Not original

Looking out at the stage, I saw the lighting coming on as a door opened in the center, allowing an elevator to come up with three female Mandalorians, notable by their dress, though not fully traditional Mandalorian armor. It looked fancy, possibly dress armor.

The pink and green ones were to the left and right, respectively, of their leader in the center, who was wearing a black and silver dress. She had an odd hair color, pink, and was waving to the crowd as she said, "Good evening, Coruscant! I'm so happy that everyone came out tonight for our show. Hoping you're all ready to have a night full of fun, music, and whatever else you have planned after the concert. I know the expo has lots of shopping opportunities. I'll be out there later myself, enjoying them with you once I'm done here."

She seemed to be able to pull off a charismatic act, as that got a little bit of laughter from the crowd. I blinked twice as I realized I'd seen that woman before.

"Wait, isn't that the idol that killed an assassin on stage?"

"Legally, self-defense, I was told." Yoda mused. "Yes, though very wild, the Mandalorians are passionate even in their music or careers. Dangerous as well."

I nodded as the woman continued, "Well, when I was told I would be invited to this Expo six months back, I was stunned. Being a former bounty hunter, I never thought I'd be on Coruscant. People don't usually go to the Core when they want to disappear. But when I thought about it, I decided the best way to celebrate a Mandalorian idol conquering the Coruscanti stage is to celebrate the success of how the Jedi managed to prevent that the one time we almost pulled it off as an actual military."

I raised an eyebrow at that, skepticism showing on my face, and looked pointedly at Yoda.

"Wonderful, this will be." Yoda said with a nod of his head.

The girl on stage continued, saying, "So I thought we should celebrate the ancient story of how the Mandalorian Neo Crusaders conquered their Empire and made their way towards Coruscant, before they were defeated by the valiant heroes of the Republic led by a man whose name has been lost to history but has often been called Revan in many stories amongst us Mandalorians. A man who turned us from the path of the conquerors that the Neo Crusaders wanted and put us on a more gentle path that saw us become a more peaceful and upstanding civilization, in my opinion. By finding a man who is worthy to be the Mand'alor and to lead us into a better age."

"So, without further ado, I present to you the Last Crusade of the Neo Crusaders."

Their leader stepped back and pointed her finger up at the sky, and the monitors above turned on, displaying a graphic projection of an unknown planet that I could not place. It appeared above her, along with general diplomatic information about the state of the galaxy at the time of the Neo Crusades, shown via a map depicting the territory of the Mandalorian Conquest and the defensive lines built by the Republic. It slowly zoomed in on one particular name, which I assumed was the star system that the planet had come from, the one she was pointing at.

Then, she took a deep breath and began her song, which made me sit back to listen. Yoda seemed quite amused as he looked across the aisle. I followed his gaze and saw Obi-Wan's daughter, Tanya, in a panic at what could be considered, at a different time, a diplomatic faux pas. But as far as I was concerned, and as Yoda seemed to be concerned, this was nothing. As I listened to the song, it was interesting to hear someone else's take on what sounded like a massacre we should never have been involved in.

Concordia, Castle Vizsla

Pre Vizsla

I sipped my kombucha brew, and took a break at my desk from the latest set of crises. The fermented drink was a native brew and local favorite; a few tourists had made statements that it tasted similar to another blend, a Core favorite, batuubacha tea. Hopefully, they were being overly polite, I didn't need more Core tourists mucking all over the system. But I had no time to worry over small matters lately, my current worries were regarding the protection for the Maelstrom; keeping it functioning while on the move. Deploying and fielding troops in places where they'd cause problems for the Republic.

Our consolidation with my wife's smaller faction of veterans revealed exactly how much control I'd lost over other elements of Death Watch. In total, I had lost substantial control over the radical portions of Death Watch, I knew this now. However, I had managed to salvage our name. I already had plans in place to declare them rogue elements when they finally made their move; or any move that is counter-productive to my plans.

I don't know when that would happen, but what I did know was that I was living two lives, my public life as governor of Concordia and candidate for Prime Minister for Mandalore, and my private life as the leader of Death Watch. It was incredibly difficult to manage both roles and sets of responsibilities, even with my wife's help. It almost makes me wish I had revealed myself to Satine all those months ago, almost. Taking the government from under her control while she's still in power, though, might be one of the sweeter victories out there, especially with the corruption problem that had sprung up in the New Mandalorian government.

