively knocking him to the ground and in a split second has one of the blades of his war sword at the throat of Xarr.
"My weapons never run out of ammo, they never malfunction and if I should happen to break one of them, I can still stab someone with the pieces. Can you say the same thing friend?"
Xarr shakes his head back and forth as he grabs hold of Malachor's hand and is yanked up onto his feet where he watches his lieutenant turn and begin walking into the base. Jaten laughs and shakes his head as he walks beside his older brother.
"Good evening Lieutenant Ordo"
The gate guard salutes the white and gold armored Mando and then returns to his post just as Xarr catches up with the two brothers as they breach the entrance to their base. The heavily fortified installation serves as both a training ground for new recruits and as the main base for the neo death watch. The three Mandalorian make their way to the armory, walking past a group of foundlings that are headed to the barracks. The new recruits salute malachor and render the greeting of the day then start sprinting towards their designated area. At the armory, the lieutenant and his two teammates oversee the offloading of the crates of weapons and ammo that just arrived from Concord Dawn.
"Hmmm I think I'll keep these... here Xarr I requested some new laser trip mines for you."
Malachor tosses a satchel of explosives to Xarr and slings his new bandolier of thermal detonators over his head and left shoulder.
"Jaten we'll get you sorted out once you get a more solid grasp of what you're planning on specializing in, for now just stick with the beskad and the offhand blaster."
The youngest of the three Mandalorian nods his head just as a massive explosion shatters the peaceful evening. Malachor, Jaten and Xarr run out of the armory and into the warm evening air to be met with the sight of the hospital burning and collapsing. Just then a dozen more explosions ring out as the turbolaser and ion cannon emplacements all around the base are destroyed.
"Mand'alor we're under attack, i'm taking my squad to the main gate to reinforce the guards and then we'll link up with you back at hq after we have it secured."
Malachor's communicator beeps and he takes off sprinting towards the main gate followed by Jaten and Xarr.
The entrance to the base is practically in ruins, the bodies of the gate guards lay on the ground with vibroswords protruding from their backs. Suddenly half a dozen figures clad in black stormtrooper armor appear out of the smoke and begin pressing towards the three Mando's.
"JATEN FLANK RIGHT AND XARR FLANK LEFT, NO MERCY... NO SURVIVORS"
Malachor yells as he charges the invaders, lunging and swinging his war sword low, cleaving the legs of one of the troopers off at the knees then spinning around and with a powerful swing takes his head off at the shoulders. The other trooper is easily dispatched by Malachor as he swings his sword and slices him in half at the waist. Jaten quickly disposes of his two troopers with a precise swing of his beskad that cleaves through his chest plate followed by double tap to the chest of the other one.
Meanwhile Xarr fires a barrage of bolts from his dual blasters, all eight shots strike his two targets in the head, searing holes through their helmets ending their lives quickly.
"Hey Malachor, have you ever seen guys like these before... my hud is showing them as deathtroopers."
Malachor shakes his head at Xarr as he wipes the blood from his sword off on the flight suit of one of the troopers.
"With a name like deathtroopers you'd think they would be more combat efficient"
Malachor nods his head at Jaten and then turns towards the base as another series of explosions level the armory and barracks. Jaten screams as he clutches his weapons and takes off running as fast as he can for the smoldering pile of rubble that was once their barracks. Malachor and Xarr soon follow and barely catch up in time to see Jaten drop to his knees.
"Mother"
Malachor places his hand on his little brothers' shoulder and then walks past him towards the ruined building only to be stopped dead in his tracks by the sight of two idt's landing in the central courtyard. The lieutenant motions for his team to spread out and advance on the courtyard, signaling Xarr to take an elevated firing position and for Jaten to flank around to the right.
"Time to go introduce myself."
The white combat skirt of Malachor blows in the wind as he steps over the bodies of his comrades and enters the central grounds of his home, bearing witness to everything he has come to love has been destroyed. His right-hand trembles as it squeezes the grip of his dual bladed war sword, the doors of the idt's open and a platoon of the deathtroopers disembarks each of them. they draw their blaster rifles and press towards the lone Mandalorian.
"I AM MALACHOR ORDO! LIUTENANT IN THE NEO DEATH WATCH AND YOU ARE ALL DEAD MEN! NOW XARR"
Shot after shot from Xarr's dxr-6 disruptor sniper rifle begins to disintegrate each target he acquires. The death troopers begin returning fire on Xarr's position but are quickly being decimated by the expert marksmanship of the Mandalorian corporal.
"JATEN DO IT NOW"
Malachor commands and watches as his little brother leaps over the back of one of the troopers and slices his head off and begins to tear through the platoon with relative ease. Each swing of his beskad hits the troopers in their least armored spots on their bodies and is followed up by a series of shots from his westar-35 blaster pistol. Malachor leaps into the middle of a squad and swings his mighty war sword.
Tearing through armor and flesh as he destroys as many of them as he can. Suddenly two z-6 jetpacks scream into the night carrying the Mand'alor Tor Ordo and his military general Tyvark Vizsla.
Tyvark laughs maniacally as he lands next to his son and begins firing explosive rounds from his massive autocannon until the idt's are little more than charred jagged piles of metal. Tor ordo stands back-to-back with his youngest son and swings the darksaber, separating heads and limbs with ease while protecting his boy.
"Calm yourself son, we've got this under control. Plus, you do not want Malachor to see you all nervous, do you?"
The young Mandalorian private shakes his head as he steels his nerves and follows his father's lead. In the middle of the harshest fighting Malachor is tearing through the last of the deathtroopers, having imbedded his war sword into one of them he now fights with his ceremonial mythosaur daggers. The beskar forged weapons make short work of the last two troopers standing and are sheathed in their scabbards he keeps attached to the sides of his heavily armored combat boots.
The war sword Tor gave him years ago is torn out of the trooper commander and with a swing he decapitates the intruder.
"Mand'alor do you hear that... did they bring walkers with them?"
Suddenly an arc cannon at-dp smashes through the rubble of the hospital and heads towards the three on the ground. Shot after shot from Tyvark's autocannon detonates on the side of the at-dp until it turns its attention towards Tyvark and Xarr.
Both Mando's unload every single round they have on the walker, even as it begins to charge its arc cannon. With a press of a button on his gauntlet Tyvark disengages his jetpack and shoves it into the chest of his son.
"Run boy, protect the Mand'alor."
Xarr nods his head and attaches the jetpack to his back plate, the z-6 easily carries him out of the way just in time to see the arc cannon fire and super heat Tyvark's armor and disintegrates his body.
The corporal screams as he lands on the ground and drops to his knees, Jaten kneels beside him and embraces his friend as Malachor and Tor charge the at-dp. Malachor tosses two thermal detonators through the viewport in the front of the walker just as Tor drives the darksaber into the arc cannon. the pilot screams just as the thermal weapons explode and cook him alive while Tor destroys the once thought prototype weapon, As the four Mandalorian regroup Tor's communicator beeps and an unfamiliar voice tells him that their ride is almost there. When suddenly a cloaking device disengages and a single deathtrooper plunges a vibro knife into the side of Tor ordo.
"Father"
Jaten and Malachor scream almost at the same time as they lunge at the attacker, Jaten's beskad plunges through the trooper's chest plate as Malachor grabs the dying man's throat and rips his helmet off.
Staring him in the face as he grips his head with both hands and sinks his thumbs into his eyes, pressing harder and harder until their buried into his eye sockets, causing the trooper to convulse and perish.
"Malachor... Jaten"
Tor ordo looks at his sons as he kneels on the ground coughing up blood into his helmet, the two Mando's drop to their knees before their father as Xarr flies up to where Tyvark was murdered. Tor grabs Jaten by the shoulder with his shaky right hand and stares at his youngest son.
"Remember who you are and remember where you come from son, when you feel lost you can look to your older brother to guide you. Malachor my son, you are the best of us all, the future of clan Ordo rests on your shoulders now and for that I am sorry."
Tor Ordo looks down as he places the darksaber in the hands of Malachor.
"No father I can't... i'm not ready, I couldn't even save you."
Tor releases Jatens armored shoulder and embraces Malachor.
"It was never your responsibility to save me son, but it is up to you to give me a warriors death. So, I ask you to send me to the manda... send me to your mother, it is the way, son."
Malachor nods his head and grips the darksaber for the first time, placing his war sword in his father's hands and watching him grip the weapon while drawing his arm back as he ignites the legendary weapon.
"This is the way"
Tor Ordo gasps as his oldest son drives the darksaber between the plates of his armor and plunges the searing hot blade through his heart. The pain is brief, and he quickly falls lifeless to the ground, Jaten soon stands and gathers himself as he watches Malachor remove his father's custom-made shoulder harness that acts as a sheath for the darksaber.
"Malachor you know what this means don't you... why father gave you that weapon?"
The harness for the darksaber fits over Malachor's armor as if it were made for him, the blade vanishes as he shuts it off and stows the weapon away.
"I know little brother and i'm going to need your help along the way."
The brothers nod at each other and then look up to the top of the tower where Xarr sits holding his father's helmet. The wind has already blown the ashes of Tyvark away to cover the battlefield, a fitting end for the head of clan Vizsla. The eerie after battle silence is soon broken by the unmistakable sound of a group of at-at's approaching, when suddenly a volley of turbolaser bolts begin to decimate the buildings that are left standing.
"Xarr lets go now, we're no match for them."
Malachor and Jaten watch as Xarr flies down and lands next to them, nodding in agreement before the three Mando's take off running towards the spaceport that is a kilometer outside of the base.
When suddenly the sound of a firespray-31 fills the night, the three stop and watch as it weaves through the mountains and banks around the lead at-at and then blasts straight up. Dropping a piece of ordinance that detonates with an all too familiar sound, the seismic charge explodes and sends out a shockwave that shatters the five at-at's into thousands of pieces.
"That was slave-1."
Malachor grabs his team and leads them towards the clearing outside the main gates, the three warriors watch as the legendary ship that every Mandalorian child dreams of lands.
They stand at the foot of the cargo ramp and watch as the bay door opens revealing the green, black and red armor-clad Boba Fett.
"let's go boys."
Malachor nods as he leads Jaten and Xarr up the ramp, Boba looks over the three young Mando's and stays locked on Malachor, fixing his gaze upon the lieutenant's new armament.
"Tor was a good man and an even better Mandalorian."
Malachor remains silent as he stares at Boba while his team walks into the cargo hold and nearly collapse as they sit against the wall, the white and gold helmet of Malachor hits the floor with a loud thud, his jet-black short hair is soaked in sweat and falls over his green eyes.
"take off your helmets, we won't need them in here."
Jaten and xarr hesitantly press the releases for their helmets, the sound of the atmospheric system releasing is nearly synchronized. The two Mando's look fatigued and battle weary as they stare at their leader awaiting some sort of explanation.
"We fought waves of troopers, cutting them down like shatual... you know my father told me he called you for help, he said don't worry son because Boba Fett is on his way and then the empire won't stand a chance. But you never came, and I had to give him a warriors death that will haunt me for the rest of my days."
Malachor glares at the legend as he stands and gets in his face.
"It's a long flight from Tatooine kid."
Boba smiles as he goes for his blaster, but Malachor is faster. In the blink of an eye the darksaber sings as it slices the barrel of his blaster off. Xarr yells as he jumps up and leaps after Malachor but is stopped just before he reaches his team leader. The Mandalorian corporal floats suspended in the air momentarily and is then violently slammed against the ceiling of the cargo hold and then down onto the floor where he curls up into a ball. Malachor instantly spins around and stows the darksaber away as he walks towards jaten.
"No no no no... not you"
Malachor embraces his little brother before turning towards Xarr and looks down upon him.
"You ever get in-between your Mand'alor and his prey again and you won't live to tell the story of how you went one on one with Malachor Ordo."
Boba clears his throat as he sits in a chair and motions for the three to join him just before turning on his communicator.
"You three are something else you know that... Fennec take us to the nearest asteroid field and scan for imperial transmissions, I want to know if they are tracking us... And now to the issue at hand. You boy have been the topic of a great many discussion amongst a few people I know. When we found you, it was something of a miracle.
Boba then takes his helmet off and sits it on the floor.
"you see Jaten, a select few of us have known about your force sensitivity and have watched you carefully, we saw what you did in the woods when you were eight. Or how about when you bested everyone in the melee trials just a few months ago."
Jaten trembles fearfully as Malachor glares at him with a seething anger that he has never seen before.
"One of my spies had alerted me that an old imperial weapons program had been reactivated and since i'm no friend of the empire I asked Tor and Tyvark to help me out, by the time we had gathered to go check it out I had a whole squad at my back, me and Fennec were accompanied by your fathers and mothers, we even had a jedi with us. The facility was running with minimal support and no security, so it was easy to breach, once we made it past all the droids it was easy to gain access to the lab and then that is where we found you jaten... floating in a bacta tank with all kinds of tubes coming out of you while medical droids scanned and tested your biological structure. After we neutralized the droids and Fennec got you out of that tank, we tore that place apart. Apparently, you were meant to be a clone of some great force user, but the cloners on kamino secretly rebelled against the empire and used not only the DNA of the Sith assassin the imperials wanted cloned but also a great jedi master from the clone wars.
I wouldn't have got myself involved but the intel I received said that in order to complete the DNA sequence they filled in the gaps with samples of my father's DNA."
Malachor stands and begins pacing back and forth, his hands shaking as he runs them through his hair. With a shake of his head, he turns and looks straight at Jaten.
"This changes nothing... I swore to our father that I would protect you and I always will. You will always be my little brother."
Boba smirks as he leans back in his chair and produces a flask from under the table.
"Technically he's my little brother but I'll let you have that one."
Xarr stares at Malachor and Jaten as he shakes his head in disbelief of what he is seeing and hearing.
"So not only is my entire life completely destroyed but my best friend is now some force wielding freak, can this day get any worse."
Boba laughs briefly before getting smacked in the back of the head by Fennec.
"Yes, things can always get worse, but we have to stick together so we're going to figure out a plan and then we'll go from there."
Fennec smiles at Jaten and Xarr as she puts a hand on each of their shoulders then slowly approaches Malachor. Her eyes widening at the sight of the darksaber in its shoulder harness he now wears.
"I didn't realize that you were..."
She is quickly cut off by Malachor as he stares at her.
"I don't know ma'am... it's just a weapon and I'm just a warrior, it's all I've ever known."
Fennec nods her head and gives Malachor a saddened look before walking back to where Boba sits with the other two.
"I'm going to go let our friend know what's happened and then we'll head for yavin"
Boba sighs and gives her hand a reassuring squeeze as she departs the cargo hold.
"As the head of clan Fett and thanks to your unique heritage it is my duty and responsibility to offer you the chance to carry the clan Fett name. This is a onetime offer and if you say no, I'll never offer it to you again."
Jaten looks practically sick to his stomach as he turns and looks at his brother. The unsettling blank expression on the face of Malachor hides his true emotions.
20ABY-IMPERIAL STAR DESTROYER "THE EMPIRES FURY"
A blue holo-projector blinks to life as a uniformed man approaches.
"Good evening grand admiral, the assault was a success and the Mandalorian threat has been mostly neutralized, we have received reports that a group of them has escaped but are mostly inexperienced and incapable of posing a future threat."
The blue computer-generated image nods her head and quickly vanishes.
"Sterilize the base and leave the bodies for the animals, then get my troops out of there, we have another mission."
A group of lieutenants snap to attention as a captain salutes.
"Yes, commander Shaw"
Within the hour all the idt's and at-at's have reentered the group of star destroyers and left the orbit of Concordia. Then disappear into the black depths of space.
20ABY-YAVIN 4
The trip to yavin only takes a few hours but it feels like days have gone by to the three young Mandalorians. A man wearing layers of black robes over a grey tunic stands at the foot of the cargo ramp and watches as the fully armored Mandalorians disembark.
Fennec in her assassin gear and Boba in his legendary green and red. Behind them walks Malachor in his white and gold neo death watch armor that is covered in melee weapons, thermal detonators, seismic bolos and the darksaber. while Xarr wears the black, green and red armor of the ancient protectors. Lastly comes Jaten Fett in his bare beskar and dark brown armor that is styled after the legendary children of the watch.
"Here they are, me, Fennec and the one that looks like me will be leaving in a few minutes, we've got some bounties to work on and Xarr needs more training."
The robed man approaches the brothers hesitantly.
