The open invitation to the old Coruscant Security Force staff club still stood for all Skirata's squads, and it was as good a place as any.

"Let's hang around and wait for him," Darman said. "So he knows we don't go off and leave a brother when he's in a mood."

"What's udesii udesii?" Rede frowned at the scratches gouged in his armor by the broken glass. "I'm trying to keep up with your slang."

Poor kid. "It's Mandalorian," Niner said. "It means take it easy. Calm down. Relax." "It's Mandalorian," Niner said. "It means take it easy. Calm down. Relax."

Rede looked to Darman. " Ner vod Ner vod," he said. "Buddy?"

"Brother," Darman said. "My brother. Or my sister, come to that." Rede just gave him a puzzled look. "Ennen's been a long time."

Yes, he had. Niner walked up and down the corridor a couple of times. "Nobody takes that that long in the 'freshers. I hope he hasn't fallen in." long in the 'freshers. I hope he hasn't fallen in."

"I'll go see how he is." Darman walked in and called Ennen a couple of times, but the doors closed before Niner heard any reply.

He waited, watching Rede fussing over his armor. Before long, the kid would be only too happy to see damaged plastoid as battle honors.

"You'll never keep that pristine," Niner said helpfully. "In fact, the more-"

Bdapp.

The crack of a discharged blaster stopped him dead. The 'fresher doors muffled it, but the sound was too loud and too distinctive to be anything else. Niner pushed through the doors before he thought about it. Darman was hammering on one of the stalls.

"Ennen? Ennen! Open the shabla shabla door, will you?" door, will you?"

Niner tried to smash the locked door with his boot while Darman scrambled over the top of the partition. He froze as he looked down into the stall, gripping the top of the duraplast panel.

" Fierfek Fierfek."

"Is he breathing, Dar?" Niner knew the answer. Darman had seen enough casualties. If he froze, it was because there was no point in doing anything else. "Please-don't tell me he's done something stupid."

Darman dropped back, saying nothing, and rammed his shoulder against the lock. This time it gave way.

Ennen would probably have felt he hadn't done anything stupid at all. For him, it was the right thing. The man sat there, staring sightless at the ceiling, helmet on the floor, no visible marks on his face but clearly dead. His DC-15 sidearm had fallen halfway under the stall partition.

"Rede, get the med droids," Niner called. Obvious or not, someone medically qualified had to pronounce him dead. "Tell them to bring a gurney."

Darman didn't say a thing. A suicide was unusual in the commando ranks. Niner couldn't recall another one, but then he wasn't sure he would have been told about it. He didn't know how often the meat-cans decided they'd had enough, either. All he knew was that he'd failed one of his men, and that he'd never forgive himself for letting Ennen struggle on without realizing how close to the edge he was.

What tipped him? Capping a civvie? Or not capping a Jedi?

More commandos started showing up. You couldn't discharge a weapon in the barracks without drawing attention.

"Beat it," Niner snapped. "He's gone. Ennen's topped himself, poor shabuir shabuir. Now get back to whatever you were doing. It's not a kriffing cabaret."

Rede seemed uncertain whether he was in the get-lost category or not, and hovered until Niner beckoned him back with a jerk of his thumb. Two med droids whirred into the 'freshers with a repulsor gurney and emerged minutes later with Ennen's body covered by a sheet.

"Well, he's not miserable anymore," Niner said, not sure what was appropriate at a time like this. "It's terrible, but at least it's over for him."

"I didn't know he was that far gone." Darman sounded numb. He stared at his hands.

"I was going to take him out and get him to talk about it all."

"Yeah, well, I don't think he was the talking type." Niner had to report the incident to Melusar now. What happened in these cases? He'd never dealt with a suicide before, and he couldn't even recall if there were any regs to cover it. At least they had a commanding officer who'd make sure Ennen got the funeral rite that he wanted, though. "I should have sorted him out a lot sooner. Shab Shab, I should have..."

Darman kept taking one of his gauntlets off and sliding it back on his hand again, over and over. He wasn't really paying attention to Niner. "That's the last time," he said, "that I ever put off doing something until later later. There's never going to be a later later."

He picked up his helmet and made for the doors. Niner had thought Dar was doing okay and surfacing from the worst of his despair, but anything could tip him over the edge again now. There were only so many times you could lose those close to you before you snapped. Even if Ennen had been hard to get to know, he was still a squad brother.

"Dar, where are you going?" Niner went after him. "Hey, hang on-"

Darman slowed and turned. "It's okay, ner vod ner vod. I'm not going to top myself. I've got something to live for." He went to put on his helmet. "And I'm going to call him the first chance I get."

Kyrimorut, Mandalore, ten hours after Zey's arrival Vau was back, and he was mad.

