Jarxel stepped forward. "Excuse me, Mandalore," he said officiously. "Perhaps the Admiral could take a moment to work out some logistics? I'm sure his men don't want to be in orbit any longer than they have to be."

"Of course," Canderous said, nodding. "Carth, have a seat. I think a war council is in order."

"Absolutely," Carth agreed, and we all seated ourselves around the high table. Carth and Canderous sat facing each other in the middle, Jarxel on Canderous' left, me on his right. Ladria sat on Carth's left, with Bao Dur next to her. Dax and Kelborn took up position behind Canderous and me. Xarga, with a word from Jarxel, trotted off to fetch the Elders, and Kex went to find Lorna and ask for refreshments. The rest of the honor guard were standing guard at the door of the mess hall. The remaining Ebon Hawk crew seemed to be leaving, but paused at a word from Canderous.

"No, stay," he said with a gesture. "You'll be a part of this too, unless you'd rather not."

"Hell yes, I do," Mira said, grinning. With murmurs of agreement, everyone found a seat, with the exception of Megari, who excused herself, saying Danni needed a nap. I looked down the table at our assembled friends and Disciple caught my eye.

"Where have you been?" I asked him curiously. "I haven't seen you for days."

"For the last three, I've been assisting the camp with the battlefield project. It's absolutely amazing how efficient the Mandoa are," he enthused. "Before that, I've been helping the Elders assemble a genetic history on Canderous, and combing the Republic records for yours. Thank you for the loan of your parent's documents, they were invaluable."

"Of course," I waved off the thanks. "How is it going?"

"Both family histories are ready," Disciple said, eyes glowing with the accomplishment. "It's fascinating really. Did you know you're a cousin of the Queen of Onderon? And on your father's side, there are ties to the royal family of Telos, now defunct, of course. And Canderous is related to at least seven prior Mandalore."

"About Onderon, yes, but I have no contact with that branch. Interesting about Telos," I said politely. I actually didn't care much, but wasn't about to crush his feelings, he was so proud to have collected the data. "And it doesn't surprise me about Canderous' family." I nudged my intended teasingly. "See, it's genetic."

Canderous gave me a twist of the mouth I supposed was to pass as a smile.

"You're from Telos?" Carth asked me, leaning forward with interest. "That's my home world."

"My father was," I said with a friendly smile. "I've never lived there, myself. Visited a few times, though. My mother was from Onderon, but both my parents were taken to the conclave at Dantooine as children."

"Yes, Ladria mentioned they were both former Jedi. I'd love to hear your history some time," Carth said.

"It hasn't been all that interesting until lately," I laughed. "But sure, if you don't mind being bored to death for a few hours."

Lorna and a few of the other women came to the table, bearing huge trays of food and drink, passing them around and chatting familiarly with everyone. Admonishing me to eat up, she left with a wink and a smile. The Elders entered the hall just as everyone started serving themselves, and sat at the end of the table. Introductions were made, and the meeting came to order.

"First and most important is landing the admiral's vessel, and housing his men," Canderous said pointed out.

Jarxel cleared his throat. "I took the liberty of constructing two temporary barracks near the bathhouse," he said in his grumbly voice. "Ladria informed me of the need to accommodate a couple of hundred guests. Admiral Onasi, we have a private guest room for you in the regular barracks next to where your men will be housed."

"Thank you," Carth said with a nod. "Is there anywhere we can land the transport, or will we need to land on Onderon and shuttle over?"

"The clearing where the Ebon Hawk is parked is large enough to accommodate your vessel, if Ladria consents to having her ship moved to the hangar here," Jarxel said. "The shuttles can be parked just outside the main gates for the duration of your stay. Mandalore, are we expecting any more guests for the wedding? If so, I may need to set up a shuttle detail to fly them from Onderon. With the Admiral's ship here, we have no more room unless we clear more space out of the jungle."

"I don't mean to make things difficult," Carth said with concern. "We can park on Onderon, if need be."

"No," Canderous interjected. "I would much rather have your ship here, rather than deal with the logistics of shuttling two hundred men. Your help is appreciated, and I am not willing to put you or your men through any more inconvenience than is necessary. As to more guests," he turned to Jarxel, "I only know of Mission Vao and Master Stefan, and he is not a certainty."

"Um," Carth looked slightly uncomfortable, "I might have mentioned to Jolee, Ju'hani, and Bastila that you were getting married."

Canderous just looked at him, resigned. "I knew you knew where they were. Are they coming?"

"Jolee said he wouldn't miss it. Ju'hani is on assignment right now, and sends her congratulations. Bastila…" Carth looked distinctly uneasy. "Well, she won't be there."

Canderous gave a short bark of a laugh. "Doesn't surprise me," he said, amused. "She always thought I was a barbarian."

"Not as much as you think," Carth said, smiling now that he was sure Canderous wasn't offended. "But she did send the message that she admires your wife to be."

