Tough Love {Republic NFU, Mandalorians}

[Desmond Verd]

Mandalorian Space - Juntion Memorial
0600
Benduday

It was late in the morning, well late for a military man, but Republic Forces were en route to Juntion, specifically Juntion Memorial, the largest military instillation on the planet Junction. It was unique in that the city sized base also doubled as a civilian city. In fact, some of the most expensive housing this side of the coast.

Before him was a monument, a controversial yet awe inspiring statue of one Grandmaster Teferi Efreet fighting alongside Mandalorians. It was the memorial the city-base got its name from and a stark reminder of the war against the Sith Empire. The statue had been a symbol of mutual respect between the two Galactic powers, its stone surface still bore the marks of the strained relationship over the last few years.

He had fought at Junction when the Sith first took the planet from the Mandalorians, they had made sure he wasn't going to fight ever again. Now here he was again, almost a decade later to welcome Republic troops to the planet again. The Sith had returned, a new face, a new goal. They had gone toe to toe with the Protectorate, obliterated Republic forces in every battle and bested the Mandalorians in battle through trickery. The Chiefs had declared all hostilities with the Republic from before as 'Misunderstandings' and after the Great Disappearance the One Sith took the opportunity to spread its wings in this weakened galaxy. Not only that, but another faction had sprung up in the Outer Rim and taken old Mandalorian worlds as well.

The Mandalorians and Republic required each other's aid again in this new war and the Chiefs had seen it fit to bring them here and train their military. He even heard rumors of MandalMotors extending its hand in order to produce Republic war ships. And here he was, retired Super Commando to help train the next generation of Republic soldiers to fight the Sith. He let out a heavy sigh and placed his hands on his hips.

The smell of the sea mixed with the hustle and bustle of a small city. The sound of repulsors and sea birds filled the air and almost nobody was out yet. His comlink beeped in his ear,

"Sir, the Republic vessels just dropped out of Hyperspace over Junction."

"Guide them in, I'll meet them at the Starport."

"Roger roger."

Fixing his cap he turned back to his skiff and made his way to Junction Memorial Starport.

Spoiler

[member="Gir Quee"] [member="Gala Geert"] [member="Orick T'ane"] [member="Drapeam Nyx"] [member="Corbin Jorel"] [member="Kiyron"]

 

[Gir Quee]

Junction Memorial Spaceport

Gir Quee exited the ramp of the Remember Hast along with a few other Republic soldiers to set ground on Junction itself. Doubtlessly more Republic personnel would come on different vessels aside from his own. He quickly glanced around at the world, still somewhat disbelieving that he had set foot on Mandalorian soil. A great race of warriors, or is culture, maybe even both? The man shook his head. Such distinctions are academic at this point. They have something to show us. And we have something to learn. The lore and saga of the Mandalorians impressed the man greatly. They were a force to be reckoned with to have survived all of these thousands of years against an array of empires, a gigantic old republic, and even force-users. That last part particularly impressed the man. He was lucky to be present on Junction.

[member="Dresmond Verd"]

 

[Orick T'ane]

Mandolorian Space - Juntion

Strs streached back into existence as The Farstrider exited hyperspace. Orick stood on the bridge as the planet Jintion got closer in the observation screen. Mandolorian space, who would have thought that Republic ships would be in Mando space as friends. He thought as he looked over to a small Bothan sitting on one of the two command chairs at the back of the bridge. " Commander Vulk'mos, tell the flight crews to prepare a shuttle. Have chief Bayora and his men meet me on the flight deck. You have the bridge until I return" He said as he turned and began walking towards the bridge lift.

the Bothan nodded and smiled, " I will keep the seat warm for you Captain" He said as he stood and stepped forward towards one of the many com stations.

The short trip to the hanger bay gave Orick a chance to think about the last 8 months, and how different his life was today. 8 months ago he was scraping by as a smuggler, living job to job. Then he had the misfortune to get caught in a fight between the Repiblic and the Sith, all he was trying to do was to smuggle medical supplies to the rebels on Manaan. They had paid him well for the help there, and on the next half-dozen planets after that. I blame her, her and her kriffing ideals. I should have just turned my ship around and jumped away when I saw that fight. Now look at me. He glanced down at his dress uniform, devoid of all awards and medels except his rank and his combat badge.

