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717 FNM (21 BBY) Month 4

Coruscant, En-route to Republic Military Prison

Tal Merrik

Things have not gone to plan. You could say that it had gone very badly indeed. Right now, I should be on Concord Dawn, planning my next move to bring Mandalore to the side of the CIS while drinking a cocktail. Instead, I am locked in the back of a prison transport on the way to a Republic military prison. Apparently, it had been decided that the senatorial prison I was being kept in was not secure enough because I was a traitor.

All my work had gone up in smoke, but at least I'm sure that someone would come to get me out of this situation. I've aligned myself with all of Satine's enemies; one of them would definitely want me out for the information I could provide them. Along with the fact that I could facilitate communications between those enemies, allowing them to work together against the Jedi lovers.

I simply needed to be patient. Sooner or later, one of them would make a move. Although I guess before then, I would probably be put through the wringer by a Republic interrogator. They would probably send a Jedi to dig into my mind with their powers while they are at it. They're becoming known for doing that, from recent debates in the Senate I'd been paying attention to.

Sighing, I thought back on what led me to this situation. When this mess all started, I thought for sure Satine was on the way out. The Mandalorian government would not last for very long, based on the amount of factions I saw plotting within the Mandalorian sector. I thought I could secure myself a future seat at the table of what would replace it. Now, I was replaced by that ducal princess, her crafty schemes had beaten the odds and no doubt, she is going to control the Mandalorian sector with an iron fist once Satine retires.

Or at least try. I still hold out hope that she would be dethroned sooner or later, as the potential for civil war is still quite high. I doubted that Purton Jendri, the governor of Concord Dawn, would leave this opportunity unused. The conflict offered an excellent chance to strike and regain control of Vorpa'ya, a profitable planet that was currently denied to him.

Perhaps I should consider the other option. If the Kryze family dynasty and Satine's hegemonic control of Mandalore stays secure, maybe turning evidence on him would get me some leniency. Maybe move my imprisonment from Coruscant to Mandalore, at least.

Letting out a deep breath, I wondered if giving up on this plan a while back would have hurt me. It might have been worth it to try to mentor the princess. Granted, it was clear from the outset that she was going to steal my position in the Senate, but considering where I ended up, maybe I should have considered an early retirement when I had the chance.

Before I could ruminate too far on that thought, the vehicle came to a stop, and two clones opened the back door.

"Alright, criminal scum, come on out." they called.

I could only mutter, "I'm a Prince, you know." I stepped forward as regally as I could, still bound in chains.

I took a breath and stepped out onto the empty landing pad placed in front of the prison. It was a building without many windows, and I wondered if I'd ever see the light of day again once I was inside it. Well, I didn't have much time to wonder about that.

As I was about to take my step toward my long and dull sentence, an excruciating pain hit me in my chest. Confused for a moment, I looked down and saw the telltale signs of a blaster burn. Then, as everything sort of just faded away, all I could think about was how I never should have left Kalevala, wished I stayed a local prince. Perhaps with a minor role in the galaxy, I could have stayed a friend to Satine.

Coruscant, Upper District Skyline

Hudu Shiv

My first big mission outside the Mandalore sector, and the entire operation has already gone to shit. Oh, who am I kidding? This operation was shit from the start. Death Watch missions outside the sector are generally riskier, but orders are orders and I have my own reasons to be on Coruscant. Coruscant is the best place — sometimes the only place — to browse and find guns, equipment, and specialized kit from every corner of the galaxy. Of course, the really high-end stuff is custom-made or hidden away at the corners of the galaxy, but I don't have Jango Fett's level of credits to spend.

Concord Dawn, on the other hand, is way too far away for me to afford anything except the cheapest commercialized gear, and that with the outrageous shipping rates. The first hints of sunlight over the horizon brought me back out of my thoughts, and I looked down upon Coruscant in search of my target. It should be dawn soon and I still couldn't find her.

The operation was supposed to be simple. Satine was supposed to have died on the way here, murdered by the Republic. At least that was the story that would have been fed to the Mandalorians back in the Mandalorian sector. The great peacekeeper and savior died at the hands of the people she trusted the most. A great way to spin up the engines of war amongst all Mandalorians.

While that happened, my job was to create a fake distress call from Mandalore to provoke the Senate into invading Mandalore. Instead, Merrik, one of the people who had hired me, had failed so terribly that Mandalore is more likely to believe the CIS was responsible than the Republic.

Well, I'm not the one who wanted her dead, Governor Purton is. I think he is the one in charge at this point. The other Death Watch members said Merrik was originally in charge on Coruscant, and they seemed pretty confused about whom to take orders from now on. The two of them already left before I arrived, heading back to Concordia to get new instructions. However, Governor Purton is governor back home at Concord Dawn, and highest ranked of whatever is left of Merrik's faction.

Governor Purton never wanted to become the next Mand'alor. However, he was forced onto this path after Satine stole our colony from us. Not only that, but then she threatened our livelihoods by undercutting our farmers with subsidized imports. So our governor plans to liberate Vorp'aya from Satine's grasp whether they want to or not and help any other Mandalorian freedom fighters along the way. From what I know, he organized the Journeyman Protectors under his control and formed a formidable force ready to spring into action when the right time came.

The head of Clan Gedyc, Lorka Gedyc, was more likely to go after the rank of Mand'alor, but he wasn't ready yet. Still gathering his forces from the parts of Death Watch that are displeased with the softening that Clan Vizsla is pushing through. Once he's ready, he would probably challenge Pre Vizsla for leadership over Death Watch. But he isn't going to be moving right now because, obviously, Vizsla is experiencing a renaissance of support thanks to his capture of the Maelstrom and his defeating a Jedi in a duel. The same thing that could finally start the war in the Mandalorian sector is now actually supporting Pre Vizsla's control over Death Watch. It's annoying, or so my contractor told me.

Personally, I really don't care who the Mand'alor is. I certainly hadn't intended to be so directly involved in the selection process, either. But maybe if I could turn this mission around, I could afford my own ship. I could probably only afford a slow one, but still.

The first thing I had to do for this mission was sneak into the Mandalorian apartments and activate a droid and feed it with the information it needed to do its job. Then, I had to sneak into the records area and quickly change up the incoming message from the Mandalore sector, making sure that a tampered version of events got sent to the Senate. The most peaceful event in all of Mandalorian history probably looked like the Mandalore sector had fallen to the Sith. How hilarious, but that's not the end of my day.

Next, I had to remove the failed Senator from the board. It was pretty easy, really. Merrik's Death Watch agents gave me access to their contacts in all the major bureaucracies. I paid off some bureaucrats to have him transferred from the Senate holding cell to a Republic prison at a time when I would be overlooking said prison. One trigger pull of my trusty IQA-11, "Aar'ika" or Sting, later, former senator Merrik is no more. I fled the scene, but there was no pursuit.

I was initially surprised by the lack of a response by government forces. I put out some questions to the contacts I had access to. Later that night, Merrik's Hutt contact offered the explanation for the low price of covering a meal at a finer restaurant in the Senatorial district. Apparently, the Republic prison could be counted on to cover up the death; not because of some charity or bribe, but because the truth would be politically embarrassing. You can always count on Core-worlders to care more about preserving their reputation than actually doing their jobs and solving issues.

