"I claim this sword, and my rightful place; as leader of Death Watch." Maul declares as he stands over the beheaded body of Pre Visla. Two Mandalorians come forward and kneel in front of him.
"No!" Bo Katan calls out, "An outsider will never rule Mandalore!"
"If you will not join me; you will all die." Maul answers. I step back towards the window. Kat looks up at me from my right. The rest of the squad follows me back to the window as more Mandalorians turn and draw their weapons at lady Bo.
"You're all traitors!" she calls out,
"Unfortunately, for you. History will not see it that way! Execute them!" Maul orders. Lady Bo and some of her troopers jet back and start firing into the crowd of traitors. As they run back out the main hall I drive my boot into the window and the mosaic shatters.
"Out! Get below the surface!" I order. I dive out the window myself and fall to the lower stories before firing my jetpack. I fly to an old tunnel and duck into the undercity. I land outside an old warehouse and pull the door open. I step into a small factory building and sit down beside the disabled machinery. I pull my helmet off and send out an encoded message to the squad.
"Level two, old refining complex." I read aloud before sening the message out.
"What happened to us?" I wonder aloud. How can we go from a group of loyal warriors to a civil war? I only hope the squad got below the surface. They all got out, I just hope they can get here.
I scramble to my feet as I hear a knock on the warehouse door. I slip my helmet on and rest my hand on my holster.
"West! West? It's Kat, is this the right place?" a voice says from the other side. I open the door and Katkri stands on the other side. She rushes forward and pulls me into a tight embrace and I wrap my arms around her.
"What happened?" I ask as I look her over. There's blood soaking the underside of her bicep.
"They got me with a vibroblade…" She says as she holds her arm up revealing a slash wound between one of her armor plates. I shut the door behind her and sit her down beside the machinery. I pull her helmet off and spot tears running down her face. She looks up at me before I sit down beside her.
"Talk to me." I say as I deactivate her shoulder pauldron. I pull the plate away and she lets out a little cry.
"It's all falling apart again, West… why?" she whimpers. "Why does everything fall apart around me?".
"We won't fall apart, Kat." I say. "We'll stay together through it all." I look over the wound and shake my head.
"I'm gonna have to take more plates off, I need to look at the bicep." I explain. She nods and looks up at me. Her brown eyes cloud with more tears.
"Just… Stay with me… please." She begs.
"I will Kat, I promise." I say before disabling her right chest plate and unzipping her body glove. I roll the body glove down her shoulder and look at the wound. It's not as bad as I thought but it's still bleeding.
"You have your medic bag?" I ask
"Yeah, front right pocket." She groans. I unhook the pouch and pull a bacta spray from it and apply it to the wound. She lets out a little sigh as the pain fades away. She looks up at me and smiles cutely.
"Thank you." She says.
"You're welcome." I say as I sit beside her. She looks over at me before laying her head on my shoulder.
"Am I a burden?" She asks.
"No, what?" I ask. "You couldn't be a burden if you tried."
"Thank you… but ever since I joined our squad I've been all over you… I've been just whining to you the whole time."
"I would rather you talk to me than suffer in silence. I'd rather go through all this over and over again than see you suffer." I say as I lay a hand on hers.
"Thank you… thank you so much." She says. "Have you heard from anyone else?"
"Not yet, I figure they're working their way down here or laying low." I reply. She nods and looks down at her helmet.
"We finally put the old ways back in place… just in time for an outsider to take control."
"I know." I say. "We'll take our world back, maybe not today, but soon."
An hour or so later a bang on the door jolts me awake. Kat looks up at me with a frown as another voice comes from the door.
"Open up! Mandalorian police! Whoever you are, you're trespassing on private property!" I sigh and help Kat stand.
"Go behind the machinery, I'll handle this." I say.
"Are you sure? I can help!" She says lowly.
"I know but we already took some of your plates off. You're hurt, I won't have it." I explain as I sit her down behind an old conveyor belt.
"Be careful, please." She begs. I nod and slip my helmet on as I approach the door.
"If you value your life, you'll turn and walk away." I order. I drop my rangefinder and set the scanner to look for lifeforms. Three heat signatures light up on the other side. Two holding shields on either side of the door.
