Jaig: The Homefront

by Mandalore Jaig

Jaig is finally back in the Unknown Regions in Mandalorian Jedi space. The Council has decided that the newly established Empire is a threat. So they've sent Jaig to hire an old associate of his, Kal Skirata, and all of his boys. Perhaps with the Empire hunting deserters, they'll be willing to come, but Kal is no lover of Jedi, and not every Mandalorian Jedi likes foreigners.

Kal Skirata and the rest of the clan were going about their duties at Kyrimorut. He was trying to plan their next course of action while doing some target practice. There was a wooden target set up on the edge of the woods. He rhythmically threw his three sided knife at the target, removed it, and started over.

He was in the process of removing the blade when his comlink vibrated. He pulled it out. He didn't recognize the incoming id, but decided to answer anyways. It could be one of the Nulls in trouble. "Su'cuy gar!" Mandalorian was an uncommon language and if the person calling got confused by it, he would know that they weren't well acquainted with him.

"Hello, to you too, Kal," the voice responded. It then slipped into fluent Mandalorian, with an odd accent that he couldn't quite place, but seemed vaguely familiar. "Sorry to call you out of the blue like this, but events are moving faster than I anticipated. This is Jaig. Remember me?"

That was where he recognized the voice from. Jaig was a member of the Cuy'val Dar. They hadn't had much interaction on Kamino, but Kal had seen Jaig's commandos. They were good, and perhaps a little more well-rounded than the typical commando. "I remember you," said Kal, also speaking in Mandalorian.

"I think we can solve some of each other's problems. If it's alright with you, I'd rather talk in person."

Kal was guarded. He didn't know Jaig well and whereas he gave him a little in the way of trust, the less people that knew about his operation the better. Jaig responded to Kal's silence. "I know about your…clone retirement plan. I don't know all the specifics, but I'd like to offer what help I can. I'm in orbit right now, but if you don't want to meet at your place, I can go wherever."

Kal noted that Jaig was careful not to mention Mandalore. Was he afraid that his com was tapped? If that was the case he was a huge security risk. "We'll meet in Keldabe. Say, in an hour at the cantinaOyu'baat."

"Sure. See you then."

Kal closed down his comlink and then walked outside. "Ord'ika, Mereel. I've got a job for you." They were shirtless, cutting wood for the house. They simply nodded and came over obediently.

True to his word, Kal showed up at the cantina. The holovid was still going showing the latest bounties, Mandalorian stew was boiling in the pot, and Jaig sat in the corner with a bowl of it in front of him, his back to one wall, his bucket on the table next to him. His armor was still a dull black as Kal remembered.

Kal used his helmet's holocams to look around the place for a moment. Everything seemed normal and the other patrons he seemed to recognize. He went and sat down by Jaig, his back against the other wall. "So what's so important?" he asked impatiently.

Jaig smiled. "That's one thing that I always liked about you Kal. You're always right to the point."

"You're an unknown variable in an already dangerous galaxy. I don't have time to waste." He started to stand up.

Jaig raised a hand. "Don't be hasty. I'll be brief." He passed over a datapad. Kal sat down and began to read. "It's a contract of sorts. I want to hire you and your … men to train troops. It'll be like Kamino, but hopefully more pleasant."

The contract was fairly short and to the point, if very vague. They were to train an unspecified number of troops, at an undisclosed location, in every form of combat skill they possessed. Kal wasn't that surprised. It was just like the Kamino contract, but there was one noticeable difference. "For how long?"

Jaig's smile faded. He decided to be straight to the point too. " at least you won't be able to leave until you can be trusted not to spread our secrets."

Kal snorted and stood up again. "They get to live their own lives, how they want."

"Kal, this offer is for all of your men. Not just the ones here."

"What do you mean?"

Jaig's voice dropped to a whisper. "I mean any and all clones that you want to get out. I can supply sanctuary."

Kal sat back down and leaned close to Jaig. "All of them? Where? How?"

Jaig licked his lips nervously. "I can't give you all of the specifics, but… in the Unknown Regions, there are some planets, which the Empire doesn't know about and never will."

Kal thought about that for a moment. "If you need that many trainers, you must be raising quite a large army."

"We already have the army, Kal. And mostly, they're already trained. But my superiors thought it would be best to get them a more diverse skill set."

"'We' is it? Who are you working for? And you wouldn't happen to be trying to remove some of the Empire's troops without having to fight them?"

Jaig seemed to deflate. Kal had hurt him somehow. "I can't tell you who it is I'm working for. And some of those men are mine too, Kal. I wouldn't let anything happen to them."

It was true. Kal had heard of him going up against the Kaminoans and fighting for his men. He also knew that Jaig had been keeping tabs on his men, albeit not as close as Kal was on his. Jaig wanted to tell Kal. He could tell. But he would never allow his boys to go somewhere again where they could be used. He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Jaig. There's just too many unknowns."

"We can stop the premature aging."

"Don't say that. Don't say that unless it's true." Kal's anger was rising to the surface. If Jaig was playing him, Mandalorian or not, he'd feel the business end of his blade.

"We've been developing biotech outside of the Republic. We have techniques, technology, that they don't. Plus we stole all of KoSai's data before she rabbited. I pushed for a cure once we discovered the clone army. While we trained them my people came up with a cure. The idea of being able to steal an army that's already trained was too much to pass up for some of our leaders. The idea that some might defect was an early idea that was proposed. They didn't want them losing their usefulness. The more idealistic leaders felt that they deserved regular lives too."

"You had better not be trying to use me or my boys, Jaig. Or so help me, I will kill you."

