Chapter Two

Alyse sat impatiently tapping a stylus on her datapad. Since arriving on Coruscant, she, Kylan, and Iraya Khan- another Corellian Jedi about her age- had been rushed from checkpoint to checkpoint, eventually ending up aboard the Republic cruiser Sunrider with a handful of other Corellian Jedi who arrived earlier than they did. She wasn't even sure where Skye had gotten to, and that made her nervous. But all she could do was wait, and that had never been her strong suit.

The conference room was small, but it had a viewport that afforded a spectacular view of Coruscant. The planet was unlike any other she'd ever seen- covered from pole to pole with nothing but buildings. It was certainly a far cry from Corellia, as even Coronet City had a fair amount of green space.

With a sudden whoosh, the door to the conference room opened, and a tall, bald man in red robes strode in. He looked at the three Jedi and smiled. "So you're the Corellian contingent?"

Kylan nodded and offered a hand. "I'm Kylan Sheffield. This is Alyse Darre and Iraya Khan."

"My name is Alek Squinquargesimus," he replied, accepting the handshake. "You can call me Squint. Most people do."

"Can't imagine why," Alyse grinned. "You must be the unpronounceable Jedi my sister mentioned."

Alek smiled, and bowed slightly. "My reputation apparently precedes me."

Alyse shrugged. "Something about non-official Jedi business, I forget the details."

"Your sister was right- we're not acting on behalf of the Council," Alek nodded. "They would rather sit back and watch events unfold until they can tell what the true motivations of the Mandalorians are. Some of us can't watch such wholesale slaughter."

"Well, if you want people who buck against the main sects of the Order, Corellia is a good place to recruit." Kylan grinned. "Well, so long as you stay away from the anti-war contingent."

"People who sit on their hands like the Council?" Alek raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

"No, more like people who don't believe in fighting at all." Kylan shook his head. "I have more respect for them than for the Council, since they firmly believe in taking an active role. That active role just doesn't involve violence. I may not agree with them... but I can respect the position."

Alyse frowned. Though undetectable on his face, she'd definitely felt a surge of emotion from him. It was common knowledge that his best friend, Leiraya, was one of the most vocal of the anti-war contingent, but she hadn't heard that the two of them had a falling out. Alyse barely knew Leiraya, but the unusual friendship she and Kylan shared was the subject of much scrutiny to the younger Jedi. Nobody quite understood them, but that just made all the speculation much more interesting.

Returning her attention to the conversation, Alek had moved on to the proper briefing. "You're joining us on an exciting new journey," he clasped his hands together and smiled broadly. "For the first time, the Jedi Crusaders are working with the Republic military to defeat the Mandalorians. It's going to be a lot more effective, and hopefully we'll finally be able to put the Mandos on the defensive. You'll be stationed with me, here on the Sunrider. My Master will come around sometimes, too, but he wants to make sure all of our Jedi teams are operating to the best of their ability. He'll rotate from ship to ship as he sees fit."

Iraya looked impressed. "That's some dedication."

"My Master is nothing if not dedicated," Alek replied, a touch of pride in his voice. "If it weren't for him, the Jedi wouldn't be involved at all. Even now, the Council holds back, unfeeling of all the lives that have been lost so far." His expression darkened. "It won't be easy. Many Jedi have died already, and I myself have been tortured in Mandalorian captivity." He ran a hand over his bald head and smiled ruefully. "I started this war with a full head of hair."

Iraya touched her golden hair protectively. "I'll fight them off with a stick if I have to."

Alek grinned. "Don't worry, the Mandalorian responsible for this is, well... out of commission."

Kylan looked askance at Alek. "Not dead?"

Alek shook his head. "In a coma, and in Republic custody." He paused. "We might have also blown up his lab."

"Well, there's a start," Alyse nodded. "What are the battle lines looking like these days?"

Alek activated a small holoprojector, and the room filled with tiny representations of the stars. After touching a few buttons, a portion of the stars turned red. "These are the worlds in Mandalorian hands. They've started coming towards the Core, but we're not interested in letting them get this far." A few more buttons, and another group of planets turned green. "These worlds are in danger. Our first priority is to turn them back, and from there we want to push them back into the Outer Rim. Preferably off the maps altogether."

He shut the holoprojector down, and as if on cue, the door to the conference room whooshed open again. A pale-faced, sour looking man entered the room, followed by his dark-haired lieutenant. He looked somewhat disdainfully at the Jedi, but whatever his opinions were, he kept them to himself. "I hope this is a good time."

Alek bowed deferentially. "Of course, Admiral Karath. Your timing is impeccable."

The Admiral appraised the gathering of Jedi. "Welcome aboard the Sunrider. I am Admiral Karath, and this is my aide, Lieutenant Carth Onasi." He gave them a thin smile. "You'll be seeing a lot of us, I wager. The Republic Navy is proud to have Jedi serving on its ships, but I do caution you to follow regulations. If I find any of you are behaving out of hand, I will be forced to remove you from the ship. Are there any questions?" He surveyed the group cooly, and when no replies came, he gave them a brief nod. "Very good. I will leave you with the Lieutenant. I have business to attend to, but he will show you around the ship."

"Thank you for your time, Admiral," Alek bowed once more. "I assure you, there will be no problems."

With a curt nod, the Admiral walked out the room. Alyse held her tongue until the door closed, but after that she couldn't contain her thoughts. "He's a ray of sunshine, isn't he?"

Carth smiled. "Don't worry about him, he had a run-in with the Jedi once, and he's never quite trusted them since. I doubt you're likely to cause any of the same problems, though. Just don't let him hear you complaining- otherwise I'll never hear the end of it."

