"Have you ever been on Coruscant before, Sergeant?" Cyr'rnin asked.

"I have, ma'am," Dorne replied. "Following my defection. But my view of it was less accommodating." She looked out of the speeder window at the Coruscant skyline.

"What about you, Forex?" Cyr'rnin asked.

"Some of my components were designed and manufactured here," he replied. "But this is the first time since my activation to visit the glorious Republic homeworld."

Cyr'rnin said, "What's your take on this meeting, Jorgan?"

Jorgan said, "Gotta be Tavus."

"Welcome, Lieutenant," General Garza said. "At ease. First, I want to congratulate you on everything you've achieved thus far. You've completed missions and defeated enemies that few other soldiers could ever contend with."

"I've got the right team, ma'am," Cyr'rnin said.

"Indeed you do," Garza replied. "We've made a critical breakthrough in the search for Tavus. A decisive opportunity has presented itself. Are you ready to end this, Lieutenant?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Garza said, "We've intercepted a signal broadcast to Taris, Nar Shaddaa, Tatooine and Alderaan. The signal contained a message from Tavus, calling for all of his surviving followers to pull out and rendezvous in Imperial space."

Cyr'rnin said, "Do we have the coordinates for the rendezvous?"

"Yes," Garza said. "They were included in the signal. I suspect the Empire is losing its patience with Tavus. Your missions have been very costly for the Empire. I think Tavus is trying to regroup before the Imperials cut him off completely."

"Orders, ma'am?"

"I want you to infiltrate Tavus's rendezvous," Garza said. "Once on board, your first objective will be disabling the ship's hyperdrive. I will have strike teams aboard the frigate Harmony a short jump away. Forex will be with them. Once the hyperdrive is disabled, signal the Harmony, and the strike teams will begin boarding. Next, locate and neutralize Tavus and Wraith with extreme prejudice, Lieutenant."

"Understood, ma'am," Cyr'rnin said.

"Any questions?" Garza asked.

"Plenty," Cyr'rnin replied.

"Sergeant Lullel," Garza said. A Cerean female rushed over. "Lieutenant, this is Sergeant Temy Lullel. She is coordinating the operation. She can get you whatever you need."

"Ma'am," Lullel said, saluting.

"Sergeant," Cyr'rnin said. "I need to speak to the strike team leaders. I also need floorplans of the vessel, if you have them. My team will need new armor. We can't walk in with Havoc insignia."

Lullel tapped rapidly on her datapad. "Team leaders on their way, downloading known schematics for the Harrower class dreadnought, and accessing personnel records. Your new armor will be here in twenty minutes, team leaders in ten. What's next?"

Cyr'rnin smiled and said, "Cover stories."

"Good day, Lieutenant," the soldier said. Republic accent in an Imperial uniform. Cyr'rnin smiled as politely as she could. "Welcome aboard the Justice," he continued. "I am Lieutenant Romm. I need to run a few questions by you before you head on into the crew area." A couple of other soldiers moved closer, checking out Cyr'rnin and Dorne.

"Go right ahead, Lieutenant," Cyr'rnin said.

"Names?" he asked.

"Vezau Fenn," Cyr'rnin said.

"Xyduk Tisin," Jorgan said.

"Chryssa Anthou," Dorne replied.

"You sound Imperial," Romm asked.

"She is," one of the other soldiers said. "I saw her on Tatooine."

Romm said, "You weren't stationed at the base."

"No, I wasn't," the other soldier said. "I was in Anchorhead, deploying the bombs and reporting on their effectiveness. When the base fell to the Republic, the Imps scattered. The Republic captured most of them. Slavers or krayt dragons got the rest." He looked Dorne up and down. "Slavers grabbed this one, right before the Republic destroyed their operation. I saw her." He nodded at Dorne. "Working in a cantina."

"Yes," Elara replied. "I was Lieutenant Fenn's liaison. I'd contacted her after the base fell. Unfortunately, we couldn't rendezvous until after I was free of the slavers."

"Why not go back to the Empire?" Romm asked.

"I tried," Elara said. "Multiple times. My request was rejected."

Romm scanned his datapad. "Says here you were captured by the Republic."

Elara sighed. "A higher ranking officer must have used my name." The second soldier was still checking her out.

"Don't worry," Romm said. "We'll get you sorted out." He looked at the other soldier. "Are you remembering the bikini?"

The other soldier smiled. "She wasn't wearing it. Slippers and bracelets and nothing else." Dorne held back a gasp.

Romm looked Elara over. "I'm sorry I missed that. You know, Sergeant, in the spirit of camaraderie..."

Cyr'rnin took a step forward.

