Beyond - Legends Children of Mandalore: Red Fang (LotF, OCs, Jacen Solo) *2015 Best Series Award Nominee*

I don't think anyone can be as confusing as Martin (and still have something comprehensive).


The Off-Worlder Sector was also home to some of the seediest bars and cantinas that Rixa had ever seen, and he'd been in more than a few in his career. At each one he stopped in he was instantly approached by a bouncer which was usually from a species that was naturally intimidating.

Geez. Well, I’m glad he’s there and not me.


It wasn't the first time Rixa had been punched in the face because someone had thought he was Tyran.

Aww, poor Rixa.


"Sorry Aru I found Tyran but he was already dead from dysentery." He said in a mocking voice.

*chuckles*


"You a bounty-hunter?" the Zeltron asked.

"Why? You have a bounty on your head?" Rixa countered.

"Do I look like the type of girl who has a bounty on her head?"

Hahaha maaaybeeee. On all accounts!


"I'm here because your wife asked me to look for you."

And Rixa understands that one should listen to his wife


"Good?" Rixa was taken aback by the easiness his older brother seemed to have cut ties with everyone in his family. "You're wondering what kind of person can turn their son against their father, maybe you can tell me what kind of father is okay with letting their son sit and fester with idea of being hated by him?"

Good! I’m glad Rixa understand Aru’s behavior!


Why are you helping Aru and siding with me at the same time? I thought we abandoned you and the rest, isn't that what you said we were doing ten years ago after calling us cowards?"

Well 1) because he understands both situations and 2) as Mandos, family is a strong bond.


Are you blind?! Eight more people associated with Red-Fang have been killed in the last three days.

Well now that’s an issue for quite a few people.


"A Mandalorian?" Zistra asked. "You could have told me that from the start."

Need to know basis. I’m sure you understand.


Who knows how many back alley deals you have made to secure the total secrecy of your new precious interrogation facility.

Yup, still don’t like Vitrix


If there was any real difference between the Numeck and Dolvo Clans it was that. The Numecks had no desire to believe themselves to be above other people, Dain and his family however believed quite the opposite.

*winces slightly* I can see this being an issue for Rixa. Hopefully it’ll become a moral one for Dain and he’ll stop.


[I LOST CONTACT WITH HIM AFTER HE LANDED AT THE SPACEPORT. I'M WAITING OUTSIDE THE NUMECK APARTMENT OUT OF SIGHT AND WILL HAVE EYES ON HIM WHEN HE RETURNS. EVERYTHING IS UNDER CONTROL.]

I’d wince again if this guy was on the “good” side, but I don’t trust Dain right now. I have to laugh instead at Rixa getting away. Was he even aware he was being tailed?


a moments notice. – moment’s

it's orbiting space stations and he hoped that Gyndine and it's – its (there are a lot of these through the chapter)


Tyran's head was throbbing something awful, partly from the lump forming on the side of his forehead and mostly from the amount of booze he had consumed in the previous twenty-four hours.

And from the lack of water you drank before and during.


Tyran exchanged a curious glance with his brother. "We didn't even call anyone yet."

"You're bail was posted, I just have to tell you you're free to leave."

Well that’s just FISHY.
*reads next lines* Oh never mind. Huzzah bosses!


Tyran stumbled out of the speeder more than he climbed out of it, much to the delight of his younger brother who couldn't hide the grin on his face.

Serves Tyran right


"It is a report, a very classified and potentially life threatening report that my intelligence officers have spent the last twenty-eight hours gathering."

OK well her intelligence is awesome and I hope they don’t get hurt because als;kdfjalskdf again HUZZAH BOSSES!


If anyone from the Alliance ever tries to trace this information back to it's origin I have made it so that they will trace everything back to Tyran."

Well kriff you. You’ll get no more huzzahs from me. You’re a hut’uun.


"Red-Fang is two things at once." Neada said. "It's a codename for an operative as well as a very off-the-books intelligence operation."

Ahh, that explains a lot of what I’ve been reading.


"This Vitrix guy is slick.

‘slick’ doesn’t even cover it.


"I can't let you take that intelligence. The danger to my family is too great to be ignored." Tyran looked at his younger brother. "I'd rather give you the credits you need."

Family. That’s a greater honor.
OTOH, Vitrix will kill Rixa for backing out. Plus there’s the Mandalorian honor. Bah.

You're working for a spook who has only his own interests in mind, who just so happens to be a Colonel in the Galactic Alliance's Intelligence Division." Tyran said. "They are two very different things.

*nods emphatically* I’m with Tyran this time.


Tyran tried not to think about how his wife would react if she found out about the arrangement that came along with the Red-Fan report.


He would be dead. Both them would be really. “Best for both of their sakes” for sure.

 

No Rixa did not know he was being followed.

At least Neada got a few huzzahs at any rate

Did you actually agree with Tyran?! This must be Abeloth's second coming

 

A human waitress appeared with a glass of fine Corellian Brandy that was five hundred credits per bottle.

Yeowch! Some Mandalorians are able to live in style, huh?


[I AM NO FOOL AND THEY WON'T SEE ME UNLESS I WANT THEM TO.

*barks a laugh* Right. Whoever it is really doesn’t understand that Mandos have near-Jedi senses.
*sing-song voice* Dain’s gonna get in trouble!


He noticed the immediate spark of alertness and shock on her face. It disappeared quicker than it had arrived though and the woman recovered quickly.

Commando all right.
I didn’t mention this before, but I like how large of a role the Hapans play here. I feel like it’s a world and society that wasn’t embellished upon to its full capacity. Yes, we learn a lot through Tenel Ka, but I think the largest understanding came from “Courtship.” Unless, of course, there were comics on it, which I haven’t read.


I have a feeling Talisa found Dain on purpose. Although I don’t think she was obvious on purpose.


Yes Dain did think of himself as a smart man and felt like a smart man

I have a feeling he’s going to stop thinking that way soon.


Tyran was still bothered by the decision his brother had made in taking the Red-Fang report.

I really don’t blame him. And no, it’s not the second Abeloth coming (or third or fourth or however many times the creep came back)


"You take over Aru's job and let Aru take over your job."

That sure would entertain me. It’s great advice too!


"Aw hell I forgot all about the little guy."

Awwww poor Rusty!


Tyran was caught off guard by her hug and didn't know what to say at first.




Aru turned back to Tyran. "You started seven bar fights?"

"I had some issues I needed to work through,"

That is a freaking understatement.


Rixa shrugged. "It worked out for both of us. You got your husband and I got my intel.

The words of a true merc.
Now, if only she knew what the cost was…and she will. Sooner or later, she will find out.


"I never stopped and asked myself how spending so much time away from your family might be effecting you.

‘Affecting’ and wow, Rixa sure can get couples back together


you're ten times the man your own father was so I know you have the ability to be a good father, you just have to make the time to become one."

Well that’s good! And completely true.


"I can't just show up?"

"No you have to get cleared by the city school board first

Kuat school policies are just as strict as New Jersey ones. Which is good! The safety of the students comes first!


Talisa had surprised him with her ability to hold her alcohol

Tsk, tsk. You should know that Hapans can hold their own.


He hadn't pressed her about her target

She wouldn’t have told you anyway.


Talisa grinned. "Give me you're commlink."

‘Your’ (and that’s not the only time that mistake occurred). Also, I don’t care what she said she did, she looked through it. *glares* I’m suspicious.


They engage in a kiss that became more passionate by the second and it was to soon before she had forgotten about her scheduled flight altogether

I DON’T TRUST IT.


By the way, put me on the PM list

 

The Hapans are going to have a rather large part in the next few chapters.

I'd say you could trust Talisa more than Vitrix and maybe even more than Dain.

Sure thing. Consider yourself added

 

SWpants

I meant to mention this earlier but forgot. The word topatos is actually canon from one of the later RC/IC books. I do have one for tomatoes though in an upcoming chapter

 

I haven't read the books in about 2 years. My mind can't remember that information
Thank you!

 

I know what you mean it's been awhile since I read any of them as well. It was a random fact of information that my brain retained.

 

CHAPTER SIX:


KUAT CITY, KUAT, 40 ABY
SEVEN DAYS AFTER THE ATTACK ON TORYAZ STATION.


Rixa couldn't help but feel as if he was being watched as he woke from his sleep. The couch he had spent the night on had been one of the most comfortable couches he'd ever encountered. No doubt it was made from some expensive fabric and imported cushioning that was galaxies out of his pay grade. He rolled onto his back and slowly opened his eyes. The faces of two small children were peering over the back of the couch and looking down at him as if they were studying some weird life-form they had never encountered before.

"It's not polite to stare you know." Rixa said through a large yawn.

"We know." Vyndra said. "But we aren't staring, we're observing."

Rixa laughed and sat up. He had a feeling that the little girl was going to be quite the handful when she was older.

"Why exactly are you observing me?" He asked.

"We don't have anything else to do." Vyndra said honestly.

Rixa grinned and nodded his head at Ijaat. "I bet she wears the pants in your relationship."

The boy seemed caught off guard by the statement but didn't get around to giving a response before his mother entered the living room.

"Ijaat, Vyndra leave Rixa alone and come eat you're breakfast." Aru said patiently. "We have to leave for school in thirty minutes."

Aru smiled at Rixa as the two children scurried away from the couch and climbed into their seats at the table. Rixa gave her a small wave as he swung his legs off the couch and ran his fingers through his hair. It took him a few moments to recognize the smell of brewing caf and cooking nerf sausages as his system slowly restarted for a new day. He glanced over his shoulder and only saw his sister-in-law, nephew and the little girl who lived with them sitting around the table.

But no Tyran.

Rixa caught Aru's eye and gave her a subtle shrug. She understood him and mouthed one word: sleeping, while the two children took their seats at the table. Rixa nodded and stood up off the couch and stretched. Ijaat was staring at him again from the table. His gaze was unsettling and Rixa found himself unable to meet it for more than a few seconds before he had to look away. It was as if the boy was looking straight through him, investigating and memorizing what he saw. He rubbed his arms to make the small bumps that had suddenly sprung up go away and walked to the kitchen.

"Caf?" Aru asked him.

"Sure." He said taking a seat next to Ijaat. He figured the boy would actually be less inclined to stare at him if they were shoulder to shoulder instead of being across from each other. But his plan failed. Ijaat's gaze was just as fixed as ever and Rixa couldn't stand it anymore.

"What?" He asked casually as Aru handed him a cup of lightly-sweetened caf.

"Did you find my dad?" Ijaat asked.

Rixa blinked furiously. Hadn't Aru told him that Tyran was sleeping in their bedroom up the hall? Aru was standing behind Rixa and he glanced up at her to get a subtle head shake from her. She was telling him to say no. Rixa cocked his head slightly to the side confused. Rixa gave him the barest of winks and walked over to Vyndra and began putting the girls deep-red hair into the required tail for school. Rixa took a sip of his caf and looked at his nephew.

"Not yet. But I have a few good leads."

Ijaat deflated in his chair and began pushing around one of the nerf sausages on his plate with his fork. Rixa felt his neck heat up, as if he was being watched, and turned his head and found the source of the sudden sensation. Vyndra was glaring at him from where she was standing while Aru fixed her hair. It astounded him that a ten year old girl could be so intimidating. Rixa looked back at Ijaat and patted him on the back.

"Don't worry, It'll all work out for the best. I'm sure of it."

"Whatever." Ijaat grumbled miserably.

Rixa sighed. "Aru can I talk to you outside for a moment." He said standing up from the table. "Outside."

Aru patted Vyndra on her head and shooed her along and followed Rixa to the door. When the door slid shut behind them Rixa fixed her with the same intimidating gaze Tyran used to move people out of his way. The effect Rixa's gaze had wasn't as potent as Tyran's, it had something to do with Rixa's deep-blue colored eyes and Tyran's icy-blue eyes.

"Look I know you want to know what I'm up to, but trust me." Aru said raising her hands. "I've got a plan here and I just need you to go with it for a few more minutes until Neada calls."

Rixa furrowed his brow. "What do you have up your sleeve?"

"I swallowed my pride and asked Neada for a favor." Aru said bitterly. "I asked her to give Tyran three weeks off but I told her to make it seem like a punishment. She's going to call soon and tell him that his day of drinking just got him a suspension for dereliction of duty and breach of his contract."

Rixa laughed. "You're serious?"

Aru nodded. "Yep and Ijaat won't be going to school today, I already called and informed them that he's come down with a bad cold and is going to miss a few days."

"Thus forcing your husband to spend some time with your son."

"Exactly." Aru said with a smug smile on her face.

"When did you think this up?"

"In the middle of the night."

"I like it." Rixa said.

"Good, I'm going to need you to play along for a little while."

Rixa nodded. "Sure what do you need?"

"When I tell Ijaat that he isn't going to school today because I think he needs to relax and get some rest, I want you to ask him if he wants to help you search for Tyran."

"No problem."

"Great. When Neada calls I'll take the commlink in to Tyran and when he's done talking I'll ask him what she wanted. He'll probably make up some excuse and try to get me out of the room. I'll leave and send Ijaat into our room to get something for me before we leave."

"He discovers Tyran, there's a big happy moment and then you tell Tyran that Ijaat is going to be staying at home with him for a few days. Correct?"

"You're not the muscle headed brute that you appear to be." Aru said with a smile as she turned and hit the palm scanner on the door.

"I'm getting tired of people confusing me with Tyran." Rixa said with a smile and getting a quick laugh from Aru as they walked back into the room.

They both took seats at the table and assumed their sabaac faces. Still, having to watch Ijaat push his food around with his fork was hard to watch. Vyndra was still glaring at him darkly as she chewed on her food. Aru took her time as she made herself a cup of caf and moved back to the table to sit next to her son. She ran her fingers through his hair a few times until he pushed her hand away in an agitated fashion.

"Ijaat, you're going to stay home for the next few days alright?"

"Why?" Ijaat asked.

"Well with everything going on with your father I just think you need some time to relax. I'll bring your homework to you tonight so you won't fall too far behind."

"I'm going to be here by myself?" Ijaat said with a tinge of nervousness to his voice.

"No, Rixa will be here today. I'll see about arranging something so we can get someone to stay home with you while I'm gone."

Ijaat glanced up at Rixa. "Are you sure about this?"

Rixa grunted. "Don't think I'm up to the job?"

"Rixa is one of the best soldiers I know, even better than Kovi Lasar and the others on Team-Sigma." Aru said. "He'll keep you safe."

She patted Ijaat on his head just as her commlink began to chirp. She excused herself and walked away from the table to take the call. Rixa bumped his nephew's elbow with his own and lowered his voice to a conspiratory tone.

"Hey, if you want we can go out and look for your dad some more. There are a few more places I didn't get a chance to look in last night."

"My mom won't like that." Ijaat said.

"Your mother doesn't have to know anything." Rixa said giving Ijaat a wink.

Ijaat seemed to consider the offer and nodded slightly and adopted a somewhat more positive expression than the dark one that had covered his face moments earlier.

**************

Tyran growled into his pillow as his eyelids opened up for the day. The headache he had suffered from in the jail cell was nothing compared to the relentless pounding in his temples he was experiencing now. He was acutely aware of the aches and pains assaulting his body in the forms of bruises and small cut sustained in his night, or more accurately an entire day, of drinking and fighting in the unsavory parts of Kuat City. He could hear Aru already, grinning broadly as she told him that he got no less than he deserved, that he was too old to be going out and getting drunk and starting bar fights.

He nodded and told the imaginary voice of his wife the customary 'yes dear, I know was wrong dear' and sat up in the bed. As if she had known she was thinking about her Aru walked through the doorway with a commlink pressed to her ear. She was nodding her head and then looked at Tyran and extended her arm towards him, holding the commlink as if it were a lethal weapon.

"For you." She said simply.

Tyran took the commlink and felt a mounting sense of dread when Aru crossed her arms and remained at the foot of the bed as he pressed the commlink to his ear.

"Hello?" He said trying to not sound groggy.

"Tyran, I wanted to let you know before you came to the office this morning. Senator Stav found out about your arrest and ordered me to place you on a three week suspension for dereliction of duty as well as breaching your contract." Neada said.

Tyran's eyes went wide as he listened to the voice of his employer. "I understand." He tried to keep his voice level as if there wasn't anything wrong to avoid worrying Aru.

"When your suspension is up you will be giving a formal hearing in front of the disciplinary board to find out whether or not your contract is to be terminated."

Tyran shut his eyes and silently swore at himself. "Yes ma'am."

The conversation ended and Tyran was left reeling. He handed the commlink back to his wife and gave her smile.

"So?" Aru said. "What did she want?"

"She told me to take today off." Tyran said. It was a version of the truth, he would be taking the day off, as well as the next twenty-two days.

"Really?" Aru said giving him a suspicious look. "Neada called this early in the morning to tell you to take the day off?"

Tyran nodded. "Yep, she sure did."

Aru shrugged and walked out of the room. "Get something for dinner, I think it's about time you cooked for once."

Tyran forced a grin. "Do I get lunch money?"

Aru laughed at him as she hit the palm scanner on the door and walked back out into the main section of the apartment. When she was gone Tyran put his head in his hands. If he lost his contract with Truan Stav then he didn't know what he would do. He wasn't going back to Mandalore, that wasn't an option for him. There were a lot of politicians and wealthy business people who would need the level of protection he provided, maybe he'd just move on to the next person who needed help fending off some kind of death threat or assassination order.

He couldn't help but wonder if his wife and son would want to come with him. Aru wasn't very fond of Kuat, but she was very fond of Vyndra. Ijaat had known no other place besides the confines of Kuat City's upper reaches. Would he be moving on to a new occupation on his own? Dyir certainly wouldn't come with him this time, he had built quite the life for himself in the last ten years. Tyran punched the bed in frustration. He had really messed up this time.

He pulled himself out of the bed and changed into a pair of cargo pants and a black durafab t-shirt. There was no point in getting over dressed if he wasn't going to be working today, or possibly ever again.

**************

Aru gave Rixa a subtle thumbs up as she waled to the front of the living and called to Vyndra. She made a show of searching her person and then looked at Ijaat.

"Ijaat can you get my commlink? I left it on my dresser."

Ijaat nodded slowly and climbed down from his seat at the table and hurried off towards his parents bedroom. Rixa gave Aru a smiling glance as he sipped at his caf an she returned with a smile of her own. Vyndra glanced between the two of them curiously.

"Why are the two of you smiling at each other."

"Mind your business short-stuff." Rixa said.

"Don't call me short stuff!" Vyndra said heatedly.

"Vyndra be polite." Aru said with a short laugh as she patted the young girl on her back.

"But he started it."

"So you be the bigger person and let it go."

Vyndra looked at Rixa and raised her chin in a mannerism that must have been completely Hapan in nature.

"Aru is right, I shouldn't let a low-level soldier like you get under my skin." Rixa sputtered as he choked on his caf, Vyndra gave her head a snobby shake. "I'm of superior stature and should act with dignity and not fall to your barbaric level." Vyndra finished and spun on her heel and walked to the door.

Aru was still looking at Rixa with an air of astonishment. The little girl had definitely adopted most of her mother's pureblooded Hapan traits.

"Do all ten year olds on this planet know how to talk like that?" Rixa asked as he wiped caf from his chin.

Vyndra grunted in the doorway as she waited for her bodyguard, who appeared to be in no real rush to leave just yet. "Don't act surprised that I know more words than you do. I'm educated."

Aru openly laughed at the dark scowl that crossed Rixa's face. She shrugged at her brother-in-law with a sarcastic half-smile.

"What can I say Rixa? Hapans...you can either love them or hate them."

Before Rixa could give his opinions on loving or hating Hapans he was cut off by a loud exclamation from up the hallway.

