Ordo System…974 ARR...
The Corvette emerged from Hyperspace into the system Haron had wanted to go to for so long, even as he sat in the navigator/pilot's chair he could scarcely believe he was finally here...again.
Despite the circumstances.
Haron took a firm hold of the controls as he guided the ship towards Reijar, the moon was much like he remembered it but the sight of so many fighters flying around brought home the current situation. A formation of Fang-class and M3-A Scyk Light Interceptor fighters flew past him, he could tell thankfully they had been told he was coming and did not start shooting. He could feel the anxiety of the pilots and knew he had a lot of work ahead.
He carefully guided the ship down into the atmosphere and saw the familiar jungles below that he had played and trained in as a child, it brought a lump to his throat...so much had changed since then and still was changing.
However the presence of his sister in the force being so close brought a smile to his face as he brought the ship down and landed it at the private landing strip the homestead had. He felt nervous somehow at finally being home again...at seeing her after all this time.
The ship slowly descended on the landing pad he saw lines of fighters lined up with gunships and corvettes nearby. However there waiting for him was Deera, she had grown up a lot since he had last seen her in the flesh, holograms never really showed it before. She was taller now, easily standing at 5'9 with a tall and slim womanly figure clad in Mandalorian armour. She was smiling a little as the airlock opened and Haron emerged with his friends in tow.
"Haron." She said warmly and rushed forward to give him a hug which he eagerly returned.
"Deera, I have missed you." Haron said back as he held his little sister, over his shoulder he saw both his uncles, now looking far older but still fit and strong. He nodded to them both. Deera meanwhile looked at Ara, Neville, Hannah and Luna, asking him.
"Who is this?" She eyed them suspiciously given the situation, Haron however cut to the heart of the matter.
"These are my friends but right now I need to know the complete situation." Haron told them with an expectant look. She nodded and accompanied by both their uncles and Haron's friends went straight for the war room in the main building.
-x-
Ara looked around with fascination, she had seen different compounds before but the Ordo one was the most self-sufficient and well-equipped that she had been too. Supposed to be a last bastion if ever needed she expected a lot of it might be underground and with a few escape routes too if needed. Neville and Hannah like her were impressed at the well designed and built complex.
Luna however just seemed to be lost in her thoughts as she looked around the area with her eyes glazed over slightly, humming a tune she didn't recognise.
Ara wondered if this was her looking into the future somehow, or seeing things they couldn't but this was not the time or place to ask those questions...not where others could hear them.
Looking around her again she wondered if this was her future home, given she and Haron were tied together. This was his home, the way he looked at the place when he first arrived and all the feelings of joy at being back she had felt made that painfully clear. Their wandering days were over now he had returned home and was assuming the mantle of leadership for his house, since they were trying to make an honest go of their marriage this time that meant this would be her home too.
It was nothing like the home they had shared on Earth and well beyond what she had been raised in on Krowest but the air here despite the war was comforting. Maybe it was the warmth of the jungle or having friends around her but she did feel a little more comfortable here than she had on Krowest.
-x-
The Command Centre or War Room as it was full of people looking at various displays and consoles, charting the current state of the civil war that was raging and where and when the most urgent action might be needed.
Haron when he came into the room caught all of their attention, looking brilliant in his full armour he wasted no time in giving them all a silent nod which they took to mean they could return to their duties while he looked at the situation, Deera provided some important details.
"Fifteen clans have defected or declared themselves independent while five have been overwhelmed by Bralor and Awaud so far. They are pressing at several more." Deera told him and he nodded as he studied the strategic picture.
They were down a fifth of their fighting force right at the start he realised with concern, so now the allied houses had the momentum and greater numbers. That was the immediate problem facing them Haron realised and knew he had to do two things to give them a chance of reclaiming the upper hand and winning this war, first was break their unity. Get them to stop working together and if they turned on each other so much the better he thought with a cold detachment.
The second was to sow chaos and rob them of momentum so his own forces had a chance to catch their breath and reorganise.
Looking at their current intelligence he realised that House Awaud was the less organised of the two and better yet they were holding some kind of meeting for the leadership in a week's time. Some of their clan leaders were bound to be there and it presented an ideal opportunity to sow some chaos.
Getting in there might have posed a problem before but he had a secret weapon that would make such a raid possible.