"I know, Kal. I represent a group that doesn't want to be found by our esteemed Emperor. You can come and see what we're offering. I'll answer all of your questions. But not here. Not in Imperial space. Even secure com lines can be broken."

So that was why he wanted to meet in person. He didn't trust that they wouldn't be overheard. "What if we get there and we refuse?"

"You can leave. But you won't be allowed to return to Imperial space. There are other habitable planets that my people haven't colonized yet. You can disappear to anywhere you choose. We'll even supply you if you wish. It's not that we don't trust you, Kal. But if the Empire gets wind of us, they won't rest until we're wiped out, and right now, we're not sure we'd win." Kal was silent. "You can't keep hiding on Mandalore. They'll find you. If clones just start going missing lots of questions will be raised. I can help you out. I have the ships and manpower to get them all out."

Kal looked up at him. "I'll think about it and ask them what they want. When do you want an answer by?"

"Tomorrow. After that I leave to go and get any of my squads that want to bug out."

Kal stood up to leave. "And one more thing. Regardless of what you decide. I brought Sev out of Kashyyk. He was badly hurt. He's stable now." Jaig smiled sadly. "I offered him what I'm offering you. He flat out refused. Threatened to put a blaster round between my eyes if I didn't get him back to his brothers. I figured he'd be better with you then. So, if you'll let him, he's waiting outside."

Kal nodded. "Thank you. Vau will be pleased."

Jaig nodded back. "Ret'urcyemhi, Kal."

"Ret'urcyemhi, Jaig." Kal walked out of the cantina. He called Mereel and Ordo from his helmet's comlink. "I think we're okay, boys. Did you catch all of that?"

Ordo answered, "Yeah, we heard it all Kal'buir. What do you want us to do?"

"Bring the speeder around. We'll head back to Kyrimorut as soon as I get Sev."

"Understood."Ordo got up from the long grass at the edge of town where he'd been hiding with a sniper rifle. Mereel left his post across the street and walked to the speeder.

Kal turned to someone wearing bright red Mandalorian armor, sitting on a bench outside the cantina. "Sev?"

"Sergeant Skirata."

"You can call me Kal. Do you want to join our group? No one will force you."

"I want out of this army, but not without my brothers. If you can offer me that and get them out, I'm your man."

"Well you're out. You were declared dead. I can offer you a life outside of the GAR. And I promise you, I will do my best to get out everyone who wants to leave."

Sev stood up. "Then lead on, Kal."

Mereel then pulled up in the speeder and the drove back to Kyrimorut. Upon arriving, Sev spotted Vau. He immediately made his way for him. Vau didn't recognize Sev in his Mandalorian came to a sharp salute. "Sergeant Vau, I must apologize for…"

"Sev? Is that you?!" He grabbed his arm in a firm grip. "You're alive! I thought the Seps had gotten you. I went to look for you, but…"

"Sir, I failed. A couple of Trando's jumped me while I was on the turbolaser, knocked me out cold. I woke upin their camp. They were working on bugging out during the Republic attack, when this Jai'galaar comes blasting in. He took out all seventeen of them, rescued me, and blew up the droid controller in their ship."

"How is it that you failed?" Vau asked quietly, ignoring the other details.

"I… I was captured. I let down my brothers. I let you down."

"Sev," he hesitated a moment, then put his hand on his shoulder. Affection was not his strong suit. He made his men tough. He made them survivors, and they respected him for it, but they did not love him as Kal'buir's commandos did him. However, they did care for him and wanted his approval more than anything. "Sev, you didn't fail. You completed the mission. Scorch, Boss, and Fixer are still alive." Sev's head had sunk to his chest. "Sev… I am proud of you."

"Th-thank you Sergeant Vau." They embraced. Their armor clacking together.

A couple of hours later, Kal had them all grouped in the main room. He outlined what Jaig had offered to him. "Now it says in the contract that we can take whoever we want. So we can take everyone." He looked at Besany, Parja, and the Jedi. "But that's up to you. If you want," he said speaking to the Jedi, "we can leave you with mentions you specifically in the contract as having a place for you. Jaig apparently knows a lot about our organization. I don't need an answer now, but in the morning I will."

Ordo looked at his brothers. One by one they nodded. "We're in, buir. We think it's worth the chance. Besides, we're the best. If it's not what we want we can always get ourselves out." He smiled confidently. Kal smiled back, pridefor his sons practically radiating from him.

"If you'll have us, Sergeant, we'll go too. A debt has to be paid for our pride. We should have seen Palpatine coming, and using the clones as a slave army was wrong. We might as well start with your boys to repay our debt. Maybe we can help them in some way. Staying underground in the Empire won't help anyone." Zey said this very quietly. He was very subdued after Order 66.

Kal exhaled, but then looked at Scout, Etain coming to mind. "I must be getting soft," he thought to himself. "Whatever. But you'll have to obey my commands from now on."

Zey's eyes were downcast. "Agreed."

The next day they were all packed and waiting where Jaig had told Kal to be. It was a clearing a few kilometers outside of town. Mandalorians packed light and they each had little more than a ruck sack.
"Kal'buir, I'm not going," said Jusik quietly.

"What, Bard'ika?" said Kal, surprised. He turned to face him.

"I can't go. Someone has to stay here in case Dar comes. Someone has to stay here and wait with Kad." Kal's shoulders sank. He was continued, "All of us might not be able to hide here, but I think just the two of us can."

"So this is your choice?"

"I think so. I think it's what has to be done."

Kal sighed. "Very well than, Bard'ika."Kal stretched out his arm, and clasped each other's fore arm in the traditional Mandalorian way. "Good luck to you. We'll keep in touch, even if I have to fight my way off of wherever we're going."

