Imperial corvette Conviction...
Captain Nova and the Fifteenth brother stood before the hologram of the Grand Inquisitor, physically and mentally defeated after their battle with the young Jedi fugitive. Nolann's injuries were covered in various bacta patches while Nova remained more or less unscathed.
"To say that I am disappointed is an understatement, Fifteenth Brother. You had Barriss Offee outnumbered and out gunned, and she still made a mockery of your forces!"
Nolann visibly trembled. "I- I- She got lucky." He said in a panic.
"She was underestimated. It will not happen again, sir." Captain Nova spoke up, trying to maintain an illusion of confidence and collective mindset.
The Grand Inquisitor didn't even give them the respect to maintain eye contact. "Hm. No, it won't." He said casually as Nolann dropped to his knees with his hands around his throat, desperately gasping for air. Suddenly, a second figure emerged on the holo table, Lord Vader had his hands in a pinching motion, holding the Fifteenth Brother's windpipe in his grasp from several lightyears away.
"Failure will not be tolerated." The dark Lord spoke through his synthesised voice as he gripped his hand shut tight, breaking Nolann's neck instantly.
As the force sensitive Duros fell to the floor, Captain Nova could only kneel at such might. He didn't say the words, but he was practically begging for his life. "I- My Lord. P-please! Allow me to complete the Fifteenth Brother's mission. I'll slay Barriss Offee myself, I can promise you that!"
The Grand Inquisitor gave a slight smirk as he looked to Vader, who gave no indication of what he was thinking, no visible body language, but it was clear enough to the Grand Inquisitor. "Very well, Captain. We've devised a new incentive for you to compete your mission. You will apprehend the Jedi fugitive Barriss Offee, not kill her. We still require the location of the child. Do this, and you shall be allowed back into the Empire with open arms. In the meantime, you and your entire crew are banished until your mission is complete."
"B-but Sir! I'm down an entire squad, an Inquisitor and a purge trooper! Please spare me the resources I need to compete my mission." Nova dropped to his knees in desperation.
Vader left the comms and the Grand Inquisitor was left to finish the last details. "Unfortunately, the Inquisitorious is too far spread to allocate anymore resources to your mission. You will simply have to find your own Jedi Hunter. Do not disappoint me again." He said coldly as he hung up the comm.
Nova took command of the Conviction with a newfound sense of pride and authority. "Reyes! Access the Imperial records to find any survivors of the Jedi Temple bombing."
"Sir, I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that many of the bomb survivors had resumed work in the Temple during Order Sixty Six and were subsequently eliminated for treason… However, one survivor was still in intensive care at one of Coruscant's medical facilities. His name is Boz Addle, human, engineer. Like all non force sensitive temple staff, he underwent basic military training and excelled in all tests before continuing to work in the hanger that had been attacked. His injuries consist primarily of first to third degree burns all over his body, this record shows that he has recently completed his physical therapy treatment. However, I don't recall temple staff ever receiving medical benefits as the Jedi Healers would often perform most of the procedures."
"He must have paid for his treatment out of pocket. Maybe money would be enough to persuade him to aid us, although… prospect of helping us eliminate the one who injured him would undoubtedly prove to be an exceptional motivator too." Nova concluded.
With the push of a button, Nova opened a hologram communication to a hooded figure.
"Who is this? How'd you get this frequency?" The hooded man asked.
"Mr Addle?" The Captain asked back.
"Maybe. What do you want?" He replied bluntly.
"One year ago, you suffered terrible injuries at the hands of the Jedi traitor, Barriss Offee. How would you like an opportunity to return the favour?"
The Great Tree, Kyshyyyk...
Barriss and Sev climbed to the very top of the great tree, hidden amongst the leaves and shrubbery was a small wookie settlement, smaller than an average village. The wookies themselves weren't armed like many other natives on this planet, they seemed leaner, almost delicate. Barriss took note of the shallow pit carved into the main stump of the Great tree. What seemed like some sort of combat arena was actually a meditation circle, she watched as several elderly wookies sat cross legged in the circle, almost purring rather than growling.
"What is this place?" She asked the lone commando.
"Settlement of the forgotten ones… I think that's how it's translated, anyway. Bunch of wookies didn't care for the Republic back in its day, they settled up high in the trees to be independent from the rest of their kind." Sev said casually, as he nodded to several wookies that they passed.
The former padawan acknowledged the obvious bond that he shared with the fur covered natives, it was clear that they saw him as an equal. "How'd you end up here?"
