Jedi Insurgency 132

Flicking his lightsaber, Corvus cut away at Boba's speederbike with ease. The floating vehicle lost all power, and fell into pieces. 

The young Mandalorian rolled to the side, and unleashed a jet of flame at him. 

Walking steadily into the heat, [Energy Resistance IV] flickered to life, making the deadly pyro blast no more effective at stopping Corvus than a slight breeze. 

The tall trees, and slightly green murky water of the swamp cast his figure in gloom. His twin blue lightsabers hummed with power, eager to be used. 

Advancing slowly, he sensed a mine under his foot, flicked his toe, and used [Force Push I]. The explosive device flew through the air, and was shot out of the sky by the teenage bounty hunter. A large cloud of black smoke filled the area, and a nearby tree caught fire. 

At the moment of impact, Corvus [Shadow Hopped] behind Boba-set his sabers to training mode-and ran them along his neck, where his beskar did not cover. 

The young man convulsed due to the paralytic shock, and staggered forward. Falling to one knee, Boba's fist clenched, and a grenade rolled into his hand. 

“Are you going to fight me, boy?” Corvus taunted. 

Boba's hand trembled, and Corvus sensed an unwillingness emanating from him. The faint hiss of stimulant injectors met his ear, and he knew that he hadn't given up. 

“My name is Boba Fett, last son of Clan Fett, you killed my father, prepare to die!” 

Drawing a lightsaber, Boba turned, and lunged at him. 

Yon swept out of the shadows, and locked blades with him. Both of them stabbed at one another, and repeatedly clashed. 

Boba went wide, and came down with a harsh diagonal cut. Yon replied with a fancy flourish, deflecting the blow to the side. 

Corvus stood back and watched, eager to witness his student's progress. He was curious as to how or when Boba acquired a lightsaber, but it didn't really matter. Grievous, Clone Assassins, and even Xizor had them, lightsabers were rare, but not unobtainable. 

For a non-Force user-or at least someone very low on the totem poll-Boba was acquitting himself well. His Mandalorian power suit, and stimulants allowed him to keep up with Yon. In terms of bladework, it was also rather novel. His form was clearly inspired by vibroswords, and mimicked Form I, yet his experience vaguely reminded Corvus of his own style of Form VII. Seemingly chaotic, the young man gave about as good as he got. 

Considering Yon was the most talented duelist amongst the Padawans he had seen-even better than Jax or Linyin-it was somewhat shocking to see this fight last for more than a minute. But then again, even if he was young, this was Boba Fett here. He was one of the most accomplished bounty hunters in the Star Wars universe. In Legends, he even dueled Darth Vader with a lightsaber and survived. 

Their sabers locked once more, and Boba moved to headbutt Yon with his beskar helmet. Yon slightly retreated to avoid the attack. When the Mandalorian moved closer to capitalize on this, Yon swiped his hand, and Boba's foot slipped in the grass. 

“As expected of the people Master conquered." Yon harshly taunted with a wide smile, and then thrust his green-red saber downward with the intent to stab Boba in the throat. 

Boba jerked his head to the side, batted Yon's blade away, and landed a kick to the side that saw the short teen stumbling back a foot.

Hopping to his feet, the helmeted youth was panting heavily, and gasping for air. It would seem the stimulants were beginning to take their toll. 

Yon, meanwhile, wore a slight grimace on his face. Not from any real damage or anything, but apparently due to an injured pride. He kept furtively glancing at Corvus, and seemed to be quite embarrassed. 

Corvus almost wanted to face-palm. ‘Dude really said a one liner, then missed.’ 

At that moment, Jax came onto the scene walking a pale skinned, ponytailed alien girl. Corvus recognized her as Aurra Sing, a Palliduvan bounty hunter, and skilled marksman.

“Boba! Give up, they're Jedi, they won't kill you if you surrender. Just do it, and we can escape afterward!” Aurra shouted in a worried tone. 

“They killed Bosk.” Boba coldly remarked. 

“You're next.” Yon darkly muttered, and lunged at Boba, reigniting their struggle. 

