Peace is a Lie
Chapter 2: Ori'vod
Through Karrel's helmet, he can see the world of Ossus fill his vision. It has the air of a world forgotten, abandoned long ago by its original protectors. War waged by both sentients and nature itself had forced the Jedi from their once great citadel. Green skies and dying plants attest the sheer amount of punishment this planet had endured. The Force worked through life, according to Davik, and it was likely that it had played a hand in reflecting the planet's twisted history back on itself. .Even their filters cannot totally eliminate the smell of savagery and decay.
"Hey, verd'ikai," Vijand says over their comlink, "You're not shaking are ya?"
"Don't call me that utreekovv," Karrel warns, motioning to his pistol, "I'm your commanding officer remember?"
"Maybe for this mission. But we both know that father sent me with you because you need all the help you can get verd'ikai, so watch your mouth," Vijand taunts, "You are almost a man, but you're not a man yet."
"Just stay focused on what we have to do," Karrel concedes, adopting a submissive tone, "Do you have the map?"
Vijand streams a copy of Ossus' terrain. Their target is in a clearing about two clicks from the LZ, and covered in thick jungle. In order to make it to each temple in time, Karrel and Vijand will be deploying via thruster pack. Their model, while older, would provide the two Mandalorian youths with a stealthy and fast way to reach the ground. Once their boots touch dirt, they would have exactly four hours to reach the library and retrieve the holocron. Any longer, and the Imperials that are on planet might detect their presence. A four hour firefight would normally be impossible, but between the forests and his father's squads Mandalorian training it would be more that possible.
"It's going to take at least a standard hour for us to reach the temple complex," Karrel mutters to himself, "That means we only have three hours to find the damn thing. That's assuming the Jedi never installed a security system."
"We only have two hours," Vijand reminds him, "It will take an hour to walk back evaar."
"Ok then, two hours to search," Karrel agrees, "Now, how do you want to handle any security."
Vijand grips his rifle, and Karrel can imagine his brother smiling under his helmet. Shoot first and ask questions later, that was Vijand's style. His preference for the loud, yet effective, approach had saved their hides on more than one occasion. Deferring to his older brother, Karrel snaps a fresh power pack into his own DC-15 and steps to the edge of the hanger.
"You two ready?" Their father's voice asks, "Once you jump, we won't be contact you until pick up. Set your mission clocks to four hours, any longer and we'll come looking for you personally."
"Relax old man," Vijand assure their father with a laugh, "Me and the kid will be back before you know it. Just keep the calf on for us."
"And what do you have to say for yourself Karrel?" His father asks him, "Ready, son?"
"As I'll ever be," Karrel says, smiling under his helmet, "Let's show them some aggressive negotiations."
Taking a running start, Karrel leaps from the low flying cruiser. His thrust pack reacts to his sudden change in altitude and activates. The pack slows his descent, smoking and igniting as it does. The ground quickly approaches, forcing Karrel to tuck and roll to avoid injury. He throws off the now useless thrust pack, out of fuel it will only be a burden. Within seconds, his brother drops next to him, drawing his rifle as he lands.
Mimicking his brother, Karrel does the same with his pistol. They check their landing zone, using their scanners and eyes to look for any signs of life. When nothing appears, Vijand points towards the forest and Karrel silently complies. They move through the forest like ghosts, avoiding comm chatter to avoid any excess chance of Imperials locating them. Small birds and mammals move above their head, but the two Mandalorian stay focused on their task at hand.
"Atmosphere's breathable," Vijand tells him, taking off his helmet for a moment, "And this jungle is messing with my sensors."
"I knew dad should have sprung for the upgrades," Karrel says, taking off his helmet and steeping forward, "I'm picking up every little thing that moves in this damn jungle."
"We're better off just going by sight," Vijand agrees, "Do you want to take point?"
"You have the Verp," Karrel tells him, motioning towards his own weapon, "My DC-15's falling apart as it is. I only want to use it at close range."