They turned as they heard a freighter coming in. It wasn't particularly impressive to look at, but some of the clones exchanged knowing glances. They could spot illegal weaponry, armor, and enhanced thrusters, even if it was well disguised, and this ship practically bristled with it.

"Goodbye, Kal'buir."

"Ret'urcyemhi, Bard'ika."

The ship landed and Jaig stepped out, still in his armor. He nodded to everyone at once. "Su'cuy gar." Then he turned to Kal, "Is this everyone?"

Something seemed to be bothering Jaig. From a lifetime of being around people in armor, Kal could pick up on minute details in body language. "Yeah, this is everyone."

"Alright, I'm ready when you are." They followed him in. He showed them to the quarters. It was going to be a snug fit, but there was still room for everyone. They were soon settled and ready to take off. Jusik waved to them as they left.

Jaig was piloting the ship away from Mandalore. He had just made the jump to lightspeed when Kal joined him in the cabin. Jaig had taken off his helmet while he was piloting. Skirata was surprised at how young he was, only early twenties at the most. Jaig's face showed his unease even more than his body language had. Small talk wasn't Kal's specialty so he got right to the point. "What is bothering you?"

Jaig exhaled. "I'm not supposed to give you any more information than I already have, but… I don't think it's fair to you or your family. I don't know you well, Kal, but I know what you've done for these people and the intel I have on you confirms my feelings. I trust you. So I'm going to break the rules." He paused to take a breath. Kal wondered what the consequences were for this. It seemed huge for him, but Kal had too little information to even make guesses. "Do you know much about the Mandalorian Wars in the Old Republic?"

"Only a little. The Mandalorians went to war against the Republic. But it was mostly that they wanted the challenge of fighting the Jedi. They almost won, but were thrown back by a Jedi known as Revan."

"That's right." Jaig nodded. "But not all of the Mandalorians agreed to fighting the Republic. Since neither group's territory would be safe for them, they went into the unknown regions."

"And grew to become the group that's hired you to bring us in?"

"Yes, but they didn't hire me. I am one of them." And then he paused, afraid to release this bombshell on Kal. "And it wasn't just Mandalorians. The Council had ruled that the Jedi shouldn't be involved. They were peace keepers. After the war, Jedi who had fought in it were exiled. Some found their way to this splinter group of Mandalorians, and some of them intermarried. Fast forward a few thousand years, and about 70% of our population are force users." Kal's face was almost red from anger. He knew that Jaig was risking a lot by telling him this. Palpatine would send every fleet he had to destroy a group of Mandalorian Jedi. But he didn't like being led by the nose, especially by Jedi to join Jedi. "I'm sorry Kal. I know how much you hate Jedi."

Kal started to calm down. "Are you one?"

"Yes. We're not exactly like the Jedi in the Republic. We're trained in lightsaber combat and we hold a lot to their morality, but we actually do something about it. Our agents are all over the galaxy, gathering intel, and up until recently, trying to stop this war." He paused. "I'm no good at reading minds or giving mental suggestions."

Kal's face relaxed a little. That was a relief if it was true. He never could stand that about Jedi. "What will we be doing exactly?"

Jaig exhaled. "Our leaders, particularly my father, who is Mandalore," he said this matter-of-factly, "wants you and any other clones to teach our people how the clones fight. We want to be prepared in case Palpatine finds us. Plus, many of us didn't like the idea of a slave army. We didn't like Jango, but his clones dying don't give us any pleasure either."

"So this is all political? A bunch of politicians pulling strings?"

"No. My father is in overall command, but he still has advisors with some power. They are the governors of individual planets. He listens to their advice, but makes his own decisions. This is all of your own free will, Kal. If you want to go back now, I understand."

"Even after what you've told me?"

Jaig swallowed. "Yes. I trust you that far."

Kal pondered this a moment. "Alright. If you trust me, I guess I can give you a little slack. So I'll warn you. If we don't like it, Mandalorian Jedi governmental decree or not, we'll leave," he pointed a finger at Jaig, "even if we have to go through you."

"I understand. If you're that determined to leave, I'll even help you."

Kal nodded, but inwardly wondered what Jaig would really do. He doubted that he'd betray his own people for a group that he just met. But for the moment he was satisfied with his answers and apparent trust and honesty.

Newer Stuff

They came out of hyperspace near a fairly plain looking planet. "It's not much to look at is it?" asked Vau.

"Heh, that's on purpose. The population centers are disguised and protected against scans, but they can still be found if you're determined enough. We're working on getting something more certain, but we haven't been able to develop or steal cloaking technology that is big enough yet. Not that there's a whole lot to hide. This is our capital planet, but it's still sparsely populated. There's only about three million on the whole planet."

"So where are we going?" asked Kal.

"The capital. Mandalore and some of our leaders will be waiting for us."

"Why is that?" asked Vau. "That seems like a lot of attention."

"You're the first people who'll be allowed to see one of our planets and not be imprisoned. Generally when people are picked up and removed from the regular galaxy, they're dropped on an uninhabited planet. Then after a certain amount of time, we check in on them, see if they can be trusted. If they can, we bring them into the fold. If not, we leave them on the planet. Anyone taken directly to our planets has been a criminal that we would never have trusted to join us, but we needed information from them that only one of our facilities could procure."

"So we're the circus?" asked Fi.

"No. They are there to see what I went out to go get. Some of them thought this was a fool's errand and that they couldn't trust regular Mandalorians." Jaig turned his head to take a look at them all. "I'm afraid it won't be a very warm welcome, and probably a very private one." He turned back to the star scape. "They don't want the public knowing about you guys until they're sure of you."

"It's nice to be trusted," muttered Kal.

