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It was supposed to be an easy retrieval. He would go in, grab the relic in the middle of the room, and leave.
If he got out of this alive he was going to dismember the being who’d hired him for this job membrane by membrane.
“Or you could just not take jobs that send you to ancient Sith temples,” a dry voice commented, making him realize he’d said the last thought out loud.
“I didn’t ask your opinion on the matter, Jedi,” he spat back at his nonconsensual companion for this unexpected adventure.
“Hmm, well then, perhaps we should continue with your plan of waiting here in silence for our captor to return.”
“There is no captor.” He insisted for the ninth time. “And you calling it that isn’t helping.”
“No? What would you have me call the being who trapped us both down here, you without your armor or weapons, and me without my lightsaber, and is currently stopping us from getting out of this underground cavern that has no doors, windows, or lights?”
“Just—shut up and let me think.”
Blessed silence fell and he locked his jaw in place to stop any more thoughts from escaping his mouth without his consent. Something in this place made him lose all his normal filters and sense of secrecy. Or—something about this Jedi set him off like no other being had in a very long time.
“Ah, Mando—“
“I said, be quiet.”
“Yes, but I thought you might want to—“
“When I get out of these bindings I’m going to gag you and leave you here to rot.” He gave an experimental tug against said bindings and snarled when they once again showed no signs of loosening. After a few more minutes of pointless struggling, the curiosity grew too strong and he collapsed back against the rough-hewn rock. “Fine. What might I want to know?”
“I found a rather sharp piece of rock over here and have managed to cut off my bindings.”
He closed his eyes and counted to ten. “And you didn’t immediately tell me this?”
“Oh please, don’t pretend you gave me a chance to tell you.” Much gentler hands than he might have expected ran across his wrists and to the ropes knotted around them. “And besides, if I’d told you immediately then you wouldn’t have had a chance to further threaten me with violence.”
“What is wrong with you?” He forced his body to stay completely still as the Jedi started to use the rock to saw at the ropes. “Why didn’t you just leave?”
“That wouldn’t be very Jedi-like of me, would it?”
He gritted his teeth against the slew of responses he could say to such a statement and tried to pick the least offensive one. “It’d fit with all the Jedi I’ve met so far.”
“As I have no idea which Jedi you’ve met, I can’t speak for those interactions. I can only say that it is the duty of the Jedi to preserve life whenever possible.”
“Pacifist nonsense.” The ropes started to loosen on his wrists. “Next you’ll tell me anyone can be redeemed.”
“Unfortunately, life has taught me that isn’t true. However, the desire to preserve life does not automatically equal pacifism. In fact, I would argue it is through war that I learned to see the value of all life.”
This was getting too close to what he might categorize as some sort of bonding with a Jedi and he decided to instead focus back on the current predicament. The ropes loosened enough that he could start to shed them off and he used this as an excuse to pull away from the Jedi. “I’ve got it from here.”
“Very well.”
He strained to listen as the Jedi padded away from him and seemingly across the cavern. It took more effort than he wanted to admit to finish getting rid of the bindings and back to his feet. Once free, he staggered across the uneven ground until his fingers found the cave wall.
“Jedi?”
“Over here, I think I may have found where the door should be.”
“That doesn’t sound promising.”
“Well, remember the rock slide we heard right as his great and terribleness, Dark Lord Adas, cackled off into the darkness?”
“Oh.” His heart sank as he followed the wall until he could feel the warmth coming off the Jedi’s body. As expected, instead of the roughly carved wall, he found a large pile of rocks and mud. “Osik.”
“Quite right.” Even the Jedi’s voice sounded a little strained as he started to shift some of the rocks aside.
“Wait,” He grabbed the Jedi’s arm. “It’s all wet.”
The Jedi paused his efforts and took a step back as the probable conclusion both weighed on them. “Of course, the seals would have broken behind us. Of course, this force-forsaken mission would have only gotten that much harder!”
With growing amusement, he listened as the Jedi started to lose his temper and stomp back toward where they’d been tied up. It wasn’t until the Jedi tripped on something, let out another stream of curses, and then went silent, that the reality of it all started to hit Jango again.
“Who builds a temple underwater?” He asked, poking at the wall of mud and rocks. “Doesn’t this defeat the whole purpose of being able to worship some long-dead being? Who was this Adas anyways?”
“Now you want to know?” The Jedi sounded even further away and Jango frowned.