This was, after all, how I knew that I had lost control of the radicals to Lorka Gedyc. Lorka Gedyc was someone who thought Death Watch should conquer the galaxy, and if I wouldn't execute his vision, then the correct first step was for him to conquer Mandalore. Personally, I was not of the opinion that we even needed to conquer the sector, nevermind the entire galaxy. The concept of conquest was antiquated, having fought my way across the region around Mandalore that had become abundantly clear to me.

The Council of Neutral Systems was proof enough of that. People across the galaxy are already championing Mandalorian rule and clamoring for our protection. We provide Mandalorian protection and serve with honor, in return we share their resources without risking our lives fighting over control for it. This is not the era of the Neo-Crusaders, we do not have the population to populate the sector, let alone resettle and colonize the entire galaxy. After all of the wars we fought over the millennia, our peoples should be a treasure spent wisely, not to be thrown into the fire at the first chance.

What makes us Mandalorian in the first place isn't our origin or a special homeworld; what makes us Mandalorian is our way and culture, our honorable practices and drive. The Ithorians were the perfect example, they had even gone out of their way to offer Satine respect, through their tribute. They provided their wealth to Satine in return for our protection. Their vast tribute was more than enough to fund re-armament programs across the MSDF. Death Watch did not hesitate to protect Ithorian shipping from pirates in the region because it was the honorable thing to do. In time, some Ithorians would be inspired to seek out our ways, and I only saw benefits from Mandalorians adopting Ithorian practices; especially regarding the value of life.

Adaptation has always been the Mandalorian way, and now Mandalore must change into the protector of the weak, a power great enough to challenge any who would return to the age of war and conquest. The anti-militarist buffoonery of the New Mandalorians would doom their system to failure eventually with the entire galaxy at war, and so it would be better for the Death Watch Old Guard to retake control of Mandalore from them before a foreigner does that first. Foreign agents, like the Hutts or the Sith, would take advantage of our weakness as an opportunity to slip in and take over.

For the sake of Mandalore and our newfound dependents, the New Mandalorians had to be kept from controlling the military completely. Instead, the Old Guard, the few remaining True Mandalorians remnants, stars, even the Silver Mandalorians offer a better alternative. Bo-Katan privately shared that she was quite proud that her niece, Tanya, had broken with the New Mandalorians; she was right to be proud in my estimation.

As the leader of Death Watch, I had to wage a campaign against the Republic, and so far, the campaign was going well. Maelstrom, my ace in the hole, I kept far away from any fronts and out of the way of Republic fleet movements. They were still searching for her, but I had enough assets out there that I was able to track any major search parties trying to locate her.

And with that knowledge, I can maneuver her to where she can cause the most damage.

Posing as the fabled hero of Mandalorians fighting against the evil Republic meant I had to find assets that the Republic was not proud of — systems where they had imposed installations against the wishes of the locals.

Almost every other planet out here in the Galactic North had a situation where the Republic put forces on the ground to deal with local problems. They tended not to be clones, but supposedly local defense units from another ally, operating in the name and good of the Republic.

Of course, all that was doing was allowing local warlords to gobble up their weaker neighbors. Warlords eagerly took the Republic's bad example as de facto permission to deploy private militaries and invade neighboring systems. The events of Vorpa'ya seemed to be no accident, reports detailed the same level of crisis repeated with variations across hundreds of systems in the Republic.

And since the invading local warlords were there for conquest, they tended to do things like cause religious divisions, blow up something important, or just be complete corruptible morons, looting local economies for short-term gains. That's where the Death Watch could crash in on a problem, shoot up the invading oppressors, be hailed as heroes, recruit a few new members, and scavenge any equipment that could be useful from our defeated foes.

Now, I know that my document, the Ba'jurne Kyr'tsad Mando'ad, says that we should focus only on the Mandalorian sector, but I've been moving away from that for years. The "Mandalorian sector" are just lines drawn on a map by Republican bureaucrats, Mandalore is wherever a Mandalorian is. Sectors as a concept are a Republic invention.

