The meeting with Fenn Shysa had gone pretty much as Anakin, Obi-wan and Kit had expected it to. Acrimonious, argumentative, mildly insulting and generally productive. In other words, a typical meeting with a Mandalorian. Padme, on the other hand, was a bit taken aback by it. Though she was as thoroughly experienced in her own way as any Jedi Knight or Master, she had never dealt with anyone quite like the Mandalorians before. Fenn seemed to get a great deal of amusement out of her attempts at speaking diplomatically. After several hours of this, Padme just gave up, called him a scruffy looking nerf herder, and asked him if he was interested or not. It was now three hours after they had finished and Padme was still shaking her head at his reply. It had been simple, blunt and to the point: "Took you long enough to ask that. If you can do what you say you can, of course I'm interested. If you can't, then I'm not."
It was at that point that Anakin had jumped in. Even though he really hated the diplomatic back and forth that normally took place in meetings of this kind, he had a feeling that this would be just the kind of negotiation he would excel at. Put simply, he had offered to have the Alliance hit the main Imperial Base on the planet with their three frigates, while he, Obi-wan, Kit and Etain along with the two Padawans would join Fenn in an assault on it to throw the Empire off Mandalore. That is, if Fenn wasn't just a bag of hot air and could actually gather the warriors he said he could. That comment had nearly doubled Fenn over in laughter. After the obligatory glare at Anakin first of course. Nodding his head to the young Jedi, he assured him that he could. They agreed to spend the afternoon discussing strategy and where the ground attack would be launched from.
In the meantime, Anakin had an appointment with young Zett Jukassa to keep. Meeting him outside, he and Zett both shrugged off their cloaks and Anakin prepared to teach him the finer points of Djem So. Having him start with the initial katas and velocities of the Form, Anakin evaluated his performance. His initial read on the boy ("And did I really just call him a boy?" thought Anakin, "He couldn't be more than a handful of years younger than I am.") was that he had the basics down pretty well. But that he had an inflated sense of exactly just how good he was at the Form. Internally, Anakin grimaced. Zett reminded him far too much of himself when he was a Padawan. What was it he used to think? That he could best Master Yoda while only a Padawan? Force, what an arrogant fool he had been. Of course, losing his arm to Dooku had seen to fixing that problem. At least when it came to his blade work. It took the near death of the Order to finally drive out the rest of his arrogance. Forcing his mind back to Zett, he could immediately see where the issue lay. While Shien and Djem So, the two variants of Form V, both emphasized strength, it wasn't supposed to be at the expense of speed and fluidity. Zett was far too focused on trying to put his maximum strength into each and every blow, which was making his form sloppy, leaving him open to quicker opponents who could get inside his defenses. His strikes were too slow, too broad. He'd really be in trouble if he ever had to defend against massed blaster fire.
Telling Zett to sit down, Anakin sat next to the young man and began to explain what he had seen to him. At first, Zett was a bit upset, bordering on angry. He really didn't like getting picked apart like this. But as Anakin continued, he realized that if the Battlemaster didn't point out his flaws in the Form, he'd never know what he needed to fix. That Master Skywalker was also the authority on Form V helped too. He finally began to realize that he had been putting far too much emphasis on strength to the exclusion of everything else in his movements. Once Anakin finished explaining things to him, he had Zett take his stance again, but this time Anakin joined him. Standing opposite him, they both ignited their blades and Anakin began to spar with his young pupil, not nearly so fast or intricately as he had earlier that day with Obi-wan, but fast enough to push Zett to his absolute limits. And more importantly, showing him just how important it was to combine speed with power to take full advantage of Djem So.