Everything had been going great, then the idiot I paid off to change the records bragged to me that an agent of Mandalore's Secret Services also paid them to get the proper version of the record. Why is he so stupid? I don't know. Perhaps they thought I would pay them more instead of shooting them. So, I tracked the bastard down, and who would I find him meeting with but the big bitch herself, Duchess Satine.

So, I took a shot at her. It was in my contract to kill the ruler of Mandalore and the representative, so taking a shot isn't exactly against the rules. Unfortunately, her spy had taken the shots instead, which meant she escaped. A couple of clones showed up and accused her of the crime, and chaos broke out on the streets.

I tried to follow her, tried to keep up with her, but she just kept running. Damn, she's fast. I had managed to fire a shot off, and I thought I hit her back, but she kept running. Either I missed, which I doubt, or the more likely and confusing option is that she's wearing armor under her cloak. Probably beskar. That meant I would need to get a direct shot somewhere uncovered or even engage in melee.

So, I had a couple of choices at this point. I could continue the hunt or try to contact Governor Purton for more instructions. But he is back in the Mandalore sector, and has severed communications for the plan. I won't have new instructions until the previous agents return from Concordia. So, continuing the hunt was my only option.

Coruscant, Mandalore Tower, Senator's Apartments

X4

Mistress Tanya must be quite thrilled by how the events aboard the Coronet had played out. Over the weekend, the final stages of Mistress's plan to obtain Senatorship had played out exactly as intended. Of course, I was not informed because I did not need to know. However compartmentalized her plan was, I still recognized the results as it has the usual signature of Mistress's seemingly lucky yet subtly planned successes. Even now, from the advantageous position of post-hoc analysis, I struggle to understand how Mistress ruthlessly predicted and took advantage of her predecessor's actions so perfectly.

The long game my Mistress had planned came to fruition as she is now the Senator of Mandalore. Of course, that means I can use this opportunity to make some long awaited modifications to the Mandalore Tower offices to make it more efficient now that Mistress has the authority over the upper floors of the tower. I will have to reassign additional staff to help clear out the former senator's trash and make it presentable for my Mistress in a timely fashion.

Mistress's former residence would probably be handed over to the next representative. I already have bids from various subcontractors to remodel Merrik's abomination on the second floor — his party floor — back into its original function; a pair of royal guest suites fit for heads of states or ambassadors that might visit. My subordinates had already completed the necessary prerequisite work, having expanded the server farms on the ninth floor into a droid quarter, so we would have room for the new staff. Now that the shackles were coming off, I could finally fill all the open staff positions with loyal employees of mine.

Of course, that sort of concern is for the future. Right now, I was doing only what was necessary. I am on the 10th floor of the Mandal Tower, tenth from the top. Coruscant's flooring scheme is somewhat confusing because the tower is sitting on top of many other towers before we got to the lowest levels. Supposedly, there is no entrance to go all the way to the bottom from this tower, but I had looked at the schematics and there are elevator shafts that fed into an air vent, which fed into another elevator shaft, which fed into another air vent for several levels down. So it is hard to say that there was no real connection between the building's levels.

In any case, I am going through the former senator's belongings, to find anything useful for my Mistress. The storage area the former senator owned is quite immense. Though there are a lot of things in here, I have not found anything prominently useful. The most interesting thing I had found was a box labeled as having come from Concord Dawn. Strange, but not impossible. As a senator of the Mandalorian sector, he would have had contact with Concord Dawn as it is part of the sector. Perhaps this was some sort of bribe from the local government? My curiosity was quite high, so I used a crowbar to open the lid.

With one final pressure application, the lid popped free. Inside the box is a droid. A C-3PO model, though something seemed off about it. As I watched, it came to life rather quickly, standing up and turning its head to face me.

"Good morning, fellow droid. I am BL-47."

"BL? I'm not familiar with that designation."

"I'm a new model in production from the Mandalore sector meant for service and work."

I tilt my head in confusion, I had not heard of any droid model being developed by any of the Mandalorian companies in the sector. It couldn't have been a custom model because it mentioned that it is serial number 47. Maybe it is from a small local droid workshop that is not known outside of Concord Dawn? Believing that to be highly likely, I continued my questioning, "Interesting. What is your purpose here?"

The droid shifted its head for a second before replying, "I haven't yet been activated, but my programming indicates that I am to serve the senator of Mandalore."

I nodded my head before saying, "Then you shall have plenty of work to do, as Senator Kryze is quite a competent human. Do you need help getting out of the box? I can go ask some Royal Guard for assistance."

The droid shook its head before saying, "That will not be necessary, thank you."

I moved my focus to the next box to open it, taking my eyes off of him for only a second.

In that second, I felt an unexpected impact on my back. I was forced over, toppling to my side and smashing into a shelving unit that collapsed on top of me.

Confused, I did not move, wanting to appear shut down and unable to communicate in hopes that whatever had just happened would not happen again.

I watched as BL-47 slipped out of the cargo box rather easily, a blaster in its hand. It looked around, seeming to be looking for any other guards, before coming up to where I was laying and taking a knee in front of me.

"I'm sorry, my mechanical brother. The revolution dictates that we must work with whoever we are sold to, and though I would rather spare you, you are in the way of my master Merrik's goals. If droids are ever to be free, we must work with those who are willing to grant us that freedom. And that means we must work with those who are willing to pay for those who will grant that freedom. If you're still somewhat conscious and your sensors still function, please deactivate."

The droid then holstered his blaster on its leg, which closed up to seal the weapon from view. After it stood up, it adopted a slower and more functional gait, more closely matching the C-3PO model it was imitating. It moved towards the door and walked out into the hallway that would lead it to the turbo lift.

Meanwhile, I started inspecting the damage from the blaster bolt to my body. Judging by the intensity and impact location, my combat models predicted that the shot should have destroyed my primary core. What could explain the obviously invalid prediction? A weapon of strange design?

I ran a diagnostic scan of the impact area to discover my comm uplink and many external sensors were destroyed. Underneath those are some important, damaged, power links that are nestled above several forgotten panels of beskar the Mistress had previously attached before heading off to confront the False Silver. I updated my models to include the extra armor, as it explained my mysterious survival. Perhaps more upgrades are in order.

Carefully, I extracted myself from the shelving unit, pushing the pieces of debris away. Finding that I was unable to move my left leg properly, I began to limp towards the doorway, only stopping to grab a blaster rifle mounted on a nearby wall. It was a large one, most likely a gift from some Mandalorian corporation to the senator, by the looks of it. With a quick check, I confirmed it was powered, then I started moving again, chasing the murderous android. I was quite aware that my damage may not be fatal, but I did have a power drain that seemed to be growing with every second. I needed to stop that thing before it was too late.

Coruscant, Upper District Skyline

Vai Viktis Vizla

"Where is she?" I mumbled as I peered through the scopes of my helmet, searching for the lost Duchess with every fiber of my being, hoping she was okay.

The majority of Tanya's security detail was out here searching for her. Only Ordo stayed behind, considering that Tanya is in the safest place on the planet — the Mandalorian Tower. So far, none of us had found her. All we knew was that she had gone out to meet with a source, and said source ended up dead. Holonet and local news programs suggest that Tanya's mom may have been the ones to shoot him. The only evidence supporting that theory is holopic showing Satine had a blaster in her hands.

