CHAPTER TEN
General Hawk took a sip of coffee as he sat down comfortably at his desk. Standing before him in his quarters were former General "Face" Loran, Commanders Sharr Latt and Bhindi Drayson, Director Heol Girdun, and General Borath Maddeus.
The Supreme Commander of the GA Defense Force gestured at the sundry chairs and sofas in the room. "Please, make yourself comfortable."
Face and his two Wraith Squadron leaders sat down in a wide sofa while Girdun and Maddeus took separated armchairs.
Hawk took another sip of his drink before saying, "Someone please tell me what the kark is going on."
Girdun did not hesitate in answering. "Sir, Garik Loran has reformed Wraith Squadron without permission from me, you, or the Chief of State."
"True," Hawk said, "but I know that Director Kalenda authorized it before she got the boot, so it's technically official."
Girdun scowled. "In that case, I 'officially' disband them."
"Fair enough," Face said before turning to Hawk. "Permission to reform Wraith Squadron as Dinner Squadron, sir?"
Girdun shot out of his seat. "You have been relieved of your rank, Loran. You are in no position to-"
"Girdun, put your blasted rear end back down," Hawk snapped. "Loran, you're general again."
"What?" Girdun bellowed, his face flushed red with anger. "You can't-!"
"I am the Supreme Commander here," Hawk said coldly. "Don't tell me what I can and can not do."
Still fuming, the Director sat back down, his arms crossed. Hawk then returned his attention to Face.
"I am overruling Girdun's disbandment. Wraith Squadron is back in business, and without the secrecy."
Face nodded. "Thank you, sir."
Maddeus cleared his throat. "As much as I support General Loran and Wraith Squadron returning, what do we do concerning Moff Lecersen's arrest?"
"We shall look into the Wraith's accusations of Lecersen being involved in a conspiracy," Hawk said. "Whoever is wrong or right, things shall be dealt with accordingly... or we can just forget all of this happened."
"What about blowing Captain Sacul out of the sky?" Face asked, eyebrows arched. "Girdun did arrest me right after that happened."
Hawk glanced at Maddeus, who was partially in charge of Coruscant's defenses. "Anything to say?"
The general shifted slightly in his seat. "We started to suspect Captain Sacul of wrong doing after he left Coruscant unofficially authorized. I did not order the firing on his ship; someone down the line acted out of accordance."
"I see. In that case, in order to prevent any more instances of utter stupidity, I am appointing General Loran as co-head of Intelligence."
"WHAT?!" Girdun roared.
"If you keep shouting like that, your voice is going to give out," Face said snidely. "Not that I would complain about that, mind you."
While Face and Girdun glared daggers at each other, Sharr Latt gave Hawk a quizzical look. "Is this a wise move, sir?"
Hawk smirked. "Well, if they ever start whipping blasters at each other, I'll be the first to know."
* * *
"Can't this airspeeder go any faster?"
Hrym Mawarr glanced at his Quarren passenger as their airspeeder zipped through the airways. "If I go anywhere above the speed limit, the police will be on our tails. That's more attention than we need."
Prodd muttered something under his breath but Mawarr paid him no heed. They were fast approaching the spaceport; he wouldn't be dealing with the griping Sith for much longer.
Suddenly, something thumped against the back of the speeder. Mawarr craned his head around and saw a man clad in white Mandalorian armor standing there.
"Hello, Kadar," the Skakoan said. "Care for a ride?"
The bounty hunter did not say anything. Instead, he threw a thermal detonator into the back seat before taking off with his jetpack.
Mawarr sighed. "Is that honestly the best he can do?"
Quickly grabbing Prodd, the Skakoan activated the rocket boosters on his back and shot out of the airspeeder seconds before it exploded. Upon spotting Kadar on the roof of a building, Mawarr lowered himself down onto it and Prodd shot out of his grasp, charging towards the ex-Mandalorian while sending out blasts of lightning.
Kadar staggered from the initial assault but managed to recover himself. He then raised his right arm and fired a rocket. It impacted near Prodd's feet and caused the Quarren to jump back in surprise.
Mawarr then stepped forward and aimed a rotary cannon built into his arm. He fired it at Kadar, who narrowly avoided the shots and fired his own cannon from his abdomen. The firefight went on for a while until Prodd lunged at Kadar again. Just as the Quarren was about to use the Force lightning again, Kadar activated his flamethrower and aimed it at the Sith.
Prodd shrieked as his entire body caught fire. He flailed about in a futile attempt to ward off the flames. In the midst of his confusion, he did not see where he was going and fell over the edge of the roof. Mawarr watched his plummet down the building until it was abruptly ended by a transport speeder colliding into the Quarren's body. The Skakoan bounty hunter winced at the gruesome demise before turning back to Kadar.
"Well then," Mawarr murmured. "That's that then. No sense in quarreling any further, not that your target's dead, right?"
Kadar was silent.
Mawarr cleared his throat. "The Quarren was your target, correct?"
Still silence. Then, the ex-Mandalorian spoke. "I have no way of knowing whether or not Mal Banvor truly is still alive or not. I may have had my revenge on Metalorn all those years ago after all. Or he's still out there, and I haven't had my revenge yet. Until I know for sure...."
He raised his missile launcher arm.
"You'll do for now."
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