Once their session was complete, Anakin pulled Obi-wan aside and explained what he saw when he worked with Zett. Obi-wan agreed with him completely, but had wanted Anakin to work with him just in case Obi-wan was being biased from getting used to how well Anakin used the Form. As Battlemaster, Anakin recommended intensive practice for Zett to help him clean up his Form. He also suggested working in some elements of Soresu to help him tighten up. Obi-wan readily agreed and the two men then made their way back to their meeting with Shysa. Though Anakin made a slight detour to check on his children first and spent a few minutes just watching them sleep. Just seeing their peaceful, sleeping faces brought home to him exactly why he was doing what he was doing. And just how much he very likely would have lost if he hadn't spoken to Yoda. He knew just how close he had come to the edge. All it would have taken was one more little push.Thankfully, that push never came. Instead, it was as if someone had grabbed his arm and pulled him back to safety. And just as he did every time he looked at his family, he swore to himself that never again would he ever approach the Dark Side. Having recentered himself, he made his way to the meeting.
The rest of the day was spent discussing the proposed attack on the base. It was odd for the Jedi. All three Masters had years of experience commanding formations of thousands of men. Yet, they were essentially taking a back seat here. Oh, all six Jedi on the planet would be involved in the fight, and so would the men of the 501st that had come with them. But it was no more than a token show of support in reality. Their real contribution was their fleet. By providing heavy orbital bombardment, it would give them a real chance at success. Assuming, that is, that the Stormtroopers on the planet didn't get off a distress call and summon heavy units of the Imperial Navy. At that worry being aired, the former Null Commandos just started to chuckle.
Cocking his head to the side, Anakin looked at them and asked, "What's so funny?"
Ordo, replying for all his brothers said, "General, blocking comms is child's play. We could do that before we were two years old. We could probably pull this mission off blindfolded. Not that we will, mind you. No sense giving the shinnies manning the base an opportunity for a fair fight."
Sensing the commando's eagerness at the prospect, Anakin, and the other Jedi, felt a bit of an internal chill. They had forgotten just how brutally efficient the Nulls could be. But this was war. And their skill set would be desperately needed. Especially in intelligence work. Through their bond, Anakin felt Obi-wan resolve to speak to Kal about it later. While none of them were under any illusions about just what would be required to win this war, they at least wanted to be able to say they had done the right thing in how it was conducted. As much as possible at any rate.
_
Three days later, the attack on the main Imperial Base began. Anakin had ordered Commodore Sykes to take the fleet in toward the Core, then jump back in system as if they were nothing more than a standard Imperial Patrol. Just as the ships reentered the System, the Nulls blew up the long range comm station for the base and began jamming all remaining Imperial frequencies. In a coordinated move, the fleet then executed a micro jump into orbit directly over the base and opened fire on it with everything they had. The impact of thirty-six heavy turbolasers on the base was awe-inspiring. At least to those that had never seen a properly executed Orbital Bombardment, anyway.
As the Mandalorians and the Jedi broke from cover and rushed toward the base, Fenn Shysa kept one eye on the Jedi. He found it extremely strange that they had all refused armor. Instead, they were all going into battle in nothing but their standard robes. Of course, once he saw how they moved, blocking shot after shot with their lightsabers, even redirecting the fire back at the Imperials, he understood their reluctance a bit better. Armor wouldn't do anything but slow them down. Just as he finished that thought, a blaster bolt zinged by his helmet, reminding him to pay attention to his fight instead of the Jedi's.
The battle was long and hard. The Stormtroopers they faced might have been "shinnies" to use the veteran soldier's term for new recruits, but they fought hard. It was late that night before the last of the Imperial Forces either surrendered or were killed. But during the assault that finally captured the last redoubt in the base, Rex was hit. While his armor stopped the worst of the incoming blaster bolts, one found the seam in his armor over his right knee. The blast all but amputated his leg. Fortunately for him, a medic happened to be close by and got him stabilized and prepped for transport to the nearest med center.
As soon as Anakin saw what had happened, he rushed to his friend's side. Though not trained as a healer, Anakin did what he could with the Force. It seemed to help a bit. Or maybe Anakin just hoped it was helping. Either way, he knew the kind of pain Rex would be in right now if it wasn't for the sedatives he'd been given and the sleep suggestion from Anakin. Seeing his friend like this almost physically hurt. Anakin made a snap decision. He wasn't trusting Rex to some doctor he didn't know. He ordered Commodore Sykes to send down a shuttle. He'd have Rex treated on board the Redemption. Obi-wan probably wouldn't like it, but he wasn't about to risk Rex now. Not after everything Rex had risked to stand by his side during the Attack on the Temple.
