Chapter 24: Last of the Raiders
Sorry for not updating last week but I really felt like I needed a break. Enjoy these chapter and please review as its been a while since I got one for this story.
With their business concluded with the two feuding families, Calak, Bastila, Mission, and T3 all headed back on to the plains. Once they were back at the spot they'd found Elise's droid at, Calak pulled out his comlink.
"Carth you there?" he asked.
"I'm here Calak," the soldiers voice stated from the other end. "We haven't found any sign of the missing Matale boy."
"We already took care of that," Calak said before filling him in on the details.
"Wow, nice going!" Carth praised.
"Arr!" Zalbaar's roar came as well.
"Seems you had more fun than we did," Canderous said. "But I think we may have found the trail of the remaining Mandalorians, there's several dead Kath Hounds around here and some settlers too."
"We'll keep pursuing and see what we find," Carth said.
"Be careful," Calak cautioned.
"Don't worry, I know how to handle Mandalorians," Carth assured him. "Fought in the wars remember?"
Calak nodded, though Carth didn't see it through the comlink. They hung up and Calak turned to the nearby cave.
"I sense a few lifeforms in there," Bastila said. "They are likely kinrath. Those cave crawlers tend to make their dens in places like this."
They proceeded inside and Calak felt it as well. He and the others kept their weapons out while T3 lit up the cave with a light from the top of his head. He let out a beep.
"He's picking up around a dozen lifeforms further ahead," Mission said. "I know I'm traveling with two Jedi but maybe its best to come up with a plan rather then just charge in recklessly?"
Calak nodded. "Any ideas?"
Mission looked ahead. The cave was a long but thin pathway leading forward. "This is a pretty narrow path. And if these are just beasts then there's no way they'll be able to get us from afar. Also, I'm getting kind of full on mines in my explosive bag. What do we say we use some of them? I'll go on ahead."
"No Mission!" Bastila objected. "Out of all our companions you seem the least apt at direct combat! Me or Calak should-
"This isn't going to be direct," Mission said putting a hand to her belt.
She vanished as she activated her stealth field generator.
"Come on," Mission's voice said.
They could sense her presence, but their eyes could not see her. The two Jedi also felt the presence of the creatures up ahead. Soon they spotted some, they were kinrath alright. Yellow-green spider like insects that were almost as tall as Mission, and bigger then T3. Each of their legs had sharp points that could be used to pierce through rock and burrow, which was how they made this cave most likely. There two Kinrath present, and they spotted the intruders with a set of screeches. The sound echoed through the confines of the cave. Bastila and Calak lit their lightsabers and T3 opened the slot to his built in blaster as well. Calak lashed out with the force and pushed one of the Kinrath while T3 shot at it. Unfortunately this caused T3's shot to miss as the Kinrath fell to the ground. Bad luck there it seemed, if luck existed contrary to the Jedi's belief.
The other Kinrath continued on toward Calak but was flanked by Bastila who attacked it from the side as it charged. With a flurry of strikes from her twin yellow blades, Bastila cut the over-sized insect to pieces. At least it wasn't so bug as to be compared to a house or that would be trouble.
T3 shot another more accurate blast at the remaining Kinrath who fell with a cry, dead for sure this time. Further into the cave though, more screeches sounded. The other Kinrath had heard the noise no doubt and would be coming this way to investigate what happened to their nest mates.
"Ah! I haven't set up a full mine field yet!" Mission exclaimed from a short distance away, still invisible.
"Just do what you can well we hold them off!" Bastila told her as she and Calak ran forward.
Calak reached into his pocket where he still kept a few grenades from his soldier supplies. Drawing one, he saw its black shell and realized it was a concussion grenade. Perfect!
He waited for only a few seconds, and then a feeling crept over him telling him to throw… now!
And he did, the concussion grenade flew from his grasp as he activated it and it hit the ground. It released a stream of energy that stunned many of the kinrath, though three managed to get ahead and avoid the blast. Each of them went for one intruder, clearly not aware of the threat a Jedi could pose. Calak assumed a defensive stance to try and counter, but the kinrath lunged in quickly, and caught him on the shoulder, yet Calak felt no pain. He then remembered he was still wearing Brejiik's belt and armband that could form a strong defense against melee or close up attacks, even ones from wild animals like these. The kinrath froze in surprise at the resistance, giving Calak the opportunity to cut its head off. He looked around and saw Bastila cut the attacking leg off her kinrath and T3 follow up with a blaster shot that took out that one as well.
