Tatooine: Change.
Sev'rance made her way through the narrow aisles of the market, crowded with a large number of shoppers. Some were looking for droid parts, while others had come here to find new clothes at a lower price. There were also those who had come here for a more sought-after commodity—slaves. Many planets had long abandoned this practice, but not all.
Sev'rance had a perfectly logical question in her mind: why were they here? Her teacher had recently answered that they were here for shopping—a simple answer that almost made her roll her eyes. However, she had her suspicions about why they were here. Most likely, Hassan wanted to buy equipment specifically for her to better conceal her unusual skin color.
Although she suspected that her master must have some spare armor lying around. However, it was clear why he wasn't in a hurry to share more equipment with her. He had given her the ring to hide her from Dooku, and the cloak served as a kind of incentive for her to grow and eventually unlock its secret. Was she grateful to him? For what reason? He did all this only to make his own life easier.
"Let's see what they have here," Hassan stopped near a shop entrance, where armor of such quality was displayed that even the most daring thief wouldn't dare steal it.
They found themselves in a narrow room, its walls and even the ceiling adorned with various types of armor. Amid the mountain of goods, the experienced Chiss merchant found several items of acceptable quality that wouldn't be embarrassing to appear in public.
"How can I assist you?" a hefty, muscular man emerged from a small back room.
"I need armor for my partner," Hassan waved his hand towards the girl. "Show us your best equipment, price is not an issue."
"I see," the vendor smiled contentedly as he examined the sharp-eared Chiss. "One moment."
The man approached one of the shelves and began rummaging through the pile of items. Sev'rance stepped closer to her teacher, fearing that quite hefty objects might fall on her. Not that she was afraid of that, she just didn't want to attract unnecessary attention.
"I understand that you need a full-body armor?" the vendor asked loudly.
"Decide for yourself," Hassan quietly replied to the girl. "For a while, you won't be using your lightsaber. Only blasters."
"Helmets and armor for the arms and legs will be sufficient," Sev'rance was surprised by her teacher's statement, but she wisely decided to postpone her questions for later.
"Phew..." Even the owner was somewhat uncomfortable digging through his own dust. "This should suit you."
The man grabbed the pieces of armor and, approaching the customer counter, displayed all the items for inspection. The entire modular armor set was completely metallic in color, without any inscriptions or other design elements, but at the same time, it looked quite reliable. Sev'rance skillfully put on the bracers with the gloves and checked the fit. Overall, the bracers didn't chafe anywhere and didn't wobble due to cleverly adjustable fastenings, tailored to fit most body types. For people suffering from obesity, such armor would likely not be suitable.
Next were the shoulder pads, knee pads along with shin and thigh protection – an additional request from the girl. In a couple of minutes, Tann swayed from side to side, trying to feel the new armor. The armor felt good, but her limb movements became less agile. She would certainly handle ordinary clones or droids with ease, but against a group of experienced Jedi, she would prefer to fight lightly armored.
A holster for most blaster models was attached to the thigh guards. Although all her limbs were fully protected, she completely refused the chest plate. She didn't want the plates to press against her chest or ribs – a personal whim of hers.
And of course, the helmet. The girl turned away from the vendor, took off her hood, and put on a white helmet with purple lenses, through which her face couldn't be seen. The rest of the helmet was made of cold metal. Sev'rance tilted her head a few times in different directions and nodded in satisfaction.
Now, they were being observed by a nearly fully dressed mercenary, whose feminine charm was evident in the size of her exposed chest, protected only by simple clothing, as well as in her dark hair, peeking out from under the helmet.
"Not bad," Hassan expressed the collective male opinion. "Are we taking them?"
"We're taking them."
The girl handed her teacher a blaster rifle, which disappeared in a white flash. They were already outside the city, so Tann was enjoying the silence and peace of the barren desert. Although she liked her new look, she would prefer to buy higher-quality armor in the future. However, right now, she needed to ask about something else.
"Why all of this? Are we becoming mercenaries?" There was disappointment in her voice.
Mercenaries were those desperate individuals willing to serve anyone for money. In other words, they sold themselves for credits, which threatened the pride of a Sith. Mortal beings who couldn't touch the Force should serve them, not these fat cats!
"For now, yes," the masked man replied. "We'll make connections and gradually gain the trust of the Separatists."
"For what purpose?" Sev'rance still didn't fully understand what her teacher was trying to achieve.
"As soon as you justify my trust, I'll tell you everything." Suddenly, another, brighter flash of light blinded the girl holding the helmet under her arm.
Tann blinked and saw that her teacher was now in an entirely different outfit. The black armor was gone, replaced by a dark blue, long coat and matching trousers with tall, dark brown knee-high boots. Additionally, leather armor covered his arms and shoulders, and the wooden mask was replaced by a helmet with red lenses. On the lower part of the helmet, around the mouth area, there was a pattern vaguely resembling a crown.
"But, I'm sure we'll become fast friends," the masked man said, and it seemed like even his voice under the helmet softened. "Listen, I want to consult with you." Hassan sat down on the speeder bike. "I'm thinking we should get to know Jabba the Hutt! What do you think?"
"Um... I'm sorry," Sev'rance was taken aback by her teacher's words. "Were you asking for my opinion?"
"Well, yes," Hassan straightened up and approached the girl. "We're partners now," and he lightly tapped her shoulder.
The girl's worldview slowly began to crack. Until this moment, she had felt the danger emanating from her teacher. An aura of power and confidence surrounded him. But now, he seemed like an ordinary... an ordinary man or guy, whoever was hiding behind that mask... helmet. Moreover, he referred to them as partners, and partners could only be equals. Had he forgotten this, or was he mocking her? Or perhaps, it was a test?
"Hey," he took her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes attentively. "Is everything okay?"
"Yes..." she replied hesitantly. "I was just lost in thought. I'm sorry."
"Oh," the guy removed his hands from her. "You were looking at me like... Let's start by getting to know each other better, and then we'll see what we can achieve," he said with a gentle tone under the helmet.
A silence hung in the air, during which Sev'rance could distinctly hear the breaking of reality, or was it her psyche giving way since she usually heard in silence. The man before her was fundamentally different from the one she had fought with just yesterday.
"I was just kidding," the guy awkwardly chuckled. "I wanted to lighten the mood with a joke, but it seems I only made it worse." He covered his helmet with his hand and shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry..."
"You're apologizing to me?" Sev'rance said in disbelief.
"Well, yeah... I just said something that threw you off. To be honest, the joke sounded much better in my head."
"I can imagine..." was all Sev'rance could manage to say.
His little "sorry" sounded much more sincere than the "I apologize" in the bar, after which he threatened to rip her head off. In other words, he had done that to put her in her place, a common occurrence among Sith. But what now?
What was happening?
To be honest, I'm quite surprised that my readers haven't guessed Hassan's peculiarity yet. {Remember the Overlord tittle.}
Dear readers,
It is my sincere pleasure to welcome you and to share a few important words with you. First of all, I would like to thank you for your loyalty and tolerance. I can't help but apologize for the delay in releasing new chapters. Sometimes life is unfair and circumstances are not always on our side.
I would like to apologize to you for not being able to release new chapters sooner. But the important thing is that we are back together and I am ready to bring you new adventures, twists and mysteries that you love so much.
And if you want to see new chapters sooner, then please feel free to comment and discount the "power stones", it will help a lot.
Thank you for being with us, and we have some amazing adventures ahead of us!