“What else do we have to talk about?”
“Another way out, perhaps?” They were getting farther away.
“Hey, don’t just walk off.” He hastily started back along the wall, keeping one hand firmly on it as he shuffled his feet to find any uneven surfaces before falling.
“And you care, why?”
He shivered and cursed the unending pitch black of the room. The Jedi’s voice echoed all around him now and he couldn’t pinpoint the direction it came from. Was the room getting colder? He picked up the pace and hoped that whatever that creepy being was assumed they were dead and wasn’t coming back.
“Jedi!” His skin prickled when no response came to his call and he halted for a moment, trying to gain a better sense of his surroundings. It didn’t work. The darkness felt like a physical weight upon his shoulders and it grew harder to take in air with each breath he took. He flattened his hand against the cave wall and took deeper, slower, breaths until he could think without panic clogging his brain.
Once he had control over his body, he started to move again, taking slow and deliberate steps. His feet found the Jedi first, hitting soft flesh instead of stone. He dropped to his knees, running his hands over the Jedi’s body until he found their face. The relief he felt when he found an erratic beating pulse on the Jedi’s throat, surprised him. This place was getting to him far more than it should if he preferred a Jedi’s company over being alone.
“Hey, Jedi,” he said, voice strained as he shook the body. “Wake up, you useless sack of flesh. I need your magic to get out of here so you better not be dying on me.”
“Don’t worry, little warrior, he’s not dead yet.”
Only his years of training stopped him from shouting out as a form materialized out of the darkness in front of him. It was the same being as before, just as immaterial and terrifying. It brought back all the stories he’d heard whispered late at night among the warriors after he’d been supposed to have gone to bed. Tales of the ancient magics of the Jedi and Sith, who’d the old Mandalorian empire had both fought for and against.
“You hide your fear well…” Their voice both filled the room and disappeared as soon as the words ended. “…but not well enough. Why come here, little warrior? The Jedi I can understand. It wasn’t so long ago since they tried to bury me again and put an end to my worshippers. But you? Why are you here?”
“You didn’t care about my reasons earlier.” His hand spasmed against the Jedi’s neck as he worked to get his limbs under control. “When you left me here to die.”
“Well, I just had a lovely little chat with another intruder in one of the upper rooms and it made me curious. What’s changed in the Galaxy that three very different beings have come to disturb my rest?”
“I hate to disappoint, but I’m not here for you. I was hired to steal a relic in a temple at the edge of the ocean.” Hope stirred at the mention of another room. That meant the whole complex couldn’t be flooded. There was a way out.
“Interesting, you’re not lying.” They turned their head as if contemplating him. He used the moment to try and get an idea of his surroundings. The faint light emanating off the Sith didn’t reveal much beyond more damp rocks and the uneven cave floor. Not finding any help there, he turned his attention back to the unconscious Jedi.
“Don’t bother.” Could ghosts be bored? This one sounded bored. “I have control of his mind, he won’t be waking up until I let him.”
That was a horrible addition to an already horrible day. Jango switched his glare back at the Sith ghost. “Why?”
“Why not?” They spread out hands that shifted like smoke on a breeze. “It’s been a long time since I had any true fun. The intruder upstairs tried to find me before but apparently, this Jedi helped stop him. It’s been so long since I had a true worshipper, let’s just say I’m doing them a favor.”
“Not the Jedi,” he said, standing up and taking a step back from the body on the ground. “Me.”
“You? Yes, well, why you indeed…” They spun in a slow circle and Jango forced himself to stay still and not flinch as they floated closer to him. “Why are you here?”
“I told you, I was hired—“
“To steal a relic, yes, yes, you said. But how absurd! Who would send you for such a thing? When according to my worshipper and this Jedi’s mind no one except a very rare few even knew this place existed. I think you’re lying to me, little warrior, and someone is playing a game.”
Dread turned Jango’s blood cold as the Sith paused, a millimeter from his face, and smiled. “Let’s see what’s in your head. Now, won’t that be fun?”
Instant pain spiked through his head and he collapsed to his knees with a scream.
His head felt as if a thousand needles stabbed into it all at once. Flashes of memories he’d prefer never to think of again played out in front of him. It was as if he was there but not there, an observer, but one who felt everything they saw as it happened.
Not this, I don’t care about this. The voice said, sounding annoyed.
