Hello everyone! Again it's been a while and I'm sorry. Life hit and I got swamped in school and stories. Anyways, I doubt you came to hear me whine. Tonight, I have part 1 of my next major plot development- complete with a double dose of excitement. Also, I have not forgotten about Earth. Unfortunately, for now, most of the major plot points are on Coruscant so that is where we will spend most of our time. Don't worry, we'll get back to the major battles soon enough.

In the mean time, don't forget to drop a review and tell me what you think. Was it good? Was it bad? Got any crazy ideas (story related)? Let me know! :)

So, without further ado, I give you chapter 20...

(Coruscant, Senate District)

Kad Ordo was a simple man with simple tastes and equally simple values. As he meandered down the walking path, he reflected on these. Apparently, a preference for the truth was one such value he did not share with the Republic. As he rounded a corner, Kad threw a bitter look over his shoulder. The intended target of the glance was the brightly glowing Senate building. Even years later, the Huk War, arguably his most noble pursuit, was rearing its ugly head.

"Hypocrites," he grumbled.

He turned around and continued down the neon lit streets. As he entered a small crowd, Kad was careful to keep his hands at his sides, over the few valuables that he carried with him. The Mandalorian smiled at the irony as a Republic gunship roared overhead. Even this in this part of the planet, pickpocketing and other forms of thievery were a well-known problem. As he walked, Kad let his mind wander. He thought of the Huk War. The monsters spawned and killed in that war. After a couple minutes, Kad shelved that in favor thinking about home. He thought about his family. The thin smile this brought to his face failed to disappear as he dropped into the depressive lower levels.

It was only wiped off as he stepped out onto hard duracrete. Kad caught sight of the two Mandalorians in his peripheral and instantly pulled his hood low over his face. he never stopped walking as he did this and made a smooth turn to the left, onto the main line of traffic. As a result, the two men crossed his main field of vision. Kad fixed his eyes on the pair as he slid between drunken crowds and patrolling clones.

"Hey! Wa-Watch it," snarled a Twi'lek as the two stumbled into each other.

The smell of alcohol and four-day-old clothes crossed in a combination that nearly triggered Kad's gag reflex. However, he forced his dinner back down into his stomach and slipped into another group. By the time a fight crossed the Twi'lek's mind, Kad was gone. While he had no doubt he could win the fight, Kad didn't need to draw the attention of the two Death Watch members he was creeping up on. As he finished crossing the street, the two Death Watch sentries guided a third member past them, into the back alley before bringing up the rear themselves.

Kad slipped into a pair of long shadows and counted to ten. At that moment, he took a deep breath and ducked into the alley himself. He slid in behind a garbage incinerator and watched. The three men traded hushed words in Mandalorian as they swapped small data cards.

"HUD maps," Kad noted as each man jammed the card into his or her helmet.

There was a collective whoosh as jets of fire propelled each Mandalorian into the sky. Kad cursed as he watched the fires snuff out on the balcony above. Some quick counting of windows told Kad that it was level 1850, about five hundred levels above him. He went to fire his own jetpack only to remember two things. One, was that he would be noticed by someone long before he could even think of disappearing again. Second, he wasn't wearing a jetpack, or much of any gear for that matter. Beyond a blaster pistol, all he was wearing was a chest plate and crush gauntlets. He had been stuffed in that black and gold armor for nearly twelve hours. He damn well wasn't going to do a relaxing walk in it.

Kad shook his head and traded flying for a door further down the alley and to the left. As he ran through the murky blackness of the alley, Kad pulled up his own mental map of the area. Death Watch wasn't the only group to have operated in the area. The door opened with a labored groan and deposited Kad into a poorly lit passageway. Kad upholstered his blaster pistol and took off down the path of flickering lights.

"Lift... where's the damn lift?" He muttered as he rounded a corner.

Then, like a light at the end of a tunnel, sat the door to the building's South lift. Kad stabbed the call button with this thumb. The response was instantaneous as the door hissed open. He jumped in and ordered it to floor 1852. If he remembered right, that was this building's observation deck. As the lift propelled him up through the floors, Kad holstered his blaster. The Mandalorian was reentering civilized society where it was frowned upon to run around with a blaster in hand. While the deck should be empty at this time of night, he didn't want to take the chance of making a scene.

