A New Player in the Force

“After they destroyed all our flyers and transports, the aliens withdrew to the base they’d made on the southern outskirts of our settlement.”

“They do still come through the streets,” Sheekla cut in as Gann gave me a run-down on the situation in Middle Distance. I’d been in his residence for the last hour, first detailing what we’d been up to and now listening to them giving me some updates on the situation within their city.

“Yes, but so long as our people make sure to stay out of their way, the aliens don’t interact with us. At least not until a few days ago.” He paused and shared a look with Sheekla. Both looked and felt apprehensive, and I suspected the Vong had done something to the Sekotans in retaliation for the ambush me, Bo, and the Rangers had launched. “They started rounding up seemingly random citizens, taking them to one of the gathering sites. There, one in strange clothing barked something in their tongue, and then shattered the arms and legs of those they’d gathered.” As he detailed the Vong’s retaliation he glared at me, but given I knew he’d do nothing to back it up, it did not affect me. Still, since he and Sheekla were my only real contacts in the city, I felt it better to respond.

“It wasn’t our intent to bring harm to your people, however, we needed to take a group of the aliens down in a situation we controlled.” I avoided calling them Vong to the pair. While it was unlikely that they’d use the name outside of this building, there was always the chance the name would propagate among the Sekotans and then get back to the Vong. If the invaders had any intelligence, they’d realise my unit was the likely source of the name and come down hard on the Sekotans believing they were collaborating with us. “Yes, we can and have slipped into Middle Distance without arousing their suspicions, but before taking the patrol down and carrying out an autopsy, we knew exactly nothing about the aliens. Now at least we have some ideas about them, though not their motives.”

“And yet your actions have brought pain and suffering to our people!” Gann snapped back, his anger bleeding into the Force. Sheekla placed a hand on his shoulder, which seemed to help mitigate some of his fury. “Forgive my outburst. It’s just that since the aliens arrived, things have been tense in the settlement. We’ve got no communications with the other settlements and now our people are being targeted for things they had no hand in.”

“No, I understand your feelings, and again, it wasn’t our intention to have them retaliate against you and your people. However, simply allowing the aliens to control the planet and disrupt your people’s normal routines is against everything I believe in.” As I replied my hand drifted down and stroked Fenrir’s spinal spikes. I easily felt the gap where the missing spike was, but Fenrir was fine with the wound and shifted around so that my hand could reach his ears. Amusingly, like other canine-like species, he enjoyed being scratched behind his ears and leaned into my touch. The only downside was that he was massive and if I was unbalanced, could be knocked over by his bulk. Bo found that incredibly amusing, which drew my thoughts to her.

She was easy to find on my Force-boosted minimap and was in the same spot she’d been before I’d entered Gann’s residence. She was acting as my lookout while I spoke with Gann and Sheekla, though given it was still a few hours before sunrise, the chances of anyone being on the streets were slim. Still, I knew not to take chances. Even in the villages in Iraq and Afghanistan that were the most opposed to the occupations, there were always people willing to sell out their neighbours for a quick buck. While it seemed unlikely that was the case here, learning that the Vong were now targeting the Sekotans for our attacks made the decision to insert into Middle Distance covertly even more logical.

Yet, from what Gann and Sheekla had told me about the Vong around the settlement, and the rough size of their garrison to the south, I was beginning to downsize my initial estimates for their forces. Taking and holding a country back on Earth generally only worked when the numbers were less than fifty civilians to one soldier, yet it seemed the Vong force in Middle Distance was only a few hundred. While still a dangerous number, it wasn’t enough to hold the city. Which made the choice to stick to patrols around the outskirts more logical. Yet, as far as I knew, there were only a handful of settlements on Zonama Sekot that were town-sized or greater. Of all of them, Middle Distance was one of, if not the, largest on the planet, from the impressions the locals gave. If they could only hold the settlement with a few hundred, then either their forces were far smaller and stretched further than I’d expected, or they had a different objective than just occupying the planet for the rest of their military.

I’d need reconnaissance on the Vong base to not only gain more details of the planetary situation – Sheekla had revealed that the base received larger transports about once every eight days – but on the exact disposition of the local enemy forces. The other thing I needed to check was if any of the transports or flyers could be, if not salvaged, scrapped for parts that could be made into a makeshift vessel. Not one to escape to orbit, but one that would allow us to at least reach out to Far Distance, the Magister’s tower, and other settlements on the planet.

“We came to this world to live in peace, free of the chaos in the rest of the galaxy. To study the wonders of Sekot and the teaching of Potentium. Yet now, not long after the Jedi arrive, that chaos arrives. The aliens are here because of you, and if not for Sekot’s blessing, I would demand you leave our world and people to deal with the aliens ourselves!”

I pinched the bridge of my nose with my free hand. Mainly to hide the roll of my eyes. Gann, it was clear, was a pacifist in the mould of the New Mandalorians. At least Sheekla wasn’t as negative toward me, though that might just be because of the faint sliver of hope I sensed from her when she spoke of her husband in Far Distance.

“While the timing isn’t ideal, I highly doubt the aliens were guided here by the Force, not least because they appear to be absent in it,” I responded firmly. With a gesture, I lifted the cup of water I’d been offered upon arriving. “I can’t do this to them, nor any other ability that directly interacts upon them nor can I sense them. That is… unusual, and something that I wish my master was able to explain.” I paused, letting my thoughts drift to Fay and wondering if there’d been any change in her condition while I was here.

“That said, the aliens first action upon entering your planet’s atmosphere was to attack the Magister’s tower,” I’d mentioned this before but since I lacked proof, they didn’t entirely believe me, “they then targeted my ship, and that of the Antarian Rangers, and the transport taking us to those vessels. Those are not the actions of customers, but conquerors.” Gann seemed entirely unresponsive to my words, though thankfully Sheekla wasn’t. “Your world… it’s special. Both my master and I felt this the moment we approached, and that sense has only grown stronger in the time we’ve been here. If I had to bet credits on the matter, I suspect that is why the aliens are here. Not because two random Jedi decided to turn up on your world.”

“Why do you think they are here?”

I shook my head at Sheekla’s question. “Sadly, since this is a species neither I nor those with me know anything about, all we can do is speculate.”

Which was something Bo, I, and the Rangers had done in the months of trekking to and from the landing area. Several of those ideas had fallen by the wayside after the ambush and autopsy, with more dropping off as I’d spoken with Gann and Sheekla. However, I still lacked anywhere near enough intel to have even the faintest inkling of the Vong’s plans.

“As I have said, and as you are both well aware, Zonama Sekot is an important world. Both in the Force, and I suspect in general. There is likely a correlation between those two that drew the alien’s attention. It’s just that, for now, we don’t know enough to even make an educated guess.”

“How can you be so sure of yourself? You are but a child. A Jedi one, yes, but you are but a learner. Not even one allowed to wander the galaxy without supervision.”

An urge to laugh at Gann’s words rose inside me, but I resisted it. Up until this moment, neither he nor Sheekla had shown any issue with me being the point man for the small resistance group. Since he was bringing my age up now, I could only assume he was trying to find a new avenue of attack after the last one had failed.

“I may be just a Padawan, but I’ve already gotten into a few battles. Some have gone well, others not so much.” I closed my eyes for a moment and stilled the need to recall my time with Vosa. “Bo, while being older and having seen more combat than me, is more inclined toward fighting and not concerning herself about the larger details. While you’d expect the Rangers to assume command, their leader has defaulted to me simply because that is how their organisation is set up. That said, Zarkos has been the one I’ve been leaning on the most for help in leading our little group and is responsible for planning out the ambush.”

“I thought the Jedi sought out peaceful solutions.”

I gave Sheekla a rueful smile. “We do. However, there are often times when issues cannot be settled with a few honey-coated words and the Force. Like when first contact involves shooting at us, then when we ran into them on the ground they attacked without any warning. Not even an offer to surrender.” I leaned forward, my hand slipping from Fenrir’s ear. “To me, actions such as those make things very clear. The aliens don’t care about the Jedi, the Republic, or the people on this world. The only possible way to negotiate with them is from a position of strength. Taking out a single patrol of low-level grunts isn’t going to do that. No, we must keep hitting, keep hurting them until their leaders notice. At that point either they come down on us with overwhelming force, and we’ll likely die fighting, or they’ll respect our strength and be willing to talk.”

A growl slipped from Fenrir’s maw as I realised the anger that was now ever present within me was slipping out. Not wanting to scare my contacts, I leaned back and returned my hand to Fenrir’s ear. As for what I’d said, I seriously doubted the Vong would ever want to negotiate, but by putting the possibility on the table, it should placate the Sekotans, at least for the time being. “The problem though is doing enough damage that they notice us without you and your people suffering for our actions. We’ll do our best to ensure their focus is on us, not you, but I can’t promise they won’t lash out at your people. Yet if we do nothing, we let these aliens secure their foothold on your world, then when the rest of their forces come – and trust me when I say this is nothing more than a strong reconnaissance force – there will be nothing to save you from enslavement or death.” My eyes locked on Gann, making it clear to him, I hoped, that what I’d said was the only plausible outcome.

“And if we don’t support you?” Gann asked after nearly a minute of silence.

I shrugged. “That is your choice, and your people’s choice.” I suspected that even if they chose not to even support us, others would. Perhaps they’d even be willing to fight with us, but I’d have to wait and see on that. “We’ll do what we must to continue the resistance without you, though I do hope that never becomes the case. We won’t target your people, unless they actively work with the invaders, but I won’t sit back and watch your world fall to invaders simply because your beliefs won’t allow you to defend your homes.”

The Sekotans looked at each other as I scratched Fenrir, earning a happy whine from him. For a moment I thought Gann was going to outright reject supporting the actions I had planned, only for an odd breeze to blow through the room. A window was open, as that was how I’d slipped into the residence, but there were no other openings I could see. Then, before the Sekotans could respond, my vambrace beeped.

“Six neverde inbound in three.” Bo’s voice drifted through the commlink.

“Understood.” I closed the commlink and stood, my eyes staying on the Sekotans. “It appears you’ve got some early morning company. For the time being, it’s better if no one knows you’re speaking with me. If I can, I’ll return tomorrow, that way you have time to think over what we’ve discussed and make initial decisions.” As I spoke, I moved toward the window, Fenrir at my heels. “I’d much prefer if we could all remain on the same page about what’s going to happen. That said, if you can’t or won’t help, I understand.”

“What if we can’t meet you tomorrow night?”

I paused at the window even as I opened it wide enough for Fenrir to leap through. A glance around the room gave me a few ideas. “That plant,” I pointed at something that reminded me of a spider plant with bright blue flowers, “if you’re free to talk, place it in a window near your front door. That’ll tell me you want to talk. And leave this window open to let me know you’re inside.” It wasn’t perfect, but for now, it would work.

The pair didn’t need to know that Bo’s sniper’s nest gave her a clear view of the front of Gann’s house from a few hundred metres away and that she should’ve set up a remote camera to monitor the comings and goings from the male’s house. Later, if things went well and both came on board, I’d consider granting them a commlink and establishing some simple code phrases to use.

I didn’t give either time to respond as I followed Fenrir out of the house. According to the minimap, the six beings approaching might not be heading for Gann’s house, though all were Sekotans. Still, it was better to play it safe. There were also several hundred more Sekotans within range of the Force-boosted minimap, but no others within a hundred metres were moving in ways that suggested they were inbound for Gann’s house.

Using the map to guide me – I already had the back alleys and blind spots mapped out from observing the place for the last two nights – I activated Force Cloak and Silence. That would help mask both Fenrir and me as we slipped out of the settlement, though we’d have to be quick as the first rays of light from the morning sun were creeping over the domed tops of nearby homes.

… …

… …

“Here,” I looked up from cleaning Vong blood from my beskad to see Bo approaching. Her helmet was off, being carried under one arm, but she still wore the rest of her armour. Her non-helmet-carrying-hand tossed something at me and I caught it. “The recording you wanted.”

“Thanks.” I slipped the data storage device into a slot on my belt and would add it to the Inventory later. It would contain a recording of our latest ambush on Vong forces – the third overall – where I’d made sure to not engage the Vong with any Force power that might be termed Dark. I knew that without proof of combat the High Council wouldn’t believe me about the threat the Vong posed, so I needed at least one recording from Bo’s armour. However, using Force Lightning in that battle would be all but admitting that I was actively drawing upon the Dark Side of the Force.

