Rubbing his eyes, Justinios tried desperately to quickly comprehend his surroundings. Smoke was billowing from the front of his speeder, through crumpled durasteel. The Aleena noticed that he wasn't wearing his safety restraints and surmised that his splitting headache was a likely result of that decision. The pain was making recollection of the recent past very difficult for Justinios. His usually sharp mind was muddled, unable to recall the moments leading up to the apparent speeder crash. Reaching up with his reptilian hands he felt cuts on his face and burns on his scalp, more signs indicating he had crashed his vehicle but giving few clues as to the cause.

His neurons were able to force through one detail, he recalled the controls of his craft not responding. That memory was followed up quickly with a strong feeling, as strong as an instinct, that it was not a failure but caused by someone. Just as the blue skinned Proconsul realized his craft had been sabotaged, probably sliced if the controls locked up, a bright light started to shine directly in front of him. Danger, he knew it had to be. If someone sliced his controls and forced him to the ground then whoever was now approaching him had to be looking to finish him off.

Justinios had no idea if this person was alone and if they were targeting him specifically or if they were pirates or raiders that happened upon him by accident. The bad news for them was that it didn't matter. As he quickly surveyed his surroundings, Justinios saw that his lightsaber was laying neatly on console beside him.

*Odd*, he thought to himself but as unlikely it was for his weapon to have landed in that exact spot during the class it was impossible. *It had to land somewhere I suppose.*

Even with compromised vision, the Aleena could tell that the light was moving towards him at the pace of a human sized being walking briskly. It would on him in a few minutes so he knew he had to act quickly. Snatching up his lightsaber, he ducked down under the dashboard of the speeder so that he was hidden from view until someone was standing right over the vehicle. Sensing their approach through the Force, he was certain that only one living being was homing in on his wreck. As the foot falls of his attacker drew near, Justinios waited until the final moment to spring his own trap.

With a boost for the Force he sprang out of his hiding spot and three full meters into the air over the mystery being. As he sailed through the night sky, he ignited the deep blue blade of his weapon and prepared to defend himself. But his acrobatics were not met with the response of blaster fire, explosives or another energy blade. Instead, the red-orange fire of a rocket pack lit up the darkness, temporarily blinding Justinios.

But physical sight was not the only tool in Justinios' arsenal. Reaching out with the Force, he could feel his attacker's presence and charged them head on. But even with augmented speed, the being fired their rocket pack once more, again putting distance between the two of them.

"Justinios, what the hell are you doing?"

The words reached the Aleena's ear through the comlink he still had attached to his skull.

"Did that blow to the head make you feral or something?"

As Justinios looked out into the darkness he could see that his "attacker" was now shining the light upon themselves and it revealed the armored form of Tavens Caedo. The Mandalorian had his helmet on but Justinios was now imagining that his companion had a look of confused anger upon his face. Justinios deactivated his weapon and walked calmly up to the human.

"Sorry about that Tav, I think hitting my head in that crash knocked a few screws loose."

Heavily distorted laughing cut through the breezy night air. "You didn't hit your head in the crash you nut job. You don't remember the fight?"

"What fight?" Justinios asked, now fully confused.

"A Collective squad found us and hacked the controls mid flight. You brought us down safely but they were waiting, didn't you look around?" Tavens shined his light back towards the wreck and behind it were strewn the bodies of at least a dozen beings of different species. "That Gotal over there smashed your head pretty good against one of those trees before you bisected him."

The evidence of a fight was pretty clearly visible to Justinios but the story so far didn't explain everything. "Well then why was I passed out at the controls still?"

"I said we needed to hoof it back to the settlement but you refused to come. You kept insisting that you just needed to close your eyes for a second. You were obviously concussed, and I was done arguing with you, so I went to go find help by myself."

"Well then where are they?" the Aleena asked.

"You left you comlink open and I heard you muttering n your sleep about being left to die all alone so I turned back. It's only about a standard hour's walk back to the settlement, even for your stubby legs, so now that you've had your nap, let's get moving."

“Our little corner of space is getting more crowded by the minute.” Justinios’ brow furrowed as he tossed his datapad on the black durasteel table in front of him. The device, and the identical ones carried by the other three beings in attendance, displayed the latest data drop from the Inquisitorious. “You’ve all had the same hour or so to read this as I have, what do we know about our recently discovered galactic neighbor?”

Justinios had been so shaken by the “discovery” of the Severian Principate that he called an immediate summit of his newly formed team. Drayen Ky’Lian’s attempted coup, and the massive fallout associated with it, had caused the path of the Aleena Jedi intersect with those of both the scout-sniper and Mandalorian sitting at the table with him. Along with Justinios’ trusted droid, K1-L0 aka Kilo, the group had pledged themselves to protecting the citizens of the Caelus system at all costs. Undoubtedly, none of them would have had any idea when they formed their pact that their first challenge would be the revelation of a well-armed government on their own doorstep.

