Chapter 14

Tirahnn/ 16 BBY/ 3 years after Contingency Order: 66

Corr's stolen ship was a Pursuer Class enforcement patroller. The heavily armed spacecraft was a commonly used ship found on the planet Mandalore and a product of Mandal Motors. As Sev stooped over the former trooper's shoulder and studied the control interface, he noted similarities with that of the Cuy'val Dar. The ancient Dynamic class Freighter Keilbourn found years ago in a junk yard of Mechis 3, was nothing more than a gutted body which the ARC had spared no expense in restoring to its full capacity by means of Mandal Motors. The flight to the planet of Tirahnn was short, as it was an inner rim world along the Parlemian Trade route. Sev and Keilbourn decided to rally on the small planet which was a perfect choke point to Mandalore between Dxun and Chandrila, the sight of the honeymoon. As Sev sat on the single wing to the Pursuer class Enforcer, he gazed over the vast open grass plain; an ocean of waving green spanning beyond sight with the mountains rising out in the distance. The plain was much like one of the vast fields which stretched over the untainted regions of Dathomir. He felt the thoughts of the planet and his ties to her try and breech the barrier he'd erected within the past few months and bit down on them. Just then the roar of the Cuy'val Dar's sublight engines thundered over head as the rounded craft banked to land beside the Pursuer. Corr walked down the rear entry hatch, gawking up at the Dynamic class Freighter.

"That's quite a ship," he admired. Sev stood from his seat and glanced up fondly.

"Yep, we owe her." The hatch finally opened, releasing small spurts of steam. Keilbourn emerged with Iella clinging to his side.

I bet they haven't parted since the wedding, Sev mused in his head. For an outsider, the sight would have been odd; two dangerously, armor clad beings holding each other with affection. Iella finally let go as she approached Sev and hugged him. Her voice was welcoming and joyous as she was still under the stupor of the past months. "So how was it?" Sev asked as he turned to Keilbourn.

"Nice," he replied.

"And," Sev instigated. Keilbourn scowled at him from behind his helmet.

"None of your business." Sev smirked as Iella playfully shoved his shoulder. Keilbourn then turned to the green and red clad Mandalorian at Sev's side, extending his hand. "You must be Corr."

"Yep," Corr said returning the gesture. "Pleasure," he replied simply as he nodded his head slightly to Iella.

"Corr this is my wife, Iella," Keilbourn continued, motioning from one to the other with his hand. As Corr greeted the couple, Sev coughed and cleared his throat to attract their attention.

"Come on people, five months is a long time and the sooner we get it done, the sooner we'll be back home," he grumbled.

"So how are doing this," Keilbourn asked as he observed Corr's ship for the first time. "Who's ship are we taking?"

"Iella can take this back to Dxun and we'll all take your ship," Corr offered. Keilbourn frowned at him from behind his helmet.

"How'll you get your ship back?" he asked.

"Forget about it," Corr waved off. "I stole it anyway. Consider it a wedding present." Keilbourn started to decline and shake his head. "Or give it to Sev," Corr suggested. "I saw him eyeing it earlier," he added. Sev grinned as he looked over the ship again.

"She'll need a paint-job," he remarked. "Woman," he said wittily as he turned to Iella. "Do not break my ship." Iella smirked as she replied with an obscenity in Mando'a. Keilbourn laughed as she stepped into his arms again.

"I'll be back soon," he said consolingly. Without a word out loud for Sev or Corr to hear, she walked past them and up the ramp to Sev's new ship. Keilbourn watched longingly from behind his helmet. They all watched and waited as the ramp sealed shut and the long, thin ship lifted from the grass and took off through the atmosphere above.

With the Cuy'val Dar back in the shallows of space just outside of Tirahnn's orbit, Corr and Sev lounged in the main hold on the couch by the nav computer's holo-table. Corr observed the ship with awe, a bright gleam in his brown eyes. Finally Keilbourn emerged from the circular entry of the short corridor from the bridge, relieved of his helmet. "We're off to Mandalore. Should be at least four hours."

"Perfect," Corr exclaimed as he navigated to the couch. "Plenty of time to chat," he said.

"Well here's my first question," Keilbourn started. He sat beside Sev on the couch and relaxed with his arms resting on his knees. "How? How did you escape the Empire?" Corr looked questioningly at Keilbourn.

"What do you mean, how?" he laughed. His face suddenly went blank as the both of them failed to reply. "You mean you don't know?" he continued with slight astonishment. "Walon didn't tell you anything?"

"We haven't heard from Walon in three years," Sev said stiffly.

"He sent us to Dxun and that was it," Keilbourn added less harshly. Corr stared at them both with disbelief.

"Wow, where to begin," Corr mused with astonishment. "Well, not long after the hammer fell, we left Coruscaunt, defected to Mandalore."

"Who?" Sev asked.