Just in time too, cause the rest of the pack was recovering and making their way towards them. Calak counted about seven now. That might be a little difficult, even for two Jedi, but…
"Run!" Mission called. "And watch the mines!"
She appeared behind them and ran, Bastila, Calak and T3 followed, making sure to go single file in the exact way she did to avoid being blown up. The Kinrath however, walked right onto the mines. They screeched in pain as explosions sounded as well. One or two survived, but a quick blaster shot from Mission and T3 and that was done. They ventured further back into the cave and made it to the end. Sure enough, they found several crystal formations as well as kinrath eggs.
Bastila sighed as she looked at the eggs. "I hate to kill off innocent life, but kinrath are rather dangerous. If these hatch they will have to leave the cave in order to feed, even the hatchlings are dangerous to settlers, and the Sandrals as well as several farms are nearby. The Sandrals will replace their droid security forces but others don't have that luxury. Its probably best to simply destroy these eggs."
"Right," Calak said.
They kicked the eggs one by one, destroying the unborn kinrath inside before they could hatch and become a threat. Then they turned their attention to the crystals around them.
"Lots of these are red," Calak noted as he broke off a few pieces.
"This cave is infused with some dark side energy," Bastila told him. "It makes the crystals the same hue as the Sith. But even in dark places there can be light."
She showed him the crystals she'd gathered, another blue one, a yellow, and green. There were also a white, pink and even a lighter red that didn't seem dark like the ones Calak had found.
"This is a sigil crystal," Bastila said holding the light pink one up. "It will make the energy of a lightsaber a bit more powerful and allow your connection to the force to be strengthened and increase your accuracy a bit."
"Wow," Calak said.
"How do you know that Bastila?" Mission asked.
"I've researched lightsaber power crystals," Bastila said.
They pocketed the crystals and headed out to meet with the others.
…
Carth led the party to the ancient grove.
"Arr!" Zalbaar growled.
"This is close to where Calak faced that Juhani," Canderous said gesturing to a path to the left. "And here is where… woah!"
They came out of the trees and saw a group of Mandalorians up ahead. They were in the same spot that the other group here had been when Juhani helped them. The Mandalorians soon spotted them and pointed guns at the two human males and the wookie. Before any of them could put up any sort of defense or raise their own blasters, they were shot. Fortunately for
them the blasters were set to stun. It did however, take an additional shot to take down Zalbaar due to his size. Another quick shot and he went down as well. The Mandalorians then approached their incapacitated victims and cuffed them.
"You think these are the ones that have been killing our comrades? Sherruck?" one of the Mandalorians asked their leader who wore a red suit of their culture's armor which stood out from the others who were purple.
"I don't think so," Sherruck, a Mandalorian with a pair of Vibroswords on his back said. "Though they look pretty capable and... hey!"
He looked at Canderous and noticed the tatoo on his bare shoulder which was clearly Mandalorian in origin.
"This one's a Mandalorian like us!" Sherruck exclaimed. "Cuff them up, I want to hear this one's story!"
They cuffed the prisoners and then Sherruck gave Canderous a flick on the head that woke him up.
"Ugh," the man groaned as he looked at the armored figures before him.
"Ah just my luck, getting captured by the likes of mere scrap takers like you!"
Sherruck frowned under his helmet and landed a hard strike on the other Mandalorian's face.
"In case you haven't noticed, we lost the war!" Sherruck said. "Our people were scattered! We take what we can now! There is honor in that!"
"You barbarians should just hang up your guns and be locked behind bars forever!" Carth spat. "You fight for yourselves, for amusement, never for others like we in the Republic! There is no honor in that!"
Canderous just frowned.
"So you're from the Republic Army, are you?" Sherruck asked.
"Hey, I recognize him! He's a Republic Commander," one of the other Mandalorians said pointing at Carth.
"Really? Maybe we can ransom you back to them then. A Wookie might fetch a good price to some bidder out there as well," Sherruck said before turning to Canderous. "What's your name fellow Mandalorian?"
"Ordo, Canderous Ordo," Canderous answered.
"Well Canderous, why don't you join us? We've lost a quite a few men recently to those Jedi," Sherruck said. "Come on, why live as a mercenary licking the boots of wealthy people when you can be taking stuff from those wealthy people yourself?"
