Oyu'baat Tapcaf, Keldabe, Mandalore

The Oyu'baat was full of Mandalorians of all shapes, sizes, and colors. It was a busy day by any stretch of the imagination, as it was the first of the twice-weekly Market Days. A Keldabe tradition, the Market Days were a time when virtually all Mando members of Keldabe turned out into the streets to sell essential supplies, weapons, food, and armor. In addition, it was a sunny, warm day and virtually everyone in Keldabe had found an excuse to get out into the first truly warm weather of the season.

Jay sat at the bar, engaged in conversation with a Mandalorian woman named Wad'e Rangir as they shared drinks. Rangir was currently in plainclothes - a nerf-hide jacket with a high collar, black work pants, and tall duraleather boots - and had her short black hair patted down under a duraplast protective skullcap. Though she was only a few years older than Jay, her face was hard and gaunt, as if she'd seen hard times. As a born Mandalorian and a member of the Mando Protectors mercenary army, Jay was willing to bet the woman had been through more firefights and combat situations than she could even count.

"So when are you heading out with the rest?" Jay asked as she sipped at her tihaar.

"As soon as the transport is ready to leave," Rangir replied, taking an admirably long swig of ne'tra gal, a much stronger Mandalorian drink. She screwed up her face at the powerful taste before setting her mug down. "The mining post is pretty far up in the mountains, so the rest of the guys thought it would be a good idea to head out early."

"What about you?"

She shrugged. "My husband and I have a stall to run during the Market Days. This mining gig pays well, but it wouldn't replace what we'd lose if we skipped out here."

"Is that where he is?" Jay asked, jerking her head toward the busy streets behind them. "Out running the stall?"

"All the finest melee weapons in Keldabe," Rangir said proudly. "Ner cyar'ika and I are beskarsmiths."

Now that was an impressive occupation. Beskar was a Mandalorian metal found only on their home planet and it was extremely difficult to mold into a useable form. Once finished it was near-indestructible and the Mandos who worked with the metal were extremely secretive as to their beskar-working techniques. Jay had even heard that they were ordered never to reveal the secret even under the threat of death. Needless to say, Mandos were very protective of the most expensive of their few exports.

"How long are you guys going to be gone?" Jay asked. "Most of Keldabe has already shipped out for the mining facility, right?"

Ragir nodded, grimacing as she took another long gulp of the bitter ne'tra gal. "Almost three-quarters of Keldabe's population are heading out for the week."

"That many?"

"It's a big beskar deposit. That's pretty important business."

Jay shrugged. "I guess I have to agree. But what about all the businesses around Keldabe?"

"Don't worry, aruetii," the bartender, Aramis, said as he stepped back in front of them. He had two dirty mugs in each hand that he quickly set about to cleaning up. "The rest of Keldabe may shut down, but the Oyu'baat stays open no matter what. One of my many predecessors once kept business open even when a huge firestorm swept through Keldabe. The city almost burned to the ground, but several Mando'ade used that soup pot over the fire there to help ferry water and douse the flames closest to the tapcaf. The first round was on the house for the rest of the day."

Jay and Rangir both laughed. The bartender's lips twitched upward in a near-smile before he moved on to take an order from a silver-blue Mando sitting at a nearby booth.

A few minutes later, the entrance door swung open with a slight clatter from a string of rough-hewn bells hung from the top of the door. Jay and Rangir turned to see Brianna step through into the tapcaf and head for them.

"Su'cuy, Jay, Rangir," the bounty huntress said as she approached.

"Su'cuy, Bellan," Rangir said, nodding to her. "What brings you here?"

"Your husband wanted me to tell you that the transport is loaded up and ready to board. You should head up there now if you want to get a window seat."

Rangir chuckled as she stood and tossed ten credits down on the bartop to pay for her drink. She smoothed out her jacket and picked up the rucksack that contained her armor and tools.

"I'll catch up with you when we all get back, Jay," she said with a nod of farewell. Then she headed for the door and disappeared outside. Brianna slid onto the now-vacant seat next to Jay.

"So," she said, "making some new friends?"

Jay nodded. "I like to walk around the city on the Market Days and see what I find. I meet a lot of new people that way."

"I'll bet. Are you sure that's such a good idea with you being a wanted Imperial fugitive?"

