"For all the acts we do to preserve the galaxy, from such an arrogance that all we do is right and just, I wonder if there is a counter-effect that is created, that strikes back at us. Exar Kun, Ulic Qel-Droma, Malak, Revan, you... all Jedi." - Zez-Kai El

She had nearly made it to the cockpit before Vrook intercepted her, a shaken Avri trailing close behind him. The half snarl on his face was a look Revan was both all too familiar with and in absolutely no mood to handle at the moment. She turned to look the middle-aged Master straight in the eye, challenging him to contradict her as she stated:

"I protected us."

"You," the Master replied, clearly unimpressed, "acted without thought."

"I acted without hesitation. There's a difference."

"You chose aggression over the orders of your Master!"

"I chose defense instead of letting us all get killed! The only reason you're upset is that I was right and you were wrong."

"You…" Whatever Vrook wished to call her was cut off as Kavar entered the hallway, Ga'el leaning heavily against his side with a disturbingly blank expression on her pale face.

"We do not have time for this, Vrook. You may discipline your Padawan when there are less pressing matters at hand."

Both Revan and Vrook shut their mouths grudgingly, a tension thick enough to slice with a blade still standing between them as Malak entered the area. He wiped away a thin trickle of blood running from a cut on his cheek as he appraised the situation.

"What now?" Malak asked, ignoring the tension hovering in the room.

Kavar nodded approvingly at his Padawan, and then addressed the assembled Jedi.

"I have spoken to the Zabrak unit. Their ship is not currently in operating condition. Considering the size of our vessel, we have no means of transporting the soldiers, let alone the civilians remaining on world. Their technician says the colonists may have the pieces required to fix their ship, assuming we are able to hold off the Mandalorians long enough for him to perform the repairs.

As Padawan Frey," he nodded to Ga'el as she raised her head from his shoulder, "is able to sense the movements and some intentions of our opponents, she will remain with Master Vrook and me as we speak to the Zabrak commander. The rest of your will escort the tech to the colony to speak with the civilians about the parts, and give him whatever help he needs. Should we have orders for you to pass onto the cologists, we will be in communication."

"Master," Malak interjected, "surely Revan and I can be more useful in battle preparations that in gathering engine parts."

"Now is not the time for pride, Padawan." Kavar shot Malak a warning look, silencing the male. Revan could feel his discontent through the bond and returned his unspoken objections. They were Jedi, not children; if a battle was coming they should be part of it instead of dragging back engine parts. Revan met the smug eyes of Vrook and felt her mood sour further. Her Master was obviously pleased she would be forced into a state of obedient inaction rather than being of actual assistance.

Kavar was right, however. They didn't have the time to argue. Judging by Ga'el's increasingly white face, the Mandalorians were become more excited for the impending battle by the second. If they were going to find parts for the transport ship, it would have to be now. Revan gestured for the two males to follow her and stalked towards the emergency exit hatch that would take them to the outer hull of the ship.

Half a dozen Zabrak troops had nearly reached the ship by the time all three Padawans had climbed onto the hull. Revan had to give credit to them for apparently being prepared for every eventuality as they easily navigated their small boat across the still rippling lake towards them. Revan saw Malak's hand move towards the lightsaber at his side as a small white orb flew from the boat towards them, darting around the Jedi and bleeping excitedly as the boat bumped into the side of the ship. One of the soldiers, the commander Revan judged by the higher quality of his jacket, saluted the three sharply.

"Permission to come aboard."

Revan glanced back at her companions and sighed quietly to herself. Avri stood in near wonder at the army personnel, reminded Revan just how little of the Galaxy outside the Jedi Temples the young Twi'lek had seen, while Malak eyed the chattering sphere warily, his hand remaining on the hilt of his saber.

Looks like I'm in charge of this little operation…

"Permission granted." She replied, stepping out of the way as all but one of the Zabrak boarded the Jedi vessel. "The Master's await you in the control room."

The commander nodded, leading his unit into the ship. Revan then turned to the one remaining soldier in the boat. He looked young, only slightly older than herself, possibly even the same age as Malak. He starred back up at her quietly, one hand remaining on the steering column of the boat, with an odd passion glinting in his eyes as he awaited her orders.

"You're the engineer, than?"

"Bao-Dur, Sir. Chief Technical Officer of the Iridonian First."