Jango’s body convulsed and shuddered as the memories switched and now he saw the being who’d hired him. A skittering Neimoidian who’d looked like one growl from Jango would have sent them diving for cover. He’d assumed the client must just be some rich Trade Federation leader who wanted some fancy relic to show off at parties.
How interesting, but ultimately, unhelpful.
The presence left him and he gasped for air. His chest constricted and bit by bit, the world came back into focus. His hands clutched at the ground, blood on his palms and fingertips from where he’d dug in too tight.
“You are rather boring.”
It took much more effort than he liked to look up at the Sith specter hovering above him. “Sorry to disappoint. Next time I’ll be sure to pick a client that has more interest to a long-dead Jedi washout.”
“Is that supposed to make me angry?” They cackled and he gritted his teeth. “Bark all you want at me, you’ll die here all the same. Have fun though, with the Jedi, you can take one more revenge kill.”
With that, the Sith dissipated, and the darkness was once again complete.
He didn’t know how long he stayed there, on his knees, head swarming with images of dead friends and family. The Jedi made a pained gasp, startling him back into the present.
“Jedi?” he asked, deciding not to deal with the spark of hope that flared in his chest at the reminder he wasn’t stuck here alone. “Are you awake?”
“Define that concept for me.” The Jedi’s voice sounded pained and hoarse. “Because this whole mission has turned into one kind of nightmare after another.”
Despite himself, Jango let out a snort as he crawled his way toward the Jedi’s voice. “I didn’t know Jedi could have a sense of humor.”
“There you go again, making these broad sweeping claims about a group that has members in the thousands.” There was no bite to their words and the hand that Jango found was comfortingly warm and real. “I might be tempted to throw in some barbs about Mandalorians but alas, whatever the Sith specter did to my head is making it difficult to think of any.”
Jango coughed to hide another laugh as he settled down, pressing his arm against the Jedi’s so their bodies lined up together. “Any chance your Jedi magic has a way to defeat this Sith ghost?”
“I think the more pressing concern is the cave we’re trapped in.”
“Getting out of the cave won’t matter if the ghost traps us somewhere else.”
“Hmm…” The Jedi shifted as if they were considering standing up. Jango tightened his grip on their hand and leaned into them harder to keep them in place. “Ah, well, you have a point. However, even a dead Sith is not omniscient. Their power tends to also be localized around their Holocron or their remains. The farther we get from either of those, the better chance we have.”
“How do you know all this? Is this a common thing that Jedi learn or that happens in the Galaxy?”
The Jedi coughed up a weak laugh. “Ah, no, not really. Most Sith temples were either cleansed after the last Sith wars ended or are on planets obscure enough or on forbidden hyper lanes. However, it would be foolish of the Jedi to completely ignore the possible dangers still present in ancient Sith ruins, temples, and Holocrons. A certain amount of Jedi are trained in every generation on how to deal with said artifacts and their retrieval. Or destruction.”
Taking a moment to parse through what the Jedi had said, Jango made a grunt of acknowledgment before he scowled at the implications. “Then are you just bad at learning? How’d you get stuck here if you were trained for this?”
Another laugh came in response and his scowl deepened, despite the darkness keeping the Jedi from seeing his look of disdain. “I admit, this mission has not gone even remotely as planned. We thought we were dealing with a simple Sith-obsessed non-force user, looking for old artifacts. We didn’t realize they’d managed to find Darth Adas’ Holocron and had it with them. If we’d known they were bringing it back here…trust me, they would have sent Jedi Masters much more qualified than I am.”
“Great. Just great.”
“Quite so.”
Jango growled, “You could be taking this a little more seriously.”
“You think I’m not taking this seriously?” Finally, there was a bite to the Jedi’s response. “I just had an ancient Sith lord, with thousands of years of knowledge, rip through my mental shields and make me relive all my worst memories. I’m trapped in a cave with a Mandalorian who has considered multiple ways to kill me in the last few hours, and somewhere out there is a budding Sith Acolyte who if they get possessed by Adas could do untold damage and destruction to this planet.”
“It can possess people?” Jango hissed in growing ire. “What—“
“Only the willing,” the Jedi snapped, “You have to want it or have an exceptionally weak mind, and don’t worry, your mind is anything but weak as the constant headache you are giving me proves.”
“I’m giving you a headache!” The urge to strangle the Jedi was quickly returning. “I’m not the one who—“
“Oh please,” sarcasm dripped from the Jedi’s words. “Some unknown entity sends you to an abandoned temple for a ‘relic’ and you just go and don’t ask any questions? That didn’t seem at all suspicious to you?”
