[Edan-khan]
Standing on the bridge of the mid-sized diplomatic vessel a young man stared unseeing at the viewport. With soft white hair braided down his back and a pristine white uniform he looked almost angelic in the light of the stars streaking by outside. Standing at five feet and four inches the man didn't appear imposing at a glance.
But everyone on board the ship knew better.
Blinking two very different eyes the young man came back to himself from his impromptu meditation. He hadn't intended to but something in the Force had called to him and when he answered he had been lulled into a trance. He still didn't know what that had been about but as his awareness expanded he recognized the familiar presence standing beside him.
Cerulean and peridot eyes turned to look up at the warrior, a faint smile touching the corners of his lips.
Holding his brown and green helmet under one arm the man cleared his throat and crossed his arm over his chest in a Mandalorian salute. "You called for me, Highness?" The warrior did not always show him such visible respect, he had long since proved his loyalty, but with so many eyes upon them he clearly felt it was necessary,
For a moment he marveled once again over his achievement. Having a Mandalorian Supercommando heed his every command was a heady feeling.
"Devrim." He acknowledged. "What have you learned about the military might of the planet we're-" he didn't even get a chance to finish is sentence before the Force screamed out in warning.
The ship shuddered violently to one side, nearly throwing everyone off their feet or out of their seats. Even he had a hard time keeping his balance and he had the Force to bolster him.
A gloved hand clamped around his upper arm and pulled him closer to an armored chest, waiting for any potential aftershocks.
"Pelios, what is our status?" He called out to his personal pilot, patting Devrim's armor to let the man know he was fine.
The iktotchi gritted her teeth as her hands flew over the controls. "There's something wrong with the hyperdrive! We've been pulled out of the hyperlane and thrown in a random direction!" The fact that she sounded so alarmed, when iktotchi were known for their cultural stoicism as a whole, was not a good sign. In anyone else he would have considered it a full blown panic attack.
"Qatia, I need to know if our hyperdrive was tampered with!" He snapped, turning towards the muffled presence behind him.
A shadow detached itself from the wall and vanished into the interior of the ship without a word.
"Where's the kid?" Devrim asked through the external comm of his helmet.
Another reason to admire the man, he had his priorities straight.
Reaching out with the Force he brushed against a familiar mind. His daughter hissed and cursed the shaking ship, carefully making her way towards the bridge.
'Are you alright?' He knew she could sense his concern but that was fine, he wasn't trying to hide it from her.
'Father! I'm fine, what's happening? Are we being attacked?' Contrary to what one might expect her mind was full of excitement at the very prospect.
His daughter was a feral little thing, much to his delight. 'I don't believe so. It seems more likely we were sabotaged, but the Force is silent on the matter. We've been pulled from the hyperlane and are hurtling in a random direction.'
'Oh kark!' She cursed as they both braced themselves for another violent shake.
'Language, young lady.' He chided.
'…sorry father. But this isn't good!'
He could sense her fear and brushed a mental hand over her hair in a comforting gesture. 'We'll be fine, little fire. Hurry to the bridge. I will see you soon.'
'Yes father!' Her attention turned outward and the connection dimmed.
Refocusing on the world around him he tuned into the conversation between his pilot and one of the officers.
The man was frantic, clutching at Pelios' seat. "What do you mean we're making an emergency landing? We don't even know if this planet has a breathable atmosphere!"
"Well you better hope it does, because all of our systems are failing and if we don't land soon the results won't be pretty." She practically spat as she unlocked the yoke and pulled back hard.
"Do not question Pelios' judgment! If she says it's the only way, then it's the only way." He commanded, once more wishing the Emperor would allow him to purge the xenophobic officers from their ranks. Their petty cruelty, greed, and superiority made them inefficient. Not to mention annoying. Their disregard for talent, regardless of background, was an affront to everything the Emperor was trying to build.
"Of course, Highness, I only meant that we have your illustrious self to-"
"Master!" Ignoring the simpering suck-up he turned just in time to catch his daughter, stopping the young zabrak from falling on her face.