Canderous felt that was a bit of a point, from a Mandalorian perspective at least. He had worked as a mercenary in order to keep being able to fight after the war was over, but it was a small amount of honor. Few worthy foes came into the picture during that line of work. But-
"I only seek worthy foes, not helpless ones that stand no chance like these pathetic settlers!" Canderous said.
"Well, if you wish we can target the estates here for a challenge. Or we could if you had joined us before the other parties were killed. No matter, we've heard that some other clans are operating on other worlds. Perhaps we'll join with them and combine forces to raid even greater
targets. Might not be as glorious as taking entire planets but it's the next best thing."
Canderous said nothing.
"Now, we find the Jedi that's been slaughtering our brothers and then we'll get off this pathetic world," Sherruck said. "At least they prove to be formidable. But there are too many of them with their enclave here. Ah well, at least I'll take one or two more lightsabers as
trophies."
"Carth? Are you there?" Calak's voice came from the comlink at that moment. Sherruck picked it up from the pile of confiscated goods and spoke into it.
"Afraid your friend is a little tied up at the moment by us Mandalorians. But if you are able to give us at least a hundred thousand credits we might consider giving him and the Wookie back unharmed."
Calak gritted his teeth as he heard the words over the comlink. The others had been captured by the Mandalorians!
"Oh no! Zalbaar!" Mission exclaimed. "No! Not again!"
"Don't worry, Mission! We'll save him and the others," Bastila assured her.
"Where are you?" Calak asked.
The Mandalorian laughed. "Thinking about coming to fight us? We'll welcome another Republic soldier if that's what you are!"
"I was a soldier, but now I'm a Jedi and I've killed several of your kind here already!" Calak shouted into the comlink.
"Ah so you are the one who did that! Good, saves us the trouble of looking for you! Meet us in the ancient grove where you killed some of our clan if you dare!" the Mandalorian said before ending the conversation.
And so, Calak and the others had no choice. They returned to the ancient grove and found the group of Mandalorians there with Carth and Zalbaar restrained while Canderous... stood alongside the Mandalorians! Calak's face scrunched up as he pulled his lightsaber off his belt and activated it, which Bastila was quick to copy as well. Had Canderous betrayed
them? Maybe they shouldn't have trusted a Mandalorian after all.
"Ah, so this is the meddler!" the leader in red armor said. "I am Sherruck! You have caused us far too much trouble for a pair of mere Jedi!"
He looked from Calak to Bastila then noticed Mission and T3 as well.
"Hmm, a Twi'lek could be good entertainment for us at night when we need to unwind!"
Mission's cheeks flustered and her heart filled with rage.
"You won't find me an easy victim!" She said raising her blaster and preparing to attack when the time came.
Sherruck ignored her and looked at the droid. "Well, that droid shouldn't be too useful for combat since it's just a T3 unit."
He finally looked back at Calak and Bastila. "I will add your lightsabers to the collection of the other Jedi I've slain on this world!"
"Did you fight them one on one, or overwhelm with all your raiders?"
Calak asked, hoping to maybe segregate him.
"A mixture of both!" Sherruck stated before drawing the vibroswords on his back and turning to Canderous. "It is time for you to prove you are one of us and not one of them!"
"I'm a Mandalorian through and through!" Canderous said and Calak's heart sank. "I'm not one of them. But I am not a disgrace to what it means to be a Mandalorian!"
He drew his own vibrosword and struck at Sherruck who barely managed to block with one of his. Calak felt a surge of relief that he had to quickly put aside as the other Mandalorians open fired at him and the others. Calak dodged the bolts aimed at him and put himself in front of Mission as she didn't have a shield up. Realizing this, the young Twi'lek quickly activated it as Calak blocked the shots meant for her. Bastila also blocked and ran forward at one of the Mandalorian gunners, while Carth and Zalbaar tried to struggle and get free to help.
With Mission now protected by her energy shield, Calak leapt forward at his opponent. The beskar steel helmet absorbed the strike of his lightsaber to the Mandalorian's head. The Mandalorian struck with his blaster rifle as a blunt weapon, but Calak cut it in two, protected by the force as it gave him a split second warning. Two Duros nearby open fired, but Calak redirected one of their shots back at them and Mission shot the other. Bastila and the other Mandalorian engaged in melee combat, her double lightsaber against his vibrosword. The Mandalorians were well trained, but even they couldn't always keep up with Jedi reflexes. However, their armor made it difficult all the same. The Mandalorians whose rifle Calak cut drew his vibroblade as well and charged the padawan. T3 meanwhile, went for Carth and Zalbaar, using his slicer arm to unlock their bindings.
