Commander of Wolves

Chapter Nineteen: Threats of the Empire

In the few weeks since Wolffe and Nya have been married, Mandalore, for being in a state of constant watch for the Empire's return, has been peaceful. For the most part at least. There have been a few skirmishes with Death Watch, but that has become what is now normal, and almost routine, for the Mandalorians since Maul was overthrown.

However, those attacks have been dying down in their frequency due to lack of remaining numbers, and the influx of surviving Jedi and their clone battalions have certainly been a gift from the Ka'ra for the exhausted Mandalorians when attacks do occur. But as it has been since the beginnings of the Jedi and Sith Orders, peace for the Jedi and their allies is not to last.

From Coruscant, two regional governors have been sent to Mandalore in an attempt to force Bo-Katan to bow to the power of the Empire. One, the governor, or Grand Moff, of the entire Outer Rim, Wilhuff Tarkin, is the older. The other man who has been sent is younger, the newly appointed governor, or Moff, of the Mandalorian sector, James Gideon. The young Moff had recently been promoted to Moff from his position at Republic Intelligence and has, in a sense, been taken under Tarkin's wing.

In the throne room of the Mandalorian palace, Clone Commander Cody in hologram form tells the clan rulers, many of them now attending the meeting over comms, of the approaching situation.

"The clone intelligence officers on board The Negotiator, The Resolute, and The Cuyan have been monitoring Imperial comm communications since we defected. We've recently received word that Grand Moff Tarkin and Moff Gideon will be coming to visit Mandalore, they'll be arriving in roughly three days."

"What are their assets, Commander Cody?" Bo-Katan asks the clone commander.

"Commanders Rex, Wolffe, and I believe them to have underestimated our own numbers, on comm chatter, it has only been mentioned that they are bringing a single battalion. Which means between two and four cruisers."

"That seems... rather di'kutla," Nya says. "Are you sure that that's all that's been mentioned?"

Cody nods. "I'm sure. The Empire doesn't know precisely that how many of us actually defected. Rex, Wolffe, and Commander Tano staged a crash of their ships, pointing to the conclusion that all who were on the ships are now dead. The 212th staged our own deaths as well on Utapau, the 327th just vanished from thin air practically, the 501st they do know defected as they were seen on Coruscant, and both the 431st and the 275th both reported that they completed Order 66 and that they were maintaining their positions on Kaller in an attempt to subdue insurgents."

"So, they don't know exactly how many of us there are? Even though we lost several of our number in the war against Maul, we still have more than they think we do?" Aalar asks.

"Yes, sir," Cody reports.

"Vor'e, Cody," Nya tells him. "Could you get me a scan of the ships once they exit hyperspace?"

Cody nods, but leaves the throne room to return to The Negotiator in order to continue monitoring the situation alongside Rex. The group of Mandalorians then turns so all are facing each other. Tristan turns to look at his cousin and asks,

"Why did you ask for a scan of the ships?"

"Because if we know what ships they're bringing, we can exploit the ships' weaknesses and maybe guess their plan," Wolffe says gruffly for her, gaining a nod from his wife.

"Does anyone actually know the ships from the Republic that well?" Obi-Wan asks.

Nya speaks up. "All of the Tat'al'verde were instructed in the machinations of Republic weapons and ships. They know everything backwards and forwards. And when the war began, I studied the ships and weapons extensively-"