Chapter 30

Jial called for the others to meet up with him at the front of the Yautja HQ while he waited for the Republic starship to land. Not too long after his call, everyone was gathered together. 

The 3 Mandalorians, Sidon Ithano, HK-47, and Sektor, a former human ninja who was converted into a cyborg and who was the other Premium Companion that Jial had summoned during the time that the twins and the others had left. He had been put in charge of security around the factory and commanding a couple of platoons of Zaku IIs. Sektor had already had a CBC (confirmed body count) of 279.

While waiting, Jial decided to look around at his group before frowning under his mask. He had just realized something very important.

The Mandalorians had scarlet-colored armor with Sidon having crimson. HK-47 had a rustic red color to him while Sektor was more of a maroon color. Although Jial's primary armor was black, his cloak was black with red trimming. 

'We look like a group of fucking Sith,' Jial thought to himself as he realized that their color scheme was red and black, just like most Sith. 'And we are about to confront a group of Jedi. About hidden information pertaining to the location of another Sith that they had no access to even with their vast information network. This is gonna be worse than I thought it would be.'

Jial knew that the tense situation was going to be difficult to navigate but he was not willing to back down from the confrontation. 

After a few minutes, several figures wearing brown and tan began walking through the city and toward Jial's group under the escort of some temporary slaves. But when the slaves saw the intimidating formation that the higher-ups had gotten into, they retreated off to do something else.

"Welcome. I thought the meeting room would be too stuffy so we set one up on the roof. Please follow behind us," Jial told them before leaping with a backflip, reaching the 2nd floor of the building. He then used the Force to lift up HK-47 and Sidon while the Mandalorians used their jetpacks to reach the upper level. No one even knew how Sektor appeared up there, just having used a puff of smoke to disappear. 

Jial saw that Master Fay was not present so he felt that this would not be a situation that would end peacefully without her. He decided to give his side the advantage, in case there was a battle, by setting up the meeting on the roof where they could take advantage of the open space to launch attacks from a distance and not be in the Jedi's range. This was prepared in the off chance that Master Fay could not attend.

The Jedi looked at one another before following along with their act and leaping onto the roof where they saw two sets of seats facing each other. Jial's group had taken their seats further back so the seats that were more toward the front were left for the Jedi. 

"Master. This feels like a trap," a young Jedi Knight whispered into her master's ear. Lonye had only recently reached the rank of Jedi Knight with this being her first official mission as one. For some reason, she felt unease when she saw Jial. 

"That's because it is one," the Master replied while taking the first step toward the seats. "But we have no choice but to walk into it."

The Jedi took their seats and began to have a staring contest with Yautja's forces. Which was very difficult considering that all of them were either wearing masks or were droids. So the Jedi soon gave in.

"We come to Lok looking for information. I wonder if Sir Jial can assist us," Master Shep made their point clear while trying to make the situation sound more civil but Zilvarth would not let him use that.

"So you brought 6 Jedi Masters and 4 Jedi Knights to simply ask questions? And are we not counting the various Republic soldiers that you have stuffed on that ship of yours?"

"We were simply coming back from various other missions and had met up together. I was asked to investigate this matter but my fellow Masters are just coming along for my safety," Master Shep knew he couldn't acknowledge that they were truly terrified of the Yautja.

The one Sith that the order had met the previous day had killed 2 Jedi Masters and 2 Jedi Knights. They brought such a large force and even had more waiting to jump through hyperspace and join them if a battle were to occur. 

"Inquiry: Do you Meatbags wish to engage in combat? Your elevated heart rates and positioning of your hands near your lightsabers make it seem like a battle is about to occur," HK-47 asked

"Jedi are cowards, HK. They always want to claim self-defense when they are the ones that pick the fights," Boxe teased, wanting to rile up the Jedi so they could have a good fight. 

"What did you just say?!" Lonye yelled while standing up and igniting her blue lightsaber, catching everyone off-guard. 

"I suggest you put that blade down, kid. You might lose an arm if you're not careful," Jial warned her. "Do all Jedi raise their blades when they feel insulted?" Jial directed this question to Master Shep. 

"No. My apprentice is still learning the ways of the Jedi. We brought her here to experience the wider Galaxy," Master Shep made an excuse before glaring at Lonye until she turned off her blade

"Sir Jial, we shall just get straight to the point. You had gotten very accurate information on the Sith who had gone extinct a long time ago with the death of Darth Bane. While we have several guesses on what is currently happening, we would like to see if you are able to prove any of our guesses correct," Master Shep finally spoke some honest words

"Like how you think I am a Sith and we had a falling out," Jial wanted to confirm what he was thinking

"Yes. The Telos Holocron that contains knowledge recorded by the Sith since the days of old was not found on the Sith's body or his ship. While there is a chance that his apprentice has it, we cannot rule out the possibility that you have it as well since you know so much about him."

"Sorry. But I have no idea where that thing is and I am no Sith. Everything I learned about the Force has been self-taught. And as for my religion, I'm more agnostic," Jial told him

"Then how did you find out about the Sith?" Master Shep did not stop his line of questioning

"A vision. I saw him trying to take my apprentices for himself with his apprentice present. After seeing that, I simply had my Padawans retreat before the vision came true and sent you all there to deal with the Sith since I am busy handling the matters of Lok," Jial told mostly the truth, weaving in only a small lie