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Dragon Wars: The Force of Others
Episode 28: Compromise
Mandalorian Wars-Naboo
Markus looked at the carnage in front of him. The streets of a once peaceful planet had been decimated. He walked amongst the rubble, seeing the bodies half buried, the children burned.
"Markus," one of his friend, Keenan walked towards him.
His orange armour was coated in blood and dust, just as Markus's was. But his eyes still held the same conviction they had when they first entered the navy together.
"We were too late, we should have come here to provide support cycles ago," Markus said.
"It's not your fault Markus," Keenan said.
"No, it's those damn politicians on Coruscant, they should have recognised the threat these bastards represented long before..." Markus stopped himself though, knowing that he wouldn't be able to stop himself.
Markus and Keenan walked back to their squad, men and women just as tired as they were. A few of the Naboo guard were with them, and some of the locals, looking for their children. Upon seeing the kneeling and bound figures in armour, Markus grit his teeth together and walked to his commanding officer.
"Why are they here?" he demanded.
"Prisoners, intelligence wanted people to question on leads for the children taken by the Mandalorians," the man said.
"Foundlings," one of the Mandalorians said, a Neo-crusader in yellow armour.
"What?" Markus turned to the man.
"They will be trained as Mandalorians, accepted into clans and taught to continue the glorious battle for Mandalore," the man said.
"Unbind us and give us an honourable end," another of the Mandalorians said.
"Honour, HONOUR!" Markus yelled, running towards the man and throwing off his helmet.
He punched the man across the face, throwing off the two troopers grabbing him.
"This world was peaceful, and you ravaged it, there are children, CHILDREN BURIED AMONGST THE RUBBLE!" Markus screamed.
"Necessary sacrifices for our people's greatness," the Mandalorian retorted.
Markus punched the man again and again, coating his gloves in blood. Keenan himself pulled him away with a few of his other friends.
"Hey Markus, is this who we are now? IS THIS WHO WE ARE?!" Keenan yelled at him.
"Kids, kids, they've never taken prisoners, why should we?" Markus pulled his blaster out and shot one of the Mandalorians.
The other troopers looked at him in horror. Their commanding officer yelled at them to restrain him. They tackled Markus, dragging him to the floor and tearing his blaster from his grip. Keenan walked over to the dead Mandalorian, lifting off his helmet to reveal a child.
"A kid man, a kid," he said.
"Not a kid, a foundling," Markus huffed.
After that, Markus was deemed unfit for service and discharged. He returned to Corellia, intending on finding work to support his family.
"Teela, I'm home," he walked into the house of his wife, holding flowers and a toy for his son.
Instead he found a holo, his wife offered a copy of a separation settlement. She'd leave him the House and three quarters of what she had earned in her bank. It was a compromise to her, a bribe to him.
"She tried to give me money not to go and see my son," he told his employer, an Ishi Tib owner of a speeder garage.
Markus spent a majority of his days through the rest of the war and after fixing speeders. Corellia was famous for its ship yard, when Markus heard of Revan and Malak going mad (he didn't believe in this dark side, light side nonsense the Jedi spouted) he intended to get a job at the factory.
"I'd imagine that went well during the custody battle," the Ishi Tib said.
"Actually, we renegotiated, I get him every few days," Markus said.
One of those days came and Markus carried his ten year old son on his back. The boy looked up in wonder at the Hammer head class ships being built.
"Did you serve on one of those dad?" the boy asked.
"I did David, I did, met some of my best friends on ships like that," Markus said.
"Back when you were in the republic military right?" David asked.
"Yes, back then," Markus muttered.
"I want to be a soldier when I grow up dad, like you, I want to protect people, for the republic!"
Markus pulled David off of his back, gripping his shoulders tightly and looking him in the eyes.
"Don't you ever say shit like that, you understand me, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME!" he yelled.
The boy nodded his head, some tears in his eyes. Markus, looked at his shaking hands and hugged his son.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he whispered. "You listen to me son, you can do whatever you want, be whatever you want when you grow up, but don't ever become a soldier. Your mum may say otherwise, but the republic does not care about us, it cares about the image but not its people. When we joined up we wanted to protect people, but we ended up protecting rich people, protecting regions and not homes. It's difficult for me to explain son but, I lost a lot of friends, saw a lot of bad things and I don't want that life for you, and I especially don't want you to do it for an ideal understand?" he asked and David nodded his head.
