Cassus, under the cover of night, watched the battle develop from a high point overlooking the quarry. His armor – modified since the final days of the Mandalorian Wars – adorned his body, while his high powered blaster pistol was holstered at his side.

He stood, surveying the chaos below. An enemy force, around at least a dozen, had attacked his men in the quarry. His troops, decently trained, managed to hold their ground and kill a few. But it was all for naught. A lone figure – a Mandalorian in full kit – flanked around. He managed to kill one, while his allies moved forward.

The Mandalorian had thrown a grenade, killing one more, then injuring another with a blaster, while the last managed to escape into the mine. His allies secured the mine entrance, while another called others over the comm.

Cassus pulled a scope out of his kit and zoomed down on the scene. Who were they? And who was the Mandalorian?

/\/\/\/\/\/\/

The other bounty hunters finally arrived. With them were the other Ganks, even though they were held back for the purposes of rear security. Gorman saw them and threw his hands up in frustration.

"Who told them to come back?!"

Terran spoke. "Relax guy, the LZ will be fine. Besides, looks like you need them for this here mine." He said, scoping it out as he walked by.

Irkchik grunted. "Terran is right. Mines have many tunnels, we will need the Hutt's foot soldiers to search inside."

Gorman looked irritated. He didn't like his Master's henchmen being misused. But this mission was getting complicated. "Fine! But you bounty hunters will go inside with them. My squad and I will guard outside!"

Suuvarsh remarked something in Ubese, and Palscho Alto replied, "Yes, you can stay out here too. Sniper rifles do no good in close quarters. Fett?"

I had been watching the exchange, mulling in my head the information I had learned. Cassus was digging something up here, he had maybe fled the scene, and was now hiring anyone and everyone for a new Mandalorian war machine. I felt divided…I replied with only the information they needed to know.

"One of Cassus' mercs said he left. Could be lying. He may be inside or miles away now."

The Ithorian nodded and looked at the mine. "Right. Well it's our best lead. Let's get in there."

The group split up from there. Suuvarsh the Ubese, with Gorman and his Ganks, took cover and concealment in the woods to protect the entrance. Terran, Munshaan, Palscho and Irkchik, along with the rest of the Ganks, headed into the mine. I followed behind them.

Lines of bright green chem lights were strung along the rocky ceiling, which wasn't enough to illuminate the entire mine. It was enough however to illuminate the lot of us as we entered. As we packed inside the bottleneck, I already knew what was about to happen.

Blaster bolts from deeper in the mine ripped into the lead Ganks. In their native tongue they began shouting, and running further into the mine for cover. The other bounty hunters – Irkchik, Terran, Palscho and Munshaan – were running and shooting as we entered the mine proper. With my visor's NV activated, I surveyed the scene ahead of me as I dropped into the prone.

The bottleneck – really just a fatal funnel – descended into a large cavern, which was also barely illuminated with chem lights. A single generator towards the rear of the cavern powered a handful of lights strung about the corners and the middle of the cavern. Waist-high boulders were strewn about the rocky ground, which was only a few inches underwater. The rest of Cassus' men were behind cover, the boulders. They had been waiting for us, and opened fire as soon as we came into sight.

Gank corpses lined the entryway into the cavern, but a few losses didn't deter us. The Ganks returned fire, while the other bounty hunters, equipped with their specialized weapons, got into the thick of it too. From my prone position next to a Gank, I flicked my rifle's selector switch to burst, and opened fire on Cassus' men as they popped their heads and bodies out of cover.

As the firefight was underway, the bounty hunters settled into their natural rhythm. Terran and Munshaan, the Human and Stereb hunters, engaged the enemy with their weapons. Terran sported a modified blaster pistol, while Munshaan kept the mercs pinned down with his blaster sub-machine gun. Palscho and Irkchik, meanwhile, moved around on the flanks. Palscho, for an Ithorian, was very agile. He moved right, flanking the mercs who were pinned down, and shooting them point blank with his double barreled blaster rifle. Irkchik on the other hand equipped his hatched and sword, and sliced one merc to pieces, then another.

It was time to finish them. I stood up and began walking forward, continuing to suppress the enemy with a continuous rate of fire. The Ganks, along with Terran and Munshaan, got on line beside me. We walked forward, picking off surviving mercs, while Palscho and Irkchik on the flanks ripped into their victims.

We passed by boulders, and enemy corpses, going deeper to the rear of the cavern. Soon enough the screams of the enemy dying ceased. We came to the end of the cavern, where we met with the Saurin and Ithorian. The last merc was Irkchik's kill, who he finished by stabbing in the chest with the sword, then with the hatchet slicing through his throat. Blood sprayed onto the cavern wall, lit by one of the generator's lights.

Munshaan laughed. "That's how I like 'em. Dead and dumb!"

I directed a couple Ganks to double tap on the bodies. Make sure they were dead, and to sift through their clothing for anything of value. Specifically intel on Cassus. Irkchik and the other hunters meanwhile gathered around a large metal crate at the rear of the cavern, which looked as though it had been plucked from deeper inside.

"What the hell is this?" Terran asked, tapping it with his blaster pistol. I approached, looking at the crate. It's design was very familiar.

"I know what it is." I said, joining the group. They all looked at me, confused and indifferent.

"Then what is it?" Munshaan asked.

I ran my hand along the top of the crate, resting my fingers on the corner edge. I tapped the side, where there was printed word. "It's Mandalorian." I replied.

Taken aback, the other four looked at the finer details of the crate. Sure enough, they found Mando'a script on the sides. "Fett, what does it say?" Terran asked, still looking.

I shook my head. "It says a lot. This was a backup plan, during the war. Mandalore ordered hidden bases and weapons caches to be set up on remote worlds, part of a contingency plan in case the war went against us."

"Well it didn't help him much." Palscho replied. No, it really fucking didn't I thought to myself.

"So Cassus was digging up a weapons cache. Why?" Terran asked. Irkchik shook his head.

"Doesn't matter. We'll get this thing out of here and check out if the Ganks found anything. We don't have any leads besides what's in this mine." Irkchik replied.

My mind was swimming with thoughts. What if Cassus was for real? Mandalore's right hand man, my distant relative, didn't play games. Digging up an old weapons cache was a big move for him, especially since somebody – probably the Republic – wanted his head. For the past two years, I had been searching for purpose, a meaning, just like these poor sods we smoked and bloodied. What if I was fighting on the wrong side?

No. Stick with it. The wars were over. My people had been defeated. Revan had bested us and now was invading the Republic as a blasted Sith Lord. The time of the great clans was over. Maybe in another century or two, but for now, the Mandalorians were defeated. I had to be realistic, get with the program. I had chosen to be a bounty hunter, I wanted this job, I was going to see it through.

My body was on auto-pilot, as I followed the rest of the hunters out. The Ganks were tasked with carrying the weapons crate out of the mine. Outside in the quarry, the other bounty hunters convened and talked. Gorman met up with them to talk about the next plan. I stood off to the side, leaning against a boulder and thinking. All of the Ganks, including those in the woodline, surrounded the weapons crate as their comrades from the mine brought it outside.