"It's quite all right, Lieutenant," Dorne told Cyr'rnin. "Such discourse is common in the Empire. Against both men and women. I'm... surprised you haven't learned that."

Cyr'rnin shrugged. "I don't hear it much."

"We're kidding, Sergeant," Romm said. "Tatooine, huh? Some other guys from Tatooine were telling me Fuse cracked out there- that he suddenly just refused to continue his work."

Cyr'rnin shook her head. "Fuse didn't crack, he just refused to butcher civilians."

Romm said, "All that time blowing up buildings, he forgot what war was about. So what about this other rumor I keep hearing? That a single Republic soldier came in and broke up the entire operation? Is that really true?"

"Not on Tatooine," Cyr'rnin said. "I wasn't there for the fight, but I heard the Republic had two Jedi with them."

"I heard the same," the other soldier said.

"I saw them," Dorne said. "And ran to get reinforcements."

"That sounds about right," the other soldier said. He smiled at her again. "You should've stayed at the cantina. It's a safer job."

"Not really my decision," Dorne replied.

"I won't hold you up any longer, Lieutenant," Romm said. "Go on and head for the crew area."

Once they were in the lift, Cyr'rnin looked straight at Dorne.

"More than ever, ma'am," Dorne said.

Cyr'rnin nodded.

The lift stopped at the crew quarters level. They wouldn't be assigned quarters until they were verified. Until then, they were to wait in the galley. Cyr'rnin ran through the map in her head. The galley was near two maintenance ladders. One could get them close to the primary hyperdrive motivator. The other, with some extra effort, could get them close to the backup motivator.

When they reached the galley, Jorgan asked, "Orders, ma'am?"

"I'll take the primary," Cyr'rnin said. "You get the backup. Signal me when you've disabled it. Dorne, we need a distraction."

Elara scanned the room and identified three men that recognized her. "Shan't be a problem, ma'am." She walked to the end of the soldiers in line for their food, filled a tray, thanked the cooks, turned around and stopped. The three men circled her.

"Nauv was right," one said.

"I'm sorry, ma'am," another said. "For the slap on your ass. That was out of line."

"I don't recall yours in particular," Elara said.

He chuckled. "I suppose that's true. Still, I am sorry."

"I'm trying to forget the entire thing," Elara said. She looked nervously at the third man. He hadn't spoken, but his gaze was more intense.

The first soldier said, "If you're not seeing anyone..."

"Thank you, no," Elara said. "I'm still recovering from the trauma."

"Too bad," the third said. "I wanted to buy you."

Elara threw her tray to the floor. "That is quite enough! I wasn't rescued by slavers! I was captured by them! That cantina was one in a long list of degradations inflicted on me! I'll have you know-!"

She was still ranting when Cyr'rnin and Jorgan slipped away. Cyr'rnin reached the first ladder and headed down, and Jorgan moved on to the second. Three floors down, Cyr'rnin reached the first engineering deck. Side passage, side passage, access duct, a second ladder, primary hyperdrive diagnostic panel. She plugged in Sergeant Lullel's slicer module and waited. Good woman, Lullel, and Havoc squad needed a tech expert.

Cyr'rnin paused. She was thinking like a commanding officer. When had that started?

She saw movement in the reflection of the screen and she took cover. Blaster fire hit the wall near her.

"Hello, Lieutenant," Wraith said.

"Hello, Wraith," Cyr'rnin replied. "I was hoping we'd bump into each other."

"You're caught," Wraith said. "You've failed."

Not while the slicer chip was still running. "Don't get ahead of yourself."

"I told Tavus we needed better security on the recruits," Wraith said. She was out of sight, trying to find a better position. "When I heard about the commotion in the galley, I knew we'd been compromised. Obvious distraction."

Cyr'rnin's comm beeped. Jorgan deactivated the backup motivator. Looks like the primary had better security.

"Tavus!" Wraith said. "I have eyes on Havoc Squad. The Justice has been breached."

"Where?" Tavus's voice said.

"Hyperdrive maintenance."

"Shit! All teams, prepare for boarders. Wraith, I'm sending backup."

Cyr'rnin could just make out the readout on the screen. Four, three, two, one. Alert. The primary hyperdrive motivator has entered an emergency repair cycle. Hyperdrive will be unavailable for the next thirty minutes. Cyr'rnin transmitted the signal.

"Tell me, Lieutenant," Wraith said. "Do you know the crew complement of a Harrower class dreadnought?"

Blaster fire hit near Wraith's head. "Twenty-three hundred," Elara said. "With up to seventy-three hundred troops." She fired again. "But the Justice is significantly below that. The Empire would never risk their best on a bunch of traitors."