"Duly noted," Alyse nodded, and pretended to enter something into her datapad. "Don't tick off the Admiral."

"That's the spirit," Carth grinned. "Now, about that tour of the ship..."

oo0oo

Skye felt somewhat lost. She knew exactly where she was, of course. After a long series of security checks, she was aboard the Republic cruiser Sunrider, staring down the door to Network Operations. She'd been standing there, staring at the door, for a full minute. In fact, she was quite certain that if she didn't push the button to open the door soon, someone was going to call security on her. But for some reason, she was having difficulty proceeding. Maybe it was because she didn't know what to expect, and that usually unsettled her. This was probably why she hadn't tried to meet anyone new in a very long time.

Hand hovering over the keypad, she was about to finally key it open when it slid away, revealing a lean man with long, curly hair pulled back at the nape of his neck. He regarded her with a brief look of surprise, which quickly changed into a broad smile as he realized who she probably was.

"Don't tell me. You're Skye, our new programmer, right?"

Skye nodded, smiling shyly. "That's me."

"Well, don't just stand there, come in! Let me introduce you to your new home." The man gently guided her into the room. "I'm Erik. I've been here the longest, and I'll be here the last."

"You're just saying that because it would be too much of a hassle to move all your stuff to another room," one of the other men in the room grinned, and nodded politely at Skye. "I'm Wes, and I haven't quite moved in yet."

"We're here a lot," Erik explained. "You might say we maintain a constant vigil over the shipboard communication systems. You might also say we play too many hologames. But whatever you say, we only ask that you say it in keeping with the community we have here."

"Community?" Skye echoed.

"But of course. The Sunrider network lab is not just a room full of people."

"It's usually not even full," another commented. "Hi, I'm Aaron. I lack a witty introduction."

"And I'm Jash," the last man in the room spoke up. "Just to get the last of the introductions out of the way."

"Good to meet you," Skye replied with a slight curtsy. "Is there anyone else who works here?"

Erik shook his head. "Nope, it's just us. And most everyone leaves us alone, since if we do our jobs right, no one has any reason to talk to us."

"So what brings you to the military?" Wes asked.

Skye shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure... mostly, I think it's to keep an eye on my sister."

Wes grinned. "Well, here is the place to do it. We can monitor any communications on the entire ship from this room, and nobody notices because it automatically routes through our computers. It's like being paid to eavesdrop."

"Which would be much better if there were something to hear, mind you," Aaron noted. "You're probably going to find the job terribly boring."

"But, in turn, it will leave you plenty of time to keep track of your sister," Wes continued, "so either way you win. What's she doing here, anyway?"

"She's a Jedi," Skye stated simply.

Jash nearly spit out the dried crisps he'd just eaten. "She's a Jedi, and you're looking out for her? What is she, your baby sister or something?"

"Well, I was born about five minutes earlier," Skye shrugged, "but I doubt that has any bearing on the matter. This is just how it's always been."

"Even more interesting," Wes looked intrigued. "Twin sisters?"

"Identical."

"And you're not a Jedi?"

"Not even a little."

Wes scratched his chin, then shrugged. "Find something new every day, huh?"

"That's how I like to run things," Skye agreed. "Speaking of which, I have a large file on the operations of this ship that I'd like to read through before the day is out."

Jash snorted. "Nobody reads that thing."

"I read everything that comes my way," Skye replied evenly. "That's why I'm the one watching out for my Jedi sister."

Erik gestured grandly towards an empty terminal. "Then by all means, take a seat. Make yourself at home. Customize your settings to your heart's content. And when you're ready to join us in the hologame competitions," he gestured towards a giant whiteboard at the end of the room, "we keep track of our high scores over there."

Skye grinned as she took her seat. There was nothing quite so fun as setting up a fresh account, and she had a lot of fascinating material to read through. Even better, she was pretty sure she could get along with the other programmers. They seemed a little crazy, but crazy of the best possible variety.

Entering her login username and password, she set about her work.

Crazy Jedi sister or not, she was going to have fun.

oo0oo

"Are you sure?" Admiral Saul Karath eyed the datapad in his hands critically. "I don't want to attack the Mandalorians before we're ready for them. That's how the Courageous was destroyed."

"My Master assures me it's the place to go," Alek replied. "His appraisals are usually accurate."

"I want better than 'usually accurate,' Jedi." the Admiral handed the datapad back to Alek. "I want numbers and solid intelligence, not some vague vision of destruction."

Alek was unmoved. "Begging your pardon, Admiral, but wasn't ignoring a vision the real reason the Courageous was destroyed?"

Karath's eyes flashed. "You weren't there-"

"No, but word gets around in the Jedi community. I was particularly fascinated by your treatment of Zayne-"

"He was a wanted fugitive."

"But hardly the Mandalorian plant you thought him to be." Alek drew up to his full height, towering several inches over the Admiral. "Sir, I can only advise, as this is your ship. But I think it would be wise to take my Master's suggestion."

Karath looked hotly at the Jedi, then over at Carth, who simply shrugged. "He's got a point, Admiral. Zayne did come to me with the specific purpose of warning you. Whatever his other crimes may be, spying wasn't one of them."

Far from pleased, Karath snatched the datapad back from Alek. "This mission is your responsibility, Jedi. If this goes badly, you'll be looking at the end of this collaboration."

Alek bowed respectfully. "You won't be disappointed, sir."

"I had better not be," Karath grumbled. "Lieutenant Onasi, see to the Jedi, and report back to me when they have a plan set."

"Will do, Admiral." Carth saluted smartly, then turned to Alek. "Whenever you're ready, I am."

"Then let's get to it," Alek grinned. "We've got some Mandalorians to chase."