After carefully placing her own datapad face down on the black durasteel table, Lieutenant Liya Oldag responded. “From a raw power standpoint, they are a major threat. If these estimates are even remotely accurate,” the officer tapped her forefinger on the overturned datapad as she spoke, “the Severian Principate could likely overrun the entire Brotherhood.”

“If they so desired,” Tavens Caedo added to the end of the soldier’s statement. “Their forces are irregular but in many ways that is more dangerous. The good news is that they became known to us not in a wave of violence like the savages in the Collective but instead through back-alley channels. If they wanted to cause trouble we’d have heard from then before now.”

“Are you trying to say we should ignore the threat simply because they aren’t bloodthirsty maniacs like the Collective?” Liya continued to struggle to keep her emotions in check which was uncharacteristic of her.

Tavens looked more disappointed than mad. “Liya, I know we are all getting used to each other but I haven’t stayed alive this long ignoring threats. My point is that the Severian government has shown no signs of outward aggression in dealings with others, like the Hutts for example. Let me ask you this, if you were looking to expand the borders of your pocket empire would you go after those fat slugs first or an army full of force users?”

“Point taken but I’d take a pot shot at one of those sleemos just for fun,” Lieutenant Oldag spat with a wry smile. “I will concede that, at least from this report, the Severian government rules its people in a just manner.”

“I don’t think we should spend any further time discussions if the Severian’s will invade but instead what our response would be in the event that an invasion occurs.” In any other meeting an interruption from a droid like Kilo would have caused a bit of a ruckus but everyone presented considered the droid an equal partner in their overarching mission.

“Thank you Kilo.” Justinios had developed quite the soft spot for the old KX-unit. He had been with him since his earliest days in the Brotherhood and had arguably earned his seat at the table more than the organic members of the team had. “Kilo is correct, our concern is how to shield Caelus’ citizens from the possible destruction the Participate could rain down upon them if fighting erupts in this system.”

Liya responded first “Avoidance is always the best option.”

“I do not disagree Liya. The good news is that I have no reason to believe our Consul has any intentions of igniting conflict,” the Aleena paused, not to choose his words but really just for dramatic effect, “but we all are aware just how volatile leadership is at all levels of this organization.”

Nods of agreement spread around the room. No doubt they were all thinking not just of the Dark Council and the other clans but also the more violent members of Taldryan who would sacrifice thousands of civilians for the smallest of personal gains.
“Our plan needs to be for the worst cases scenario, a full force invasion by the Principate. If that were to occur how could we prevent as many people as possible from being killed?”

“I want to know what the droid thinks,” the Mandalorian looked directly at the midnight black painted Imperial relic as he spoke. “He’s programmed for tactics and strategy, I’m sure Kilo has already run thousands of calculations.”

“Millions actually,” Kilo didn’t miss a beat in responding, “and it is my assessment a successful defense of the Caelus system occurs in less than 2% of possible outcomes”

The droid looked around again for acknowledgment, receiving approving glances from Justinios and blank stares from the other two before continuing.

“If the stated goal of this group remains minimization civilian casualties then there is a single course of action which has a casualty rate 95% lower than all others.”

Even as Justinios attempted to determine the conclusion the droid had reached, Lieutenant Oldag responded with what she believed Kilo was referring to. “Evacuation would hardly be feasible, even with advance notice. There is no way the Taldryan Navy has enough ships to both…”

Then it hit him like an explosion in his reptilian mind. Kilo’s plan burst through Justinios' neurons. It was no wonder none of them thought of it, at least as quickly as the old Imperial droid had. In fact, his Imperial designers probably would have fainted from shock had they seen the automaton reach this line of thinking. At the same time, it wasn’t lost on Justinios that it took the streamlined mind of a strategy droid to come up with such an idea even if it was antithetical to everything the Empire stood for.

“We turn over the keys to the kingdom.”

“Exactly master Drake.”

Justinios then went on to explain for the other two team members. “We all agreed that our loyalty is to the citizens of the Caelus system first and foremost, correct? Therefore it is not our concern who rules it so long as they do so in a just manner.” The Aleena turned his gaze directly towards the Lieutenant. As a lifelong member of the Taldryan armed forces she was the most likely to resist the idea or even turn them in for treason. “Liya you said it yourself, the intelligence we have indicates that the Principate rules their people fairly. The best way to protect lives is to make it so that any fight for the Caelus system is a route, even if that means turning on the clan. A battle for this system could be bloodier that Karufr and I know you would do anything to avoid another massacre on that scale.”

