Chapter 10

Shaker picked up the limp form that lay before him, as Mover worked to overcome the disorientation dealt to him by Articus Trang. Several of his brothers had been slain by each other in the chaos of the last few moments before Lira Ansii had shown up with a handful of reinforcements, including Shaker.

Ansii recounted her experiences with the group as they assembled, resuming their journey to the separatist listening station that was their last objective on this world. Lira was already fond of her padawan, reminding her much of her younger self. She was sure that Zim would be well suited to the teachings of Master Stral when they finally met.

"I'm sure this isn't quite what you had in mind for your first mission as a Jedi, is it, padawan?", Ansii asked her new apprentice.

"Not particularly. Though as I've come to understand, you never know what to expect in war. Especially on this scale.", Ta'ni replied.

"So, is this imposter a Sith?", Zim wondered aloud.

"No. She's of a mysterious ancient species of force-sensitive beings. They're rumored live for milennia, feeding on hosts. As you've learned, they're master hunters and prefer those strong in the Force.", Ansii informed.

"Those are the Anzati, right?", Ta'ni guessed, "so it turns out they aren't mythical at all."

"Impressive, young one. They are very real indeed. Adept at blending in…or masquerading as Jedi."

"This one sure isn't light", Shaker complained, trading duties with Mover, "she's ice cold. Like a corpse."

"They're surrounded in mystery, as they're rare to be captured.", Ansii continued, "I believe she is responsible for the missing Jedi around the purse worlds. Which is how I came to be frozen in carbonite, hence, my delay here."

"So how did you escape to come here? That transport definitely isn't Republic.", Mover questioned.

"From an unlikely ally.", she answered.

--

Replacing his data spike as the blast door began to open, Conn readied his weapons, pistol drawn and wrist lasers primed. He followed one edge of the widening door to remain covered as he surveyed the room beyond. Two B1s fired out of the opening before Conn picked them off. The tactical command droid pressed a com link button when its arm blew apart, followed by its right knee. It collapsed sideways onto the floor as it ordered someone to hail reinforcements. The spray of blaster fire into the room rendered it all but silent. Conn stepped on the command droid's remaining arm.

"What is the nature of this operation?", he asked.

"You'll get nothing from me, bounty hunter.", the droid vocalized.

Conn removed the droid's head for data retrieval. But for now, he needed to capture the base to warn Ansii and hopefully get off this rock in one piece, with his payday. He scanned the droid controls, noting the inventory that was active. No vulture droids, so 86 must have dusted them before he landed. Conn cycled through options and started an automated shutdown of all droid forces. As the screen displayed droids going offline, Conn manned a turret control and began gunning down the droids that the Republic missed. It was quick and efficient, although the troopers looked bewildered, understandably so. The army outside of the station walls was a smoldering pile of scrap in short order.

After opening the main gate, Conn used the base's comm array to relay the information from the tactical droid to 86 for decoding, along with a status update on his ship. Fortunately, it had landed unscathed, though Conn ordered 86 to stand by pending information within the command droid. He'd been in enough scuffles to anticipate a sucker punch.

While waiting on the clones and Jedi to filter in, he began to examine the droid head himself, even if only to recall the transmission he'd witnessed. So far, nothing. It appeared as if the droid wiped the conversation as it happened.

--

With the fighting through and the droid army defeated, Master Stral had questions. He was almost hesitant to enter the listening station for fear of a possible ambush, but every last droid had powered down prior to their destruction. The atmosphere of the planet restricted droid control to the station, but who would deactivate the army that had fought them to a stalemate? Traab's commandos scouted the building and found a hole blown into the side of the door to the landing platform. A detachment of Ko's men left to investigate Traab's fate as well as the reappearance of Master Ansii. As Stral and his men combed the station, a voice came over the corridors and storehouses. "Jedi, the station is clear. For now. I have important information in the control center of the station. It would be to your benefit to move quickly." Master Ko accompanied Stral to the center of the station to find a Mandalorian awaiting them, with the station's tactical droid plugged into the main projector. He was cool in his demeanor, but reserved. A stark contrast to the deadly bristling armor covering him. There was a short pause as Traab's commandos filed in near the blast door. "What's the meaning of this? You could be detained for holding information vital to the Republic!" Stral warned.

"Easy, Mon Cal. I'm handing this station over to you. I'm here to collect on a bounty, one I'm confident is here," Conn opened. "I came with one of your Jedi compatriots. A Master Ansii."

"Well, that would indeed explain a few things, but why track a bounty to the middle of a war zone? Your ship has been the only thing to fly in the atmosphere aside from the vulture droids that gave us so much trouble," Ko replied.

"I tracked a mark to a warehouse full of carbonite slabs, where your Jedi was found. I'm told the culprit could have stowed away aboard the crashed supply shuttle that arrived shortly before I did."

"Frozen Jedi? Outrageous," Stral dismissed. "It would be more likely this is a trap set by you, a profiteering opportunist! You shall be detained until we get some more evidence supporting your claims."