Now, the Council might still not be willing to admit the Vong were a threat, but I needed something to show them once we’d either killed all the Vong on the planet – something looking less and less likely with each passing day – or driven the Vong from the planet. Regardless of which way I took to complete Invaders from the Void I knew that afterwards, I’d have to speak with the Council about the threat the Vong posed, thus the need for documentation.

“I still can’t believe that you expect those jagyc’kovide to not believe you, but I get why you wanted it… and why you limited yourself in the battle.” Even though her words were supportive, I could sense frustration at how the last ambush had gone. Suffice to say but the more common Jedi Force abilities, at least the ones used against other sentients, were of limited to no use against the Vong. The only one that did have much effect was Telekinesis, but even there it required using it indirectly which for most Jedi wouldn’t be the reflexive way to use the power. “Though if you ever use that weak osik blue energy I’ll kill you myself!”

I chuckled. “I know it wasn’t as effective, but what I used before was a Dark Side ability.” Calling Electrokinesis ineffective compared to Force Lightning was much like comparing a domestic cat to a sabre-toothed tiger and saying they were both felines.

“I don’t shabyr care what your Council thinks. The red and black energy hurts those shabuire while the blue stuff doesn’t.” Bo shook her head. “Though the idea your Council will dismiss these Vong… I don’t understand it. My father and Duke Torrhen won't dismiss the threat.”

“I’m not saying that all the Jedi Order would dismiss the Vong, I’m just not sure they’ll do much as a whole to prepare for the threat.” I countered, feeling the need to defend the Order in general even if I had little hope that the High Council would give two shits about my report on the Vong. “Though I’m surprised you care about the politics of the Jedi.”

“I don’t. I care about you.” She knelt near me, placing her helmet carefully on the ground. “Just because I’d rather be out fighting than dealing with the boring stuff that you, your council, and my father deal with, doesn’t mean I don’t understand its importance.” I placed my beskad to one side, the ichor finally removed from the blade.

“And here I thought you were nothing more than a pretty face and a deadly warrior,” I commented, knowing the remarks would draw a response.

“Well, now you know me better.” A feral grin spread across her face. “And I think it’s time I learnt more about you.”

I was barely able to steady myself before her lips slammed into mine. As we fought for dominance with our tongues and bodies, concerns about the Vong, the High Council, and the rest of the galaxy were pushed from my thoughts. All that mattered as my hands raced to remove her armour was Bo and the fire burning inside both of us.

… …

… …

“I know why you want to try this,” Bo began as we moved down one of the main thoroughfares in Middle Distance, “but I still think it’s a bad idea.”

While it was nighttime like the previous times we’d come into the settlement, it was dusk and to hide our appearance, even though there were some Humans among the ranks of the Sekotans, we were wearing large robes provided for us by Sheekla. While they helped us mingle in the reasonably quiet street, Bo was unhappy as she’d been forced to move without her helmet on as the shape of it stood out too much under the robe.

I looked up, spotting the large domed building Gann had pointed out on a map as our destination. “I know, but we need the help.” The ambushes had slowly grown more and more difficult. They were increasing in size, altering their routes, and coming more regularly and air cover was prominent. A point made that was reinforced as a Vong fighter buzzed low over the city. “Someone needs to stay at our base camp, meaning we’re limited to no more than four attackers. Even if it's just to have bodies to divert the Vong’s counterfire, we need more blasters in the fight.” I knew that was a slightly cruel thing to say, but I remembered the early days of the insurgency in Iraq. While there’d been many skilled fighters on their side, just as many had lacked anything more than the most basic of training with their firearms. Still, quantity had its uses and I needed that here.

Bo scoffed, possibly thinking that the Sekotans would be more of a hindrance than a help. While I didn’t disagree, if we ever wanted to move against the local Vong base, which had seen an increase in transports coming and going in the last week, we’d need the manpower. Now, if all five of us in the current resistance attempted to attack the base, we might well manage to remove it. However, there was no plan I could come up based on our limited intel, that wouldn’t end in at least two of us dying in the process. While the Rangers were less important to me than Bo or Fenrir, they weren’t expendable.

Thus, after some soul-searching, I’d approached Gann and Sheekla about gaining permission to speak with Middle Distance’s elders. Gann hadn’t been keen on the idea, but Sheekla had managed to somehow convince him, though he was still reluctant about the thing. To be clear, Sheekla was against Sekotans engaging in violence as, like Gann, she felt that ran contrary to the will of Sekot, but she had been willing to let us speak with the elders. Because of the overall reluctance of both, I was watching every person moving around us as if they were suicide bombers. Yes, it made me twitchy, but I’d take that over walking into a trap any day.

The Vong had stepped up their reprisal attacks on the Sekotans because of our ambushes with Sheekla saying they now sent random patrols through the city. If any Sekotan accidentally got in their way, the Vong had one of their amphistaffs bite that being, who then died a slow and painful death. While that was bad, the news that the Vong were abducting locals and removing them to their base never to return was worse. As were the screams of pain and torment that echoed over the city near that base.

All of that was indirectly my fault, but it was something I was going to use in this meeting to try and get the elders to at least allow me to speak with any Sekotan interested in joining us.

“I’ll find an overwatch position,” Bo whispered. I nodded and moved off only for her hand to grip my arm. “Remember the protocol and don’t shabyr die.”

I smiled back, sensing her feelings for me under her concern that something was going to go wrong. “Don’t worry, you’re not getting rid of me that easily.” As I spoke, I patted her hand and pulled her robe back down to hide the crushgaunts she was wearing.

For a moment, I thought Bo was going to say something else, and I felt a spike in her desire and fear, yet she didn’t. Instead, after returning my squeeze with one of her own – which hurt slightly due to the crushgaunts – she gave a nod before sliding from my grasp and then moved away.

After watching her walk away for a moment, I turned back to face the large building I was heading to. While it wasn’t the largest building that I’d seen on the planet, it was one of the bigger ones in Middle Distance. I suspected it served a similar function to a city hall, but there was nothing externally that marked it out as such beyond its size. Thanks to the Force, my minimap showed around fifty beings inside. The one that felt familiar would be Sheekla, as Gann had met us not long after we’d arrived in the city but had departed to handle business elsewhere about five minutes ago. That had put us on edge, but given there were no null-spaces appearing anywhere within range of my minimap, I felt safe in thinking that those inside weren’t going to attack me the moment I entered. Though that didn’t mean as I moved toward the door that my hand wasn’t hovering over my lightsaber hilt.

I knocked on the door in a pattern Gann had taught me before I’d arrived here, and a few moments later the door opened slightly.

“Finally,” Sheekla muttered before reaching out and dragging me inside. The door closed before I’d even turned to face her. “What took you so long?”

The irritation in her voice was matched by that radiating from her within the Force. I smirked at that as, while there was little amusing about the overall situation, in that moment I found it oddly reassuring. “Trust but verify.” She frowned at my reply and as I pulled back the Sekotan robe to expose my face, I explained. “While I felt both you and Gann were genuine in supporting this meeting, I couldn’t say the same about anyone else. Thus, I took some time to scout the area before I entered.” Unless she had a communication device on her that I couldn’t see, she shouldn’t know about Bo, so not bringing her up gave me a card up my sleeve if things went sideways.

“Fine, but you’d better hurry. The elders are growing impatient as they aren’t usually made to wait on others, particularly outsiders.” She stepped past me and headed deeper into the building. “The invaders are also targeting any gathering they come across. Locations such as this are prime targets for their patrols to pass by and if they encounter a grouping they don’t like, they disperse it. Violently.”

“Ah.” That wasn’t something she or Gann had mentioned before, if they had I’d have come earlier to scout the area and arrive on time for this meeting. As it was, I was around fifteen minutes late. Still, if the Vong were now actively targeting any gathering, that was another avenue I could use to get the elders to at least not interfere with other Sekotans joining the resistance. Of course, those that did would be getting Observed. That should help mitigate the chance that any were joining simply to try and turn on us so as to curry favour with the Vong later on.

As Sheekla opened a large set of doors, the eyes of the gathered Sekotans came to rest upon me. Within the Force, I sensed a range of emotions. Distrust, anger, and concern were some of the stronger ones, but I was heartened to sense that curiosity was what I was sensing the strongest.

“Bond-partner, Sheekla and Gann say you wish to speak with us?”

The one who spoke was female with lines on her face, yet like all Ferroan females, she retained the dark colouring of her hair, unlike the males who turned grey with age. The first use of Observe for the meeting revealed she was the chosen spokesperson for this group. To buy time as I Observed those closest to her, I smiled and bowed. “Yes, honoured Elder. I hope that by the time we finish tonight, an understanding between us can be achieved.”

… …

… …

The sound of blaster fire rippled around the section of the forest we were in. Yet, instead of a resounding clang as those bolts hit the metal sheet set up as the target, the sounds of branches being blown off, tree trunks singed, dirt being kicked up and rocks being blown apart echoed around me. I barely stopped myself from sneering at just how bad the first fourteen Sekotans that’d joined the resistance were. I mean, I didn’t have high hopes, but three strikes against the target out of nearly a hundred bolts was bad. Atrociously so.

“This… even Satine is a better shot than this lot.” I chuckled at Bo’s comment even as I looked over at her. While I was disappointed in what we were seeing, she looked insulted.

“That’s not gonna help them.” Though at this point I was already adjusting my plans for future ambushes to use the Sekotans as diversions. I mean, I hadn’t planned on them ever being placed in close combat with a Vong, but I’d hoped they’d be useable as ranged fire support. Though it looked like that wouldn’t be the case for several months at least.

Bo shrugged as the Sekotans slowly stood up, the latest round of practice over. Thank the Force. “It’s not li…. STOP!” Bo stormed forward, rage flowing from her like a burst dam. I followed behind even as she started screaming. “What the shab are you doing?!” She yanked a rifle from the arms of one recruit, a young Sekotan who while taller than Bo by about a head and a half, cowered in terror at the furious redhead.

I rubbed the bridge of my nose to clear my headache after getting a look at the recruit’s rifle. The damn fool had ignored every lesson on rifle safety that Bo and I had given. Instead of turning off the power clip limiter and engaging the safety, he’d done neither and had instead been pointing the rifle at another recruit. The slightest squeeze on the trigger would have resulted in us losing one recruit before the end of the first week of training and me being forced to kick another. Or, in the worst case, the rifle would have continued to draw power and exploded if set down too roughly, which would’ve done even more damage to the Sekotan force.

“No!” Bo hollered, her eyes trying to burn the recruit to ash. “Get back here!” The Sekotan slowly inched forward as Bo turned her glare to the rest of the recruits. “All of you listen! These rifles are not toys, they will kill you just as easily as the enemy if you don’t treat them right! If you cannot give them the respect they deserve, I’ll kick your arse so hard they’ll hear it from orbit and then drop you back with the others! Haran, I’d feel safer with you fighting for the Vong than guarding my back!”

Bo was a beacon of fury in the Force, reminding me of a star waiting to go supernova. Every recruit took at least a step back while the one she’d yanked the rifle from had fallen onto his arse. While Bo was coming down like a falling starship on them, they needed to toughen the fuck up if they were to be of any use. Still, there was no need for us both to play bad cop.

“What she means is that, while we know you’re all new to this you need to think. By the Force, a blaster is not a toy nor a tool. If you survive this boot camp,” and the odds of any of them doing so were slim even with the low bar I’d set for taking a recruit, “then you’ll spend the rest of this fight with your weapon by your side. I don’t care if you’re eating, sleeping, or relieving yourself, your rifle will be within easy reach. These weapons, which are all we’ve got, are the only things you have to help defend your world from the invaders.” I made sure to not refer to them as Vong and hoped they didn’t catch Bo’s slip and start asking questions. Until they were full recruits, I didn’t want the race name being used around them. “Put your weapons down carefully, after making sure the safety’s engaged, then head over to Lieutenant Zarkos.” I pointed into the trees in a south-westerly direction. About a klick away, Zarkos had set up the next lesson for the recruits, this one being on the Vong’s anatomy and possible weak points.

