Disclaimer: Disney now unfortunately owns Star Wars. -_-
CHAPTER 31
Mandalore was currently a neutral planet. Zekaloph was relieved once they landed. Deciding it best not to take any chances, the young Sith shackled Rusty despite his protests and using the clone's blaster set for stun, rendered him unconscious. He did not want the clone to think he could steal his ship and escape. Rusty remained on board The Dark Shadow, as Zekaloph exited the craft once the boarding ramp lowered. No one would question the appearance of a young Kaleesh teen but many would question the appearance of one of Jango Fett's emaciated clones.
After paying the landing fee, the young warrior was directed to a local kiosk where he could locate a Mandalorian smithy in the vast, sprawling capital city of Keldabe and exchange Separatist currency for local currency. He needed to procure a few items for his new "ally", and for his father, hence the reason for their visit here.
He donned only a cape and his traditional Kaleesh warrior attire, keeping his father's twin swords sheathed on his back. He left his lightsaber and sith attire on the ship. He didn't want to draw any unwanted attention now that the Jedi were hunting for him.
Zekoloph remained guarded as he traversed through the spaceport. He had the creepiest feeling that he was being watched…
Then again he was an off-world visitor. It would be foolish if the locals weren't suspicious.
He did not sense anything amiss through the Force but that didn't mean that danger wasn't lurking nearby. Keeping his guard up, he wandered further into the large bustling metropolis, not surprised to see quite a few helmeted Mandalorians staring at him as he neared the smithy shop. He entered and was greeted by a Mandalorian man who was currently working on forging a shoulder pauldron. The smith used long handled forceps to plunge the white-hot piece of beskar into a tank of nearby water. The finished, shiny, piece of armor was promptly deposited in a metal bin behind his forge, no doubt for another customer.
"What can I do for you?"
"I'm needing armor with these sizes and specifications…" Zekaloph handed the human male a folded piece of paper.
The Beskar Smith's eyes skimmed hungrily over the note and after a moment he frowned and shook his head in the negative, moving to hand the paper back to the boy.
"I'm sorry, but beskar forged armor is specifically used and safeguarded by the Mandalorian people. I cannot give you what you seek."
"I don't require beskar armor. I am willing to pay for raw, unrefined Beskar," Zekaloph fished out a small satchel out of his cloak and dropped the bag full of credits on the counter in front of the smith.
The smith's eyes were filled with greed as he eyed the rather generous portion of credits. He licked his lips and then met the teenager's golden, reptilian eyes with a frown.
"Beskar is revered by the Mandalorian race. It is nearly priceless! And you want me to forge you an armor set made from shoddy materials? I don't think–" He began to protest but it died on his lips when Zekaloph dropped a second coin purse, overflowing with Mandalorian currency that the boy had exchanged at the kiosk earlier.
"I'll pay you double." the teen bargained as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Your order will be ready by sundown!" The greedy man eagerly pulled the two satchels against his chest in acceptance.
"Pleasure doing business with you," Zekaloph nodded as he left the smithy.
While it was true that the armor was meant for the traitorous clone Rusty, it was not going to offer much by way of protection. No…the sith teen was going to use this clone for his own purposes and then when the time was right, dispose of the pitiful creature.
The raw, unrefined Beskar, was a gift that would make his father nearly invincible. He was planning to have the Doctor, the droid that regularly repaired his father's duranium armor, forge a one-of-a-kind shell for General Grievous using the Beskar. From what Zekaloph understood about Beskar, it could easily deflect a blaster shot. He was not going to let Obi-Wan Kenobi shoot and destroy his father in the future on Utapau!
The teen stopped at a local food vendor and purchased some sandwiches and then returned to his ship to wait until sundown. He made sure Rusty was secured against the rear bulkhead and proceeded to eat his lunch. He passed the time meditating and was rather stunned when he had a force vision regarding a siege on a small outpost on Rishi.
Elite commando droids flew down disguised with a meteor shower. They attacked and successfully captured the outpost that was sending out the "All-clear" signal to the Republic fleet in a neighboring sector.
Some of the clones escaped, allowing the commando droids to take control of the outpost.
One of the four clone survivors perished while on the surface, leaving just three rookies. They prepared to flee but spotted their superiors flying down for their scheduled inspection of the outpost.
