Chapter 24: A Moment of Calm

*****

I don't know why the fuck it published the last chapter again but oh well, here's the actual next chapter

*****

The hum of the engines permeated the inside of the ST-70 as it barrelled through space, being almost soothing to Vancil. Despite his upbringing on Kavir, a land mostly controlled by nature, he had gained a taste for the sounds of machines of war around him during his time in the Sith Empire. His gloved hands were not on the controls as it was not necessary; the ships destination had been set and it was smooth sailing from here on out thanks to the ship's auto-pilot.

His crimson gaze flicked over to Kandria, who had fallen asleep in her co-pilot seat, her head now lolling to the side. A smile breached into public view. It was comforting that she felt she could go to sleep while a Sith, the people she had sworn to fight, sat right beside her. He lightly touched the inner pocket of his cloak where the flower lay. Then again, he supposed he knew why exactly she trusted him so, even if she might not even know herself.With a yawn and a bone popping stretch, Vancil stood up and walked to the hatch to the hangar, vainly trying to keep his metal boots from pounding so as to not wake the sleeping, Kandria. Once he was down in the hangar, he busied himself physically and mentally, checking the inventory of the starship while he reviewed the situation the both of them were in.Good things first; the two had no further ties or things to settle, and so were now free to do whatever, and go wherever, they wished. That was what had led them to their current circumstances. After he had gotten enough of a hold of himself to stop bawling his heart out, the two had returned back to the ship in silence, a sharp contrast to the banter that had been occurring just moments before.From there they had brainstormed what exactly they were to do now, the topic managing to lift his mood significantly as a distraction from his real feelings. The first things that were established was what they absolutely were not going to do. Number one on that priority list was getting involved in the current galactic spanning war, as not only did we just get out of one, but neither of us particularly liked either side. Kandria because she despised how the Jedi had delved into politics so far, and Vancil because he was still a hardcore supporter of the Sith Empire and its ideals, despite said empire being dead for thousands of years.The second must was that they wouldn't be joining any sort of organisation for whatever reason. As former Jedi and Sith, the two of them likely could have found themselves in extremely high demand across the galaxy, especially with jobs which required a…capacity for violence. This was in neither of their interests as being in such a job would inevitably lead to their direct or indirect involvement in the war. Besides, one thing they both absolutely agreed on was that their newfound freedom wouldn't be squandered on some low paying work from a corporate overlord.The both of these limited their options greatly, but that was ultimately the point. Eventually, after about half an hour of debate there was only one viable option left to take; travel the galaxy simply for the sake of traveling it. It was something he had wanted to do at several times in his life, and he had experienced it somewhat during his tenure in the Sith Order. Kandria was also eager to do so, as she had far less knowledge and experience with the many wonders of the galaxy due to her occupation as a Jedi having far less operational freedom than a Sith.A number of planets had come to their minds when they had discussed where to go. The cities of Raxus Secundus. The towering jungles of Kashyyyk. Even the vast deserts of Tatooine came up at one point. They eventually settled on one of his suggestions, a planet which had born some of the greatest warriors in the galaxy and become legendary across nearly all ages. Mandalore, home of the Mandalorians.His reason for suggesting such a planet had been born from a few things. Firstly, he had always held a fascination for the planet ever since he first heard about it. Particularly an incredulous one, as despite being touted as some of the greatest warriors to ever roam the galaxy and one of the main rivals of the Jedi, they were relegated to only one planet and maybe a few moons throughout most of their history. Surely there must have been more to the Mandalorian legend then just really good propaganda.Secondly, the very ship which the two now piloted. The ship had belonged to a group of Mandalorian bounty hunters, and once they had all been dealt with, he and Kandria had simply taken it as their own. He had done some digging through the archives in a few moments of spare time, and there seemed to be a lot of back-and-forth communications with Concordia, a moon orbiting Mandalore. It was all in code, and remained completely indecipherable to him, leading to the theory that this ship was doing a bit more than bounty hunting, especially since these logs had been hidden very deeply within the ship's archives. Heading to Mandalore might give them a clue as to why, or even if these Mandalorians were hunting the both of them.Finally, Mandalore was one of the few planets that had remained neutral throughout the war, which further added to his bewilderment of the planet and its people. A galactic spanning war and the warrior planet preached not only neutrality but peace and pacifism? It was utterly baffling to Vancil. He knew that he had a different view of things from other people, but surely, he wasn't the only person who saw how contradictory this was with their history?Besides raising questions for Vancil, the planet's neutrality was also great, as the Jedi or Republic had no legal jurisdiction over them and so couldn't swoop in and lock them up. This fact also extended to the apparent "Confederacy of Independent Systems", who also couldn't swoop in and capture them without pushing Mandalore over to the other side. It might be a flimsy escape from both sides, and they might even try to attack the both of them anyways, but it was something.He mentally checked off both his thoughts and the list he had constructed of the ship's inventory. They had enough food and weapons to last a while, as well as enough backup fuel to get them probably to the very reaches of the Outer Rim. As Vancil moved to return to his seat in the pilot cabin, his eyes caught something in the corner of the hangar, tucked away behind a seat.He stood in silent contemplation before picking up the grey blanket, which soon found itself draped across Kandria's sleeping form. The sleeping Jedi visibly relaxed further into her sleep, a light smile coming onto her unconscious face, a smile which was quickly mimicked by Vancil who simply continued to sit there, admiring it.