Ordo watched the conversation between him and Kal'buir Kal'buir skid downhill without brakes. Vau's expression of smug good humor evaporated two steps down the cockpit ladder of Gilamar's shuttle, and Ordo was pretty sure the words skid downhill without brakes. Vau's expression of smug good humor evaporated two steps down the cockpit ladder of Gilamar's shuttle, and Ordo was pretty sure the words Zey's turned up alive Zey's turned up alive had something to do with it. Gilamar and Atin carried on unloading the lab supplies as if they'd seen these fights before, which they had. The Skirata and Vau Show had been a staple diversion during the off-duty hours on Kamino. had something to do with it. Gilamar and Atin carried on unloading the lab supplies as if they'd seen these fights before, which they had. The Skirata and Vau Show had been a staple diversion during the off-duty hours on Kamino.

"Are you out of your mind? mind? " Vau boomed. He never shouted. He was an Irmenu aristocrat, heir to Count Gesl before his father disowned him, and the gentry did " Vau boomed. He never shouted. He was an Irmenu aristocrat, heir to Count Gesl before his father disowned him, and the gentry did not not yell like common folk. They could be loudly disapproving, though. The entire homestead could hear the two veteran sergeants letting rip. "What do we need Zey for? Do you understand the risks? You yell like common folk. They could be loudly disapproving, though. The entire homestead could hear the two veteran sergeants letting rip. "What do we need Zey for? Do you understand the risks? You lunatic lunatic."

"You think I invited the shabuir shabuir to drop in for caf and cakes?" Skirata had no problem with yelling. "He's here. I don't like that any more than you do. But he is, so deal with it until we solve the problem." to drop in for caf and cakes?" Skirata had no problem with yelling. "He's here. I don't like that any more than you do. But he is, so deal with it until we solve the problem."

Skirata stormed off. Ordo gave him a couple of minutes to cool from a rolling boil to a slow simmer, then went after him.

Vau didn't dislike Zey as far as Ordo knew. He'd almost seemed to enjoy the verbal sparring necessary to get one over on the general, even knowing that Zey was aware he was being conned somehow. But there was a place for Jedi, and that was not Kyrimorut.

I agree. We all do. But we don't seem to be able to avoid them.

Skirata leaned on the wall by the robapen, throwing his three-sided knife into the thick veshok gatepost a few meters away. One of the roba, an old boar with an impressive beard of reddish hair dangling from his multiple chins, stopped rooting in the mud with the others and stood on his hind legs with his front trotters on the wall to see what was going on.

"It's okay, ner vod ner vod," Skirata said to the animal. He sent the blade thudding into the same spot on the post every time and took three paces to retrieve it. "It's not time for the butcher yet. Just venting steam."

"Vau will see sense." Ordo had an unnerving feeling that the roba was following the conversation. "Look at it logically. Zey has as much to lose as we have by revealing our location."

Skirata retrieved his blade again and flicked the sharp point with his thumb. "More.

And I'd see to that personally."

"Jaing's right. There's always an advantage to be gained from these situations."

"Only out of necessity. I never wanted to see another Jedi as long as I lived. But I can't seem to get away from them." Skirata inhaled, held his breath, and let the knife fly again.

Ordo often wondered what went through his mind when he did that. "And if you think Vau's mad now-watch what happens when I tell him we're thinking of doing a deal with Altis."

Skirata patted his arm and went back into the house, leaving Ordo leaning over the roba pen wall. The dilemma was painful. The general principle of putting an end to Jedi influence in the galaxy-or Jedi dominance, depending on how serious a threat Mandalorians considered them to be-was always based on anonymous Jedi, or at least Jedi who were disliked. But faced with poor little Scout, the venerable Kina Ha, and a fairly pleasant man they knew well, putting an end putting an end to anything became brutally hard. to anything became brutally hard.

That didn't mean Ordo wouldn't do it, of course. He just wasn't sure how badly he might feel about it afterward. But he'd been trained to kill dispassionately because threats had to be removed, and he could see no real difference between a threat you didn't know and a threat with a familiar face.

And what was known-the location of Kyrimorut-couldn't be erased any other way, unless Jusik had more Force tricks up his sleeve.

Ordo realized he was now standing almost nose-to-nose with the roba boar. The animal looked up into his face and grunted. In that moment of eye contact, he felt a connection to the animal much the same as looking a human being in the eye, and wondered how he'd feel when he eventually came to eat it.

Is that it? Is it just not knowing that makes killing okay?

Ordo shook himself out of the mental debate and went to see how unloading was progressing. Cov and his brothers had volunteered to convert an outbuilding into what he called a "bug farm" for Uthan, and the four clones were puzzling over a plan sketched on a sheet of flimsi.

Only a few months ago, Uthan would have cheerfully unleashed a pathogen specifically designed to kill them-and Ordo, and all his brothers. Now she was treating them like favorite nephews. Yes, knowing did seem to make all the difference to some folk.