If Fay was here, she’d have accused me of being too harsh on the Sekotans – to say nothing of Bo’s behaviour – but by the Force, were they fucking useless. I mean, even when I first joined the army at seventeen, in a country where most guns were illegal, I knew the simple basics about a rifle. Hell, at this point I’d willingly take a group of New Mandalorians instead of the Sekotans. At least they knew how to shoot, even if they only ever used stunners.

I watched the Sekotans slowly amble away, since they were still new, I wouldn’t point out the fact they weren’t moving quietly or being mindful of their surroundings. I’d just have to make sure when we returned to the base camp – which was five klicks to the east, I made sure they did and then used the Force to hide our path as best I could. The one who’d fucked up pulled himself to his feet and then ran after the others, which made me chuckle. Hopefully getting ripped a new arsehole by Bo would make him straighten out. Though if not, I’d happily kick his arse to the curb, if Bo didn’t do it herself.

As I picked up the first of the discarded rifles I took a few deep, calming breaths. While not as blaster-obsessed as Bo, seeing how haphazardly the Sekotans had placed the blasters infuriated me. Most had been dumped on their sides while one had been placed down muzzle-first into the ground. Since most of them had come from my Inventory – we’d only had a handful of spare blasters from the wrecks of the Ne’tra Sartr and Longstrider – I was angered at the disrespect for my possessions. So far, it seemed the others had bought my excuse of Gann and Sheekla finding the blasters in Middle Distance, but I felt Bo had her doubts.

“Might just be easier to use them as decoys. Or give them a grenade and order them to run and throw it at the Vong.” I laughed and turned to see Bo examining one rifle carefully as she wiped some dirt from the casing. While the idea broke dozens of rules from my former life and made a complete mockery of the Geneva Convention, this wasn’t Earth. The rules of warfare in this galaxy were far more… relaxed regarding attacking civilian locations or acting like what people on earth would consider terrorists. Which was a good thing since this little resistance would certainly be seen that way by my former COs.

“While amusing, that’d be a waste of our limited explosives.” As I spoke, I picked up the last rifle and placed it gently with the others on a down tree. Save the one that’d been dropped muzzle-first, none appeared in need of detailed cleaning. “Knowing them, they’d find a way to blow themselves and others up before we could attack, leaving the rest of us kriffed.” A gesture with my hand brought the metal target over to us.

Bo laughed as the metal sheet reached us and then turned around so we could use it to carry the blasters. She muttered something under her breath as she saw the dirt-clogged muzzle and I felt a slight wave of disbelief radiate from her. “Shabyr di’kute.” As she placed the last of the blasters she’d gathered on the sheet, she looked up at me. “At this point, I’d trade them all for Tedra and Anakin. They might be young, and far from trained Jedi, but they know how to shabyr use a blaster!”

“While I don’t disagree with the sentiment, if we could choose reinforcements, I’d rather have a few Jedi Knights or a squad of Mando’ade with us.” My reply came as I placed the last of my blasters on the sheet, and then glanced off to see the last of the Sekotans had disappeared into the trees. “Though if we had other Jedi here, I suspect most would’ve died given how much they rely on the Force for attack and defence.”

Bo shook her head and gave me a ‘gentle’ shoulder tap. “Normally, I’d say that was the protocol droid calling the astromech a machine, but you’re far from a normal Jedi. Thank Manda.” We started walking toward the base camp, the sheet floating behind us as I held it up with the Force. “That said, it sure was lucky the Sekotans had so many weapons just lying around their city. Before today we’d have only been able to arm four of those… recruits, yet I’d honestly feel happier about that than what we just saw.”

I could feel Bo’s gaze focus on me as she mentioned where the blasters had come from. She might’ve had her helmet on, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t tell when she was glaring at someone or something. “Yeah, it was a lucky find.”

A snarl slipped through her helmet’s speakers before she stepped forward and moved to block my path. “You’re seriously going to keep this osik up?” I frowned at her tone as she jabbed me in the chest with a finger. Her other hand pointed at the sheet behind me. “When we left the Ne’tra Sartr there were only three blasters with us, two from the Rangers and one from our ship. Then, a day or so after speaking with the first group of possible recruits, you claim the Sekotans had a dozen blasters floating around their city? Bantha-osik!” she continued to jab me as she spoke, each stab being more forceful. “You’re lying to us, to me. Just like you did with the Taozin!” I frowned at that being brought up, then realised what she was on about just before she explained. “You used a half-dozen grenades when you only had one on you. Then against the Vong after they shot us down, you pulled out your shoto, which wasn’t on your belt when we crashed!” She leaned forward until her helmet was pushing against my forehead. “Where the shab are you getting all this osik?”

Various possible answers flew through my head, ranging from saying she simply missed that I had my secondary blade, or that the explosions weren’t from thermal detonators all the way up to a full reveal of how I’d had those weapons. My thoughts turned back to the various warnings I’d gotten from the Interface, and I felt my brow rise as I realised it hadn’t once said I couldn’t reveal the existence of it to others; only that future knowledge was forbidden. With that, I saw a way that I could explain things to Bo. Though I doubted it would work with a Force user.

With a sigh, I took a step back and lifted a hand to gently ease her jabbing finger away from me. It should look like I was relenting under her fury. “Fine. I’ll explain it to you, but not here.” I looked around at the forest. “Once we’re back at the cave, and these rifles are cleaned, I’ll send Simvyl out on patrol and then explain everything.” Or enough of things that she’d be willing to accept where the equipment was coming from.

“Fine,” Bo said after a few moments. “But if you don’t, by Manda, I’ll beat you so badly no one will recognize you.” With her threat made, she turned and stalked away. Biting off a chuckle at the empty threat – more because if it came down to it, I knew she couldn’t defeat me without laying an ambush beforehand – I followed along behind. Though I kept my pace as slow as I could to give myself time to work out how I’d explain things.

…

I watched Bo’s eyes as I slowly pulled out various bags from my Inventory. The confusion spreading in them drew a chuckle as I placed the bag of grenades on the ground between us.

“What?”

“Sorry, you’re cute when you’re confused.” That turned the confusion into a scowl, which made me laugh again. “And when angered.” Her hand moved toward her helmet, possibly thinking about putting it on and hiding her reactions from me, only to stop as I opened and placed the bacta patches in front of her. While there was a limit to each slot of twenty-five items, I’d discovered a few years ago that I could get around that by placing things into a bag that’d fit in an Inventory slot and filling it to the brim. Something proved by the nearly fifty patches in the latest bag.

“So, that’s all that I think you need to see today,” I said as Bo stared at the medicine. “There’s more I’ve got stored, but none of it is important to what we’re doing now.” Which was true as three bags of gems wouldn’t be much use, though I needed to find a way to sell them for credits as they were doing nothing but taking up space. “Also, before I explain all this,” my hand swept over the various bags, “I need you to promise that you’ll never mention this to anyone. Not Naz, your father, Serra, or any Jedi.”

“Why?”

I smirked as I pulled the Mantle of the Force from my Inventory and held it in my hand. Currently, I had it at ninety per cent alignment with me, but the closer I got to removing the last of its alignment to Revan, the harder it was to do. Which was saying something since I’d had the crystal for several years, though it was only during my time in the Temple that I’d spent nights meditating on the crystal and nothing else. Oddly, since passing fifty per cent, the only way to improve the alignment was to not try and use any Force power other than Force Attune while meditating. “Because as far as I know, no Jedi, or any Force user, has ever used the Force like this.” With a thought and twist of my hand and the Mantle slid back into the Inventory. “If people discovered I could… store things in what I’ve termed a pocket dimension, I’d be locked up, studied and possibly dissected to learn how.” She nodded slowly as the implications of what I’d hinted at dawned on her. “Now, I don’t entirely know how this works, or why, but it started when I was eight, but what I can store, and how, has slowly grown greater as time has passed. Which is why I’ve got so much stored that might be of use to us now.”

“This… That’s… osik! With this you could…” she paused as she hesitantly reached out for the bag of bacta patches only to stop and turn her attention to me. “When you said you’d explain things, I wasn’t expecting… well, this.”

“I can guess.”

She laughed and ran a hand through her hair, a sign of her trying to get her thoughts in order. “I mean, I had a few ideas, but a… hidden Force pocket dimension wasn’t something I considered. Well, not seriously.” She laughed once more and leaned forward. “What else have you got in there?”

Smirking, I figured one of the bags of gems would work best. Based on the way her eyes almost leapt from her skull as I held the bag open for her to see, I’d been right. She reached for the bag, her hand shaking slightly. I heard her breath hitch as her hand slipped into the bag and rummaged through the various gems. Most of these, and the other two gem bags, had come from when I’d been pretending to be Palpatine’s nephew, having conveniently gone missing before the slaver ship I had discovered Bultar Swan and Jon Savos on had been impounded by Republic security.

Bo pulled one large emerald from the bag, turning it over in her hand as I saw the colour matched her eyes. “Keep it,” I said as I closed the bag before she could reject the gift. I then slid the bag back into my Inventory. “I’ve got another bag like that, plus some stuff from my mother including her holocron, and a few other things. But nothing that will help with the Vong.”

“Why didn’t you use any of this while that… woman had you prisoner?” she asked even as her hand pulled the emerald toward her waist.

“Force ability, remember,” I replied as she slid the jewel into a secure pocket. “I wanted to, but that kriffing mask prevented me from using the Force.” Which was true, from a certain point of view. Though I was glad that the mask blocking my Inventory hadn’t forced all my stuff to magically appear at my feet, or worse, be lost into a void from which it’d never return.

“Right.” Bo opened one of the other bags and her eyes bugged out again. “Y-you… you’ve had all this food and we’ve been forced to eat rations and forage for months?”

I slid back as her eyes burnt holes through my skull. Bo had never been happy about eating the Republic-standard rations we’d recovered from the Ne’tra Sartr, so her getting angry about the food bag wasn’t unexpected. Though the strength of that anger was. “It wasn’t like I could drop them on a hover cart, or say they came from the Sekotans.” Bo continued to glare even as she pulled a Mandalorian orange from the bag. I stayed quiet as she ripped back the skin and then sunk her teeth into the fruit. A quiet moan slipped from her lips as she savoured the taste.

“Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve had one of these?” She asked after swallowing that first bite.

“Um, a few months?” I asked, which brought back her glare.

“Try over a year!” She snapped back. “With the war, shipments out of the sector are limited, making the price insane. And here you’ve been, wandering around all that time with this and Manda knows what else is stored away and still fresh thanks to your damn Force!” She snarled at me before taking another bite of the orange. “You owe me for this.”

“I know.” I laughed nervously, hoping that payment wouldn’t be too painful. “Soo, about these supplies.” As I spoke, I opened a smaller bag that I’d placed next to the grenades to reveal my cache of thermal detonators. “Oof!” The sound slipped from my lips as she punched me hard in the chest, getting juice from the orange over my robes.

“You… argh!” She snapped before taking another bite of her orange. I was thankful she’d done that instead of commenting on the fact I had a half-dozen thermal detonators and I’d only revealed them months into a guerrilla war campaign against a powerful enemy. “Months, it’s going to take you months.” She muttered and I nodded in agreement as I realised that I should’ve started with the weapons and then revealed the food. “Once we’re off this shabyr planet you’re going to make it up to me for hiding all this.” She stood after taking another bite of her orange. “I’m going. I need to redirect my anger.” As she spoke, she picked up her helmet with her free hand and then marched toward the cave entrance, only to stop after a few steps. “You’re sure there’s nothing else you’re got squirrelled away that might be of use?”

“No. At least not to anyone but me.” She frowned and I explained. “I’ve got a few holocrons, including two Sith ones, that might have instructions on powers I could use against the Vong. But other than that, and parts of my lightsabers, there’s nothing else of use.”

“Fine.” Without another word, she resumed walking, leaving me to place the various bags back into my Inventory. As I started to do that, my mind turned to the holocrons. The Sith holocron that I’d gotten back when my grandfather had been killed was next to useless, only really being for indoctrination of Sith Acolytes and teaching the most basic of powers and how fuelling their use with anger made them stronger. The three Jedi ones from under the temple had been essentially diaries used by knights who’d died down there.

