Chapter 5: Tremors in the Force

Part 1: Unlikely Reunion

After the successful slash-and-burn campaign wrought across the several cities that remained occupied by the Separatists, Christophsis was once again under Republic jurisdiction. The 28th Armored Regiment remained on the planet, providing a garrison to help the locals begin to reconstruct their homes, now in shambles, and continue to maintain a Republic presence on the planet should any Separatists wanted to have a rematch on the planet. The 49th Rangers would have remained with the 28th, but the comms crew above the planet aboard the Unshaken alerted Erajinn and crew of new orders that had come through straight from GAR Command on Coruscant. Only about half of the Regiment had been offloaded onto the surface, so packing up and shipping out back up to the star destroyer was much easier than before.

"New orders huh?" Knight Exidus said as he and Erajinn exited a command tent, having just been briefed by the Admiral aboard the Unshaken,

"Seems like it," Erajinn replied, "Not entirely sure what, but it must be important if Republic Command is recalling my entire regiment from all the way out here. Are you sure you'll be able to handle the cleanup on your own?"

"The occupying force on Rodia ended up having a few extra infantry divisions to spare, so they'll be arriving in the next few rotations with additional bodies and supplies." The Zabrak replied as he and his fellow Jedi made their way to a Nu-Class Attack Shuttle refueling on the massive landing platform. Many of the LAAT/is and LAAT/c's that had originally transported the 49th Rangers down to the planet had left, returning to the Unshaken along with the rest of Erajinn's men. The shuttle was one of the last ships to leave, waiting on Erajinn and Commander Ragnar to tie up a few logistical loose ends before also making the return trip to the Venator-class destroyer.

"Excellent. Well, it seems that you've got everything covered. If there is nothing else you require of me, I'll be taking my leave. The ARC's get restless if they're cooped up on the ship for too long." Erajinn said jokingly as he walked up the boarding ramp at the front of the shuttle.

"I understand," Exidus chuckled, "May the Force be with You, Knight Kiro. You and your men have done great work here."

"Likewise, on both parts. May we see each other again soon." Erajinn returned, giving a slight nod as he pulled the hood of his robes over his head and regressed into the shuttle, the boarding ramp collapsing behind him as the shuttles engines roared to life and propelled the ship spaceward.

Once back aboard the Unshaken, Erajinn quickly made his way up to the bridge, where Ragnar, Maz, and Orin were all waiting to receive their new orders. Winx was still in the medbay, recovering from both the explosive injury and the constant teasing from his two ARC brothers. Erajinn entered the comms room to find the holonet transmission had already begun, the ghostly figures of Jedi Master Ki Adi Mundi and Grandmaster Yoda standing atop the holotable.

"Knight Kiro, glad for you to join us." Ki Adi Mundi said, turning away from the clones and nodding to the younger Jedi, who returned the nod with a bow.

"Masters Mundi, Yoda. To what do we owe the pleasure?" Erajinn said, greeting the Jedi Master and his own former master as he assumed a place in between Maz and Ragnar.

"Urgent need, Master Windu is in," Yoda said, as a hologram of a planet Erajinn recognized as Dantooine appeared next to the elder Jedi. "A new weapon on Dantooine, he was forced to face. Very powerful."

As Master Yoda spoke, a second hologram appeared. This one was of what Erajinn could only guess was a ship, noticing the four repulsorlifts attached to each of the four wings on the top of the ship. It appeared to resemble a C-9979 Landing Craft, a tool used by the Separatists to deploy droids to planets en masse. This ship, however, was much, much taller.

"We are unsure as to what the craft actually is," Ki Adi Mundi continued, "But from the reports of Master Windu and troops under his command, it is able to generate massive seismic tremors via the massive durasteel core that the ship carries, hence its great height."

"Destroyed the weapon, Master Windu did. More, however, we fear there may be." Yoda interjected, "Deliver relief to his troops, your unit will. Return to Coruscant first, you must."

"Yes, Master." Erajinn responded, "My men were able to siphon a considerable amount of intel from the raiding of a Separatist command center on Christophsis, so we'll attempt to find out any information we can on this weapon in the data we gained."

"Very well," Master Mundi nodded. Erajinn and his men were in the motion of turning away from the projector when the old Grandmaster called out.

"One more thing, you must know. Transporting the 8th Infantry to assist in the operation, your Star Destroyer will be. Waiting for you on Coruscant, they are."

"Of course Master, the more help we can get the better." Erajinn said, his thoughts jumping in several different directions at once.

"The 8th Infantry is Master Torin's old unit, if I can remember," Erajinn thought to himself, "I wonder if they allowed Theron to assume command after he was Knighted."

"Well, General Kiro and I won't keep you any longer, General Mundi." Commander Ragnar interjected, "We'll leave for Coruscant right away."

"Acknowledged, Commander" the Jedi Master responded, "May the Force be with You."

After returning the ubiquitous Jedi phrase for 'good luck', Erajinn terminated the communique and turned to the admiral of the Unshaken, who was also present in the comms room for the briefing.

"Looks like we're running ferry duty again, Admiral Schmidt." Erajinn groaned.

"So it would seem, General. However, you were the one who requested a Venator when I remember specifically recommending an Acclamator." Schmidt said slyly, stroking his clean-shaven face to hide his smirk.

"Only in times like this do you think to remind me of that, quite the coincidence." Erajinn returned sarcastically, nodding to the old admiral as the veteran naval officer strode back to the command deck, before Erajinn turned to address his men.