Sev stopped just before the edge of the village, giving a clear view of a beach with a downed Venator cruiser embedded in the sand. "Right before the Republic invaded, I was separated from my squad, out of radio contact for days. Trandoshans held me captive until these people… took pity on me. They saved my life. I owe them everything."
"What happened to your squad?" She asked, walking closer.
The clone commando sighed. "When I finally healed, I went looking for them. Found them, long story short, I guess. But… they were different. I watched them from the trees, saw them targeting wookie civilians, burning huts. Something was wrong with them, with all clones. I'm not proud to admit this, but I've been waiting, hiding… for any chance to find out what happened to them."
The young girl placed a hand on Sev's shoulder and gave him a small smile. "You helped me make contact. Its my turn to help you."
Sev stared at her through his visor for only a second before gently shrugging her hand off his shoulder. "we sent that distresses signal nearly two hours ago. You sure that he's coming?"
"I can only hope that he is."
The commando huffed. "Hope." He grumbled to himself before continuing. "Assuming he did hear it as soon as we sent it, he should be here by now."
Barriss Offee was always certain of one thing, this day only strengthened her belief. There is no luck, there is no coincidence, there is only the will of the force. Sev's makeshift long range communication device on his back began to fizzle and crackle, a faint voice could be heard amongst the distortion. "…racking your coordin-… oming in for a la-…
The young girl then pointed directly ahead of them. "Look! That's them!" She yelled with untamed joy as the remarkably small medical frigate came in at dangerous speed, getting closer and closer with every padding second before violently turning so that the left docking station was right before their eyes.
The door opened, revealing a clone in plain white phase one armour, waving his arm, gesturing for them to get in. "Come on! We don't have much time!"
Slick didn't need to tell her twice. Barriss grabbed Sev by his back and used all of her might in the force to push themselves towards the open door, landing on Slick in the process. The former Sergeant struggled beneath the two, but just managed to bring his comm to his face. "Alright, Faun. Punch it!"
"As you wish, Sergeant." Could be heard over the ships internal speaker system.
"And this is the mess hall. Sorry, it's a bit cramped. A ship this size isn't really suited for prolonged space travel without stopping, still managed to ration the frozen food from Rogato." Slick explained as he gave the two newcomers a tour of their ship.
The first thing they did when Barriss and her new friend came aboard was have Faun Shae and AZ take a look at Sev. As they suspected, he still had his inhibitor chip, but unlike Dogma, Hound or Wolffe, his was never activated. When they removed it, there were no lingering side effects that anyone could see.
"She's certainly… cosy." The mirialan girl chuckled. "What's she called?"
"Ah, you're gonna like this. Didn't have a name, kaminoans aren't really about forming attachments to things or people, so we all came up with the name… The Silver Lining." He addressed in pride as he extended his hands, referring to the ship itself.
Sev immediately grabbed one of the frozen food rations before heating it up in the ships microwave, he then sat down at one of the two benches in the mess hall. "Hope you don't mind. I haven't eaten Republic rations for months, I can't believe I actually missed these!" He joked as he tucked in.
Slick forced himself to smile at the commando. "Not at all! Help yourself." He then nodded for Barriss to follow him back into the hallway.
"So…" Slick began, clasping his hands behind his back, fidgeting with his fingers.
"So…" Barriss mimicked, grabbing one arm with the other, not looking him in the eye.
"I'm sorry… yknow, for leaving you behind. I was selfish." His shoulders slumped as he went red in the face from embarrassment and shame.
Barriss still didn't look him in the eye. "It… it really stung… When you didn't trust me. We could've helped each other, you know. Together, we could've found a self place for Grogu and your brothers."
The Sergeant gulped, this wasn't anything he hadn't already told himself, but what he was about to ask next was something he was already afraid to do so. "Is he?..." He trailed off, fearing the answer. He figured he already knew.
"He's safe. That's… all I can tell you. Even if I knew where he was right now, I don't think I would." She said calmly as she looked out the window.
It made Slick uncomfortable not knowing the wellbeing of the infant, but he had to trust that sue knew what sue was doing. "I'm here now, Barriss." He said as he reached out to gently grab her arm, trying to turn her around to face him.
She spun around with no effort from him. "And I'm grateful for that." She almost spat, giving the impression that she might not have in fact, been grateful.
Slick's shoulders slumped once again. "I can't change what I did in the past, kid. To my brothers or to you. But this is a chance for us to become better." He said sincerely as he held up a small box about the size of a fist.
"What's that?" The former Jedi asked with genuine curiosity.
He just gave her a blatant smirk and gestured for her to follow him back into the mess hall. "I said I'd teach you how to play Sabaac." And with that, she returned his smile and they played their very first game together.