"I need around three hundred warriors ready to conduct a raid within a week, this is high risk so ensure they are prepared for that. Also I will need yellow and orange paint and for you to write a special program for the mission." Haron said talking to his uncles and Deera the latter of whom frowned.
"What sort of program?" She asked wondering what kind of crazy scheme her brother was planning. He just smiled before whispering in her ear, her eyes rising in surprise.
The others turned to look at him and with only his uncles, sister, friends and his wife within earshot told them.
"We are going to strike at the very heart of our enemies and make them shatter like glass." Haron said before Deera told him.
"That sounds great but first, there's someone you need to meet." She said exchanging a look with their uncles who nodded. Haron sensed this was important and followed Deera, leaving the others in the war room.
Soon they arrived in the nursery area and Haron was confronted with something he had not foreseen in a million years happening.
There in the cot that once had held him and later Deera was a baby.
A tiny honest to goodness baby, a tuft of red hair on her head and sleeping peacefully. Seeing Haron's confusion Deera answered with a slight angry tremble in her voice.
"Our little sister, Lelia. Dad managed to get our stepmother pregnant after all and she took off the moment she gave birth. Now...she had no one." Deera said walking over the cot and smiling down at their baby sister, Haron followed and stared down at the innocent little girl laying there. She was adorable he thought, a slight smile coming to his lips now.
"Not alone, because she has us." Haron said and a sigh of relief came to Deera. She had been afraid he was going to reject her given they would have to fill the role of surrogate parents, Haron sensed and while he was offended Deera might think that it was understandable.
They both looked back down at their sleeping half-sister and wondered what kind of life she was going to live, worried for her but vowed to themselves quietly to make sure she had the opportunities she deserved. Like their mothers Lelia's mother had been chosen by their father because she was an heir to something...in fact in a way she was higher than either Haron or Deera's mothers had been. She had been the eldest daughter of House Qarl, a small house with a few clans to their name. She had brothers but all were wastrels who had been disowned by their father who had named the child born from his daughter and House Ordo as his heir.
That had been the condition both he and their own father had made clear, willing potentially to let his own daughter die in the hopes of having a better and more connected heir. Lelia was heir to House Qarl and she was not even able to stand up on her own yet.
Haron looking at the little girl felt a tightness in his chest, this little girl was nothing more than a pawn for two very greedy men and he would not stand for it. She would be protected and allowed to find herself...he swore it. More than that when he felt the power of the force in her like it was in him and Deera he would train her when she was old enough.
-x-
The Planet Draboon, One Week Later…
Draboon was much like any habitable planet across the galaxy, it had oceans, forests, plains, deserts and more. It was also famous for its lapis gemstones which actually made the planet a good living, Duchess Satine actually had ordered large quantities of lapis to furnish her new personal starship recently. House Awaud had held the planet since they had come into being at the end of the New Sith Wars and had grown wealthy on the trade.
In the central city they had a compound of their own which was nowhere near as secure or as well-equipped as its Ordo counterpart but was well-guarded and had considerable defences. The spaceport of the planet was busier than ever too as more transports carrying warriors and supplies came and went to support the war effort.
The massive increase in traffic made it much more of a headache for the controllers to keep track of all the ships coming and going, so when a Corellian Corvette, one of the most common transport ships around the galaxy appeared it quickly became lost in a sea of other ships. They didn't even notice when it disappeared off their screens.
It was the newly named Ordo's Revenge, engaging its cloaking device to vanish from sensors it plunged into the atmosphere of the planet.
-x-
On board were three hundred of Ordo's best warriors, checking their armour and equipment one last time before their mission. Haron stood on the bridge of the ship with two of their pilots manning the controls, looking at the compound of House Awaud. It had good defences he thought with begrudging respect but they were hopeless against an enemy that they couldn't see.
The Ordo's Revenge slowly made its way over the walls of the compound and behind a warehouse lowered itself down so its cargo hatch could be opened unseen, Haron made his way from the bridge to the cargo hold his warriors standing to attention as he passed them which he occasionally acknowledged. Putting his blast helmet on he now blended in with all the rest, while Ordo did not have a particular colour scheme of its armour or soldiers Awaud did. It made all of its warriors paint their armour a dark grey with bile yellow strips across the chest plates. This was a well known fact and Haron was counting on that for this plan to work, all their warriors using the same colours and wearing full armour. However the fact it would make his warriors unable to tell their own people from the enemy had not been overlooked and a little transponder clip in their helmets. This pinged with their Tactical Eye Display and told them who was friendly.
