Tanya, born to an important family on the planet Mandalore, in star wars.
Princess of Mandalore (Youjo Senki/Star Wars)
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Chapter 1
Princess of Mandalore
Chapter 1
708 FNM (30 BBY)
Month 3
Tanya Kryze
Mandalore, Royal Palaces
Damn that Being X and his machinations, damn his lazy writing ability, and damn his pompous lies. I thought that after a long, somewhat happy, second life I was through with being X's bullshit and when I finally died it would be over. Instead, when my eyes closed for the last time, I had found them opening again, as an infant. Granted there were differences, last time I had remembered my first life as easily as yesterday. Or at least I think I did. Now, patches are missing, large patches from my first life, some small ones from my second life. Couldn't even remember my name from my first life, which was concerning. I could remember my name from my second life though, which was good because apparently, it followed me here, just with a different surname.
My new name is Tanya Kryze, born in 698 FNM, an acronym that means, the Foundation for New Mandalore, the planet I found myself born on. This was new, instead of being born at the turn of the century on Earth, I had been born on a planet that was part of a massive interplanetary republic. What was not new was being orphaned again though I was not doomed to the existence of fighting for scraps. Apparently, my father and mother had been members of Clan Kryze's major political house, they had enough influence that they practically ran this planet. Though they had died near the tail end of the Clan Wars period that I had avoided, hopefully it is more evidence that Being X is not nearly as godlike as he claimed. The family as a whole had survived victorious.
As a result, my older brother and I had been taken in by our aunt, the Duchess of Mandalore, Satine Kryze. Satine for her part was pleasant enough, from what I had been allowed to see in her ten years of this life, she seemed to be a good leader, wanting to improve the lives of her subjects, and her forces had been strong enough to defeat the other clans in the war. Although considering the last rebel group had only been put down last year, I would say her anti-military policies were… admirable but hardly comprehensive. She depended on the loyal clans to put down the disloyal ones outside the city of Sundari a bit too much. Inside the climate-controlled city, she expected the police force and royal guard to keep the peace.
I could understand why there was no official military, it may have taken a bit to learn common, but I was no slouch when it came to researching, and Sundari libraries were a public utility. Twenty years back near the end of the Mandalorian Civil War, and before the Clan Wars, or Civil War 2, Governor Vrox deployed the official military of Mandalore in a raid of nearby solar systems, and began building a droid army. This resulted in the Republic sending forces to Mandalore and bombarding the planet from orbit, most of the planet was an inhospitable barren landscape from previous conflicts but this bombardment had finally pushed the planet over the environmentally suitable cliff. Considering the devastation etched in the very crust of our world it was understandable why there was a pacifist government dedicated to dismantling the military, the last one had, effectively, wrecked the planet. The entire situation was reminiscent of what happened to Japan after the Americans won WW2, but trusting the duties of the active military to Clans, who could hardly be described as uniformly loyal, rather than a competent and reasonable self-defense force seemed foolhardy to me.
Granted this was an elective monarchy so at the bare minimum they had voted in their leaders, which implied some trust that could go both ways. A democratic system of any kind was often a stabilizing force and Mandalore intended this system to have the strengths of both monarchist systems and democratic systems. But I would feel safer if they at least had a self-defense force, to call up when they were needed, preferably one without political subservience to any particular clan, not even my royal one.
Though I kept those thoughts to myself, for now, I was supposed to be a simple child after all. With royal blood there was no need to rush for retirement, my future was secure, thanks to my aunt, so it was best to keep her happy unless I end up like her sister, Bo-Katan. I needed to keep myself fairly normal, so most days I spent hanging around my room reading a book on the economics of the Republic or some such subject close to some blocks or dolls to look like a normal girl. Thankfully, Aunt Satine was respectful of my privacy so I was able to keep this ruse going. When I was at school, I let my academic bones shine. It may be unfair to leverage several decades of knowledge and study techniques to assure high grades but frankly, the satisfaction from a job done well was worth it. Besides, by establishing my academic credentials I was simply demonstrating that I was a bright child, one who should be placed in a safe position inside the government. Far away from any potentially violent problems that could crop up.
I was unsure if it was working yet, but I was certain that given enough time it would. My brother, Korkie was likewise angling for a similar position. It was always pleasant to be in the company of like-minded and sensible people. I had been rather worried about him when I had discovered the old cultural practices of my newfound people. Satine had promised to send him to the royal academy when he was older, thus it was eminently reasonable to assume that if I showed my capability as well I would be offered a similar opportunity.
There were, however, some indignities that must be suffered on the path to a well-established retirement. I was reading about the Mandalorian Civil War trying to get an understanding of the failure of the ruling class that led to the conflict in the first place when my door burst open. The 'Pocket terminal' jumped from my hands and landed on the floor in front of me as I was ambushed while in the midst of pleasurable research on a fascinating subject.
"Hey Sis, Aunt Satine wanted to know when you're coming to dinner." the blond thirteen-year-old boy said as he broke decorum of my expected world for the fifth time this year. With a smile, he looked at the room, with interest quickly spotting the active pad on my floor with interest.
Before he had the chance to understand what he was looking at I was off my bed and gathering up the offending item, hiding it under a bedsheet at the foot of my bed. Before turning on him with a suitable expression of distaste at his invasion of my privacy. Part of me wanted to vent my frustration at being interrupted in such a manner on him, having my privacy broken like that, something that I needed to dissuade now before it could become troublesome later. But getting too angry at what was effectively a child was unreasonable so I simply took a breath and said with only an air of annoyance in my voice.
"Please knock, in the future brother, what if I had not been presentable?"
"Ah." He spoke with a predictably sheepish tone. "Right, sorry about that, won't happen again," Korkie sounded suitably cowed before he continued, "but really sis, Aunt Satine wants you down for dinner and sent me here to get you, she wanted to have a talk about something as well."
I nodded briefly wondering what she was interested in talking with me about, before smiling at the thought that I might finally get confirmation on my political aspirations!
"Very well, let's get going then we should not waste the Dutchess' time," I said trying not to appear too excited at the prospect of my hard work paying off.
Korkie Kryze
There is something wrong with my sister, yes that would be the harshest way to state my concerns. It was understandable, really it was, that she didn't like to talk to me about her problems as she got older. But it was concerning nevertheless when I found her reading about the old Mandalorians. At first, I had thought it was an isolated event when I burst into her room to get her up for school and found her reading about the Crusades. Though the fact she immediately hid the subject of her studies, had tipped me off that something was not right about the situation. But after the third time, I found her studying and attempting to hide the subject matter while pretending she had been playing with the various toys she had, I was certain something was up.
At first, I tried to rationalize it. Mother and father had died in the Clan Wars so it was not impossible that she simply wanted to find out what they had been fighting for, to find some connection to a family she never knew. But my efforts to coax an answer from her on the matter had been stonewalled, she would find some excuses about school research projects or that she was just interested in the economics and political situation of what led to the conflict. I know she is smart, but her excuses were too smart for her own good and came around to being dumb. I had taken most of the same classes as her with only a few years' separations and I never had to do the research on that era while at school, and frankly, the idea that she wanted to learn about the economic forces of a war that been about old hatred boiling over was dumb.
I could not believe she had not seen that in the material she was looking at with the high grades she got in class. No, that was simply a cover story, for her real quest, her real quest had to be to find out about mom and dad and the old ways. Why else would she lie and hide what she was doing from me? She's most likely afraid of failing to live up to Satine's expectations, and that was understandable after Aunt Bo got herself banned from the estate by being a bit too public about her belligerent politics as Satine put it. It was a shame really, if Tanya was honest about her interest, perhaps Satine would be willing to put aside politics and let Bo back into our lives. I was sure Satine would be willing to let Bo talk about dad… okay perhaps that one was a bit self-interest for myself, I had only been three when they died, and though I didn't remember them all that well, I missed the idea of having a father and mother.
Well perhaps things would work out for them, I had told Satine about my concerns and Tanya's behavior, as an adult and wise leader I was sure she would come to the right decision about Tanya's problem. Perhaps she could even use the situation to mend the fence with Aunty Bo. It would be good to have the whole family in one house again.
Shaking my head at this thought I glanced over to Tanya who was walking rather briskly in front of me as I followed along my hand interlocked behind my head with a relaxed pace. She was wearing a white and green dress and the maids had helped her get her long blond hair in a braid going down her back, all in all, she looked more put-together than myself, but then she always did. I was simply wearing a pair of tan shorts and a dark gray shirt, Hardly scruffy and reasonable as I had just been hanging out with some of my friends before I had come home and been told to go get Tanya, for just sitting in her room Tanya looked like she was ready to attend a formal meeting… which was odd considering for all I knew she had no friends. She didn't hang out at school with anyone, as far as I was aware. That could also be what was wrong, maybe I should invite her along with some of my friends more when they went out to play. She was younger than me but there was no question of her being mature enough to play with us... Couldn't hurt to get her out in the sun more, she was a bit too pale, she almost looked sickly.
Our long walk to the dining room came to end rather quickly, as two guards waited outside. "Good evening Obyrd, Briyuk" Tanya said, greeting the two royal guards who did not wear name badges and could have been any other guard in the entire capital complex as if that was the most normal thing in the world. Yeah, I needed to get her outside, she spent too much time here.
"Good evening Lady Kryze," they greeted in turn, Briyuk moving to grab the handles of the door, "the Duchess is waiting for you inside." He said, opening the door and ushering them both in. They were greeted with wait staff placing silverware on the table and preparing it for a meal for four by the looks of it. With the fourth sitting across from Duchess Satine, her vibrant red hair was rather odd for the Kryze family but it was always nice to see Aunty Bo. Bo-Katan was in the house, something wonderful must have happened was the only thought that rang in my head as I watched the two there… there I noticed they were staring each other down rather, forcefully…. Well, being under the same roof was a step in the right direction!
