The incoming message signal popped up in the corner of my HUD as I maneuvered the ship down, through a series of caves that I had bribed out of a contact, as well as remote scanned to make sure I would fit. Settled in the mouth of the last cave, I nosed open the message.

Priority message: Prime directive altered

Prime Directive: Capture the Garrison Commander Alive

Secondary: Scan labs

Fuck. Fuckity fuck fuck. Capture is so much more difficult than kill, and for them to ask this? To take the captain of the local garrison alive, in the middle of their base, and not die? Nor leave too many dead? The job went from difficult to suicidal.

Acknowledge: Breach of Contract fee, more penalties to come

I sent back, connecting the line to one of my accounts. When the credits rolled in, the entire breach fee, I let out a sigh. They were serious about this. With a small creak, the decompression process started. Water rushed in as the bay doors opened up. I sealed my helmet and grabbed onto the sensor suite I rigged up.

Kamino relied on their stealth to remain secure, so if you knew where their labs were, and got past the radar network, you were free to so whatever. When the doors were fully open, I turned on the motor to the drone and pushed it out of the ship. It would travel to the geotag and transmit all data before turning off and sinking. No one should ever know it was there.

But, they would definitely know I was here. There would be no sneaking through the garrison. Too much security to just walk in. Or was there?

I started swimming for the surface, electing against deploying ballast to stay off the radar a little longer. Slowly, the black void of darkness was pushed back to a grey void of nothingness. That too changed slowly, until I was in the frame work for the surface platforms.

Now, if this had been a kill contract, and the buyer didn't care about being messy, I would just throw some charges on the framework down here. The explosion would rip the base of the platform apart, and it would sink into the sea. I could then pick off survivors with ease. But, life was not that kind. I still wired a few packs of thermal paste on, just to be safe. Always have an exit strategy if things go the way of the Wookie.

I broke surface carefully, but of course no on was looking for me. The walkway I needed to get to was of course no where near surface level. If it was that close, some guests might be swept off by a rogue wave, which would be a real tragedy. Dead people can't spend shit. Not without some creative thinking.

But I was in a pickle. Jet fuel and seawater do not mix well, so unless I wanted to suicide bomb the ocean, my jets were out. The natives rode some sort of ray around, but there were none in sight. But, there had to be some way. There! A small access panel for runoff from the walkways. Given Kamino's rather constant torrential rain, they had to build something like it in. I pulled out a small drone from one of my pouches and synched it's feed to my HUD.

Systems onlining…

Preboot checks….. complete

System ready for user input.

The feed showed the inside of the access chute, rainwater pouring over the lens. Legs scuttled up the side of the pipe, flashes of the tips of the feet viewable in the edges of the feed. It crested the top slowly, careful to remain unobtrusive and hopefully undetected. At the top of the pipe was a mesh grate, which the drone cut through after a few moments. It crawled to the edge of the platform and locked its legs in, servos driving it down into the anchors of the platform.

Connection established

Lock achieved.

Shutting down

I pulled out a length of wire and shit the edge up, where it sought the drone. The end of the wire and the drone connected, and the material bonded on. I gave the wire a few tugs to check security and started to climb up. Levering myself onto the platform, I conked my head on the edge of someone's starfighter.

First off, who flies a red ship to Kamino? Secondly, dude! Learn to park. Paying no mind to the dent, I collected the drone and line. Stuffing them away, I strolled right through the Kaminoan Security checkpoint. All they saw was the armor.

Any proper Mandalorian would immediately know that I was a fake, since my armor lacked every single identifier of clan and home and conquest, but to the uneducated, it passed. I took the left down to the security level and made a right. As long as I looked like I was supposed to be here, most would assume I was. The blaster to the back of my helmet belied that safety.

"State your business or perish."

"I'm here to kidnap the commanding officer, escape pursuit and capture, evacuate to my ship, and return him to the highest bidder."

He prodded my helmet, "You really think I'll believe that?"

"You asked for the truth. Though, it does seem a little farfetched."

The blaster moved down to my gut. "Run up the other one, it smells better. I'm taking you to the comamnder."

"sir, I found this one wandering the halls. No security pass, no tags."

The commander turns, "Di you not think to ask for directions?"

He took my silence for shock. "First order of business, see what you can get away with. Simple things. Don't start with bribing officials; see if the information is public. Or if they offer tours to potential investors. Classic rookie mistake."

"What?" I sputtered, unable to keep quiet at his lecturing.

"I placed the contract. We've been watching you since you broke orbit. You've got some talent. Now,-" He continues.