"DAD!"

*************

Ijaat collided with Tyran like a runaway landspeeder and knocked him back onto the bed. If it hadn't been for his son's earsplitting declaration before tackling him, Tyran wouldn't have known what had hit him. They ten year old instantly began apologizing over and over as he cried into Tyran's shirt. Tyran's bewilderment was only overcome by his shock as he wrapped his large arms around his son and held him tight.

"It's okay, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon." Tyran said.

"I'm sorry I made you mad." Ijaat said thickly.

"You didn't make me mad and you don't have to apologize for anything. If anything I'm the one who should be apologizing to you."

Ijaat pulled his head out from his father's chest and wiped his face with the sleeve of his shirt. "What do you mean?"

"When your mother called me a bad father it made me think back on a lot of things and I didn't like what I found." Tyran said. "I've lied to you, disappointed you and let you down at every turn and that realization devastated me. But the thing that really made me realize that your mother was right was that board in your room with all your awards and ribbons. I took one look at that and realized I had never been there to see you win a single one of those. I was just too wrapped up in trying to make sure you had a comfortable life that I forgot to be apart of your life. I'm going to try to change that and I'm sorry."

Ijaat blinked at his father for a few moments before wrapping him up in another hug.

"Do you promise?"

"Yeah, I promise." Tyran said. He looked around the room and found a piece of flimsi and scribbled a line of text on it. "Here read this out loud and sign it."

Ijaat looked at the piece of flimsi in confusion as he took it from his dad's hand.

" 'I Tyran Numeck, hereby promise to keep my promises to my son Ijaat Numeck.' " Ijaat read aloud.

Tyran handed him the stylus. "Sign it."

Ijaat did as he was told and gave his dad a confused look. "What is this dad?"

"A contract." Tyran said as he took the flimsi and signed it himself. "Something I cannot break or go renege on." Because Mandalorians always honored their contracts.

Ijaat nodded his head as his father folded the piece of flimsi and tucked it away in the nightstand next to his side of the bed.

"So did your mother make breakfast?"

**************

Aru smiled broadly as her son was steered out of her bedroom by his father. She helped Vyndra put on her knapsack and did a final check of her own person to make sure she had everything she needed. Vyndra walked over to Rixa, who was standing by his astromech by the couch in the living room, and hit him hard in his stomach.

"You lied!"

"Aru would you mind just turning around for a second?" Rixa asked as he rubbed the spot where the ten year old girl had just hit him. Aru did as she was asked and Rixa grabbed the girl by the back of her knapsack with his right hand and lifted her into the air so they were now eye level. "Look you snobby little red-head, it's about time someone taught you some manners. The next time you touch me I'm going to drop you out of a window from the largest building I can find. Understand?"

Vyndra kicked him hard in the groin, which caused him to drop her when he doubled over. Vyndra made a mad dash for the now open front door and into the heavily armored landspeeder that would keep her safe. Aru glanced down at her brother-in-law who was collapsed on the couch and gave him a smile.

"I should have mentioned I've given her some self-defense training."

"I could have told him the same thing." Tyran said. "I was the dummy you used to train her on."

Rixa growled. "I hate Hapans. I really do."

Aru walked over to her son and gave him a kiss on top of his head. "You be good for these two alright?"

"Yes mom." Ijaat said.

"He isn't going with you today?"

Aru shook her head. "Nope, and won't be for the next few days. I called the school and told them Ijaat came down with a bad cold and that he would be out for a while."

Tyran grunted suddenly not feeling so worried about the disciplinary suspension. The fact that he and his son where now both stuck at home for a while seemed too coincidental for his liking.

"What about his school work?"

"I'll bring it home, you can help him with it. It's right up your alley."

Tyran looked down at Ijaat. "What is it?"

"Gyndine and the Yuuzhan Vong invasion."

Tyran and Rixa shared an uneasy glance at each other. They both weren't very fond of Gyndine. But Tyran swallowed and nodded his head.

"Yeah I can do that."

Aru gave him an understanding smile and kissed him on the cheek and hurried out the door after her charge.

Tyran sighed as the door slid shut behind her. Rixa climbed up off the couch and stared at his older brother.

"So what are you doing today?"

Tyran glanced around the kitchen. "Well since Aru has become increasingly health conscious when it comes to what foods she allows me and Ijaat to eat, and I'm not overly fond of Ithorian bran flakes, I was thinking about going out to get some breakfast. Something greasy and heart congesting."

"Sounds fun." Rixa said.

Tyran patted his son on the back. "Ijaat, nothing against your mother's cooking skills, but I think it's time you've seen how a nerf steak should taste."

Ijaat smiled broadly at the prospect of doing something his mother would frown upon and nodded vigorously.

**************

Aru groaned as the speederlane in front of her, as well as the ones above and on both sides of her, came to a halt. Smoke was rising from a crash a few speeder lengths ahead of her and Kuat Security Force vehicles had brought traffic to a standstill while the scene was sorted out. It made her senses as a bodyguard tingle. This was the perfect opportunity for an ambush. Out of instinct she looked to her left and right, discreetly enough to appear as to be casually glancing around while waiting for the KSF to clear the scene.

On her left was an overweight man in his late forties who seemed more interested int the sugared dough twist he was stuffing into his maw of a mouth. No immediate threat there. On her right was a younger-woman, maybe just a few years younger than herself, with dark hair and glareshades that she had propped up on her forehead as she set her elbow against her window and propped her head up in her hand. The woman glanced over at Aru once but didn't do it again for the entire ten minutes they were stuck at a standstill.

"Are we going to be late?" Vyndra asked, clearly worried about a blemish appearing on her stellar attendance record.

"No Vyndra, we're going to get there on time." Aru said. "School doesn't start for another twenty minutes."

Slowly the KSF people began to move the congested traffic lanes along, it took Aru another eight minutes before she was ushered through the standstill and out into more fluid traffic.

**************

"Was that her?"

"Yes it was. Facial recognition came back at a ninety-eight-point-nine percent match to Aru Numeck."

"Good." Talisa Raldi said as she removed her glareshades from her recently dyed hair, taking Dain's advice she had decided to change her appearance. If you were hunting Hapans the last thing you wanted to look like was a Hapan and thus her flame-red hair was now a shiny-black. The woman who had been lying on the floorboard in the backseat of her speeder sat up and took the glareshades that had snapped the holoimage of Aru Numeck to be compared to the image they had on file.

"The threat assessment our intelligence people conducted on her say she is more of starpilot than a master close-quarters-combatant, unlike her husband." The woman said.

"You forget Aenica that Aru Numeck is still a Mandalorian." Talisa said. "It isn't smart to think that just because she hasn't devoted her life to physical combat training like her husband and his partner that she will be an easy target."

Aenica Voren grunted in disagreement. Her crimson hair was cut short and neat, unlike her superior's. "All we need to do is kill her and get the little girl. With six of us and only one of her, it shouldn't be too difficult."

Talisa hoped that the mission to abduct Vyndra Tash would be over quickly. Even though the agreement she had made with the Battle Mistress, the overall commander of the Hapan special forces unit, had been made out of a duty to her commanding officer Talisa was not fond of having the weight of the Chu'tira on her head. The Chu'tira was nothing more than a pledge to one's superior that you would complete your task on the pain of death should you fail. Talisa had been compelled by Battle Mistress Sahn to accept the pledge of Chu'tira and eliminate the traitorous commando Neada Tash.

A decade of throwing squad after squad of Hapan assassins at Neada Tash had resulted in nothing but a spectacular list of dead soldiers for the Hapans, all thanks to the skilled bodyguards who fought by her side. Those squads had been made up of all men, for the simple reason that if a bunch of redheaded women kept attacking you, it would have been clear there was some involvement by the Hapans. Hapan men were not as recognizable as their female counterparts, and could be dismissed as just guns-for-hire. But Neada would know a Hapan Commando when she saw one.

The time for failure was over. Sahn was now sending her best to get the job done, and everyone of them had made the Chu'tira pledge for a little extra motivation. Her team consisted of four women, which included herself, and two men. Brutish though they were, Talvar and Melrek provided muscle that Talisa was going to need at somepoint. As her landspeeder was ushered through the KSF cordon, Talisa gave a subtle nod to the two men the KSF had detained on the pedwalk. The whole accident had been staged just to get an opportunity to confirm which vehicle belonged to Aru Numeck.

Now that they had done that they could start planning on how to abduct Vyndra Tash and draw out Neada to deliver justice for her crimes against the Consortium.

And be done with the Chu'tira.


DEELA'S DINER, OFF-WORLDER SECTOR, KUAT CITY 40 ABY
SEVEN DAYS AFTER THE ATTACK ON TORYAZ STATION


Tyran smiled as he sipped on his caf and watched his son devour a plate of merilie bacon, a heaping of fried nuna eggs and a nerf steak that was dripping with grease. Just like it should. Rixa had ordered a very similar plate and had put a decent dent in it. Tyran on the other hand hadn't ordered anything other than caf.

He was in too good of a mood to feel like eating. He was sitting next to his son who happier than Tyran could ever recall seeing him, partly because he hadn't really spent much time with his son, and he was with his brother whom he hadn't seen for ten years. Even though that had been by design, and all the bad things they had said to each other before Tyran had left Mandalore for greener pastures, it felt good to see Rixa again.

Ijaat finished his mountain of eggs and bacon, and the only remains of the nerf steak was nothing more than the bone that had run along the edge of the slab of meat. He pushed his plate away and sat back in the booth in a food induced stupor.

"How come mom can't cook like that?"

Tyran shrugged. "I don't know, but I wouldn't ask her. She'll have both our hides if she ever finds out we were here."

Rixa laughed. "I'm glad I don't live here."

Ijaat looked at him. "Where do you live?"

Tyran gave his brother a warning glance and Rixa thought very carefully about his answer. "In the Outer-Rim. Well and truly safe from your mother's wrath."

"Or so you think." Ijaat said.

Tyran and Rixa laughed and Ijaat glanced between them. He found it very odd that his father and the man across from him had so many similarities. They looked identical enough that they could have passed for twins; the same dark hair, well formed muscles, blue eyes, and a ruggedly handsome face. Their voices were also similar in their tones and speech patterns. Ijaat didn't think of himself as unintelligent, in fact he was smarter than Vyndra, so he decided to ask the question that had been nagging at him since he had climbed into the landspeeder with his father and Rixa. He fixed his gaze on the tattooed and scarred man across from his father.

"Are you my uncle?"

By the way both men reacted to Ijaat's question he knew he had just asked a question that neither his father or Rixa wanted to answer.

Rixa busied himself by drinking his own cup of caf and let Tyran field the question.

"What makes you think he's your uncle?" Tyran asked.

"Well the two of you look the same and sound the same, you're both from the military apparently and it would explain why mom was so happy to see him when he showed up." Ijaat said.

Rixa raised his eyebrow at Tyran and Tyran sighed heavily and looked down at his son for a few moments.

"Rejorhaa'ir te adiik, Rix'ika." Tyran said. Tell the child, Rixa.

"Tion'gar copaani ba?" Rixa asked as he set his caf down. Are you sure you want me to?

Ijaat stared at his father and Rixa as the conversed in a language he had never heard before. He had never thought his father capable of talking in another language, he didn't seem the type to go the extra mile to learn that type of thing. The only languages he had thought his father could speak were Basic and violence. Soon enough the two of them seemed to reach an understanding and Rixa sat back in his side of the booth and nodded.

"Yes I am your uncle, you're a pretty smart kid." Rixa said. "You must get it from your mother."

"What was that language?" Ijaat said.

"What language?" Tyran said. "You never heard us speak in a different language."

Though his father's voice wasn't angry or firm there was no mistaking what he was trying to imply and Ijaat nodded his head and the subject was dropped. Once everyone was done eating and had finished their second third cup of caf, or chocolate milk in Ijaat's case, Tyran paid the bill and the three of them climbed back into the speeder, with Rusty the astromech secured in the back, and headed for the spaceport. It felt unfair to Ijaat that he had just learned he had an uncle and now his uncle was leaving. He understood that Rixa had some urgent business to attend to elsewhere and that his stay on Kuat was always meant to be a short one. It wasn't until they were five minutes from the spaceport that anyone spoke.

"You should come back here sometime, stay for a while." Tyran said. "You and Jaya both. Aru would love to see her sister I'm sure."

Rixa nodded. "From what I hear, they stay in touch off an on."

"I didn't know that." Tyran said.

"I'll talk with her about it, I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to convince her on taking a vacation."

Tyran laughed. "Yeah we could do with one too."

"I have an aunt?" Ijaat asked.

"Yeah your mother's little sister Jaya." Tyran said.

Ijaat began to wonder just how much he really knew about his family. Maybe doing a little research into his lineage would be a good way to pass the time until he had to go back to school. The landspeeder came to a stop outside the spaceport and Tyran and Ijaat walked him inside.

"Did you bring the Aggressor?" Tyran asked him.

"No Jaya had the Aggressor, I got her starfighter." Rixa said.

"Ijaat have you ever seen an X-Wing?" Tyran asked his son.

"Only in holovids."

"You want to see one?" Rixa asked.

"Yeah!"

The three of them walked to the berth that Rixa had been assigned and Ijaat went wide eyed when he saw the old starfighter. It's paint was scorched and faded and it was obvious that not all of the parts were original to the craft but it was the most amazing thing he had ever see.

"It's an old ex-jay-three, nothing compared to the new seven models, but it gets the job done well enough." Rixa said as two deckhands helped raise Rusty and slot him into the R2 unit hold of the starfighter. "Off to Coruscant to finish some business and then back home to get some rest before taking off again."

"You be careful." Tyran said referring to both his younger brother's well being and to the flimsi file he had tucked away under his arm.

"Hey, I'm always careful." Rixa said. "When this job is wrapped up, I'll hold you to that vacation. I hear that Kuat has some nice lakeside resorts."

"Yeah we have a few here." Tyran said as his brother climbed up the ladder and into the cockpit of his starfighter.

Tyran gave him a final wave and steered his son back out of the hangar berth, turning just in time to see the four thrusters of the craft ignite and propel the craft out into the morning sky of Kuat. Ijaat was quiet as they walked back to the speeder. There had been a symbol on the nose of the X-Wing, faded and burned as it was, it was still very visible. He had seen it somewhere before but couldn't place it at that moment. He had seen it very recently, that much he was certain of, so it must have been in one of the lesson he had at school.

Gyndine. The word popped into his head instantly of it's own accord. Ijaat remembered where he had seen that symbol before. It had been on the armor of a group of warriors who had liberated that planet from the Yuuzhan Vong.

It was the symbol of the Mandalorians.

 

"We know." Vyndra said. "But we aren't staring, we're observing."

Semantics. Kids are WEIRD.


He figured the boy would actually be less inclined to stare at him if they were shoulder to shoulder instead of being across from each other.

He obvioiusly doesn’t understand the insanity of children.

Poor Ijaat

Aru’s plan is brilliant *cackles*


"I'm getting tired of people confusing me with Tyran."

I don’t blame him, at all.


The headache he had suffered from in the jail cell was nothing compared to the relentless pounding in his temples he was experiencing now.

DRINK MORE WATER NEXT TIME, MORON


Senator Stav found out about your arrest and ordered me to place you on a three week suspension for dereliction of duty as well as breaching your contract." Neada said.

At first, I don’t know if that was legit or if part of Aru’s plan. Then I remembered she had a more positive look. Hahaha it works out!.


A few types after:
Waled = walked
Parents = parent’s
An she returned = and she returned
.

"Vyndra be polite." Aru said with a short laugh as she patted the young girl on her back.

"But he started it."

*rolls eyes* he didn’t do it to be mean. I don’t understand children!


"Aru is right, I shouldn't let a low-level soldier like you get under my skin."

*laughs hysterically* Oh that is precious though


" 'I Tyran Numeck, hereby promise to keep my promises to my son Ijaat Numeck.' " Ijaat read aloud.

I’m sorry. I want to trust Tyran, but that is too over-the-top for me to believe it for the future.


"Something I cannot break or go renege on." Because Mandalorians always honored their contracts.

I think he will.


Vyndra walked over to Rixa, who was standing by his astromech by the couch in the living room, and hit him hard in his stomach.

Screw you, you stupid child. I am so glad Rixa said something to her but he didn’t deserve to be kicked. He needs to actually do something – like drop her out of a window. What a butthead little BRAT.


"I'll bring it home, you can help him with it. It's right up your alley."
…
"Gyndine and the Yuuzhan Vong invasion."

Dude. Aru. *sigh*


It made her senses as a bodyguard tingle. This was the perfect opportunity for an ambush.

Foooreeeeshadowing!


"You forget Aenica that Aru Numeck is still a Mandalorian." Talisa said. "It isn't smart to think that just because she hasn't devoted her life to physical combat training like her husband and his partner that she will be an easy target."

1. I knew it.
2. *laughs* True facts. Mandos are fierce, no matter the gender or lifestyle.


Hapan men were not as recognizable as their female counterparts, and could be dismissed as just guns-for-hire. But Neada would know a Hapan Commando when she saw one.

Can’t say she’s a dumb woman.
Also, Vyndra is annoying, but she doesn’t deserve to be abducted.

I have a feeling this ties into Red Fang. I’m not sure how it would, but I wouldn’t be surprised.


“In the Outer-Rim. Well and truly safe from your mother's wrath."

Nah, distance means nothing to a female


"Are you my uncle?"

No kriffing crap?


He had never thought his father capable of talking in another language, he didn't seem the type to go the extra mile to learn that type of thing.

Oh that tickles me silly!!


Ijaat began to wonder just how much he really knew about his family. Maybe doing a little research into his lineage would be a good way to pass the time until he had to go back to school.

That can also be dangerous.


The ending proves it.

 

The next chapter is going to be delayed by a week due to a family emergency. I've got a decent start on it though

 

That's actually perfectly okay. I have a paper to work on
BUT i really hope the family emergency isn't serious [face_hug]

 

Its not as serious as it was but it's still serious. I'll do my best to make 7 a good chapter because your reviews certainly make my day SWpants

 

Well hugs and prayers/good thoughts. I hope you and your family make it through okay. they come first.

 

CHAPTER SEVEN


SKYVIEW TERRACE, GALACTIC CITY, CORUSCANT, 40 ABY
SEVEN DAYS AFTER THE ATTACK ON TORYAZ STATION


The hyperspace jump from Kuat to Coruscant had been an unpleasant one. Rixa hadn't been able to stop thinking that he had made a horrible mistake when he had taken the Red-Fang report. The distrust his older brother had shown for Rixa's skills as a soldier had shaken him and now he found himself wondering if he had what it took to find and apprehend Red-Fang. It was a dangerous way to start thinking before undertaking a job and Rixa didn't want Vitrix to see the sudden bout of self-doubt that had seeped its way into his subconscious. The last thing that he needed was for Vitrix to start doubting him as well.

Rixa needed to appear to be the same confident mercenary he had been when had first met the intelligence officer a few days earlier. Rixa had arrived at the meeting location where he was to hammer out a price for the Red-Fang job with Vitrix ten minutes early. Vitrix had already been waiting for him inside the restaurant of the Skyview Terrace hotel where they had originally made their deal. It was obvious that the Zabrak was accustomed to being the one who had the upper hand during negotiations.

As he took his seat opposite the Galactic Alliance spook Rixa noted no less than eight armed security detail operatives discreetly, dressed and placed throughout the restaurant. Either Vitrix had become paranoid about Rixa or Red-Fang had somehow accelerated his plans for revenge. That's the only clear conclusion Rixa could come to after reading the official GAI report on the Red-Fang operation, just one piece of intelligence out of several dozen that comprised the report Neada Tash had provided him with.