Earlier
Satine Kryze
"I told you this would happen." Bo-Katan said rather too smugly as she sat across from me, her boots filthy from the wasteland outside purposely sat on the edge of the table just to annoy me. Years of political talks, assassination attempts, and other sorted business allowed me control of my emotions, at least externally. But of course, the only person who really knew how to push my buttons was my sister.
"You told me a lot of things, clans would never sign up with pacifism. I would bring ruin to the house of Kryze, that the Jedi would betray me and murder me in my sleep. None of that came to pass. Your record on these things is rather spotty." I said with a smile as I listed off a selection of the times Bo had been wrong. A small selection at that, I hadn't even got to her failed romances and her boyfriends, that was a low blow I would not go to as I was better than that.
"So you are simply going to say broken clock twice a day then and leave it at that?" Bo asked still with an awful smirk.
"Oh, I wouldn't say that. The clock on palace ground still uses military time, 19 hours a day." That got a smirk out of her.
"Hah, good one, but doesn't change the fact I was right, Little Tanya is not going to be the perfect princess you want her to be, her bloodline calls her to war. Just as it does for all of us." Bo said as she leaned back in the chair a bit more, for a brief fleeting moment I hoped the chair would slip out from under her, but alas, she was a bit too used to pulling stunts like that. It was not that I wished harm to my sister, but she was attempting to push my buttons. Besides she was wearing her armor, even if she fell, she wouldn't be hurt too much. It would however be entirely deserved and suitably entertaining.
"Really now," I began shaking my head, "just because she knew not to point a blaster at her face that one time, does not mean anything, she is a bright child, anyone could figure out it was dangerous." The incident in question had happened 5 years ago. If I had been there I probably would have strangled Bo to death and prove her damn suggestions about warrior blood entirely correct if the guards had not moved to stop me. But from what I heard it was rather benign, Bo had left an empty blaster out in the opening and Tanya had found it. The incident is why I banned weapons in the palace's ground to all but the guards.
"She didn't just handle the blaster safely, she was about ready to field strip and clean it when I found her. She looked like she was born with the thing in her hand's sister, I know you are... ideologically predisposed to fall more on the Coruscant way of viewing the world nowadays." That was rather diplomatic of her, better than being called a slave to a foreign ideology I suppose. "But I'm telling you right now, she's something special, perhaps a gift from the Manda itself." Bo said, dropping her leg from the side table and sitting properly for the first time since she had sauntered into my home, most likely trying to impart some kind sincerity that this was an important talk.
Well, it was but I wasn't going to fall for this nonsense "The Manda? Really? I think you have been drinking too much."
"Okay then... how do you explain her natural ability with weapons and why did you call me back, pretty sure you said I wouldn't be let back in the house last year?"
"She held a blaster once, that is hardly what I would call "ability", but if you must know Korkie has found her with reading material related to the history of the Mandalorians. I have only learned of this recently, but from what he told me she had been rather insistent on hiding what it is exactly that she has been reading." I was annoyed by this situation. If Tanya simply talked to me I would have this settled but it was obvious that I was the one she was hiding her interest from.
"Let me guess, pretending to be playing with her toys whenever someone enters her room?" Bo asked with a confident look that said she already knew the answer.
"Yes, how did you know that?" I waited to hear the wondrous story on this one, even mental sarcasm could not save me against her here.
"Course you did the same thing when you were a kid, but instead of Mandalorian books, it was stuff on the greater galaxy and Republican nonsense." Ah, she could hardly help herself. "Guess we know that the desire to rebel against your elders doesn't skip a generation."
I sighed, taking a moment to gather my thoughts before I muttered "I really hope you're wrong about that…" genuinely I did, then after taking a moment to get my mind straight I began the rather painful reason for my dear sister's presence here today. "But in case you're not, I intend to make sure Dad's mistakes are not repeated, if she is to learn about the old ways I would rather it be from you than from some politically busy body preacher that I don't have any control over. Would you be willing to help instruct Tanya? Of course, if you're willing, I will withdraw the order keeping you out of the house, for as long as you don't make any political statements." I gave her a pointed look. She knew well that her expression was the least of my concerns. I was not going to step into the quagmire of arguing over how to teach Tanya about the 'old ways', that was not an argument I was equipped to win given the situation.
"Depends, how long are you going to let me teach her? If I agree of course! I doubt you want her to become a bounty hunter or a mercenary.What political game do you intend to play with her life?" Bo said with a smug smile assured in her position but displaying her lack of experience by not pressing her advantage.
"Same as our dear departed father intended with mine, dear sister, at age 16 she will be sent to Coruscant to work with the Mandalorian senatorial delegation. She has demonstrated some interest in politics, the same as her brother. But I believe she will be safer and learn more from the culture of Coruscant than staying here and attending the Royal Academy.
"Toss her onto the planet of murders, thieves, and backstabbers… yeah I need six years just to make sure she could survive that rat's nest. Very well sister, I will help train her and I'll even keep your little censorship policy. Just so I can see what happens when you realize she is a born warrior and wants nothing to do with your idea of pacifism."
"I'm afraid you will be disappointed. Even if that happens, I will love her either way, the same way I love you, even if you make me want to rip my hair out sometimes dearest sister." She laughed but I meant every word.
Tanya Kryze
Of all the possible scenarios for why Duchess Satine would call me down here, seeing the return of Bo-Katan was not on that list. Frankly, It was a wonder she was allowed in the house after the whole Blaster incident. I wouldn't say she went out of her way to let me find the blaster, but I would say leaving one out the way she did was a good way to get someone hurt and she needed to be taught a lesson. Besides, I had been interested in the mechanics of blasters for a while before I got a chance to take a look at one. They were a devastating weapon from what I was able to learn from my research, however, I think I would still prefer a more conventional ballistic weapon or slug thrower as they were known in this universe. Quite simply, the benefits afforded by a blaster did not make up for the shortfalls such a platform offered.
Well, she was here, so there must be a reason, exactly what I couldn't say. Politics was a bit above my head, perhaps there was some force in play that required Satine to bring her sister back in the fold? If so she most likely wanted to try and reform her like a disobedient employee and bring her into compliance. But how would she manage that? Bo had her own ship, armor, and home, Satine didn't hold any cards that would be useful in controlling her sister. At least to my knowledge.
"Tanya, Korkie. Please take a seat, food will be brought out in a bit, and we can talk while we wait." Satine said, motioning to sit at the table. Nodding, I took the offered seat noting how it placed me next to Bo.
Before I really had a chance to settle in and think about that placement Satine started talking "Tanya, Korkie, Bo and I have had a talk today and have come to an agreement, she is going to be allowed back in the house again. On the condition that she keeps political comments to herself, and out of the press." Damn? What did Satine give her in order to get such a massive concession out of her sister? Getting Bo to keep quiet about anything was like expecting the communist not to backstab you the first chance they got. It was possible, but you have to be damn sure that you are giving them something worthwhile to keep them happy. Whatever it was, the fact I had such an iron aunt was a good sign for my future. Getting control of her sister must have been a masterpiece of negotiation.
"In return, she agreed to help with overseeing your education on self-defense, especially for you Tanya. I have decided that in 6 years you will be assigned to the delegation to Coruscant and I want you to be able to defend yourself." The smile on my face froze and distorted a bit as I began to piece together what she had just been saying.
Satine had given me to Bo-Katan, as a way of shutting her up… I was being used as a political tool. I was going to be exposed to battle maniacs' teachings. It took me a moment to determine how I felt about this revelation. On one hand, I should not be too worried about this development, I was not some child who could be brainwashed into a Mandalorian cultist. Satine must think the same way otherwise she would never take a risk like this. But on the other hand, I was to be sent to Coruscant, and from what I read that planet was a cyberpunk dystopia. A massive planet-wide city, and the capital of The Galactic Republic. I had expected to end up in local politics, perhaps governing one of the planets under the control of Mandalore. Being sent to the heart of the Republic could mean I was going to be groomed for a higher part in the government than I expected.
It was honestly a very savvy play, not only did Satine reach across the aisle in allowing guardianship over me to what was effectively a representative of the clans that diverged politically from Satine, she was strengthening the family bond. Given how politically established our clan was, the value of keeping family somewhat united could not be understated.
"That sounds wonderful." I said with a calm and passive tone, keeping a smile on my face, even though I was still trying to figure out how terribly my career choices had been reduced. I really didn't have much choice in the matter, when it all came down to it, I had been given to Bo so she would shut up about politics, and I had to just accept that and deal with it, otherwise, I would appear unreliable. And that was one thing I would never be.
Bo, finally spoke up as she reached over patted my shoulder "Don't worry about it kid, by the time we're done, you'd be able to handle that hive of scum and villainy, and if you want I even know a place for training with jetpacks, so we can start teaching you how to fly like a true Mandalorian."
"You can teach me how to fly!?" I didn't squeak with excitement… if someone says otherwise they were lying. I was just very happy for the chance to fly again. In my last life, flight was one of the things I had enjoyed greatly, there was just something about being free from gravity and having the ability to move through the sky with ease. I doubted jetpack flight was as freeing as using magic but the chance to feel that feeling again was too damn tempting, and the fact I didn't have to fake the genuine smile on my face says a lot about how much I missed it.
"Damn right I can," Bo said with a smile, as she put her hand on my head and messed up my hair "but we're not going to go too high, don't want your Aunt Satine to worry about you breaking anything."