Uthan certainly seemed pleased with the haul of equipment and lab supplies, managing a smile whenever she pried open a crate. She might have been pleased to see Gilamar back, of course, and Ordo took heart from that; everyone knew there was a burgeoning romance there, and nobody minded. Somehow, the sheer impersonality of her mission to wipe out clones took the sting out of it. The matter of mass slaughter was closed. She had her comeuppance before she even got around to her crime.

Vau could come to terms with Jedi made safe by mutually assured destruction, then.

Some fights to the death could be stopped and turned around. Kal'buir Kal'buir certainly seemed to have overcome his ingrained hatred by placing Scout and Kina Ha in a slot marked certainly seemed to have overcome his ingrained hatred by placing Scout and Kina Ha in a slot marked Not Not Really Jedi Really Jedi.

Ordo wondered if it was ever possible to explain to an outsider- aruetii aruetii in the most literal sense-how deep an enmity could run. More than four thousand years of wars, betrayals, and massacres; how could the two sides ever trust each other? It was as deeply embedded in both factions as the religious schism of Sarrassia, except there was a third side in the hostilities, and that was Sith. Sometimes they were lumped in with the Jedi as a variation on the Force-user theme. Sometimes they were enemies, uncomfortable allies, or even employers of the in the most literal sense-how deep an enmity could run. More than four thousand years of wars, betrayals, and massacres; how could the two sides ever trust each other? It was as deeply embedded in both factions as the religious schism of Sarrassia, except there was a third side in the hostilities, and that was Sith. Sometimes they were lumped in with the Jedi as a variation on the Force-user theme. Sometimes they were enemies, uncomfortable allies, or even employers of the Mando'ade Mando'ade. Ordo doubted that many of the Grand Army's clone troopers could have seen it this way, but there was something timeless and inevitable about a Sith Lord using an army effectively made up of Mandalorians to attack the Jedi yet again. Only the date had changed.

"Oh, thank you! thank you! " Uthan bent over an open crate to examine the contents, then straightened up looking as if she'd been given a birthday present. "Mij, you " Uthan bent over an open crate to examine the contents, then straightened up looking as if she'd been given a birthday present. "Mij, you remembered remembered."

Ordo expected to see something exotic and wonderful in the crate. Instead, there were just packs of woodpulp sheets, the kind of absorbent material used in medcenters.

"That's because I wrote it down," he said, smiling. "And if you look in the cool-pack...I always say the way to a woman's heart is with a lovely box of noxious pathogens.

Nebellia and rhinacyria virus samples. Knock yourself out, Doc."

Uthan positively glowed. "I'll find a home for them right away," she said, making the viruses sound like a bouquet in need of a vase. "As soon as I've modified them, we can make a start on the cell cultures."

Gilamar turned to Ordo. "Where did Vau go? Is he still arguing with Kal?"

"I'm hanging around in case they come to blows," Ordo said.

"Well, it's a bit of a shock-fancy old Maze pulling a stunt like that. Can't wait to hear how he got Zey off the planet."

"I'm sure it'll be riveting," Ordo said. "Although I'm not sure why he felt the need to dupe me me into thinking he'd shot Zey. If I'd wanted the man dead, I'd have done it myself." into thinking he'd shot Zey. If I'd wanted the man dead, I'd have done it myself."

Ordo didn't have to look hard for Vau and Kal'buir Kal'buir. He just followed the angry voices drifting on the air. Skirata seemed to have decided to lance the boil early and tell Vau the whole plan. Everyone else had found something pressing to occupy them, except Jusik, who looked ready to part the two of them if it came to blows.

"I'm going to do the deal," Skirata said. "It's not like Altis is the kind of Jedi who's interested in political power and building big temples. Is he, Bard'ika Bard'ika?"

Ordo ambled around the karyai karyai as casually as he could. Jusik caught his eye and gave him an almost-imperceptible shake of the head. Vau still looked livid, jaw muscles twitching. Mird, always a reliable indicator of its master's mood, was lying flat on the floor in absolute silence, gaze darting from Vau to Skirata and back again. as casually as he could. Jusik caught his eye and gave him an almost-imperceptible shake of the head. Vau still looked livid, jaw muscles twitching. Mird, always a reliable indicator of its master's mood, was lying flat on the floor in absolute silence, gaze darting from Vau to Skirata and back again.

"They say half of his followers aren't even Force-sensitives," Jusik said. "And apparently thousands of Padawans trained at his academy-based onboard a ship. If he was really into power, we'd know all about it by now."

"No wonder he got away," Skirata said. "Keep moving. Smart shabuir shabuir."