He was actually a little nervous as he made his way down to lead his people, this was his first operation as leader of House Ordo and he could not afford it to be a colossal screw-up.
He needed a success, a big success.
But years out in the wild had stiffened his spine and he pushed those feelings down, Haron was certain this would work mostly because there was no way that House Awaud would ever see it coming. They were winning the war in their minds and even if they had though seen something like this was coming they didn't know about the corvette.
Coming to the cargo bay he saw Deera and his friends suiting up, they all were calm and collected but something caught his attention...the way the men were staring at his sister.
With lust in their eyes.
He could see why objectively, his sister was a very attractive young woman. She had the blonde hair of her mother and due to all the training the two of them had gone through had a toned and slender body. Standing at 5ft9 she had a willowy figure which only made her seem more attractive to many and the fact she was the heir to a prominent shipyard did not hurt either.
A glare from him stopped that instantly, none of them wanted to earn the ire of their leader by pursing his sister at least openly.
"Ready?" Deera asked with a cheeky smile as she put on her helmet, under his own Haron smirked at the subtle challenge.
"See you on the ground." Haron said and without wasting any more time he leapt out of the corvette and down a fifty feet from the ground. He activated his jet-pack to slow his fall, scanning the area around him even as he touched the ground for any sign of anyone to see them. Behind him Neville, Hannah and Deera all followed and after them his warriors all alert and ready.
Haron had already studied the layout of this place and knew it inside out, behind each of his people squads formed up all with their own special missions. He put his hand to the comlink and said.
"Work your magic Luna."
"Copy that." Luna said, for once all business and serious given how important this raid was. She had stayed on the corvette and with one of the meditation crystals they had discovered in Revan's Vault closed her eyes and let her mind open to the force. Her senses began to expand and her awareness went far beyond the ship, stretching out to encompass the whole compound. She felt the men and women here, putting her own feelings aside to envelope them in a sensation of ease. Letting their worries and suspicions slide from their minds.
Haron felt Luna's powers doing their work and with a nod he gave the different squads their orders.
"Squad 1, head to the comm station." Deera, the unit leader nodded before leaving to carry out her mission.
"Squad 2, head to the barracks." Neville bumped fists with him before leaving with his men.
"Squad 3, head to the warehouses." Hannah nodded, taking her team to carry out their task.
"Squad 4, with me." Haron said to the warriors who were left. They nodded and calmly followed as he walked them into the main residence building of the compound. As they crossed the yard they saw men and women who actually belonged to the house going about their business without a care in the world. Luna easing any concern they might have had for the large number of warriors in full armour that rushed across their compound.
Haron saw the guard at the door and reached out with the force, wrapping it around his already befuddled mind until he opened the door and allowed them all in.
The compound was like many Mandalorian buildings a mix of functionality with an artist flair, his people threw themselves into whatever they did wholeheartedly and did not believe in half measures. He paid it no mind though as he and his people moved into the compound, their target being the war meeting where many house members and clan leaders would be in attendance. He had timed this raid to coincide with it...the perfect time to strike a hard blow, potentially a fatal one.
The large open area which served as their war room was easy enough to find, it was very central for equal protection on all sides and ease of access in event of the need to escape.
Sitting around the hall in seats at varying levels were different clan leaders, a few Haron noticed with quiet hidden fury formally sworn to his house. At the centre around a large holomap was Harko Awaud, the Duke and current leader of House Awaud. Few were even wearing their full armour probably for comfort and worst for those that were it was the poor quality armour where to make up for limited amounts of beskar other metals had been added like durasteel which was nowhere near as strong.
Haron smirked slightly, foolish them.
-x-
Neville was finding his targets just as easy.
He and his team were not to engage their targets directly, instead they were planting charges around the barracks buildings, small but lethal explosives around at regular intervals.
Enough to create quite a bang he thought, before returning to guard the evac site.
-x-
Deera led her men towards the Communication Centre, it was far busier than she had expected but full of techs and not soldiers although some did guard it here and there. But she was not worried as not only did they not realise the danger but she far outnumbered them.
-x-
Hannah had the easiest job of all of them, she was creating the distraction to cover their escape.
Like her husband she was planting charges around their supply and munitions warehouses, enough to level them with ease and most of the compound with it. She sighed as she saw all the supplies and equipment around, it seemed wasteful she thought mournfully to just destroy it.
