"You are lucky that I offered to oversee your punishment. If it wasn't for the working relationship I had with Thane whilst he was Regent, you would likely be fired, demoted, and shamed for that little stunt you pulled on Mos Kenny."
"But, Zxyl…"
"No buts! You are the acting Consul of Clan Taldryan. Regardless of who or… what you are, spoonbender, there is no excuse for that pitiful behavior in the cantina. You represent Clan Taldryan, and as a Son of Taldryan myself, I expected much better from you. If Thane wasn't there, I would have taken you outside and beat some sense into you personally."
This had carried on all the way from Arx to the lower levels of Coruscant. The once bright sunshine began to dim and fade as both the Regent of the Brotherhood, Zxyl Bes'uliik Taldrya, and acting Consul of Clan Taldryan, Appius Wight, descended to the murky depths of the Core World's capital.
When one looked down from the higher levels, one could easily mistake Coruscant for being bottomless. Yet, as they lowered, the chasm walls became more rotten with neglect, looking like the durasteel braces that held them in place would collapse with the slightest outside influence.
Regardless, that was the last thing on Appius' mind. He had frakked up big time, and not the usual kind of frakk up he often did that irritated others, but could otherwise be swept under the rug. This frakk up could have started a war, and it had seen the Justicar himself get involved to mediate the situation so it didn't reach that point. Zxyl had offered to take Appius under his wing and administer his punishment, which on the one hand, the Mandalorian Force User was grateful for, but on the other, Zxyl had not stopped drilling into him the proper etiquette and behaviour that was expected from a Consul. It was laced with all the sarcasm and derision Appius had expected from his fellow Mandalorian, and all he could do was just stand there and take all of it. If he didn't, there might be a fate worse than death awaiting him in the Chamber of Justice for his recklessness.
"So, what exactly are we here for?" Appius said, trying to change the subject for a slight reprieve as both he and Zxyl stepped off the platform and onto Coruscant Level 1313. Cracked duracrete spread across the floor in every direction. Low-lives dealing in death sticks, and various spice gave the Mandalorians a wide berth as they walked past them out of fear for the heavily armoured men.
"According to our intelligence, we are looking for someone referred to as the Harbinger of Light. Blonde, perfectly white teeth, and incredibly powerful. He's supposedly connected with the Children of Mortis and is running recruitment projects down here. Our job is to find him, and bring him in for Interrogation."
"That's it?" Appius inquired. He was honestly surprised by how simple that sounded. "That seems a lot easier than I expected."
"Take this seriously, Appius," Zxyl scolded. "From what I understand, we are dealing with an Elder level Jedi. He's a master of concealment and an expert swordsman. He won't be easy to find."
"Oh, well that's just brilliant, isn't it? So they get two Mando'ade to do the hunting for them. What would the Brotherhood do without us?" Appius asked sarcastically, allowing himself a small chuckle. "Do we at least know what he looks like?"
"Unfortunately, outside of this person being male and having blonde hair, we do not. Every attempt at capturing him so far has led to the deaths of those who attempted it," Zxyl explained.
"Ok, so let me get this straight," the Taldryan Consul started. "We have to hunt down a Jedi who can conceal his signature in the Force, and outside of blonde hair, which could be frakking anyone, we don't know his appearance. Does he at least look like a Jedi?"
The Regent shrugged.
"Fantastic…" Appius commented. "This is going to be like trying to find a wampa in a snowstorm. Do you have any idea as to how to find him?"
Zxyl then reached into his tool kit and retrieved a small vial that contained a few strands of blonde hair inside it.
"That is where you come in. You can track him through this, right? Help me bring him in alive, and you can consider your punishment served."
Appius stared at the strands of hair like they were gold. A small smirk formed on his face, hidden by his helmet.
"Consider it done!" The Mandalorian Force User claimed. He was about to take the hair from Zxyl when he suddenly paused. "Where did you get the hair? I thought everyone that came up against this Jedi died."
"They did," Zxyl said. "However, this was left at the scene of the last attempt to apprehend him. None of ours had blonde hair, so it had to be his."
"It might not be," Appius reasoned.
"We won't know unless we try," the Regent answered back.
With nothing to lose, Appius took the vial from Zxyl's hand and poured the strands into his gloved hand. The Arcanist closed his eyes and focused on creating a sympathetic link with his target. Appius was carried on the waves of the Force as translucent images flashed in his mind. Images of a place not too far from their location, people he didn't know, but yet now were somehow familiar to him. When he opened his eyes, a thin red streak was visible to him, leading him to their target.