I nodded my agreement as I turned to look at Satine, she looked less than thrilled, but that was understandable, flying was risky behavior, and before my last life I would never attempt it, I would have to be careful so I can keep this privilege.
Writers note: Alright, so what the deal with this fic, well this is something that was discussed in the rec thread a while back and brought up everyone once in a while, finally got the nerve and time to take a stab at it.
So the expected question is how often it will come out. Once every 2 weeks, I have three active projects now. I write a minimum of 1000 words a day, and I aim for about 4000+ a chapter so you will occasionally see this crop up. Except for chapter two, I'm going to clean up some jankiness tomorrow and have it then.
Please leave reviews and comments so on and so forth.
Edited by: Lord Feunoyr, BlueBezerk, FallQM, Warmach1ne32
Community edited by:Afforess
Community editable doc (Chapter 1) No story suggestions in the community editing document, Keep all story suggestions and comments in the thread
Chapter 1
708 FNM (30 BBY)
Month 3
Tanya Kryze
Mandalore, Royal Palaces
Damn that Being X and his machinations, damn his lazy writing ability, and damn his pompous lies. I thought that after a long, somewhat happy, second life I was through with being X's bullshit and when I finally died it would be over. Instead, when my eyes closed for the last time, I had found them opening again, as an infant. Granted there were differences, last time I had remembered my first life as easily as yesterday. Or at least I think I did. Now, patches are missing, large patches from my first life, some small ones from my second life. Couldn't even remember my name from my first life, which was concerning. I could remember my name from my second life though, which was good because apparently, it followed me here, just with a different surname.
My new name is Tanya Kryze, born in 698 FNM, an acronym that means, the Foundation for New Mandalore, the planet I found myself born on. This was new, instead of being born at the turn of the century on Earth, I had been born on a planet that was part of a massive interplanetary republic. What was not new was being orphaned again though I was not doomed to the existence of fighting for scraps. Apparently, my father and mother had been members of Clan Kryze's major political house, they had enough influence that they practically ran this planet. Though they had died near the tail end of the Clan Wars period that I had avoided, hopefully it is more evidence that Being X is not nearly as godlike as he claimed. The family as a whole had survived victorious.
As a result, my older brother and I had been taken in by our aunt, the Duchess of Mandalore, Satine Kryze. Satine for her part was pleasant enough, from what I had been allowed to see in her ten years of this life, she seemed to be a good leader, wanting to improve the lives of her subjects, and her forces had been strong enough to defeat the other clans in the war. Although considering the last rebel group had only been put down last year, I would say her anti-military policies were… admirable but hardly comprehensive. She depended on the loyal clans to put down the disloyal ones outside the city of Sundari a bit too much. Inside the climate-controlled city, she expected the police force and royal guard to keep the peace.
I could understand why there was no official military, it may have taken a bit to learn common, but I was no slouch when it came to researching, and Sundari libraries were a public utility. Twenty years back near the end of the Mandalorian Civil War, and before the Clan Wars, or Civil War 2, Governor Vrox deployed the official military of Mandalore in a raid of nearby solar systems, and began building a droid army. This resulted in the Republic sending forces to Mandalore and bombarding the planet from orbit, most of the planet was an inhospitable barren landscape from previous conflicts but this bombardment had finally pushed the planet over the environmentally suitable cliff. Considering the devastation etched in the very crust of our world it was understandable why there was a pacifist government dedicated to dismantling the military, the last one had, effectively, wrecked the planet. The entire situation was reminiscent of what happened to Japan after the Americans won WW2, but trusting the duties of the active military to Clans, who could hardly be described as uniformly loyal, rather than a competent and reasonable self-defense force seemed foolhardy to me.
Granted this was an elective monarchy so at the bare minimum they had voted in their leaders, which implied some trust that could go both ways. A democratic system of any kind was often a stabilizing force and Mandalore intended this system to have the strengths of both monarchist systems and democratic systems. But I would feel safer if they at least had a self-defense force, to call up when they were needed, preferably one without political subservience to any particular clan, not even my royal one.
Though I kept those thoughts to myself, for now, I was supposed to be a simple child after all. With royal blood there was no need to rush for retirement, my future was secure, thanks to my aunt, so it was best to keep her happy unless I end up like her sister, Bo-Katan. I needed to keep myself fairly normal, so most days I spent hanging around my room reading a book on the economics of the Republic or some such subject close to some blocks or dolls to look like a normal girl. Thankfully, Aunt Satine was respectful of my privacy so I was able to keep this ruse going. When I was at school, I let my academic bones shine. It may be unfair to leverage several decades of knowledge and study techniques to assure high grades but frankly, the satisfaction from a job done well was worth it. Besides, by establishing my academic credentials I was simply demonstrating that I was a bright child, one who should be placed in a safe position inside the government. Far away from any potentially violent problems that could crop up.
I was unsure if it was working yet, but I was certain that given enough time it would. My brother, Korkie was likewise angling for a similar position. It was always pleasant to be in the company of like-minded and sensible people. I had been rather worried about him when I had discovered the old cultural practices of my newfound people. Satine had promised to send him to the royal academy when he was older, thus it was eminently reasonable to assume that if I showed my capability as well I would be offered a similar opportunity.
There were, however, some indignities that must be suffered on the path to a well-established retirement. I was reading about the Mandalorian Civil War trying to get an understanding of the failure of the ruling class that led to the conflict in the first place when my door burst open. The 'Pocket terminal' jumped from my hands and landed on the floor in front of me as I was ambushed while in the midst of pleasurable research on a fascinating subject.
"Hey Sis, Aunt Satine wanted to know when you're coming to dinner." the blond thirteen-year-old boy said as he broke decorum of my expected world for the fifth time this year. With a smile, he looked at the room, with interest quickly spotting the active pad on my floor with interest.
Before he had the chance to understand what he was looking at I was off my bed and gathering up the offending item, hiding it under a bedsheet at the foot of my bed. Before turning on him with a suitable expression of distaste at his invasion of my privacy. Part of me wanted to vent my frustration at being interrupted in such a manner on him, having my privacy broken like that, something that I needed to dissuade now before it could become troublesome later. But getting too angry at what was effectively a child was unreasonable so I simply took a breath and said with only an air of annoyance in my voice.
"Please knock, in the future brother, what if I had not been presentable?"
"Ah." He spoke with a predictably sheepish tone. "Right, sorry about that, won't happen again," Korkie sounded suitably cowed before he continued, "but really sis, Aunt Satine wants you down for dinner and sent me here to get you, she wanted to have a talk about something as well."
I nodded briefly wondering what she was interested in talking with me about, before smiling at the thought that I might finally get confirmation on my political aspirations!
"Very well, let's get going then we should not waste the Dutchess' time," I said trying not to appear too excited at the prospect of my hard work paying off.
Korkie Kryze
There is something wrong with my sister, yes that would be the harshest way to state my concerns. It was understandable, really it was, that she didn't like to talk to me about her problems as she got older. But it was concerning nevertheless when I found her reading about the old Mandalorians. At first, I had thought it was an isolated event when I burst into her room to get her up for school and found her reading about the Crusades. Though the fact she immediately hid the subject of her studies, had tipped me off that something was not right about the situation. But after the third time, I found her studying and attempting to hide the subject matter while pretending she had been playing with the various toys she had, I was certain something was up.
At first, I tried to rationalize it. Mother and father had died in the Clan Wars so it was not impossible that she simply wanted to find out what they had been fighting for, to find some connection to a family she never knew. But my efforts to coax an answer from her on the matter had been stonewalled, she would find some excuses about school research projects or that she was just interested in the economics and political situation of what led to the conflict. I know she is smart, but her excuses were too smart for her own good and came around to being dumb. I had taken most of the same classes as her with only a few years' separations and I never had to do the research on that era while at school, and frankly, the idea that she wanted to learn about the economic forces of a war that been about old hatred boiling over was dumb.
I could not believe she had not seen that in the material she was looking at with the high grades she got in class. No, that was simply a cover story, for her real quest, her real quest had to be to find out about mom and dad and the old ways. Why else would she lie and hide what she was doing from me? She's most likely afraid of failing to live up to Satine's expectations, and that was understandable after Aunt Bo got herself banned from the estate by being a bit too public about her belligerent politics as Satine put it. It was a shame really, if Tanya was honest about her interest, perhaps Satine would be willing to put aside politics and let Bo back into our lives. I was sure Satine would be willing to let Bo talk about dad… okay perhaps that one was a bit self-interest for myself, I had only been three when they died, and though I didn't remember them all that well, I missed the idea of having a father and mother.
Well perhaps things would work out for them, I had told Satine about my concerns and Tanya's behavior, as an adult and wise leader I was sure she would come to the right decision about Tanya's problem. Perhaps she could even use the situation to mend the fence with Aunty Bo. It would be good to have the whole family in one house again.
Shaking my head at this thought I glanced over to Tanya who was walking rather briskly in front of me as I followed along my hand interlocked behind my head with a relaxed pace. She was wearing a white and green dress and the maids had helped her get her long blond hair in a braid going down her back, all in all, she looked more put-together than myself, but then she always did. I was simply wearing a pair of tan shorts and a dark gray shirt, Hardly scruffy and reasonable as I had just been hanging out with some of my friends before I had come home and been told to go get Tanya, for just sitting in her room Tanya looked like she was ready to attend a formal meeting… which was odd considering for all I knew she had no friends. She didn't hang out at school with anyone, as far as I was aware. That could also be what was wrong, maybe I should invite her along with some of my friends more when they went out to play. She was younger than me but there was no question of her being mature enough to play with us... Couldn't hurt to get her out in the sun more, she was a bit too pale, she almost looked sickly.
