**Mantle of the Strong**
A battle-cry cut through the small room with no lighting. The note was vicious and quick and punctuated an attack by a seasoned warrior with yellow flesh and black body markings. The warrior’s blade sliced through the air towards the flesh of the other warrior in the space. Burning rage and years of experience drove the blade, but the figure the Zabrak was fighting was not going down without a fight. Right before the humming vibroblade cut into thin armor and hardened muscular flesh, the fighter’s blade intercepted it. Sparks flew through the air and illuminated the two warriors. Savage Opress’ dangerous golden eyes were locked into an aggressive focus. Opposite him, the young Mandalorian warrior named Vauldrin Korst was fighting to keep a stalwart face. Fear resonated off the younger warrior, Savage could sense it. As expected, Vauldrin was not letting the fear muddle his mind. The warrior’s focus was sound. The realization made Savage confident in his choice.
The two blades smashed and glanced off one another as the two men continued their battle. Each warrior wore only light armor, and beyond sensing his opponent’s feelings, Savage had not and would not use any Force Powers to tip the tide in his favor. Of course, he didn’t need the Force to defeat Vauldrin.
The mighty Zabrak warrior; raised up on Dathomir and made even more powerful by Mother Talzin, let out a growling hiss before he charged forward. He landed a two-handed blow down against the Mandalorian’s guard. As Vauldrin stepped back, Savage pressed his advantage. He rose a knee and smashed it against Vauldrin’s hands as he snaked back his own blade. The Mandalorian’s arms rose up and he tried to lunge his blade into the Zabrak’s shoulder. Unfortunately for Vauldrin, fast as he was, his body was not imbued with the Nightsister magic that made the man pushing his seventies still look like he was barely into his forties. Savage’s shoulder dipped and then he flashed his vibroblade forward. Blade pierced through armor and then dug into Vauldrin’s flesh. The start of the strike started just above the heart as the Mandalore purposefully avoided hitting anything crucial. Still, the yellow and black skinned warrior was able to drag his blade down across the width of Vauldrin’s chest before the Mandalorian fended off a new attack from his opponent.
“Slow. You must do better…” Savage growled out as both fighters prepared to engage once again. This time, Vauldrin let out a roar before he hurled his blade forward. Savage had just enough time to block the blade away with his own. As the vibroblade crashed on the ground, Vauldrin leapt forward and tackled Savage to the ground. The two tumbled along the hard plasteel flooring and eventually Savage ended up on top. Raged boiled in his eyes, partially for being caught off guard by the trick, and at his own body for not being faster. The doorway opened by his anger let other memories flood in as he started raining down blows against the young Mandalorian warrior. Vauldrin put up a good defense, for a time. Eventually clenched fists connected with flesh, muscle and bone and the warrior felt wounds opening up on his shoulder, neck and face. Savage let out a horrible scream of pain as his mind was flooded with the memories of his dead son, the betrayal by his friends, and the death of his brother.
Vauldrin put all of his effort into a block with his left arm and managed to stave off two new strikes. His right hand scrambled on the ground and he found what he was looking for, Savage’s vibroblade. With a motion that sent pain railing through his arm, Vauldrin managed to cut into the meat of Savage’s left arm. The Zabrak howled with pain and then struggled to fight off another attack from this own weapon.
“Perhaps you’re not as weak as I feared.” Savage growled out before he let go of the blade and rolled off of Vaudlrin. He grabbed the other fallen and the former Sith Lord charged back in against his opponent. Both warriors, young and old reached towards each other in the hopes of landing a killing blow. Blood leaked from Savage’s shoulder while the Mandalorian’s face was battered and bruised. Vauldrin swung his sword forward, ready to cut off Savage’s arm while Savage went in for a lunging stab. Even though Savage’s attack was more direct, momentum built up in the swing of Vauldrin’s attack and sped it towards its target. Through the Force, Savage could see that both blades would connect with flesh at the same time. *Impressive* the seasoned warrior had to admit to himself.