Zekaloph watched as Clone Commander Cody and Captain Rex took charge of the three rookies and proceeded to retake and subsequently blow up the outpost, effectively destroying the 'All-clear" signal that would have allowed his father to successfully infiltrate and attack the clones' home-world of Kamino.
Zekaloph frowned once the vision ended. He had a feeling that whatever he'd just foreseen was going to happen…and soon.
He moved to get up but the Force pulled him into another vision…
"My apprentice, destroy the Kaleesh boy. He's becoming far too powerful to control. He must be eliminated if we are to claim total victory."
"Yes, my Master," Darth Tyrannus bowed before the holo-image of Darth Sideous.
Zekaloph saw a slightly older version of himself battling his Master but was defeated and forced to flee. He successfully escaped and was pleased to foresee the death of his Master…he was going to be beheaded by none other than Anakin Skywalker himself…Chancellor Palpatine was cuffed to a chair directly behind the duo and smiled with wicked delight as he encouraged the Jedi to kill Dooku.
Then Zekaloph saw the coming destruction of the Jedi Order, executed by Darth Lord Sideous and his new apprentice Darth Vader…after issuing Order 66.
Zekaloph gasped when he returned to his senses. As a Sith apprentice it was his duty to warn his master of his impending fate. Yet it was also his duty as a Sith to usurp his Master's place. Should he warn Count Dooku? Or allow him to suffer death at the hands of a Jedi? It was a decision he would have to make eventually but at least for now he had time to meditate on it.
All too soon, sundown arrived and Zekaloph picked up his order from the Mandalorian smithy and then returned to his ship to see that Rusty was awakening.
The clone sat up with a small groan.
"Argh…was stunning me really necessary?"
"Yes," Zekaloph snapped as he handed the shackled clone a sandwich.
"What are we doing here? Why Mandalore?"
"That's for me to know and for you to eventually find out." Zekaloph smirked as he slid into the pilot's chair. After lifting off and returning to Mandalore's orbit, he plotted a course and in seconds, made the jump to hyperspace.
General Grievous knew he had to report his son's foolish desertion to his Master Count Dooku. But the cyborg Kaleesh knew that to do so would sign the death warrant for his son. His child wouldn't stand a chance if both the Republic AND the Separatists were turned against him. So what was he to do?
Keep it secret of course!
General Grievous coughed as he stalked up to the bridge. He was stopped by the droid captain.
"Sir, Lord Dooku wishes for you to make contact with him immediately."
Oh no…did the old man know?
There was only one way to find out.
General Grievous activated the com-unit and watched with mild trepidation as his overlord appeared via hologram.
"General, the time has come for us to launch a full scale invasion of Kamino. Send an elite unit of commando droids to the Republic controlled Rishi outpost. The "All-Clear" signal must be kept alive in order for your fleet to successfully infiltrate Kaminoan space."
"Yes, my Lord. It will be done as ordered."
"And General? Tell my apprentice to return to me. I am eager to hear how successful he was in passing his Sith trial."
Without waiting for Grievous to respond, Dooku cut the feed, leaving the cyborg Kaleesh to ponder his current predicament.
Well, at least Dooku was none the wiser to his son's apparent betrayal to the Separatist Alliance. Grievous was more than surprised when an incoming transmission, heavily encrypted, came through from the boy himself just minutes later…
Zekaloph was proud of himself for fooling Rusty into believing they had become 'allies'. He uncuffed Rusty and handed him the Mandalorian fashioned armor, the metal painted a pure black and looking like a relatively decent copy of Jango Fett's armor. He refused to equip the clone trooper with a jetpack, flamethrower, and ridged gauntlets. What the clone did have to work with was a blaster rifle and a grappling hook.
"Suit up," the boy ordered as he unshackled the clone.
"What for?"
"We have a mission to complete."
"What mission?" Rusty asked suspiciously.
"You ask a lot of questions," the boy growled at the clone.
"Why won't you tell me anything?"
Zekaloph's golden, reptilian eyes narrowed minutely as he scoffed at his accomplice.
"You will not cooperate if I divulge too much."
"Why wouldn't I cooperate? I'm cooperating now aren't I?" Rusty snapped back as he suited up in his Mandalorian armor. The clone assumed it was made out of Beskar like the other Mandalorians that trained them back on Kamino.
"I need you to help me with a simple task. There is a Republic outpost that is currently transmitting the "All-Clear" signal. We need to ensure that the signal stays active, no matter the cost."
"Oh is that all?" Rusty questioned flatly as he pulled his T-slit, visored helmet over his head with a small grunt.