"Who's going to do it, fish man? You? I'm not in this for a cause, I'm here for money," Conn said, irritated.

"While we wait for Master Ansii to turn up, what of the information you mentioned earlier?" Ko tried to deflect.

"What's it worth to you? The rest of my story doesn't seem good enough."

"Enough. Detain this man," Stral ordered the commandos. Conn bashed his right gauntlet into the first commando's faceplate, cracking it and sending him careening over a console. A second tried to take hold of him, but the third commando wasn't quick enough to aid, and was promptly headbutted in the face. Conn drew his pistol and flipped the fire selector to stun as he shoved the second commando off and blasted him. The fight spilled into the corridor as two more attempted to stun Conn in a similar manner but didn't draw fast enough. Stral ignited his lightsaber and came down for Conn's shoulder, but caught his left gauntlet instead. Stral received a boot to his leg as he went down on one knee. Conn was milliseconds from crushing the Mon Cal's skull with an elbow when Typher Ko stepped in.

"Please. These are trying times, for all of us. My fellow Jedi values protocol, but I do indeed value your information. You are free to go as you wish, but this mission has been too hard fought to lose much else."

"I'll stay until my quarry is confirmed. We can work out the payment until then," Conn asserted.

"Fair enough. Now, what of your findings here?" Ko deescalated. Conn stepped back, relaxing his posture and holstering his blaster. Then he continued, "While infiltrating this facility, the command droid was sent a live communication-"

"Live? Off planet? Impossible!" Stral interrupted. "The main power generator is still down. The equipment is inoperable!"

"You can check the signal if you want, all I know is Dooku planned for these droids to shut down, even before I got the better of them," Conn said.

"Now, this is concerning. Our intelligence said this was merely an outpost. Presumed for expansion, hence our sparse equipment," Ko said. "We were under the impression that we'd disabled their ability to communicate off-world, as well."

"Then, I'm afraid your opponent knows their station fell to you," Conn deduced. "Though, it doesn't explain the droids self-deactivating."

"A curious puzzle. Perhaps a planned ambush?" Ko pondered.

"They'd have to know you'd destroy their forces after the fact."

"Not every sentient operates in chaos and destruction as you, Mandalorian," Stral sneered.

"Maybe not. But something doesn't add up."

"Master Ko, I'm late to the party, but I trust you've met my new friend?" Ansii's voice said through the comlink.

"Yes. Please, join us. We have much to discuss and little time," Ko finished

--

As Ta'ni walked the corridors of the station, troopers checked their gear and fortified defenses. Some repaired damage, others policed up deactivated droids. Something big was about to happen, though she didn't know what. Master Ansii told her about the Mandalorian who rescued her, and she even saw him with the other Jedi before they parted ways. She thought she heard Count Dooku mentioned once. But for now, she and Zim had to assist the clone commandos in guarding Articus Trang, who sat quietly in her makeshift holding cell. It was almost more unsettling that she said nothing, rather than trying to escape. After the encounter in the wastelands below the base, she and Zim kept their minds sharp.

Mover and Shaker had stood in for a pair of the commandos who had been incapacitated before she arrived here. It was just as well, they were familiar. Friendly, even. It took some of the edge off of guarding Trang. Mover had been upset about being manipulated into killing clones, but he kept his composure rather well considering.

"Rest easy, clone. You were a pawn who merely played a part. You should feel honored to have played such a part, especially that you've lived through it.", Trang said almost soothingly.

"That'll be enough out of you, snot vampire.", one of the commandos shot back.

Trang laughed at the insult, uncrossing her legs and planting her feet on the floor. For a prisoner of war on a desolate rock, she looked like she had better things to be doing. Though she wasn't hurried to be stranded, either.

"Don't listen to her, Mover.", Ta'ni whispered to the clone, "How is it that you're so unfazed right now?", she directed to the prisoner.

"Do you know what it is to live nearly a millennium? To see what the livestock of the Galaxy do to each other, yet hold themselves on a pedestal? All of this will pass, and I along with it. I have before.", Trang articulated.

Master Stral appeared, with a limp, to relieve the padawan of her duties, to be briefed on the unsettling situation. He hadn't yet introduced himself to his new padawan, either.

Ta'ni departed with Shaker. She saw a group of clones working to restore the power generator damaged in the siege of the station, which would help communications over the planet and off world as well, though it was a moot point since there was practically nothing else on the planet. She wondered how close the separatists had been to communicating on the base's secondary power. It was hard to piece everything together with mere fragments of the whole story.

"Welcome, padawan Geen. Apologies for the unconventional introductions to warfare as a Jedi.", Ko said lightheartedly, "We have quite a few extenuating circumstances that seem to be overlapping."

"She's met Miss Trang firsthand, me much more recently as a result.", Ansii added, "and this is the man who has brought much of this together, largely due to his rescue effort. Conn Vallai."

