Chapter 31
716 FNM (22 BBY)
Month 5
Coruscant, Naboo Tower
Tanya Kryze
Riding an elevator to the top of an immensely huge tower is nothing new, especially with the amount of high-rises on Coruscant. It's not often that I am visiting a friend, even less often that I am visiting a friend after a failed assassination attempt.
Actually, have I ever visited anyone after a failed assassination attempt? Hard to recall, there might have been one or two with Aunt Satine, but if there was, she never told me so I do not think those really count.
Either way, someone just tried to assassinate one of the leaders of a major faction advocating for peace. As a representative of Mandalore and friend of said victim, I thought it would be best to visit her in person.
I had gotten pretty far, I figured someone would have stopped me somewhere in the lobby. Either I am such a known quantity that I am not considered a threat or the guards are terrible, which I highly doubt after their respectable performance on Naboo. I guess I would see when I got up to the top level.
With me are Captain Struc, Skota, and Vai. I thought about bringing a couple more of my entourage but I decided the best option is to bring quality instead of quantity. I did not want to fill the room with people even if I could trust all the people I brought. The more occupied the room is, the more likely it is for someone to sneak in. With an assassin on the loose, it would be best to not give them the opportunity.
Straightening nonexistent creases in my green dress, I did my absolute best to look the part of a New Mandalorian even if my feelings leaned more to being Old Mandalorian right now. The fact that someone had tried to assassinate a friend is more than just a little bit annoying, it is aggravating to the point I downright want to commit some good old Old Mandalorian style therapy.
I do not like people trying to screw with things I am working on and I am trying very hard to slow down the prospect of an upcoming war for as long as possible. Yet here is some assassin whose actions could have thrown all my efforts into the gutter. This is aggravating to some extent, I might even call it righteous indignation.
I took a deep breath to calm myself down. I am a representative, not a Mandalorian warrior. My job is to discuss politics, not to hunt down this assassin-wannabe and deliver some Mandalorian greetings that they will never forget before they are delivered to the proper authorities, no matter how tempting it is.
Granted, I probably am doing some things that I really should not be doing. Someone had used a missile to blow up Padme's transport and guided missiles are a known quantity. There were not that many people that could use them, so if I could figure out what kind of missile it was, I could get a general direction on who to release the hounds towards.
I am a bit concerned that the aforementioned hounds would bite a Mandalorian. So many Mandalorian offensive technologies relied on missiles. It was not impossible that someone had sold the assassin the weapon, which could damage the reputation of Mandalore even more and that is most certainly not something we need right that second. There were other possibilities, but for now I should only worry about the ones that could affect Mandalore. I assigned my slicer, one of my Royal Guardsmen, Kuth Mok, to infiltrate the Archives of the Coruscanti Police and find out what had been discovered of the wreckage so far. Just to see if my theory held kernels of truth.
Letting out a sigh, I heard the ding of the elevator and stepped out into the entryway. I was immediately greeted by a dark skinned man with an eye patch. "Captain Typho." Next to him is another member of Padme's security, one of her pilot's. "Captain Varbarós." I greeted her as well, having met both before.
"Representative Kryze," Captain Typho said with a smile. "I had heard that there is a Mandalorian who pushed their way through the front line of security. I figured it was you."
Ah. So that was why visitors were not instructed to stop when we passed through the line on the ground level. Down below, there were many well-wishers on the platform. Admirers of Padme herself and supporters of her faction had come out to leave flowers and other mementos on the platform to show their support. They had formed a bit of a crowd we had to get through, but the guards did not resist our group leaving the line. This obviously means that they had prepared for some high level visitors.
"Senator Amidala had put together a short list of people that she had given us permission to let in and you're on the top of the list. Come, she's in the central meeting area." he said, holding out his hand to direct me.
Nodding, I started walking with Vai right beside me and my two Royal Guards behind us. We entered the main chambers of the Tower and my two guards immediately moved to take positions near the front door, next to the already waiting Royal Guards of Naboo. No doubt the moment we had our backs turned they would have a nice long chat, which is to be expected. I wouldn't be surprised if every Royal Guards have backroom chats about their jobs. Talking about things that would not really be of interest to Representatives but probably are interesting for themselves.
Sitting on a large couch is Senator Padme Amidala, already in a conversation with a Gungan. Trying to console her, by the sounds of it. The moment she turned her head and saw me she stood up and the Gungan got up as well, as dictated by common etiquette. Padme spoke first, "Representative Kryze, good to see you. I hoped you might make an appearance."
"One of my friends is in need, how could I stay away? I am glad to see that you are safe and sound, Senator Amidala. Pleasure to meet you as well, Representative Binks." I said, guessing at the identity of the Gungan.
"That's-a-me sah.'' he said with a smile before offering a hand. "Mesa thinks it's the first time we meet. How did you know?".
I took the offered hand, answering, "Your heroics at the Naboo Incident precede you, Representative."
He smiled but before he could say anything else, Padme said, "Feel free to take a seat Tanya. I'm just trying to calm down after the trying day I had."
I nodded and took a seat across from her sitting next to the Gungan who had returned to his own. "I saw the news report on the explosion and knew I had to come over here. My condolences to all of the lives lost in this tragedy. Any ideas on who's behind it? Or would you rather talk about something else?"
It is always best to give a person an out of a conversation like this, if they did not want to deal with it. However Padme shook her head, "No, no, I'm just trying to get my head around all this myself. It could be the spice miners from some of the moons in the Naboo system, but I just can't see them doing this. It's far too big of an escalation for them to even consider in my opinion. Personally, I think it was probably Nute Gunray again. He's never really forgiven me for the defeat over the Naboo Incident."
"Hmm, Nute Gunray." I muttered, trying to pull up all of the information about him that I know of after the Naboo Incident. The Trade Federation had kicked him from command of their operation but besides the endless ongoing court cases that he had been stuck in for the last 10 years, I did not know much about what he had been up to. "Seems foolish to try this. I mean he has already lost his business, and he's always wrapped up in a lot of court cases. What good will assassinating you do for him, other than settling a grudge?"
Padme sighed before saying, "I don't know for sure. I had a conversation with Vice-Chair Amedda on my way up to Palpatine earlier today. He suggested that Nute Gunray is trying to join the Separatists and this is possibly some sort of deal with Count Dooku to seal the deal for his cooperation. Kill me and Nute Gunray would bring the Trade Federation into supporting the Separatists."
"That is an odd way of looking at things." I said, shaking my head. "Yes, there is a motive, that much makes sense, but assassinating you goes against Count Dooku's own objectives for a peaceful separation of the Separatists from the Republic. You also want peaceful resolution. He would literally be killing his greatest ally."
Padme nodded in agreement, "I'm inclined to agree, but I brought it up with the Jedi and they aren't really sure what is going on either. As far as they're concerned, Count Dooku is a political idealist and nothing more. I don't know what's going on, all I know is someone wants me dead. It's either Nute Gunray or perhaps, and this is a bit of a stretch, some random spice miner."
