Iron Skin

Author's note: Hope you guys have been enjoying the story so far. I'd really appreciate more feedback on what you'd like to see later on or any suggestions about the character's so reviews and open criticism are more than welcome.

John walked over to the area where his father's old Mandalorian armor. It was stored in an area on the wall next to the weapons cache. Instead of being a full body suit, which would weigh the wearer down and greatly reduce their maneuverability, it was divided into hundreds of different sections that all fit to the body so that movement flowed much smoother.

His father was one of the few Mandalorians who was able to have a complete set of beskar'gam (iron skin) armor. It was an appropriate name because armor like this could deflect blaster bolts and has even been known to deflect lightsabers. John didn't look at the helmet because he had his own helmet, but he did notice that there were some modifications to the armor. On the chest piece the armor had the symbol of the Jedi Order a lightsaber with wings on either side of the lightsaber. John also noticed that the symbol was painted entirely in gray.

This hit John with a ton of emotion that he hadn't expected. Normally in the Mandalorian culture one would dye something gray when they were mourning the loss of a loved one. Seeing it on his father's armor really touched John in a way that he hadn't expected. John recovered from the emotion quickly and put that part of his past out of his mind. If he were to succeed in this mission he needed to be here one hundred percent. John took his work clothes off and found the undergarments that he'd need to wear when he was wearing this armor. As he took his shirt off he heard a gasp from behind him. He didn't need to turn around to know who it was and considering the volume he guessed they had all come down to see what he was up to.

"I thought you were all asleep?" John said. He turned and saw his entire crew was there including Alfred. Cracken was looking at John with a series of different emotions on his face. John guessed that it was due to what they had all seen on his back. "John if you want us to help you in this crusade of yours, you have to be able to trust us, and you need to tell us what happened to your back." Cracken said. John looked at each of them in turn and his gaze came upon Alfred last. He looked back at his father's armor and remembered the symbolism of gray in Mandalorian culture.

He looked back at the others who were looking at him warily and said "I don't want to repeat myself so take a seat and don't ask questions." They all came forward and sat down around him except for Alfred. John kept looking at the armor as if it were his anchor.

"When I was taken from the Temple fourteen years ago, I never knew why at least not until I escaped. I always wondered while I was being trained, why me? Why was I the one who was taken? Why was I taken? Was I ever going to free myself of this chain that seemed determined to keep me down?"

John's voice changed as he kept speaking. "Count Dooku's methods were… harsh to say the least. If I didn't do something properly he'd hit me and tell me that I was worthless. When I grew older the punishments became more severe. If I messed up once in something that he was trying to teach me, my punishment would be a beating with a very tough stick. When I started learning how to use the Force, he'd shoot lightning from his fingertips and said that I would be purified by pain." John looked away from the armor and looked at the others who were sitting around him. He saw looks of horror on the faces of Soniee and Lagos. Both Amis and Korkie were looking at him differently. Cracken and Alfred had looks of rage on their faces and he could tell that they wanted to say something but they refrained from doing so.

"Looking back I know that I went through all of that pain because it was going to prepare me for something much more difficult to go through later on."

"Are you referring to becoming a spy and trying to conceal your existence from your family?" Cracken asked.

John nodded and said "After I escaped I found the Jedi who was assigned to investigate the reason as to why two people on Corellia were dead from an apparent suicide when in truth there was no suicide."

Cracken remembered this because the woman whom he had been dating and then married prior to the Clone Wars was a Corellian. He knew that she had been friends with the family who had died and it was very difficult for her to get over their loss. In all of their travels and battles John had failed to mention that piece of information. "So that's why Dooku tried to kill you, because you had reported to the police what had occurred in that apartment." Airen said quietly.

John nodded and said "And not a day goes by that I wish that I could take back what I did." Hearing these words and the way he said them, Airen knew that John was telling the truth.

Airen walked over to John and put a hand on his shoulder and said "John I don't think any of us will be able to understand what you went through, but I do think that we can all agree that you aren't the person that Dooku wanted."

John looked at him and gave him a big grin "Yeah I'm definitely not that person. If I were I'd be even more terrifying than an ancient Sith Lord."

"Speaking of Count Dooku were you going to tell us what you were planning on doing now that our aunt's body is in custody of the Senate?" Korkie asked.

John gave Korkie a look and said "The fewer people who know about this operation then the better chance I have of carrying it out."

He looked at the four cadets whom he had rescued from Mandalore. "I know you've been through a since your home's been devastated by corruption. But the only person who I can really trust right now is Airen. He's been with me since the beginning and I trust him without question. But you guys need to be patient as all will be revealed in time."

The four cadets started protesting and even Cracken gave John a look and said "John remember what I said about being able to trust others if you want to succeed with this mission."