But she conceded it would make sure to cover their tracks as she left to meet her husband and guard their escape.
-x-
Haron feeling from his friends and sister that they were all in position and prepared, gave the order.
"Attack."
His warriors smirked as they rushed forward with their blasters drawn, shooting with pinpoint accuracy earned from hours on the shooting range.
Haron led his men from the front, twin blaster pistols in hand as he ran down the stairs into the centre of the room, shooting each target that came into his line of fire. Some reached for their own weapons but Haron sensed each one with the force and cut them down with his aim guided by his instincts.
Coming to the centre of the room he saw Harko standing there, unlike the others in the room he was in full armour and it was made of pure beskar but it would not save him Haron thought, channelling his rage at this arrogant and greedy prick that had started a war against him and his family. Reaching out with the force he clamped a firm hold around the other man's heart and squeezed.
Harko gasped for breath and instantly looked like he was in agony, falling to the floor as his legs were unable to support him. Haron pulled his helmet off and without even looking him in the eye put a blaster bolt in his head.
With that done Haron turned around and saw his men shooting unprepared Awaud warriors down like fish in a barrel, most of whom led the clans swore to Awaud or were traitors to Ordo and needed to be made an example of. Without missing a beat Haron raised his blasters again and shot the cowards that had deserted his house who were proving their pathetic cowardice again by trying to flee the room but got no more than two steps before each had a blaster bolt in their backs.
-x-
Deera heard the alarm start to ring and smirked, knowing as her men cut down the techs and guards around that what she was about to do would stop anyone from taking control of House Awaud's combined forces any time soon.
She plugged the small computer unit she was carrying into the main communication system and her own little hacking software easily broke through their rather pathetic security. Once she was in she uploaded the program her brother had asked her to write, smirking at the chaos they were about to unleash.
It sent prepared messages to all the clans that served House Awaud, appearing to be desperate last ditch messages telling them that they had been betrayed and each named a different clan as the traitor to another. Once they had removed any possible witnesses that could say otherwise each clan would think that their former allies had betrayed and wiped out House Awaud and killed one of their own in the process.
Chaos and distrust would spread like wildfire, making them far easier for House Ordo to deal with and House Bralor would stand alone.
She was glad Haron was her brother, any man that could come up with a plan like that she thought with slight awe...it was far better to be at their side than in their path.
A rumble in the distance let her know Neville was doing his bit to ensure the raid went as planned.
-x-
Neville also heard the alarm and with relish pressed the button on his detonator, seeing the barracks explode with considerable force. He was aware that he had just killed a lot of people, something that did make him pause with regret but they were the enemy and threatening the home he was hoping to set up with Hannah who would soon give birth to their first child.
He really wished she had stayed back on Reijar for this mission and he had only just managed to convince her to take the easiest job here. Something that he knew even without the force did not please her, still he could accept a few nights on the couch if it kept his wife safe.
As he stood next to her she seemed to sense his worry and with an annoyed sigh she elbowed him in the ribs.
"I'm not an invalid, stop it!" She snapped at him and Neville instantly jumped to attention and obeyed her order. He was very glad when Deera and her team approached and so he gave the other warriors orders.
"Get back onto the ship!" Deera ran past him with a grateful nod before activating her jet-pack and flying up through the open cargo door onto the ship.
-x-
Haron with his men in tow ran through the compound, shooting guards who were lacking any kind of orders or direction at what to do, this meant it was almost pitifully easy for his warriors to cut their way through the compound to the extraction point.
Unfortunately they did occasionally take casualties, some men with poorer quality armour were being hit and injured, a few fatally. His own men were helping their injured and taking their own dead back to the ship. Officially he had ordered this to 'leave no warrior behind' and 'ensure all their own who fell in battle were honoured with proper funeral rites'. The warriors had been glad of that, looking at him with greater loyalty and respect for that action but also the fact was it was making sure that they left no trace which could lead back to them.
Haron was smiled as he and his warriors all activated their jet-packs and re-boarded the corvette. Seeing the last of them come aboard he slammed his fist down on cargo bay controls and the hatch closed behind them. Using the computer pad on his right arm he confirmed all members of their strike team were aboard and then used the comm to call out, urgent to be as far away from the explosion.
"Luna get us out of here!"