I nodded in agreement and said, "Yes, that is the problem with politics sometimes. The answer is not just one or the other, it is multiple choice that could be one or all three." Shaking my head I moved on to another important subject, "In any case, have they arranged better security for you at least while you are here? Seems foolhardy to assume that the assassin will not try again."
Padme nodded her head as she explained, "Chancellor Palpatine asked the Jedi to have someone protect me for the time being and I've agreed; he'll be arriving soon I hope." She smiled at that before continuing, "He's an old friend, in fact. Someone I haven't seen since the whole Naboo Incident." Her smile faltered a bit there before she said, "Everything goes back to the Naboo Incident doesn't it?"
"Well, it was your first foray into galactic politics. And it was a pretty major one too. But I would not worry too deeply about the past in this situation. Keep focused on what is going on in the here and now, the past is something to look at for analysis, not something to look back on with regrets."
"More of White Silver's teachings?" Padme asked with a raised eyebrow.
I chuckled, "Finally got around to reading some of those documents I shared, I see."
"We may disagree on some aspects of politics but I do read stuff my friends give me."
I smiled at that as that seemed the right thing to do before asking, "So how many Jedi are coming? I assume only one, right?"
"One Jedi and his Padawan. He's supposed to set up out here in the living room and watch over me to make sure there's no more attempts on my life."
"Well that's good but should they not be adding more security?" I pointed to the windows. "These windows may be rated as blaster proof but this attacker has already demonstrated themselves to be more than willing to use explosives."
"That's what mesa been saying!" Representative Binks interjected. "Naboo an' Gungan are good friends. I speak with Rugor and hesa talk about hydrosomthin bubble shield for m'lady's room. No boomba gunna get through a Gungan shield methinks." I raised an eyebrow as Jar Jar looked to me for support only for Padme to shake her head softly. I am unaware of any shielding that has the capabilities in the way Jar Jar was describing. Something to look into at another time.
"We talked about this, having something like that would require renovations that would take a lot of time and money. The threat would have long passed by the time it is in place." Representative Binks seemed to deflate at that and returned to his seat as Padme looked towards the windows and said, "The Senate guard will be stationed in a few places in the area to keep an eye on me to make sure nothing like that is attempted."
I blinked, remembering the last time the Senate guard had been stationed to keep an eye on a senator. That hadn't gone over well and I suspected this time would not go well either. Good thing a Jedi is on their way then, two of them, if I were to count that Padawan. There would definitely be another assassination attempt. Hopefully they had enough awareness to sense a missile coming in their direction.
Shaking my head, I thought better of saying that out loud. Perhaps, though, I would have Mok hack into the security system and keep an eye on things for good measure. Mandel Tower isn't actually that far away from Naboo Tower. I could actually see it from my western window so theoretically if there is an emergency I could have a couple of my guards flying over there in a few minutes, it is something to consider.
My ruminations were interrupted when Captain Typho re-entered the room and said, "My ladies, Jedi Master Kenobi and his Padawan are here."
"Thank you, Captain." Padme said, standing up and getting ready to meet her new protectors.
I started to get up as well before what had been said registered in my mind. "Wait, Kenobi? Obi-Wan Kenobi?"
"Yes, you know him?" Padme asked, turning to me as I finished standing up.
For some reason Vai snickered, but I ignored her and said, "Yes, we have had quite a few run-ins before. He is actually an old friend of my aunt. As she tells it, he saved her life during the Mandalorian Clan Wars once or twice."
"Huh, it's amazing how large the Galaxy is, yet how small it sometimes seems." Padme commented as the familiar figure of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker stepped into the room. Anakin had a growth spurt since the last time I'd seen him, as he now towered over Kenobi by at least three inches, if not more.
"Senator Amidala, how wonderful to see you again." Kenobi said with a smile before his eyes moved across the room and picked up the others. "Representative Kryze, what a nice surprise."
"Tanya?" Anakin asked in surprise.
I gave them a little wave. "I see that I am not the only one interested in the fate of our dear senator here. Good to see you two as well Obi-Wan, Anakin."
"Wait, Anakin?" I turned to see that Padme was doing a double take as she took a second look at Anakin. Her eyes had moved past him without recognition when he appeared but now she is looking at him in amazement. "You've gotten so tall."
"And you haven't changed at all." he said looking at her and giving off the most obvious flag I think I'd ever seen in my life. A change in voice, a look, some anime specials would kill to have choreography that good.
"Have you two met before?" I asked, already suspecting I knew the answer.
Padme smiled before saying, "Yes, back during the Naboo Incident we had been stranded on Tatooine. Anakin helped get us off the planet. He was just a short little 10-year-old back then."
"It was the least I could do, Senator." he said with a smile, a bit disjointedly. "You helped me a lot when we left Tatooine."
'And bingo.' I smiled as I did not say that out loud but I could put two and two together. Most likely Anakin had attached himself to Padme either as a surrogate big sister or maybe more. Either way, I could tell what was going on. The boy has a crush, probably with the ideal version he constructed over the last eight to ten years since they'd last seen each other. Hopefully that would work itself out now that they are actually interacting again.
Mock coughing into my hand, I said, "Why don't you two take a seat and discuss this whole situation with us. You're here to protect Padme, correct?"
The two Jedi nodded and everyone reconfigured their seats. Jar Jar is now standing off in a corner, looking at a window in thought. I took a seat next to Padme and the two Jedi took a seat across from us.
Obi-Wan began by saying, "Senator, we plan to be as unobtrusive as the shadows. We will not interfere with your day-to-day life and will only intervene if your life is in danger."
"That's good to know Master Kenobi, but I don't need more protection. What I really need are answers. I need to know who's after me so that they can be stopped."
Kenobi immediately shook his head, "Unfortunately we're only here to protect you my lady, we have no authority to investigate the perpetrator."
'That was a rather reasonable statement.' I thought and then Anakin decided to share his opinion.
"We will find out." Anakin said, before seeing Kenobi starting to give him a look that said 'You're overstepping' at which Anakin immediately hedged his statements by saying, "If we are presented with an opportunity to."
I shook my head as Kenobi immediately started saying, "That's a bit more than our mandate Young Padawan."
"Of course it is, but having a Jedi here in the first place is a bit overkill for such a mandate. If they wanted more protection they would hire more security. So why would the Council send us here if not to have an opportunity to find out who's behind this assassination attempt." Anakin said and I could see the logic in that, though I thought it was a bit misguided.
So I spoke up, "It is because you're old friends of Senator Amidala and someone she would trust is the reason you were chosen. In a time when people are under a lot of stress, it is good to have old friends you can trust around. Also from my understanding this was a request from Chancellor Palpatine, not the Council. Senator Amidala also mentioned that the surrounding area is also under watch of the Senatorial Guard."
That seemed to derail Anakin's reasoning, thus he has no legs to stand on. "Of course. Sorry Master, I seem to have made an assumption."
"No worries my young Padawan. We all jump to conclusions in our youth." Kenobi said with a placating smile before turning back to us, "As I said, we will try to be as invisible as possible. Watching out for anything while we're here. Hopefully this extra security will not be needed."