Vauldrin’s body raged with pain and he was prepared to feel his blade bite into the Mandalore’s flesh. Somehow, the event never happened. He looked along his blade and noticed that his edge was frozen in midair. The blade remained less than an inch from his target’s neck.
“Enough!” The words cut into Vauldrin’s ears as fiercely as any blade. He eased his shoulders back and fought off a strobe of pain as relaxed his grip on the blade that he had been preparing to slash into the Mandalore’s neck.
The two warriors moved back, and Savage looked down at the young warrior. “Good…” The Mandalore said before he looked off to the side and made a small nod. From the shadows, a golden protocol droid appeared and collected both of the fighters’ weapons. “That was a rather impressive display Master. I miss getting to spar with you and potentially killing you to achieve my freedom.” C-3PX, the modified droid said. Once a servant of his brother, 3PX had become a bodyguard and adviser to Savage once he had become Mandalore.
“Leave us Three-Pee-Ex. Go to the bridge and make a report about all Death Watch and Reaper Claw units.” Savage growled out. The droid quickly locked the weapons up and then headed for the door.
“Yes Master.” 3PX chimed before Barriss Offee and her daughter Luminara Maul emerged from the darkness. They had watched the battle, but both had been specifically instructed not to intervene, no matter what happened.
Now with his wife and daughter out from the shadows, Savage turned towards Vauldrin. “You have served the Collective for many years Vauldrin Krost. There is not a warrior more capable the you. But I have grown to see you as both a fighter, and someone who will prove capable to lead our group through the challenges of the future.”
Barriss watched her husband while her daughter watched Vauldrin. As Lumi heard her father speak, the former Jedi could feel random notes of confusion in her daughter’s mind as she listened. Barriss kept her own thoughts guarded from her daughter, but she thought once again that she and Savage should have told Lumi first before approaching Vauldrin. But Savage had remained adamant in his decision and in the end, she honored his wishes given the importance of his decision.
“War rages. Any of us could die any day. Plans must be made, successors must be named.”
Vauldrin’s left eyebrow rose up slightly. “Mandalore?”
Lumi’s heart fluttered slightly in surprise. Even before he said it, the Force allowed her to read her father’s intentions as easily as she would read a predator’s preparation to strike.
“I name you Mandalore.” Savage declared.
The young warrior looked up at him, his bruised and cut face marred by surprise. Hints of shame soon followed. Vauldrin did not feel he had even half of the worthiness of others to claim such a title.
“I will honor your wish and take up this mantle. But I must warn you… Others will not welcome this decision. In times past, including when your brother claimed the role, a new Mandalore only rose after killing his predecessor.”
“The tradition is known to me, but there is work I must do. Remaining Mandalore will make it difficult, so I need to entrust the leadership of the Mandalorians to someone I can trust. You are right, the decision will not be welcome. That is the plan. Enemies will reveal themselves, and friends may bend, but it is the decision I have made.”
“Whatever challenges come, I will beat them.” Vauldrin said confidently before he noticed Savage’s fingers stretched out towards him. Nearby, Barriss’ eyes narrowed and Lumi looked from her Mother Talzino her father as she felt her father drawing on the Force.
“Something must happen. It will keep you strong for the battles ahead. Or it will kill us both…” Savage said dryly before he rose Vauldrin’s body off the ground.
“What? Uhaahhh…”
Savage ignored the sounds the boy made as he let the Dark Side flow through him and into Vauldrin. Rage from loss, anger from a failed alliance and the great hunger combined into a swirling cauldron within his core. He drew from this well, enabling the powerful fighter to start transferring the same Nightsister magic that had been given to him by Mother Talzin so many years before. The target of the transference was the young warrior Savage had just named Mandalore.