She shrugged and took another sip of her drink. "What's it been, almost eight months now since BlueSend? The Imps haven't caught me yet. I'm pretty sure they never even paid attention to my file."

"Even so, it would do you well to exercise a little caution. All it would take is a single stormtrooper to recognize your face and you're back off to prison."

Jay looked over at Brianna and said, "Is this because Vhetin is going with everyone else up to the mining facility? I can take care of myself without him hovering over my shoulder."

"No, it's because three-quarters of Keldabe is going to be up to the mining facility. Without an entire army of Mandalorians standing between them and their targets, the Empire might see this as the perfect time to do a little espionage into the capital."

"I'm pretty sure Shysa has taken precautions."

Fenn Shysa, the leader of the Mandalorians, may have been overly optimistic as far as diplomacy with the Imperials went but Jay knew he was no fool. Rumor had it that he was even training some Mandos in specialist anti-Imperial combat techniques in case the Empire ever got too hostile for Mando tastes.

"And I'm pretty sure you should take precautions as well."

Jay laughed as she finished her drink and paid Aramis. The two women stood and headed for the door, emerging into the bright, sunny square outside.

"What kind of precautions, exactly?" Jay inquired as she squinted against the bright light of Mandalore's sun.

"Mia and I are going to be taking care of the Omotao farm while Rame's away," Brianna suggested. "Why don't you head down there with us for the day? Shake up your schedule a bit."

"I can't. I've got things to do around my apartment. I bought a couch the other day."

"A couch?"

"I'm still not moved in completely," she explained. "I've barely got enough furniture to avoid sleeping on the floor."

Brianna rolled her eyes. "Tell me about it. My apartment is barely big enough to even consider sleeping on the floor."

Jay frowned at the other huntress. "What do you mean? I thought you were successful as a bounty hunter."

"Success at the job doesn't mean you get to live in a bloody mansion. A bounty huntress should keep a low profile so as not to attract the attention of any enemies she may have picked up along the way."

Jay suddenly thought of her own apartment: fairly modest, but certainly not to be considered a hideout. It was a moderate-sized living space, with two rooms and a loft area that now served as her bedroom. Now that she thought about it, there wasn't really anything that could serve as cover if she was ever attacked, no places where she could secretly hide weapons-

"Wait a minute," she said, narrowing her eyes and half-smiling at Brianna. "You're just trying to get me paranoid like Vhetin, aren't you?"

"Not like Vhetin," she said. "Trust me, he'd be pretty hard to keep up with."

The two stood and waited as a long line of Mandalorians, both armored and un-armored, filed past them, heading for the transports waiting to take them up into the mountains.

From all Jay had been able to gather, this new mining post was a big deal, and Shysa had put all hands on deck to get it up and running. He'd made an announcement at the beginning of the week; nothing fancy, he had just stood up one night in the Oyu'baat and said that he wanted all the clans he could get helping to excavate a pretty extensive beskar deposit up in the mountains. From that day on the message had traveled from person to person across Keldabe and the rest of Mandalore. Mandos had slowly been streaming up into the mountains ever since, until now the majority of Keldabe was like a shabby-looking ghost town.

Vhetin and Rame, as well as Venku and the rest of the Skiratas, had been among the first to head up. Jay remembered when she, Brianna, and Mia had seen them all off.

"It shouldn't be too big a deal," Rame had said as he'd spun his helmet between his hands. "A week or so of work, then we'll be back home."

Mia had nodded, then kissed her husband. "We'll hold down the fort until you guys get back. Just don't take too long. And no ne'tra gal while you guys are up there. Remember what happened to Katrea and his team a year ago?"

Jay had frowned and looked to Venku for explanation. He'd grimaced and said, "They all got drunk and started thinking their companions were Death Watch."

"Oh no."

"Oh no is right," he'd said. "It took search teams almost four months to find 'em. They may have been drunk, but their combat abilities were top-notch. They had bodies hidden under bushes and strung up from trees like true guerilla fighters."

"Don't worry about it, son," Old Kal Skirata had said, putting a lined hand on Venku's shoulder. "All the gal is being left behind. We're being forced to remain completely focused on the mining job. Mand'alor's orders."

Vhetin, meanwhile, had been saying farewell to Brianna. They hugged each other gently, and Brianna rested her forehead against Vhetin's helmet. It was the closest two could come to a kiss when at least one of them was in armor.