"Padawan Revan, of the Jedi Order. This is Padawan Malak and Avri, of the same." A small line of confusion appeared on his brow at her introduction, but he remained silent as she continued. "Shall we?" Revan more stated than asked, climbing down into the transport. They waited until Malak and Avri had climbed aboard as well before Revan nodded at the male and they started moving towards the shore, the white orb screeching as it was suddenly forced to race to keep up.

"Friend of yours?" She asked as they made away across the lake, some amusement creeping into her tone despite the dire circumstances as the ball continued to do laps around Malak's head whenever it could, obviously frustrating the Padawan to no end.

"The remote? Just something a built as a kid, Padawan." An odd hesitation came before he used her titled. "I haven't been able to get rid of him since."

Remote bleeped indignantly, breaking from its orbit around Malak's head to do a quick, noisy lap about Bao-Dur, then returning to pester the increasingly annoyed Jedi once more. The tech remained tense as the Remote circled him, paying no attention to the playful droid as he concentrated on steering them to shore. Revan watched the male curiously and, as they landed the boat, gave into her impulse, reaching quietly through the Force to scan the Zabrak's mind. Her breath caught in her throat for a moment at the solid wall of carefully controlled rage she found underneath, making her falter slightly as she climbed out of the boat. Both Malak and Bao-Dur reached out a hand to steady her, and Revan bit her lip slightly at the surprised look that flashed over the tech's face as she flinched away from his grasp.

An awkward silence feel over the group for a moment as Revan straightened her robes.

"You really hate the Mandalorians, don't you?" she asked.

All three males looked at her in surprise, Bao-Dur actually rocking back on his heels at the directness of her question. He looked at her warily, and Revan knew this wasn't a male who was at peace with his own inner rage and hatred.

"You see what they've done to this colony, and to a hundred worlds like it. What kind of creatures could do this to innocent people?"

If he were a Jedi, Revan would speak to him of focusing on his love of the victims rather than his hatred of the aggressors, of the Code, and the temptations of Darkness. But he wasn't a Jedi, he was just a tech, and so all she knew to do was nod wordlessly at his statement. He met her eyes silently for a second, searching for something in her as she had in him, then suddenly turned and led them towards the rubble of the settlement. Revan jogged slightly to catch up with him, walking quietly at his side as Malak and Avri trailed shortly behind. For several minutes the only sounds were the gleeful blips of the Remote and Malak's muttered threats and curses as he attempted to drive it away. Malak had never been too lucky with droids.

"I heard Jedi could read thoughts," he commented as they reached the half way point to their destination, "so you must be one. I've never heard of a Padawan, however. Is that a different kind of Jedi?"

"It's more like a Jedi in training," Revan confessed, relieved as the silence evaporated. "We learn under Jedi Masters. Once we know enough we become Jedi Knights."

"You mean the Republic didn't send real Jedi to help?" he looked at her out of the corner of his eye, dismay creeping into his voice.

"We are real Jedi," Revan snapped back. "You see the lightsaber? You think they just hand these out?"

Bao-Dur's frown increased, but he said nothing more. The rest of the walk was spent in tense silence between the two.

The sight awaiting the four at the settlement was even worse than Revan had anticipated. Rotting corpses still lay strewn amongst the rubble, filling the air with a thick stench that caused Avri to place his sleeve over his nose to breath. Shattered glass and still smoldering ruins littered the streets and collapsed buildings everywhere they turned. Were it not for the life forms she could sense, many of them only faintly, through the Force, Revan would have thought all the civilians in the area were dead. As the three Padawan's paused to take in the carnage around them, Bao-Dur pushed on, a sharp the echo through the Force of an increased in his own tightly pent up rage his only apparent reaction to the sight.

"These colonies have sealed underground bunkers for the colonists to hide," he explained as he led them on a weaving path through the scorched grasslands far beyond the settlement. "They were designed incase of raiders though, not to withstand this kind of invasion. What we find may not be a pretty sight."

He was right, though not for the reasons he had anticipated. Revan had remained as close to stoic as possible during their tour of the ravaged town. The sight that greeted them once they reached the bunkers, however, brought bile into her mouth and caused Avri to rush to the side to empty the small contents of his stomach into a burnt bush. The hidden doors in the mountain face remained safely sealed; she could sense the still lingering life on the other side of them. Bordering the hidden entryway, however, was a gristly sight. The charred skeletal remains of several humanoids, Revan could only assume former Zabrak settlers, had been secured to the cliff face in a standing position along the bunker doors, left in a morbid mockery of a standing watch over the other civilians.

"Get them down," she whispered hoarsely, the acid of her stomach still burning the back of her throat, "Malak, Avri, get them down before we open the doors."

