Chapter 8
AN: College again strikes, but I've finished the next chapter. I hope you enjoy.
Lord Grathan's estate was located several thousand kilometers from Kaas City, meaning that Kadral had plenty of time to pour over the available information on his target during the shuttle ride. Grathan had apparently gathered a sizeable army to guard his estate, which could easily be considered a small country. While he stood no chance against the might of the entire Imperial Army, the Sith Lord's forces had been able to repel what the Sith Council had thrown at them so far.
Kadral suspected that Grathan hoped to make a war against him too costly for the Sith Empire, but it was a fool's hope. The Sith would not easily look away from such a rebellion on their own planet. The only reason Grathan hadn't been utterly annihilated already was likely that the Sith Council didn't want to give the impression that they feared him that much. Or, Kadral mused, the members of the council may be intentionally prolonging the conflict in order to distract and divert their rivals. From Baras's comments about their mission, this could very well be the case.
The Kadral opened his datapad and began studying the relevant maps of their target area. He knew that the information on Grathan's fortifications were likely out of date, but looking at the topography would afford him an idea of what the old Sith might have done to further secure his domain. As he did so, Corbin began chatting with Vette.
"So, uh, dual wielding," the young man observed. "Not too many people can do it, but Kad says you're pretty good. Where'd you learn those skills?"
"I used to run with Nok Drayan," Vette preened. "He taught me a lot."
"Drayan," Corbin rubbed at his chin while he tried to recall the name. "He was an old smuggler, right? Disappeared a decade ago. Most think he died, but you can never tell with people like him."
"Pirate, actually," Vette corrected. "He freed me from my first stint as a slave and let me serve with him."
Corbin's brow rose. "You must have been pretty young if you joined up with him over a decade ago."
"I was six when Drayan killed my first master. He offered all the slaves a choice to go free or work for him. I had nowhere else to be, so I picked the latter. I was with him three years before he suddenly told us all to leave." Vette sighed. "I haven't seen him or his daughter since."
"His daughter?" Corbin probed, maybe a little too enthusiastically.
Vette made a face that elicited a chuckle from Corbin. "Her name was Risha. We used to play together. She was a little older than I was, but we got along pretty well. I'd like to see her again someday." Vette shook her lekku. "But, enough about my sad story," she said, clearly wanting to change the subject. "Got any juicy stories about Kadral? He said you two were bounty hunters before he joined the academy a few years ago. You guys must have been pretty young, too."
Corbin shrugged. "Young is a relative term. Mandos become adults at thirteen, and we're expected to take up adult jobs. Not all of us go into bounty hunting, but, as the kids of the greatest hunters in the galaxy, we didn't have too many other skills."
"Kadral told me about the vordgoat-" Vette started, but was interrupted by Corbin snickering.
"Verd'goten," he corrected.
"Yes, that," she replied, a little miffed. "It's pretty intense what Mandalorians put their kids through."
"Kids can do a lot if you give them enough training and responsibility," Corbin observed. "Look at you, a pirate before you hit double digits."
"Fair," Vette acquiesced. "But it's not a life I'd recommend."
"I don't blame you, though Kadral's sister might disagree."
"Mako mentioned that he had a sister," the Twi'lek commented," But Kad never mentioned her." Her gaze turned toward the young Sith, who was still studying his datapad.
"She's a, uh, bit of a sore spot." Corbin knew Kadral was still listening, so he chose his words carefully. "Her name's Burkyca, and she's two years older than Kadral. Shortly after her verd'goten, she left with a family friend- a Devaronian named Gault- to become a smuggler. We haven't heard from her since, though Gault keeps in touch and lets us know she's okay. Mako probably knows where she is, but respects her privacy. Brycis isn't too happy about it, but knows better than to argue with Mako."
"Why'd she leave?" Vette queried.
"Dunno," Corbin shrugged. "I was eleven at the time, so I wasn't aware of everything going on."
Vette looked over to see if Kadral would weigh in, but he remained silent in his study. "What did you do as bounty hunters?" The Twi'lek asked.
