Chapter 9

The Mandalorian team arrived at the airlock, but Darth Treulos was not there. The amputated body parts, disfigured bodies and score marks littering the walls and floor just inside the airlock indicated she had been there as clearly as a giant holo ad in the night sky.

"Someone should give that girl a trailblazer award," Lanos commented as he used the keycard he was given on the door. It immediately rolled back, allowing the team to step in. Two more swipes of the card and they were inside the facility once again. The hallway looked even more gruesome than it did through the airlock, and the stench of seared flesh did not help.

"Ooh, grenades!" Trigger said gleefully, pulling a bandoleer of concussion grenades and thermal detonators off one of the fallen pirates. Blade found herself a rather vicious looking dagger on another pirate, and Roshi collected power packs from the blasters.

"Squeaky, you okay there?" Parmis asked as he grabbed the smaller man by the shoulder. Squeak was swaying a bit at the sight of a small person about the size of a kid that had been cut from hip to shoulder, and whose lifeless eyes stared up at him.

"No," Squeak squeaked. "Let's get out of here."

"No argument here," Lanos said. "Form up, blasters ready, and shoot anything that moves."

The team snapped into formation with Lanos and Parmis leading, Trigger and Blade in back, and Squeak and Roshi in the middle. This formation would put their best shots forward with automatic rifles, their best defence and heavy weapons in behind, and the sniper rifle where it could help out in either direction.

They moved down the hallways, quickly shooting anything that moved in their path and making their way to the hanger bay following Treulos's horrific path of bodies. About half way to the hanger, everyone's headsets buzzed.

"The fleet's assault will begin in two minutes," Darth Treulos's voice sounded. "I've secured transportation. You have one minute, then I'm outta here."

"Understood," Lanos said. "I suggest we run!"

The team made their way along at a fast pace, and suddenly the entire facility lurched, sending everyone tumbling and skidding across the hallways.

"What was that?" Squeak asked, but another explosion rocked the facility and a glow panel crashed down on him. He shrugged it off easily and got to his feet.

"That was the power generators blowing," Lanos shouted over the emergency claxons. "Move!"

They ran down the hallway, right into a group of ten pirates with blasters drawn in a defensive position, entirely expecting the Mandalorians.

"Freeze and drop your weapons!" The leader shouted.

"Lurdo!" Trigger shouted back, chucking a concussion grenade at the commander's head and hitting him with enough force to knock him out before he hit the ground. Several blaster bolts were fired off, but they were no match for Mandalorian armour. The team started firing, but the grenade exploded, rendering all the pirates disoriented and confused. The team rushed through the pirates, bodily shoving them out of the way on their way to the hanger.

"I didn't know you spoke Ewokese," Roshi said to Trigger while they continued their run to the hanger bay.

"I trained some during the Vong war," Trigger grunted. "Picked up a few words when I was strapping bombs to their chests."

"Such a wonderful guy, you are," Roshi commented, blasting a pirate's head off as it peaked out from a doorframe.

"Yub yub."

"Hate to rush you guys, but the fleet is going to be here soon," Darth Treulos said. "I'm leaving in twenty seconds. Nineteen...Eighteen..."

"You'll stay until we get there!" Lanos ordered.

"Seventeen...Sixteen...Fifte..."

"Attention all personnel," A male voice came across the facility intercom. "A large fleet has entered our sector and is advancing on our base. All personnel to battle stations. Repeat, all personnel to battle stations."

"Krop!" Darth Treulos shouted. "They found me! I'm outta here."

"No you're not!" Lanos shouted. "Where are you?"

"The hanger bay."

"Where in it?"

"In a ship."

"You Sith kreetle!" Roshi could almost see Lanos's face burning red through the gold helmet. He shouted a list of profane names at her, then shoved open a random door on the left side of the hallway. He kicked the sole occupant in the chest and shot him at point blank range between the eyes for good measure. He moved over to the window on the opposite side of the room and could see the loading bay below. "Watch for an explosion, then bring the ship up. Trigger, use those detonators."

"Happily," The big man moved towards the wall and plucked three thermal detonators, setting them carefully at the bottom corner of the room. He ran back into the hallway and a plume of flame followed him a second later.

The Mandalorians rushed back into the room to find a gapping hole into the docking bay below, and a transport manoeuvring itself underneath the hole with the docking bay ramp open. Due to the angle of the hole, the ship was ninety degrees to the room. Several explosions shook the base, but not nearly as strongly as the first couple did.

"There goes the other shield generators," Trigger said blissfully.

A moment later a massive explosion knocked everyone to their knees. Two more followed quickly after, and then the air in the room rushed out.

"What was that?"

"The fleet is bombarding the planet with asteroids!" Treulos shouted. "Get on board!"

The entire team jumped onto the ship as quickly as they could, being twisted around by the artificial gravity of the ship and their momentum from the jump. A moment later the ramp started to close, and the ship shot out of a massive hole in the hanger bay at breakneck speed before the ramp was shut. Lanos and Parmis fought their way to the cockpit while everyone else strapped themselves in the passenger area.