"She's heard of me?" I asked, incredulous.

"Not per se," Carth laughed. "I think the exact wording was 'she's either a saint, or an idiot. Let's hope saint, because that's what will drive Canderous the most insane.'"

"Sounds just like her," Canderous said, and to my surprise, he was laughing. "Nice to know she hasn't changed."

You think it's funny? I asked, incredulous.

Sure, Wildcat, was his amused answer. She and I had this bickering thing going almost the entire time we traveled together. I noticed she tended to treat people she reluctantly admired harsher than those she didn't care anything about. It never bothered me.

You have strange friends, I said wonderingly.

Don't we all?

Point for you.

"Accommodations accomplished, then," Canderous said. "Now, battle plans."

There was an air of expectation as everyone leaned forward to discuss this topic. Mira and Disciple looked particularly eager, with Atton a close second. Ladria, Carth, Canderous, Jarxel, and Bao Dur all had calm, almost bored expressions, but I knew better. Visas alone seemed only mildly interested, watching everyone with her usual cool serenity. I myself was eager as a new recruit and trying hard not to show it.

"Yes," said Elder Gregor. We all turned to look at him. "Battle plans. Master Ladria has been kind enough to see that we have enough fighters to hand that it will not be necessary to improvise the battle ecstasy test." He gave the impression of a bow to her, and she nodded back. "Admiral Onasi has been gracious in providing men," he nodded at Carth, who inclined his head in acknowledgement. "All that is left to do is to divide the teams, so to speak, according to our guidelines."

"Which are?" Canderous asked.

"Simple enough," Elder Drane interjected with a smile. "All available Mandoa will fight with the Mandalore and Jennet, of course. We will need at least ten experienced warriors to observe the battle along with our Council."

"Great," muttered Jarxel. "And guess who gets to assign that? Can we say mutiny?"

"Don't worry about it," Canderous said to his grumbling XO. "Whoever draws that detail will have lead roles in the wedding battle."

"Wedding battle?" I blurted. "No one said anything about a wedding battle!"

"I thought you've been talking to the Elders about traditional weddings," Canderous said, puzzled.

"I have," I shot an accusing look at their end of the table. "No one mentioned anything about that."

"Sorry, dear," Elder Evana said apologetically. "There's always at least some sort of celebratory fight during a Mandalorian wedding. I guess we didn't think to mention it."

"No, it's okay, fine, really," I said, trying to regroup. "Um, how many fighters, and who is supposed to be in it?"

"Well, the groom, of course, and the bride too if she's a warrior," Elder Evana said brightly. "And the wedding party."

"I have at least one attendant that will not be participating," I said firmly. "Megari is not a fighter."

"Oh, that's all right dear," Elder Evana assured me.

"Does this take place before or after the ceremony?" I asked.

"Before," Elder Gregor said. "In the morning. There's a couple of hours break for the wedding party to clean up, and after the ceremony, there's the celebration."

"Anything about that you need to tell me now?" I asked with some asperity.

"The ritual flogging of the bride takes place after cake," Elder Evana said serenely. "And the public certification of virginity, of course."

I stood up so fast my chair fell over. "WHAT?!"

"Elder Gregor made me say that," she said with a twinkle, "To get back at you over your comments about the Helm."

Canderous was laughing uproariously, and I scowled at him. "A little support, here," I snapped.

"You should have seen your face, Wildcat," Canderous said, manfully trying to throttle back to a chuckle.

"No one told me there was a target painted to my forehead," I grumbled as Dax helpfully set my chair upright and I took my seat again. He was grinning broadly, and the rest of the table was trying not to laugh too loudly. I finally smiled sweetly at Elder Gregor.

"Nice to know you actually have a sense of humor," I said wryly. He nodded gravely back, but there was a gleam in his eye.

"Okay," Canderous said, pretending to wipe tears of mirth from his eyes, "back to battle plans. What are the rest of the specifications?"

"And then the wedding battle," I said pointedly. "I want a few more details about that."

"There will be the observers," Elder Gregor said, grandly ignoring my demand, "who will help determine if the condition of sharing battle ecstasy is present. There will be a small fight first, with Jennet and Canderous, along with a select few Mandoa, leading against another small group, none of which should be Mandalorian. This will show us if Jennet senses Canderous' battle ecstasy, and he her Force energy. That done, we will have a large battle, incorporating all available Mandoa, against a force of similar or larger size. This will determine the effect of their shared senses, assuming they exist, on other Mandalorians."

"Um, I hate to sound picky," I said carefully, "or for that matter, ungrateful for all the work that has been done on our account. But I thought the point of this was simply to prove that we shared senses while fighting. Why the big battle, if that's all that's necessary?"

"We have a situation that is completely without precedence," Elder Gregor rumbled. "Never in our history have we had an outlander as any mate, let alone that of the Mandalore. You are a warrior of great skill. It would be foolish not to know what effect your presence would have if you were to accompany the Mandalore in battle. Also, if you truly do share this ability, it would be felt by other Mandalorians who fight with you when the group effect takes place."