"My name is Luke Skywalker and I'm the grand master of the jedi order."
Luke looks directly at Jaten and extends his hand.
"I've been waiting for this day for a very long time."
Jaten shakes his hand as Luke looks over Malachor with a concerned expression.
"So Jaten... do you wish to be trained as a jedi?"
Jatens hands tremble as he looks over at his older brother.
"Yes, he does, and I'll be staying with him, jedi."
The imposing lieutenant pulls his helmet off and looks Luke in the eyes. Jaten as always is hesitant to betray his code.
"Great, it's settled then... welcome to yavin temple."
Luke looks worried as he reaches out through the force and senses the pain and anger that Malachor harbors. Jaten is much calmer though and seems to be handling these sudden revelations with a clear head. Malachor, Xarr and Jaten embrace one another and say their goodbyes. The two brothers watch as their only friend that survived the slaughter of Concordia flies away in slave-1 to go be trained by the greatest bounty hunter the galaxy has ever known. As Jaten turns back towards Luke he nervously pulls his helmet off and shows his face to him for the first time.
"You look so much like someone I used to know... well two people I used to know. But we will get to that one day. Come on and I'll show you to your quarters and get some food before it gets too late."
The two brothers follow Luke through the temple and listen to him talk about how he is trying to make the new jedi order better than the previous one, how he does not teach his padawans to shy away from the lessons learned by the fall of the Sith. He says that all jedi must learn that the force has two sides and to ignore one is to fail at grasping what the force really is.
"The force is life and it's all around us, it surrounds us and protects. Sometimes it must be caring and nurturing, while other times it must be a strong protector that takes up the fight. You will learn to find the balance in the force and instead of bending it to your will you will come to see that we are just conduits for its amazing power."
20ABY-MYRKR
Xarr Vizsla is about to embark on his first bounty hunt, the young Mandalorian double checks his gear. Making sure his trip mines and ammo are stocked while adjusting the sling to his sniper rifle. He tightens the sheaths to his custom made beskad and kal's before mounting his hover bike.
"Ok Fennec i'm ready, just get me as close as you can, and I'll be back in no time."
The cocky Mando says with a smirk as puts his helmet on and watches as the cargo bay door opens to reveal the rugged terrain and dense forest outside of wrafield city, while flying over he noticed multiple routes in and out of the city. Most of the routes seemed easy enough to find but a select few were hard to spot, those are the ones probably being used by the smugglers and outlaws that frequent this desolate rock.
"Alright kid it's time to see what you got, Traverse Valdo may be a Rodian but he's a slippery one and is always well protected. So be on the lookout for anything that may seem off, from here on out you're on your own."
The heavily customized hover bike screams out of slave-1 and into the forest, in no time at all Xarr has his bike parked and is making his way into the only cantina in town. The thermal field of his scanner reveals over two dozen separate signatures scattered all throughout the building, but it is the group of about six in the back that interests him the most.
"Two Rodians and four humans"
Everyone inside notices xarr as he walks through the door and heads straight for his target's location, the four humans draw their blasters and begin firing. Not a single shot hits the Mando, but the cantina patrons are not so lucky, most of them escape but a few fall lifeless to the ground.
Xarr smirks as he draws his dual westar-35's and fires two shots that drop two of the humans, with unbelievable speed he holsters both blasters while simultaneously pulling both of his knives and throws them. Each razor-sharp blade embeds in the chest of the remaining human thugs.
"Traverse Valdo you can come peacefully, or you can come in pieces, it's your choice."
As Xarr retrieves his knives Traverse and his brother Teelo escape through a hidden hatch behind the bar. It takes only a matter of minutes for Xarr to be outside just in time to see the two Rodians take off on Xarr's bike. The relative peacefulness of the evening is ruined by the sound of the stolen bike and Xarr's jetpack as he gives chase.
When suddenly a lucky shot from a rocket launcher detonates causing a piece of shrapnel to barely catch the directional thruster on the right side of his jetpack, the damaged piece of gear sends Xarr crashing into the ground.
The agile hunter tucks and rolls while releasing his jetpack and simultaneously attaching two laser trip mines to opposite sides of the narrow street.
"there he is, kill the Mandalorian and we'll split up his gear and armor."
Yells four more thugs as they run out of the cantina and down the street to join the Gand findsman that just shot him down. An explosion kicks up a cloud of dust as the four humans walk through the laser trigger of both of Xarr's trip mines. Body parts and pieces of ragged clothing fly across the street, Xarr quickly unholsters his blasters and unloads a barrage at the remaining target.
"You're going to pay for that you bug-eyed freak."
From out of nowhere a vibrostaff slams into the right pauldron of Xarr's beskar armor sending him stumbling back dropping his blasters. Xarr quickly unsheathes his beskad and swings it low and then high, each precise swing hits the Gand until he starts to falter.
"I've got you now dirtbag."
Proclaims Xarr as he swings his beskad and removes the findsmans head, it takes less time to fix his jetpack than it does to search the corpses of Traverse's thugs for info on where their hideout is. The young hunter sighs as he turns on his communicator.
"Hey Fennec, Traverse got away, but I found a lead on where his hideout is, Have the drinks ready for when I get back."
Xarr looks over his repair job to his father's jetpack, the tinkering has calmed him down... it always does, ever since his father and mother showed him how to repair his very first droid.
The trek through the jungle was long and difficult, but according to Boba it would give him time to think about how he screwed up.
Night falls and the jungle comes alive with the howls of predators and the cries of their prey, apparently some are even foolish enough to consider Xarr on the receiving end of that.
A rather large Vornskr stalks the Mando through the brush and trees until it is time to strike, the beast lunges with its mouth wide and baring its teeth. The large canine goes silent as the explosive warhead from Xarr's bolt thrower that is mounted on his right gauntlet detonates inside of its mouth. The victory is short lived as two more Vornskr's jump out from the bushes and knock Xarr to the ground. He watches his helmet roll away on the ground, as he reaches for it one of the beasts latches onto his gauntlet. With a press of a button Xarr engages his flame thrower and shoots a stream of blazing jet fuel straight down the throat of the Vornskr. Without warning the other animal leaps at Xarr and drags its paw across his face, the three razor sharp claws rip and tear his unarmored head. Leaving three deep gashes across the left side of his face causing him to scream in agony as he loses vision in his left eye.
"Dank farrik" exclaims the young Mando.
Xarr quickly drives his kal into the neck of the beast and watches as it bleeds out on the forest floor. The kal is quickly ripped out and stowed away, dizziness from blood loss soon sets in. Xarr stumbles towards his helmet and collapses on the forest floor just inches away.
"Fennec, I found him and he's in bad shape, bring the ship around and ready the med bay."
Xarr thrashes as he dreams while Boba and Fennec do their best to save him, the bacta spray and patch they applied to his eye negates the infection but the eye itself it too damaged to repair.
"well, he will live… but that eye is gone, guess we will see if he has enough fight to keep going."
Boba shakes his head as he leaves the med bay and makes his way to the cockpit of slave-1 while Fennec stays with Xarr and talks to him as he shakes and talks in his sleep.
"Oh, you poor boy, what nightmares you must have after seeing such horrors."
Tyvark and Xarr fire round after round into the platoon of deathtroopers as Jaten and Tor tear through the right flank of the invaders.
"Dank farrik, Malachor is insane."
Says Xarr as he watches his team leader slaughter waves of troopers while laying waste to the ones he misses with headshot after headshot from his dxr-6. The rounds from Tyvark's autocannon start shredding the idt's that the troopers arrived in. Round after round obliterates the armored transports until nothing is left of them but smoldering heaps of scrap.
"taking notes son or are you wishing you were down there with your friends."
Xarr laughs as he shakes his head and drops another trooper with his disruptor rifle just as Malachor decapitates the trooper commander and signals for a cease fire.
"I capitalize on my strengths, just like you taught me to do. Besides whom else is going to stay up here and make sure your old ass is safe"
Rubble from the now destroyed hospital explodes all over the courtyard as an at-dp armed with a prototype arc cannon smashes through.
"We have to destroy that thing Xarr or that arc cannon is going to kill all of us."
Both men smile as they load high explosive rounds and start hammering the walker, their progress is slow and seems to be hardly working until the machine turns towards the tower they are perched on.
"Not at all what I was trying to accomplish, you have to get out of here Xarr."
A beep and a loud click signal that Tyvark just disengaged the magnetic restraint on his jetpack just seconds before he shoves it into the hands of his son.
"You have to run boy; I'll keep that things attention, but you have to promise you'll be safe and survive. Keep clan Vizsla alive and always protect the Mand'alor no matter who it is, now go and let me do my job."
Xarr quickly attaches the jetpack to his armored back plate and blasts up and into the night sky just in time to evade the high electrical discharge of the arc cannon. He screams painfully as he watches his father turn to ash inside of his super-heated beskar armor.
"FATHER NO"
Screams Xarr as he wakes and grabs the left side of his face and winces in pain. Fennec grabs his hand and pulls it away from the patch job Boba was able to do.
"Boba saved you, but we couldn't save your eye, at least it's not your dominant eye or you'd have to learn how to snipe with your offhand."
Xarr nods his head as he turns towards Fennec.
"My father died to protect me, and I can't even complete a simple bounty, But I swear to you that I will never fail again. Get me back on the ground, I need to go reclaim my father's hover bike and I have got a date with two Rodians to keep."
The thermal overlay of Xarr's helmet highlights nine individual heat signatures scattered throughout the compound, the old way station once used as a communications hub has been stripped and turned into a hideout that has been used most recently by the Valdo twins.
"Seven humans and two shitbag Rodians, this won't take long."
The communicator built into his helmet crackles as his mentor and hero comes online.
"It better not boy and you better not screw this up like last time, oh and do try to keep your helmet on this time. I am fairly certain that you can't afford to lose another eye."
His jetpack screams as it lifts him up and over the walls of the compound and right into the middle of three of the thugs. Six shots ring out from his blasters, causing them to scream as they drop to the ground clutching their knees that are now blown apart.
Three more shots to their heads end their wasted existence, the four remaining humans split into two teams of two and flank around the only building in the center of the walled compound. Xarr smirks as he attaches a trip mine to the wall of the building and then scales the side with his forearm mounted whipcord launcher.
Their loud running and yelling are soon silenced by the sound of the fragmentation mine detonating, turning them into little more than a splatter on the ground. While also blowing a new entrance into the building, Xarr quickly jumps down and makes his way inside only to be met with a vibrostaff swung by Teelo that strikes him in the helmet doing little more than making him more irritated than he already was. Two blaster shots to the Rodians knees send him crashing to the floor, Xarr practically laughs as he places his right boot on the Rodians chest.
"You going to let your brother die Traverse, or are you going to come out here and face me."
Teelo screams begging his twin to help him, the yell that comes from Traverse as he jumps over one of the overturned tables is just pathetic.
"Seriously? That's all you got?"
A shot to the forehead of Teelo puts him out of his misery and causes Traverse to stop moving as he watches his brother perish.
"All you had to do was just come quietly, but no, you had to cause all of this shit to go down and now look at your crew and your brother. I would have brought you in alive but now you're going to suffer."
Xarr leaps at Traverse and sinks his kal dagger into his chest, followed by a swing of his beskad that removes the arm of his quarry. The kal is quickly ripped out and then shoved into the neck of Traverse followed by the beskad that cleaves his head off.
"Idiot"
Xarr scans the dismembered body of Traverse and transmits the data to Boba before hopping onto his hover bike and speeding off into the jungle.
"I understand why you killed that one but don't forget we're bounty hunters and the bounties are bigger if they're brought in alive. Leave that mass murdering psychopath stuff to Malachor and his crusade, we've got a job to do and debts to square up on."
Xarr grits his teeth as he hammers the throttle towards the clearing where slave-1 is.
"yes, sir I'll try to do better next time."
A heavy sigh comes over the comms.
"we'll see, deadeye."
PART TWO
21ABY-TYTHON
Malachor Ordo has just slaughtered the three members of the imperial excavation mission to Tython.
"Let's see what I'm dealing with here."
The armor-clad lieutenant begins searching the corpses of the team, transferring the information from their data scanners to his own data cylinder and stowing it away in his hip mounted utility pouch. Malachor stays fixed on the unique imperial sigil on all their collars and scans a copy of it into his data files.
"Now what were the three of you doing in here?"
Malachor quickly turns towards a small entrance that is back behind the main statue in the rear of the great hall as a loud roar echoes from within. He starts stalking down through the cramped corridor as he turns on his communicator.
"Hey little brother I think I found the source of that force disturbance, sounds big and mean but I'm way worse. Anyways there is some weird stuff going on in this ruin, tell the space wizard everything is fine, and I'll see you two in a day or so."
A loud sigh emanates from under Malachor's helmet as he comes face to face with a sealed heavy stone door.
"Fine, we'll do things the hard way."
Malachor throws his hands up as he walks back down the hallway and unclasps one of his seismic bolos. The custom-made weapon sings as he slings it through the air, a faint beep signals it is armed just before it strikes the door and detonates. The seismic shockwave obliterates the heavy stone door and most of the walls around it while causing the ruin to shake.
"Probably shouldn't have used one of those."
Malachor sighs as he steps over the rubble that was once a door and into the hidden room.
Another roar echoes through the room as Malachor tosses half a dozen glow rods around the room and illuminates the biggest tuk'ata he has ever seen. He instantly charges the beast and slams his heavy plated shoulder into its face, driving it up while drawing and igniting the darksaber. The darksaber easily slices through the beasts' flesh, carving a deep gash into its right arm. The tuk'ata swipes at Malachor, striking him hard in the chest and sends him flying across the room where he slams into a stone pillar. Grunting as he rises and gripping the darksaber tightly, Malachor leaps and slides underneath the tuk'ata while slicing its belly open, with incredible speed he shoves a thermal detonator into the gaping wound and then dives behind a pile of rubble as he engages the incendiary weapon. With a thunderous explosion, the device incinerates the great beast from within.
"Dank farrik"
Yells Malachor as something bites the back of his leg, as he spins around, he sees a very young black and silver tuk'ata pup growling and baring its teeth. The pup whimpers as malachor raises his foot and is about to stomp its head but stops as flashes of the day his people died for no reason clouds his mind. The lieutenant sighs as he reaches down and picks up the growling creature and places it in his utility pouch. The pup eventually calms down and curls up, falling asleep in his pouch as Malachor begins searching the room for clues.
Malachor scans the strange glyphs on the walls as he runs his hands over them until one press in with a click and causes a hidden door to creak open.
The low light filter on his helmet helps him navigate this newly found room, stalking forward to the back where an object rests on a pedestal underneath a huge statue of a robed figure.
"A mask? not even armored. What a flimsy piece of junk"
Malachor says as he picks up the strange looking facial covering and places it beside his new pet. Suddenly the room is illuminated with a golden glow that is followed by the unmistakable sound of a lightsaber igniting. The Mando spins and draws the darksaber, igniting it as he stares down a robed figure wielding a lightsaber pike.
"put that back and leave this place at once Mandalorian."
Malachor practically laughs as he shakes his head and assumes defensive stance.
The lightly armored temple guard presses forward and strikes first, blow after blow from the flurry of strikes bounces off Malachor's armor putting him on the defensive until a few of the blows begin to hurt him.
"Dank farrik"
Yells malachor as he presses forward and begins raining down strike after strike, the darksaber sings as it batters his opponent until Malachor gets the upper hand and starts punishing the temple guard. A quick blow to his hand causes the guardian to drop his saber just in time for Malachor to slam his boot into his unarmored chest. Which is then followed by a violent strike to his face that sends him reeling back and spitting up blood.
"you're pretty good for a jedi, but you're no match for me."
Malachor proclaims before grabbing him by the throat and driving the darksaber through his chest.
"You have no idea what you've done Mandalorian."
Malachor grunts as he tosses the guardian onto the temple floor and sheathes the darksaber.
"Thanks for the new weapon, jedi"
He says as he reaches down and picks up the ornate switchblade lightsaber, after figuring out the mechanics of the hinged weapon, malachor ignites the gold bladed lightsaber and watches as it flips open and locks into place revealing its true form. The weapon is nearly six feet long when ignited, both blades are roughly two and a half feet long and have a one-foot grip that separates them. The unique crystals causes the blades to have a golden aura that radiates from a white core, pain sears his hands and shoots up through his arms and upper body, causing him to drop to his knees. Malachor practically screams as a voice radiates in his mind.
