Chapter Text
"Alright, alright, if it's that important to you, Carth", Zayne says nervously, "But are you sure you didn't hit your head? You were unconcious for a while -"
"Yes, I'm sure", Carth snaps angrily, "And the medics didn't find anything wrong with me either, so can you drop it already?"
"Sorry", Zayne says again, "It's just -" You've been so angry, so disturbed - he's worrying, alright? Carth is usually such a balanced and controlled guy, this is like someone's flipped a switch, and he doesn't know what's going on.
Headwounds can cause that, but Carth's adament that he didn't have one, and the medics did declare him completely healthy and theorized stress as the cause.
But he still worries.
What business does Carth have with the council anyways, all of a sudden?
"I'll explain when we're on the way", he says mockingly to the empty ship. Carth's lucky he was schedueled to go to Corusant anyways - not that he wouldn't desert - again - if it's as important as Carth thinks, but he really prefers not having to be hunted down by the republic. Again.
Carth is still antsy, anxious, angry when they jump to hyperspace. He radiates it into the force, he plays with his blasters - since when does he carry two? - and he paces around, scoffs his feet and scowls.
"So -" Zayne says.
"When we're done with the first jump", Carth says.
"Alright", Zayne huffes, "But don't tell me 'When we've arrived at Corusant' then!"
Carth presses his lips together, and his hands to fists, turns his head, and doesn't say anything.
Zayne sighs, and worries.
"So", Zayne says again, after they fall into real space again, and Carth fiddles with the controls, turning the small ship and entering the next coordinates.
"It's complicated", he says at last. "You're not going to believe it."
"I've believed a lot of strange things", Zayne says lightly, "And you believed me when no one else would, too."
Carth looks surprised, before smiling lightly. "Serocco", he says.
"And my innocense", Zayne adds.
"Alright", Carth says. "I was - "
A shrill alarm echos through the ship, and Carth curses, pulls the ship up and into a roll.
"What's going on?" Zayne says, quickly throwing himself into the co-pilot's seat.
"Enemy ship", Carth grunts over a loud, metallic bang. "They're trying to enter us!"
"They got us", Zayne realizes, "Try to get us away, I'll keep them off!"
He runs through the small ship towards the hatch, pulling out his lightsaber, intend on driving the invander back as they slowly pry open the hatch.
"Stay back", he calls, "I don't want to hurt you!"
His only answer is a dark, amored figure throwing themself at him. He raises his lightsaber, but they crash into him before he can light it, knocking it out of his hand and him into a wall with a sickening crunch.
The figure raises a fist - oh fuck, Zayne thinks - and throws him away to dodge the blaster fire rushing towards them.
Carth's standing in the hallway, a blaster in one hand, the other going to his belt - "Carth?" the figure says, sounding shocked, "You weren't supposed to be -"
Carths shock is bright enough to hurt Zayne's eyes. Metaphorically speaking.
"Canderous?" he says, and Zayne blinks. Why does Carth know a Mandalorian? He's always been very strictly against them, even calling his efforts at diplomacy 'useless, ridiculous and bordering on treason'.
And now his shock is bleeding into - hope, desperate hope and relief.
"I thought I was the only one", Carth says, "You remember -"
"Yes", the figure - Canderous - says, "Do you think the others -"
"Maybe", Carth says, lowering his blaster. "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to kidnap the jedi", Canderous says shamelessly, which is really rude of him, Zayne thinks, after all, he's right here, he can hear them!
"Why?" Carth asks, way to calmly for Zayne's taste. "I can't let you do that."
"Excuse me", Zayne says indigniantly, still laying on the floor, "I am right here!"
"Right", Carth says, blinking. "We should - sort the ships out and talk somewhere else."
"I'd like an explanation", Zayne says crossly, even as Canderous finally stops pinning him down.
"Well -" Carth says hesitantly.
"We travelled through time", Canderous says.
"What?" Zayne says.
"Apparently", Carth sighs.
"WHAT!" Zayne screams.
"I can't believe it", Zayne says later, when they're sitting around the table of Canderous' ship.
"Time Travel. Of all the things to happen. Time Travel!"
Canderous shrugs. Carth rubs his forehead.
"I don't know how it happened", he says, "Do you -"
"No", Canderous says, "But it's probably Revan's fault."
"Obviously", Carth agrees.
"What?" Zayne says.
