† Vendetta Squad †

"Yes, Sir… No, Sir, they did not have their armor either. They have nothing." Abhay paced back and forth at the end of the hall and continued to attempt to fire answers back at Jatne as fast as she was asking them. He failed, and they ended up talking over each other but somehow she still managed to understand everything.

He glanced over his shoulder and saw Saam and Salvador talking quietly to each other while the anti-drug made its way into Saam's system. Abhay looked the opposite way down the hall to make sure that they were still alone before pressing his index and middle finger back against the left side of his helmet to better hear Jatne rattle away questions over his helmet speaker.

"Well, are the boys okay at least?" Jatne asked. Abhay could tell by her tone that she was worried.

"Yeah, they're okay. Except Saam ran his mouth again and Salvador handed it right back to him. It took a while to get Talverd to back down but Saam had enough sedative in his system to help with the pain."

Jatne sighed into the comlink and Abhay could tell she was shaking her head. "Get them on their feet and get moving. I'm switching on the tracking device and we should have their armor's location in moments. Do you know if the bomb was kept with Talverd's stuff?"

"He said that he had it locked in place. I doubt they took the time to figure out how to remove it. Finding their armor is our best bet." Abhay looked over his shoulder again to see Salvador reach down to help Saam up. It made him stop in his tracks and make sure that somehow Salvador wasn't actually hurting Saam in a way he couldn't see at first. He highly doubted that in the time that he had left them alone that they had become friends and dropped their rivalry.

But, as much as he searched, he found no evidence that either was fighting. He spun back around and started to pace again as he heard his squad mates get up and make their way down the hall. "What about you, Sir? Is everything okay at the ship?" As if on cue, Abhay heard a loud eruption from the other end of the link.

"Venvhett is just warming up the place a bit, but we are still losing shields. These Trandoshans have rocket launchers and it's making Venvhett a little nervous. We are going to pull out soon. You, Saam, and Salvador make your way to the two suits of armor. I'm sending the coordinates now." As confirmation Abhay heard his data pad give a beep as it received the information. "Now get going. Let me know when you get there, and we'll pick you up."

"You said that last time and now look where we are…" Abhay muttered. He clicked out of the conversation and turned to his approaching squad mates. "We're moving out. I just got the location of the armor and we are ready to go."

Without waiting he started to walk down the halls and ignored his comrades as they both started whining.

† Vendetta Squad †

"Vod, are we lost?" Saam mumbled as he peered around the dark room. The three squad mate's surroundings had changed drastically as they passed through numerous rooms. Now they stood in the middle of a large span of corridor that was pitch black.

"No, Saam, I know exactly where we are," Abhay snarled as he activated his datapad and the dim, blue light illuminated a small part of the room. "We're on track, but these next rooms will be… tricky…"

"Tricky in what way, Baatir?" Saam asked as he blindly reached his hands out to find some sort of surface to follow, and accidentally whapped Salvador in the face. "Oh, sorry, vod. I didn't see you there."

"These next few rooms are all some sort of experiment storage. The rooms are huge compared to the rest of the compound, but they're all supposed to be completely dark. According to this info Sir sent us the lack of light is some sort of requirement to properly store these… experiments." Abhay drifted off as he glared at the data pad.

"So… what kinds of experiments are in here?" Salvador spun on his heels and searched the room for some source of light.

"I don't know. I think it might be some kind of supplies. They've been shipping in more and more over the last few months – like they're preparing for something. Maybe it's a large scale trade or shipment to other camps…?"

"So could that be why our armor is here – trading supplies?" Saam asked curiously as he walked up by Abhay to get a better look at the datapad.

"That could be it. They are traders and mercs. But it doesn't matter. We just need to get to the marked point, get the armor and supplies, advanced to the support beam, and get out of here before it blows."

"Gee, what I shame. All this beautiful architecture will just be a smoldering pile of debris after I get to place an even prettier bomb on its underside," Salvador said in a sinister voice as Saam chuckled.

† Vendetta Squad †

"What kind of osik is this?" Saam growled as he fought his way through what felt like hanging, slimy vines. They had made their way through a few of the dark rooms and then found themselves in a similar room – but with new obstacles. "Baatir, you've got your helmet! Switch to night vision and tell me what this is! I can't see a talyc thing!"

"It's… I don't know what it is…" Abhay mumbled quietly from in front of Salvador and Saam as he tried to make a path through the thick tentacle-like obstacles.

"Wow, what a lot of help! This is just great! What did I do to deserve this? When I told Sir that I wanted action, I meant I wanted to see it – not get trapped without my armor in some forsaken or'dinii's dha closest!"

"Olarom bah haran, vod." Salvador said while grinning at the dark outline of Saam.

"Duraani, burc'ya?"

"Stop it! I think we've made it." Abhay said before roughly shoving aside some of the tentacles.

"Ahhh! Ner cyar'ika!" Saam practically squealed as he saw the shine of his and Salvador's armor in front of Abhay. Without waiting Abhay used his datapad to shine light around the small break in tentacles to see the armor stacked on the floor.

"I didn't know you were a buir, vod," Salvador said sarcastically.

"Copaani mirshmure'cye, vod?" Saam growled as he tried to push past his comrades.

"I was just chayaikir."

"Hey, you two need to shut up and get your beskar'gam on so we can finish this job." Abhay unhooked his assault rifle from his back and propped it between the tentacles so they would have some more maneuvering room. "Now get too it!"

"Yes, alor…" Saam said mockingly as he started to sort through his armor.

† Vendetta Squad †

"Are you two almost ready?" Abhay asked without taking his eyes off the shadows in front of him.

"Are you losing your nerve already? Huh, and I thought you weren't afraid of anything, alor. Hey, Talverd, guess what? Baatir is scared of the dha!"Saam said while attempting to balance on one foot while getting his boot on the other.

