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716 FNM (22 BBY)

Month 7

Mandalore, Sundari Palace

Tanya Kryze

I knew that my meddling in Republic politics wouldn't bode well for me in the short-term. But I had no idea it would get this bad when I set off on my little adventure. However, I did anticipate that I would be summoned to Mandalore to explain my actions to Aunt Satine.

The most straightforward way that I knew how to explain my situation is with a report. I made sure to document everything in the most understandable way possible. The report outlined the general situation as I understood it, including details of what I had observed and what diplomatic talks I had been involved in. However, I kept several secrets out of the report, such as White Silver's identity. It is likely that this report would become public record, so best to keep secret information from being written down.

After arriving in the system and submitting my report to Aunt Satine, I hoped we would begin high-level discussions on strategy for Mandalore. As much as I wanted a day to unwind, with the galaxy at war, now is not the time to relax. Once my ship landed back home on Sundari, I was not surprised to receive a notification once my vambrace reconnected with the local comm network. The urgent message came from Captain Rau and it informed me that I have been summoned to Aunt Satine's office, one of the most highly secured rooms in the entire Palace, which meant she wanted to discuss everything.

Interestingly enough, when I arrived at the Palace, I noticed that Captain Rau was not present to greet me. In fact, there were no signs of any guards anywhere nearby. Not even Obyrd or Briyuk, the guards who are usually in front of her doors at the end of the hallway, are visible. Aunt Satine only dismissed the guards and attendants when she was being very careful. It's very likely that she wanted to extract every detail she could from me about what had happened and I couldn't exactly say no this time.

Taking a deep breath, I paused at the door to make sure I had everything straight in my head. I expected this would be a rather long conversation, but I had to hope that we could quickly move on to what could be done for Mandalore and our people instead of my mistakes. The situation is not an irredeemable disaster. There are ways we could profit off the war, even if we didn't want to participate. Hopefully, this conversation would be the first step in making sure that Mandalore came through this crisis without too much damage.

I knocked on the door and waited for a call to enter. I brushed at my dress to make sure I was in perfect form as I waited for a response.

Thankfully, I didn't have to wait long. After only a minute or two, I heard Aunt Satine's voice call out, "Come in, Tanya." Once I heard her reply, I put my hand on the scanner next to the door. After it confirmed my identity, the Beskar-lined door opened for me.

As I entered the old office, one that I had visited numerous times in the past, I saw Aunt Satine sitting at her desk in front of the large window that overlooked parts of Sundari. Her hands were folded in front of her on the desk while looking at me with a slightly severe expression, suggesting that this would not be a light conversation.

"Tanya, take a seat." she said, gesturing towards the chair across from her, "Let's discuss what had happened in your report."

I nodded and confidently crossed the finely decorated office to take the seat indicated. "Where should I begin, Duchess Satine?"

Aunt Satine looked at me calmly before saying, "How about the fact that you got into a fight with the former leader of a terrorist organization?"

I was expecting this question. "I was not aware at the outset that the bounty hunter hired to kill Padme was also involved with political terrorists."

For some reason, that defense only earned me narrowed eyes from Aunt Satine, so I continued, "Senator Amidala represents one of the few parties trying to prevent a war from breaking out in the galaxy. Additionally, I was aware that the additional security Senator Amidala had acquired were insufficient and vulnerable to Mandalorian tactics. I thought it was in Mandalore's best interest for Senator Amidala's security to be ensured by Mandalore, given the bounty hunter's tactics would bring extra scrutiny to us in any outcome. How it all went down might not have been optimal, but I think it is preferable to the alternative of Mandalore being partially blamed for Senator Amidala's death." Hopefully matters were well and truly explained now.

"You got in a fist fight with the former Mand'alor of the True Mandalorians." Aunt Satine pointed out again. "We are lucky that no one recognized you in your new set of armor. Your fight was caught on holovid, according to my contacts it caused quite the local stir on Coruscant. A fight between Mandalorians on Coruscant over the city skyline."

My left eye twitched at Aunt Satine's comment. "Did they capture images of the Mandalorian Royal Guard?" I managed to keep my voice level and body relaxed, somehow. I hadn't heard of the holovid recording, but the last few weeks had been rather hectic.

Aunt Satine stared at me for a moment, before shaking her head in answer. "No, thankfully the camera only picked up the initial few minutes of the fight. The shuttle's arrival blocked the view from the camera, so there's no evidence that it was you or anything that could be traced back to Mandalore's government."

I slumped and let out a sigh of relief, "Good, they didn't catch us returning then." Although, as I thought about it, I realized that there was potential for my armor to be recognized now. I had worn it, not only on Coruscant, but also on Geonosis. Who's to say if any of the mercenaries Vai had brought camera attachments on their gear. Perhaps I should look into having my armor altered in some way to make it different from the one on Coruscant, but if people are able to put two and two together… That could be an issue.

"Let us return to the topic of this former Mand'alor." Aunt Satine said, dryly.

"Once I figured out the identity of the bounty hunter, I was able to send him a message and arranged a meeting. When I met the bounty hunter, Jango Fett, I convinced him to abandon his mission and report back here. Unfortunately, this had the exact opposite effect as my intentions. I thought clearing up who was responsible for the assassination attempt would calm tensions and this would go through the courts." Instead, the report appears to have triggered the war early.

"Yes." Aunt Satine said, nodding at my summary, "That certainly sounds like something you would think. Now how about the part where you ended up on the first battlefront of this war?"

"An unintentional situation. My ship and my Royal Guards were commandeered by the local Hutt while I was meeting with Jango Fett on Tatooine. Apparently they were in contact with Count Dooku, who strong-armed me into visiting Geonosis as a way of resolving the situation with the Hutts. That was why I was on Geonosis, to meet with Count Dooku, and then it was invaded by the army of the Republic." An army that had been kept secret from everyone when I left Coruscant. Padme had been negotiating the Military Creation Act when I left for Tatooine, I still wasn't sure how much I had missed while out in the Outer Rim.

"So just an unlucky coincidence." Satine said, although there was a new brittleness to her voice.

"I'm afraid so," I said with a shrug, "though I believe that my presence did help prevent the situation from turning out even worse than it could have."

"And why is that?" Satine asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"I had a backup plan in case the situation is too much to handle." Start with the successes and don't highlight the failures. "In case of emergency, I had Vai standing by as White Silver with a large force of volunteers to rescue me."

"I was wondering when we were going to get to that situation." Satine said, interrupting me. "Mind explaining to me why White Silver had to come rescue you?"

"It seemed the most reasonable idea at the time, since White Silver exists to appeal to the New Mandalorians. Having them come out and support a representative and princess of Mandalore during her time of need would be useful for affirming that she isn't some rogue Mand'alor out for conquest."

"That sounds like the long-term goal. What was the short-term goal?" Satine asked, still seeming a little bit annoyed.