"We've gone quite a while without some decent down time, I think we can all agree. It's a long flight back to the Core worlds, so make sure to rest up. If I know anything about the 8th and who might be leading it, we're going to have our hands full for the next few weeks."

"Oh General, you have absolutely no idea." Maz snorted as he strode away, rubbing his temples in exasperation.

Erajinn turned to Orin, "Care to explain?"

Orin looked back as his Jedi superior and shrugged, a sheepish grin spreading across his uncovered face, "It's a. . .long story sir. Better to experience it when we link up with the 8th." the ARC said as he too began to head back to the barracks.

Soon enough it was just Erajinn and Commander Ragnar left in the communications room as the ship lurched and began its jump to hyperspace. "Well, this just keeps getting more and more interesting, huh Commander?" Erajinn asked as the two began to download copies of their briefing onto datapads.

"My credits are on Maz, personally." Ragnar responded without looking up from his datapad.

"Credits?"

"For the bet, sir."

"I didn't realize a wager was made." Erajinn said, confused.

"The bet for whoever wins the fight Maz is about to get himself into." Ragnar chuckled, looking up to meet his general's gaze, "I've been around Maz long enough to know when he's ready to kick someone's ass. Whoever it is, they're in for quite a ride if they have to spend the next few weeks with the 49th."

Erajinn shook his head as he detached his datapad from the terminal and walked back to his quarters.

-One Week Later-

Erajinn stood on the bridge of the Unshaken as it reemerged from hyperspace, the sight of thousands of starships occupying the air space above the bustling capital of the Republic always amazing him. "Admiral," Erajinn called out, "transmit the necessary planetary codes and begin the landing sequence. I'd like to get planetside as soon as possible, we've kept the 8th Infantry waiting long enough."

"Of course, General" said Admiral Schmidt as he acknowledged his orders before raising his voice and calling out orders to the clone naval officers occupying the control pits sunken into the floor beside the command deck.

It took around twenty minutes for the massive cruiser to be cleared for landing, an available landing platform to be found, and for the ship to sink down into the atmosphere, finally coming to rest in one of the massive shipyards that dotted the city-planet. By this time, Erajinn and the rest of his men had made it down to the lowest levels of the ship, being some of the first to witness the lowering of the Unshaken's massive boarding platforms. The Jedi, along with Commander Ragnar and the ARC command staff, got to work, spreading themselves out across the several openings in the bottom of the destroyer as they directed troops, droids, and even massive AT-TE walkers in the unloading of certain materials and used supplies in order to make room for the new supplies that the 49th would be transporting to Dantooine.

Once the process had been started, it ran pretty autonomously, meaning that Erajinn and half of the 49th were able to take a short leave, with the other half of the regiment staying on board the ship to start their shift of the loading process. At the base of one of the massive boarding docks, the ARC troopers and Erajinn crowded around a holotable along with several of the company CO's, directing the loading process from a more passive position. Erajinn had just finished giving out orders to several company lieutenants and commanders as he heard the roar of transports, and a lot of them. He looked to the sky as he saw a significant amount of LAAT/i's descend from the sky, taking up landing positions sporadically around the base of the Unshaken. One of the foremost gunships landed a few hundred feet away from the holotable where Erajinn stood, and opened it's blast doors to reveal ten or so clones. As they got closer, Erajinn made out eight of them to be Clone Commandos, the ninth being instantly recognized as an ARC Captain. The final figure at the front was different than all the rest, however. He was of similar height and build to the clones behind him, wearing the same grey Katarn armor plating the commandos wore across his chest, arms, and legs. That was where the similarities stopped.

The figure was obscured largely by the cloak he wore over his armor, covered in a desert camo print. His face covered by a black mask, devoid of features save a mouth grille similar to that of the ARC trooper next to him, and a visor slit that revealed two cold mechanical eyes. It was also worth noting the figure was covered in armaments from head to toe, namely among them a leather-wrapped saber that hung from his hip.

The group finally arrived at the holotable, with Commander Ragnar and the rest of the company officers near him snapping salutes to the approaching party. The commandos returned the salutes in kind, with the ARC troopers of each group giving at best slight nods.

"Can I assume you all are the 8th Infantry?" Erajinn inquired, stepping away from the holotable to approach the masked figure in the front. As he walked towards the group he felt the ARC troopers behind him slink towards the back, following him to meet the group.

"Oh, don't tell me I'm that shabla forgettable." The voice issued from the masked figure, a slightly robotic quality tingeing it, but nevertheless the voice was familiar.

"By the Force, Theron, is that you?" Erajinn said, eyes widening in disbelief.

Theron sketched a mocking bow, and Erajinn could almost see the poo doo-eating grin behind the mask. "In the flesh, my friend," he said.

"Stars, I'm surprised you're up and walking. You were in terrible shape when I left Coruscant last. Take that awful mask off so we can get down to business." Erajinn snorted.

Theron turned towards the ARC captain walking alongside him, the mechanical eyes just visibly narrowing through the mask's visor. "First you tell me I need a mask not to scare the di'kutla civvies, now my friend here tells me to ditch it! Who am I to trust?" By the end of his little tirade, Theron was wailing dramatically, and several of his commandos were visibly doing their best not to break down laughing at their leader's poor acting skills.

Erajinn turned to look behind him, the shaking shoulders of some of his troops revealing the quick liking they've taken to the new unit command. "Oh, so now you've gained a sense of humor. If I'd known that this is all that needed to happen, I would have put your eyes out myself." Erajinn quipped as he turned to walk back to the holotable.

"Please, I had a sense of humor way before I lost my eyes," Theron grumbled. "It just took a kriffing galactic war to get the massive pole out of your shebs."