Our long walk to the dining room came to end rather quickly, as two guards waited outside. "Good evening Obyrd, Briyuk" Tanya said, greeting the two royal guards who did not wear name badges and could have been any other guard in the entire capital complex as if that was the most normal thing in the world. Yeah, I needed to get her outside, she spent too much time here.
"Good evening Lady Kryze," they greeted in turn, Briyuk moving to grab the handles of the door, "the Duchess is waiting for you inside." He said, opening the door and ushering them both in. They were greeted with wait staff placing silverware on the table and preparing it for a meal for four by the looks of it. With the fourth sitting across from Duchess Satine, her vibrant red hair was rather odd for the Kryze family but it was always nice to see Aunty Bo. Bo-Katan was in the house, something wonderful must have happened was the only thought that rang in my head as I watched the two there… there I noticed they were staring each other down rather, forcefully…. Well, being under the same roof was a step in the right direction!
Earlier
Satine Kryze
"I told you this would happen." Bo-Katan said rather too smugly as she sat across from me, her boots filthy from the wasteland outside purposely sat on the edge of the table just to annoy me. Years of political talks, assassination attempts, and other sorted business allowed me control of my emotions, at least externally. But of course, the only person who really knew how to push my buttons was my sister.
"You told me a lot of things, clans would never sign up with pacifism. I would bring ruin to the house of Kryze, that the Jedi would betray me and murder me in my sleep. None of that came to pass. Your record on these things is rather spotty." I said with a smile as I listed off a selection of the times Bo had been wrong. A small selection at that, I hadn't even got to her failed romances and her boyfriends, that was a low blow I would not go to as I was better than that.
"So you are simply going to say broken clock twice a day then and leave it at that?" Bo asked still with an awful smirk.
"Oh, I wouldn't say that. The clock on palace ground still uses military time, 19 hours a day." That got a smirk out of her.
"Hah, good one, but doesn't change the fact I was right, Little Tanya is not going to be the perfect princess you want her to be, her bloodline calls her to war. Just as it does for all of us." Bo said as she leaned back in the chair a bit more, for a brief fleeting moment I hoped the chair would slip out from under her, but alas, she was a bit too used to pulling stunts like that. It was not that I wished harm to my sister, but she was attempting to push my buttons. Besides she was wearing her armor, even if she fell, she wouldn't be hurt too much. It would however be entirely deserved and suitably entertaining.
"Really now," I began shaking my head, "just because she knew not to point a blaster at her face that one time, does not mean anything, she is a bright child, anyone could figure out it was dangerous." The incident in question had happened 5 years ago. If I had been there I probably would have strangled Bo to death and prove her damn suggestions about warrior blood entirely correct if the guards had not moved to stop me. But from what I heard it was rather benign, Bo had left an empty blaster out in the opening and Tanya had found it. The incident is why I banned weapons in the palace's ground to all but the guards.
"She didn't just handle the blaster safely, she was about ready to field strip and clean it when I found her. She looked like she was born with the thing in her hand's sister, I know you are... ideologically predisposed to fall more on the Coruscant way of viewing the world nowadays." That was rather diplomatic of her, better than being called a slave to a foreign ideology I suppose. "But I'm telling you right now, she's something special, perhaps a gift from the Manda itself." Bo said, dropping her leg from the side table and sitting properly for the first time since she had sauntered into my home, most likely trying to impart some kind sincerity that this was an important talk.
Well, it was but I wasn't going to fall for this nonsense "The Manda? Really? I think you have been drinking too much."
"Okay then... how do you explain her natural ability with weapons and why did you call me back, pretty sure you said I wouldn't be let back in the house last year?"
"She held a blaster once, that is hardly what I would call "ability", but if you must know Korkie has found her with reading material related to the history of the Mandalorians. I have only learned of this recently, but from what he told me she had been rather insistent on hiding what it is exactly that she has been reading." I was annoyed by this situation. If Tanya simply talked to me I would have this settled but it was obvious that I was the one she was hiding her interest from.
"Let me guess, pretending to be playing with her toys whenever someone enters her room?" Bo asked with a confident look that said she already knew the answer.
"Yes, how did you know that?" I waited to hear the wondrous story on this one, even mental sarcasm could not save me against her here.
"Course you did the same thing when you were a kid, but instead of Mandalorian books, it was stuff on the greater galaxy and Republican nonsense." Ah, she could hardly help herself. "Guess we know that the desire to rebel against your elders doesn't skip a generation."
I sighed, taking a moment to gather my thoughts before I muttered "I really hope you're wrong about that…" genuinely I did, then after taking a moment to get my mind straight I began the rather painful reason for my dear sister's presence here today. "But in case you're not, I intend to make sure Dad's mistakes are not repeated, if she is to learn about the old ways I would rather it be from you than from some politically busy body preacher that I don't have any control over. Would you be willing to help instruct Tanya? Of course, if you're willing, I will withdraw the order keeping you out of the house, for as long as you don't make any political statements." I gave her a pointed look. She knew well that her expression was the least of my concerns. I was not going to step into the quagmire of arguing over how to teach Tanya about the 'old ways', that was not an argument I was equipped to win given the situation.
"Depends, how long are you going to let me teach her? If I agree of course! I doubt you want her to become a bounty hunter or a mercenary.What political game do you intend to play with her life?" Bo said with a smug smile assured in her position but displaying her lack of experience by not pressing her advantage.
"Same as our dear departed father intended with mine, dear sister, at age 16 she will be sent to Coruscant to work with the Mandalorian senatorial delegation. She has demonstrated some interest in politics, the same as her brother. But I believe she will be safer and learn more from the culture of Coruscant than staying here and attending the Royal Academy.
"Toss her onto the planet of murders, thieves, and backstabbers… yeah I need six years just to make sure she could survive that rat's nest. Very well sister, I will help train her and I'll even keep your little censorship policy. Just so I can see what happens when you realize she is a born warrior and wants nothing to do with your idea of pacifism."
"I'm afraid you will be disappointed. Even if that happens, I will love her either way, the same way I love you, even if you make me want to rip my hair out sometimes dearest sister." She laughed but I meant every word.
Tanya Kryze
Of all the possible scenarios for why Duchess Satine would call me down here, seeing the return of Bo-Katan was not on that list. Frankly, It was a wonder she was allowed in the house after the whole Blaster incident. I wouldn't say she went out of her way to let me find the blaster, but I would say leaving one out the way she did was a good way to get someone hurt and she needed to be taught a lesson. Besides, I had been interested in the mechanics of blasters for a while before I got a chance to take a look at one. They were a devastating weapon from what I was able to learn from my research, however, I think I would still prefer a more conventional ballistic weapon or slug thrower as they were known in this universe. Quite simply, the benefits afforded by a blaster did not make up for the shortfalls such a platform offered.
Well, she was here, so there must be a reason, exactly what I couldn't say. Politics was a bit above my head, perhaps there was some force in play that required Satine to bring her sister back in the fold? If so she most likely wanted to try and reform her like a disobedient employee and bring her into compliance. But how would she manage that? Bo had her own ship, armor, and home, Satine didn't hold any cards that would be useful in controlling her sister. At least to my knowledge.
"Tanya, Korkie. Please take a seat, food will be brought out in a bit, and we can talk while we wait." Satine said, motioning to sit at the table. Nodding, I took the offered seat noting how it placed me next to Bo.
Before I really had a chance to settle in and think about that placement Satine started talking "Tanya, Korkie, Bo and I have had a talk today and have come to an agreement, she is going to be allowed back in the house again. On the condition that she keeps political comments to herself, and out of the press." Damn? What did Satine give her in order to get such a massive concession out of her sister? Getting Bo to keep quiet about anything was like expecting the communist not to backstab you the first chance they got. It was possible, but you have to be damn sure that you are giving them something worthwhile to keep them happy. Whatever it was, the fact I had such an iron aunt was a good sign for my future. Getting control of her sister must have been a masterpiece of negotiation.
"In return, she agreed to help with overseeing your education on self-defense, especially for you Tanya. I have decided that in 6 years you will be assigned to the delegation to Coruscant and I want you to be able to defend yourself." The smile on my face froze and distorted a bit as I began to piece together what she had just been saying.
Satine had given me to Bo-Katan, as a way of shutting her up… I was being used as a political tool. I was going to be exposed to battle maniacs' teachings. It took me a moment to determine how I felt about this revelation. On one hand, I should not be too worried about this development, I was not some child who could be brainwashed into a Mandalorian cultist. Satine must think the same way otherwise she would never take a risk like this. But on the other hand, I was to be sent to Coruscant, and from what I read that planet was a cyberpunk dystopia. A massive planet-wide city, and the capital of The Galactic Republic. I had expected to end up in local politics, perhaps governing one of the planets under the control of Mandalore. Being sent to the heart of the Republic could mean I was going to be groomed for a higher part in the government than I expected.
It was honestly a very savvy play, not only did Satine reach across the aisle in allowing guardianship over me to what was effectively a representative of the clans that diverged politically from Satine, she was strengthening the family bond. Given how politically established our clan was, the value of keeping family somewhat united could not be understated.
"That sounds wonderful." I said with a calm and passive tone, keeping a smile on my face, even though I was still trying to figure out how terribly my career choices had been reduced. I really didn't have much choice in the matter, when it all came down to it, I had been given to Bo so she would shut up about politics, and I had to just accept that and deal with it, otherwise, I would appear unreliable. And that was one thing I would never be.
Bo, finally spoke up as she reached over patted my shoulder "Don't worry about it kid, by the time we're done, you'd be able to handle that hive of scum and villainy, and if you want I even know a place for training with jetpacks, so we can start teaching you how to fly like a true Mandalorian."