The ship lurched as its powerful engines kicked into life, making all of them stumble as the ship picked up speed on its way out of the atmosphere. Feeling Hannah's unique presence in the force he turned and nodded. She returned it and pressed the button on her detonator.
Behind them the explosives planted in the warehouses exploded, a massive blast ripping through the buildings and the rest of the compound.
Reijar, the Ordo System...A Couple of Days Later…
Haron now home watched the Sector Maps as his plan unfolded, smiling coldly as the chaos he had hoped for spread. The messages sent by Deera had ensured the complete collapse of House Awaud and its power-base, all of its clans had turned on each other blaming their former allies for the destruction of House Awaud's compound. Even the few members of House Awaud that had been absent during the attack had been caught up in all the suspicion and paranoia they had created.
Over half the enemy force had been reduced to fighting each other or declaring themselves neutral and staying out the war. House Bralor now deprived of its ally had fallen back to hold a defensive position while they reassessed the situation. It gave House Ordo some breathing room and more importantly lessened the odds against them, war Haron knew in any world was never a certain thing victory could be snatched away but for now he and his family had the advantage.
He heard Deera and Ara come up to stand at his side.
"I cannot believed that worked." Ara said with a dry disbelief as the entire situation was now turning itself around. Haron smirked at her.
"Yee of little faith. All warfare is born of deception, we allow the enemy to see only what we want them to see, know what we want them to know. And when we have them exactly where we want them, take them for all they are worth." Haron said with a cold glint in his eye.
"You make it sound like a game." Deera said with slight worry given how he seemed to look at this. He turned and gave her a warm reassuring smile.
"It might be a game but with far bigger and more important stakes. I take this seriously I assure you. Now we have to cripple Bralor before we begin our counterstrike, for that we need to two things. One to cut off their supply of fuel and the other is make sure whatever they have left is reduced. To that end I need a bunch of freighters to have extra communication equipment fitted and to get our hands on all the space mines we can lay our hands on." Haron said a plan forming in his mind, the two women looked at him confused.
"I understand how mines could be useful but what is the use of having freighters given extra communication gear?" Ara asked not sure where he was going with this, however she guessed it must have something to do with Revan and his thoughts on war and strategy. She had peaked at them too but Haron seemed to an interest far stronger than her own.
"I would like to know that too? And what secret mission you dispatched Neville and Hannah on?" Deera asked wondering much the same as Ara.
"Oh that." Haron said with a shrug. "That deals with the first part of the plan and takes advantage of some technology we acquired from Revan's Vault. We'll brief the crews when the freighters are fitted out but for now it is high time I share what we learned and gained with you Deera. Come with me." Haron said walking out of the room with a confused Deera in tow while Ara looked at them with a melancholy look, reminded of her own sister in that moment.
The one from Earth she amended to herself, not the stuck up bitch from Krownest.
Soon Haron and Deera reached the foundry, a small private one that their family kept for private use. Inside was a large crate that Haron opened and Deera gasped as she saw a suit of Bloodguard armour inside. Haron smiled gently as he told her.
"Only those fit should wear this armour, well once it is reforged to suit you. Shall we begin?" Haron asked her and Deera stared for a moment at the armour before smiling and hitting the forge start-up console, the machine humming as it came to life and heated itself.
-x-
Bralor Asteroid, the Same Time…
The Ordo's Revenge had exited hyperspace as far out as they could and approached by sublight. It had taken a couple of days but at last they saw the target in the distance, a mining and processing facility built into a planetoid which acted as the main fuel mining, storage and supply base for House Bralor. The vast amount of Tibanna stored here made it too dangerous to keep on a planet and thus it was very well guarded but Neville who stood on the bridge of the corvette was prepared for this.
"The moment we drop the cloak, fire then recloak as fast as possible." Neville ordered the two pilots manning the stations.
"Understood." They said in unison, Hannah was at his side, frowning at what they were about to do but it was at least she consoled herself a military target this time. She wrapped her arm around him and he did the same.
They shared a look before Neville gave the order.
"Fire."
The Corvette simmered into existence quickly before firing two missiles before they and the corvette simmered again fading into nothing. They had adapted the Stealth Missile Technology from the Cold War which the Order of Revan had preserved. The cloaked missiles were larger than normal which allowed a larger warhead and because of the cheap but effective copy of the cloaking device none of the sentry ships saw them in time to shoot them down.
