As Shadie had suspected, her training led her to the Valley of the Dark Lords to communicate with the spirits of the ancient masters of the dark side. The place hadn’t changed much.
            Dust rose off the ground as wind swept past the red sand in the hot light of the sun. Shadie entered one of the smaller tombs, forgetting whose it was. It did not bother her that she had forgotten some of her former training. She was no longer Sith and these lords did not bear the same meaning to her now as they once did.
            She descended a short set of stairs and came to a large room. She looked at the statues that stood at the corners of the room. The beings depicted looked in agony.
            She heard whispers, not wispy ones from ancient spirits but ones that came from the living.
            She ignited her lightsaber and turned around. A tall Pureblood stood before her.
            ‘What business does a Mandalorian have on Korriban?’
            Shadie used lightning to push him away from her.
            ‘Why would one who has turned away from the dark side seek the guidance of a Sith master?’ came another voice. A lean woman stood nearby.
            From the other side came another voice. ‘Why would a Jedi think she would be safe in this place?’ The voice was male, from a yellow Twi’lek, Shadie noticed.
            ‘What do you seek to gain?’
            Shadie turned to see a Pureblood female standing behind her. Her heart thumped as she realised there were more Sith approaching. She was surrounded.
            ‘I do not need to justify myself to you,’ she said. ‘I do not need to explain myself. I’m here, that is all.’
            Dozens of red blades ignited all around her in canon, lighting the faces of the various aliens and humans who stood around her. Shadie focused and used the Force to pulse at her enemies and push them away. She crouched low, one leg out, holding her lightsaber out and poised for battle. She felt drained already.
            She recognised the face of the Miraluka, Storimbu, amidst the red glow from the blades. However, his lightsaber remained clipped to his belt. He stepped forward.
            ‘And you are absolutely correct,’ he said.
            ‘What is your game?’ asked Shadie. ‘Tell me, or fight me, but do not leave me waiting, or I will cast the first strike.’
            Storimbu smiled. ‘We test, we make sure, only to reinforce our decision.’
            ‘And what decision is that?’
            ‘To follow you!’
            Shadie powered off her lightsaber and brought her leg in close. She remained crouching and closed her eyes.
            ‘You would follow someone weak and drained? I would have the will to fight you and yet not the strength. If you wanted to, you could strike me down right here and now.’ She breathed deeply, quickly.
            Storimbu crouched before Shadie, taking her chin and bringing it up for her to look at him. His touch was remarkably gentle.

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The Imperial phantom-class starship touched down near the Kandera bunker. Talyc recognised it as Vax’s; apparently so did Fane, for he fidgeted uneasily. Talyc took his hand to comfort him. Fane nodded, as though acknowledging the reassurance.
            Vax exited the ship with a group of Imperial officers. He walked up to Talyc and bowed politely from the waist.
            ‘Talyc, you look well.’
            ‘Vax?’
            ‘Cypher Five, if you please,’ said Vax. ‘We are here to collect our shipment of beskar’gam, strictly speaking.’ He turned to Fane. ‘Fane, my congratulations are in order. You saved the galaxy and I am very grateful that you both live.’
            ‘Thank you, Cypher.’ said Fane. It felt weird to Talyc to hear Vax being addressed as such by Fane. He shifted awkwardly, not because of Vax or Fane, but because of the formality of the exchange.
            A group of Mandalorians were bringing out a few crates of shipment, as well as carrying out the beskar from the bunker.
            ‘May we speak privately?’ Vax asked Talyc. One of the officers looked at Vax. The Imperial agent did not heed him. ‘I wish to discuss what happened on Dromund Kaas.’
            Fane scowled but he walked away, giving Talyc and Vax some space. Vax motioned Talyc towards the bunker. Talyc recognised the look on Vax’s face and guessed this was a ruse. As they made their way into the bunker, Talyc began talking about his and Fane’s engagement. He saw the officers eyeing them but they did not follow them into the bunker.
            As soon as they were in, Vax hurried to a far-end room.
            ‘Can we speak freely here, are we being monitored?’ he asked.
            ‘No, go ahead, what is it?’
            Vax nodded. ‘First off, is this true, what you just said? You’re engaged?’
            ‘Yes. I realised that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Fane.’
