Three boys walked along the bumpy earth of Mandalore. And in their youth, they could spring down and over the jutting boulders from an ancient kingdom. Unlike an old man, who would be splintering and falling through every crevice there was, the boys could pounce and leap to each rock with ease. They sung songs of hope and life all in unison and this also showed that these boys were never truly callused by the world and death around them. Death. A word that the boys had not yet grown accustomed to had never seen, for they were ignorant of the blood-wars far off in their planet, unaware of the danger that crept closer.

But while their ignorance and naivete attitude prolonged, the young boys could only think of the warmth of the day and the richness of spring. They jogged briskly down the curving slope that met the clean and fair waters of their land. One boy stooped by the muddy bank and picked up a stone and flung it in to the water. He watched as it skipped across the surface, then sink to the bottom of the shallow stream. Another, older than the boy, leapt down behind him stealthily and slammed him in to the mud. "Got you Jango!" said the rough boy. Jango Fett, all caked with mud and moss, picked up a handful of slop and threw it hard at his friend, whose laughing ended with a smack of mud. Then the other boy, all caught up in the excitement leapt in the midst of their mud war. Laughing, Jango pointed at the boy he threw mud at. Angrily, his friend kicked more mud in to Jango's face, and for a moment, the two stood in angry silence. Finally, Jango and his friend Kalar lunged at him, slamming his fists in to the smaller Jango. The younger boy returned by tripping him over and sending Kalar sprawling to the earth. "Where'd you get that move from?" said Kalar amazed, but Jango only giggled, "I won this one Kalar." He reached out an arm to help him up, and upon grasping Jango's hand, he heaved him down in to the stream and the two fought wildly, exchanging punches and bites, all the while Kalar saying, "Don't think I'm gonna go easy on you because you're six!"

Finally, the other boy, Lune, threw a rock at them. "C'mon you guys! You're always doing this!" he said. Jango and Kalar stood up, soaked in water, mud, and blood glaring at him furiously. But then Lune caught the flare in his friends' eyes and he shook his head, trying to back away cautiously, barely able to squeeze out the word, "No.." when the two friends leapt up, pulling him to the ground, laughing wildly as they tumbled down.

The golden laid her head behind the purple mountains of Mandalore, the day was growing old, and the cool shadows spread across the valleys.


Ambu Fett sat silhouetted by his campfire inside his farmhouse. He sat tensely, rocking his chair to and fro in quick movements, as if he were terribly afraid of something he could not see. His son Jango had gone to bed earlier, sound, trusting the night. Ambu's shook violently as he cut a stick in to a point with a blunt knife. Often times, he glanced at the stairs that led to his son's bedroom, and knowing that Jango would not come, he went back to his nervous activity.

Moments seemed to lengthen in to hours, and Ambu grew even more afraid. But finally, the door to his farmhouse opened with a crash, and in walked Ambu's neighbors; local farmers like him. "Come Ambu, our homes are in danger, the ones whom we have feared so long are showing themselves upon our land." Said a farmer urgently. Ambu's eyes widened, and he thought of his son, impossible! He thought, but he knew that this was true. And as they spoke in hushed tones, too frightened to speak aloud, as if the beings that they feared breathed down their necks. A small boy that had awoken for a drink of Ram's milk stopped suddenly upon hearing the voices of his father and his neighbors. And as he stood against a wall, he could not hear what they spoke of, but it was dark, and it was enough to send his father and the men away in great haste. And after they had gone and left all else quiet, young Jango, still too young to know of the danger, got himself dressed and rushed after them.


Ambu and the farmers arrived in horror, seeing the smoking yet still standing remains of a barn, only eight miles from the Fett's Homestead, found upon opening the doors, the reality of warfare in their homeland. And they were much to late when they got there, for inside the barn hung three families, all men women, and children swung calmly along the ceiling. Their faces were in agony, black, and their tongues lolled from their parched mouths. Their body, no longer holding souls, sagged and drooped, eyes bulging at the burned ceiling above. The farmers walked through the crowd of swaying bodies like a man through a crowded street, the scene too horrifying for words or even an expression to be made.

But the moment of silence did not prolong when young Jango entered, and upon his sudden entry, he gazed up seeing the gruesome picture before him and then tortured beings glaring their bulging eyes in to the ceiling. And in the midst of the nightmare, hung Lune; the boy Jango had just spent time with by the crystal spring. He shook his little head in disbelief, and his eyes filled with bitter tears, he tried to back away. But he found himself bumping in to another body, then when he tried to back away, he found himself tripping in to another, then another, until he became so disoriented he was trapped in a sea of bodies. And the eyes that oozed from the dead sockets seemed to move down at him and glower in greed. Jango screamed and fell to the floor, weeping deeply, closing his eyes from the horror. Ambu and the farmers surrounded him, and when his father tried to bring his son to comfort him, Jango beat against his father's breast, but finally his anger ceased, replaced by grief and terror. Finally, Jango's wild thrashing stopped, and he lay in his father's arms and Ambu rocked his son back and forth to try to ease him. The bodies of the men and women seemed to lean forward and surround the two living figures.