"I found him," the Consul declared.
"Then lead the way," Zxyl stated as the two Mandalorians went after their folly.
"The shackles of this reality need not limit you forever. The Father knew of this, which is why he trusted in me to talk with all of you. My name is J'hon Whetu, and I am the Harbinger of Light. Allow your chains to be broken, just as mine were."
It didn't take long for Appius and Zxyl to find their target. The bundle of hair had pretty much given the Arcanist plain directions to him. The man now identified as J'hon was spurting his nonsense to a small gathering that he had no doubt hand-picked due to their sensitivity to the Force.
"That's him," Appius muttered to the Regent. "How do you want to proceed?"
J'hon was adorning what appeared to be grey Jedi armor. Wrapped around his back was a pure white cloak with the known symbol for the Children of Mortis upon it.
"You each have a well of power buried deep inside you just waiting to break free. You've felt it, and you, and you, and even you! However, there are those amongst us that would see your power used for their own gain. They would see your lives contained, shackled to their order, never to be free," the Harbinger declared as he suddenly faced Appius and Zxyl. Perfect blue eyes glared at both Mandalorians as a smile filled with perfectly white teeth greeted them. "Isn't that right, Brotherhood?"
That sent a chill down Appius' spine that he didn't like. The crowd gasped and turned towards the pair of Mandalorians. The Taldryan Consul raised both hands as electricity seemed to surge between his fingertips.
"Wait, Appius, don't!"
The Regent's protest fell on deaf ears as Appius launched tendrils of lightning towards the Jedi. J'hon sidestepped the attack as it crashed into the duracrete wall behind him.
"Di'kut!" Zxyl cursed at Appius. J'hon then launched himself towards the pair of Mandalorians at a speed neither man was prepared for. The Force rang loud and true in Appius' mind, warning him of imminent danger, but he was unable to avoid the telekinetic blast that sent him careening into a collection of large wooden boxes that tumbled on top of him.
The Harbinger was about to do the same to the Regent, but Zxyl had just enough time to raise his arm and let loose a stream of fire from the vambrace on his right arm. The action bought him precious time and distance as J'hon leapt backwards to avoid the flames. Unfortunately for the Jedi, the bottom of his once brilliant white cloak was caught on fire, and he was forced to discard it.
Before J'hon could close the distance, Zxyl retrieved his set of throwing daggers and launched them one by one at the Jedi. The Regent's accuracy was top-notch, and if any of the daggers had hit their mark, J'hon would have been incapacitated. However, the Jedi ducked, weaved, sidestepped, and evaded each of the five double-edged daggers like he was superhuman.
"Spoonbenders…" Zxyl said with disdain.
The Regent liked to think he had perfected the art of fighting Force Users in combat. Unfortunately, he hadn't brought any of his ranged weapons with him, apart from the blasters on his vambraces. So it was time for Plan B.
Zxyl unclipped Valyr from his waist and activated the Darksaber inspired weapon. A bright yellow blade ruptured out of the hilt, and the Regent held the saber in front of him in a guard stance.
"Oh, good. I do like a challenge," the Jedi smirked confidently, retrieving his own, elegantly crafted lightsaber. It was gold-trimmed, and spoke of his power and influence. J'hon ignited the hilt as a white blade shone amidst the grunge-filled atmosphere of Coruscant's lower levels. "You will not take me, Brotherhood. Many have tried, none have succeeded. You will fail just like the rest!"
"WE WILL SEE ABOUT THAT!"
Both Zxyl and J'hon turned to the source of The voice. Appius seemingly erupted out of the boxes, his jetpack launching him towards the Jedi at an astounding speed. In the Consul's hands were his two lightsaber hilt, which he activated and took a wild swing at the Jedi when he closed the distance.
"Yet, J'hon remained firm, and parried both lightsaber attacks with a flick of his wrists. Appius landed beside Zxyl and nodded towards his comrade. The Consul's undershirt had taken some rips and cuts, but his beskar was, naturally, in perfect condition.
"A Mandalorian Force User? Isn't that blasphemous in your culture?" the Jedi inquired.
"Don't talk of me like you understand who I am," Appius retorted. "Mandalorians have a history of defeating Jedi in combat. If I were you, I'd come quietly and save yourself from a world of pain."
"If you were me, you'd realise how fruitless this endeavour is, but enough of this blabbering!" J'hon took an aggressive stance and roared like a sand panther. Then, he launched himself at both Mandalorians and let out a mighty wail.
"CHAINS UNBOUND!"