"If I got myself in trouble that I can't get out of, I figured a small company of Mandalorians could rescue me. By the way, that reminds me, I have brought the family Beskad back to Mandalore now that its ownership has been transferred in such a way that will not raise any eyebrows."

Satine sighed. "I suppose Bo was right after all." Shaking her head she said, "I'll have it be put on display in court later. So to summarize, your part in this was that you were trying to help protect a friend and things just kept getting out of control. That's your thoughts on this situation?"

"Yes," I agreed with her summary of events, it was even true. "I couldn't stand by and do nothing - Padme would be injured or worse! It was just a series of unfortunate events that put me at the center of a problem that was going to fester no matter what."

Letting out another sigh, this one even more exasperated than the last. Finally, Satine smiled at the last rush of words. "Alright then, at least you did this to help a friend and you were trying to prevent the war. I approve of the motive, if not the means, but we have to talk about the situation now as it is. How does this political quagmire that's been created in the Southern Rim affect us?"

Finally, I took a breath before laying it out as I saw it, "I'm going to need to speak to Jango Fett again at some point to try and understand exactly what he was working on before his bounty hunting job on Padme's life. It seems that my assumptions on what's going to happen are somewhat off by a couple of years."

By now, Satine was frowning again at my explanation, but I kept going. "The conflict is inevitable now. I've been laboring under the assumption that we would have time to prepare, that there would be some spark in the future that led to the war. The Republic had no military, the Separatists were still talking to us, mostly anyway. The war came early because the Republic had a secret army apparently funded by a Jedi and they invaded Geonosis to rescue one of their own, Kenobi to be exact."

"Is Obi-Wan alright?" That is an odd one to prioritize, before the rest of my statement seemed to catch up to her. "The Jedi created an army for the Republic!?" Satine gasped, her face showing shocked horror.

"Yes, Jedi Kenobi is alright, no permanent injuries. And yes the Jedi did make an army, apparently this army is made up of clones. Clones of Jango Fett, some that are trained by Mandalorian warriors and exposed to parts of Mandalorian culture. Millions of them."

"That... is not good." Satine breathed. "If this army was trained in the Old Mandalorian ways, it won't help in our efforts to try and improve the perspective of people on what Mandalore is."

"My thoughts exactly." I nodded, "In the short term, many people who don't often meet Mandalorians will form some ideas about our culture from their encounters with the Fett clones. In the long term, any survivors of this Clone Army after the war might feel a sense of familiarity with Mandalore, which may be both good and bad. It's good because we can use the extra hands to rebuild Mandalore, but bad because anyone who comes here will bring their own baggage. Perhaps they were involved in something unconscionable outside the sector and are a war criminal. We need to be vigilant and ensure we don't allow in the kind of people who will tarnish Mandalore's reputation."

"You're talking about immigration control." Satine said.

"Yes, although immigration control is not quite right, it will do as a start." I said with a nod.

"How about the war itself? What are your thoughts on the matter?" She asked and I bobbed my head, as this was the most complex topic.

After taking a deep breath, I said, "This war was inevitable the moment the CIS began withdrawing from the Republic. As I mentioned, I thought it would take a couple of years, but it's already here, so we have to deal with it. We needed to stay out of this war. Mandalore has suffered enough in the last century, we have little to gain from being involved. However, both sides and even third parties will try to drag us into it. I haven't seen the frontier of the battlefields yet, but since Count Dooku's home planet is on the main galactic hyperspace lane, next to ours. Mandalore is a frontier now, we're on the border between the Republic and this new nation trying to break away from it.

The best path for us is to declare total neutrality and announce that we want nothing to do with this war. We will not support either side, but we will continue to trade normally with both sides and find as many allies as possible to do the same. It's the same goal as I've already begun work on over the years I've been a representative, so I've already made some progress. Now that the war has gone hot, it shouldn't be too hard to find allies that are willing to work with us."

"Allies would be welcome." Satine nodded approvingly.

"There are some problems, though, facing our sector and our search for neutrality. Of the most urgent is the Workers' Council of Anteevy, they attempted to assassinate or kidnap me on Tatooine. I'm honestly not sure which."

"They what?" Satine said in the coldest inflection I have ever heard out of her at this remark. I held back a flinch and paused in my story.

After giving Satine a moment to catch her breath, I nodded in confirmation. "Apparently they thought they could capture me and use me as some sort of bargaining chip of some kind. Knowing them, it was in a bid to take control over the entire Mandalorian sector."

Aunt Satine closed her eyes and took a deep breath before exhaling, in a technique that was very reminiscent of some of the training I had observed the younglings perform at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. She took a few deep breaths and opened her eyes, clearly struggling to maintain her composure. "This is deeply troubling," she said softly. "We must find a peaceful resolution to this. I will bring this matter up to the courts and try to seek a civilized solution."

I shook my head in disagreement. "I'm afraid bringing it up to the courts is no longer an option as I believe the Workers' Council of Anteevy is a member of the CIS now. They deployed the same model B1 battle droids that the Trade Federation fields, with slight modifications."

"So a puppet government is already in the hands of the CIS?" Satine asked in the same soft tone as she palmed her face with her left hand. I nodded in confirmation. "And they are waiting for an opportunity to take over the sector. Do you think the CIS will really recognize this puppet government as the legitimate government of Mandalore?"

"I doubt it. The CIS is trying to cast themselves as the legitimate and superior alternative government system to the Republic. Creating false puppet governments that lack authority and misleading people is harmful to CIS's interests. Especially right now, when they are trying to gather allies. That being said, I would not be surprised if the Workers' Council continues its own efforts to gain control of the Mandalorian sector. We will likely have to deal with them agitating existing factional divisions and interfering in our government in several ways. They may try messing with elections, causing riots, or any number of things to try to gain power and make themselves seem like an official government. After they have created enough popular support, then Anteevy will use that momentum to call for the CIS to liberate the sector."

"Prime Minister Almec has informed me that the government is reviewing recent staffing decisions. We're going to have to keep our eyes open for infiltrations. The Mandalorian Self-Defense Forces have instructions to begin stockpiling reserves. They will be ready to mobilize if Anteevy or the CIS force the issue."

I nodded, "I hate that we're going to have to use that force, but they won't hesitate to use violence to try and destroy what we've been building. We will need to be prepared."

War is an ultimately irrational decision, a lose-lose scenario that makes both sides poorer. However, it was also necessary, both to protect the lives and property of people from a tyrannical government or even worse, a communist government. I'm still puzzled about how the latest iteration of the Workers' Council of Anteevy came into existence. Right now, I suspect outside interference from Being X, but I can't rule out any possibility since the "Force" is also a real thing. At any rate, someone who is familiar with Marxist-Leninist terminology seems to be manipulating events. Stranger still, another distantly settled world, Shogun, also exists. Shogun was a hereditary title I was familiar with from my first life. More puzzling, Shogun, the planet was named and colonized by Mandalorians in the distant past. How many Japanese have been isekai'd into this universe? If I have been isekai'd to this universe then it's likely that someone on Anteevy could have been a communist that had also been isekai'd here.