Vauldrin struggled. The pain was excruciating. As the dark energy poured into him, it felt like he was being ripped apart and rebuilt piece by piece. Worse than that was the intense flashes of heat flying through his brain. Visions warped through his mind and it felt like explosive barrels of rage and loss were igniting all around him. He drowned in the overflow before being pulled back out. The thing that saved him was dark and shapeless it. At one point, he thought he heard a manic chuckle, but the noise was gone as soon as it came.
Finally, the tendrils reaching into his body and keeping him afloat started to retreat. His feet hit the ground and then the warrior stumbled before retching all over the ground. The acidic taste on his mouth was horrible, but nothing as painful to taste compared to what he had just experienced. He noticed Lumi had not come forward to help, but he also noticed something else. Every part of his frame was larger. His body’s muscles; already toned and defined by combat and training, had been engorged and given even greater prominence. Vauldrin was still adjusting to his body when he heard Lumi’s voice. It was strange though; her words were enhanced as they played through his ears.
“Are you alright?” He heard a slight worry in her voice, a barely perceivable admission of her worry for him. He was sure he wouldn’t have heard it without the change that had just happened.
“I am fine Luminara. Better than fine. I feel like I could smash a Black Sun ship with my fist.” Vauldrin said as he felt the new power coursing through him. He was not sure what had just happened, but he knew that he liked it. The Mandalorian hoped that he would feel like all the time and he couldn’t wait to try out the new strength he could feel flowing in his blood.
“Do not let it go to your head Vauldrin. The power I have given you makes you akin to an untrained Jedi. If you do not properly heed this power it will destroy you. If time had permitted, I would have been able to help you adjust to it, but Barriss has informed me there is *work* to be done.” Savage said, almost with a hint of subtle annoyance.
After he finished speaking, Vaudlrin, Barriss and Luminara looked at the former Mandalore. Mother and daughter had been focused on Vauldrin and did not notice what had happened to Savage at first. Barriss was most surprised as she looked at the slightly-ill looking man that was actually her husband. He looked thin and it was easy to see that plenty of his muscle had been lost during the transference. Through the Force, she could feel that he his powers had been weakened, but he still seemed healthy, given the circumstances.
“Buir…” Lumi said softly as she walked to her father and looked over the new state of his body.
“It had to be this way. When I received the power, Mother Talzin called upon the dead of Dathomir to fuel the ritual. As many secrets as I have learned about the Nightsisters, I have not mastered that trick. Which reminds me…” Savage reached out with the Force towards a box nearby. It took a bit longer than he would have liked, but eventually the case opened to reveal two objects. The first was a lightsaber hilt that did not look like any Jedi’s or Sith’s, but all of those gathered were familiar with the ancient weapon.
The Darksaber flew to the thin and stretched-out fingers of the yellow and black skinned Zabrak. His fingers had barely locked around the blade before he turned his hand to Vauldrin and flipped his hand over to offer up the weapon that had belonged to his brother after he became Mandalore.
“Take it boy. I was never meant to wield it.” Savage stated dryly before he reached out his hand towards the box once again.
Luminara looked at Vauldrin and he caught her eyes. She offered him a weak smile and she guarded her worry well. She knew that the power running through her lover’s veins was something strange, something dangerous. Her father had not always been its master. It worried the young woman.
“Daughter.” Luminara turned towards her farther as he offered her an ancient tome. She recognized it as a Nightsister spellbook that her father and mother had recovered when she was quite young.
“Heh… he gets the power and the Darksaber and all I get is this book.” Lumi said sarcastically before she sniffed back tears. She had understood her father naming Vauldrin Mandalore, but him giving her such a valued item did not make sense. Had he seen something in the Force? Had her mother? Luminara didn’t like the idea that they were keeping something from her, but like dutiful daughter she dipped her head towards her father and mother.
“Thank you buir.”
“This gift is more dangerous than a thousand blades. The Nightsisters were powerful and dangerous. Respect the knowledge in these pages or you will lose yourself to them.” Savage said sharply. It was a lesson he never wanted his daughter to forget.