Red-Fang was not the simple terrorist that Rixa had been led to believe by Vitrix. No he was just a very angry intelligence operative who wanted to settle a score. Rixa was certain that he would only discover more dark details once he returned to Mandalore and went through the large flimsi report in full. But nonetheless Vitrix appeared to be as cool as ever when he looked up from his high-priced nerf steak and wine.

"Ah, my mercenary." He said as he dabbed the corners of his mouth with a napkin and motioned for Rixa to take a seat across from him. "So you found a little more information on my terrorist I take it?"

Vitrix had an amazing sabaac face Rixa concluded as he took a seat across from Vitrix, deciding to leave his helmet on. "Enough to decide to take the job."

There was some disgruntlement that flashed across the Zabrak's face as he stared into the black visor unable to read Rixa's facial expressions. "Would you like to share that information?"

"Not really, you see us Mandalorians are kind of like holonet reporters in a sense." Rixa said to the confusion of Vitrix.

"How so?"

"We both like to keep our sources to ourselves."

Vitrix grinned and Rixa was sure it was to hide some form of agitation from showing on his own face. "Very well, would you like something to eat? The Alliance will foot the bill."

Nice try. Rixa thought catching Vitrix's ploy to get him to remove his helmet. "Thanks but I'm only here to settle on a price then I'm leaving."

Vitrix gave a dismissive, and somewhat disgruntled, shrug and resumed eating his steak.

"How much is the Alliance prepared to pay me to go and get this...terrorist of yours?" Rixa asked.

Vitrix nodded his horned head as he swallowed. "Do you have a figure in mind?"

"Well I'm going to need a team, I have one put together already. They want twenty-thousand apiece, I want forty." Rixa said flatly.

Vitrix was no longer eating but rather sitting up rather straight in his chair as he stared at the Mandalorian.

"How many men are on your team?"

"Seven, including myself." Rixa said.

"One-hundred and sixty-thousand credits."

Rixa nodded. "I'm glad to see you can do the math so quickly."

"Do you mind telling me how you arrived at such a price?" Vitrix said rather shortly.

"Twenty-thousand is a rather standard price for a Mandalorian, considering the target you want eliminated and how difficult he was to track down, it's a rather low one." Rixa said.

"Is that why you want forty for yourself?" Vitrix asked. "Because of the difficulty factor?"

"No. I want the extra twenty because I'm a Numeck." Rixa said simply. "And Numeck's don't come cheap."

"Apparently not." Vitrix sighed. He seemed to weigh his options for a few moments. "Is there room for negotiation in your price?"

"Not even a millimeter." Rixa said. "You want me to do the job, you're going to pay the price I, and the people working with me, require. One-hundred and sixty-thousand credits. Or I walk."

Vitrix didn't reply as quickly as he had to Rixa's request for a few days to do some intel gathering. To show he wasn't bluffing Rixa rose up from the table and began to walk away. His eyes were fixed on the wrap-around-view of his HUD and on the Zabrak staring at him as he walked. If Vitrix wanted Red-Fang dead as much as Rixa suspected he did, it wouldn't be much longer before the Colonel caved and paid the creds. Rixa was almost two table lengths away from Vitrix by the time the intelligence operative rose to his feet.

"One-hundred and sixty-thousand credits it is."

Vitrix's tone didn't sound as if he was happy with having to pay so much but Rixa couldn't have cared less. He spun around and faced Vitrix again and gave him a short nod of his head and began walking back.

"Deposit half of the fee into this bank account and the rest upon completion of the job." Rixa said sliding a datachip of his own across the table. "You won't hear from me again until the job is finished. Most of my employers want proof of their target's death, you have any certain form of proof in particular you'd like me to present to you?"

Vitrix considered it as he stuffed Rixa's datachip into his shirt pocket. "Bring me his head."

Not exactly the most original thing ever. Rixa thought as he nodded and walked away again. "You won't have to have these security goons following you around much longer Colonel. I'll have your problem squared away in no time."

Vitrix scowled at his security detail. There was no doubt that the operatives had assured him that they would go unnoticed. Rixa enjoyed showing his employers that just because someone said they were the best didn't mean they were actually the best, unless they were Mandalorian. Rixa left the stuffy confines of the ultra extravagant Skyview Terrace and made a trip the Senate District. Some of the better restaurants and tapcafs on Coruscant were located there.

After the last few days of worrying about getting his Red-Fang intel and then having to go and look for his brother and make an attempt to soothe the troubled waters of his brother's family life, Rixa had come to the conclusion that he needed a drink. You couldn't get tihaar on Coruscant, which was a shame in his opinion, so he had to find a good substitute until he got back to Mandalore. In his experience Joru's Place had some of the strongest drinks on Coruscant and, despite it's more classy position in the Senate District, was popular amongst bounty hunters and mercenaries making a stop on the planet.

He stepped into the interior of the tapcaf and did his customary scan of the area. The interior was covered in muted crimson furniture highlighted by gold lighting. It was smokey but no where near the same scale as the place he had found his brother in the Out-Worlder sector on Kuat. Satisfied that no one he knew or had a problem with was sitting in the room, Rixa walked up to the bar and removed his helmet and waited for the server, a modern SRV-model server droid, to make it's way over to him. He didn't have to wait very long as the droid motored over to him just as he placed his helmet on the latch on his belt.

"Welcome to Joru's Place." The droid said in a flat monotone. "I am Es-Are-Vee-Six-One-Zero. I will be your server today would you like to hear the day's specials?"

Rixa shook his head. "Just give me the strongest alcoholic drink you have on the menu."

The droid motored away without a word and Rixa was left to sit and wait for his drink. The enormity and stress of the task he had just undertaken had begun to sink down onto his shoulders and his fingers began to tap on the surface of the bar of their own accord. A charcoal grey glove dropped down on the bar next to his and Rixa looked up at it's owner and growled in unwelcome surprise.

"Funny meeting you here Dain." He said as he turned his head away from Dain Dolvo.

"The galaxy isn't as big as it seems." Dain said as he took a seat next to Rixa. "Just because our parents hated each other doesn't mean we can't be social."

Rixa raised his eyebrows in mock agreement. "I'm not in a very social mood, I've got a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it in."

"You've got enough time to stop for a drink though?"

"I've always got time for that." Rixa said. "If I didn't they'd revoke my Mando Card."

Dain laughed. "Speaking of revoked Mandos, how's your big brother doing? Been in touch with him recently?"

Rixa looked at him suspiciously. Dain and Tyran had a complex history of hating each other one moment and then being able to work as a well oiled machine of destruction in the next. The fact that Dain was asking about Tyran wasn't odd in of itself, but it just felt...weird to Rixa to hear someone from a clan that was sworn enemies with his own ask so casually about his big brother.

"Yeah, I've seen him recently." Rixa said carefully. "Any reason you're asking about him?"

"I heard he was doing well in the security contractor business, times are hard you know and I was wondering if he might have a job for me. Think you could put us in touch?"

Rixa didn't like how this conversation was going. "I'll ask him if he has anything for you."

"I'm not going to kill him or anything, I'm not the same homicidal maniac that my father was." Dain said finding Rixa's suspicious behavior amusing. "I'm just a Mando'ad looking for some high paying work."

Rixa grunted. "Like I said I'll ask him. I know how to get in touch with you."

It was Dain's turn to raise his eyebrows. "You do?"

"I may not be the infamous Tyran Numeck, but give me some credit Dain." Rixa said as his drink arrived. "I know how to keep track of my potential enemies."

The smirk that crossed Dain's face was eerie on a scale Rixa had never felt before. Dain slapped his black-clad counterpart on the shoulder. "That's good to know Rix'ika. Be sure to let me know if your brother has any work for me." Dain pulled on his copper-on-dark-grey helmet and turned and left the tapcaf. Rixa grabbed his drink and downed it in a single gulp and decided on having two more before heading off to the spaceport and his return jump home.

**************

"You were right, he did seem to be acting a little...off." Dain said as he proceeded down the pedwalk and away from Joru's Place. "It's probably nothing though. Rixa has always been the more emotional of the two brothers so he's just probably overwhelmed with having seen his brother for the first time in ten years."

"Well I'm not paying you to deal in probability." Vitrix said back from his armored airspeeder. "I'm paying you to deal in certainty, I want you to find out what has gotten him so security conscious. Is there any chance that it could have something to do with the associate you have tailing him? Could he be on to you?"

"No." Dain said confidently. "If Rixa Numeck was on to me he would have tried to kill me the moment I made contact with him, needless to say he would have failed. My source is still safe and providing me with the information I need to keep tabs on him."

"Is it possible that his brother knows about Red-Fang?" Vitrix asked.

Dain groaned. He had a very good idea of where this conversation was going and he didn't like it one bit.

"I'd guarantee that Tyran knows about Red-Fang." Dain said. "Tyran is probably the one who gave Rixa the information he was looking for."

There was silence on the other end of the line for far longer than Dain would have preferred. It meant Vitrix was considering his options, which was certainly going to include the possibility of eliminating Tyran. Dain knew exactly who Vitrix was going to ask to fulfill that task if he felt that was the course of action he needed to take.

"Does he have the potential to become a problem?" Vitrix asked ominously.

"Possibly." Dain said and when his employer let out a disgusted growl he shook his head. "I can't say for certain. Tyran might have just passed off the information he had been able to gather, and it probably wasn't much. If something happens to his brother he might just say 'oh well Rixa finally bit off more than he could chew.' and not do anything more or he could start looking into it."

"Would you advise eliminating him?"

Ah ha! Here we go. Dain thought. "Would I advise it? No I wouldn't. Tyran is another beast entirely compared to his little brother."

"If I decided to take that route would you be able to do it?" Vitrix asked.

"It wouldn't be easy, maybe even the most difficult job I've ever done or will ever do, but yes I could do it." Dain said more confidently than he felt. "But it won't be cheap, the heaps of money you've thrown my way these last few days will be small change compared to what you will have to pay me to go after Tyran Numeck."

"If he becomes a problem I will pay whatever it costs to have that problem solved." Vitrix huffed with an indignant sigh. "Just keep an eye on Rixa Numeck for now, he is the main priority. After he kills Red-Fang we'll find out what he learned about the operation and I'll decide on whether or not to eliminate him as well." The call ended abruptly and Dain swore inside his helmet.

Iman Vitrix was starting to become a nuisance that he didn't need, but he was a nuisance that paid very well. The prospect that he might have to hunt down and kill Tyran Numeck was both exciting and terrifying at once. If Dain managed to kill Tyran Numeck, his name and status within the Mandalorians would be revived, the stain of his father's destructive legacy would be washed away by the blood of Dain's own conquest: The death of Tyran Numeck.

Nonetheless a cold block of ice began to build itself in his stomach as Dain headed to his Gladiator to await the final report from his associate before the two day window of comm silence they would have. Dain had a feeling that he knew exactly where Rixa was going though and was eager to see if his hunch was correct.


NUMECK HOMESTEAD, MANDALORE, 40 ABY
EIGHT DAYS AFTER THE ATTACK ON TORYAZ STATION


Jaya Numeck sighed heavily as she sat in a wicker-backed chair and gently rocked back and forth while she cradled the sleeping form of Velsu Devieyc, the oldest of the twins born to Ryia Devieyc and his wife Lin Diieve. Velsu was an energetic little guy and loved to torment his sister Kelsi in their crib while she tried to sleep. Lin needed the rest after splitting her time between taking care of the two twins and keeping the homestead from falling apart. Jaya had nothing else to do but sit and wait for her husband to come home so she had volunteered to watch the little guy for the night.

Sometimes she felt that Lin had been smart to retire from bounty hunting while she was still young. She could settle down and become more family oriented, something Jaya truly wished for herself, but Rixa was too preoccupied with providing for the clan rather than settling down and starting a family. The wriggling form in her arms only reinforced that need all the more and she sighed again. Thunder clapped outside, muted by the thick walls of the homestead, and the baby barely flinched.

His eyes were darting all around the communal center of the homestead not lingering on one object for more than a few seconds before moving on to the next one. Jaya couldn't help but think that the one-month old was trying to commit it all to memory, which was a ridiculous thought. It brought a smile to her face though and that was something she sorely needed.

Eight standard months, almost an entire year, had gone by since she had seen her husband face to face in the flesh. The only interaction she had with her husband was through random comm calls, which had been enough for her at first but as the months went on they just weren't doing it anymore. Just when it seemed like he would finally be coming back home Rixa had to go an accept another contract from the Galactic Alliance. She understood the potential the job had to provide him and the rest of the homestead residents with a steady income, but it was still frustrating.

Lin's husband Ryia had just returned from his own string of jobs in the Mid-Rim and brought in a healthy sum of fourteen-thousand credits, Jaya's adopted nephew Jaiden and his girlfriend had returned from a trio of jobs in the Outer-Rim with a much lower sum of seven-thousand credits between the both of them, and Jaya herself had managed to secure only five-thousand credits for a single job working for the Black Sun Pirates in tracking down someone who had sold them less than reputable blaster rifles.

Altogether the bounty-hunters and mercenaries of the Numeck homestead had brought in twenty-six thousand credits, which wasn't very much when they had over a hundred-thousand credits worth of repairs and general maintenance to make to the farm equipment, the farmlands and the homestead itself. All of which had fallen into severe disrepair when Tyran and Dyir both left to seek better fortunes for themselves. The two of them had been the more mechanically inclined members of the homestead and generally enjoyed tinkering with the massive harvester droids in their spare time. Ryia and Rixa just managed to keep the homestead held together with strings of curses and copious amounts of tape and glue. Thinking about her husband and his friend arguing over whether or not the other was using the right sized hydrospanner for the job made Jaya laugh and think about the rag-tag group of people that made up her family.

Runi Numeck was the elder of the household and a recluse. He rarely ever came out of his sanctuary, which dominated most of the second level of the homestead, the only thing he ever seemed to come out of his seclusion for was to add his voice, the voice of the Numeck Clan, to political matters. But there hadn't been a meeting of the clans in quite some time and thus no reason for the aging warrior to leave his seclusion. The only sign any of them had that he was still alive was the fact that his dinner trays were always empty when someone went up to retrieve them.

Despite his reclusive nature and general ignorance of the daily troubles and plights of the homestead, Runi Numeck was revered by everyone. When he laid out a course of action on political matters, whether or not the Numecks would back or support the Mand'alor, no one stepped outside of that course of action whether they agreed with it or not.

The Devieyc family had transplanted itself into the Numeck homestead after the Yuuzhan Vong war. Ryia's family farm had been leveled by the attack on Mandalore and Lin had no ancestral home on the planet to retreat to, having been born into one of the many nomadic Mandalorian clans scattered around the galaxy. Casualties suffered by the Numecks during the battle had opened up some space in the homestead, and the close nature that Ryia and his younger brother Rev shared with Tyran and Rixa had instantly given them a new home. Rev no longer lived in the homestead but was often present for dinner most nights.

Jaya's adopted-nephew Jaiden was probably the saddest story of the homestead. He had been adopted by Tyran at the age of fourteen after the attack on Mandalore after both his parents had been killed in the fighting. When Tyran and Aru decided to leave Mandalore Jaiden had refused to go along with them and remained behind on his home planet under the protection of his adopted-uncle Rixa. Rixa finished training Jaiden and helped to mold him into a highly intelligent bounty-hunter who had an aptitude for slicing into data-terminals and other encrypted networks.

At the age of eighteen Jaiden met his girlfriend Niya Dinn, a relationship that Niya's parents weren't very fond of. Niya had been cast out from her home and now found sanctuary in the Numeck homestead, which was becoming a collective nexus for castaways it seemed. Niya was also a gifted slicer and spent most of her time following Lin around whenever she wasn't off with Jaiden working or just fooling around. They reminded Jaya of her and Rixa at their age, though she suspected that Jaiden and Niya would have a family of their own a lot sooner than Jaya and Rixa would.

For now she would just have to satisfy her motherly urges by taking care of the two children in the household whenever the opportunity would present itself. It would have to do until Rixa decided that he was ready to be a father. The sleeping bundle in her arms began to kick and wriggle and cry and Jaya began to make soft shushing sounds as she cradled the one-month old infant. Jaya hadn't noticed the soft electronic bleeps as someone entered the security passcodes to the main door of the homestead. Preoccupied with her efforts to comfort the stirring child in her arms she hadn't heard the sound of someone entering the homestead until she heard the main door slide shut and seal itself again.

Ryia was already home, slumbering in bed next to his wife. Jaiden and Niya were out cold in their own room, supposedly. It could have been Rev deciding to crash at his older brother's adopted home instead of paying one of the lodges in Keldabe for a nights stay. She knew for certain it wasn't Rixa, he always called before coming home. Somewhat confident that she knew who had entered her house Jaya rose to her feet and held the fussing child in one arm while she reached into the waistband of her durafab sleep pants and grabbed the veshok-wood handle of the antique knife she had stowed there.

Just in case.

"Rev you better have a good reason for scaring the hell out of me or so help me I'm going to cut your–" Jaya said as she started to walk towards the main lobby only to stop short when she saw the sopping wet form of her husband standing in the doorway.

Beads of water were falling freely off his abyssal-black armor and onto the carpet at his feet, which was surely going to upset Lin when she discovered the muddy stains his feet had left in the fabric. Jaya exhaled in surprise and almost ran to her husband until she remembered what she was holding. She took a few steps towards him but let Rixa close the distance and he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug, he was careful to not crush the infant against his chest plate as he did so. For the first time in nearly a year Jaya finally got the chance to kiss her husband and for the few seconds the moment lasted she tried to convey the eight months of loneliness and sadness she had felt without him.

"I'm gone for eight months and you go and have yourself a kid?" Rixa laughed after he kissed his wife. "Doesn't look like me." He looked down at the blonde haired child who was still fussing between the two of them.

Tears were falling down Jaya's face freely but she smiled at her husband. "Well you were out an about and I needed to satisfy some urges."

Rixa laughed and kissed Jaya again and then looked down at the small infant. He hadn't officially seen the two children in the flesh or experienced their already legendary crying fits firsthand yet. He had just seen them in holos transmitted to him by Jaya and the first few holos that had been taken after their birth. Ryia hadn't been present for their birth either, he had been out working just like Rixa, but the two of them had met up on Fondor in the Mid Rim for a celebratory night of drinking. Seeing one of the children in the flesh though brought up emotions that simple holos just couldn't.

"This is Velsu right?" Rixa said gently running a gauntlet-covered hand over the kids small cranium.

Jaya nodded. "Yes."

"Why's he out here with you?" Rixa asked.

"Lin needed the rest and I couldn't sleep. Neither could this little guy and to prevent him from antagonizing his sister I thought I'd bring him out here and rock him to sleep."

"It doesn't look like your plan is working." Rixa laughed as he pulled himself free of his wife's one-armed embrace.

"It was until it started thundering." Jaya said scowling out the window at the sky to her husband's amusement.

"Let me get out of this armor and I'll be back to give you a hand." Rixa said.

Jaya gave him a skeptical look but couldn't keep the smile off her face as he disappeared down the hallway. She was overjoyed to the point of hardly being able to function at having her husband home. She could only stand in the congregation room of the house with a silly smile on her face and hold the infant in her arms. Rixa must have set a new time record for stripping out of his armor because it barely felt like a minute had passed before he reappeared in the congregation room wearing his dark under clothes. He let a smile spread across his scarred face as his eyes fell on the still fidgeting child in his wife's arms. He extended his hands and Jaya gently slipped Velsu into the trunk-like arms of her husband and watched in amazement as the child almost instantly became inert. Jaya let out a disgruntled huff.

"How do you Numecks do that?" She asked.

Rixa grinned. "Hey, there are somethings that just come naturally to people."

