Chapter 27: Apprehended

Kandria's arms were crossed tightly, and she felt more tense then ever before. This feeling of anxiety only heightened as the speeders stopped and people who looked a lot more elite than the previous security hopped off. They wore flamboyant blue armour which while it may have seemed purely ceremonial at first, she recognised the way they held themselves as they moved with purpose to form a semi-circle in front of Kandria and Vancil.

Each were equipped with shields which could likely absorb most common blasters while also using the same pistol as the security forces. The security forces in question had stepped back to join the elite troops but hadn't raised their pistols as their allies were doing. At least they had that going for them. She had no doubt that both she and Vancil could take them on despite their seemingly elite status. That was what scared her though.Ever since she had left the Jedi Order, feelings of self-doubt had entered her mind gradually. If she wasn't a part of the Order then what was stopping her from just doing whatever she liked? Her answer was always that she followed her own moral code which wasn't linked to the Order. Ignoring the fact that she had essentially been raised by the Order and so their values were her own, the Order had given a sense that going against this code was to be punished, and had been on several occasions she had witnessed herself.Now that she had left the organisation behind however, that sense of a higher authority ready to punish her was gone. She felt… free. She both relished and feared the feeling. Everything was so strange now, and her feelings were more conflicted than ever. Vancil was a prime example of just that.Her feelings towards him had changed quite dramatically in a very short span of time. At first she bore nothing but resentment and disgust towards the Sith Acolyte, albeit subdued thanks to her Jedi training. Then, after he had literally thrown himself in between her and a swarm of Whistling Darts, that resentment lessened, much to her own confusion. He was a Sith. The vile Order which wished for nothing more then to overtake the galaxy and flood it with the Dark Side, plunging it into chaos. And he had saved her.It was when she actually got to talking to him that her resentment began being replaced by… something else she still couldn't quite describe. What she did know however, was that Vancil seemed truly… free. He was still quite clearly a Sith and proud of the fact, but it was different from her own membership in the Order. She had been born into the Order, it was her home and her family. She was essentially obligated to be with them, making it all the worse when she realised how far they had strayed and that she had to leave to preserve her own morals.If she had to guess, Vancil had no such qualms. She didn't know much, but he had to have joined the Sith Order later on in his life if he was born on Kavir, because from what little she had seen of the Storm's power nothing was getting in or out without its approval. Maybe that was the reason he was so… carefree. He had had the opportunity to form his own opinions on galaxy, create his own moral code to follow, and so wasn't tied down to anything. That was doubly so now that he had apparently settled his demons on his home planet.He was something that she should have been. Yet she was still held back by her own fears and anxieties about leaving the Jedi. She glanced to her right at the Sith which had taken up so much of her thoughts recently. Vancil was standing off to the side and slightly behind her with his arms crossed as he stared unflinchingly from behind his mask at the arrayed soldiers.She was brought out of her thoughts as one of soldiers stepped forward, his hands held behind his back calmly as he approached, as though the situation was far less serious than it actually was. He wore the same armour as the other newly arrived forces, however had a dark purple cape flourishing behind him gracefully.He regarded the scorch marks on the ground where their attackers had previously been briefly before stopping a few feet in front of Kandria and Vancil, the rest of the guard remaining arrayed behind him, "I would assume that you are the pilots of that there ship?"Kandria glanced behind briefly the ST-70 in question, which had only a few scorch marks from blaster bolts, "You would be correct to assume as such."He remained silent as he stared at her, as though trying to intimidate her into not lying, "And, the previous owners?"She froze up at that. She glanced over to Vancil to catch the slight nod of his head. Tell the truth. That was what he was implying. At least she hoped so."The bounty hunters that tried to kill us? They're dead. We took their ship so we could get off of Krant." She explained, noticing the slight shock in