They carried on their day. But the incident hadn't gone unseen by passersby.
"You can't keep him from me Teela, HE'S MY SON!" Markus screamed at the hologram of his wife.
"There's the problem Markus, you can't control your temper, I do not want our son inheriting that. This is going ahead Markus, I am sorry but you are leaving me no choice," she said.
Markus yelled as the woman's hologram faded. He began to drink that day, only getting up to answer the door. A man in a black version of the republic captain's uniform stood in front of him.
"Sergeant Grant, Jek Kardan, republic ops division," the man said.
He was bald and had a thick beard over his mouth.
"Not interested," Markus said.
"At least find out what I'm selling," Jek smirked.
"I still hear a few things, Havoc Squad, I've got no interest in dressing up in overpriced armour whilst the real soldiers die on the battlefield," Markus explained.
"This isn't Havoc squad, can I come inside?" Jek asked.
Markus huffed and let the man inside. Jek gave him a data pad, showing details of the Ebon Hawk, its journey. There were even pictures of Carth Onasi fighting alongside a Twi'lek girl and her wookie. Another picture caught his attention, a woman who was easy on the eyes, but a Jedi Sentinel. She was using a yellow, double bladed light sabre and there was a blurred shot of a man in a hood, using a purple light sabre.
"This can't be..."
"Revan, he wasn't killed by the Jedi strike team, the wise council deemed that he should be brought back into their fold. I don't know, they did something to him that didn't last. Intelligence confirmed that admiral Dodonna's fleet has been decimated, Revan has returned, and a schism has been created in the Sith ranks," Jek explained.
"What do you want from me?" Markus asked.
"An off the books hit, on the academy on Korriban, hit them before Revan can recruit them," Jek said.
Markus was eager, eager to do good again. Eager to do good his way, free of remorse or red tape. There was no red tape, they were given prototype armour for some commando program the republic was forming. Blaster submachine guns with sniper and grenade launcher configurations. Markus and other off the book troopers hit the Korriban academy, destroyed it with a bomb and decimated the ranks of students. But there was remorse that day. Markus removed his helmet and looked at a dead boy his son's age, he watched as his squad mates gunned down teenagers begging for their lives. He realised what he had become, far too late.
Present
'So much death, none of it mattered, the galaxy is still an indecent place, it still holds too much evil,' Markus thought, walking towards the latest victim he would have to leave in his wake.
The red eyed stranger was clearly not a killer. Being good at killing and enjoying it were two different things. There were soldiers trained, soldiers who had killed, but Markus would not call them killers. The red eyes he looked at were certainly eyes that had seen their fair share of hardships. He had seen the stranger easily cut through Kalla's champions. But he knew from the first moment they spoke, that the stranger was not a man who sought death.
'A good person, a man determined to not let this death and destruction change him,' Markus summarised, swinging his axe at the young man.
Daylen again shot fire through his feet, jumping over Markus's axe. He brought his foot down on Markus's shoulder, delivering a fiery kick. Markus again used his tech to 'force push' Daylen away. Then he threw his axe, sending it spinning towards Daylen. The mage used a fade step, taking himself away from Markus. He widened his eyes, the direction of Markus's axe had change. And his mana hadn't entirely recovered. Daylen raised his arm, blocking the axe with it. Metal and circuitry dropped to the floor and Markus's axe returned to his hand. What little protection Daylen's arm had was lost, and it was stuck at a raised position.
"Fuck," Daylen hissed.
'Could really use a Mana potion right now,' he thought, getting a little bit closer to Markus so that he wouldn't throw his axe again.
'He'll change, we all did,' Markus thought before he ran at Daylen again.
Savareen
The Corellian designed, YT-1210 series light freighter was the ship used by Klue and his students. Kaine and Tiko looked out at the sea from the cliff face, captivated by its beauty. Savareen was one of those rare desert and plain words were there was also an abundance of water. Moisture farms were in the deep areas of the desert, most of the shore lines had refineries for ores and fuels. At the Latheyan port there was an abundance of shops, passing by migrant caravans and scrappers. Jay-Den and Sayla passed a few Jawas on their way back from a droid merchant, the diminutive and hooded creatures trying to draw them into a deal. Though typically native to Tatooine, they had been known to migrate onto other worlds.