Aru sighed and wrapped her arms around her husbands waist and took a few moments to watch him as he cradled the small child. "I remember when Aru had Ijaat and how he would have these crying fits that no one could get him to come out of. Then Tyran would show up grab Ijaat up in his arms and Ijaat instantly stopped crying and would fall asleep not too long after that. It drove Aru nuts."

Rixa smiled. "I remember that. You should see Ijaat now, he's getting big and he's smart as a whip."

"Really?" Jaya said. "You saw him?"

"Yeah, him and his parents. Tyran and Aru were miserable when I got there. They absolutely hated each other, but I think I got things sorted out before I left."

"Wow, you're a bounty-hunting, contract killer who does marriage counseling on the side." Jaya said.

"I'm good at a lot of things." Rixa said modestly. "Before I left, the two of us were invited to go on an all expense paid vacation to one of Kuat's finest lakeside resorts with them."

Jaya let out an enticing groan as she rested her head on his shoulder. "A vacation sounds wonderful. An all expense paid vacation with my sister sounds even better though."

"Once I get this Red-Fang job done I told Tyran we'd love to take him up on the offer."

Jaya lifted her head and adopted a sour look. The last thing she wanted was to talk about the mission her husband had undertaken after only just getting him to come back home.

"I take it Tyran gave you the intel you needed."

"Yeah, but it had a pretty steep price though." Rixa sighed darkly.

"What do you mean?"

Rixa stared at his wife for a a few seconds before shaking his head. "Don't you worry about it. Do you want to know how much I'm getting paid to hunt down this terrorist?"

"How much?"

"One-hundred and sixty thousand credits." Rixa said.

Jaya went wide eyed.

"I have to put together a team though, I told the contractor I already had one to jack up the price, I need six more guys and I figured Ryia, Rev, Jaiden and Niya would be up for it. Maybe I can get a call to Elai and Baydo for some help."

Jaya looked hurt. "You get a team job and don't want me coming with you?"

"Well I had other plans for you." Rixa said with a smile as he looked down at the infant in his arms and back up at his wife. "I was hoping maybe we could get started on a family of our own."

Jaya was stunned and didn't know what to say to her husband. She opened her mouth but her lips and tongue failed to work together to form words and what came out instead was incoherent babbling.

"Tyran and Aru have a child, now Ryia and Lin have a set of twins. My brother and my best friend both have something I don't and I'm starting to feel left out." He said quietly. "I think being a father is something I'm sure to be good at and with the money from this contract I'll feel a little better about raising a child."

"You're serious?!" Jaya said.

Rixa nodded. "Are you ready for that?"

Jaya laughed. "I've been ready since the day my sister had her child."

"Good." Rixa smiled. "How about we put this little guy to bed and maybe get started on this family thing?"

"I expect my money's worth after eight months of being away from each other." Jaya said with a smirk.

"I'll try not to disappoint."

 

The distrust his older brother had shown for Rixa's skills as a soldier had shaken him and now he found himself wondering if he had what it took to find and apprehend Red-Fang. It was a dangerous way to start thinking before undertaking a job

It’s also a dangerous job.


There was some disgruntlement that flashed across the Zabrak's face as he stared into the black visor unable to read Rixa's facial expressions. "Would you like to share that information?"

*laughs* Yeah, know.


"Is that why you want forty for yourself?" Vitrix asked. "Because of the difficulty factor?"

"No. I want the extra twenty because I'm a Numeck." Rixa said simply. "And Numeck's don't come cheap."

Based on what I’ve already read – fair enough.

Of course Vitrix paid. Rixa’s the best.

Hey, bringing the head may not be very original, but it’s the best proof there is.


Rixa shook his head. "Just give me the strongest alcoholic drink you have on the menu."

So what do ya think – Mandalorians have stronger liquor, but Corellians have spicer foods? I’d like to see Han or Lando drinking a Mando-made drink


"Just because our parents hated each other doesn't mean we can't be social."

This is true, but it doesn’t mean you’re up to something, and Rixa knows it.


"I'm just a Mando'ad looking for some high paying work."

*shakes head


"If Rixa Numeck was on to me he would have tried to kill me the moment I made contact with him,

True. Facts.

"But it won't be cheap, the heaps of money you've thrown my way these last few days will be small change compared to what you will have to pay me to go after Tyran Numeck."

*headdesk* I was REALLY hoping Dain wouldn’t go after either of the brothers.


Iman Vitrix was starting to become a nuisance that he didn't need, but he was a nuisance that paid very well.

BAD MAN! MORALS OVER MONEY!


Jaya with the baby was a peaceful moment, even despite her thoughts.


At the age of eighteen Jaiden met his girlfriend Niya Dinn, a relationship that Niya's parents weren't very fond of. Niya had been cast out from her home and now found sanctuary in the Numeck homestead

Aww Poor Niya. I’m glad the Numecks are so accommodating.


For the first time in nearly a year Jaya finally got the chance to kiss her husband and for the few seconds the moment lasted she tried to convey the eight months of loneliness and sadness she had felt without him.

<3<3<3<3<3<3

Rixa grinned. "Hey, there are somethings that just come naturally to people."

*laughs* and babies are one of them, that’s for sure.
(by the way, “somethings” should be separated into two words.


Jaya looked hurt. "You get a team job and don't want me coming with you?"

:/ I was thinking the same thing.
However, I do like his idea better hehehehe

 

Out of all the chapters so far this latest one isn't one of my better ones. All the momentum was stonewalled by an unforseen event. My heart wasn't really in this one but things are improved now and I'm looking forward to rebuilding that momentum again.

Dain is an interesting character to write. Is he a bad man or a man doing what he has to in order to survive in the galaxy?

The ending was hard to come up with but after an hour or so I decided that I was on the right track. Leaving Jaya behind serves a purpose for the characters as well as a MAJOR plot device that I'm sure is going to be interesting

 

CHAPTER EIGHT:


NUMECK HOMESTEAD, MANDALORE, 4O ABY
SEVERAL DAYS AFTER THE BOMBING OF THE ELITE HOTEL


Ryia's wife walked into the kitchen wiping her hands on a washrag as she moved to sit beside him. She was a head shorter than her husband with white-blonde hair that fell between her shoulder blades that she often kept tied in a tight tail. Despite being retired from the mercenary world Lin kept herself as physically fit as she could, fitting in her exercise when ever she had an opportunity. Her dazzling emerald green eyes were constantly outlined by black bags of fatigue that had been brought on by the two twins she had just given birth to a month earlier.

Her husband was seated at the table finishing off the rest of his dinner. He was thirty-one years old and in top physical shape. He had close shaven blonde hair and a layer of rough fuzz on his chin and jawline that Lin wouldn't ever let him shave.

"So are you going to be working for this...Galactic Alliance Guard?" Lin asked. "Aren't they the ones paying Rixa for this job?"

Ryia shook his head. "We're working for Galactic Alliance Intelligence, or something like that." Ryia didn't really know, he'd clarify it with Rixa later.

"I still don't want you to go." Lin said. "You've only been back for a few weeks and I need as much help with the twins as I can get."

"Its twenty-thousand creds Lin." Ryia said. "How am I supposed to say no to that." Ryia understood why his wife didn't want him to take off again, in fact if the payout wasn't so large Ryia would have told Rixa that he wasn't taking anymore jobs for awhile.

"You got seventeen for your last few jobs, that's more than enough for the foreseeable future." Lin tried again.

"Seventeen is good, but seventeen plus twenty is better." Ryia countered. "Most of our money goes on repairs to the equipment and this shoddy old building. My kids aren't going to go the first few months of their life without decent meals."

Lin couldn't argue with that because she knew better than her husband just how broken down the homestead was. "Jaya's staying behind so I guess she can help with the twins. I'd rather it be you though."

Ryia felt bad for disappointing his wife but it was for the betterment of his family and he wasn't going to be talked out of his decision. He kissed her on her forehead and stood up from the table. "I'll be in the armory with Rixa looking over that report Tyran gave him. There might be a few leads to where this Red-Fang might have gone after he disappeared during the Vong war."

"Find something soon so that way you'll get to come home all the quicker." Lin said as she watched her husband get up and walk away.

Ryia disappeared around the corner and Lin sat behind the table taking a few moments to just sit and think about things. How many more jobs would Ryia run after this one? How much money would Ryia have to earn before he was satisfied he felt his children would be comfortably provided for? How much longer before her husband's luck ran out and she had to raise their twins on her own?

Those thoughts and more drifted back and forth in her mind and she couldn't stop those thoughts than she could stop her husband from heading off with Rixa.

**************

Rixa shook his head while he watched the vidscreen over the lip of his caf cup as he took a long sip. Bodies were still being pulled from the wreckage and destruction caused by the terrorist bombing. Coruscanti were calling for the blood of the Corellians and the Galactic Alliance appeared to be willing to five it to them. The creation of the Galactic Alliance Guard had just been announced under the command of none other than the so called hero of the Yuuzhan Vong war Jacen Solo. Rixa huffed into his cup as the headlines scrolled across the bottom of the screen still relaying the aftermath.

"Well, well it looks like pacifism isn't his preferred cup of caf anymore." Rixa grumbled.

He had secluded himself in the homestead's armory to go over the pages of flimsi that constituted the Red-Fang report. He'd only been home for a few days and didn't have very many more until he had to take off again to begin his hunt and he still hadn't found very much in the way of leads. The lamisteel table in front of him was covered in flimsi pages, personnel files, operational debriefing packets, and everything else that was standard paperwork for the kind of black-op that Red-Fang was. The closest thing Rixa had had to a lead was a name: Rowel. It was listed on several transaction receipts from a bank on a world called Davstaa. Each transaction varying in the size of the withdrawn sum, and each withdrawal not going over one-thousand credits.

He wasn't familiar with the planet and he'd had Rusty pull up some info for him so he wouldn't have to stop searching through the Red-Fang file. Rusty informed him that Davstaa was a moderately temperate world very similar to Corellia and Naboo. Urban settlements were peppered across rolling green fields and deep blue lakes. It wasn't a world known for anything special and it wasn't visited much as a vacation spot despite it's beautiful scenery, and the local government had always seemed to bend to the will of the New Republic. It was that last fact that confused Rixa. From the few debriefing packets he had read already, Red-Fang was always deployed to worlds where the local governing body didn't agree with the New Republic. If Davstaa always towed the line why would transaction receipts from one of it's banks be included in the Red-Fang report?

His brain had tossed that fact around for hours until Jaya had come to check on his progress. He told her about the problem he was having and in true Jaya fashion she figured it out in less than thirty minutes. She had sat down at the table with him read over a few of the flimsi pages and pointed out something that he had missed.

"Jabiim is mentioned quite often in some of these files." She had said as she turned to her astromech droid. "How far away is Jabiim from Davstaa?"

The droid tweedled an answer and Jaya smiled broadly at Rixa. He smiled even though he was silently cursing himself for missing the connection to Jabiim.

"Alright so Jabiim is an hour away from Davstaa by hyperspace jump. Maybe Rowel is Red-Fang's name and he was using Davstaa as a staging point to begin an op on Jabiim?" She offered.

"Rowel is most likely an alias but Jabiim has always been a hotbed of political problems and was always going against the grain of the New Republic for one reason or another. So it certainly would have been the kind of target Red-Fang was intended to go after." Rixa said. "But I haven't found anything else in this file that indicates that Red-Fang ever operated on Jabiim."

"So that has to be when Red-Fang disappeared then. If you've gone through all the debriefing packets on the worlds Red-Fang operated on and Jabiim isn't one of them, that must mean something made Red-Fang abandon the New Republic before he started operating on Jabiim or during the very early stages of his operation at the least."

"Maybe, but what would make an intelligence operative abandon a mission, hide for ten years and then come back and kill the people involved in the operation?" Rixa shrugged at his wife who then proceeded to give him an apologetic kiss on his cheek and leave the room.

That had been four hours ago and Rixa was still wondering if Jabiim might have been the key to locating Red-Fang and was happy to have the distraction of the Galactic Alliance Guard announcement to occupy his mind for a few moments. Ryia entered the armory and glanced up at the vidscreen and chuckled.

"How do they expect to keep a secret police force a secret if they announce it's creation over the Holonet?" Ryia asked.

Rixa shrugged. "That's the Alliance for you."

"Are these the people we're going to be working for?" The older Mandalorian asked as he pointed up at the vidscreen. "Jacen Solo and his new crew of Corellian hunters?"

Rixa shook his head. "Relax we aren't working for any Force-users. Just some intelligence operative who has an asset who's trying to kill him."

"As long as he forks over the twenty-thousand creds I don't care if he's the Jedi Grand Master or Emperor Palps reborn." Ryia fixed his friend with a serious stare. "He is going to pay those creds right? Make no mistake I'm only coming with you because the payout is so good, otherwise I'd rather be here with my wife and newborns."

Rixa winced. "Lin still giving you a hard time?"

"She's moved past yelling and shouting but she still is trying to convince me to stay." Ryia said tiredly.

Rixa sighed. "Just hang in there for a few more days, then we're out of here."

Ryia pulled up a seat next to Rixa and grabbed a few pages of flimsi and glanced over them. "Find anything useful?"

"A name on some bank transactions on Davstaa. Rowel." Rixa said. "That's about it though."

"Davstaa isn't really known for much and usually behaves itself in the arena of galactic politics, wonder why it came up in this report?" Ryia said. Rixa gave him a tired look.

"You're familiar with Davstaa." When Ryia nodded his head but remained silent Rixa decided to run Jaya's theory past him. "Jaya thinks Davstaa came up because it is so close to Jabiim, maybe Rowel was the alias Red-Fang was going under while using Davstaa as a staging point for a staging area."

"Jabiim has always been a thorn in the side of whichever political body is ruling the galaxy so it is possible." Ryia thumbed through a few pages of flimsi. "Rowel...I have a buddy on Davstaa, I'll give him a call and see if he can find us any images of our mystery person. Davstaa wasn't hit by the Yuuzhan Vong so it shouldn't have any missing data from it's networks."

"Ok, we might be making a trip to Jabiim eventually. If we can find a holo of this Rowel person our chances might improve slightly. I doubt he was using the name Rowel on Jabiim, if he ever set foot on the planet at all."

"Delia is back in town." Ryia said with a grin. "She is a slicer extraordinaire, she might be able to find this Rowel for us."

Rixa groaned. "Delia won't help me, not after what happened between us."

"That was years ago, you both were fifteen years old."

"Skirata women don't forget Ryia." Rixa said. "They certainly don't forgive."

"Yeah." Ryia laughed. "The only reason her big brothers didn't cave your skull in were because you had me, Dyir and Tyran to back you up when they came calling. It was one of the better fist fights I've ever been a part of."

Rixa laughed and rubbed the corner of his right eye as he thought back on that day, a broken orbital bone was a painful injury. "They didn't cave my skull in, but it wasn't for a lack of trying on their part."

"Either way Rix'ika you might end up having to ask her for help if things don't work out with my contact." Ryia grinned. "I heard back from the others though, looks like you got yourself a team."

Rixa nodded. "Who?"

"You already know me and my little brother are coming with you, Elai and Baydo cleared up their schedules when they heard twenty-thousand creds, Jaiden and Niya took some convincing but they're in as well."

"Good. You couldn't get the Bralor brothers to come along?"

"No our two Barabel friends are busy chasing what they called a 'worthy hunt' somewhere out in the Expansion Region."

"Too bad, Barabels would have come in handy."

"Yeah they would."


KUAT CITY, KUAT,
40 ABY SEVERAL DAYS AFTER THE BOMBING OF THE ELITE HOTEL


Aru smiled happily.

It was a weird sensation that she hadn't felt for a very long time and her facial muscles often felt like they were going to cramp up as they contorted into positions they had long since forgotten. Her husband had been home for just over eight days and had spent the first three of them with Ijaat. At first he had no idea what to do with the boy because they were vastly different in the hobbies they both enjoyed doing. Ijaat was a bookworm and the epitome of the perfect student, always did his homework, always on time, always following the rules to the letter.

Tyran enjoyed more physical hobbies, refining his body and mastering combat techniques were how he spent his time and Aru didn't mind that at all, she quite enjoyed having a husband who appeared to be carved from Ithorian Granite. Ijaat wasn't physical in anyway shape or form and was often made fun of by his schoolmates during their fitness classes for his incompetence in that one area. Aru had hinted at Tyran that maybe he could help his son with that.

Now Ijaat was pinned to a plastifoam mat in their living room being tied up in an Atzerri stinger-lock by his father while Vyndra sat on the couch watching the display. To Aru's delight Ijaat was game with the idea and was putting his ability to soak up information to the test, memorizing every hold his father taught him. Atzerri Wrestling wasn't exactly what Aru had in mind when she had told Tyran to help Ijaat in the physical fitness area, but it was close enough.

"Now if I put all my strength into this armlock, it would snap your elbow like a twig under a boot." Tyran said as he simply held his son's arm in the hold without applying any force or pressure. "It's very good for getting people to tell you things they wouldn't normally tell you."

Tyran released Ijaat and sat back on his heels while his son climbed up to his knees. Ijaat had impressed him so far by memorizing several complex armbars and other maneuvers relatively quickly.

"Teach me how to punch." Ijaat said.

Aru looked up at that comment and caught Tyran's eye giving him a subtle shake of her head. Tyran gave her a sly grin and looked at his son.

"Why do you want to know how to punch?"

Ijaat shrugged. "I want to hit someone."

Tyran laughed. "I appreciate the honesty, but I'm not going to teach you how to knock someone out cold. Your mother wouldn't approve."

Ijaat looked over at his mom. "Hey Mom could you run out to the store and get some fizzade, I think we're out."

Tyran laughed again and even Aru allowed a smile. "Nice try Ijaat but we've got plenty of fizzade in the conservator."

Vyndra jumped down off the couch and looked at Aru. "You taught me how to throw a punch, why can't Ijaat learn too?"

Ijaat looked at his mother again. "Yeah?"

"You need to know how to defend yourself Vyndra if you ever wind up in a situation where I'm not able to protect you." Aru said. "Ijaat just wants to beat up a couple of bullies, a situation that I've already taken care of by the way." She looked at her husband. "Do not teach him how to punch."

Tyran put his hand over his heart. "You've got my word."

Aru gave him a suspicious smirk and went back to cutting up the vegetables in front of her. "Ijaat you and Vyndra go get cleaned up for dinner, Tyran you clean up the mess you made of my living room." Vyndra and Ijaat walked to their respective refreshers, one scowling and the other brooding.

"I bought the house yet everything in it is yours." Tyran said with a smile as he rose up to his feet and began rolling up the plastifoam mat. "Funny how that worked out."

Aru grinned wickedly. "When we got married what was yours became mine and what was mine stayed mine. You didn't know that's deal you made?"

Tyran dropped the mat in the hallway and walked up behind his wife and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Not at first, but after the first couple of weeks I knew something about our deal was a little off."

Aru let another unaccustomed genuine smile cross her face as she felt the strength of her husband's arms wrap around her. Her smile widened as he kissed her neck. A week ago a moment like this one wouldn't have been possible, romance in their relationship had been effectively killed by the animosity that they had held for each other. But the previous night however had rekindled the flame of romance. For the fist time in the ten years they had both lived on Kuat, Tyran and Aru hadn't woken up in the early hours in the morning. In fact it wasn't until the late afternoon that they both had emerged from their bedroom and they were still feeling tired from the previous night.

It had been just like the night she had celebrated the verd'goten upon the completion of her training. Tyran was a year older than her and had already gone through his verd'goten and she had made sure to make it a special occasion for him after the celebrating was over. Somehow he had managed to surpass the night she had given him. The previous night he had done the same thing, he had surpassed her memory of the greatest intimate moment the two of them had ever shared. On some level she felt as if it was his way of saying he was sorry.