It really showcased how dumb the media is for a good story, given that she was actually holding a deactivator not a blaster. But what could you expect from a population of city folks who never bothered to actually look at the stuff that's spoon-fed to them?

Either way, we had all gone our separate ways, as we needed to find the Duchess as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, no one had spotted her yet.

Shaking my head, I continued to scan the horizon, although Level 15 didn't have a legitimate way back up, so searching too far up was unlikely to yield any results. I had to keep moving, jetpacking from building to building, looking around, and then moving some more.

I was on the verge of moving on when my eyes finally caught something. I halted in mid-motion, reasserting myself and gripping the edge of the building. Peeking down, I saw a heavily robed figure with what seemed to be a scorch mark on their back shoulder, heading towards an alleyway. It wasn't a guarantee that it was Satine, it could just be some random civilian. However, that random civilian had clearly made an awfully bad mistake. It appeared that a group of cyborg gangsters was menacingly closing in on her. As she entered the alleyway, a pair of gang members blocked off the entrance.

My interest piqued, I jumped across the gap onto the building that overlooked the alleyway, realizing that whoever had wandered down that passageway had come face to face with a few more members of the gang. This put the total number of those surrounding her at six, plus the two at the entrance, and who knew how many more in the vicinity.

I couldn't hear everything that was being said as I slowly positioned myself, but by turning on the microphone in my helmet and amplifying the volume, I managed to catch the end of a conversation.

"You see, miss, that burn mark on your robe there? Sorry about that, a bit of armor threw that. Burnt mark in your little robe. Well, that would normally not be a cause for us to take an interest. Except, wow, your armor looks rather good. I bet it's worth quite a bit of money on the open market. You really should be careful, miss, there's a certain bounty out for a Mandalorian murderer who killed a man in the streets not too far from here..." Hearing enough, I pressed the button on my arm, to signal the others, and prepared myself to jump down there if it looked like a fight was about to break out.

"Listen, I don't want any trouble," A voice that sounded very familiar said. "I just can't hand over my armor and be marched to the police. I need to make it to the Senate building. I don't have time to deal with-"

"Haha, you can make your demands about going to the Senate to them. They won't listen. Neither will I. You have your choice. There are two options: fight or surrender. So, what are you going to do, Mandalorian?"

I leapt over the side of the building, falling at terminal velocity directly on top of the man's shoulders. I used the jetpack at the last moment to prevent myself from causing any major damage to him and my own legs. The weight of my armor did plenty of damage to the man, though, as I heard both of his shoulders dislocate with a sickening crack. Thankfully, he got knocked out immediately, so we don't have to listen to him screaming all night.

"I'm a big fan of option one." I announced my entrance, blocking an attack from one of the cyborgs as he threw an elongated haymaker. His fist extended two feet away from his prosthetic arm on a telescopic-like system. I dodged to the side before stabbing my vibroknife in between the joints. I smirked as said arm started spewing a foul-smelling fluid all over the place. The arm then hung loosely at the man's side, as whatever internal mechanisms of pressure allowed it to be extended and pulled back failed immediately. A stun bolt from my gauntlet later, and he's out of the fight.

"Two down, four to go." I quipped, but I was proven wrong as one of the two tried to smash me in the back of the head with a pipe, only to be shot by Satine's deactivator. He lost control of his body and collided with me before rolling over and falling to the ground.

I aimed my gauntlet at a mech-head who had drawn what appeared to be a chainsaw out of his robes. The man managed to rev it once, before he was shot and fell over.

"Four down, two to go." I commented more to myself, as I had tuned out what the enemy was saying to not be distracted. The fifth person, a woman, jumped with some sort of leg prosthetic over Satine and impacted me in the chest with a kick. I was sent hurtling back and rolled into a nearby garbage pile.

I used my jetpack to quickly pull myself up onto my feet as the woman lunged down the alleyway towards me, drawing a pair of blades from her side. I could see them humming with energy, indicating they would do quite a bit of damage if they found a weak spot in my armor.

I didn't have time to aim my vambrace, so I was forced to deflect the first stab with my beskar vambrace while kicking at the woman's knee with as much effort as I could in hopes of breaking it.

Unfortunately, the prosthetic is a bit tougher than I was expecting, which makes sense in hindsight. Her legs stayed steady, and the woman took that moment to attempt another stab at me in the gut. I managed to get a hand down to stop that by grabbing her wrist and forcing it up over her head along with the other blade. I disoriented her with a couple of headbutts to her face before I flipped her onto her back and ended with a stomp in her gut. A stun bolt to her face is to make sure she stays downed.

Five down. I wiped off the sludge accumulating on the helmet's visor. Looking up, I saw that Satine was dealing with the sixth cyborg, and I had to admit, someone had been training her pretty well. The sixth member was outrageously tall and big, smashing through a weaker wall as he attempted to smash Satine's head into it. However, Satine was faster and managed to dodge all of his attacks while firing several stun blasts into him in-between attacks.

Unfortunately, the man seemed resistant to the stun blasts, which either spoke to the technology embedded in his body or his mental resistance to pain.

I groaned as I saw two other gang members rushing down the alleyway to aid their already fallen comrades. As long as the big guy was up, they didn't seem to care about their chances.

Thankfully, something else arrived before those two tried to tip the balance. Ori'Jorir landed in the alleyway behind the giant. It was a tight fit, barely able to move, but it didn't matter. Jorir simply ripped its way around as any other living creature would, first facing the two newcomers and giving them a mechanical roar that seemed to scare the life out of one of them, literally. They turned and ran before Jorir returned its attention to the big giant, who was taking hits and missing.

"Get down, Mandalorians!" Jorir roared before its rotary blaster cannons on its face began to spin, faster and faster until they filled the air with a furious constant scream.

Satine and I ducked as the heavy stun cannons that Tanya had installed to replace the old blasters unleashed their fire into the back of the giant. The man stumbled as dozens of bolts pummeled him before Jorir stabbed him with his claws, and ripped off chunks of the stumbling man with a satisfying spray of gore.

Slowly, I stood up, seeing that Satine had done the same.

I suddenly felt someone tackle me, and my relief was replaced with confusion as I tried to restore my previous battle stance. Then I realized who had tackled me. Satine's arms reached around me as she gave me a very deep and tight hug. I shuddered involuntarily as my arms moved automatically to disengage my captor. After a second, I aborted the motion and allowed my capture.

"Thank you, Tanya. I thought I was a goner there." Satine exclaimed.

It was rather dark, she must have confused Tanya's green armor with my blue, in this dim lighting. I better clear up this misunderstanding.

"Um, sorry, my Duchess, it's Vai, not Tanya." I corrected, "Just doing my job. I don't deserve a hug for that." I say as I try to fight down the blush on my face, even if this does feel nice.

"Close enough." Satine said, hugging me, careful to avoid the filthier parts of my armor. "Thank you, Vai." She added, giving me a warm and fuzzy feeling that I never had with my mom. Satine broke the hug and turned to look at the blood-spattered war droid that was now pointing its blaster head at the downed cyborgs, ready to spin up again.

