Star Wars: The Exile

Chapter 4: The Job

The General took a deep breath as he surveyed the battlefield. There seemed to be no end to the slaughter that both sides were experiencing. Both the Mandalorians and the Republic were taking heavy losses. The battlefield was a semi-open space, but both sides had barricaded themselves in the natural trenches that the planted harbored. All of the sudden, his vision blurred and all he could hear was the muffled sound of canons firing as he fell to the ground. A few feet away from him, the earth exploded as a grenade did it's job. As he rose to his feet, regaining his senses, he saw the bodies of Republic troops that the grenade had claimed.

The General gave a battle cry as he drew his lightsaber and began running towards the enemy. Without hesitating, his Padawan and a platoon of soldiers began following. As he made his way to a Mandalorian trench, he slashed through the droves of enemy grunts. As he glanced over his shoulder, he saw that now only his Padawan was behind him; fighting his way through a group of enemy soldiers as well. The General could sense the fear in his Padawan, the fear he himself felt when he saw the overwhelming numbers. As he cleared the first enemy trench, the Republic soldiers began pushing up, quickly occupying the newly controlled trench. As he was about to begin running for the next occupied trench, he heard the sound that he feared the most.

"Down!" He ordered as the area around the trench erupted into flames. The Basilisk war droids did their bombing runs well. The Basilisks were the iconic fighters that the Mandalorians used. As the pilot would literally lie down in it, he would fly at supersonic speeds with extreme agility and only inches of armor protecting his body from the outside. With their extreme firepower, they were something from a nightmare to fight.

As the smoke and flames cleared, the General looked around. He was wounded and he could feel the taste of blood trickling down into his mouth. He had hoped to at least hear cries of pain, but the area around him was silent; all of his platoon were dead. To his horror, his Padawan was nowhere to be found. Before he could look for him, the Mandalorians began advancing. Ignoring the pain in his leg, he began retreating back to the Republic-controlled side of the battlefield. After dodging what seemed like hundreds of shots, he made it back. To what was left.

As he looked at the remains of what had been the Republic side of the battlefield, he realized that his trench was not the only one bombed. For the first time, he noticed that half of the battlefield was charred black and scattered with small fires. The Basilisks had penetrated the Republic fleet in orbit, and decimated the battlefield. The battle had gone from being even, to the Mandalorians having the upper hand.

* * *

I awoke with a gasp from the nightmare I just had. I exited my room and went to the cockpit still in my under shirt and shorts. We were still about three hours from our destination according to the Galaxy Map. I did a recheck of all systems, which were normal, and went over the job description once again. It was a simple smuggling run. The contact was a Seklath by the name of Dori'anga in Ahto City on Mannan. We would load three crates onto the Equinox and deliver them to a space station orbiting Yavin. We weren't told what was in the crates, and I didn't ask. That was the first rule of smuggling.

As the console sent a soft alarm letting me know that we were arriving at Manaan, I exited my room. As I entered the cockpit, I noticed Lynn was already ready. Somehow, probably because of how tired I was, Lynn actually looked better than she normally did.

"Ready for our first job together?" She asked with a grin.

"As ready as I'll every be." I replied smiling.

As the Equinox landed in Ahto City, I double checked my equipment. Since we were trying to blend in as tourists, any amor we had, we left in the ship. As both of us stepped off the exit ramp, a representative from the city approached us.

"Let me be the first to welcome you to Ahto City!" He said with a thick accent. "On behalf of city, I'll be needing the docking fee from you. Twenty credits in total."

Begrudgingly, I handed him the credits.

"Now, I'll also need your reason for stay." This was a question I didn't expect. If I was to tell them the truth, I would have been arrested. The Seklath took smuggling very seriously. As I stammered for an answer, I was thankful Lynn was quick on her feet.

"Honeymoon." Lynn said as she reached her arm around me. "We heard just how wonderful it is here and decided to come."

"Congratulations," replied the representative, "I certainly hope you enjoy your stay."

As we walked off I gave Lynn a thankful smile. I told Lynn to get us a hotel just in case anyone was looking at our cover too closely. While she did this, I would meet the contact. As I walked into the bar, a young human female grabbed me in a quite seductive way, and whispered in my ear.

"Dori'anga is in the corner. If you're a spy, I will kill you before you can scream." With that, she walked up to the bartender and got a drink. As I walked to the back of the bar, I saw an old Seklath sitting alone in the corner. I went and sat down opposite of him.

We spent several minutes simply studying each other's face. My stare was broken when a Twi'lek girl, in a rather revealing outfit, came and handed me a bottle a dark ale that I ordered several minutes earlier. As Dori'anga told me where the crates were, I could feel a sense of fear in the Seklath. Something was wrong but I couldn't tell what. After I finished my ale, I walked out of the room. The girl I'd met earlier came up to me.

"Sorry about the way I was earlier," she said in a soft voice that reminded me of the dark Jedi, "but I'm sure I could make it up to you." I looked at her and walked away.

As the Equinox left orbit, I had a feeling that it was all to easy. Lynn had already went to bead. Why she was tired I had no idea, but I didn't really asked. Before we entered light speed, I made a quick change to the coordinates. Instead of going directly to the station orbiting Yavin, I directed the ship to an asteroid close it. Instead of getting rest, I instead readied my weapons. If what I felt was true, I would need them.