Halls of the Warriors, Mandalore's Pride, Concordia
10:00 AM Local Time
You are Mitth'raw'nuruodo, or Thrawn as your associates have been calling you so as not to embarrass themselves by failing to pronounce your given name. And your day has proven to be quite satisfactory thus far. Being rescued by Lady Ciaran's Abyss Watchers has turned out to be even more fortunate than you initially anticipated, especially given her ambitions and undeniable talent. She will go quite far...especially with your help.
However, that is not as important right now, because right now you are observing a finely-crafted painting of a group of Mandalorian warriors of antiquity fighting against what you believe to be Repubic troops if your information is accurate.
"It is quite impressive, isn't it?" You quietly say so that only the hidden mic you are wearing will pick it up and transmit it to Silencer. Your associate is nearby hiding from sight given that the museum staff would likely not approve of a man equipped for war entering. Never mind the glares that you've noticed some people giving you as you've been walking around; it would seem that the hypothesis that Concordia was the likely home of the Death Watch was proving accurate given the general public' hostility to your Chiss features. From what you were able to read up on apparently the first Death Watch had been exiled to this moon, and even though the official reports stated that they had died out or become more pacifistic...you had seen the attacks and were well aware that you were unofficially not welcomed here.
Ah, but back to the painting. "You can see the Mandalorian pride in this art, how the painter emphasized their belief in the superiority of the Mandalorians by using brighter lighting and colors for the Mandalorian soldiers and dimmer, muted colors for their enemies on the Republic side." The Silencer doesn't respond-you had quickly realized how accurate his name was on the journey here-but there is something enjoyable about having a captive audience as it were. "Not only that, but the way that the Mandalorians are depicted as completely routing their enemies only confirms their sense of superiority. However, if you look more closely you can see that while the Mandalorians may value their pride, they are not ashamed of using subterfuge. You can see that the Republic soldiers have looks of shock and confusion on their faces indicating that this was an ambush rather than a direct battle." You had to admire the Silencer's professionalism, not once did he display any form of annoyance even though you were fairly certain he did not care for your passion for art in the slightest. "At any rate, this is proving to be quite enlightening. Now then-"
"We have company." The Silencer's voice came over your earpiece, and while you did not appear to react in any way as you continued to stroll through the museum you intently focused on his words. "Streets around the building are clearing out and six armed men are incoming." You idly glance around as though you are looking around at the museum and you notice that some of the patrons are quietly encouraging others to leave, along with the occasional security guard escorting people out. An obvious strategy, but an effective one if you did not want to lose public support from accidentally getting civilians caught in the crossfire. "I will stay here and lure them into the main hall. From there flank behind them and eliminate all but one for questioning. If capture is not possible without endangering my life, kill him," you say looking as though you were completely oblivious to the obvious trap.
"Understood."
"And do try not to damage the artwork."
Nothing came over the line after that statement. Ah well. You continue your simulated movement until you hear louder footsteps coming in. "Don't move, you blue freak," you hear one of them coldly say as you turn to look at them. "Now what have I done to earn such an offense?" you calmly say as you put your hands up and look them over as they all point their blaster rifles at you. Their equipment while slightly scarred seemed new, indicating they were receiving modern gear from somewhere. Their armor was painted in muted colors, indicating that they were willing to use subterfuge as your earlier analysis suggested. Good, their mere presence here was already providing useful information.
"You dishonor our forefathers by standing in this place, alien," their (presumed) leader spat out. "This is a hall built by Mandalorian hands to honor the warriors of the past and not a place for someone like you."
"You can't understand what it means to be a Mandalorian." another says.
"Almost in position," the Silencer's voice comes in over the line. Excellent. And with that, you start to chuckle darkly.
"What's so funny?" the leader asks.
"What amuses me is that even though you believe an alien like me cannot comprehend what it means to be a Mandalorian, I was only able to understand you because I was here admiring the warriors of your past." The leader's finger visibly tightens on his trigger.
"Ready. Duck on my mark. 5. 4."
"And I understand that your ancestors..."
"3. 2."
"...would approve of this strategy."
"1. Mark!"
You drop to the ground as you hear the telltale sound of a grenade hitting the floor. Before the Mandalorians can properly react it goes off releasing smoke into the room. After that you hear the sound of five blaster shots going off and the sounds of hand-to-hand fighting for a brief moment before the smoke clears and the Silencer is standing with a foot on the survivor's back and a blaster rifle pointed at his head. Most impressive. You honestly weren't certain whether you could actually get any information out of him given his prior hostility, but it was at least worth the effort to try. With that in mind you strode over to him and reached a point where you could look down at him and he could look up at you. You could hear from his angry growling that he wasn't the leader. Good. Perhaps he'd prove to be less stubborn.
"Fuck you," he growls out as he looks up at you.
"Now there is no need for hostilities. My associate and I simply defeated you in a manner your ancestors would have approved of," you try and calmly explain to him.
"You lie...they would be disgusted by you," he says.
You aren't certain whether it was his own beliefs or the Mandalorian culture that caused him to make such a hypocritical declaration. Nevertheless..."At any rate, you certainly can not return to your comrades. They would never forgive you for losing your honor by failing to defeat me." you comment, which causes him to settle down slightly as the reality of those words begins to set in. "Now then. Where are you getting your equipment?" You don't bother giving him the traditional "answer if you want to live" bluster as he'd likely choose death. It was important to keep up momentum after all.
The warrior looks up at you and coldly says "I will never betray my comrades to scum like you."
"Very well then." You look at the Silencer and nod, and with another blaster round the warrior's life is ended. Not even acknowledging it, he takes his foot off of the corpse and begins to search the bodies. It's quite fortunate that you were working with a professional like him and as you idly glance around waiting for him to finish you confirm that the rest of the museum is undamaged. After a few moments he finishes his work and comments "Nothing that important, but it looks like they may have come from a mine," gesturing to one of the warriors' bodies. You look at the corpse in question and do notice what appears to be dried out dirt on the soles of his boots; with closer inspection you note that it has a particularly powdery texture associated with topsoil from mines. Nodding in affirmation, you look at the Silencer and say "Time to go. Help me hide the bodies; it will be easier to move around if the enemy assumes they have succeeded." He nods and helps you place the corpses in various lockers and storage cupboards which would at least slightly delay search parties and once the task is done he begins to move towards a side exit as you follow him.
While their attack proved to be somewhat helpful it only served to confirm information you already knew. You would need to be more proactive in your investigation if you wanted to resolve the issue. With that in mind, you consider three options: attempting to gain more information out of low-ranking government bureaucrats as investigating the head office would likely raise too much suspicion, investigate some of the mines yourself after correlating them with data on the attacks to narrow down potential bases...or you could try and find the person who was attacking the Death Watch as well. There was that saying about the enemy of my enemy, after all...
[] Investigate Concordia's government. The Death Watch is clearly getting support from somewhere and the local government is the most likely candidate.
[] Search for the Death Watch bases. It might take time, but you would have the benefit of being less noticeable and you have some ideas about where to start.
[] Try and locate the warrior attacking the Death Watch. They might have more information, and the enemy of your enemy is at least worth looking into.
AN: Wanted to contrast with Ciaran's section with Thrawn being Thrawn and a bit of action in there. Enjoy~
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