The three of us, after planting the charges along the walls of Gardoose, took turns taking watch. We had been operating without sleep for the past day, and after the job was done, found a good spot a ways away from the city to crash in. Gawain and I were not woken by Tairek shaking us, but the sound of distant blasterfire and cannons. It started with one, then erupted into shot after shot. Gawain and I sat up, as Tairek nearby surveyed the city with macrobinoculars.
"Its started lads." Tairek announced. I checked my helmet's chrono. About 11:17.
"I thought they would have started fighting sooner." I said.
"Been checking their comm. traffic lad. They discovered Witter three hours ago. It just took some time before the hotheads decided to act."
"Bureaucrats, stalling the inevitable." Gawain remarked.
"Aye. After the investigation and the forensics team finished, the unit commanders lost their patience. Not a planned attack though. Fighting started in one sector and spread." Tairek replied, still looking through the binocs. Distant cannonfire paused, fired, paused, back and forth, though the blasterfire was continuous.
"Has Conall showed up yet?" I asked.
"They're on their way. We're to report in when one side has won the battle." Tairek replied.
"This could take a while. Its not just ERCS fighting. Its all the civilians, the pro-Rep radicals taking sides too." I replied.
"I wouldn't count too much on them lad. When push comes to shove, the weary always run and hide." Tairek said back. Gawain had sat down and began taking apart the ERCS rifle, tinkering for the hell of it. I handed him my ERCS pistol, then pulled out ration packs for the three of us. Two hours passed. About a little after 1:30, the cannonfire ceased. In the distance, smoke could be seen billowing out of Gardoose. All three of us were observing from afar.
"Nothing yet. Doug, get on the comm. to Conall and find out where he is."
"Got it." I replied. I set up a comm. channel to Conall.
"Conall, this is Fett, over."
"I hear you. What's your status?"
"The battle is over Conall. What's your position?"
"My men and the militia are en route, should be there in less than 20. Who won?"
"We don't know yet, comm. traffic has been silent so far."
"Understood. See you shortly ner vod." Conall and I cut the line. Tairek turned to Gawain and I.
"Alright lads, lets pack up and get into position."
The three of us moved further south a short ways before Conall, his guerillas, and Arku and the militia showed up. We grouped together, the whole 334 of us, and marched towards Gardoose. As we came into range of the city, now nearly a smoking, fiery waste, we took cover within the tall grass and trees. We hunkered down, and Conall set down a holoprojector, displaying a 3D map of Gardoose. Conall pointed to the front gates.
"Arku, you and your boys form a perimeter outside the gates. Catch anyone trying to enter or exit the city. Take Tairek and Doug here for backup, just in case."
"We can handle the ERCS, General." Arku replied.
"You were trained by Feeorin, not soldiers. When I give you the signal, move in and we'll close the gap. Gawain, take half our forces and come in from the eastern wall. You three better have set up those charges." Conall continued.
"Aye cousin, we did." Tairek replied.
"Good. I'll take everyone else and assault from the western wall. Do we have any idea now of who won?" Conall asked. I checked comm. traffic.
"The Ghosts." I replied.
"They'll be tough, but after their battle with the regulars, they'll be hard pressed to defend on two fronts."
"Three fronts." Arku corrected.
"Zip it boyo." Tairek replied.
"Let's get going. Watch your six, and cover each other's. Oya Manda!!" Conall yelled. Us Mandalorians yelled out battle cries, while Arku and the militia went on ahead.
The three allied units split up to their respective sectors. Tairek and I went with Arku and his Gungan/Iridonian militia. They had been trained well, but without fighting us their skills had atrophied over the last year. The battle at the mines was just a 'preview of coming attractions.' If they weren't careful, Tairek and I would end up dead. We got into position outside the city gates, hiding in the tall grass. The gates looked notoriously absent of life. The blaster holes in the glass were still clearly visible from when Gawain had killed the guards last night. The security cameras were motionless. In fact, the gates had been boarded up. Observing this, Tairek commed Conall.
"Cousin, we won't have to worry about anyone coming and going. The gates have been closed, permanently."
"Then see about opening them." Was all Conall said. Tairek turned to the militia.
"Any of you boys have extra ordnance?" Tairek asked. Arku turned to see if any of his men did. A Zabrak plucked a charge from his thigh pouch and came forward. "Good. Set it on the gate, we're going in." Tairek ordered. The Iridonian did as he was told, and Arku sent several of his men to cover him. After a few minutes, they returned.
"Are your guys ready yet?" Arku asked. Tairek commed Conall and Gawain.