That left my mother’s and King Adas’ holocrons for sources of new powers, though I doubted there would be anything useful in my mother’s, in terms of battle applicability here. Yet even knowing it might be useful, I was hesitant to even touch King Adas’ holocron, as it radiated danger. I just had to hope my decision to not activate it didn’t come back to hurt me.

… …

… …

“Status,” I whispered into my commlink as I sat high in a tree waiting for the incoming Vong patrol covered in a simple ghillie net that, while not perfect, would make it hard to spot me from the ground. We knew they were coming as two Sekotans were acting as advanced scouts. They’d called in the approach with the assigned phrase, followed up soon after by the signal that they were withdrawing to the rendezvous points about two klicks south. Yet even though the calls had come in clearly and they’d moved off as expected – I could fully track them as they were outside the range of the minimap – something felt off. I wasn’t getting any hint of a warning from the Force, but I had a niggling feeling that something wasn’t quite right.

“Anvil, set.” That came from Zarkos who, along with a group of ten Sekotans, was serving as ranged support for the ambush in the kill box we were waiting around. Oh, it wasn’t an obvious kill box, being not much more than a slight depression in the land with decent sight-lines from a nearby hill where Zarkos and the Sekotans were, but based on the patrol patterns of the Vong over the last few weeks, this was the best location – both by terrain and distance from other potential Vong forces – for this ambush to take place.

Eight null-zones had entered the range of my minimap about thirty seconds ago, and while that was the largest patrol yet, with the slow improvement in the Sekotans’ aim – it wasn’t like they could get much worse from their starting abilities – this patrol would be manageable, if the largest one we’d yet taken on in the months since we’d started the resistance. There’d been some teething issues, and of the initial twelve Sekotans that had survived boot camp, we’d lost four. However, those deaths had ignited something in the younger Sekotans, and our forces had grown to about thirty volunteers. Though admittedly, most weren’t ready for field work and were currently back at either our base camp or the training location – which we’d set up a few klicks away from the cave – with Fenrir.

To say the tuk’ata wasn’t happy about missing a fight would be an understatement, but he’d been wounded by a Vong in the last ambush. While the wound wasn’t infected, thank the Force, I still wanted him to rest and heal, and had gotten him to stay by Fay’s side after some cajoling. While the Sekotans at the base camp couldn’t follow his orders, I knew he’d keep them in line with his presence alone. And probably take out his frustration at missing a fight by growling at anyone who so much as looked at him funny.

Bo had wanted to increase the number of Sekotans we recruited, but I’d been hesitant. With most of our support coming from the younger generations, we’d had about twenty Sekotans who’d wanted to join that I’d rejected. While Bo had no issues with using teenagers as soldiers, she was after all a Mandalorian, I did. Or at least taking them away from their families when they’d never held a blaster before. Another ten had been rejected for simply being, like the two from the first group of Sekotans, a danger to those around them when given a blaster.

Since we had a limited supply of weapons, and Bo was still referring to me holding out on my inventory at times, most of the guards at the base camp or training centre were armed with vibroblades that I’d had stored in my Inventory. Hopefully, in the months ahead, that issue would be overcome as some Sekotans had begun developing blasters made locally. So far, the process hadn’t moved beyond a single practical failure, which thankfully hadn’t been fatal, but it did give me hope that with time we’d have the firepower to engage more than just a patrol every few weeks. Well, so long as the Sekotan elders didn’t shut down the weapon research program being led by the younger members of their society.

“Hammer, set.”

I shook my head as Bo’s confirmation came in, but not because of her. The elder Sekotans, while having granted me permission to speak with pockets of the populace, were still preaching that peaceful coexistence with the Vong was the correct path.

It had made both Bo and myself think longingly of the preaching of the New Mandalorians in comparison.

While that would have been annoying as fuck on its own, they’d continued to believe this even after the Vong had grabbed one of the elders and along with three other Sekotans – with the youngest being a pre-teen – locked them in the most deranged torture device I’d ever had the misfortune to have seen. It’d taken all my self-control, which was heavily frayed currently, and a firm hand from Zarkos, to not rush to the torture sight and obliterate the Vong present. According to Sheekla, the screams of those Sekotans had echoed around Middle Distance for several days. Though the one upside was that afterwards, as the elders still preached peace as Sekot’s way, they’d lost influence among the general populace. Not by much, but I’d take any shift that would bring more Sekotans into a position of being willing to help us.

Still, that was a matter for another day, as the null-zones slowly approached, I turned my thoughts to the present. Zarkos’ unit would open fire first, pinning the Vong down for a moment. It wouldn’t be long as the Vong were well-trained and highly skilled and had reacted to blaster fire in previous ambushes with scary speed, but Anvil was simply a distraction. Once the Vong turned their way, I’d drop down into, hopefully, the middle of the Vong patrol and remove one or two quickly before Bo and Simvyl attacked. There was the chance one of us would be accidentally shot by the Sekotans, but so far Zarkos had been keeping them on a tight leash about when and where to fire.

Still, I wasn’t happy about using essentially untrained civilians in a guerrilla war, even if I understood that that was often the case in such wars. At least until the civilians that survived the opening months learnt how to fight by simply surviving battles. And after nearly two months, we were beginning to see that happen, though I was still wary about being in the firing zone of the Sekotans.

The lead Vong came into view, and I frowned. This Vong was armoured like the squad leader we’d encountered after being shot down, and while having one or two of those in a patrol was a more common occurrence, they’d never been taking point. My frown deepened, and that sensation that something was off grew, as the next two Vong came into view, and I saw they were also armoured. By the time the fifth Vong had appeared, I’d realised that this patrol was more heavily armoured than any we’d seen before. Something the fifth Vong made clear.

Unlike the other Vong, this one was covered in a hard shell-like armour that, from what my Force-boosted sight could tell, covered almost every weakness an armour might have. The hands weren’t encased, but part of the vambrace stretched out in a way that’d cover the top of the hand from a strike. While that might normally limit movement, since I knew they could shift the shape of their amphistaffs with seemingly nothing more than a thought, I doubted it was an impediment. Something made even more likely by the odd claws that seemed to have replaced the fingers on one hand. This Vong also had a helm made of the same shell armour, though its face was uncovered which made it the most obvious weak point, though the Vong would know this and fight to avoid a facial strike. Of course, there was always the small chance the Vong had shielding technology similar to what Bo and I had with our Vambraces to protect their faces, but I felt that unlikely as it didn’t fit with their behaviour or technology.

As the sixth Vong came into view, and I offered a silent thanks to the Force that this one wasn’t armoured like the fifth, I started rapidly altering my attack plans. I’d have to take out two if not three of the standard armoured Vong before engaging this new one for Bo and Simvyl to have a fair chance. While Bo would be safe in her armour and could do damage with her beskad and crushgaunts, Simvyl was another matter. Yes, he had armour, but it was durasteel and as had been proven in an early battle to be less than ideal. There, Zarkos’ armour had been hit by a glob from an amphistaff and while the armour had held, it had grown brittle quickly.

The other issue that stood out was that the Vong were far more attentive than usual. Now, that wasn’t to say the other Vong patrols weren’t cautious, but this group was visibly on edge. They were scanning the forest for any hint of movement and when the clawed Vong barked out orders in their language – which always sounded guttural and wrong somehow – the whole patrol slowed. As they gripped their amphistaffs tighter, my concern grew that they knew they were walking into a possible ambush. I used Observe on the clawed Vong and had that confirmed, and as I opened the commlink to call off the ambush, the Force flared.

A scream ripped through the forest, sending birds into the sky, as pain and terror flooded the Force.

“Ambush!” Zarkos’ voice came through the comms as I saw one of the Sekotans vanish from the minimap and blaster fire erupt from where Anvil team were, though none of it was aimed at the Vong patrol below me.

As a second Sekotan blinked out at the extreme edge of my minimap, I knew I had to act, and dropped down. The world seemed to slow down as the Force powers I used for combat were pushed to their limits, making me a far more dangerous fighter than I’d been merely a second earlier.

The Vong below me was tense, but he hadn’t expected an attack to come from above. The faint howl of the lightsaber – something I always enjoyed hearing as it reminded me that I’d taken down a greater krayt dragon – was the only warning the Vong heard. His head had barely started to move up as my blade slammed into and then sliced clean through his skull. My beskad came down as well, and with the now partially headless Vong’s amphistaff still in its whip configuration, the beskar blade slid between a small gap in its scaled armour and removed the head from the body.

The eyes of the other Vong turned to me, yet before any could attack, one fell, smoke rising from his face where a trio of blaster bolts had struck. Three Vong that I could see moved toward where that fire had come from as Bo and Simvyl emerged from their cover even as the other Vong, including the clawed one, rushed at me.

An amphistaff came thrusting in and while I could block it, I’d be leaving myself in close quarters with three Vong, all of whom had the advantage. I vaulted back, the Force boosting the height and distance I covered and once in mid-flip, thrust my hand toward the Vong that launched the first attack. Twisted red energy raced from my fingertips and struck the Vong in the chest, knocking him back into a nearby tree.

As I landed a scream echoed in the Force, causing me to stumble. I still had my blade in a defensive position though as the clawed Vong reached me. I had covered more ground than the first Vong in less time and its amphistaff flicked toward me rapidly even as it shifted from a whip to a spear. I pivoted, deflecting the staff away with my lightsaber, then as the staff shifted back to a whip, I pulled my blade back and brought my beskad up, slashing the snake head over the snout.

While that drove back the amphistaff, the move to attack had shifted my stance. The third Vong attacking me took advantage and stabbed forward with its staff. A roll of my wrist allowed me to slap away the attack with my lightsaber clipping one of the amphistaff’s eyes, but as I did something slammed into my other shoulder.

I tumbled away, though I quickly regained control, only to find the clawed Vong closing rapidly; its staff coming forward in a dangerous-looking twisting thrust. Not wanting to try to block it head-on, I instead used the Force to flick the dirt at my feet upward, into its face. The dirt got into the Vong’s eyes, and its attack went haywire as it lost sight of me. Taking advantage of that, even as I slipped to one side to avoid the staff as it shifted into a whip and snapped at me, my lightsaber flicked forward, catching the Vong near an organ Zarkos had determined was important. Yet my blade failed to do any damage as the shell armour resisted the plasma of my blade and the tip slid over the armour; a slight darkening of the shell, the only hint I’d even struck it.

Before I could alter my attacks and strike the clawed Vong again, the other two were upon me. The one who I’d blasted with Force Lightning stabbed at me with its staff, forcing me to lean back to avoid the snake head. As I directed it away with my beskad, the blade caught the thing’s eye and sent black ichor flying. Yet even as that staff reared back in pain, I’d moved back and regained my footing, just in time to block an attack from the other Vong with my lightsaber.

That staff shifted even as I pushed the weapon away. Realising that I couldn’t pull my blade back before the staff had shifted and wrapped around my lightsaber, I did something potentially foolish. Tràkata was a lightsaber trick that Dooku had shown me several years ago yet warned me against using unless I had no choice as if done wrong it left one exposed and without a weapon. The power to my blade vanished in an instant, sending the snake-head flying through nothing and toward me. It snapped at my arm as my blade reignited, catching the Vong holding it on the hand, removing several fingers. As the Vong yanked back its staff, I felt the teeth rip into my skin and saw a health notice appear in the Interface.

I couldn’t give the notice anything more than a passing thought as I rolled back my other shoulder, letting a thrust from the burnt Vong pass by. Taking advantage of the Vong’s extended state, a flick of my wrist had my beskad slide across its scarred chest. The cut wasn’t deep enough to be fatal, mainly as the Vong had just managed to shift its stance by removing one hand from its amphistaff. My blade dug deep, exposing the Vong’s ribcage, but slid out of the body before it reached the throat.

As I stepped forward, wanting to finish off the now injured Vong, movement to my side drew my attention. I turned just in time to see the snake-head of the clawed Vong’s amphistaff – which up close looked larger and more dangerous than those of other Vong – rushing toward me. With my body awkwardly twisted to meet the on-coming Vong, I knew trying to even deflect the attack would be foolish, meaning I had to do something dangerous.

