p id="docs-internal-guid-efda9453-7fff-01a6-ee31-82162bca300f" dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Boot landed back in the base with a dissatisfied sigh, along with three other warriors who were no more happy than he was./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Find a way to assist," he told them. "Start by asking the Guard Captain. If she doesn't already have a patrol set up, then make that your first priority."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"They headed off without a word, while Boot headed into the only part of the base where a battle was still raging./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He started toward the compound's main headquarters, which was surrounded by much smaller yurts made from both blue permacrete and animal skins, some mammalian, some reptilian and some he couldn't recognize./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Only the main building and the walls were durasteel, meant to protect the greatest treasures they had acquired on the Hunt, along with the archives and Mandalore himself./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Boot could hear yelling as soon as he entered the building, so he picked up the pace. The eight Bloods standing outside the door to Mandalore's private quarters stood at attention with their hands on their rifles, but they knew better than to waste Boot's time by stopping him./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""A Jedi?" screamed the Huntress, pacing back and forth. She was holding one of her pistols in her right hand and waving it around as she spoke. It was a nervous habit, but most individuals doing that in front of Mandalore would have gotten a blaster bolt between their eyes./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""More importantly, these bombs were designed to counter Beskar. The metal started intensely vibrating and it knocked out all sensors. Some of my warriors were even rendered unconscious," said Mandalore. Boot could feel his concern, even behind the mask of his green armor./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"There were six of them in the room, once Boot entered. The Huntress was still furiously pacing. Her liaison to the clan, the girl named Hyne, stood at attention and two guards stood behind Mandalore himself, who was squatting before a selection of electronic tomes, laid out across the floor./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Ah, Boot. How did the retrieval mission go?" Mandalore asked in a friendly manner./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"However, moments later a small message appeared within his visor in text form, /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""We have much to discuss. Get them out of here."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""We ain't dead, but we lost the speeder. The noble Blood Battalion took losses, however." That statement got the Huntress to finally stop pacing. "A transport with two quadrons of Infiltrators was shot down."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" "Damn Jedi," said the Huntress. "Haven't they taken enough from us?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You should talk to your people about your next move."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah, of course." The Huntress left without looking up from the floor, taking all eight her personal guard with her./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"However, the officer remained./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""We're discussing a plan of action?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah, the Mandalorians are."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"She looked over at Boot. "I earned my right to be here, just like everyone else."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You ain't one of us, no matter-"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Both of you, sit," commanded Mandalore. Both of them followed his instructions, squatting wherever they could among the scattered texts. "We have come under attack. I need both of you to understand how important this alliance is. Remove your helmets."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"They both did as they were told./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Good. Now we can begin." Mandalore himself pulled his helmet away and carefully set it on the ground next to him, revealing just how old and withered his face had become. "What information do you two have on our enemy?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I think one of them being Jedi is the important part," said Hyne./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Do we know that this was Jedi magic?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""The texts seem to agree," said Mandalore. "Strange abilities like these have been described before, multiple times."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Great, so our speeder thieves are also spellcasting zealots."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Not the second one, the one in white," Hyne added. "Teller Vonn is his name. He's just a young smuggler who recently lost his family."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""How do you know that?" Boot asked./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""The Blood Battalion has many sources of information," she said, hoping to put an end to that subject./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"However, neither of the men she was speaking to were easily dissuaded./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You need to understand how important this alliance is," Boot reminded her, smirking all the while./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""The family was caught in an assassination attempt against Zheevo the Hutt," she finally explained. "His family of smugglers was supposed to bring a bomb, disguised as a shipment of spice, to the Hutt's lair, but we think it went off prematurely. The Blood Battalion had assumed they were dead, until their ship showed up here, on Centrallis."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Interesting," added Mandalore. "How do you think he ended up with the Jedi?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I truly have no idea."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Do you know how he survived or how the ship was even flyable?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Again, no idea."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Mandalore looked down, before swinging his attention to Boot. "Did you learn any new information from the chase?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""No. We have all the records about the speeder, already. All we learned is that Teller Vonn is crafty. He pretended his turret had been busted, even lit up a ring of fire inside it, and then waited for us to get close. That was when he shot the transport, point blank."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Clever."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""It won't fool us twice," Boot insisted./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I know. If there isn't anything else, both of you should return to the rest of our warriors. I'm sure there is work to be done and I must rest."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Both visitors put their helmets back on and left the room, with a cloud of disdain still hanging over them./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Deep down, he knows you ain't one of us."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The Blood Battalion officer didn't even reply. She just kept walking./span/p