"Malachor Ordo, the destroyer of all he sees, we will allow you to use us. But know this, descendant of Canderous, you will be the harbinger that brings death to your people."
The lieutenant gasps for air as he watches the blades flicker and turn black before his eyes, then sputter as the golden auras return and radiate from the black cored blades.
The trek back out into the Tython wilderness is without danger after having killed anything that poses a threat, the tuk'ata growls as it pokes it head out of the pouch it has claimed as its temporary home. Malachor takes a deep breath as he exits the temple into the morning air of Tython.
"Specter where are you?"
Malachor says as he walks up the ramp of his ship and into the cargo hold. He is greeted with a series of beeps that signal the arrival of the droid as he reaches in and pulls the tuk'ata out and sets her on the floor of the ship while grabbing the mask he found and tossing it on top of a table that springs to life.
"A dejarik table huh, Xarr and Jaten will like that. But what is a dejarik table doing on an imperial vessel."
A series of beeps and whirs echo through the cargo hold as Specter communicates with Malachor.
"Disguised as a civilian transport to evade the republic huh."
His helmet soon joins the mask as he watches the tuk'ata try to attack specter.
"Hmmm, how about Akaan as a name, it means war in my native language."
The tuk'ata growls at Malachor and walks over to him.
"Yeah, I think it suits you."
Malachor pats Akaan on the head and makes his way up into the cockpit. The t-4a lifts off the ground and heads towards the training temple where Luke and Jaten await his return. The lower wings unfold and offer more maneuverability. The initial journey to the ruin from the temple took weeks, but now it only takes a couple of hours.
The dual ion engines disturb the meditation of both Luke and Jaten, causing both to make their way out towards the courtyard just in time to watch the bottom wings of the lambda fold up and extend its landing gear. The large transport nearly cracks the stone landing pad as it touches down.
"I sense a dark presence on that ship padawan, be on guard and remember that the force is always with you."
As the cargo ramp touches down and the door opens, Malachor, Akaan and Specter make their way down to the courtyard. Luke stares at Malachor as he steps off the loading ramp.
"You are aware of that being an actual tuk'ata right? And where did you find a shuttle and an r2 unit, did you go to a bazaar somewhere?"
Malachor shakes his head as he stares at Luke and walks over to him and his brother.
"Named her feisty ass Akaan, oh and the droids name is specter, he's a recon astromech."
Luke nods his head and smiles at Malachor.
Jaten embraces his older brother and looks down at his new companions.
"I was worried about you Malachor, but apparently you had plenty of backup."
The lieutenant shrugs his shoulders and turns towards Specter.
"engage security protocols and lock my ship down, you can go talk to R2 wherever he is, Akaan lets go."
The two brothers watch as Specter goes back into the ship to secure it just as Luke ignites his legendary green lightsaber.
"WHERE DID YOU GET THAT WEAPON MALACHOR?"
The jedi master yells at Malachor when he notices the white and gold lightsaber sitting inside his utility pouch.
"I got it in that temple ruin when some idiot decided to try to kill me, so I'll ask this just once. Is another idiot going to attempt to take my life or do I get to go have some food with my brother?"
Luke glares at Malachor and then nods as he shuts off his lightsaber, motioning for them to proceed into the living quarters of the Tython temple. The next three months are filled with meditation aimed at honing force abilities and intense combat training. The two brothers talk relentlessly as they carve a path through countless kinrath that have infested the cave Luke sent them to. Malachor sighs heavily as he shakes his head and draws his lightsaber, with a flick of his thumb both gold and black blades ignite just before the weapon unfolds and locks into its saberpike form. The royal looking weapon slaughters the kinrath, Malachor uses an aggressive fighting style that he has developed with the help of Jaten and Luke. Quick spins are followed by powerful swings that keep his enemies on the defensive while also breaking through their guard until he can batter them down and deliver a killing blow. The kinrath hive queen hisses loudly as the brothers enter the deepest part of the cave where three glowing crystals in the back shine brightly.
"That one is all you little brother."
Jaten smiles and nods as he leaps in, his speed has become almost god like since he started using the force to propel himself. Now unhindered by his Mandalorian armor since he only wears his jedi garments. A quick motion of his hand causes a chunk of rock to slam into the kinrath, which is followed up by a force push that slams the kinrath into a rock formation. The wild animal begins to gag loudly as Jaten chokes it through the force until the brothers hear its neck snap and watch it go limp.
"Impressive, can't wait to see you do that to a person."
The three crystals in the back of the cave glow brighter and brighter as the brother's approach causing Jaten to wince in pain.
"NOOO I WON'T LET HIM BECOME THAT"
Jaten drops to his knees and shakes his head. Mental images of a white and gold armored cybernetic monstrosity slaughtering entire civilizations flood his mind. The young jedi screams as he watches the crystals begin to crack until a surge of power within the crystal formation erupts and shatters the blue, green and yellow crystals. As the dust settles a single colorless crystal floats in the air above the rubble. The brothers slowly move closer and watch as the crystal spins, the few random jagged protrusions betray the smooth appearance of the rest of the crystal.
"Jaten you have to see this, there's something strange going on with that crystal."
Malachor hands his little brother his helmet so he can see the energy fluctuations within that looks like green and red water crashing against each other. Jaten slowly takes off the helmet and hands it back to his brother as he reaches out for the crystal. The faint glow becomes brighter and brighter the closer his hand gets to it until the white hue begins to pulse green until Jaten grabs it, causing the unique kyber crystal to pulse.
"Reach out, past the cold and the silence, feel the voice and the warmth, that's your crystal, hear it calling out to you Jaten. You're one through the force and it yearns to be one with you, one with your lightsaber, now open your eyes my padawan."
The forge is dusty and mostly empty save for the central construction station where Jaten Fett hovers in a meditative trance, when he opens his eyes, his newly constructed lightsaber hovers before him. The leather wrapped thin neck saber fits perfectly in Jaten's right hand as his feet touch the floor. Malachor steps out of the shadows and nods his head as Jaten reverses his grip and holds it shien form v as he ignites the bright green blade for the first time.
"well come on little brother, time to see if you've learned anything through our training."
Luke clears his throat as he places his hands on their shoulders.
"In the dueling arena"
Jaten and Malachor step into the arena and face each other, the brilliant green blade of Jaten glows and hums as he moves around the dueling ring. Without warning Malachor charges his brother while simultaneously igniting his saber, the black cores of the saberpike explode out of the emitters and crackle with unstable energy that discharges a golden aura around each blade as the weapon unfolds and locks into its true form. Malachor strikes first with a flurry of attacks, his speed and intensity throw Jaten off guard as he struggles to defend against his older brothers' onslaught until he blocks an overhead strike and then blasts Malachor with a force push that sends him sliding back to the edge of the arena. Jaten propels himself forward and goes on the offensive, blow after blow coming faster than the previous until one hits his brothers left pauldron. Luke's eyes widen as he feels the anger radiating from Malachor who begins battering Jaten with terrifyingly powerful strikes until he breaks his guard, kicking him in the chest and then swinging his saber down for a final blow.
At the very last second another green saber stops Malachor's saber from connecting.
"I think that's enough training for today, perhaps you can be a little less heavy on the aggression next time and a little brotherly."
Malachor shrugs his shoulders and disengages his weapon, reaching out for Jatens hand as the saberpike folds back into its collapsed form.
"Yeah, heavy, don't be such a hard ass all the time."
Malachor grunts as he helps his brother up off the ground while Jaten shuts off his saber and hangs it from his belt.
"I kind of like that as a callsign little brother"
The two Mandalorian laugh for the first time since the tragedy of Concordia. The two brothers are tested as Luke ramps up the intensity of the training. Jaten has overcame every obstacle Luke has placed before him, even sometimes struggling to control the raw power of his force abilities. While Malachor has evolved into a lightsaber master, refining his techniques into something that would rival the abilities of the great combatants of the old republic.
"I've received a priority transmission for you Malachor, its Xarr, he said he needs you to come to Cato Neimoidia."
Malachor nods at Luke as he grabs his weapons and informs his brother about his departure.
21ABY-CATO NEIMOIDIA
The lambda shuttle of Malachor Ordo screams into the starport of Darga the hutts palace and lands on the pad opposite of slave-1, it does not take Malachor long to land and disembark his shuttle, armed with his saberpike, darksaber and seismic bolos, he walks down the cargo ramp and is greeted by his longtime friend Xarr Vizsla and his mentor Boba Fett.
"It is good to see you old friend and you as well Boba."
The two Mandalorians shake hands and look over each other's kits, admiring the weapons and armor upgrades.
"I cannot believe that you of all people are wielding a lightsaber."
Malachor scoffs as he draws his weapon and ignites the gold and black blades of his saberpike.
"You know it's probably not a good idea for you to be waving that thing around Mand'alor."
Both Xarr and Malachor face Boba upon hearing him call the latter by his title, Malachor nods and disengages the weapon as he stows it away on his utility belt. The three Mandalorians begin the trek from the spaceport to the former palace of Darga. The land bridge is in shambles and portions of it are completely missing. Giving Boba time to explain their mission.
"We have a contract for an Ithorian smuggler by the name of Neelig, he was supposed to deliver some navigational computers to an outpost on Concord Dawn, but instead decided he would gain more credits and some standing if he got them to an imperial remnant detachment. That is why we asked you to come along Mand'alor."
Xarr and Boba can practically feel the rage and anger seeping off Malachor as he pulls the darksaber from its holster and grips it tightly.
"Maybe should not have told him that Boba, now we're going to be cleaning blood off of our armor for weeks."
The door to the palace shatters as Malachor hits it with one of his seismic bolos, the two guards at the entrance are liquified instantly from the resulting shockwave. Both bounty hunters begin scanning the palace, looking for vantage points and enemy concentrations when Xarr notices his friend rush into the building...
"Malachor wait."
Xarr yells as Malachor ignites the darksaber and begins carving a path of destruction through the henchmen of Neelig. Moments later Xarr and Boba rush into the room and start dropping scumbags with volleys of blaster fire, each shot from the two bounty hunters finds their mark and soon the small army of hired guns are panicked as they realize what is about to happen.
"My people fell to the empire, everything I ever loved was destroyed because of them and you were ignorant enough to divert critical supplies from our covert on Concord Dawn, you will die a painful death today hammerhead."
Boba and Xarr rush into the throne room just in time to see Malachor decapitate two of Neelig's guards as he tosses two seismic bolos at stone pillars and practically laughs as they erupt and rain boulders down on top of a group of thugs.
"Mand'alor…. Mand'alor the merciless, sounds appropriate don't you think Xarr."
Boba says as he walks up behind Malachor and places a hand on his shoulder causing the young mercenary to stop his slaughter of the gunmen. Xarr shrugs his shoulders as he stands beside his friend and stares at the black blade of the darksaber. The fear stricken Ithorian finally slinks from out behind the throne.
"Mandalorians, always getting involved in things you have no business with, see this is exactly why your planet was bombed into rubble, why you couldn't protect Concord Dawn or Concordia. Where was your superiority when your people were being slaughtered?"
Boba stands silently and hangs his head, knowing exactly what is about to happen.
"You're going to regret that."
The sound of the darksaber shutting down is masked by the sound of the Ithorians skull smashing into dozens of pieces as Malachor lunges at him. The first strike drops the smuggler to the floor and Malachor instantly pounces on him and begins brutalizing his body with blow after blow until he sounds like he is punching water.
"Mand'alor stop."
Yells Boba as he goes to grab ahold of Malachor, almost instantly a whipcord ensnares the legendary bounty hunter just seconds before he is pulled back. Boba spins and kicks the legs out from under Xarr as he takes his kal dagger and severs the whipcord with ease, using the training he has received, Xarr is back on his feet in mere moments and staring down his mentor.
"Don't ever try to stop The Mand'alor again."
Malachor breathes heavily as he stands and ignites the darksaber, swinging it violently and severing the head of Neelig.
"Collect what you can from this piece of slime, but next time you call me for help, don't expect me to just come running to your aid."
The trip back to Tython is eerily quiet as Malachor reflects on how easily he lost control and about how much he wanted to hurt everyone that he could.
22ABY-TYTHON
"The two of you have given me great hope for the future, Jaten you have a nearly unlimited potential with your powers and even rival me in saber combat. Malachor your progress is unheard of for someone with no connection to the force, to be so skilled and yet not feel the force is a testament to your raw abilities".
The jedi master smiles and nods his head as he leads the two brothers back into the living quarters where they sit down for a meal, Malachor speaks about life on Concordia and what it was like being the first-born son of Mand'alor, about what it took to rise to becoming a lieutenant in the neo death watch before he was in his twenties.
"You know Jaten's training really benefitted from having you here, most jedi teachings say that familial ties hinder our progress and can cause one to fall to the dark side. But I do not think that is the case with you two, from what I can see, you two are each other's balance."
Malachor stares at Luke even as Akaan walks up and brushes against her master's leg, the tuk'ata has grown exponentially the last few months and is nearly up to Malachor's waist.
"My father taught me to keep the jedi at a distance, taught me that you're as much of a threat as you are a helping hand. But you have shown me a different side of the jedi and i'm glad Jaten has you as a teacher and mentor. So, thank you master skywalker.
They both nod at each other and watch as Jaten enters the living quarters with his bag of belongings slung over his shoulder.
"I'm ready to go now, shall we embark the ship and get back to civilization?"
Malachor stands at the front of his ship and stares at its profile.
"what are you looking at heavy?"
Asks Jaten as he walks up beside Malachor.
"Trying to think of a name for her."
Jaten laughs as he walks away.
"Well, what does she look like with her wings folded up."
Malachor shakes his head and soon joins Jaten and Luke on board as they watch Akaan stalk through the cargo hold after R2 and Specter.
"Specter enter into the computer that the Jai'galaar is leaving Tython and heading to Yavin"
"Akaan k'olar"
Luke watches as Akaan follows Malachor up into the cockpit.
"Still can't believe that he taught that tuk'ata how to understand mando'a."
Jaten grins as he leans back in his seat.
PART THREE
22ABY-TATOOINE
Xarr Vizsla and Boba Fett sit silently, high atop a cliff as Xarr sights in on a group of smugglers that are unloading the cargo hold of an old vcx-100 into what appears to be a moderately defended farmhouse. The group of rugged looking smugglers are well armed and armored, but not so much that they would pose a threat to the two bounty hunters. The large crates from the ship are soon stowed away and the men at the house quickly start to celebrate their most recent haul. The silent movements of the two hunters are soon interrupted by the unmistakable sound of a Jawa, Xarr quickly spins and shoves the barrel of his dxr-6 into the chest of the tiny, robed creature.
"Yeet, you dumbass, you almost got yourself disintegrated again."
Boba says as he pushes the barrel of Xarr's rifle away and begins to talk to his contact, the bounty hunter and the Jawa go back and forth for what seems like hours. Each one making broad hand gestures and shaking their heads in exasperation as the other tries not to get too loud.
"Ok kid, here is the deal, these smugglers have stolen an artifact from my pal Yeet here. Now he does not have a lot of credits, so this is more of a personal favor."
Xarr glares at the Jawa for a few moments and then shrugs his shoulders before turning back and continuing his surveillance of the compound.
"We've got seven targets on the exterior and two on the interior, should be minimal threat kid, Yeet here says that what we are looking for is a very old glowing cube that is an heirloom passed down to him by his ancestors so be on the lookout."
Xarr nods and watches as Boba flies into the center of the compound and starts taking out the smugglers with his kal dagger, two shots from his rifle drop two of the smugglers that were heading for the ship. Soon the two bounty hunters and Yeet are walking through the compound, searching through a few random containers for the Jawa's property but have no luck in reacquiring it.
"Make sure the two inside are eliminated kid."
Xarr nods and turns towards the entrance, only to be met with the sight of a dlt-19 heavy blaster. The up-and-coming hunter quickly engages his jetpack and flies up and back, arming his wrist mounted rocket launcher. Without a second thought the rocket flies into the farmhouse and detonates with a thunderous explosion, causing a massive ball of fire to engulf the interior of the building. Nearly a dozen screams can be heard as women and children burn alive.
Boba runs to the entrance of the building and stands there watching them perish in the most horrible way.
"The crates… they were human traffickers."
The legendary bounty hunter stows his dagger away and storms to where Xarr is standing, quickly disarming him and knocking him to the ground.