Then silence.

Justinios let the idea hang in the air, patiently waiting for a response. He knew the Mandalorian would have no problems with the concept. He had been in the Caelus system long before Taldryan arrived and had no loyalty to the clan or the Brotherhood.
“I have given my life to this clan, dedicated everything I had to it and watched friends die in its name,” Liya began. She paused before continuing though as if still unsure on which side she would land on. “If we ever had to enact this plan, turning on everything I fought for would seem like all of the sacrifices were for nothing. That my friends died for nothing.” Another pause, but this time the Lieutenant seemed to collect her thoughts. “But the things I saw when Karufr was destroyed and I can’t unsee them. Bodies of children burnt beyond recognition. Hospitals bombarded from space. No amount of pride can get in the way of doing whatever it takes to prevent those scenes from playing out in another system.”

“The army brat is on board!” Tavens exclaimed. “So how the frak would we even pull this off? If we are going to agree to treason we should have the details worked out in advance.”

Justinios cracked his knuckles. “I have a few ideas and most of them require a few dozen stolen access codes. If only we knew someone on the Clan summit…”

“Hold on, tell me again what you are doing.”

The older bounty hunter sighed. “Tavens I have told you twice already, I’m selling my DNA to the Kaminoians who are going to turn it into a massive clone army. You better not start…”

Tavens started laughing uncontrollably again. Tears streamed from his eyes as actively had to work at regaining his composure.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” the other Mandalorian repeated as his chuckling died down again. “This is the most moronic attempt at a con job that I have ever heard. Jango why don’t you stick to shooting things because you are the galaxy’s most terrible liar.”

“And you are the biggest idiot that has ever left Mandalore,” Jango spat, “but since you are also one of the only Mandalorians left with some fighting spirit I need you to join me in training these soldiers. You’ve seen how good the pay is.”
Tavens lifted his helmet off of his head and placed it on the table in front of him. “The only catch is I have to leave, with you, right now, and live in total seclusion for…”

“As long as it takes.”

“As long as it takes” was not a number that Tavens was comfortable with, nor was it really a number at all. Looking down at his datapad and the pile of credits he was being offered, well that was a number he was very comfortable with, and hopefully a very real number. If he was being honest with himself, the seclusion wasn’t a deal breaker. There was a side of him that would be happy not to be shot at, bit, stabbed, blown up, punched, kicked or otherwise assaulted for the indefinite future. As a bonus, he also thought that being fed and sheltered by the long necks wouldn’t be so terrible either.

No, the real issue that Tavens was concerned about was if he could trust even Jango. The two Mandalorian bounty hunters were not enemies but they definitely weren’t friends. They had shot at each other on multiple occasions and, if he was being honest with himself, Tavens didn’t much like the other man at all. Thus his concern for a professional rival dropping in out of nowhere with an offer of more credits than he could spend in a lifetime… well maybe half… or a quarter of a lifetime at least.
Jango was never known for his subterfuge, nor his ability to play the con game, but that is what made the entire situation even more suspicious to Tavens. The best trick one could pull is the trick nobody expects you to be capable of.

“Can I take my weapons with me?” Tavens asked as a test. A “no” would be a major red flag, probably indicating a trap.

“Sure but you won’t need them,” Jango responded, “the clones will be training with all custom made pieces. Weapons, armor, everything. I’ve seen the blueprints, it’s not bad for mass manufactured gear.”

Even if Jango wasn’t going to fall for the obvious tell, Tavens thought he’d at least be able to defend himself if the other bounty hunter was going to attack him. “Ok then, I’m in. I’ll need to make arraignments for my ship and…”

“No you won’t, I already sold it.” As Jango spoke, Tavens noticed that his credit balance increased significantly on his datapad.
Tavens grew furious. “You had no right to sell my ship, do you have any idea how much trouble I went through to acquire it!”
Jango shook his head and put his face in his hands. “Listen you aren’t getting this are you? Sure that was a pretty nice ship, I will give you that. But I got twice what it was worth, which isn’t an insignificant sum on its own, and when you are done on Kamino you’ll have enough credits to buy five more if you’d like.”

“Or something even more deadly,” Tavens continued. He thought that with the credits he was due that he might even be able to buy some sort of surplus cruiser and even upgrade all of the systems on it with custom stuff. He could afford to go from lone wolf to a full crew easily. “Ok count me in, I suppose we have to leave on the weird as frak ship of yours since you sold mine.”

“Yep.”

Objective 3 - Recovery

Manually added by Adept Morgan B. Sorenn