Chapter Two
Lower levels of Galactic City ten years after the Yuuzhan Vong war
Rixa Numeck sat tied to a chair and bleeding from several cuts across his face, which was also swollen and bruised. His lip was busted in more than one place and he was sure he had a concussion and when he breathed, he breathed in fire. It wasn't the first time he'd been interrogated by the boys from Galactic Alliance Intelligence, but it was the first time he'd been interrogated for crimes he didn't commit. Being a Mandalorian was their only reason for suspecting him and he knew it, they had no evidence of him being connected to any Corellian agencies of any kind.
Rixa had spent the better part of nine months tracking down Corellian terrorists for the Alliance and that was probably why they thought he was involved with the recent bombings. He'd been working alone and relaying all the information he'd received to his teammates in the BRC who would relay it back to the boys in Intel. They must have thought he was now working as a double agent and feeding valuable Intel to the Corellians. The door behind him opened up and Rixa heard four people enter the room.
"Major Tilix when will I be released?" Rixa said.
"You will be transported to the Kixla Maximum Security Prison on Fest after you give us the names of your Corellian contacts." the Major said.
"I don't have any Major, but I will tell you what I do have." Rixa said "I have a tight nit group of comrades who are going to look for me and when they find me you're going to wish you hadn't crossed me."
"If you're referring to the 'Black Rag Crew' or BRC as you call it, you can forget about it. We have them working near Jabiim and they have been completely shut out of the GA network, they're not going to be coming to your rescue this time." one of the Major's companions said.
He was an older man and seemed more like a politician than a military man.
"Rixa this is Senator Jamis, he is funding a covert mission to Corellia we're going to task
your comrades with sometime soon. He needs to know what you told the Corellians."
"I didn't tell them anything." Rixa said "I don't think your familiar with a Mandalorian contract Major, when you enter an arrangement with a Mandalorian you are not only getting a top not military expertise, but you get total and utter loyalty until the terms of the contract are completed. I signed on to fight the Corellians for you and I haven't completed my job yet."
"You flipped on us soldier and I want to know what you told our enemies."
"For the last time I didn't say anything to any Corellians I work for you not for them."
"We'll see." Tilix said as he turned to the door and closed it. "Senator Jamis and I brought along two friends of ours, friends who specialize in pain distribution and we think you might get along with them."
"Why do I get the feeling that I'm not going to like them much."
A grin spread across the Majors face and it only discouraged Rixa more.
Kuat spaceport ten years after the Yuuzhan Vong war
Tyran slipped into an undersuit and began to attach his fathers armor piece by piece. The armor was a little tighter than his own set that was stored away but it still fit him just fine. In moments the suit of armor was in place and all that needed to be attached was the helmet and the kama. Tyran ran his gauntlet over the surface of the helmet and tried to experience some of the feelings other people had felt when looking into the dark T-slit visor. Ijaat came into the bedroom and eyed his father over with astonishment.
"You were really telling the truth about being a Mandalorian weren't you?" the small boy said.
"Yes I was Ij'ika it's been a long while since I've worn the beskar'gam but it still feels like it was only yesterday."
"Beskar'gam?" Ijaat said confused.
"It's what Mandalorians call their armor, it's our second skin."
"Why?"
"Because we spend most of our time in our armor." it wasn't Tyran who had supplied the answer, Jaiden had appeared in the hallway also fully dressed in his armor.
It was white with a red trim, even the visor was a dark red color.
"When do I get a set of armor."
"I know a man who could have you a set whipped up in a few days, we just have to take you to Mandalore." Jaiden said leaning against the door frame.
"Out of the question Verd'ika I'm not going to put Ijaat in the hands of a stranger." Tyran said.
"Verd'ika?" Ijaat said quizzically.
"It's my nickname, it means little warrior." Jaiden said.
Ijaat just nodded.
"I don't think that your uncle Runi is a stranger he mostly sticks to his farm these days. The Vong war was hard on him to." Jaiden said
Tyran looked down to his little son "How would you like to take a trip to Mandalore?"
A grin spread across his sons young face.
"Alright then oya!" Tyran said strapping on his helmet and then fastening the kama around his waste.
He opened a secure line to Jaiden in his helmets comlink.
"Who else do we have to work with, me and you alone aren't going to be able to take on the Intelligence department. From what you've said the BRC aren't going to be any help either."
"I have two associates willing to help us out and a few people owe me some favors."
"Anyone I know?" Tyran asked.
"A few."
Tyran shook his head and headed for the door, Ijaat and Jaiden followed him.
"Ijaat do you know what your name means in mando'a?" Jaiden asked his younger sibling.