Amidala nodded her head, "I hope you're right, but it is good to see you all again. Even if you're not needed, perhaps your presence will help put an end to the debate about who's trying to assassinate me in the first place."
"We will do our best on that Padme." Anakin said as Kenobi gave him a glance that indicated he was still rather annoyed by his overstepping the bounds of the mandate they had been given. However, because he wasn't being openly defiant and just implying that if an opportunity arose they would see about it, he seemed to be giving Anakin a bit more leeway. Which was a step in the right direction for teamwork. Although, the look Anakin kept giving Padme concerned me.
Kenobi seemed distracted having to keep an eye on Anakin and a distracted guardian is one that's going to get their charge killed. And if the two of them were having a bit of a debate about what was their mandate, someone might take that chance to try something. It is looking more and more like I was going to have to see about adding a bit of my own protection detail to this whole situation. At least to keep an eye on this situation.
Before my thoughts could go any deeper, Anakin turned to me and asked, "So, how do you know Padme."
"Oh, she was one of the first senators I met when I arrived here. She helped introduce me to a few groups in the political scene of Coruscant."
Padme smiled and said, "Well it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. I remember my early days as a senator. Someone came and helped me get myself used to the politics of this government. And so there I was, a guest with Mina's entourage, at one of those senatorial events and I noticed this little blonde representative who seemed to be getting the cold shoulder from everyone else."
Harsh but true. Though I wasn't that little, I had gone up a few inches since my first few days here. The wonders of an actually good and nutritious lifestyle but that's besides the point. Smiling, I simply said, "Well it's hard to be a representative of a people who have a bit of a bad reputation when it comes to the Republic. But it was nice to have someone actually try to help me understand the politics of this place."
Padme smiled and nodded before saying, "If we don't come together to work together, nothing will ever get done. Speaking of coming together, how did you and Anakin meet?"
I smiled, "Anakin came with Kenobi to Mandel Tower about the second day I was here. Apparently Kenobi met Aunt Satine a long time ago, they knew each other from back during the Clan Wars and he wanted to get to know me, I guess."
"Huh. Small galaxy." Padme said, seeming confused, before glancing behind me towards Vai.
"Feels like it's getting smaller every year," I mused in response. Turning back to the Jedi I noticed that Anakin was looking over my left shoulder, an unfamiliar expression on his face. Vai was behind my left shoulder. Why would they be sharing a look? Great, Vai was doing something embarrassing or distracting. I didn't need to know right now, I needed to focus on Padme's security.
"So you two are working together in the Senate I assume? Are you also worried about your own possibility of being assassinated?" Anakin asked bluntly.
I scoffed at that and shook my head "No, I'm not as important as an actual senator and I don't think the assassination plot for Senator Amidala is based off her current political standings."
"Oh why is that?" Anakin asked, as he leaned forward.
"Anakin." Kenobi said in a warning tone.
"I'm not investigating master, I'm just interested in politics, that's all."
Kenobi gave an audible hum that said he didn't believe that but he seemed to be willing to let it slide.
Shrugging, I explained, "It is quite simple, Senator Amidala here is part of a major peace faction, the one that is willing to see a peaceful resolution to the coming crisis and allow the Separatists leave the Republic. Assassinating her is foolhardy as you harm your greatest ally for a peaceful separation and the prevention of a military being created."
"So, what if they wanted a military created?" Anakin asked curiously.
"Assassinating a person who's against the creation of a military is not going to improve the odds of the creation of a military. More assassinations demonstrates the Republic's weakness further and it is going to improve the odds of Separatists leaving the Republic." I stopped mid-thought.
Could this be a false flag operation? The possibility only occured to me after Anakin's prompting. Would someone in the Republic be interested in starting a war between the Separatists and the Loyalists? It could theoretically be possible, but there is no good outcome for either side in my opinion.
Shaking my head, I finished up my thought by saying, "Personally I think Occam's razor
† leans towards this being personal. Nute Gunray has had a dozen or so court cases filed against him since the Naboo Incident and his career was thrown to the wolves by the Trade Federation afterwards. I would bet that he's not exactly happy with the Republic or with Senator Amidala. So in my opinion, he should be at the top of the suspect list."
"Nute Gunray, that's a name I haven't heard in a long time." Kenobi commented, shaking his head, "Interesting theory, but again we are not investigating this, we are simply guardians."
"Of course," I agreed, before being interrupted by a beep on my vambrace. Checking it, I got a call from Mok, indicating he had managed to slice in, so I said, "Oh looks, like my time is up." I stood up carefully, smoothing out my dress, "Best of luck with your 'not investigation.'" I glanced back one last time at Kenobi, before turning towards Padme and saying, "Farewell Senator, I hope to see you safe and sound when this is all over."
Padme smiled and nodded, "Same to you, Representative Kryze."
I turned to the others, nodding goodbyes to them before making my exit by walking out into the hallway with my entourage. Quickly, I pulled up the call and said "Mok, what did you find?"
"It's not good Princess, the missile that was used is a Z-6 anti-vehicle homing missile, which is an old and very popular model, it was used a lot during the Mandalorian Civil War. This one likely had an expanded warhead with a thermal charge."
'Hmm, not a good starting point.' I thought. "How old are we talking here? Old enough that it might have made its way to a public retail supplier or old enough that only Mandalorians use it?"
"Even if surplus missile kits do make it to a retailer, only Mandalorians ever bother with these missiles. You need the guidance systems in a Z series jetpack to even use them, or another Mandalorian Jetpack model like the JT series. If this is some frame-job we're screwed as the evidence will point to a Mandalorian no matter what. You go to any weapons market in the Mandalorian sector you will find thousands of Z-6 missile variations and knockoffs with hundreds of custom jetpack models that can use them." Mok explained.
"Damn," I said, shaking my head, "tell Ordo, Tabbi, and Morson that we're going to have a long night and to prepare for a bit of a stake-out."
"Will do, Princess" the slicer said, before the call went dead.
Shaking my head I turned to the others and said, "Tonight is going to be a long night."
"Why is that?" Vai asked questioningly.
"To make it simple, I don't trust Anakin in there to not screw this up so we are going to post up on a nearby highrise and keep watch. Keep an eye on things."
"You want to add an extra layer of security yourself? Or is this one of your personal projects, like that White Silver thing?"
"No, no this is a 'Tanya, Representative of Mandalore, friend of Padme' thing. One of the few times I'll pull my green armor out of the closet. Hopefully we won't need it but we are going to be watching over just for good measure. If there's one thing that can defeat a Mandalorian it's another Mandalorian. And if this is a Mandalorian trying to kill Padme, we need to be there. Hopefully we can stop this turning into some sort of real political incident that starts a war." There is every chance that if the assassin was Mandalorian and learned about Jedi protection, they might take that as a personal challenge.
Struc gave a nod and said, "While I don't like the thought of having you be in harm's way, princess, I doubt I can persuade you to let the Jedi and the Senatorial Guard handle it."
"A fun night on the town, only this time we're actually getting to fight people. I think I'm finally rubbing off on you." Vai said with an amused frown.