"This coming from the man who I helped spoon feed for a week." Erajinn called back over his shoulder, "Come on, we've got introductions to make." The two reunited friends strode over to the holotable, Theron's gang of clones following close on his heels.

Theron grumbled as he followed the other Jedi, and as best anyone could guess he was scrambling desperately for another comeback. Eventually he seemed to give up, sighing and beginning to introduce his men. "Knight Kiro, this is Nek and Omicron squads. Nek's sergeant is Vibro, and that's Winter with the shoddy paint job, Sharp with the sniper rifle, and Horns with the… well, horns. Omicron's sarge is Jaster, and he's got Viper with the snake paint, Digs with the astro interface, and Breaker with the definitely-not-illegal crushgaunts. The ARC is Captain Daemon…"

"We know each other," Daemon interrupted, and rather than get annoyed at the interruption Theron looked at his captain, then the other ARCs and back, before leaning slightly forward.

"So, where's the betting pool stand?" he asked. "I want to know how much I stand to win after Daemon whips whichever one of you has a problem's shebs."

"Stang, you noticed it too?" Erajinn said, eyeing his commander, who could be heard laughing under his helmet. Maz began to speak, but Orin planted a hand over his brother's helmet, pushing him back behind himself muttering something along the lines of "Not now for Force's sake.".

"To answer your question, General, we've got a pretty big pot. Only person who's bet against Maz here is Winx." Commander Ragnar said, addressing Theron.

"Theron, meet the command staff of the 49th Ranger Regiment. The clone you've just spoken to is Commander Ragnar, my second in command. The shimmer camo ARC with the yellow scars is my Ops Officer Orin, and the one with the Nexu print is Maz, the 49th's Sergeant Major. Our XO, ARC trooper Winx, caught some flak on our last mission and just got out of the medbay. He'll be joining us shortly. Boys, meet Theron Keth, Jedi Knight and General of the 8th Infantry." Erajinn said as he gestured to each of the troopers surrounding the holotable, before looking back at Theron.

"Well, if half of what I've heard about you boys is true, you just might give me and mine a run for our money," Theron said. "Now, I heard we're shipping out to Dantooine to clean up after Master Windu, but Command were being their usual aruetii selves and claimed I didn't have need-to-know, so what exactly is going on?".

"Yikes, I remember being newly Knighted. It was terrible." Erajinn said with a sly grin as he tapped a few buttons on the holotable, bringing up a diagram of the seismic tank. "This was what gave Windu and the 91st so much trouble. We aren't sure what it is called, but we know what it can do. It uses a massive durasteel core held up by electromagnets to create seismic disturbances in a large area around it. The tank only got a few hits off before it was disabled by Windu, but in that short time it decimated over a third of his initial attack force. They're hurting for supplies, and it's our job to deliver." Erajinn said, taking the diagram off of the holoprojector. "While we were on our way here, Winx was able to sort through some data files we hijacked from a command center on Christophsis. We were able to find this diagram as well as a little more information as to what this thing can do. Hopefully we'll be able to get a hold of some of the parts when we get planetside, maybe get a manufacturer location and track down where these things are getting produced."

"My credits are on the Commerce Guild," a voice called out from behind the group. Erajinn and the others turned to see a figure covered in black and white splinter camo descended one of the ramps.

"XO, glad to see you're up and about. I'll let Maz fill you in on who these fine gentlemen are." Erajinn said, gesturing to Theron and his team.

"Heard you managed to blow yourself up, Winx," Daemon said. "Y'know, I've been serving under this moron who likes to charge enemy lines head on and I still haven't managed to land in medbay for more than a few hours." Daemon let the silence sit for a minute, then slipped off his helmet, depositing it on the holotable, and grabbed Winx in a one-armed hug, slapping his shoulder with the other hand.

"Heard you got promoted to Captain, you sly dog." Winx called back. Erajinn looked behind him and noticed that Maz had shrunk back behind Orin, arms crossed with an obvious frown under his helmet.

Daemon noticed at the same time the Jedi did. "Just cause Winx is my favorite brother, and yours, doesn't mean I won't still wipe the floor with your face, Maz," he called, and stepped forward only to be stopped by Theron's hand on his chest.

Daemon blinked at his general, surprised that he of all people had stopped a fight. "I would tell you to save it for the enemy," Theron said, "but I just put fifty credits on you taking Maz down in less than two minutes with Ragnar. So instead I'll say, maybe not in front of two entire battalions of regs?"

Daemon looked at the slightly smaller man for a moment, totally deadpan, then shot a glare at Maz and nodded. "Later, then," he said, the words directed at his fellow but less than friendly ARC trooper.

Maz looked over Orin's shoulder, who was holding his brother back in the same way Theron was with Daemon, and called out "How's the nose big bro?" he said with mock sympathy.

Daemon suddenly hip checked Theron, sending him stumbling back a step and lunged across the holotable, only to be caught frozen in midair. All eyes went to Erajinn, who stood with one hand extended, the strain of holding a grown man in armor visible on his face.

Theron looked between the two men and sighed. "Well, since it looks like we're not going to get any work done until this is settled, I vote we go find an out of the way cantina no one will care if we trash and get it over with. Kiro, if you'd put my ARC down, I'd appreciate it."

Erajinn grunted at Theron, before cutting a glare that would freeze most normal clones in their tracks at Daemon. "I don't know how long of a leash Theron gives you, but when we get on my ship. You. Behave. Understand?" he said with a whisper, barely containing his anger.

Something about the look in the Jedi's eyes made even the seasoned special operations trooper uncomfortable. "Uh, yeah. Understood, General," he sputtered.

