Commander Lothärius stood in his office at the Order of Mercy's secret base on Yavin 4. He was sipping on caf and reviewing scout reports on his datapad. It had been nearly five years since they had gone underground and detached from the Republic Senate. Officially, the Order no longer existed. Unofficially, they were still in action righting wrongs wherever they could.
The primary mission, as handed down by Michael Halcyon himself, was to retrieve and extract Republic prisoners of war from the Sith, and now the Zakuul, Empires. And while the Halcyon contacts in the Empire held just enough sway to keep the Sith off their back, the Zakuul had officially labeled the Order of Mercy as a terrorist organization. This had brought an unwelcome degree of attention over the past few years, and Lothärius was beginning to feel the strain.
The Order was feeling it as well, and the increased tension was creating problems at home as well as on missions. When Michael retired from the Order to form his Halcyon Academy, he had passed his mission and his seat to Lothärius because he believed that the old General's military training and legacy could help form the Order into the battle-hardened covert operation they needed to be in order to disappear from the public eye. However, his leadership style, based on strict discipline, was beginning to cause rumbles amongst the troops. He often had to remind himself that these men and women did not all come from military backgrounds, and sometimes he came off as very stern and disapproving.
Lothärius sipped his caf and sighed. He knew the value of morale in long-term engagements such as this, and he had no desire to alienate his charges. But if they wanted to persevere and outlast this dark time, he knew they needed to button down and learn to follow orders. He sighed, and thought back to his younger days. He couldn't help but think that Kuno would not be having near as much difficulty leading such a diverse and ragtag group.
"Excuse me, Commander?"
Lothärius looked up from his datapad to find a soldier standing in the entryway. He was clad in the familiar white and gold armor of the Dawnbreakers, the militia group that Michael's Academy churned out. Lothärius had not been wild at the idea of the Halcyons building their own military force, particularly one trained mainly by a Mandalorian, yet he had to give credit at their service. They were well disciplined and capable. "What is it, soldier?"
The Dawnbreaker saluted, and then stood at ease. "Ruus'alor Haran'buir to see you, sir."
Lothärius frowned. Haran'buir joined the Halcyon clan a few years back. Michael felt that he was perfect to train the Dawnbreakers, as Lothärius would have most of his time focused on the Order. Haran was a true Mandalorian soldier, of the old ways. An expert sniper and survivalist. Lothärius did not care for him. He found it difficult to trust Mandalorians and their cutthroat ways. "Send him in."
The Dawnbreaker saluted again and left the room. A moment later, in walked Haran'buir, a tall man clad head to foot in traditional green Mandalorian Seeker armor. "Su'cuy gar, ner vod." He greeted the Commander. "I have a hunting party of Dawnbreakers that will be crossing through the Order of Mercy's territory later today. They have been instructed not to engage with the Order, but will defend themselves if one of your people opens fire on them again."
Lothärius set down his caf and faced the soldier. He eyed the large rifle on his back carefully. "Your people were unidentified. We are in hiding. It was their own fault for sneaking up on us like that."
"Which is why I am here, now. To inform you of their presence. And to tell you to keep your people in line. Commander." The voice modulator in his helmet prevented much inflection from escaping, but Lothärius swore he heard a smirk in there. "We're all on the same team here, after all."
Haran'buir turned and left the office, his escort of Dawnbreakers quickly falling in line behind him. Lothärius sat in his chair and sighed deeply. This was not how he had planned his retirement would go.