"Unknown pilots, state your name and purpose" came a very authoritative voice over Solus’s com as three StarViper fighters appeared off their port side. 

“ Su'cuy ner’vod” responded Ma’ryk.  “Four Mando’ade returning home for some R&R.  Also our partner, Dussk in the Serpent's Blood.”

The com went silent for a moment, then crackled back to life.  ”Roger that, your ships are all registered in our data banks other then your partner’s.  Do you vouch for him?”

”I do” came Cabur’s voice over the com. 

”Very well.  Proceed on present course.”

”Affirmative Ma’ryk said as his comm went dead.

Ralin watched from behind Solus as they drifted lower into their landing orbit.  As soon as the red glow from the fiery entry into the planet’s atmo subsided, he gazed down on the green jungle of Mandalore……..home.

The white city of bone quickly appeared on the horizon.  He had been raised in an outlying settlement, but had visited Keldabe often as he’d grown older.  It had changed little since he’d been away; little in the thousands of years it had stood. 

Setting down on the landing pad, he watched out a side port-hole as the Blood-Hawk set down nearby.  Turning off the air filters to his helmet as he stepped out of Solus’s craft, he breathed in the air.  It was mixed with the fumes of any space port, but he didn’t care.  It was Mandalore…….it was home.

Collecting his thoughts, Ralin joined the others on the landing pad.  “We have much to discuss.  There’s a cantina nearby that I used to visit.  It’s quiet enough, and private.  Unless one of you has a better place?”  Looking around, none volunteered a spot.  “All right, lets go.” 

Careful to let Solus and Kuat go ahead of him, Ralin followed the others down the elevated landing pad and then down a street.  As they neared the cantina, Ralin allowed himself to aimlessly look about the street and those walking down it.  As he walked passed Dussk, who’d stopped for some reason, he recalled visiting some of these same shops as a child with his mother.  It was so strange looking around and seeing others in Mandalorian armor.  And not just Mando, but many other kinds of armor, weapons, and……..

Drakus snapped from his daydreaming when he noticed something completely out of place.  A new building down on the far end of the street.  The distinctive banner of the Peacekeeper army hung over it, and black clad troopers stood guard at its entrance. 

Dussk had seen it first, and then the others about the same time as Ralin.  Now standing just outside the cantina, Ralin moved up to a Mandalorian armor clad warrior who had a long, flowing red cape with kama and other decorations hanging from his belt and shoulders.

“Su'cuy Mando, I ask a moment of your time.”

The other Mando didn’t say anything, and the gaze from his crimson red visor seemed to be sizing Ralin up.

“How long has the Peacekeeper filth been squatting on Mando soil?”

The question seemed to loosen the warrior up.  “Over a year now.”  The Mando’s voice seemed young, but even and confident.  “Just a station where they house trade goods that are headed off planet, but they decided a show of FORCE was necessary for the locals.  Small bunch, but they think they’re pretty good.  Don’t even scare the kids here, though.”

Ralin grinned behind his mask, and was about to bid the Mando a good day, when a voice called out……….

“YOU THERE!  FREEZE!!!”

*This ok V_M?  We weren't sure about the PeaceKeeper presense on Mandalore or exactly what it looks like there now.  I know it was a jungle world, but if that's changed or anything else is wrong give me a heads up and I/we can edit*

The massive explosion knocked most everyone down.  Ralin couldn’t take the time to admire the bravery of the Trando.  He rolled back to his feet, his twin blaster pistols out and firing.  The group that had been all around Dussk were all down, but more and more troops were pouring out of the Peacekeeper building. 

A report from a blaster just behind Ralin sounded, sending a trooper down.  Looking over his shoulder, the Mando in the red cape had his blaster leveled and had joined the fray.  Looking around, Ralin saw that many other bystanders were also joining.

I think we’ve just started a revolution……

The force of the blast had thrown Cabur back hard.  She lay there for a minute, not remembering what had just occurred, only knowing that every inch of her body ached.  She recognized the familiar taste of blood in her mouth as she reached a hand up to a gash just below her right eye.  I really should consider a full HUD, she thought to herself, now trying to get to her feet.

Cabur looked around at the scene, still unable to recall the last few moments.  Peacekeeper bodies lay all around them, and she remembered something about the peacekeepers attacking them.  An unfamiliar  mandolorian walked up to her, "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes," she stated, not entirely truthfully.  "Where is Dussk?" she asked, looking around and not seeing the trandoshan, who should have stood out quite clear amongst all the mandolorians.  And then all memory came rushing back, Dussk being attacked, him sacrificing himself, the explosion.  She was frozen in shock, and realization that her partner's death was her own fault.  If she had refused to let him come with her, he would still be alive and well.  She stood there, not knowing how much time had passed by.  She felt sick with guilt and was still shocked at the events that had transpired...