As his students began exploring, Klue walked to the local diner where Porla was waiting. Multiple dishes were laid out at his table, and his multitude of hands were helping themselves. Klue nodded to the Iakaru chef, Kesler was someone he knew and often did business with. He received a smile from Kesler's employee, a Togruta youth who often took the orders. Knowing that Klue was on Jedi business, they would keep away from his table for the next few minutes.
"Klue my friend, it is good to see you, won't you eat with me?" Porla asked.
"You know the answer," Klue smiled.
"I'll keep asking in case you get wise my friend," Porla laughed, scratching his cheek with one hand whilst putting a cake into his mouth with the other.
"So, what did you find?" Klue asked.
Porla licked some of the grease from his hands, using one of his cleaner ones to reach into his coat. He removed a holo-pad, placing it on the table. With a push of a button he displayed a distorted holographic video. It showed the inside of the ship, some kind of confrontation between a young woman and man. The man certainly looked worse for wear, his arm had been amputated and he probably had a few broken bones too.
"Too much love in you...pathetic feelings...can't bring...strike down anyone," the woman's voice echoed.
"Want anyone to die...still wanted them...want you to live now," the man said.
"Take teachings of the Holocron...embrace dark," the woman's words caught Klue's interest.
He watched, seeing fragments of the altercation, ship alarms. Then he saw the hull of the ship get blown apart and the girl get knocked out by the man. Static filled the screen, before the image settled on a blurred out image of someone curled up.
"Strangely, even though the ship is exposed to space, audio is still being picked up," Porla said.
"Help me," Klue whispered.
"Help me," Porla looked at the Jedi in shock.
"By the force, is it the force?" Porla asked.
"It is, often one can communicate through the force, leaving an echo in audio devices, even the mind," Klue said.
The time stamp began to fast forward, a day, two, four, a whole week passed and people in space suits finally came into the ship, drawn to the blurred out individual.
"An entire week exposed to the vacuum," Porla muttered.
"An entire week at one with the force," Klue amended.
"What? One with the force, isn't that usually when people are..."
"Dead, yes, but I have heard of some Jedi that have temporarily achieved oneness with the force. For this one to have spent an entire week, they must be an extraordinary individual," Klue explained, reaching into his pocket for credits.
"Keep your credits Klue, I owe you for your help with the Black Sun," Porla said.
"There's no debt for a Jedi," Klue chuckled.
"Then just take me up on a dinner offer the next time you're around, it'll be an excuse for us to help each other out," Porla explained and both men smiled.
Klue pocketed the holo pad and left, bidding goodbye to the diner patrons. He returned to the ship, seeing Sayla and Kaine sparring, him with a tech blade and her with her quarterstaff. Jay-Den was leant against the ship, whilst Tiko was working on a silver R2 series droid. Though clearly an R2 series, it had the designation RH-MQ, it included two mechanical arms on the sides of its head, its audio processor was slightly distorted when it beeped.
"Just fitting this new stun claw RH," Tiko said.
Kaine and Sayla stopped their sparring as Klue came towards them.
"So, do we have a mission?" Jay-Den asked.
"Patience my students, we have a clue, which means further investigation, so whose up for a trip to Coruscant?" Klue asked.
Whilst Sayla, Kaine and Jay looked confused, Tiko hesitantly raised his hand with RH, making Klue smile.
Korvis
The applause and awe of the crowd rose as Daylen punched Markus across the face. He was countered with a knee to his gut. Daylen threw his head back, barely dodging Markus's axe. His chin had taken a cut, and he nearly collapsed when Markus delivered a back hand to the side of his face. Adjusting his footing, Daylen dodged Markus's stomps. His boots were heavy and would no doubt crush his unprotected feet. Kicking up a spray of sand, Daylen attempted to blind Markus, only for the man to use his axe as a shield. Still utilising the distraction, Daylen broke off into a run towards his fallen sword.
'Attempting to fight me as a man I see,' Markus noted.
He raised his hand, and the hum echoed again. Daylen was suddenly pulled towards Markus, the man keeping his axe raised.
'These cybernetics mean I am beyond men,' Markus thought.
'Come on mana, just for one spell,' Daylen grit his teeth together.
Daylen moved his foot in Markus's direction, sending a bolt that conducted Markus's axe. The man dropped his weapon, leaving him vulnerable to a kick from Daylen's other foot. Daylen landed on his back, immediately thrusting his feet into Markus's chin. Before a second kick could make contact, Markus grabbed Daylen's foot, dragging him across the sand before throwing him across the arena. Within the viewing shelter, Maximus leant his arms against the bars and watched Daylen get back up.