Theron looked at the other Jedi, impressed. "Shab, Kiro. Even I didn't get that reaction after I annihilated an entire company of seps with an out of ammo sniper rifle and my lightsaber."

Erajinn dropped his hand, releasing Daemon so he faceplanted on the holotable, causing Maz to chuckle, which was quickly silenced when he too fell victim to his general's gaze. "Don't think I forgot about you. Unlike your brother, I can actually touch you." Erajinn said, causing the blue-and-red ARC trooper to gulp. The Jedi then turned to his friend, a warm smile returning to his face, "Sounds good to me."

Theron spun and started back down the ship's ramp, the grin on his face evident in his voice when he called back to the others. "We've got twelve hours till departure, so who's ready to get completely kriffing plastered and wreck a joint?"

The commandos quickly started down the ramp after their general. "Shouldn't we dump our armor first, sir?" Winter called, the sarcasm in his voice as biting as the season his name came from.

"Hey, Kiro's the cautious one. I say you do what you think you need to, and we'll all meet up in an hour or so. I'll send the location to your comms once I have one!" With that, the masked Jedi swaggered off of the ramp, heading for the nearest lift to the 1313 level.

Winter sighed, and he, Jaster, Digs, Vibro, and Viper all turned back towards Erajinn to ask about berth assignments. Breaker, Daemon, Sharp, and Horns all hurried after Theron, though they at least had the sense to hand their rifles to their less impulsive squadmates.

-1700 Hours - Coruscant - Level 1313-

Theron had been sitting in a dive bar in the most crime ridden level of Coruscant's underworld for the better part of an hour before the rest of the group finally showed up. But it turned out, even in extremely dangerous areas, the presence of four heavily armored commandos, even sans helmets and rifles, and an ARC trooper who hadn't ditched either of those things, were more than enough to keep the scum away. The only one who'd been dumb enough to cry, a hulking Trandoshan, had had to be dragged out back to the garbage heap after Daemon put a blaster bolt through his face without looking up from his drink. Theron had watched the alien drop, then shrugged and turned back to his Whyren's Reserve Corellian whiskey, already too buzzed to care as much as he should about the death of a gangster and probably a slaver.

By the time Erajinn had arrived with the other six of his men, and his own group of ARCs, the commandos had stripped out of their armor completely, leaving it in a pile next to their table. Even Daemon had added his helmet to the pile, and Theron was pretty sure the last time he had seen that helmet more than five feet from his captain was… never, now that he thought about it. Shab. Daemon must have drunk as much as he had, and Theron's head was swimming. Even so, the ARC stiffened suddenly as he saw the group enter the cantina, and Theron managed to turn around without falling off of the stool around their table.

Theron grinned under his mask. "Well, guess we're going to have to get Maz nice and drunk to make this a fair fight. I really don't want to lose those credits."

Erajinn dropped onto the stool next to Theron. "If I know anything about Maz, that shouldn't be too much of a problem. However, they make a mess? You're stuck running cleanup." he said, smirking over his drink.

Theron leveled a look at his friend, the annoyance obvious even through the narrow eye slit and mechanical eyes. "Eat osik, my friend. It's your soldier who's trying to pick a fight. I'm just here to collect on what's owed to me after Daemon finishes beating him into the floor."

"I'd slow up on the drinks if I were you, my friend." Erajinn said, "You might not have the credits to pay your tab at the end of the night. You remember back at the shipyards when Maz asked about Daemon's nose?"

"Bit hard to forget, since that wound up in you having to Force lift him over the planning table. And don't worry about my tab, the Temple's picking up the tab on this one. GAR had the last one, Daemon the one before that… point being, I haven't paid for a pint since I got out of medbay. Well, there was one time, but that was because I lost a bet."

"Stars, Theron. Can't say I approve, but I can't knock your resourcefulness. I talked to Winx after you ran into the lift. He told me that before the Alpha-class troopers got deployed to their units, Maz and Daemon had a pretty big beef going on. Petty stuff, really. One would score a few points higher on a live fire exercise than the other, you get the gist. They almost got put on ice a few times from the brawls that broke out because of their arguments. According to Winx, they love each other like brothers, but at the same time absolutely hate each other. Last time they met, Maz got the upper hand in a fist fight. Completely shattered Daemon's nose." Erajinn chuckled.

Theron grunted and turned back to his drink. "Shab. I've seen Daemon coming back from a loss. This is going to get bad. We might want to tell the men to be ready for containment once it kicks off."

"Containment?" Erajinn inquired, "You don't mean. . ."

"Kicking the osik out of everyone else in the bar if they get rowdy?" The grin in his voice was matched by a renewed, drunken one under his mask. "Now, where would be the fun in anything else?"

Erajinn rubbed his temples with his hands, "Eh, it can't be helped I guess." he said, resigned.

Theron rubbed his hands together gleefully. "Sounds like it's time for a fight, then. Hey Rags, what's the final count on the bets? I think Sharp said he transmitted these guy's bets to you while we waited."

Commander Ragnar, who had traded out his green-flamed armor for a set of nondescript street clothes called out to the Jedi from a few seats away, "We're almost split down the middle, General. Seven for Maz, Eight for Daemon. You can thank Winx for that little imbalance." He said as Winx nodded and grinned at the mention of his name from a booth in the bar. Maz heard this and turned to look at his brother, "You traitor!" he said in mock anger, punching the ARC trooper in the shoulder.

Theron looked back and forth between Maz and Daemon, the spread his hands and smacked them together. "Well, if you boys would hurry up, ditch the armor, and beat the everliving osik out of each other, I'd like to collect my winnings."