"I'm sorry, but there's not much I can do about it. I don't have much weight, but I'll throw around what I can to make sure you are all treated fairly."

A speaker crackled to life. "Ne'tra, code in."

Jaig pressed a button, "Alpha, Zeta, three, three, niner."

"Confirmed, Ne'tra. Welcome back, captain. Did you pick up your cargo?"

"Affirmative. Permission to land?"

"Granted. Spaceport Delta is prepped to receive you."

"Thank you, Control." He pushed a button and cut the communication. "Huh, that's interesting."

"What is that?" asked Vau.

"They're sending us to the spaceport furthest from the capital. Calling it a spaceport is almost an exaggeration. It looks like they really want to keep you out of the public eye."

"Great. This ought to be fun," said Prudii.

They landed a few minutes later. Jaig looked out the viewport. Mandalore was waiting along with three other Mandalorians. He pointed them out to Kal and Vau. "The one with the green armor in the center is Mandalore. The one on the left is Governor Tirk, followed by Governors Bef and Hersh. Hersh and Tirk aren't bad, but Bef has been against this idea from the beginning. Basically he's afraid of change. If we are discovered, and our existence becomes known to the galaxy, he's afraid of how it will affect our way of life. He's not afraid of war, we are Mandalorian after all, but he is very set in his ways. The unknown scares him. He sees you as a security risk."Kal gave a snort of disgust and they all marched out.

They approached the Mandalorian Jedi leaders. "Welcome back, captain," said Mandalore. "I see your mission was a success."

Jaig saluted. "It was, sir. Allow me to introduce Sergeants Skirata and Vau." They each nodded towards Mandalore.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both. We have set up a facility nearby for you to stay at. If it is acceptable to you, Jaig will remain with you as a liaison between you and our government."

"That will be fine," said Kal.

"Good, if you need anything, just let him know and we'll do our best to get it."

"Thank you," said Vau.

"When will we be allowed to leave?" asked Kal impatiently. Jaig sighed inwardly. So much for a pleasant meeting.

Governor Bef spoke up before Mandalore could. "You and your twenty associates will be allowed to leave when you are no longer deemed a threat."

"This is Governor Bef," said Mandalore with a note of threat in his voice as he motioned towards him. Bef looked his way, and backed down. Mandalore then introduced the other two governors.

Tirk nodded towards them. "I'm glad you were willing to come. I look forward to working with you in the future." Hersh nodded his agreement.

Mandalore spoke. "There are some speeders waiting to transport you to your facility. We'll keep in touch." At that he and the governors turned to a waiting aircar and took off for the direction of the capital.

They drove until they were well out of sight of the city. Jaig, Kal, and the Nulls were leading in an eight person speeder van. Everyone else was following in large speeder transport truck. The landscape was very bleak. There was nothing but dry ground for miles. It wasn't quite a desert, but there was very sparse vegetation. They made a right turn down a drive way. About a hundred meters there was a warehouse surrounded by a fence. They stopped at the gate . A guard came out of his booth. He was wearing a pretty simple uniform. He was armed only with a stun baton and he looked a little disheveled.

"I'm sorry, sir, authorized personal only. This is private property," he said firmly, but politely.

Jaig rolled down his window. The sunlight glinted off of his helmet. "I know sergeant. I helped pick it."

The guard stepped closer to the speeder and leaned down to see the driver. He stiffened. "Sorry, sir," he whispered, but he didn't salute. "I didn't recognize you. Have to keep up the act." He stepped back and waved them on, lowering the permacrete gate blocking their path.

They drove on through, the other speeder following them. As they approached the warehouse, Jaig used his comlink to give his password. "Defense through apparent lack of it?" said Kal.

"What?" asked Jaig.

"Only having a single guard, no air defense, and not even a solid wall. It would be easy to get passed the outer perimeter, and that's why no one does. A warehouse outside city limits is odd, but not inconceivable. It's still close enough to make deliveries, but it's also far enough out to discourage the curious."

"That's right," said Jaig. "This facility was a training center for some of our commandos. It was thought that it would be a good fit for you."

"And it also keeps us out of the public eye," said Kal with a little irritation in his voice.

"Yes, that too," said Jaig, as the door for the warehouse opened up and they pulled in. There were boxes and crates scattered about the place, but only along the walls. There was a loud and deep chunk and suddenly the floor began to descend. "The base is 300 meters below the surface. The elevator itself is lined in lead. It cannot be scanned. It also doubles as one of our emergency bases. If an attack ever breaks through our lines, survivors would go here. There is a cache of weapons, armor, and ships from which to mount a counterattack."

"Planning ahead," said Skirata. "I can appreciate that."

The elevator stopped inside a large hanger. There were many different kinds of ships. Jaig drove off the elevator and parked the speeder in a stall. The speeder truck followed suit.

They all climbed out, carrying their things. Jaig began to lead them down a long hallway. "The armory is on the right. The communication room is on the left here."

"And where are the other people who are here? You radioed in to someone."

Jaig turned to him. He was tiring of all of the mistrust, even if he understood it. "There are five Mandalorian Jedi here." He turned on his comlink and left on the speaker on his helmet so they could all hear it. "Team, could please come out to the main hallway. I'd like to introduce you." He then turned off the comlink. "Kal, these are my handpicked team. Part of the deal with allowing you to come was to have someone else here. I know what you're thinking. So yes, they are here in part to guard you and keep an eye on you, but I was able to push to choose who came. I have gone on several missions with them and grew up with some of them. They're good people."