"Hunt bounties," Corbin replied, his tone asking for clarification.
"Well duh," Vette rolled her eyes. "I mean, were you two independent contractors? Did you work for someone? Were you doing anything else?"
"Ah." His brows shot back up. "We generally worked alone, though there were employers we took multiple contracts from, and sometimes we'd set up shop in an area- just clear out all available bounties." Corbin explained with a fond smile. "Nalah always liked it when we'd settle down for a bit."
"Nalah?" Vette's lekku perked up and Kadral stiffened. "Kadral only mentioned you."
"Nalah was-" Corbin looked over at Kadral, "our companion. A Mandalorian Togruta who joined up with us about a year after we started." Vette didn't miss the past tense, but before she could ask anything, Kadral interrupted.
"She was my girlfriend," he clarified in a perfectly neutral tone, his eyes not leaving the datapad. "I was going to ask her to marry me when I turned sixteen, but sometimes things happen."
"I- I'm sorry," Vette murmured.
"Don't be," Corbin reassured her with a forced smile. "It's a hazardous job. Sometimes people die, and there's nothing you can do about it." The last part seemed directed at Kadral, who pursed his lips. The rest of the trip was spent in tense silence, with Vette cursing herself for her inquisitiveness.
When the shuttle finally arrived, it landed in the middle of nowhere. It was still a few hours until dawn, and there was less cloud cover in the area, allowing Vette a glimpse of the planet's twin moons, which were nothing but slivers in a sky filled with constellations Vette had never seen before. She turned toward Kadral, who spoke before she could open her mouth.
"We're about a hundred and fifty kilometers from Grathan's borders," he told her, preemptively answered her question. "We'll travel the rest of the way on speeder bike," he gestured to the three long vehicles stored inside the shuttle's cargo bay.
"I- uh- haven't ever ridden a speeder bike before," Vette informed the two men cautiously.
Both helmets snapped towards her. "You what?" Corbin asked incredulously. "But didn't you grow up around pirates?"
"Nok Drayan broke his foot while riding a speeder bike and forbid his daughter from using one," Vette explained, then shrugged. "I kind of got lumped in with her. Once I left, the Twi'lek group I joined up with never had enough money to afford a bike so… I guess I never really had a chance to learn."
Kadral sighed. "We'll have to fix that. Corbin and I have used speeder bikes for a while as a quick and comparatively portable way to get around fast. But we can't fix that today."
"I'm sorry," Vette rubbed her toe on the ground
"Don't be," Kadral reassured her, realizing how she could have taken his words, especially after the other conversation. "I guess you'll just have to ride on the back of my bike."
Ten minutes into the speeder ride, Kadral realized that the usually talkative Twi'lek hadn't said anything. "I'm sorry about Corbin," he said over a private channel between the two of them, before swerving to avoid a tree. "He doesn't always know when to stop talking. You don't need to hear about our old issues."
"I don't think he did anything wrong," Vette replied. "And," she mustered her courage. "I do need to know about your old issues. I'm part of your team- right?" Her tone wasn't challenging, nor was it fearful. If anything, it was encouraging. "If there's ever anything you want to talk about, I'll listen. Losing someone close to you is always hard. I know from experience. But you can't beat yourself up about it."
"You-" Kadral began sharply, then softened his tone. "You don't know the whole story. I'll tell you some time, but it's not something I'm ready to open up about just yet."
"I understand." Vette's arms around him tightened into a quick squeeze. "You're in no rush."
It was still mostly dark when the trio made it to the official border, where Vette could see a dim light on the horizon, indicating civilization was ahead. Fortunately, Grathan hadn't had time or resources to set up proper defenses all around his estate, leaving gaps that someone with experience could take advantage of, and their trip to the city where they'd meet Baras's operative was unchallenged. The sun had only broken over the horizon half an hour before they reached the city gates. Kadral had stowed his lightsaber away, so no one was surprised to see another trio of heavily armed mercenaries walking around once they entered, and, a few minutes later, Kadral was knocking on the door to the office where Baras's apprentice, Dri'kill Ba'al, was masquerading as one of Grathan's own Sith.