The door hissed open and Kad quickly found his way to the deck. The cool night air washed over him as he scanned the area. Once satisfied that he was alone, Kad found his way into the shadows by the edge and produced a set of micro binoculars. A brief look inside revealed the platform in question. It was roughly fifty yards in front of him and another twenty yards down.

On this platform stood twenty fully armed Mandalorians surrounding a man Kad instantly recognized.

"Hudu," he gasped before following up, "What's their-"

He cut himself off as he caught sight of the building across the cavernous street. The Cordecena Hotel stood tall across the street. It took little time for Kad to put the pieces together. A delegation from a recently discovered planet had arrived on world and the Senate was putting them up in that building. It was highly secure and the finest place to stay on Coruscant. Kad raced to find a better vantage point while producing his comm link. He keyed in the right frequency and was immediately rewarded with a disproportionately silent voice.

"Iska-ka, go," answered a tired, groggy voice.

"Iska, this is Kad. I need you to go wake the garrison. I just spotted Hudu Shiv briefing about twenty Death Watch soldiers. They're gearing up for an assault on the Condecena Hotel," he blurted out.

"First, since when are other people's contracts our business? Second, that's a target rich environment. How sure are you of their target?" Iska demanded.

Kad hissed "One, this is an order not a suggestion. Two, this is our chance to get the Senate off our back. Three, I'm staring at battle plans for an assault on level..." -Kad strained his eyes to read the holographic display- "...level 1849 of the hotel."

"Alright," Iska-ka acknowledged flatly.

By this time, years of combat experience had replaced the exhaustion in her voice.

"Who am I contacting?" she asked.

"Commander Fox... the clone I was talking to on the landing pad this morning. He runs the garrison here," Kad answered quickly, "Any meaningful response will have to go through him."

"Got it. I'm moving now. Talk to me. what's he walking into?" Iska-ka prodded.

"Weaponized jetpacks and a multitude of grenades," Kad answered as he scanned the crowd.

"Definitely a Shiv operation," the other Mandalorian muttered.

"More than you know. It looks like they're gearing up for close quarters. I've got carbines, blaster pistols, and knives, one ranged weapon... no shoulder mounted rockets or vehicles," Kad followed up slowly.

"Got it. Stand by."

"Make it fast. They're definitely in the final stage of preparation," Kad urged.

Suddenly, as though voice activated, the Hotel erupted in fire. Violent shockwaves shot fire and debris out into the night with a planet shaking blast. Kad felt his stomach shoot up into his throat as his eyes went wide. At that moment Iska-ka's voice crackled to life again.

"I've got the precinct captain on the other-"

"Too late they're moving. I repeat, Shiv and his men are attacking right now!" Kad yelled.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The explosions sent Agent Garner reeling. The building shook violently, and the smell of smoke poured in through the air vents. Alarms screamed, and people jumped into action. guards rushed to their posts and the comm system came to life as a headcount was started. From what Garner could tell, the blast hadn't touched their floor.

He touched his hand to his ear and began, "This is Captain Harris to base. What-"

"Look out!"

Garner was thrown to the ground by the man next to him as another explosion ripped through the outside wall. Over the sound of another explosion, Garner heard the screech of a blaster and heard the guard go down. Still blinded from the blast, Garner forced himself to roll across the floor to the relative safety of a door way.

"Contact! Contact! Multiple shooters moving down B hallway! Chang is down. I need backup," he shouted into his comm.

By the time he was vertical again, the spots had largely cleared, and the invaders had already pushed through. Agent Garner took a split second to ensure his weapon was in working order and stepped out.

"Negative, get out of there. No one's staying there, and we've got more than we can handle on the west side," answered a distinctly clone voice on the other end.

He took aim and fired a three-round burst into the person in front of him. The bullets drilled into the back of his helmet and threw him to the ground. As his partner spun around, the agent was already moving. Both blaster bolts went wide over Garners right shoulder. The agent's rifle bucked three more times as he closed the distance. To his surprise, the attacker was dazed but alive.

