The Krayt Dragon entered realspace and was met by an onslaught of incoming fire.  Brenum cursed and pressed a few keys.
            ‘Hey, it’s the Krayt Dragon.  Mandalorian blockade, we’re Jedi, we’re on your side!’
            The response that came was a volley of laser fire from several starfighters; they were of Chiss design.
            ‘That’s not good,’ said Brenum. He veered the ship, dodging more fire.  The ship bucked as Brenum adjusted his vector.
            Trylia swivelled in her chair and tried to raise the Mandalorian flagship.
            ‘Well the Republic’s here,’ said Lian, pointing at one of the dreadnaughts.
            ‘Krayt Dragon,’ came a voice through a lot of static.  ‘We apologise, many ships have been compromised by the enemy…  Relsor… superlasers…’
            ‘Wait, can you repeat that?’ said Trylia.  ‘There’s a lot of interference coming through.’
            ‘…superlasers…Mandalorian ships…compromised…’
            Brenum pulled on the throttle and let the ship do a few rolls to ease his way through some of the blockade ships, while Trylia fired on several of the starfighters.  His stomach lurched, though not from the manoeuvre, but rather from the fact that there were superlasers on Mandalorian ships.
            ‘I think I can help,’ said Lian.
            He closed his eyes and seemed to drift into meditation, but it was brief.  When he opened his eyes, he began pointing at various Mandalorian ships.
            ‘This one.  That one.  Over there,’ he said.
            Brenum understood right away what he’d done.  ‘We need a way to mark them so that the other Mando ships and Republic ships can recognise them.’
            ‘Mandalorian Blockade,’ said Trylia, ‘Jedi Lian has identified some of the ships that have the Force signature of Relsor’s malady and are most likely ones with the superlasers.’
            ‘Is anyone on those ships still alive?’ said Lian.
            ‘Scans show an incredibly high amount of deceased on the ships,’ said the Mando on the other side of the line.  ‘It’s likely some are…but we cannot confirm…we must destroy those ships and those superlasers.’
            ‘Have any escape pods left?’ asked Trylia.  ‘If Mandos can reclaim their ships and keep the superlasers, we can counter the enemy with his own weapons.’
            ‘Risky, but… try.’
            Brenum flew past more of the ships Lian was pointing at, every time scanning them.
            ‘Here, send these scan reports to the Blockade leader,’ Brenum said.  ‘He’ll know which ships are dangerous now.’
            In no time, ships were turning towards one of the Mandalorian juggernauts Lian had identified, and began shooting it down.  It retaliated with a shot from the superlasers and destroyed one of the Republic’s ships with one beam.  A bright light flashed in the viewport and then the Republic ship was gone, disintegrated.
            ‘Sithspawn!’ Brenum cursed.  He stared at the empty space before him.
            ‘Brenum,’ he heard Trylia say, ‘we need to land and help planetside.’
            He nodded.  He wished he could help the fight out here in space.