"Who are you?" a man in black robes demanded.
"One who seeks victory for our master," Kadral answered, using a pre-approved code phrase.
"You?" Ba'al sneered. "I thought he'd send an assassin, not some savage Mandalorians."
Kadral held up his hand to stop Corbin from doing anything rash. "Bold words to say to someone who was sent to do a job you can't."
"You wait," the Sith hissed. "I'll be serving Baras long after he uses you up. You're expendable. I'm not. Now on to business," he reached under his desk for a datapad. "The campaign against Grathan has been slowed to a crawl by various members of the Dark Council fighting against each other, and Grathan is starting to feel secure. Baras, though, wants to send Grathan a message. Show him that he's not invincible. I was sent here undercover, and I finally have something to show for it." Ba'al turned around the datapad. On the screen was a picture of a young man roughly Kadral's age. "Grathan has a son. If you can kill him, it will prove that he's not untouchable in his little kingdom. If."
"Don't underestimate Baras's decision," Kadral warned. "This isn't my first assassination."
"We'll see. Grathan's away on business," the agent warned. "This spike should get you into his son's private quarters," he tossed a over a small rod, which Kadral inspected.
"This should be adequate," Kadral observed after he finished turning it around in his hands.
"First, though, you'll have to destroy the monitoring stations. It's quite simple- we wouldn't want anything too complicated for you, now would we?" Ba'al snarked. "Just find the monitoring stations and kill everyone inside."
"Or," Vette piped up. "We could just hack the monitoring, too."
Ba'al turned his head to glare at the Twi'lek for interrupting, but Kadral agreed. "That should definitely be simpler. I'm guessing you don't already have a spike available? No matter," he finished before the other Sith could answer. "I'm sure I can whip something up. Anything else?" he asked.
"Nothing," the man told them before sitting back down at his desk. "We'll see if you can live up to Baras's expectations."
"In that case, we'll be off." Kadral spun around and walked out the door, Vette and Corbin at his heels.
It had been a long day for the group, despite Kadral and Corbin's late start, and the trio retired to a hotel, where they signed in under pseudonyms. Kadral was 'Ga'nader,' Corbin put down 'Naur,' and Vette chose her favorite alias: 'Corvi'. Following a light breakfast of pastries from the lobby, they all took a long nap, waking up a few hours before sundown. They used those hours to prepare for the mission, ensuring their weapons and electronics were in working order, and constructing a spike to take care of the monitoring station. Rather than stop by a restaurant, Kadral reheated some of the Wayii that he had made from the Gundark Corbin killed a few days earlier. While Gundark also wasn't something Vette considered a traditional meat source, she still enjoyed it even more than the first batch Kadral had made from K'lor'slugs on Korriban. Bellies full, the group headed out toward Grathan's Mansion. Fortunately for them, an evergreen forest grew fairly close to one of the walls that encompassed the grounds, and they took full advantage of the cover it provided. When they got in view of the mansion, Vette tapped Kadral on the shoulder.
"What's your plan to get in?" she asked, looking out at the massive building, its perimeter surrounded by a fifteen foot duracrete wall.
"Sprint up against the wall where the cameras will have an odd angle seeing us, slice through the wall with my lightsaber, and try to sneak up to the station from there," he answered.
"There aren't any moons out tonight," Vette pointed out. "Your lightsaber will stand out like a beacon."
"I hadn't thought of that," Kadral mused. "I can Force jump over, but I don't know about you two."
"I have my grappling line," Corbin answered.
"And I think I can climb up that," Vette pointed at a willowy tree, whose branches would never have supported the weight of an armored Mando, but just might support a thin Twi'lek. "But let me go first. One is stealthier than three." Vette could feel Kadral's hesitation but continued before he could open his mouth. "Trust me. I've sneaked into tougher places, and anything that sees me would definitely have seen you two first."
"She's got a point, Kad," Corbin put in.
