CHAPTER 4: THE APPRENTICES

Darth Maricus

"I've arrived."

"Good. Find the target and leave swiftly. No one can know." Even over the holo, Varad's voice was commanding.

"Of course, Master."

"And one more thing- Slarwalker must not leave alive."

I hadn't told him anything about Slarwalker.

"Yes, Master."

Minutes later, I opened a second comm channel.

"It's time to take him down. Finish off the others and wait for my signal."

"It will be done," the mole replied.

"It had better. Maricus out."

Ganner

Dressed in possibly the stupidest bounty hunter outfit to ever "grace" the galaxy with its presence, complete with a little green cape and a black mask, I walked out the shuttle into the docking bay. A Mandalorian in black and red armor came over to greet me. He hesitated for just a second before he walked up to me, datapad in hand. "Need some ID, he said." I handed him a fake Hans obtained for me, and he scanned it.

"Starlord? Really?" He remarked.

As soon as his head and attention were away, I activated a jammer hidden in my left glove that would disable any nearby recording devices. Then, I punched him with my fist enhanced by the shock glove on my right hand. It didn't take him out, but he stumbled, and a crack on visor told me his vision was probably down. I walked up to him and slammed him on the ground. The datapad came out as positive, which ought to have delayed suspicion of me for a short time. I took the ID, his datapad (you never know when something like that could come in handy), quietly tucked his body in the corner, and proceeded into Mandalore.

"It went smoothly," I muttered. "Got some potential intel also." As I walked in, I stuck a small chip onto the datapad that allowed Ranulph to remotely access it.

"Scanning now... Ever wonder what Mandalorians do in their downtime?"

"No...?"

"Good. You don't want to know. No mentions of an Arek Saris, but exactly two of a Maricus. Displaying them on your visor now."

"You can do that?" The words flashed to life in front of me.

JAYJAYJOHNSON: Did you hear about that guy, Maricus?

REEDMAN211: Maricus, as in the one trying to make that deal about some "infusions?"

JAYJAYJOHNSON: That's the one. He weirds me out and I really hope we don't end up working for him.

REEDMAN211: Tell me about it. You should've seen how he was eyeing Xux.

"That's all he got out before you knocked the guy unconscious."

"Interesting. Infusions could have something to do with the ritual, but why would Varad want that? All it would take is one body, and certainly he could find a more sustainable one than a Death Watch member."

"Your guess is as good as mine. At any rate, stop Maricus and it won't matter. I've got Hans, Siri, and Blaze running recon for Vizla and Maricus right now, so it's only a matter of time."

"Copy that. Heading out now."

Hans Novastar

Standing on an empty rooftop, I scanned the city. Ranulph had programmed my mask to look for beings matching Pre Vizla's or Maricus' biological signatures. Judging from her swearing, Siri, on the other side of the roof, was having no luck either. Blaze was down below, making sure no one came too close to finding us. Suddenly, two red bodies were outlined- one fitting Maricus and one Vizla. "It will be done," Siri whispered.

"Huh?"

I quietly sent Ranulph the signatures and their coordinates. Just as I did it, I felt a blaster poke me in the back.

"Siri, what are you doing?"

"Carrying out the will of the Force."

I needed to keep her talking while I looked for a way out.

"Sorry, I thought Ganner was the Jedi here?"

"I serve no Jedi." She vocalized the word with such disgust I thought she was actually about to vomit on me. "I am a Shadow Assassin, like my master, Darth Maricus, and you will perish before me."

The only exit I could see was to jump and pray my jetpack could save me. I could also attack Siri, but I had no idea if I would be able to take her.

"How could you do this? After all we've been through?"

My words seemed to make her hesitate just a bit, giving me the opening I needed. I quickly elbowed her in the face, causing her arm to move off target as she fired. I leapt off the building and spun to shoot back as I fell. Instead, I saw her leap towards me. She grabbed me as my rocket activated and we flew wildly through the sky in a frantic melee. We careened onto a large taxi speeder and stood up facing each other. Between the two of us was Siri's pistol. We both leapt for it and I grabbed it first. We both quickly drew away from each other, and I stood pointing it at her.

"Any last words?"