The missiles struck the fuel storage tanks and the high yield warheads exploded, the Tibanna instantly ignited in an enormous fireball that ripped through the entire complex. Given how much they were storing there for their war effort, deep cracks were torn opened in the surface of the planetoid and huge chunks of rock began to break free.
Hannah and Neville were stunned as they looked on at the sheer size of the explosion before jumping to hyperspace and getting out of there before the sentry ships got their crap together and came looking for the source of the devastating attack.
This would force House Bralor to stop pressing their war effort until they could find a new source of fuel. They had some other supplies here and there but nowhere near enough to manage a large campaign.
Reijar…Later that Day...
The room was hot as the blue/whitish flames from the furnace burned, Haron and Deera had stripped down to their sweats due to the heat but continued to work with the old fashioned looking tools. Melting the special beskar down was more difficult than other variants of the metal and as such they had to burn the furnace at a hotter temperature than normal.
But it was worth it as they poured the liquid beskar into the moulds and sealed them. They waited for hours as it cooled and hardened in its encased moulds before carefully opening them, revealing shining silver/white metal now in a modern style.
The new helmet was now cool enough to touch and Deera picked it up, feeling the smooth and cool metal in her hands. It still needed the tech putting in and a few other touches here and there but it was perfect for her.
Deera smiled at him and seeing the other box contained the last suit to be reforged asked.
"Do you think we could keep the last suit for Lelia? I know it will be years but she is our sister." Deera said and Haron nodded in agreement.
"Only the best for my family. Now its time I told you why I wanted those freighters outfitted with the extra communication gear and that minefield laid." Haron said and she immediately gave him her full attention. "Now we have eliminated most of their fuel supplies I want those freighters to move around our space broadcasting false comm traffic to mislead our enemy of our fleet's movements. Then once the minefield is complete we let our enemy to believe that our ships are there in preparation for an attack and will be refuelling and therefore vulnerable." He explained with a sly smile.
"And they will want to strike our ships while they unable to fight back especially since they don't have the support of House Awaud any more. Flying straight into a minefield." Deera said with the same smile.
"Indeed especially if we leak rumours of our fleet massing somewhere." Haron told her, in a crisis you can't panic he thought, make a plan and stay the course. They might have been the underdog at the start of this war but that like the weather was changing fast.
Sundari, Mandalore…
The capital city of Mandalore was encased in a great dome with docking ports and some dwellings or other buildings constructed on the outer shell, the passion and drive which was instilled in all Mandalorians from an early age led to some expressing themselves in engineering and art, merging both into the structures.
Inside the dome was a bustling city with happy and healthy people for the most part, living and working in buildings which carried the unique engineering and design that set Mandalorians apart from other planets. One of the most technologically advanced worlds in Outer Rim and a symbol of pride for their people.
Duchess Satine Kryse was fond of walking around Peace Park, one of her favourite places after meetings with Prime Minister Almec to relax her when the pressures of ruling started to get too stressful. Almec had been most insistent that she take a more active role in the on-going civil war which was being fought between three of the other houses. The thought of another war sent a harsh cold shiver down her spine, remembering the days when nearly her entire family had been wiped out and repulsing her from the thought of involving herself in such violence again. She had called out for peaceful negotiation and even offered to host and mediate between the different parties herself but none of the other houses had seen fit to accept her offer, intending to fight it out in such a brutish way.
It sickened her to have such a thing happening so close to Mandalore, Almec had even suggested that she should rally the other houses and clans to force the three to stop or support one side of the war so they would be grateful to her and support her regime more earnestly but she had refused...violence begets violence and she would not make the situation worse by acting like the warmongers.
A ping on her personal datapad made her stop and look, smiling as she saw Korkie's test scores were better than ever. She was very proud of her nephew, he had such dedication and drive for one so young and yet he was willing to continue her views on how things should be done. She honestly saw him as the future leader of Mandalore and would be so proud to hand her throne over to him.
However the sight of someone coming up to her made her sigh, or rather it was who was coming up to her.
Bo-Katan.
Her younger sister was looking especially thunderous she noticed with tired resignation, knowing another argument was coming. She was just glad that only the Protectors were around to witness it.
"Satine! You have to do something! Staying out of it is making you...us look weak!" Bo-Katan said with anger and once again she was wearing the beskar armour her family had kept. This annoyed Satine greatly as the mere sight of it was a reminder of the war that had nearly destroyed their family.