Maybe it was or maybe it wasn't, she didn't really care. Tyran was going out of his way to spend as much time with Ijaat as possible and he even included Vyndra in some of their father/son outings. Aru was perfectly willing to accept that as an apology on its own, but if he wanted to apologize by giving her incredible moments of physical intimacy she certainly wasn't going to stop him.

"More vegetables?" Tyran said as he rested his chin on her shoulder.

"You got a problem with that?" She asked.

"A greasy nerf steak wouldn't hurt anyone every now and then." Tyran said.

She turned her head and looked at him. "I can probably be persuaded to cook a nerf steak."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Well how should I go about persuading you?"

"Just do what you did last night."

Tyran smiled and kissed her again and then began walking back to the hallway to get the plastifoam mat to put it away. "I'm going to get that nerf steak."

"I bet you are." Aru laughed as he walked behind her.

She yelped when he gave her a playful pat on the rear and disappeared around the corner. It amazed her just how much her life had changed in just a few short days and it was all because of Rixa. Calling him to look for Tyran had been one of the best ideas Aru had ever had. She pulled her commlink from her pocket and linked it to an earpiece before entering the comm code for her brother-in-law. It took Rixa two heartbeats to answer.

"If my brother has gone missing again, you're going to have to go and look for him yourself, I'm rather busy at the moment."

Aru laughed. "Oh no, Tyran is still skulking around. I just called to say thank you for doing all the stuff that you did for us. We haven't been this close for years."

"Eh well it's all in a days work for me I guess." Rixa said casually.

"So how are things on your end?"

"Oh I just have to live with an insatiable brunette who doesn't want me to leave in a couple of days. Other than that everything is peachy."

"Mmhmm." Aru said. "Listen if you guys ever need any help financially, we wouldn't mind helping you out."

Rixa sighed. "I appreciate the offer but I'd rather provide for my family on my own. I'm sure you understand."

Aru did. She doubted that Tyran would take money from any one unless he earned it himself, it was that damned male pride of his made worse by the legendary Numeck stubbornness.

"The offer stands anyway."

"I appreciate it."

"Tell Jaya I want to see some holos of those two babies Lin had."

"I will, but between you and me, I'm not going to miss hearing those two loudhailers wailing every morning when I head back out again."

Aru grunted. "Babies are noisy. Just wait until you have a few of your own."

"We're working on it."

"Ah, hence the insatiable brunette." Aru nodded her head. "I was the same way when me and Tyran were trying to conceive."

"I've got to go, still have a lot to do before heading out next week. I'll have Jaya call you soon though, I'm sure she'd love to spend hours talking with you."

"I'd like that." Aru said. "Take care of yourself out there Rixa, stay out of trouble."

Rixa laughed. "I'm a Numeck, I don't go looking for trouble. It comes looking for me."

Aru smiled and said goodbye before ending the call and removing the earpiece from her ear and tucking it away in her shirt pocket. The thought of her sister having a few children of her own brought the biggest smile yet to her face. Aru had lied to Rixa in a way, she and Tyran hadn't actually tried to conceive a child. Ijaat was the result of a night of celebration after the end of the Yuuzhan Vong war. He had been a welcome surprise and was rapidly turning into the best thing Aru had ever done with her life. She was intensely proud of her son and his accomplishments and couldn't help but wonder what he would have been like if he'd grown up on Mandalore.

Suddenly the mix of vegetables on the tray before her didn't look as good as they had moments earlier. Tyran, Ijaat and Vyndra all returned to the living room at the same time more or less. Each child sat down on either side of Tyran on the sofa and he looped his arms around them as they settled in and waited for her to call them to the table for dinner. Tyran had done enough in the last week to warrant a greasy nerf steak.

"Tyran I was thinking maybe we could take the kids out tonight, you know any place that has a good, sizzling nerf steak?" She called over to him.

Tyran looked up over the back of the sofa. "I might know a place."

**************

"How long do we have to sit and wait to make our move?" Aenica said as she paced across the dingy apartment the Hapan commando team had rented for their stay on Kuat. "We could've picked the runt up this morning when her bodyguard was out grocery shopping."

Talisa shook her head. "Tyran Numeck was still in the apartment with the two children. We are not going anywhere near that man, his win/loss ratio when it comes to fighting Hapans is appallingly impressive."

"That's what we brought those two oafs for." Aenica bellowed as she pointed at Talvar and Melrek who were seated in the corner playing a game of sabaac.

"I'd bet my ridiculous salary that Tyran Numeck would kill the both of them without breaking a sweat." Talisa said. "No, we're going to wait until Aru and Vyndra are separated from Tyran before we make our play."

"So when they're at the school?"

"We aren't going to attack a school!" Talisa thundered. "We have no deadline to perform our task. We aren't going to blow this like the other squads, we are going to sit tight and wait for the absolute, indisputably perfect opportunity to grab the girl and execute her bodyguard."

"I don't like sitting here." Aenica said.

"Then go and storm the Numeck house, you won't mind sitting so much when you're dead."

Both Hapan women glared at each other. Aenica blinked first and stalked off to her assigned quarters and locked herself in. Talisa sighed and put her hand on her stomach. She was becoming increasingly nauseous lately and couldn't figure out why. Neldri, their team medic, surmised that Talisa had simply caught some Kuati stomach bug that would pass in a few days. Talisa didn't have a few days to wait for her illness to pass, she was the team leader and had to keep Aenica in check. Aenica was the only chink in the chain that was her team, a chink that could cause everything to fall apart in sickening seconds.

Her stomach knotted up and her knees began to quiver and Talisa bolted for the refresher and barely made it to the toilet before the bile exploded from between her lips. Sweat poured down her forehead and nose and she pounded her hand against the lamisteel floor before vomiting again.

"Neldri!" She called. "Get a speeder and take me to the nearest medcenter. I need to get this sorted out now!"

The younger Hapan woman appeared in the refresher doorway and helped Talisa to her feet before following her out. Talisa turned to the two burly Hapan men.

"Keep Aenica here. I don't care how you do it just make sure she doesn't leave this apartment."

Talvar nodded his bald head and went back to his sabaac game. "Dalrial is in charge until I get back."

She had to get this sorted out. She wasn't going to let her commanding officer down. Neada Tash was going to be brought to justice.

 

I FINALLY GOT TO IT!

Ryia shook his head. "We're working for Galactic Alliance Intelligence, or something like that."

*sigh* or something. That definitely needs to be clarified.

17 + 20 is better than 17…but sometimes family has to come before the funds. The funds won’t e there for them if you die =/


He wasn't familiar with the planet and he'd had Rusty pull up some info for him so he wouldn't have to stop searching through the Red-Fang file

Droids are so useful
People even more so. Yay Jaya! Rixa just needs sleep.


"Jacen Solo and his new crew of Corellian hunters?"

Well thank you for that time frame. Because, honestly, I don’t pay attention to the ABYs and even if I did…I’m just horrid with dates


"Skirata women don't forget

Yay!!! Skirata!!

Ah, but Mandos help each other. Yes?


It was a weird sensation that she hadn't felt for a very long time and her facial muscles often felt like they were going to cramp up as they contorted into positions they had long since forgotten.

AWWWWW. <3. She deserves it. Ijaat deserves it.


"You need to know how to defend yourself Vyndra if you ever wind up in a situation where I'm not able to protect you." Aru said. "Ijaat just wants to beat up a couple of bullies

This is a great difference and I’m glad that Tyran understands that and doesn’t support it.


Aru grinned wickedly. "When we got married what was yours became mine and what was mine stayed mine. You didn't know that's deal you made?"

*cackles* Awwww…sometimes I feel like that’s how it is with me and my husband but not on purpose I swear!

I love their happiness!


"Mmhmm." Aru said. "Listen if you guys ever need any help financially, we wouldn't mind helping you out."

Yeah, but Rixa wouldn’t want to feel indebted, even if that wasn’t the case. It’s about earning, not just about having the money. And it goes beyond pride too, but respect.


Aru grunted. "Babies are noisy. Just wait until you have a few of your own."

Babies are nasty, you can keep ‘em.


Talisa shook her head. "Tyran Numeck was still in the apartment with the two children. We are not going anywhere near that man, his win/loss ratio when it comes to fighting Hapans is appallingly impressive."

HAH! Oh goodness, now you’ll find a way to get Tyran out of the way


"We aren't going to attack a school!" Talisa thundered.

Thank the sweet Force for that.


Dude. Talisa is pregnant. I can sense these things. I read too much fic

 

"I don't like sitting here." Aenica said.

"Then go and storm the Numeck house, you won't mind sitting so much when you're dead."

Both Hapan women glared at each other. Aenica blinked first and stalked off to her assigned quarters and locked herself in. Talisa sighed and put her hand on her stomach. She was becoming increasingly nauseous lately and couldn't figure out why. Neldri, their team medic, surmised that Talisa had simply caught some Kuati stomach bug that would pass in a few days. Talisa didn't have a few days to wait for her illness to pass, she was the team leader and had to keep Aenica in check. Aenica was the only chink in the chain that was her team, a chink that could cause everything to fall apart in sickening seconds.

Her stomach knotted up and her knees began to quiver and Talisa bolted for the refresher and barely made it to the toilet before the bile exploded from between her lips. Sweat poured down her forehead and nose and she pounded her hand against the lamisteel floor before vomiting again.

"Neldri!" She called. "Get a speeder and take me to the nearest medcenter. I need to get this sorted out now!"

The younger Hapan woman appeared in the refresher doorway and helped Talisa to her feet before following her out. Talisa turned to the two burly Hapan men.


Your womenfolk are women of action. I like that a lot!

 

CHAPTER NINE:


KUAT CITY, KUAT, 40 ABY
THIRTEEN DAYS AFTER THE BOMBING OF THE ELITE HOTEL


The words were still ringing in Talisa's ears. Clearly spoken at first the Bith doctor's voice slowly became a persistent droning tone that wouldn't go away. Was some cruel and twisted force playing an ill tempered joke on her? Or was it more likely a cabal of all-powerful monstrosities that were taking turns to see who could ruin her life the best? Having to swear the Chu'tira oath was just one move in the sick game of dejarik she was playing with an unseen foe. Her opponent's last move had all but sealed her destruction.

There was no way Talisa could now continue her mission of hunting down Neada Tash, she couldn't fulfill her oath to the Battle Mistress and therefore could never return to her homeworld without being sentenced to death for her failures. It didn't matter anymore though her priorities had changed in an instant. Now her current objective was to escape the medcenter without being seen by Neldri, who was still sitting in the waiting room. After that it would be getting of Kuat before the Hapans managed to locate her.

That would be easier said than done though, Battle Mistress Thel Sahn had built up a network of agents on the planet to keep a close on eye on Tash. Any move that Talisa made she had to assumed that it was going to be noticed by someone.

Her mind began to race with a series of safehouses and weapons caches she could drop by to get supplies She would have to do it fast though, once she abandoned Neldri she would maybe have a few hours before the Hapans started to hunt her instead of Tash. Talisa had stopped paying attention to the Bith doctor and it hadn't gone unnoticed. The Bith gently reached out and pt his hand on her shoulder.

"Ms. Rova, can you hear me? Are you alright?" He asked using her cover identity,

Talisa glared at him. No I am not alright! My life was just thrown off course by an event I hadn't planned on happening for a very long time!

"Yes Doctor I am fine, just a little shaken. This was unexpected." She sighed instead of stating her real thoughts.

The Bith nodded. "Well we re-ran the tests just like you asked, twice to be sure. The results were the same however." He continued as he glanced down at a piece of flimsi. "You're pregnant."

Talisa nodded her head, less than enthusiastic about the news. "How far along am I?"

"Well for a human female I'd say you're a few standard weeks along, two maybe three."

Talisa reached back into her memory to try and recall how this had happened. She had been on Kuat for a standard week and was certain she hadn't had any sexual experiences in that time. Two standard weeks earlier though she had been on Gyndine, and she had certainly had a sexual encounter there. With a Mandalorian no less. She recalled feeling apprehensive about swearing the death oath to her superior and decided that she was going to have at least one more good night with a random partner, just in case she failed. His name was Dain, though his last name escaped her at the moment, she had no trouble recalling the night they had shared together, fueled by expensive Corellian booze.

She had to contact him. He could help her get off the planet without the Hapan's finding out, Mandalorians could do that kind of thing in their sleep. Plus she had other things to tell him. Sudden thoughts about him not wanting to help her and disputing that the baby was his filled her mind and it scared her on a level she had never encountered before. She pushed away the thoughts as quickly as she could and focused on the task at hand: ditching Neldri.

"We'll give you something for the nausea." The doctor was saying. "Go home and try to relax and don't strain yourself too hard."

Talisa nodded but sadly couldn't follow the doctor's orders. There was a lot to do in the next few hours, and she wasn't even sure she had a few hours to do it all to begin with. A human nurse came into the room with two capsules and a flimsi cup filled with water. Talisa downed the the pills in one gulp and five minutes later she was walking down the pedwalk with Neldri, her mind churning with quick and easy plans to lose her teammate. But every plan she came up with seemed worse than the previous one and soon Talisa was left with only the absolute last resort.

"So what did the doc say?" Neldri asked as hey approached their speeder.

Talisa shrugged as if it was nothing. "You guessed it. I contracted a stomach bug the doctor said I'll be fine in a few days."

"See I told you coming here was a waste of time." Neldri said. "You need to listen to me more."

Neldri began walking to the driver's side of the speeder but Talisa waved her off. "I'd like to drive if you don't mind."

"Are you sure?"

Talisa nodded. "They gave me meds to settle my stomach. I'm not going to get drowsy and fall asleep on you."

Neldri gave her a cautious look but circled around to the passenger side anyway. Talisa climbed into the driver's seat and started up the speeder and took off into the late night Kuat sky. Neldri lowered the viewscreen on the passenger side door and rested her elbow on the frame as a slight breeze rolled into the speeder. The young medic ha no idea that her life was winding down and Talisa felt a very real sense of regret. She rather liked Neldri, but Neldri was a soldier to her core and would follow her orders and report Talisa if she ever found out she was pregnant. Talisa couldn't risk that.

"Neldri let me see your knife." Talisa said looking at the flimsi plat bracelet on her wrist. "I want to get this blasted thing off."

Neldri reached into her boot and provided a small durasteel survival knife. Keeping one hand on the controls Talisa cut the tag off her arm with a single slice.

"Thank you." Talisa said softly. "And I'm sorry."

Neldri turned and looked at Talisa. Her mouthed opened to say something but in a single deft movement Talisa reversed her grip on the knife and slammed it down hard into the young medic's chest, piercing her heart. Neldri let out a sharp yelp and tried to pull her commander's hand away from her chest but Talisa forced as much of her weight down onto the knife as she could. Soon Neldri's pleas turned into wet gurgles that faded into silence. Blood was flowing out from around the knife in a steady stream and had coated Talisa's right hand in a matter of seconds. She gently closed Neldri's eyes, unable to deal with the fearful, pained, accusing look on her former friend's face.

Talisa began to sob quietly as she turned the speeder in the direction of the nearest safe house. Even though Neldri had been her friend, she was loyal to the Battle Mistress and as a result had to be eliminated. At least that was what she kept telling herself.

**************

Neldri's body had been hard to dispose of, though the task had actually been the last thing on a long list of things Talisa had to do in order to make sure the safehouse alarms weren't tripped.

The safehouse was actually located in the in Kuat's middle-class zone. It was home to the average working class citizens of the planet, not exactly rich but far from being poor. After dealing with the alarm situation Talisa had only to find a suitable place to dispose of the body. Apparently in the basement of her building there was an incineration pit where all the garbage was disposed of. It wasn't what Neldri deserved but it was what Talisa could accomplish.

Talisa had placed the body on the repulsor belt and watched her comrade enter the machine and disappear in an orange-yellow burst of light. Neldri's commlink and all the contents of her pockets were were now safely tucked away in Talisa's jacket pocket. She returned to the speeder and pulled a set of bantha hide seat covers over the bloodstained seats. Talisa kept her hands in her pockets as she entered the building, a couple of Gran were standing in the hallway as she walked to the door of the safehouse. She stared them down until they looked away.

She used her clean hand to use the swipecard to gain access into the room, keeping her right hand shoved deep in her pocket. The apartment was modest but small, the illumination panels were inactive and cool to the touch but that didn't mean that the room was empty. She gripped Neldri's knife in her hand as she located the light controls and glanced around her immediate surroundings. The safehouse wasn't meant for more than two people at any given time and it's size reflected as much. It was one large room flanked by two small bedrooms and a single refresher.

It took her five minutes to thoroughly clear the rooms and locate the weapons stash that had been hidden away in the apartment, the duraplast case had been wedged behind the frame of the sanisteam in the refresher. It contained nothing more than a Hapan holdout blaster, six powerpacks, stuncuffs, two deactivated commlinks, a medkit and two more survival knifes. The charge on the blaster was at full capacity so Talisa made sure that the safety was engaged and tucked it away in her waistband under her jacket and collected one of the commlinks and moved to the sofa.

Talisa began the process of dismantling the commlink and locating the tracking bug that would activate the moment the device was powered up. She reassembled the commlink, took a deep breath and turned the device over in her hands a few times as she tried to relax before calling Dain. She took a final calming breath and entered his comm code and waited. Dain answered almost immediately.

"Dolvo."

His voice alone seemed to inspire confidence in her. "Dain it's Talisa. I'm in kind of a situation here."

"Situation? What kind of situation?"

"I can't trust my team anymore and it won't be long before they start hunting me down." Talisa said grimly.

"So get off the planet."

"I can't. There is a Hapan network embedded in almost every agency on the planet. They would be all over my transport before it ever left it's berth."

"I'm in the Outer Rim." Dain said. "I can't help you right now."

"Dain I'm pregnant." The other end of the line fell silent and a spike of alarm rolled through her. "Dain?"

"I'll be on Kuat in a day." Dain said. "I'll make a call to an old associate of mine, he will keep you safe until I can find a way to get you off the planet."

The first wave of relief Talisa had felt in days washed over her. "Where do I go? I'm in a Hapan safehouse and won't be able to stay here for very long."

"In the Off-Worlder sector go to a place named Kaldor's. There is a Whiphid named T'Krul and he will set you up until my associate comes to collect you."

"Okay, find a Whiphid named T'Krul at a place called Kaldor's in the Off-Worlder sector. "What do I tell him?"

"I'll call him once we are done here so he'll be expecting you." Dain said. "My associate will be along shortly, maybe tomorrow afternoon by the latest."

"Thank you Dain." Talisa couldn't keep the gratitude out of her voice.

"You just hang in there, I'll be seeing you soon."

The call ended and Talisa snapped into action. She grabbed the weapons cache, deactivated the illumination panels and exited the apartment. Talisa returned to the speeder she had parked a block up from the safehouse and accessed the holonet to begin searching for Kaldor's. Talisa just hoped that Dain's associate was as good as he was. Her life and the life of her unborn child depended on it.


ODS HEADQUARTERS, KUAT CITY, KUAT, 40 ABY
TWO WEEKS AFTER THE BOMBING OF THE ELITE HOTEL


Tyran rolled to his feet, came up in a combative stance and feinted a lunge at his attacker. His opponent tried to duck under the feint only to realize too late that it was a bluff and promptly received a solid knee to the midsection. Tyran's powerful blow caused his attacker to double over and Tyran quickly followed through with a snap jab with his right hand, connecting cleanly with his foe's face. Dyir hit the ground in a writhing mass of pain and the bell tone sounded to signal Tyran's victory.

"Technical knockout." Dyir said as he rubbed his jaw and climbed up to his feet.