"Rubra, are you injured?" He scanned her with the Force, relaxing when he sensed nothing wrong.
"I'm fine! Doc is on his way, the Force told me we'd need him."
"I'm already here, Force dammitall!" The agitated man rushed onto the bridge, passing by officers who were struggling to stay on their feet.
Giving his daughter a pleased smile he looked up when he felt a hand on his back. Devrim radiated concern but didn't say anything when Rubra was given over to his care. The man pulled the girl into a safe corner and stood between her and the rest of the room, like a bulwark. He could hear his daughter complaining loudly that she could take care of herself but knew that Devrim would protect her regardless.
The ship jolted harshly to one side, sending the officers flying into one a another, and one of his personal aides. The older man let out a low groan of pain, reaching up to touch the blood coming from the side of his head.
"Karking- don't touch that!" The medic barked, clawing his way over to the corner.
With the medic seeing to the adviser he strode over to his pilot. "Pelios, will the ship be able to make re-entry like this?" He leaned on her chair, gripping the back of it to keep himself steady.
"Questioning my skills now, Sir?" She asked, her hands switching between flicking controls and gripping the yoke.
"Not in the least." He said confidently. "The ship, on the other hand…"
It had been a last minute change from the one he usually took for diplomatic missions. All because there was suspicion that it had been tampered with by enemies of his father within the Empire. But it had obviously been a ruse to get him on this ship, which had been sabotaged.
If he ever found out who had tried to kill him with his daughter on board their end would not be swift or merciful.
"Milord, the hyperdrive was sabotaged as you surmised. It is inoperable, as is much of the sublight drives." Qatia reappeared at his side, expression grim.
"Brace for evasive maneuvers!" Pelios called from the pilot's seat, flipping switches and grasping the yoke with all her strength. "Hold onto something!"
Spiraling through space they hit the planet's atmosphere far too fast. All around him he could sense the ship tearing itself apart. There was no way Pelios would be able to slow their descent enough to save them. In a matter of minutes they would all be crushed by the full force of the ship hitting the planet's surface at maximum speed.
The whole scenario felt… so familiar to him. Something from a lifetime ago when he was someone else entirely. Something he had pushed to the recesses of his mind. But even as the memories remained locked away he snapped into action.
Using the Force he grabbed all those closes to him and pulled. There were confused shouts and terrified screams from those who were not used to such blatant use of the Force but he had no time to reassure them. His sole focus was on embracing the Force and holding the ship.
Sensing what he was doing in the Force Qatia erected a barrier around them. Rubra, who was now pressed against his side between him and Devrim, began feeding into his power in a desperate attempt to help.
Not a moment too soon, the Imperial diplomatic vessel slammed into the earth.
44BBY
[Dooku]
Watching the Mandalorians bristle and prepare to fight he took a slow, deep, breath to settle himself. Something in the Force was screaming 'danger' but he couldn't quite pinpoint the cause. Just as he was about to give the order to subdue the criminals a great boom cracked the sky above them.
Both groups looked up in surprise as a flaming ship streaked past, unable to fly under it's own power. Something about it prickled the back of his neck and made the hairs on his arms rise.
"Ke'daab!" One of the Mandalorians shouted, startling those who had frozen in place into throwing themselves at the ground. They all braced for the impact of the ship.
Likewise he reached out to the Force to ground himself and extend a shield over his fellows.
The ship crashed into the earth with a terrible noise of shearing metal, shattering transparisteel, and the deep rumble of earth. Trees and rocks were thrown into the air along with a significant amount of snow.
When everything settled and the earth was no longer shaking he released his hold on the Force.
Everyone stared at the wreckage for long moments in silence. Both his team and the Mandalorians.
"Should we… help them?" A young Knight spoke up, voice conflicted.
"Of course we should! This is an emergency!" Another said quickly, alarm in his voice and Force presence.
"But we have a mission, we can't allow the criminals to escape." A third said, raising their voice.
"Master, what do we do?" Komari asked him, looking torn between the coming fight and the potential sentients that needed their aid.