'13, I see there is a limit to how often you can use your power, whilst it may seem otherwise, Markus too has a limited number of uses of his pseudo force abilities. Can you spot the pattern?' Maximus wondered.
Markus crouched, steam releasing from his knee armour before he jumped at Daylen. Waiting until the last possible second, Daylen jumped to the side, dodging a 'force' empowered punch. Markus followed up with a haymaker, catching the side of Daylen's head and throwing him to the floor. He raised his foot, ready to bring it down on Daylen's head. Daylen rolled again at the last second, dodging the strike. He threw the sand towards Markus's eyes, Markus though used the force-tech, blowing Daylen back. Markus's eyes widened, mirroring Maximus, both men seeing that Daylen had planned it. He was being thrown towards his sword.
'Clever, but not good enough, there's no way you could lift that blade with one hand,' Markus thought, running towards his axe.
He kept one eye on Daylen, puzzled when the young man slammed his cybernetic arm against the flat of his sword. Again and again he struck the sword, his strikes getting quicker and more hysterical as Markus reached his sword.
'He didn't see the pattern, he didn't even try to spot the gap in time between Markus's use of his false powers. What he did do was use Markus to get him back to his sword, and those hits...to the crowd, it may seem as if he's lost his mind, but when a bone is dislodged, you have to set it back, that's what you're doing isn't it 13?' Maximus smirked when Daylen slammed his arm against the blade a final time.
Bits of metal and armour dropped to the ground, the wires on Daylen's arm had been further exposed, but he moved it again. Grabbing the handle of the oversized blade, Daylen lifted it out of the sand just as Markus boosted towards him. He swung his sword just as Markus swung his axe. Both weapons slammed together and knocked the wielders off balance. Markus stumbled to the side and Daylen was thrown back. Sticking the blade into the ground, Daylen swung off of the hilt and placed his feet on the ground. He lifted the sword onto his back, then held it with both hands in front of him. Markus recovered and went for Daylen again, their blades clashing, once, twice, and then a third time that made their weapons tip over their heads.
'Measuring your opponent, watching him, adapting to his techniques, I see 13, despite your loss of stamina, despite your wounds, you're improving as the fight gets more intense,' Maximus stepped away from the bars and crossed his arms over his chest.
His eyes drifted to the podium where Krayt stood, watching the battle just as intensively as he did. The dark Jedi had the slither of a smirk across his face. Daylen and Markus slammed their blades together again and again, Markus attempting to push again with his tech. But Daylen crouched, placed his right hand on the flat of his sword and weathered out the wave. Then he rushed forward, using the sword as a shield against Markus's axe, following through and pushing Markus back. When Markus's axe imbedded itself on Daylen's sword, Daylen pulled his sword back and kicked sand into Markus's eyes. Then he swung his sword, hitting Markus across the head with the flat of the huge blade.
Then-Tatooine
Markus found his bounty a few miles from Mos Eisley. He dragged him across the Dune sea and to Mos Aither, where the Bounty had been set. The thief had apparently stole the components of a rare HK-series droid that Aither's unofficial mayor, Gul Udonna was trying to collect. A Shi'Do shape shifter, Gul often appeared in various male forms. Always though he would be shirtless and sport elaborate tattoos across his chest and back. On that day he appeared to Markus as a handsome human man, a gold chain hanging off of his neck. Gul clapped his fingers together, his guards taking the Twi'lek thief by his head tails.
"Griff old friend, it's bad enough you owe me money, but to steal from me...what happened to it?" Gul asked the blue skinned Twi'lek.
"I don't have it, I sold it I swear," the Twi'lek man said, panicking, tears in his eyes when Gul stroked his head.
"That's disappointing, and more money you've cost me, I actually had a buyer lined up," Gul shook his head and walked to a tool bench.
There was a pair of pliers on it, the ends big enough to go through bone. He turned to Griff with a smirk and waved them as he approached.
"No, please Gul, please, I can pay the debt back I can," Griff said.
"Oh Griff, how many people have you screwed over? Disappointed? Let down? All right, how about this, I'll cut the debt by half if you answer one question," Gul grinned at the look of relief on Griff's face.
He had his men force Griff to his knees. Markus watched and waited, he knew that Gul wasn't someone you interrupted. A bounty hunter once made the mistake of trying to rush the crime lord. Gul had the Echani's fingers pulled off before shooting him in the head. Gul crouched in front of Griff, holding the pliers at the ready.
