Death, destruction, blood, violence, and mayhem were reflected in the glossy black of the visor. Time seemed to slow as a splash of blood swept up and splattered across the helmet. Yet there was something else reflected in the visor amid the carnage and destruction, camaraderie, friendship, loyalty, and courage. 
The man who was gazing up into the helmet gasped as the blade that was penetrating his chest was ripped out. What he had seen reflected in the visor was something far above him and his petty band of rebels; it was the essence of a warrior, a fighter, a Mandalorian…

Ser’eph Vau wiped his sword clean on the slain rebel leaders tattered clothing. The job was done; they had been hired to take out a unit of violent rebels. It was these men who had detonated a bomb in a city. In Ser’eph’s eyes they had lost the title of rebels and become terrorists when they did that. A rebel was someone with a cause, someone who wanted to achieve something. What these men did was pointless; they killed tens of thousands of innocent civilians, all in the name of resisting the lawful government of the planet. Ser’eph could wait to wipe the dust of this planet off his boots and return to Mandalore. He reached down and scratched Mird behind his ear. The hunting strill that had once belonged to his father, Walon Vau, had come along with him for this run. 
“Oya Mird.”
Ser’eph gave a small smile from under his helmet. He loved the stinking little thing. It had served his father faithfully and continued to serve Ser’eph now. 

Mird was certainly an asset to Ser’eph on some of his more dangerous missions. The strill was adept at numerous things, and was more intelligent then many people Ser’eph had met over the years.

“Come one you filthy little sack of drool.” Ser’eph said laughingly to Mird. The strill bounded to his side and fell in cadence with Ser’eph as he walked out of the complex. Once outside he met up with other members of his squad as they exited various parts of the structure. 
He walked up to their commander. “The leader is dead sir. Nothing to worry about from him.”
“Good job Ser’eph, Tak just finished laying the charges, this place will be a lump of dust on this miserable planet soon and we will be headed back home to our wives and kids.”
Ser’eph grinned and touched two fingers to his helmet brow, “Yes sir.” 

Ser’eph ducked his head as he boarded the shuttle that they had taken down to the planet surface. Up in space their real ship lay waiting for them to return, and return they would, with no casualties as well. This had been a cakewalk; everything had gone their way. It almost seemed to good, but Ser’eph shrugged off that feeling and leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes with Mird at his feet.
The sharp report of a blaster shot firing made Ser’eph snap open his eyes and bolt to his feet. He looked just in time to see the commander fall back with a sizzling hole in the center of the famed Mandalorian T-visor. 
“NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!” Ser’eph shouted, “We were at the end of the mission! He had a family!” 
His vision seemed to be filtered by a red haze as he ran out of the shuttle. He looked to the cliffs just in time to see a lone figure scurrying up the rocks. 

Ser’eph ran towards the cliff, and using the grappling hook built into his gauntlet hauled himself up the steep incline to where he had seen the man. He looked down and saw boot prints in the dusty ground. They led up a small trail that was nearly invisible if one wasn’t standing on it. Ser’eph pounded up the trail. Once or twice he caught a glimpse of the sniper running from him. Ser’eph was a trained warrior though, he had spent all his life doing physical training and no rebel sniper was about to outrun him even in full kit Ser’eph was very fast and could run for miles before stopping. Soon he had the lousy di’kut in site. He raised his arm with the grappling hook attachment on it, and taking aim, fired the hook at the fleeing sniper. The solid metal hook smashed into the small of his back and Ser’eph could hear the crack of breaking bone. The man cried out in pain as he tumbled to the ground and started to try crawling away by dragging himself with his hands. Crossing the distance between them with a few long strides and kicked the man over onto his back. He looked down into the panic stricken face and spoke calmly,
“The man you just killed was Commander Haji, he was a good man, better then any of your people.” Ser’eph reached down and grabbed him by the throat, bodily picking him up. He swung his arm out over the edge of the cliff letting the man’s now dead legs dangle over the daunting precipice. 
“They say that you black out when you fall from a very high place. They say you won’t see the ground rushing towards you.” Ser’eph leaned in putting his helmet up to the man’s face, “That’s a lie.”
He then let go of his grip and the man dropped away, falling down the steep mountainside, screaming the whole way, until hitting the bottom of the valley. After a ten-minute jog Ser’eph reached the bottom of the slope, passing the broken and mangled carcass that had once been a man. He walked to the shuttle and joined the rest of his team who had already brought the commander into the shuttle. 
“We’ll take him back to Mandalore, his family will want his armor.” Ser’eph said.
He walked to the cockpit, 
“Get us out of here.” 
He motioned to Tak to blow the charges they had set. As they lifted away the complex seemed to fall in on itself in a fiery display of mourning for the passing of a Mandalorian hero. 
He turned to the main view port and the blackness of space that now surrounded them, Commander Haji would live on forever in the Manda.