Cyr'rnin used the distraction to locate Wraith, targeted the bulkhead near her, and fired a concussion grenade. The shockwave knocked all three to the ground, but did the most damage to Wraith. The former Havoc member fought the pain and spun out of Cyr'rnin's line of fire. And into Dorne's. Elara fired three times, hitting twice. Wraith staggered back, and Cyr'rnin finished her off.

"Really, ma'am?!" Dorne said through the screaming in their ears. "A concussion grenade in an enclosed, metallic space?!"

"It worked, didn't it?!" Cyr'rnin yelled over the noise. "What's the fastest way to the bridge?!"

"Officer's lift!" Dorne replied. "One hundred and twenty meters that way!"

"Jorgan!" Cyr'rnin said over the comm.

"Problem?" he asked.

"Long story! Rendezvous at the officer's lift! Watch yourself! Reinforcements are on the way! Onoka out!"

A second line of Imperial troops moved in. The three of them dropped down behind the remains of two battle droids and continued firing. Dorne had been right. The Imperial troops were not the best the Empire had to offer. When the Imperial were down, Cyr'rnin got to work slicing the lift control. And failed. And tried again. Nina and Xal were good at this kind of thing, not her.

"Really?" Jorgan said. "Concussion grenade?"

"It worked," Cyr'rnin pointed out.

"And probably gave us both concussions," Dorne said. "No pun intended."

Cyr'rnin failed and tried again.

"I'd offer to help, ma'am," Jorgan said with a shrug.

"I know," Cyr'rnin replied. "What do you think of Lullel as a tech expert?"

Jorgan said, "Efficient, professional, got that Cerean advantage. As quick with her details as Sergeant Dorne. And Garza obviously trusts her."

"Dorne?" Cyr'rnin asked.

"The Cerean double brain is a considerable advantage in a tech expert," Elara said. "But, Cereans generally lack the strength and physical coordination of other humanoids. However, that is not an absolute. If-"

"Got it!" Cyr'rnin said. "Finish what you were saying."

"If she can pass the physical requirements, she would be a valuable asset."

Cyr'rnin nodded. "I'll talk to the General the first chance I get." They pulled one of the droid shells onto the lift for cover and started up.

Halfway up lift, the Justice shook from the impact of multiple tractor beams. Cyr'rnin smiled. The attack from the strike teams would clear a lot of the corridors. They took cover behind the droid and waited for the lift doors to open. Jorgan managed to reactivate the droid's shields but only at half strength. The lift doors opened, and they were hit with fire from thirty troops and a dozen battle droids.

Cyr'rnin's comm beeped. "Lieutenant!" Forex said. "I detect your signal on the bridge level. Do you have cover?"

"We do for now," Cyr'rnin replied.

"You will need it, ma'am," the droid replied. "We will be at your location in twelve seconds."

They fired a volley of flash and concussion grenades and dropped behind the droid. At the twelve second mark, two boarding capsules punched through the corridor bulkheads. Forex rolled out of the nearest capsule followed by Republic troops. Sergeant Lullel and a second strike team emerged from the second capsule.

"For the Republic!" the droid shouted.

"For the Republic," Cyr'rnin said and charged the corridor. Jorgan and Dorne followed.

The strike teams finished off the Imperials not injured by the boarding capsules and fought their way to the bridge doors. Lullel reached the doors first, rapidly slicing the command codes.

"Forex," Cyr'rnin said. "You lead the assault."

"Targets identified!" Forex said. "Initiating slaughter protocols!"

"Shield team," Cyr'rnin said. "Follow Forex in. We need a perimeter. We can't let them turn the doors into a choke point. Jorgan, if you get a shot on Tavus, take it."

"Yes, ma'am," Jorgan said.

Tavus had set up a defensive line on the bridge with the best of his people. He proved, over and over, how he earned his place as Havoc Squad's commander. Establishing a defensive line at the door took almost twenty minutes. Pushing both strike teams onto the bridge took twenty more. Cyr'rnin spotted the trooper that wanted to buy Dorne and took some pleasure in shooting him in the face. After ten minutes of blasters and grenades, Jorgan found his shot. By then, two more Republic teams had reached the bridge, and the remaining defenders surrendered. They reached Tavus's body, and Dorne confirmed his death.

"Well done," Cyr'rnin said.

Forex said, "Havoc Squad never fails!"

Jorgan and Dorne shrugged at each other.

"Sergeant Lullel," Cyr'rnin said. "Those slicing chips were top notch. Have you ever considered Havoc Squad?"

Lullel sighed. "I've failed the physical four times, ma'am."