Ancient Mandos, my ancestors, didn't have that rigid belief in boundaries. Ironically enough, it was Satine who remembered and embodied this most clearly. Satine did not care where the Republic placed the borders of Mandalore, in her vision for the CNS, and her reminder was meant for us all; she had the right of that. Mandalore was wherever Mandalorians tread, we were a people of many homes who had become perhaps a bit too settled. Keeping Death Watch under control meant bringing new blood into Mandalore, new life, new energy, new possibilities. Our place was not to isolate ourselves.

Granted, I was having a bit of an issue equipping weapons and armor for these new recruits. I often had to rely on lighter gear stolen from the enemies we just killed to fill in for the new recruits, but it was working for now. The weapons get inspected and repaired if needed before being distributed, while the armor gets reforged into Mandalorian style armor.

I found several places within the Mandalorian sector that would be ideal to build a training base that no one would find. After some deliberation, Zanbar, having always been loyal, was picked. It had a very small population, very rural, with lots of trees and mountains to provide both cover and a diverse training environment.

If I could, I would train them here on Concordia, but it was obvious now that having a Death Watch base anywhere near Mandalore would be discovered by the Republic. The Maelstrom was working well as a mobile base, keeping troops out of Republic retaliation. And so far, my elites have not blabbed its location and where it camped out.

Instead, I relied on places where they weren't expecting it to be. Areas near the borders of the Council of Neutral Systems, in systems that were Mandalorian-favoring but had not yet signed on to the Neutral Systems, nor favored the Republic's war efforts.

But those were my problems as Death Watch's Kyr'tsad alor. I have other issues to deal with in addition to that, issues as the governor of Concordia. My break was interrupted by the beeping on my terminal. Letting out a sigh, I finished my drink before I stood up to look out the window at the native forests beyond. I straightened my clothing, then stepped out of my office into a meeting room.

Sitting at the head of the table in the meeting room was Gar Saxon, looking annoyed as he glared at the other occupant across the table from him. I had him look over reports from our local Death Watch assets in the sector while I focused on our overall strategy. I had brought him on as an official member of my election campaign. His clan was moderately powerful, and I needed all the power I could get if I was going to pull this off. He was also wearing a suit and would probably be taking my place as Governor of Concordia if my efforts for Prime Minister succeeded. I had enough influence to guarantee his position, so having a little bit of sway here and there could help me succeed in my efforts for Prime Minister.

The other individual, who would likely be the most useful in my election campaign, was my wife, Bo-Katan. She was looking rather pleased with herself, with her feet up on the table, wearing her armor. Her red hair swaying in a way I found incredibly attractive, as she listened to the Prey Wings' music through her vambrace, air guitaring and mimicking the lyrics of the song.

"There you are." She said, looking at me with a smile before shutting down her music player. Her helmet lay in her lap as she leaned back in a chair that was not meant for leaning. Once Bo stopped her antics, Gar breathed a sigh of relief before he returned his attention to his work.

"Here I am." I said with a nod, taking a few steps and pulling out my seat at the head of the table before sitting down.

Looking at her armor, I finally noticed that it was in Death Watch blue. She had officially joined the program on Death Watch's coloration, recalling the request I had made during our last united Death Watch meeting. In fact, she was not exactly considered Death Watch as far as everyone else knew. As of yesterday, she had declared her intentions to create an organization known as the Night Owls as the main reason for her change in color. Officially, the Night Owls are a mercenary organization registered on Gargon. Unofficially, she was recruiting some of the best Death Watch members into an elite organization that would be fighting for Mandalorian interests and those willing to support Mandalorian efforts.

She had brought in at least three dozen individuals from Death Watch so far, as well as another large batch of her friends. She was recruiting from a pool of veterans and elites of other units, people she had met and heard exploits of over the years, along with supporters of her attempt to become the Secret Mandalore. She probably could raise more, but she needed them to be an elite unit, so I encouraged the high barrier to entry.

Not to mention, having a public and legal organization that served as a gateway to Death Watch could be a useful tool down the line. If someone got really pissed at the Republic and couldn't work for them anymore, she would simply move them along into Death Watch proper, and I would put them to good use against the Republic.

"Where's Zenlav?" I asked, looking around. The mayor of Keldabe was supposed to have arrived by now. He was going to throw his lot in behind me as the new Prime Minister, from what I understood. He was also a secret supporter of Death Watch, which is a blessing as his family owned and operated Mandel Motors. They were usually the ones supplying us with a large stockpile of new equipment they had been producing in secret. Primarily the Kom'rk-class heavy fighter and transport, the same vehicle we had used to overtake and capture the Maelstrom. They were trying to provide us with more now that we had successfully punched the Republic in the throat.