            ‘I can’t say I’m pleased to hear it, but I am happy for you,’ said Vax. He paused. The Rattataki’s grey skin seemed paler in the bunker. ‘Listen; given our affiliations with Lord Void, we are being scrutinised and evaluated by Lady Gofaylia. She seems to enjoy…toying with people. She specifically sent me to pick up the shipment. I’m not sure if she’s looking for a reason to end the alliance early and mark you as our enemy, or if she is testing my commitment to the Empire. Regardless, I must keep up appearances.’
            ‘I understand.’ Talyc pointed a thumb towards the exit. ‘Are those her officers?’
            ‘No, but everyone has been told to keep an eye on everyone and to judge everyone,’ replied Vax.
            ‘Ah, yeah, that mustn’t be much fun.’
            There was a shuffling sound that quickly stopped. Vax looked around.
            ‘Are you certain we’re not being listened in on?’ he asked.
            ‘I’m pretty sure,’ said Talyc. ‘The bunker door isn’t a quiet one. And we can hear your officers inspecting the beskar outside. I did choose good quality beskar for you.’
            ‘Thank you. Listen, off the record, there is a matter I wanted to discuss with you, and I was hoping Lady Gofaylia would send me here.’ He got closer and lowered his voice. ‘Awgro has put a bounty on your head. Word is, he wants you captured and brought to him so he can kill you. He’s made sure to put this bounty to all non-Mandalorian bounty hunters. One of my contacts got in touch and informed me.’
            Talyc took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. ‘It was to be expected,’ he said. ‘No rest, eh! We just fought one major enemy.’ He shook his head. ‘I suppose it’s better to know. And had Awgro spread the word to Mandalorian bounty hunters… Well, most clans would have told me, so I assume he thinks I won’t find out the extent of this bounty.’
            ‘No, exactly,’ said Vax. The Rattataki got a conspiratorial look on his face. ‘There is something else. He also put a bounty on a woman called Maranna.’
            Talyc scowled. ‘Never heard of her. She’s not a Kandera as far as I know.’
            ‘What little Imperial Intelligence was able to dig up on her was that she was recruited in her early adulthood at the Sith Academy on Korriban. Apparently, she has a Force defect. Word is she simply absorbs everything.’
            ‘Well, a lot of Jedi master the art of absorption, so I’m not surprised at the ability. I mean some Sith do it too, so she must have it to some extreme for it to be qualified as a defect.’
            Vax shrugged. ‘All I know is that she was rejected and hunted as a Sith and was unable to learn the ways of the dark side properly. She joined the Followers of Kromus, though I do not know if she ever knew Kromus or Gourd, or if she ever met Relsor, for that matter. I don’t know what her affiliation with Awgro is either for him to want her dead. I believe he prefers to have her captured but the information about her is ambiguous at best.’
            ‘That is strange,’ said Talyc.
            ‘I thought you should know. Perhaps you and your friends can find her, find out what she knows about Awgro that he doesn’t want the rest of us to know.’
            Talyc nodded. ‘Sounds good to me.’ He began to turn to go.
            Vax caught his arm. ‘Talyc, we never had this conversation.’
            ‘Got it.’
            Vax took Talyc’s hand and squeezed gently. ‘Live well.’ He let go and walked towards the exit. Talyc watched him leave and was as surprised as he was when he shouted in startlement. ‘Seems we were being listened in on after all.’

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Many clan leaders and seconds gathered in the Mandalorian fortress-bunker. Fane noticed several holomonitors were set up, as he and Talyc entered the room. He assumed each would serve as a lens to the other councils. Each council had agreed on a spokesperson who would ask a few initial questions after being presented with the issue at hand. The only information they had right now was that Lord Void was Relsor’s father.
            Once the initial proceedings would be complete, each council would meet separately to discuss the matter further and form new questions. Eventually, Fane assumed, they would each decide on what to do about Lord Void. Given they all knew very little right now, it was hard to judge, but Fane knew that without Void’s help, he might not be alive right now.
            Fane closed his eyes and took a deep breath. ‘This is not how I imagined I would continue to celebrate my victory.’ Talyc smiled at him, caressing his hand with his own.