Calak managed to hold off the Mandalorian he was fighting, and circled around him. Seeing an opportunity, Mission aimed her blaster. The shot was mostly absorbed by the beskar, but it caused the Mandalorian to stall and look behind him at the foe he'd all but forgotten. That gave Calak the opportunity to stab him through the visor like he had one of the others in the previous battles. He looked around and saw Bastila cut down her opponent.
Unfortunately, Canderous was cut in the leg by Sherruck. He screamed and fell, then Sherruck raised his blades to deliver the killing blow.
"No!" Calak yelled and lashed out with the force.
His push knocked Sherruck back and the lead Mandalorian dropped his blades in the process. With a growl he got back up and drew a pair of lightsabers at his belt, one blade blue like Calak's while the other was a Sith red. Where did he get that? Did he kill a Dark Jedi that had been on this world? Perhaps a spy? Or maybe he'd gotten it from the cave near the Sandral's estate?
Ah well, didn't matter. Right now, he was using Jedi and/or Sith weapons against them.
"Those are not yours!" Calak told him.
"A warrior uses any weapon he desires!" Sherruck said he spun the lightsabers.
"Those are Jedi weapons!" Bastila affirmed. "A non-force sensitive can never use them to their full potential!"
Calak charged at him, hoping to end it quickly, but Sherruck was a very powerful swordsman, and able to apply those skills to his stolen lightsabers. Even with his armor on, he was still quite fast, able to push Calak's force enhanced reflexes. He blocked and then nearly took Calak's head off with his other blade, Calak knew his barrier wouldn't work against lightsabers, and there was no time to activate his energy shield. He also vaguely recalled his last one had burned out in this exact location.
Sherruck pressed him with an aggressive onslaught of the two blades. Calak was on the defensive, unable to counter. Then Sherruck landed a sharp kick to his chest as he overextended his latest block. Calak landed on his back and dropped his lightsaber. Sherruck then struck, and Calak prepared himself for the end. But it did not come. He looked and saw a force barrier in front of himself, seeming to block the blows of Sherruck's lightsabers. Calak then saw Bastila raising her free hand at him, keeping the barrier up to save him.
"Hey!" Carth yelled and drew the Mandalorians's attention, his blaster pistols in hand.
"Arr!" Zalbaar brandished his recovered bowcaster as well.
They'd gotten their weapons back while Calak dueled Sherruck.
"Let's get him!" Mission said.
And the three of them let out volleys of blaster fire at Sherruck who spun his lightsabers, somehow deflecting a blast, but he was quickly shot by another, and another. Then Canderous, still on the ground, aimed his heavy repeater which he'd gotten off his back and shot a powerful blast that burned right through the armor. The last of the raiders on Dantooine fell, his stolen lightsabers extinguishing as he did so.
Calak then took several deep breaths, that had been a tough opponent that he couldn't defeat on his own. But it was over now, the raiders were defeated, Shen was rescued, Elise's droid was found, what else could they have to do? Once he felt recovered, Calak crawled over to Canderous and put his hand on the allied Mandalorian's wound, calling on the force to heal it.
"You know, I thought for sure you'd betrayed us Canderous," Calak told him.
"Yeah, well I think I can find worthy foes traveling with you rather then scrap takers like them," Canderous said.
And Calak finally felt that he could trust Canderous.
"Never thought I'd say this to a Mandalorian but I'm glad you're with us Canderous," Carth said. "We may have faced each other from different sides in the last war. But that doesn't matter. Its in the past now, we have to deal with our enemies today."
Canderous and Calak then got up once the former's wound was healed. He shook his leg and felt no pain, though the blood and scar from the blow remained.
"Let's get back to the enclave. I think we need a break after all this excitement," Bastila said.
"I agree! Saving kidnapped kids, our friends and taking on Mandalorians," Mission said.
"I'm all in," Calak agreed as well.
He grabbed the lightsabers from Sherruck's body as well as the helmet for a trophy. They stripped the other bodies for their blasters and other weapons which could be useful to either keep as backups or sell. The group then took a path south and to the left leading to a bridge. There however, they saw an orange skinned Twi'lek in Jedi robes.
"Hello there!" the Jedi called as he saw them. "Ah I see you are members of my order as well! Care to lend a fellow Jedi a hand?"
Boy their duties just never ended.