"Perish the thought." I said, shaking my head before turning to walk towards the elevator.
Coruscant Highrise Rooftop
Vai-Viktis Vizla
"Stars! It's so cold. Couldn't we have, I don't know, done the stake out from inside the speeder?" I asked, shivering a little in the cold of the high altitude of the highrise.
Tanya is next to me, with her helmet's scope lowered so she can view through it, shook her head in disagreement, "There is the off chance that the Senatorial Guard is doing their duty so we can't put the speeder that close to Naboo tower. Thus we have to be up here."
Shivering some more, I said, "Next time we do a stake out, I'm bringing a thermal blanket." I looked over at the Naboo Tower. We were only about a block or two away and had a good view of the tower's exterior, allowing us to keep an eye out for any assassination attempts.
Of course, I am always the unfortunate one stuck with Tanya in situations like this. Tanya had decided that this is going to be her thing for the day. She must have gotten her ancient warrior blood pumping. Why else would she be so intent on dealing with this situation herself?
As for the newest member of our group, Khae Morson, I couldn't tell how she's feeling about this. Although, I noted that she is staying rather well away from the edges of the rooftop edge. I considered pointing out that if she did fall she would have plenty of time to do something about it, but thought better of the comment.
Tanya stopped looking through her scope before turning to sit down in between the two of us, saying, "Well, everything looks fine Vai, I agree. Next time we have to pull something like this I shall put together a kit for each of us. Hopefully this won't happen often but if it does, a blanket and some hot cocoa wouldn't make such a task as lengthy or as cold. You should also take the time to upgrade your armor to be vacuum rated like mine as that also comes with a temperature control unit."
"I'll be sure to remember that." I said, rubbing my hands together. Sure, all three of us were wearing hardsuits under our beskar'gam but the hardsuits are mostly padded armor to protect us in case we get shot. More importantly, the hardsuits also provided some heat and warmth, but the fact of the matter is that being this high up is cold. Right now, it is the end of the summer, and the autumn chill is strong even in one of Coruscant's better summer evenings, especially this high up.
I am wearing my personal blue armor. I hadn't worn it for nearly two years but I had taken the time to pack it when we'd gone on our little adventure during the whole Gargon incident. My armor had a few modifications and fittings added, so it looked pretty much perfect on me in my opinion. Barring the lack of an internal heater like what Tanya has.
Tanya is wearing her green armor which I hadn't seen in nearly 2 years. It looked a bit tight on her, but is otherwise fine. As far as I can tell she's perfectly happy with it hugging her form. Even if it looked great, I would have to recommend that we visit Zum soon and have it adjusted.
As for the newest member of our team, Khae looked perfectly fine actually, in her personal armor. We had gotten her one of our modern hardsuits as soon as Khae had been assigned to us by Tanya's older brother, Korkie. Khae is also wearing a poncho on top of her armor, which helps retain her body heat and does a good job of hiding the armor for the most part. The only visible piece is her helmet. Nestled within the hardsuit and poncho, Khae looked downright warm and comfy. When we visit Gargon, I would have to see about getting myself one. Who knew where Tanya would drag us next.
I exaggerated a shudder and stuffed my gloved hands under my armpits. It's not going to be that much longer, we're on watch for another half an hour before we can switch out with the boys and take a break inside the "
Peacemaker", our shuttle parked a couple blocks away. The contract that Tanya meticulously made when we first met is put into effect again, I follow her orders and I get extra hazard pay. A quarter of my wardrobe is paid for thanks to the Gargon Rebellion so I don't really mind. I'm not sure what the others bought with their bonus pay, although Tabbi did buy a few holos for the two of us to watch together.
Everyone is deployed for this stake out, although only the three of us are currently on overwatch duty. After our shift is done, another group of three would take our place and we'd get the chance to relax for a while in the shuttle. Captain Struc lent us the shuttle that the Royal Guards deployed with when Tanya and I were out to enjoy the Coruscanti nightlife.
The captain had given us a brief, no nonsense tour of the interior of the
Peacemaker back when we first set up, but that was my first time inside. The vehicle was a retired transport for some defunct private education firm, but whatever its original purpose it was lost in all the improvements Struc and X4 had bolted on. I had keyed on Struc's strategy with X4 during the tour, apparently X4 had access to Tanya's money and any improvement Struc could justify, no matter how small, was graciously supplied by X4.
Next time my wardrobe needed some new outfits, I would have to invent some enhancements for my role as bodyguard and get X4 to bankroll the whole thing. However, I'm still jealous of the guards about the
Peacemaker. Some of the cold walks back to the Tower with Tanya could have been avoided if we had only asked for a lift.
"Morson, you all right? You've been eyeing the ledge like it's a mythosaur about to take a bite out of you." Tanya said, interrupting my line of thought as I looked over at the newest member of our party.
"I don't like heights." she answered, still looking at the edge.
"Didn't you pass the jetpack exam Captain Struc put you through?"
She nodded her helmeted head, "Oh I passed, I like flying, actually. I still don't like heights."
Tanya nodded back, "You're good to be part of this right? I can call a speeder to come get you if this isn't something you can do."
"I can do this. I may not like heights but I like flying. I mean I like being high, but I can fly. Worse comes to worst, I can land without dying with a jetpack."
Tanya gave a bemused smile at her jumbled explanation, "As long as you're sure."
I quickly pressed a few buttons to signal to her to switch to a personal channel asking, "You sure she's okay to do this? What if we need to fly?"
Tanya, without moving her head said on that personal channel, "Once we start flying and the adrenaline will start pumping, all that won't matter. If her mission and flying are not what's at the top of her head, I'll give her orders to find the others and tell them where we went. Besides, if she does fall and panic, we are so high up she might get bored of being scared long before she hits the ground. Unless she hits a roof but let's not talk about that."
I nodded my head, "Alright then." and we switched back to normal channels.
Wasn't really sure why Tanya had accepted this whole situation of having someone be forced into her retinue the way she did. Then again, I'm not sure why she always seemed a bit odd around Khae, more professional and distant.
I wonder if it's because she is evaluating her. After all, everyone on her band knew about her White Silver expedition to Gargon, except for the girl from Gargon. This meant that we all had to be a bit careful not to accidentally leak any information until we're sure Khae is cleared for it.
Perhaps this is one of the tests that Tanya is putting Khae through, sooner or later she would determine if the girl is worth keeping around as another handmaiden who could pose for her at a distance.
With my mind made up, I decided to actually do something to fill the time, coughing I asked, "So Khae, we've known each other for, what? Four months? Feels like we haven't had any real conversations, just girl talk you know. So what's your thoughts on the Silver Rider?"
"He's okay I guess. Feels like a knock-off Mandalorian to me. More plasteel than Beskar you know?" she said with a matter of fact tone that immediately showed a lack of interest in that particular subject.
I chuckled before saying, "Don't let the others hear that, it's kind of our favorite show around here."
She shrugged before saying, "Never been a big fan of holos. I enjoy the outdoors more."
