Star Wars Clone Wars
Chapter 4: End of Death Watch
That night, at Cuy'val Dar Hideout, on Mandalore,
Shark was not really in a good place. The mysterious warriors that had helped him earlier did not seem too happy that he had followed them to their hideout and he now had about twenty different weapons trained on him. Fortunately for him, he was trying to get their help so he hadn't argued when they took his weapons and jetpack so they hadn't fired…yet. All of the armors had different colors on them so either they had different reasons for being there or they were just decorative.
"You've got some nerve coming here, kid." An older voice said as some of the warriors moved out of the way. The armor he was wearing looked exactly like Jango Fett's but had a few differences. Mainly it had alor, which means leader, engraved on the chest plate.
"Hey, I just wanted to see if you had any info on Death Watch." Shark said calmly. "I didn't exactly come here to cause trouble."
"You can call me Alor," the group's leader said as he motioned for the others to stand down. "I'm the leader of this group, or at least I became the leader after Jango Fett died." Alor then motioned for Shark to follow him. "No one else knows this but we are a group formed by Jango called Cuy'val Dar, which means 'Those who no longer exist'. We are only a branch of it that was put together to make sure Death Watch wouldn't become too powerful."
"Makes sense," Shark commented. "Ask me Death Watch is just a bunch of power hungry madmen who think their way is the only way there is."
Alor chuckled. "You'd have made a great member of Cuy'val Dar, kid." He said. "Anyway, we've recently found the Death Watch headquarters here on Mandalore and were about to take them out if you're interested in helping out."
Shark smirked. "Definitely, but I need to make a quick call to let Master Kenobi know what's going on." He said.
Alor didn't seem too happy about that but agreed. "Just don't tell him anything about us." He warned.
"I doubt they'd actually believe me if I told them." Shark said as he walked away.
Meanwhile, at Shadow Family Compound,
Lord Jango Shadow and Obi-Wan Kenobi were discussing what to do about Death Watch now that the assassin was dead and they knew that Jango was no longer a supporter. "If Dooku has found out about the fail assassination and you leaving the support of Death Watch, he will most likely set up their deadline and send Grievous or Ventress to get things back on track." Obi-Wan said calmly.
"I agree, General Kenobi, but we can't just ask the Republic for help." Jango said calmly. "I've suggested that we have a garrison stationed here of Clone Troopers but only if they serve the Mandalorian government and the Republic have no say in what we have them do but Chancellor Palpatine has refused to do so. Fortunately, one of my personal…investments…might be able handle this situation should the need arise."
Kenobi seemed very interested in this. "What sort of investment?" He asked.
Jango smirked. "A Kamino investment, if you catch my meaning." The wealthy Mandalorian replied. Obi-Wan suspected that he knew what that meant but decided it best to not ask.
Just then, Obi-Wan's Imagecaster started beeping. He activated it and got a hologram of Shark floating over the handheld holoprojector. "Hey, Master Kenobi," Shark said with a smile.
"Shark, where are you?" Obi-Wan asked calmly.
"Uh, I don't think I can tell you that." Shark chuckled. "Those mysterious warriors from earlier are actually trying to take down Death Watch and they don't really trust me at the moment since I kind of followed them to their headquarters."
"What can you tell me about them?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Well, they're not really the bad guys or good guys; they're just trying to take down Death Watch." Shark said. "They also have a pretty good idea where Death Watch is hiding. I'm just calling to let you know that Death Watch may not be much of a problem for very much longer."
"What are they planning?" asked the Jedi Master.
Shark sighed. "They're Mandalorian warriors, Kenobi, you figure it out." He said before cutting off the transmission.
"At least we know he's alright." Jango sighed.
Meanwhile, on Coruscant,
Darth Sidious had just been informed by Count Dooku of the situation of Mandalore and was having a meeting with holograms of his lieutenants. "We will have to spread out plans out over a longer period of time instead of doing them at the same time." Sidious said. "Ventress, go to Mandalore as Dooku requested and try to get things to at least buy us time to attack Naboo." Ventress bowed and her hologram deactivated. "Grievous, have the army for Coruscant also include Commando Droids." Grievous then disappeared as well. "Tyrannous, continue as planned with checking on our ultimate weapon."