Aurra Sing slumped her shoulders, and a look of defeat spread across her face. Raising an eyebrow, Corvus approached the bound prisoner, and nodded at Jax for completing a job well done. 

His wintery student slightly inclined his head, as if what he had done wasn't anything impressive. Jax then went on to watch Yon's duel with a slight amount of curiosity. 

“I sense that this Trandoshan means much to you.” Corvus began. 

“What's it to you?” Aurra said under her breath with her head hung low. Long coils of hair covered her face, and her hands. 

Corvus smirked as he saw the faintest of twitched near the cuffs that Jax had bound her with. ‘How amusing. She is using her emotions of genuine sadness to redirect a Jedi. Aurra truly is a generational talent, one worthy of partnering with both Jango, and now Boba Fett.’ 

“Perhaps you need not work on your escape.” 

“Repeat that in Basic, please.” Aurra heatedly replied. 

Even Jax gave him a brief-almost horror stricken-glance, as if to say ‘is Master Yoda here?!’ 

Corvus pitilessly chuckled, then used the Force to slam her onto the ground. Conveniently, her cuffs snapped as invisible psychic tendrils held her in place. 

Jax took a step forward, and glanced at the broken restraints. “Apologies Master, I was negligent.” 

“No matter, my apprentice. Go. Work with Jax, it is time we ended this farce. But capture the boy alive, I have a use for him.” Corvus waved over his shoulder without looking at his student, as his focus was entirely on the pale skinned alien. 

He felt Jax silently nod, and then disappear. 

“Ominous. Leave it to a robed religious freak to surround himself with young boys.” Aurra sneered. 

“The only reason you aren't a pile of molten slag is because I value talent.” Corvus replied in a conversational tone. 

To wage war on the underworld, and control it from the inside, he needed many different tools. Xizor, and eventually Jabba, were excellent executives, yet he was sorely lacking in enforcers. His students and the Bad Batch were effective, but they were best used against Imperial targets. These people who had gathered under Boba understood the criminal underworld in a way that his forces never could. If one wished to kill the lion, then there was no better beast to raise than his cubs. Boba had the potential for greatness, it would be a waste of his talents for him to end up in a Sarlacc pit, or limit him to conquering Tatooine. In Legends, this was one of the baddest non-Force users. So what if he had hatred in his heart, or was on a quest for revenge? 

Corvus was practically Revan Reborn (again), and his Persuade stat was rather chunky. If Revan could beat the shit out of the Mandalorian, and earn his undying loyalty, then why couldn't he? 

Whilst he was deep in his thoughts, he heard a roar of denial, and the final throes of combat. Turning his head, he witnessed Boba on his knees stripped of his weapons, and his helmet was full of swampy mud as it rolled away. 

Aurra Sing had been quiet up until this point, and subtly tried to get up, thinking that Corvus was distracted. However, he had used Pause intermittently, and another gentle [Force Push] drove her deeper into a pile of muck. Her pale skin was now filthy, and a barely controlled, seething rage was contained behind an uncaring facade. If he took a picture of her right now, she would appear to be as comfortable in that mud as a pig in its pen. Yet the Force revealed everything. 

‘I wonder if this is calculated too?’ Corvus mused to himself with a grin. 

“Oi, he was mine!” Yon's voice pierced the air. 

“Master's orders.” Jax mumbled back, and dragged Boba to sit next to Aurra. 

“You did the right thing using the Force to knock him off balance. Incorporate more of such techniques going forward.” Corvus praised, yet was somewhat stern in his delivery, letting Yon know that there would be some difficult training sessions ahead. 

“I know.” Yon scowled. 

Jax elbowed him in the side. 

“What, Master knows how much I crave this. You don’t need to rub it in.” Yon rubbed his side, and elbowed back. 

“Impolite.” Jax tutted. 

“Tch.” Yon crossed his arms, and looked away. 

“This is who we lost to? I don't know if I should be embarrassed that I got taken out by silent & handsome, or if you couldn't take on shortie fast enough.” Aurra said to Boba, yet her voice was loud enough that Corvus and the others heard it just fine. 