Yan found himself in a position he always dreaded thinking about. Do they abandon their mission to bring murderers to justice and aid those trapped on the ship? Or do they leave innocents to die as they continued the mission. There was always the choice of splitting the team, but Mandalorians were not something he wanted to take lightly.
Fortunately the decision was taken from his hands, in the most unfortunate way possible.
A wave of darkness chilled him to the bone as his entire body turned towards the ship, lit lightsaber in hand before he even realized what he was doing. The sheer weight of the dark presence made him shiver, a bead of sweat running down the back of his neck. Yan had been in old temples touched by the dark before, but this was fresh, raw, and scraping against his senses like the claws of some mighty beast.
A harsh screeching sound of metal echoed in the open space as a piece of the ship was shorn away and thrown a considerable distance.
"Wh-what is that!?" Komari whispered in horror, her voice shaking and hands trembling.
The figure that strode from the dark abyss of the ship wore the Dark Side like a familiar cloak. It flowed from their shoulders and pooled beneath them, chilling the air more than any ice ever could.
Yan had fought Darksiders and Fallen Jedi in the past. Had felt the remnants of it as it clung to old temples. But he had never felt anything like this.
With utmost certainly he voiced what everyone had to be thinking in that moment. "Sith."
The revelation shook him to the core.
[Jango]
Flying back to his people, praying to the Ka'ra that the trap hadn't yet been sprung, Jango had far more time to think over what he'd just learned than he wanted. Everything about this trap was far too elaborate for Kyr'tsad and boasted too many connections. Galidraan wasn't a strategically important planet or a place with particular interest to many groups. So how had Tor gotten into contact with the Planetary Governor in the first place? And how did the Governor of a backwater shithole like Galidraan convince the Republic to send their mystical attack dogs after him and his Haat Mando'ade?
None of it was adding up.
A large ship falling through the sky had him hitting the throttle and pushing his jetpack more than was safe. But if it got him into contact with his people faster then it was worth the risk.
His people came into view, scattered and hunkered down in the snow, but they were more of less unscathed. With a relieved sky he hurtled to the ground, slowing his descent at the last moment. "Sit rep!" He barked over the comms as his feet hit the ground.
Myles hurried to his side, looking harried. "Alor, the jetiise showed up and were gearing up for an attack when that," he motioned towards the downed ship, "came out of nowhere."
"Saw that." He nodded, eyeing the odd looking ship for a moment. "Tell everyone to get ready to evac the wounded, this job was a trap. Kyr'stad are on their way."
Myles stiffened, fury obvious to anyone who knew him. "Yes, Alor." Taking over the comm channels Myles started giving orders, walking a few paces away from Jango to sign at a couple nearby commandos.
Letting his second do his job, Jango turned to regard the jetiise. They were arguing amongst themselves, from what he could see, until the one at the head of the group turned sharply towards the ship. A second later so did Jango as a metallic shrieking echoed over the entire field. A large chunk of the ship was tossed into the air an impressive distance away and he froze at the insane amount of strength that kind of feat would require.
From inside the ship a humanoid strode out into the snow, their white clothes nearly blending in with the snowy landscape. "Fett!"
Jango startled at hearing his name from some aruetii he'd never seen before. Myles spun in place to stare at him, helmet tilted in confusion, before another figure emerged from the crashed ship.
The figure wore brown and green beskar'gam but the design was old. Something right out of a tapestry or carving detailing their ancient history.
And that figure that was quickly coming their way.
Mando'a;
Ke'daab- Get down!
Alor- Sir/Ma'am/Respectful address for a superior.
Jetii/Jetiise- Jedi/Jedi plural.
Kyr'tsad- Death watch, faction of Mandalorians. Terrorists.
Haat Mando'ade- Faction of Mandalorians. Mercenaries with an honor code.
Aruetii- Foreigner, Outsider, Traitor. Context heavy.
Beskar'gam- "Iron Skin," Mandalorian armor. Sacred to Mandalorians.