I worked my way through those thoughts and returned my attention to the room. Aunt Satine was similarly lost in thoughts, so shifted slightly in my chair and folded my hands to remind her I was still in the room. "Anyway, I think that's the situation as it stands. There's going to be a war, and we're going to be in the middle of it. There are ways we can avoid being drawn into the conflict, such as a declaration of neutrality. Additionally, we have to keep our eyes on any factions that take advantage of the situation or ally with the CIS."

Satine thought for another long moment before sighing, "Alright." I nodded, then she got up from her chair and moved around the desk before leaning down to give me a hug. "I'm just glad you're safe," she whispered to my side. "However, in the future, can you not get yourself in a situation this dangerous? I know you were helping a friend, but perhaps leaving it to the official authorities would have been better."

"The Senatorial Guard are corrupt." I complained as Satine kept hugging me and didn't let go. I gave a helpless shrug, not fighting the continued hug, before giving up, "But in the future I will try."

"Well, you said you'll try." Satine said, letting me go with a laugh before moving back towards the desk.

"Now we have to discuss how we're going to officially make our statement of neutrality, do you have some ideas on this matter?"

"A few." I said, preparing another report that I had yet to write down in my head.

Mandalore, Sundari Mandalorian Hospital

Jango Fett

'This ain't exactly my usual stomping ground.' I thought as I surveyed the sterile halls of the mental hospital. Can't say I've had much reason to visit places like this before. People don't usually put bounties on the mentally unstable. It's not like they get sent to prisons. These places are reserved for the 'broken,' the ones that society tries to fix but often never can.

Today is the day I'd come face-to-face with my long-lost sister again after decades apart. I don't know how I feel about it yet. Part of me still wondered if this was all some sort of elaborate con. If it was, Kryze and I were going to have some words as well as a few blaster bolts when I see her again.

I already gave my statement on who hired me for the job, and in return I received an official pardon for all my crimes on Mandalore and Coruscant. They even sent over a nice little document as proof. I could probably go back to bounty hunting openly without much issue. But there was something odd about that document that concerned me. Nowhere did it list Zam's death as one of the crimes that I was pardoned of. There was an assault with a deadly weapon, which is probably from my fight with the Princess, but no death. It could mean that my dart may have missed something as vital as her neck and landed somewhere else or Zam was dead and I could be arrested the second I step foot on Coruscant, one of the two.

That dart is full of toxins that should kill any sentient instantly. But if the blood flow wasn't good or a Jedi interfered, it's possible that Zam survived. Finding out how she managed to survive would be a hell of a thing and the last thing I want to do is find out, as she most likely won't be happy about the whole situation. She's probably pissed at having been poisoned but faking her death is another way she could get out of her debts.

Granted, this was just conjecture. It's very possible that Zam is dead and that I'm not listed as her killer in official police reports for whatever reason. If that's the case, I won't be stirring up any trouble or going back to Coruscant just to be safe. As far as I'm concerned, that holopic clears me of all charges on Coruscant from the moment I first set foot there to the moment I signed Kryze's contract. So, if anyone asks, I'm in the clear.

Local reporting throughout most of the Hutt sector also indicated that they believe she is dead. Old contacts of mine have told me the same thing, that she died on Coruscant. So, perhaps there was nothing to worry about.

I shook my head and glanced around the meeting area over to Boba, who was staring out the window while we waited for my sister to arrive. The hospital we were in was on the outskirts of Sundari, near the capital city's dome. I had to admit, it wasn't a bad place. There were a lot of windows, no bars, and plenty of light. From what I could tell, the people were treated more like long-term residents than prisoners. Which makes sense, as I doubt the bleeding hearts would allow any inhumane facility that would offend their delicate sensibilities in their capital.

I may not have visited a mental hospital before, but I'd heard stories on what goes on in them. Not every world had the resources or the mercy to provide for their less-than-baseline populations. As I looked over the fancy facility, the resources on display, the string of kept promises, so far... I felt an unfamiliar emotion. Hope.

I cringed at myself in embarrassment. I am the deadliest Mandalorian in the galaxy and here I am going soft like a New Mandalorian the moment things go my way. While Jasper taught me that family is important, I do have a reputation to maintain. Once I finished that thought, the door opened to reveal a doctor and a woman. The blonde woman, who I was told was my sister, looked like she was struggling to hold herself together. Her eyes were downcast, and she seemed to be avoiding any eye contact, her eyes looking down at the ground.

I stood up to get a better look at her, I couldn't help but feel a sense of disbelief. It was hard to imagine this was the same girl I remembered from so long ago. Sure, the hair was the same, but everything else about her seemed foreign. I struggled to match my last memory of my tough as nails sister with this broken woman in front of me.

But then again, she knew my story. She knew everything that had happened between us that no one else should have known. I could only think of one person who might have known and that was Jaster Mereel. But he was long gone and I was sure he wouldn't have revealed my life story to anyone.

I stepped forward towards her, not liking to take things on faith, but there was no other way. "Arla?" I said, my voice gruff. Her eyes jumped up towards me, full of sorrow and hate. It was hard to see the sister I once knew, but as our eyes locked for a brief moment, I saw her.

"It's you, Jango." she said, taking a halting step towards me before stopping and looking at Boba with confusion. "Has my madness progressed further than I thought? It appears there are two Jango's in this room."

I smirked, knowing that only someone who knew me when I was a kid would recognize Boba as an exact likeness of me. Hearing her speak in the old Concord Dawn accent was also reassuring.

"Your madness hasn't progressed further, sister," I replied, still gruff. "Boba, come here and meet your aunt."

Arla blinked before realization dawned on her. "Your son? He looks exactly like you."

I smiled at that before saying, "It's a long story, but I'll gladly tell it to you, sister."

Concord Dawn, Bralir Chaavla

Spar

In a rush, I shot up from my bed covers, heart racing. That damned memory again, the last battle of the True Mandalorians. It wasn't a dream, it was a curse. One that did not belong to me.

A nightmare that Jango carried with him for most of his life and now it haunted me. The reason behind why I inherited his memories is a mystery, but clearly the Kaminoans missed a lot of things with me. I didn't need more confirmation of aberration, though, the fact that I've been able to escape the coming war is solid evidence that I'm not a normal clone.

Hell, I used to borrow Jango's identity, after he'd helped me escape. Jango didn't trust any of the clones, it was the Cuy'val Dar, the hundred experts from across the Galaxy who trained us. Only Mij Gilamar, one of the doctors among the Cuy'val Dar, had realized and understood what was happening to me, even before I had understood. He had explained matters to Jango, which is how I escaped aboard the Slave I. However, even then, we didn't trust one another. It was only after Jango realized that I wasn't going to expose the cloning operation, did we understand each other.