The three Padawans got swiftly to work as Bao-Dur set about attempting to find and access the control panel which would allow him to contact the survivors in the bunker. Even the Remote seemed to sense the oppressive weight of the moment, hovering quietly near the ground off to the side in calm observation of the sentients.

The question of why the bunker had been left untouched burned in Revan, combining with the many other inconsistencies of their trip. The Mandalorians had obviously known where the civilians were, and the desecrated state of those who had not made it into the bunker in time left little doubt that the warrior race had no issue with the slaughter of the innocent and uninvolved. Why hadn't they pressed forward? The bunker had not been designed to withstand real military technology; a single Mandalorain could have easily breeched its defenses and slaughtered the colonists within like they were drugged gizka. The only answer she could conceive of was they were bait. Now that the Republic had declared to defend worlds against them, the Mandalorians had set a trap to see what the Republic reaction to an attack would be.

But once they had seen how few had been sent to defend such an unprofitable world, why hadn't they simply killed the Iridonians in orbit? The Mandalorians clearly had the superior numbers; there was no reason to bring it to land.

Their commander wishes to fight a Jedi. But they shot the Iridonian ship down first, long before we arrived. How could they know the Jedi were coming?

It made no sense. It was possible the Mandalorians could have simply been setting traps throughout the Outer and Mid Rim in hopes of meeting a Jedi scouting party. But how could the Mandalorians have known that the Order would come to investigate a world with survivors on it? How had they known what to bait the trap with? It was possible they had learned such things during the war with Exar Kun…but still. It didn't feel right to the Padawan. The war with Exar Kun had been a Jedi matter to begin with. There was little reason to assume that simply because the Republic had declared war that the pacifistic Order would be swiftly brought into it. Unless...

Her line of thought was cut off as the walkie-talkie on her hip crackled to life, Kavar's sharp voice slicing through the air as she pressed the button to accept the incoming message.

"Padawan, Frey has sensed the Mandalorians are about to begin their invasion. The army and I will do what we can from the ships to prevent their landing. Master Vrook will be joining you to defend the civilians. Hold your position until then."

The bait. He wants us to wait with the bait.

"Master," Revan interjected quickly, "I don't think that's a good idea…"

"There is no time for arguments, Padawan. These are my orders." The link cut off, leaving Revan with only static to growl at as she tossed the device angrily to the side. She liked her lips, looking at the anxious face of Avri, and the curious ones of Malak and Bao-Dur.

"He's telling us to wait in the trap until the Mandalorians decide to spring it." She snapped, pacing quickly as she took in the surrounding area. "The bunkers are the more secure area of the colony, they'll expect us to try and hold them with civilians inside."

All four turned at the loud sound of blaster fire striking metal as some kind of Mandaliorian drop ship came into view, only to be shot down by the Jedi vessel's turrets. It screeched loudly through the air before slamming into the ground beyond their sight, the resounding explosion that shook the dirt beneath their feet the only conformation of it's destruction they could perceive outside of the Force.

"Bao-Dur, open that bunker. We need to get those people of there before they manage to land."

The tech looked at her apprehensively "There is no other safe location on the colony."

"No," she snapped back, "there is not a single safe location on this whole planet. And since the enemy knows that, they assume we'll stay here, where we think it's safe. So this is, now, the most dangerous place we could be. Open. That. Door."

He stared at her for another long moment, and then moved to obey. Revan watched the sky anxiously as he spoke to the civilians within, the doors finally groaning as they unsealed and opened to reveal the two dozen survivors of the initial Mandalorian raid.

The practice invasion. She thought ruefully as the colonists came out of the bunker, blood matting their clothing and obvious signs of hunger and fatigue rolling off them. The sky remained clear, after the initial ship no more had yet attempted to land.

A wave of gasps and moans went through the crowd of survivors as they took in the scene around them, the charred remains of their friends, though no longer holding a morbid vigil over them, still scattered around them, black clouds of smoke rising over a hill from where the Mandalorian ship had crashed. An older looking male stepped forward from the crowd, starring at the four young adults in shock and anger.

"This is our rescue team? A group of kids?!"

"I'm afraid the grown ups are busy protecting Taris." Revan replied coolly, looking the angry male in the face. "And the ones here are off trying to stop the Mandalorians from landing again, so you'll just have to make due."

Panic rippled through the crowd at her words, and she could here more than one Zabrak let out a strangled sob at the news. The older male, apparently taking the role of leader of the survivors, started in shock, and then nearly shouted in rage at the short woman.

