His heartbeat quickened along with his pace, as the Mandalorian made his way down the dark alluring corridor.
He was doing it. He was actually going to do it.
This realization made Kalon almost sick, he was glad he finally had the courage to leave the Brotherhood, and Arcona far behind him. Though it saddened him inside to admit he was leaving many friends and behind, such as Nath and his own student Anduriel. But they would be in good hands; Anduriel would find a better Master and achieve his dream of becoming a Dark Jedi Knight, and Nath would also find all the fame and power she dreamt of, whilst still taking the time to be a rather humourous individual.
As Kalon turned a corridor he could hear footsteps somewhere behind him. The Sith sped up, not wanting to be confronted by anyone; Journeyman or Dark Jedi Master, for whatever reason. The sooner he escaped the better.
Kalon was defecting for one sole purpose, to stay a Mandalorian. Over the past year he had felt his heritage and Mandalorian pride slowly being sucked from his soul by the eery presences of different races and cultures he had to call ‘family’. They had poisoned his mind. The summit were only using him to achieve their own beneficial schemes. No more.
Mixed emotions were flooding through Kalon; excitement and a slight sense of joy that he would soon be on his homeworld fighting for a true Clan once more. But also sadness and remorse, for leaving those he cared for and most of the past two years of his life behind.
He could only imagine his Master’s reaction, the one he had done extreme things to please throughout his time in Arcona. Sang would be ashamed, disappointed, enraged..
The Quaestor would most likely hunt Kalon down, either personally or with most of House Galeres behind him. Cethgus, his own Master and Aedile, would definitely take great joy in killing the Sith Warrior, and that was itself almost made Kalon stop in his tracks.
It was just then that the Galerian heard a voice in his head, spoken by his friend long ago..
“A Mandalorian is never afraid of an honourable death..”
Kalon’s anger grew, realizing the extent of the poison he had absorbed whilst in Arcona. He was afraid of being killed before he could escape, even if it were in battle. They had stolen all of what he once held true and replaced it with cowardly lies to influence him into serving false Masters. He would most certainly get his revenge.
The Mandalorian reached the hangar, and was relieved to find that it was empty. He sprinted over to the X-wing sitting on the furthest side of the opening, he already knew it was fueled and ready to fly. Kalon had performed several sorties in that specific starfighter and knew it was one of the more reliable Arconan craft. After climbing up the ladder and opening the cockpit, the Pilot threw his duffel bag containing his armour and prized possessions behind the seat.
As he sat in the pilot’s chair and closed the cockpit, Kalon’s mind now turned to Atyiru.
They had just started a relationship with each other, one that the Sith felt most strongly about. She was a wonderful women, kind, selfless and compassionate. She was just the sort of person that didn’t belong here, with cutthroats and power-hungry morons. Yet she was happy here, and was content on not leaving her friends, and that is why Kalon did not reveal his plans, or beg her to come with him.
The Pilot flicked several switches to start up the Ion engines, waiting until they were powered up before slipping his helmet on, joining it with his flight suit’s life support system. One he knew the engines were at 100%, Kalon looked out the cockpit, glad that the hangar doors were open. He had tipped off some of the AAF to leave them open. Or more rather, convinced them that he was on a secret mission for the Quaestor, in a rather aggressive tone.
Kalon knew that he wanted to live and die in glorious battle, become a feared soldier, well known in the galaxy. He also knew that he had more of a chance becoming just that in Arcona, and not in Clan Beviin. But he wanted to be remembered as a Mandalorian warrior, not a Sith one. He wanted to fight and die with his true brothers and sisters, not traitors and the unhonourable cowards.
Satisfied with the path he had chosen, Kalon pulled up on the joystick whilst pushing several levers forward, raising the starfighter into the air and expertly guiding it out of the hangar bay. With any luck he would be at Mandalore in several days if he kept flying, he might have to make a detour if he ran out of fuel but that wasn’t the biggest concern on his mind.
The Mandalorian chuckled as the starfighter left Eldar’s atmosphere, encountering no resistance along the way.