Lord Darth Yoda - I think that all four Jedi could use a long vacation after this is over. I do think that there has been some damage done to the Aurine-Sascha relationship, but nothing that cannot be repaired. We'll see if Nara make it out of this book alive - her death would certainly have a huge impact on Sascha.

Mr. Insane - The good news is that I can't pull a Westworld twist...because I haven't seen Westworld! Shame on me, I know.

A/N - Feels like its been a while since we've had an action chapter (fortunately this is one!)

Also wanted to note that this week's Star Wars Rebels was fantastic. And there's a certain irony that this chapter features a Mandalorian v. Jedi confrontation.

Anyways, all reviews, follows, and favourites are deeply appreciated as always.

Please enjoy the next chapter

Chapter 53: Vox Populi

Will we watch the news and setup an alert for any news regarding our son? I don't think we will. It's not an indication of a lack of interest in our child, but we have to accept that our son's destiny has separated from ours. Our focus will have to be on our family, wounded as it will be.

But our wound will heal. We hope.

-Excerpt from 'My Son, the Jedi' by Donah and Robry Whitestar

In the morning, Tiplee left the two sleeping Padawans alone in Lirri's old house to find what was left of the resistance in Bontha. She wasn't particularly optimistic about numbers. The resistances' losses had been heavy and the loss of Lirri Boikana had likely destroyed the morale of anyone who was left. However she knew that some of the Ubroran Rangers had survived yesterday's disastrous attack, and they could be counted on to at least form the backbone of a squad that could inflict damage.

All she needed to do today was to convince whoever was commanding the droid army that the resistance in this city was still going strong so that whoever was commanding couldn't move troops from Bontha and link them up with its main force. And she had to protect one particular building too...

But that was getting ahead of herself, she needed to stay focused on this moment. Tiplee made contact with Arslan Ivalice, now the unofficial and official head of the resistance, and inquired as to where the resistance headquarters was now located. It turned out that it was now based out of an abandoned warehouse deep in the suburbs of Bontha. Despite getting instructions from Arslan, she was only able to find it because there happened to be a guard trying to be unobtrusive just out front of the building.

Tiplee emerged from the shadows of the morning, putting her hands up and walking slowly towards the guard. The Ubroran guard startled when he saw her, but quickly realized who she was. A few moments later and she was inside. There were about ten Ubrorans in the cavernous, poorly-lit warehouse. A group of about four Ubrorans were playing what appeared to be some sort of game that involved throwing what appeared to be some sort of gambling cube. Another group of Ubrorans were talking quietly, their manner subdued. And in the middle of the room were Arslan Ivalice, Ovans and Sekac. The leadership of the resistance.

Tiplee strode confidently towards the three Ubroran leaders, projecting an air of confidence. Unfortunately it seemed to be rather lost of the three Ubrorans who greeted her with subdued nods. "You know who I am?" she asked the group.

"General Jedi Master Tiplee," said Ovans dismissively. "I assume you are here to take your Padawans with you."

"You assume wrong," she said mildly. "I'm here to help."

Ovans snorted, "Well we could have used your help a few weeks ago. The resistance here is shattered, in case you can't tell."

"It is not shattered," said Arslan.

Ovans exploded in a fit of rage, "It's all good for you to say that Arslan! You never take up a rifle, and fight the droids. You just sit in the back and watch us all risk our lives! So you don't have the right to tell me what the resistance is!" He pointed at his chest, "Because I know!"

This was usually where Tiplee would have interceded, but she saw Arslan puffing himself up to make a response and decided it was best for the Ubrorans to hash it out themselves.

Arslan calmly walked over to Ovans and unleashed a verbal tirade, "You think I haven't lost anything? Who do you think recruited all these people, Ovans? It was me! And who do you think goes to their grieving families when they are looking for someone to blame that their son or daughter is dead? That's right Ovans, it's me too! And do you know who has called in every favour that he is owed, tarnished the professional reputation that he's worked his entire life to build, all for this resistance?" Arslan let the question linger unanswered in the air for a moment before continuing in a quiet tone, "I don't bleed for the resistance, that is true. But don't tell me that I don't have a say in what it is. Don't tell me what I've helped build is shattered."