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Fane opened his eyes and was shocked to see a green figure looming over him, raising a black core lightsaber.  He called his lightsaber to his hand using the Force and shouted out:
            ‘Jassahmi!’
            His aqua blade came to life in time to block hers.  Talyc awoke and moved aside, rolling out of bed and reaching for his vibroblade.
            ‘Gentlemen, please, such indecency,’ laughed Jassahmi.  ‘You should probably get dressed, you might lose a few bits otherwise.’  Her laugh became a cackle. 
            Fane shoved her away with the Force.  He didn’t care that he was naked.  His life was in danger; Talyc’s life was in danger.  Jassahmi was going to die and he would make sure of it.
            Jassahmi began to whirl around him with such speed, he could barely follow her.  He channelled some of the power from the Crypt and her movements seemed to slow, though he could tell by how Talyc was frantically waving his vibroblade about that Jassahmi’s movements were still sped up.  Fane attacked the Mirialan from the side, trying to prevent her from reaching Talyc.
            The door burst open and in rushed Shadie, Knarf, Mandalore and a few others.  Blaster fire came flying in, but Jassahmi bounced them back towards the Mandalorians.  Fane kept fighting her and he saw Knarf run back out of the room.  Jassahmi grabbed Talyc with the Force and began choking him.
            ‘You think this is going to hurt me after everything Relsor and Perce did to me, Jassahmi?’ said Talyc.  ‘There’s nothing you can do to me.’
            ‘We’ll just see about that,’ she replied.
            Fane came in and blocked her lightsaber, shoving her again with the Force.  He advanced on her as best he could, but she kept coming back and attacking him with more force than before.  Fane felt himself lift into the air and crash against the wall. 
            Jassahmi pulled Talyc towards her, but he lifted his vibroblade in time to block her lightsaber. The black blade might have been able to go through beskar’gam, but thankfully, the vibrational speed of the vibroblade ensured the vibroblade did not break or bend.
            Shadie and the others tried to get into the fight, but Jassahmi had been trained by Relsor and she used similar tactics to keep them at bay.  No one was getting into that fight, not unless they knew how to keep track of her speedy movements.  Talyc bounced from side to side, dodging this way and that, and rolling this way and that.  Jassahmi was a blur and Fane could see Shadie rub her eyes and blink a few times.
            Fane was the only one able to keep track of Jassahmi’s movements.  Talyc swiped at empty air.  Jassahmi slashed and lunged, nicking Talyc’s arm.
            Talyc gave a cry of pain.  He rolled aside.  ‘At least it’s not the left shoulder.’
            ‘It could be,’ said Jassahmi.  ‘I’m more than happy to oblige.’

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Knarf was looking over his datapad; Shadie was leaning over his shoulder.  Fane felt uneasy.  He could sense Relsor in the Force, but the True Sith leader was still concealing his Force presence.  The only reason Fane could even remotely sense him was because of his connection to him.
            Fane glanced at the others in the bunker’s tapcaf. Talyc fidgeted, he looked stern.  He sat across the table and had not moved when Fane, Shadie and Knarf had arrived.  The rest of Clan Kandera was sitting around the table, chatting, or looking as uneasy as Fane felt.  Master Usharr was a little farther away, telling old tales from his younger days to the gang of pirates.
            ‘Another clanmate was found dead,’ said Knarf, still looking at his datapad, ‘smoke rising from his body and with lightsaber cauterisations.’
            Talyc shook his head.  ‘This is clearly Relsor and Perce,’ he said.  ‘It feels unsafe.  Relsor and Perce and Jassahmi are on Mandalore and my home feels unsafe.  It was safer on Tython.’
            ‘It was safer when he had us as his prisoners,’ said Shadie, ‘but it doesn’t change that the entire galaxy is at risk.’
            ‘Yeah, but he wouldn’t be on Mandalore if you weren’t here,’ said Talyc.  ‘Mandalorians wouldn’t be dying if it weren’t for you.  Though I’m still not so sure Relsor is behind all this.’
            ‘What does that mean?’ snapped Shadie.
            ‘I think you know what it means,’ said Talyc.  ‘I still think one of you did it.’
            ‘I think it changes nothing,’ said Nriwe.  ‘Relsor goes where he feels he can have the most control.  He’s not following Shadie.’
            ‘Maybe not, but the reason I was captured and tortured, the reason we’ve lost so many clanmates and fellow Mandalorians, the reason Relsor and Perce are here, is because of the Jedi.  They are to blame for Kelbourn’s death!’
            Knarf breathed out a calculated breath that sounded more like an “oh”.
            Fane’s heart sank further.  Talyc still wasn’t himself, even after finding no evidence to prove his theories, but these were his words, and he knew Talyc was not possessed.
            ‘You’re being influenced by Relsor’s malady,’ said Fane.  ‘Talyc–’
            ‘Don’t start, Fane.  One of the main reasons everything that is ill that has befallen me is our relationship.’  That hurt. It hurt like a fresh wound every time Talyc mentioned it, and Fane was willing to bet Talyc knew it too.
            Everyone fidgeted as though they had felt it.
            ‘He doesn’t mean it,’ said Nriwe in an apologetic tone.
            ‘Yes, I do,’ Talyc retorted.
            An awkward silence fell, and many from the clan looked at Talyc in shock. 
            ‘What are you implying?’ said Fane, clenching his jaw tightly.
            ‘You, Fane, are the malady in my life.’  There, Talyc had said the worst, it hurt more than any of the other jabs he’d said.  ‘I think you should leave. Then Relsor would go with you and leave the rest of us alone.’
            ‘You want me to leave you alone?’
            ‘I think that would be best, yes.’  Talyc leaned forward on the table and, through clenched teeth, spoke slowly and menacingly.  ‘I want you gone.’
            Fane stood abruptly and stalked off.