“Aurra. Enough.” Boba simply stated. 

The Palliduvan rolled her eyes, but kept silent, her respect for her leader evident. 

Corvus raised a brow, loyalty amongst bounty hunters was rare. “I admire your courage in the face of defeat. Do you have any last words, child?” 

“My name is Boba Fett, last son of Clan Fett, you killed my father, prepare to die!” Pulling an explosive out of the mud that had been dropped earlier, Boba thumbed the detonator, only to have Corvus telekinetically rip it out of his hands. Maintaining the depressed button, he hurled it away, and let it explode safely. 

Yon took a step forward, and brutally backhanded Boba, making the young clone spit out a tooth. 

“I expect nothing less from a minion of the Butcher of Mandalore.” Boba spat blood into the mud, and glanced at Yon as if he were less than dirt. 

Corvus held up a hand at Yon, signalling him to back off. He then squatted down next to Boba so that they were nearly face to face. 

“You do not deserve to wear that mask.” Boba spat bloody phlegm at him. 

[Force Shield] rose up to meet the physical attack, and the sticky red-white spit slid to the ground like rain on a window. 

“A clone who never set foot upon Mandalore dares to lecture me? Clan Fett were farmers. This one set of ‘ancestral’ armor you are so proud of only has a chest piece, and helmet. I slew Mandalore the Ultimate in a Taung blood duel, and Mandalore the Preserver swore himself to me after I claimed victory. What can a waste like you hope to possibly accomplish? What honor is there to restore? What revenge?” 

“Do it.” Boba clenched his fists, and eyed Corvus murderously. 

Corvus raised his lightsaber, and deactivated it. 

“Killing kids isn't my style.” Corvus grinned. 

Of course if he had no choice, and his life was on the line, survival was more important. However, this was a negotiating tactic, after all, at the end of the day, he did want the little shit to join his faction. And he had just the method in mind! 

“And what about the bombing of Tipoca City? Are you telling me you evacuated everyone?” Boba coldly accused. 

“Relocated to Eriadu, where their big brothers are overseeing their education. The Jedi owe the Jango clones a deep debt, and those boys deserve a proper chance at peace. But I thought you didn't like those lessers.” Corvus said meaningfully, his voice dropped an octave, and he leaned in even closer. 

He sensed that Boba was somewhat flustered deep down. That his repeated ‘truth bombs’ had hit too close to home. 

“That's one of the reasons why you aren't dead.” Corvus said, then stood up from his squat. “That and your potential.” 

“The answer is no.” Boba decisively declared. 

“You're quick on the uptake, that's why I admire you. Look, kid, you're immature, underdeveloped, hardly worth my time. Do some work for me, develop some connections, then once you've gained some experience, and grown into your role as a true Mandalorian, you will have your chance at revenge.” Corvus spoke in an impassioned tone, each of his words were spoken with genuineness, and held no hint of deception. 

Boba bit his tongue, obviously tempted. No one wanted to die, and Corvus’s words rang true. The teenager had been bested handily, Corvus had practically no-diffed him within seconds. However, Boba's eyes inadvertently glanced at the cooling Trandoshan corpse, and his brow furrowed. 

Grinning like the Devil that had earned his due, Corvus waved his hand, [Heal] & [Revitalize] worked their magic, and within seconds, the dying lizard-man was gasping in fresh lungfulls of air. 

“Swear yourself to my service in the name of your honor, on the honor of Mandalore, and on the honor of Clan Fett. Swear this to me, and it is my solemn vow to meet you in sacred one on one combat at the end of your tenure. To fight without any fancy tricks, one warrior to another. A true Taung blood duel.” Corvus held his hand down to the mudsoaked teen. 

Boba's breath was shallow and rapid. Glancing at his two teammates, he grit his teeth, then slapped his hand into Corvus’s waiting palm. 

“I swear it.” 

Corvus was smiling from ear to ear, tightened his grip, and pulled the boy to his feet. 

“Our pact is sealed. Welcome to the Starcrusher Corp, my friend.”