Ovans bowed his head slightly, "I'm sorry Arslan. I shouldn't have said that."

"No. You shouldn't have."

Tiplee shuffled forward, intent on getting the conversation away from the current topic, but before she could speak, one of the other Ubrorans in a corner of the room spoke up in an urgent tone, "I see a big detachment of droids moving out across the city. It's got Coren Vox leading it."

Tiplee perked up when she heard that piece of information. She strode over to the Ubroran who had spoken. The young Ubroran was monitoring a variety of feeds on three different datapads. Clearly he was using the cameras of various civilian Ubrorans to keep a general tab on this approaching contingent of droids. An innovative solution to an age old problem. "Where are they going?" Tiplee asked, as Arslan and Ovans gathered around.

"I don't know," the young Ubroran said as his eyes flickered from screen to screen, trying to get a better sense of where the droids were going.

"Well, a better question might be how many of them are in this detachment," mused Ovans.

"I don't understand what they are doing," said Arslan. "They're marching towards the residential districts, there isn't anything there... we moved everyone in the resistance out into the suburbs...they know this as much as we do..."

Tiplee watched on one of the screens as the droids marched determinedly down the roadway. All of the streets looked the same to her, she simply hadn't had enough time in the city to get used to the terrain. Her eyes switched to another screen the showed the droids again, this time passing a fountain. Funny, she had seen one just like it this morning...

A jolt went up Tiplee's spine. "I know where they are going. They are going after the Padawans!"

Arslan immediately went into action mode, "Check their route, confirm that they are heading for Lirri's...house."

Tiplee wasn't going to wait for Arslan and company to figure it out. She was sure that this was where Coren Vox was going. It was just his style to ignore all the rules of civilized combat and go right for your weakness. She headed for the door.

"Master Jedi, where are you going?" asked Ovans. "We need some time to gather up our forces, they are rather scattered at the moment."

Tiplee paused in the doorway, "There is no time. Gather what troops you can and head for Lirri's house. I'll try to slow Coren Vox down."

"Good luck, Master Jedi," said Arslan.

The Rishati opened the door and started sprinting immediately. During her sprint, she concentrated, dropping into the Force and using it to open up her connection to her Padawan.

Wake up, Padawan.

Judging from the confused reaction that she received from Nara, she had just woken her apprentice up from her sleep. While the mental connection she had with Nara didn't exactly give her the ability to pass her complex ideas, she was able to portray emotions. And the emotion she conveyed to Nara was: Warning, Danger.

The Togruta seemed to become slightly more awake as her warning was conveyed to her. While Tiplee could have used her comlink to call her apprentice, there was no guarantee that her call would have been answered, considering how deeply both Padawans had been sleeping. Tiplee received an unspoken confirmation that told her that Nara was waking Sascha and getting prepared.

Tiplee continued her way back to Lirri's home, recalling every single encounter she'd had with Coren Vox. It all had started when she and her sister Tiplar had been assigned by the Council to hunt down the wanted criminal. She had thought that it would have been a reasonably simple assignment, but she had wound up chasing Coren and his cronies over a half dozen planets. The Mandalorian had shown an unexpected cunning, almost managing to throw her and Tiplar off his scent on more than a couple occasions. Only some lucky breaks and some dogged detective work had lead them to Coren's hideout.

Her and Tiplar had been expecting an ambush when they had arrived at Coren's hiding spot and the Mandalorian hadn't disappointed, almost managing to shoot down their craft before they had even arrived. She and her sister had managed to crash land, but it had been an auspicious start to what would be a long, drawn-out fight.