Now I've been given a chance to form my own life out in the galaxy and so far I had a good life. We even had a long-distance academic debate a few years back, the topic had been those new Silver Codices.

I'm still not sure if I even agree with their new version of the Supercommando Codex. To be more exact, I wasn't sure about their seeming ability to ignore the thousands of years of bloodshed by the Jedi. The revisionist history in the new codex is troubling because I knew that the Jedi were planning to use Mandalorian slaves to fight their wars.

Personally, I suspected my disquiet about Mandalore and the Jedi are driving these nightmares back to the forefront. There is a war coming and my brothers were going to be used as cannon fodder for it. They would walk to their deaths with a smile because the Jedi told them to.

It's disgusting. The Republic and the Jedi are lauded as heroes for their actions, despite the fact they were willing to do such naturally evil things. To create life only to use it to kill? What kind of monstrous civilization would do that? The Republic evidently, the greatest monster of them all. Unlike how the past Mandalorians had tried to slay it and failed, I will succeed and slay it in their name.

I extracted myself from my bunk and moved over to the kitchen. I walked to the insta-caf machine and started brewing a cup to drink. Later today I'm going to the meeting hall in the local township. There will be a large forum that is going to discuss what Concord Dawn would do about the current war. I planned to make my intentions very clear there. I will raise a company of Mandalorians to fight for the Separatists. We would fight the Republic and defeat it, to free Mandalore from the clutches of its control. And I am not afraid to use my connections to the local hero, Jango Fett to do it.

Nothing too extreme though, I would claim that I was just a member of Clan Fett, a distant cousin, who served with him during his time as the Mand'alor. One of the few survivors of the True Mandalorians.

It wasn't exactly true, but if Jango Fett caught wind of it he'd probably get a good laugh out of it. Claiming to be a distant cousin when I am his clone is something that I was sure he'd laugh at. I could have been bolder, claiming I was his bastard son, but then Jango would have dropped everything and come directly for me. Jango would never let someone take over his mantle while he was still alive. It's what I would do if the situation was reversed.

I couldn't help but be hesitant about my plans to declare myself the Mand'alor of the True Mandalorians, though. Would Jango Fett come for me over that? On one hand, he had given up the title when he became a bounty hunter. On the other hand, Jango had given up on the Mandalorian sector entirely, so theoretically he should have no claim to the title. But theory and practice differ on the battlefield. I, too, would have complicated feelings when someone succeeds me and takes on the title of Mand'alor for the True Mandalorians from me.

Hopefully, Jango would not take it too hard.

I grabbed the now ready insta-caf drink and started sipping gently on it. I may not agree with the Silver Mandalorians opinion of the Jedi, but I had to admit they had done good work in improving the sector as well as having great taste in caf.

One of the ships that came through here to trade, brought a whole stockpile of stuff. They had purchased it outside the sector and it quickly became a favorite among the locals that a trade deal is quickly hashed out for a monthly supply of the stuff.

Almost everyone in the entire planet is drinking it at this point, it was just that good and the local caf strains were not even close. The ship was from Mandal Logistics, which definitely seems to have some sort of link to the Silver Mandalorian. Especially when it's now operating in the Silver capital of Gargon.

The Silver Mand'alor is probably the biggest issue with my future plans. White Silver came after False Silver for declaring himself as the real White Silver. Would she also see my declaration for the True Mandalorians as a similar act? Or would it be my alignment with the CIS that would spark a conflict?

Only time would tell, but I had hope. I wouldn't seek out a contest with White Silver if they would leave me alone, but if there had to be a fight between Mand'alors though, so be it. Jango Fett defeated Tor Vizsla, the Mand'alor of the Death Watch. Should White Silver get in my way, I will defeat her.

Mandalore, Sundari Palace, Council Chambers

Pre Vizsla

The war is here. However, instead of relishing the moment of triumph and anticipating my ascension to Mand'alor, I found myself grappling with unforeseen challenges, more than I had originally thought possible.

For one, there is the matter of Jango Fett. Not only is he still alive, but he is here, in Mandalore! Of course, the problem isn't that I held a grudge against the man for killing Tor Vizsla, the previous Death Watch leader and our former 'Secret Mandalore'. The exact opposite is the case, I had no great love for Tor as he had failed to become the undisputed Mand'alor after crushing the True Mandalorians. If Tor had not been slain by Jango Fett, he would have become my problem. I could have never become the 'Secret Mandalore' with Tor still around to dispute the position.

Tor's extremism had pushed away a lot of the factions that would have been natural allies to Death Watch. The Martial Traditionalists are a large portion of the Mandalorian population and clans still living in Mandalore, but even after all these years after Tor's death, his actions and reputation caused most of them to want nothing to do with Death Watch. Tor had caused a lot of bad blood between us and the Martial Traditionalists by being extremely brutal with members of the True Mandalorians. Overly brutal, most would say, and had instilled that attitude within much of the older members. His extreme methods were useful for winning a war as a psychological warfare tactic but not at times of peace as many view him as a sadistic beast, not as a leader that is worth following.

I could see the utility of the older Death Watch's mindset and methods, especially in the context of a fight for survival. However, I broke with it in one key way: Mandalore must stand united if it is to prosper. Justice, if it must be meted out to fellow Mandalorians, requires a fair trial not an individual being the judge, jury, and executioner. Anything less perpetuates a cycle of violence that makes for an unstable sector. Any killing of the people of Mandalore must have proper cause, so hunting down someone's family just for supporting their son who was in the True Mandalorians was something that I would take action against. We must focus our energy on those outside the Mandalorian sector, not tear our people apart in ancient rivalries and old blood feuds.

The reappearance of the Fetts and old blood feuds is what had me worried. Jango Fett had most likely been the cause of Tor Vizsla's death, but even he wasn't, no doubt the man carried a grudge against the Death Watch for killing his family. When Death Watch makes its public appearance, there would be trouble. Would he come for me, personally? This is further complicated by the fact that his sister, Arla Fett, was a former Death Watch member. She had apparently been sprung from whatever hole she's been kept in on Coruscant.

For a lesser leader, like Tor, their first instinct when old rivals resurfaced would be to reignite vengeance and resume ancient blood feuds. However, my methods are clearly superior. I had privately communicated to key Death Watch members that had been uninvolved with the Fett's, such as Bo-Katan, that I would not be defending any Death Watch members who had committed provable crimes against the True Mandalorians in the past. In handing them over for justice, I would only lose the corrupted and depraved elements among us. In fact, a public reveal would probably be heralded very differently if my new Death Watch membership were of unimpeachable records. Every crisis is an opportunity and this is an opportunity to finally shed Tor's influence from Death Watch.

Still, this was the most unfortunate missed opportunity in my entire career. Had I known Arla is alive and on Coruscant, I would have gone out of my way to have her rescued. It is a fairly simple propaganda win. Not only because she was a former member of Death Watch, brought back into the fold and rescued from an unjust imprisonment, but the simple fact that she is the sister of the last Mand'alor of the True Mandalorians. Arla's rescue might have enticed the remaining True Mandalorians to join my cause, at least some of them.