Five people in Mandalorian armor stepped out of a room down the hall. Jaig introduced them and they all saluted Vau and Kal in turn, "The woman on the left is Cora, next to her is Falon, a Trandoshan." His helmet face plate was oddly shaped to account for his snout. "Then

Yes, all of the rooms, except the barracks, have listening devices. The vehicles and the elevator are all locked down so that you can't use them. I know that you could hack them, but the cameras would pick it up and any vehicle that leaves without permission will be shot down. However, you are not prisoners."

"Sure sounds like it," ground out Kal.

Jaig raised his hands. "Please, have some patience. Besides being Mandalorian our groups have something else in common. We don't trust outsiders. You need to understand how huge this is for our people." Jaig paused. "But, it's like I said, if you find being here intolerable, I'll get you out."

Kal snorted, not sure if he believed him or not.

"I just ask for a month. My team is under orders to leave you alone, unless you ask for help with something. No one should bother you. If things stay calm for that long, I can probably sway the council to give you more freedom."

Kal looked at his boys. They all seemed to have the same opinion, grudging agreement. "Alright, Jaig. We'll give you a month."

"Thank you. There will be a hundred trainees arriving. They'll start coming in two days in groups of twenty and they will all be here in five days. In the mean time, feel free to rest, explore, and make use of the training facility."

"What will you be doing?" asked Vau.

"I need to go and talk with Mandalore. I've been out of communication for a couple of weeks. I'd like to know what I missed. Plus, I need to get the ball moving to get the council to lift the restrictions on you. I should be back in a few days. My team will help with the trainees and getting all of that squared away."

"Alright," said Kal. "We'll see you then."

Jaig nodded and left.

Helmets can see someone if cloaked because they scan at a certain frequency. Solves the hand signal problem.

Older stuff

"So where are they?" asked Kal. They had just come out of hyperspace. They were cloaked in a mid size freighter.

"The tracking device shows that they're situated in the forests on the northern most continent," said Jaig.

"That's a lot of ships," said Ordo. He was watching a view screen intently. There were several of the new Imperial Star Destroyers in orbit around the planet. "From their transponder codes, it looks like the whole 35th Battalion is there."

There was an audible silence. Jaig said what they were all thinking. "Kal, this could get messy. Not all of those troops are going to want to leave with us."

"I know," said Kal tartly. He was thinking. Finally he sighed. "We knew this would happen eventually. We still have no other option. We save who we can. If other clones try to stop us we'll have to kill them. They made their choice." He put on his helmet. "But try not to if you can."

Mereel was reading a datapad. "I just sliced into their systems. It looks like they're trying to remove some rebels. The planet was ordered to bend to the Empire's rule and they refused." He turned to them. "It hardly seems worth it. There are only a million people on the entire planet. Why send in this many troops?"

"To make an example," said Vau, leaning against a hatchway. "What are the commando's missions?"

Mereel bent towards his datapad again. "The two squads have been combined to eliminate the rebel's leaders. They're holed up in some kind of underground bunker. It's a typical infiltration and assassination mission.

"Do we have an exact position on that bunker?" asked Kal.

"Yeah."Mereel typed some keys and a map of the planet came up on the main view screen. "They should be there. It matches their tracking devices."

Jaig spoke up. "This is going to be tricky. From the scans it looks like there's already a battle going on. No one down there is going to be happy to see us. Epsilon and Theta don't know we're coming yet. Those Star Destroyers are probably monitoring communications and even if they don't know what our message is, they'll be able to triangulate where it came from."

"So hand signals it is," said Jaing. He nodded to Kal. Everyone appeared ready.

"Alright," said Kal. "Let's go get them."

They landed in a clearing. Even though the ship was cloaked, it wasn't silent so they couldn't land very close to the bunker. The Imperial and rebel forces were far enough away that they should be safe.

"So we go in heavy?" asked Mereel.

Jaig took a cursory glance at Kal. "Yeah, that's the general idea. Everyone have their cloaking devices working?" There were nods all around. "Good. Then let's go."

They separated into two groups. Kal took Mereel, Prudii, Kom'rk, A'den, and Jaing with him. Jaig took his handpicked team of five Mandalorian Jedi with him. They spread out and made for the bunker. Each group was to attack from a different angle.

They could only communicate via hand signals due to the close proximity of the Imperial ships. Even a short range transmission could be picked up. Even if it was too fragmented to decipher, their position could still be triangulated.

Jaing motioned to Kal. A motion sensor was up ahead positioned in a tree. They avoided its arc of inspection. Mereel went up to it to blind it without alerting anyone who might be manning it. As he neared it, he stopped. He then turned to the rest of the team and did a cutting motion with his hand. It had already been deactivated, probably by the commandos. They were on their trail then, most likely.

Jaig and his team had made it to the outskirts of the base without being noticed. But it was hard to tell. The base seemed very quiet. They were supposed to wait until the hour that they'd given themselves to get to the base had elapsed. By then Kal and his team should be in position to access the base through the rear entrance via the air intake system.

On the surface the base was small. There was only a duracrete cylinder six meters in diameter poking out of the ground half a meter. On top was the apparent entrance, a manhole size hatch. The rebels seemed to have gone with the strategy of stealth over defense. There couldn't be more than six guards in the entrance to shoot out of the slits, but unless you knew what you were looking for, you'd never have seen the place. There was no clearing to mark it.

Jaig switched his helmet to infrared. He didn't pick up anyone inside, but they might have shielded themselves. He looked over to Cora. She shook her head. She wasn't picking up anyone inside either. Perhaps the commandos had already been through this way and cleared them out.

Jaig signaled to his team. They moved forward like wraiths, trying not to disturb the foliage as much as possible so as not to give away their position. No one sensed any danger so they stepped on top of the cylinder. Jaig bent down and gripped the hatch's wheel. There were no electronic locks on it. The rebels were apparently low tech.