"You know we can't do that." The man says. I shake my head and lay a hand on my holster.
"Then you'll die," I say. "You really want to die over simple trespassing? I'll let you walk away."
"Step out and put your hands up, and then we can talk." the man offers.
"I think you know that I can't do that either." I say.
"We're coming in, step aside." the man says as the door kicks open suddenly. Thetwo flanking officers stand at the ready with their shields in front of them. The center one steps forward and swings at me with an electro staff. I grab the handle as he swings and twist it out of his grip. I drive the butt of the staff into his chest as his buddies step forward with the shields. I grab the top of one of the shields and pull it forward. The officer stumbles forward as I grab his cheap helmet by the mask and slamming it into the other Mando's shield. The other officer swipes with his baton. I catch his wrist in the motion and turn the baton back on himself. The electric charge runs through him and he collapses on top of the other two. I drag the three unconscious bodies inside and shut the door before going back to Kat.
"You seemed to handle that well." she says as she leans over the conveyor belt.
"I thought I had you sit down." I say as I pull my helmet off with a smirk.
"I didn't get involved!" She says with her own smirk.
"I know." I say as another knock comes from the door. "We're going to have to move soon." I add as I go back to the door. Kat slinks down behind the machinery. My gauntlet beeps as a transmission comes through, it's Colt.
"West, I'm at the meeting point but the doors are locked, are you here?" he asks.
"I am, hold on." I hit the door button and it kicks open again. Colt slips into the warehouse and pulls his helmet off. He shakes his head and looks around.
"This is a mess. I knew we shouldn't have sided with off-worlders!"
"We all knew that. We should never have come back." I add.
"We didn't know the off-worlders were planning to take control. It's not your fault." Kat says as she comes around the machinery. Colt looks at her for a second before shaking his head again.
"And now we're being shot at by our own kind!"
"They're traitors! Their lust for power is blinding them, why else would they follow the off worlder?" Kat asks.
"I don't know." I reply. "We need to get off-world." Colt nods and looks around again.
"Have you heard from Alli?" He asks. Kat shakes her head knocking one of her blonde braids loose. She tucks the braid away as Colt starts pressing buttons on his gauntlet.
"What about Mitken?" He asks.
"Neither." I reply. He looks down at the bodies of the officers. "We need to move, now."
"I know, we can move down a few levels." I offer.
"Let's move then." He orders.
"You good to move?" I ask, looking at Kat.
"I can move," She replies. I nod and look to Colt.
"Head to the lower levels, find somewhere we can gather." I order "I'll stay with Kat." Colt shakes his head and moves toward the door. "Okay." He says half-heartedly.
"What's up with him?" Kat asks as she steps beside me. I sigh and shake my head as she starts fastening her plates back to her body glove.
"He thinks I'm putting you before the clan." I explain. Kat smiles cutely before breaking down in giggles. "I mean you do treat me pretty nice." she adds. She's always able to put a light side on things, and always able to make me smile. I step out into the darkness of the alleyway. Kat follows, still smiling.
"How so?" I ask,
"You do treat me better than the others do." She says as her smile fades a little.
"Alli treats you like a sister, what do you mean?" I ask.
"Yeah, she treats me like a little sister!" She exclaims as we walk down the path toward the Industrial area. "They all do… they treat me like I'm the little sister who's gonna mess everything up."
"Well, that's not who you are." I say, "You're smart, strong and one hell of a warrior. Pretty cute too." Kat blushes before hiding it under her helmet.
"Was that pretty and cute? Or pretty cute?" she asks.
"Both." I say happily.
"Really think so?" She asks as we walk along.
"I do." I say as my smile falters away and I slip my helmet back on. "What happened to us?"
"The sith did." Kat says "We should have stayed away when Bo told us what was going on."
"I know that now, I just wish I did earlier."
"There's nothing we can do about it now, we need to get off-world." Kat says.
"Have you been offworld? Long term I mean?" I ask. She shakes her head,
"No, that last mission was my first time off-world since I came to Mandalore."
"I thought so." I reply. "This isn't how any of this should go."
"I know, I don't want to leave."
"I don't either, this is my home too. We have to go though, it's our only option." Kat nods as we enter into one of the old mining elevators.