I nodded before saying, "Country girl, got it. Tanya actually enjoys the outdoors quite a bit as well. Back when we were kids, we'd go to the moon of Concordia around Mandalore and just go hiking through the wilderness. Like we spend 2 weeks one time just surviving?" I asked towards Tanya, who nodded while still observing the Naboo tower.
"Record was two and a half. I thought about trying to go for 3 weeks but by two and a half I was already sure that we could survive out there indefinitely."
"Why would you do that?" Khae asked, looking at us a bit confused, "You're New Mandalorians or at least most of the time you are." she said as she looked at our armor I think, through her helmet visor. "You're not exactly what I imagined when I was told that I would be part of your protection detail."
Tanya chuckled before replying, "Well I am a New Mandalorian. I'm just a New Mandalorian who likes to be prepared for the worst."
"So wait, are you a follower of White Silver?" she said, looking at Tanya with a bit of surprise.
"That's… something like that." Tanya said waving it off but that only seemed to encourage the girl.
"That's cool, I didn't think anyone in the government really supported White Silver considering how your brother was sort of standoffish to her when they met."
I snorted and gave a small chuckle, but kept any commentary to myself. Tanya mumbled something to herself as well before saying, "My brother is a more traditional New Mandalorian than I am. He believes in the best in people while I simply look at a situation logically. And in my opinion White Silver's codices are rather logical in dealing with the situation the Mandalorian sector is in."
'Don't toot your own horn too much Tanya.' I thought, knowing that White Silver and Tanya are one in the same. It was rather hilarious trying to see her navigate the situation; hell, what I saw was made even more hilarious by the fact that her brother had obviously been checking her out. Usually, Tanya didn't notice that kind of attention in the first place. Though I think Tanya hadn't noticed this time because she was too busy with the shock of realizing that she was having to pretend to be some unknown philosophical warlord whilst dealing with crime lords and the official government of the Mandalore sector.
"Oh my gods, I was worried she had no friends above, amongst the government, Silver..." Khae said wistfully, "she saved my life you know."
I leaned forward at that to look past Tanya and said, "She what now?"
"White Silver, she saved my life. I was kidnapped, and then when Clan Morson tried to negotiate Gerr double-crossed us. They captured us and we were all going to be executed in the coliseum until she turned up and beat all of Gerr's goons. It was a really close one."
"Oh." All of a sudden I have an instance of realization, I think I understand why Tanya is a bit stiff around Khae. However, my discovery didn't really answer the question completely. Tanya had saved plenty of people. Why is this particular rescue causing her to be formal and professional around Khae?
Rubbing the chin of my helmet, I dug deeper for details, "That's pretty amazing, did you ever get a chance to say anything to her?"
Khae looked away from me all of a sudden before turning back to say, "I was really thankful, and sort of got caught up in the moment. We were working together to fight our way to the central tower and I sort of kind of gave her a Keldabe kiss."
I didn't even get the chance to finish asking 'what'. There is a hiss coming over a private line from Tanya.
"Not a word to the others. I don't want to talk about it." She hadn't even moved her head a centimeter and had completely paused her sweep of the skyline through the scope. There is something about that voice that sounded a bit panicked. Of course as much as I would love to respect that, that didn't stop Khae from continuing to talk about it.
"You know what a Keldabe kiss is right? I touched my helmet to hers, I just really wanted to thank her and in the moment that was the best way I could do it."
"Huh, wow," I said, trying to figure out how to best use this information. Finally I settled on, "How did White Silver react to that? Seems like a rather surprising thing to do."
"I really don't know," Khae said with a shrug before continuing, "It was a pretty hectic situation, in the midst of battle. She didn't push me away or anything so I guess she was okay with it. Or do you think I should apologize?"
"Well, if she didn't push you away that must mean she must swing that way." I said matter of factly watching the already stiff Tanya somehow become even stiffer.
"You think so?" Khae said, leaning forward to look at me.
I nodded my head before saying, "I mean if she didn't at least have some interest in girls, I think she would have pushed away the person who stole her first kiss."
Oops, I kinda revealed White Silver's first kiss was with Khae. Not sure I was supposed to mention that kind of detail. Oh well, it was worth it, finding out the origin of Tanya's first kiss was way more hilarious.
At least that was until I overheard Tanya still on that private line muttering something."This is ridiculous, she didn't steal my first kiss."
With a tap of my vambrace I keyed myself into that private line and said in a low enough tone that only she'd hear, "You forgot to shut off your mic."
Oh the satisfaction of watching Tanya's annoyance as she moved her hand to turn off her mic through a vambrace button. This does open up a rather interesting question on who was her first kiss if I wasn't the one to have grabbed that from her, and according to Tanya, Khae wasn't wasn't either? Is there a third girl out there or had Ordo grown a spine at some point during that mission and actually done it? I am going to have to do some serious poking at Tanya for info to see if I couldn't figure out what she was hiding.
But that could wait as Khae spoke up, "Really? I wonder if she would like to…" Whatever she was about to say stopped as she looked towards the Naboo Tower and said, "Hey, is that a droid by the window?"
My head and Tanya's both snapped in that direction. There is a droid basically right on top of the window. Tanya was already standing, lowering her helmet monocle to take a look. Then the window exploded.
Someone came tumbling out and grabbed onto the droid for dear life by the looks of it, as the droid attempted to rush off in the direction of the north. It's heading towards the downtown entertainment districts of Uscru, near the political parts of Coruscant.
"What the hell?" I said, getting up while pressing a button to pre-start the jets on my jetpack. Tanya was already doing the same.
After clicking some buttons on her vambrace as she said, "Everyone set channel 1, we have an unknown droid retreating from the Naboo Tower." Looks like she stopped as she seemed to take in what she's seeing. "The Senatorial Guard is securing the building. Padme's own security is escorting her to a guest suite at 500 Republica for the moment. I expect one of the Jedi, either Anakin or Obi-Wan Kenobi, is currently hanging off the Droid. Turn on all locator beacons, we're giving chase."
Like that, Tanya's already gone. She just jumped off the edge of the tower. A moment later I saw the flare and active burn of her jetpack. I sighed and followed Tanya with a leap.
After firing up my jetpack, I looked over my shoulder for a second to check on Khae. I saw Khae still following me. Generally we were following behind the droid and were able to keep up, though it was a bit faster.
Captain Struc's voice cutting over our communications saying, "Representative Kryze, are you sure it's wise that you're giving chase to an unknown threat? They could have snipers."
Tanya's voice returned the call saying, "They could, but we're behind the person who's more likely to be shot. Just bring the shuttle around and follow us in. I don't know what we're dealing with or how many enemies there are, but numbers are going to be on our side if we can work this out right."
A sigh can be heard before the Captain's voice continued, "Will do princess, we're on our way." After the line went dead, I was about to ask Tanya what her plan was when I saw a yellow speeder starting to pull out of the Naboo Tower. And a familiar head of sandy brown hair.
"Tanya, Anakin's got himself a ride. Looks a lot faster than our jetpacks, should we link up with him?"
"No Vai, right now the chase is rather slow going but we can keep up. However, get down there and put a tracker on their speeder in case we lose track of them."