"You can teach me how to fly!?" I didn't squeak with excitement… if someone says otherwise they were lying. I was just very happy for the chance to fly again. In my last life, flight was one of the things I had enjoyed greatly, there was just something about being free from gravity and having the ability to move through the sky with ease. I doubted jetpack flight was as freeing as using magic but the chance to feel that feeling again was too damn tempting, and the fact I didn't have to fake the genuine smile on my face says a lot about how much I missed it.
"Damn right I can," Bo said with a smile, as she put her hand on my head and messed up my hair "but we're not going to go too high, don't want your Aunt Satine to worry about you breaking anything."
I nodded my agreement as I turned to look at Satine, she looked less than thrilled, but that was understandable, flying was risky behavior, and before my last life I would never attempt it, I would have to be careful so I can keep this privilege.
Writers note: Alright, so what the deal with this fic, well this is something that was discussed in the rec thread a while back and brought up everyone once in a while, finally got the nerve and time to take a stab at it.
So the expected question is how often it will come out. Once every 2 weeks, I have three active projects now. I write a minimum of 1000 words a day, and I aim for about 4000+ a chapter so you will occasionally see this crop up. Except for chapter two, I'm going to clean up some jankiness tomorrow and have it then.
Please leave reviews and comments so on and so forth.
Edited by: Lord Feunoyr, BlueBezerk, FallQM, Warmach1ne32
Community edited by:Afforess
Community editable doc (Chapter 1) No story suggestions in the community editing document, Keep all story suggestions and comments in the thread
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Chapter 2
Chapter 2
708 FNM (30 BBY)
Month 3
Tanya Kryze
Mandalore, Sundari, Gun Range
Being the ward of a politician, I had expected a curtailing of my freedom to some extent sooner or later. In fact, I predicted much further curtailing of my rights than most probably would in my position. As I was related to the leader of a planet, a royal and a female, that most likely meant that sooner or later, I would be used in a marriage to seal a political alliance.
My general thoughts on that were that, frankly if my security was provided for, I could stand that situation, and since I could stand the possibility of being married off to a random noble as a way to cement an alliance, I could stand Bo-Katan and her efforts to convert me to her ways.
Oh, and Bo had tried the last few days, she had taken me to several shooting ranges so I became more familiar with how to properly handle a weapon, something I easily adjusted to due to the experience I had in my last life with several variants of a rifle. I quickly noticed that anytime I showed interest in particular brands or types of weapons she would go out of her way to find an interesting version of said weapon for me to test out the next time we went to the range.
Most likely she was trying to play the good aunt who's only trying to show her niece a fun time, at least that's what she wanted me to believe, more likely than not she was just simply trying to use weapons to ingratiate herself further into my life. It's what I would do, in fact, it was what I was doing, as I played my part in this little game.
After all, Satine wanted to keep Bo out of the press and out of politics. The easy way to accomplish that goal was to simply play the part that the Duchess had put in front of me. Then that was to obviously somehow find a way to convert Bo from a potential political rival and problem child into someone who is at least willing to let bygones go by for the sake of the unity of the clan.
How I was going to accomplish that? I wasn't yet sure, though I figured if I played the part of a simple youth needing to learn how to defend myself in a big bad world, an opportunity would present itself. It was a simple game, really. Bo was playing to find some way to convert me to her way of thinking, which was never going to happen as I preferred the peaceful life presented by the new Mandalorians even if they were a little bit too passive in my opinion. And I had to find a way to convert Bo to at least be accepting of the new Mandalorians' existence and perhaps stop calling them names like the "faithless ones".
A simple derogatory term for someone who had abandoned the tenants of their pseudo-religion. I was still reading up on that matter so my thoughts on that were few and far between at the moment.
But besides my thoughts on Bo's attempts to convert me to her way of thinking and the impossibility of that ever coming to pass, I shall admit I was having some fun. I've never traveled to America in my first life, but I'd heard about their ranges there and how you could have access to some of the most interesting weapons to fire. And I must say that particular American cultural trapping, I didn't exactly mind experiencing, even if it was just a similarity I noted.
The first time I had been summoned by Bo after school to a weapons range in the outer districts of Sundari, one of the few that were still allowed to operate under the New Mandalorian government. It would seem there used to be quite a bit more but they were always more unscrupulous or prone to explosives and accidents. It's only the ones that showed they were respectable institutions that have been left to grow under the New Mandalorian regime, which of course was all about pacifism in not needing War. One good thing I could say is that my aunt may have very high ideals, but she wasn't stupid about them, allowing institutions like this to continue to exist was an easy pressure relief valve on society since weapons seem to be a very important part of Mandalorian culture, even without the need, for war.
Hell, going by a poster that was on the wall of the metal walls of the main entryway, weapons may be more important than I suspected, said entryway poster consisted of a simple black T on a white background, obviously a reference to the T-shaped visors of a Mandalorian helmet with a simple quote underneath its "Weapons are part of my religion". Frankly, out of context, that quote seems rather frightening. Really, we need to do more investigations on religion but the idea that weapons were integral enough to have a reference like that on a poster could mean terrible things.
Religious fundamentalism is a dangerous game and to have a core component of it being weapons meant that said religion was about Conquest. What little research I had done mentioned something called a Mandalorian Crusader, and that part of the history looked a little too dark in my opinion. Something that needed to be stomped out hard if it was as dark as I feared. Of course, if it was something simple as needing to maintain and protect oneself, that was not too bad of a religious tenant, and after my experiences in the Empire, I could see the value of self-defense.
Whatever its meaning, it was a complicated issue that I did not have the information to process at the moment and not important to my current activities. What I was currently doing was looking carefully at the blaster pistol in my hands, making sure that it was on safety mode.
"Are you sure this is safe?" I questioned looking at the rectangular block that I've been told was a gun.
"Oh that's perfectly safe, I have two of them and they are probably one of the more reliable weapons Concordian Crescent have put out." Bo explained as she stood next to me at her position at the range. She had taken out her power pack and was making sure that her pair of blaster pistols were in good working order.
"Do you mean that their older models were not as good as these or did they have a spotty history when it comes to weapon development?" I asked, confused about the meaning of that particular statement. I then got to work, field stripping the weapon to ensure it was in a good condition. I have done this particular operation before when I found Bo's weapon 5 years earlier left on a table, so I had some idea what I was doing.
"A bit of both and neither," Bo said, putting down her first pistol before looking over the next "Concordian Crescent Technologies Currently has two Blaster pistols on the market WESTAR-34 and the 35 like these."
"The 34, from what I've seen of them, are damn good weapons and are the direct predecessors to the 35. Some would say the 34 is even better than the 35, which is true, but they're also 10 times more expensive, the price difference mainly comes down to them being duelist weapons. They are made from some expensive alloy. It doesn't weigh very much, making them easy to wield one-handed, as well as more heat resistant than a lot of blasters out there. Frankly, if you can get the money to ever need a weapon that can fire all 20 shots in under a minute without it turning into a molten slag in your hands they're worth buying."
Finishing the cleaning of her second weapon she continued her weapons lesson "35s are better overall in my opinion, cheaper, easier to maintain and they're more moddable."
"They're more moddable?" I was intrigued by the use of that word.
"There are various smaller companies that produce modification kits that allow you to change out some parts to make it look different and improve certain aspects of the weapon. But more importantly, you can get things like this." Without further ado, she pulled off her helmet and without asking my permission, pushed it down over my head, directing me to look downrange. Wondering what this was about, I did as she directed, looking at the Target.
With a quick flurry of her hands, Bo reloaded her pistol and aimed downrange and I saw what she meant by 'might be more moddable'. This was the first time I had ever worn one of these helmets so I was not very familiar with its operational abilities.
Frankly, I thought the T-shaped visor would make it almost impossible to see out of, but I quickly found that not to be the case. Not only that, as Bo brought her weapon to the target, I saw numbers appearing in the corners of my vision. As she fired around I saw the number tick down, it wasn't hard to figure out what numbers I was looking at and I was rather impressed. Not only was there a weapons ammunition counter there was a heat detection number and range detection number. The helmets and weapons were 'Bluetoothed' to each other, giving the wielder more control than an average soldier in the trenches of the Rhine front over factors that may have lost track of in the heat of battle.
Bo fired off a couple more shots to allow me to observe the data and understand how it operated. "See what I mean about their modability?" She reached down and carefully pulled the helmet off my head before continuing, "the 34 is basically a very good blaster, the 35 is a very good weapon system."
I nodded my agreement before asking the question that was primarily on my mind, "How is the weapon paired with your helmet?" It would seem to me an open wireless connection between those items would be a dangerous thing to have in combat. If the data could be corrupted or intercepted, you could end up with your weapon blowing up in your hand or running into combat with an empty magazine.
Placing her helmet down on the range table in front of her Bo raised an eyebrow and answered. "Specifically designed and secure chips, I had to hire a professional armor-designer to install the receivers in my helmet, the ones in the blasters were easy enough to do myself."
"Amazing tech," I said enjoying the fact that we lived in an age where such technology existed, granted I wasn't a big fan I was finding out that this existed and was used four military-grade weapons that anyone could get their hands on, but the simple fact that it existed in a military capacity meant that it most likely existed in other capacities, primarily in civilian use. Who knows how useful such a technology could be there.
"I knew you'd like that," Bo said, before taking a step back and behind me, "now, why don't you give that blaster a couple of shots, let's see how much you need to learn when it comes to shooting."
Nodding, I reached out and picked up the gun, carefully finishing resembling and loading it, keeping it pointed safely downrange the whole time, just in case something went wrong. Once I was sure it was good and ready, I aimed downrange at the target, flipped off the safety, and fired a round.