Tavanx Zenlav, the patriarch, CEO of Mandel Motors, and father of Mayor Warthanx Zenlav of Keldabe, carried a grudge against the Republic for blowing up several of their family's factories during the Excision, resulting in many casualties. So he was secretly developing new generations of the Kom'rk-class heavy fighter. Some of them were the older, larger ones that we had already acquired, but there were also smaller variants in production. These smaller variants had less troop capacity, but were more maneuverable while still carrying the same armaments. Frankly, I think he should have added an addition to the name of the smaller variants like Kom'rk A1 or A2 designation or something of that nature, but they serve the same purpose and work well enough.

"No show." Saxon said, looking annoyed. "Apparently, there's been some sort of riot in Keldabe. I've been trying to learn more, but it looks like a New Mando agitator set a factory on fire."

"That doesn't sound like something that would need his attention." I stated.

"You are right. It shouldn't require his attention, except this particular factory that was set on fire was a Fang Fighter factory, which raises questions about why it was up and running since no one knew they were in production." Saxon explained.

"Oh Sithspit." I said, putting my hand to my face, as another one of Satine's efforts to modernize Mandalorian Self-Defense Forces must have been revealed.

I had been aware of this one, at least. The Fang Fighter was a damn good fighter, very well-made, and I was interested in acquiring some for the Maelstrom's fighter wing if I could get my hands on them. Unfortunately, someone was buying up all the stockpiles and had reserved the production capacity for the next year. I was curious who had done it at the time, but I didn't have to wait long. At the next bi-monthly meeting, Ms. Ordo, the Supreme Commander of the Self-Defense Force, had shown off how she had purchased a large number of Fang Fighters for the Royal Guard, as well as the Mandalorian Self-Defense Force Navy.

Most likely, this would be a scandal in its own way. The New Mandalorians would not be happy to hear that the SDF capabilities have increased. But they would have to learn to deal with it.

The Fang Fighter was not even the only vehicle that the MSDF ordered. Ms. Ordo had also discovered the surprising amount of armored vehicles produced by Mandel Hypernatics. She was still in the process of negotiating their purchase for the SDF. Every army needed armored vehicles the same way they needed infantry or snub fighters, there are roles that only they could accomplish cost effectively and replacing them is usually more trouble than it is worth. Especially on Vorpa'ya, where the heavily dug in Journeymen Protectors' lines needed to be broken through.

Saxon nodded before saying, "Thankfully, it's not as bad as it could have been. The Fang Fighter isn't as reviled by the New Mandalorians after what the Royal Guard retirees have been doing on Ryloth, using them to help save civilians. The damages to the factory were minor at least and should be up and running in a day or two."

I nodded. "I've heard stories of what the Skull Squadron was up to. They managed to do a lot of good for the Republic side of the war. I may not agree with them siding with the Republic, but from what I knew of what Ryloth had to deal with, I couldn't begrudge them for doing what they could for those people."

Letting out a deep breath, I continued, "Well, at least we have a start. So, Saxon, how are the efforts to improve my image in the press going?"

He shrugged before saying, "I'd say they're going well currently. I've looked at what resonates with the public. Fortunately, Republic skepticism seems to be in the air. It's not exactly what we wanted, openly denouncing the Republic — we aren't fully prepared for the heat that tactic might bring, but it's clear that the public doesn't trust them and that sentiment is running strong. So, that's what I've been using as your platform. We want to stay out of the war, and we don't trust them not to drag us into it."

Bo nodded her head in agreement, adding "Also aligns well with the Silver ideology, so they'll likely support you too. I know I do, since they probably have similar concerns. While most of the Silver I've seen seemed to favor the Republic in general. I imagine some of them have had second thoughts after what the Maelstrom did."

"How's Almec responding? What is he doing?" I asked.

Saxon shrugged and replied, "To be honest, I have no idea what Almec is up to. I've tried to use my resources to get contacts within the Mandalorian Secret Service, but the problem is that most of my sources were part of the segments of the Mandalorian Secret Service that he's purged over the last month. I got nothing. All I know is that there was a meeting held between him and some of his major department heads — they have always been considered trustworthy by the government. "

"Hmm, maybe I can ask Satine what's going on with his efforts. She should have some idea, though she may not be interested in sharing if Satine no longer trusts me." I said, looking at Bo-Katan.