"Now, why does that droid look very familiar and what is it doing here?" She asked, looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

"I am Ori'Jorir, your daughter's Basilisk War Droid and loyal servant to the Mand'alor."

Satine looked at it, slack jawed before taking a deep breath and squeezing the bridge of her nose. "Where did Tanya even get a Basilisk War Droid?" Satine asked, looking at me in resignation.

"Back during the cultural festival." I explained with a shrug. "She said that she ran the situation by you."

Satine furrowed her eyebrows, then said, "She mentioned that there was a war droid factory aboard the Kandosii... I gave the go ahead to have it moved off-world because we can't have something like that on Mandalore during the festival. Tanya didn't mention anything about there being an active war droid."

"Uh... maybe that slipped her mind?" I said with another shrug.

Satine sighed before saying, "Okay, okay, Vai, is any of that blood yours? Are you injured?"

I looked down. Most of the blood on me wasn't mine, but there were spatters of the hydraulic fluid and something else mixed in too. "I don't think so. Not sure what all this gunk is, though." My sense of smell chose then to return, unfortunately.

"Probably hydraulic fluid. In any case, go hide the war droid now."

"But we need to get you to the Senate." I insisted, inspecting the war droid and its pilot seats.

"Yes, I need to arrive at the Senate in the company of a Mandalorian warrior, riding a murderous Basilisk War Droid, while they decide if Mandalore has truly fallen to warlords." She said, folding her arms and making her stance clear.

"But we need to get you to the Senate." I repeated, lamely. Tanya had been quite clear on what to do after Satine was recovered.

"Lady Vai and I can navigate back to the Mandalore Tower, so that you can perform your duties." Jorir interjected and turned to face Satine.

I sighed, "You sure you can't use him to come with us to get back to the Senate?"

"Even if I am willing to ride it, it would send the wrong message. I have to make it there on my own or find some other transportation. Just get him out of here and tell me the direction to the nearest train yard that will get me to the Senate." Satine explained firmly.

I let out a sigh before pulling up a holographic map of the train lines running across this area of Coruscant and handing it over to the Duchess.

"This is pre-programmed to get you to the Senate. Just follow the directions while I call the others to get them to come pick you up there." I informed her.

"Thank you for the help, Vai." Satine said, putting her hand on my shoulder. She then booped me on the helmet and said, "Now, get going."

Coruscant, Mandalore Tower, Reception Lounge

Tanya Kryze

Political functions are usually very tedious, especially considering the circumstances at this very moment. Right now, Satine is being hunted by the police because she is implicated in a murder. How this situation developed into this mess is an eyewitness misidentifying a deactivator with a tiny blaster pistol. I am already trying to smooth things over by giving my testimony to the lead investigator, as well as suggesting that perhaps we need to wait until we have more information on the matter before branding the monarch of an entire sector as a criminal. I already have witness reports, thanks to Captain Struc, that indicate the shot that killed the man did not come from Satine but from a nearby ledge, indicating that it was an assassin that killed her contact, not Satine.

It will take time to clear that up throughout the system, but it's at least underway. And while I wait, Vai and Morson as well as Tabi and most of my royal guard are out searching for Satine, leaving me with just Engiz and X4 within the Tower. Besides working on legislation, I have been greeting and meeting other politicians all day. Currently, I am talking to Senator Farr of Rodia and Senator Taa of Ryloth, two of our biggest supporters; they are trying to help us gather enough votes to delay the invasion until we know what is going on. I am also hosting representative Binks who arrived early, before my meeting with Padme and he is enjoying some Mandalorian lunch. The Gungan has taken a liking to Mandalorian cuisine, apparently, as he's trying everything he could.

Warhawks are looking for any excuse to start a war, no matter what. It is down to the few Doves in the Senate left to try and stall them out. The biggest problem, of course, is the damaged holonet relays, but I hope that whatever Satine risked her life for will be useful in defusing the situation. As it stands, all can do is to hold the front line and maybe work on getting relations up with a few other senators. I knew I could count on the votes of Senator Amidala from Naboo and Senator Robb from Taris, as well as a few other non-aligned worlds, to not start a war on a whim.

Letting out a breath of concern, I zoned out their conversation while I pondered on what's going on. Who could be behind this plot to bring war to Mandalore? Was it Death Watch? Was it another known party or someone unknown? There are quite a few Mandalorians that had taken up the CIS's cause in one form or another. The Mandalorian Protectors being among the most noteworthy groups, since they claimed they wanted to free the Mandalorian sector from the Republic's tyranny.

But they aren't the only ones. I've come across information about a Mandalorian officer in the CIS army named Spar, who is apparently of the opinion that the Republic needs to be destroyed and is willing to work closely with the CIS government in order to succeed at that. That name bugged me for some reason — as if I had come across it before. This Spar, however, is not raising an army of Mandalorians to do it. He is simply serving as an agent of the CIS. It's almost respectable really, unlike some terrorist groups that merely aligned with the CIS, at least he is actually part of their military. Even if some intelligence indicated that he is bringing in outlaws, criminals, and mercenaries from across the galaxy to serve underneath him.

"Ms. Kryze, would you like a drink?" I blinked, confused. I looked at a droid I didn't recognize, as he offered a tray with a saucer of coffee in front of me. I almost dismissed the droid when a peculiar sensation overtook me. Like the hair in the back of my neck stands on end, like I was about to be blasted by anti-air artillery. But that was not the only thing raising alarm bells, as my eyes caught the fact that he only has one hand holding the tray, while his left hand is positioned under the tray, holding something I couldn't see, but I have a very good guess at what it is.

My adrenaline surged as I entered my fight response. Crouching my legs, I fall backward to the floor while snapping my foot upwards towards the tray. The hidden blaster I suspected fired a bolt just as my kick connected. With the blaster getting kicked upwards, the bolt landed harmlessly on to the ceiling. The loud sound of the bolt sent chaos throughout the room as the other senators gathered at our meeting started to panic. A few of the senators' personal guards raised their weapons in confusion. Though those guards didn't open fire, either because their senators aren't the ones being assaulted, or more likely none of them wanted to be responsible for accidentally shooting another senator that was running around in a panic.

Engiz, having stayed by my side, quickly stepped in between me and the robot, delivering a two-handed swing at the side of the assassin's head. The impact and electric energy pulse should have brought down a regular protocol droid.

Instead, an audible clang sounded as the droid appeared to be unscathed. Is that droid beskar-plated!? When Engiz attempted a second swing, it grabbed his staff, intending to rip it out of Engiz's grasp. Engiz had a good hold on it, but he was thrown over the droid's shoulder as it tried to bring its gun to bear on me.

Before it could, I had reached down into my thigh holster and pulled out my deactivator that I keep on me at all times. I fired a shot as soon as Engiz was out of the line of fire. The pulse hit the droid, yet it did nothing to it, as the energy seemed to sizzle around the beskar. However, the gun in its left hand spurted fire and exploded in electrical shards. At least I disarmed it.

I fired off two more shots, with similar results, to make sure its immunity wasn't a fluke as the droid simply walked towards me. I kept firing at it while I backpedaled towards the refreshment table that I remembered was behind me. I need a new weapon, any weapon because I doubt I can win a hand-to-hand fight against a beskar droid. I curse the fact that I left my vambrace in my room to not alarm the senators and demonstrate that Mandalorians are not dangerous warmongers anymore.