"No one move." I demand, puling my blasters. "I don't know what this is, but you're coming with me. No one make any sudden movements."

"He waves to the woman leaning on the console, and with an almost dismissive wave of her hand my blasters go flying. The line I shoot out falls short, the darts are blown away. I'm halfway to opening up with my flamethrower when the commander flipped a desk on me.

The bounty hunter is reckless, and impatient. But he was good. The commander had put out a series of contracts, trying to find a good deputy commander for the new battalion. This boy had been the only one to complete them all. He was not when they were looking for, but at the same time he was. They had been thinking another Jango, another Skirta, but instead they got this. A maverick, a renegade. A new player on the field, not that some of the big names had moved out. He was inceasingly paranoid.

Which they respected. When they tried to pull him helmet off, they almost tripped the det cord. Who in their right mind wires explosives into their neck weave? Granted, it was an admirable trap. The explosion was completely directed outwards- he would have some burns, but the rest of the room would be paste on the walls. When they finally pulled the helmet off, the commander realized just how young this bounty hunter was. He knew they were new, but this boy was…

The same age as their Jedi commander. Padawan- Knight Taillow. Apparently surviving your master in an attack counts for your trials. Field promotion as the heralds of war erupted. This battalion was doomed. He called it.

"Ugh, anyone get the plates on that speeder?" I called out, taking note that they had managed to get the helmet off without blowing it up. A snort came from the corner.

"Good, you're awake." The commander I had been hired to kidnap said, looking up from the terminal he was working at. "Now, seeing as you broke into a republic secure facility-"

"On your orders." I threw in.

"I'm inclined to throw you in prison. But, as you've been working for me-"

"You used me to spy on the separatist movement. That business on Corellia was a sham! That- sabotage? Really?" I shouted.

"I'm going to offer you a different sentence. Sign on to the GAR and we will drop all charges."

"No. Pay me my due and I'm leaving. And you owe me, of, a lot of credits."

"Fine. You'll come in as an officer."

"You're going to have to do better than that." I snarled.

"So, you're willing to work for me, we're just haggling price. Fine, I'll give you your own command."

"That had better come with open armory access."

"Well, Taillow, will he do?" the commander asked, swiveling to look at the jedi in the corner.

"That remains to be seen. " she said dismissively. "Meet me at the sparring room in ten. Be ready to dance."

I was escorted to the room by the trooper from earlier. As I walked in, I noticed the live feed. The other members of the base were all pushing shoving, betting on the fight to come. I stepped into the ring, lightly stretching my limbs. This would not be fun at all. She ignited her blade and swung for my head. I caught it on the bracers and moved to attack, only to see the blade flying at my knees. Damn, she was fast. Quickly, I leapt the cerulean light. Again she swung a slow blow at my side. I blocked with the other bracer, starting to get a hang of this game. Her next swing was faster, aimed again at my face. I ducked the sword and punched out. She gracefully stepped my blow and angled her sword down. It took all my fledging acrobatic might to flip over the blade, but I managed to do it, barely staying upright on the landing. I was to out of place to attack. She took a step back, ready to gauge my offenses. I ducked and lunged, aiming to hit her gut. She batted my blow away with the hilt of her lightsaber and swung inwards. I raised a shin up to catch the blow, barely holding the sword on the edge of the guard. Her own open palm strike caught me by surprise and sent me flying backwards.

I hit the wall and rebounded, scrambling to my feet as she advanced: sword holding the upward position. I fell into stance, ready for her strike to come. She started with a down slash, blocked by the arm guard, which flowed to a horizontal, again blocked. I lashed out with my foot, driving her back. She flipped back from the blow, regaining her feet easily. I saw the barest, tiniest hint of a smile on her face. Down slash, uppercut, knee strike, the blows rained in, one after the other. In this case, offense was the best defense, as I had no opportunity to do anything. Finally, she doubled her grip and swung overhead, intent on cleaving me in two.

Copying a move I had only read about, I stepped into the blow. I crossed my arms, catching the blade on the pair of arm guards. I let my body be pushed down some before springing back up, throwing off the blade and lashing out in a fore kick. She looked surprised at the force, eyes going wide as her lightsaber flew out of her hands and she flew back. I caught the falling saber, holding it as one would any other sword. It was lighter than I had thought it would be. The thing barely weighed a kilo. From her downed position, she surged forwards with a force push. I flew back, denting the wall this time. She closed her sword and clipped it to her belt.

"You'll do. Go tell Commander Sol." She addressed. "Oh, and welcome to Nox."