Her response was to fall back off the taxi. I was moving too fast to track her. Suddenly, Blaze's voice rang over the comms.

"Where are you guys!? There's DW's everywhere and I can't take much longer!"

"Hang tight," I responded. I was too far though. Blaze was going to die.

"I don't have time!" A explosion went off in the distance, and the comm went to static.

"Blast..."

Ganner

As soon as Ranulph gave me the location I began running and jumping towards him. At last I had a physical visual on where the site was. With a lightsaber my left hand, I carried onwards.

I could vaguely since Maricus' presence in the vicinity. However, I couldn't reach out and get a closer position on him, because now I needed to keep my Force presence small. He was definitely in this building, though. I touched my earpiece and asked, "Ranulph, can you get a bead on him?"

"I can do you one better," He replied. A red outline signifying his body appeared somewhere a couple stories down the building. In addition, an audio feed began to play.

"-ven if I agreed to this, and I'm not answering yet, what's in this for me?"

"Glory. Eternal glory as being the man who lead the Death Watch, and the entire galaxy, into a new age."

"And then, I suppose, once our business is finished you'll turn your backs on us."

As the conversation played out, I crept down dark floors, my orange blade giving me warmth in an otherwise chilly building. Using the Force to dampen the sound, I deactivated my lightsaber as I entered the floor they occupied. The walls of the room were all glass, and Maricus was walking with a tall man in decorated Death Watch armor towards an elevator: Vizla.

"The men are loyal to you and only you, Pre."

"...I can get you fifty men right now. But I will need them back in a month unharmed."

The two men walked in the elevator. Both turned to face me, though I wasn't visible to them.

"I agree on one condition- I need the one you call Xux."

"I can get him, but you'd better pay well for this."

"Do your part and I'll do mine. Now, I have business to attend to. I'll see you on Umbara."

Maricus pressed a button and the door began to close, but before it did, he stepped out with the speed of the Force.

I drew my other saber, and ignited them both. Staring me down with his yellow eyes, he ignited his own.

"You're here earlier than I anticipated, Ganner, but you've only hastened your demise."

"Funny, I could say the same for you."

He ran towards me, saber raised, but I simply extended my hand and Force pushed him into the closed elevator door. I leapt towards him, sabers poised to impale, but at the last second he dodged out of the way, grabbed my throat, and slammed me against the door. I tried to raise my sabers, but he was Force pushing them down, so I tried a different tactic. I pried open the doors with the Force, and we both fell back into the shaft. I grabbed his arm, quickly spinning so that he was on the bottom, and landed hard on the elevator, deactivating all our weapons. Out of breath, with my head spinning, I rolled off of Maricus, who was knocked out cold. "Ranulph," I gasp, "Get me out of here."

I stood up, still holding my lightsaber. I knew I could kill him now, and all this would be over. All I would've needed to do was kill one unarmed person. I knew it was against the Jedi code, but I wasn't a Jedi. What was I? I pushed the button to activate the saber, and looked at Maricus in the orange light. I turned the saber upside down, raised it with both hands, and as I prepared to take his life, the window broke behind me.

I turned in an instant to see who it was, and time seemed to slow. Through an explosion of glass, Siri flew towards me with a fiery red saber raised. She had cuts and bruises across her face, chest and arms, more than could've come from the glass. There was a fire in her amber eyes as her blade ran through my chest.

There's no better word to describe the feeling of having a beam of pure plasma burning through your chest as you lie on the ground than hot. It was like my insides were melting, and I took a second to reflect on the fact that they probably were. Shocked, I tried to form words but didn't have the energy, and I plummeted to the ground, rapidly losing consciousness. Maricus stood, and Siri talked with him for what feels like an eternity as they watched me, though I couldn't make out any words. At long last, Siri pulled her saber out of me, and I let the relief of death finally take me.

Ranulph

When I got to Ganner, Hans was already there, trying to apply first aid. "What in the world happened?" I asked. Ganner had a bad lightsaber wound in his chest.

"Siri was a traitor. She must have attacked Ganner and ran off with Maricus."

"Damn it. We'll kill her for that."

"Agreed, but we have to get Ganner out of here first."

We both looked at him for a second, thinking, and then a thought occurred to me.

"Don't worry- I have a plan."