For someone who'd only just met his older brother Ijaat didn't seem remotely wary of Jaiden and seemed to have a lot of questions.
"No I don't know what it means." Ijaat said.
"It means honor."
"Honor? Honoring what?"
"Anything, your father, siblings, family, your sense of duty, a deceased loved one things of that nature." Jaiden said.
Ijaat nodded and filed out of the room behind Jaiden and his father. It took Tyran a few minutes to get used to moving around in a full suit of armor, especially one that didn't fit perfectly. He climbed into the Aratech speeder that Jaiden had rented and ran a diagnostic of the suit's main systems. It had been in storage for quiet a while and Tyran wasn't sure if it would function perfectly. If it didn't it wasn't a big deal, Tyran could pick up his suit on Coruscant when he went to get his weapons. The scan came back positive and all of the suits functions were operational.
"Where to first Verd'ika? Mandalore or Coruscant?" Tyran asked.
"We can head for Mandalore first and drop Ijaat off at Runi's place and then go to the Oyu'baat to meet with the rest of my team." Jaiden said.
Tyran nodded "Sounds like a good plan, but when we begin our search for Rixa where do you purpose we start?"
"I say we get our hands on some blank identichips and send in two of our guys to a few of the most probable prisons on Coruscant. Once we get any valuable info we take it from there."
"How long has my little brother been MIA?"
"Four months."
"Then the GAI spooks aren't going to hold him there much longer I say they'll hold him for a few more months and then move him to some outer rim prison most likely the Jevelet Prison."
"Like I said before all of our searches for Rixa in the inmate rosters came up empty."
"Then he isn't in one of the prisons, probably being held in the Intelligence office."
"All the same I'd like to check out the prisons just incase he is there but isn't officially there." Jaiden said
Tyran nodded his head and reclined in his seat as his eldest son piloted the speeder towards the spaceport.
Coruscant Entertainment District ten years after the Yuuzhan Vong War
Aru peered out of her sisters apartment high up in one of Coruscant's many skyscrapers and marveled at the view. Galactic City was a wondrous place, if you were seeing it for the first time, Aru really hadn't missed the congested skylanes and overcrowded walkways that covered the city's massive expanse. But it was the most likely place to start a search for her sisters husband Rixa. The two Catharian Mandalorians had spent the better part of the day retrieving Aru's armor and weapons from the storage facility and trying to make nice with some of the troopers in the Galactic Alliance Guard that had been founded to protect Coruscant citizens from the Corellian terrorist attacks.
Jaya Nayic walked into the living quarters of the apartment still wearing her green armor and she looked defeated. Four weeks of searching for your husband did that.
"You okay Jaya?" Aru asked her older sister.
Jaya gave her a look that said it all and Aru shrugged and moved to the couch next to her.
"I hope that he is still alive Aru'ika, if he isn't I'm going to tear into some GA personnel." Jaya said.
"Hey don't forget who you're talking about Jaya. Rixa is one of the toughest Mandalorians I know, he spent a week in the hands of the Yuuzhan Vong and one of their war-coordinators and still lived."
"Only cause Tyran and the BRC came to his rescue, but Tyran has retired and the BRC are in no position to help. I don't think anyone is going to come riding to the rescue for Rixa this time."
"Well what are we doing?"
"Spinning our wheels just trying to find him."
"Are you sure that he isn't listed in the inmate rosters?" Aru asked her older sister.
"Positive Aru, he isn't listed the Alliance wouldn't make it that easy for us."
"We just have to keep digging Jaya, they could have him registered under an alias or something."
"If so it isn't one that I know."
"Think positive Jaya, we'll find Rixa…eventually."
"Yeah," Jaya said "eventually."
Hyperspace route to Mandalore ten years after the Yuuzhan Vong war
Shink…shink…shink was the noise that Tyran was making as he ran a small beskar knife across the long blades on his forearm plates. He had his helmet off and Ijaat was inspecting the inner workings of it. Tyran turned his back to his son and hurled the knife at the opposing wall, it struck two inches above Jaiden's head as he exited the 'fresher. The yelp he had coaxed from his adoptive son made his grin as he pulled the knife, that was still vibrating, from the durasteel bulkhead.
"Shab gar chaakar." Jaiden said.
Tyran laughed and re-sheathed the knife in his kama.
"My aim must be off, because that seemed a little high to me."
The look Jaiden gave him only made him laugh harder and he grabbed his helmet from Ijaat.
"Why don't you teach that boy the resol'nare and spend your time more productively." Jaiden said sitting down in the pilots chair.
It was a moment Tyran hadn't been looking forward to but it had to be done, there was no hiding the fact that he was a soldier from Ijaat anymore and it was time he learned his trade.