Daemon shrugged and began detaching plates from his bodysuit, stacking them with the commandos armor. "Ready when you are, nidraal," he said, casting a level look at Maz. However, Theron could see the look in Daemon's eyes he was used to having to read through body language. The look that meant he was getting ready to do some major damage to the enemy.

Theron knew he should probably be worried that Daemon had that look around one of his brothers, but he was deep enough into his third bottle of whiskey that he shrugged it off. Worst came to worst, he and Erajinn could break it up.

Maz rose up from his seat in one of the booths, armor already off, as he assumed a surprisingly firm stance, given his level of intoxication. "Just remember," Maz taunted, looking at his brother over closed fists, "Fordo isn't here to pick you up off the floor after you get knocked out like last time."

Daemon's level look transformed into a feral, predatory smile. "Bring it, little brother." Then he pounced, driving his brother back into the booth he had stood up from. The ARCs began pummeling each other, and the bar around them exploded into a flurry of fisticuffs. Theron quickly lost sight of his man when a body was slung across his table, knocking his whiskey over, as well as everyone else's drinks. "OY! That was my kriffing drink!"

Theron charged into the melee, Breaker and Vibro flanking him on either side, as they had so many times in the heat of battle. The first enemy they came across was the one who had thrown the drink-smasher, and Theron grabbed the Ikotchi by his horns and threw a headbutt into the middle of his face, his hard metal mask smashing the alien's nose flat against his face. But there was another enemy behind him, and another behind him. Within seconds, Theron and his commandos were in the middle of an entire bar of warring individuals.

Theron occasionally caught glimpses of both his and Erajinn's men, locked in combat with others in the bar, and Daemon and Maz wrestling on the floor. The brief glimpses he had oddly reminded him of small children wrestling, though no small child he had ever seen knew the kind of moves the two were using on each other. But then he was swept back into the fighting. Blood had been spilled the entire fight, but the first spilled by a blade was sudden. Theron was fighting back to back with Vibro when his next opponent pulled a shiv, lunging at the Jedi. Theron took the blade in the chest, luckily protected by the armor he hadn't bothered to take off before starting to drink. The Jedi growled, but before he could strike back, to disarm or disable he hadn't decided, Vibro was whipping past him, the knuckle blade extending from his gauntlet as he threw a punch directly into the man's throat. Once first lethal blood was drawn, things quickly devolved even further from where they had been.

Knives and vibroblades suddenly appeared all across the bar, in the hands of other patrons, as well as drawn from hidden pockets in the clone soldier's bodysuits. Even drunk, the clones were more than a match for the bar patrons, but in the crowded fighting of the bar there was no chance for them to attempt to employ non lethal techniques. The bodies quickly began to pile up, but even so they were badly outnumbered, even more so with two of their ARCs still busy scrumming on the floor. Eventually they were backed into a corner, formed into a semi-circle to cover all angles of attack. Theron had been fighting with a vibroblade he had taken from a fallen challenger, but he decided enough was enough.

An advancing challenger caught Theron's blade in the chest and his hand snapped down to his belt. The wave of enemies halted and stumbled back in surprise when the brilliant yellow blade of his lightsaber erupted. That only lasted for a moment before a human male with more bravery than sense opened his mouth. "It was a kriffing Jedi that killed Bynz!" he yelled. "Get 'em!"

Theron sighed and shifted his blade to a two-handed grip, preparing to cut into the group of drunken hostiles, when the blare of sirens erupted outside. A moment later, a group of police droids and heavily armored CSF officers came through the front door, stun batons at the ready. "Oh, shab," he muttered. "Why do I have to be drunk and holding my lightsaber? It's so much easier to hide getting tossed into lockup from Master Yoda when they don't realize the glowrod is a Jedi's weapon."

Daemon and Maz limped over to their group while the cops and droids dealt with the other patrons. "Yeah, well, don't think there's any hiding this many bodies, boss," Daemon said, voice slurred and muffled as he spoke through a freshly dislocated nose.

Theron dropped his head, stowing his lightsaber back on its loop as the cops advanced on their group. "Oh, we are so screwed," he said. "Did you at least get the fighting out of your system? And more importantly, do I get my credits?"

Daemon grunted. "Tie. Kriffing cops got here before I could get him in a lock."

Theron grunted in return, mimicking his captain. "Seen Erajinn?"

Winx answered that. "Saw him finish his drink, knock some Nikto out, then mutter somethin' about some 'business' he needed to attend to before slipping out the back. So in short, nothing out of the ordinary," he sighed.

"Wonderful," Theron said. "Of course the only sober one had the sense to duck out before it got… messy."

"It wouldn't be the first time the General has had to bail us out of the stockades." Orin chimed in with a chuckle.

"I'm never going to hear the end of this one, am I?" Theron asked.

"Never." All three of the ARC troopers under Erajinn's command said in unison.

"Osik."

-Coruscant: Level 1215, 2000 hours-

Erajinn smiled to himself as he walked away from the cantina, glad he was able to get out before the brawl started. However, he was slightly disappointed that he wouldn't be able to see Theron and his band of commandos beat the living daylights out of all the scum with them in the dingy establishment.

"Theron's sure gonna get an earful from Master Yoda if he catches wind of this," Erajinn thought as he walked through the open doors of a lift, punching in level 1215 as his desired destination, "I'll have to be sure to sit in on the disciplinary hearing once I bail 'em all out of the stockades.".