"That makes sense," I said. "All right then, sorry to interrupt."

"So," Jarxel said briskly, "All we need to determine now is the size of both sides of the large battle, and who will participate in the small battle."

"Right," Canderous agreed. "How small of a group do you want for the first fight?" He turned to the Elders, raising an eyebrow in question.

"Certainly less than twenty," Elder Gregor answered, "or you run the risk of merging as a group. Ten should be safe enough."

"With Jarxel, the honor guard, me and Jennet, that is nine. Will that do?" Canderous asked.

"Certainly," Elder Gregor nodded.

"Carth, want to choose twenty of your best?" Canderous asked. "Or maybe thirty; we do want adequate time to get test results."

"That sounded like a challenge," Carth said mildly. "Am I allowed Jedi?"

"Unfortunately, no, not for the first test," Elder Gregor said with some regret. "That would be a fight I would enjoy seeing. They are welcome to participate in the second melee, however."

"Very well," the admiral said diplomatically. "I did fight in the Mandalorian wars, after all, and I have a good idea how they fight. I'll put myself and thirty of my men against you for the first fight. But I get all the Jedi for the second."

"Done," Canderous said with a grin. "Perhaps you and the Jedi would like to participate in the wedding battle?"

"Hello, sitting right here," Mira interjected. "Maybe we want to fight with Jennet. It is her wedding day, you know."

I flashed a sunny smile at her, and she grinned back.

"How about making the wedding battle really interesting?" I suggested. "We can have two fights. One with the entire wedding party against a comparable force, the other with me and the Jedi against Canderous and whomever he chooses."

"You would fight against your Mate on your wedding day?" Elder Evana gasped.

"Why not?" I asked. "There isn't anything in the vows that say 'obey', are there?"

Canderous looked at me, a wide grin on his face. "You're on, Wildcat. Well, Carth," he turned to our newest guest, "It looks like you might fight with me twice during my wedding. That is, if you'll consent to stand up with me."

If Carth was surprised, he hid it well. "I'd be honored," he said simply.

"Thanks," Canderous said sincerely. "Let's get the rest of this hammered out, shall we?"

After much discussion, it was decided that all but fifty of the Republic soldiers would fight with Carth for the big battle during the Trial, making the odds slightly in their favor, as he had all the Jedi on his side. The remaining fifty would fight along side the Mandalorians. After that, Carth would stay as our guest until the wedding, sending his men back to the Eternity. The wedding itself would take place in nine days.

For the wedding day itself, the first fight would be the wedding party against half the camp, then Canderous, Carth, the honor guard, and eleven other warriors against me and the Jedi. Everyone was satisfied with the arrangements, and the party broke up, with the Elders and most of our friends drifting off to their own pursuits. Carth broke away for a moment to comm his ship with instructions for landing. Jarxel, Ladria, Canderous and I remained at the table, talking about general things until we were more or less alone, the honor guard still being at their stations.

"The transport will land in about a half hour," Carth reported. "I'll need to be there when they do, but I'm yours until then."

"I'm grateful for your help," Canderous said formally. "But I'll admit I'm surprised. I wasn't expecting you for another two weeks, and then I thought you'd be alone."

"Well, Ladria here got me to thinking," Carth said seriously. "She pulled rank, sort of, when asking if I could provide some troops for your Trial. She may not be a part of the Republic army anymore, but she was a general with us once, and garners a lot of respect. And she's most persuasive," he said with a smile. Ladria smiled back serenely.

"What did you say to him?" Canderous asked bluntly, giving Ladria a wary eye.

"Only that I thought an alliance between the Mandoa and the Republic was a very good idea, especially as the Mandalore was an acknowledged Hero of the Republic," Ladria said in her honey and steel voice. "I might have pointed out that you were instrumental in saving the Republic's ass again, as well," she added with unaccustomed vulgarity.

"Thank you for the testimonial," Canderous said sardonically, "but I wasn't that much help."

"We all worked together," Ladria pointed out. "It was a group effort. You were the one who figured out how to blow up the Ravager, I might add. I merely confirmed your participation in the mission."

"Along with her endorsement, she pointed out that by helping the Mandoa, and securing their help in return, we all benefit in the fight against the Sith. I had already come to this conclusion, but Ladria provided the needed leverage to make it a real possibility to the higher ups. In short, the Chancellor has agreed to allow me to come to terms with you," Carth said.

Canderous stared at him for a moment, then slowly smiled. "Then I guess we have a lot to talk about."

"Absolutely," Carth agreed. "But I have a transport to meet soon, so we can do this later. I'll be here a while. Let's get through this Trial first, and we can talk treaties before the wedding. Okay by you?"

"More than," Canderous said, offering his hand.

"Done, then," Carth grinned, and clasped his hand firmly.