"Not for long," Garner grumbled as he spun his rifle around behind him.

To the man's credit, he saw what was coming. However, by then it was too late. Garner caught the blaster halfway up, and wrenched it to the side with one arm, while wrapping his other arm around the person's throat. Both men went to the ground in a tangle of limbs as each person fought for their lives. Seconds felt like an eternity as Agent Garner fought to overpower the attacker. However, despite his best efforts, he never could seem to land a meaningful hit on the armored being. Blows were traded and blocked as each person tried to outdo the other. Finally, about fifteen seconds later, person balled his fist and the agent knew what was coming next. However, with one arm pinned and the other quietly grasping for a weapon, he had no defense. The armored fist came down with blinding speed and pain. Blood flew from his shattered nose as his hands closed around the splintered, wood board. Garner's vision narrowed, and his arm shot up. The man cried out in pain, coughed, and went limp in Garner's arms.

He threw the man off him just in time to feel the heat of lasers streaking past him. In one fluid motion, Agent Garner, snatched up his rifle and ducked into another doorway. Knowing that the Saber wouldn't do much against their armor, Agent Garner went for something else.

"Try this out for size," he muttered as he produced two flash-bangs

The grenades skipped down the hall.

"Grenade!"

Bang! Bang!

Agent Garner stepped out with his rifle leveled. Down the hall, both attackers were stumbling as they tried to clear the spots from their eyes. The agent found the first attacker in his sights and fired. The rifle bucked three times and his head snapped back. To their credit, whomever these guys were, they knew what they were doing. Gunshots rang out, and the second man was already moving. He ducked back behind a large duracrete statue. Seeing an opening, Agent Garner took off down the hallway, towards the rest of the detail.

Hudu Shiv cursed as he ducked behind the statue. To the left was his partner, either dead or unconscious from the slugs that had slammed into him. He had seen what had happened to the first pair. He made a mental note to watch for the tall, square-jawed man. There was a level of skill that told Shiv he was more than just a security guard.

After a couple seconds, he poked his head out, barrel first. He saw nothing but a black, empty hallway. A quick scan with the thermal in his helmet confirmed that he was alone. In the distance a loud mix of explosions and small arms fire could be heard as he briefly checked on each of the down Mandalorians. The two who had been shot were both killed by way of a snapped neck, while the third one was had a piece of wood stabbed into his neck.

Shiv left them and continued on with his blaster raised. The clock was ticking, and this operation was quickly becoming complicated.

A collective roar shook the Coruscant skyline as a dozen Republic gunships raced through the crowded sky lanes. In the lead one stood Commander Fox. He listened as the Precinct Captain briefed him.

"Seconds before the explosion, I was contacted by an unknown Mandalorian. She said there was an imminent threat on the hotel and demanded to speak to you. I didn't have time to patch it through before reports of explosions started flooding in. I tried to reach both the Earth and Republic details but was unable to. As far as we can tell, they either died in the blast or lost communication due to it," the Captain explained, "We have infantry and armor surrounding the building. According to the Mandalorian, there were enemy combatants moving on the building. Given that we saw smaller explosions shortly after arrival, that is a real possibility."

"Does she know who's leading the attack?" Fox quizzed.

"One Hudu Shiv. Quite the character from what I've heard," he answered quickly before launching into the description of what they were supposedly loaded out with.

"More like our worst nightmare," the Commander snapped back, "Hold the perimeter. No one goes in or out. We're going in."

"Yes sir."

The pilot's voice boomed out through the deployment bay as he called "Thirty seconds to-"

"Belay that. Circle the building and let me see the damage," He ordered before turning to the clone next to him, "You got that mic?"

"Yes sir," he answered crisply.

In front and behind them, the side doors hissed open. The acrid smell of smoke instantly flooded the ship, while a yellow glow danced across the bottom half of the ship.

"See if you can listen inside. I'm looking for small arms fire, and/or signs of life," he ordered.