Usually, the sight of a Jedi in the lower undercity of Coruscant would cause quite a stir, as the force-wielding "saber jockeys" were not a welcome sight here. This wasn't Erajinn's first time traveling in the dingy underbelly of the city planet though, far from it. He knew all too well that it was necessary to travel anonymously. Adhering to this rule, the young Jedi always wore a black cloak with a hood, which he used to shroud his face and figure from any curious onlookers, his twin sabers tucked deep within the folds of his robes that were under the cloak. He made eye contact with no one on the lift, and used a special Force trick he had spent a great time refining. When traveling alone, he was able to contort the Force around him in a wide radius. When he explained it to a few other Jedi who wished to learn he described it as an "Area of effect mind trick". The minds people who passed near him were slightly affected, light enough to where most beings wouldn't notice, and were made to where the disguised Knight seemed so incredibly insignificant and unremarkable that most people passing by him would forget that he was even there, much less be able to recall his appearance several hours later. A very useful tool when one needed to disappear in a crowd. However, this ability had to be extremely toned down in order to prevent the opposite effect of happening, hence the cloak.

A tinny, droid voice echoed from the speakers in the elevator, signaling that the lift had arrived at Level 1215. He and a few other patrons got off at this location, and he disappeared once again into the night. He took a path very out of the way and unorthodox, flipping and climbing over rooftops and large sewage pipes to avoid being followed. This route would be ridiculously difficult for most non-Force sensitive beings, and a hassle for even most Jedi, but Erajinn had traveled this way many times before to the point where each slide and jump had become second nature. When he reached the edge of a roof overlooking a dimly-lit alley, he leapt off, landing on the ground with a level of silence only Jedi could produce. He quickly walked to one of the various doors lining the bottom of one of the nondescript apartment buildings that dotted the lower levels, the anticipation almost causing him to break his relaxed and inconspicuous appearance. He tapped a seven digit code into the access panel, and the door slid open. Erajinn stepped into the dark apartment, the door closing behind him leaving the only source of light being a half-covered window on the other end of the room, covered the floor in streaks of fluorescent light. He sighed, relaxing as he took off his cloak and laid it across one of the chairs on the left side of the room. As soon as he set down his cloak, the hair stood up on the back of his neck as he sensed the presence of another being behind the door to his back, causing him to stiffen. He reached out further in the Force, the presence became familiar, and he relaxed once more.

"The dark and mysterious thing, a little excessive, no?" he called out.

His taunt was received by a mischievous giggle, and then Erajinn felt the figure lunge forwards out of their hiding spot, tackling him as the two landed on the small bed close to the door. He looked up from his pinned position into a pair of green eyes, the color not too different from his lightsabers. Even in the dimly lit room, he could read the grin of the figure from the eyes.

He smiled back, "You're gonna have to change it up every now and then, I won't lie when I say it's getting old."

"Oh, shut up. You know you like it." The figure called back, leaning into the light to reveal a thin female face, fair skinned, framed by shoulder-length bronze hair that fell down and tickled Erajinn's face.

"It's good to see you, Lana." Erajinn breathed. He felt the weight come off him as the female sat back on her haunches, a mock pout appearing on her face.

"It's good to see me? Stars you're unbelievable. I thought we'd been gone long enough that I'd been at least upgraded to a great." Lana said sarcastically.

"Now you're the one talking too much," Erajinn said as he sat up, grabbing her by the collar of her robes and pulling her down into a warm, long kiss. He chuckled as he felt her fumble at her waist, removing a long cylindrical object from her belt and tossing it to the floor. "One of these days she's gonna run me through with that saber of hers" he said to himself, his mind focusing back on the kiss. Lana broke away, slipping into a soft embrace, resting her head on Erajinn's chest.

"It's been too long." She sighed.

"One rotation is too long." Erajinn responded, stroking her hair. He felt her reach up and begin to remove his robes, and Erajinn could feel all the pent up anxiety, rage, and doubt flow away. The same as every time the two were together.

-Coruscant, Level 1215: 0300 hours-

Erajinn was awoken by the sound of his comlink, beeping incessantly from where he had left it on the floor, next to the rest of his armor and robes. He rolled over, groaning, as he Force pushed the comlink further across the room, silencing it. He turned away to see that Lana was already gone, the indent from where she laid next to him still warm. He sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, to see a light coming from the bathroom across the apartment.

He called out to Lana as he threw his covers off, and began to regretfully put his robes and armor back on, "It's that time already? Seems like it gets shorter and shorter every time."

Erajinn saw Lana's head, hair wet from a recent shower, peek out from the door, "Glad I wasn't the only one who thinks that."

These "meetings" had been going on for quite a while, at least before the Battle of Geonosis if Erajinn could remember correctly. Lana, a Jedi Guardian, led the 82nd Scout Regiment in the GAR. A small and modular unit, their size and effectiveness sent them all across the galaxy providing early support for larger units. Combine that with the sporadic nature of the 49th Ranger's assignments, it made for a very difficult time trying to get together when both of their units were on Coruscant. As difficult and tedious as it was to maintain a relationship given these conditions, plus the fact that it was one of the cardinal violations of the Jedi Order, Erajinn prided himself in thinking the pair had gotten pretty good at it. No one knew, of course. He hadn't even let Ragnar or any of the ARCs in on his secret, the four people he was the most open with.

Some might have called it overkill, but it was a small price to pay in order to preserve one of the only things that Erajinn thought kept him sane. Back when they first began to meet, they were set on abandoning the Order together and starting a life on a distant Outer Rim planet, far away from any of the Jedi's misplaced piousness and the Galactic Republic's ridiculous politics.