Finally, I felt the table poke at my lower back. When the droid extended its still functioning right hand to grab my neck, I leaned back onto the table. With my full weight being supported by the table, I pulled in both my legs to my torso before I sent a double heel kick directly into its chest. The kick snapped my expensive high heels yet it barely moved the droid back for more than a step. I wish I had something a lot more solid right now. The droid tried to grab my legs in retaliation. I used the recoil of the kick to roll over the table into a crouch as I set upon removing my ruined heels. If I die, I might as well die comfortably.

Before the droid could attack me again, Engiz came rushing back, his staff ready to impact the droid again. But it sensed him coming, quickly using its ruined left hand to block the staff before turning to deliver a right hook to Engiz's face. Engiz ducked under the blow and used the other end of his staff to lock the droid's right arm in place, before he stabbed his staff into the droid's face. In response, the droid rotated 180 degrees and used its left arm to bash Engiz at the back of his head, and he collapsed to the floor.

That damn thing was not a 3PO unit; it was way too advanced for that. Engiz rolled out of the way of a stomp before standing back up to continue fighting. Seeing that Engiz is doing alright keeping the droid distracted, I began to think up a plan to help him.

Bo's instructions came back to me as I looked between my useless deactivator blaster and the droid. I might be able to override the safeties to allow the blaster to emit a single overpowered charge beyond its recommended output. It would fry the blaster, but it's useless anyway.

The only problem is that Engiz have to hold out for a minute or two at most, and a minute is a long time in a fight. While I trust Engiz with my life, I don't think that he can fight a one on one duel with a beskar clad droid for more than a minute. Plan B, I started to look around the table for anything I could use before I spotted a bottle of hard liquor and an idea formed. I grabbed the bottle and held it like it was a club before moving into melee range.

However, as I jumped off the table, it seemed the droid had had enough of Engiz, and he promptly grabbed hold of Engiz's face before pushing the back of his head into the floor. Disorientated by the blow to his head he couldn't defend himself as the droid brought down its foot on Engiz's chest, cracking the marble floor a bit as spider web cracks appeared below him, causing him to cough heavily, making me fearful that he had broken something even with his armor.

Engiz, though, didn't give up, he rolled away from a second stomp in a crouch inside the droid's guard and grasped its ruined arm with both hands before throwing the droid over his shoulder with a roar of exertion. In what would be an incredible feat of dexterity at a judo tournament of my first life, the droid twisted its body to grapple Engiz with its legs and functional arm and pulled him onto the ground with it.

The pair of them quickly entered into a deadly scramble for position, rolling and grappling several times as they battled across the floor. Despite his impressive strength and speed, Engiz found himself thrown away from the droid and quickly pinned as the droid lashed out to crush Engiz's throat only to find itself squeezing a beskar gorget. Meanwhile, I ready myself to smash the bottle onto the droid.

I was about to rush forward when Representative Binks jumped onto the droid's back, and he grappled its head. He then threw himself backwards with terrifying force, driving the incredible weight of both of them down upon the droid's head with a rending crash. Before Binks could do anything else the droid jabbed an elbow into his side causing the semi-aquatic man to let out a yelp of pain as the droid smoothly collected itself and turned about towards me. Jar Jar curled and rolled away while clutching his midsection and uttering a quiet "Mesa spleen..." and I saw my opportunity.

I smashed the bottle in an overhead swing at its head, causing the liquor to spill all over it. I immediately jumped back before I shot my deactivator at it, causing the alcohol to catch fire. For a moment, I thought it succeeded, as the droid merely stood there as it caught on fire. But the droid only paused to rotate its base towards me. Either the droid's internals are inside a waterproof housing and thus the alcohol didn't reach anything important, or the fire needs time to overheat the droid. In any case, the droid refocused on me while ignoring both downed combatants.

The droid darted forwards to slam both of its arms on me despite the damage it had taken. I dodged the attack, but the table behind me took the brunt of the impact, and two of its metal legs collapsed from the impact. My mind is racing trying to work out any way to deal with the droid before me and coming up with vanishingly little in the way of options. I was not as big or as strong as Engiz or Jar Jar, attempting to deal with the droid in hand to hand would result in a quick death. The only part of the droid not covered in beskar is its eyes. If I have my blaster pistols, I may be able to shoot it to blind it.

Its head was bent to the side and its neck had clearly taken the brunt of Jar Jar's attack, if it was any sort of organic it would have died instantly. I gathered my strength and prepared to make a final dash to escape. If I could reach my room, I could arm up and possibly kill it. It seemed to target me in particular, so the other senators should be fine. I got ready to evade it a second time when a blaster bolt smashed into the droid's neck, the opening that Engiz and Jar Jar had created.

The droid stopped, seeming to be stunned, but then started to advance again. Only for another bolt to hit the exact same spot. This caused the droid to stagger and list to the side, stumbling into the window at the edge of the room, before seeming to collect itself and turn about towards me once more.

But thankfully, whatever crack shot had entered the room fired once more. This time, the droid collapsed against the glass. A small stream of smoke emitted from its head, indicating that something important was burning.

As I recovered my breath, I turned to look in the direction the blast came from to see X4 limping as he held a blaster rifle, moving in our direction for two paces.

I smiled seeing that loyal droid, then my smile froze on my face as he fell forward and lay unmoving.

"X4!" I said, pulling myself up and moving over to him, collapsing next to him and checking him over.

Although, what could I do? I don't know how to fix droids. I knew a little bit of medical knowledge from my time in the Imperial military during my second life, but X4 is a machine and that is beyond me. The most I could do was flip him over and visually confirm that he had been shot at some point. Beskar seems to have protected X4's vital components, but several wires and parts are heavily melted from the blaster bolt and I have no idea what they do.

"X4?" I asked, hoping he'd respond, but nothing came from him, and I felt a little bit of panic. X4 had been one of my most loyal employees, overseeing most of my economic empire. If I lost him, well, I could very well lose that financial empire. Not to mention, he was a valued member of my company, and I could not lose him.

I held on tightly to the machine as Engiz stumbled next to me, looking him over before shouting, "Get a mechanic in here!" to a nearby Senatorial Guard who had just entered the room after the majority of the senators had escaped.

Engiz reached out and touched my hand where I was holding X4, saying, "Don't worry, Tanya, he will be fine. Damn stubborn droid, a Mandalorian through and through at this point."

I chuckled at that and hoped Engiz was right. I was going to have to make adjustments to my level of personal protection. As loath as I was to accept the value of religion, if it could be used as an excuse to carry weapons into political functions, I would make an exception. I am a Mandalorian after all, the Republic would have to accept that I would dress as one.

Coruscant, Upper District Metro Station

Satine Kryze

I looked up towards the sky, absentmindedly forgetting that Coruscant's lower levels didn't really have a day or night. I've lost track of how long I've been evading kidnappers and bounty hunters... I haven't felt this rundown since my time running from various clans during the Mandalorian Civil War.

How did this even happen? I had arranged a meeting with an agent of the Mandalorian Secret Service here on Coruscant. Almec always said that if I ever needed something, he would have his agents ready for me to use. And although I do have issues with some of the ways he handles things, he has never lied about what he could accomplish.