He was met in the hanger by a very large Twi'lek and a motley looking group of marines, a total of twelve beings. all wore basic work uniforms but none had any weapons or gear on them. " Punctual as always Chief Bayora" He said as he smiled, he held out his hand before the chief could preform the salute that he knew was coming. " Get the men aboard and lets gets this show on the road, we have a timetable to keep"

" Aye, aye captain," was all the chief said before he turned and began barking orders at the marines assembled around him

Orick smiled as he walked up the ramp and towards the cockpit. " As soon as everyone is aboard, get us underway. We have clearance to land at Junction Memorial Spaceport."

[member="Gir Quee"][member="Desmond Verd"]

 

[Kiyron]

Kiyron stood in one of the shuttles approaching the planet, currently in his dress uniform. It was his duty as Colonel to represent the Army in this situation. His field gear was in his trunk of course, including his Mandalorian made sniper rifle. Whether or not anyone would recognize it, he wasn't sure, but it would undoubtedly be a conversation starter, as it was very much not standard issue or authorized. But rank and a career in special operations had its perks, as did being among the best snipers in the Republic. There were shots that just couldn't be done with conventional Republic weaponry and disruptors were too visible. But that was not the focus now.

Now they were allies working on crass-faction training. Hard to remember that there was a time not long before the One Sith reveal that they had almost broken into open warfare. He couldn't quite remember why though. In all honesty, he wasn't sure he'd ever known. Simply being part of Republic Special Operations didn't automatically grant one classified information at such a high level. No, he got what came down the chain, which was even less back then.

 

[Corbin Jorel]

Juntion Memorial Spaceport

Corbin Jorel walked off the ship he rode, along with a few other Republic soldiers. He never thought that he would leave Taboon, let alone leave Taboon as a soldier. Corbin was quite excited to train with Mandalorians. He knew a least one person that was going to be here. Well, he didn't really know much about [member="Gir Quee"] but they sent message and Corbin felt that he could trust him. Corbin just started waiting find out what to do.

 

[Vual]

Sarvus was never one to enjoy long flights and his squad knew this, during the entirety of the flight he didn't hear the end of the torment which stopped once the ship came close to the planet. The announcement went over the communication unit 'Approaching the planet now Sergeant'. With such, Sarvus readied himself.

"Alright squad, lets be open to learning as our higher ups have ordered."

It was hard to ignore that Swede was unhappy of the order, he didn't drop the subject since the briefing until Sarvus had to order him to drop it. The rest of Vanguard Squad had a mix of interest and excitement running through their body which made Sarvus excited.

- - -

Upon landing, Sarvus led his squad out and rallied them to what he believed was a rallying point, he then turned to the rest of his squad to relax for the moment.

"Alright men, at ease until further orders." Let out Staff Sergeant Sarvus.

"We don't need training from Mandalorian's, we need missions as a squad." Spat out Corporal Swede.

"I cannot believe I am saying this but I agree with the corporal, Sergeant." Agreed Private First Class Amber.

"Listen, orders are orders and in the end, I believe this would be a very good experience for you all. That will be the last I hear of it, understood?"

"Understood Sergeant!" Replied Vanguard Squad.

 

[Arla Ordo]

Location: Juntion Memorial

Rally Master Arla Balor stood on the far side of the memorial looking up emerald green orbs scanned every inch of the memorial through the T of her visor. The readouts giving her location of everyone around her. This memorial to battle, battle and war was a part of mandalorian culture. What did these Republicans know of her culture? Of the mandalorian way of life? She hesitated on training with these Republicans showing them their tactics. She held a fear that one day when the Republic no longer looked upon them as allies that they would use these tactics on them.

But she had told [member="Strider Garon"] that she would do her best to do this. She closed her eyes one thing armor did for her hiding her face no one could tell her emotions. She was young and yet with all the battle she had seen she had in fact begun to long for more.