Then, the Clone Wars started.

The both of them each agreed that it was not the Jedi's place to involve themselves in the conflicts, they both also acknowledged the Order had strayed far from its original ideals, becoming puppets of the Senate and the Chancellor. They shared their opinions and views on the Force with few other Jedi in the Order, namely the late Jedi Master Qui Gon Jinn, one of the first casualties of these cursed wars.

Once the wise Jedi Master had passed, the two confided in the only other people they felt they could trust with their "radical" views. Each other. They would sit and talk for hours, each just being fulfilled by being in the other's company. One night, the pair decided that their original plan of fleeing to the Outer Rim would still happen, just with a short delay. While they didn't exactly agree with the Council's decision to involve the Order in the Clone Wars, putting them in charge of the vast Clone Army that had seemingly appeared out of thin air, they felt duty-bound as Knights of the Order to see it through until the end.

Lana and Erajinn finished preparing themselves, each gathering their cloaks and sabers and making for the door, bumping into each other. A bright laugh escaped Lana's lips, and Erajinn made sure to store it's sound in his memory. She brought up a hand and cradled the face of the taller figure with pure, unadulterated affection cast all over her expression.

Erajinn grabbed the hand, looking softly into his partner's eyes. "Some day, I promise, we'll be out of here. Leave it all behind. Just gotta get past these stupid Clone Wars."

Lana smiled, "I know, and I'll wait. Just be sure to not die before we get there."

"For you? Anything" he replied, leaning down to kiss her before opening the door to the apartment. "After you, Knight Goren."

"Why thank you, Knight Kiro," She responded, giving a mock bow before stepping outside, "Until next time." Lana said over her shoulder before using the Force to leap up onto a neighboring building, disappearing over a rooftop.

Erajinn stood there for a moment, staring at the spot where he saw the love of his life disappear. He snapped out of his stupor, noticing the tears forming in his eyes. He wiped them away in haste, before performing his own Force leap onto a neighboring rooftop, running along the route he had taken to arrive at the apartment, regret obvious in his movements.

-Coruscant - Level 1313 - 203rd Precinct - 0800 hours-

"Will he please pick up his kriffing comlink?" Theron muttered, pacing back and forth in the holding cell. He and the thirteen clone troopers occupied one of the three temporary cells in CSF's 203rd precinct, and while he paced they sat on the benches attached to the walls, nursing massive hangovers, as well as various aches and pains. Out of deference to their status as active duty military and a Jedi, they had been allowed to keep all of their gear other than their weapons. Frankly, they still could have easily busted out without weapons, but doing so would have involved casualties, ones none of them wanted to inflict on cops just doing their jobs.

As a result, Theron was pinging Erajinn's commlink for what felt like the millionth time when a response finally came.

"Kiro here, to what do I owe the pleasure?" the Jedi said over the commlink, obvious sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"Took you long enough," Theron snorted, ignoring the fact that he was about to be asking for a favor. "203rd Precinct, 1313. We need someone to 'guarantee our good behavior on release." He made air quotes with his free hand around the last part.

"My friend, the CSF are the least of your worries now. I'll be there in ten." Erajinn snorted.

"Oh, shab," Theron said. "How bad is it, and what do you know?"

"I haven't heard much, been kinda busy. The little I have heard, well, it's not good. I didn't think it was possible, this coming from a guy who was apprenticed to him, but Master Yoda? He. Is. Pissed."

Theron, as usual, seized onto the wrong part of what had been said, or more specifically how it had been said. "Busy, eh? Busy with someone, or just you and your lonely left hand?"

"Oh y'know, a deathstick here and there, various other malfeasances. I think you of all people would understand." the other Knight responded, Theron could hear the smile through his voice.

"Uh-huh, I'm sure," he muttered, then his alcohol brined, barely recovered brain registered the important part of the conversation. "Wait. Yoda's mad? Master I-train-younglings-with-infinite-patience, hasn't-lost-his-cool-in-eight-hundred-years Yoda?"

"Closer to nine hundred, but not mad, pissed. We need to get you off-planet before he beats you over the head with his cane and some life lessons. I should know, I lived it for six years."

"Understood. How far out are you?"

"Closer than my good sense tells me I should be" A voice called out from the hallway, the grinning figure the voice belonged to walking behind a pair of CSF officers.

"Our savior has arrived!" The mocking comment, unexpectedly, came not from Theron but from Daemon.

Theron tossed his captain a quick glare smile combo, at which point Erajinn realized the younger Knight had removed his mask, revealing a face he hadn't seen since Theron was unconscious in medbay. The scarred man turned the look towards his Jedi friend, the glare disappearing as it morphed into a full smile. "Thanks for the bailout, Kiro. And don't worry, they decided to call it self-defense, even with the seven cold ones. We were better about leaving them alive than I thought we were!" he said cheerfully.

"Seven?!" Erajinn exclaimed, shock overwriting his previously smug look, "Ah, stang. Well, we definitely need to get you out of here before the friends of those bodies turn up looking for payback," he said as he nodded to one of the officers, pressing a button on his comlink that opened the cell doors. He turned back, looking at the group of disheveled soldiers, "Well? Come on. Oh, and Theron, forget everything I said about the mask. Put that thing back on. You've terrorized 1313 enough for one day."

"Don't worry about their friends," Theron responded, "if they have any they're in a medbay somewhere getting patched up." He scooped his mask up from the bench as he passed on his way out of the cell. "And let's see how pretty you are after a kriffing Sith blasts you with Force lightning while your friend stands around being useless."