I stepped back, sliding inside the reach of the sliced Vong and its staff, and drove my shoulder into its chest. The impact rattled my teeth, but it further unbalanced the injured Vong and allowed me to drop under the forearm of the Vong and then bring my arm back up and slam my elbow into the arm holding the amphistaff. The snake-head snapped at me as I moved, but it couldn’t reach me as its Vong stumbled away from me, right into the open maw of the clawed Vong’s amphistaff.

As the injured Vong snarled in annoyance – and I hoped pain – my lightsaber came up and clipped its spine, severing the brain’s connection to the body from below its mid-back. The Vong slumped forward onto the clawed Vong’s amphistaff and took that out of play for a moment.

However, any chance I had to finish off the injured Vong or attack the clawed Vong was removed as the scarred Vong rushed at me. Its amphistaff was close, too close for me to block or deflect before it reached my face. Forced to react, the world shifted to silver.

As the light faded, I found myself about ten metres from the trio of Vong, though the injured Vong was now a heap on the ground. An amphistaff was suddenly thrusting toward my face, and I slid a foot back to set my stance, yet my foot caught an upturned root. That unexpected event caused me to stumble to one side, ironically making the scared-Vong’s amphistaff miss me. I took advantage of that by bringing my beskad up in a powerful sweep, severing the head of the weapon as I let myself fall back, rotate and land on my feet.

An instant later the Vong was engulfed in flames. Even as its flesh darkened the Vong seemed unaffected still, it made it pause for just long enough that I could steady myself. As I did, the flames stopped, and I felt a grunt of pain echo within the Force.

Behind the now unarmed Vong, I saw another member of the species slam into Bo, sending her flying into a tree. Logically I knew she was still safe in her armour, but emotionally, I felt my fury rise. The world around me darkened before spears of burgundy energy surged forth, seeking out the Vong who’d dare lay a hand on that which belonged to me, the rage-fuelled lightning never reached its target though as the unarmed Vong had the misfortune of stepping into its path.

The Vong was sent hurtling away, dark-red energy coursing over its body, and slamming it into a tree. The wood went up instantly, engulfing it and the Vong in flames enriched with dark, malevolent energy. Before I could take any further enjoyment from the now burning Vong, Danger Sense warned me of something behind me which was a relief as the Force failed to offer any warning about the Vong.

I turned to see the shell-armoured Vong rushing toward me with the other one from the initial three a few steps behind. The shell-armoured Vong’s amphistaff’s snake-head rushed toward me. My lightsaber flicked up, catching the snake on its snout, and diverting the attack, yet that didn’t do anything about the Vong’s momentum.

“Oof!” The air fled from my lungs as the Vong’s shoulder slammed into my gut. The force of the impact easily lifted me from my feet. It stopped, letting me fly back and as a gap reappeared between us, the clawed hand slashed in front of me. My robes were rippled with ease, and I was lucky that the attack only grazed my skin, likely leaving deep cuts across my stomach and chest.

I landed and stumbled back, struggling to get my footing as the Vong brought its clawed hand back around, this time planning to skewer me. My beskad barely came up in time, though I found some pleasure in slicing off two of the claws before striking the vambrace and diverting the attack away from me. That enjoyment was short-lived, however, as the other remaining Vong from the initial trio arrived to help the clawed one.

I was forced to leap back from the clawed Vong to have the space to defend against the other Vong, which I did by using my lightsaber to divert an attack of its amphistaff. Yet the Vong was prepared for that and twisted its arms to bring the tail of the staff around. I shifted my weight and slid one foot back, letting the attack sail through the air though the Vong started to counter by rotating its shoulders.

To prevent it from striking me with the flat of its staff, I brought my beskad up and pushed the amphistaff upward. The pressure against my blade suddenly lessened, meaning it was shifting from staff to whip form, but the movement I’d made had left the Vong’s side exposed. My lightsaber found its mark, burning a hole into the Vong’s side just under its armpit. A flick of my wrist had the energy blade rush from the Vong’s chest, rupturing several internal organs and sending smoke caused by the instant cauterization of the cut into the air.

My beskad caught a chink in the amphistaff’s armour even as I turned, and the beskar blade bit down on the living weapon as its wielder slumped to the floor. Yet as the Mandalorian weapon sliced into the amphistaff, I had to flick it away. The clawed Vong had swung at me with its odd hand, and while the attack didn’t impale me as it planned, two of the remaining three claws caught my side and drew blood onto my robes.

Rage boiled up and I brought my lightsaber up rapidly, only for it to be blocked by the shaft of the Vong’s amphistaff. The weapon shifted, trying to wrap around my lightsaber. I shifted my stance to avoid that only for the Vong’s arm to slam into my gut. As I stumbled back, turning as I did, the Vong used the moment to grapple me. The amphistaff came around, snapping toward my face. My blades were both stuck facing downward as my arms were trapped by the Vong in a bear hug. I could hear its disturbing voice chatter in my ear, seemingly revelling in having caught me.

The remaining blocks on my anger uncorked. “Fuck you!” the air around me turned a sickly dark red and in an instant, I was freed. My robes were singed, as was my hair, but I was free of the Vong’s grip.

As I turned, I saw he’d been sent hurtling into a boulder, cracks rippling outward from where the Vong had struck it. Seeing that the Vong was still alive made it hard to retain control, but after shaking my head a few times I regained enough to not rush him.

“Just fucking die already,” I spat out as the Vong pulled itself upright, ignoring the metallic taste in my mouth. I took a step to set my stance, only to wobble and bring a hand to my side. The cuts there, while not deep, had bled heavily, though that only further fuelled my rage.

The Vong shouted something at me in its fucked-up tongue, but I didn’t care to understand what’d said. Only that the fucker was still standing even as its amphistaff slithered over the boulder toward the non-clawed hand. I channelled my rage into my beskar-wielding hand, readying myself to unleash another blast of Force Lightning only for the commlink to crackle into life.

“G-get ou-t of he-re!” Zarkos’ voice was weak, broken and behind it, the sounds of screaming, blaster fire and inalienable snarling could be heard. “Fi-ight ag-gain.”

Before I could respond an explosion rocked the forest, sending dust and debris hurtling around me. Even before it settled, I’d realised the blast had come from the direction of Anvil unit. A glance at my minimap to see that almost all of them were gone, including Zarkos, was accompanied by what sounded like a barking laugh from the Vong.

The laugh enraged me, but the sight of a dozen null-zones racing from the former location of Anvil unit toward where I was focused my mind. “Fall back!” I shouted into the commlink. I didn’t want to run, didn’t want to give the motherfucker in front of me the satisfaction of winning, but I knew we’d already lost. If we didn’t bug out now, we’d either join Zarkos or be captured and tortured by the Vong. Memories of my time with Vosa slipped into my thoughts as I promised that I wasn’t going to be captured again and that Zarkos wouldn’t have died in vain.

“But…”

“NO! Get going!” I continued to glare at the clawed Vong as we faced off against each other even as the dust settled. He seemed willing to wait, likely for his reinforcements to arrive, before attacking again, which gave me the time I needed to prep a hastily developed escape plan. “I’ll cover you!”

“Cam.” Bo sounded winded, if not wounded, and I could hear the confusion and concern in her voice. And the rage that burned within her through the Force, yet I knew her concern was aimed squarely at me.

“I’m not falling here, just going to buy you some time. Get Simvyl and bug out.” I closed the link and depowered my lightsaber. The clawed Vong snorted at that and then banged its fist against its chest, yet I paid his reaction little attention as I hooked my lightsaber and sheathed my beskad. No, all I wanted was to draw on all the rage within me, on the hurt and pain I’d felt over two lifetimes. With that, I dove into the Force, turning it to my will, and embracing the Dark Side. I knew this was dangerous, but it was the only way I could see for us all to escape.

The corners of my vision twitched red. The Vong roared, then charged even as the first of its allies slipped into view. The blood on the armour of the first four Vong, all armoured like the clawed Vong, though only two had similar hands, further fuelled my fury.

“Burn motherfuckers!”

Fire and twisted, dark red energy erupted from my hands, slamming into the Vong and the ground around them. The rage-empowered destruction spread rapidly, filling the forest around me with an ungodly heat. Snarling screams echoed behind the sound of wood exploding under the heat and power being unleashed.

I smirked as I lowered my hands and stepped back, taking in the carnage I’d unleashed, though I didn’t allow myself to savour it, instead letting the world be enveloped in silver as I used the Force to teleport away.

… …

… …

I winced as I leaned over and ran the rag along the blade of my beskad. While the cuts I’d taken from the clawed Vong hadn’t been infected nor deep, they were a nuisance. Even though they were only, for the most part, minor, it was harder to heal them with the Force, likely a result of them being made by a species and technology that not only seemed unaffected by it, but also appeared to actively repel or hamper the semi-mystical energy field that bound everything together. Or almost everything it seemed. Which would explain why wounds caused by such weapons would be less easily healed by Force-based techniques. All the Force could do was accelerate my healing and numb the pain, which meant wearing bacta patches to help as well. Even though they were working, it was taking longer than I’d like to heal and my injuries flared with pain sporadically.

Still, I was doing better than Simvyl was. While the Cathar had only taken some superficial wounds, which I’d been able to help accelerate the healing of, and he’d managed to kill what I was referring to as a squad-leader Vong, he was struggling with the loss of Zarkos. After reviewing the recording from Bo’s armour, we’d realised the Togrutan had used his thermal detonator to take out several Vong instead of being captured. It was, all things considered, a good way to go, but Simvyl was struggling to cope.

In the space of a half a year he’d lost both Rangers that’d come with them, including the one who’d been training him. While the pair hadn’t commented on it often, it was clear they had a bond similar to what I shared with Fay and Dooku. Not as deep or profound obviously, but just as important to them. Thus Simvyl, in the days since the disastrous ambush, had been unstable and prone to emotional outbursts.

The Sekotans were doing worse. With the best trained members of them now dead – I hoped none had been captured – those that remained were wavering. About half had asked to return to Middle Distance to spend time with their friends and family and while I hoped they’d all come back; I expected some not to. Bo had left this morning with that group and would be back by nightfall unless she had to move slower due to increased Vong patrols.

A gentle growl from Fenrir drew my focus. Since I’d returned Fenrir had been my constant shadow, and if I didn’t know any better he was doing so not just to keep an eye on me, but to remind me that he felt things would’ve gone differently if he’d been there. Though his constant presence had made last night a little awkward when Bo came to sleep with me. We hadn’t done anything beyond sleeping, which was different as every other time we were together, it had turned into a battle for dominance, which she seemed to enjoy losing even if she never made it too easy on me. Still, I’d been grateful for the company, and I suspected she felt the same way. When I’d woken, she’d already left to escort the Sekotans home.

“No matter how much you think otherwise, you being there wouldn’t have changed anything.” I muttered to Fenrir, which drew a snort and a shake of the head from the large beast. While he couldn’t speak, he was scarily intelligent and when combined with what I could sense from him within the Force, I rarely had any difficulty understanding him. “Doesn’t matter how much you think otherwise, it’s the truth.”

Fenrir stood, did a full body shake, the ones that reminded me of a dog, before he walked around in a circle. Eventually he dropped back down, his head resting on his front paws. Seeing that he didn’t want to argue anymore and was going to return to just sitting by my side – to hide that he was trying to guard me – I resumed cleaning my beskad. While it wasn’t a rifle from my former life, cleaning it brought me the same sense of calm and centeredness that rifle-cleaning often brought. While Alchaka worked better for centring myself within the Force, cleaning a weapon was an older, and more stabilising thing for me in times of crisis.

Time seemed to melt away as the rag moved methodically over the blade, soaking up the black blood of the Vong though I was always careful to avoid the razor-sharp edge. Neither the rag nor my finger would survive sliding over that, something I’d discovered by accident not long after getting the weapon.

Eventually, I sensed someone approaching. A look at my minimap and reaching out through the Force let me know it was Simvyl. While my bond with him wasn’t on par with someone like Serra, never mind Bo or my masters, it was growing stronger and that allowed me to sense more of what he was feeling. He was still angry, but there was determination overriding it.