They entered the base and shut the hatch behind them. The lighting was on low, probably to make a smaller blip in the EM spectrum and avoid detection. They stalked down the halls following the signal from the commando's trackers, who were somewhere below them.

They weren't picking anyone up no matter what kind of scan they did with their helmets. Falon, the team's heavy weapons specialist, risked speaking. It was unlikely they had audio sensors in their own base. "Ssirr," he rasped in his Trandoshan way, "theirrtrackerrssarren't moving." Jaig had noticed this, but hadn't known what to make of it. "They could be dead, capturred, orr…"

Two anti-personal cannons suddenly dropped from the ceiling. They dived for cover. "Or this could be a trap," thought Jaig to himself. He decided to break radio silence. "Report." His team responded that they were alright. He flipped to Kal's channel. "Kal, we've been made and are under fire. I'm pretty sure that we were expected."

Kal didn't respond. That meant that either he was dead, busy, or hadn't been found himself and wanted to keep it that way. In any case, Jaig had noticed something. The guns didn't seem to shooting at anything in particular. That meant that they still couldn't detect them and were just guessing at where they were.

The cannons were six meters down the hall. That put his team outside of an EMP grenade's blast radius. He pulled one off of his belt, thumbed the activator and threw it down the hall. He pushed it with the force to give it some speed. The turrets tried to track it, but it was going too fast. It exploded and fried the turret's circuitry.

They all stood up. Jaig spoke on the comlink, "Back to radio silence. I'm guessing they do have audio sensors in here. Once we're back down a few levels we'll be able to use our radios. No Star Destroyer is going to pick up a comlink signal under all this earth. Let's just hope they don't have any pressure sensors." His team nodded their understanding. They continued on.

Kal and his Nulls had made it to the air intake. The grate was set about ten centimeters above the ground to keep out water and most of the bugs. It had been cut off from its housing. Based on the marks it appeared to have been done with a vibroblade, such as the ones carried in the commandos' Katarn armor.

The opening was a little more than a meter in diameter. It was just big enough for them with their armor to fit through. They repelled down nearly 100 meters. It was tricky not banging against the walls in their armor, but they were good at what they did. A hole had been cut into the durasteel wall of the pipe, just big enough for a man in armor to get through. It led to a platform inside their air purification room.

They scanned the room with their helmets. There was no one around. Kal came on the comlink. "Alright, we're far enough down. No Imperial is going to pick us up." He continued to look around. "Something isn't right should be someone around, or at least bodies."

"Smells like a setup, Kal'buir," said Kom'rk.

"I agree," said Jaing. "This is something I would do."

"Do we pull out?" asked Mereel.

"No, not until we know what the status of the squads are. I'm betting that they're here and alive. Live bait is usually the preferred method," said Kal irritably.

"Then let's keep moving," said Prudii. "I always love a good trap."

Kal and the Nulls descended to the level where the commandos were via an elevator. It was operated by a dumb waiter system and took some time, but they made it down. The level was completely unlit. They switched to night vision.

After some twists and turns they made it into a large room where the signal was coming from. In the center of the room were the commandos bound and gagged. Their armor had been stripped and set near them. The Nulls and Kal without a word immediately fanned out, covering each other's back.

"Please, gentlemen, no need to get excited," an arrogant voice echoed around them. The lights suddenly came on. Their visors switched from night vision to normal automatically, saving them from being blinded. They scanned the room for the voice's owner. "Ah, you have some sort of cloaking device. No wonder the automated defenses didn't kill you. We'll just have to fix that."

Suddenly their cloaking belts were yanked forcibly off of them. They materialized out of nothingness. Jaing spotted a man sitting in the corner of the room. "Northeast corner," he said into his comlink.

"Ah, Mandalorians. So did you come on your own or did someone hire you?" The man rose up. He was wearing a jumpsuit with a utility belt. A lightsaber hung from it. Kal's eyes narrowed. "Did you lose your voice?"His tone grew dark. "Let me help you with that." He stretched out a hand and their helmets were wrenched off their heads, their bodies frozen in place by an invisible force. "Oh…. That would explain some things. You're clones. Some of our missing Nulls perhaps. You did go the hardest for the Mandalorian heritage story." And he turned to Kal. "That would make you Kal Skirata." He smiled wickedly. "You're wanted by the Empire, sergeant."

"I'll tell you what you can do with your Empire…ach!" began Kal. He was cut off as the man's hand tightened.

"The Emperor would not be pleased to hear such traitorous language. I'm glad this mission was so simple. We knew someone was poking through our systems. We just weren't sure who. But to find out it was you. Well, that cleans up two messes. We really don't like seeing our best troops just disappearing," he turned to the commandos, "at least not when we haven't orchestrated it."

"So you're just going to kill us now?" asked Kom'rk.

The man seemed to ponder this. "Yes, I think I will." He pulled an arm back. Blue energy began to encircle it. He thrust his arm forward and force lightening raced through them, arcing in between them. They all screamed out in pain.

Suddenly, the man was heavily thrust against the wall. He immediately recovered. Snarled and threw lightening at the open doorway. The six Mandalorian Jedi appeared. Their cloaking belts were fried. Jaig stepped forward to face the man while the other five moved to help Kal and his Nulls.

The man came racing forward, throwing lightening all the way. Jaig was like a man getting bombarded by waves. The lightening staggered him a little, but didn't seem to be having much effect. Suddenly Jaig raised both arms, palms towards the man, and pushed. The man's charge slowed and quickly stopped. He stood still a moment as he drew upon his own force skills to counter Jaig's. Abruptly he was hurled back again.

