Chapter 8: Old Friends Not Forgotten

The past two years have been an experience for Andrew, to say the least. A few months after he had been adopted, Alester Wren died on the battlefield fighting for Death Watch. Ursa had become the leader of the clan and had become a mother to her first child, Sabine. Andrew had become an uncle at age twelve and once he laid eyes on the baby girl he vowed that nothing would harm her. He may have lost a family member but gained a new one. The biggest experience for Andrew was learning how to hide his force abilities. As Ursa's first act as Countess, she made the clan vow to keep his abilities a secret. At first they agreed only because Ursa was their leader, but over time Andrew showed them that he was one of them and earned their respect. Andrew hated that he can't use the force in public, so he secretly practiced in his room. He learned basic things, like to lift items and sense his surroundings, but he never could try to use it in combat.

As for Owen and Tom, they became the guards of the Countess's family and captains of the clans forces. The members of the clan accepted them quickly, but had an unspoken grudge because they were friends with Andrew. When Sabine was born, Ursa forced them by oath to protect her child until she could protect herself. They agreed of course and had become honorary uncles in the Countess' eyes. Over the course of the two years they each had a personal quest they pursued. Tom's was to learn the music of this galaxy and share some from his. Tom taught Alrich the art of music, especially rock, and in return Alrich taught him some mandalorian battle songs. Owen's quest was to learn the technology of this galaxy. He spent most of his day in the study of the Wren Stronghold and was still mainly found by Ursa in the late nights. She started to teach him about technology that was so new to him. They both enjoyed it as Owen learned about the technology and Ursa found a distraction from the hard life as a countess. However one quest was shared by all of the close friends and family of the wrens. It was to find where the others were, but after two long years, their hope was almost out.

Kid was in his quarters, practicing his force powers and listening to a playlist Tom had created for him, when he heard a knock at his door. Using the force he sensed it was his friends.

"Hey Kid, some sensors were triggered at an old Death Watch camp. Owen and I are going to check it out, you want to come?" asked Tom as Kid opened his door.

"Sorry guys, but on duty." answered Andrew.

"On duty?" asked Tom. His response was a warm feeling on his leg. He looked down and saw the two year old, Sabine hugging it.

"Well, hello there." cooed Tom as he picked her up. Sabine pressed her face onto his helmet and tried to see his face through the visor. Not really seeing anything she gave up and reached for Andrew.

"Ursa put you up to this?" joked Tom, as he handed her to his friend. "Hope she's not a handful."

"She's not at all. She especially likes it when I do this." claimed Andrew.

He sat her on the floor and stepped back. He reached out with his hands and he closed his eyes. Tom and Owen watched in awe and the toddler began to float in the air, giggling the whole time. After a few more seconds he let her down.

"Don't tell Ursa about that, she'd kill me." pleaded Andrew.

"I didn't see anything." said Owen, which made Kid smile.

"So just to be clear, you're not coming." reassured Tom.

"Unless you want to have the baby come." joked Kid as he watched her waddle over to her finger paints that her father had gotten her.

"Then Ursa would kill all of us." laughed Tom, as he and Owen started to walk off. "We'll see you when we get back."

Tom and Owen made their way outside, to the shipyard, to get their personal Kom'rk Class Fighter, The Black Dog. It stuck out in the field of white and blue ships. It was customly painted, over seen by Alrich, night black and beskar silver. Tom named it, The Black Dog, after one of his favorite Led Zeppelin songs. He played it every time he lifted the ship off the ground.

Tom announced their departure to the control room and flew into space. Owen punched in the coordinates into the navi-computer. He gave a silent nod to Tom and pulled the hyperspace lever. The stars around them began to stretch as the ship made the jump.

The planet they were going to was similar to Kromest. Cold, winter most of the year, and beasts you don't want to mess with. The campsite was next to a village that was full of people, but Death Watch killed everyone and burned it to the ground some time ago. Some members of Clan Wren weren't happy about that, including Andrew and Tom, Owen didn't really care. However that was when Pre Vizsla led, now Bo-Katan leads and has better intentions for Mandalore and its people.

Tom landed the ship away from the camp, in case whoever triggered the silent alarm was hostile. They lowered the exit ramp and were met with a shove of cold wind. It was a little bit colder than what they were used to on Kromest. Owen had a small smile on his face, hidden underneath his tan helmet, when he saw the frozen land. 'Ha ha, another Arctic planet.' he thought as he and Tom made the small walk to the camp with their captain capes whipping in the wind.