"Can you climb?" I ask.
"I think so, the bacta worked its magic." Kat says before stepping onto the ladder and climbing down..
"Colt said he found a place on level nine, Alli says she's on her way as well." Kat says as she reads from her gauntlet. I nod and pull up a map of the undercity, a red light flashes from Colt's position four levels up.
"Let's move I suppose." I say, "Have we heard from Mitken yet?"
"Not that I know of." Kat replies. I nod and head back to the old elevator shaft.
"Wait!" Kat calls out. As I grip the ladder rung a torrent of blaster fire starts from above. A bolt hits my helmet and I stumble back against the ladder. I look up as more bolts land in front of me. Kat backs against the door and pulls one of her Westar-35 pistols. She starts firing up before backing against the wall beside me.
"Maul's troopers, two of them!" She shouts. I nod and start firing up above with my own pistol. My bolts fly past the hallway they're standing in.
"Can you fight?" I ask as I arm my whistling birds.
"I can, I can." She assures.
"Good, jet up, we need to be on their level if we want a shot." I order. "Ready?" Kat nods and I fire my jetpack. I fly up around the hallway before killing the jet and landing in front of two Death Watch troopers. Kat lands beside me as I pull my vibroblade and swipe at the first trooper. He blocks it on his gauntlet and kicks at my shin. I brace in time and his foot bounces off, I swipe with the blade again and slash between two of his arm plates. He grunts and stumbles forward. I shove my Westar under his helmet and force his head up. Kat grabs the other trooper and shoves him down the elevator shaft.
"Traitor!" The trooper accuses. I shove the pistol into his throat and push him back.
"Quiet, you're the one siding with an off-worlder!" I growl as Kat coes up beside me.
"Says the off-worlder!" the trooper shouts in return. "You 'foundlings' aren't real Mandalorians anyway!"
"I should kill you where you stand, just for uttering that!" I shout in return as his partner flies back up and lands in the hallway again. I squeeze the Westar's trigger and the trooper collapses dead with a clang. I start firing at the trooper on the ledge. He takes the hits and starts pushing forward. Kat pulls her own vibroblade and swipes at the trooper as he blocks one of my blaster bolts. Her blade gets between one of his chest plates and he stumbles back. She grabs the base of his helmet and rips it off. The blonde haired man looks down at her for a second before she drives the hilt of her blade into his temple.
"We're having to kill our own." Kat groans as she comes to my side.
"I know… come on, let's get out of here." I say as I take her hand and lead her back to the elevator shaft.
"We had another run in with Maul's troopers. Killed one, the second might wake up." I explain as Alli frantically looks over Kat for injuries. Colt nods and leans against the wall. "What's our plan?" He asks.
"We need to get our ship back. All our supplies are still loaded on the gauntlet." Alli suggests as she presses one of Kat's braids back into place.
"Is it still on the landing pad?" I ask.
"Should be." Colt answers. "Mitken would know for sure though." I sigh and shake my head,
"Where is he?" I wonder.
"He's okay, West." Kat assures. I nod,
"Hopefully." I say as confidently as I can. It's not like him to not get in touch, they could be jamming us though.
"In the meantime, can I speak to you in private, West?" Colt asks from my side. I shrug and gesture to one of the side rooms. He steps into the room and shuts the door behind me as I follow him in.
"Look, I know you and Kat are friends but you're getting too close to her." He says as soon as the door shuts.
"What? Is that what you wanted to talk about?" I ask.
"Yes!" He exclaims. "Every mission since she joined you've been with her."
"That's how we've always done it! I go with the new person, the rest of you can handle it. You know I like to keep an eye on the rookies."
"I know that, but that's not what this is! She's more than capable, she's shown it, and you've said it yourself!"
"She is yes, but she's still young and inexperienced."
"Sure, but you can't make her your whole focus!" He says pointedly.
"She isn't my whole focus, I have to take care of this whole squad and I know that."
"Good, then maybe you should create some space between the two of you." He says before turning and leaving the room. I shake my head and sit on the bed behind me. What the hell has gotten into him? I sigh just as the door opens again and Kat steps in herself.
"What was that about?"
"Oh nothing, just Colt saying I'm not focusing on the whole group."