I have to applaud Representative Kryze, her actions had just secured quite a bit of favor among the True Mandalorians and Death Watch to the New Mandalorian side. Of course, she wouldn't know that. Both organizations, as far as she is aware, are defunct. However, I could read the mood from a few conversations with some of the clan heads among Death Watch. Arla Fett's rescue and return to Mandalore is the right outcome, no matter what faction, the person responsible for this outcome represents what it means to look after family. I imagine many of the True Mandalorians felt the same, though my contacts among them were limited to say the least.

The major propaganda failure in the whole situation was how Arla Fett could be used as a political pawn. Arla could have been a weapon - used to criticize and paint all of Death Watch as responsible for her abuse. It would have been so easy to change the narrative to imply that they were all in thralls of Tor Vizsla's doomed vision, unhinged monsters instead of fellow Mandalorians.

Such a possibility would make using the word Death Watch much harder, but there were possible ways of dealing with that. Perhaps a change of name is in order. It would be unfortunate to resort to renaming the organization, names carried a lot of power, power that could be used to draw in support.

Perhaps there would be a way to alter the name, maybe designate a lineage or link to the Death Watch, without the baggage of past failures and mistakes. Something like The Children of the Watch? Implying a connection to Death Watch but being a successor would be better than its predecessor in many ways, like being more tolerant of other Mandalorians. To replace the old with the new would probably help with my efforts to become Mand'alor. I'll give it more thought another time.

For the moment, I needed to dissuade Jango Fett from returning to politics, especially considering his strong influence among the remnants of the True Mandalorians. He is a formidable opponent and could easily rally the True Mandalorian supporters to his cause, especially if he decided to go after me.

However, Jango Fett was not the only issue that had sprung up. Many issues needed personal solutions and my private intervention to resolve correctly, such as this council meeting I am attending, and it is time-consuming.

As soon as Duchess Satine's semi-monthly council meeting was over, I would have to rush back to Concordia and start putting things into action. I frowned at the thought, I would need to rush to avoid being outpaced by events, as much as I hated rushing.

The next issue was Senator Tal Merrik. I no longer trusted the good senator to perform his role anymore. Somehow, information regarding the location of Princess Tanya had leaked. Now it could be that it wasn't Senator Merrik who was responsible for the leak, perhaps one of his guards would take the fall in the next few days. One of his guards, who were all members of Death Watch... My frown deepened.

Senator Merrik could use us to take the fall for an assassination attempt on the Princess. Granted, he'd used a rather wild and roundabout way to do it. Contacting the Workers' Council of Anteevy was a bold play, considering they were definitely not Mandalorians, not after their insane elimination of all of the clans on Anteevy. The latest report mentioned that they had organized themselves into a bizarre super clan that they were all forced to contribute to. Merrik's decision to use these faithless allies are further examples of his rash behavior and disloyal motives.

A fragment of a prior conversation with Representative Tanya kept turning over in my mind. Her words in answer came unbidden, 'The Republic for the most part would do what they always do, label it an internal affair and maybe drop a few blockade orders and embargoes.' She had shrugged, as if this fact was common knowledge and maybe it was, to the Coruscanties. This Merrik affair reeked of something that I had started to get a feeling about for a while now, ever since Tanya had mentioned that the Republic didn't care about what happened beyond the core.

I had thought Senator Merrik a loyal Death Watch man, one placed highly to be of service to his Mand'alor. Recent actions said otherwise, they implied to me that he saw himself as the ruler of the Mandalorian Sector, using his position on Coruscant to play the factions against each other to maintain his wealth.

The corruption of the Core had taken over and infected Senator Merrik. He no longer has any interest in the people of the Mandalorian sector, except in how to maintain his position in the Core. Now his interests are satiating his own selfish desires.

The question is, what am I going to do about it? Theoretically I could move against him, have one of the Death Watch members in his company kill him. However, right now, as far as anyone was concerned, he is a New Mandalorian. If I had him killed, he would be nothing but a martyr for the New Mandalorian cause, a sign that Death Watch had not changed in the slightest. No, I needed to make him make another mistake, one that I can use to discredit and ruin his reputation first. He already made a mistake by working with Anteevy the way he did, but that action is not public knowledge and unless I could force it to be public, I would need some other rationale to replace Senator Merrik.

Anteevy had made one bold play against the sector and that had failed. Was it a one-off attack of opportunity or a test of their strength? If it was the latter, then no doubt future attacks would be redoubled and be even more aggressive, which was both bad and good. Bad because it would pit Mandalorians against these fallen Mandalorians. Good in that Death Watch would be the ones to step up and take credit for the defense against the foreign invaders.

I will start having my men infiltrate the Esuain sector, the home sector of Anteevy, but there were other opportunities present as well. Esuain is currently one of the possible front lines of the war, many people would be displaced if the Republic intervenes there. There is a significant Mandalorian expatriate population present, not enough to form a majority on any world or system, but the absolute numbers are in the millions. Refugees could be a fertile ground for recruitment, and having agents present would give us that opportunity, as well guard against Anteevy.

But that can wait for now. Before I could deal with Anteevy, I would need spies and infiltrators inside their government. Right now, the Death Watch had no actionable intelligence on Anteevy. Perhaps when the sector is embroiled in open conflict and I have built up enough of a force, I could strike out against Anteevy. Taking that ice ball would provide Death Watch with a fortress to operate out of, as well as an industrial base to sustain future conquests. Given the evidence of ties between Anteevy and the CIS, the failed strike against the Princess, and whatever other crimes they have gotten up to, Death Watch would be hailed as heroes for removing a threat to Mandalore.

As for Senator Merrik, well I did have a few agents in his group, but I already know that he has his own agents pretending to be part of Death Watch. I would have to settle for observations, my agents are not enough to overwhelm his guards. Senator Merrik hires from Clan Gedyc and their Death Watch members were some of the most radical hardliners from Tor Vizsla's original Death Watch. They weren't satisfied with my current direction, they still clung to the previous plan, to launch a doomed civil war in the Mandalorian sector.

They might claim to be Death Watch, but I doubted they would follow any of my orders at this point. The Gedyc were not ones for backroom deals or political wheeling and dealing. No doubt their lack of curiosity is why Senator Merrik chose them to be his loyal henchmen. They will regret that. I am not one to launch a doomed vendetta against Satine for Clan Gedyc or others just to win over their support. Not while Satine's reforms gave the Death Watch what we wanted for practically nothing. Senator Merrik would dispose of Gedyc whenever he accomplished his objective, as there was no chance he could replace me or gain the trust of the rest of the Death Watch. However, Gedyc clansmen would resist any orders I gave to take out Senator Merrik, of that I was certain.