The blaster bolt went a little high on my first shot, so I aimed lower, quickly getting accustomed to the eccentricities of blaster bolts. They were not one-to-one translation to a "slug", as they were slower and had less kickback, but they did require more skill than I suspected to actually land a hit on your target. It felt a bit like even the slightest breeze would threaten to send it off target, but I quickly grew accustomed, and by the time my final and 20th shot I felt good with how well I had done.
The target I was firing out was 3 concentric rings, red, black, and white, and most likely the goal was to hit the red center ring. Out of 20 shots, 5 had hit red with the rest split, half hitting, second ring, meaning I got 12 out 20 shots on target. With a 3 out 5 hit ratio, I thought I did pretty good, so I let myself smile a bit after putting the safety back on and putting the gun down, turned to face Bo.
Bo was looking past me at the target with a strange look in her eye, and with a smile, she folded her arms across her chest and said "Well… I was going to hold this over you to help you improve, but you did better than I expected. There is a good ice cream place down the street from here, and I'm going to buy you whatever you want, from the place for putting on a show like that."
I blinked then wondering how 12 shots on target were good enough to get myself an ice cream treat, till I looked back at the target and noted the score counter above the target (something I had missed earlier), which did not read 12 out 20, instead, it read 20 out 20. I had wrongly assumed that a hit outside the ring was a failure, being that it was rather too wide of a portion of the target in my mind to be centered on a human, but it would seem they did count.
I would have to be more careful not to show my last life's skill in the future, otherwise, I would create unneeded expectations of what I could do, and that had gotten me in trouble during my last life more than once.
Turning back to Bo I simply kept my smile up and said "Thanks, Auntie Bo" using the term Korkie liked to use with Satine, figuring it was a quick and easy way to endear me to her more.
708 FNM (30 BBY)
Bo-Katan Kryze
Mandalore, Sundari, Gun Range
There was something special about her niece, when she told her sister that her blood called for the old ways she'd only really half meant it. As much as she liked to play the dogmatic follower of their ancient culture and acting as if she was some throwback who believed in the gods and other divine beings controlling their lives, she mainly brought up the Manda to annoy her sister more than anything.
But what she had just seen did make her wonder if something weird was going on when it came to her niece Tanya. She brought the little blond girl to the range to get a better understanding of how much training she would need to undergo, expecting her to maybe hit the target five times in total.
Blasters were notoriously hard weapons to master, and being that it was Tanya's first try, she had expected her to miss the majority of her shots. What she got instead was someone who had some previous experience shooting (which knowing her sister was impossible), but was not yet an expert. She would estimate that Tanya was semi-competent, as if she had already had a year or two of training. Oh, she was not spectacular, hitting 1 out of 4 in the center was fairly normal for someone of 2 years of training, but to quickly understand the intricacies of the blaster's capabilities, that was impressive for a complete novice.
How Tanya was so good was a question that bubbled in her mind as she watched the girl go through a second round of blasting the target and scoring similarly. There was an intriguing possibility, but she had no evidence for or against it.
All she knew was during one phase of the clan wars, the Kryze family had been scattered to the wind. After her brother and father died, she'd gone out into the greater sector, trying to find herself, not really sure what to do and seeking adventure and caring less about the overall cause of the Clan Wars. It was about that time her sister had also been brought back into the greater Mandalorian sector in the company of Jedi and would start her path to a peaceful Mandalore, what a joke.
And as for her brother's wife, she didn't know what happened. She had assumed that as long as her clan sister, Tanya's mother (who had gone by the same name), remained inside the Kryze family estates, she would be safe. A hope that had been misplaced as the estate had been assaulted while she was gone. She didn't find out exactly what happened until years later, and by the time she'd come back, her sister was in charge of the new Mandalorian government and she had a new niece. She shared the blonde hair of her father and about nothing else.
She suspected that there had been something else going on while she was away. She had no proof, but blood was calling to her, and if it wasn't "Mandalorian blood", as that seems to be very unlikely on a metaphysical level…. Well, there was only one other person in the area who had blood that could have created a situation like this.
She didn't know much about the Jedi, but she suspected they had something to do with it. The few times she asked what exactly her sister had been doing for the year it took to get the support needed to bring down the military traditionalists, her sister had simply always said it had been a close-run thing in that they had traveled around the Mandalorian sector, securing alliances and other platitudes.
Was it possible something else had happened during that time? Most people would assume it unlikely, but as much as she pretended that there was nothing similar between herself and Bo-Katan, the fact of the matter was there were similarities, not just at the surface level. Deep down, they were raised by the same man, and hello, Satine had fallen for the New Mandalorians' nonsense. They both share the same level of commitment to whatever cause they put themselves to, and considering her relationships while she'd been out finding herself, she wouldn't be surprised if young love played a role in the final days of the military traditionalists. After all, she did know the Jedi had brought a Padawan about her age and the two young teenagers spent a year straight running around a sector always on the edge of life and death. That sounded like a Mandalorian honeymoon.
The only piece that didn't fit, if that was true, was the question of why Satine had not outright said that Tanya was her child. Having a direct descendant wouldn't harm her, after all, and she figured having an unwed mother ruling their planet was the least of a typical Mandalorian's concern. So if she wasn't protecting herself, then who was she protecting?
That was a question for another day. Once she had more evidence suggesting that this theory might have some merits. Right now though, she had to make sure she had enough credits on her to make sure Tanya got good ice cream, she deserved a reward for being such a good shot.
708 FNM (30 BBY)
Satine Kryze
Mandalore, Royal Palaces
Listening to various government officials talk about how everything was going right for once was a wonder to behold. However, ever since I ascended to the throne of Mandalore as its Duchess I had always wondered if I would ever have a moment to just enjoy peace. Dealing with various rebel groups, disobedient clans and houses, minor inter-sector conflicts, and a whole host of issues that had to be solved before peace could be declared, I had come to believe that there was a good chance I would die before it ever came to be. So listening to governor Pre Vizsla talking about the efforts to regrow the forests of Concordia was simply a delightful change of pace.
Today was the yearly meeting I had with all elected officials that helped me run the Mandalorian system. Pre Vizsla was a trusted ally who helped run Concordia, the forest moon of Mandalore, a planet that has been greatly abused over the centuries as it was a source of beskar. Even the ancient Mandalorians wanted to turn that planet into a green haven for agriculture but their need for resources for war turned it into a nearly brown ball in the sky. But Pre Vizsla's indispensable diplomatic acumen e in dealing with the martial traditionalists who had refused to live on Mandalore under my rule, the planet was making a massive comeback. Every year it was looking more green than brown, a true sign that there was hope for a return of a green Mandalore.
"I suspect in the next 20 years the Regrowth Project will make the planet be fully habitable and we can look into the possibility of setting up farms and the greener pastures will help us get us more independent of Concord Dawn food supplies," Pre commented as he looked at the pad he brought with him.
"Well, that's good. Though we'll need to be careful about Concord Dawn, push too hard when it comes to food, one of their main and only real exports, the governors of Concord Dawn have always been protective of their limited trade exports. Considering they still have their semi-militarized police force of Journeyman Protectors to call upon, we don't want to push them too hard." Prime Minister Almec stated from where he sat on my right hand.
I nodded my head in agreement with his statements, thankfully most of the planetary governments were stable and somewhat independent. The governors and ministers ran most of the government and all I needed to do was give my agreement to their plans and spearhead the general direction. It was a very hands-off procedure only possible because I've been graced with many trustworthy ministers and governors.
Almec, for instance, was an old hand at the political game and a trusted ally, He may have served under the military traditionalists but he joined early in my ascension to power and had proved his worth over the last decade.
Pre nodded his head. "Yes, I have thought of that. Perhaps Kalevala could be used to deal with that situation?" He asked, holding his chin in his hand. "If more of their farmland could be converted to wine production that would be more lucrative in the long run, and any dropoff in food exports to Mandalore could be shifted over to Kalevala in the long term."
"That could work," Deputy Minister Jerec of Kalevala mused absentmindedly, "Although the Council of Kalevala tends to let the chips fall where they may when it comes to the free market. I can't give any guarantees that the idea will be given any investment, but let's introduce the concept to them and we'll see what happens from there."
I smiled and said "It doesn't have to be immediately so any help you can use to push things in the general direction would be appreciated." Jerec was the oldest of my allies and had been instrumental in setting up the alliances that would bring an end to the Clan Wars. Frankly describing him merely as an ally was doing him a disservice. He was one of my oldest and dearest friends, and it was good to have people I could depend on for running aspects of the government.
These three men represented the governments of three out of four of the habitable planets in the Mandalorian system and were each key figures in helping me maintain the peace I had strived so hard to build within this system. The only planet that wasn't represented in this government was Mandallia, but that was really okay when it came.
The Mandallian Giants, though a steadfast ally of the Mandalorians for as long as they'd been in contact, were not interested in pacifism, they were also not interested in conquest, they were interested in fighting as a cultural tradition unrelated to their connections to Mandalore. They were after all one of these few races in the galaxy to not only put up a spirited defense against the ancient Mandalorian Crusaders but defeated them. Since then as a political entity, they have become an isolationist state keeping to themselves on their own little planet and you only really saw the giants off their Planet when they were acting as Mercenaries.
It was unfortunate that they were not part of the system as they had the only green planet in the system which could be useful in freeing us from relying on Concord Dawn completely.
"I'll do my best, my Duchess." Jerec said with a smile.
"Is there anything else we need to discuss today?" I asked moving to end the conversation. I had to get home sometime today after all and check on how Tanya had done with Bo.