"One question, is it true...and do try to be honest for once in your life. Did you betray your sister over Tarisian Ale?" Gul asked.
Griff's expression was horrified, he seemed to mull it over in his head. When tears came to his eyes he sniffed and slowly nodded his head.
"I...I did I...I promised her and her friend I would make them partners in a Tarisian Ale trade...I asked for investments, and...yeah, I asked after I'd messed up the brew, and I booked tickets off world as soon as they left," Griff explained.
He was crying, limp in the arms of Gul's guards. Gul clicked his fingers and nodded, his smile fading.
"I'm sorry, I know you're sister is a difficult subject, I suppose even a bad brother can care about their sister. So tell me Griff, if you screwed over your own sister, why would I trust you again? Fool me once, shame on me, I didn't fully explore your background when I gave you a loan, my mistake. But you made a mistake too Griff when you failed to pay back, shame on you, you made another mistake when you stole from me and ran. You know where this is going right? Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice shame on you, try and fool me again and..." he suddenly grabbed one of Griff's head tails.
"FUCKING FOOL ME THRICE AND I'LL FUCKING RIP YOUR HEAD TAIL OFF!" the man's face became grotesque, his teeth like razors and eyes like a beast.
Griff screamed, writhing in agony, and Markus kept his eyes open through it all. He saw the pliers crunch through the cartilage in Griff's head tentacles, saw the blood leak through. And he saw Gul viciously rip the tentacle off of Griff's head.
"Somewhere in that head of yours Griff Vao, you know this is what you deserve," Gul lifted the head tail up.
His men forced Griff to watch as their employer ate his head tail. He gulped it down, licking his fingers as if he had eaten something from a buffet.
"Let me make this clear, you're going to work your arse off to pay me back, or I'll take things as payment, understand?" Gul asked and Griff nodded his head.
"Good, I'm glad, now, sending you to Korvis would be a waste because, you can't fight for shit, how about you just become my slave then? Yeah that's agreeable," Gul patted Griff's head and turned to Markus.
These were the type of men Markus worked with. He stopped going into government sponsored bounties, as the Republic was cracking down on the use of bounty hunters. They had forced him to branch out into the Outer Rim. He worked with gangsters, slavers, drug dealers and murderers. That was his life, and watching Gul ruthlessly and cruelly removed a piece of Griff and eat it in front of him, didn't bother him in the least.
Another bounty took him to Korvis, where he recovered an escaped slave. Then he watched the slave fight in the arena against a champion of it, a monster in black armour who ended up snapping the man's neck. Markus hadn't been bothered then, but then he got into a Pazaak game with Raknar Tib. To pay the debt, Markus immediately chose Korvis before Raknar could offer any alternative. Time passed and Markus gained Raknar considerable credits, and buyers for his cybernetics. He tested a patent and earned Raknar more fame for his inventions. Opponent after opponent fell to him, and there came a point when Markus didn't even live amongst the other slaves.
"Markus, come and sit with me," Raknar said.
He was sitting in his garden, an array of off world plants around him. The table they sat at was off a fine quality, a bottle of ale and two glasses was between them. Markus drank, necking one shot after another.
"To business booming," Raknar grinned and Markus tapped his glass with his.
"To your health master," Markus said.
"Come now Markus, you're practically a partner, your credits surpassed what you would have gotten from a military pension, heck there are some veteran bounty hunters that would envy what you have. The debt has been paid, you're not a slave anymore," Raknar explained.
"By the arena's standards I still am," Markus said.
"Yes, but that can change, one word from me and it can...Markus, you can walk away, I won't hold it against you," Raknar said.
"Will you hold it against me if I be honest with you, about why I chose the arena to pay you back?" Markus asked.
"I do admit I have always been curious, it struck me as odd that of all the ways you could have repaid the debt you chose the one that put you in most danger."
Markus tilted the contents of another glass down his throat.
"It was because of the danger that I chose it, I know what I am Raknar, once I got up in the morning with the intention of standing for something. Once I served the republic and believed in democracy and freedom, and the goodness and lives of others. I believed vicious things needed to be done to protect them, and I was willing to throw myself into the abyss, to be a monster to fight monsters," Markus explained.
"But then you found out there were no monsters," Raknar said.