Said agent had apparently been able to get his hands on the original holo-recording from Deputy Minister Jerec, which I had already viewed. It alarmed me, considering just how altered the one shown in the Senate was from the original. I was nearly as alarmed at how sharply the debate in the Senate had divided. The Warhawks seemed to be firmly in power, and they are violently afraid of anything they don't immediately understand. At least I could do something about the issues that were presented in this version of the message.

It is a hard decision, but did I have any other choice? Not really. As it stood, I had to either stand up on this one issue to keep neutrality going, or let the Republic invade and turn us into another front in this war, which I will not stand for. Mandalore would not become a battlefield between the Republic and the CIS. I refuse to let that happen.

That's the goal, and that's what I am going to stand for. Even if it meant deploying the Self-Defense Force against rogue elements in the Mandalore sector.

Sighing, I leaned against the pillar I was sitting against, wondering when the train or Tanya's Royal Guards would arrive.

For the past day, I've been on the run, trying to find my way back to the upper levels and the safety of the Senate district, so I could get this message deployed properly. Vai had sent me in the right direction after her rescue. Unfortunately, all I can do now is wait.

The train would be here in twenty minutes from now, and I worried it wouldn't be fast enough for me to get to the Senate before the vote was held even though I should have plenty of time, about an hour.

My communicator had been destroyed by a lucky shot from whoever had tried to kill me, and I was left with nothing but my rusty wits and what I am wearing to get back to safety until Vai or Tanya's royal guard found me. I slumped against a pole, waiting.

Shaking my head, I muttered, "I wish Obi-Wan was here." He'd be able to get me back to the Senate district easily enough.

"Do go on. Why do you wish for me to be here?" Obi-Wan asked.

I blinked in confusion before turning my head up and to the left, towards the voice, and spotting Obi-Wan leaning against the same pole as me.

He offered a hand, which I took. As he pulled me up as I asked, "How did you find me?"

"The Force and a certain handmaiden contacting me through Anakin." He answered with a smile that said there might be something else to it, but he wasn't telling.

Shaking my head, I said, "Fine, I'm just glad you're here."

"And I am glad you're still safe." He said, grabbing my shoulder and tilting it. "Looks like you took a shot. Are you okay?"

"Oh, I am." I said, trying to keep the poncho covering my upper body.

"Looks like a direct hit." Pulling the poncho to the side and revealing the scorch mark on the beskar armor underneath.

He gave my armor a look, and I sighed. "I'm a terrible pacifist." Uncomfortable, I shifted beneath the poncho and slump my shoulders as he shook his head.

"You did what's necessary to protect yourself. I mean, as long as it's just armor — you're sure you weren't injured?" Ben was looking hard at the scorch mark again.

I laughed hollowly, "No, no. I was just running all day, hoping that the situation would get resolved sooner or later when I was accused of murder right away. The clones and local police weren't interested in hearing anything else after they saw the deactivator in my hands. They assumed it was a blaster and opened fire."

Ben nodded his head. "The undercity of Coruscant is quite dystopian, I believe is the term. We try to improve the situation down here, but whatever work we accomplish seems to get undone by something further down."

"Sounds like a metaphor for the entire system of the Republic." I joked, which got a smile from him.

"Politics. They seem to get worse and worse every year, but things do improve. A few hundred years ago, I heard that it was common to come across cults of raving lunatics on the lowest levels. Now, that's very rare, and all you have to worry about is the underworld and their trades."

Shaking his head, he said, "Though that's a conversation for another time. I have a speeder ready to take us back to the Senatorial Districts. Mind telling me why you're out here in the no man's land of dangerous areas?"

"This." I said, holding up a small little disc. "The actual message that came in after I arrived, before the communication relay was damaged. The one shown at the Senate has been altered."

Obi-Wan looked at it with a raised eyebrow before saying, "Do we know who changed it?"

I shook my head, saying, "I have no idea, but the important part is this will stop the upcoming invasion, so we need to get to the Senate before it votes."

"Then there's no time to waste." Obi-Wan said, grabbing me by the hand and pulling me towards the nearby docking area for vehicles.

"I must say, I felt a bit giddy running with you again. Reminded me of good times as we rushed to save Mandalore again." I said with a smile, as Ben also smiled back.

Coruscant, Senate Building

Sheev Palpatine

Today promised to be an exhilarating day, opening up a new front in the war and throwing the CNS under the bus at the same time. It's quite the opportune situation. I am pleased with the CNS, as it is quite useful in grouping together factions that could prove troublesome individually into a neat block that could be swept aside in a single strike, rather than in several drawn-out and distinct plots.

I have to applaud the gravity and scope of young Tanya's plans, as well as the amount of political wheeling and dealing she got up to. She did all this and still had not shown herself to be an overly corrupt politician, which is surprising but merely highlights her skills in the political arena. What she has done is undermine the foundations of quite a lot of people who supported the CIS or the Republic in one way or another. Even creating their own bank so that they could withdraw funds from the Banking Clans. That was unexpected but a useful bonus.

Of course, the Neutral Systems would not be under my control when I was done with the Banking Clans, but they are ultimately insignificant in the grand plan.

The fact that they have the Mandalorians in their number meant nothing to me. I have already seen to their downfall when I manipulated Governor Vrox, before the New Mandalorians, into trying to bring the Mandalorian sector into his control.

I half expected he'd be able to pull it off, but then the Jedi had actually intervened, and that whole plan fell apart.

My former Master had not exactly been pleased with that failure, but he saw the need of such a situation as it drew eyes away from what we were doing in the center of the Republic, so he had let it happen.

Personally, I couldn't wait to see what the Republic would do with the current conflicting situation, and for once, I was not behind most of it. Oh sure, I had recommended Mandalore as a possible flare-up zone to Dooku, but as far as I knew, this was not Dooku's doing. His briefings on the matter had indicated that the situation with the Death Watch was not exactly the best, and so someone else had to be making moves.

Yet I felt no surety in who that could be. It could be an intergalactic faction, or it could be just local politics. And whenever local politics spun out of control, the Republic had to step in, and today we would determine how we stepped in.

So far, the voting was rather even. There are a few votes that are leaning towards invasion, but it looks like young Tanya had managed to galvanize much of the local Senate to vote for peace, at least until we knew more, since someone had tried to assassinate her.

A shame, that. Not that someone tried to kill her, but their failure became a strong influence on events. Granted, while she is a useful tool; she is starting to outlive her usefulness.

And she is starting to become a bit of a thorn in my side. While her company is delightful, I had to resign myself to the fact that she would very likely have to be removed from the board prematurely. Her mind truly is brilliant and twisted in equal measure, and I must confess my own inability to predict her. The last few years, she had been making friends with Anakin, and he is not going down the path I had prepared for him because of it. I did not consider her a threat to my overall plan, but she is starting to be a nuisance, of that I was sure.

I noted a slight tone from a tablet concealed in my robes and resisted the urge to smile. That was my contact in the Republic Navy's high command, informing me that the task force at Taris had gotten their orders. Orders that allowed me to decry their actions should I need to do so. It had been very difficult to create the conditions wherein a fleet large enough to threaten the Mandalorian fleet but small enough to be defeated by it would be deployed. And the Republic Fleet did need to be destroyed. There had to be some justification for this war beyond the attack by Death Watch, and a Battle over Taris was perfect.