"As you command, my master," Dooku replied before his hologram disappeared as well.
'This Mandalorian is starting to become a problem much quicker than I had thought.' Sidious thought as he sat thinking of his plans. 'I will most likely have to deal with him personally.'
The next morning, in space inside the Mandalore Sector but just outside the Mandalore System,
An entire Separatist Droid Attack Fleet was making its way to the Mandalore System to begin the invasion. Asajj Ventress stood on the bridge of the lead ship waiting patiently for the order to begin the invasion. "Ma'am, Count Dooku has just given the order." One of the Droids reported.
"Begin the invasion!" Ventress ordered.
A few days later,
The entire Mandalorian System was in a panic. The Separatists had struck hard and fast and conquered a number of planets in the Mandalorian System. Even though he wasn't supposed to, Obi-Wan Kenobi was helping to coordinate the Mandalorian forces and was currently helping to keep Mandalore from being conquered by the forces of the Separatist Army. Unfortunately, Separatist saboteurs, most likely Death Watch members, had destroyed most of the weapon storages, leaving most of the planets, other than Mandalore, being outgunned. Shark was nowhere to be found during this so Obi-Wan was on his own since the Republic wasn't answering any calls he made.
Kenobi was covering his forces as they retreated once again from the onslaught of Battle Droids. "It's time like these that I wish Anakin or Cody were here." He mused to himself as he was deflecting the laser blasts from the droids.
Sudden, a rocket came out of nowhere and blew away a large number of droids. "What the hell was that?" One of the Mandalorians asked Obi-Wan.
"I have no idea." Obi-Wan replied.
Just then, over two hundred people wearing the armor of the legendary Mandalorian Supercommandos sprang into action, driving the droids back. "Get the wounded to a medical facility and get me a status report." The leader of the commandos said.
"Yes sir." One of the soldiers said as he then started coordinating the other commandos.
Obi-Wan walked up to the leader. "I guess we owe you one, friend." He said as he offered his hand to the leader.
"The name's Spar." The Supercommando leader said as he took the hand and shook hands with Obi-Wan. "I'm the leader of the Mandalorian Protectors."
Obi-Wan seemed confused as he hadn't heard about this group and was about to ask what that group was when a familiar voice answered his unasked question. "Think Death Watch but with a sense of honor, much more trustworthy and not a group of terrorists." Duchess Satine said as she joined them.
"Well, I must be doing something right if the pacifist leader is praising me." Spar joked. He then got serious. "We're more interested in keeping Mandalore safe from invaders, not taking over and weeding out the ones who don't agree with our beliefs."
"A noble endeavor," Obi-Wan commented, "and, in this time of war, a much more practical one."
Spar seemed a little surprised that he was being praised not only by his political rival but a Jedi Master as well. "We still have a long way to go if we're going to be free of these droids." Spar said calmly.
"I agree." Obi-Wan said. "And I haven't been able to contact any of the Clone Troopers or Republic stations that are near this sector."
"The Separatists must be jamming your transmissions to keep the Republic from coming to Mandalore's aid." Spar said. "Either that, or Death Watch is."
"If its Death Watch, then Shark had better hurry up and take care of them." Obi-Wan mumbled.
Meanwhile, at the Death Watch Headquarters,
At that moment, the members of Cur'val Dar were in the middle of a battle with the members of Death Watch. Shark had been with them for a few days, learning about the Mandalorian fighting styles, which he quickly picked up on since he was a Mandalorian, and helping to decide how to take Death Watch apart. He and Alor were currently trying to sneak in while the Cur'val Dar kept the main forces of the Death Watch busy.
The fight was taking its toll on both sides of the battle but the Death Watch was taking much greater losses than the Cur'val Dar. "Your boys and girls sure know how to kick butt." Shark whispered.
"That's because the Death Watch prefers to rely on the quantity of their members, while we worry about the quality." Alor replied.
"In other words, the Death Watch prefers to outnumber their enemy while you prefer to be better fighters." Shark said with a smirk.
The two quietly made their way through the base until they found the leaders of Death Watch. "These mysterious warriors must be wiped out before we can gain control of this system." Pre Vizsla said sternly.