“Of course.” Lumi replied dutifully. Even with his connection to the Force lessened, Savage knew his daughter was struggling, but she was holding up a good front. He would have smiled if it had just been the three of them, but even with Vauldrin as trusted as he was, Savage did not like to show weakness in front of outsiders. His eyes finally looked to his wife and the former Mandalore nodded to her.
“You two have to work to do. Vauldrin, check in with Doctor Diost, he’s been prepped and will make sure you’re mission ready. Luminara, you need to deploy probes to the Jakku system in the Western Reaches. Get to it.” Barriss’ tone was nearly as sharp as Savage’s. The couple’s daughter and her lover looked at both of them for a moment before they turned and departed from the room.
“He will be a good leader.” Barriss stated with a sad smile. She knew what the costs of such a responsibility could be.
“He does not need to be *good*, but he *must* do what needs to be done.”
“No insults for the scrawny boy you once found naked inside your refresher. You’re getting soft my old warrior.” Luminara said before she took Savage’s arm and guided him from the training chamber.
“Hah!” Savage barked out a laugh. “Perhaps I have spent too much time with Jedi. Where are you taking me? You need to prep them for the mission.”
“We have time… I’ve never seen you like this. It’s a far cry from the monster who once rescued me.” Savage gave her a sharp grin and noticed she was guiding him towards their bedchamber.
“I am still a monster. Even without my power I could take tear apart a squad of First Order troopers.”
“Of course, Savage. But I’m more interested in making sure your other capabilities are just as strong.” Yellow eyes narrowed as he realized what his wife was meaning. A small hunter’s smile formed on his lips and for the last ten steps he swooped up the still lovely green-skinned woman into his arms before placing her down onto the bed.
“I will make you regret such worry woman…” Savage said before he used the Force and his hands to strip his wife and himself clean of their clothing. Barriss chuckled playfully and she looked up at Savage’s chest. Her fingers ran over the black and yellow markings that showed off his status as a warrior among his clan. Nothing had changed, he was the same, perhaps just a bit thinner but the alluring Mirialan woman let out a gasp all the same as he pressed his cock inside of her. For a few moments the former Jedi’s body stretched out languidly as Savage’s cock pierced nice and deep within her depths. Her fingers scratched at sheets and pillows before rising up to dig along her husband’s shoulders. Barriss could swear that it felt like Savage’s body had some new scars, but she was soon distracted as he squeezed on one of her breasts while he tenderly sucked on her exposed nipple.
When the two started to get close, the still nimble woman decided to change position. She used the Force to propel her husband and her own body forward so that she was now riding him while Savage’s back lay against the bed’s sheets. She pulled up his hands and set one on her breast while she lavished attention on his fingers. Throughout it all, his cock continued lunging nice and deep into her pussy. With a few more thrusts, Barriss moaned out, her lungs nearly devoid of breath as her entire form shivered and quaked. Fiery heat flew forth from her husband’s loins and warmed her core greater than the sunlight of any sun.
Eventually, she collapsed on top of her long-time lover. The woman smiled at the great warrior as her fingers lazily drew along the patterns marked out on his chest. “It appears that some things never change my love.”
“I would agree, but we have only gone once. Prepare yourself woman…” Savage said with a growl before he sprang forth from his position. His hands struck like proton torpedoes and suddenly Barriss found herself on her stomach. Warm cum spilled out of her and she chuckled as she looked back towards he husband. Savage kissed along her shoulder and then onto her hip before he lined up his cock for a new round.
“What about the mission?”
“If you’re doing a mission for *her,* the least you can do is indulge an old warrior.” Savage chuckled before he leaned his body forward one again to drive all of his length back into his frisky wife once more.
Source: reddit.com/r/eroticliterature/comments/bnzoeg/return_of_the_shadow_collective_chapter_2_sw