It's His Galaxy (And We're All Living in It)

In Which Milo and Jungles Get Along Surprisingly Well

Giovanni Rigurgitatore looked like a brutish thug. He was proud of that look. He had deliberately cultivated it. Heavy weaponry was useful, and so was a complete willingness to kill absolutely everyone standing in one's way, but sometimes the most useful tool in one's arsenal was the ability to be underestimated. In truth, Rigurgitatore was an intellectual. He had graduated from Onderon's most prestigious universities. He had a doctorate in psychology.

He understood very well that there was something quite wrong with him. He just didn't care.

Rigurgitatore was a smart man, and that was why he had been recruited by Director Tennant to join the Department of Political Police. He knew not just how to outfight an enemy, but how to outsmart them. And one of the things that allowed him to do so was a clear-minded understanding of his enemies' strengths and weaknesses. That was one thing that his colleagues usually did not possess. They'd gotten so deeply entrenched in establishing reality-distorting lies about their own superiority that they had started to believe them.

Rigurgitatore, on the other hand, saw reality as it was, as a constant struggle between the weak and the strong. But these categories did not stay stagnant. The strong could become weak and the weak could become strong. It was why he worked so hard at sharpening both his mind and body, why he refused to buy into the lies of his colleagues. True strength came from embracing reality. At least Niblet understood that.

And the reality was that Murphy and his associates were on Dxun, and with the forces that he had been allotted, Rigurgitatore did not have a prayer of defeating them in combat. And while he had technically been ordered just to conduct reconnaissance, he knew that the kill order would come down the line eventually.

He saw firsthand how they came within a hairsbreadth of killing Pistachion on Dantooine. Each one of them was highly dangerous in their own unique way. Not to mention that they were now the guests of Mandalorians, of all the ridiculous things. Rigurgitatore had fought in the Mandalorian Wars. He understood quite well just how dangerous Mandalorians could be.

Of course, the presence of the Mandalorians was a game changer. The sensible option might be to report their presence to Niblet and have him send a battalion to Dxun to wipe them out. Or perhaps send a ship to bombard the planet from orbit.

But, then again, there was no guarantee that Niblet would want to do that. Onderon had been, practically if not necessarily legally speaking, neutral during the Mandalorian Wars. Rigurgitatore had been a mercenary helping defend planets on the Outer Rim from the Mandalorians at the time, and he had only done that for the money. Even now, there was some sympathy among the populace for the Mandalorians given their status as an enemy of the Republic. Niblet may end up deciding that it would be more politically advantageous to keep them there and see what they would do.

Rigurgitatore did not like that idea one iota. He did not trust Mandalorians. Or, more accurately, he did trust Mandalorians to do what they did best: sow chaos throughout the galaxy. Even if Niblet thought he could secure an alliance with them, they'd turn on him eventually, and perhaps bring all of Onderon under their heel. Rigurgitatore may have been out for himself at the end of the day, but he still loved his planet and would rather the Republic rule them than the Mandalorians. So perhaps the wisest course of action was to say nothing. Then again, it was inevitable that Niblet would find out eventually, and when he did, it could be Rigurgitatore's head on the chopping block, quite literally.

"Commander?" a soldier under his command asked him, sounding worried. Rigurgitatore lowered the binoculars that he was using to spy on the Mandalorian encampment from the jungle outside the camp and glared at him. "Um, your orders, sir?"

"We will hold position and continue to gather intelligence," Rigurgitatore decided. Those had, after all, been his orders. There was more to be learned about the extent of the threat the Mandalorians posed. Yes, it was a stalling action, but for now, it was the best card he had in his hands.