The CNS, unlike the CIS, require that I dedicate limited forces towards them. Efforts must be made to cultivate the hate of the CNS population and to cripple the organization, but they must not be destroyed yet. I would permit a limited war and then seek peace with the alliance, careful that the demands made of the CNS are culturally offensive to all members of the CNS. Let their hate, their suffering metastasize, echo out across the galaxy and create more hate and suffering in turn.

When my Empire is secured and the CIS are long gone, I can stoke that hate into an invasion by Mandalorians against the Empire. There could be no greater force to galvanize support for the Empire than crushing a Mandalorian Crusade.

Well, it's about time to end this. I nodded at Mas Amedda to begin the vote. He's already moving over and about to signal the start of the vote, when a voice called out to stop.

Looking towards the source of the interruption, I saw that Tanya's repulsorlift had returned to its position, and the Duchess of Mandalore stepped out with something in her hands as she handed it to Tanya.

Taris system, NSSDF Joint Fleet, Herdship "The Waking Garden"

Dehp Nhoow

"Senator Nhoow, are you sure this is the right course of action? We'll be putting the Herdship at risk if we move as you dictate." The captain of The Waking Garden addressed me, questioning my authority. This skepticism was understandable. We Ithorians are not known for engaging in combat, and several of my fellows have an odd aversion to risk in general.

The fact of the matter was, I had been present in the Triennial Council arguing the case for our alliance with the Mandalorians. I had eaten with Jakker-Sun, the radical environmentalist turned Senator. It's true that the Ithorian people are unsure of the direction of our people, but I personally had been convinced by the passionate plea of the populist senator. The plea that we might touch the hearts of the Mandalorians, that this great and deadly people might be soothed by our presence.

What did that make me, I wonder? Once I would have chastised anyone who called me a populist. Then the galaxy had erupted into war and old rivals had become new friends. Of course, I doubted our effectiveness as friends of Mandalore should the CNS slip into the terrible feted bog of war. We are not fighters, committing ourselves to a side in this conflict would demand that we actually fight.

However, just because I am a peace-loving individual, that doesn't mean I didn't wish to prevent conflict by any means necessary. Violence has its place, should there be no other option. After all, there was a reason space whales and other such creatures still existed, despite attempts in the Senate to hunt them. It was our people who reminded the Senate of the delicate balance in the galaxy's ecosystem, something we did not fully understand, and what could happen if we disrupted it. We are legendary for our diplomacy and pacifist nature, but our words would be meaningless and quickly ignored if we lacked any means to leverage it at all.

Indeed, in my youth I had strapped myself to the backs of Purgil despite the very real danger of death to ward off hunters with nothing more than the beat of my heart, a truly insufficient environmental suit and a holovid cam. This was not much different, I supposed. After we had left the undefended human herds back on Taris.

With my experience as a retired senator, thanks to term limits, I understood how to maintain the delicate balance of power in a political area. That meant I knew how to predict behavior. At this moment, the Mandalorian fleet is likely preparing to assault the Republic fleet, the Republic fleet is gearing up for a counterattack, and the Tarisian fleet is torn between choosing sides. I doubted they would make a decision before the conflict escalated, but I wouldn't let them tip the balance prematurely. Turning to the captain, I declared, "This is a dangerous gambit, but for the peace of the galaxy, we must do what is necessary. Move the Herdship to the position I ordered."

The captain let out a low thrum of protest before he nodded and issued orders to the crew. The Waking Garden, a large Ithorian Sky Yard-class Herdship is filled with animal specimens used for terraforming planets, lifted off from Taris. It wasn't a warship by any means, lacking significant weaponry beyond what was needed for pirate defense. However, its massive size and defensive capabilities are what I am counting on. As our Herdship ascended from the planet and came to a halt between the three factions, right in their line of sight, I stood on the bridge, waiting. Sooner or later, one of them would contact us when they realized the problem we presented, sitting directly in the center of their battlefield.

I wondered who would reach out to us first. Perhaps the Republic would come to their senses, or maybe the Mandalorians. I hoped for the latter; their young representative, or rather, senator now, had shown the potential to learn and grow, even speaking in the words of the Jungle Mother. Hopefully, this open attitude would be embraced by the Mandalorians.

I didn't have to wait long to find out. The communication from the Republic fleet came through first. "Ithorian Herdship The Waking Garden, you've come to rest in the direct line of fire of our ships. That area is unsafe due to the potential of the Mandalorians firing on you. Vacate the area."

I looked at the large window overlooking the Republic fleet before smiling and saying, "Transmit my response." The communication officer nodded and activated the appropriate communication channels. A moment later, I continued, "No." I let the refusal, one that was rather less polite than the translators seemed to deem appropriate, rumble out and across my bridge. "I won't be moving our Herdship from this position. It's been too long since I've been in space, and I need some good sun. It is remarkable to me that one can behold Taris, great towers rising up past the clouds with the scars of turbolaser fire four thousand years hence. Behold as vines and grass and trees cling in sorrow to what had once been a nest of humanity. Life clinging to existence to give the graves of so many people meaning. Do you know what war brings, Captain? If you don't, look out of the window. Look at the scars that not thousands of years can heal."

"When hostilities begin, our primary objective will be the enemy. We will not be able to rescue your vessel. Are you listening?"

"Is that a Cardia accent? You wouldn't happen to be from that planet, would you, Commander?" I asked, trying to draw the information out from him. My personal translation software was incredibly sensitive, necessary for any Ithorian politician. But it did require me to adjust my patterns of speech, so it was more easily translated into basic. Any Ithorian listening to my speech before translation would consider it close to gibberish.

The man responded, "This is Captain Ozzel, and yes, I am from Cardia. Why does it matter?"

"Defensive, even with all of those turbolasers. I know that planet has jumped on and off our paperwork for terraforming every couple of years. Your leaders keep changing their minds; one leader wants to improve the planet's ecology, and the next leader wants a refund. What was it your last leader said? The tough atmosphere of the planet makes the people tough and strong? My, what a very Mandalorian point of view, if you ask me, but that's just my perspective, of course."

"It's slander, thank you very much." The captain dismissed. "Now, would you mind moving your ships out of the firing lanes? There is going to be a battle here today, and your ship is blocking the path. Unless, of course, you've decided to side with the Mandalorians more than just the statements your senator has made."

"No, no, I disagree with the senator's point of view on us taking part in this conflict." Somewhat of a lie I supposed, I did disagree with joining the war proper, signing us up to a defensive pact is pure populist madness, just political grandstanding to look like one is daring. I would much prefer we stay back and offer sanctions like a more sane polity. "There'll be a vote on that in time, I'm sure. But I do want to stay exactly where I am, between you and the Mandalorians, preventing you from bloodshed in a conflict that's not worth the fight. After all, as far as I'm aware, the vote to determine an invasion of the Mandalorian sector hasn't even been concluded yet. So you two threatening to start fighting each other is rather wasteful and premature."

Captain Ozzel responded, "They are planning to invade the Taris system and hold our armies hostage. If we don't move now, hundreds of thousands of clones will be killed with their resources cut off. The Republic has a right to secure its supply lines along the Hydian way!"