The clone nodded and produced the mic, while Fox surveyed the damage. From what he could tell, the Mandalorian was right. The holes he was seeing were definitely from an insertion. None were big enough to do any structural damage but were plenty large enough to allow an average sized human or two through.

"Confirmed. I've got weapons fire and voices on the back side of the building. From what I'm hearing, they aren't doing well," the clone announced.

"Understood. We're going in," Fox responded.

Inside the building, it was chaos as the security detail raced to get their representatives off the floor and out of the building. In the main gathering room, most remaining guards had formed a makeshift battle line as the few surviving clones practically threw the surviving ambassadors down the emergency stair well. further down the halls, Earth soldiers fought to get the straggling ambassadors down to the exit.

On the far-right side of this line was Agent Garner. He ducked behind the narrow cover of a liquor cabinet as he waved down two ambassadors who had arrived alone. The man and woman both went unseen in the chaos as they slid behind a waist high couch. Garner continued to wordlessly tell them to wait as he produced a frag grenade from his belt.

He pulled the pin and yelled, "Grenade out!"

The ball flew across the room and hit with a ground shaking boom. Garner watched two attackers go flying as he motioned the pair to break for the exit. Agent Garner stepped out with his rifle raised as the two ran. A third person went down against a wall of bullets. To his left, another attacker suddenly appeared from the heavily shadowed hallway entrance. He shifted his aim, but it was too late. There was a flash of yellow followed by a cry as the male ambassador went down. Agent Garner dropped his rifle to his side and ran to help.

He was about halfway there when a 200-pound wall of muscle slammed into him. Both men went flying. The two crashed through the table, and Agent Garner gasped as the air was forced from his lungs. Instantly, his years of training took over as Garner deflected the first punch. He grabbed for a piece of glass with the other. The other man saw the move and responded by nearly breaking Garner's wrist. The agent released the glass for fear of losing use of that hand and probed with the other arm and leg.

The man rose up to snatch the blade on his belt, and he saw his opening. Agent Garner slammed his foot into the attacker's knee cap. The man yelled, and the agent's knee threatened to buckle against the man's armor. Garner gritted his teeth, snaked his arm around the man's supporting arm, and twisted him around so he was on top of Garner with both men's backs to the floor. Before the person could react, he had both legs firmly wrapped around the man's legs and his arms locked around the man's neck. The man gasped as Garner cut off his oxygen supply. However, his real problem was what happened next. Garner grabbed the left side of the man's faceplate with his right arm and pulled down hard and fast. The man's neck responded with a sickening crack as his body went limp. He snatched the man's blaster, threw the body off of him, and rejoined the fray.

"Sir, the last of the ambassadors are by the stair well," called out a voice in Shiv's ear.

Shiv didn't immediately respond as an explosion rocked the battlefield. He ducked out of reflex and fought to see across the room. Where two of his men had stood, there was now nothing more than a crater. He swore and ducked back as several lasers slammed into the wall next to him. That's when he saw it. The two Ambassadors were racing for the exit.

"No, you don't," he growled.

His blaster screamed, and two bolts slammed into the man. He went down in a heap. Shiv was forced to duck back as a clone picked off the man next to him. He looked out just in time to see another Mandalorian throw one of the other soldiers through a glass-top table. Switching his aim, he took one last shot at the woman as she cleared the opening. There was another pained yell followed by a barely audible thump as the second laser slammed against the now shut door.

He cursed as another voice announced in his ear, "Sir, we have a problem. Twelve gunships are unloading on the East and west sides. The bottom perimeter's air tight. If you want out..."

"Already moving," he answered as he waved his men back.

He wasn't sure who exactly was pulling the strings, but their payment wasn't worth the hell his men were being put through. As he raced back down the hall, he heard shouting that was distinctly clone in nature. Hudu rounded the corner and nearly crashed into one of the clones. Reacting on reflex alone, he fired his blaster. The shot cut through the man's heart and sent him crashing to the ground. Unfortunately, it also alerted the rest of the squad.

"Contacts, down the hall!" yelled one of the other clones.

"Blast him!" yelled the man's partner as Shiv ducked into a nearby room.