Coren had used the unfamiliar terrain against the Jedi, keeping them slowed down with a wide variety of traps and ambushes. She and Tiplar each came close to death – Tiplar had been almost evaporated by a plasma grenade that she had just barely managed to scamper away from. For her part, she had almost stepped on a well-hidden pressure mine, only her quick reactions and a late warning from the Force had saved her from certain death. She'd taken some shrapnel to her arms and midsection for her troubles, however.

When finally Coren and his compatriots had emerged to fight the two worn-down Jedi, the confidence of the Mandalorian and his supporters had been high. And against ordinary opposition, they'd have been right to be confident. Unfortunately, they were fighting Jedi. And not Jedi Padawans, but two Jedi sisters who had tons of experience fighting by each other's side.

The fight had one of the most brutal of her career. First she and Tiplar had focused on subduing Coren's friends. Coren's supporters were disciplined, but no match for two Jedi. Eventually, Tiplar managed to corner and subdue Coren, or so she thought. Tiplee remembered watching as her sister dragged the beaten Mandalorian out into the midday sun. She had been so proud of her sister, so happy to see them succeed together after such an arduous mission.

And then she'd nearly seen her sister die.

Coren Vox had been playing dead. Quick like a nexu, Coren had grabbed a knife from somewhere in his armor and stabbed Tiplar right across the stomach. Had her sister not twisted out of the way at the very last moment, Coren's knife would have gutted her terribly. Tiplee had rushed over to Coren and knocked him into unconsciousness, one of the few times in her life that she had ever felt rage. Her sister, though wounded, had been able to survive until medical help had arrived. It had a lesson for both of them, warning them of the dangers of their own attachments – and to never, ever let their guard down.

So Tiplee knew that Coren was dangerous. And she knew that Coren would be looking for revenge against the Jedi, and specifically any Jedi connected to her and her sister. And yet she had left her Padawan alone, unprotected, in a city where Coren Vox roamed free.

"You are an idiot, Tiplee," she muttered under her breath.

She had assumed that Coren didn't know where her Padawan was, but she had apparently assumed wrong. Once again, Coren Vox was managing to get her to dance to his tune. It very much annoyed her to do so.

After minutes of flat-out sprinting, she finally got within view of Lirri's house. Unfortunately, that was when the detachment of the droid army came into view. Tiplee threw herself into cover behind a nearby house, peaking around the corner when she thought it was safe to do so. A full detachment of droids, probably thirty or so, were accompanied by one Mandalorian warrior, and one large, imposing battle tank.

Not exactly a force that she could take on her own. It wasn't the number of droids that intimidated her, it was the knowledge that Coren wasn't the type to attack without overwhelming force. So where were the rest of his forces? Set in a trap for her, perhaps? No. That didn't make sense. Few knew she was even in the city. Then the truth finally dawned on her.

He's setting a trap for the resistance.

Putting the two Padawans in obvious danger was just about the only thing that could galvanize the scraps of the resistance together and make them fight. It dawned on Tiplee that she had just told Arslan to gather what resistance forces he could and meet her at Lirri's house.

Once again, Tiplee was falling into a trap set by Coren Vox.

But this time she wasn't going to be trapped. Quietly, she removed her comlink from her pocket and dialed Arslan.

"Arslan here, Master Jedi, we are just ready to head out."

"Stay there, Arslan. It's a trap," she said calmly.

There was confusion in Arslan's voice, "Are you sure, Master Jedi?"

"Yes," answered Tiplee. "If Coren had wanted to kill the Padawans, he would have gotten his tank to hit Lirri's house from afar. Yet he hasn't. He's trying to lure you into a trap. Don't oblige him."

"Aren't the Padawans still in danger?"

"Yes," she said bluntly. "But I'll deal with that."

"If you say so, Master Jedi. We await your orders."

Tiplee turned off her comlink and peered around the corner again. The droids were taking great care in surrounding Lirri's house. The battle tank was positioning itself to fire directly into the house. Coren was pacing out in front of the tank and began to speak though an amplified speaker that Tiplee couldn't see, "Sascha Whitestar and Nara Nalto, you are under arrest," Coren said lazily. "You have one minute to surrender yourself peacefully. Otherwise we will open fire."