"I will not commit to fighting." Satine said sternly to her younger sister who gave her a glare in return. "The moment we give in to war we have already lost! I will not be tricked into being made a part of it." Satine added, revolted at the mere idea of having to order young men and women into the horrors of war.
"Are you blind to how others see you?!" Bo-Katan pressed, so much like her sister in the way they both held fiercely to their own beliefs and yet so different in how they dealt with their grief. While Satine had become staunchly against violence to the point of being single-minded or inflexible, Bo-Katan was determined to be strong so no-one could ever threaten them again returning to the Old Ways and rejecting pacifism all together. "They see you as weak, allowing the houses that you are meant to lead to fight amongst themselves while you do nothing! That was what got our parents killed." Bo-Katan said with anger.
The words were like a punch to the gut, both sisters seemed to reel from them even Bo who only realised what she had just said from the wounded and shocked look on Satine's face. That wound, one that both of them carried had never healed and the sights and sounds of that day would haunt them both forever.
Satine stood silent for a moment before frowning and telling her sister one last time.
"I will not risk losing anything else to fighting and violence and nothing you say will make me change my mind, I will see you at dinner tonight Bo." She said with cold anger before turning leaving to return home to the palace.
Bo-Katan too was frowning and burning with anger, she knew her sister was going to bring everything crashing down around them if this pacifism continued. That it would only bring ruin to Mandalore and their family once again.
In that moment her mind was make up and if her sister would not be the leader Mandalore needed, she would find someone who would. She knew of a group that wanted to restore the Old Ways to all Mandalore...one her sister was doing her best to ignore but might be the allies she needed to see her home secure and its people...her family she thought with worry for her sister and nephew safe again.
She would seek them out she decided there and then, to keep that which she held dear safe.
Ordo Space, a Week Later…
All around Ordo Space light freighters with larger communication arrays than normal moved, broadcasting pre-recorded messages to each other on specific frequencies, they were poorly encrypted and easy to overhear and decode.
That was by design, allowing House Bralor to hear what they were saying.
Duke Bralor was in his own War Room as the messages came in, glad of the reprieve as despite his calls the clans of House Awaud had by large abandoned the war to fight amongst themselves. This left him short handed and he had lost control of the five worlds taken off Ordo. He knew it was only a matter of time before Ordo struck back against him but where and when? His hands were tied in how much he could do, the destruction of the Fuel Station had been devastating to his house! The loss of so much of their fuel supplies had ground the war to a halt as they had to conserve what they had left.
Many thought it was an accident but he was personally convinced that Haron Ordo had been behind it.
He had thought that Ordo would be easy to conquer once its leader was dead, its heir was gone and most of his clans had disliked his father. Surely no one would rise up to help them or that Haron Ordo would get back so quickly.
He had overestimated the hatred of the last Duke Ordo, many actually stayed true to his family and Deera Ordo had managed to not only find her brother quickly but hold things together till he got back.
He almost admired the two, almost since they were his enemy but right now he was worried as word had reached him that the Ordos were preparing for a massive strike on his own worlds. With the fuel situation and no support from Awaud it would be a very hard fight for them and he needed to stop it before it happened Duke Bralor thought with urgency.
Reading the intercepted messages he almost sighed with relief, almost he would never show emotion around his subordinates. The combined fleet of House Ordo was gathering in the Yilee System, it was a good place to assemble before an attack Duke Bralor thought strategically. It would place the fleet in position to strike at a number of important worlds.
However he thought with a sly smirk it was also a perfect place to ambush them ahead of time.
With his limited fuel it would be difficult but he could manage one decent concentrated attack on the fleet before it launched if he hurried. That way most of the enemy ships and warriors could be eliminated before they became a threat and more than that it would leave Ordo worlds poorly guarded, he could take their fuel to replenish his own and take their riches for himself.
With that in mind he sent the orders to his fleet, led by his own brother to attack the Ordo forces in the Yilee System.
-x-
Reijar, Ordo System…
Deera clad in training sweats was blindfolded as Luna sat nearby, gently sending rocks at her from different angles. Deera struggled to repel all the rocks at first but was getting better and better, able to use all of her instincts and the force to see for her.
Deera sweated with the concentration required, drawing on the force was not new to her but she had never done it as deeply as her brother and his friends did now. While they could lift starfighters and shuttles she struggled with a single rock, it frustrated her intensely but Luna just told her.