Jango opened his mouth and snapped it shut. Fury rose, sharp and hot in his chest, both at the Jedi and the whole situation that had led him to this moment. Before he could formulate a reply that didn’t include strangling the Jedi with his bare hands, the floor started to shake and deep rumbling noise filled the cavern.
Both he and the Jedi scrambled to their feet, not letting go of one another. “Is that—?”
“Water,” the Jedi finished, voice grim.
Within seconds wetness hit their feet and they were spurred into action. Through some unspoken agreement, they didn’t let go of one another (a decision Jango was definitely not going to obsess over later) and stumbled through the rapidly rising water over to the cave wall. Once there, they went along it as fast as they could, hoping for some sort of opening.
“Ah!” The Jedi jerked them to the left and Jango almost lost his grip on the Jedi’s tunic. “The ground is at a slight upward slant I believe.”
“You believe? Or you know?”
“Well, the first step is up, who knows about the second or the third, but I don’t believe we have many options unless you—“
“Fine, fine! Let’s just keep moving!” The water licked at Jango’s knees and he re-adjusted his hold on the Jedi.
“If you insist.”
Why, out of all the Jedi in the Galaxy, Jango thought through growing irritation, did he have to be stuck with this one? “I could do without the sarcasm.”
“I find it rather helps in situations such as these.”
“Do you often find yourself trapped in Sith temples with Mandalorians who are seconds away from strangling you with their bare hands?”
“You could do that, my dear, but then you’d be without my ‘magic’ to help finish our daring escape plan.”
Jango gave the Jedi a not-so-gentle push forward. “Less talking and more using the magic then.”
“Anything for you, darling.”
He was going to kill that Neimoidian. Very slowly. After he killed this Jedi—maybe killed the Jedi—despite how obnoxious they were being, Jango wasn’t sure he could get out of this on his own. There—he decided—if they proved helpful enough, he wouldn’t kill them.
The tunnel did go up at a slant that gradually got steeper as they kept going. This made it hard to keep a hold of the Jedi but meant the water was left behind for the moment. Though, he could still hear it rushing and splashing below them. It lent a sense of deeper urgency to the whole climb, even though he was half convinced this tunnel would end in a dead end or another lake.
He cursed as they hit a wall of rubble. This one time he would have been fine with not being proved correct in his worries. The Jedi didn’t seem as bothered by the wall, they placed their hands on it, letting go of Jango, which he retaliated by grabbing a piece of the Jedi’s tunic. There was no way he was letting the Jedi out of reach again. Not after the last time.
“What are you doing?” he asked, trying to stamp down his nerves. The sound of water behind them grew ever closer.
“Trying to sense what’s on the other side.”
“You can do that?”
“You sound rather skeptical.”
“Yeah well, I happen to know what you do isn’t actual magic.”
The Jedi huffed a laugh. “Magic or not, the force is more powerful than you might think. The limits on its power come from the one using it.”
“How good are you at using it? You did get trapped down here.”
“So kind of you to remind me of my failures when I’m attempting to save both of us from drowning.”
Jango bit down on his tongue and glared at what he assumed was the Jedi’s face. The silence stretched on for what felt like an eternity as all he could hear was the ever-encroaching water from below. His fist tightened in the Jedi’s tunic and he was about to demand the Jedi just do something—anything—when the rocks rumbled and started to move.
“What are you—“
“Hush.” The Jedi’s voice sounded strained. “Prepare to swim.”
“What? No! How will—“
It was too late. The rocks shifted and cold water hit him in the face. He barely had a second to inhale before they were submerged.
Panic raced through him and it took every ounce of his iron control to keep both his grip on the Jedi and not open his mouth. For a few seconds they seemed to hang still—suspended in the water—then suddenly they were punched forward as if from a canon. A hand clamped around his wrist as he lost his grip on the Jedi’s tunic.
They surged forward, the water pressing and pulling them back, but somehow they kept rushing through it. His lungs burned and it was only the Jedi’s grip on his wrist keeping him focused and awake. He didn’t know how long it lasted but just when he could feel his resolve slipping, and the ice-cold liquid forcing its way down his lungs, they burst out into fresh air.
Blessed air, light, and after a few moments of uncoordinated swimming, solid ground met them. They both managed to drag themselves up the embankment, coughing and spluttering the whole time, until collapsing together in a heap.