"No, I found out there were monsters, I had become one. Only I wasn't fighting monsters anymore, and the worst part of it was that it didn't bother me. I joined the arena because I sought out that one opponent that could deliver the blow I deserved!"
Raknar nodded his head. He didn't scoff or smirk, his expression was solemn and understanding. Grabbing the bottle, he poured another round.
"To what we deserve," he said.
Now
Markus could hear the crowd chanting.
'Kill!'
'Kill!'
'Kill!'
He clutched his head, bleeding from blunt force trauma. Standing up with a growl he glared at the man who had held back. Daylen looked up at the crowd in disgust and with utter fury when he looked to the main podium. Kalla was chanting kill, as were other VIPs.
"Bastards," he seethed, seeing Krayt and his acolytes looking at the proceedings expectantly.
"BOY!" Markus yelled, catching Daylen's attention.
The man flicked the blood off of his fingers, vision blurring, his stance uneasy. But in time, he stood like Daylen did in defiance.
"This only ends one way, you may deny it, but this is reality...FINISH IT!" Markus yelled.
He grabbed his axe and ran at Daylen. With a yell he swung it at Daylen, who blocked the strike with his sword. Again Markus swung the axe around, narrowly missing Daylen's chin. He threw a punch for Daylen, but Daylen raised his sword and Markus broke his hand on the thick blade. Daylen slammed his head into Markus's and shoulder barged him.
"Do it, kill me," Markus snarled.
They locked their blades together, Daylen leant against his sword and tried to push Markus back.
"I'll kill you, the next opponent will kill you, if you show mercy, YOU WILL DIE!" Markus screamed.
Daylen narrowed his eyes, then, in a burst of magic he passed through Markus. A fade step, combined with electrical channelling. He reappeared behind Markus, the man's implants and harness began to spark and shut down. Markus fell to his knees and felt his limbs become heavier.
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
Daylen walked around Markus, resting the sword on his back. He glared up at Krayt and the other watchers.
"Kill me," Markus seethed.
"Why are you so determined to die?" Daylen asked.
"Because I deserve to die, there are evil men in this world who deserve such. But more importantly, it is the way of things, if you show mercy you will be made to suffer boy," Markus explained.
"I've already suffered, there's nothing they can do to me."
"There's always something they can do to you, don't think you'll be able to hold onto your principles in this place," Markus said.
"He's right Daylen," Cousland said, appearing on Daylen's right.
"He's unarmed, killing him would be murder," said Greagoir, whom appeared on the left.
"Survival," Daveth corrected.
"Daylen, is this who you are now?" Petra asked.
"Remember what I said, in trying to save everyone, you won't be able to save anyone," Kaius whispered in his ear.
Daylen looked down at Markus, the man had collapsed to his hands and knees and looked up at him with eyes stung red from tears.
"You will lose if you try to follow your ideals, do it, save yourself, do it," Markus repeated, his face filling with rage.
"DO IT!" his roar echoed.
Daylen yelled, swinging his sword down on top of Markus's shoulder, tearing through his chest. He stepped back and fell to his knees, yelling at the top of his lungs. Punching the ground, he was bombarded by applause and nearly deafened by the cheers. Daylen raised his head up and looked towards where Krayt and his followers were. The man in the mask had a smirk on his head. Taking hold of the sword, Daylen ripped the sword out of Markus's chest and threw it with all his strength. He let the anger take over, he let it guide the blade straight towards Krayt. It moved astonishingly fast, faster than a blaster bolt. Suddenly, Krayt ignited a pair of red light sabres, cutting the blade apart. The two sides of the sword imbedded themselves in the walls either side of Krayt. As Krayt deactivated his sabres, Talon and Nihl moved to draw theirs. One look from their master was enough to make them stop.
Maximus looked towards Daylen, seeing the defiance in his step, the determination in his eyes. As well as the way that look was targeted at the Dark Jedi.
'That 13 was not simply an emotional response, the way you stand, that look in your eyes. It's just like Mandalore the Ultimate, when he commenced the campaign against the republic. 13, you're declaring war on the Dark Jedi,' Maximus thought.
An approving smile crossed the Mandalorian's face. He looked forward to seeing what the red eyed stranger would do next.
Next Episode 29: Discovery
Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, the droid RH-MQ was based on the original design for R2-D2. Markus was intended to be that one time rival character, the character you hope the main character will defeat but face the sudden surprise of their backstory. And even though he is a one time rival, his death will affect Daylen and have some consequences in the future.