            Fane heard arguing in the hall and Shadie’s voice came out loudest. ‘This is my body, my energy, my health. I should be able to decide how to heal it in the way I choose!’
            ‘But it’s too dangerous!’ insisted Knarf, as they veered the corner and entered the briefing room.
            ‘Dangerous for whom?’ Shadie looked quite angry.
            ‘You could turn to the dark side!’ said Knarf. Shadie looked incredulous. ‘Not by your doing, but I’m worried that the dark side could influence you. I don’t like that you need it to heal.’
            ‘I need both to heal, but I still need to master some of the new dark side abilities I’ve gained in order to recover all the energy that Relsor took from me.’
            ‘Uh, what’s going on?’ asked Fane.
            ‘Shadie wants to go to Korriban!’ said Knarf.
            ‘Usharr has invited me to complete my training with him at the academy and we can watch the proceedings of Lord Void’s trial from there with him. He’s going to stay on Korriban and follow via holo,’ Shadie explained. She turned back to Knarf. ‘The dark side won’t corrupt me. It will help me. It’s a tool!’
            ‘It’s an awfully dangerous tool.’ Knarf crossed his arms.
            ‘So you’ve said!’ Shadie sat down and put her head in her hands. ‘I’m just so exhausted and drained. I just want to gain back the energy I used to have. Relsor’s death did not bring back what he took from me. Master Usharr can help me utilise the dark side without me becoming a dark side user. I just need to learn to incorporate it with the light side that I have mastered.’
            Fane put a hand on Shadie’s shoulder and sat down next to her. ‘Relsor has taken much from everyone. Devastation is manifested in different ways.’
            ‘Bes’laar,’ said Talyc, ‘do you trust your Lady?’
            ‘Of course!’
            ‘Then trust her now. She knows what she needs. You’ll be there to protect her, right?’ Knarf nodded. ‘Then if it can help…’ Talyc and Knarf sat down.
            ‘I’m sorry, my love,’ Knarf said gently. He took her hand. ‘If you feel you need to go to Korriban, then I’ll go with you and make sure you’re safe.’
            ‘That’s what I’d like,’ said Shadie.
            Fane and Talyc exchanged a relieved smile. Fane would’ve hated to see his friends let this brim their happiness together.
            Talyc pointed at Knarf’s head. ‘Letting your hair grow?’
            Knarf put a hand on his head. ‘Uh, I know, looks awful, right? I haven’t had the chance to shave my hair yet.’
            Talyc shurgged. ‘I mean it’s not a bad look. Just a little…inconsistent?’
            Knarf cuckled, shaking his head. ‘You know, before I knew you all, I had long hair.’
            Talyc perked up. ‘Hey, you could grow it long again. There are some Mandalorian styles I think might suit you.’
            Knarf seemed to ponder that in his head.
            Brenum and Trylia arrived. They sat down behind the rest of the Kandera group. Brenum leaned forward.
            ‘We’ve spoken to Nriwe, who spoke with Lian this morning.’ Brenum looked around and whispered. ‘She didn’t say much but she shared that there is a lot more to the story than we originally thought. Apparently, Lian has spoken at length with Void.’
            ‘And what more did she say?’ asked Talyc.
            Brenum shrugged. ‘She wouldn’t tell us what she knew, but she hoped Lord Void would get a fair trial.’
            ‘Wait, does this mean he’s not Relsor’s father?’ Knarf asked confused.
            ‘It means that he is not at fault in the same manner we may think,’ said Trylia.
            ‘Where’s Nriwe now?’ asked Shadie.
            ‘She didn’t want to leave Thera with just anyone during the proceedings so she decided to opt out,’ said Brenum. ‘She’ll know what’s being said. Lian will fill her in.’
            Talyc nodded. ‘I guess having a kid changes your priorities.’ He smiled.
            ‘Another reason why I need to heal,’ said Shadie. ‘I don’t want that opportunity of being a mother to pass me by. I need to be able to provide for myself and for my child. I can’t even provide for myself right now with such low reserves.’   
            ‘I get that,’ said Fane. ‘Hey, I wouldn’t mind being an uncle to more than one kid, even if it’s not really by blood relation.’
            Mandalore cleared his throat loud enough for all to hear and the room fell silent.

Continue reading Chapter Two

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