"Shut up, Saam, and let's get moving! We've got a job to finish! Sir will be mad if we take longer than necessary!"

"Oh! I get it now! You're terrified of Jatne! Jatne is what you check under your bed for!"

"Watch your mouth, you shabla chakaar! You shouldn't talk about Sir now! Hurry up!" Abhay yelled at Saam as he looked over his shoulder to see him leisurely putting on his helmet.

"You know, vod, we're all just a little frightened of Jatne. She can scare anything with that attitude of hers. I think that's the only way she actually became the boss of this outfit."

"Uh, Saam, maybe you should…" Abhay was cut off by a new voice over their helmet comlinks.

"No, no, let him finish. It was just getting good. How, exactly, did I become your al'verde, Saam? Do continue, because I'm not so sure myself," a female voice said.

"Oh, hey, Sir! Uh, how are you today? What are you up too?" Saam said in a stunned tone as he came to realize that his helmet microphone was on and that a link to the ship was activated. He felt Salvador smack the back of his helmet.

"Oh, nothing much. I was just checking in to see if you were okay, and as I've found out your mouth is running just fine."

"Uh, yeah, sure thing boss! I was just, uh, trying to lighten the mood."

"Yes, I'm sure, Saam. Just get your armor on and get you shebs moving. I want you boys out of there as soon as possible. Since the last time I put you and Salvador in charge of something…"

"It was all Saam's fault," Salvador cut in, receiving a 'how could you?' glare from Saam.

"As I was saying, the last time, you two got caught. So, now I'm putting Abhay in charge. Follow him to the support beam and then make your way out of there. You got that?"

"Sure thing, Sir. But what should we do if Abhay gets brainwashed by the aru'e and orders me to kiss a tuk'ata?" Saam asked skeptically. Salvador chuckled as he strapped his Ripper on his back and listened to the conversation.

"Then you better do it, Beskarkot. And remember to wash your mouth out afterwards."

"Thanks for the reminder, Sir…" Saam mumbled under his breath as he made his way to Abhay. He adjusted his gauntlets before picking up his weapons and situating the straps on his shoulders. "Well, I'm ready to go. What about you, Talverd?"

"Hey, guys, I think I found something. Come take a look." Saam followed Salvador's voice with Abhay following close behind him. "Sir, are you seeing this too?" Salvador asked quietly, referring to the ability for each squad mate to activate a screen in their helmet allowing them to see what their other comrades could see.

"I notice it. It's all the more reason to get out of there. Keep moving, now," Jatne said in a stern voice, making Saam wonder what could make her so cross all of a sudden. Then as he came up to Salvador he saw why.

There were eggs.

The eggs were large, coming up to the men's knees and half as wide. They were a brown and purple in color with the same kind of slime on them as the tentacles. The actual shell wasn't hard. It was similar to flimsiplast but much, much thicker and the surface was anything but smooth. They were wet, oily, and all of them were empty.

"They're eggs, vode, and that's all you need to know and that's all you want to know. Get out of there. By the looks of it, whatever hatched out of those things must be close. They're new-born, and probably haven't gotten far," Jatne warned. When none of the men moved she started to yell. "I said get out of there! That's a ke'gyce!"

They came to, and grabbed the rest of their gear before starting to make their way through the tentacles surrounding them as the dark once again engulfed them. This time Salvador and Saam felt more aware of their surrounding with their helmet's extra senses and enhanced vision.

"Ew, this is gross! Sir, what is this stuff?" Saam whined.

"I'm not sure, but I think it's some sort of protection for the eggs or maybe a nest."

Saam made retching noises inside his helmet.

Salvador took the time to ask his own questions while he used his assault rifle to move aside some of the tentacles that swung back over Abhay's shoulder. "Why would the Trandoshans keep our armor here?"

"They probably use the surroundings as extra security. If you didn't have the tracking devices do you think that you'd still be able to find your armor in the dark?"

"No, I guess not. Maybe the Trandos are a bit smarter than we gave them credit for. Well, not that it helped. We still escaped and got our stuff. But we can't help but be good."

"They don't know much about the effectiveness of Mandalorians," Jatne said matter-of-factly.

"Well, then, we'll just have to muun'bajir. Hey, Sir, are you going to stay on the com for a while? I think Baatir is a little shaky and could use a pep talk." Saam could be heard snickering over the link as he listened to Salvador talk.

"Yes, I'll be around but only to keep you and Saam in line. But right now you need to pay attention. Listen carefully to what's around you." Everyone got quiet, even Saam.

The three men stopped in their tracks as they heard what Jatne was talking about. There was the sound of tapping, like hundreds of clawed fingers being drummed against a tabletop.

"What the…"

† Vendetta Squad †

Translations for Chapter 3:

Vod – Brother, Comrade

Osik – Shit, Crap

Talyc – Bloody

Or'dinii – Lunatic

Dha – Dark

Olarom bah haran, vod – Welcome to Hell, brother

Duraani, burc'ya? – You looking at me funny, pal?

Ner cyar'ika! – My darling!

Buir – Father, Parent

Copaani mirshmure'cye, vod? – Are you looking for a smack in the face, comrade?

Chayaikir – Joking, Teasing

Beskar'gam – Armor

Alor – Boss, Leader

Chakaar - Petty Criminal, Scumbag, Bitch, Bastard

Vod – Brother, Comrade

Al'verde – Commander

Shebs – Butt, Ass

Aru'e – Enemy

Vode – Brothers, Comrades (plural of vod)

Ke'gyce – Order, Direct Command

Muun'bajir – Teach them a lesson, Kick butt

Sorry there are so many Mando'a words in this one. I'm sure it's confusing and difficult to read.