"No way, that was a knockout!" Vyndra yelled as she climbed down from the bleachers where she, Ijaat, and Aru had been watching the sparring match. The young girl had taken to watching Hapan kickboxing matches being broadcast over the holonet. It had been during a rare occasion where everyone had been together at the Numeck apartment watching one such match when the sparring match between himself and Dyir had been conceived. Dyir and Neada had come to watch the holonet event at Vyndra's request and about an hour or so into the event Dyir had stated that he saw nothing special in Hapan kickboxing and that Corellian strike-fighting was far superior.

Neada, an accomplished Hapan kickboxer in her own right, had taken offense to that statement and had challenged Dyir to put his money where his mouth was. He had to take on Tyran, who was well versed in both Corellian strike-fighting and Hapan kickboxing, in a sparring match. The only stipulation was that each man had to stick to one of the two fighting techniques that were being compared in the discussion. Tyran had enthusiastically accepted the challenge and goaded Dyir into accepting it as well.

Now it appeared that the bet was settled and Tyran was more than happy to let the official, Vyndra and Dyir sort out how Tyran had won amongst the three of them. Tyran walked over to the bleachers and Aru began to remove his safety gear. Her grin was as wide as ever as she pulled off his gloves and threw them into the duffel bag and handed him a bottle of water.

"Did you really have to hit him that hard?"

"Dyir's a big boy, he can take it." Tyran laughed. "Besides he wasn't exactly pulling any punches either."

"That was amazing dad!" Ijaat said as he scrambled down off the bleachers and ran over to his parents. "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

It was Tyran's turn to grin as he sat down on one of the bleachers and drank from the water bottle. He was happy that his son was impressed with him but he still couldn't tell Ijaat how he'd learned to fight.

"You know I was in the military before you were born." Tyran said. "That's where I learned how to fight."

"The Mandalorian army?" Ijaat asked.

Tyran spewed water in the direction of the sparring ring and looked at Aru with an accusing glare but Aru also had an equal look of bewilderment on her own face as she stared at Ijaat.

"Why would you say that?" Aru asked as she tried to recover from the shock she was feeling.

"Uncle Rixa's X-Wing had some kind of faded symbol on the nose." Ijaat said. "I remembered seeing that symbol in class when we were learning about Gyndine, it was the symbol of the Mandalorians who liberated the planet."

Tyran cursed.

"Rixa's X-Wing?" Aru said looking at Tyran. "Does he mean Jaya's X-Wing."

Tyran nodded his head slowly. "Jaya was flying the Aggressor and Rixa was stuck with the X-Wing."

"I did a search on the two of you and the Mandalorians and I found out some things." Ijaat continued on, proud of the lengths he'd gone to in order to gather the information. "You both fought on Ord Mantell, Gyndine, Tholatin and who knows how many more places against the Yuuzhan Vong. We're Mandalorians aren't we?" His voice held no small degree of excitement.

"No." Tyran said sharply. "Me and your mother used to be Mandalorians. You were born on Kuat and are a Kuati citizen. How did he find all this out?!"

Aru shrugged helplessly. "We have restrictions on all of the holonet terminals, he shouldn't have been able to access anything about the Mandalorians."

Tyran turned towards Ijaat slowly and fixed him with his best intimidating stare, it worked on full grown assassins so it shouldn't have taken long for an eleven year old to fold under the gaze. "Ijaat how did you get that information?"

"I sliced into the terminals using your passwords and access codes." Ijaat said. A defiant look worked itself onto his face and it worried Tyran in no small measure. "It wasn't really all that difficult."

Tyran looked at Aru and sighed in frustration.

"I'm impressed by you slicing skills but you realize you're in a freighter load of trouble right?"

Ijaat scowled. "Why?"

"Why?" Tyran repeated incredulously. "You sliced into the holonet terminals and looked at something you weren't ever supposed to see."

Dyir and Vyndra came to a stop just short of the bleachers. "Are we interrupting something?" He asked.

"No we're all done here for now." Tyran said giving his son a look that suggested quite the opposite. Tyran's commlink began to buzz in the duffel bag and he dropped down onto the bench and grabbed it. "Aru take the kids home will you, I'll be along in a few minutes."

Aru grabbed her son gently by the shoulders and steered him towards the exit after motioning to Vyndra to follow.

Dyir watched them carefully as they disappeared out of the training room and then looked down at Tyran.

"What did I miss?"

Tyran growled. "Ijaat knows we're Mandalorians."

Dyir raised his eyebrows. "How did that happen?"

"The kid is too damn smart for his own good." Tyran sighed.

"Not a trait I think he inherited from you." Dyir said. "It was bound to happen eventually."

Tyran scowled at Dyir and answered his still vibrating commlink. "What?"

"I know you don't exactly care for me, but you know you could take some of the hostility out of your voice." Dain Dolvo said.

Tyran sighed heavily. "Every time I answer this damn thing there is someone on the other end who I really don't want to talk to. Let me guess, you want something from me right?"

"I know you don't owe me any favors or anything but yes there is something I need your help with." Dain said. "I need you to go to Kaldor's in the Off-Worlder sector and collect a woman for me. Can you keep her safe until I can get to Kuat and get her out of there?"

"Is she some kind of bounty?" Tyran said.

"No, she's some woman I met at the rest station over Gyndine. To make a long story short she's pregnant with my child and just found out about it. Apparently she's got a group of Hapans after her now."

"Hapans?" Tyran perked up at the word. "Why would Hapans be after her?"

"Because she was one of them until she went rogue when she found out she was pregnant." Dain said. "That's all that I know."

"Do you know what she was doing on Kuat in the fist place?" Tyran inquired even though he suspected he knew the answer.

"I just know that she was there to take out someone, don't know who." Dain said. "Does it matter?"

"Yes, me an Dyir are protecting a former Hapan commando who was betrayed by her commanding officer a while back. Your girlfriend might very well be the member of an assassination team sent to kill her."

Dain was silent for a second. "Look can you just hold on to her until I can come and get her."

"Oh yeah you'd better believe I'm going to go get her and we're going to have a long chat about her Hapan friends." Tyran said. "If she answers my questions then I'll provide her with protection."

"And if she won't?"

"If she's truly pregnant and being hunted by her friends she should have no problem talking." Tyran said. "You said Kaldor's right?"

"Yes I did." Dain said. "I'll be in-system either tomorrow or the day after. If anything happens to her Tyran I'm going to hold you responsible for it."

"What if she's dead when we go get her?"

"She won't be. I have T'Krul standing guard over her room." Dain said. "Just go get her and make sure she's safe until I arrive."

"Why can't she just catch a ride on a freighter heading out of the system?"

"She says there's a whole Hapan network ingrained into Kuat at some of it's high levels. Supposedly the Hapans would be all over her before any ship she got on could complete it's preflight checklist."

"Well me and her are going to have quite a list of things to discuss then. Her name?"

"Talisa Raldi." Dain said. "Give me your word that she'll be safe."

"Yeah I'm good at protecting people from Hapans, she'll be in one piece when you get here." Tyran said and ended the call. He looked up at Dyir and laughed incredulously. "You aren't going to believe this."


OFF-WORLDER SECTOR, KUAT, 40 ABY
TWO WEEKS AFTER THE BOMBING OF THE ELITE HOTEL


Talisa had sat just up the block from the less the reputable looking establishment and had spent an hour or so scoping it out to make sure she hadn't been tailed. She had stopped and bought some new clothes that were more fashionable in the Off-Worlder sector, a pair of form fitting dark-gray utility pants and a purple durafab sweatshirt. She'd even taken the precaution of cutting her hair to a much shorter length. Her hands were shoved deep in the pocket on the front of the sweatshirt, gripping the holdout blaster she had taken from the safehouse. The hood was pulled up to hide her face as well as to shield her from the light mist that had started to fall in the last few minutes.

She didn't see anything suspicious, or at least not anything abnormally suspicious. There were plenty of the seedy types who were regularly found in places like this one loitering around the building's exterior. Everyone was careful to not observe everyone else and made sure to keep their to their own business and that suited her just fine. She contemplated waiting a few more minutes but as the weather deteriorated she decided to enter the cantina and find the Whiphid that Dain had told her to contact.

The interior of Kaldor's was dark and grimy but Talisa could make out a group of Givin, Chevs, Duros and Klatooinians sitting around talking in low tones. None of them so much as gave her a second glance as she crossed the room and walked to the bar. An old Gotal was serving drinks to an Aqualish and two Twi'leks. Talisa wrapped her knuckles on the bar top to get his attention.

"I'm looking for T'Krul." She said.

The Gotal stared at her for a long second and then produced a swipecard and slid it over to her. "Third floor, room forty-four. Take the turbolifts on your left. You're late."

Talisa scowled at the Gotal and grabbed the card. She hadn't been told that she had needed to arrive at a certain time and she wasn't about to just walk into a building filled with lowlifes without scoping it out first. She headed out in the direction the Gotal had indicated and entered the turbolifts. Thankfully the turbolift she had entered was empty and she could take a few moments to calm herself. Her stomach was acting up again and she was fighting the urge to vomit with every ounce of her willpower. The turbolift came to a stop and she stepped out of it into a dank hallway that smelled of mildew and rotted out vegetables. It didn't help the situation with her stomach.

She found a flower pot and kneeled over it and dispensed the contents of her stomach into the soil. She repeated the process twice more, sweating and swearing as she wiped her forehead on the sleeve of her sweater.

"I'm sure the plant appreciated that." A deep voice echoed from behind her.

Talisa glanced over her shoulder and felt a pang of fear, the kind that was a natural reflex. Behind her was a tall, well muscled mass of fur and tusks. A pair of beady black eyes peered down at her from behind an elongated snout. The harnesses on his hips were holding two large, high-powered Imperial-era blasters, but Talisa was more weary of the claws that protruded from the tips of the Whiphid's three fingered hands.

"Are you T'Krul?" She said as she wondered if her blaster would be able to penetrate the Whiphid's thick muscles if she had to shoot him.

"Yes, I expected a little more from you somehow." T'Krul said as he crossed his arms and gave her an appraising glance. "Dain said you were pretty sharp, but I found you vomiting into a flower pot."

"Better than the hallway." She said as she rose to her feet.

"It might have improved the smell though." T'Krul countered.

"Dain said you'd set me up somewhere safe."

The Whiphid huffed and turned towards the opposite end of the hallway and walked off. Talisa followed him wearily still not sure whether she could trust the Whiphid. He was Dain's contact, not hers, and the Hapans had quite a budget to spend to bribe anyone they needed to in order to get their target. Neldri's commlink had been buzzing on and off for the last few hours. Talisa had removed the tracking device from the commlink, as well as the one in her own commlink, so she wasn't worried about being traced to Kaldor's that way at least. Her time window was shrinking rapidly now though, Aenica and Dalrial would be wondering where she and Neldri had gone to.

It wouldn't be long before they went to the medcenter and it wouldn't be much longer before they picked up whatever strands of her trail she hadn't tied up, and she'd covered her tracks well. T'Krul opened up room forty-four with his own swipecard and stepped aside to let her in.

"It isn't the Skyview but you'll be safe here. Dain has paid me to stand guard outside for as long as you are here. There are clothes and supplies in the room, even a few weapons and a set of body armor I managed to scrounge up for you. If you need anything else you can use this commlink to contact me and I'll have someone get it for you."

Talisa walked into the room and walked in an exploratory circle. It was dark and smelled just minutely better than the hallway outside.

"Do you know when Dain's other contact is supposed to be here?" She asked. "Will it be in a day like Dain said?"

T'Krul shook his head. "I don't know, but I will be alerted when the contact arrives to take you somewhere else."

"Where are the weapons?" Talisa asked.

"Under the bed in a bag."

Talisa glanced into the bedroom and then back at T'Krul. "Thank you."

T'Krul gave a nod of his shaggy haired head and then stepped outside and closed the door to the room. Talisa walked into the bedroom and grabbed the bag that contained the weapons her temporary bodyguard had procured for her. Inside there was an E-11 blaster rifle, two WESTAR heavy blasters, enough power packs to reload each weapon a hundred times over and a set of standard issue Galactic Alliance Void Jumper armor. The Whiphid had outdone himself, he had provided far better supplies than the Hapans did.

Now all that she could do was sit and wait for the contact to come and get her and hope that T'Krul was as good at being a bodyguard as he was at procuring weapons. She didn't think that Dain would hire a substandard mercenary to protect her and must have had some working relationship with T'Krul if he had enough confidence in the Whiphid to ask him to protect the woman carrying his child. Just thinking about Dain seemed to settle her stomach as she sat on the bed and fell backwards into the lone and rather flat pillow.

So far he had taken care of her and she had no doubts at all about him being able to get her off the planet in one piece. Dain didn't seem like a man who was prone to failure.

 

There was no way Talisa could now continue her mission of hunting down Neada Tash, she couldn't fulfill her oath to the Battle Mistress and therefore could never return to her homeworld without being sentenced to death for her failures. It didn't matter anymore though her priorities had changed in an instant. Now her current objective was to escape the medcenter without being seen by Neldri, who was still sitting in the waiting room

Good for us, somewhat laughs at her. It’s good to know though that her priorities can CHANGE. Maybe it’ll work out to ‘our’ favor in the end?


No I am not alright! My life was just thrown off course by an event I had planned on happening for a very long time!

I’m sure you/she mean ‘had NOT planned’….and um, that’s what happens when you don’t protect yourself and have random encounters.

And huh, Dain. *memory is jogged* (seriously my memory is horrible; it took about a minute to remember he hooked up with someone). Fun times. Maybe he’ll stop being a bit stupid too.


Talisa reversed her grip on the knife and slammed it down hard into the young medic's chest, piercing her heart.

Well kriff. I didn’t see that coming though I should have. UGH DISLIKE TALISA AGAIN. The fear of being caught makes people do horrid things.


Talisa just hoped that Dain's associate was as good as he was.

*chuckles* I have a feeling I know where this is going *reads along*
(by the way, I still don’t like her)


Dyir had stated that he saw nothing special in Hapan kickboxing and that Corellian strike-fighting was far superior.

And what if there was a mixture of both? *waggles eyebrows*
Like Tyran!!


"Uncle Rixa's X-Wing had some kind of faded symbol on the nose." Ijaat said. "I remembered seeing that symbol in class when we were learning about Gyndine, it was the symbol of the Mandalorians who liberated the planet."

Little pitchers have big ears (and eyes) and all that.

"I sliced into the terminals using your passwords and access codes."

He’s just too intelligent.


"I know you don't exactly care for me, but you know you could take some of the hostility out of your voice." Dain Dolvo said.

Yup! That’s what I figured.


"Yes, me an Dyir are protecting a former Hapan commando who was betrayed by her commanding officer a while back. Your girlfriend might very well be the member of an assassination team sent to kill her."

Fortunately Tyran is also intelligent. I’m sure Ijaat got quite a few of his smarts from his father.
I like how Tyran very obviously ignores Dain’s question of if Talisa doesn’t answer the former man’s questions. I’m all on Tyran’s side.


She didn't see anything suspicious, or at least not anything abnormally suspicious.

Good note on the difference there.



T’Krul left Talisa quite some nifty weapons, that’s for sure!!

 

CHAPTER TEN


OFF-WORLDER SECTOR, KUAT CITY, KUAT, 40 ABY, TWO WEEKS AFTER THE BOMBING OF THE ELITE HOTEL


"Does it feel weird being back in this armor or is it just me?" Tyran asked Dyir over the privacy of their insulated helmet comms.

"No, after a decade of wearing expensive suits I agree that wearing beskar'gam is...strange." Dyir agreed. "But it's worth it. If this woman we're going after really is part of a Hapan assassin team she probably knows who we are and might have attacked us if we just rolled up in our standard gear."

"Ten years ago this was our standard gear." Tyran said ruefully.

Dyir grunted and brought their landspeeder deeper into the Off-Worlder sector. The third occupant of the landspeeder the two Mandalorians were occupying was oblivious to the conversation. He was a lieutenant in the Kuati military named Whyl Kest. He was a new recruit into the ODS Threat Reduction Team as a medic and the only reason he was with Tyran and Dyir now was to confirm that Talisa Raldi was indeed pregnant.

If it turned out that she wasn't then there would be no harm no foul, at least on Dain's part anyway. He had probably been paid to ask Tyran for help to get Talisa closer to Neada. Tyran wasn't going to go after Dain for just doing what he was good at. He wouldn't be as forgiving when it came to Talisa though. If she was lying things would take a turn towards the spectacularly violent. Tyran wasn't a fan of the practice but when it came to getting information through 'strategic pain distribution', as Dyir called it, Tyran had no problem taking that path.

Talisa Raldi would be the first female Hapan that Tyran had dealt with other than Neada Tash. Every previous hit team he had battled had been nothing more than male assassins. He wasn't looking forward to torturing her if she wouldn't give him the information he needed. It didn't feel honorable, but then again honor had never really been Tyran's lifelong goal.

Come to think of it he realized he'd never really had one. He had been baptized in fire during the Yuuzhan Vong war and hadn't really operated as a bounty hunter and general mercenary for very long before taking the KDY job.

He'd never really had the time to think about what he'd wanted to do with his life. It had always been liberate this planet, rescue that Jedi, liberate another planet, capture a swindling arms dealer and deliver him to the Hutt he had cheated, defeat Hapan assassin squad after Hapan assassin squad. The closest he felt he came to having a lifelong goal was to make sure Ijaat never became a soldier like him and now even that seemingly simple goal was in serious jeopardy. His ten year old son knew about his Mandalorian heritage and that frightened Tyran on every level.

Dyir turned his head slightly and nudged Tyran with his elbow. "You still thinking about Ijaat?"

Tyran grunted, Dyir always seemed to know exactly what he was thinking. "Yeah. Years of hard work and careful planning were just undone by that kid's damn brains. He's too damn smart for his own good Dyir."

"To be fair you did make him that way." Dyir laughed.

"How so?"

"You made sure Ijaat was able to have the best education available on Kuat. He's been to nothing but the best schools, had the best tutor droids credits can buy and plus you and Aru aren't exactly idiots to begin with." Dyir laughed. "Your plan to make sure he didn't find out he was a Mandalorian is kind of responsible for him finding out that he is a Mandalorian."

"You know what, I'm just going to ignore you." Tyran said sourly and Dyir's amused laughter rolled through his helmet.

Tyran turned his attention to Whyl Kest thinking that would push the problems he was having keeping his heritage separate from his son out of his mind for the moment.

"Lieutenant did you read the briefing packet on Talisa Raldi?" He asked.

The young lieutenant looked up from the back seat. "Yes sir, Talisa Raldi is a senior operative of the Seven-Nine-One Special Actions Unit, also known as the War Dragons. Seven-Nine-One is the tier-one SpecOps unit in the Hapan Military and is exclusively made up of females."

"How does Seven-Nine-One relate to Oh-Dee-Es and the Threat Reduction Team?" Dyir asked.

"Seven-Nine-One was once under the command of Neada Tash until her treason the year prior to the Yuuzhan Vong Invasion." Kest said. He glanced from one Mandalorian to the other. "Are you two done trying to see if I'm some green rookie who's going to get you blown to bits? I've got ten years in the Kuati Commandos so I've already been through this hazing poodoo."

Dyir laughed and nodded to Tyran. "I think he's going to fit right in on the Threat Reduction Team."

"I agree, I'm already starting to like him more than I like you."

"Oh you've just gotten used to me is all." Dyir said as he brought the speeder to a stop a block away from Kaldor's. "Alright Lieutenant, when we get to her room you need to stay out of sight. Make sure you've got that jacket on before you get out, Talisa won't like seeing a Kuati military uniform and things could get out of hand."