Onboard the Conviction… 6 hours later...
Boz Addle looked at the TK armour laid out on the workbench before him, then at the toolkit that Captain Nova had so generously provided for him. "What else?" He asked flatly.
"Excuse me?" Sergeant Reyes asked, shocked at the rude tone in his clients' voice.
"Your captain wants me to hunt down Jedi, right? So, what else do you have for me?" Boz explained as he began opening cans of grey and red paint.
Reyes sighed. "Thanks to Gar Saxon of Mandalore, the Empire has acquired multiple sets of mandalorian vambraces, we even have a pair on this ship." He gestured to the small case a few feet away. To which Boz pried open.
"Hmm. I'll take it. Get me a recon helmet and a jump pack, while you're at it. I'll also need a military grade stun baton, something with enough energy to deflect a lightsaber… and a flamethrower." Addle demanded through his grizzled voice as he immediately began spraying the grey paint over the armour.
Reyes pushed away at buttons on his personal device, suddenly a crane system activated on the wall behind him. Retrieving the items that Boz had requested. Finally, the Sergeant spoke. "Is there any significance to what you're painting on that armour?"
Just as bluntly as before, Boz answered as he grabbed the recon helmet. "Yep"
Reyes didn't like working with people he couldn't read, it made him feel weak, exposed, unprepared should his allies ever turn on him, so he continued to ask about Boz's design. "I notice that the lines you're painting on your helmet match the scars on your face. You're not trying to cover them up?"
Boz stopped his customisations and slammed the helmet down on the table. "What're you talking about?"
The sergeant stood tall with his hands clasped behind his back. "I was in the room when Captain Nova first contacted you earlier today, you used a cloak to conceal your face. When you came aboard, your hood stayed up until we reached this room. To my knowledge, I'm the only one who's seen your face so far, though I imagine that's just because concealment wasn't an option."
Addle rolled his eyes, clearly tired of the conversation. "Do you have a point? Or are you just trying to bore me to death?"
Reyes slumped his shoulders, irritated by Boz Addle's behaviour. "My point, Mr Addle, is that when it comes to Miss Offee, you want her to see your scars. Is that right?"
Boz narrowed his eyes, studying Reyes' face, it was easy to tell when someone was reciting facts from books, but this man before him seemed to actually know what he was talking about. It couldn't hurt to humour him with an answer. He huffed before explaining. "When I find her, that little Womp-Rat is gonna see exactly what she did. Before her, despite the useless politics, despite the war, despite the training, I was happy in that temple. But now… Anger doesn't even begin to describe what I feel towards her. She took away all that I am, all I ever cared about, then left me for dead... So yeah. I do want her to see what she created. I'm gonna be the punishment for her sins."
Reyes tried his best to stop this rant from becoming a physical extension of the man's inner anger. "I understand your anger, Mr Addle. But it would be best to reserve your anger for when you actually encounter Barriss Offee."
The scarred engineer slammed the helmet back down on the table once more before turning to Reyes. "You don't get it, do you? Don't you dare pretend to understand! The Jedi may have taught us to find inner peace, even if we weren't force sensitive ourselves, but that sleemo pushed too far, she killed everyone and destroyed everything that I cared about. She needs to pay for what she did. So, I think you'll find that you don't understand my anger, Sergeant."
The storage room aboard the Vengeance was silent. Even for a non force sensitive, Reyes could feel the rage pulsing from Boz Addle's core. "I see. Then let us work together to settle your score with her."
Boz grunted before putting his armour on piece by piece. The dark grey recon helmet, chest, torso and legs all painted with a blood red trim, along with the jagged scars painted over the helmet to match the scars on his face. On top of the chest piece was an additional set of light armour riddled with straps, pockets and compartments. The mandalorian vambraces were painted plain red to match the rest of his armour. Boz then grabbed the flamethrower began to take it apart before reassembling pieces of it onto a standard DC-15 blaster, creating a miniature handheld flamethrower.
Reyes spoke up. "Mr Addle, while I'm impressed with your skills as an engineer, I must remind you that your mission regarding Miss Offee is to bring her in alive. The Grand Inquisitor has questions for her."
Through clenched teeth and a closed fist punched into the table, Boz replied. "I'll bring her in breathing, that's as good as you're gonna get. Oh, and one more thing. Don't call me by that name anymore, he hasn't felt alive ever since that day."
"Then… how would you like to be addressed? Perhaps something a little more poetic?" The Sergeant asked, to which Boz Addle raised an eyebrow.
"How about… Punisher?"