Boy, I'm on a roll. Thanks to everyone, especially, Kenshin for guidance on the characters, Trillian and BaM for expanding my writing. Normally, it would be unrealistic to have such banter during critical portions of ops, but this is fiction.

Queen Takes Rook

The Outskirts of the Malachor System – 2200

In the darkness of space, neither night nor day mattered. Only the twinkling of distant stars could be seen with the yellow sun of the Malachor System dominating the view. Seven planets of varying size and composition orbited the massive ball of fusion, floating calmly through the void, oblivious to the needs and wants, fears and rages of the millions of sentients engaged in a life and death struggle within the system.

Simply, coldly put, the heavens were deaf to the cries of the doomed.

Suddenly, the darkness was lit by the flashes of thousands of turbolasers, reds, yellows, and greens, streaking across the vastness of empty space. Orange puffs of gas occasionally appeared to mark the end of a life or several lives. A wall of white starfighters bore down upon a waiting foe – the unstoppable force colliding with the immovable object.

Within one, tiny craft sat Republic pilot, Lieutenant Commander Carth Onasi, graduate of the touted Space Warfare School, loyal officer, fast friend, faithful husband, and doting father.

Leading a flight of four, Carth maneuvered obliquely to a squadron of Basilisk Droids and starfighters, backed by a defensive satellite. On his command, his flight launched concussion missiles, their rocket trails streaking behind them toward the Mandalorians.

On the right edge of Carth's sensor display, he could see the Basilisk Droids begin evasive maneuvering, but he knew his probability of kill was high. A fireball in the distance brought a smile to his lips.

"Fox One kill, bandit, one-one-zero, twenty klicks. Gold Flight, snap toward the bandits."

In well-coordinated unison, the flight turned left and accelerated toward the confused mass of mounted droids.

"Gold Leader, enemy starfighters are coming up fast to reinforce the droids," advised the controller who was overseeing the mission. Carth would have to make this quick or he'd be facing overwhelming odds.

He jammed the throttle open, letting his astromech droid handle the stress on the craft. With his left hand, he uncaged the seeker head of his infrared missile, letting it scan for its own target. The nice, hot plume of a Basilisk Droid caught its attention and Carth was rewarded by a high-pitched growl.

"Gold Leader, Fox Two. Gold flight, wingover, my mark…now!"

The Mandalorians reacted to the launch of another wave of missiles while setting up an attack run on the Republic flight. Suddenly, Gold Flight pitched their noses upward like rearing cobras and reversed their direction of flight, leaving the Mandies to eat missiles.

Carth's infrared missile homed in on a Basilisk Droid like a hound dog, keeping an image of the hot, infrared plume on its supercooled seeker head. The Mandalorian warrior astride the droid veered sharply away, dropping heated flares to decoy the missile, but it was too late.

Like a snake striking, the deadly dart shot past the burning flares and slammed into the body of the droid, penetrating its durasteel hide. A meter into its metal flesh, the warhead of the missile detonated, sending hot gas and shards of flaming metal throughout the droid's guts. The Mandalorian warrior atop the mechanical beast had no time to scream as gouts of fire and molten durasteel enveloped him.

The kill registered on Carth's datalink. "Down ya go! Fox Two kill, bandit. That's one Mandie closer to being with you, babe," he said, kissing his fingertip and touching the picture of his wife, Morgana, that was on the instrument panel.

Carth was brought back to reality when his Sensor Warning Receiver blared, letting him know that Mandalorian starfighters had locked him up. A giant spike appeared at the 6 o'clock position of the display. "Spike, Six O'clock. Gold Flight is running cold," he said, letting everyone know he was retiring from the fight. He keyed his mike again. "Forn, you better be ready to rumble."

A woman's voice came back over the commlink. "You doubt Revan's plan?" she answered in jest. "Just keep running, Onasi."

"Awww, I'm tired of running, Dodonna," he said with a mock whine. "I much prefer advancing."

"You just keep your sorry hide alive or I'll never hear the end of it from Morgana."

"Roger that, Commander. I wouldn't want the likes of you or Saul raising my Dustil."

A chime sounded in Carth's helmet, he had reached the waypoint. Once again, he pitched the nose of his starfighter up, reversing directions in an instant. His datalink flooded with new symbols, showing Forn Dodonna's starfighters tearing easily into the defensive satellite and coming up behind the Mandalorians.

Carth swung the nose of his craft downward, raking a Mandalorian with turbolaser fire. Streaks of light sizzled into its fuselage and a stubby wing separated with an explosion. The Mandalorian tumbled erratically, spewing plasma and sparks around Carth's bird before erupting into hot gas.

"Whoa! Guns kill…that was close."

Blinking twice, he shook his head and pushed the throttle forward, gathering velocity. One step closer, babe…one step closer. He glanced again at the picture of Morgana and young Dustil and winked. He would be coming home if he had to put a bolt in the Mandalore's head himself to do it.

"Don't be a hero, Carth. Dustil needs a father. This is the final battle…don't get careless," Forn chastised.

"Hey, careful is my middle name."

Two Mandalorian starfighters whizzed past him, guns blazing and Carth's shields lit up. In a flash, he saw that one was a clan leader and he yanked his stick in that direction. "Gold Leader, tally ho, two bandits, seven o'clock. I'm engaged neutral."