He cursed and opened his own helmet comm.

"All units code black. I repeat, code black. Rendezvous at the secondary point," he ordered quickly as the sound of racing feet echoed down the hall.

Without waiting for a response, he turned and ran for the door. He shot out the glass and was nearly out the window when it hit him. Stun bolts are used for their ability to neutralize without killing. However, for the second and a half, Shiv was awake, he wished he was dead. The impact felt as though he was electrocuted by the strongest electrostaff in existence. For most, the electric pulse would have rendered them unconscious before their brains could process the impact. However, the shorting out of Shiv's suit ensured that he felt the pulse in its entirety. Hudu Shiv had just enough time to process the white boots next to his head before things went black.

(Cordecena Hotel: One hour later)

Padme nodded to each of the clone guards as she made her way up the stairwell. At level 1849, a clone sergeant pushed the open the door and waved her and Master Windu through. Inside was a scene of horror. Blood and shrapnel painted both the walls and floors, while blackened laser spots added a dark highlight to the new decor. Across the floor bodies and furniture were scattered. On the back wall, a clone medic was treating four of the UN guards next to two covered bodies. Around her, forensic droids and Judicial inspectors circled the room, collecting data and taking pictures of the room for later recreation and examination. To the left was Commander Fox standing next to a cuffed and unconscious Mandalorian. Upon seeing them, Fox waved over a clone to take his place, and raced to meet the pair.

"What happened?" Master Windu demanded once the clone was close enough.

"Death Watch hit the place hard. They used a series of powerful explosions to take out the monitoring station and cause a distraction. Once everyone was focused on the explosions, about twenty of these guys made entry on the east and west sides of the floor. They went fast and methodical. Most of the fatalities happened in the first twenty seconds. Start to finish, it was all over in five minutes," Fox quickly explained.

"Who is he?" Padme followed up.

"Hudu Shiv. From what we can tell, he leads the operation," Fox answered with a sigh, "Sir, I've dealt with this guy before-"

"As have I," Master Windu interjected.

"Then you know. He doesn't screw up like this. I think someone set him up," the Commander declared.

"Why do you say that?" Padme quizzed.

"The Captain in charge of the precinct got a call warning of an imminent attack on the hotel. While it wasn't early enough for us to head off the attack, it was early enough to halve our response time. He knew enough not to wait for my order to start mobilizing the cavalry, and it gave him the knowledge to sufficiently lock down the perimeter and warn of active shooters inside. Determining that last part could have taken quite a while otherwise," Fox elaborated as he gestured to the holes in the wall.

"So, you're saying some Mandalorian decided to break with thousands of years of tradition and rat out his fellow soldiers?" cut in a skeptical voice from across the room.

Fox turned to Agent Garner and answered back with a glare, "I've seen crazier. Not to mention, there's not much left of their honor system anymore."

"Especially when it's a contract mission, which I am inclined to believe it is," Master Windu added.

Agent Garner gave them a disbelieving look but let the subject drop as the medic began examining his head.

"Sir, Hudu's gonna come around before too long. If it's all the same to you, I would like him under lock and key when that happens," Commander Fox requested.

"Yes, we'll question him at the detention center," Master Windu agreed.

Fox nodded and turned around.

"Sergeant," he called with a wave, "You and your men are to take Shiv to a gunship and escort him directly to the central detention center."

"Yes sir," the man responded with a quick salute.

As the Sergeant and his men carried Shiv out, Fox turned back to the pair.

"Who all got killed?" Padme followed up.

"Who didn't is the shorter answer," Fox answered solemnly as he gave her a datapad, "Of the original sixteen guards, those five are all that are left. Four of the seven ambassadors were killed- one of which is in critical condition at the regional medical center. She took a laser just above the heart. Whether or not she makes it through the night is still up in the air. Names and basic information are on that pad."

Neither person immediately responded as they processed what was said. In five minutes, the diplomatic mission had been all but destroyed. Weeks of planning and dozens of extreme risks by Earth's leaders were close to being rendered pointless. Master Windu was the first to recover from the shock and made his way over to the group of injured soldiers. The medic looked up at the Jedi with an expectant look.

