Jo lands on what seems to be a balcony, he places Braithe on the ground and drops his jetpack. She sneaks over to the door to slice the control; in moments it’s opened and the two move in. The room is empty and if Jo didn’t know better, he’d say this was some kind of fleet command room. In the centre stood a map of the galaxy with three highlighted planets. Moraband, Dathomir and Exegol. He was unsure what they were for, or their relevance however pulled the data disk from the projector. At this point Braithe had sliced the second door which led to a hallway. They heard voices further away down the hall. Jo pulled down his visor and could see their heat signatures through the wall they were moving towards the now open doorway. He caught Braithe’s attention and put up three fingers, two, one. The two of them jumped out and bashed the two guards round the head. They stood in full red armor with a half cloak draped over their shoulders. The two intruders grabbed the guards and pulled them into their room. A few minutes passed before they exited wearing the ill fitted armour. Jo also found two code cylinders in each of the Guards belts.

  Jo and Braithe continued down the hallway the tracking fob in his pocket started to beep faster as he continued further down into the citadel. Eventually they found themselves in what could only be considered a temple of some kind. It had a red stone all over the walls with statues of robed figures. In the centre of the room stood a stage with another robed figure holding what seemed to be some form of sword. Jo looked at Braithe. “Could this be some kind of Jedi temple?”

  “I don’t think this has anything to do with the Jedi Jo. What do you know of the…” Braithe is cut off by the doors opening and a flood of guards pouring out and filling the room blasters in hand. Jo quickly turns off his fob as the two fall into line. The guards stand in tight formation moving as one. Creating a path through the centre of the room. The imposters stand side by side with them watching the procession. A sickly-looking woman enters the room; her face is gaunt with her head shaved and tattooed with strange symbols. Her eyes blazed orange like a furious fire and she was draped in black cloth. She seemed to float through the hall as she made her way to the stage.

  She began to speak as a voice like Ice filled the room, “Honoured friends, I stand before you now as a woman made jubilant. As I can tell you with complete sincerity that your efforts have paid off. We have now uncovered the Jedi secret. And our plans to destroy them and rise from the dust of this fetid galaxy can finally, truthfully be placed into action.

  Across the Galaxy your four Lords have built their sects of Run. Nyros, Dathomir, Exegol and Moraband all so that we may liberate this galaxy with such a force that the galactic alliance will be too stunned to defend against our might.

  And the Jedi will be the first to be removed. We know where they’re hiding. They did what the Jedi always do repeat the same mistakes. We will invade Tython with the full power of the Lords of Ruun and burn the planet to ashes. For You.

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  For Ruun.

  For the Reborn Sith EMPIRE!”

  The room is filled with the chants of the soldiers “All Hail Darth Korrux! All Hail the Sith Empire!” In the commotion Braithe’s hand is grabbed and she is pulled back through into the hallway. The soldier who did it removes his helmet. “Braithe how bad is this?” he says panicked. “Braithe?” he gives her a quick shake and still gets no response, so turns his fob back on. The beeping has become much faster. He grabs Braithe and pulls her through the corridors. Until he finds the cell block. He rushes into the room and sits Braithe in a chair taking a moment to catch his breath. “I don’t recognise you.” Says a voice.

  Jo turns to see a man sitting in one of the cells, he looked tired, middle aged. His hair was dark and matted, and he had a beard that looked as though it hadn’t been combed in a long time. The man looked up at the Jo, his eyes betrayed his calm demeanour, he was desperate. “Your thoughts betray you. You aren’t a cultist.” He speaks.

  “Zen Cho?” Asks Jo, the man breaks eye contact and looks down at the still shell-shocked smuggler. “She needs to pull herself together, quickly if you want to make it out of here.”

  Jo kneels next to Braithe and knocks on her helmet, trying to snap her out of it. He removed the helmet and placed it on the ground slowly. “Braithe, now isn’t the time. I need you to come back to us so we can get out of here.” She looks up at him, and then to the man in the cell. “It’s so cold here.” Jo accidently lets out half a sigh, “Yeah it’s been cold since the lady walked into that temple.”

  Jo stood up and helped Braithe back up to her feet. “Can you get that cell open?” He asks. Braithe nods and walks to the desk she begins typing and going through data. “Bad news,” she groans, “I can’t get that cell open without triggering the alarm.” Jo tuts and begins searching the room. He finds nothing but a loose panel on one of the walls. He breaks the panel off and begins to hold it like a shield. “Alright,” he says confidently “Get ready to grab the Jedi and follow me. We’re going to have to fight our way back to the way we came in.”

  Braithe nods and slices the controls to the cells, the alarms immediately start echoing through the citadel and a chorus of footsteps start marching their way through the hallways.

  The doors open.

  The Mandalorian breaks into the hallway, immediately blocking a blaster bolt with his makeshift shield. He returns fire and two guards fall to the ground. He beckons to Braithe to follow him as he continues down the Hallway. One after another the guards keep coming, Jo throws his shield at one of them knocking the guard down. He uses the guard as a springboard and brings out a blade as it cracks through another guards visor. They continue through the hallways until they make their way back to the fleet office. The three escapees throw themselves through the door and Braithe rushes to get up to lock the door shut. Quickly after that sounds of a heavy object starts slamming against the door. Jo quickly tries to get changed. As he places his helmet back on the thudding stops. Braithe gives a puzzled look to Jo who notices he can see the smugglers breath, the condensation in the air. Half a moment passes before a column of light bursts through the door it cracks and sputters as it melts the metal. They run back to the door that led to the balcony, but it does not open. Braithe attempts to hack the door controls, and an explosion rocks the room as the entrance back to the hallway has its panels fly through the room. The Lady from the temple floats into the room and gives a wicked smile.