“Morning,” I said as he came closer. A quick use of Observe let me know he was hungry – hardly a surprise as the only ration pack opened before I got to the hovercart storing them was from Bo – and was conflicted about things. Not wanting to pry, even if I knew he needed to talk, I kept silent and returned to cleaning the blade.

Simvyl moved closer, gave Fenrir a wary look, which was ignored by the lazing tuk’ata, before sitting down nearby. Still, I kept cleaning my blade. If he wanted to talk, he would, and if he just wanted silent company, that’s what I’d give him. Anything else would likely result in him pulling back.

“How’d you manage it?” He asked after nearly ten minutes of silence.

I stopped cleaning the blade, though I was glad to see the last of the blood was off it and looked over at him. I had an idea of what he was asking about, but I didn’t want to jump to conclusions.

“When… When Master Fay was almost killed, you lost control, you-” he paused and looked away. When he looked back, I saw the lack of sleep in his eyes and the haunted expression he wore more clearly along with the matted fur around the eyes. “You went dark, stopped being a Jedi. I remember the eyes.” He shivered involuntarily. “I’ve seen them when we’ve fought the Vong since.”

He found some inner strength and looked me in the eyes. “I swore to you that if you turned, I’d kill you. Yet Zar… Kekda said it was fine.” A sleeve came up to wipe his eyes. “He said Master Fay was the closest thing you had to a mother. Seeing her badly hurt and lashing out as you did was a perfectly normal reaction, even if it wasn’t how a Jedi should behave. Yet I- I’ve seen that rage, that anger in your eyes in every battle since then. You lose control, yet don’t. And around the camp, you seem fine.”

I chuckled and shook my head. “If someone says they’re fine, then they’re likely using the word wrong.” The fur around Simvyl’s eyes tightened. “If someone who’s gone through what we’ve gone through says they’re fine, then they’d better mean Freaked out, Insecure, Neurotic, and Emotional because otherwise they’re kriffing lying.”

I suspected he might bring up my behaviour since Fay went down, as it was close to what he was dealing with regarding Zarkos. Though dropping the acronym meaning of F.I.N.E. wasn’t something I expected to ever do in this life. I was also surprised to hear Zarkos was so relaxed, at least outwardly, about me channelling my anger in battle. He had to have known that wasn’t the Jedi way, but he had allowed it. Possibly that was due to him being Togrutan as, while humanoid, they weren’t human and thus had differing moral standards. That said, it did explain why Zarkos had offered to listen if I wanted to talk about what had happened to Fay. I’d never taken him up on it, mainly as we’d never been that close and I had Bo to rely on instead, but it was generous of him to have made that offer.

Still, I knew I needed the anger burning inside me to fight against the Vong. They were a league or two above anything I’d dealt with before, and while channelling the Dark Side so willingly was dangerous, the one time I’d relied on more common Jedi Force techniques the battle had been a hundred times harder than those beforehand. To say nothing of those since. I knew the Dark Side was dangerous, and I knew I was playing with fire, but in the simple maths of this war, I knew I had no chance but to keep doing so and do my best to not let the Dark Side consume me.

“As for each day, it’s a challenge. Every night before I close my eyes, and every morning when I open them, I see Fay on the ground, bleeding with a Vong standing over her.” I closed my eyes and pushed away the memories as I didn’t need to draw on them now, nor let anyone know how much those were mixing with the still occurring ones regarding Vosa and making my nights hard to manage if I didn’t use Player’s Mind or have Bo beside me. “The rage inside, when I see any Vong, screams at me to hurt it, kill it, to burn this entire planet to ash to ensure I kill every last one of them.” I blinked as a soothing aura flowed through me. Looking down, I saw that my fingers had subconsciously moved for the necklace Fay and Dooku had given me for my thirteenth birthday. The aura contained within the gem helped push down the fury that burned within me. At least enough that I could continue without any risk of losing control.

“I know it’s wrong to have these thoughts, that it’s the Dark Side trying to twist my mind, but I know I need the power the rage grants. I’m sure once Master Fay recovers she’ll take me and spend weeks, if not months, talking with me about my actions on this world, but to tell you the truth, I don’t regret anything I’ve done to the Vong.” My gaze drifted from Simvyl toward the cave entrance. A gentle flame in the Force, one growing stronger, let me know Bo was on her way back. She was still outside the range of my minimap, but she would soon be back at the camp, back at my side.

I continued as I turned back to Simvyl. “I’m sure that once we’re off this world, once it’s safe from the Vong, I’ll have to figure out a recompense for using my anger. To learn to let go.” Or at least some method to hide its use from other Force users as the High Council would have kittens if they sensed my current Force aura. “But for now, I need the edge the rage provides.” Realising I’d waffled slightly, I shifted focus. “Now, what I’m doing, in using my rage to give me an edge, might not work for you. Or it might. I honestly can’t say. All I ask is that, over the coming weeks and months, you remember Zarkos’ teachings, take them to heart and not let the anger consume you. Now, that’s not to say that, once we’re free of this world and these damn aliens, you should hold onto the anger, but trying to ignore it or cut it off, especially while the wound is still fresh, would be like cutting off an arm or a leg. You can’t deny it, but you can’t let it define you. You have to, somehow, learn to focus it, when needed, to give you an edge against those responsible for Zarko’s death.”

With my piece said, I leaned back, my hand still clutching the gem in my necklace. Simvyl looked away from me, picking a random spot on the ground to focus on. While I’d rambled a bit, I felt the message I’d been wanting to get over had reached him, now he just had to take it in, understand, and then apply it.

“You’re not what I expected from a Jedi,” he finally muttered. I laughed at that.

“Yeah, I get that a lot.” I considered just letting the comment slide, only to remember that months ago, when we were trekking to Middle Distance, he’d revealed a little about his past. “Then again, how I ended up in the Order is pretty far from the norm.” I sensed his curiosity, along with the faint hope of a distraction as I continued. “I only joined the Jedi when I was eight and I reached the temple by flying the ship my grandfather’s killers had used when they’d come to our house.” His eyes widened and I laughed. “Aye, that’s most people’s reaction. But honestly, that’s the least crazy part. You see I was born in the Old Republic and, technically, I’m nearly four thousand years old. Plus, long before I was born, my great-grandfather turned to the Dark Side and almost destroyed the Republic, only being saved from that fate by the woman who’d eventually become his wife.”

“That’s, uh, something?” I laughed hard at his reaction. The combination of his face looking like he didn’t understand what he’d heard mixed with the tonal shift as he spoke was amusing as hell. Beside me, I felt and heard Fenrir chortle, though the sound from him, as always, sounded more like a threat of violence than him finding something amusing.

“Aye.” I shifted my beskad to place it across my lap. “I can tell you more of my story. Though I’ll warn you that it doesn’t exactly get normal.” As I spoke, I pulled a small stone from my belt. While the beskar blade kept its edge easily, I still felt a need to sharpen it when I could. The action, much like cleaning it, brought me a sense of peace that didn’t rely on the Force.

Simvyl laughed, though there was some nervousness in the chuckle. “At this point, I’d take that over…” his words died off as his mind was brought back to what was dominating his thoughts. The small spark of fire in his eyes that’d come out as we’d talked about something other than the war faded, but I wasn’t willing to let it go completely. As Fenrir rubbed against my leg, annoyed I’d stopped scratching him so I could sharpen my blade, I decided to keep going with my story. Perhaps tales of my time in the Temple would distract him from his troubles long enough he’d gain some peace. And maybe it would allow my mind to focus on something more than the debacle of an ambush from a few days ago.

… …

… …

I sat in the cave, though in a different section from where Fay was resting and stared at the holocrons resting on my bed. Most of them had offered nothing of interest, or even hinted at having useful data, which was why my attention was on the pair in front of me. One had belonged to my mother, and while I enjoyed listening to the few stories she’d placed on it, many of the files were restricted by her gatekeeper – the term used for the representation of a person within a holocron – until I was at least a knight. Even if I could convince it I was a Knight, I doubted the restricted files would be of any help with the Vong, which is why most of my focus was on the other holocron. That of King Adas.

Normally I wouldn’t risk bringing out the Sith king’s holocron as it had a presence that affected others, but given I was alone in the cave – if one discounted the comatose Fay – this was as good a moment as any to examine it.

Currently, Bo and Simvyl were away carrying out recon on the Vong base to the south. While I doubted that we’d be attacking it at any point in the future, not least due to our recent losses, it gave Simvyl something to do beyond mope around the base camp with a chip the size of Alderaan on his shoulder. Oddly, Bo had spoken to him about focusing that anger, mentioning how Mandalorians are taught to harness it and not let it harness them. While I was amused that her words sounded similar to my thinking on using the Dark Side, the bigger shock had been how Simvyl actively listened without commenting on the issues between their people. Hell, Bo had even opened up slightly about her feelings when her sister-in-law and nephew had been killed by Death Watch in the Battle of Sundari and how that rage, that drive for revenge had needed focusing to be of any use.

I’d spoken with her before they’d left about opening up to Simvyl, as it was a rare thing for her to do even with me; save during some post-sex moments. She’d waved it off by saying the Cathar needed reassurance and guidance, otherwise he’d be a liability to us. While that was accurate, it didn’t feel like the whole truth. Still, instead of using Observe to confirm that, I’d taken her at her word and dropped the matter.

Fenrir had wanted to go with them, but I’d not let him. I knew he was feeling cooped up, but the tuk’ata had even less control than the Cathar and would likely attack any Vong that came too close, placing them all in danger. To let him feel better, I’d told him to go explore the surrounding forest. He'd bounded off almost immediately and from the feeling of satisfaction I’d felt about ten minutes ago, he’d likely found and killed himself a meal.

That had started after our first battle with the Vong, and I had to suspect it was because we were now regularly seeing combat; drawing out his inherent nature as an alpha predator. So far, I hadn’t sensed anything within the Force to hint that the planet was unnerved by this, but it was something I’d have to keep an eye on as a feral tuk’ata would be a problem for any bar me to control.

Still, with me having had peace and quiet in the cave – the Sekotans around the base camp knew not to disturb me – I’d still not opened Adas’ holocron in the hour I’d been staring at it. I’d tried to look him up in the Jedi Archives during my recovery in the temple, but there’d been nothing to find. Not even a brief mention of him. That meant that either he was such a dangerous Sith that knowledge of him had been restricted to all but the highest members of the Order, or he was someone they knew nothing about. Of the two, I felt the latter was more likely as if information about Adas was restricted, someone should’ve asked me about my research, which hadn’t happened.

Like the Sith training holocron, Adas’s was shaped like a triangular pyramid which made it far different from the cuboid shape of most Jedi ones. In fact, the only Jedi holocron that wasn’t a cuboid was the Great Holocron which was much larger than any other holocron I’d seen and a pentagonal dodecahedron. This holocron also stood out as the edging was made of something that looked and felt like obsidian with engravings in it. Those had to be Sith runes, but I had no idea what any of them meant and no way was I going to search for information on those in the Jedi Temple. And then there was the presence the holocron radiated.

Unlike any other holocron, this one radiated power in a way even the Great Holocron failed to do. Due to its age, I knew that Adas must’ve been one of the Sith species and possibly, one of the very first holocrons ever created. Certainly older than the Great Holocron, which was over ten thousand years newer. And then there was the feeling it generated every time I pulled it from my Inventory. An overwhelming urge to activate it flooded my mind whenever it was in the open, calling to me in a way I simply didn’t understand. Whispering promises of the power contained within that I could bend to my will. Which was why until now, I’d rarely ever removed it from my Inventory, never mind considered opening it. Still, it was the only option I had to learn any power that’d help with the Vong, or even, I hoped, with removing some of the restrictions on Dark Side Suppression.

That was a power I’d discovered a few days ago when considering how to remove or hide my usage of the Dark Side from others. While it would do exactly what the name implied, it had a nasty restriction. Until I was shown by a skilled Dark Side user how to properly use the power, I was looking at a massive penalty to XP growth. I’d had the power running non-stop since I’d discovered it, and in the days since, only gone two levels. At that rate, I’d have to be away from other Force users for years before I’d feel comfortable about them not sensing my Dark Side taint.