"Kalevala has nothing that needs to be spoken of." Jerec said
"Mandalore at peace." Almec added.
"Nothing that needs to be brought up in an official manner." Pre said, piquing my interest about what he wanted to talk to me in a private matter for.
"Then I believe this meeting is adjourned. We will meet again in a month's time," I said with a smile before turning to Pre. "Please stay a moment and we will discuss what you wanted to talk about, Governor Vizsla."
The other two got up and left the room, Quietly leaving me with the governor of Mandalore's moon. Pre stood up in front of me as I sat on the throne of Mandalore.
"I have heard from Bo-Katan that you are allowing her to train your ward in matters of self-defense." That raised an eyebrow from me, I was unaware that those two talked.
"Oh, and why has she informed you about this?" I asked pointedly.
"We're old friends, and she thought I could help in this training. More importantly she knows that if word got out that you were allowing your ward to be taught some of the older ways it could disturb the more fanatical of the pacifist. She was shopping around for somewhere where she could take your ward so they could train on some of those things in safety. There are plenty of abandoned old mines miles from prying eyes on Concordia who would not know a Kryze from a Vizsla. I just wanted you to know that they are at your disposal." Pre explained, giving a bow to me.
It was worth considering, Pre is a trustworthy Governor and if Tanya ever trained on a jet pack, that would be better to happen off-world. "You raise a fair point, Vizsla. I'm not sure if Tanya will progress far enough in her training that she will need such an environment but if she ever does I will tell Bo-Katan of your offer."
Pre nodded and said, "If I can be of use to you my Duchess, just let me know and I shall be there."
"Thank you, Pre Vizsla" I responded with a smile, happy to have such loyal ministers.
Writers note: This is the new chapter 2 I created due to the issue that was present in the original chapter 2, with hopes it makes the new chapter 3 work better. Anyway, Satine sure seems to have capable staff. anyways hope you enjoyed the read, and here question for you folk should i have chapter titles? and if so any suggestion course I'm drawing a blank.
Edited by: Lord Feunoyr: WrandmWaffles, Warmach1ne32
Community edited by:
Community editable doc (Chapter 2) No story suggestions in the community editing document, Keep all story suggestions and comments in the thread
708 FNM (30 BBY)
Month 3
Tanya Kryze
Mandalore, Sundari, Gun Range
Being the ward of a politician, I had expected a curtailing of my freedom to some extent sooner or later. In fact, I predicted much further curtailing of my rights than most probably would in my position. As I was related to the leader of a planet, a royal and a female, that most likely meant that sooner or later, I would be used in a marriage to seal a political alliance.
My general thoughts on that were that, frankly if my security was provided for, I could stand that situation, and since I could stand the possibility of being married off to a random noble as a way to cement an alliance, I could stand Bo-Katan and her efforts to convert me to her ways.
Oh, and Bo had tried the last few days, she had taken me to several shooting ranges so I became more familiar with how to properly handle a weapon, something I easily adjusted to due to the experience I had in my last life with several variants of a rifle. I quickly noticed that anytime I showed interest in particular brands or types of weapons she would go out of her way to find an interesting version of said weapon for me to test out the next time we went to the range.
Most likely she was trying to play the good aunt who's only trying to show her niece a fun time, at least that's what she wanted me to believe, more likely than not she was just simply trying to use weapons to ingratiate herself further into my life. It's what I would do, in fact, it was what I was doing, as I played my part in this little game.
After all, Satine wanted to keep Bo out of the press and out of politics. The easy way to accomplish that goal was to simply play the part that the Duchess had put in front of me. Then that was to obviously somehow find a way to convert Bo from a potential political rival and problem child into someone who is at least willing to let bygones go by for the sake of the unity of the clan.
How I was going to accomplish that? I wasn't yet sure, though I figured if I played the part of a simple youth needing to learn how to defend myself in a big bad world, an opportunity would present itself. It was a simple game, really. Bo was playing to find some way to convert me to her way of thinking, which was never going to happen as I preferred the peaceful life presented by the new Mandalorians even if they were a little bit too passive in my opinion. And I had to find a way to convert Bo to at least be accepting of the new Mandalorians' existence and perhaps stop calling them names like the "faithless ones".
A simple derogatory term for someone who had abandoned the tenants of their pseudo-religion. I was still reading up on that matter so my thoughts on that were few and far between at the moment.
But besides my thoughts on Bo's attempts to convert me to her way of thinking and the impossibility of that ever coming to pass, I shall admit I was having some fun. I've never traveled to America in my first life, but I'd heard about their ranges there and how you could have access to some of the most interesting weapons to fire. And I must say that particular American cultural trapping, I didn't exactly mind experiencing, even if it was just a similarity I noted.
The first time I had been summoned by Bo after school to a weapons range in the outer districts of Sundari, one of the few that were still allowed to operate under the New Mandalorian government. It would seem there used to be quite a bit more but they were always more unscrupulous or prone to explosives and accidents. It's only the ones that showed they were respectable institutions that have been left to grow under the New Mandalorian regime, which of course was all about pacifism in not needing War. One good thing I could say is that my aunt may have very high ideals, but she wasn't stupid about them, allowing institutions like this to continue to exist was an easy pressure relief valve on society since weapons seem to be a very important part of Mandalorian culture, even without the need, for war.
Hell, going by a poster that was on the wall of the metal walls of the main entryway, weapons may be more important than I suspected, said entryway poster consisted of a simple black T on a white background, obviously a reference to the T-shaped visors of a Mandalorian helmet with a simple quote underneath its "Weapons are part of my religion". Frankly, out of context, that quote seems rather frightening. Really, we need to do more investigations on religion but the idea that weapons were integral enough to have a reference like that on a poster could mean terrible things.
Religious fundamentalism is a dangerous game and to have a core component of it being weapons meant that said religion was about Conquest. What little research I had done mentioned something called a Mandalorian Crusader, and that part of the history looked a little too dark in my opinion. Something that needed to be stomped out hard if it was as dark as I feared. Of course, if it was something simple as needing to maintain and protect oneself, that was not too bad of a religious tenant, and after my experiences in the Empire, I could see the value of self-defense.
Whatever its meaning, it was a complicated issue that I did not have the information to process at the moment and not important to my current activities. What I was currently doing was looking carefully at the blaster pistol in my hands, making sure that it was on safety mode.
"Are you sure this is safe?" I questioned looking at the rectangular block that I've been told was a gun.
"Oh that's perfectly safe, I have two of them and they are probably one of the more reliable weapons Concordian Crescent have put out." Bo explained as she stood next to me at her position at the range. She had taken out her power pack and was making sure that her pair of blaster pistols were in good working order.
"Do you mean that their older models were not as good as these or did they have a spotty history when it comes to weapon development?" I asked, confused about the meaning of that particular statement. I then got to work, field stripping the weapon to ensure it was in a good condition. I have done this particular operation before when I found Bo's weapon 5 years earlier left on a table, so I had some idea what I was doing.
"A bit of both and neither," Bo said, putting down her first pistol before looking over the next "Concordian Crescent Technologies Currently has two Blaster pistols on the market WESTAR-34 and the 35 like these."
"The 34, from what I've seen of them, are damn good weapons and are the direct predecessors to the 35. Some would say the 34 is even better than the 35, which is true, but they're also 10 times more expensive, the price difference mainly comes down to them being duelist weapons. They are made from some expensive alloy. It doesn't weigh very much, making them easy to wield one-handed, as well as more heat resistant than a lot of blasters out there. Frankly, if you can get the money to ever need a weapon that can fire all 20 shots in under a minute without it turning into a molten slag in your hands they're worth buying."
Finishing the cleaning of her second weapon she continued her weapons lesson "35s are better overall in my opinion, cheaper, easier to maintain and they're more moddable."
"They're more moddable?" I was intrigued by the use of that word.
"There are various smaller companies that produce modification kits that allow you to change out some parts to make it look different and improve certain aspects of the weapon. But more importantly, you can get things like this." Without further ado, she pulled off her helmet and without asking my permission, pushed it down over my head, directing me to look downrange. Wondering what this was about, I did as she directed, looking at the Target.
With a quick flurry of her hands, Bo reloaded her pistol and aimed downrange and I saw what she meant by 'might be more moddable'. This was the first time I had ever worn one of these helmets so I was not very familiar with its operational abilities.
Frankly, I thought the T-shaped visor would make it almost impossible to see out of, but I quickly found that not to be the case. Not only that, as Bo brought her weapon to the target, I saw numbers appearing in the corners of my vision. As she fired around I saw the number tick down, it wasn't hard to figure out what numbers I was looking at and I was rather impressed. Not only was there a weapons ammunition counter there was a heat detection number and range detection number. The helmets and weapons were 'Bluetoothed' to each other, giving the wielder more control than an average soldier in the trenches of the Rhine front over factors that may have lost track of in the heat of battle.
Bo fired off a couple more shots to allow me to observe the data and understand how it operated. "See what I mean about their modability?" She reached down and carefully pulled the helmet off my head before continuing, "the 34 is basically a very good blaster, the 35 is a very good weapon system."
I nodded my agreement before asking the question that was primarily on my mind, "How is the weapon paired with your helmet?" It would seem to me an open wireless connection between those items would be a dangerous thing to have in combat. If the data could be corrupted or intercepted, you could end up with your weapon blowing up in your hand or running into combat with an empty magazine.
Placing her helmet down on the range table in front of her Bo raised an eyebrow and answered. "Specifically designed and secure chips, I had to hire a professional armor-designer to install the receivers in my helmet, the ones in the blasters were easy enough to do myself."