Turning her gaze she was alerted to incoming ships Here they come she thought. Be proud of me today [member="Naimes Ahn-Dross"] I'm going to look upon people that once called for our blood threatened our lives and I'm going to show them what honorable people we are and train them without thinking her hand went to chestpiece her palm laid flat against it, underneath the gift still laid against her skin providing her with something she may never have attained on her own. And only he knew she wore it and wore it proudly. Keep your tongue today.


[member="Sarvus"] [member="Corbin Jorel"] [member="Kiyron "] [member="Orick T'ane"] [member="Gir Quee"] [member="Desmond Verd"]

 

[Desmond Verd]

Republic ship after ship began to land at Junction Memorial Starport. His com was ablaze with landing confirmations and the starport was buzzing with excitement. The garrisoned Red Legionnaires were hard at work distributing the Mandalorian "Care Packages" to the Republic soldiers which included Red Force armor, a combat knife, and a heavy blaster pistol. As the soldiers slowly registered onto the base's ever growing guest list Desmond scanned the large auditorium from above. Some of these soldiers he could tell just from looking at them that they wouldn't stand a chance in a fight against even his youngest relatives. Some however had seen plenty of battle and knew what they were doing. They held their heads up high and had the gait of a soldier. Then there were those in the middle. Those whom had seen fighting and survived through sheer luck or maybe a small bit of skill and felt they knew everything there was to war.

All of them would go through this training and come out a better warrior. The Republic coddled their people, even in this time of war and it showed in the way their men and women walked. A sense of entitlement to the Galaxy was present on their faces, as if the Sith had taken something unfairly. He sighed.

<Make sure they are split up properly and their Mentors are present,> he said to his aide. He nodded and walked off, relaying the message.

[member="Arla Balor"] [member="Sarvus"] [member="Corbin Jorel"] [member="Kiyron"] [member="Orick T'ane"] [member="Gir Quee"]

 

[Orick T'ane]

Orick walked down the ramp and looked around him. he saw a multitude of Republic military personnel and almost as many Mandolorian warriors. He spotted Commodore [member="Gir Quee"], he was glad to see that the commodore had taken a personal interest in this training. he noted that there were several Mandolorian warriors that the crowd of people just seemed to flow around and he knew right away they were instructors. He turned to Chief Bayora, " Chief, get the men settled into whatever organization that the Mandolorians have set up for us and get them squared away. I don't want our boys being the cause if this things going wrong." I may just have the shortest command in the history if the Republic Navy if that happens.

He watched as his marines moved into the pile of other troopers and smiled, he had taken his best sergeants with him. They would return to the ship and in turn teach the rest of his troops what they learned. He really hoped this was going to work, the Republic really needed to get some equal footing for the fighting to come with the Sith, and asking the Mandolorians to do the fighting for them wasn't an option. He took a moment to take in the grand building they had landed in, his feet taking him away from the crowds and outside so that he could get the full measure of the buildings around him. He wasn't really worried about getting lost or not being in the right place.

[member="Desmond Verd"] @Arla Balo r[member="Sarvus"] [member="Corbin Jorel"] @Kiyron

 

[Gir Quee]

Still inspecting his armor, Gir noted an eerily familar voice and turned to see [member="Orick T'ane"] conversing with a chief. He wryly grinned, even if the man couldn't see it. It was good to see other leaders taking part in the training. After all, how could he tell a bunch of his men, his marines to do this, if he did not? The man stripped off the outer remains of his issue uniform, leaving him in only the standard issue gray undershirt and light duty trousers. Gir slipped on the undersuit before beginning to doff on the rest of the red armor.

Compared to his normal getup, the armor was more bulky, but it bothered him not. He glanced around to see his aide and several of his men had finished putting their own armor on. Standing next to [member="Corbin Jorel"], Gir inspected the knife and blaster pistol handed to him and found reasonably familiar in his hand. Most Republic naval crewmembers were proficient with using such close-quarters weapons, out of tradition and qualifying regulations, but he knew their skills paled in comparison to the Mandalorians. Gir knew a little about knife-fighting, even after a summer working on water ships, though he had taken to target blaster pistol shooting fairly regular. But it was more in an effort to clear his mind from the stress of military life, and the MT-14, while slim, still felt heavy in his hand compared to the target pistol he usually used. The man quickly ran a function test with the weapon and familiarized himself with the controls while waiting for the next phase of instruction.