"As far as I can tell, my sister still thinks you're one of the most loyal New Mandalorians out there, a fault of her own that I probably should have dissuaded her from. Familial loyalty and all that." Bo-Katan said with a guilty shake of her head. "By the way, have you found out who the guy who took a shot at her? I need to have a personal conversation with him — no one takes shots at the families of Death Watch."

I shook my head and replied, "I've made inquiries, but no one knows for sure yet. It was obviously someone on Merrik's payroll, since they are the only Death Watch assets on Coruscant. The ones loyal to us were half way back to Mandalore when Satine was attacked, so it wasn't them. Some think it might be one of the members of the Death Watch working for Lorka, while others believe the guy regrets his actions since he hasn't come forward."

"He'll regret it when I find him." She threatened, crossing her arms while likely imagining the various ways she is going to torture the unfortunate assassin.

I nodded in agreement. "Well, we don't know what the future may hold. If he comes forward, I will let you know."

"You better," she said, "especially with all the work I've done this month to help you with this campaign."

"Ah, yes, the Prey Wing concert." I said with a sigh. "I still can't believe I signed off on that."

Somehow, the funding had been acquired. The band was ready, and they hosted several concerts. They had been quite successful, and because of their modest success, they generated a bit of political influence. Tonight, I had to attend one of their concerts where they would come out in support of my campaign.

It's about getting the youth voting and all that, it won't matter that I basically created this band with Bo's help. Some people may figure it out, but most won't, and that will help with our efforts to grow a large base strong enough to depose the current Prime Minister.

Saxon nodded before saying, "Oh, right, we also have some wacko artist who lives in Sundari by the name of Veraslayn Kast. She's independently supporting your campaign, but I don't think we should make too many moves to incorporate them into our efforts."

"Why is that?" I asked, curious as to why they wouldn't want me to have any contact with her.

"Well, her art seems to indicate that she supports Death Watch. It's just rumors and hearsay, and that's enough. As much as Death Watch appears to be on the rise, I don't think we want you, as the Governor of Concordia, to be mistaken for a member of the Death Watch, at least not yet."

Nodding my head in agreement, I said, "I am well aware of that." Then I continued, "While we won't do anything about her yet, maybe we should see if we can get her in contact with the actual Death Watch. Perhaps a little bit of propaganda for our efforts would help increase support here on Mandalore."

"Maybe," Saxon passed me an encrypted datapad, used for high security communication between cells in the Death Watch. "Other than that, Countess Wren sent us a message. There's been an issue with food prices rising again. They're wondering if they could work out a deal with you to supply them with more food at a cheaper rate."

I briefly skimmed the details on the datapad. "I can look into that matter. I'll tell her that I'll gladly see what I can do for our fellow Mandalorian. I will need guarantees, though, that she'll support my run for Prime Minister, of course."

Saxon nodded his head. "Of course, of course. I'll make sure she knows."

With that handled, I checked the time on my vambrace display and said, "Well, I have three hours before I have to get on a transport to Mandalore for the Prey Wing concert. So, unless there's anything major, I'm going to go spend time with my son for a couple of hours. Haven't spent enough time with Paz as of late." With the meeting finished, I make my way out of the room.

"Sounds good, let's go." Bo said as she got up from her seat, "By the way, how old is your son again?"

I stopped and said, "Paz's six years old this year." A brief flash of Oori appeared before me, and I shook my head, trying not to think about my lost wife. "He's almost old enough to start the trials. I'm going to have to introduce him to the clan armor soon so we can start learning more about our history, where we came from, where we're going, and how he's going to best defend himself when he's doing it." As I exited the meeting into the hallway, I heard Bo walk next to me.

"I started taking Tanya out to the gun range back when she was ten. Would have a lot sooner, but Satine was in her early New Mandalorian days, you know." Bo commented, distracting me from further thoughts of Oori.

"I still can't figure out how you managed to convince Satine to allow for Tanya's training. She was still very against Mandalorian tradition back then. So how did you do it?" I asked.