"I've given you chance after chance because I knew your father and considered him a friend, but you are untrainable and unwilling to adhere to the code. Those deaths are on me, but I wont shoulder the unnecessary slaughter of innocents anymore and not for some half-assed Mandalorian like you anymore. Help Yeet find his artifact and hope he pays you enough to get off this planet, we're done!"
Boba shakes his head as he blasts away with his jetpack, leaving Xarr and Yeet to clean up the mess he made.
22ABY-YAVIN 4
Many hours later the T4-A drops out of lightspeed and enters the atmosphere of yavin.
"Yavin temple this is the Jai'galaar, requesting permission to land."
The ships communicator crackles to life as spaceport control answers.
"Jai'galaar you're cleared for docking bay one, welcome home lieutenant Ordo."
Docking procedures take a while, but soon the ramp of the ship has dropped, and its inhabitants have started to disembark.
"Welcome home master Skywalker"
Announces Kaden Surik, the young padawan who soon loses all his excitement when he sees the lightsaber hanging from Jaten's belt.
"So, he gets his lightsaber before me? Your perfect student always must come, first doesn't he?"
Malachor grumbles as he pushes past Luke and quickly draws and ignites his saberstaff.
"Akaan kyr'amur kaysh"
With a deafening roar Akaan leaps out of the cargo hold and stalks forward, towards Kaden. Master and pet soon stand before the whimpering padawan.
"That is enough Malachor."
Yells Luke who walks over to Kaden and reassures him that he does not play favorites. The lightsaber of Malachor crackles, almost as if the kyber crystal inside of it feeds off his rage and anger.
Akaan growls as her piercing fire red eyes glare at Kaden while the muscles and spines on her back twitch.
"The difference between me and my brother is that deep down he is a good person but I'm not, you open your mouth about him or me ever again and I'll rip you to pieces, then I'll take my ship to coruscant and slaughter your family just to ensure another waste of oxygen isn't popped out by your mother."
Kaden Surik shakes terrified of the massive tuk'ata and her master. Watching as Malachor and Akaan make their way back into the temple.
"Jaten have you seen that mask I found on Tython, it's not on the ship or in my wall locker."
Akaan jumps as Malachor tosses his belongings onto the floor as he searches for the ceremonial mask, he found in the temple ruin on Tython.
"Heavy why would I have any use for anything you found in that place, I mean your saber is useful and Akaan might be the most terrifying thing ever, but definitely not that weird mask."
Malachor glares back at his brother.
"Whatever Jaten, I guess it's no big deal since all I was going to do is sell it."
The door to their room opens as Luke steps in and motions for the brothers to join him in the middle of the floor, soon all three of them are sitting in a circle. Luke sighs heavily and opens his eyes.
"As you both know, twenty years ago a strike team rescued you Jaten. But what you do not know is that the imperial weapons program was aimed at cloning a sith assassin who eventually helped create the rebel alliance, we even use his family crest as our sigil. Jedi knight Galen Marek gave his life to save the rebellion and then ended up being cloned in a facility on kamino. That clone picked up where the original Galen left off and ended up saving the alliance yet again and even fought with us to stop the empire. Now the facility where that cloning program took place at was destroyed but a remnant cell of the empire restarted it and through the manipulations of the scientists of kamino you were created Jaten. Not as a perfect clone but you were the combination of multiple DNA chains. Galen Marek, Jango Fett and my first jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi. I've been sensing things through the force that have me worried so I'm going to give the two of you the coordinates to the facility, this is something you need to do Jaten."
Malachor looks at Luke and Jaten hoping to see some sort of sign for how to proceed.
"Get your gear ready Jaten, we need to get this done and over with so you can move on. We have enough ghosts in our pasts as is, so let us go take care of this and besides, I need to see some action, I've been aching to try out my lightsaber on something that will give me a fight."
A look of grave concern crosses the face of Luke Skywalker as the two brothers start prepping their gear. Malachor dons his neo death watch commanders' armor as Jaten puts his armor on over his jedi tunic, modifying the right-side gauntlet to not restrict the movement of his saber arm.
"You two need to be careful when you get there, I have seen visions of a terrible monster that is waiting to be born there and I'm not sure if either of you are ready for it. So please come back safely and remember that the force is always with you."
Luke watches with a heavy heart as the Jai'galaar blasts off into the night sky.
The subtle beep of the ship's communicator sounds like thunder in Malachor's ears as he stares at his helmet that is sat in the copilot chair.
"Xarr this is Malachor, I've attached some coordinates with this message. It's the facility on Kamino where Jaten was found, Luke said we'll find some answers there and we're going to need you, this is something we should do together so… just be there ok?"
Once his ship clears the spaceport Malachor engages the hyperdrive and blasts off towards their destination, soon Jaten and Akaan enter the cockpit and sit down.
"It will take a few days for us to get there, Xarr will meet us there I'm sure. Once we touch down, we're to get in contact with an administrator rau who is supposed to have transport to the lab ready."
Jaten sits silently at the gunners' station and stares out one of the viewports, watching the stars pass by as Malachor sits silently and runs his hand over the head of Akaan.
22ABY-KAMINO
Malachor hammers the throttle forward as the Jai'galaar drops out of hyperspace. Both brothers notice a ship already docked at the private port as they start to land.
"Look at that piece of junk, I'm surprised that thing can even fly."
Malachor says almost laughing as Jaten closes his eyes and reaches out through the force.
"It's Xarr… he is nervous to see us and afraid that you will be mad at him for not going back to Yavin after he and Boba split."
Malachor shakes his head just before donning his white and gold helmet.
"He chose his path and I support his decision, oh and you better not be trying that jedi crap on me."
Jaten smiles as he follows Malachor and Akaan to the cargo ramp.
"It doesn't work on you heavy; I've tried many times."
Protocol and maintenance droids scurry about the hangar as a lone Kaminoan approaches the Jai'galaar, just as the ramp touches the deck, Jaten and his brother walk down and greet their oldest friend.
"It is good to see you Xarr."
Jaten says as Malachor looks over his friends heavily modified kit.
"you have been busy old friend."
Xarr nods and shakes his hand just as the stranger speaks up.
"Welcome to Timira city Mandalorian, master Skywalker said to expect the three of you and to not be alarmed by your presence. He also arranged submersible transport to the facility on the ocean floor. Though it has been inactive for many years, it still receives power and food rations regularly. If you would please head through that door, there is a dock in there. Once inside the sub, it will take you to the lab via an automated pilot system."
The ride to the ocean floor is deathly silent as Malachor sits on the floor talking to the ghosts of his parents as he cleans his saberpike, while Jaten floats a few feet off the ground in a meditative trance, continuously disassembling and reassembling his lightsaber.
"You two are weird, I mean what happened to you over the last couple of years?"
Malachor opens his eyes, grabbing his helmet and lightsaber as he stands.
"Jaten has realized his potential as a jedi and as for me old friend, I'm not sure what my path is anymore, two years ago I would have said I was meant to lead our people back to Mandalore to reclaim what was once ours. But now it would seem I am meant to be my brothers' protector and set aside my blood lust."
Just as Xarr is about to reply the submersibles guidance system beeps as it begins to dock with the underwater lab.
"We've arrived."
The three enter an empty corridor that is devoid of any signs of life, the laser sights of Xarr's blasters shine on the walls as Jaten's lightsaber glows a brilliant green and hums. A series of lights begin to illuminate the hallway as two large ports in the walls open and a squad of KX-enforcer droids step out. Without hesitation Jaten leaps in and cleaves one of the droids in half, then in one fluid motion force pushes a second droid into a wall while throwing his lightsaber, impaling the droid through its AI core. Suddenly six shots echo through the hallway as Xarr unloads three rounds into the heads of two of the droids, leaving only two standing. A flash of bright gold illuminates the hallway as Malachor ignites his saberstaff and tears through the remaining droids, leaving them destroyed and in piles all over the floor.
"And stay down."
Exclaims Xarr as he starts typing away at the access panel to the main lab door. Within seconds the three Mandalorians have breached the room.
The inside of the lab is eerily silent, save for the bubbling of three bacta tanks at the back of the lab, three disfigured corpses float lifelessly in the green liquid.
"This place is a tomb."
Malachor says as they start making their way through the room, checking under and inside of everything for any sort of clue as to what or who this program was intended for.
"Heavy, they look like me."
Says Jaten as he looks up at the corpses that fill the bacta tanks. Malachor quickly turns his brother around and pulls him away from the tanks.
"Team you need to find any sort of documentation or files on this place."
Malachor looks down at a sketch of a familiar shape, picking up the piece of paper.
"Hey Jaten look at this, it looks like that mas…."
Suddenly a bright red lightsaber blade erupts through Malachor's chest.
The searing hot blade enters at his thoracic cavity and slowly slides up between his shoulder blades. Destroying his spine, heart, lungs, trachea and vocal cords. Then as a cloaking device deactivates the shadowy assassin rips the lightsaber out of Malachor causing him to fall against a lab table just in time for both of his legs to be cleaved off at the point just below his hips. The Mandalorian lieutenant tries to scream but cannot, with two powerful swings the black armor-clad assassin removes both of Malachor's arms at the shoulders. Jaten screams as he leaps in and swings his saber just as Xarr unloads six shots into the assassin's chest. Jatens powerful attack nearly cleaves him in half, seconds before force pulling Malachor towards Xarr. Who grabs his friend and rips off his helmet, shaking him and yelling at him to stay awake as he gasps for air, Jaten loses all control and pummels the assassin with blow after blow from his saber until he is barely standing. The assassin nearly collapses and drops his red bladed weapon on the ground.
"Focus all of your energy, make it into a ball inside of you and then make that ball explodes."
Jaten Fett screams as he erupts into a force repulse that nearly shatters the lab, the wave of energy disintegrates the assassin and the armor he is wearing. Giving Jaten a final look at his face as his armored helmet falls away in pieces.
"He looks like me."
Jaten shakes his head as he drops to the ground just in time to hear Xarr start yelling.
"Malachor wake up, you can't leave us, not like this."
As Jaten walks past them he touches Xarr's shoulder and motions for him to follow. They walk past the bacta tanks and into another lab that houses a huge surgical table and a multitude of computer screens all littered with images and blueprints of the thing that just slaughtered Malachor.
"This is where he was created Xarr, go get my brother and pray to our ancestors that we can save him."
Xarr drops his helmet and holsters his blasters as he walks out of the room. Moments later he returns with Malachor's dismembered torso and places him on the surgical table in the middle of the room. With a press of a button the automated system comes alive.
"Stalker program initialized… Life support engaged."
A multitude of droids come out of the floor and begin removing what remains of Malachor's armor and flight suit just before multiple scanners begin assessing the damage as an energy field envelopes Malachor.
"Critical damage to lungs, heart, trachea and vocal cords. Ribcage and spine structurally compromised. Arms and legs require full cybernetic reconstruction. Please confirm to begin."
Jaten falls to his knees and shakes his head as Xarr reaches over him and presses the screen.
"Forgive us Malachor."
The table raises as multiple surgical droids come out of the ceiling and finish slicing open Malachor's chest, he shakes violently as the laser scalpels remove the cauterized flesh and bone. It takes hours for the droids to remove all the damaged tissue and bone structure.
"What have I done?"
Asks Jaten as he watches the surgical droids start fusing new metallic replacements to his body in place of his ribcage and spine. The cybernetic durasteel ribcage and spine automatically adjust their size and structure to Malachor's body just as the droids begin removing his lower jaw mere moments before a robotic arm descends from the ceiling and begins implanting a new set of cybernetic lungs and heart along with a newly constructed trachea and vocalizer implant. As the new lower jaw is fused to his skull, the machine begins to lace the control wires out through his back and then close his chest cavity.
"Deactivating life support…. Engaging cybernetic organs"
Jaten and Xarr watch as Malachor's chest begins to rise and fall, the room soon fills with a terrifying ragged mechanical breathing that emanates from Malachor's mouth.
"Initiating cybernetic limb replacement."
Four droids come out of a room connected to the lab holding the new arms and legs of Malachor. They work tirelessly, grafting the new limbs to his body while raising him up and feeding the wires through his new chest cavity and linking them into his spine. The cybernetic musculature of his arms and legs begins to move and his eyes begin to twitch.
"Stand by for stalker armor refit."
A lone protocol droid comes out of the second room and begins sliding a new tighter leather flight suit over Malachor's now terrifying body. Then another droid comes out pushing a cart containing the same armor the assassin that caused this was wearing.
Malachor slowly opens his eyes and raises his now claw tipped hands to his face and stares at them with tears running down his face.
"Don't put that armor on me."
He reels at the sound of his new mechanical voice and turns his head towards Jaten.
"My armor, somehow you will make it work."
It takes hours for the droids to refit Malachor's neo death watch armor to his new flight suit, but they eventually manage. One of the droids took his helmet away into a workshop an hour ago and began modifying it, upon its return it begins to speak.
"I didn't change its appearance, but the inside has been modified to augment your cybernetic lungs, you can survive without it on, but I would recommend wearing it while in combat."
Malachor nods as he takes his helmet from the protocol droid and puts it on. The helmet clicks into place and seals airtight, doing nothing to make his breathing any quieter.
Two final droids come into the room and install a control module between the shoulders of his modified back plate, the lights blink to life and are soon covered by a second module that seems to just lock into place.
"Stalker transformation complete"
Malachor leaps off the table with blinding speed and ignites his black and gold bladed saberstaff, spinning the weapon and leaping across the room swinging violently. Destroying everything in the room but Jaten and Xarr.
"I'm sorry brother, but I didn't know what else to do."
The lieutenant rushes across the room and drives his lightsaber into the wall in between Jaten and Xarr.
"You could have let me die a warrior's death, but instead you let your weakness turn me into a monster."
Malachor shuts off his prized weapon and stows it away on his utility belt. As he adjusts the straps to the darksaber's holster, Malachor walks back into the joining room.
"Dank farrik, it's an armory."
The clawed hands of Malachor grip two sinister looking lightsabers and ignites the erratic red blades.
"Hmmm, trophies"
The leader of the three shuts them down and hangs them from his belt as he walks back out into the main lab where he walks up to his brother and his friend.
The erratic mechanical breathing still making them nervous, even as Malachor removes his helmet and makes them look at his cybernetically augmented lower jaw.
"I understand why you did this to me Jaten and for that, I forgive you. You as well Xarr, just give me some time."
Malachor shakes his head as he hangs his new weapons on the left side of his belt, so they hang over the top of his combat skirt. Beep after beep fills the empty lab as malachor places over a dozen thermal detonators on key structures in the lab.
"Retrieve anything that looks important and then get to the submersible, I'm going to destroy this place."
The computer-controlled transport shakes as the shockwave from the lab exploding reaches it. Malachor sits and listens to Jaten and Xarr talk about the training they have been subjected to.
Jaten recalls the excursion into the crystal cave where he and Malachor defeated a hive queen kinrath.
As the submersible finishes docking procedures the three head back into the private hanger. When suddenly administrator rau approaches the three and gasps upon seeing and hearing Malachor standing in the shadowy entryway.
"Lord Vader?"
Malachor shakes as he draws his stalker sabers and in one fluid motion slices the legs off rau and then slams the spiked blade guard of one into the top plate of her skull causing blood to ooze out of the three holes.
"Not even close, now die without honor."
He says as he ignites the saber and rips it out, violently cleaving her in half vertically.
"Lived as a weakling and died like one too."
Malachor shuts the blades down and stows them away as he walks towards his ship.
"Akaan K'olar"
Akaan leaps down the ramp of the T4-A and approaches Malachor with a growl until she reaches out through the force and senses that it truly is her master. He runs his clawed hands over her back as she rubs against his cybernetic leg.
"Now we're both monsters my friend."
Alarms begin to blare as an imperial remnant stormtrooper squad enters the hanger and begins closing in on them, one even manages to get a lucky shot off with a rocket launcher that destroys Xarr's unshielded ship while the other troopers try to destroy the Jai'galaar but are stopped by the ray shields of the T4-A. Without warning Malachor vaults into the air thanks to his augmented legs and lands in the middle of the troopers, all nine of them fan out around Malachor and point their blaster rifles at him.
"In the name of the empire halt where you are, we have you surrounded."
The whole hanger is deathly silent as Malachor opens and closes his clawed hands while forcing himself to control his breathing.