Tiplee hid behind the wall again and opened her connection in the Force to her Padawan. This time when she contacted Nara, she was clearly awake. Nara was obviously apprehensive, and was clearly waiting for orders. Tiplee formed one clear thought and pushed it through the connection:

Fight.

The Nara Nalto of a few months ago would have greeted that idea with relish. The current version of Nara Nalto simply wearily acknowledged her order. Part of her was sad to see her rambunctious apprentice grow up so quickly. Part of her was grateful for this new maturity.

Tiplee got herself ready for the fight, knowing that she would have to be the primary target because she knew that Sascha and her Padawan were essentially spent. Tiplee gripped her lightsaber tightly and waited for her moment.

The minute that Coren had given the Padawans expired without any response from the two young Jedi. The tall Mandalorian, as imposing as ever in his black, red and gray armor, shrugged, "Open fire."

That was when the battle started.

Tiplee saw Sascha and Nara, lightsabers ignited, leap out of the second floor window just as the battle tank opened fire. The shot from the tank just about leveled the top half of Lirri's house, but the Padawans had escaped before the damage could be done, landing awkwardly on the ground below. Sascha in particular seemed to land awkwardly, twisting his knee slightly on his landing. The two Padawans quickly scampered for cover.

The Jedi Knight knew that the most important thing to do in the battle was to neutralize that battle tank. Coren was dangerous, obviously, but he was a threat that the Padawans could handle for a short period of time. What they were going to have trouble with was dealing with a battle tank and supporting forces in an open area, where the tank would be free to rain down fire from distance with impunity.

She could try and rush the tank and use her lightsaber to disable the tank's main weaponry, but that was dangerous and it would take time. There was another way to deal with the tank. Stretching out with the Force, she searched for the main gun barrel of the tank and waited for the teltale signs that it was about to fire.

Tiplee was too slow the first time, and the tank fired and missed, causing the two Padawans to scatter from the incoming barage. The next time the tank fired, Tiplee was ready. It was a technique that she had perfected on her raids with the Ubroran Rangers, but it had to be done with impecable timing for it to work. She closed her eyes, felt the tank preparing to fire, and then on the exact moment the tank did fire, Tiplee reached out with the Force and crimped the barrel of the tank closed.

It was a difficult thing to do, using the Force to crimp solid durasteel like that. While you could use the Force to do almost anything, making something as solid as the material that went into building battle tanks do your bidding was in a word, difficult. That was not to say impossible. Because with the Force, anything was possible.

For anyone watching the battle, it would have seemed as if the battle tank simply exploded. The explosion itself decapitated a nearby battledroid and a piece of the tank nearly hit Coren Vox as an added benefit. Unfortunately, it missed him by a few feet. Feeling lightheaded at making such an exertion through the Force, Tiplee took a few long, deep, recovery breaths before launching herself into the fray.

As Tiplee sprinted towards the fray, she wasn't really surprised to discover that Coren Vox had retreated on his jetpack, getting away from the main engagement now that his tank had been summarily demolished. The two Padawans had used their reprieve well and were slowly advancing in tandem towards the remaining droids, deflecting the incoming fire less with skill and more with gritty determination.

Completing the flank, Tiplee raced into the battle. Caught between an onrushing Jedi Knight and a pair of slowly advancing Padawans, the battle droids were between two equally unappealing options, and without Coren there to direct them, they simply stood their ground and were annihilated.

Tiplee went around and made sure that the droids were well and truly disabled while the Padawans kept a wary eye on Coren Vox, who decided that discretion was the better part of valour and retreated from view.

"Should we...chase after him, Master?" asked Nara.

"No, in fact we are going to retreat."

"Uh. Okay, Master Tiplee. But we won," said Sascha, who was rubbing at his knee, clearly he had tweaked it somehow.