After ridding his lungs of liquid and whatever else he might have swallowed in those last few frantic moments before surfacing, Jango turned to get a good look at the Jedi.
“You’re much prettier than I thought you’d be.”
The Jedi stared at him blankly for a minute before dissolving into some sort of half-cough, half-laughing fit. “That’s the first you have to say?” they asked, once they’d somewhat recovered. “That I’m pretty? Not a thank you for saving my life?”
“It’s what you owed me.” Jango snapped at him, annoyed at the prickly feeling in his stomach.
“Right.” The Jedi stared at him for a few seconds longer before sighing and shaking their head. “Alright then, let’s see where we ended up.”
It took more effort than Jango liked to get to his feet to survey the surroundings. They’d come up on a rocky shore and it looked like the sun was on the rise from behind them. The shore stretched out as far as they could see on either side of them and the steep cliffs and hills promised a tough climb if they went up instead of along the shore.
“Are we out of range of your Sith?” he asked, warily looking back at the ocean.
“It’s hard to say.” The Jedi frowned at the dark waters. “I do believe we came from below where we are standing, which isn’t promising. However, if Adas went back to his acolyte, we can hope he’s busy figuring out possession and has assumed we drowned. Despite his immense power, he isn’t omnipresent and can’t know where we are while also doing other things, hopefully.”
“Hopefully? That isn’t very comforting.”
He shot Jango a dry look, tinged with annoyance. “Would you rather I gave you useless platitudes of comfort or I was honest about my knowledge and abilities?”
Having no desire to answer that question truthfully, Jango turned away from the Jedi’s too-knowing gaze and surveyed the rocky shore. “Can you sense where the spaceport is?”
“Hmmm, yes, thankfully it’s along the shoreline that way.” He pointed and Jango lost some of the tension in his shoulders. “I can vaguely sense a copious amount of lifeforms so we shall assume that is the spaceport. I don’t believe we were brought far away enough underground for there to be another, closer, city with that much life in it.”
“You could just say ‘yes’, you know, and not add a whole bunch of useless additions.”
He received another withering expression but this time the Jedi must have decided it wasn’t worth it to continue to defend himself as he rolled his eyes and started to walk in the direction he’d pointed. Jango followed close behind, keeping half his attention on the ocean as he couldn’t help but be worried about Adas somehow appearing out of it and attacking them again.
The rocky shoreline made progress slow as some of the boulders required climbing and most were slick with algae. It didn’t help that the sun’s heat increased as they walked. The water lapped at their feet, a constant reminder of their growing thirst.
Each time a wave hit a little higher, or the Jedi caused a rock to fall, Jango’s pulsed jumped at the fear of Adas’ return. At the fifth or sixth time this happened, he finally whirled back around to see the Jedi stumble yet again. “Will you stop making noise?”
The Jedi stared at him blankly for a few seconds. “Noise? What—oh—the rocks? I can’t help that.”
“You could watch where you’re walking,” Jango responded through gritted teeth.
“Forgive me for letting the events of the last day or longer affect my ability to pay close attention to how I walk.”
“Listen, Jedi—“
“Obi-Wan.”
It was his turn to stop and stare at the Jedi. “What?”
“My name, it’s Obi-Wan.” He had no idea how to respond so he deepened his glare. The Jedi—Obi-Wan—sighed and leaned against one of the larger boulders. “Look, I’ve been mentally tortured, physically beaten by the rocks, water, and whatever Adas did when he dragged me into that cave we were both stuck in. Using the force to save our lives took a lot out of me. I’m barely able to walk right now. If it bothers you that much then just leave me here.”
“Are you questioning my honor now, Jedi?” Deeply offended, Jango stalked over to the Jedi—Obi-Wan—and grabbed a fistful of the front of his tunic. “I may hate you but you did save my life. I’m not leaving you out here to die. My parents would come back from the dead to kick my ass for the next ten lifetimes.”
Obi-Wan blinked at him. “You are the strangest Mandalorian I’ve ever met.”
Somehow the response only made Jango’s annoyance worse. “You’ve met a lot of us then?”
“A fair amount.” When his attempts to pry Jango’s fingers off his tunic didn’t work, he sagged into Jango’s hold. “What do you want from me?”
“I—I don’t know.” Jango released his grip and took a step back. “Fuck, I don’t know. I just know I can’t leave you here as much as I want to. I may have abandoned my people and my oaths, but to kill you or let you die now…fuck…”
“My, my, how touching.”
