To Mandalore We Go

Two weeks after the capture and subsequent escape of Thrawn, Hell Squad and Ragout were preparing to leave Christophsis. The planet was still in a heated battle, but with the Christophsian Armies all around the planet joining, the Republic was turning the tables. Jedi generals Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi had also returned to take over their legions.

Dageer found it ironic that Omé, who initially was doing everything not to have his army act, was the one who took the credit for it. Well, at least it inspired others to do the same. Plus, it wasn't like clones were running after fame or credit. The battle was fought and won, so leave the politics to the politicians.

"Read this."

Ragout threw a datapad to Dageer, who caught it in midair. As he read the short report, a frown took his face, and he clenched his fists.

"Is that true, general?"

"Unfortunately. I contacted Master Kenobi to confirm it."

"What is it, sir?"

Dageer passed the object to Barin, but even as the clone ready it, he was already explaining.

"Ahsoka left the Jedi Order. That includes the Republic Army."

"Oh? Why?"

"She got framed for the bombing of the Jedi Temple we were informed about a few weeks ago. Even though she cleared her name, she decided to leave."

"She did well! We fought alongside the kid countless times. It's stupid to think she would betray the Republic. Err... With all due respect, general."

Cell quickly realized he was complaining about the Jedi Order in front of one of their own. The Togruta, however, shook his head sadly, dismissing his apologies. The scout was blunt and somewhat dense, but he was right.

"We also fought with Offee, and she turned out to be the traitor. We would never have suspected her either. But Cell is right, sir. You gotta trust your own, even if you are wrong."

Ragout nodded slowly, agreeing. Sometimes, he felt like the clones had more to teach the Jedis than his counterparts would ever dare to admit, or allow. After a few seconds of silence, he transferred some files to the datapad.

"That has nothing to do with our mission, however. I was just letting you know because you were quite close to Ahsoka."

"We did spend two months trapped in a hole with her. You get to know each other well when that happens."

They all grinned. Those two months were worse than anything the Separatist could have thrown at them, than any kind of torture. No matter how lightly Three-four put it, it was hell.

"What is the mission, commander?"

Dageer's frown deepened as he read. After a while, he turned off the datapad, deep in thought. His brothers knew he was analyzing what he just read.

"This is going to be an interesting one. Our target is to capture or kill three high-level members of an organization called Death Watch."

"Never heard of them."

"They are an extremist organization trying to overthrow the government of Mandalore, Brain. Not only that, but they also believe that they have to bring back the strength of old, when Mandalore dominated the others through death and violence."

That caught Hell Squad's attention. Not the part about conquering the galaxy through violence, but the planet they were going to.

"Err... Mandalore is a neutral planet, isn't it? Not just a neutral planet, but the neutral planet, right?"

"Yeah. Which means we won't have to watch out for Death Watch, but also the Mandalorian government. They will hunt and kill us without a second thought."

"That is just great."

Three-four sighed loudly, inciting a smile from the others. Well, the medic wasn't wrong. Mandalore was the leading system of the alliance of neutral systems. It had an amount of power that wasn't any inferior to the Republic or CIS.

But neutral didn't mean peaceful or weak. The opposite, to be exact. To be able to maintain neutrality in those almost four years of turmoil, Mandalore had to show they were strong. And their way of showing it was by shooting down and killing any Republic or Separatist ship or group that appeared unannounced. Oh, and they hated Jedis. Well, Force users in general.

The Mandalorians liked to clean their dirty laundry at home, per se. To send seven clones and one Jedi there was the same as dropping them in the midst of a Geonosian nest. Worse actually, since the Mandalorians were deadly and well-trained. There was a reason why one of them - although an exile - was chosen to be the genetic base for the Clone Army.

"Why are we attacking those three only? Seems counterproductive to send us there only to do that. We could take out Death watch entirely, and solve this at once."

To anyone else who heard it, Metal would have sounded overly arrogant. But his brothers and Ragout didn't think so. Even Dageer, who was usually very cautious, was nodding. They had the skills to do so, they only lacked the orders.

"I don't know details. However, our objective is only to weaken Death Watch, not destroy it. Don't ask me why. This came from the Jedi Council and the chancellor's office."

Hell Squad nodded, and went back to cleaning their weapons. No matter from where they came, as long as they were valid, they would follow their orders.

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To get to Mandalore without being noticed, they made use of an old acquaintance: Hondo. The pirate wasn't at all happy to see them, but when Ragout promised to overlook any cargo he smuggled out of the planet - only this one time - he quickly agreed. Security from any ships that came from Mandalore to the Republic was tight, so it was too risky to smuggle it normally. With a Jedi's words, however, things were a lot easier.

Clone armor would be easily noticed in Mandalore, especially their helmets. As such, apart from Dageer - his armor already looked more like a bounty hunter's, with all the markings - they all changed to clothes Hondo gave them. Now, they looked like pirates and bounty hunters, which was more acceptable. To disguise their faces, they also put on scarred Mandalorian helmets. Ragout didn't need much of a disguise. With half of one of his protuberances missing, and several scars, he looked more vicious than any Jedi should.

They didn't catch much attention when they landed on one of the worse sides of Mandalore. Outlaws and bandits were cowards by nature, and seeing eight well-armed, and clearly dangerous, people, none dared to attack them.

That night, after finding a precarious base, they all sat around Ragout, waiting for instructions.

"So, general, what's the plan?"

"Our targets are Arta Spnil, Thhert Kilrr, and Vlaz Vizsla."

"Vizsla like in Pre Vizsla? Death Watch's leader?"

"Yep. His cousin, to be more exact."

"This is getting better by the minute..."

Dageer elbowed Tech, telling the clone to shut up, and gestured for Ragout to continue. The Jedi was already used to the clones' antics, so he didn't mind being interrupted.

"All we know is that they are in Mandalore, and not on their moon base, so that's something. They are all wanted by Satine Kryze, so they will be hiding on this side of the planet."

Death Watch's base had been destroyed by General Kenobi, leaving them with no option but to hide in Mandalore. As for Satine Kryze, she was Mandalore's leader.

"Tomorrow, we will need to split up, and look for anything that might lead us to them. Try not to be too obvious about it, and not to get in trouble."

"Roger that, general."