With that in mind and having felt I’d prepared myself against the influence of the holocron for long enough, I closed my eyes. My mind reached out into the Force, easily finding the dark abyss close to me and pushed against it. Activating this holocron was unlike any I had before. Even the Sith training holocron only needed a gentle rub with the Force, Adas’ holocron seemed to actively fight me. It swatted away my push aggressively, which irritated me. I pushed back harder, but again it rejected my presence. Realising this was a test, I pushed at it once more, letting some of my bottled fury empower the attempt. That seemed to do the trick as I felt a reaction from the Holocron. Not letting me in per se, but more accepting I was at least worthy of speaking with its gatekeeper.

“Ja'ak!” my eyes shot open at the alien word, and I saw the gatekeeper, though I couldn’t be sure it was Adas. It was impossible to determine height from such a small hologram, but the figure looked imposing. He was clad head to toe in armour that, if seen in the flesh, I instinctively knew would seem to draw in the light. There was some different colouration on the crest of the helm which matched the cloak that bellowed in a fictional wind behind it, and in one hand was an axe that looked to be about sixty per cent of the figure’s height. “Naugast. Aras tu jidai ax jen'jidai?”

I blinked in confusion at the strange, yet oddly powerful, words the gatekeeper was using. Worried the thing couldn’t speak Basic, I activated Compulsion, only for its next words to be in Basic. “You are powerful in the Force, yet you are not a Sith, that much I can tell. Nor are you a Rakatan.” My brow rose at hearing that race mentioned. “Hmm, you know about the Rakatans? Unexpected and interesting. So tell me, are you one of the weak-willed Jedi that Nadd spoke of, or someone drawn to my knowledge by a desire to learn how to properly use your gifts?”

While the words had an odd accent to them, possibly from learning Basic the last time it’d been active – whenever that was – they were spoken with a regal grace and power one would expect of a king or emperor. Yet, before I could ponder that, or consider my reply, a warning notice appeared in the Interface.

WARNING!

Mind manipulation field detected!

...

I snarled at realising the holocron was trying to manipulate me and slammed on Player’s Mind. With my emotions suppressed and the influence, weak as it was since the field had only just appeared, blocked, I felt the unnatural calm engulf my mind.

“What blasphemy is this?!” The gatekeeper raged, not giving me time to wonder why the holocron felt a need to attempt to manipulate me. “You dare dull your senses in my presence!”

I knew that if my emotions weren’t under lock and key, I’d have responded aggressively. Yes, the holocron could, like Jedi Masters, sense when I used my special ability, but the fact it reacted like that revealed something about it. “I do so dare when I sense someone, or something, trying to alter my perceptions and manipulate me into actions I might not otherwise choose.” Logically arguing with a twenty-seven thousand year-old holocron was likely not the smartest choice, but I knew subservience also wasn’t the way to go. Perhaps responding calmly was also a mistake, but it was the better choice. “My mind is mine alone, and not for others to influence. Particularly those whose time has long since passed.”

I felt the air around me grow cooler as cold, hardened fury emanated from the holocron. “Were I still living, I would rip your bones from your body one by one, taking time to ensure you felt every second of the action, and then grind them to dust in front of your eyes. I would then savour your blood before feasting on your still-warm corpse, before turning your skull into a goblet to remember your foolish behaviour.”

That was a very dark response, and if I hadn’t been using Player’s Mind, might’ve drawn an instant, and illogical reaction from me. I could tell this first meeting with Adas’ gatekeeper was going south, but I understood that being the one to shut off the holocron would be seen as a sign of weakness by the gatekeeper. “If you were living, I have no doubt you’d attempt to do as you threaten, though I doubt we’d ever speak given your race has long since left the galaxy. Since you aren’t alive, I will instead make clear that I am not, like those you may have taught before, a puppet to control and live vicariously through.”

The gatekeeper glared at me. After years of facing Bo, I knew when a helm-wearing figure was doing that. If it could, I was sure it would use the Force to burn me to ash where I stood. “Until you are ready to listen with an open mind and show the respect a child should give to their elders, our conversation.”

The holocron blinked out as the cold feeling in the cave slid away. “Wonderful,” I muttered as I released Player’s Mind. That had gone bad, though, in retrospect, it could’ve been worse. The fact the gatekeeper expected another talk meant it was at least intrigued by my strength in the Force. Still, I needed time to decide how to handle that next meeting. If I wished to learn from King Adas, I needed a method beyond Player’s Mind to help me stay in control.

… …

… …

A few days later, I removed Adas’ holocron from my Inventory once more. Bo and Simvyl were due back in by the end of the week, and if I wanted to learn anything from the holocron, I needed to start now.

I activated a timer on my vambrace, setting a clear limit to how long I was willing to allow the holocron to manipulate me. Then, after taking a few deep breaths to prepare myself, I closed my eyes, brought forth the rage boiling deep within me and pushed against the holocron inside the Force. While there was a challenge, it wasn’t as blunt as before, meaning either the gatekeeper recognised my Force Aura, or because I was drawing on my anger straight away, it was less inclined to reject my demand that it open.

“So, you have come grovelling back in understanding that your knowledge pales in comparison to mine.” If it was possible for a hologram to look smug under armour, Adas’ gatekeeper pulled it off perfectly.

“I admit that there are things I wish to learn about the Force that I can’t learn from a Jedi. Nor risk by trial and error.” I ignored the warning from the Interface as I spoke. “That said, I’m not going to become your minion, nor follow the teachings of the Sith Order.”

Something that sounded like a growl came from Adas. “What is the status of those imposters?”

I took a moment to consider his reaction. I’d hoped drawing a line between him and the Sith Order would let him know I suspected he was a true Sith, but the reaction was unexpected. “They last fought openly a thousand years ago and lost. Since then, while most Jedi and the Republic at large believe them to be dead and gone, I doubt that to be the case.”

“How so?”

“For thousands of years, the Sith Order fought against the Jedi and Republic and always, in the end, lost. Now, I believe they’ve gone underground and are working from the shadows to destabilize the Republic. Or perhaps even take it over from within.” As I spoke, I could feel the rage from the holocron grow as a strange, almost debilitating wave of power surged outward.

“Those cowards!” Adas snarled, the holocron seeming to visibly vibrate in fury. “To hide in the shadows, to feign non-existence. This is not the way of a True Sith!” I stayed silent, holding my ground under the onslaught of corrupted power that emanated from the holocron as it raged at what had become of those who took the name Sith. “If I was alive I would…”

“Forgive me, but you’re not.” Its helm glared at me, and I felt as if the weight of a thousand suns was pushing down upon my shoulders. “I, however, am. And I’ve made it my goal to defeat these Sith, whatever it takes.” There were lines I wasn’t willing to cross, and I hoped I never had to approach them, but failing to stop Sidious and Plagueis – assuming my being here altered his fate – would mean the death of myself and everyone I knew and cared for.

“While I don’t believe you are willing to go as far as youmust, I can sense the strength of your conviction. And the raw, untrained power you wield.” His helm looked over me slowly as if grading me for the slaughter. “If you had been born Sith, I would’ve considered you as a potential apprentice. Perhaps, given time, even a worthy heir. Sadly, you are not, being nothing more than a weak, powerless Human.”

I knew he was goading me, that he wanted me to prove my power. While part of me wanted to not give him the satisfaction of getting a response, I knew that failing to prove myself here and now, after the disaster of our first conversation, ran a real risk of destroying any chance I had of learning from a true Sith. Of potentially learning techniques lost to the aeons that even the Sith of this era knew nothing of.

“I have power,” I replied slowly, letting my anger rush forward and summon Force Lightning, “and I can wield it. However, I know that there is much I don’t understand, and I won’t allow the twisted whispers of the Force to control me. I will control it.” As I spoke, I kept unravelling my anger. Toward the Vong, the High Council, Vosa, Palpatine, everyone. Until the corners of my sight drew dark as the light within the cave was swallowed by my lightning. I could feel my control slipping, could hear the faint, inaudible whispers of the Force mixing with the darkest recesses of my mind. They wanted me to use them, use my power, and bend all to my will.

Yet I was the one in control, not it.

Slowly, fighting against myself, I reined in my fury, my darker, more unhinged self, and light slowly returned to the cave.

“Hmm, yes. You have… potential. You have impressed me, young Human, and earned the opportunity to study at my feet. But you are still far from proving yourself worthy to be my apprentice.”

I had no intention of letting that happen, of letting him mould me into what he wanted. Yet at least now he was willing to, I hoped, teach me, at the very least, how to hide the savagery within.

… …

… …

I looked over the holographic map being projected by Bo’s helm on the ground before me. It showed the Vong base, and frankly what I saw was concerning. We’d scouted it out early in our campaign, mainly to get an idea of the Vong forces and how regularly patrols left. At that time, it was beyond us taking, but seeing what it’d become since made it clear that even if we’d escaped their counter-ambush unscathed, we were losing this war.

Initially, there looked to be support for maybe sixty Vong with only a simple outer wall and four cannon emplacements on the corners of the base. Now, months later, the place looks to be around three times the size, with buildings for, potentially, four times the number of Vong. The walls had risen to nearly ten metres, appearing to have grown in a manner similar to the Sekotan buildings. Though where the Sekotan buildings felt inviting and natural, the Vong’s felt wrong. As if something terrible had twisted nature into its darkest possible form.

The four cannon emplacements had expanded to twenty, with each cannon having grown to a larger size than the initial four. The base only had two entrances, with each guarded by four cannons and, from what the hologram suggested, a minimum of four Vong.

“This is… well, to call it not good is an understatement.” I muttered as I moved my attention to the base’s interior. The central building looked more like a starship. Or at least one that’d been taken and thrown in a blender then covered in growth after being left abandoned on a world for centuries. Around it were other buildings, but their functions were impossible to tell simply from looking at them. “How well-manned are the cannons?”

“Single Vong units, though there are regular patrols outside the walls that work to keep the local vegetation back.” Bo replied even as the hologram shifted as she controlled it with her vambrace. “The closest we saw the forest get was around fifteen metres and the area was littered with the dead remains of dozens of animals and at least four Sekotans.”

“This is good, great even, but we can’t act on it.” I spoke slowly, my focus shifting to Simvyl. Ever since they’d returned, I hadn’t even had to try to sense the rage burning within him. Before he’d left, it’d been wild, almost uncontrolled, but now, it was focused, burning white-hot. I knew even without Observe – which I’d used for confirmation – that he wanted to attack this base; the sooner the better.

Bo’s eyes shifted to Simvyl for a split-second, but that was enough to confirm she was concerned about his anger as well. “I, we, were thinking a raid would be a smarter choice. Just something to show them we’re still here, still fighting.”

“And how would that work? Even with Fenrir, we’d be four against, what a hundred? Two?” While there were no Vong marked on the map, based on its size alone, it could hold, if they billeted anything like I’d done in Iraq and Afghanistan, up to four hundred in those various buildings. Though that would mean supplies being brought in on regular transports, which was something we’d been seeing for months.

“Couldn’t you do as you did in Tantajoc?”

I shook my head at that. “There’s a multitude of reasons why that wouldn’t work here. First and foremost is that the Vong are leagues above a group of backwater pirates and slavers. They’ll be far more attentive and prepared for an attack. Second, that base had reasonably common laser cannons, meaning a few strikes at key locations guaranteed their destruction. The Vong weapons… even with recordings of them firing on local fauna, we lack an understanding of how they work. Or even if they’d explode if I attacked them.” Bo seemed to be accepting of this, but my rejection was doing nothing for Simvyl’s growing anger. “Now, if we had a few more months to observe them, we might be able to attempt a hit and run attack. However, even if, by some miracle, we managed to breach their walls and disable enough defences, where exactly would we attack?” As I spoke, my hand drifted over the base’s interior. “While the central building would logically be their command centre, can you confirm that it is? And where do the Vong bunk?” Normally, I’d have asked about their weaponry, but since their main weapon was organic and seemingly connected to them, and we’d not seen any use of grenades or heavy explosives, I felt they didn’t have any, at least not at this base.