"All I'm surrounded by is fear… And dead men"
The lieutenant lunges and slams his hands through the chests of two troopers before tossing their corpses to the ground, another one falls fast as his throat is ripped out. Screams soon fill the hangar as two troopers have their skulls crushed as Malachor kicks one in the side of the head before jumping in the air and driving his knee into the face of another. The sixth trooper attempts to hit him with a riot baton but is quickly dispatched as he is lifted in the air and brought down on Malachor's knee, snapping his back in half. With lightning-fast speed, Malachor lunges and slides on his knees across the durasteel floor, reaching out with his clawed hands and disemboweling the seventh and eight members of the squad.
Standing face to face with the blood soaked Mandalorian is the trooper commander.
"Akaan naastar kaysh"
With a mighty roar Akaan leaps over Malachor and lands on the trooper, her razor-sharp claws and teeth make quick work of the plasteel armor and is soon ripping through flesh and bone, devouring him alive. The guttural screams of the commander echoes through the hanger as his chest cavity is pried open by Akaan so she can get to his soft internal organs, as she begins to eat his heart, he is still alive but not for long.
"Akaan K'olar"
Master and beast walk back to the ship and up the ramp past Jaten and Xarr, who stand there in shock after having watched.
"Specter get us out of here now."
Beeps and whirs signal compliance and soon the Jai'galaar is exiting the atmosphere of kamino.
Xarr nods at Jaten as he goes up to the cockpit to join Specter, leaving the two brothers in the cargo hold. Jaten sits close to his brother and recalls their time they spent on Concordia.
"Will we ever go back?"
Jaten's question remains unanswered as Malachor holds his helmet in his hands and stares at his reflection in the t-visor. A barely audible beep signals the activation of the secondary module on his back.
"Yes of course"
Jaten smiles as he places his helmet on the seat next to him.
"Yes of course"
Malachor says again as he turns his helmet around and places it on his head, the pressure system clicks into place and locks.
"Yes of course…. My master"
Jaten barely evades the claws of Malachor as he tries to rip his throat out.
Jatens eyes are wide with fear as his older brother draws his saberstaff and ignites the black and gold blades just seconds before lunging and attempting to cut him down.
"Malachor stop."
Jaten yells as he ignites his saber and deflects the powerful strikes of Malachor.
The young jedi reaches out through the force and attempts to read his brothers mind but is soon filled with images of hate and despair, every one of Malachor's greatest fears telling him that the only way to be free will be achieved while standing on the corpse of his brother.
"Malachor!"
Xarr yells as he draws his beskad and comes to the aid of Jaten. The bounty hunter is barely able to block the onslaught of attacks, then is suddenly caught by Malachor's left hand and slammed into the ground, rolling out of the way just in time to evade a stomp to his face that would have surely killed him instantly.
Malachor continues his unrelenting assault on Jaten as Xarr comes up behind him and notices something odd.
"That other module is blinking."
Jaten barely blocks a series of strikes and kicks that start to graze his beskar armor.
"So what?"
Xarr pulls out a flash grenade and arms it as he leaps over the back of Malachor and stands side by side with his friend.
"It flashes every time he strikes; I think he's being controlled by it and I have an idea."
Seconds later the grenade goes off just millimeters from Malachor's face as Jaten and Xarr shield their eyes. Jaten strikes his brothers saberstaff with his lightsaber, slicing it in half just before both jump on their team leader, knocking him to the ground.
Jaten channels all his force energy and pins Malachor to the ground as Xarr shoves his kal dagger into the blinking module and pries it from Malachor's back. Both watch as the module blinks a few more times and then powers down, by the time they are on their feet the primary module on Malachor's back has come alive.
"Why am I on the floor? And why does my head hurt so bad?"
Jaten and Xarr sigh as they collapse on the ground next to Malachor, who sits up and listens to his little brother tell him about how he tried to kill both he and Xarr.
"You know heavy, it's not much fun fighting you for real, that was terrifying."
Malachor shakes his head as he removes his helmet, his eyes betray his true emotions as he looks at the only people he regards as family.
"I'm sorry."
Jaten nods as he picks up the broken pieces of his brothers saberstaff.
"It wasn't you; it was just some control device that place installed in your cybernetics."
Malachor looks at his destroyed weapon and shakes his head.
"That is me now, I am sorry Jaten but I'm not the same anymore."
Xarr clears his throat and takes the destroyed saberstaff from Jaten.
"Give me a few hours and I'll have this thing looking like new."
Malachor's clawed hands release his stalker sabers from his belt and gives them to Jaten.
"Get rid of the red crystals and put the ones from my staff in them."
Jaten nods his head as he closes his eyes and begins to float, soon all three sabers are floating around him in pieces until the synthetic kyber crystals slide out of the crystal chambers.
Malachor and Xarr watch as the black and gold crystals from the jedi switch saber are flawlessly set-in place, then with the skill of a weapon master Jaten reassembles the stalker sabers and drops them in Malachor's hands.
"Let's see what they look like heavy."
Xarr says excited to witness the transformed weapons, with a loud crackle the stalker sabers erupt to life. Two erratic unstable black and gold blades explode out of the bladed hilts.
"Yeah, those are definitely more your style."
Malachor nods his head and shuts them off, hanging the sinister weapons from his belt on opposite sides. As he places his old broken saberstaff in a weapons locker he turns and looks at his team.
"I need a drink… Specter, plot a course for Mos Eisley and let Boba know we'll be in his backyard."
22ABY-TATOOINE
It takes a few days to get to Tatooine, but eventually the three are cruising through the many canyons and over the massive expanse of desert that covers most of this desolate planet.
Multiple settlements belonging to the indigenous sand people litter the desert, along with the great sand crawlers of the jawa's.
"Hey if we get time I want to see if a friend of mine is around, he's got a knack for procurement and might be able to help us out in case we ever need him, it would be good for all of you to meet."
Malachor grunts as he swings his ship around and lands in an unregistered hangar that Xarr had lined up for them.
Jaten stands at the bar of the fabled Mos Eisley cantina ordering another round of drinks as Malachor and Xarr sit at a table talking shop.
"Look heavy all I'm saying is with your skills and abilities, plus your new upgrades, you would make one effective bounty hunter."
Malachor grunts as he downs his third glass of red dwarf and glares at Xarr.
"I'm no bounty hunter deadeye, I'm a mercenary, so if you have a war to fight and need my help I'll be there. Just don't expect to see me tracking down criminals anytime soon."
Xarr claps his hands and leans forward.
"You said anytime soon, so there is a chance you'll go out on a hunt with me again."
Malachor rolls his eyes and looks over at the bar where four men are walking up behind Jaten, just as half a dozen more approach them at their table.
"You three been to kamino lately?"
Malachor practically laughs as he looks them over.
"Word on the net is that there's a rather large bounty for three Mandalorians that match your description, I'm thinking we should collect."
Malachor sighs as he grabs his helmet and stands up, within seconds his helmet clicks into place as he shoves his claws through the underside of the man's mouth and then rips his lower jaw clean off his face. The entire cantina falls silent save for the sound of blasters charging and clicking off safety.
Just as one of the men are about to touch Jaten, a brilliant flash of green appears and then vanishes as the humming of his lightsaber falls silent; the man drops to the floor with a hole seared through his chest.
"JEDI!!! HE'S A JEDI"
The largest of the group of would-be bounty hunters yells just moments before the cybernetic fist of Malachor smashes him in his face and sends him reeling back, nearly crashing into the cantina band. The team leader of the three jumps on top of the large thug and starts pummeling him in his face.
In an instant Xarr downs his drink, slides his helmet on and leaps backwards while kicking the table they were sitting at into the group. All four of them stumble backwards just an instant before four shots ring out and they drop to the ground with holes seared between their eyes. Meanwhile Malachor is still striking his quarry in the face and body, having killed him with the first hit and is now just turning his body to a paste on the floor. Jaten spins and force pulls his helmet to him, quickly donning his beskar head gear while igniting his green blade.
"You should have just left us alone."
Says the young jedi as he cuts down one of them just seconds before force choking another so hard it snaps his neck. Tears stream down the face of the last one as he backs away, watching Malachor stand; shove both of his clawed hands into his friends' midsection and literally rip him in half.
"Dank Farrik Malachor"
Exclaims Xarr as he shakes his head and holsters his westar-35's.
In one fluid motion Jaten force pushes the last of the thugs to the center of the cantina while stowing his saber away on his belt; then grabbing two of the heavy tables with a force pull and then slamming them both into the wailing man.
"Mediocre."
Says Malachor as he steps over the pile of bodies that they have created.
"Let's get out of here."
Yells Jaten as he starts running for the entrance just as two stormtroopers breach the room. Jaten and Xarr jump past them as four beeps signal the arming of thermal detonators.
"Hold these for me."
Says Malachor as he shoves the detonators into the chests of the troopers and then slings them back into the cantina before jumping through the entrance. The three barely escape the blast as the entire cantina erupts in a massive fiery explosion that reduces it to ashes and rubble.
Xarr puts his hands up to his helmet and stares at the wreckage.
"Boba is going to have my ass for this, that's his favorite watering hole."
Malachor shrugs his shoulders and walks over to his friend.
"Was… you mean it was his favorite, I'll admit that four thermal detonators were a bit excessive."
Jaten soon joins the conversation and admires his brother's effectiveness.
"I hope everyone got out okay."
Malachor pats Xarr on the back and looks at the wreckage.
"I'm sure some of them made it out… Maybe"
The chattering of the citizens of Mos Eisley is soon cut off as an IDT breaks atmosphere, accompanied by two tie fighters and a heavy transport. The three start walking towards the landing site of the imperial remnant forces.
"In the name of the empire you are under arrest."
Yells a man in a grey and black officers' uniform, the officer now surrounded by at least two dozen stormtroopers and accompanied by two tie fighters and an at-st.
"Xarr get to an elevated position and show these idiots how to shoot, Jaten go in low and give them a lesson on jedi combat, after you throw me right on top of that officer."
Xarr ignites his jetpack and flies up into the sky as he draws his sniper rifle, the hunter aims and starts decimating the troopers. Malachor nods at Jaten and is instantly launched up over Xarr and plummets down towards the imperial officer, his black and gold bladed lightsabers ignite just seconds before being thrown, the erratic blades impaling the two troopers on either side of the officer mere moments before Malachor tackles him to the ground with such force that it knocks him unconscious.
The screaming of the troopers is deafening as Jaten force leaps and slices through the ones that Xarr has left standing. Every stormtrooper is either disintegrated by Xarr's disruptor rifle or slaughtered by Jatens lightsaber. Malachor drags his razor-sharp claws across the commander's face, the intense pain waking him up screaming.
"Don't run away, or this will get way worse for you… Commander Shaw."
Malachor says as he looks at the id tag of the commander. Heavy laser bolts rain down around the lieutenant as he pulls his lightsabers out of the two troopers and points them at the at-st that approaches. Malachor charges the armored walker as two tie fighters lock onto Xarr and begin a strafing run that is cut short as Jaten leaps into the air and uses the force to slam them into each other. The wreckage flies over the three as Malachor leaps into the air and with incredible speed and strength punches the laser cannons on the front of the at-st, instantly destroying both.
Two well aimed shots from Xarr's wrist mounted bolt thrower destroys the rocket pods mere seconds before launching a barrage at Malachor. As the walker attempts to crush the team leader its legs flail helplessly as it is lifted into the air. The heavy durasteel plating begins to crease and crumple as the walker is crushed, the pilots scream as they are trapped inside of the war machine and reduced to little more than a mass of meat and bones. Jaten screams as he outstretches his arms and crushes the at-st to a fraction of its original size. A great surge of power begins to grow at the feet of the young jedi, building in intensity as it encompasses his body and travels to his arms and then to his hands. With a thunderous explosion searing white lightning erupts from his fingertips and electrifies the wrecked at-st causing it to explode in a shower of debris. Xarr touches down next to Jaten and holsters his blasters as Malachor walks through the mass of dead bodies plunging his lightsabers into the backs and chests of each one all the while staring at Shaw.
"So, tell me commander, who was stupid enough to send these few men after us?"
Shaw whimpers as blood pours out of the five slashes across his face.
"ANSWER ME!!!"
Malachor yells as he stows his weapons on his belt and picks the commander up by his throat, blood gurgles out of Shaw's mouth as Malachor crushes his trachea.
"You're killing him, Heavy."
Jaten says as he places his hand on his older brothers' shoulder causing him to release the commander. Shaw coughs violently as he holds his nearly destroyed throat.
"The empire is back, and it wants the three of you. Our leader is especially interested in your little jedi there, perhaps we will turn him or maybe we can just finish what we started on Concordia. Soon it will not matter what you do or how powerful you get."
Shaw's confession is cut short as a blaster bolt tears through his skull. The three turn to where the shot came from and see a stormtrooper armored unlike any they have ever seen before leaping off a building from an incredible distance away. Causing Malachor to yell as he turns and kicks Shaw's corpse so hard it sends it flying across the street into the wall of a building.
"Specter pick us up, we are done here."
Malachor sits on the floor of the cargo hold against the bulkhead, running his clawed hands across the head of Akaan as Jaten and Xarr sit at the dejarik table playing a game and talking about what they just heard. Specter beeps rapidly, signaling that the ship has entered hyperspeed.
"So, the people that destroyed our home are now hunting us? Let them come and I will bathe in their blood and feed them to Akaan."
Specter beeps and whirs loudly just seconds before the proximity alarms start going off. With blinding speed Malachor jumps up the stairs and flies into the pilot's chair.
"Jaten, Xarr, get ready we have a tail."
Without warning Malachor drops out of hyperspeed and banks towards an asteroid field while unfolding the ships foils. Xarr soon jumps into the gunner's seat and begins firing at the trailing ship.
"It's a tie interceptor, Heavy."
With a push of a button, Malachor opens a compartment on the rear exterior of the ship and ejects a seismic charge.
"Choke on that."
The detonation brings a smile to his face just moments before he releases another. The interceptor banks left and is struck by a series of shots from the heavy cannons, effectively blowing off its starboard wing and ion engine. The lights of the interceptor flicker erratically for a few moments and then fade away.
"Xarr keep a lock on that ship, I think me, and my brother need to take a walk."
Malachor smirks as he dons his helmet and jumps down into the cargo hold, soon joined by jaten at the cargo door.
"Make sure you launch me onto the tie and not into some asteroid, disable the other engine and I'll pry that thing open. Then we will have a nice chat with the pilot"
Jaten nods and within seconds both brothers are hurtling towards the interceptor. The lieutenant makes short work of the hatch to the cockpit as Jaten drives his lightsaber into the other ion engine.
Malachor and Jaten are met with a surprise, an empty cockpit, save for a huge computer and no flight controls.
"It's a machine."
Says the younger of the two as they look around the empty cockpit, A strange alien language begins to emanate from what appears to be the ai of the ship's navigational computer.
"Specter begin audio recording through my helmet and search for known languages for translation, I want to know what this thing is saying."
The modified interceptor begins to beep and flash over and over, with each beep coming faster than the last. With seconds to spare Jaten leaps out of the cockpit and yanks Malachor up into space before hurtling them both into the cargo hold of the Jai'galaar.
"Specter get us out of here now."
A loud resounding beep is followed by the ship blasting away just moments before the tie detonates in a massive explosion that nearly catches the tail end of the ship.
"Heavy, we need to get back to yavin. Luke needs to hear about this and maybe he can give us some guidance on where we go from here. And we need a place to rest where these new imperials can't find us or at least somewhere we are not alone."
Malachor nods and sits down on a chair, removing his helmet before he speaks.
"Let specter know where we are going, I need time to think."
Jaten sighs as he makes his way up into the cockpit and leaves Malachor alone with his thoughts.
23ABY-YAVIN 4
Luke Skywalker sits in a meditative trance in his quarters, floating above the floor as he stares at the green blade of his lightsaber, watching it spin before him when suddenly the presence of his padawan breaks his concentration causing him to drop his lightsaber and fall to the floor.
"Jaten"
The grand master says as he stands and heads for the landing pad, His black robes trail behind him as he hurries through the temple and beyond the courtyard. Luke watches as the Jai'galaar swings around and lands.
"Hmm they've brought a guest."
He thinks to himself as the loading ramp of the ship drops, the jedi master's eyes widen as he sees a massive imposing shadow appear only to be accompanied by ragged mechanical breathing.