"Are all the missions like this?" Roshi asked, clutching his stomach.

"Nah," Trigger said as he removed his helmet and scratched his nose. "Sometimes they get exciting."

The flight soon levelled out and after a few minutes the ship made the jump to hyperspeed. Several moments later Darth Treulos and an unhappy Lanos came to the back.

"Congratulations on surviving," She said with the air of someone doing anything but congratulating them. "As a reward for your survival you're being relocated to Ossus under my direct command."

"Oh, joy," Roshi said. "I'm starting to like you. Thanks for coming back for us. Can we throw a party for you?"

She merely growled at him and marched back to the cockpit.

"Wow, have you a way with the ladies!" Blade commented, looking up from inspecting the new dagger she found. "I'll start planning the wedding."

"Yeah, and I'll plan the funeral," Trigger chuckled.

"Don't bother," Lanos piped up. "With her, it'd be the same ceremony."

-

"Morris," Sekava called to the next bed, finally having regained his ability to speak. He could sense everyone else in the infirmary was asleep. "Morris!"

"Sekava?" The red-headed boy turned to face his friend. "What's going on?"

"We're in the infirmary," Sekava said. "We've both been hurt."

"I'm scared," Morris whispered. His eyes shone with tears yet to be cried. "What happened to us?"

"It doesn't matter," Sekava whispered. "I figured it out. I know how I can get you out of here."

"How?" Morris begged.

"I'll ask Darth Krak to teach me how to fly a Sith starship," He whispered. "There's room for two in them. After a week, he should let me fly it myself. I'll sneak you into it and ask if I can fly up to the Mando fleet in orbit. I'll dock there, you sneak out, and when you can, find a transport to jump on. You've learned enough to stay hidden. We can do this!"

"Come with me," Morris begged. "We could just escape together."

"It's a short range craft," Sekava whispered. "I can't leave. I have to stay. I have to…to keep training. They'll suspect if we both disappear, but they won't notice you. I'll just tell them you're hiding in your room or something."

"Okay," Morris whispered. "I guess it's the only way."

"Yeah," Sekava replied, glad Morris could not see the tear streaming down his cheek. "It's the only way."

-

Something bothered Soora about this Thracken Sal-Solo. It was a nagging feeling that he couldn't quite place, like nose tickle that would not turn into a sneeze. Upon seeing the face, despite being hidden by a beard, he finally placed it. This man was a Solo.

Salsolo. Sal. Solo. Soora reflected to himself. Huh.

His burning desire to destroy Jacen Solo made him twitch every time he looked at Thracken and ache to destroy him. Reunited with his lightsabers, it took every ounce of restraint he had to stop himself from acting on his desires when he strode into the meeting room in the Mandalorian headquarters on Nar Kreeta.

"I hear you want our help," Soora said without preamble. He wanted Sal-Solo to fear him. He had no reason for niceties.

"And I hear you need my help," Thracken replied with equal dislike of Soora.

Apparently he thinks he's valuable than me, Both thought at the same time.

"I am told you want us to fix an election," Soora sat down at the far end of the room and looked across the conference table. "Why would I want to do this?"

"You put me in power and I'll let you Mandos have a base on Corellia for when you start taking over."

"Take over what?" Soora asked with false shock. "We have no desire to take over anything."

Thracken let out a bark of a laugh. "I know a liar when I see one. You've taken over Hutt Space. You've expanded to Ossus. I'm just seeing farther ahead than the idiots elsewhere. And looking ahead to how it can benefit my people."

"Well," Soora said after a moment of thought. "If that is what we eventually want to do, I suppose we could benefit from your support. Here is how we will swing your election: Your current opposition opposes the Jedi. We will deface the Jedi by making them kidnap someone close to you."

"Woah, wait," Thracken sat up straight and leaned on the table. "I thought…"

"Wrong," Soora said. At Thracken's confusion, he elaborated. "You thought wrong. You have a wife? A child?"

"A daughter," Thracken said, oblivious to Soora's mind trick. "She's just a kid…"

"We will kidnap her and frame the Jedi," Soora said. "Your opponent will fall because of his love of the Jedi, and Corellia will be yours."

"But…"

"We will allow you limited contact with her, and put her in a safe location until such time that you can consolidate your support."

"But…"

"Our troops will arrive in three days at night," Soora continued. "The next day you will give a prepared speech and reveal holorecordings of Jedi involvement. Your planets will support you and your opponent will be discredited, but if there are any signs of betrayal, you will forfit your daughter's life."

"I…"

"And you will be in my debt," Soora ended darkly. He left Sal-Solo stuttering to an empty conference room. If he could not destroy one Solo, he would take pleasure in destroying another.

-

The stolen cargo ship Darth Treulos and the Mandalorians used to escape the pirate base touched down on Ossus in the area designated for Sith operations. The hatch opened and Darth Treulos jumped out before the boarding ramp was even half way down.