They stopped on top of a ridge that looked over the abandoned camp. Laying in the snow to not be seen, Tom touched a button on the side of his helmet and enhanced his view on the camp. Owen did the same but he switched it to infrared to locate them quicker.

"I got three heat signatures in the center tent." said Owen.

"I see them. They're coming out now." replied Tom, "Look like pirates. Probably armed."

He watched what looked like three humans, no older than him, walk out of the tent. He noticed that they were not dressed for the weather here. The smallest one had a green vest one, another had a long maroon trench coat and the last had a black jacket.

"Let's get out of here. It's too cold." Tom heard the one in the trench coat say.

"Agreed." said the one in the green vest, "There is nothing here anyways. Come on Dom."

The one in the black jacket, was looking around the camp. He wasn't looking for anything good enough to steal. He looked like he was looking for someone. The one in the green vest and gripped his shoulder.

"You looking for something?" he asked

"No, Sorin. I just got the feeling we're being watched." replied the one in the black coat.

Tom was a little surprised by the names of the two out of three he learned. But he just shoved it to the side thinking it was a weird coincidence. The three pirates got on their speeders and raced towards their ship.

"Follow them." ordered Tom, as he and Owen ignited their jetpacks and chased after them at a distance.

They followed them until the pirates reached their ship. The three got off their speeders and pushed them into the hull of their ship. The one in black coat turned around as he heard Tom and Owen's jetpacks. His two friends heard it as well and turned in the direction of the noise.

"Kriff. Mandos." Tom heard the one called Dom say.

Two of the pirates started to fire at Tom and Owen, while the one in the vest ran in to start the ship. Tom took out his bo-rifle and started to fire. Owen turned on his vambrace shield to block the shots coming at him.

The ship's engines lit up and it started to lift off the ground. The one in the trench coat had stopped firing and was already up the hull ramp. While the one in the Black coat was still in the snow firing at Owen and Tom. Tom knelt in the snow and lined up a shot on the one still in the snow.

"TR let's go." shouted Dom, extending his hand to TR, as The Phoenix started pulling away.

Tom dropped his rifle when he heard that. As the ship pulled away TR and Dom saw that one of the Mandos could have taken a shot on TR. They were both confused why he didn't. Owen was as shocked as Tom, dropping his hands to his side as he watched the ship pull away.

"We found them." he said as he dropped to his knees in the snow.

Tom landed The Black Dog in front of strong next to the frozen lake. He didn't bother parking it in the shipyard, he had more important things on his mind. He and Owen rushed out and ran toward the throne room.

"Ursa!" he called as he came close to the room.

Barging in he saw Alrich talking with a few Clan Wren members. Seeing the looks on his friends faces he excused himself from his conversation.

"Alrich, where is Ursa." asked Tom, catching his breath.

"I believe she should be on Coruscant right now. She and Lady Bo-Katan had to pick up something before they headed to Mandalore." said Alrich calmly, "Speaking of which, you'll be going to help them once I help you with whatever this is. "

"We found them, Alrich! We found them." said Tom as he grabbed Alrich by the arms.

Kid came rushing in with Sabine in his arms. "What's going on? I heard yelling." stated Andrew.

"Kid!" exclaimed Owen, with a smile on his face.

"We found them." stated Tom again.

"What! Who?" asked Kid.

"Dom, Sorin, and TR. So far." claimed Tom.

"Where? Where are they?" asked Kid beaming from ear to ear.

"Florrum." stated Owen, "I noticed a symbol used by Hondo Ohnaka's gang on their jackets."

Alrich had finally put the pieces together. "Then go." he ordered.

"But you said we're supposed to go to Mandalore to help Ursa." questioned Tom.

"Well with what their plan is. It may not work out. And if so we will need all the help we can get." explained Alrich.

Tom, Owen and Andrew looked at each other. They all had heard the same thing. Their Count was telling them to go find their friends, their family, and go fight a war with them. Practically a mandalorians dream. Without a word they took off running to The Black Dog. Before Andrew excited the throne room he turned back and ran back to Alrich. He handed Sabine to him, giving her a kiss on the forehead.

"Thank you." he said to Alrich and ran off to check up to his friends.