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The hatch to the Krayt Dragon’s umbilical opened, but instead of being greeted with a party of Imperial officers and a security detail, a tall man cloaked in a black cape and garbed in dark heavy armour stood before them.  He waved a hand and their lightsabers went flying out of their grips and onto the floor.
            ‘I’ve not come for a fight,’ he said, his voice low in pitch.  ‘It took many resources to find and intercept you, let’s not waste time with shenanigans.’  He signalled his guards, who took a stance next to the hatch. They looked like his personal guard.
            ‘What’s going on?’ asked Lian, sensing this man’s powerful presence in the dark side of the Force.
            ‘As far as everyone else is concerned, your ship matches that of a pirate gang’s and you are being inspected.’
            ‘And in reality?’ asked Brenum, who stood to Lian’s side.
            ‘I am here to speak,’ the man said pointedly.
            ‘Why all the secrecy?’ asked Lian suspiciously.
            ‘Because the Empire has an alliance with the True Sith, and were anyone from the Empire or the True Sith to find out that I was here to speak with Jedi, it would bode very ill for all of us.  While Relsor is distracted on Mandalore, however, is the perfect opportunity to attempt such a meeting of secrecy.’
            ‘And who are you?’ asked Trylia.
            The man smiled and bowed with dignity.  ‘I am Lord Void, member of the Dark Council.’
            Brenum whispered to Lian.  ‘Void. I hope he doesn’t space us into some sort of void.’
            ‘It was my apprentice whom Shadie saved on Relsor’s ship,’ the dark lord continued.  ‘I am also allied with Darth Usharr, former High Master and leader of the Sith Academy on Korriban.  It is my understanding that Haar’elso’rothmor is being dishonourable with his deal in the alliance with the Sith Empire.  I require your assistance in finding the evidence needed to prove it. Then I can convince the Dark Council and the Empire’s leaders to renege on that alliance.’
            Lian didn’t know much about the Dark Council but he knew it was similar in a few ways to the Jedi Council.  Each voice had input, and could sometimes even argue against the Grand Master.
            ‘As a member of the Dark Council, why can’t you just tell them?’ he asked.
            Lord Void stepped forward, leaning on his front foot.  ‘You were not there when Relsor approached us to ally ourselves with him.  I was there to witness his powers firsthand, as chaos reigned within the Dark Council chamber, as we all saw something different, until he showed us how it had all been multiple illusions created by him that our power, from we who are the most powerful Sith in all the galaxy, could not combat.  We had no choice but to agree, we had no choice but to join him.’
            Brenum looked over Lian’s shoulder at Trylia.  ‘We have experienced his illusions too.’
            ‘Then you know the fear they cause, the destruction they can create, the control he has over anyone who succumbs to such an illusion.’  Lord Void took another step towards them.  ‘Help me find how to convince my peers otherwise.  Help me provide the solution to countering Relsor’s illusions.’
            ‘I can counter his illusions,’ said Lian.  ‘That’s why Mandalore is in desperate need of us right now.’
            ‘Then the sooner we begin, the sooner you may leave.’
            The Dark Lord was not going to let them leave until they had indulged him with solutions and aid.  They could use an extra ally, even if that ally was Sith.  The timing was just way too tight.
            ‘I can sense your impatience,’ said Lord Void.  ‘I assure you, I am not here to detain you or to stop you.  But this is truly the only time we have and we must make the most of it…

Continue Reading Chapter Four

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