"Big ears here wants to shoot something. Ready when you lads are." Tairek said.
"Ready." Came the reply from Gawain.
"Blast away. On three. One, two, three."
Gawain set off the charges on his side, Arku set off ours, while Conall his. Explosions ripped across the western and eastern walls, and the gate, leaving behind a thick cloud of smoke and dust.
"Move, now!" Tairek yelled. We charged forward, weapons raised as we ran over the wall debris. We split left and right, taking cover near the guard house and behind a large fountain.
"It's quiet." Gawain observed over the comm.
"I don't like it. Stay together. Looks like a trap." Conall said over the comm.
The city was eerily quiet. If there were any citizens left, they had certainly hid well. Carbon scoring marked every building, bodies of soldiers and civilians alike lay where they had fallen. Some buildings were smoking wrecks. The sun was shining after the past few days of rain. Now here we were, finally defeating the Republic element into a corner on Rori. It was a long one, but now the end was in sight.
"Watch your corners." Tairek said as we pressed forward.
Our unit continued ahead towards the city's central plaza, and eventually the main Republic offices. On our way, there were complications. As Arku's unit led the way, moving from one building to another, heavy blasterfire suddenly erupted in the distance. Arku's men dodged for cover, though one of his men, a human, wasn't fast enough. In a few quick seconds, he was ripped apart by an E-web.
"Did anyone see the shooter?" Tairek yelled as we all hid behind a building.
"Definitely from a rooftop." I replied. In the distance, to both the east and west, was more blasterfire.
"Fierfek." Tairek swore and contacted Gawain and Conall. "Gawain, Conall, you alive?"
"It'll take more than blasterfire to kill me." Gawain replied gruffly.
"Two of my men took a hit but we're alright. They're well prepared. Unleash everything you've got." Conall replied. I turned to the militia.
"Anyone got smoke grenades?" I asked. Arku and a few of his men produced three. I took them, pulled the pins, and tossed them around the building corner. "Go!" I yelled.
As the smoke filled the street, we turned and rounded the corner, moving fast, covering ground, closing in on the Republic defenders. As we reached the edge of the smokescreen, our foes, the ERCS Ghosts, unleashed their counter-attack. Soldiers with E-webs began firing from rooftop positions a few blocks down, while soldiers at street level behind sandbags and other barricades took potshots. We dodged for cover, though two militia were killed. A third lay in the street, his legs shot to hell, as he struggled to get away. He was finished off with a flurry of E-web fire. Arku and most of his militia were on one side of the street, while Tairek, myself, and the other militia were on the other side. We couldn't do anything yet. Arku looked around, and found a ladder on his building leading up to the roof. He pointed. We looked around for anything we could use, and found a set of stairs at our building, also leading up to the roof.
We divided our forces. Half of Arku's would go to the roof, half the militia on our side of the street would go to the roof as well. Both of these units would provide covering fire, as ground forces rushed the point emplacement. As our forces began ascending their respective buildings, Tairek contacted Conall and Gawain.
"We're facing heavy resistance, but we're setting up a counter-attack."
"We're pushing as fast as we can without dying. Don't get yourself killed yet cousin, still need you." Came Conall's half-joking reply. The two groups of militia had reached the roof, and were quickly fired upon by snipers and E-web gunners. A Gungan who popped his head up over the top of the ladder fell down dead, his skull blasted off his spine. The majority of the units dashed for cover on the roofs, behind electrical units and the over-arching building walls. Tairek and I pulled out our last two smoke grenades, pulled the pins, and tossed them around the corner.
"GO!" Tairek yelled. Arku's ground militia, Tairek, and myself made a run for it. Tairek and I switched our helmets to IR, to spot the ERCS down the street. We took a few quick shots before running ahead again. The militia on the roofs provided covering fire, distracting and killing several of the E-web gunners. For us on the street, we were now within range of the ERCS at ground level. We exchanged fire, but lost more militia to the snipers. I commed Gawain.
"Gawain, whats your position, over?"
"We've reached the central plaza. Looks like you've got a mess on your hands."
"You got that right. We've got snipers in the high towers, any way you can help?"
"We'll take care of them." Gawain replied. A few moments later, several anti-tank missiles shot up from the western districts, into the high towers where the snipers were located. The tower exploded, sending debris all across the plaza. The ERCS defenders, now surrounded as Conall's unit moved in, turned and fled.