"Impossible"
Luke quickly slings his robes to the ground and draws his lightsaber, igniting the green blade and assuming a form III stance as he watches the white and gold armor of Malachor emerge from the shadows. The lieutenants clawed hands slide under his combat skirt and grip the hilts of his lightsabers just as Jaten steps from out behind him.
"Master it's ok, it's just my brother. We have a lot to talk about."
Luke shakes as he switches off his weapon and stows it away on his belt.
"If my brother did not need you, this reunion would be vastly different."
Luke's eyes nearly well up with tears as he hears Malachor's new voice for the first time.
"The thing that did this to me, what I have become. This is what you saw in your vision, what you were afraid my brother would become isn't it?"
Akaan brushes against her master's leg as Luke nods his head and looks away, almost ashamed to look upon him.
"Yeah, thanks for the heads-up Luke"
Xarr says as he walks past Jaten and heads for the living quarters, only to be soon followed by Malachor and Akaan.
"Malachor is the strongest person I know, both physically and mentally, but what I did to save him may have been too much."
Jaten and Luke walk alongside each other and discuss the events that transpired on kamino and Tatooine, about the assassin that nearly killed his brother and the trauma of putting him through the stalker program. Even admitting to the events of Malachor murdering administrator Rau and the stormtrooper security force, then about what happened on Tatooine and the peculiar trooper that assassinated Shaw. Luke remains silent the entire time, nodding his head and looking worried about his padawan's older brother.
A group of younglings watch as Xarr draws his westar-35's and stands at the ready, Malachor smirks and ignites his brilliant gold bladed stalker sabers.
"Just do it already you half assed bounty hunter."
The younglings stare with wide eyes at the sight of the lieutenant as Xarr begins unleashing dual shot volleys at his friend.
"Malachor relax and focus on his blasters and not on your lightsabers."
The next volley flies towards Malachor and is suddenly reflected at Xarr, knocking him to the ground.
"So Jaten, how long has Xarr been force sensitive."
Jaten looks at Luke with a confused expression.
"What do you mean?"
Luke nods and motions towards Xarr who is now on his feet and holding his aim at Malachor.
"Watch his movements, feel it through the force, it's very subtle but it's there."
Jaten closes his eyes and reaches out through the force, it takes a moment, but he finally senses his friend's subconscious abilities.
"How is this possible?"
Luke smiles and shrugs his shoulders.
"Lots of creatures are force sensitive and never know it, Akaan is highly force sensitive and uses it to augment her hunting and stalking abilities, whereas Xarr uses the force to increase his aiming and reflexes."
Jaten nods and continues watching them train, every other shot hits Malachor in his armored chest. Malachor's breathing becomes more erratic as he leaps and tackles Xarr to the ground and places his saber at his throat.
"Yield."
Xarr laughs as he puts his hands up.
"Fine fine I yield."
Malachor stands and puts his weapons away before reaching his clawed hand out and helps Xarr to his feet.
The next two months fly by as Jaten and Malachor refine their abilities and skills. Jaten's progression is almost godlike, while Malachor has had Xarr fine tune his cybernetics to a point where his speed and strength has surpassed that of even the sith marauders of legend. Xarr walks into the room and flops down on his bed, watching Malachor sit in the middle of the floor reading a datapad with reports about the ancient sith.
"What are you reading?"
Malachor looks up from his reading and looks at his friend.
"Stories about Darth Malgus, he was a sith lord during the old republic, he fought with dual lightsabers and was unstoppable, he is kind of a hero of mine so to say."
Xarr shakes his head and sighs.
"If you say so man, well I finally finished the modifications to the Jai'galaar. Added the shatter missile launchers and added a second seismic charge launcher. Installed four turbo lasers forward and aft. And retrofitted an ion cannon to the underside while upgrading the armor to durasteel. Oh, and I painted her too, she's white, black and chrome with a gold mythosaur sigil on her nose."
Malachor stands and puts his datapad in his wall locker as Jaten enters the room.
"Foods ready, let's go eat."
As the three go to leave, Xarr's communicator beeps.
"Hey, I'll catch up with you guys in a minute."
All the younglings and padawans are eating when the brothers enter the room, the room falls silent as they stare at Malachor.
The group of students yell for Jaten to join them at their table.
"They're still afraid of me."
Malachor says as he grabs his plate from the cook just as Xarr comes running into the room.
"That was Mal, I've got a huge contract that I can't pass up."
Malachor stands motionless and glares at Xarr.
"You mean you're running away again, like always."
Xarr shakes his head and sighs.
"What am I supposed to do? Sit around here and watch Jaten play jedi while I help you become less human. Seriously Malachor this is depressing enough without having to be reminded everyday of what me and Jaten did to you. Unlike the two of you I'm actually a real Mandalorian and not some clone freak or a cybernetic monster that's become more of a murderer than a mercenary"
Malachor's breathing becomes almost silent as he tosses his plate to the floor and reaches for his lightsabers, only to witness Jaten leap in between them and shove Xarr back. In a fit of rage Jaten force pulls his lightsaber off the table he was sitting at and then reaches out and begins to force choke his only friend. Xarr grabs at his throat as he chokes loudly, Jaten ignites his lightsaber which now glows with an ominous red hue. The clawed right hand of Malachor touches Jatens shoulder as he stands beside his little brother.
"Kill him or I will."
Xarr gags and chokes louder as Jatens grip intensifies.
"Enough… Release him at once Jaten."
Luke commands as he enters the room.
Malachor releases Jaten's shoulder and walks past Xarr, glaring at his oldest friend.
"Get off of this planet, Luke can't stop me like he just stopped Jaten."
As Malachor walks out of the room Jaten shuts off his saber and drops to his knees. Luke quickly kneels beside his padawan and grabs him by his shoulder.
"Master what's happening to me."
Luke shakes his head.
"Every jedi struggles with the darkside, but this is something I've never heard of before, you bled your crystal just by touching your lightsaber and used a darkside ability that I've never taught you, but we'll figure it out together. Go check on your brother and make sure hasn't destroyed my temple, I'm going to get Xarr a ship and see him off safely."
Luke watches Jaten walk away as he checks on Xarr and escorts him to the starport.
"They will be ok, so don't worry about them and leave it to me. This is my u-wing, it was a great ship for me, and I think it will serve you well. I will keep you updated on how things are going here."
Luke watches as Xarr blasts out of the starport and into the atmosphere, his reassuring smile soon vanishes as he begins to dwell on his worries for his padawan and his brother.
"I need to get them out of here and get them someplace I can train them without worrying about them losing control and killing someone, but where do I take them."
A blue glow begins to radiate from behind Luke, causing the grand master to nod his head.
23ABY-MUSTAFAR
The Jai'galaar flies low between two massive volcanoes as they erupt, spewing lava and ash into the blackened sky. A multitude of magma flows radiate from the lava river that runs beyond a massive black structure.
"That is where we are going."
Luke Skywalker says as he points at a landing pad connected to a cliffside, branching off from the landing pad is a network of walkways that lead to an entrance built into the side of a sheer stone wall.
"Mustafar, what a shit hole"
Malachor says as he lands his ship and heads down to the cargo hold behind Luke and Jaten, watching as the grand master shakes his head.
"No armor, you do this as a jedi, or you don't do it at all."
Jaten nods his head as he puts his armor back on the workbench and smiles at his older brother, watching him as he strips down to his black flight suit and clasps his combat skirt around his waist.
"If my brother is not allowed to wear his armor than neither will I, space wizard."
Jaten nearly bursts in laughter as he hits the button to the cargo door.
"Akaan aran te me'sen"
The huge tuk'ata growls at her master and paces back and forth in the cargo hold as she watches the two brothers and Luke exit the ship. Malachor's hands stay firmly on his lightsabers as they walk to the stone door while Jaten and Luke talk about what they can expect inside.
"This place is a source of immeasurable darkside energy, that is why my father built his castle here and it is why you will be tested beyond anything you have experienced so far; you will see and hear things that may overpower you but remember your training and stand strong my padawan and you will prevail."
Malachor quickly turns and glares at Luke.
"So, my brother suddenly starts to develop darkside abilities and your answer for that is to bring him to the actual home of Darth Vader?"
The ragged mechanical breathing of Malachor starts to quicken as he grips his stalker sabers.
"It is ok Heavy; I trust Master Skywalker and so should you."
Malachor grunts and turns away, leading the group up the stone stairwell and into the fabled castle.
"It's so cold in here."
Says Jaten as he walks around the enormous meditation room, the walls are lined with shelves containing hundreds of ancient texts on sith lords, while the center of the room is littered with black holocrons that are eerily suspended in the air.
"Put that back!"
Luke yells at Malachor as he picks up one of the holocrons, the lieutenant smiles as he places it back in their suspension matrix.
"Most of these holocrons are older than the republic itself and are irreplaceable artifacts that contain a wealth of knowledge so please stop touching them."
Malachor rolls his eyes and picks up a text on Darth Malgus, then sits against the wall and loses himself in the stories within.
"Jaten down this corridor is where your true test begins, you may find only one room, or you might discover hundreds of rooms. In order to control these new abilities, you must learn to balance the dark and the light within you. You will see your fears made manifest or you will experience new fears you did not know you had, but this must be done alone, I can not go with you and Malachor has some studying to do, so be brave padawan and come back alive."
Jaten nods at Luke and waves at Malachor as he grips his lightsaber and heads into the depths of the castle.
"Malgus sure was something, wish I could have met this guy when he was in his prime."
Luke stares at him with a look of disapproval.
"Darth Malgus was a master of Jar'kai and as such he wielded two lightsabers like you, here take this text."
Luke hands Malachor a dusty black book, then snaps back at the corridor that Jaten had entered just minutes prior when he hears a strange whisper echo. Without hesitation the Jedi master sprints into the dark hallway and is soon followed by Malachor. Luke stares all around the misty room as it glows eerily and reverberates with a familiar mechanical tone.
"You should not have come here Luke; you should not have brought them here to us."
Luke closes his eyes and takes a deep breath to center himself and regain his composure just in time to ignite his lightsaber and deflect a crimson blade. Upon opening his eyes, he is met with the charred mangled remains of his father.
"you are too weak to help him and too afraid to save him, you will fail him just as Obi-Wan failed me."
Luke looks terrified as a series of devastating overhand blows rain down on him, battering his defense mercilessly until his guard breaks allowing the visage of Vader to grab him by his throat and plunge the red blade into Luke's stomach.
"Luke… Jaten…"
Malachor yells as he rushes into the empty room at the end of the corridor, his black and gold lightsabers partially illuminating the area he stands in. When suddenly he hears a familiar voice that he had long since forgotten.
"Father"
Malachor turns and is met with the sight of Tor playing with Jaten in the field beyond their base.
"Father there is so much I want to say, so much I never did say."
Malachor watches as his brother and father play in the tall grass, from out of the fog a young version of himself runs up to Tor but is quickly shoved away.
"Away from me boy, can't you see I'm playing with my son. Just go away, you will never be me."
Malachor shakes his head and drops to his knees, staring at his clawed hands as they grip his lightsabers. The distorted image of Tor Ordo turns and walks to Malachor, changing into a cloaked shadow with a white and red mask.
"Look at what your brother has done, he has taken your family and turned you into a monster, you know what you must do, and when it is done you will stand beside me and rule it all."
Malachor trembles and lets his lightsabers fall from his hands as he breathes heavily.
"I understand."
Malachor says as the shadow ignites a red lightsaber and knights him with the crimson blade.
"Kill the jedi and fulfill your destiny."
The clawed cybernetic hand of Malachor grasps Luke by the shoulder as the Jedi kneels on the floor.
"Hey, are you ok? the fog in this room cleared and you just appeared, we have to find my brother and get out of here."
Luke shakes his head as he stands and looks around the room.
"I can sense that this place has influenced you just as much as it has me, for that I am sorry Heavy, but the rest is up to Jaten and we must trust him to make it through on his own. Let us get back to the central chamber and you can continue your studies while we wait".
Jaten Fett can feel the darkness of this place, can feel the pain and anger that Vader imprinted on his castle. The room he is in is littered with the remains of battle droids and Nemoidians, every corner is piled high with the corpses of Geonosians and Munn's. Suddenly the room is filled with the sounds and flashes of a lightsaber duel, when Jaten opens his eyes he sees a bearded man in a tan tunic fighting another wearing a black tunic who explodes out of a hallway, violently swinging their blue bladed lightsabers at each other. Jaten ignites his weapon and runs after them down the hallway and into a dark empty room.
"You were my brother! I loved you."
The room slowly begins to illuminate with the ambient light from glowing blue screens, each one plastered with a different cybernetic limb or organ. Ragged mechanical breathing soon overtakes the sound of his lightsabers hum, causing Jaten to turn and be faced with a pale corpse riddled with blaster holes and scoring marks created by lightsabers. As his eyes follow up the body of the monstrosity, he sees that there is no lower jaw, and his tongue hangs down drooling over his mangled corpse.
"Heavy? What did this place do to you?"
The cybernetic monster breathes raggedly as its clawed hands grip its lightsabers and says nothing, then the room is filled with a strangers pained scream.
"I HATE YOU"
The brilliant green eyes of his brother turn black as he ignites both of his red bladed lightsabers and begins an onslaught of attacks. Jaten struggles to block each one as he is battered relentlessly, the raw power and ferocity start to break his defense.
"Please, don't make me do this Malachor."
Another series of blows rain down on the young Jedi who finally returns an attack and then unleashes a fury of force lightning on his brother. The disfigured Mandalorian falls to the floor and releases his lightsabers, struggling to breathe as his cybernetic lungs and respirator fail.
"I'm so sorry Malachor… I love you brother."
The green blade of Jaten Fett plunges into the skull of his older brother, causing him to convulse momentarily and then, nothing. Jaten opens his eyes and sees only an empty room. On the opposite of the room a second door opens, it takes only a few minutes for the young jedi to enter the darkened room when suddenly a vicious blow puts him on his back. Jaten instantly leaps back up onto his feet and assumes a defensive stance, only to be struck in his back, sending him forward to the ground. The young jedi watches as his ignited saber rolls away from him while blow after blow rains down on his back and ribs, blood fills his mouth and pools on the stone floor below him. A surge of power rushes through him as pain and anger wracks his body, the sudden burst of energy gives him the drive to use a force repulse that dismantles his phantom attackers. Jaten quickly leaps to his feet as a newfound power surges through him and reaches out with the force and draws his lightsaber to his hand before shutting the weapon off and stowing it away on his belt.
"Where is he Luke? I swear by my ancestors if something happened to him you will beg me for death."
Just as Malachor is about to confront the Jedi master, Jaten appears out of the dark corridor.
"It's ok Heavy, I'm ok, just a little beat up."
Jaten does his best to hide the pain he feels after his trial, even as he embraces his brother.
"I have something to show you, so please don't be alarmed."
The young padawan says as he removes the hood of his robes and reveals his red and yellow eyes. Luke instantly ignites his lightsaber and assumes a defensive stance while urging Malachor to get out of the way.
Jaten shakes his head and closes his eyes, concentrating on the energy within himself. As he opens his eyes the ominous hues are gone, replaced by the deep brown he was born with.
"Something happened to me in there Heavy, unlocked an ability that allows me to switch from light to dark and back again seemingly at will."
Malachor places his clawed hands on Jaten's shoulders as he stares at him.
"Then we have completed our mission, little brother, now nobody will stand in the way of our vengeance. And I have found your call sign… Switch."
Luke looks both relieved and troubled as he ignites his weapon.
"Kneel before me padawan."
Jaten Fett pats his brother on his shoulder and kneels before his master, placing his lightsaber on the ground before him.
"Jaten Fett as your master and mentor I have witnessed your trials and struggles, I have seen you overcome every challenge put before you with wisdom and honor. So, on this day in the house of my father, I bestow upon you the rank of jedi knight."
Images of Luke striking him down and then murdering his brother flash through Jatens mind, the newly appointed jedi knight flinches as the ignited saber of his master moves ceremoniously from one side of his head to the other. Suddenly a voice fills his mind.
"He is going to kill you… He is going to kill your brother, stop him, stop the jedi before it's too late."
Before he even thinks about it, Jaten pulls his lightsaber to his hand and ignites the blade. The once brilliant green blade turns an ominous red hue as he swings it upward and severs the mechanical hand of his master. Malachor instantly ignites his main stalker saber and slices the emitter off Jaten's lightsaber and then spins, slamming his right knee into his brothers' face. He watches as the red and yellow eyes of jaten turn their normal brown color just seconds before he is knocked unconscious. As Luke stumbles back he stares at his dismembered cybernetic hand while it still clutches his weapon.
