Savage-Time chapter 30 (Patreon)

[Boz Pity, Somewhere in the Arid Canyons]

Kalifa

As she finished the last target, a child that had elected to hide in a hole, Kalifa finally felt something.

Satisfaction. Not at the deed itself but what it represented she had finished her mission regardless of what happened now she had accomplished her mission, perhaps she would never be the same person that she was before but she was fine with that there were worse people to be.

The piercing laugh of Jinx as he pulled on the arms of a man breaking bones and flesh as he tried his best to tear them from the body certainly gave her perspective.

“It’s done Jinx we better leave, it doesn’t matter where the extraction point is, we have to move or it’s going to be too late for us to do anything” she was worried and her tone reflected it but that didn’t mean she was afraid, worry was not fear. She knew intimately what fear was.

“I’m afraid it’s too late for that” a voice she didn’t recognize called out from behind them, she recognized the face, Master Vos “I would normally offer you to surrender but after seeing the bodies left in your wake I don’t feel like giving you the easy way out”

Jinx scoffed as he advanced taking pointing his blade at the Jedi “Careful with your words Jedi” Jinx hissed the word as if it would burn his tongue to say it in any other way

“Why?” the mocking question of Master Vos was not answered with the anger Kalifa expected from her fellow apprentice but with a laugh. Jinx took out what looked to be a detonator and without hesitation, he pushed the button.

All around them explosions started going off. Sand, rocks, and dirt rained on them as the visibility was lowered the droids that had accompanied the for their mission started firing. Kalifa then realized that she couldn’t feel Jinx anymore.

Master Vos was deflecting and dodging or at least she thought so since the droids kept changing the direction of their firing as they moved. In the middle of all the chaos, she received a call from Maul.

“I see that you’ve engaged our Jedi friends” Kalifa didn’t understand why her master sounded all happy about it “I remember telling you that if you killed a Jedi and brought me the lightsaber, I would teach you anything you wanted but I’m not in the mood to let my investment got o waste on the other hand… codling budding Sith Lords like you leaves a bad taste in my mouth”

“Master?” Kalifa was not sure where Maul was going or why he was rambling but she was forced to leave her contemplation for later as inadvertently she had found herself face to face with Quinlan Vos.

Kalifa attacked first hoping to do some damage before the advantage of a lightsaber would overwhelm her, those ideas disappeared along with the tip of her blade as Master Vos charged at her after repelling her stab.

“I will save you but only if you can survive until I get there. I’m close by supervising the attack. Best of luck” with that he cut the connection and the anger she felt at the flippancy, the sheer disregard for her life after she had pledged herself to his service made the Force push she threw at the Jedi Master a thing of beauty and power.

Quinlan Vos had no other option than to dodge the telekinetic attack, it was a wise decision as the stone behind him exploded from the force of her attack. The Jedi master recovered quickly and Kalifa had to admit she was impressed with the way he ignored the sand and dust that were making it difficult to see.

Master Vos pushed forward and attempted to take her life, he would’ve succeeded if she had not sent a fake warning to him through his mind, making him pull back just enough so she would not be bisected from head to toe by his lightsaber. Master Vos had still managed to cut her helmet and Kalifa had to get rid of it before it burned her face.

The dust settled down and she could finally what was happening around her, Jinx was engaged in a fight with an older man who could only be Rahm Kota, he was firing along with the rest of the droids pinning down the general behind a rock formation.

“You’re a child!” Master Vos said as he looked over her face, his lightsaber lowered at his side, shaking his head he looked at her “I changed my mind if you surrender I will make sure you have a chance to live a peaceful life in one of the agri-worlds of the Jedi as long you let go of the Force”

“I’ve walked that path before, I will never again be a Jedi!” With a snarl Kalifa started lifting everything around her, the rocks spinning in a circle around her as she raised her broken blade. It was taking all her concentration to do this but Maul had trained them to be unorthodox, to be unpredictable, and never give up.

This was something new but in theory, it should help her she just needed Master Vos to attack, Kalifa would counter and with any luck, he would be forced to retreat.

“You were a Jedi? What happened?” the concern in his voice was infuriating as if he really cared about her, like she hadn’t waited on that dammed moon until her hope ran out.

“As if you didn’t know that since the start of the war younglings like me have disappeared from several places, we were taken and the Jedi did nothing to get us back! don’t try to fake any kindness” it wasn’t until this moment that Kalifa understood the hate Jinx felt for the Jedi, Kalifa drew more on the emotions she felt, and the next time she blinked her eyes had turned a sickly yellow tinged with red.

“Come Jedi, attack me!” the sones that surrounded her body started spinning even faster and when they had gathered enough speed Kalifa started throwing them. Quinlan Vos reacted on instinct dodging and striking her projectiles but Kalifa had another way to damage him.

She went for his mind she threw her feelings at him, the anger and the hate managed to stagger him, then she went for the kill she poured all the despair she felt when she was held by the Trandoshans. Kalifa went for his throat and might have killed him right then and there if she hadn’t thrown herself back.