"Sounds like a plan." I said, falling out of formation. Literally doing a bit of a twirl and diving down about a few feet before letting the jetpack catch me.
I came to hover just a few inches above the rear seat of Anakin's speeder and grabbed onto it causing him to look over his shoulder in confusion.
He was already reaching for his lightsaber when I shouted, "Hey there Anakin! How are you doing?" I had to shout so that I could be heard over the roaring high speed wind.
He blinked, then turned back towards the skyline and shouted back, "Hi Vai, what are you doing here?"
"Oh you know how it is, Tanya is always getting herself in one mess or another. She decided to help Padme with a little bit of security without letting her know." I said, as I pulled myself up a bit and got myself a secure hold on the back rest of the speeder.
"Ah, well that's nice. You guys could have just hung around, I don't think that Padme would have minded. By the way, nice armor. I don't think I've ever seen you wear it before."
I chuckled at that, "Yeah, Tanya only brings out her armor when she feels like doing something special and I'm not allowed to bring out mine unless she brings out hers." Carefully, I reached into a drawer on my vambrace and connected a tracking device to the back of the speeder's front seat, placing it solidly there and making sure it was active.
"Really? She has a set of armor as well? Learn something new everyday. By the way, you might need to hold on for a moment, things are about to get steep."
"Steep?" I asked before the car went into a dive nearly vertical, straight down and my hold was basically removed from somewhat stably gripping the seats to my hands slamming into the back of the speeder. If I didn't have a low power electromag-clamp in my gloves, I'm pretty sure I would have lost my grip completely and gone flying. It's not actually a problem when I have a jetpack, but definitely not what I want to happen.
I was so focused on holding on to the speeder that I basically kissed my helmet to the trunk as it leveled out again. A moment later Obi-Wan Kenobi landed next to me in the speeder, looking a bit confused at my presence.
"Hello there." he said before turning to Anakin, "I thought you were supposed to catch up to me, not pick up a hitchhiker." he admonished before crawling forward into the seat.
"Hey, you know how it is, Master! Just doing my duty as a Jedi and helping a person who needed a ride!" Anakin said, apparently thinking that was a hilarious joke. I would have retorted, but I'm still too busy hanging on for dear life when Anakin started speeding up again.
"While that's a wonderful sentiment, I still don't know why she's here?"
After I made it to a slightly safer handhold and judged I wouldn't immediately fall off the speeder, I called out, "Tanya's helping out. She thought a little extra security couldn't hurt."
"Wait a minute, I know that voice, Vai?" Obi-Wan asked, turning to look back in my direction.
"Yeah, that's me. Good to see you too, Master Jedi."
He nodded before asking, "That jetpack still full of fuel?"
I nodded in agreement to indicate it was but there was no response. Oh, right, the speeder motion probably was obscuring me. "Yes, my jetpack still has plenty of fuel. Why?" I called out.
"Well, you can hang on as long as you want then, though I will note this speeder is not meant for having three people and you're probably dragging down the speed. Do you mind? We didn't plan on giving any hitchhikers a ride, this could give us a better chance to catch the assassin."
"Good point." I'd already been through enough on this ride so I let go. I tumbled in the air for a bit before I activated my jetpack and stabilized myself. Once that was done, I took a moment to take a breath and calm myself down. I also verified the tracker I put on the car was still working.
Fortunately, it was. Unfortunately, the speeder is moving rather quickly further away. We had no hope of catching up with our jetpacks at those speeds.
"Vai," a voice came from above me. Tanya descended to my level along with Khae. "You okay? Looks like you took a bit of a tumble there."
I nodded "Yeah, I'm fine. I've tagged their speeder so we can find it. Although, I'm not sure how we are going to catch up to them now." As I sent my tracker's data out to their vambrace.
Tanya nodded and immediately pressed in the information. "Good work Vai." She clapped my shoulder, "We'll use the
Peacemaker, let's catch up with them and lend our support." Tanya turned and started heading in that direction, typing the information of the tag into a communicator that would send the code back to Captain Struc and the shuttle. We had between three to nine Mandalorians, plus two Jedi, seems like a bit of an overkill for an assassin. Better overkill than getting killed I figured.
Coruscant Highrise Rooftop
Jango Fett
This operation is going tits up faster than a Zeltron on holiday. It's supposed to be a simple job: Kill the senator and get paid. Instead the senator had been a bit more careful than I had expected and the rocket I had given Zam had not done the job.
One setback isn't going to scuttle the mission. I had other ways of helping her get this mission done. When the big acts of assassination don't work, best to go something quieter. So I've given her bugs, two kouhuns from a planet in Wild Space, those would definitely kill the senator.
My overwatch position gave me a perfect view and I would be too far to intervene. That was the point, this was Zam's job, I wasn't supposed to steal it back from her.
I watched Zam from a distance and a lightsaber appeared in the window. Apparently the bugs hadn't succeeded either. Probably because of the Jedi then. Unfortunate, but there were ways around those, but it would make this much harder. Any more failures like this though, and it would be hard to recover the mission.
And that's when the chaos had really started unfolding. I watched as a Jedi hijacked Zam's courier droid and then tricked it into returning to Zam. Suddenly, the Jedi had sprung their trap and were on her ass. As Zam is trying to escape, all I could do was watch. I was too far away to do anything. Things were moving too fast.
Zam is an old friend but she'd obviously gotten fucked on a level I didn't even think was possible. When an operation goes this bad, well it's usually time to start cleaning up loose ends.
I was secretly hoping Zam would still be able to pull this off though. She is a changeling and still had a few seconds of a head start. If anyone could pull a disappearance, she could. She is currently on foot and then I saw her hide inside a club. Right behind her, the Jedi followed her inside. If she's smart, which she usually was, she'd use the distraction to switch out her clothes and just walk out with a different face. One of the benefits of being a Clawdite.
Of course, I also knew that Zam had a tendency to get herself in situations where she thought she could win and would do something stupid.
I was really hoping today would not be one of those days. If she could just swap her appearance and take advantage of her nature then I could fly down there, grab her, and pull her out. We still had enough leeway to sweep this mess under the rug.
Meanwhile, I called the client and told them that the operation is screwed up. The Jedi were protecting the target and unless he was going to give me a better offer I wasn't going to risk any more attempts.
I should have never taken this job. Boba's birthday was coming up, I should be getting ready for that or take him on another hunt, one that's a lot less dangerous than this one. Instead, I'm out here helping Zam Wesell make up some money so she wouldn't get carted off to whatever slave camp the Hutts have for debtors.
Then again, this is kind of my fault. Zam needed to make money to pay off some debts, but I could have helped out and given her a little bit of cash in exchange for a few favors. I made more than enough with the Kamino contract. I only did bounty hunting for fun these days, but a bit of my Concord Dawn heritage probably showed through. Better to take a friend out bounty hunting, to do the work for themselves, than to give them a gift to fix their problems.
And me being one of the best bounty hunters in the Galaxy, I had a lot of access to contracts that Zam didn't. Contracts that can make her dead in an instant, such as this contract, apparently.