The rest of the group had made it to the doorway. Cora had Kal's arm draped over her shoulders as she helped him out. "Shouldn't we help him?" he called.

"You're in no condition to help anyone." Kal's legs were barely able to support his weight, even with Cora's help. "Jaig's the telekinetic of our group. He'll be fine."

The man got up from where he'd fallen. He was chuckling softly with his head down. "Mandalorians with Force powers? The Emperor is going to be very interested in that. I can only assume it's your entire group and not just you. You cloaked yourselves in the Force as well, so that I couldn't detect your energy. Only Force users can do that."

"The only thing the Emperor will be interested in is why you're dead and there's no explanation."

"I've survived worse than you. And even if you kill me, the 35th Battalion is outside, ready to kill anyone who exits here," he looked up at Jaig's helmeted face grinning, "without the proper code of course."

Jaig's eyes widened. "Master Orlun?"

The man's eyes narrowed. His grin vanished. "I used to be called that, back when I held to the Jedi's weak ways. But now I have discovered the power of the dark side. Now I serve the Emperor as his Hand, until I discover a way to usurp him."

"He's corrupted you."

He laughed with contempt. "He's enlightened me! He destroyed the Jedi. He is stronger than the entire Order. Soon I will be more powerful than him."

"We're not all gone yet," said Jaig quietly.

"But you soon will be," he leaped up, drawing his lightsaber. His speed surprised Jaig. As he descended, Jaig activated the stud on his tonfa. A black blade erupted through Orlun's midsection. Orlun's red lightsaber forcibly struck Jaig on his helmet, knocking him to the ground.

Jaig pushed Orlun's body off of himself, and rose. His lightsaber had left a decent burn mark on his helmet's paint, but had done little else to the Mandalorian iron. He and the other Mandalorian Jedi proceeded to help the commandos. None of them were injured.

"I'm sorry, sir," said Beskad to Jaig, the sergeant of Theta, the unit that Jaig had trained. "He jumped us from behind and managed to stun us somehow, probably with the Force by the look of things."

"Don't worry about was expecting you, and us apparently. He was a little wrong about the numbers," said Jaig supportively. "Now go help Kal and the Nulls. We have to figure out a way out of here." He found it very easy to go back into the role of training sergeant, a little too easy perhaps. Epsilon had already gone to check on Kal.

With Epsilon and Theta's help they made it to the top level exit. "Ordo," Jaig called into his comlink. "Don't answer me. They already know that we're here, but get the ship ready. Everyone's alive and we've got the commandos, but the 35th is closing in on us. I'd like to get out before…"
"Sir," said one the commando's from Epsilon. Jaig didn't remember his name. "The 35th is already here. We're surrounded."

Jaig turned back to his comlink. "Ordo, better take off. Get close to us, but stay out of hearing range. We'll try and be ready for evac in a half hour." He looked out of the gun slits in the duracrete cylinder. He could see clone troopers around the exit. They looked wary, but they didn't have their guns trained on it.

Jaig made his way to Kal who was resting against a wall in a hallway. "How bad is it?" he asked.

"Well, you and the Nulls all have third degree burns thanks to Palpatine's pet. We're surrounded by the 35th and we're pretty much out of options," said Jaig.

"What do you mean?" asked Kal suspiciously.

"I mean, I'm looking for your permission to do whatever is necessary to get us out of this."

"You're talking about killing those clones."

After a moment, Jaig nodded. "Yes, I am. You're more than welcome to offer them the option to leave with us."

"Even if they all joined us, they'd never fit on that freighter."

"No, they wouldn't. But I would stay and protect them until we got a larger ship here."

Kal gave him a hard look. "You would do that? For clones you've never met?"

"They're still people. They deserve a life they choose, with all the benefits and consequences that entails."

Kal was silent a moment. "If I talk to them, I'll give away whatever element of surprise you'd have."

"Yes. I'm willing to risk it. My team and the commandos can get you and the Nulls on to the ship. Ordo ought to be a few hundred feet above us right now, waiting for the opportunity to pick us up."

"You're going to take on a whole battalion by yourself?"

"Yes. It wouldn't be the first time." He paused a moment. "There won't be many, if any, survivors. No one can be allowed to know about my people. Not yet. My team will be providing cover with their lightsabers while the commandos get you loaded on the ship."

"And you'll be slaughtering all the clones."

Jaig was quiet. "You can have the chance to talk to them. After that, it's their choice."

Kal picked up his helmet. "Agreed," he said heavily. He keyed it to the frequency that the clones would be using. A voice scrubber was used to hide who he was. "Soldiers, today I am offering you a choice. You can continue to be a slave army for the Empire, or join us. We will provide freedom for you and protection from the Empire. But know this, whether you join us or fight us today, it was your choice. If you fight for the Empire from today on, you chose too." With that he signed off.

There was an explosion from outside. "That would be the air vent," said Prudii. "Guess we have our answer. Shabla meat cans." He shook his head in pity.

"For whatever it's worth, I'm sorry, Kal," said Jaig laying a hand on his shoulder.

"Get away from me. Do what you have to," Kal answered irritably.

Jaig nodded and headed towards the duracrete cylinder. The clone troopers would be expecting something now. Not that it mattered. They still didn't have much of a choice. He stood in the middle of the chamber, reached out with the Force and directed a blast of energy at the roof. The top blew off and traveled ten meters up. He leaped, following its motion and tossed two smoke grenades. He grabbed the top of the cylinder with the Force and hurled it at the nearest group of clones. He landed and took off with a Force enhanced sprint. His tonfas were reversed, their ends spitting out blaster bolts at a rapid rate. Clones fell all around him.