Obi-Wan’s eyes widened at the vaguely familiar voice as Jango spun around so fast he almost fell on the sea-slick rocks. About ten feet away stood a middle-aged human male with dark hair that fell to his shoulders. A sneer twisted across his face and his eyes blazed a sickly bright yellow.
“Norval,” Obi-Wan stepped beside Jango. “What did you do?”
“The being known as Norval is gone.”
Now Jango recognize the cruel twist in that voice and a cold chill ran down his spine. “Adas.”
“You have what you want now,” Obi-Wan said, as he tried to maneuver himself between Jango and Adas.
Scowling, Jango grabbed Obi-Wan’s sleeve. What was the fool Jedi doing?
“Not quite,” Adas took a step forward and raised his hand in the air. The rocks beneath them began to shake and move.
“No!” Obi-Wan lunged at Adas, ripping his arm out of Jango’s hold but it was too late. The ground beneath them gave way and once again, they were plunged into darkness.
The fall felt like it lasted both an eternity and mere seconds. Around him the air filled with dust, rubble, and dirt. He hit something hard, bounced off it, and rolled to a stop. When he could breathe again, he pushed himself up to his knees and peered up at the speck of light coming from above. It didn’t seem as far as he thought it should be and cast more light than he’d been expecting.
“Jedi? Obi-Wan?”
“Here.”
He refused to interrogate the way his heart jumped in relief at the sound of the Jedi’s voice, however weak it came out.
“Are you able to move?”
“Mostly.”
That was not promising. Jango growled and started to limp toward the Jedi’s voice. “Where’s Adas?”
“Oh, I’m sure he’s just waiting for the most dramatic moment possible to announce himself.”
Rolling his eyes, Jango paused at the lump of dust and rock debris that was the Jedi. “Come on, let’s get you up.”
With Jango’s help, Obi-Wan was able to stand, though even through the dust and weak light, his face looked very pale. It was doubtful he’d be up to another magical escape with the state he was in. The odds of them getting out of this situation alive faded with every passing minute.
“We need to find the Holocron.”
Jango snapped his attention back to Obi-Wan. “What’s that?”
“Adas’ Holocron,” Obi-Wan shot him a dry look. “You know, the ‘relic’ you were sent to retrieve.”
“What does that do?” he asked, ignoring the rest of the statement.
“It stores his consciousness, or what’s left of it. If we can contain it then his possession of Norval might be weakened or dissipate entirely.”
“Then why,” Jango asked through gritted teeth. “Didn’t you do that earlier?”
“What do you think I was trying to do before I was trapped in that cave? I thought I was just chasing a history student with an obsession. I got overconfident and didn’t realize he’d managed to activate the Holocron until it was too late.”
Obi-Wan looked so apologetic and miserable for a moment, Jango was tempted to say something comforting. Thankfully, the brief weakness passed, and instead, he gave a short nod and turned to survey the cavern they were now in. “So how do we contain it?”
“Find our things, I imagine.”
He turned back to Obi-Wan and squinted. “And how can we do that with Adas somehow ahead of us at every turn?”
“Well, to start with, this is the entrance cave to the temple. See,” he pointed and now Jango could see, with the dust settling another small pinpoint of light. “That’s the entrance. If we go this way, it should lead us to the temple and where Adas dropped us into the cave we met in.”
Jango opened his mouth to object to the idea of going back to the place where they had both been beaten before when he realized what else had been left behind in that temple.
“Alright, let’s go.” He marched off, half dragging Obi-Wan behind him. Somehow, they made it to the underground temple with no sign of Adas. It made Jango incredibly suspicious. There was no way Adas had dropped them back to this place and wasn’t planning something worse to do to them.
No matter, all he had to do was find his armor and then the rest would fall into place. He shot a look at Obi-Wan, who looked seconds away from passing out and grimaced. So much for the vague idea of having Obi-Wan use his Jedi magic as a distraction. Okay, change of plans, Jango would be the distraction.
It turned out he was right to be concerned. As they turned the corner and entered the large columned temple, Adas stood on the altar, arms spread wide in front of him.
“Welcome, my new acolytes.”
“Sorry, your what now?” Jango shoved Obi-Wan to the side and hoped the Jedi would take the hint and go find whatever magic equipment he’d brought with him. “You know, for an ancient Dark Sith Lord, you do sure seem to be getting confused about what you want. First, you try and kill us, then you let us escape, then you try and kill us again. Now you want us to, what? Worship you?”
