I R O N
REBOAM
The desert felt like home.
Although the planet resided within the Hapes Cluster, the howl of the sounds was all-too familiar. The bite of the unrelenting heat upon beskar was home. To say that Reboam reminded Aether of Mandalore was an understatement, for before him stretched a monumental cut of desert as far as the eye could see. However. Biome was where the similarities concluded. Specifically, Mandalore was not known for being blinded by the Light. It was vigilant against the Light and the Dark in equal measure, in fact.
Yet Reboam, like the Cluster as a whole, had listened to the whispers of Lightbearers. It hearkened to the deceit that had drawn the Empire to the region in the first place. Now? Hapes and its subordinate planets had become part of something greater. And with this change, Mandalore began to take a fine-toothed comb to the worlds within its borders. Their cause was the snuff out any lingering Light that wasn't wise enough to retreat or surrender. Reboam was home to a gathering of such.
They had huddled together within the ruins of one of their Enclaves. They had hoped that the sands would obscure them...but their hopes met the same fate as all green life in the desert. Death.
It was some time after the violence had ended that Aether finally pried his helmet free from his visage. The Enclave? It was now further in a ruined state. Its occupants? The majority had been put to the sword. But this day, his command was different compared to their previous operations. Before, his direction had been simple: secure the younglings and Padawans for re-education as Mandalorians. Eliminate the rest. This time, the latter was changed ever so slightly.
Eliminate the men. Secure the women.
It was an odd change of pace, but there was a method to Aether's madness. He sat upon a piece of devastated stone, watching as the Protectors who had joined the fighting brought the survivors forward. When they had mustered before him, the Protectors formed a rigid semi-circle behind the Jedi women. Aether motioned towards one of his warriors - one bearing the sigil of Clan Wren upon her pauldron. Beyond her clan and standing as a Protector, she was unknown to him personally. But she had fought, bled, and survived the battle today.
Thus, his first words were addressed to her.
"Tell me, sister." he began, "Why is it that we Hunt the Jedi so?"