"Your impatience and frustration is what is stopped you connecting to the force. Relax and let it come to you, don't try to force it." She said sagely, in the past she might have thrown in a comment about nargles or something but as she had gotten older she accepted such creatures didn't really exist but it had been fun to mess with people sometimes she thought with humour, still it wouldn't help Deera get in touch with the force she thought.
Her new pupil's potential was good, very good and in time she would become quite powerful as was proven moments later when just like a puzzle piece that had infuriatingly alluded you slipped into place and she was able to deflect the rocks completely without a single one hitting her.
-x-
Haron smiled as his baby sister laughed when he tickled her, he had not known her long but already she was as dear to him as anything he had ever known. He was torn a little wanting her to stay like this...innocent but knew she would eventually grow up, that actually also had an appeal so he could teach her to control not only the power she had inherited but to be the best at whatever she wanted to be.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ara smiling too, allowing Lelia to grab her finger. He had never known she liked children, she tried to stay aloof perhaps due to her nature as an ice queen but heart had melted as she spent time with Lelia.
He wondered briefly what a child of theirs might look like? Would they have his dark hair or her blonde mane? His eyes or hers or a mix of the two?
He had to nearly shake himself to come back to the moment, one step at a time he thought to himself...one step at a time.
Still that night as he slept, those thoughts kept coming back to him, refusing to leave him alone.
Yilee System, a Day Later…
The system on the edge of Ordo Space was unremarkable in itself, while it did have some strategic value in where it was placed there was nothing here to hold anyone's attentions. A Red Giant Star with several unremarkable rocks in space orbiting around it, no useful minerals, no atmospheres...nothing really.
That was partly why it had been chosen by Haron, here they could lay as many mines as possible without it being a hazard to anyone or anything. It wouldn't do to blockage or endanger a colony or some other installation after all. He was just lucky that Yilee was here as an alternative.
The mines were a bit mixed in type and size given that it had been a rush to find enough mines to make the field as large and as dense as possible, it had incredible firepower all the same though.
Bralor ships as was normal for an ambush jumped as close as they could to maximise the surprise, however instead of the expected fleet the fighters and light corvettes they were using found a minefield right in their faces.
"HARD ABOUT!" Marco Bralor yelled from his frigate as they reverted to normal space but expecting to attack, all ships where moving forward at maximum speed.
The starfighters did their best to weave through the field but few were good enough pilots to avoid the mines, smashing right into them. The pilots barely had time to scream before their fiery demise.
The corvettes had it even worse, expecting to mop up Ordo Starfighters they had come in right behind the starfighters and had far less chance to avoid the mines. Granted as they were larger and could take greater damage but the mines' yield was higher than they could take. Each ship was engulfed in fire as the mine detonated, sending out debris in every direction smashing into other ships that had managed to survive the mine hit or avoid them.
From the bridge of his Vengeance-class Frigate Marco Bralor was appalled as his small but prized fleet was being torn to pieces right before his eyes, he saw a chunk of what had been a Crusader-class corvette coming in fast and smashed into his own ship! The impact caused all of the crew to be thrown from their feet and chairs. Marco managed to get to his feet and gave the order as more of his fleet was being torn apart.
"All ships, turn around and jump back to friendly space!" He called out and the helm barely responded as the ship listed but slowly it turned as the communication officer gave out the order to all other ships almost yelling to be heard over all the alarms that were now screaming on the bridge and on the bridges of the other ships.
Marco looked at the screens to see what ships had managed to avoid what was now obviously a trap! He had felt in his gut that the Ordo were being suspiciously careless with their communications and should have known better than to trust it at face value he thought swearing to himself.
His heart however seemed to stop beating as he saw more of his ships being pulverised by mines, most of his fighters and corvettes had been tore apart and out of the window he saw one of the much more expensive frigates explode when it was hit by at least two of the mines.
The welcome sight of hyperspace brought a sigh of relief and while the ship's captain immediately started the crew on repairs Marco realised how genius the Ordo plan had been and more importantly what damage it had done to House Bralor.
They had gambled a lot of their ships and fuel reserves on this attack, resources that could not be easily or quickly replaced. With the losses they had taken all offensive campaigns now had to be scrapped or put on hold till they could recover and he very much doubted Ordo would allow them that time.
Between the lost ships, warriors and fuel they were extremely vulnerable.
Well played Marco thought with depression as he realised the tables had turned, now his family was on the back-foot.