"That's not nothing." She says as she sits beside me.
"Well what am I to do? I keep the whole group in mind in every decision I make." I say as she lays her head on my shoulder plate.
"Do I need to stay away from you?" she asks sadly.
"No, I don't want you to stay away." She smiles and sits up.
"You like me." She mocks. I caress her cheek and she blushes.
"Maybe I do." I say.
"You do." She purrs. "I guess we should go back in there before he gets upset." I nod and stand up before opening the door and stepping back into the main room. Colt looks up at me with a frown as Kat follows me out. I lean up against the wall as the door to the room suddenly slides open. I pull my blaster and level it at the door as Mitken steps through. His green eyes go wide as three other blasters are aimed at him as well.
"I can come back later." he says gesturing at the door behind him. Alli laughs as she holsters her pistol. Colt stands up and shuts the door behind him.
"Do you remember where the ship is?" he asks.
"Yeah, I saw it on the way over here. Still on the lander pad on the southeast side." he says with a nod.
"Good, we need to move, now." I say. "Gather what you need and lets go."
"I see it, number seventy five." Alli says as she looks through her scope. "It's got a lock boot on it though."
"I thought it might. Maul probably wants no one in or out." I say.
"Probably, he doesn't want to let anyone know there's rebellion against him." Colt says.
"What's the plan?" Kat asks.
"Those boots have to be released if we cut it or kill the power it'll lock down. Do you still have that astromech probe I gave you?" I ask her.
"I do." She nods. "I see turbo lasers around the perimeter though."
"I know, you're with me. Mitken you and Colt will go into the tower and disable the turbo lasers." I order.
"Got it." Mitken says. Colt nods but stays quiet.
"Alli, if you want to go with them and provide overwatch from the tower, go ahead." I say.
"I'll jet up somewhere." She says as she scans the area.
"Don't move until we're ready. I'll send a ping." I say. Both parties nod and Kat and I slip into an alleyway beside the dome. I move through the shadows of the building until we come to a building overlooking the landing pads. I sit down on the ledge as Kat drops down beside me. She pulls her helmet off and tucks some of her hair behind her ear.
"Why do you always keep your helmet on during missions?" She asks.
"This helmet saved me. It's what's kept me safe all these years." I say.
"You're scared to take it off?"
"Sort of, paranoid, worried, I don't know. It feels wrong to take it off. You know?"
"I guess… has anyone outside our squad seen your face?" she asks with a cock of her head.
"A couple, Bo, Pre-Visla and I'm sure some others have too."
"Well, I feel special." Kat says with her little smile. I can't help but smile myself. She's so pretty when she smiles like that. Her eyes light up and she has those adorable dimples.
"Did anyone ever tell you it's impolite to stare?" She asks, still smiling.
"No, I've never heard that."
"Well, maybe it's not that impolite." She says as she tosses some of her hair over her shoulder. I look around before pulling my helmet off and wrapping an arm around her.
"Ooh you know how to make a girl feel special." she says as she leans against me. "How'd you become a foundling, West?"
"My parents tried to pawn me off to the Hutts." I explain. "My parents were gamblers, always losing money and going deeper and deeper into Debt. Eventually they ran out of money and the Hutts tracked them down. I guess they both agreed I was worth the debt." Kat shakes her head and looks up at me.
"I was held by the Hutts too, are your parents still-" she's cut off by a ping coming from Colt's location. I send one in return and look to Kat.
"Later." I say as I stand up on the ledge. "Alli, can you see anything we need to worry about?"
"Nothing really interesting, a couple of Maul's troopers showed up a few minutes ago." Alli replies.
"Let's go." I order. "Land on the outer deck above the catwalks." Kat nods and pulls her helmet back on. I fire my jetpack and fly out the exit of the domed city. I fly over the ships to the edge of the landing platform. I drop beside a guard and quickly dispatch him by driving my pistol butt into the back of his neck. He drops as Kat lands behind me. Two other guards rush us with electro-staffs. Kat dodges a swing and punches the trooper squarely in the face. I grab the other trooper by the arm and push him behind me. He stumbles toward the edge and I finish the job with a kick to his back. I turn back and start toward our ship,
"Come on, let's go." I order. Kat quickly follows me across the landing strip to the ship and kneels down in front of the lock.