"We've got them on the run!" Conall exclaimed, as his forces came pouring out of the eastern districts, in hot pursuit of the ERCS. The rest of us followed. For the next several city blocks, Conall's men ran down and killed the fleeing ERCS, as our unit ran by fresh corpses. After a while there were no more. But then, we had reached the last Republic bastion. Colonel Strasser's and the "InterGalactic Exports" offices. Conall turned to his men, made a hand signal, and several men ran forward to set charges to the buildings.
"WAIT!" Someone yelled. Female. From behind us. We turned to see. It was Jaina yelling, followed by Jan and some of her people. They caught up to us. Conall ordered his men to stand down. Jaina caught up to us. "You can't kill the Colonel!" Jaina protested. Tairek walked forward.
"And why not lass?" Tairek replied threateningly, hand on his holstered pistol. Conall came to see what the trouble was.
"What's going on here?"
"Please, don't kill Strasser." Jaina pleaded.
"This is a surprise. Care to explain?" Conall replied. Before Jaina could reply, there were yells from behind as Conall's men shouted down someone exiting the offices. It was Strasser.
"Don't shoot. I….surrender." Strasser said, hands on his head, as he dropped to his knees. Gawain put a pistol to the man's head.
"Better explain yourself."
"I don't care about the Republic. I just want to be with her." Strasser explained. Jaina ran forward and embraced him. Tairek looked at me, and I shrugged. The couple that had formed to siphon intelligence to us had become a real couple. It made sense to me. He was an old man without a family. She was lonely. And now they wanted nothing to do with the Republic, us, or the war. They walked off, not before another character, a Toydarian, appeared from the offices.
"You were always weak, Strasser." Brog mocked. Jan turned to look, and came forward.
"Brog, you were the traitor?" Jan began. Conall's men kept their guard up. We watched as it unfolded, wary of counter-attacks.
"Don't be so naïve Jan. It's because of the Mandalorians that the Republic came here in the first place. They were pushed into a corner and had to react against your friends."
"The Republic had come here anyway regardless of the Mandalorians. They were going to terrorize us no matter what!"
"Rori would prosper under Republic sovereignty! The Mandalorians would eventually butcher us, don't you see?" Brog shot. Jan shook her head. She didn't like either truth. Neither side was heroic. The Mandalorians had terrorized people in the country, the Republic had terrorized the city of Gardoose. No one was safe under either insurgent faction. But Jan made a choice.
"You're a fool and a traitor Brog." Jan replied. She equipped her pistol, aimed, and shot her former friend dead. As she walked away, some of Conall's men pointed to behind the Export offices. A group of armed men in plain clothes were making a run for it.
"After them!" Conall yelled. We ran ahead, and after a few blocks caught up to the group of men, who had retreated to a hangar, where they were about to board a shuttle. They fired, and we shot back. Run as they may, we shot them all down. One of Conall's men threw a grenade, killing the rest. Conall ordered Tairek and I to inspect. We found a live one. Tairek and I crouched next to him.
"Who do you work for?" I asked. The man formed a bloody grin on his face.
"Wouldn't believe me if I told you…"
"Humour us, boyo." Tairek replied. I produced a knife, promising his end to be more painful than necessary if he didn't talk. He complied.
"We're everywhere and nowhere…eyes everywhere."
"Cut the conspiracy crap." I shot.
"We're…R.I. assets. Sent here to take…Rori." The man replied.
"R.I. What the hell is that?" I asked Tairek. Conall approached.
"Republic Intelligence. Spooks. Spies. They were here, controlling everything." Conall said. The man gurgled and died. Tairek and I stood up.
"I don't get it. Why? Why Rori, and why all the killings?" I asked. Conall looked down at the dead R.I. agents, then looked back at me.
"The Republic has to expand its sphere of influence if they want to fight us. This sector is outside their control. With no military assets to spare, R.I. set out on their own to fight us. With only the ERCS to start, they exercised control of Gardoose. With the city in their grasp and its citizens at their disposal, they hired the Feeorin to come train civilians to fight us. To pay for the Feeorin, they used the people here to mine the Kassoti, then hired smugglers to sell it to the Hutts. All for one damn planet." Conall explained. I blinked, then looked back down at the dead agent.
"What now?" I asked. Conall shook his head.
"If Republic Intelligence is like this, just imagine what the rest of the Republic Military is capable of."
"What do you mean cousin?" Tairek asked.
"Jan was wrong. R.I. capturing citizens, torturing, raping, making slaves out of the people? Intelligence networks are ruthless, but this sort of brutality is unwarranted on their part. They learned it from us. And if R.I. is like this, what of the Republic army and its commanders?" Conall made a good point. I was suddenly reminded of how Tairek and I ended up here in the first place.