Count Dooku had also contacted me a few days ago, implying that he was not a fan of what the Senator had gotten up to as well. He was interested in whether I would begin my operations to unseat the Duchess anytime soon.

Thankfully, I had a reasonable answer for Dooku; everything had happened so quickly that my resources weren't properly in their final position. It would probably be by the end of this year or the start of the next before we begin our efforts. Be it for the CIS or just for Mandalore, I was still considering the options there.

He seemed pleased before ending the communication, so hopefully he would not be calling for another several months. In that time I should have more information and more of an idea of what I was dealing with. However, if he was putting pressure on me to start the war, he is most likely also pressuring his other assets. Anteevy, I don't know what their objective is yet other than conquering the sector to spread their faithless ideas. But I know what Merrik's objective is, he wanted to be the Senator of Mandalore for the CIS… which meant that he might do something stupid in order to stay in Count Dooku's good graces. I just needed to make him desperate enough to do something stupid. Perhaps I could turn up the heat and tell Bo-Katan to warn her sister about Merrik? Or I could have Dooku provoke Merrik into a treasonous act so that he would be considered a traitor and his protections be removed. I would need to think this through before I decide.

Which brings me back to why I was attending this semi-monthly council meeting in person. I needed more information on what Satine's stances for Mandalore are, as well as her next course of actions for handling the outbreak of the war. And I'm frankly not liking what I was hearing about her neutral stance.

Duchess Satine had been holding a conversation about the details of her neutrality plan with Prime Minister Almec for the last half hour. Satine wanted to create a faction that could remain as a member of the Republic, but stay out of the conflict. Create some sort of 'neutral zone' to prevent the conflict from spilling out into the Mandalorian sector and the regions around the sector that wanted to stay out of the conflict. It's something I thought was rather unlikely to work, considering we were on the main highway for the conflict and that Dooku might just invade anyway. This war would be right next door at the very least, and there were going to be ships trying to sneak through our sector to attack both sides from both directions.

Hell, there was a chance we might play host to some battles in space. Probably some of the larger astronomical objects would be used as waypoints. It was even possible that there would be battles over some of our planets as forces tried to sneak past each other and ran into each other in the Mandalorian sector. Too bad that Satine's idea of a defensive void doctrine is a blindfold; demarcated minefields to control traffic and create corridors or nearly-invisible passive monitoring satellites would give us an edge if this played out.

Currently, the conversation was stuck on the fact that food imports may take a hit. Concordia was mentioned again, and I finally took an active interest in what Prime Minister Almec was saying.

"We always have Concordia, Concord Dawn, and even Vorpa'ya for their food production." Satine said softly, clearly trying to placate the worried Prime Minister. Concordia would be able to support itself indefinitely without imports. The Death Watch still existed today, in no small part due to my generous and significant resource contributions.

"If food imports are blockaded by the CIS, we wou-" Almec repeated, anxiety clear in his voice.

"If food imports are blockaded by either side." I interrupted and gave Almec and Satine a meaningful glance. Sitting back and sweeping my gaze across the other participants, I finished, "This is a war. We have to assume the worst, especially if we are taking this 'neutral' route instead of choosing a side."

Satine paused and nodded. Almec took no notice of her reaction, resuming the conversation overtop of Satine's sigh. "Exactly, if food imports are blockaded, we will have riots. We need to secure food supplies and stockpile, yesterday."

I sneered slightly. Concordia boasted significant granaries and long-term storage built into depleted mine shafts underground, safeguarded by my Death Watch. "Concordia's food stockpiles are secure. We have enough grain stockpiled to feed the Mandalore system for a year if the rest of the sector has their own food production." I stated, dismissing the concern. "I'd worry more about an invasion than riots. Vorpa'ya is right on the border with the CIS. We'd need a defensive fleet to respond to that." I pointed out. Concordia was safe from an invasion, except in the final extremity, its lunar position above Mandalore provided it significant tactical support from the planet's surface.

"The existing self-defense force of Vorpa'ya is being brought up to full strength and will have priority funding, with the other self-defense forces on standby to help defend Vorpa'ya in case that happens." Satine answered. I doubted it would be sufficient, and judging by Almec's displeased expression, he was of the same opinion.

The MSDF was struggling to secure equipment and create training facilities. I received constant reports from officers in the MSDF loyal to Death Watch. The entire structure was a mess with many battalions encouraging soldiers to get family to send them blasters or other basic equipment. With the foolish push for the clanless to join rather than recruiting purely from clans that actually had equipment already there was widespread corruption.

A new practice had arisen from the chaos. Clanless soldiers and officers contracting various clans for equipment and armor. Such contracts even had a nickname, Loneskar, for loned Beskar and other such equipment. Some of the contracts were rather extreme but when the choice was to potentially go to war without protection or to sell one's freedom to a clan for Beskar. The choice was obvious to most.

Satine wanted to have some sort of plan to create an alliance of neutral powers within the Republic that wanted to stay out of the conflict. But I doubted that would go over very well considering many Mandalorians would want to take a side, either side of the conflict really. If she was going to declare neutrality like that, she is going to cause problems for those who wanted to choose a side in the conflict. In the meanwhile, the Death Watch would take advantage and have a little bit of a jump in recruitment.

My thoughts were interrupted as the Minister of Finance, Droxun, spoke up asking that exact question. "What do we do if members of the Mandalorian sector go and join one of these conflicts? Doesn't that reflect poorly on the government?" Yes, it will, and I was glad not to be the lone voice of reason on the council.

Satine, who had been in the middle of a conversation with Prime Minister Almec, stopped to think for a moment before saying, "No, and we will be doing nothing." I looked up in shock.

"The fact of the matter is people will choose a side in this conflict with or without our approval. I've already had several Royal Guards say they want to help the Republic, and I've given them permission to take a leave of absence, so they can do that. I imagine there will be those who want to join the CIS or the Republic as the years go on, and as long as they do not try to draw the Mandalore sector in, I don't think we need to care about this situation." What of the blowback? If a Mandalorian warrior conquered a Republic world for the CIS... this could end in disaster.

Almec blanched, "What if the recruitment of our people for this conflict causes a political firestorm? We could face another Excision!" Several of the others in attendance visibly shuddered, hissed, or winced at the reminder. Satine was already shaking her head in disagreement, so I turned to face her, curious.

"No we won't. The Republic will be focused on the CIS, not some neutral periphery. And this is just an extension of Mandalore's existing policy; it seems that some of our people have already been involved in this conflict for the last ten years and we didn't know about it. The Clone Army was created using Jango Fett as a template, and they were trained by Mandalorians under his command."

This caused me to blink several times. I already had a bad impression when I heard about the Clone Army, but this was worse. Someone had been teaching our ways to a bunch of hollow copies and yes, maybe they may be as good as Jango, but they are more like slaves to the Republic than people with free will to decide for their own. Who knew what else those alien cloners had done along the way. I had concerns about that. It did make them an interesting source of recruitment. I wasn't sure if I could break them of their conditioning, but it may be something to look into as time goes on.