"You should consider buying something sturdier," His brother scolds, refusing to move, "That Clone Wars era stuff is practically antique. Pick up an E-11 next time we run across a Stromtrooper. Or maybe get a DL-44 if you really want to stick with pistols, those things are like a hand cannon."
"E-11's are inaccurate as hell, and the DL-44 is just not durable," Karrel tells his brother, "Just take point, that's an order."
"Forget it little brother," Vijand says with a shrug, "I don't care what dad said, I don't take orders from you."
Karrel feels anger wells up inside him. It was always like this, Vijand had to be in charge or nothing was going to get done. Despite having better equipment and more training, it is always Karrel that has to meet danger head on first. Even on this mission, his mission, Vijand has to remind him who is the older brother.
"Unless you're a coward," Vijand taunts, "Your first mission as leader and you get cold feet, making your subordinates take a risk you're unwilling to face yourself. That's not our way, little brother."
"And disobeying your commanding officer is treason," Karrel counters, "Vijand, you have the kit for this. Just take point, we don't have time to be wasting arguing like this."
"Being your older brother is out ranking you," Vijand says, gesturing for Karrel to move forward, "So, after you."
"Bantha poodoo," Karrel swears. He takes point, his pistol at the ready. "You know, one day you're going to have to listen to me."
"And that day is not today," His brother says with cheek, "Get marching."
They march through the forest, sweat beginning to run down their brows as they force their way through alien foliage. With each step, Karrel gets more nauseous. So far their journey had been relatively easy. Not a sign of Imperials outside of some distant gunfire, and nothing the planet possess seems to want to oppose their approach. Karrel had heard of powerful natives that still lived on the planet. Supposedly, they were the savage descendants of the poor Jedi that had been on world when Ossus became a cesspool. According to some of his sources, they were also Force sensitive.
Their scanners beep to life as they detect three life forms ahead of them. Slamming their back hard against a tree, the brothers ready their weapon and begin to look over their shoulders. Barely visible through the thick foliage are the distinct white body armor of Imperial Stormtroopers. They seem lost, Karrel noticing that they keep pacing as if they are waiting for something.
Karrel motions his brother to move up, but Vijand shakes his head. As he repeats the motion, Vijand reaches into his pack for a silver orb. Karrel recognizes the device as a sonic detonator. While not nearly as lethal as a thermal detonator or a frag grenade, sonic detonators could be used to disrupt a victim's sense of hearing and balance. Effective for crowd control, their father's crew liked to keep a few handy in case they had to take a particularly difficult bounty alive. Anything with at least human level hearing would have a hard time shrugging off on of those.
Don't do it, Karrel pleads silently with his brother, Not on my first mission as team lead.
Imaging the smile under his scarlet helmet, Vijand rolls the grenade towards the feet of their targets. Sighing, Karrel turns off his helmet's ability to pick up sounds, effectively deafening himself. There is a flash of light, and the Mandalorians move in for the kill. Silently they roll into the clearing. Silently they go back to back. Silently they fire off several rounds into the stunned Imperials. The engagement lasts only a few seconds before Karrel turns on his helmet's sound receptors.
"What in the nine hells do you think you're doing!" Karrel angrily whispers to his brother, "You could have given away our position you di'kut!"
"But I didn't," Vijand replies calmly, "Look, we're on the clock. I don't have time to watch you stumble through some complicated plan to take out five Imperials. May way is faster."
"I'm in charge."
"You keep saying that but I just don't see it," Vijand says, pushing his shoulder as he walks past him, "Coming?"
Clenching his fists, Karrel follows his brother into the dark library. Something catches his ear though, causing Karrel to momentarily pause. His spine tingles as his brother forces the door to the library open, and as the putrid air of decay escape the tomb of knowledge, Karrel grips his pistol tighter.
"I have a very bad feeling about this," Karrel says to himself as steps into line behind his brother.
AN: All italicized words are Mand'o, or Mandalorian. You can find a dictionary online, or I can start to provide translations if you so desire. Alright, keep on keeping on people!