_
It had been two weeks since the Battle for Mandalore took place. In that time, Mandalore had seen some significant changes. The Empire had been thrown from the planet. Fenn Shysa had declared himself Mandalore, and been accepted as such. And all the clans, with the notable exception of clan Fett, had sworn allegiance to him and pledged to fight the Empire.
In discussing the particulars of their new alliance, Fenn was insistent that Mandalore was an ally. Not a member of the Republic. And that after this was all over, Mandalore would remain free. Considering their other options, Padme, as the only true diplomat in the room, agreed. Mandalore would remain a sovereign, independent system. However, in exchange, Padme managed to get Shysa to agree to a unified command structure during the war. As long as the war against the Empire raged, Mandalorian Units would be under the overall command of the Republic. With the Republic obligated to come to Mandalore's aid if the Empire attacked the planet.
As the negotiations were concluding, Anakin slipped from the room they were being held in. He knew he really needed to learn to tolerate this aspect of being a Jedi, particularly now that he was not only a Jedi Master, but because he also held an extremely important post within the Order as Battlemaster. He would more than likely be called on to participate in these sort of negotiations many times in the future. But for now, he decided that he really didn't need to be there. Besides, he had somewhere more important to be. Rex was getting fitted for his new prosthetic leg today. And he'd be damned if he was going to miss it. Rex refused to abandon him when he needed him, he wouldn't abandon Rex now.
As Anakin walked into the Med Bay on the Redemption, he could hear Rex cursing at the med droids. They must be aligning the nerve sensors, he thought. He always hated that part of getting his prosthetic replaced. They really couldn't numb the stump much while they did that. He felt for Rex right now.
Poking his head around the door, he gave Rex a lopsided grin and said, "Hey. Welcome to the club."
The stream of profanities that flowed from Rex after that comment was impressive. Even for Anakin, who knew how to curse fluently in most of the languages in use in the Republic. The somewhat shocked and amused expression on his face only earned him a scowl from Rex. That in turn just made Anakin start laughing. At which point, Rex threw the comm unit that was next to the bed at Anakin.
Walking into the room, Anakin dropped into the chair next to Rex's bed and roughly squeezed his shoulder. "I know it hurts Rex. But if they don't get the sensors aligned with your nerve endings correctly, you'll never be able to walk normally. I had to go through the same thing when I lost my arm."
Gritting his teeth as the med droid hit a particularly sensitive spot, Rex replied, "General, you don't...have to tell...me how much it hurts." Pausing to let our a huge breath, he continued, "But if this kriffing droid isn't a bit more careful, I'm going to take it apart piece by piece and melt down what's left into a plaque for my wall in the barracks."
Laughing heartily, Anakin slapped Rex on the shoulder and told him that he had made that exact same threat to numerous med droids over the years. As Anakin sat with his friend, the droid carried on fitting Rex's new leg. Anakin spent the time chatting with him about some of their past missions together. It wasn't a perfect distraction, but it was better than nothing and seemed to help take Rex's mind off what the droid was doing. At least a little. A couple of hours later, and Rex had his new leg.
"Ready to give that leg a test drive?" asked Anakin.
Taking a deep breath, Rex replied, "As I'll ever be sir."
Helping Rex up out of the bed, Anakin kept his arm around him to make sure Rex wouldn't lose his balance. Nodding his thanks, Rex took his first tentative step. And immediately broke into a grin. Other than some residual pain from where the leg was attached, and that the med droid assured him would be gone in a few days, it was almost like he never lost the leg to begin with.
"How long until I can return to duty, General?" he asked Anakin.
"Couple weeks, probably," replied Anakin. "When I lost my arm at First Geonosis, that's about how long it was before the Healers cleared me to go back into the field."
"Good, Sir. I'd rather not spend a lot of time just sitting around if I can avoid it."
"Now that, I completely understand Captain. Come on, lets get you to your bunk."