"Sir, wouldn't it be better to wait until after the people wanted to be free from the Separatists before we began our attacks?" One of the second in commands asked.
"No, if Death Watch is to gain the support of the people we must be seen on the front lines of this conflict, fighting the Separatists." Vizsla stated.
Shark and Alor nodded to each other. They had agreed earlier that Shark would take care of Vizsla while Alor made sure no one got in Shark's way. Shark pulled his lightsabers from his belt while Alor took out his blasters. The two then charged into the room. "Somebody really needs to upgrade their security systems." Shark commented getting Vizsla's attention as he activated his lightsabers.
"Well, seems we have a bit of a pest problem." Vizsla said as he pulled the Darksaber from its place near his right shoulder. He then activated the ancient Vibroblade-shaped lightsaber.
Shark was impressed by the shape of its blade and the color. "This is gonna be fun." He smiled.
"Just so you're warned, Count Dooku has trained me in the different styles of lightsaber duels." Vizsla said confidently. "I'm much more prepared for you than when I faced Kenobi."
"Just because you've been trained doesn't mean that you're ready for this kind of fight." Shark said coolly as he stood in a fighting stance.
The two Mandalorians engaged in battle with their lightsabers. Vizsla's moves were more brutal and relied on power but were much more refined that when he had fought against Obi-Wan. Shark's moves were more defensive than usual but only because he was trying to avoid destroying the Darksaber. Shark could tell that the lightsaber was being poorly maintained because of how beat up the lightsaber hilt looked.
Alor was handling the other Death Watch members but one managed to shot Shark's yellow bladed lightsaber from his hand but couldn't do more because Alor shot the Death Watch minion in the back of the head. Before Shark could call it back with the Force, Vizsla drove the blade of the Darksaber right through the center of the lightsaber, causing it to explode. Down one lightsaber, Shark decided to switch tactics and went on the offensive.
The sudden change in Shark's tactics caught Vizsla by surprise and Shark used that to his advantage. Using the Force to guide his movements, Shark was able to get past Vizsla's guard. The results where that Shark's second lightsaber was sliced in half, making it useless, but Shark now had his hand on the handle of the Darksaber. With a Force push, Shark was able to pull the handle from the hands of Pre Vizsla. Shifting the handle to get a better grip on it, Shark twirled the saber and stabbed Pre Vizsla in the chest, straight through the heart.
Shark sensed one of the Death Watch trying to make a run for it. He pulled his blaster with blinding speed and shot the fleeing member in the back of the head. "Nice shot," Alor said as he finished off the last of the Death Watch that were in the room.
"Thanks." Shark said as he removed his helmet and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Just then one of the Cur'val Dar came inside. "Sir, a number of Death Watch members have deserted and joined the Mandalorian Protectors." He reported.
Alor nodded and turned to Shark. "We're going to disappear." He told the Sith trained Mandalorian. "I suggest you don't try to find us."
Shark looked serious and nodded. The members of Cur'val Dar then left without another word. Shark however decided to take a look around and found a large cache of weapons and supplies that could come in handy. He found a Mandalorian Shuttle and loaded it up with the weapons and supplies.
An hour later, at the Mandalorian Capital Building,
Obi-Wan was shocked at the recent turn of events. A large number of Death Watch warriors had arrived and confessed that Pre Vizsla had been behind all of the sabotages to try to turn the people of Mandalore against Duchess Satine. Because of the problems of that Mandalore had faced since the Duchess had taken over, the people voted and Spar was elected to be the new Mandalore, the title given to the leader of the entire Mandalore Sector which is sometimes called Mand'alor. Obi-Wan was shocked to find out that Spar was actually a clone of Jango Fett that had deserted a while back but decided not to report it.
All of this didn't change the fact that the Mandalore System was being overrun by Battle Droids of the Separatist Alliance. "I hate to admit it but we need to get the Republic involved in this." Spar said calmly.
"If only our weapons stashes hadn't been destroyed, we wouldn't need to." Duchess Satine sighed. The Duchess had been made an advisor since a number of her ideas were good ones and helped Mandalore prosper.