"That's all you need to know. For now." Zekaloph shrugged nonchalantly as he strapped himself into the pilot's seat.
He ignored Rusty as he sat in the chair beside him and sent an encoded message to his father's flagship–a frequency that he'd memorized years ago–and then pulled the lever to drop them out of hyperspace.
General Grievous casually clasped his clawed hands behind his back as his eyes eagerly read his son's encrypted message.
Rishi mission compromised–going to ensure "All-Clear" signal remains.
-Zekaloph Quilamec Sheelal
The droid-like General rubbed his hands together and released a wicked laugh. So his son had foreseen the Rishi mission? Good. Very good… Pride for his child swelled within his chest cavity as he realized that the boy was not a deserter or a traitor to their cause.
"Set course for Rishi immediately!"
"Roger-Roger!"
Grievous watched as a streaking star-line appeared in the forward viewport as his entire fleet made the hyperspace jump.
Zekaloph landed about a klik northwest of the Rishi outpost after the commando droids made landfall. He summoned Rusty and told the clone to follow him. The duo jogged over rough terrain, the sith child using the Force to repel the large eels that inhabited the moon-like planet.
Using viewfinders, the son of Grievous looked skyward to see that Commander Cody and Captain Rex's shuttle was just landing on the platform just ahead. Now to take care of those three clone rookies…
Zekaloph hissed at Rusty as they rounded a corner, giving him a firm order that brooked no argument.
"Stay here. I'll be right back…"
Zekaloph jogged forward and peered over the edge of a cave lip to see the rookies were directly below him. He listened in on their conversation, pulling back away from the edge when he sensed the three look up in his direction.
"Look! It's Commander Cody!" one of the three clones exclaimed pointing skyward.
"It's the inspection team!" A second clone piped in.
"We have to warn them! Get on the comlink!"
Zekaloph smirked at what they said next.
"It's no good. Their comlinks are on a different scramble set!"
The Kaleesh teen prepared to make his move.
"I'll signal them with this flare!" the third clone exclaimed as he began to load a flare in a flare gun.
With his lightsaber hilt in hand, he deftly leaped down, landing in a crouch in front of the clones.
"Who are you?!" one of the rookies demanded more than questioned.
"I am your DOOM!" Zekaloph grinned beneath his warmask. He rushed forward, easily blocking the rookie's blaster fire. He force-pushed the clone holding the flare-gun, over the ledge he was standing on, the flare firing down into the ground instead of up in the air.
"Hevy! NO!" One of the clones screamed as their comrade fell to his death.
Using his lightsaber, the sith boy dispatched one of the two, Fives. The last clone realizing he was far outmatched, began to run in the other direction, evoking a harsh laugh from the Sith apprentice.
Before he could finish off the last clone, an eel apparently took care of it, swooping past and knocking that clone off the edge of the cliff as well. Zekaloph didn't bother to see if the clone was dead or not, assuming the Fett clone perished like his comrade Hevy from the fall earlier.
He jogged back to find that Rusty was nowhere to be found.
"Dammit!" Zekaloph cursed as he sensed Rusty fleeing in the direction of Cody and Rex, the renegade clone screaming at them in warning.
"It's a trap! Get out of here!"
"What's a Mandalorian doing here?" Cody questioned incredulously.
"Nevermind that, he said it was a trap!" Rex shouted as he shoved Cody down and blasted the supposed 'clone trooper' that greeted them on the platform, directly in the forehead.
"What are you doing?!" Cody cried out in alarm.
"Relax. Just what I thought…looks like one of those new commando droids," Rex responded as he removed the helmet to reveal the face of a commando droid, now deactivated.
Zekaloph used the force to pull Rusty backwards, forcing the renegade clone to fall on his backside. In seconds, the Kaleesh boy ripped off the clone's helmet and used the hilt of his lightsaber, smashing it into the back of Rusty's head, knocking his pawn unconscious.
"Freeze! You are under arrest!"
Zekaloph couldn't stop the maniacal laugh from erupting out of his throat when he looked up to see that both Cody and Rex had their guns aimed at him.
"I don't think so…" the Sith apprentice growled dangerously, slipping easily into a fighting stance and igniting his yellow-bladed lightsaber.
The two clones began firing, dodging to block the blaster bolts deflected right back at them.
"Cody! We have to retreat! We're no match for Grievous's son!"