Carth brought the muzzles of his cannon across the enemy flight and unleashed a snap shot of turbolaser fire. Energy laced into the leader's wingman at the engine mount, spraying fire over the compressors. Ion fuel in the combustion chamber vaporized, blowing the compressor and turbine blades apart at high velocity. Sharp shards of durasteel shredded the thin skin of the Mandalorian starfighter and it flew apart like a burst balloon.

"Down ya go! Guns kill on the trailer. I'm on the leader."

Carth powered back up and accelerated ahead. The Mandalorian wheeled over as Carth had done and now they stood, face to face, muzzle to muzzle.

Carth saw the plume of heat erupt from the Mandie's engines, propelling him forward. This would be an epic joust in the depths of space. At maximum speed and high aspect angle, there would be time for only one shot and then, one would need to veer away to avoid collision.

"You want to play chicken? Here we go."

In slow motion, the Mandalorian stafighter grew in Carth's canopy until he could see the deadly smile of his enemy amid lashing laser bolts.

Malachor V – The Serphants Hold

Seja grimaced as he held his cheek where the vibrodagger had sliced his flesh and rivulets of blood leaked between his fingers.

Vako sneered. "You were like a brother to this clan! Now you come to assassinate me and take my wife. I should crush you to death right here. Where is your honor?"

Seja's face twisted. "Honor? You Mandalorians speak of honor? Destroyers of helpless worlds and peoples. You are nothing but bloodthirsty pirates."

A guard pulled Callista away from Seja and Vako looked at the diminutive Jedi more closely. "There is something different about you, Seja…or is that your real name?"

The Jedi pulled himself up straight. "Indeed, I am Seja, Jedi Knight in the service of Revan, known as the Mandalorian Slayer."

Vako took a step back, his eyes widening. "You…the Slayer? In our midst the whole time."

Seja nodded quietly as Vako mentally recounted the names of those who had fallen to the Slayer, and they were many.

The bodyguard pondered for a moment, wanting to cut the Jedi's throat, but Seja had added insult to injury. They would have to fight, man to man, to the death.

Such was the way of Mandalore.

Vako seized a vibrosword from a sheath and gestured to Seja that he should move to the courtyard. The Jedi walked slowly onto the grass near a fountain as Callista shrieked, tearing his heart in two.

The two guards dragged the woman outside to watch and Vako pointed his weapon at her. "She watches this. She watches her lover die by my hand."

The bodyguard then donned his polished green helmet, letting it seal. He flourished his weapon with masterful hands, letting it settle with his stance – knees bent, feet shoulder width apart.

Across the field, Seja rubbed his wounded cheek and removed his lightsaber from his cloak. Taking a stance from Makashi, he leaned forward aggressively and thumbed his lightsaber on. There would be no defense for Seja – he was already dead.

As Callista cried out, Seja charged headlong at his opponent, cutting down at Vako's shoulder. The Mandalorian towered over the Jedi and swatted the violet rod away with his vibroblade. Vako followed with a powerful strike with his fist into Seja's jaw.

Metal met flesh and teeth, knocking the Jedi back, his head spinning. With white spots in his vision, he saw the vibrosword coming down upon his head and instinct forced him to move. He rolled away and swept Vako's feet from under him. The big man fell with a resounding crash and Seja whipped his lightsaber down on the Mandalorian's chest.

The violet beam of energy sizzled on Vako's breastplate, burning skin beneath it. Vako howled, but his armor held.

Then, the two fighter's eyes locked. Vako nodded. "Time to end this, Slayer," he said through bloody, gritted teeth.

The two stood simultaneously, delivering blinding cuts at each other. Callista screamed and pulled against the guards, breaking their grasp. She charged onto the field, interposing herself between Seja and her husband.

Out of the corner of his eye, Seja saw this and realized what was happening. "No-" he began, but the tip of Vako's vibrosword appeared on her chest, followed by the rest of the blade. Seja screamed, hesitating a split second as Vako rammed Callista's body and the point of his sword, into the Jedi.

There they stood, face to face in an embrace held together by steel and blood.

Crimson rivulets dripped down Seja's chin as he held Callista weakly. "I'm sorry…so very sorry."

The Ordo Hold

In the darkness, Atton Rand shook with anger. "I had him in my sights, Kayla! Why did you call me off? You know Malak ordered this operation personally."

Kayla put her palms out in apology. "I'm sorry, but we need to extract. Jaq, Revan's fleet has just dropped out of hyperspace. The planet could come under bombardment at any time. Even worse, Seja has not transmitted any code to let us know if his mission was a success. We need to find him."

Atton furrowed his brows, already being irritated at being denied a kill. "Why? I knew the risks, he knew the risks. We didn't sign up for Republic Intelligence to sit at Rassekeli's Bar and Grill. Our orders say extract, we extract. It's Pure Pazaak, sister."

Kayla curled her lip. "Jaq, I don't expect you to understand, but I am a Jedi. Seja was part of our team and I, for one, am going after him. We never leave anyone behind."

She stood and looked at her transponder. Seja's signal was still active, but weak. Kayla turned to go, but Atton stopped her.

With a deep sigh, Atton stood. "Fine, fine…don't be like that. Count me in."

Together, they made their way to the Serphants hold and Atton activated his stealth field generator. As he faded from view, he turned to Kayla. "I go in…you keep watch like last time. You just make sure the shuttle waits for us."

Kayla nodded enthusiastically until Atton vanished. She squinted her eyes, trying to find him, but suddenly, her lips were met by an invisible pair and she melted into unseen arms.