Just then, a Mandalorian Shuttle flew over head. "What the blazes is that pilot doing?" Obi-Wan asked out loud.
The shuttle's ramp lowered and a number of boxes slid down the ramp and stopped at Obi-Wan's feet. Everyone was surprised to see Shark standing up at the top of the ramp. R2-D3 started whistling happily, seeing its friend again. "Before any of you ask, these are all complements of the now disbanded Death Watch and their dead leader, Pre Vizsla." Shark said with a smile as he took the hilt of the Darksaber from his belt.
Spar looked impressed. "So you were able to take down all of Death Watch on your own?" He asked and Shark just shrugged.
"Most likely he had help from our mysterious warriors." Obi-Wan said with a grin as Shark started floating the weapons and supplies out of the ship by using the Force.
"You just had to spoil my fun, didn't you?" Shark asked jokingly.
"Of course," Obi-Wan replied with a smile as he started helping Shark stack up with supplies. All of the people and warriors were happy to have fresh supplies and more weapons.
Once the transport was emptied of supplies, they started opening the crates and distributing the goods. "There should be a good number of jetpacks in here as well." Shark said to Spar.
"Is this everything that was at the base?" Spar asked.
Shark shook his head. "I'd say this is just about half of what was at the base." He said. "If you'd like I could make another run to get more."
Spar agreed but decided to send a few more shuttles to make sure there was enough room for all of the supplies. D3 whistled that it wanted to go as well, which Shark agreed since he'd probably be able to learn the locations of other weapon caches. "While you're going for the supplies, Obi-Wan and I will hit the main forces that are here." Spar said. "According to intelligence, Asajj Ventress is the one leading this Droids Army."
"I'll take care of that." Obi-Wan said seriously.
"And while you do that, I'll lead the Mandalorian Protectors against the Droids." Spar said in agreement. Even though most Mandalorians didn't like Jedi, Spar was getting along pretty well with Obi-Wan. Now that they had a plan, the groups headed out for their missions.
That night, at the Droid Landing Zone,
Asajj Ventress was furious with how things had recently taken. Not only was Death Watch no longer a factor in the attack but the Mandalorian Protectors had somehow acquired the Death Watch supplies and weaponry and were using them to push towards the Droid Landing Zone. Then there was the fact that Master Kenobi and the Mandalorian Jedi were helping them, making this operation a complete failure. She had sent a message to Count Dooku and was waiting for him to respond but was quickly losing her patience. 'At this rate, my entire army will be wiped out within a few days, including those on other planets.' Ventress thought.
Just then a message started coming in. A hologram of Count Dooku appeared. "Ventress, I have just received your message and I find this information most disturbing." Dooku said calmly. "However, you are correct that our lack of information on the Mandalorian Protectors and that mysterious group were what prevented us from winning in this operation. Pull out all of your troops and begin preparing for you next mission."
"As you wish, my lord," Ventress said calmly as she bowed.
The next morning,
The entire Mandalore Sector was celebrating as the departure of the Separatist Droid Army. Overnight, all of the droid factories had been abandoned and the equipment was packed up. The armies had been pulled out and the ships were gone. Spar was being hailed as the hero that organized the resistance while Obi-Wan were hailed as the heroes who kept the Droids at bay long enough for Spar to get his men ready. Shark was also being hailed as a hero for routing out the traitorous leaders and members of Death Watch. Obi-Wan was finally able to contact the Jedi Council and all agreed that someone was trying to turn Mandalore against the Republic. Shark and Obi-Wan Kenobi were then called back to Coruscant to discuss what had happened on Mandalore.
Shark and his grandfather were having a long discussion before Shark left to continue training with Master Yoda on Coruscant. "Shark, I have an investment on Kamino that I would like you to have." Jango said as he handed Shark a recorded message. "Show this to Prime Minister Lama Su and he will take you to my investment."
"You don't have to give me anything." Shark said in confusion. He was reluctant to take the recorded message.
Jango smiled. "Consider this sixteen years worth of birthday presents that I never got to give you." He said to which Shark smiled and accepted the recording. "Now, tell me about this Karona girlfriend of yours." At this Shark smiled and started telling his grandfather all about Karona.
To Be Continued…