"Can I have a word with Captain Harris?" he requested.

"He's right here," the medic answered sourly.

Master Windu let out a sigh, but it was Agent Garner's voice that came out.

"It's fine doc. We need to talk alone," he cut in as he went to stand.

"I'd rather you didn't move yet," the medic protested as she grabbed Garner's shoulder.

"I would too, but I've had worse and we need to talk," he responded firmly.

The medic let out a resigned sigh and nodded. It was clear she wasn't going to win this argument.

"Just go easy on that leg," she pleaded as he stumbled forward.

Master Windu caught Garner by the arm. That set of moves caused Garner to nearly pail from pain. It was obvious that the adrenaline had worn off.

"Noted."

"How are you?" Master Windu asked once they were out of ear shot.

The concern was plain to see on his face. Agent Garner shrugged it off as he considered his answer. The looks of concern and pity he got everywhere were starting to seriously wear on him.

"Well, I've got bruised and cracked knuckles, bruised arms, a shattered nose, a possible hairline fracture in my left leg, and my ears are still ringing. Given the circumstances, I'd say I'm doing better than half the people here," Agent Garner answered with feigned cheerfulness before turning serious, "Though, I would love to know what they were wearing. I didn't appreciate my hits landing on metal each time."

Windu nodded and began, "I don't need to tell you this is bad-"

"No, you don't. You also don't need to tell me that this will affect Senate perception of us. We just got our asses kicked by a bunch of two-bit criminals," Agent Garner answered bitterly.

"That's the thing. If we can get the surviving ambassadors to speak, this can work in our favor. Hudu Shiv isn't a two-bit criminal. That man's the person they call when an orbital strike is too subtle. He's good; he's known for only recruiting the best; and he's known for leaving a trail of bodies. I don't approve of death but the fact that you sent most his men to the grave will be good for your public perception. It'll prove that your planet-" Master Windu shifted uncomfortably- "isn't a total waste of resources."

Agent Garner blinked as he listened to the Jedi's answer.

"So, in other words you plan on spinning this into a victory?" Garner clarified.

"Essentially. However, that's Padme's task. While these men were with Death Watch-"

"They weren't acting on behalf of Death Watch," Agent Garner picked up, "I caught that. I want to speak to the man we caught. He should be able to lead us to an employer."

"I agree. However, he won't be ready until tomorrow. Tonight, he'll get booked and medically evaluated. After getting hit twice by stun rounds, it would be wise for them to ensure he is still able to talk," Master Windu answered, "Tonight, Fox and his men are going to try back tracing the warning they received."

Agent Garner stooped down and grabbed a bullet casing off the ground. He didn't like what he was being told. Waiting had never been his strong suit. However, he had no alternative. Given how new he was to this world, he would have to let the wheels of Coruscant law turn in their own time. For the first time in years, the loneliness of his existence was making itself known.

"Do know why we were picked for this mission?" Agent Garner asked as he locked eyes with the Jedi Master.

"You are skilled at what you do," he answered confidently.

"Yes and no. The main reason, is we have nothing to lose. No one here has a family. No one has friends waiting for them at home. Hell, I don't even have a permanent address any more. We sent because we wouldn't be missed, and we had no ties back home affecting our judgement. We could make tough decisions with relative dispassion. The powers-that-be knew death was a very real possibility on this mission and sent us with the knowledge that there would be no recovery. There would be no proper burial. We were sent because it wouldn't matter if we died alone in some corner of the galaxy. We were simply lightyears away from a world that no longer cared for us. Hell, considering the events happening back on Earth, more than a few people justified this as some twisted mercy killing," Agent Garner explained reverently, "Those men and those women... few of us are innocent, but no one deserves the fate we were promised." -he handed Master Windu the bullet casing- "If you do nothing else, at least ensure that the dead are remembered."

Master Windu closed his hand around the cold, metal cylinder while considering the man's words. He did not know about that part of the selection process.

"What about you?" he finally asked.

Agent Garner answered with a new fire in his eyes, "Part of remembrance is justice... something I intend to give them."