The other Mandalorian Jedi leaped out of the hole as one, their lightsabers already ignited. They created a protective circle as the commandos brought out Kal and the Nulls. Even though they were injured, they refused to be completely out of the fight. Using their side arms they took down clones with deadly accuracy.

Ordo brought the ship down to a low hover and dropped the boarding ramp. Everyone, but Jaig made their way to the ship. They got everyone on board and then Cora said into her helmet, "Captain, we're all aboard, awaiting you."

"Good. I'll be there in a moment." He fired two last rounds with his tonfas. The last clones in the clearing were dead. He could hear more coming, but for the moment he was clear. He ran for the ship and leaped on board. The ramp closed behind him.

As they took off, he pulled out a detonator, and pushed the switch. The ground below shuddered with explosions. They had used the explosives from both of the commando teams. The bunker wasn't completely destroyed, but Orlun's body was and so was the top level. Any hint of them being there had been all but eradicated.

"So what happened?" said Ordo. Kal and the Nulls were getting bacta treatments in the freighter's small med room.

It was up to Jaig to answer his questions. "The Empire somehow got wind of your work in their databases, and knew that someone had contacted these two squads. So they set a trap for us. Master Orlun, now calling himself the Emperor's Hand, ambushed the commandos and then Kal and the Nulls. He was very strong in the Force. They're lucky to be alive."

"We're the best soldiers in the galaxy. Luck has nothing to do with it," he replied tartly.

"I suppose. And if my team had gotten in there first, things might have gone differently. Once we knew what kind of trap we were dealing with, we could overcome it," said Jaig humbly.

"If Orlun was so strong in the Force, how did you beat him?" asked Ordo.

Jaig paused, trying to come up with an answer. Cora beat him to it. She had removed her helmet. Her long brown hair was braided and pinned against her head. "Jaig beat him with telekinesis. He's the strongest telekinetic we have, possibly in the whole galaxy."

Ordo looked at him. "It's my one strength," said Jaig. "My Force abilities are very limited, but what I can do, I can do well."

"So what can you do?" asked Ordo.

"Are you asking because you're curious, or because you may someday have to kill me?" Ordo didn't answer. He just looked at him blankly. "Very well, you know about the telekinesis. I can also heal people from almost any wound. I can also shield myself in the Force so that no other Force user can detect me. Those are my only abilities. I can't affect minds, see the future, do Force lightening, none of it." Ordo didn't seem mollified. "If it helps, when we get back, I will teach you and your brothers how to kill Force users."

Ordo nodded. "It's a start."

Newer Stuff

They had been traveling for a few hours when Kal came into the cockpit. Jaig was monitoring the controls. "You know," said Kal, "this isn't going to work?"

"What do you mean?" asked Jaig looking up.

"We can't go around picking the commandos up team by team. Even if we do it two teams at a time it won't work. The Empire will catch on. This mission proved that. They somehow knew that we'd be coming for them."

"So what are you suggesting?" Jaig knew that Kal would never just abandon his boys, even if the Empire knew he'd be coming.

"We get them all at once."

Jaig's eyebrows raised. "All of them?" he asked incredulously. "There's got to be at least 6,500 commandos out there yet out of the original 10,400. You're talking over 1600 squads spread out over the galaxy."

"Yeah, how do you propose we pick them up?"

Jaig smiled inspite of himself. Kal didn't take no for an answer. He admired that about him. If a cause was righteous, he charged after it for all he was worth. Jaig paused thinking about the problem. "Well, we'll need a ship for each destination. If we send the ARC's, Null's, and Mandalorians out individually, that'll give us thirteen pilots. Combat might not be necessary. Between your boys' slicing skills and some of my people, we can probably forge some fake orders. We can get them transferred away from wherever they are. We can send in the commando we've already rescued as teams for missions that will require fighting."

"How many ships and people can you raise from the Mandalorian Jedi?" asked Kal at little accusingly.

Jaig looked at him. "I know I didn't volunteer any of them, but that's all going to depend on whether or not I can get formal support for a mission like this. Small time stuff like what we just did, I can get away with. But what you're talking? I don't have that kind of authority. I would have to request it from Mandalore himself."

"Mandalore? Who is your father."

Jaig sighed. "That won't matter. He has to weigh the pros and cons. You're talking a huge threat to the security of our people, not to mention a large commitment of equipment and people."

"So you won't do it?"

"Oh, I'll do it. I just want you to understand how hard this is going to be. I've already put him in a tough spot by running this little raid."

I know all the guys you'd hire to come after us, and they like me better than they like you.

Nulls:

Mereel: Slicer, genetics, daredevil, sociable. Z-6 rotary blaster cannon and Reciprocating quad blaster

Kom'rk: Spy. Found Grievous' location with Jaing

Prudii: "glib cynic", doesn't like being called Sir or Lieutenant

Jaing: Master assassin, sniper, slicer, Verpine shatter gun, grey leather gloves

Ordo: doesn't get jokes, hates Jedi due to Etain's death, skilled slicer and assassin, married BesanyWennen

A'den: jovial, talkative,

Omega Squad:

A'tin: communication, technology, purple and brown Mandalorian armor, scar on his face

Corr: red and green armor, dates JilkaZanZentis, bomb disposal

Darman:

Fi: marries Parja Bralor, joker,

Niner: currently with Dar

Alpha ARC Spar

Alpha ARC Sull:

Alpha ARC Maze:

ArlignZey:

Kina Hen

RuusaanSkirata

Jango's sister

WalonVau

MijGilamar- Mandaloriam doctor

OvolotQailUthan

Wad'eTay'haai-

Rav Bralor

Verpine shatter gun: rail gun, silent, hard to block with a lightsaber due the projectiles size and speed