Star Wars does not belong to me. Just Skylar & Co. Big thanks to Kishadow, laloga, and Depthcharge2030 for reviewing!

Merry Christmas to everyone! God bless!


After Skylar and Scintel spent almost an hour discussing the details of their tentative alliance in private, she and Fives were now being given a tour of the palace before they and their Zygerrian guide left for Kadavo.

Cordav rolled her eyes, extremely thankful for the privacy of her helmet. These hut'uune put too much importance on things. They thought that the more they owned, including slaves, the more powerful they were. And they were not above boasting about it. And they especially didn't know how wrong they were.

Mandalorians, True Mando'ade and not the hut'uunla Death Watch or noodle-backed New Mandalorians, valued their families above everything else. That was were true power lay. Because of this, any True Mando, even a complete stranger, was immediate family. Even if they didn't agree or were working for opposing factors. That was why her people had lasted for millenia. Why they'd almost conquered the galaxy once. And why they'd managed to hang on to existence even after losing most of their best verde at Galidraan. Their unity was their lifestyle. All Mandalorians thought of their people, their vode, first. Which made them completely different from the osikla Republic. She'd heard of one or two Senators that had actually killed family members.

"Just out of curiosity, which room is Skywalker's?" Fives asked, showing just a little too much interest in his voice.

Skylar opened the private channel, "No offense, F'ika, but you're about as subtle as a bantha. Leave the talking to me, gedet'ye. Please." Both Tor and Beta Squads laughed from their positions, holed up in the sewers close to the servant entrances.

Fives huffed, but said nothing. And Cordav found herself very close to chuckling again. This was why she liked clones a lot more than normal people. Not only were they more open and honest, even disarming in their own way, they could make her laugh without even trying. Even typically stubborn ARCs. She wasn't about to tell Fives that, though. No sense in irritating him further. It would only make her laugh and distract them both from the mission at hand.

Their guide raised an eyebrow at the green-armored man in suspicion, and Cordav spoke up, hoping to correct the young clone's lapse, "My brother only asked since it seems highly unusual that the queen would let such a prize out of her sight." She knew that she was making Fives look like a dumb barbarian, but as long as it fooled their enemies...

The Zygerrian man chuckled under his breath, "You guessed right, Chieftain. The Jedi slave's quarters are connected to Her Majesty's. That, in fact, is part of your tour. Her Highness truly values your alliance, as she trusts you enough to allow you to lay eyes on her chambers."

Kandosii. Skylar opened the link to Fives helmet again with another blink at the icon displayed in her HUD, "Perfect opportunity. You still got that bead comlink, Fives?"

"Yes, Skylar," he said. Even though Fives was no longer calling her 'ma'am' or 'Sarge,' he still managed to make her first name sound exactly like both of those irritating titles. He still needs to loosen up. A lot.

"Okay, as soon as we step in there, I'll distract the di'kut and you drop it on the floor. The General will know what it is." Another reason why she loved buy'cese. You could yell to your heart's content and no one would be the wiser. Hence the reason that aruetiise believed that Mandos were silent death in battle. That was far from the truth. She herself was given to muttering if a fight was fierce.


Half an hour later and Fives, Cordav, and their Zygerrian guide were on their way to Kadavo, Beta Squad holed up in their ship's smuggling compartments. How the four commandos managed to get back aboard without anyone seeing them... Fives had no idea. Cordav and her father had taught them very well, apparently. He was earnestly looking forward to learning Cordav's tricks.

Tor Squad was effectively stranded on Zygerria, awaiting General Skywalker's orders. Skylar had not liked the idea, but Jinx had somehow managed to talk her into it. So, all four members of Tor Squad were still lying in that sewer. And Fives did not envy them. He only wished that Beta Squad had stayed behind. Doz had dropped in a few more not so subtle hints about him and Cordav. The young ARC had come very close to strangling Beta's ordnance expert, had Skylar not intervened. She'd then proceeded to give Doz a fierce talking to. Judging by the other clone's tone when he responded to her, he hadn't been expecting it. In fact, none of them had.

Speaking of Tor Squad, "Sarge, this is Jinx. Over." Cordav had insisted on keeping their private comlink channel open. Therefore, Fives could hear every breath from her and both squads. It was distracting, but the commandos and their training sergeant were used to it. Skylar had pointed out that the original commando squads had only been around other squads during training exercises. Each squad had grown up surrounded only by their squad brothers, their helmet comlinks always open to each other. The way she'd talked about that... Fives realized that she was jealous of that closeness. And he couldn't blame her, because he was finally beginning to understand. She had no one else besides them, which was why she'd latched on to him and her new trainees so quickly.

"I hear you loud and clear, Jinx. What's up?" Skylar asked, even though Fives was certain that she knew what was going on. She'd ordered com silence until General Skywalker activated the bead comlink, or one of them was threatened. Since Tor's sergeant sounded calm, Fives knew that it was the former.

"Sergeant Cordav, I presume? This is General Skywalker." The young ARC breathed a sigh of relief, even though the mission was far from over. He almost greeted the Jedi himself, but General Skywalker had not addressed him.

"Su'cuy gar, General. I trust that Jinx gave you the details, sir?" Skylar said. And Fives couldn't help staring at her wide-eyed and open-mouthed, even though she couldn't see his expression. He hadn't expected Cordav to speak to General Skywalker so respectfully. Maybe it had to do with the fact that the young General was an unknown to her. She knew just how far she could push General Zey. General Skywalker, his General, was a different matter.

"Yes, Sergeant. What I don't understand is how six people are going to rescue Obi-Wan and Rex. They're bound to be surrounded by an army. That, and there are fifty-thousand Togruta hostages that need to be rescued as well."

Fives could practically hear his sergeant's eyes roll as she huffed, "I'm well aware of that. Special Operations, sir. That means specially trained. We commandos and ARCs face impossible odds daily. Just part of the job description. Ask Zey." she said, with just a touch of sarcasm in her voice. Now that's more like the Skylar I know.

"You sound just like my apprentice," Skywalker said distractedly. Fives couldn't help a small chuckle. Commander Tano was well known for her snippy attitude towards her Master.

And Skylar immediately resorted back to her old ways completely, "Focus, Skywalker. I'm counting on you to make sure that four of my boys make it off that dar'yaim alive. If you waste their lives..." she trailed off threateningly.

That was when Fives realized that she did more than care about the men. She had no fear for herself because she valued their lives, clone lives, far above her own. Which was why she found it so easy to talk to Jedi in the way that she did without a second thought. And, judging by how she'd stiffened when Queen Scintel had eyed him lustfully, Fives knew that she was just as protective of him. No matter that she was Mandalorian, now matter how strange she was, Sergeant Skylar Cordav was an officer worth following. At the same level as General Skywalker, in his opinion.

Knowing Skylar, though, she'd resent being compared to a Jedi.


hut'uune = cowards

verde = warriors

vode = brothers and sisters

gedet'ye = please

Kandosii = Excellent

di'kut = idiot

Su'cuy gar = So you're still alive (formal Mando greeting)

dar'yaim = dead world

Please R&R.