After a few more seconds the Commander relented, admitting defeat.
"Agreed. Let's get out of here!"
Zekaloph grinned wickedly as he slowly stalked after the two retreating clones. The hair on his neck stood on end when he sensed the impossible directly behind him.
"What?! NO!" The boy shouted as he turned to face the presence of another clone trooper.
It was that rookie that supposedly fell off the cliff…Echo.
Before Zekaloph could raise his lightsaber to deflect his shot, a blaster bolt slammed painfully into the child's midsection, dropping him instantly. The boy hissed in angered pain as he struggled to rise. He could feel that the blaster bolt ripped right through him, leaving a cauterized exit wound in his back. Thankfully, nothing vital was hit so it wasn't a killing blow.
Wait…if it wasn't a killing blow then that meant the clone wanted to take him alive!
Zekaloph pushed himself up, ignoring the water-film forming in his eyes and raised his saber defensively. He stumbled and fell back to the door of the outpost where commando droids and a few B-1 droids appeared, pulling the Sith child back out of reach of the fortunate clone.
"No! He was mine!" Zekaloph howled in fury as the droids began firing in Echo's direction, forcing the clone to retreat into the shuttle where Commander Cody and Captain Rex had already fled.
"DESTROY THEM!" Zekaloph snarled in rage as he tried with all his strength to use the force to slowly stop the shuttle from blasting away from the landing platform. The Kaleesh teen despaired when they easily escaped his weak force-pull, dropping his outstretched hand back down. He winced in pain, covering his gaping wound with a hand.
Zekaloph could only watch as his prey escaped him but grinned when he raised his viewfinder to see that his father's fleet had finally arrived…
"That was a close one…" Echo mumbled from where he was slouched against a passenger seat in the shuttle cockpit.
"You did well, trooper. You survived. And you nailed the kid. Good job, soldier." Commander Cody praised his subordinate as Captain Rex maneuvered them beyond Rishi's orbit.
"It's not over yet…we've got company!"
General Grievous's fleet began to mercilessly fire at them in a hail of turbo-laser bombardments.
"Time for some fancy flying!" Rex shouted as he engaged in evasive maneuvers as some vulture tri-fighters engaged them.
"How long before we can jump to lightspeed?"
"You do realize that by retreating, we are giving Grievous a direct route straight to Kamino?"
"What do you suggest?"
"A well-placed missile can destroy the Rishi outpost. Problem is if we go back, we probably won't escape ourselves."
"They are jamming our transmission! I can't get a message through to General Skywalker or Kenobi!" Echo wailed from the communications terminal.
"We don't have a choice. Turn around." Cody ordered solemnly.
"Yes, Sir!" Captain Rex affirmed as he spiraled down into the planet's upper troposphere.
"Send down reinforcements at once!" General Grievous sternly ordered.
"Roger-Roger!"
He watched with a small growl as the clone shuttle returned planet-side, most likely going to attempt a last ditch effort to destroy their precious outpost!
"Do not let them escape!"
"Sir, one of our units is contacting us!"
"Patch him through!"
Grievous felt his heart skip a beat when he heard the clone commando's report.
His son was on Rishi, injured! NO! He was not going to lose the boy now.
"Get him safely to The Dark Shadow, immediately!" Grievous rasped as he felt another cough coming on.
"Roger-Roger."
The General didn't give a damn about the mission at that moment.
Zekaloph…be strong, my son.
He stood from his command chair and began to pace until he received confirmation that his son was safely aboard The Dark Shadow. The news that the Rishi Outpost was destroyed fell on deaf audio receptors as he ordered a grudging retreat back to friendly space.
Zekaloph ordered the commando droid to retrieve Rusty. Once those two were safely aboard his ship, he watched as the Rishi Outpost was hit by missiles and destroyed before his very eyes.
He foresaw the events here and still failed to stop it! How could this be?!
"Set a course for the rendezvous point. We must return to my father's fleet," the teen coughed small specks of blood into his duranium clawed hand.
He reactivated Senti-7, allowing the sleek Commando droid to pilot his ship, allowing himself to slip into unconsciousness only after they were safely zipping away through hyperspace…
TO BE CONTINUED!
Author's Note: I know it's been 7 years since i updated this story but I'm back and planning to finish it! :D Thank you for reading, please review! As a side note: NO Zekaloph will NEVER become a Jedi. He is a Sith through and through as we will see in the next chapter.