Worth: A Star Wars Story

42. Message From an Old Friend

-20 BBY, Two Months Before the Death Watch Coup-

In the time that passed, I found myself spending more and more of my free time with Seku. She had taken in Akashem for us, and from what I gathered, the two were getting along swimmingly. With a renovated warehouse for her Bantha and a new friend in Seku, Akashem's transition had been smoother than we expected. Red was practically down there with her at every opportunity, and I doubt that her transition would have gone as smoothly without him. A Tusken was a rare sight, and she kept to herself away from people mostly, but Seku had taught her how to cook foods for the restaurant and was earning her keep and living next door to Seku and some of her friends, so it wasn't all terrible. Red said that she was still homesick, which I understood perfectly well. Who wouldn't be, especially after being raised like she had been where her Clan was everything?

We had a lot to keep us busy. There were plenty of reports on terrorist cells causing problems on Coruscant, and it was hardly a surprise when we had the occasional uprising, bombing, or protest.

We were on duty at the HQ when Red called us in to check on some incoming transmissions that were slated directly for our Squad. I wasn't sure what to expect when I first walked through the doors with Tor and Hex in tow. Red, Grek, and Ryder had long since arrived before us, and now we were standing in front of the holoprojector being greeted by a very confused Ryder as the little light blinked before us. "Uh... Sir?" Ryder looked over at me, and I saw him and Hex staring at something on our holoconsole. I walked over and saw what had the two of them so confused. "Do you know this frequency?"

I couldn't help but chuckle, "Yeah. I do."

I accepted the transmission and was greeted by the grainy holographic face of Ros, who smiled broadly when he saw me. "Hello there, verd'ika! Fancy seeing you there!" He hadn't changed a bit since our meeting on Ryloth.

"How's it going, Ros?" I asked with a smile as Red and Grek barreled over to the console, grinning from ear to ear.

"It's been better, I guess. Listen, we've been keeping an ear to the ground for news on your little Isotope, and I think we've got a lead. We got a message from Wylan." That was new to me, and it must have shown on my face, because Ros nodded, "Yeah, my surprise exactly. He showed back up after all this time and sent me a coded message in Old Mando'a. It's an archaic form of the Concordian Dialect, very classical, not many people alive can speak it. A splinter group of Dar'manda have it, and we think that they're going to use it to launch an attack on Sundari."

"Kinda figured you all wouldn't care what happens to Duchess Kryze," Grek crossed his arms and pointed out, making Ros snort.

"We don't. Especially not Wylan. Her and the New Mandos can burn in the haran they created and I could care less, but we're not about to let innocent Mandalorians suffer for the incompetence of their leaders."

"What about Wylan?" I asked, stepping towards the console and placing my hands on it. "I'm not seeing where he fits into all of this."

"Yeah... His meeting with Death Watch went about how I expected it to and the result was a firefight that I am both stunned and unsurprised that he walked away from. I still have no idea what he was doing to get that close to Pre Vizsla again, but I trust him."

"Sir, with all due respect," Ryder stepped up next to me, "can we really trust someone who has been in the presence of Death Watch? You know, the known terrorists?"

"He blew up their main battle headquarters, what are you even on about?" Ros snapped.

I nodded, "We can trust Wylan. He's pretty... blunt. Honest, but blunt. What was he doing with Death Watch?"