"Are you taking any of this in?" Vau snapped. "Have you completely forgotten the last three years? The whole point of the war? Not Palpatine's war. Jango's Jango's war." Vau turned and stabbed a finger in Ordo's direction. "Why do you think war." Vau turned and stabbed a finger in Ordo's direction. "Why do you think he he was created? To fill some emotional void in your sorry life? was created? To fill some emotional void in your sorry life? No. No. Jango did it to put an end to the Jedi because Jango did it to put an end to the Jedi because we we can't trust them can't trust them. We've never never been able to trust them. He banked everything on letting Dooku use his DNA to build the only army that had a chance of taking these been able to trust them. He banked everything on letting Dooku use his DNA to build the only army that had a chance of taking these hut'uune hut'uune down. And now you're talking about down. And now you're talking about making concessions to them making concessions to them. You make me sick."

"In case you hadn't noticed," Skirata said, suddenly unnaturally calm, "the winning side doesn't like us much, either. We're still under the heel of Force-users. Just one with a red lightsaber."

"So why put us at risk? Why not just shoot Zey and have done with it? Kina Ha-that I can understand. She's a lab specimen. Scout-part of the package. But Zey? Let him go, and he'll search out his pals and try to rebuild the old Order. You don't need to do a deal with Altis to take them off your hands. You need a Verpine rifle and some guts."

"Okay, mir'sheb mir'sheb, you go and finish them off. An old woman and a child. Ori'jagyc Ori'jagyc.

Big man."

"You think I wouldn't?"

"If you don't-then what are we going to do with them?"

"We get this far this far." Vau spread his arms. "We get this far this far. We finally get rid of the Jedi and its groveling lackeys. And what do you do? You help them survive and regroup help them survive and regroup. You, of all people. One minute you hate their guts and see them as the enemy, the next you go soft on them. Oldest trick in the book-put children and old folks and pitiful wrecks in the line of fire to shield a cowardly army. You know how we despise an enemy that tries to exploit that."

"It's...not about that, Walon."

Vau made a sweeping gesture of disgust. "If Fett were alive today, he'd spit on you, you know that? What did all those clones die for, Kal? So we could give the Jedi a second chance? Sheb'urcyin...aruetii Sheb'urcyin...aruetii."

Butt-kisser. Traitor.

Ordo waited for Skirata to swing a punch. He didn't. He just took it in silence. Vau turned and stalked off, snapping his fingers at Mird to follow him. Jusik shuffled his boots and looked embarrassed.

"I think everyone revises history under stress," Jusik said. "He's forgotten that nobody knew Jango had set this up until the Purge happened. None of us had any idea what the clone army was really for, beyond something the Jedi Council didn't ask enough questions about."

"He's right, though, isn't he?" Skirata still stood staring down at the floor. "I go out of my way to do the decent thing for Jedi. But I won't help my own Mand'alor Mand'alor."

"You make it sound as if you had a plan that took account of all this, Buir Buir," Ordo said.

"Your only plan was to save as many of us as you could. You never set out to smash the Jedi Order, Fett Fett did. It's a separate issue." did. It's a separate issue."

"Sure it is," Skirata said. "I better see what Zey's up to, just in case he's rebuilding the shabla shabla Jedi Temple here and Maze is helping him." He got halfway to the doors and turned. "It's not them being Force-sensitive that gets to me. It's the Jedi Temple here and Maze is helping him." He got halfway to the doors and turned. "It's not them being Force-sensitive that gets to me. It's the organization organization. The way they trample us all in the process of keeping power."

Jusik waited until Skirata was out of earshot and shrugged. "I hate it when they're both right. Come on. Better stand by to stop him throttling Zey."

Vau had been far closer to Jango Fett than Skirata ever had. He understood-perhaps too late, but eventually-the depth of Fett's loathing of the Jedi. They'd cost Fett everything he held dear; the Death Watch had robbed him of more-a family and a surrogate father-but Fett still bided his time for years and saved his supreme act of revenge for the Jedi. That told Ordo everything.

And you won, Jango. Shame you didn't live to see it.

" Bard'ika Bard'ika, you know Zey at... a different level a different level from me," Ordo said. "What's he likely to do if we let him go?" from me," Ordo said. "What's he likely to do if we let him go?"

Jusik took a long time to reply. "Zey's a pragmatist," he said at last. "He thinks in terms of living beings with faces and names, not spiritual concepts. That's why Maze gets on with him."

"That doesn't answer my question. I know he wouldn't rush to turn us in to Imperial Intelligence, but would he try to rebuild the Jedi Order along the old lines?"

"I don't think he would, even if he could."

"This might upset you, but I'm prepared to execute him."

"Yes, it upsets me because I know him too well to turn my back on him, and yes, I understand completely."

Ordo expected that from Jusik-honest, compassionate, but ultimately pragmatic, as pragmatic as Ordo himself, as pragmatic as the Jedi Order spending the lives of the clone army for an imagined greater good.

We're all the same. Except Jusik and I say it out loud. We all decide that one life is worth less than another. worth less than another.