John gave Cracken a very annoyed look and said "I remember what you said, but it doesn't mean that I have to agree to it."

"But how can we be of any help to you if you're constantly keeping us in the dark?" Soniee asked and the other cadets nodded in agreement.

John sighed and looked at Alfred hoping for an ally. "You don't need my opinion sir. They all have valid arguments plus they all know you're alive so that secrets out. But if I may, you don't have to tell them the whole plan, just tell them some things that they should expect that way they won't be caught off guard when it kicks off."

John sighed knowing that they were right. "Okay I'll give you a brief rundown of what you should expect."

He got up and went over to the computer next to the wall (he was still shirtless and both Soniee and Lagos noticed that he had a very nice build) and turned it on. He started typing and soon had familiar images up and they all gathered around it.

"I won't have to remind you guys of what happened on our home world of Mandalore. But I have a feeling that something similar will happen only that it will happen here and on a much larger scale."

John brought up an image of a man who was completely bald and said "The man you're looking at is an upcoming mercenary and a bit of a revolutionary as well. His name is Trenox. Nobody knows where he came from but he's started doing work for the CIS and has been successful in many areas, except for the ones that I interfered with."

"What kind of mercenary is he?" Amis asked.

"The kind that isn't afraid to kill those to get what he wants. But he's more than just a ruthless murderer. He's a very clever tactician as well and he has a group of hardened mercenaries under his command. Because he does work for the CIS he's allowed the use of battle droids in his operations to give him extra muscle in his fights."

At the word muscle both Soniee and Lagos looked at each other and blushed slightly. "Something tells me that you aren't telling us everything about him," Cracken said. "That's because I have a history with him." John replied.

Not wanting to go into that history he said "If everything that I've gathered on my families' business is accurate then Trenox should have what he needs to pull this off and he'll also have help from an unexpected source." At this he brought up the Jedi Temple as well as the prison that held some of the most notorious criminals on Coruscant and in the galaxy.

"How would he get help from the Jedi?" Lagos asked.

A dark look came upon john's face and he said "He'll take a group of younglings captive and force the Jedi to stand down." At the mention of more younglings being threatened they all knew why John had that look on his face.

"So we warn the Jedi about this threat and put a stop to it." Korkie said.

John snorted and said "And how would you explain that to them? 'Hey guys just thought you should know a very bad mercenary is going to kidnap younglings and oust you from your Temple.' No if we warn them I'm going to be the one to do it."

"But that defeats the purpose of you being a spy for the Republic." Cracken protested. "I know it does but I'm past that point. I know of two Jedi who'll believe me."

They all looked at him and asked "Who?"

"For one I know that Master Yoda wouldn't doubt a threat to younglings, especially after what happened to me."

"What about the other Jedi though?" Soniee asked. Cracken knew who John was referring to, but Korkie beat him to it, "You're talking about contacting your sister aren't you?" John smiled glad to see the young cadet using his brain. "You guessed right cousin."

Lagos still looked confused about the plan. "Okay but you're talking about getting into contact with people who either believe you're dead or have very mixed feelings about whether or not you're alive. How are you going to get into contact with them?"

John looked back at the armor and they all looked turned their heads towards it. "Is that a real set of beskar'gam armor?" Korkie asked. John nodded his head. "Yes it is. It's my fathers' armor."

All the cadets started talking in excited voices but Cracken was the only one who looked confused. "What's beskar'gam armor?"

They all looked at him and John said "It's some of the toughest if not the toughest armor in the entire galaxy. It's actually the stuff that the clone armor is based off of, but it's way too rare to mass produce."

"But why is it so reliable then?" Cracken asked.

John strode forward and his lightsabers flew to him from their case and he activated them and gave a series of slashes across the armor. He deactivated them and then showed them why it was so reliable, "as you can see not even a lightsaber left a scratch on the armor." The demonstration left Cracken dumbstruck. He had thought that only another lightsaber or a weapon of similar design could withstand lightsaber attacks.

John walked back to where they were all standing. "I've told you a portion of my plan. Expect the rest to fall into place with-in a few days until that time I need you guys to rest up and enjoy some peace and quiet."

They all nodded and left for the turbo lift but John said "Alfred will you stay for a minute." Alfred stopped and walked back towards John. "What is it sir?"

John put his lightsabers on the table that was next to the weapons cache. "Has Satele seen the armor at all?"

Alfred knew why he was asking about his sister. "I believe that she has seen it once sir but she was very young when she saw it and I doubt that she'll remember it very well what with having to fight a war and all."

John nodded and then asked "Is there still paint for the armor?" Alfred nodded "Yes sir it's in the place that your father left it in."

"Good I'll need to get the red paint out." "Going to give the armor a new color sir?" Alfred asked cheekily. "Not the armor, just the symbol Alfred." And with that John started to repaint the symbol on the chest piece.