"Very well, Vette," Kadral sighed in resignation. "Go for it, and remember that I'm right behind you if anything goes wrong." Vette smiled at him before dashing towards the wall.
There were surprisingly few guards on the other side of the wall, and the lack of natural light prevented anyone from seeing Vette's silhouette as she vaulted the barrier. The spotlights dotting the watchtowers might have been a problem, but they were moving and incredibly slow intervals. She had studied the general layout of the place with Kadral, and managed to quickly locate the monitoring station. Inside, she found several guards, all but one of whom were playing sabaac. Going alone was likely a needless precaution, Vette thought as she jabbed the spike into a computer terminal. Quiet whirrs and beeps were the only indications of the little rod's assault on the system, and, after a few seconds, it released itself with a click, letting Vette know that her work was done. The computer would begin looping the cameras, which, considering this group, likely wouldn't be noticed until daylight. She informed Kadral and Corbin of her success over the comms and met up with them near a side door.
"The security here is embarrassing," Vette shook her head.
"Grathan's overconfidence must have spread to his men," Kadral observed as he turned the knob. Inside, there was even less security. The door to the son's quarters, though, was quite advanced. Fortunately, Ba'al's spike worked as promised, and the group quietly slipped in. "Depending on how skilled Grathan's son is with the Force, he may have already sensed us," Kadral warned his friends. He spotted a door with light peeking out from under it, the voices of a young man and an older woman came from inside. Kadral put away the blaster and lightsaber he had been holding and drew the long beskad from his back. He lifted up three fingers, closing them one by one into a fist, which he then thrust towards the door, opening his hand as he did so as if palm-striking an unseen foe. The door exploded into the room, where it veered off to the side seemingly of its own will, revealing a woman seemingly in her forties standing protectively in front of a young man Kadral recognized as Grathan's son. Mother and son both held ignited crimson lightsabers. This was going to be a lot harder than the young Sith expected. He stepped forward into the room just enough to allow Corbin and Vette to flank him, their weapons trained on their target, though both were wise enough to know not to fire on a Force-user with an ignited saber.
"I am Celvanta Grathan. Who are you and how dare you enter my son's room?" the woman demanded.
"We're the last people you'll ever see," Kadral answered.
"I'm not so easily intimidated," the woman sneered. "My son is only an acolyte, but I am a Sith." She turned to her son and ordered, "Beelzlit, take cover!"
"No, Mother!" he protested. "I'll fight with you."
Kadral whirled his sword around in his hands as he stepped forward. Up to this point, Vette had only seen Kadral in two proper duels, with him being concussed in the first one and using an unfamiliar weapon in the second. Now, as she saw him move, she realized why Kadral had chosen this weapon. The well-tempered Mandalorian iron couldn't be cut through, unlike most metals, and its heft allowed him to strike with far more authority than someone used to dueling with nearly weightless plasma would be prepared for. This was especially true for Grathan's son, Beelzlit, who, every time he went in for a strike against Kadral, would be knocked back several feet by the force of the Mando's blows. His mother was far more experienced, but she hadn't fought against someone with a lightsaber-resistant physical weapon in years.
Beelzlit swung an ineffective slash, which Kadral allowed to merely bounce off his armor as he spun around, sending a Force-enhanced kick into the acolyte's chest. He turned the momentum into a devastating side-slash, which Celvanta managed to use her lightsaber to take the brunt of, but the edge of Kadral's blade still bit through her robes into her arm. Meanwhile, Corbin had lined up a shot on the stunned son, though his target's enhanced reflexes allowed him to almost roll out of the way, turning a lethal shot into merely a wounding one. The Force of the mother's anguish knocked Kadral back several feet and stunned Corbin and Vette, allowing Beelzlit to limp over to his mother.
"Why us?" she gritted out. "What have we done to you?"
"Grathan's son must die," Kadral told her flatly. "Nothing personal."
"What if I give you another option?" Celvanta asked, desperation in her eyes. Vette felt bad for her until she heard her next words. "Spare us and we'll help you kill Grathan instead."