Tiplee shook her head, "No, Coren Vox is laying a trap for us. He was trying to lure the resistance to come and fight him. He'll be calling for his reinforcements any moment now. We have to go."

Sascha looked back at the smoldering wreckage of Lirri's house, "Can we maybe just look for some of Lirri's things...I'd like to see what we could find, so we could give it to her family." Nara nodded her agreement with her friend's words.

Tiplee wavered. They really should be going. Coren Vox knew where they were and he was likely to be calling for reinforcements at this very moment. But clearly Lirri had meant something to her apprentice and to deny them the chance to find a memento would be cruel. "All right, but be quick about it. I'll stand guard."

The Padawans noded and jogged back to where Lirri's house was. There were parts of the building that were still on fire, but the building itself seemed to be fine, structurally speaking. As the two younger Jedi padded about carefully, Tiplee kept watch. There were a couple of Ubrorans that emerged from their homes to see what the fuss was about, but they kept well away from her, seeming content to just watch it all unfold, like viewers to a particularly juicy Holonet drama.

After a couple of minutes of rummaging around in the remains of Lirri's house, Tiplee looked over to see Nara and Sascha were heading back with a handful of momentos that had survived the battle. Both Padawans looked somber, and worn out. They had almost reached her side when Tiplee's danger sense flickered on. Tiplee did the only thing she could, she dove for what her senses identified as 'safety.'

And none too soon, because a missile strike landed in the spot where she had just been standing, a small crater now marking its landing point. Tiplee took one glance to check if Nara and Sascha were okay. Nara and Sascha had made similar dives for safety, and come out reletively unharmed, though the mementos they had been carrying could not say the same.

Coren had returned. And this time he had brought some of his friends. Instead of one Mandalorian, now there were four. All with slightly different shades of armor, but all dangerous, skilled warriors, all with jetpacks and blaster rifles. They stood on the nearby rooftops and opened fire on the Jedi with their blaster rifles.

Tiplee ignited her lightsaber just in time to be able to deflect the incoming fire. She spared a quick look towards the Padawans, "Go! Run! They'll be more droids coming!"

"But what about you, Master?" asked Nara.

"I'll be fine," Tiplee lied as she batted away a fusillade of incoming fire. The problem with Mandalorians was that they were smart. Most beings fired at her chest, because that was how they were trained – aim at the largest section of a person's body. Mandos were different; they knew to vary their fire, to not aim at the same place twice. It made deflecting the incoming fire a lot harder, despite the small number of attackers.

Nara and Sascha wavered and then ran, doing a fair job of accomplishing a fighting retreat.

Coren wasn't going to have any of it though, gesturing to two of his Mandalorian compatriots to go and cut off the Padawans from escape. In normal circumstances, she figured that Nara and Sascha could handle two Mandalorians. Now, she knew that both Padawans were too fatigued to fight such experienced opponents.

Tiplee interceded, the only way she knew how. Using the Force, she grabbed some of the wreckage from Lirri's house and flung it at the two Mandalorians, which were using their jetpacks to get after Nara and Sascha. The first Mandalorian managed to see a chunk of the roof coming for him and dove out of the way. The second Mandalorian was not quite so fortunate. A piece of what appeared to be a duracrete-like material colided with the flying mercenary, driving him off course and slamming him headfirst into the side of a nearby house. While the mercenary's armour was probably enough to prevent the collision from being fatal, Tiplee was sure that the Mandalorian would be out of the fight for now.

Tiplee turned her attention towards her current predicament, which was that she had two very disciplined, very dangerous Mandalorians firing at her. The two Mandalorians were gradually drifting away from the other, allowing themselves to fire at her from wider angles. With the Mandalorians above her, using the roofs of the nearby houses to fire down at her and keep themselves from being hit by the blaster bolts that she was attempting to direct at them, she had little way of striking back. In short, Coren Vox had all the advantages.