"Once we get inside and get her subdued then you can come in and take the blood sample and I'll offer her Neada's deal." Tyran said as he climbed out of the speeder.

"If she refuses the deal?" The medic asked.

"We make her talk, whether Dain likes it or not." Tyran said darkly.

"You're the boss." Kest said as he followed them down the pedwalk.

They fell into line almost instantly, Tyran at the front clearing a path through the pedestrian traffic with his large size and intimidating abyssal-black armor. Kest was walking behind him in the traditional place of a VIP, which in a sense he really was, as well as being the least armored member of the team. Dyir was on his heels, constantly eyeballing people as they moved passed him making sure to keep them in his sights with his HUDs 360 degree wraparound view.

No one appeared to be following them and that meant one of two things: Either no one was following them or the people following them were very good at remaining hidden. Dyir was trained to notice people who were good at remaining hidden and since he didn't see any threats or any potential threats, he was sure there were no Hapans following Tyran, Kest and himself to the location of the wayward Hapan commando.

It amazed Dyir that for the ten years he had been working to protect Neada Tash that the Hapans had been busy building, apparently very well connected, networks of operatives in the social structure of Kuat itself just to keep tabs on her. It made him wonder how many times he and Tyran had escorted Neada to a State diner and had conversations with some politician or another department head who had seemed very interested in the goings-on of Neada Tash.

How many of them had simply been competitors and how many had been entrenched Hapans sniffing out a weak point in their target's defenses? He knew the question was rolling around inside Tyran's head just as often as it was his own. They were both already trying to mentally compile new friend-foe lists even though they couldn't accurately do that until they got what they wanted from Talisa Raldi.

Hundreds of names came and went as Dyir compiled and re-compiled his mental list of potential enemies again and again. A name would be listed under the category of hostile one moment and then promptly switched to friendly in the next. The whole exercise was pointless though and would only serve to drive him mad the longer he concentrated on it. Dyir couldn't help but wonder how Tyran managed to seem so level headed about the subject, as head of Neada's security he should have been fretting over it far more than he actually was.

Maybe Tyran was so calm because he knew that one way or another he was going to get the information he needed to rectify the problem in just a few minutes. Hopefully all went well and no one got hurt. Tyran's indifferent attitude towards Dain Dolvo's wrath should something happen to Talisa was something that Dyir didn't share. Dain Dolvo was not someone you wanted to cross, the lengths he would go to in order to get revenge were potentially boundless. Dyir wouldn't ever admit it out but he severely doubted that he could handle Dolvo in a physical altercation, he even doubted that Tyran would have been able to beat him outright.

No, if Tyran and Dain ever fought each other it would be a bloody and destructive battle that would only end once one of them, possibly even both of them, were lying dead on the ground. The contest between the last of the Numecks and the last of the Dolvos would be a war that would have made even the mighty Yuuzhan Vong cringe at the violence the two men would wrought upon one another.

Dyir's jaw still hurt from the force of the simple jab Tyran had hit him with in their sparring session earlier. He had to wonder how much pain he would have been in if Tyran had really put everything into the jab. Tyran had clearly used the weeks of vacation time that Neada had given him to build up his strength, and he had already been just as strong as a savage rancor.

Tyran Numeck was another man you didn't want to cross. Two Aqualish made the same conclusion and parted for Tyran and his company of two as they walked through the entryway of Kaldor's. Tyran nodded at the Gotal behind the bar who then jerked his head at the staircase next to him. Tyran gave another subtle nod and proceeded in that direction, his hand hovering ever so slightly near the holster of one of his DL44 heavy-blasters. Dyir had always preferred Merr-Sonn weaponry over BlasTech and carried a Model 434 blaster pistol. His hand was visibly clamped on the grip of his pistol.

The trio made their way up the staircase and it was at this point when Dyir moved up directly behind Tyran.

"Fourth floor, room forty-four." Tyran said.

"Or we just have to keep going until we find the room with a big Whiphid standing guard outside." Dyir said. "Why is it always Whiphids?"

"Do you have a problem with Whiphids?" Kest asked.

"As a matter of fact I do." Dyir said.

"What would you prefer Dyir?" Tyran said as they continued up past the first floor landing. "Enlighten us."

"How about a Jawa or maybe even a Dug. Something small that I can easily kick a great distance."

Tyran laughed darkly. "Personally I think Dugs are more dangerous than Whiphids, they're smarter and have impeccable memories. It is why they can hold a grudge for so long."

"Speaking from experience?" Kest said.

"Once you've lived for a certain amount of years and have done as much traveling as I have you get to know certain species and their customs, both good and bad." Tyran said. "T'Krul isn't all that bad though. He's certainly better than most of the Whiphids I've come across."

They passed the next two landings in silence, passing only a lone Quarren as they made their way to the fourth floor.

**************

Talisa had been busy in the first few hours since arriving at her temporary safehouse deep within the Off-Worlder sector. She had removed all of the weapons from the bag T'Krul had left her with and had dawned the Void Jumper armor he had provided. For a single instant she entertained the idea of pulling her civilian clothing over the military-grade body armor but ultimately decided that it was too bulky to be able to effectively hide under the sweatshirt and pants. She had attached the two WESTAR heavy blasters to the magnetic thigh plates of the body armor. She had tucked her small hold out blaster away in her right boot and was now sitting on the corner of the bed with the E-11 blaster rifle in her lap, staring at the main door to the room.

It was all she could do now. She just had to sit and wait until the person Dain had called came to get her and whisk her off to another supposedly safe location. Talisa guessed that it would be much the same routine once Dain got her off Kuat. She doubted very much that he would stick with her for very long, he was probably already departing from a job to come and get her. Bounty hunting was a first-come-first-serve business and she understood that he couldn't babysit her for an extended amount of time, at least until he completed whatever contracts he had already struck.

She had finally realized just how little she really knew about Dain Dolvo and wondered if he would feel compelled to marry her because she was carrying his child. Marriage was something that Talisa hadn't ever contemplated for herself, like most Hapan women she viewed men as breeding stock and nothing more. She had only planned on picking a suitable mate to give her a child once she had worked her way up the ladder in the Hapan military quite some time from now, but never had she thought about having a husband.

The thought of being bound to one man for the rest of her life was an intriguing one and made her think of all the possible outcomes of that. Then there was the fact that Dain was a Mandalorian and Mandalorian society was well known for the practice of adopting all comers into it with welcoming arms. She wasn't exactly sure that being a Mandalorian was something that would suit her, despite the combat oriented lifestyle.

She couldn't take just sitting and waiting anymore and got up from the bed and walked over to the door. She looked out the viewer next to the palm scanner to see what was going on outside. T'Krul's shaggy haired back dominated most of the view but she could tell from the way he was standing that he was looking to his left. A sudden mix of fear and apprehension rolled through her and she couldn't help but think that the Hapans had found her. That was most likely not the case though, it could have just been someone else heading to their room taking note of the large Whiphid standing out in the hallway.

Even in Kuat's dingy Out-Worlder sector, Whiphids weren't an all too common sight.

Talisa took in a calming breath that did little to actually calm her. T'Krul turned his whole body to the left and gripped one of his high powered blasters and gestured to the figures that she couldn't see yet. She realized her hand was gripping the handle of one of the WESTAR blasters on her thighs. Talisa turned back to the room and looked for the best defendable location she could find and to her dismay the best cover in the room was simply the other side of the bed.

Talisa half walked and half sprinted her way to the opposite side of the bed and squatted down behind it and trained the E-11 on the door. If it opened before T'Krul called her to let her know that her ride had arrived then she was going to open fire. Her breathing deepened as she settled her trigger finger just inside the E-11s trigger guard, resting it just behind the trigger itself. Her heartbeat was audible in her ears as she gently cocked her head and positioned the doorway in the sights of the modern variant of the classic Imperial blaster rifle and waited.

Two seconds. Six seconds. Ten seconds. Her commlink began to buzz gently in the compartment on her belt. Talisa activated the wireless receiver in her ear but never removed her gaze from the door.

"Go," She said quietly.

"Dain's contacts are here," the deep gravelly voice that belonged to T'Krul said back. "My job is done. The Mandalorians will take things from here."

"Thank you for the information T'Krul, and thanks again for all the supplies and help you have provided me with."

The Whiphid gave a huff of acknowledgment and ended the call. Talisa stood up from behind the bed and attached the E-11 to the magnetic back plate of her armor. She made sure to remove the safeties on both her WESTAR blasters, just in case the Mandalorians outside her door weren't the dependable sort like Dain. The door slid open and two of the largest men Talisa had ever seen entered the room.

They weren't large in the traditional sense of height, though they did both easily break two meters, but in the muscular sense. One of them was wearing royal blue armor and the other a shade of deep and intimidating black. It was easy for her Hapan eyes to make out the defined form of rock hard muscle hidden away behind layers of armor and flightsuits. A third and significantly smaller man dressed in simple black combat fatigues and a utility jacket followed them in discreetly, almost too discreetly. Her eyes must have given away her suspicions because the blue armored Mandalorian looked subtly over his shoulder at the smaller man and back at her.

"Don't mind him ma'am, he's just a medic."

Talisa fixed the man with a dark glare. "Do I look like I need a medic."

"You might if you keep up with that attitude." the black armored Mandalorian said as he took a few steps into the room and gave, what Talisa assumed to be, an appraising glance. "So you're carrying a little baby Dolvo are you?"

Talisa turned her suspicious gaze on the black armored Mandalorian.

"I don't really see how that's any of your concern."

"It's not, but I have to say I'm not fond of the idea of there being more than one Dolvo in the galaxy at any one time."

"Why is that?"

The Mandalorian gave a shrug. "Old family feud."

Talisa stared at him for a few minutes. "Yes I am pregnant with the child of Dain Dolvo, the two of us met on a rest station of Gyndine and there were some unexpected results. My name is Talisa Raldi, I didn't catch your names."

The two Mandalorians turned their helmeted heads towards each other for a few moments and must have traded a few words.

"We'll give you are names in a few seconds but we need to get some things out of the way first." the blue armored one said motioning to the smaller man. "The doc here is going to take a blood sample and run a quick test on it to see if you really are pregnant and you're going to let him do it."

"Why? I already told you I was pregnant."

"This is the deal." the black armored Mandalorian interjected. "Either you do what we say or take your chances on the street with the Hapans. What's it going to be?"

Talisa didn't know what to say. "Dain won't be happy when I tell him that you two left me to fend for myself."

"Do I look like I'm afraid of Dain Dolvo?" the black armored Mandalorian snorted.

In all honesty Talisa had a hard time thinking of anything that could possibly have frightened a man as big as him. She didn't know how to respond to being talked back at like that by a man. She was used to her men being quite and compliant, not smug and confrontational.

"Do what we ask and you won't have to worry about the Hapans, we'll hide you away for a day or two and then when Dain gets here he can get you offworld." the blue one said in a more diplomatic tone than the one his counterpart was using.

"Give me your names and show me your faces." Talisa said. "Do that and I'll submit to your blood test."

Another moment of silence passed as the two Mandalorians conferred with their private comms and then the black armored one turned his head back towards Talisa and nodded. They both reached up in unison and undid their helmet seals before removing their helmets. Talisa's eyes widened as she took in the face of the blue armored Mandalorian and then the black armored one.

Dyir Carud and Tyran Numeck!

Her hands went to the handles of her WESTAR blasters instantly but Tyran and Dyir already had their blasters trained on her.

"I guess she already knows our names." Dyir said.

"Must have if she went for her guns." Tyran said. "You're pretty fast on the draw...but not fast enough."

Talisa met his smirk with a dark scowl which turned into a look of bewilderment as both Mandalorians lowered and reholstered their pistols.

"We aren't here to kill you, in fact we heard that you know something about a large Hapan network operating here on Kuat." Dyir said.

"We're very interested as to who may be apart of that network and you're going to gives us that information."

Talisa snorted. "What makes you think I would do that?"

"We'll get to that in a minute but the doc has some work to do first." Dyir waved the smaller man in the utility jacket through.

The man pulled out a small hypo and a small gray box with an injector port.

"Hold still ma'am." He said as he removed sections of armor from her left arm and began to take a blood sample.

"It took almost two hours for the medcenter to confirm I was pregnant." Talisa said. "Are we going to sit here and wait for that little box to tell me something I already know the answer to?"

Tyran sighed. "Well for starters we have better gadgets than the medcenter believe it or not, and we won't be here a moment longer than we need to."


MALASTARE, 40 ABY
EIGHT DAYS AFTER THE BOMBING OF THE ELITE HOTEL


"I don't care who you have to bribe, shoot or kill but you are going to get me access through that damned security flotilla orbiting Kuat!" Dain raged into the privacy of his helmet commlink.

"What is so important on Kuat that can't wait until you complete the assignment you were given?" Iman Vitrix replied coolly. "I have already paid you eight thousand credits to eliminate a senior member of the Galactic Alliance Scientific Military Research Department and I expect results."

Dain growled in disgust. There was no way he was going to reveal to Iman Vitrix that there was a woman on Kuat carrying his child, giving him that information would be worse than dangerous.

"Your scientist is on Malastare and isn't going anywhere for the next eight months. My personal problems on Kuat will be settled way before then so just get me my clearance and I will wave the second payment of my fee."

"Damn it Dain this is important."

"Don't talk to me about important!" Dain roared. "Either get me my clearance through the flotilla or I'll just wind up blasting my way through, it makes little difference to me."

Vitrix was silent for a moment. It wasn't a stunned silence or an enraged silence, but the kind that was usually brought on when a cold and calculating mind was formulating something sinister.

"I will get you your clearance on one condition." Vitrix said at last.

"And that is?"

"I have just opened up a new detention facility in the Outer Rim, it's a facility where we can get information on our enemies without the impeding procedures and bothersome interference of the Jedi. I need someone I can trust to run it and I want that person to be you."

"Where is it and for how long will I be there?"

"Well I'll need you there in a few weeks, Colonel Solo has been rounding up Corellians all week and a few of them are going to wind up being part of the inaugural group for my facility. It is in the far reaches of the Outer Rim where no one would ever think to look, I would prefer you to be the initial warden for a year or two to make sure things run smoothly. I realize how much of an inconvenience this will be and I am prepared to pay you handsomely for your time."

"Two years in the Outer Rim as the warden of a torture facility." Dain summed up. "I want fifty-thousand for the first year and a hundred for the second."

"I'm sure that can be managed. I will see to it that you get your clearance into the Kuat system."

Dain ended the call without saying another word and continued towards the spaceport and his newly acquired TIE/IN Interceptor. He had traded his old Gladiator for a top of the line new model. He'd always been fond of the look of the Imperial TIE Interceptor, slick, lethal and beautiful all at once.

With all the money Vitrix was throwing at him and the scrap value of the Gladiator he had finally been able to get one of his own. His was different than the standard issue Interceptor though, his came complete with shielding, a hyperdrive and upgraded armor plating. The additional armor had sacrificed some of the ships legendary speed, but it was still fast enough to outrun most starfighters.

As he climbed up into his new ship he couldn't help but think about the heavy weight that had recently settled upon his shoulders: he was going to be a father.

Dain had come to terms long ago with being the last of the Dolvo clan but now that didn't seem like it was going to be the case. He wondered if Talisa was going to want to get married and settle down somewhere. She hadn't struck him as the type of woman who wanted to settle down though and he himself had never really put much thought into having a wife, let alone a Hapan wife.

That seemed liked asking for trouble.

Hapan women were used to walking over their men and Dain wasn't about to be someone floormat. But still though he knew that marriage was a discussion he and Talisa were going to have to have once he got to Kuat. He caught himself smiling as he started to warm up the drives as thoughts about having a son wandered on into the forefront of his mind.

He wouldn't have minded having a daughter either, either one was fine with him. He laughed ruefully to himself as he thought about the look on Tyran's face when he had heard that there was going to be another Dolvo lurking in the shadows of the galaxy to continue on the Cold War between the Numecks and the Dolvos. He laughed harder still when he thought about the possibility of having twins.

He was glad Tyran had agreed to help him out. Dain chose to ignore the fact that Tyran was helping him because Talisa had access to information that he and Dyir needed to put a stop to the threat the Hapans posed to their employer. Dain couldn't hold it against them, he would have done the same in their position, but he still liked to think that the decision was a large turning point in their relationship. A turning point for he better.

As long as Tyran didn't discover that Dain was actively tracking his younger brother Rixa, he was sure things would remain somewhat cordial between them. After all you had to keep your friends close and your enemies even closer.

 

CHAPTER ELEVEN:


OFF-WORLDER SECTOR, KUAT CITY, KUAT 40 ABY
EIGHT DAYS AFTER THE BOMBING OF THE ELITE HOTEL


The silence was an uncomfortable one.

Talisa wasn't happy with the situation she was in, having the bodyguards of the woman she had been sent to kill standing over her with unblinking eyes was unsettling. They didn't look any more thrilled to be watching over her but it was all they could do until the box in the small medic's hand delivered the results of the blood test. The wait had only reached the fifteen minute mark but it may as well have been fifteen years. Desperate to break the silence Talisa decided to take the initiative and open some kind of dialogue.

"You said something about a family feud between you and Dain?" She said tentatively, not knowing how sensitive the subject matter was.

"That's the story." Tyran said. "Don't bother asking me how it got started, all I know is that it started after the Mandalorian Wars and that I was brought up to hate the Dolvos."

"You don't even know the reason?" Talisa said incredulously.

"My father didn't know the reason, his father didn't know the reason and my grandfather's father didn't know the reason." Tyran said simply. "They just knew that the Dolvos were supposed to be hated and Dain will tell you pretty much the same thing if you ask him about it."

"How do you know that he will give me the same answer you did?"

"Because I asked him while we were fighting against the Yuuzhan Vong in the Outer Rim. He said the reason for the feud was just as much a mystery to him as it was to me."

Talisa let out a mystified huff of air. "That seems like a really odd reason to hate someone." Tyran turned his head in her direction but remained silent so Talisa continued. "You don't find it odd that you hate the Dolvos simply because you were told to hate them by someone else who was told to hate them?"

Tyran shrugged. "It doesn't really matter. Dain and that child you are carrying are the only Dolvos left in the galaxy and me, my son, my brother and our uncle are the only remaining Numecks. The feud won't last much longer, not at the rate my brother is accepting ridiculous contracts. My uncle isn't exactly on the youthful side and probably only has a few years left in him, and my luck in defeating the Hapans is bound to run out eventually."

Talisa stared at him. "You haven't lost a confrontation yet with any of the Hapan squads that have attempted to kill Neada Tash, which is rather impressive."

Tyran snorted. "Just because I'm good at killing people doesn't mean it's impressive. It's dirty and I don't really have a taste for it anymore but I don't really have a set of skills in a more leisurely trade to fall back on."

"You could do some modeling on Hapes." Talisa offered. "I'm sure you'd make quite a bit of money doing that."

Tyran squirmed inwardly as her gaze wandered over him in the typical Hapan fashion of. It was mostly a look of assessment but he could see the promiscuous intent behind her green eyes. What was worse Dyir could see it to.

"Ni mirdir ibic solus guuror gar." I think this one likes you. Dyir said with a laugh.

"Tion'gar ibic?" Tyran said sarcastically. "Ar'ika ne'guuror ori'shya Hapase o'r ner briirud be burc'ya." You think so? Aru won't like another Hapan in my inner circle of friends.

"Ni guuror bah haa'taylir Ar'ika akaanir te Hapase." I'd like to see Aru fight the Hapan. Dyir grinned at Talisa.

"Ni guuror bah akaanir kaysh." I'd like to fight her. Talisa said with a smug grin as she took in the surprised look on Dyir's face.