"With a spouse like you, who needs enemies?" Corbin scoffed.
"I married for power," the woman snarled. "Now I want out. I'm strong, but not strong enough. You might be."
"Grathan isn't my target," Kadral responded simply. "No negotiations. He dies." Kadral pointed his Beskad at Beelzlit.
"Beelzlit, run!" the mother cried as she gave one last, desperate leap forward. Emotion was power to a Sith, but it still wasn't enough to compensate for the woman's exhaustion. Kadral repelled her blow one last time, keeping her saber off to the side just long enough for him to draw his lightsaber from his belt to his offhand, point it at her heart, and press the activation switch. Beelzlit, meanwhile, had nowhere to run, so he charged at Vette, instead. Unfortunately for him, Corbin's second shot hit its mark. With all threats neutralized and their target dead, Corbin and Kadral each claimed their victim's lightsaber, though Kadral immediately tossed his prize to Vette. The surprised Twi'lek barely managed to catch it, juggling the cylinder in her hands for a few moments.
"Lightsabers are pretty handy if you want to cut through pretty much anything," Kadral remarked. "Though let me know if one of our enemies has one you like more."
"Thanks," Vette told him, eyes wide as she turned the cylinder around in her hand. "Will you teach me how to use it? I have a feeling it might come in handy."
"I can try," Kadral answered, "But they're kind of tricky to use. We'll be better off hooking you up with something more suited to what you are already good with."
Vette activated the lightsaber and was immediately surprised by its strong gyroscopic effect. After making sure no one was in range, she tried a few practice swings, then shook her head and deactivated it. "Yeah. Let's see what else there is."
"I already have a few ideas," Corbin chimed in.
"As do I," Kadral concurred. "We can discuss them back at the Enclave."
Getting out was as easy as getting in, and the three assassins melted into the night. As they approached the building where they had met Dri'kill Ba'al, Vette pointed out, "You know he'll probably try to kill you now that you've completed the mission."
"You say that like it's a problem," Kadral chuckled.
"Well, he isn't a problem, but trying to get out of town with a ton of guards on our tail will be," Vette explained.
"Ah, we can take 'em," Corbin declared.
"No, Vette's right," Kadral looked at the Twi'lek. "Much as I'd love to give him his due, he isn't worth the bother. Let's report back to Baras."
On the way back, Kadral could tell something was on Vette's mind. At first, she insisted that she didn't want to talk about it, but, upon further pressing, she relented. "I just… kind of feel bad for Beelzlit and his mom. They didn't ask to be used as pawns in the little war the Sith are having." She was clearly a little bit nervous with her statement, but Kadral quickly reassured her.
"Don't be afraid to be honest with me," he insisted. "I want to hear your concerns. In this case, though, I have to disagree. Grathan has made war with the Sith Council, and, in war, every combatant is fair game. Celvanta knew that but still stayed there with her son anyway. As she said, she was in it for the power. And her son was as much an adult as us. He could have left if he wanted to, but he also stayed, probably because he, too, was in it for the power."
Vette nodded, not entirely sure if she agreed, but she definitely saw the logic in his statement. Unlike the ride over, the return trip had a much more positive air.
When they returned, Kadral sent Vette and Corbin back to the Mandalorian Enclave while he reported to Baras. The Sith Lord was still interrogating the poor republic agent, and Kadral was glad he had sent Vette away. The Mandalorian understood the usefulness of "enhanced interrogation techniques", but some people just don't break. Baras would gain nothing of value by using whatever dark arts he had to keep the man alive far past any normal limit. Fortunately, the report went quickly and smoothly, and Kadral was dismissed after only having to spend a few minutes in the Darth's office. When he arrived at the Enclave, Corbin had already gone to bed, but Vette was leaving the refresher, having taken a shower and changed into a set of red shimmersilk pajamas Mako had bought her. The short top made it a little difficult to keep his eyes on her face, but it became easier when she saw him and smiled.
"Good night," she whispered as he passed her.
"Good night."