Would have to choose a better one next time, one that wouldn't be too close to politics. Politics are going to be the death of me. It's why I never tried to put together the remnants of the True Mandalorians after everything fell apart. I was done with that life and I wanted to start a family and new life. Well, after I killed the leaders of the Death Watch for good measure, but if I am going to start a new life I was going to make sure that the Mandalorian Sector would have its own chance for a fresh start.
Letting out a deep sigh I shook my head, and focused down on the club. It's been almost three minutes since Zam had entered with the Jedi close on her heels. What's taking her so long? Yes, the Jedi probably could sense her general direction, but if she's calm and careful enough she should be able to escape.
Then the answer revealed itself as the two Jedis exited the club while carrying along an obviously wounded Zam, before laying her against a nearby wall.
"Bantha spit, Zam." I said with annoyance. I now have to decide what I am going to do about this. As much as I would like to find some reason to go down there and save her ass, the fact of the matter was that Zam had become a liability. I gave her this job to help her out and now she's putting my life at risk with her stupidity. Let's say I go down there and save her, then I have the Republic and the Jedi coming after me for being involved in an assassination plot. Not a good outcome, considering the Republic had significant control over bounty hunter missions. I also did not need the extra scrutiny and damage to my reputation that this is going to bring.
Let's say I manage to defeat the Jedi and escape in my ship with Zam, but then not only will I have the Republic after me, but since we didn't have the payment for completing the job, the Hutts would still be after Zam until she paid her debts. So if I rescued Zam, I would have both the Hutts and the Republic looking for me.
When it came to the Hutts, I've been a slave once and I never want to be one again. As for the Republic, I didn't want to end up in jail, I wanted to be able to raise my son without such issues but I could probably break out if given enough time and calling in a bunch of favors. So really the question was quite simple: me raising my son or my son growing up without a father.
When it was narrowed down to that question, I'm going to pick my son over Zam everytime. Letting out a deep sigh I said, "Sorry, Zam. It's either you or me." as I raised my wrist to fire off a dart. The targeting computer on my helmet went to work, plotting the course to make sure I would hit the major artery in the neck and inject the poison through her system quickly. If I'm going to have to kill her, I might as well make it as fast as possible.
As I was about to squeeze off the shot, I heard the telltale sound of a jetpack closing in on me. Turning my head in time, I saw green booted feets coming right at my head. I crouched under the incoming kick as my dart was launched in Zam's general direction, but I couldn't confirm that I hit her. Instead, a figure landed behind me.
I'm surprised that there is a Mandalorian standing there, a female one as well. Female Mandalorians weren't exactly odd per se, they were usually unseen amongst the True Mandalorians. Women tended to be the guardians of the home, while the men went out and fought. A quick scan of her armor showed that besides a preference for shades of green, there were no active symbols on her armor. No indication of what clan or company she may represent.
Her gear looks to be high quality and in good condition. The only major detail I noticed is that she had a WESTAR 35 pistol that looked to be set in stun mode on her side.
Well this is unexpected, but not something to worry about. One Mandalorian would not be much of an issue. As if to punish me for my hubris, I heard jetpacks land to my right and left. A glance showed me a blue armored Mandalorian and another brown armored Mandalorian. Their gear are all a little varied, but the quality and condition seemed to be on the higher end of equipment. They had their pistols drawn, though they seemed all to be the same model as the green one and similarly set to stun.
Turning back towards the Mandalorian I designated as Green, I relaxed my posture and held up my hands. "Ladies, is there a problem here?" I let my arms fall into a relaxed state just inches from my own blasters.
From the looks of things these were not fresh eyed and impoverished clanless mercs. The armor looked to have full beskar reinforcement, so my blasters probably wouldn't do much. Maybe buy me some space. This would be a close quarters, personal fight. It's hard to say how experienced they would be in fighting up close and personal, I had been out of the game too long to guess at who exactly they were. The galaxy is a big place though, and there could be those skilled enough to give me pause that flew under my sensors.
"That depends," Green said, "were you trying to kill the only lead for the ongoing investigation into the recent assassination attempts on Senator Amidala?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about." I offered her an unseen smile and waited a moment for her to speak again and before the trio could react I had my blasters at my hip and sent half a dozen blasts into Green's midsection. In a battle with Mandalorians in full armor, blasters became merely a tool for maneuvering your opponent. No single shot could ever be guaranteed to kill but they were dangerous enough to demand a response.
Green is fast. Fast enough to dart backwards and present as few gaps in her armor as possible. I did not have the time to place more accurate fire between her armor plates as Brown and Blue began shooting and closing the gap between us. The trio is scrappy, more than I had anticipated, it reduced my options significantly.
I darted into Brown as energy bolts splashed over my armor without so much as a tingle reaching my skin. I slapped my blasters back into the magnetized holsters at my thigh as my helmet was grazed by an overly telegraphed right hook.
I pushed deeper into her guard and pushed her over my outstretched leg sending her sprawling to the ground. I lifted a leg to stomp the fight out of Brown only for Blue hit me with a stun blast before throwing herself into the fight with a flying kick that pushed me back enough for Brown to roll back to her feet. Blue kept up the pressure with quick jabs that had a predictable rhythm to them and favored her right arm. I waited for the timing to be just right, and the moment it was. I pushed into her guard and grabbed her weaker left arm. I pulled her arm towards me, planting my knee into her groin and getting a squeal of agony for my trouble before I delivered an elbow to the back of her head which dropped her to the ground.
Again I was unable to capitalize further as Brown got back into the fight with a punch to my helmet that had far more weight to them than Blue's. Brown's attacks were measured and cautious as the young woman clearly attempted to avoid me pushing into her guard again.
I reminded myself of the time constraint. I gave ground to Brown, clearly upsetting her measure of me before casting out a monowire from my vambrace that wrapped around her armored arm before she could blink. Then, I pointed to the wall of a high rise across a narrow alley and shot the anchor into the solid permacrete whilst setting the anchor to reel in the wire. Brown tried to untangle herself as she was dragged over the edge and onto the wall on the other side and away from me by the intense mechanical strength of the anchor. Unfortunately, that was my only anchor.
I drew my blaster for a follow up shot for Brown when Green jabbed my arm with an active vibroblade. The blade almost caught the gap in my elbow as I moved back offering the initiative to Green. She took the opportunity to fire her blaster at my midsection in a reversal of fate. I felt the numbing electrical frequency deep in my gut, but it was thankfully mitigated by my armor's insulating underlay. I kicked her knee to prevent her from getting another shot off as I felt the effects of a stim injection, as my armor's medical suite is trying to keep me in the fight.
Green is bringing her blaster back up and I did not have a way to knock her out of the fight quickly enough, so I used my jetpack to get some distance. Bringing my own guns back into play, I fired off a few shots to force her to move.
Reacting faster than I expected, Green used her own jetpack to dodge out of the way. Before I could really get a sense of where she's going, Blue opened up with her pistols. Blue had apparently staggered over to an atmospheric regulator unit for cover.