A wall of blaster fire was coming her way, several humans that belonged to Kota’s militia had arrived along with the last Jedi of the planet. Kalifa snarled but retreated, it didn’t take her long to make her way to the droid firing line. Jinx was calmer the rage and constant chaos of his mind had hyper-focused on his enemy.

“We have to retreat” Jinx was surprising her today, first he has a trap prepared, and now he was being reasonable, maybe he wasn’t as insane as she thought.

“There is a rock formation a few clicks east of here, if you still have some explosives left then we can trap them there, you hear from Maul too?”

“Yeah, we just have to wait but-“ Jinx dodged “Damn they had slug throwers even if we had lightsabers we wouldn’t safe.”

“We’re going to have the sacrifice the droids for this”

________________________________

[Umbara, Umbaran Secret Facility]

Savage Opress

It was great to have things go your way at least when it came to part of the plan, with Umabar now firmly as a Separatist planet I can have Luk Durd come here to continue developing my weapon with the war restarting I’m gonna need it now more than ever.

The droids started with the interrogation of Lama Su, I don’t want to enter a bio war but there is no harm in trying to find out the weakness of Kamino or any codes that the clones may have in their chip that can prove useful and in the end, if it’s needed then I would already have what I need directly from the mouth of the being that oversees the creation of the clones.

My new base on Dxun had finished being remodeled and already a hidden fleet and army were being built there without the knowledge of the rest of the confederacy, I dint want to think about it but if there was ever a need to retreat I could just go to the Outer Rim and become a warlord until I dominated enough of it to launch a new invasion.

“A classic” my master was snooping around in my head to examine the work of Mother Talzin “There isn’t much to see here, you’re not a very smart person”

“My control of the CIS would speak differently”

“I think that planning to do what every other Sith in history tried to do and failed to do is what allows me to say you’re not a very smart person” the grinning face that he flashed me for a moment before having his helmet on again.

“How many times have the Sith tried to take over the galaxy from the Outer Rim?” Merrin was training by dodging the staffs of some of the Magna Guards that I had on hand, they were perfect for training and if she was hit she wouldn’t lose any body parts but it was still painful.

“Well… every time” it was an uncomfortable truth but to be a true Sith one needed to know the history of the order, it was also a great way to get plans in my opinion since most of their plans worked.

“Oh, they walked all right! but then we fucked it up”

“Are you done exploring my head?”

“Yes, I think I know what the sisters did to you. This unexpected its an artificial bond akin to the one Force-sensitive twins sometimes have, its well-hidden and more importantly it instinctively makes you think of your brother as another part of yourself”

“Like a limb?” we both turned to Merrin who blushed at our stares “sorry”

“Do you think I would be able to do something similar for Maul and his apprentices?” if Maul could have the absolute loyalty of the men and women he trains then we would never have to worry about armed insurrections against us. perhaps relying on an untested method might be a bad idea, what if it failed? what if the spell ended early or we didn’t notice it?

“Perhaps, I need more time but this is an interesting way to fix our orders problems, even if it had a time limit we should be able to make it more permanent, no offense to the witches but they lack the power that an ancient Sith can wield”

Merrin shot a glare at Nox at the words but sighed since she realized that the ghost wasn’t paying attention to her, she stopped and shot me a look. I don’t know what she expected me to do but clearly, it wasn’t nodding at Nox’s opinion.

“I think it’s time we go to my primary base in Dxun, it will also make an excellent launching point for our invasion of Felucia and there are many dangerous beats that Merrin can fight”

Merrin started asking me many questions about what the place was like and how big were the animals, I tried answering as best as I could but was forced to pass her along to a droid who could answer her questions more accurately than me.

When I finally thought that I had a chance to plan ahead, the sound of my comm distracted me the image of Lux appeared in front of me and he didn’t look happy.

“I understand why we’re working to bring Mandalore to our side but why do I have to work with the Deathwatch?”

“They requested it actually” from what I understood Vizla wanted to recruit him into his clan and I don’t oppose the decision it would give me a spy in the middle of the Mandalorian camp. Pre Vizla was not that great of a warrior but he was a cunning man that would betray me if he didn’t think he needed me.

“They actually want me to become a Mandalorian I thought that Vizla was joking when he said it-“ he paused and looked at me with a furrowed brow “You want me to be a spy that’s why you’re not against it”

I had only one thing to say and it was a very hard truth “Mandalorians are dangerous they have been party to every conflict since they launched a galaxy-wide crusade to become the masters of the universe, we want them as allies but if they ever get out of line then we will destroy them”

There would be only one power reigning and it would be mine.

“I understand, I’m interested in their offer so you might have to be careful” he smirked before cutting off the connection, he smiles now but his betrayal would make get him a very messy death.

“Spies are fun, I was once a spy. I did many, many questionable things!”

“I don’t doubt that” the snide remark from Merri shut Nox up instantly as he realized just what he had walked into.

I laughed until my master disappeared back into his Holocron.