"The Mandalorians are still here, and you ordered us out of the bunkers?! Are you mad? We need to get back in immediately!"

"No!" Revan shouted back, her voice drowned out by the ensuing chaos of the colonists attempting to rush back into their bunker. "Wait!"

They paid her no heed, one shoving her back to land heavily against Malak when she attempted to physically stop them.

"Stop!" Malak roared, the crowd turning to regard him with wide eyed fear as he activated his lightsaber and brought it up, standing as a truly intimidating figure among the shaken survivors. A hushed silence fell over the group as they turned to regard the four in a new light.

"You are Jedi?" one female whispered. "They've sent Jedi for us?"

"Jedi or not!" the male snarled, reestablishing his position as leader, "They're only children. We can't trust them to protect us."

"You," Revan stated coldly, moving to stand next to the towering Malak, "will listen. Or, in all likelihood, you will die."

A mummer rose up in the crowd once more, the group dividing into those prepared to follow the Jedi, even if they were only kids, and those staunchly refusing to obey.

"Listen," Revan continued, "I don't care if you follow me or not. If you stay here, the Mandalorians will find you and they will kill you, but that is your choice. Anyone who wants to survive, listen to me."

"Please," Avri pleaded to the group, "Revan knows what she's doing." He looked at her worriedly, not understanding why they survivors wouldn't follow her.

"They're Jedi. Mostly" Bao-Dur's voice sounded, "Protectors of the Galaxy. Who else can we trust, if not them?" Revan smirked at his words, even if he had qualified that they weren't whole Jedi yet. It never seized to amaze her how much respect that simply titled garnered. A general rustling went through the crowd as they looked at one another, uncertainty still hanging visibly in the air.

"Look, I'm not asking any of you to fight the Mandalorians or rush into battle. I only want to hide you in a different location, one the enemy will not immediately think of once they start attacking."

The female who had spoken before stepped forward, nodding at Revan as she replaced the older male as the voice of the group. "We will do as you say, Jedi."

She could have sighed in sheer relief, but managed to contain her gratitude to a short nod. "Excellent. I want you to hide in the remains of the settlement. The Mandalorians believe they already destroyed the area, there will be no reason for them to even go near it." She paused, considering for a second. "I will need one volunteer to stay behind. We need parts to repair our ship so we can escape. We cannot hold the Mandalorians off forever, we need to find the parts and repair the ship to move you all off world before they overwhelm us." A young male stepped forward, volunteering to lead them to what remained of their ships.

The ground shuddered once more, drawing everyone's attention to the skies as the battle seemed to begin in earnest. Blasters fired both from the ground and the sky as the ships fired at each other. One vessel turned, starting to head towards the area where they stood before being suddenly cut off as the Jedi vessel took to the air once more, waving between the enemy ships in a desperate distraction from the world below.

Concern swept through the rest of the crowd, but the female Zabrak only nodded. Turning to her fellow colonists, she called for them to follow her lead and began the march to the ruins in the distance. Revan nodded in approval as they made their way, turning to Avri as soon as they were out of sight.

"Avri, I need you to go with Bao-Dur and our friend here to retrieve the parts. Call for Ga'el if you need help while searching for them or to bringing them back to the ship, she'll tell you what to do." She handed him her longer saber, smiling at his shocked expression as she took his long vibroblade in trade. "You may need that. Make sure not to get into any trouble, I'll be very upset if something happens to it."

Avri grasped her saber in near reverence, activating it to swing it experimentally before turning back to look down at her.

"What about you two? Aren't you coming?" He asked worriedly.

"And miss the springing of the trap?" She scoffed with a small forced grin, "Not on your life. Malak and I will stay here, defending the bunker with Vrook, just like Kavar told us." Revan stepped away from the males, moving to reseal the bunker doors as she spoke.

"But there's no one in there…" Avri wondered slowly.

"No one else knows that." She remained him, and the male grinned.

"Good luck."

"You too."

Revan allowed the false smile to slip away as Avri and the two Zabrak passed over a hill and faded from sight, her look grim as she turned back to Malak. The male had already kneeled into a meditative pose as she approached him once more, brining a humorless smile to her face.

"I suppose that is really the only course of action available while we wait for them." She murmured, coming to kneel beside him. He reached out a hand as she closed her eyes, placing it on her knee closest to him. She placed her own on top of it, wrapping her fingers around his much larger hand as they both slipped into communion with the Force, the screeching of blaster fire and roar of ships echoing in the background while they awaited their own part in the battle.