[member="Kiyron"] | [member="Desmond Verd"] | [member="Arla Balor"] | | [member="Sarvus"]

 

[Arla Ordo]

Walking towards the gathering Republic forces she made sure her armor was clean from the last battle. Scuffs and scrapes were not removed it was a sign that she did in fact fight for her Vod, that she had earned a place among the warriors of Mandalore.

The question that was coming was should she remove her helmet, reveal her face. Would they care what she looked like? Who knew what the pubbies thought about. Oh what was she going to teach again today, how to fight dirty. How to not think but react. What tactics did they use, where was it that was their weak point?

She stopped and looked over the forces gathering. She stood now with her arms crossed her weight on her right foot, her left foot forward as she waited.

Next question, did she make the first move?

[member="Gir Quee"] [member="Orick T'ane"] [member="Desmond Verd"]

 

[Kiyron]

Kiyron inspected the Mandalorian equipment, checking the armor first. It was solid armor. Good stuff, but not quite as much protection as the Warden class armor offered, especially since, by his estimate, they were the same weight. Interesting, that was, to be sure. He could see different situations where one would be better than the other. The pistol was as well built as the rifle he'd purchased from them. It'd be interesting to see it in action.

But now was not yet the time. He pulled the armor on, testing the joints to check how well he could move in them. It was fairly good, although he had a striking suspicion the lightsaber resistance wouldn't be as good as with the Warden armor. Everything had their drawbacks and advantages. It was just all about choosing the right ones for the situation.

He strode forward, his aide trailing along behind him until he saw [member="Arla Balor"] standing with arms cross and one foot forward. Perhaps unsure of how to proceed? Well, he was in that boat as well. It had been a long while since he had participated in any cross-government exercises.

 

[Gilamar Skirata]

Gilamar walked through the sea of red-armored men and women, nodding to a few Mando'ade here and there. His armor gave no symbol of rank, but rather he seemed to hold some sort of command over the others through sheer will power. His black cape billowed behind him as the wind picked up and his boots clanked on the permacrete as he made his way through the crowd until he made it to the make-shift stage where he would address both Mando'ade and Republic troops. Each step felt like an eternity for the older man. He stood, overlooking the crowd. He wasn't one for speeches, but Republic officials had been pushing for some sort of talk before the program began. Removing his helmet, he began to speak.

"Warriors, it is said, are forged in the heat of battle, tempered by the heavy hammer of war, and cooled in the blood of the weak. The One Sith are a powerful foe and they along with their allies knock on our doorstep. The blood of our peoples has been spilled and their bones burned in the pyre of Coruscant. We need to push them back, but we cannot do so without allies ourselves."

A pause.

"I have called the Republic a cancer before, a weakness that needed to be cut from the Galaxy. However decay has assaulted our ranks as well and I as well as your superiors believe we need to come together and make ourselves a force to be reckoned with! We have much to learn from each other. We both approach war and governance differently, but I believe that we can work together to push those bloody Sith back into Chaos where they belong!"

@Kiyron @Arla Balor [member="Gir Quee"] [member="Corbin Jorel"] [member="Orick T'ane"]

 

[Gir Quee]

Gir could hear murmurs of approval rising from those around him in the Republic's ranks as [member="Gilamar Skirmata"] spoke. While the concept found a resonance in Gir himself too, he found himself curious as to what the nature of the practical training would be. From the body armor and weapons it seemed almost certainly to be combat-related, though he would not rule out a forced march with such equipment either or some other physical conditioning. His own mind wandered back to his Academy days. Even as a naval officer, there was target shooting, general exercise, and even training in Broken Gate from some of the more experienced cadre who had fought alongside the jedi during the Republic's many conflicts. It would be interesting to see what the Mandalorians had planned for the day.