"Cover me, it'll take a minute." she says. I nod and kneel down beside her as two other Death Watch troopers land at the nose of our ship.
"Blast." I mutter. One of the troopers pulls a Westar and opens fire at me. I stand in front of Kat and start firing in return. One of the other troopers bolts strikes my chest piece and I stumble back before throwing a smoke detonator between us.
"I'm almost done." Kat says as a torrent of fire erupts from the smoke cloud. I fire six shots from into the cloud and the fire stops.
"Let the others know to head this way, we'll be ready soon." she orders before slipping an astromech probe into the port.
"If you three are done in the tower get to the ship. We'll be leaving shortly." I bark into my gauntlet. Three more shots strike my chest before one of the Mandos rushes me. He swings at me but I brace in time to block it on my chest plate. He pulls a Westar and swings it down at me. The butt of his pistol catches my wrist knocking my gun from my hand. I pivot and drive my elbow into his neck making him stumble back. He drops his own gun and pulls a stun baton from his back. He rushes me again and swipes at me. I grab the handle and try to twist it away but he manages to spin it into my chest. I drop to my knee as the electricity courses through my plates. Aside from the pain, the shock itself keeps me from standing back up. He raises the staff just as a bolt flies between his two chest plates. Kat drops to my side and pulls to my feet.
"West? Are you okay?!" She asks. I put an arm around her shoulders as she helps me up. The other Mando rushes as Colt lands beside us and puts a bolt through his neck. Mitken and Alli land next and move toward the ramp. Colt comes beside me and shoves Kat away.
"Come on!" He orders as I struggle to hold myself up. We make it up the ramp and I drop into the first seat I come to. Mitken rushes up the ladder and I hear the engines fire and the ship lift off. I lay on my back and Kat comes to my side. She pulls my helmet off and starts looking me over.
"You're okay… you're okay… it's just muscle spasms from the shock." she assures. I hope she's right because it still feels like I'm cooking in my plates. Beskar is strong but electricity is not it's friend.
"No thanks to you!" Colt shouts. "You nearly got him killed, you've nearly got us all killed!"
"Colt!" Alli shouts. "She didn't do anything wrong!"
"She's clumsy and weak! She's no mandalorian." Colt says. Kat whimpers under her helmet before standing and slipping away.
"Colt, let the girl be!" I order as I start regaining control of my muscles. I manage to get up in time to see Kat climb down to the maintenance level.
"See? That's what I mean." Colt says before following Mitken up to the cockpit. I slowly stand and head down to the maintenance level.
"Make sure we get out of orbit, head towards the core worlds." I tell Alii.
"I'll pass that along." she replies.
I open one of the maintenance doors in time to see Kat sit down on the floor by the wall. She pulls her helmet off and goes to throw it before stopping and holding it in front of her.
"Why does no one trust me?!" She cries.
"I trust you." I say as I lean against the wall.
"I know you do but you're the only one who does!" She says. I walk over and sit down beside her. She looks up at me as tears start running down her cheeks.
"He hates me. I didn't even do anything wrong!" she cries.
"He doesn't hate you, Kat. I- I don't know what's gotten into him lately. It's probably just the mess we're in." I say.
"No. It's more than that, West." She moans. "Ever since I've joined he's treated me like I"m nothing!"
"I'll talk to him, okay?" I suggest.
"I don't care anymore. He'll never trust me."
"He has to trust you, Kat." I say as a wipe away a few more tears.
"If you trust me. I'll be fine."
"I do trust you, and I always will." She flashes a sneaky smile for a second before standing up.
"I guess we had better get back up there before he gets upset again."
"Probably a good idea." I say before standing myself. Kat brushes the last of her tears away before slipping her helmet back on.
"So where are we going?" Kat asks as she drops into the seat behind Alli.
"We set a course for the Coruscant system. West said core worlds." Mitken answers.
"Coruscant will do, we can find work in the underworld until we figure out what we need to do." I say.
"I thought we wanted to stay away from the Republic?" Kat adds.
"The Republic doesn't know everything that happens on Coruscant." I reply
"True enough." Kat says. "I just hope we can find enough work to keep ourselves fed."