Tiplee's danger sense went off and she dove to her right instinctively. It was very fortunate that she did, as a small missile landed where she had been standing. The missile had come so close to hitting her, that the pebbles that the missle had kicked up when it went off pelted her body. Tiplee quickly glanced at where the missile had come from. It was the third Mandalorian, who had evidently given up trying to fight the two Padawans. Which was good for them, as they could now easily escape, but it was bad for her as now she was outnumbered three to one.

Deciding that it was time to accept that she was outmatched in this particular battle, she scurried back to her feet and dashed down the nearest street. Tiplee turned off her lightsaber and dodged the incoming fire by pure agility, jinking and juking as she ran. It went okay at first, but trying to outrun Mandalorians with jetpacks ended up being a fruitless endeavor. Another missile landed just to her left and the resulting explosion knocked her off her feet and on to all fours.

Twirling, she re-ignited her lightsaber to intercept the incoming blaster fire. But that one moment had been enough for her opponents to take advantage. The Mandalorian's fire kept pressing her backwards further and further. Any further back she'd be up against the nearby wall, and Coren Vox could take his time finishing her off. Tiplee racked her brain for a solution to her predicament. In a moment, she'd have to try a desperate attack. But it was easier said than done, when facing three jetpack wielding attackers who could simply fly away.

Tiplee parried another couple of blaster bolts and started wondering what was going to happen when the Mandalorians got in range to use their flamethrowers. Tiplee hadn't put much thought into how she wanted to die, but being cooked alive was suddenly very low on her list of ways to die. That meant, thought Tiplee grimly, that it was time to try a last ditch, and likely suicidal attack. The idea that Coren Vox was going to be the death of her was extremely annoying, but it had a sort of irony to it that she appreciated. Tiplee took a deep breath and prepared to charge.

Her plans changed in an instant as the Mandalorian on her left was suddenly being pushed by what appeared to be an invisible gust of wind. That unfortunate Mandalorian hit a nearby wall, grunted and stayed down. She glanced to her right for a moment to see Sascha and Nara stoically marching down the road to help her. Now with an avenue to escape, Tiplee bolted towards the Padawans. Coren and the remaining upright Mandalorian's fire missed her by centimeters.

Once she reached the Padawans she turned and faced down Coren and his one remaining Mandalorian henchmen. It was a standoff. Neither side seemed particularly interested in continuing hostilities. Tiplee and the Padawans were rather exhausted, and Coren was down to just one Mandalorian helper, with the other Mandalorian drunkenly picking himself off the ground. All Tiplee wanted to do was retreat, but she couldn't make it too obvious, because if she did, Coren and his pals would just harass them as they went.

Fortunately, Coren didn't seem to be too eager to continue to fight. "Well fought, Jedi," he said grudgingly.

"My name is Tiplee. You should be aware of that by now."

Coren ignored her, "The war for Ubrora is already over, Jedi. You lost. All that's left is the final accounting." Coren tossed her a two-fingered salute, before using his jetpack to fly away, his Mandalorian followers right behind him.

Tiplee hissed in Coren's general direction before turning her attention to the two Padawans. Nara was assisting Sascha, supporting him while he tried to put weight on his left leg. Nara had a small gash that was bleeding from just above her left eye and blood was slowly trickling down her face. Both Padawans were obviously banged up and in no shape to fight any further.

"You should have run, like I told you to," she admonished the Padawans.

Nara shrugged, "Probably. But you're welcome, Master."

Tiplee bowed her head in acknowledgement, "Thank you for coming back."

"Always, Master," said Nara.

Tiplee gently grabbed Nara and pulled her into an embrace. Nara didn't resist, but had to pull Sascha into the embrace as well, just to keep him on his feet. After a moment, Tiplee pushed them both away.

"What next," asked Sascha.

Tiplee smiled slightly. It was time to put the next stage of her and Aurine's plan into motion. "Come Padawans, I have something to show you."