"What?" Roshi yelled at her back. "I was just talking to Blade! No reason to be jealous!"

"You are so lucky you're still alive," Trigger chuckled as he walked past Roshi. He carried his black armour bundled together over one shoulder, and a case with his blaster and other weapons with the other arm. The other Mandalorians followed him out, some wearing their armour with just their helmets off, others carrying it like Trigger. The only common look the team shared was on their faces – the look that they would rather be anywhere but here.

A man in Mandalorian armour finished speaking with Darth Treulos and approached the team as she walked away at a brisk pace.

" 'Ello, Mates," The Mandalorian said in an exotic accent, probably from Onderon, handing them each a white piece of plastic. " 'ight-o. Y'all be in da same bunk o'er on dat sidda da 'omplex. 'eeres yer keys – 'ont lose 'em, an' Treylee 'ill see y'all soon. Yer otter stuff's 'ready dare. Go on 'ow."

While everyone looked at him with disbelief and confusion, Trigger was about to ask if the man had been shot (or needed to be shot) when Lanos thanked him and marched his team off to the far side of the facility.

They crossed through the Mandalorian segment of the camp and saw that the majority of their kin were infantry or trainers. Their team appeared to be the most experienced group of the bunch, making everyone wonder why they were even there. They arrived at their barracks, which was basically a converted half-cylinder storage shed with bunks on each sides, a pair of refresher stations, and an office at the back. Their equipment had already been shipped in from their last station and dumped on the beds haphazardly. Roshi collapsed on his bed in his armour and stared blankly at the ceiling while everyone else spent the next twenty minutes organizing and sorting out whose weapons and items belonged to whom when Darth Treulos arrived.

"Armour up and ready your weapons," She said. "Anyone not outside in two minutes gets to practice fighting against a lightsaber."

A minute and a half later they marched towards the Sith compound in full gear with Trigger still tugging a bandoleer of grenades into place across his chest.

"This was a Jedi base," Treulos explained as they walked through the facility. "Until a couple months ago the Jedi trained their runts here and planned their domination of the galaxy. They were moving to Coruscant when we attacked, and we caught them with their pants down. Now it is our base where we can train their enemies with their own equipment."

She marched them past various Sith students that gave them nasty looks unappealing to their youthful ages, and into a less used area of the base. They proceeded through a series of security doors and into a chamber with a table, holo display, and blackened transparisteel on the long wall opposite the door.

"We also house a secret here," Treulos announced. "Few of the Sith know about this, and to learn of it you must swear to the highest levels of secrecy."

Knowing the Mandalorians were aware she would enforce that secrecy with the tip of her lightsaber, and that they already knew too much to stop and ask their cooperation, she continued without pause.

"We have three high-ranking Jedi captive here," She flicked a switch and the transparisteel went clear to reveal three bodies hanging from some ropy vines hanging from the ceiling.

"That's Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade," Lanos whistled.

"Who's the other one?" Roshi asked.

"Kam Sulster," Darth Treulos said. "He was on the Jedi Council and was the head instructor at the Jedi Academy."

"They look pretty pathetic to me," Roshi said. "Why are you telling us? To prove that you guys can capture pathetic prisoners?"

"Shut it, Roshi," Lanos said. "Skywalker's prowess in combat is legendary. This is pretty significant. Why are you telling us?"

"You're going to be guarding them," Treulos responded. "We think the Jedi will make an attempt to free them, and it'll be up to you to make sure they don't. Feel free to talk to them, but don't damage them."

"That's it?" Trigger asked. "I wanna blow something up, not babysit some Jedi babies hanging from a tree."

"Maybe I'll put you on the Terentatek hunt then?" She offered.

"That sounds like fun," Trigger said. "What's a Terentatek?"

"It's a large beast that eats anything and has armoured scales that can take shots from a Star Destroyer. It woke up a week after we got here and has been eluding our best."

"That's my kinda beast," Trigger said with an insane grin that everyone knew he was wearing under his helmet.

"I have to agree with Trigger," Roshi said. "These guys aren't going anywhere. Hunting some giant lizard sounds like way more fun. Though I'd still rather be slagging some more pirates."

"You will do what your service requires," Treulos sneered and threw a datapad at him. "Here is your schedule. Don't let me come here without a guard by the doors again."

She stormed out of the room without another word.

"Any chance you'll give her up, Rosh?" Trigger asked, staring at the door she left through. "I bet she'd be wild in bed."

"Okay, we're all not going there," Roshi said while everyone stared at Trigger in disbelief. "Looks like you and I are first up, then Lanos and Blade in…no, this can't be right. Sixteen hours?"

Squeak checked the datapad. "Yeah, that's sixteen hours for your first shift. The rest of us are on eight hour shifts."

"She's playin' hard to get," Trigger said with an awed voice.

"I wish she'd just get lost," Roshi said, marching towards the security door. "C'mon, I brought my spare sabbac deck. Let's get this over with."