"Well, it started when I left my empty blaster out where Tanya could find it when she was five. Once she found it, she inspected it to see if it was loaded, even held it in a two-handed grip. before getting ready to field strip it if I hadn't come in." Seeing my raised eyebrow, Bo smirked and continued, "It's true, I wouldn't believe it too if I didn't see her do it with my own eyes."

"And I am guessing that is when Satine saw the error of her ways and allowed you to train her once she is ten years old?" Already seeing where this is going.

"Nope, that is when she kicked me out of the house." Seeing my incredulous expression, Bo laughed before she continued, "Yep, it wasn't until Satine found Tanya reading books about our history that she called me back to prepare her for her job as a Representative on Coruscant. After that, during her first visit to a shooting range. She hit twenty shots out of twenty, with twelve of those shots hitting inside the ring."

"Now I know you are exaggerating." I said in jest as I made my disbelief clear. But I also know that she gained nothing from embellishing Tanya's skills.

"I'm not. Here — I still have a picture to celebrate her first time shooting a blaster." Sure enough, Bo projected a holopic from her vambrace. The holopic showed a much younger Tanya and Bo in front of a firing range. The score counter shows a proud twenty with Bo having her hand on top of a frowning Tanya's head while the other hand is holding what I assume to be her vambrace.

"After that, we started to go on camping trips. Here is when Tanya threw her first grenade." She scrolled the holopic to show a new holopic where Tanya is standing in a trench with her hand on her hips as Bo took a picture of her with a smoking crater in the background. "This is her eating her first kill." This next holopic had Tanya eating a small critter in a campsite next to a fire while looking annoyed at the camera. "This is after her first spar." She showed a picture of Tanya lying face down on the floor with Bo putting herself in frame, with a smile on her face doing a hand sign the younger generation like to use in pictures they take of themselves. "And this is when she wore her first armor and started jetpack training." Now it showed a taller Tanya wearing her family armor hovering in the air with a wide smile on her face.

It didn't take long for me to notice the melancholic expression on Bo's face as she scrolled through her gallery of holopics. "This is very important to you." I commented.

"It is. The time I spent being trained by my parents was the happiest part of my childhood. Since dad was busy being Patriarch of House Kryze, governor of Kalevala, and having to train my little brother too, he rarely had time for us. Mom did most of the work training Satine and I but we usually have a yearly camping trip where the entire family goes camping for a week for some family bonding." Now she is showing an older set of pics, of a family enjoying their time together in a group photo.

While Bo stares at the holopics, I can't help but compare her childhood with mine. Being raised under Tor's Death Watch is not what I would call a pleasant childhood. I was too young to remember what they were like before they were killed in an attack against Jaster's True Mandalorians. Tor was too busy leading Death Watch against everyone in the sector to raise me, so he left me to the more moderate members of Death Watch. Once news of Tor's death by the hands of Jango reached the rest of Death Watch, since I was the eldest surviving Vizsla, I was put in charge of Death Watch.

In a way, I both envied and sympathized with her. I wished I could have more time with my parents, and I do wonder what my life would have been like if Tor's poisonous ideals never existed. Yet, if that were the case I never would have met Oori whose parents were also killed in the war. When Oori was pregnant with Paz, I swore I would be there for him the same way I wanted my parents to be there for me. Returning my focus to the outside world, I noticed that we are almost to Paz's room.

Not wanting to leave this moment on this melancholic note, I said, "I am sure Tanya remembers her time with you fondly. You should be proud."

Bo turned her focus on me and said, "Satine should have been the one to do that, so that she could experience Tanya's firsts with her. It should have been a moment reserved for mother and child, and I feel bad that she'll never feel the joy and pride I felt when Tanya succeeded in her training. All I could do is report her progress every month, and since she is a New Mando she didn't see Tanya's training as anything more than a necessity. It's only after Tanya left for Coruscant and I reconnected with Satine that I think she started to regret missing that part of Tanya's life."

"What passed is past and nothing can change that. All we can do now is make new memories and experiences to make up for lost time. I am also sure Satine is proud of what Tanya has achieved in her own way." I squeezed her hand.

Bo seemed to regain her composure, "Thanks for the pep talk, Pre."

"Anytime." We stopped in front of Paz's door as Bo closed her vambrace. "Well, this is it. Are you ready to meet your step-son?"

Bo took a deep breath, "Yeah — okay, let's do this."