The Mandalorian simply nodded. As tough as the clones looked among the Jedi who could easily outmatch them, Vallai looked to her like trouble for most any Jedi, indeed the kind of sentient to claim an entire base single-handed. He wasn't a large being, perhaps slightly taller than 1.7 meters, his armor slightly accentuating broad shoulders. There were more muzzles poking out of his limbs than the present clones had on them.

As the events leading up to the here and now unfolded for her, Conn seemed primarily concerned with getting paid. It was insane that anyone would be concerned with nothing but money in such an environment, though she'd read about their creed and at least understood Mandalorians weren't to be trifled with.

Currently, he wasn't getting paid for capturing Trang, since he didn't actually capture her, and he couldn't receive a reward for returning Ansii as it could easily be misconstrued that he held her for ransom. But he did a great service by capturing the base and finding Trang when he did. He seemed to be growing irritated with the conversation foundering, indeed seeming like he had better places to be.

It seemed to be favorable for everyone, however, that he transport Trang to the galactic core where she could be dealt with accordingly, removing a hazard from the mission simultaneously. There was also talk of missing Jedi frozen aboard some freighter, though the particulars hadn't yet been worked out. Master Ko handed Conn a requisition for 150,000 Republic credits to be awarded when he arrived on Coruscant, with Trang neutralized, preferably alive. With the agreement in place, Conn departed the room for his quarry. He'd just made it into the corridor when he was stopped short.

"Masters Typher Ko, Valen Stral, and Lira Ansii, greetings.", the holographic projection of Count Dooku interrupted, "I would like to congratulate you on a battle well fought for a position so well fortified. Your resourcefulness is most commendable. But I'm afraid your victory is to be short-lived."

"Why were your droids to be deactivated at the height of a stalemate?", Ko asked.

"It is to my knowledge that the forces were deactivated manually, presumably at your behest.", Dooku said, "regardless, we have units en route and will retake the base. Your actions will decide the fate of you and your charge."

With that, the transmission ceased. There was a long pause in the room. Ansii finally spoke up.

"Since we won't be able to get reinforcements in time, what are our options?"

"We don't know how many they will send or what measures they're prepared to take.", Ko answered, "how damaged is the shuttle that brought the padawans here?"

"It's smashed beyond repair.", Zim blurted out.

"Mine was destroyed early in our occupation by an aerial patrol, one we'd hoped to have replaced with the arrival of your vessel."

"My ship could hold maybe a dozen passengers, but that's including the holding cells. You'd be leaving men to die.", Conn observed, "Surely you didn't bring all of this equipment with one shuttle."

"Masters Traab and Stral arrived shortly before me, though their transport would be nearly halfway around the planet. Perhaps you could take Master Stral to retrieve it? He would be our best bet at locating the ship, anyway."

"I'll have to convince him to ride with me first.", Conn joked, "But I can drop him off on my way out."

"It's a slim chance, but better than none at all."

The spirits in the room lifted from this slightest bit of hope. The impending attack weighed on every move made, and every second spent. With that, the Mandalorian made his way to the detention area.

--

As carefully as you would sneak through a well-guarded and opulent room, Articus Trang listened and probed the thoughts of her Jedi captors right outside of the door to the room she currently occupied. There had been a recent shift in energy here, an opportunity on the horizon. She sat cross-legged on the cot that had been moved into the improvised detention cell. As she sat, she could hear the Mon Cal Jedi grumbling as someone approached. The new voice she heard was that of the Mandalorian she'd heard about. The one she'd seen in the bowels of Coruscant. She didn't need to invade thoughts to tell the Mon Cal didn't like the bounty hunter. He was displeased even more to hear that the Mandalorian was to escort him to a ship, the one he'd arrived in. As the Mon Cal recalled it to memory, Trang too, now knew where it was located. As the Jedi's thoughts dwelled on his distaste for the man, Trang was slightly surprised to learn that the Mandalorian's ship was very near the crashed shuttle she'd arrived on. Opportunity indeed. This brought a smile to her face, despite her hunt being cut short. One of the commandos and the clone that had called himself "Shaker" came into the room, ordering her to stand. They moved her outside of the room, joining two more troopers, and proceeded down the corridor toward the shuttle bay. The Jedi and his Padawan led the way, the clones following, with the Mandalorian bringing up the rear. She laughed inwardly at how seriously they took her, though she was formidable even in her own eyes. As they passed through the empty shuttle bay, she couldn't help but notice a hole in the door, blown inward. They passed through it and onto the open landing platform. It hung over the edge of the plateau that housed the station. It must have been a hundred meters to the swamp below by her guess. The clones stopped just outside of the opening in the door to cover the entire platform. As the Mandalorian pulled his gauntlet up to hail his ship, he froze momentarily distracted by their entourage. In perfect unison, the clones pressed on their helmets as if to receive orders. The commando had a small holoprojector in his hand with a hooded figure Trang had never seen before, but the flash that permeated the air was the same dark energy she'd felt on Coruscant. It was him.