the blue eyes behind the slits of the man's helmet.This was risky. The bounty hunters they had killed were Mandalorians, and they had just admitted as such to a group of armed Mandalorians who surrounded them. Considering that they had been stopped so suddenly and things had escalated so quickly however, it was likely that the bounty hunters hadn't been on the greatest of terms with these security forces or whoever controlled them.The silence hung over the crowd for a moment more before the man nodded, "I see… That is both a relief and unfortunate." Kandria eyed him warily as he continued, "A relief that you managed to kill them and bring their ship back, but unfortunate because now you two are complete unknowns."A bead of sweat trailed down Kandria's forehead, "And?"The man crossed his arms and glared daggers into Kandria, "What I want to know is how the hell two randoms killed both the Hornets, one of the most dangerous bounty hunter groups in the galaxy, and a squad of Death Watch with nothing more than scorch marks to show they were even here in the first place."Kandria worked her jaw. The answer was quite simple but the response would likely be a million times more complicated. She could tell the truth and that they were force users, but considering the current Jedi Order's infatuation with the Republic and Mandalore's neutrality, the two would likely face a harsh reaction.Alas, she did not get the chance to even think of a response in which she and Vancil faced the least amount of flak, as one of the initial security forces stepped forward raising his hand. Kandria recognised him as the young man Vancil had saved with his quick reactions, another instance of strange behaviour from the Sith."Sir, Private Harkon here. If you don't mind me speaking out of turn, the two of them saved me and the rest of us from Death Watch." He looked over to Kandria and Vancil, "I'm not sure whatever it was they did, but they could halt things in mid air and had swords of light that could deflect blaster bolts."The guard probably thought he was doing them a favour.The colour drained out of Kandria's face however as the commander's head whipped around and his hand shot to the pistol holstered at his side, lowering himself slightly as though he expected the two to leap forward at any moment, "Jedi? What do you think you're doi-""THE FUCK DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!?!" The commander didn't get the chance to continue as Vancil shouted in venomous fury, causing even more colour to drain out of Kandria's face.Vancil took a step forward before halting as Kandria immediately placed a calming hand on his shoulder, trying and failing to use soothing words, "He didn't mean anything by it-""THAT'S NOT THE FUCKING POINT!" Every guard was on edge now, every gun trained on Vancil as he pointed an armoured finger at the offender, "I AM A SITH! FUCKING THROW US IN JAIL AND INTERROGATE US ABOUT THIS SHIT ALL YOU WANT, BUT YOU CALL ME A JEDI AGAIN I WILL SEE TO IT YOUR ENTIRE BLOODLINE WILL REMAIN CURSED UNTIL THIS GALAXY FADES AWAY AND THIS PLANET IS EVEN MORE DUST THAN IT ALREADY IS!!"Rage was pouring from Vancil, and she had no doubt that even the non-force sensitives could sense how potent it was, their fear almost overwhelming the rage. Almost. The commander was frozen stock still as he stared at Vancil, seemingly processing the outburst. Was that crack in the ground always there?Time seemed to move at a crawl before the commander raised his free hand placatingly, "Alright then. I won't call you that again. Would you still be willing to be come with us so we can continue these questions?"Kandria breathed an internal sigh of relief. This one seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. Not only realising that it was best not to anger the man who radiated evil energy but also recognising an opening in Vancil's words.Vancil seethed for a moment more before letting out a grumbling sigh in what seemed to be an attempt to calm himself, "Fine. Arrest us or whatever, wouldn't be my first time."Kandria's shoulders sagged in relief at his agreement. The commander silently gestured for them to approach one of the speeders, the other soldiers quickly shaking out of their stupor and forming a following circle around the two as they hopped on, not a word being spoken other then hushed whispers from the commander to two guards who instead went to the ST-70.As Kandria and Vancil took a seat, two guards flanking them and two guards in front of them, all with blasters trained on the force sensitives, Vancil spoke, "Sorry, I know I said I'd let you take the lead. Almost lost my cool there."Kandria tilted her head in bewilderment at his words. A smile crept up underneath her mask and she giggled, holding a hand up to her face, much to both the Sith's and the guard's confusion.