The conversation continued though as Droxun said, "That is a point in our favor then. Without us, the Republic would not have their army. So they were serving the Republic before the conflict even started? Then as long as these Mandalorians who left to fight did not abuse Mandalore's neutrality to escape their own punishment or for fraudulent purposes during the war, that would be acceptable."

"My thoughts exactly, Mrs. Droxun." Satine agreed with a nod before continuing, "In fact, I think we should plan our legislation that makes it quite clear that Mandalorians can go out there to volunteer in this war with the Republic or the Separatists on their own volition without our support. We will also need to make it clear that if they leave to fight, they will not be allowed to return until the war is over. At the very least, this will prevent people from jumping back and forth over the border. This way, we can prevent most of the abuse of our neutrality from the start."

There were quite a lot of affirmative nods, so even I nodded myself. Although I was kind of against it, one of the things you had to do when you were pretending to be something you're not is vote against your own interests. Cynically, I suspected sacrificing the ability to switch sides if the war started looking bad was worth it if it locked others into the same choice. And it wasn't like I particularly wanted either the CIS or the Republic to win outright. I would prefer Mandalore be independent or to be part of the independent systems. Leaving an escape route for those who decided that the Republic was the way, well that would be useful for me.

"What about the companies?" Droxun asked, "I'm sure several companies will want to sell their equipment to either side. What are we going to do about them?" She seemed more curious and eager than concerned. Interesting. I should send some more agents to her department, my last good one had been replaced by a droid recently. Hmm… maybe I only needed a good slicer instead.

There was an immediate shake of her head from Satine, as she said "That's a little too far. We will table that particular discussion for a later date, but right now it would be preferable that we are not selling military equipment to either side. Civilian products are allowed though, I know MandalMotors has been producing a line of tugboats for the Republic and we don't want that to get canceled. We just need to be careful with what equipment is being sold to both sides, make it clear that we are not favoring one or the other."

"So if we sell to both sides equally in some way, the companies could do that." Droxun grinned and seemed to interpret Satine's answer broadly as granting wide permission to do just that. I watched the byplay, a bit interested that it was Mrs. Droxun pushing an agenda. How uncharacteristic of the typically forgettable Councilwoman.

Satine hesitated at Droxun's summary, "Theoretically yes. However, this is a subject that will be tabled for another time, once we have a better understanding of the situation. I would prefer for us to stay out of the war, though."

A silly statement since the war was already here, but I could understand her point of view. Satine wasn't privy to the actions going on in the background and how many of her allies had secret agendas. My secret agenda was merely to preserve the Death Watch as protectors for the good of all Mandalore, but the rest, who truly knew? And they were allies until the moment they stabbed her in the back. If she knew, she would probably be all in on selling equipment to the Republic or the CIS, depending on the deal they offered.

The deal they offered…

Well, that's an interesting thought.

Coughing, I said, "What if they offer us a neutrality deal in exchange for the right to buy equipment from our market? They would have to transport it to their own lines themselves, as well as agree to our neutrality in the conflict."

Satine thought for a moment before nodding her head and saying, "Yes, that would actually be a rather safe approach. It would encourage both sides to keep our neutrality at the top of their minds. That's a good idea, Governor Vizsla. I will see if we can work up some sort of contract to offer to both the Republic and the CIS when the situation is available."

I smiled and nodded, taking the faint praise, despite suspecting that I probably just set this situation up rather nicely for something to go wrong.

The chances that the Republic would secure that neutrality in my mind were null. Sooner or later they would break their contract, it was only a matter of time. And when that happens, well I'm sure things would spin out of control.

Of course, the CIS might do the same thing. At the very least, I prevented the Workers' Council of Anteevy from striking the Mandalore sector openly, giving me more time to build up my own forces and prepare for securing my rise to Mand'alor.

"Speaking of companies, how is Gargon's integration coming along?" Satine asked Droxun, who was in charge of integrating Gargon into the Mandalore sector proper after Gerr was ousted by the real White Silver. I noticed that Almec looked like he had a whiff of Kri'gee with how severe his expression became. Which is understandable as he was never a fan of any non-New Mandalorian.

"So far, integration has been going smoothly. The ruling clans have decided that due to their proximity to the Hydian Way, they would become a resort world as their main source of income. They are in the process of opening various hotels and casinos as their main form of income generation. To supplement it, they are selling various cattle products and various industrial products to Mandal Logistics who then sell it to other planets and businesses in the sector. We should receive our first tax revenue from Gargon at the end of the year, which should boost our GDP by 9.8% from last year."

My thoughts on Mandal Logistics are mixed. When they entered the public domain, Death Watch didn't bat an eye. It is merely a small delivery corporation, nothing to be alarmed about. But over the years they grew exponentially and integrated themselves into the Mandalorian economy so well that they became household names like MandalTech or the Trade Federation.

The fact that Mandal Logistics was even used to deliver some of Death Watch's military assets, albeit hidden under Concordia's numerous grain deliveries, is a worry that I only noticed very recently. I planned to recruit Mandal Logistics to our side eventually, similar to how we commissioned MandalMotors to supply us with Kom'rk Fighters. However, the fact that they have quickly built an office on Gargon has concerned me. I hoped that it is merely because the CEO, someone called Visha that I found no records of and is likely a pseudonym to hide her identity, is merely a proactive and savvy businesswoman.

"Other than that, the Spice Refinery being constructed on Gargon is proceeding as planned and should begin production of pharmaceutical drugs in three to four months. The refinery will be part of a publicly traded company with the crown owning a majority of the shares with the Gargon clans having partial ownership."

"With the galaxy at war, medicine will be in high demand everywhere. Having our own supply of medicine would mean we won't run out of medicine in an emergency. It could also provide us an extra source of revenue if we export them to either side." I commented as I wondered if I should also invest in this refinery as well. It would give me an official excuse to have one of my men stationed there to monitor the planet, as well as have a supply of high grade medical drugs at a lower cost than importing it from outside the sector.

"That is the idea. Once we have a large enough production to meet local demand, we can export it to Taris or other planets that might need it."

From there, the conversation continued without much fanfare, since this is a room full of New Mandalorians after all. We spent the rest of the time discussing possibilities of trying to stay out of the war and improving our economy. It's a rather boring affair, we set the economic agendas for the next few years, like infrastructure projects to reduce unemployment from the upcoming recession caused by the war, food subsidies to encourage more food production, and even having Kalevala Shipworks sell Power Cores of ships to rural villages so that they have a reliable source of electricity that could boost our taxes as well as raise the standard of living for many villages. I noted that there seemed to be plans to improve Concordia's agricultural output. At least someone was thinking that, while we wouldn't have the ability to fully support the population of the sector sooner or later, I wouldn't turn down extra investments.

I could tell that the council wasn't taking the gravity of this situation seriously, and so my mind was elsewhere. The rest of the sector would not be ready for when the conflict was at their front door.