A shot splashed off my shoulder, it left nothing worse to wear except my attention. I shot at Blue to force her to duck down while I turned my head to take a look around and assess the situation on the alleyway below. I saw that Zam and the Jedi were both long gone and the few remaining civilians were fleeing the combat zone. This whole operation was going even worse than I had planned, great. I didn't know if the dart had hit, so I needed to either decide to cut ties with Zam or hunker down and go into hiding. Rescuing Zam is off the table for the moment. I really did not want to sneak into a Jedi prison and fight tons of them along the way, as I no doubt would have to in order to rescue Zam.
So cutting ties is probably the best option now. I needed to get out of here and get out of the spotlight for a bit. That being said, besides finishing these three girls, there's nothing stopping me from leaving. Brown is still out of the action, Blue is hiding behind cover and moving real slowly, rather predictably. The third one, Green… where did the third girl go?
I felt weight on my back as Green apparently had managed to get around me and landed there. The girl brought her blade to my neck, so I immediately cut the jetpack and we both tumbled to the ground smashing onto a roof. Thankfully, she landed first which gave me a bit of cushion as I rolled off of her and brought up my vambrace, switching ready another dart to fire it off in her direction.
But Green is quick on the draw as her pistol was up and fired directly into my vambrace and overloaded it. The vambrace smoked rather profusely as internal gears froze up, must have been a combination deactivator stun weapon. Unfortunate, but when one weapon gets taken out, you move on to the next. Switching to the other hand I fired off a lasso and grabbed her gun out of her hand. I whipped the gun into the air and off the side of the building. Girl didn't stop though, not even at the loss of her firearm, she still had her blade and she closed the distance immediately. Running across the few feet between us, her blade ready to slice into me.
Unfortunately for Green, my flamethrower is still good. So as soon as she's in range, I brought it up and unleashed hell in her general direction. It would give me a good judge of what kind of character she's even if it didn't work. To extend the battlefield usefulness of the Mandalorian flamethrowers, the barks are worse than their bite. The fuel burns too efficiently and quickly to stick to its target. Most Mandalorion armors could take the heat, but they did a lot to scare off lesser warriors. Even the Jedi would take a step back under a nozzle of a flamethrower, however that was likely due to using highly flammable robes in battle.
Of course, True Mandalorians wouldn't, they would know the strength and weakness of the weapon and trust in their armor to do its job and this girl apparently is a True Mandalorian through and through. She burst through the flames and attempted to slash me with her blade. I caught her blade with my now deactivated vambrace and was about to aim my flamethrower directly at her when her hand caught my other arm.
Inside my helmet I was smiling. I haven't had a fight like this in a while. Oh I fought other Mandalorians, plenty over the years, but this one. This one is persistent enough to take a hit and keep on going. I might have built up some respect for the girl and her efforts to try and stop me.
"Not bad, Green." I said. She struggled and started to try and draw back her blade, but the fact that I am stronger than her prevented her from moving as I locked her in place. Eventually she paused when she realized I was speaking to her.
"Are you willing to talk now, Mr. Assassin, or are you going to just try and punch me in the gut for a surprise."
"That's a thought," I agreed rather amused with her stoicism, before continuing, "how about we call this little play date over, Green? My objective is gone, your objective, it seems is complete, there is no reason for us to keep this going."
"My objective is to bring you in so you can answer who has hired you to assassinate Senator Amidala. Until that objective is met I think our fight will continue." She spoke with some fire in her voice and all the determination of a Mandalorian. The voice is definitely that of someone on the younger side, I would think not even twenty summers.
"You got fire, kid. I'm afraid I have no interest in telling who hired me for this operation. Kind of bad for business to betray your contract."
"Murdering a senator is a pretty bad business in itself. Especially one that could start a civil war; going to give any thoughts on that matter?" She spat back at me.
"I don't get involved in politics, and ultimately it's not my problem." I said, before headbutting the girl as hard as possible. The blow stunned her enough for me to deliver a front kick to her stomach. Before I could continue my attack and get control of the situation, Blue started firing shots at me again. She forced me to dodge with my jetpack off the rooftop for a few feet, but I think I had a win on my hands now. All I needed to do was kill these three and this whole mess could be buried.
Reaching for my pistol, I found that it's gone. Confused, I looked down and saw that Green had my pistol in her hand. She must have swiped it from my holster during the headbutt. The Green thief is good with her hands. Shaking my head in annoyance, I started to move in her direction but she'd already brought it up and fired a shot at me, which I was forced to dodge out of the way of. Again.
This is taking too long, maybe it was about time to just cut my losses. I could win this, but fighting trained and well equipped Mandalorioans is more a challenge of endurance and preparation. It would require an inordinate amount of time to eke out a victory that is guaranteed to bring spectators and intervention from the other mercs Amidala had on her payroll. I had not forgotten how suspiciously well-equipped Amidala and her protectors seemed to be.
Looking over to Blue, I noticed that Blue is still hiding behind the atmospheric regulator unit, obviously injured, possibly immobile. Brown is still sawing through my cable with her vibroknife while hanging off the building I had anchored her to. Green seemed to be a bit dazed from my last attack; I still had this under control.
Then a medium-sized shuttle came into view over Green, the door's opened and a Mandalorian Royal Guard jumped down from the open doors. This took me by surprise, I'd seen them once or twice but never actually had to fight them. Looks like this operation is not mercenary, or at least had Sundari backing. They were tough customers and you didn't want to get involved with their type. Holding that fancy spear of theirs, the Royal Guard immediately took a defensive stance ready to deflect any blaster fire. Another one jumped down and started checking over Blue. Looking up, I observed a couple guards opening windows and bringing guns to bear down. At this point, it was apparent that I'd stepped into something I really shouldn't have.
Using the giant atmospheric regulator unit for cover I jumped off the side of the building and flew off. Staying low and near to the building to avoid their fire if they decided that they were going to try and shoot me down. The target is clearly too hot for a follow up attack and unless the client was willing to up the pay significantly, it was not worth my time. I would need a full crew to handle the job and there is every chance that I would have the entire Mandalorion Sector gunning for me. It was unfortunate but I'm going to have to pay the client back out of pocket.
† Tanya forgot to check if Occam's razor existed as a logical theorem in the universe. This is not a mistake in the story.
Writers note: And there we go, into the movie we've been launched and already things are not exactly on track. Hope everyone enjoys and… what's that… oh right I guess I should mention that as of this chapter this fic is now the longest youjo senki fic on Spacebattles, THAT RIGHT I'm taking your crown jacobk. 320,000 words to your 310,000.
Also I see you AMEXTRIX. I see that you translate this and many other fics into spanish on wattpad, and I thank you for doing that since you give credit to the writer responsible… BUT MAN next time ask? Or give people heads up if you want to do that? I should not be finding out that my fic has been translated by a third party. Also… there is art on space battles thread and omakes.
Update: as of 6 days ago AMEXTRIX contacted me and asked promssion to translate in to spanish, and though i will clown on how long it took to get that, i have given him permission translate.
Edited by: Warmach1ne32, BigKuma DM, Afforess, fallqm
Community edited by: Marwan Amine
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Tanya, your commando mind set is showing again.