"Nearly everyone. Omega, the Nulls, and some Alphas," he added as he nodded towards Keilbourn. "Of course, we don't have Delta or even Niner or Darman," Corr continued heavily. His gaze then flicked to Sev who's tense face eased slightly at the mention of his old team. Though it'd only been three years, it felt like a lifetime ago. Yet despite even that, not a day went by since his time on Kashyyyk when at least once, he didn't think about his former Squad. "When was the last time you saw them?" Corr asked. Sev looked as if he'd just realized they were talking to him.

"Oh," Sev remarked as he cleared his throat. "Kashyyyk," he said simply. "It feels like so long ago I barely think about it," he lied with a shrug. From the corner of his eye Keilbourn, observed Sev's expression; something kept him from really accepting Sev's explanation.

"Wow, Kashyyyk," Corr sighed with wonder. "So you were there when the order went down," he stated. Sev nodded in reply. His head then paused as if in mid thought.

"That was the weirdest part."

"Tell me about it," Keilbourn exclaimed. "I was seconds away from shooting down one of the Jedi, General Vos I think."

"What stopped you," asked Corr. Keilbourn swallowed hard as he played back the memory in his mind. The explosion had filled his scope's view.

"Before I could pull the trigger, he was blown up before my very eyes." Keilbourn stared solemnly at the table. "But that's not the worse part. He was standing on the deck of one of those Juggernaut combat platforms and they destroyed it." Sev shook his head in response with a sickened look. "He wasn't the only one that died on that thing," Keilbourn added, finishing his words with an unresolved tone. Sev's own mind carried him back to the darkness of the jungles on Kashyyyk. He could remember clearly having the legendary Jedi, Yoda locked in the sights of his blaster. Get out of here, he'd told him. It was the choice he would live to never regret.

"Yeah, things were crazy on Kashyyyk," Sev said out loud.

"Feirfek, I was on Coruscaunt at the time," Corr exclaimed. Both Sev and Keilbourn snapped away from whatever distant memory they'd visited and stared with intrigue.

"Corr," Keilbourn started. "Tell me how the war ended." Keilbourn suddenly had both of the former Commandos' eyes looking at him with estranged stares. "All I really know is when we left Kashyyyk we were still at war with the Separatists," he continued definitively. "Then the next I hear, it's over. His tone was bitter as was the mood of the rest of them.

"Well that's just it," Corr answered. "I mean the prime directive was the war wouldn't begin to end till Count Dooku and General Greivous were dead or jailed. Well we got Dooku on Coruscaunt then Greivous on Utapau not long after."

"Who went to get him," Sev asked.

"If I remember right it was the 212th," Corr replied.

"Cody's guys," Keilbourn added with a fond grin. Corr nodded with the same smirk of admiration. Sev instead shook his head.

"Well whether Greivous died or not, last I knew there were still Droids on the battle field," he stated stiffly. "The enemy was still out there and there was no word that the Separatists were killed or jailed."

"Not a single Clone saw the end of them," Keilbourn added bitterly.

"Exactly!" Corr exclaimed with a slam on the table. "Instead we got something claiming to be the Chancellor get on screen and tell us all it was over, just like that," he added with another slam on the table. Keilbourn frowned at him.

"You don't think that was Palpatine," he asked.

"Honestly, I don't know what to think. If it was, the Jedi did quite a number on him."

"I don't believe for a minute that was the Jedi," said Keilbourn.

"Oh I do, but not in the way he said," Corr replied. "You know what I think, I think they saw this coming and they tried to stop it." One by one, they all began to nod slowly in agreement. Opinions on the war greatly varied among all Clones; though among the Special Operations branch of the Grand Army of the Republic, they all shared the same bitter unresolved feeling.

"Walon used to have a saying," Sev suddenly said through the silence. "He said, You know that the battle is over when everyone is silent as they take the breath before the cheer. There was no breath. There wasn't even a cheer," he explained with a sharpened tone.

"You're right there was no resolve," Corr said. "Instead we went from one massive conflict to another." Keilbourn grit his teeth as more memories came back to him.

"Actually there was a cheer," he said. "All the shinies celebrated by hunting Jedi." The three dropped quiet again as they mused Keilbourn's thought. He was right though; both Sev and Corr had witnessed and been disgusted by the enthusiasm of the Clone Troopers.

"We haven't seen a Jedi since that day," Sev finally said. A small smile edged on his mouth.

"We have two back at Kyrimorut. Actually if you count Dar and Etain's boy, three." Sev's jaw dropped as utter surprise swept over his face.

"What? They had a kid?" he blurted in shock. Corr's smile grew more.

"Yeah, Kad. He's four now," he said fondly. He's got Dar's eyes and really more of Etain's features. Sev smiled fondly. He had no idea about the child's existence. In the midst of the darkness of the Empire and their terror, he nearly forgot just how much of a difference something like a young life can make; or maybe he decided to reject it, chose to forget. Keilbourn then opened his mouth as he was about ready to talk.