"Keep at it," Cyr'rnin said. "We'd love to have you. Team, the Justice isn't ours yet. Let's move out."

"Harron Tavus, dead," General Garza said. Every strike not securing prisoners had gathered in the landing bay of the Harmony. Havoc Squad stood at the front of the crowd. "He was one of the best soldiers to ever serve under my command. It's a very great shame that he chose to end his career this way."

"I'm sorry we had to kill him," Cyr'rnin said.

"You did your duty," Garza replied. "You have absolutely nothing to apologize for. You've accomplished something remarkable today. Tavus and his followers knew every aspect of our organization. They could have torn the Republic military apart piece by piece- but they never got the chance. Thanks to you."

"I had help, ma'am," Cyr'rnin said. Approval came from the crowd.

"No question," Garza said. "But that does nothing to lessen what you've achieved. Havoc Squad has earned some leave, as soon as we're back in Republic space. Everyone, dismissed."

"Lieutenant!" Forex said. "With your permission, I would like to use my leave to begin the morale improvement initiative. I've found our first potential target: an Imperial propagandist-"

"I trust you, Forex. Enjoy your leave."

"Affirmative!" The droid left with determination.

"What about you, Jorgan?" she asked.

"Got a message from a buddy in the Deadeyes," he replied. "The kind of message I need to take. I won't be gone too long."

"Call if you need an assist," Cyr'rnin told him.

He snorted at that. "I just might." He took off.

"Dorne?" Cyr'rnin asked.

"We have one of them, ma'am," Elara said. "Injured but alive. His story matches some of the... dreams... I've had." She took a breath. "And his... descriptions of... certain... He could not have known otherwise." She sighed. "Do you know why your cousin-?"

"Master Satele thinks it's Vivcar," Cyr'rnin said. "Holding him back has been corrupting Yvie."

"Why is it Master Agenord but just 'Yvie'?"

"That... is a lot of information," Cyr'rnin replied. "Just, enjoy your leave."

"I shall, ma'am," Elara said with a smile. "Your brother contacted me. We are to be exclusive starting immediately. I shall be meeting him on Tatooine for some... controlled... debauchery."

Cyr'rnin smiled. "Well, that'll be a first for him." Elara nodded and left.

Almost a year since Ord Mantell. She still didn't feel like a commander or even an officer. But, she felt like Havoc Squad.

"Lieutenant?" Lullel said, pulling Cyr'rnin back. "General Garza would like to see you in her office. Something has... happened."

"Ma'am?" Cyr'rnin asked and waited. Empty office. Even Lullel was gone.

The general looked very uncomfortable. "I have good news and bad, Lieutenant. First, your brother Ter'viro has just been declared the Champion of the Great Hunt." Cyr'rnin smiled and nodded her gratitude. "The problem is with his final target. The Great Hunt has always chosen a difficult opponent. This year was no exception. Your brother had to fight Jedi Master Kellian Jarro."

"The Mandalorian Killer?" Cyr'rnin said.

"It's not the first time a Jedi has been chosen as the final target," Garza said. "But, if it were that alone, we would let the Jedi Council handle it."

"Ma'am, Ter'viro's good, but he's not Kellian Jarro good."

"It's more than just that," Garza told her. "Master Jarro was aboard the Republic Starship Aurora, scheduled to be decommissioned in a few weeks. According to reports, your brother disabled the hyperdrive regulator and sent the Aurora into hyperspace. All hands were lost except for Jarro's Padawan, Thendys Noori."

"Ma'am?" Cyr'rnin said. "That can't be right."

"It is, as far as we know," Garza said. "We don't have recordings from the Aurora. The comm array and hyperspace beacon were disabled shortly after your brother was on board."

"He didn't disable them, did he?"

"I don't believe so," Garza replied.

"Ma'am," Cyr'rnin began. "This... this is an act of war."

"I am aware of that. The Republic is in communication with the Mandalorians as we speak."

"Ter'viro?"

"Will be arrested if he enters Republic space."

"This isn't him, ma'am," Cyr'rnin said. "My brother wouldn't kill the entire crew of the Aurora."

"I believe you, Lieutenant. I reviewed his targets. He brought them in alive whenever he could. Minimal collateral damage."

"What now, ma'am?"

"I don't know, Lieutenant," Garza said. "This is above even my rank."

"Maybe Master Agenord could help," Cyr'rnin suggested.

"I'm sure the Council has thought of that," Garza said. "If anyone approaches you about your brother, Mandalorian, Republic, anyone, feel free to tell me."

"Yes, ma'am."

"For now," the general said. "Enjoy your leave, Lieutenant."

"I'll do that, ma'am."