 

[Orick T'ane]

Orick had just finished putting on the armor provided when [member="Gilamar Skirata"] had arrived and given his speech. He was impressed with the honesty that the man had shown in his speech. That was important to establish, the honesty of the situation. None could deny that whatever differences the two sides had, the Sith were the more important enemy by far.

He spotted [member="Gir Quee"] standing with his marines and he wandered over, " What do you think they have in store for is, Sir?" He was interested to see what the excersize would bring. Would they just train or would there be an opposing force that they had to deal with. His knowledge of the way the mando's fought was woefully inadequate . He knew that if they had to go up against the mando's it would be a long day.

[member="Kiyron "][member="Arla Balor"] [member="Desmond Verd"]

 

[Gir Quee]

Gir's head turned to face [member="Orick T'ane"], "I wish I knew. Have you heard anything about the specifics?"

In Gir's experience, training was a really nebulous concept. To some, training was an hour long session spent watching a holo-film. For others, it was texts. For others yet, it was a practical and physical exercise lasting days at end. Gir guessed that the Mandalorians were typically the latter type, especially given how they had issued equipment to the Republic troops present. he found it especially interesting that the Republic soldiers had not brought their own gear. Perhaps that was to level the playing field between all of the participants, or perhaps it was going to be because the Mandalorians and the Republic troops would be forming mixed teams....

 

[Orick T'ane]

Orick shook his head and shrugged, " I haven't heard anything beyond what we all heard before arriving here. Judging from the gear they issued to all of us, we will be doing some field work of some type. If I had to guess, I'd say they are going to spend the next day or so pushing us to the limit. If I was running the show I would break us up evenly between Republic and Mandos. Give us a change to work together maybe even share a story or two when it's over." His replied to [member="Gir Quee"].

What he was convinced would really happen though would be that the Mandos would take them out into the field and kick the crap out of them for a while, to hammer home the importance of whatever training they felt the Republic marines needed to make them more effective. Orick smiled and glanced around again, wondering if the entire idea was to just get everyone in one place and hope for the best.

 

[Arla Ordo]

Arla was tired of waiting so she walked over to [member="Orick T'ane"] [member="Gir Quee"] [member="Kiyron "]"Su cuy'gar. I am Rally Master Arla Balor. I am here muun bajir" It dawned on her that they probably did not know any mandalorian. So this would be a two fold teaching experience.

"Su cuy'gar means hello, you're alive, and muun bajir means to teach a lesson" She had a slight accent when shes poke so her words even in basic would sound a bit foreign, "Who are all of you?"

Someone had to stop talking and get this thing going, she was sure they hated standing around as much as she did. Complicate matters more to stand around and look at each other for half a day and get nothing done. She in her armor she had not revealed her face and she carried her weapons with her. Something she had out of habit. She looked from face to face.

 

[Gir Quee]

Gir warily eyed the armored figure in front of him. Historically, he knew that the mandalorians came from all races and sexes, yet he found himself about this one in particular. He did not expect to be learning mandalorian, though that too cuold be useful if the Mandalorians and Republic found themselves working together. The man from Hast turned his eyes to [member="Orick T'ane"] before turning back to the mandalorian in front of him.

"Commodore Gir Quee, commander of the Republic's 1st Beta Line," stated Gir plainly.

He didn't expect that introduction would exactly be impressive to the mandalorian, as she was probably an elite fighter. But he was a sailor at heart, and he did not regret that for anything. But he knew he could stand to learn more from the people who were once the greatest threat that the Republic had faced.

 

[Kiyron]

Kiyron ran the words through his mind, picturing out how to say them, and then went to reply slowly and deliberately, testing the words out, "Su cuy'gar, Rally Master." He wasn't sure about the Mandalorian rank structure, so he wasn't sure where that would put them in their relative chains of command. He suspected it was probably higher than a colonel or major now, actually.

"Major Kiyron. Currently commanding officer of Rogue Regiment." He adjusted the sniper rifle in its case that hung over his shoulder and looked over the gathering. It would be some interesting things that went on during this exercise.