"Ij'ika repeat after me." he said to the five year old boy who seemed more than willing to oblige his father.
"Ba'jur, beskar'gam." Tyran started
"Ba'jur, beskar'gam." Ijaat replied perfectly
"Ara'nov, aliit." Tyran continued
"Ara'nov, aliit." the young boy said back.
"Good lad, mando'a bal Mand'alor."
"Mando'a bal…Mand'alor." Ijaat said.
"An vencuyan mhi."
"An ven…vencuyan mhi."
"Very good, now what that means is; education, our armor, self-defense, our tribe, our language our leader all help us survive. The six tenets all Mandalorians are to live by. As long as you wear the armor, speak the language, defend yourself and family, raise your children as Mandalorians, contribute to the welfare of the clan and fight for the Mandalore when called upon to serve. You'll be a Mandalorian, you can stray from time to time as I have but as long as you live a life by that guideline you'll be a great soldier and Mandalorian someday."
Ijaat soaked in every word that his father issued with the wide-eyed look of a child willing to please. He had just received the first in many crucial lessons of becoming a Mandalorian. Even though it was what Tyran had feared for five years and had tried so hard to prevent. He hadn't needed to teach Jaiden the resol'nare, he'd already learned it from his blood-father. Tyran found himself staring at Jaiden's new pristine white armor, other than the red trim, it had no markings or damage on it's surface.
"New armor verd'ika?" he asked.
"Top of the line," Jaiden said "the latest data-slicing programs, an uplink to the GAI mainframe so I can check the wanted adds, and a coating of heavy duty insulator. I could spend three months out in the wilderness on Fest or Hoth and be perfectly fine in this armor."
"All paid for by the GA right?"
"Spot on buir." Jaiden said with a grin "I have done some…consultant work for the government."
"I've been meaning to ask you something verd'ika." Tyran said taking a seat in the co-pilots chair.
"About what?" Jaiden asked turning to face him.
"About those favors people owe you, they aren't part of the GAI are they?"
Jaiden grinned.
"Not anymore."
Javar's Cantina six clicks outside Keldabe, ten years after the Yuuzhan Vong war
Kial Volar sat in a booth eating a plate of fried eggs and a nerf steak, there was a pint of ale sitting in front of him to wash it all down. His long brown hair was tied into ten braids that hung the length of his head, most Mandalorians frowned upon it and considered it un-soldier like but Kial didn't care. Being an ex-BRC member didn't help his reputation much as the BRC wasn't the most popular group of Mandalorians. He went about his business eating his breakfast and watching a pod race being broadcasted from the lower levels of Coruscant. Until his contact arrived there wasn't much to do other than eat and enjoy the race. He heard the door open and looked over his shoulder to see who had entered.
Two Mandalorians in green armor had walked in and removed their helmets revealing the faces of two startlingly attractive women. One was named Ami Laylis and the other Niya Dinn, he wasn't surprised to see them here, they probably had a meeting with the same man he himself did. It didn't take to long for them to take notice of him sitting in the booth alone.
"Su'cuy Volar why am I not surprised to see you here?" Laylis said.
She was about a head shorter than he was and had long brown hair tied into a tail and her emerald green eyes bore into him.
If only I was younger Volar thought to himself.
"Ladies take a seat, our mutual friend shouldn't be much longer."
"You have a meeting with…" Laylis said.
Volar nodded and indicated the door, a man with pristine white armor and a red trim walked in.
"Jaiden." Volar said with a curt nod, "mind telling the three of us what we're here for?"
"Business as always Kial, fine I'll get straight to the point." Jaiden said taking a seat next to the ex-BRC member. "I need your help looking for someone, someone close to me. He was taken by GAI and accused of being responsible for a few of the terror attacks on Coruscant."
"Let me guess, Rixa Numeck." Volar said.
"How do you know?" Jaiden asked dumbfounded.
"Just because I'm not in the BRC anymore doesn't mean I don't keep tabs on my former colleagues."
"So you need our help busting him out of a prison correct?" Ami asked.
"It's never that easy." Niya said "You don't know where he is do you?"
"No, he isn't listed on the inmate rosters."
"How do you purpose we find him then?" Volar asked.
"Well that's the fun part, I brought in a special interrogator to question the spook that you two are going to acquire for me, and we take it from there." Jaiden said to Volar and Laylis
"Don't tell that the special interrogator is who I think it is." Volar said to Jaiden.
"Yep." Jaiden said stabbing one of the nerf steaks on Volar's plate with his gauntlet vibroblade.
Volar laughed as he watched Jaiden chew away on the steak "sign me up then verd'ika sign me up."