"Did you kill him."
Malachor shakes his head as he kneels beside his brother.
"No… he's just subdued, we have to get him out of here and back to yavin"
Luke nods at malachor as he bends over and picks up his hand and the destroyed remains of Jaten's lightsaber. Malachor's erratic breathing worsens as he picks up his little brother and carries him to the Jai'galaar.
PART FOUR
23ABY-RYLOTH
"Snap out of it Xarr, this is just a job, like any other."
The white and red u-wing Luke gave him rockets through space as the hyperdrive engines purr beautifully. Doubt clouds the mind of the hunter as he reflects on the fight he had with his friends and the things he said before leaving.
"I should have apologized to them, but no time for that now."
With the press of a button his new ship drops out of hyperspace and is soon speeding down towards the planet Ryloth where his newest client awaits, something about this job seems off to him and he would be lying if he said it made him feel uneasy. But the head of clan vizsla would never admit it, not to himself and not to his friends.
With the flip of a switch the strike foils fold back into attack formation just as it breaks through the dense clouds. The jungle planet is almost completely untouched, except for the out of place landing pad and clearing that scars the area.
"There it is."
Xarr thinks aloud just as the navigation system beeps, signaling his arrival at the coordinates he received. Soon the strike foils are reversed, and the landing gear extends.
"Smooth on the landing too, I'll have to thank Luke for the ship when I see him again."
Xarr quickly disembarks his ship after grabbing an assortment of armaments, then watches as a robed figure approaches.
"Deadeye, welcome to Ryloth, I'm elated that you accepted my offer."
Xarr nods and shakes the strangers outstretched hand.
"Well, your offer was very generous."
The man laughs briefly and leads Xarr down the walkway towards a large building.
"This here is our base of operations on Ryloth, we have a few more on various moons and planets, but don't worry about being interrupted… we're the only ones around currently."
Xarr's hands rest on his holstered blasters as they enter a large building and make their way to a courtyard that reminds him of the meditation room back at the temple. Turon notices this but chooses to remain silent about it as he sits on a stone bench in the center of a garden like area.
"Here on Ryloth there is a thief that had taken something from me that is of great importance, an associate of mine retrieved the item but was incapable of eliminating the nuisance due to unforeseen circumstances. I would like you to rectify that."
Xarr remains silent and motionless as he listens to the client, absorbing every word while taking in the somewhat calming ambience of the courtyard.
"I'll pay you eighty thousand credits now and another eighty thousand once the thief and his partner are dead."
Turon smiles as xarr takes his hands off his blasters and sits on the bench adjacent from his client.
Xarr begins pressing a few buttons on his gauntlet and brings up a holomap of the area.
"Last known locations"
Turon smirks as he replies.
"The thief is in the jungle east of here and as for his partner, our last intel reports said she had gone off world. Just out of curiosity, does the three slashes on your helmet have anything to do with your name?"
Xarr narrows his gaze and clears his throat.
"On my first hunt I allowed myself to get attacked by a pack of Vornskr's; my former crew was able to save me, but I lost my eye in the process."
As the bounty hunter removes his helmet, Turon comes closer and stares at the scarred face and milky eye of xarr.
"That's some deep structural damage and that eye is beyond saving, but I have some people that dabble in cybernetic reconstruction, they could fix it, possibly even make it better with the implementation of a new prototype optical unit they've been working on."
Xarr glares suspiciously at Turon as he puts his helmet on and stands, his hands instinctively move to the grips of his blasters. Turon looks down at the bounty hunters' hands.
"You do know that this building is the safest place on this planet."
After a heavy sigh, Xarr relaxes a bit.
"Increases my sense of security, so should I take any souvenirs or get a proof of death?"
Turon closes his eyes briefly and then takes a deep breath.
"He wears some heavily modified custom armor; I would like his helmet as a trophy. Anything else you find you can keep"
It only takes Xarr a few days to track his first target through the dense jungle of Ryloth, his finger wraps around the trigger of his dxr-6 as the crosshair of his scope centers on the head of his quarry. The ridge he is perched on provides him with the element of surprise.
"This is too easy and what kind of armor is that."
The peculiar, armored man looks straight at Xarr's location, with a gentle squeeze of the trigger a ballistic round erupts from the barrel and tears through the chest plate of his target. Within seconds the hunter is standing over him as his jetpack cools down, Xarr removes the helmet of the man and stares at his deformed face.
"Turon Veer sends his regards."
A second shot from his dxr-6 rings out through the jungle, causing the strange looking man's head to explode. As he looks at the helmet of the thief its communicator crackles to life and begins to emit a strange language.
"That… that language, I've heard it before, but where."
Xarr wracks his mind trying to remember where he had heard the voice before as he goes through the piles of plunder, luckily finding a datapad that contains coordinates to a planet he has never heard of, with an attached file about his partner heading there.
"Dromund kaas? The interceptor… that's the language it was speaking."
Back at the facility, Xarr walks into the office of Turon Veer and tosses him the helmet he requested.
"For one as talented as you, I would have expected results sooner."
Xarr scoffs at Turon's displeased sounding voice as he plops down in the chair in front of his desk.
"That thief as you like to call him, he wasn't a thief at all was he? No, you see I've been around enough thieves to know one when I see them."
Turon glares at Xarr and presses a button on his control console causing a communicator to activate.
"Have the medical droids get ready to operate and retrieve the new optic implant from the prototype lab."
It takes hours for the medical droids to remove the scar tissue and ruined eye of Xarr, even longer for the implant to be installed and wired into his brain. As Xarr wakes he tries to move but is restrained by shackles that keep him secured to the surgical table.
"What is this? Why am I wearing this armor?"
Turon smiles as he stands before Xarr, admiring the new black and red armor he had put on him as he picks up the helmet the bounty hunter brought back from his mission.
"That is the armor of my trooper commander, it is the armor you will wear as you destroy my enemies and bring the galaxy back under the control of the empire."
Xarr struggles against his restraints as he yells at Turon.
"I'll never serve you, no Vizsla will ever bow to the empire again."
Turon shakes his head as he grabs a control unit from a table.
"You will travel to Dromund Kaas, with me where you will finish the job, I hired you for and from there you will lead your new troopers to yavin and bring me the heads of Jaten, Malachor and Luke."
Xarr screams as he tries in vain to get free from the table, as Turon approaches he holds the helmet in one hand and the control device in the other.
"I really didn't want it to go this way, I had hoped that you would see things from my perspective. Figured you would hate the Jedi as much as me, that is why I left them after all. Left their blind teachings and coddling, I found a new master, I found power beyond anything I would learn on Yavin and so will you."
The fight goes out of Xarr as he listens to Turon.
"You're Kaden Surik, you're the one that killed Kyra Amon in the dueling arena and then fled the temple. Malachor told me about you, told me about how weak you are."
Turon glares menacingly at Xarr as he presses the activation button on the control module. The newly installed cybernetic begins to flicker rapidly, and then glows a red hue. The lab is filled with the sudden click of the table shackles unlatching. The bounty hunter steps down and kneels before Turon.
"Travel to Dromund Kaas and eliminate acolyte Drakas, bring me her lightsaber as proof of death and then you will be named commander of my army, fail this mission and I'll kill you if Drakas does not."
Xarr looks up as Turon issues his orders and places the helmet in his hands. With an audible click the black and red helmet locks into the environmentally sealed armor.
"Yes, my master"
The u-wing of Xarr Vizsla screams out of the atmosphere and jumps to lightspeed within a matter of minutes, it takes only a few hours to get to Dromund Kaas and even less time to track down the rogue acolyte.
The unarmored acolyte known as Drakas Myr stands unaware that her life is about to end abruptly and violently. The crosshairs of Xarr's dxr-6 rests perfectly centered on her alabaster forehead, with a gentle squeeze the disruptor rifle fires and sends an energy bolt sailing through the calm night. With amazing speed and accuracy, Drakas ignites her dual orange bladed lightsaber and deflects the shot back at her attacker then leaps up to the cliffside where Xarr was. The laser trip mines he left detonate and tear through her legs and abdomen, critically wounding the aspiring dark jedi. Shot after shot from the westar-35's of Xarr ring out through the night as he charges his prey, each bolt blocked slower than the last as blood seeps out of the dozens of shrapnel lacerations that riddle her lower body. Within seconds Xarr is on top of her, pinning her to the forest floor with his knees in her chest, in a last-ditch effort she raises her lightsaber and slices the barrels off his blasters. The experienced Mandalorian grasps the hilt of her weapon with one hand while plunging the blade of his kal dagger into her carotid artery with his other hand. Blood pours out of her neck and mouth as her life begins to fade.
"He will betray you, just as he has betrayed everyone else that came before us. You are nothing but a puppet to him, a pawn in his endless quest for power and control. Then when you have destroyed his enemies and become the very thing that you hate the most. He will kill you… Xarr Vizsla."
Xarr stands and wipes the blood off his dagger, stowing it away and then collecting the lightsaber of Drakas Myr before heading to the dark temple where Turon awaits. The citizens of Kaas city stand aside and bow as Xarr walks through the streets. The speeder ride to the temple is met with no trouble and soon the lightsaber of Drakas is in the hands of Turon.
23ABY-JAI'GALAAR
Malachor glares at his reflection, each time he closes his eyes he hopes that when he opens them, he will see the image of his former self and each time he is met with disappointment. His concentration is broken as Luke clears his throat and turns to look at Malachor with a saddened expression as he sees the tears streaming down the face of the one person, he would never expect to show any emotion ever. The jedi master catches the sight of Jaten laying in the captains' quarters still unconscious.
"You must have hit him pretty hard, Heavy!"
It takes a few moments for him to respond as he tries to gain his composure.
"He will live, though I imagine he is going to have a headache for a few days."
Malachor returns to staring back out the cockpit into the unending darkness of deep space as his shit barrels towards Yavin4.
"I understand why you are angry with him…"
The Mandalorian quickly spins towards Luke and cuts him off mid-sentence.
"Make no mistake about it, jedi, I am extremely angry. But it is not towards my brother… I am angry about the fact that once again I am powerless to save my family. He is becoming the very thing that we hate the most and I cannot help him, all I get to do is watch him struggle with his powers and lose control. Maybe next time a blow to the head will not be enough, am I to keep hitting him? What if he turns on me? Am I supposed to kill my brother to save him from himself?"
Luke shakes his head as the intense emotions of Malachor flood the room and make it hard for him to remain positive about such a dire situation.
"I don't know Heavy; we will figure this out together and then we will look back on this moment and laugh about it."
The jedi master quickly turns towards the rear of the cockpit as he feels Jatens presence in the force intensify. Jaten chokes up as he looks upon the face of his older brother and sees that everything is far from okay.
"Neither of you have to worry about anything, once we land at the temple, I'm going to gather my belongings and head back to Concordia."
Jaten does his best to give a reassuring smile before turning and going down into the cargo hold, moments later Malachor follows and watches as Jaten grabs his brothers destroyed saberpike out of the weapons locker and places it on the workbench. Akaan whimpers as she rubs against her master, sensing the tension and melancholy through the force. Malachor gently runs his clawed hand across her back as they approach Jaten.
"What are you doing little brother?"
Jaten places the broken pieces of his lightsaber and the dismantled saberpike on the workbench, sparks fly as he takes apart the broken emitter of his lightsaber and removes the hinge mechanism from the parts of Malachor's old weapon.
"I have to make a new one, so I figured the pieces of the lightsaber you destroyed would go nicely with the ones from the lightsaber I destroyed. It is poetic in a way."
Malachor watches as the charred white and gold saberpike floats off the table and falls apart, joining the swirling pieces of his brother's old lightsaber. The two destroyed weapons soon start to become one, with each passing moment a few pieces fall onto the workbench until only his new weapon remains. The white and gold single bladed lightsaber is charred up and down the hilt, wrapped in the leather from his old weapon, an exposed focusing lens thanks to a hole in the emitter and a partially exposed power battery due to even more battle damage. The blade erupts as Jaten grasps his new weapon and ignites it, slowly looking it over and reversing his grip.
"It feels ok, just broken…. Like me"
Luke shakes his head as he enters the cargo hold and sits down in one of the chairs across from the workstation.
"But you are not broken Jaten, you are going through something all jedi go through. You are just experiencing it more intensely than any other that came before you. Look at it like this, if you are broken, then what does that make Kaden?"
Jaten turns towards his jedi master and shuts off his new weapon and stows it away on his belt.
"What did happen to Kaden?"
Luke sighs heavily and looks upon his two students as they sit down and listen to his every word.
"He felt betrayed by me, I suppose he felt that I was giving you preferential treatment due to your immense force powers and one day while you were on Kamino he just snapped. He used his actual lightsaber in the training arena instead of a training blade and killed padawan Tyra Vos, I tried to talk to him, but he ran away. The next day he was gone, took some rations and a mask of some kind according to the other students, stole an a-wing and left."
Malachor glares at Luke as he leans forward.
"What mask?"
Luke looks at Malachor with a puzzled expression and then widens his gaze at the realization something is wrong.
"The padawans said it was white and red, looked like some kind of ceremonial mask."
The chair Malachor was sitting in quickly slams against the bulkhead of the cargo hold.
"Thieving piece of shit, I knew someone stole it from me. What are the chances of me finding another ruin with a mask like that huh? I will tell you what…. Absolutely no chance, I'm going to kill that pompous little fuck."
Luke quickly stands and places his newly rebuilt right hand on Malachor's shoulder.
"Take me to the ruin where you found that mask, I have a very bad feeling about all of this."
Malachor nods and jumps up into the top deck of the ship, changing their destination coordinates for Tython as Luke sits back down with Jaten.
"Jaten you are a jedi knight and as such you are to be held accountable for your actions, as punishment for attacking me without provocation, I hereby order you to remain with me until we figure out these powers of yours."
20ABY-TATOOINE
The all too familiar resonance of slave-1 dropping out of hyperspace signals their arrival to Tatooine as Xarr readies his gear down in the cargo hold.
"Look alive kid, we are going to be landing any minute."
The highly modified firespray-31 screams over Mos Eisley and lands in one of the unregistered spaceport docking bays frequented by bounty hunters and smugglers alike. Boba is quick to disembark and lead his young protégé to the bounty guild.
"I'm going to introduce you to Mal, he will have some pucks for you and possibly some advice, listen to what he has to offer."
Both bounty hunters' step into the guild hall and scan the room, the loud conversations have fallen deathly silent as everyone their stares at the two similarly equipped men walk to where the guild leader is sitting.
"Mal'dav Rexan… but most people just call me Mal."
He says as he extends his hand, taking notice that both hunters have their hands on their blasters. Xarr stares at him through his helmet and shakes his hand before all three sit at a table.
"This here is Xarr, I have taken him under my wing, but we need some work so what do you have going on for us Mal?"
Mal chuckles as he reaches under the table and produces three glasses and bottle of red dwarf, filling each glass to the brim as he ponders how to proceed.
"Well Boba I have four pucks available currently. Naarf Calder is a known imperial defector and a hell of a shot so be careful, Gygerr Mos is a Trandoshan that is wanted for a triple homicide, Traverse Valdo is a Rodian smuggler that pissed off the wrong Hutt and Yeet Eleekth is a Jawa that apparently stiffed his own clan out of thirteen hundred credits. So, do you want all four of the pucks or just one?"
Xarr nudges Boba as he picks up all three of the bounty pucks and removes his helmet, staring at Mal as he downs his glass of alcohol.
"Where did you find this kid at Boba… I kind of like him."
As Boba pulls his helmet off and reveals his battle-scarred face he glares at Mal before taking a drink
"He is from Concordia."
Mal spits his drink out and stares wide eyed at Xarr.
"You're a real Mandalorian?"
Xarr nods his head and remains silent for the duration of the conversation that Boba and Mal have. As the two hunters walk out into the hot sun of Tatooine they don their helmets and look at the pucks.
"Let's grab the Jawa first sir, I looked into him and apparently he is one hell of a mechanic, so I say we should capture him and pay off his bounty then put him to work."
The cantina is a short distance from the guild office and is the first place to start their search, a quick scan of the room produces results as Xarr sees a Jawa trying to push his way through a crowd of people and to the back of the establishment.
"It can't be that easy can it?"