Looking around at the carnage, Ralin holstered his blasters as several Mandos stormed the warehouse and finished off the survivors. 

Looking at the blackened mark on the street where Dussk had fallen, Ralin walked up to Cabur. 

“You hurt?” he asked, knowing it wasn’t physical pain she was feeling.

“He’s gone” she barely was able to whisper.  “And it’s my fault….”

Ralin grabbed her shoulder and spun her around to face him.  “ENOUGH of that talk” he snapped.  “He died with Great Honor fulfilling his duty.  We should all be so lucky as to die in such a way.”  Solus walked up and put a more soothing had on her shoulder.  “Remember what we taught you about the Honored fallen?”

“Yes” say said, holding back a tear.  “Not gone, just marched far away….”

Ralin put his fist to his heart for respect to the dead.  “Come inside; we still have much to talk about….”

The Mando in the long crimson cape stepped up and blocked the entrance to the cantina. 

“OSIK!!!” the Mandalorian exclaimed.  “You might have just brought us to war with Skywalker and the Peacekeeper army!  Why did they try to take you??  What the HELL is going on???”

Ralin stiffened and faced off with the angery Mando.  “It was not our intention to bring harm to our home.  Mandalore is Mother to us all.  But we did not ask for your help, appreciated thought it is.  If hard times come as a result of this action, I will do all in my power to see that the blame falls on myself and my small group.”

The other Mando again seemed to size up Ralin; trying to weigh how much truth he thought there was in the other’s statement.  “Why were they hunting you?”

“Come inside with us, I’ll tell you……”

Solus turned slightly and nodded to Kuat, motioning him into the cantina behind the others. He could do nothing but wonder why Kuat was so important, or why even Thrawn wanted him. Unless the cloning secret had gotten out...No matter, back to the task at hand. Kuat followed Ralin into the cantina, with Solus directly behind. The doorman gave sort of a chuckled grunt upon seeing Kuat in his gold trimmed tunic, complete with matching earings. This was going to be interesting. The 6 of them walked through the near empty cantina, finding a large booth in the front with a window, getting confused, interested looks from the few patrons that were there. They all sat down, getting as comfortable as they could fully-clad in armor.

"Back to buisness."

The Overlord's Shadow: Orbit over Coruscant
____________________________________________________________________________________________

Bria ran down the corridor junction at a rapid pace. She had been careful to avoid detection by Peacekeeper soldiers early on, after disposing of the prison detail that had been assigned to escort her to a nice cushy brig. After helping the Jedi and his Wookie apprentice escape their cells, she had managed to give them the slip. She kept herself shrouded in the Force as best she could. She had heard rumors that although Skywalker was not currently onboard, one of his Inquisitors was in the process of interrogating a prisoner believed to be a force user.

"Kharn...after all this time...I've finally tracked you down".

She'd also managed to acquire information that Skywalker's own High Inquisitor was to arrive very soon, and she'd hoped to be done before his arrival, which could prove to complicate things even more. It wasn't so long ago that she'd received an emergency call of urgency in the force, that could only have come from her secret apprentice, Mi'kal. She wasn't exactly happy that he'd given up his hidden position, but she knew him well enough to know that it could only mean one thing. Someone else had arrived. It could only be one person...High Inquisitor Starjammer. She couldn't help smile at herself to imagine matching abilities with Skywalker's equivalent of Darth Vader, at least that was how she imagined the High Inquisitor.

When she'd first heard of him, she'd used some of her old Imperial contacts to try and learn what she could of him. Unfortunately, somehow the High Inquisitor had absolutely no background in any database registry before Skywalker had transformed the First Galactic Empire into his New Imperial Order. As a former Imperial Intelligence agent, she found the lack of information...unsettling.

She heard a grunt and a loud thud against a wall a couple of corridors down, then the unmistakable sound of lightsaber parries against a flurry of attacks, then another grunt and an impact against multiple objects, possibly supply crates. She pulled out her weapon and activated the archaic lightwhip as she rounded the corner...

Lumiya smiled.

"I wasn't aware Skywalker's little Empire was desperate enough to dress up an obsolete piece of ancient junk and call it an Inquisitor."