"Well aren't you just full of surprises?" Dyir said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Tyran slowly paced across the room and returned his gaze to the medic who was still pushing buttons on the display of the small box that was analyzing Talisa's blood sample.

"It isn't really that surprising Dyir, she is trying to kill someone who hired three Mandalorians as her bodyguards. It would be hard for her to listen in on any of our communications if we speak in Mando'a, that's a risk she can't take so she learns how to speak the language."

"So you aren't just all brawn after all, are you?" Talisa said appreciatively. "No wonder you've survived so many encounters with our commando squads."

"It's not a wonder at all. I just know what I would do if I was trying to assassinate Neada Tash, so far you and your people have been pretty predictable in their methods."

"Well I'm sure you won't expect what is coming next." Talisa said darkly as she looked down at her feet. "I can't even expect what is going to happen now."

The Mandalorians traded looks. "What do you mean?"

"We had a plot in place, we were in the recon phase, but now that I've been missing for almost an entire day, my team will have altered the operation, maybe even stepped up to the next phase. My desertion placed Aenica in charge of the team and I doubt even the Jedi Grand Master could predict what kind of scheme that woman will concoct."

"I'm sure you're overstating things." Dyir said with a dismissive wave. "You're just trying to unnerve us."

Talisa looked up at him with a grim look of truthfulness. "Aenica Voren was ready to storm a school full of children to complete our objective, believe me when I tell you there are no lengths that woman and the others on the team will go to in order to get the job done this time."

Tyran stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face Talisa. "Why would she attack a school?"

"Well every attempt by previous commando squads were targeted directly at Neada Tash and each one ended in failure because of two factors." Talisa indicated the two Mandalorians standing before her. "Well this time Battle Mistress Thel Sahn made us swear an oath to complete the mission and we decided to try something different. Of the three Mandalorians Neada hired to protect her, one of them wasn't a full on soldier. Aru Numeck is more of a starpilot than a Supercommando like the two of you, even though I'm certain she is a great fighter.

"You figured you'd have a better chance going after Vyndra." Tyran said. "You were going to use her to draw out Neada and then kill them both, weren't you?"

Talisa gave a reluctant nod. "Yes, that was our plan but like I said I have no way of knowing if that is still the plan."

Tyran growled darkly, suddenly not as worried about whether or not he would be able to torture the woman and live with himself afterward. An attack on Vyndra was essentially an attack on Ijaat and Tyran wasn't going to stand for that. He turned to Dyir. "Get Aru on comms and tell her to get the kids to the office, tell her to keep her eyes peeled and that she may be under an imminent attack. Do it now!"

Dyir dawned his helmet and dis as instructed and Tyran turned to face Kest. The medic nodded his head at the unsaid question.

"The blood test confirms her story, she's almost four weeks pregnant." the young medic said.

Talisa looked at him. "You mean that little box can pinpoint exactly how far along I am? The doctor at the medcenter gave me a tentative guess."

"Like I said we've got better gadgets than the medcenter." Tyran growled as he walked over to Talisa and grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to her feet. "You're going to give me the name of every single Hapan on this planet, either by your own free will or as a result of a really unpleasant interrogation."

"You mean torture." Talisa said flatly. "Come on do you expect that I would believe that you would actually torture me?"

Tyran leaned down so they were both eye to eye. "I will do anything and everything I have to do in order to make sure my son is safe. If the Hapans are going to try and attack Vyndra then that puts my son in the crosshairs as well. The only way to stop that is to get the names of everyone in the Hapan network, even if I have to use excessive force." His eyes narrowed to ice colored slits. "Ask me again if you think I'm bluffing."

Talisa knew he wasn't. She could see the look in his eyes: cold, detached fury barely reigned in by years of discipline. The eyes of a machine capable of unspeakable horrors. She knew he was ready to kill everything in his path to protect his child because she had already killed once to protect her unborn child. No he wasn't lying about hurting her to get the information he needed. Her skin erupted into small bumps of foreboding and Talisa nodded her head slowly.

"I will give you the names of every agent I am aware of." She said softly. "If you promise that me and my unborn child will go unharmed."

Tyran nodded his head and stood up and turned to Dyir. "Did you get through to Aru?"

"She's moving the kids from the school back to the headquarters, I alerted Neada and she's mobilizing the Threat Reduction Teams." Dyir said. "Two armored troop carriers are headed to meet them."

"Good," Tyran said and he looked back at Talisa. "If my wife, son and Vyndra get to the headquarters unharmed I promise that you will be unharmed. But if things go bad for them, things go bad for you. Understood?"

"I understand." Talisa accepted. The likelihood of getting a better deal from Tyran was next to non-existant.

"Then get your things together, we're leaving."


CENTER OF HIGHER LEARNING, WESTERN KUAT CITY, 40 ABY
EIGHT DAYS AFTER THE BOMBING OF THE ELITE HOTEL


Aru rushed the two children down the steps of the school's main entrance as she glanced around at the rows of speeders parked on the permacrete plain. Both Vyndra and Ijaat were pelting her with panicked questions about why they were leaving in the middle of a debate practice. Aru cursed at the number of speeders littered across the large landing zone, too many for her to scope out accurately, and kept one hand between Vyndra's shoulder blades and her right hand as close to her blaster as possible without scaring the children.

The landing zone hadn't been this packed when she had brought the children to the school for their practice, several parents had done the same but still there shouldn't have been as many speeders as there were. It was the weekend after all. Despite all the time that Ijaat and Vyndra spent together, Aru had somehow never factored in her own son's presence into a potential abduction attempt by Hapan commandos.

She had drilled Vyndra to the point where the girl had a series of verbal safety codes memorized, and several defensive moves she could execute if she had to. Ijaat on the other hand only had the few wrestling moves his father had taught him in the previous week. He wouldn't know how to react if she had to yell one of the safety codes to Vyndra and that was a horrible oversight on her part. Now her son had become a hindrance in a potentially dangerous situation.

As they began to enter the labyrinth of airspeeders Aru decided that she was going to start giving Ijaat the same lessons she had given Vyndra and maybe even possibly have Tyran show him a few more defensive skills that had a little more force to them. She was still worried by the prospect of her son trying to beat up some of the other kids who were constantly harassing him for being as smart as he was. It was petty jealousy that Ijaat shouldn't have taken to heart, and even though he said it didn't bother him Aru knew that it really did.

He had no friends outside of Vyndra because no else was able to keep up with him intellectually. He was always correcting the mistakes that other kids made or commenting when they misquoted a date or phrase from their history lessons, including Vyndra. Vyndra was a little more popular despite that she was just as smart as Ijaat and had no problem speaking up when someone got something wrong, in fact she saw it as a personal challenge to spot mistakes before Ijaat could.

The only reason no one made fun of her was simply because she wouldn't stand for it. Aru had had to intervene in more than one altercation that Vyndra had started, she had a very short temper and lashed out at anyone who got on her bad side, child and adult alike. There was a private joke amongst the other bodyguards in the school that Vyndra was Ijaat's bodyguard. Which was true in a sense, Vyndra had bloodied more than one child's nose because they had said something mean about her friend. Of course Aru had had to punish the girl for doing it, but she would also make sure that the punishment wasn't too severe.

Ultimately Ijaat's personal security took precedence over her fears about him meeting violence with violence to deal with his bullying problem. The reached the armored airspeeder unmolested and Aru practically tossed both kids into the back seat. Ijaat looked over his shoulder at his mother with a panicked expression.

"What is going on?" He pleaded.

"Just get in the speeder and buckle up." Aru said as calmly and evenly as she could. "We're heading to the office to meet with your father, that's all."

Ijaat didn't look convinced by the explanation but he did what he was told. Aru made her way to the drivers side in a controlled jog and took a few calming breaths before she started the speeder and proceeded to maneuver her way out of the labyrinth of parked speeders and away from the school's landing zone.

**************

"That's them!" Aenica said frantically as she gestured at the gray airspeeder as it lifted off from the permacrete landing zone.

"Are you sure?" Dalrial asked as she started up their own air speeder.

"I spent weeks tailing that speeder with Talisa, of course I'm sure that was them." Aenica spat as Dalrial brought their speeder out behind the one being piloted by Aru Numeck. She pulled out her commlink and punched in a code. "Bruenor, the target is leaving the school in a gray KDY armored civilian airspeeder. I'm going to mark it with a thermal tag for you to get a positive ID on. Remember take the girl alive, what you do with the Mandalorian and her kid I don't really care."

Aenica ended the call and pulled out a small silver stylus-like object and lowered the viewscreen on her door. Dalrial brought their speeder so it was parallel with Aru's, coming to a stop with the rest of the traffic. As subtly as humanly possible, Aenica kept the stylus flush against her wrist and forearm but rotated it just enough so that it was pointing at the side of Aru's speeder. She squeezed the object and a light came to life on her datapad confirming that it had a lock on the thermal tag. Aenica dropped the stylus and let it free fall through the speederlanes and gave a short nod to Dalrial who veered away from Aru's speeder once traffic began moving again. Aenica activated her commlink again.

"Thermal tag is up and running. Be back at the safehouse in ten minutes, no later than that."

She ended the call again and hoped that everything would go as planned. Bruenor wasn't a Hapan, no Aenica had hired out to some highly recommended mercs based out of Balmorra. They specialized in this kind of work, kidnapping and ransoms and such, which wasn't exactly something Aenica and her team were really trained for. Counter-terrorism and hostage rescue were more her thing, but she did as the Battle Mistress ordered. How she went about executing those orders were really up to her. It felt good to finally be on the offensive for once. All of that recon and tailing had begun to wear away at Aenica's nerves. But now that Talisa had disappeared, which was still something her team was looking into and one of the reason that Bruenor had been contracted, real progress in the operation to kill Neada Tash could be made.

She let a satisfied smile curl the corners of her mouth. Soon it would be all be over and Aenica Voren, not Talisa Raldi, would be the hero.

**************

Aru couldn't help but feel that hairs on the back of her neck stand on edge as she glanced at her wrist chrono. Ten minutes until they rendezvoused with the TRU troop carriers that Neada had dispatched. The TRU troop carriers were reminiscent of the design of the gunships used by the Grand Army of the Old Republic during the Clone Wars. They were only similar in shape though, the outer durasteel hull was painted the signature charcoal gray of the Threat Reduction Unit. The ship itself was all together smaller than it's ancient counterpart and packed less weaponry and less armor and carried no more than ten Threat Reduction Unit operators at once.

She couldn't help but let out a nervous breath as the navigated the speederlanes like she would as if it were any other day. It was a camouflage tactic to make her hard to track by anyone who could possibly be tailing her, unless they had been tailing her since the school in which case there would be a real problem. But her rear sensors didn't pick up anyone who appeared to be tailing her and none of the speeders around her had been there for more than a few minutes. She was still on edge though, just because there had been an operation in place to kidnap Vyndra before the Hapan that Tyran had collected didn't mean that very same plan was still in place after her defection.

Aru couldn't think like that though. Until the threat was pacified she had to assume that the Hapans were going to follow through on that plan. She had to get Vyndra and Ijaat to the ODS headquarters as quick as possible, only once they were there would they be totally safe from the Hapans. Vyndra would be placed in lockdown deep within the building until Tyran, Dyir and the TRU rounded up every name on the list of people who made up the Hapan network on the planet.

That was another thing Aru was worried about. How many people at the school were on that list? How many people had Vyndra had constant contact with that had bad intentions when it came to her and her mother? She tried to think about teachers who tried to spend too much time with Vyndra, but then again Vyndra was the perfect student, when her temper wasn't flaring up anyways, and teachers always wanted to see her after class and laud her with praise. Vyndra rather enjoyed it and Aru suspected it was her half-Hapan side that reveled in the attention.

She began to wonder if-

Her airspeeder jolted cutting the thought off before it could ever formulate completely. The two children cried out as the speeder began a steady drop down through the speederlanes of Kuat City.

Ion cannon! Her mind screamed at her as she tried to return power to the airspeeder but nothing seemed to be working. It did look like she had indeed been shot down by an ion cannon, all the circuits in the speeder were fried and she had no hope of restoring power to the speeder. She looked over her shoulder and at the two kids in the back.

"Put on your restraints and make sure they're tight." She paused and swallowed hard both children were smart enough to figure out what was happening and so she didn't see the point in even trying to lie. "We're going to crash."

Before she turned around, outside the rear viewport she saw four speeders dropping down with her own airspeeder, and it wasn't because they had lost power.

They were pacing her.

Aru slid back the partition that separated her from the back compartment where Vyndra and Ijaat were and forced her way through the gap. If they were going to crash the safest place to be was in the back compartment with them. That was how the speeder had been designed by KDY anyway. It was her best bet at not being knocked out during the crash.

She settled herself into a set of restraints opposite Vyndra and tried to give the small girl a reassuring look. Vyndra shut her eyes and kept them shut as she gripped her restraints in a white-knuckle grip. Ijaat was doing very much the same thing next to her as Aru pulled her blaster from the holster on her hip and made sure the safety was disengaged and that it wasn't set to stun. She made a quick glance out of the side viewport just in time to see the ground come up and embrace them.

**************

"Activate the tractor beam." Bruenor rumbled.

The Nikto next to him flipped the recently installed switch on the console in front of him and the new construction grade tractor beam they had installed earlier hummed to life. The targeted airspeeder came to a sluggish halt less than twenty meters from the ground and Bruenor smiled widely and nodded to the Nikto pilot.

"Alright lets get moving before KSF shows up. We'll meet up with the others in the Off-Worlder sector and crack that speeder open to get the girl."

"Then we get paid." The Nikto hissed.

Bruenor nodded and flipped another switch on the console between him and the pilot. "We'd better jam their commlinks, don't want any unexpected visitors to ruin our little party."

The Nikto laughed harshly and pulled the airspeeder away with it's captive prize in tow. "Not many people would have thought to use an ion cannon on an airspeeder and then grab it with a tractor beam. What a stroke of genius."

"The Hapans said they wanted their prize alive and I wasn't about to storm into a school full of highly trained bodyguards that would cut the marginally useless rabble I've had the misfortune of surrounding myself with." The Nikto didn't catch the insult and his leader continued on. "The ODS building itself was definitely out of the question, no way would we ever be able to go toe-to-toe with those government troops, no the only way to get this little girl was while she was in transit and the logical way to disable a airspeeder is by frying it's electrical circuits."

Even though the Nikto had been in on the planning he listened to his boss for the next ten minutes as the burly human repeated every step of the planning process. First the not so complicated heist of a construction grade tractor beam and then the somewhat more difficult procurement of the small girl's weekly routine, which had been handled by the Hapans and their resources, and the time it took to locate the best place to hit the target from.

The Hapans had gotten someone inside which ever public works department that handled the traffic in Kuat City and managed to reroute all the traffic along the route the Mandalorian woman was taking, keeping her pushed to certain skylanes that weren't too high as to cause a crash with other speeders during it's descent, but also managing to keep it from going to low and preventing the speeder from hitting the ground and allowing the Mandalorian and her two charges to escape into the pedestrian traffic along the many pedwalks. Bruenor wasn't used to the type of cohesive and fluid ease that the Hapans worked with and was surprised the job had, thus far, gone off without a single hitch.

Yes it wouldn't be long now before he had twenty-eight thousand credits in his bank account and could finally get himself some decent crew members who were busy chasing woman or downing more than five bottles of alcohol each night. Maybe he'd take a trip to Hapes and enjoy some of their famed hospitality, a planet where men where only wanted for breeding stock sounding like the perfect place for an extended vacation. He smiled at the thought and sat back in his seat after giving a final glance down at the suspended airspeeder a ten meters or so below him.

**************

Aru couldn't believe what she was seeing as she looked at the viewport. They were being hauled away by an ancient looking airspeeder with nothing more than a small tractor beam holding them in place. Her commlink wasn't working either which suggested to her that it was being jammed.

"What's happening?" Vyndra said as she looked around at the interior of the airspeeder. "Did we crash?"

Aru shook her head as she pulled out her datapad. "No, but someone has us in a tractor beam and I don't think they're friendly."

Vyndra was smart and had no trouble answering her own question just as it formed in the back of her mind.

"They're after me."

Aru reached across and patted her on the knee, it was all she could do while she was still restrained in her seat across from the girl. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you, and more importantly Tyran isn't going to let anything happen to Ijaat."

"Dad's coming?!" Ijaat said, his voice was underscored with a slight measure of relief.

Aru pressed an icon on her datapad's display and sighed. The jammers that the hostiles were using to disable her commlink shouldn't have had any effect on the emergency tracking beacon, it didn't work the same way as the commlink. The small red light began beeping silently on her datapad.

"You're father has a knack for showing up at the most opportune times," she said as she pocketed her datapad and smiled at her son. "But either way I'd keep your fingers crossed."

 

"My father didn't know the reason, his father didn't know the reason and my grandfather's father didn't know the reason." Tyran said simply. "They just knew that the Dolvos were supposed to be hated

Family feuds are some of the worst


Tyran snorted. "Just because I'm good at killing people doesn't mean it's impressive. It's dirty and I don't really have a taste for it anymore but I don't really have a set of skills in a more leisurely trade to fall back on."

While I completely agree with him, I have to also agree with Talisa – it IS quite impressive.


"Ni guuror bah akaanir kaysh." I'd like to fight her. Talisa said with a smug grin as she took in the surprised look on Dyir's face.

She showed them.


now that I've been missing for almost an entire day, my team will have altered the operation, maybe even stepped up to the next phase.

Well…that’s an issue.
I don’t care about her, but I care about the boyos. And their families. And Neada.


"Get Aru on comms and tell her to get the kids to the office, tell her to keep her eyes peeled and that she may be under an imminent attack. Do it now!"

I know you won’t hurt the kids, but…keep them safe


No he wasn't lying about hurting her to get the information he needed. Her skin erupted into small bumps of foreboding

Good. GOOD. Mandalorians are true to their world.


Both Vyndra and Ijaat were pelting her with panicked questions about why they were leaving in the middle of a debate practice.

Kids. Just shut up!


Despite all the time that Ijaat and Vyndra spent together, Aru had somehow never factored in her own son's presence into a potential abduction attempt by Hapan commandos.

*shakes head* Bad planning. Understandable, but still not a good way to think (or not think)


He had no friends outside of Vyndra because no else was able to keep up with him intellectually. He was always correcting the mistakes that other kids made or commenting when they misquoted a date or phrase from their history lessons, including Vyndra.

*winces* Ah, he has to learn when to allow others to learn from their mistakes.
Also, there are no advanced classes, or a way to bump him up?


"Thermal tag is up and running. Be back at the safehouse in ten minutes, no later than that."

*whimpers*


She let a satisfied smile curl the corners of her mouth. Soon it would be all be over and Aenica Voren, not Talisa Raldi, would be the hero.

LIES! You just don’t know it yet.


Aru couldn't think like that though. Until the threat was pacified she had to assume that the Hapans were going to follow through on that plan.

That is a good way of thinking.


That was another thing Aru was worried about. How many people at the school were on that list?

Oh. Oh no. I didn’t think of that!


"Put on your restraints and make sure they're tight." She paused and swallowed hard both children were smart enough to figure out what was happening and so she didn't see the point in even trying to lie. "We're going to crash."

It’s weird, but I had to laugh. I could hear a calm voice in my mind, which is the perfect kind of tone for a mother Mando.



"Not many people would have thought to use an ion cannon on an airspeeder and then grab it with a tractor beam. What a stroke of genius."

True facts. It IS genius-like but I don’t like it.


Vyndra was smart and had no trouble answering her own question just as it formed in the back of her mind.

"They're after me."

Yeah. But they’ll have to get through Aru first.

 

I read a lot this morning and I am still speechless, but as I can see my dear pants is very eloquent & brilliant as usual...