“What I want, little Mandalorian, is power.” Even from where he stood, what had to be a good forty or so feet away, those yellow eyes caught Jango’s gaze and held it. He swallowed hard as his vision started to blur. “I did plan on just letting you both die but then I saw how strong you were, even the Jedi is strong, his mind will be so fun to break into pieces and rebuild as I wish. But you—“
Somehow Jango had moved—or had Adas moved—and now those eyes bored into him, mere inches away.
“—you, will be my right hand. With you, Mand’alor,” the title sent a jolt of hot shame through him and he jerked back right as Adas reached for him.
“I am no Mand’alor.” He stumbled back, hands shaking. “What are you doing to me?”
“My power is strongest here, where thousands of worshipers spilled their life’s blood so I might gain strength.” Cold, hard, fingers gripped his chin and he couldn’t move as a burning sensation raced through his body. “I will rip through your mind and you will become mine. You will obey my every command and through you, I will gain an Empire once again.”
“You’re insane,” Jango couldn’t move, he could barely breathe but he hissed out the words as he tried with all his strength to break eye contact and get away from the burning touch. “No one will follow me or you through me. Mandalore is fractured beyond repair and no one can unite it.”
“Now who is the liar?” Adas laughed the sound grating against all Jango’s nerves. “You lie to yourself, Jango Fett, once Mand’alor. You run from your duty and what could be your people. You don’t deserve them but don’t worry, they will reach a glory they could never fathom with me as their leader. Maybe I’ll even let you observe from time to time.”
A tingle spread from Adas’ fingertips and through Jango’s chin. His vision blurred and the sound of a thousand screams filled his ears.
He could see it all, just as Adas described. The dark lord at the front of an army of Mandalorians. The Galaxy at war.
But then it shifted, like a twist in cloth, now he saw his people lying dead on a battlefield. Ships ripped to pieces, Mandalorian and Republic, all scattered in the star fields. Coruscant was on fire. Mandalore destroyed.
All with Adas’ laugh in the background.
“No!” He punched forward and his fist slammed into the shocked face of the Sith.
Adas fell back and Jango stumbled, trying to stay on his feet as his head rang still with the screams of his people.
“Adas!”
He never would have imagined he’d feel so much joy at the voice of a Jedi.
He and Adas looked up at the same time and saw Obi-Wan standing a few feet away. In one hand he held a small solid pyramid and in the other, Jango’s blasters. For a second, time seemed to freeze as Adas calculated his next move and Jango tried to stay standing. By the Ka’ra, he hoped the stupid Jedi had a plan.
“That belongs to me, Jedi.” Adas jerked back to his feet and advanced on Obi-Wan. “Give it to me now and I’ll begin your training with less pain than I’d previously planned.”
Obi-Wan smirked and raised the pyramid in the air, taking a half-step back. “I’ve always been impressed with how prepared Mandalorians are. Did you know that they often have multiple explosive packs on them at all times?”
The implications of Obi-Wan’s comments hit Jango and Adas at the same moment but elicited two very different reactions.
Adas let out a cry of rage and flung a bolt of lightning from his hand at Obi-Wan right as Jango turned to run. Dodging the lightning with speed Jango wouldn’t have thought he’d been capable of given his exhaustion, Obi-Wan tossed the blasters toward Jango and then ignited a lightsaber.
With a curse, Jango dove for his blasters and fired them at Adas right as Obi-Wan’s blade sliced through Adas’ arm. The bolts hit Adas square in the chest but before either of them could celebrate black smoke poured out of the lifeless body and rose into the air.
“Jango! Catch!” Obi-Wan flung the pyramid at Jango and a bag of some sort then flung his hands up in front of him. The black smoke froze in the air as Jango scrambled for the bag and pyramid. Sweat beaded on Obi-Wan’s forehead and blood trickled from his nose. “Hurry! The bag, there’s a box, put the Holocron in it!”
He fumbled at the bag, fingers feeling like rubber as he finally ripped it open and wrenched out a small black box. It radiated nothingness and it tingled to the touch.
A roar startled him enough that he almost dropped it and he looked up to see the smoke starting to coalesce into a figure. Obi-Wan’s face went white and the blood on his chin stood out starkly against his skin.
“Jango!”