She flipped her wrist into a snap motion and several of her lightwhip's strands snapped in different directions. The barbed strands scraped loudly against the durasteel alloy plate covering his wrist, while some of the lightsaber strands burned deep gouges into his armored fingers.

"Look who's talking about augmentation, Tinny. That strike should've severed your hand."

She backpedalled as the IG droid stepped in with a couple of retalliatory strikes of his own, moving to cover the Jedi as he rose up again slightly disoriented. The other girl seemed terrified enough to run. The Jedi must've seen it, because he yelled out.

"Kirah No!"

Lumiya leaped over another of the Inquisitor's strikes and landed to cover the unarmed girl.

Interesting...He wants to protect her...maybe I can win some favor for helping keep her safe...

Kell blinked. Fortunately the others seemed to have a sense of humor, that made them easier to work with. "I'll come with you." He said "But I don't have a ship." The mando who seemed to be the leader nodded " That could be a problem..." Cabur cut across him again  "Not necessarily, my ship has enough room, he could come with me," she paused for a moment " as long as he doesn't mind being attached to the outside of the hull." Kell grinned, but his expression was blocked by his helmet. "Just give me a few heaters, I'll be fine."

Kell stood up. "I'll let you keep discussing your plans and the like. I want to visit some places before we go." Kell began to walk.  He stepped outside, a group of Mandalorians were busy moving the bodies. He could feel the death here, and he hated himself for it. The force was a disgrace, it made him feel weak, but he had come to rely on it in times of need.  He continued walking, not really going anywhere. Eventually he felt a presence behind him, he had his helmet off so he couldn't see without tuning his head. It felt familiar, recently familiar. He made an effort not to reach out and find out who it was. Instead he put on his helmet, the 360 degree view it gave him revealed the person following him. He came to a stop and turned, nodding. "Cabur."

Kell slowed down, turning to face Cabur. "It's not your fault. If you had told him to stay he still would have followed you. He died a good death. He took his own killers with him, instead of falling back. He honored his life-debt. You shouldn't feel bad about him. He died trying to keep you alive, and I doubt he would enjoy you feeling bad about it."

She looked away, seemingly uncomfortable.

Kell decided to change the subject. "I wasn't really going anywhere. I just wanted to walk around a bit before we left."

Cabur looked around, taking in the sights. "I'm not exactly sure how long were going to stay, the others were just relaxing, and I decided to go out here, and look around some."

Kell nodded, "I know what you mean. I haven't been of planet for a while, I wonder when we leave."

(Ok...RD's turn )

Xan blocked a strike from behind, spinning the electro staff up and knocking the Jedi's weapon away. He spun his staff, and the Kharn ducked it, pulling his saber back to him. He dodged, blocking a strike from Lumiya. He utilized the magnetic manipulators in his hands and shoved her back, causing her to slam against the wall. He ducked a swipe at his head, spinning around and hitting Kharn in the abdomen with his electrostaff hard. Perhaps to hard he thought, as the weapon punched through the jedi's abdomen. The jedi stopped, dropping the lightsaber and slowly looking down at the weapon embedded in his stomach. The jedi fell to his knees. Xan placed a foot on the Jedi's chest and yanked, the electrostaff came out with some resistance. The fell forward, hitting the deck with a thud. The  Jedi's blood was sizzling on the tip of the electrostaff.  The Jedi was still alive, his breath quick and uneven as a pool of his own blood began to spread around him. Xan heard a scream, and turned back to the Jedi. The girl was kneeling by him, sobing. It didn't matter. He had something else to deal with. Lumiya was getting back up

---

Tho'un looked out over the field of stars. He was on the bridge of the Overlords Shadow, in front of a group of admirals.  "There has been a massive security breach. Your "High Inquisitor" has turned against you and abducted your leader. He was under the influence of a Sith Cult, thought to have been eradicated on Belderone by the 501st. I am taking command of this fleet and we will retrieve Skywalker. Until he is retrieved I am the High Inquisitor, and you will answer to me."

"Damnit." Solus sighed. "Damnit I almost did it again." He put his put his helmet in his hands, gripping the rear part of the dome whilst still on his head. He sat there for a moment saying nothing, then straightened up. Solus stared at Kuat, the piercing black gaze of the T-visor cut right through him like a vibrosword. He was furious. This is the second time he almost got into a fight-to-the-death with Ralin by defending his contract with Thrawn.
Honor is everything...but is it worth my life? This contract? He pondered for a moment, then snapped back into reality. Solus was going to find out what made Kuat so special, it was only a matter of time.