"Maybe if a certain someone was able to lift me over a vat of molten metal, I would have actually been able to walk." Erajinn called back.

"Ladies, you're both pretty," Horns said, tiredly interjecting himself into the conversation. "Both the sergeants are still too hungover to tell you both to shut up, and I'm pretty sure the ARCs are hoping for another fight, but I'm here to be the voice of reason, and I say that we should probably get offworld before some jetti thought police come to get us."

Theron snorted at that. "Horns, I didn't know you had it in you!" he exclaimed. "And thought police? That sounds… like something Windu and Yoda would come up with. Lead the way, Kiro!" The group of Jedi and clones made their way out of the precinct, to where a GAR shuttle was waiting for them.

Theron looked at Kiro, but the other Jedi looked as nonplussed as he did. A clearing throat came from behind him, where Daemon stood holding up Vibro and Jaster by the arms. "You're not the only one who made some calls, General," the ARC said. "They already pulled all our armor out of evidence. We're good to go."

Ragnar spoke up then. "In that case we'd better get moving," he said, "cause that looks like a Temple speeder to me." His pointed finger indicated an approaching vehicle, with the mark of the Jedi Order emblazoned on the nose and sides.

Theron's face drained of color. "Oh, shab."

"Go, go, go!" Winx shouted, shoving the Jedi and his fellow ARCs towards the shuttle the commandos were already scrambling towards. A short run, and scuffle when Daemon tried to trip Maz and Maz hit him in the face again, adding to his numerous bruises, later they all managed to get aboard, the pilot punching them away from the platform right as the Jedi speeder reached it.

The pilot of the shuttle dodged and weaved through traffic, trying to escape the pursuing Jedi, until finally it seemed they succeeded. A few minutes of flight later, the larty set down just in front of the ramp leading into the bowels of Unshaken, where the last few pallets of supplies and machinery were being loaded. The group bailed off, rushing towards the ramp.

And right into Master Yoda, Theron nearly running straight into the diminutive green alien in his haste. "Oh, stang," Erajinn muttered, as Theron let loose with a much stronger string of Huttese and Mando'a invective.

Yoda raised an eyebrow. "Strong, your language is, Knight Keth," he said, then turned towards the clones behind them, weighted down by the armor they carried from the shuttle. "Captain, Commander. Get your men aboard your ship, you should."

Ragnar saluted, slightly uncertainly. "Yessir, General. You heard the Jedi, everyone on board." The clones moved past them, all of them glancing back at the two Jedi they were leaving behind. Orin sent a face full of false regret their way, then waved cheerfully and followed his brothers up the ramp.

"Kriffing traitor," Theron muttered. And was surprised once more when Yoda began chuckling. "Ah, Master, about last night…"

Yoda held up a hand to forestall him, still chuckling. "Deal with that shortly, we will. Knight Kiro, curious I am. Accompanied Knight Keth, your men did, but you did not. An explanation, you have?"

"Ah, er. . . Master, I. . ." Erajinn stammered, Theron almost letting a chuckle slip out, this being one of the few times he ever saw the usually sly Jedi Knight get tripped up, "I met up with a. . . confidential informant. You remember my old contacts we used when I was your apprentice? I've still kept a few in contact," the Jedi was able to get out before staring down at his boots.

"Master, Erajinn's full of osik, excuse the language," Theron said, causing the other Knight's head to snap around and stare at him, trying to figure out where he was going with this. "The troopers and I had every intention of getting massively wasted, and this little control freak decided he'd rather get some fresh air than play nanny to a bunch of drunken soldiers. He ducked out pretty early in the night, spent most of it just wondering around 1313 scaring criminals based on what he told me."

Yoda seemed to accept the explanation, but a frown creased his wrinkled face nevertheless. "Hm. Understandable, that is," he said. "Think of yourself as a soldier, do you, Theron?"

The scarred Knight shrugged. "You may not have spent as much time with me as you did Erajinn, master, but you know I've never exactly been a model Jedi. I like the clones, and they like me. Honestly, Master? I feel more at home with the soldiers than I ever did at the Temple."

"Hm. A Mandalorian Jedi, more comfortable with soldiers than with other Jedi," Yoda mused. "Make sense, it does, in a way. Try not to get too comfortable, you will. A debacle like last night, afford we cannot. For you it is fortunate that the dead men were criminals. A bounty, there was on them." The alien pulled a small datacard from his robes, flicking it towards Theron, who caught it on reflex. "On the card, the credits are. Be careful, young Knight. Work out this well, things rarely do. Much disturbance in you, I sense. Careless, you cannot be." Yoda turned back towards Erajinn. "Erajinn, a good Jedi, you are. Working with Knight Keth, you will be for the foreseeable future. Help him."

"Of. . . of course, Master." Erajinn said, dipping his head in a bow.

Yoda turned to walk back to his clone escort, a smile spreading across his face. Erajinn began to relax before hearing the old Grandmaster call out again, "Hm, one more thing to say to you, I do, my old Padawan."

"Yes, master?"

"Despite the state and views of the Council, love, you must never forsake." said the ancient Jedi leaning in so that only Erajinn could hear, "More discreet, however, you could be.". Erajinn attempted to sputter out a response, but his old master simply chuckled, hobbling away back to his escorting clone troopers.

Theron stepped towards his friend, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "Well, that went better than expected. Ready to go? I need some caf and water, or I'll be useless for the rest of the day."

"Uh. . .yea. Let's go. I think we've overstayed our welcome." Erajinn said, his friend catching him out of his shocked stupor.

Theron nodded, and the two walked up the ramp into the Unshaken, towards their waiting men, and the waiting war.