“That seemingly overgrown ship has the largest footfall. We’ve tagged on average fifty different Vong going in and out from it.” Bo pointed at two buildings near the central location. “These two see more footfall and given their location and the fact the Vong going into it are generally the lowest tier of warriors we’ve faced; I feel these are their barracks. And possibly a canteen.” She paused and smirked. “Given we had a few weeks to monitor them, my armour was able to start tracking the slight variances in their armour and markings to help pin down that there’s somewhere in the region of a hundred and thirty Vong in the base. Most are the rank and file, with fifteen per cent being the – as you designated them – squad leaders. The new ones we encountered in the last ambush,” I glanced at Simvyl to see him baring his teeth – “only number around a dozen, including the one whose claws you cut. On top of that, there are two others with another set of armour, those must be the base commanders.”

I nodded along as she spoke. While it was a relief that there weren’t too many of the shell-armoured Vong in the base, one was one too many with the overall number of Vong. And then there’s their commanders. Those, if I was judging the Vong correctly, were probably just as skilled as the shell-armoured Vong, if not more so. All in all, the base was too well-defended and manned for even a lightning raid to work. Not without at least two of the three of us here dying in the attack.

“We need to hit them! They need to pay! For what they did to Zarkos! And the Sekotans!” Simvyl all but hissed out, his ears leaning back as he bared his teeth. From the look Bo gave me, it was clear she wanted me to handle this.

“We do, and we will. But I’m not going to throw away lives in an attack that, given our current strength, would all but destroy our forces.” I kept my tone soft but firm, not wanting to shout back at him but, I hoped, making it clear I was putting my foot down. “Throwing away our lives, and the people we’re trying to help, for simple vengeance, isn’t something Zarkos would’ve wanted.”

“They have to pay!” He moved toward me, stepping into the hologram. From elsewhere in the cave, I heard Fenrir growl even as Bo slid one hand to a blaster.

Seeing no way out of this but to confront him, I stepped forward, though I made no move to grip a weapon. Mainly because if he did anything stupid, I’d have him down on the ground faster than he could blink with the Force enhancing my actions. “They do, and as I said, they will, but until you can learn to control yourself, to focus that rage on those that deserve it, you’re banned from both any potential base assault and ambushes.” His eyes narrowed, making the slits in them even more prominent somehow and reminding me once more that I wasn’t dealing with a human. “If you’ve got a problem with my orders, we can go outside right now, and I’ll beat the shit out of you until you understand who’s in charge.” As I spoke, I activated Force Aura. That was one of the two things I’d learnt from Adas – the other being how to hide my Dark Side taint which removed the restrictions on Dark Side Suppression – after I’d done enough to earn the change to become his apprentice. Force Aura allowed me to let my power in the Force wash over an area. With time, it would reach a point where, according to Adas, all but the most powerful Force users would feel uneasy near me – if I so wished – but for now, it was still Novice level.

Simvyl stepped closer, his fingers flexing to expose his claws, and I pushed more of my barely restrained fury into Force Aura. That seemed to do the trick as, rather unexpectedly to anyone else, the Cather stopped. He blinked and widened his eyes, though they stayed focused on me. For a few moments I felt he might still attack, but instead, he started moving back. He never turned, not until he was far enough from me that we couldn’t attack each other, and even then, kept his eyes upon me until he’d slipped out of the cave.

Once that happened, I pulled my rage back inside and deactivated Force Aura. While I was impressed that it’d worked so well, I hoped this moment didn’t cost me too much of his loyalty.

“What was that?” I turned at Bo’s words. Her eyes were wide, a fire burning in them and as her chest rose and fell impressively, her cheeks turned rosy. Even without the Force, or having learnt her intimate secrets, I’d be able to tell she was turned on by my little display of dominance. Just as she’d been, in hindsight, after each of the battles I’d fought in where she’d been present. How I’d missed them until Observe had revealed her feelings for me was embarrassing, but now they were as clear as the lone cloud on a clear day.

Bo being turned on by battle and prowess, both in combat and in situations like what’d just happened, fit her perfectly. So far it hadn’t developed at a moment where she couldn’t control it, or at least suppress it long enough to get me alone to scratch her itch. Yet, I worried one day it would.

I pulled Adas’ holocron from my Inventory, enjoying that I didn’t have to hide the action by reaching into my robes or belt pouches first. “Something I learnt from this, a Sith holocron.” There was a part of me that felt I might be revealing too much to Bo, but I felt safe in her loyalty. The last time I’d used Observe on her – just before she’d left on the recon mission – she considered me an Honoured/Confidant/Lover. The first two of those were the second highest levels I could get to with my reputation and friendship and based on the names of the highest levels – Worshipped and Follower – I wasn’t sure I wanted her to reach those levels. Not if the names hinted at blind obedience. “I only managed to get the gatekeeper, basically the intelligence that runs a holocron, to reveal that and a basic method for how to hide the fact I use the Dark Side.”

For a brief moment, Bo looked confused. “The Jedi.” The words weren’t a question, meaning she understood my concern.

“Aye. When we get off this rock and return to civilization, they’ll sense what I’ve done here. How I’ve done it. And either they’ll lock me up or, given my family history, have me executed.” To be fair, I wasn’t sure if they’d do the latter, but it’s what I’d do in their place. Better to remove the threat now than lock it away and let it fester into something far, far worse.

“If they do that, I’ll kill them.” Bo stepped toward me, the fire in her eyes drawing me in like a moth to a flame. “You’re Mando’ade. We’d go to war with the Jetii if they did that.” The conviction in her voice was complete, which was downright scary. And sexy as hell.

“I know you would,” I replied, taking a step toward her as we both walked through the hologram of the Vong base. “But I don’t want you dying for me.” I stopped as we came close enough that I struggled to not grab hold of her and claim her once more. “Besides, if what I’ve learnt from King Adas can help, they’ll never know what walks amongst them.”

Her lips twitched before she licked them enticingly. “What else has it taught you?” one hand came up, gripping the front of my robes.

I stepped closer, letting my breath caress her face. “Let me show you.”

… …

… …

I gently dabbed the cloth over Fay’s face as she kept herself in a healing trance that mimicked a coma. Even without using Observe, I could feel her slowly growing stronger in the Force, though that special power was giving me a rough timeline based on how slowly her health was creeping upward. There’d only been a few percentage points of increase in the near month since the counter-ambush, but any change was a massive encouragement for me. Particularly since the previous half year or so since she’d been attacked, there’d been no change in her status.

Provided her rate of recovery held, it would be at least another month, possibly two, before she woke, which was more of a good thing than bad. It was good in the sense that it’d give me at least a month of running Dark Side Suppression to further improve the power. It had been active constantly since I discovered it, and with the restriction removed, it was going up at about three levels per day. If given another thirty-five or so days, I’d comfortably have it to the Master strata - if not just into Savant - which, I hoped, would be enough to hide most of my Dark Side usage from even her.

After making sure her face was clean, and then doing the same for her arms and legs up to her knees – I refused to go further as it felt like an invasion of privacy – I stood and walked toward the cave entrance. As I grew closer, the sound of movement from outside filtered in. Currently, we were working on training up another group of Sekotans. While it wasn’t something I felt happy about, due to the lives we’d lost, since the Vong’s counter-ambush had gotten back to Middle Distance, we’d seen a large uptick in recruits. With only Bo, Simvyl, and myself to train them, we couldn’t take them all on, but Bo had found a use for those not taken yet.

While we didn’t want them causing trouble with the Vong inside the settlement, that didn’t mean they couldn’t watch and track the Vong that moved in or near their homes. Those with any mechanical expertise were shifted to help with developing Sekotan blasters with, according to the last meeting I’d had with Gann and Sheekla, a working prototype likely ready for us to take the next time I met them. I knew there’d be issues with this new weapon, but it was a massive step on the path to arming the Sekotans properly. Not least as we’d lost almost all our blaster rifles in the counter-ambush.

As I stepped into the sunlight, I saw Bo was overseeing the current training. Which was something she did every day she wasn’t on recon. Several Sekotans had complained that Bo was pushing them too hard, and while I was sympathetic to their concerns, I didn’t move to reassure them. That fell to Simvyl, who even with a desire for revenge burning within him, had calmed down enough to understand that we needed the Sekotans to have at least basic competence before we could strike back.

Bo turned and I saw a scowl on her face as she looked over her recruits. Behind her, I could sense Fenrir who was moving slowly around the edge of the base camp, acting as a sentry. Or at least an inner sentry. Outside the range of my minimap, there were various dots of lifeforms from Sekotans. They were serving as sentries, at both fixed locations and roving patrols and while they knew of each other’s location, they weren’t to interact to make it harder for Vong scouts to use one setup to find the other. It wasn’t foolproof, but it was sufficient since we were over a dozen klicks from Middle Distance. Simvyl was also outside the range of my minimap, having left that morning with a few of our remaining trained Sekotans to meet up with the scouts inside the settlement and monitor the actions of the Vong patrols outside Middle Distance. This was the first scouting mission he’d gone on since the little incident, and while I wasn’t sure he was in control, I told him that if he engaged the Vong while out, then if he somehow survived, I’d hunt him down and end him myself. It was a decidedly un-Jedi-like thing to say, but he’d accepted the condition quickly, making me think he was squared away enough to be of use again.

Suddenly, a being rushed onto my minimap. Since they were showing up it meant they weren’t a Vong, yet they were approaching quickly. Plus, they shouldn’t be alone as every sentry or patrol worked in pairs or groups of four. As I moved in the direction the runner was coming from, I reached out through the Force, concentrating on them. I felt an urgency, along with determination but thankfully no worry so nothing had gone wrong. Or at least not that this runner knew.

On the way to meet the runner, which I could sense was female and around my age, I pulled a canteen to me with the Force. As they broke through the last set of bushes before reaching the base camp, my brow rose as the girl, who was a head taller than me, slid to a stop at seeing me. “Dudala?” As I said her name, the girl bent over and started breathing heavily.

Dudala was the daughter of one of the main growers in Middle Distance and had been clamouring to join the resistance since we’d lost our first Sekotan, who’d been her cousin. However, her father had denied her request and since she wasn’t considered an adult in Sekotan society yet, she’d had to obey. Still, she often worked as a runner for Gann, Sheekla, and others inside the settlement and had joined the scouting units I’d developed to monitor the Vong movements inside Middle Distance.

“Bond…partner.” Dudala’s reply came out between breaths even as I passed the canteen to her. I waited patiently as she gulped down some water and calmed her heartbeat. I knew she had something to tell me as there’d been a spike of relief when she’d seen me, but since there was still no fear emanating from her, I felt there wasn’t a rush to find out why she was here.

“I bring news.” As she said that, she pulled a datapad from her belt and passed it to me.

My brow rose as I read the message. According to Gann, he was still in contact with the Jentari, the ones building my new ship. While they’d been working around the clock to make fighters to engage the Vong with – which was a surprise as Gann hadn’t mentioned that to me at all – their most recent message stated that my vessel was ready.

Gann had included a note of where the Jentari were based on the planet, and while it was a three-month trek, getting access to a new ship could change the course of this war. So far, we’d been limited to engaging the Vong around Middle Distance, meaning they could, conceivably, concentrate their combat units here while moving to secure other locations on the planet they deemed worthy.

Since Gann wished to speak with me before we departed and, if I was reading between the lines, he might have a way to accelerate our travel time.

“Something’s got you in a good mood.” I turned at hearing Bo’s voice and passed the datapad to her. As she looked it over, I looked back at Dudala.

“Thank you for this.” The girl smiled and lowered her head even as her cheeks turned a darker shade of green. “Head over to the cave and rest. We’ll escort you to Middle Distance at first light tomorrow.”

“Yes, bond-partner.” The girl moved away from us even as Bo looked up from the pad.

“This is…” she paused and looked around for a moment before continuing. “Are we going to run?”

I could sense her concern at her words, meaning she wanted to stay and fight, as I knew Simvyl and Fenrir did. “No. While I’d love to get some support for this war, there’s no way the Vong don’t still have vessels in orbit, and until I get an understanding of this new ship’s abilities, I’d rather not get it into a dogfight.” I looked over at the recruits, who’d moved to intercept Dudala before she could reach the cave. “Besides, we started this resistance, and by the Force, I intend to see it through.”

“Parjai ra kyr'am.”

“Victory or death.” I returned the affirmation in Basic. “And I plan to make sure it’s theirs.”

… …

… …