Right—the box—he tore his attention back to his hands and flipped the box lid open, dropped the pyramid inside, and snapped the lid shut.
A scream ripped through the air and Jango doubled over, hands slapping over his ears, then absolute silence fell.
Slowly, Jango raised his head, half expecting to see Adas standing there to gloat or cause more damage. Instead, he saw Obi-Wan’s prone body a few feet away and no sign of the Sith lord. He crawled over to Obi-Wan. His shoulders slumped when he found a pulse.
“Hey, Jedi, wake up.” Obi-Wan let out a faint groan and Jango shook him harder. “Hey! Did you actually set those explosives?”
“What? Oh…yes…”
Osik and fuck. “Where?” Jango shot to his feet and almost fell right back over as the blood rushed to his head. “Dammit, Jedi, where? We need—“
“To destroy the temple.” Obi-Wan rolled up to sit, one hand holding his head and the other braced against the ground. “It’s too dangerous. Adas is too dangerous and too powerful. Your armor is that way.” He pointed and after a second of glaring at the Jedi, Jango went to find it, leaving the box with the pyramid on the ground. For all he cared, the cursed thing could be buried for all eternity right where it lay.
It looked undamaged but he didn’t take the time to check. He threw on the easiest pieces and the jetpack, throwing the rest into the Jedi’s bag and then jogging back to where Obi-Wan still sat, head in his hands.
“Get up!” Jango grabbed Obi-Wan’s shoulder and yanked him to his feet. “We need to go, now.”
“Right…” Eyes unfocused, Obi-Wan stumbled after Jango.
Every second it took him to drag Obi-Wan out of the temple, into the cave, and finally out on the rocky shoreline of, Jango’s heart was in his throat. But it wasn’t until they’d made it a good several hundred yards away from the entrance that the ground bucked beneath them and Jango was knocked to the ground, Obi-Wan landing heavily on top of him.
Ears ringing, he groaned, shoved Obi-Wan off, and sat back up. “Fuck, couldn’t you have set them to last a little longer?”
Obi-Wan shrugged, gaze still unfocused. “Didn’t know how long it would take. Plus, if we’d failed, I didn’t want him to have time to leave.”
“We had time to leave.” Jango pointed out, glaring back at the still-rumbling earth where the cave entrance had been.
“Would have fought him longer.”
“Right.” Rolling his eyes, Jango managed to get back to his feet and hauled Obi-Wan up with him. “Well, I’m not carrying you back to the city, so come on, focus on me, Jedi.”
It took much longer than Jango wanted, but at last, they reached the city he’d started from. After a brief but furious mental debate, he took Obi-Wan to the spaceport and into his ship. Once inside, he grabbed a first aid kit, shoved Obi-Wan into the fresher, and stripped them both down while applying bacta to all the visible injuries.
Obi-Wan made several attempts to protest but gave in and helped apply bacta to Jango after it became clear Jango wasn’t taking no for an answer. Once they were both bandaged and relatively clean, Jango bundled Obi-Wan to the bunk.
“Go to sleep.”
“And when I wake up?” Even as he grumbled, Obi-Wan dropped into the bed and curled up around the pillow. “Will I be in your bounty-hunting cell or sold off to the highest bidder?”
“Don’t insult my honor, Jedi.” Jango barred his teeth. “As much as I hate it, I owe you my life. You get some rest and I’m getting us off this Manda-forsaken planet.”
“And then?”
Jango paused, considering the question, and finally shrugged. “We’ll figure it out later. Maybe you’ll help me take my planet back, after all, the Jedi do owe me.”
The long pause made Jango think Obi-Wan had fallen asleep, but after a long silence, the answer came. “Maybe I will.”
Jango fled the room, shutting the door behind him. The words prickled uneasily under his skin. Had he meant that? Did he want to return to Mandalore? But Adas’ vision and words sprung up, sharp and vivid in his mind. He’d come so close to being the doom of his people. Perhaps it was time to be their salvation and maybe the Jedi could be part of that too.
He shook his head to dispel the thoughts. For now, he had a planet to depart and then go kill the being that had hired him for this job to begin with—actually, the Jedi would be a great help with that part and might even have a vested interest in knowing who wanted a Sith Holocron.He would keep Obi-Wan with him for now, because he was useful, and later he would decide about Mandalore.
Pleased with this plan, Jango settled into the cockpit and set the ship into hyperspace with a smile on his face.