Boba shakes his head and laughs softly to himself as he watches Xarr slide across the top of a table and snare the Jawa with his whipcord. Soon all three of them are sitting at a table silently until Xarr speaks up.
"Well, Yeet here is the deal, I'm going to pay your bounty off and then you're going to come work for us, we need a mechanic, and you need the bounty off of your head, so what do you think?"
The Jawa practically shakes with excitement as it yells in its native dialect.
"Yes exactly, your clan will be reimbursed the amount you owe and in turn, you get to come with us on our spaceship, more or less."
Boba places his hand on Xarr's shoulder and leans closer to him.
"Where did you learn to speak Jawa?"
Xarr shrugs as he replies.
"My mom insisted I know as many languages as possible, so I made learning Jawaese a priority since so many trade routes and criminals lead to Tatooine."
"Huh"
Was the only reply that was uttered by Boba before he downed another glass of red dwarf. Paying off the Jawa's bounty was easier than expected, though Yeet had to agree to never try to return to his clan. During the weeks of working on slave-1, Xarr had successfully completed his first bounty, though Boba saw it as a failure, considering he executed Traverse Valdo and his crew. Now the group of bounty hunters that included Boba Fett, Xarr Vizsla, Fennec Shand and Yeet Eleekth stood outside of slave-1. The four admired the amazing work that Yeet had done at repairing the ship when suddenly the unmistakable sound and green flash of a lightsaber ignition, without warning the Jawa fell to the ground, cleaved in half.
"Fennec look out."
Yelled Boba just as the black blade of the darksaber erupted through her chest mere moments before she was slammed to the ground with brutal force.
"Mand'alor?"
Asked Xarr as he watched his oldest friend slide his weapon of leadership back into its sheath just in time to see Boba get decapitated by Jaten Fett.
"Guess that makes me the head of the clan now."
Jaten says with a sadistic smile as he shuts off his lightsaber while Malachor grabs Xarr by his neck and lifts him into the air. The aspiring bounty hunter struggles to get free as his trachea is crushed and his bones break. Everything turns black as he takes his final breath and perishes, cast onto the ground by the corpses of his new family.
"Do you now understand what your so-called friends really are? What it is that they will do if we don't stop them?"
Turon Veer asks Xarr as he removes his hands from the sides of his head and steps back. The black and red armor clad Xarr Vizsla nods his head and kneels before the robed dark jedi.
"What is thy bidding my master."
Turon smirks as he hands his trooper commander his helmet.
"Travel to Yavin4 and rid the galaxy of those that would destroy our plans and then we will have nobody that can oppose us on our quest to bring peace to our empire."
Xarr grasps the black and red commando helmet and stares blankly at his reflection in the visor.
"Yes master"
24ABY-TYTHON
With an audible beep, the ships holo-communicator shuts off.
"Alright you two, my five most promising padawans will meet us just outside of the ruin while the rest of the students stay at the temple on Yavin with the commandos. Malachor what can you tell me about this ruin and more specifically this mask you found?"
Malachor grunts his disapproval as he flops down on one of the chairs in the cargo hold.
"I've told you twice already Luke, the ruin was old and crumbling, filled with statues of a bunch of jedi, a platoon of stormtroopers were in the jungle outside and only a few on the inside. The main hall was being surveyed by three imperials, I killed all of them before proceeding deeper into the ruin. Once I made my way down the back of some hidden hallway, I came upon a Tuk'ata Matriarch, after I eliminated her, I found Akaan, me and Akaan then went into another hidden room beyond that one where some asshole with a lightsaber tried to kill me after I picked up the mask. The red and white mask was unremarkable, rounded at the sides and forehead with red markings above the eyes, I figured it would be worth something to the right collector."
Luke stares at Malachor, taking in every word and thinking deeply about everything that is said and watching as he shakes his head and goes back up to the cockpit.
"Jaten this has me worried, Kaden was always jealous and prideful, but for him to change so drastically in such a short amount of time… I fear there are foul things at play here that we do not yet understand. Be on guard when we land."
Luke and Jaten sit across from each other on the floor of the cargo hold and begin to meditate, hours later the Jai'galaar drops out of hyperspace and enters the atmosphere of Tython. The lambda class shuttle barrels towards the ruin as its pilot engages the strike foils and hammers the throttle forward. It does not take long for the group to arrive at the clearing beside the ruin where they manage to land alongside the five x-wing's that Luke's padawans flew in.
"We will make camp out here tonight and then go in the ruin at first light."
Malachor says as he and Akaan walk down the cargo ramp, the lieutenant and his Tuk'ata scout the jungle for the next few hours as the rest of the group sets up a makeshift camp. Hours later as the seven jedi are sitting around a fire listening to Luke talk about his training on Dagobah they are interrupted as Malachor tosses a large severed hindleg onto the ground.
"Killed a Uxibeast, one of you cook it up, I'm hungry."
Jaten and Malachor sit in silence as they eat their meal, the rest of their group, however, are loud and celebrating their first mission beyond Yavin. Each one bragging about their accomplishments in training, Malachor makes a mental note of each of the padawans.
"Three guardians and two sentinels"
He thinks to himself as he finishes his food and lays beside the fire, using Akaan as a pillow and falling to sleep fast. When day breaks the group is already up and checking their gear. Luke, Jaten and the five padawans lose their robes and adjust their belts before following behind Malachor who is armed to the teeth with explosives, two lightsabers and the darksaber.
"Follow me."
Malachor says as he enters the ruin and leads the group down the long hallway that opens into the great hall.
"One thing I noticed last night, there's no bodies, I killed twenty imperials and they are all gone. No armor, no weapons, no gear, nothing that would lead anyone to believe that a battle took place here."
Luke nods his head as he looks all around the ruin, admiring the statues of the temple guardians. Taking in the wonderous architecture of the old republic craftsmen.
"This ruin was once a great temple of the jedi, a place of meditation and insight to the force, I would like to restore it to its former glory someday."
Jaten smiles as he listens to Luke speak so passionately about this place, a sort of calm washes over the group as they watch Malachor breach the entrance at the very back of the hall and lead them down a much smaller hallway into the room where he found Akaan when she was just a pup. Malachor draws both of his lightsabers and ignites the golden blades, illuminating the room and revealing the entrance to the tomb where he found the mask.
"I found it in there Luke."
The jedi master nods as he ignites his lightsaber and enters the room, within minutes he is standing before the pedestal where Malachor removed the mask. Luke stares at a place below it and swipes it with his hand, revealing an inscription.
"It's ancient sith… it says devourer of worlds."
The entire group jump and ignite their sabers as Jatens communicator beeps.
"It's Xarr, he's on Yavin looking for us, says we need to talk."
Luke gasps as he falls to his knees.
"No, we're not there, we're on Tython, checking out some ruin that Malachor found a few years ago… Yeah okay, we'll see you soon."
Tears stream down Luke's face as he looks up at Malachor, causing the lieutenant to crouch down and help him to his feet.
"Something terrible has happened, we are all in grave danger."
24ABY-YAVIN 4
Jorus Pall wipes the sweat from his brow with the sleeve of his tunic mere seconds before barely blocking the shot from a training droid, the blaster shot while set to non-lethal, still stings and is uncomfortable.
"That was close, stupid training droid, I wish Master Luke was here."
The eight-year-old aspires to be a jedi as famous as his master is one day, even the great Luke Skywalker sees the near unlimited potential of the youngling and takes pride in having discovered him on the backwater planet of Ord Mantell. Four more shots fly from the training droid and with some effort are blocked by the red-haired human youngling who smiles with a sense of pride as he shuts off the blue blade of his training saber.
"Impressive training session today young Master Pall"
Says the white and yellow armored commando known as Sergeant Tarnus, he smiles as he helps Jorus gather his things and prepare to go back inside the temple.
"Sergeant Tarnus… d... do… do you feel that?"
The sun is blocked out as a massive harrower-class dreadnought drops out of hyperspace, within minutes a fleet of fury-class interceptors begin to fill the sky and start to decimate the defenses of the temple. The courtyard is soon filled with panicked padawans and younglings as the small detachment of commandos try to calm them down. An orbital bombardment rains down and starts leveling the temple and the surrounding buildings, screams fill the air as the few students that were hiding in their rooms are decimated.
"The bunker… Troopers we have to get these kids to the bunker under the meditation room."
Sergeant Tarnus yells only seconds before he falls to the ground, victim of the all too familiar wound left by a dxr-6 disruptor rifle, the incredible shot came from high above one of the walls of the temple. Jorus kneels beside his favorite trooper as tears stream down his face.
"Sergeant Tarnus wake up… please get up."
Blaster fire soon fills the courtyard as the remaining troopers begin to shoot at a group of black and red armored assailants, one by one the defenders fall to the ground as the superior numbers of the attackers overwhelm them until only the force sensitive students remain. Most of whom only wield their training sabers, the courtyard illuminates with the glow of their ancient weapons as the padawans form a defensive wall around the younglings. Only Jorus Pall ignites his training saber as he joins the older padawans and stares in horror at the sight of what has invaded.
"Deadeye?"
He says aloud at the sight of the three red slashes across the leader of the invading platoon commanders face, frozen in fear as he watches him draw two westar-35 blasters and begin firing with lethal accuracy. Very few of the shots are deflected as the padawans try to defend their brethren, Jorus watches as the number of students left standing begins to dwindle. Tears stream down his face as his fellow students fall lifeless to the ground with holes seared between their eyes.
"Deadeye stop please… please don't do this."
Jorus begs as he watches someone, he admired slaughter his newfound family, until only he remained. Jorus shuts off his blue bladed training saber and drops to his knees as Xarr Vizsla stands before him and places the barrel of one of his blasters to his forehead. The hysterical Jorus Pall looks around the courtyard and watches as dozens of black and red armored troopers go from building to building, dragging the hiding students out into the courtyard and executing them. Most are too afraid to put up a fight, but a few of the older padawans manage to kill some of the troopers to no avail and are gunned down by the superior numbers of the invaders.
"We are your family…. Why are you doing this?"
The frantic youngling asks as he looks up at someone, he considered a friend.
"Because, this is the way."
With one final shot, Xarr executes the last of Luke's students and orders his men to return to the ship.
"Hey Jaten, I'm at the temple on Yavin and I was hoping to talk to you and Malachor, I realize what I said about you two was wrong and I was hoping we could move past it."
A few moments later his helmets communicator beeps as a message plays over its earpiece.
"No, we're not there, we're on Tython, checking out some ruin that Malachor found a few years ago."
Xarr tightens his grip on his blasters, nearly breaking them in half.
"Sit tight, I'll be there shortly."
The audible beep of his coms signals one final message.
"Yeah okay, we'll see you soon."
24ABY-TYTHON
The Ravager2, an imperial harrower-class dreadnought comes out of hyperspace just above the ancient temple on Tython and instantly starts bombarding it with all its thirty-two heavy turbo laser batteries, within minutes a dozen proton torpedoes fly out of their tubes and begin leveling the buildings and surrounding forest. Fires blaze as the temple of the Je'daii is reduced to a smoldering heap of rubble and ash.
"Initial scans show no life forms in the temple sir."
Announces the captain of the ship to Xarr Vizsla as he watches the destruction of his former place of refuge.
"Inform fury squad that we have a mission and ready our ships for departure."
The ships captain salutes and then walks to the coms station to relay the order as Xarr exits the command deck of his flagship. Halfway across the planet, deep in the ancient ruin of the guardians, the ragged mechanical breathing of Malachor Ordo echoes through the lost chamber as he shakes Luke Skywalker.
"Come on space wizard, get your ass up and tell us what is happening."
The face of the jedi master is pale and filled with fear as he is helped up off the dusty floor, barely able to stand on his own as he braces himself against the statue of the person whose mask his former padawan was now in possession of.
"Yavin temple is destroyed and whoever carried out the mission to do so is now here on Tython to finish the job."
Malachor releases Luke and steps back until he bumps into Jaten.
"We have to get to the Jai'galaar and get off of this planet."
Jaten nods as he and one of the padawans help Luke get through the ruin.
"Luke snap out of it; we are going to need you if what you are sensing is true."
Without warning the two padawan sentinels drop to the floor as holes from an e-11 blaster rifle smolder where they were shot in their chests. The remaining six members of the group hide behind piles of rubble that litter the ruin just in time to avoid the barrage of bolts coming from an assault cannon. The trooper wielding the heavy weapon slowly lumbers closer until he is within reach of Malachor. The lieutenant immediately ignites his lightsabers and bounds over the rubble, driving both blades into his chest.
"Stormtroopers?"
Shot after shot flies around Malachor as fury squad unleashes with their highly customized e-11 blaster rifles. The Mandalorian lieutenant does his best to block each shot with his lightsabers but is soon overwhelmed and begins taking rapid fire hits to his chest armor. Multiple shots strike him in the hands and destroys both of his prized weapons, Malachor sees the fear in the eyes of Luke and his padawans as they hide behind a pile of rubble while Jaten stares at his older brother and yells.
"Malachor we have to do something, or we are all going to die."
The leader stares at his now destroyed lightsabers and shoves them in his utility pouch, looking over he can see the weapon the trooper dropped. His hud reads it as being a rh-35 assault cannon. Without thinking twice, he grabs the grip of the massive weapon and begins to spool up the barrels.
"Malachor what are you doing?"
Jaten asks as he sees his older brother gripping the massive weapon and breathing erratically, the loud clicks the weapon makes as it auto-loads high explosive rounds is frightening.
"The Mand'alor will not die here today."
Is all Malachor says before leaping out from behind the makeshift cover and unloading, hundreds of heavy blaster bolts fly out of the six barrels, accompanied by the deafening sound of high explosive rounds detonating. The troopers begin to fall one by one as Malachor shreds them to pieces, giving Jaten the cover fire he needs to go on the offensive. The jedi knight ignites his new lightsaber and flips over a makeshift barricade, slicing through two of the troopers with one swing.
"Luke lets go."
Yells Jaten as he throws his lightsaber and impales one of the troopers before ripping it out and slicing the head off another, a high explosive round flies of Jatens head and hits one of the troopers, the explosion decimates the remaining members of fury squad. The six survivors slowly make their way out of the ruin and almost get to the ship when three shots from a rifle tear through the backs of the padawan guardians, Luke screams as he watches them fall lifeless to the ground. A shadowy figure emerges from the forest and begins firing a disruptor rifle at the remaining three, Malachor grabs Luke and throws up the ramp and then begins unleashing a barrage of heavy weapons fire. Jaten joins his brother and blocks each shot that flies at them, his green bladed lightsaber hums violently as he swings it and reaches out through the force to ascertain who they are fighting.
"Fuck this."
Yells Malachor as he loads a high explosive mortar round and fires it.
"No"
Jaten screams as he tries to push the mortar round away from the attacker, the detonation barely hits the black and red armored trooper, knocking him to the ground. As he stands with his back turned, Malachor sees the very same kind of control module that he was once fitted with, his armor is mostly destroyed, and his helmet is nearly in pieces as he turns.
"Malachor don't kill him, it's…."
The lieutenant interrupts his brother."
"Xarr"
He says as he sees the face of his oldest friend appear, as he rips his helmet off and discards the broken remains of it, a new optical implant glows ominously as he watches the people, he once considered family board the transport and fly away. Malachor throws his assault cannon onto the workbench as he paces up and down the cargo hold while Jaten attends to Luke. Akaan whimpers as she approaches her master, snapping him out of his anger, he then drops to his knees and grabs ahold of the Tuk'ata.
"Malachor, Luke is in bad shape, he felt something through the force and it really messed him up."
Nodding as he stands, Malachor goes up to the medical bay and checks on the jedi master.
"Malachor… Take us to Kashyyyk.
The jedi master blacks out and goes limp as Malachor nods and climbs into the cockpit, the Jai'galaar quickly blasts out of the forest and into the darkness of space. Heavy turbo laser bolts fly past the ship as Malachor does his best to avoid them, each one gets closer and closer until at the very last second, they start to tear through the lambda just moments before it enters hyperspace. Alarms blare as the ship is critically damaged, barely able to hold together long enough to reach their destination.
"Akaan k'olar"
His clawed hand rubs the head of his Tuk'ata as Jaten sits in the co-pilot seat.
"Luke said to go to Kashyyyk little brother, I'm not sure what's there but we will soon find out."
Jaten nods his head as he closes his eyes and begins to meditate.
"Why Xarr…. Why?"
THE END…… OF BOOK ONE