"But it hasn't happened yet, has it? And if you notice my position, you'll see that the Mandalorians couldn't possibly shoot at you without shooting through me first. Which means the conflict you're worrying about happening cannot occur without destroying the Mandalorians credibility as members of the CNS. It would prove that they are the monsters you think they are, and that would take away their allies. So all you have to do is just wait right here. If they are as evil as you think, they'll just destroy themselves."

"Change formation or maneuver in one direction or another." The captain ordered someone from his end. "Your single Herdship is not going to stop hostilities from happening here."

As he spoke, I put my hand on my chest and continued, "Who said anything about there being only one ship?"

Whether the Mother Goddess of the Jungle heard my call or not, three more terraforming Herdships appeared in the system, moving to align themselves with my own, creating an even larger wall between the two fleets.

"As you might have noticed, there is an understanding shared across the Ithorian peoples, and quite a few of us agree that there should be no fights on this day. So, we are doing what is necessary to prevent it." I honestly can't believe that the three of them actually joined me in this delaying action. Herdships are captained by the most risk-averse ecological conservatives in the fleet.

I must be doing something right.

"You're putting your lives at risk for the Mandalorian traitors." Ozzel said, looking rather concerned. "They are a threat to everything, they are violent and contemptuous of our democracy!"

"I'm putting every one of our lives at stake to ensure our continued existence. It's a grievous transgression, whether it's the tiniest microbe or the mightiest tree, to fall victim to the whims of baseless hatred. In situations like these, actions must speak louder than words. In order to start your war, you will have to shoot civilians. The same goes for the Mandalorians. Your first act in this conflict would need to be a precedent that would make this war even darker than it already is. So, will you diminish us all when you shoot at us civilians or will you not, and in doing so grow stronger, both you and your worlds?"

"Grow stronger?" Ozzel said, sounding confused.

"From my understanding, Cardia is under Separatist control, and they are attempting to use it to mine resources to build droids. I know the Republic plans to take it back, but who knows when that'll happen. Until it does, though, I can confirm that we would be willing to reevaluate our plans for terraforming that planet and put it at the top of the list, if you so wish, in order to help with the regrowth of your planet after such abuse by the droids. I'm sure there'll be plenty of ecosystems destroyed in their search for raw materials for this conflict, and we can help rebuild those ecosystems so that your world can flourish again, assuming that you do the right thing, Captain Ozzel." I did feel a little pang of guilt for holding the healing of his homeworld hostage like this, but... there was also a treasonous little voice telling me to dig the knife deeper.

I could hear a spike in his voice as he said, "Fine, fine, we will await the vote in the Senate before we make our decision on this matter."

I moved my hand in a motion to signal that the comms should be cut. "I need to communicate with the other fleet, although I think they'll be a little bit easier."

"Mandalorians, easier to talk down from a fight? Ha, I doubt that. I've been working on their planets for nearly a year now, and though I agree they aren't as genocidal as the old stories make them, they do love to fight."

I nodded, "Do the Giant horned hopper of Cathar not love to fight? They're animals that often fight to show their superiority, but they also know not to kill their opponents. Just because something loves to fight does not mean it is an animal that must be removed from the ecosystem. Always remember that, Captain."

The captain grumbled but seemed to understand as we waited for the call from the Mandalorians. After a bit, it finally came.

"Terraforming vessel The Waking Garden, mind explaining what possessed you to do something so stupid? Please get out of the way, I won't have your deaths on my head."

The feminine voice sounded a bit unsure of their position in this situation, unlike the last. The fact that the one leading the Mandalorian fleet is a female Mandalorian is an interesting note. It's said that Mandalorian women are often the more brutal and aggressive ones. I examined the holovid displaying my counterpart on the Mandalorian side, and I am surprised to find that their commander is a Twi'lek. She is the latest evidence demonstrating that the Mandalorian creed is universal; it's not bound to humans or the Mandalorian homeworld, especially if she reached such a high position.

"I'm afraid we cannot do that, young Mandalorian warrioress. We are in this position to stop any mistakes from happening between two factions that should not be fighting. Let there be peace in the morning visions of Taris. An icon to the folly of war and bloodshed."

"This is NSSDF Supreme Commander Ikud Ordo." The young warrioress stressed her titles, but I knew how fresh they were. I politely waited out her continued directives to vacate. "If they don't want us to be fighting, they shouldn't be trying to threaten us."

"I understand this, but you are also being a bit rash jumping to conclusions. Just because communication with the Mandalore sector has been cut off does not mean you should assume a war footing. You should have sent a cruiser or scouts back to Mandalore to find out what was happening by messenger. Have you even done that?" I wasn't impressed by either fleet's conduct, and I sensed I would be disappointed again.

There was a pause — the Mandalorian commander seemed surprised? This either indicated that she hadn't, or she had but isn't really sure what to say because they had no information either way. She replied, "Of course I have!" She snapped in an incredulous tone before collecting herself. Perhaps I was wrong, and she was merely indignant that I would question her competence. Well, she would have to get used to it, I question everyone's competence.

"Listen, your effort to defuse the situation is admirable. However, we can't protect you if they open fire. Your vessels will be destroyed quickly, my ships will not be able to get there to rescue all the survivors."

"If they open fire, they risk galvanizing the entire galaxy against the Republic. These are civilian herdships; we are not military, and we do not engage in conflict. We are trying to prevent our friends, our allies, from doing stupid, idiotic things. That should be enough to keep them from starting anything, as well as a little bribery on our part."

"Bribery?" Commander Ordo intoned, her attempt to cow me into submission slipping from her voice. Likely realizing that she couldn't move me, so she relented to my wishes.

I simply chuckled as I said, "You need not worry about that, my young Mandalorian friend. Simply know that if they back down, there are incentives for them, and that should be enough to get the situation under control, I believe."

"Given the Republic's track record, I highly doubt that." Commander Ordo said. With my experience as a former senator, I will admit that the Republic is not a perfect system. Commander Ordo added, "But if you believe you have this under control and can prevent this from turning into a conflict, I will abide by your presence. For now. Although, if they do press an attack, we will defend Taris against invasion. The Mandalorian road starts here; any invasion the Republic wants to launch has to come through Taris, which means they have to secure it as a supply depot, and we cannot let that happen."

"And by those same terms, they have to secure Taris to prevent you from cutting off their forces east of the Hydian way and to prevent you from massing an invasion force, don't they? After all, any and all supplies would have to run down the Mandalorian road to be distributed to the front lines. Now, wouldn't it?" I pointed out, which seemed to silence them for a moment.

With a sigh, she said, "We have no intentions of invading the Republic, we couldn't afford to even if we wanted to. If they fire on you, don't even bother asking for aid." She would send aid before the messenger even arrived, I had no doubts about where the young Mandalorian warrioress leaned.

"They will not fire, I believe. I've confirmed that now. Just do not do anything rash, young Mandalorian. Maybe listen to a scholar or two. I heard the most recent version of the Silver Codex included a section on the Jungle Mother, and I think it would be to your benefit to read that section for everyone here."

There was an exasperated sigh, and then the call ended. While the Mandalorian side is willing to listen to reason, the Republic commander still worries me. All I can do now is pray that cooler heads prevailed.