"Do you know where he disappeared to? All Bastila would say is that he left with you, and that the Exiled went after him."
"What?" Zayne says.
"The Unknown regions", Canderous says, "He remembered some things, including Mandalore's last words to him -"
"What!" Zayne shrieks.
"Oh, sorry", Carth says, "It's a long story."
"The war ended with Revan beating Mandalore in one on one combat", Canderous says, "He fucked off with his fleet -"
"Hey!" Carth says.
"Most of his fleet afterwards, no one knows where, but he and Malak came back as Sith and tried to conquer the Republic."
"That's impossible", Zayne says, "Squint wouldn't -"
"He did", Carth says, anger pouring off of him, "They both did."
Canderous shrugs. "The Jedi managed to capture Revan, wiped his mind, and dropped him on Taris, with Carth and the Jedi that captured him."
"I didn't know who he was, and neither did he, until later in our travel together. We, Canderous and I, met while with him, along with some other people. Revan was - different without his memories, he wasn't evil or a Sith and - regardless, we beat the Sith and there was peace for a while."
"What the fuck", Zayne says.
"Good summary", Canderous says.
"And... why did you want to kidnap me? I understand going to talk to the Council, but -"
"I'd like to know that too", Carth says, "I don't think you've ever met."
"We did", Canderous says, "After the war. He snuck into a camp of ours, to visit an old friend of his."
"And old friend?" Zayne says, "You mean, Rohlan?"
"Yes", Canderous says, "He had good things to say about you. And I need the help of a jedi."
"What for?" Carth asks, "I would have thought you were going to make sure the Mandalorians win now."
"I wish", Canderous says bitterly, "But it's not that easy. After the war, Revan asked me for help, to search for information about Mandalore. He felt like there was something missing, and thought Mandalore was the key. As it turned out, he was right."
"That's when you became the Mandalore?" Carth asks.
"I would have kept going with him", Canderous says, "but he asked me to stay."
"What did he find out?" Zayne asks after a moment, interrupting the two men from their silent memories.
"He remembered what Mandalore told him shortly before his death. The whole bloody reason for the war", Canderous says angrily. "A Sith - one of the ones the Jetiise claimed to have wiped out - used one of his force tricks to make Mandalore attack the republic and forget about him later. The whole reason for was that some damned Sith tried to use us as pawns!"
His hands hit the table so hard it shakes, and Zayne stares up at him in schock.
"The Sith the Jedi claimed to have wiped out?", he asks, "You mean the ones from the Hyperspace war?"
"Yes", Canderous says, "Revan described them as having blood-red skin. Honorless hut'uune."
"There's even more Sith", Carth says, "You've got to be kidding me."
"I'm not." Canderous says. "They used Mandalore to attack the Repulic, they turned Revan against it too. They're - somewhere in the Unknown Regions. I intend to destroy them for everything they did."
The sith, Zayne thinks, head swiming with everything he's just heard. And he was supposed to help with that?
"How am I supposed to help with that?" he whispers, putting his head in his hands.
"I need you to break the compulsion on Mandalore", Canderous says.
"What?" Zayne says, "How the hell am I supposed to do that?"
"We could go to the council", Carth suggests, and Canderous raises an eyebrow at him. Zayne frowns, trying to imagine the reaction that would get them.
"No", he says.
"We could still try", Carth suggests. "I wasn't going to tell them everything, but they could still help."
"I don't want their help", Canderous says.
"Weren't - aren't there any Jedi you could ask in your group?" Zayne asks, trying to scrub his mind of the fun image of everything the Mandalore could do to him if he caught him.
"We don't know if they've come back", Carth says, "And if they haven't, one of them's just a child now."
"She's old enough", Canderous says.
"I'm not involving a 12 year old in a war", Carth says, "And Bastila is - if she doesn't remember, she'll never help us. Not now."
"And we risk being discovered if we go to Coruscant", Zayne says. "I can't believe I'm deserting again."
"Are either of them even on Coruscant right now?" Carth asks suddenly.
He and Canderous share a look.
"We have to go to Kashyyyk", Carth says, "Even if Jolee doesn't remember, we could convince him to help us."
"If you think so", Canderous says.
"You don't?"
"That stubborn old man has never been convinced of anything in his life. Still, two Jedi are better than one, I suppose."
"Who?" Zayne asks.
"You'll see", Carth says darkly.