"You promise you'll comm me?" she said.

He nodded. "I promise. Who else am I going to talk to when I'm up there? Tobbi Dala? That's always a treat."

She'd laughed and said, "Just come home safe, all right? I'm not going stand you getting into trouble while I'm not there to participate."

He'd nodded and said, "I swear. Haat, ijaa, haa'it."

She nodded. "Good enough for me."

Then she'd stepped back and she, Jay, and Mia had waved as the Mandos all loaded onto the transport. A minute later the ship lifted off with a tremendous thundering of its bright red engines and roared off toward the mountains, followed by two other ships of identical make.

"They'll be fine," Jay had said as they watched the ships disappear. "They're a bunch of heavily-armed Mando men and women, all of whom have military training at the very least."

"Yep," Mia said, clapping her shoulder. "And now it's up to us aruetii girls to keep things safe for them until they get back."

Now, as Jay walked through the mostly-empty streets of Mandalore's capital city, she felt slightly uncomfortable. As scruffy as it looked, Keldabe had always been full of life in the past. Now, with most of the Mando population gone, the city looked empty and dead.

For the next half-hour Jay and Brianna shopped for a bit at what streetside stalls were still open. Jay bought some groceries, some power cells for her datapad, and finally turned her sights on a stall selling clothing. Her armorleather jacket, a garment she'd grown rather fond of since its purchase, had been abandoned during her last hunting contract. She still didn't have much in the way of clothing, so she needed to find a replacement until she could find something to replace her lost hunting gear.

"Help me out here, would you?" she asked Brianna. They inspected the stall, looking for something suitable.

"How about this one?" Brianna eventually said, holding up a dark brown nerf-hide jacket with thick leather shoulder pads and stiff arms for stability while firing high-caliber weapons.

Jay grimaced. "Eh, not really. That's geared toward a more dedicated hunter than me."

"What about this?"

"It has metal armor plates."

"What's wrong with that?" Brianna asked, raising an eyebrow. "I don't know if you've picked up on this, but armor is a bit of a theme around here."

"No thanks. What about this?"

She held up a long gray coat that fell to her mid-shins. It wasn't armorleather, but it would be good for hiding her DC-17 under her arm on more dangerous missions. It would do well until she was able to find the Mandalorian woman who'd sold the jackets.

Brianna cocked her head and said, "Hm... I like it. It suits you."

"Good." Jay turned to the Twi'lek Mando running the stand and handed him thirty credits to pay for the garment. Once done, she slipped it over her shoulders and tested out the pockets. They would definitely be enough to conceal a couple grenades or a virbroblade at the very least. She smoothed out the sleeves and said, "I like it. I could get used to it."

They continued for a bit, buying supplies and groceries on their way. It was another half-hour before they reached the small collection of buildings that housed Jay's apartment.

Brianna looked up at one of the buildings, a large three-story apartment complex, and said, "Which one is yours?"

"Room Twelve, Level Two," Jay replied. She cocked her head toward the building. "Follow me."

The inside of the building was fairly clean compared to most of the other buildings in Keldabe. The floors were scrubbed and even somewhat polished. The stairs leading up to the second floor were smooth and even, even if the railings were splintered and smudged by the fingerprints of thousands of hands.

"This is me, down here" Jay said as they strode down the hall. She pulled her keycard for her door and said, "Would you like a cup of caf?"

"I think that would be great," the huntress said. "I've got to be down at the farm ready for a hard day's work in an hour or so. I need some caf in my system or I'm going to pitch off the back of a repulsor truck."

Jay began to laugh as she pushed open the door, then paused as she heard a quiet click.

A moment later a deafening blam split the air and she felt a shockwave hit her full in the chest. She went flying back, crashing into the door of the apartment across the hall. Brianna cursed as she was also blasted onto her back. She threw her arms in front of her face to block the spray of burnt wood chips that bounced off her.

When Jay's eyes stopped watering, she shook hair out of her face and looked at the smoking hole that had been her apartment door. The floor was burned away, showing the plastoid supports beneath, and still-burning pieces of wood had been embedded like throwing knives in the wall behind her by the force of the blast.

Then she looked over Brianna, coughed, and said, "What was that you said about taking precautions?"