Revan
"The Jedi. Revan and Malak. I've read news reports while doing surveillance work here. They've been very active in the war lately." I replied.
"I remember Ulic and Exar Kun, and what Jedi are capable of when they fall. I think its time we leave." Conall said. The rest of the Mandalorians, Jan, Arku, and the militia showed up. Conall approached Jan. "My men and I are leaving. Our job here is done." Conall said. Jan nodded.
"I know. I suppose I should thank you. We couldn't have done this without Mandalorian aid."
"I'll make sure my people leave Rori alone. You've proven yourself a worthy ally of the Mandalorians Jan. What will you do?" Conall asked. Jan turned and looked at Gardoose, now a smoking ruin. She then turned to Arku and his militia, and her followers.
"The people here need a good leader. And protection. I think we can provide that." Jan said, smiling.
Conall nodded and extended his hand. Jan shook it. Something I had never seen before – mutual respect between one of my own, and a civilian. Tairek and I said our goodbyes to Arku. Tairek naturally called him 'boyo,' but even for a militiaman he had proved himself in battle. We huddled inside the various R.I. shuttles. Conall's men dropped Tairek and I off back in the mountains, to pick up our Basilisk. They headed off, back for Mandalorian space, as Tairek and I strapped ourselves in and took off.
As Tairek flew, I reflected on the past eight months. Atrocities from both us Mandalorians, the Republic, the people of Rori divided over who to support, thousands of civilians and soldiers dead on both did it all mean?
"Tairek, what was the point of this entire operation, if we're just leaving at the end?" I asked. Tairek paused for a long while as he took the Basilisk into space, and then eventually hyperspace. Eventually he turned to me and said –
"Lad, you'll find that even the supposed 'good guys' have no noble motives to speak of. When they justify their actions as a means to keep 'public order,' it is nothing but lies. And that when such actions are told down through the ages, they become lies. The truth, gruesome as it is, is forgotten."
"But why?"
"People don't have the stomach for the truth. And that's why historians will never mention what happened here. No one wants to read of Republic forces torturing, enslaving, and murdering civilians. People want to know that their nation's soldiers are heroic."
"But there are no heroes in war Tairek." I replied. There was not even a word for 'hero' in Mando'a.
"You just answered your own question lad."
DOUGLAS FETT MISSION PORTION: COMPLETE
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Two months later…
Jan sat at her desk, within the former offices of "InterGalactic Exports." The defeat of the Republic forces on Rori, as well as the departure of the Mandalorians, had taken loads of pressure off of Jan and her people, the citizens of Gardoose. But there was still a war to be fought. A war of belief. There were some citizens who clamored for Republic support. They weren't tolerated. Such issues were why her second in command of Gardoose, Captain Arku, had come to her office.
"Ma'am, I have good news. My men have rounded up the remaining cells of pro-Republic citizens. What are your orders?" The Gungan asked. Jan turned around in her chair to face Arku.
"Take them to the mines. Make them think they'll be put to use harvesting Kassoti. And when they are put in the quarry, shoot all of them. They are useless to me."
"Yes ma'am." Arku replied. The Gungan militia captain turned and left the office. As Arku left, her secretary, Evenia, contacted her through the intercom.
"Jan, there are some gentleman here from Marlan the Hutt wishing to speak with you."
"Who are they exactly?"
"Smugglers." Evenia replied. Jan grinned. Of course. With the 'changing of the guard,' these poor fellows found themselves unable to make contact with their employers here on Rori.
"Send them in." Jan replied. Several moments later, a Bothan and a Duros smuggler walked in. "Gentleman, please, sit."
"Is this still InterGalactic Exports?" The Bothan asked, as the two smugglers sat down. Jan rounded the desk, and sat on the corner. She grinned and looked down at the man.
"No. I'm sorry to be the one to tell you gents, but they were bought out a few months ago. If your employer wishes to make any new business deals here on Rori, he'll have to speak to me."
"He will miss those spice shipments. And I'm sure Gardoose will miss the profits." The Duros remarked. An idea suddenly struck Jan.
"Things have changed gentleman, and we here in Gardoose no longer dabble in the spice trade. However, how would your master like an exceptionally large shipment of slaves?"
"I think that would be a perfect compensation, Miss." The Bothan replied. Jan grinned, rounded her desk and pressed the intercom.
"Evenia, contact Captain Arku. Tell him my previous orders to him are nullified. I have a much better idea for our mutual friends."