It took every ounce of control not to smile at the realization that while these people may have been preparing an army for Mandalore's defense, and they have no idea how they were going to use it. When I was finally Mand'alor, that army would serve me well. After all, when the Confederacy and the Republic are done beating each other to a pulp, there is likely to be quite a big change in the maps of the Galaxy. Sectors were just lines on maps, in the end. Perhaps we could break away part of this little borderland between the two, it would serve well as a defensive buffer for Mandalore.

Gargon, Mandal Hypernautics Tower

Bo-Katan Kryze

I drummed my fingers impatiently as I looked over my desk at the returning hero or rather Vai clad in Tanya's White Silver armor. Why was I not included in the plan to create a mercenary force and rescue Tanya? I would have joined in a heartbeat. "Muun'bajir ad'ika..." I muttered absentmindedly - I will have to remind Tanya about the importance of family and not going into battle alone, the Mando way. Either way, that's who I'm staring down in annoyance.

This was the perfect opportunity for White Silver to forge an alliance with me and my comrades, both the new allies I've made on Gargon and the few friendly factions in the Death Watch. But no~. No, they go off and do their own plan, their own plan that got a Lancer scuttled, and about a dozen Mandalorians killed in some foreign hellhole. And what did they have to show for this waste of blood and durasteel?

They put White Silver on the map as a supporter of the Republic, even if it was only by way of supporting Tanya.

Frowning, I gave Vai a stern look. "Alright, so, where to begin?" I asked, focusing on her. It was not amusing to me that White Silver was being hailed as a hero, despite the celebratory parade that had hailed her 'victorious' return to Gargon; I knew the truth. The fact that people were calling her the "Princess Savior" was even more ridiculous to me. Vai was shameless in response to my fixed stare, she gave a helpless shrug and wry smile.

White Silver had been welcomed back as some sort of conquering hero and had even crowd-surfed for a bit on our way back to the Tower. A lot of people had really liked that Mandalore had stepped out of its imposed pacifism to strike out. And apparently people really like the idea that White Silver had rescued another princess.

"We could begin with a 'Hooray' and 'Welcome back?'" Vai said expansively. This was the wrong attitude. I replied with silence and a deadpan stare.

After a minute like that passed, I played along, "Hurray, welcome back. How was your trip?" Time for the hammer blow. "How many people did you kill while posing as White Silver?"

Vai smiled and said, "Zero, thankfully, since we only fought droids. Not to say that no one died during that conflict, the Geonosians and the clones went at each other pretty hard."

"Great," I said with a shake of my head before adding, "so now that that's been stated, why was I not informed? I was off-world at the time but come on. All you needed to do was to send a message and I would have met you anywhere along the way."

Vai finally looked sheepish, staring down at her feet before saying, "I forgot, we came up with the plan to mainly have me being the one responsible for gathering troops, so we just went with it."

"That's it? You forgot? That's why you didn't call me? What am I? Chopped Bilerat?" I said, wanting to stand up and slap the girl for her stupidity, but I kept myself in check. I'd slap her later. For now, I keep on getting her story out of her.

"That's really it, though. Tanya knows more of what went wrong. I was only there for some of it, and from what I heard, everything was happening so fast."

I nodded slowly, considering her words. "Fine, fine. So you didn't give me a call because you were too busy running off and playing adventurer. You raised a mercenary army and fought for the Republic. So what's the plan now? Is Tanya planning to continue having this army fight for the Republic, or was this a one-time deal? A situation out of control and requiring brute force to get out of it."

Vai shrugged before saying, "I think it was mainly the second one. Tanya was trying to defuse the conflict in her negotiations, she didn't want to start the war. We accomplished our mission, so we could let the mercenary force that was created here be disbanded, unless well…"

"Unless what?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her leading statement.

"Tanya did mention that if the Republic wanted to contract this mercenary force to help train their clone army or in any other capacity, they could. But she has no intention for them to serve the Republic as a military arm."

"Manda gaa'taylir mhi..." I muttered, I doubted Vai would understand anyway. I sighed and leaned back on my chair as I thought this over.

This was still in line with some of the plans Tanya had shared before. Gargon was in a good location to serve as a mercenary outpost, and sending troops off from Gargon to the Republic would be beneficial. Though I do wonder what Pre would think about that.

After a few minutes, I straightened up and said, "We'll go with Tanya's plan. However, I want you on a shuttle returning to Mandalore before the end of the day. No more celebrations, White Silver needs to go into hiding because of her tomfoolery and we need to make it clear to Tanya that going on vendettas like that has consequences."

Vai nodded and started getting up from her chair before I said, "One more thing. What's this I hear about White Silver is a lesbian?"

Vai laughed before she saw my expression and cut off. "Uh, just a little prank I was playing on Tanya, nothing too serious."

I continued to give her an annoyed look before I stifled a laugh and said, "Nice one, just don't overdo it. Maybe get permission and work it into White Silver's lore. I'm sure it's going to be annoying to keep track of things you do from Tanya's perspective."

"Will do." Vai said with a salute, and she got up from her chair and exited the room. Once Vai left, I turned to look out the window.

This was a right mess, but nothing that my niece couldn't figure out. Now I wondered how she would do when the whole conflict across the sector really ramped up. This was the war that Pre had been talking about for a long time. So after what had happened, how would Pre handle it is the real question.

Worse yet, what would I do when Tanya found out that I was working for Death Watch? It's something I had never really thought about. I didn't really feel like it'd ever be a possibility that Death Watch would actually make a move. Now there was, would she be angry with me or understand my point of view about trying to protect the clan by having someone within Death Watch?

Only time would tell, and I had to hope that time would tell us a good tale, one where Clan Kryze survived the war intact and the Mandalore sector is able to rebuild and continue to expand into a power out here on the Rim. Otherwise, things are going to get chaotic and terrible real quick.

Sighing, I started to put together a letter to Satine, letting her know that I probably would not be able to come by for our training session for a while, not with the galaxy at war. I wrote some about the hassle of managing the mercenaries, until I realized Satine wouldn't understand in the slightest. Ugh, New Mandalorians, I wished Tanya was around instead, she understood... so I trimmed off that portion, and sent the letter.

Now that I was finished writing that letter, I opened a new one that was going to Pre. Last time we met, he hinted that he was unclear where my loyalties lay, so I needed to re-affirm that I would still serve Death Watch.

Then right after that, I would have to be ready to serve with Death Watch when they called. I just had to make sure that it was all official, make sure that Pre Vizsla was not our enemy, and that my sister, nephew and niece would be protected.

Sure, we come a long way from calling her the Anti-Mand'alor. But there was always a chance that if I wasn't in Death Watch, they would renege on their agreements to not go after Clan families.

The war is here. Now all the alliances and interpersonal connections that have been built up would be stressed to see what would happen, and I just had to hope that it ends with Mandalore coming out of it stronger.