"Amazing tech," I said enjoying the fact that we lived in an age where such technology existed, granted I wasn't a big fan I was finding out that this existed and was used four military-grade weapons that anyone could get their hands on, but the simple fact that it existed in a military capacity meant that it most likely existed in other capacities, primarily in civilian use. Who knows how useful such a technology could be there.
"I knew you'd like that," Bo said, before taking a step back and behind me, "now, why don't you give that blaster a couple of shots, let's see how much you need to learn when it comes to shooting."
Nodding, I reached out and picked up the gun, carefully finishing resembling and loading it, keeping it pointed safely downrange the whole time, just in case something went wrong. Once I was sure it was good and ready, I aimed downrange at the target, flipped off the safety, and fired a round.
The blaster bolt went a little high on my first shot, so I aimed lower, quickly getting accustomed to the eccentricities of blaster bolts. They were not one-to-one translation to a "slug", as they were slower and had less kickback, but they did require more skill than I suspected to actually land a hit on your target. It felt a bit like even the slightest breeze would threaten to send it off target, but I quickly grew accustomed, and by the time my final and 20th shot I felt good with how well I had done.
The target I was firing out was 3 concentric rings, red, black, and white, and most likely the goal was to hit the red center ring. Out of 20 shots, 5 had hit red with the rest split, half hitting, second ring, meaning I got 12 out 20 shots on target. With a 3 out 5 hit ratio, I thought I did pretty good, so I let myself smile a bit after putting the safety back on and putting the gun down, turned to face Bo.
Bo was looking past me at the target with a strange look in her eye, and with a smile, she folded her arms across her chest and said "Well… I was going to hold this over you to help you improve, but you did better than I expected. There is a good ice cream place down the street from here, and I'm going to buy you whatever you want, from the place for putting on a show like that."
I blinked then wondering how 12 shots on target were good enough to get myself an ice cream treat, till I looked back at the target and noted the score counter above the target (something I had missed earlier), which did not read 12 out 20, instead, it read 20 out 20. I had wrongly assumed that a hit outside the ring was a failure, being that it was rather too wide of a portion of the target in my mind to be centered on a human, but it would seem they did count.
I would have to be more careful not to show my last life's skill in the future, otherwise, I would create unneeded expectations of what I could do, and that had gotten me in trouble during my last life more than once.
Turning back to Bo I simply kept my smile up and said "Thanks, Auntie Bo" using the term Korkie liked to use with Satine, figuring it was a quick and easy way to endear me to her more.
708 FNM (30 BBY)
Bo-Katan Kryze
Mandalore, Sundari, Gun Range
There was something special about her niece, when she told her sister that her blood called for the old ways she'd only really half meant it. As much as she liked to play the dogmatic follower of their ancient culture and acting as if she was some throwback who believed in the gods and other divine beings controlling their lives, she mainly brought up the Manda to annoy her sister more than anything.
But what she had just seen did make her wonder if something weird was going on when it came to her niece Tanya. She brought the little blond girl to the range to get a better understanding of how much training she would need to undergo, expecting her to maybe hit the target five times in total.
Blasters were notoriously hard weapons to master, and being that it was Tanya's first try, she had expected her to miss the majority of her shots. What she got instead was someone who had some previous experience shooting (which knowing her sister was impossible), but was not yet an expert. She would estimate that Tanya was semi-competent, as if she had already had a year or two of training. Oh, she was not spectacular, hitting 1 out of 4 in the center was fairly normal for someone of 2 years of training, but to quickly understand the intricacies of the blaster's capabilities, that was impressive for a complete novice.
How Tanya was so good was a question that bubbled in her mind as she watched the girl go through a second round of blasting the target and scoring similarly. There was an intriguing possibility, but she had no evidence for or against it.
All she knew was during one phase of the clan wars, the Kryze family had been scattered to the wind. After her brother and father died, she'd gone out into the greater sector, trying to find herself, not really sure what to do and seeking adventure and caring less about the overall cause of the Clan Wars. It was about that time her sister had also been brought back into the greater Mandalorian sector in the company of Jedi and would start her path to a peaceful Mandalore, what a joke.
And as for her brother's wife, she didn't know what happened. She had assumed that as long as her clan sister, Tanya's mother (who had gone by the same name), remained inside the Kryze family estates, she would be safe. A hope that had been misplaced as the estate had been assaulted while she was gone. She didn't find out exactly what happened until years later, and by the time she'd come back, her sister was in charge of the new Mandalorian government and she had a new niece. She shared the blonde hair of her father and about nothing else.
She suspected that there had been something else going on while she was away. She had no proof, but blood was calling to her, and if it wasn't "Mandalorian blood", as that seems to be very unlikely on a metaphysical level…. Well, there was only one other person in the area who had blood that could have created a situation like this.
She didn't know much about the Jedi, but she suspected they had something to do with it. The few times she asked what exactly her sister had been doing for the year it took to get the support needed to bring down the military traditionalists, her sister had simply always said it had been a close-run thing in that they had traveled around the Mandalorian sector, securing alliances and other platitudes.
Was it possible something else had happened during that time? Most people would assume it unlikely, but as much as she pretended that there was nothing similar between herself and Bo-Katan, the fact of the matter was there were similarities, not just at the surface level. Deep down, they were raised by the same man, and hello, Satine had fallen for the New Mandalorians' nonsense. They both share the same level of commitment to whatever cause they put themselves to, and considering her relationships while she'd been out finding herself, she wouldn't be surprised if young love played a role in the final days of the military traditionalists. After all, she did know the Jedi had brought a Padawan about her age and the two young teenagers spent a year straight running around a sector always on the edge of life and death. That sounded like a Mandalorian honeymoon.
The only piece that didn't fit, if that was true, was the question of why Satine had not outright said that Tanya was her child. Having a direct descendant wouldn't harm her, after all, and she figured having an unwed mother ruling their planet was the least of a typical Mandalorian's concern. So if she wasn't protecting herself, then who was she protecting?
That was a question for another day. Once she had more evidence suggesting that this theory might have some merits. Right now though, she had to make sure she had enough credits on her to make sure Tanya got good ice cream, she deserved a reward for being such a good shot.
708 FNM (30 BBY)
Satine Kryze
Mandalore, Royal Palaces
Listening to various government officials talk about how everything was going right for once was a wonder to behold. However, ever since I ascended to the throne of Mandalore as its Duchess I had always wondered if I would ever have a moment to just enjoy peace. Dealing with various rebel groups, disobedient clans and houses, minor inter-sector conflicts, and a whole host of issues that had to be solved before peace could be declared, I had come to believe that there was a good chance I would die before it ever came to be. So listening to governor Pre Vizsla talking about the efforts to regrow the forests of Concordia was simply a delightful change of pace.
Today was the yearly meeting I had with all elected officials that helped me run the Mandalorian system. Pre Vizsla was a trusted ally who helped run Concordia, the forest moon of Mandalore, a planet that has been greatly abused over the centuries as it was a source of beskar. Even the ancient Mandalorians wanted to turn that planet into a green haven for agriculture but their need for resources for war turned it into a nearly brown ball in the sky. But Pre Vizsla's indispensable diplomatic acumen e in dealing with the martial traditionalists who had refused to live on Mandalore under my rule, the planet was making a massive comeback. Every year it was looking more green than brown, a true sign that there was hope for a return of a green Mandalore.
"I suspect in the next 20 years the Regrowth Project will make the planet be fully habitable and we can look into the possibility of setting up farms and the greener pastures will help us get us more independent of Concord Dawn food supplies," Pre commented as he looked at the pad he brought with him.
"Well, that's good. Though we'll need to be careful about Concord Dawn, push too hard when it comes to food, one of their main and only real exports, the governors of Concord Dawn have always been protective of their limited trade exports. Considering they still have their semi-militarized police force of Journeyman Protectors to call upon, we don't want to push them too hard." Prime Minister Almec stated from where he sat on my right hand.
I nodded my head in agreement with his statements, thankfully most of the planetary governments were stable and somewhat independent. The governors and ministers ran most of the government and all I needed to do was give my agreement to their plans and spearhead the general direction. It was a very hands-off procedure only possible because I've been graced with many trustworthy ministers and governors.
Almec, for instance, was an old hand at the political game and a trusted ally, He may have served under the military traditionalists but he joined early in my ascension to power and had proved his worth over the last decade.
Pre nodded his head. "Yes, I have thought of that. Perhaps Kalevala could be used to deal with that situation?" He asked, holding his chin in his hand. "If more of their farmland could be converted to wine production that would be more lucrative in the long run, and any dropoff in food exports to Mandalore could be shifted over to Kalevala in the long term."
"That could work," Deputy Minister Jerec of Kalevala mused absentmindedly, "Although the Council of Kalevala tends to let the chips fall where they may when it comes to the free market. I can't give any guarantees that the idea will be given any investment, but let's introduce the concept to them and we'll see what happens from there."
I smiled and said "It doesn't have to be immediately so any help you can use to push things in the general direction would be appreciated." Jerec was the oldest of my allies and had been instrumental in setting up the alliances that would bring an end to the Clan Wars. Frankly describing him merely as an ally was doing him a disservice. He was one of my oldest and dearest friends, and it was good to have people I could depend on for running aspects of the government.
These three men represented the governments of three out of four of the habitable planets in the Mandalorian system and were each key figures in helping me maintain the peace I had strived so hard to build within this system. The only planet that wasn't represented in this government was Mandallia, but that was really okay when it came.
The Mandallian Giants, though a steadfast ally of the Mandalorians for as long as they'd been in contact, were not interested in pacifism, they were also not interested in conquest, they were interested in fighting as a cultural tradition unrelated to their connections to Mandalore. They were after all one of these few races in the galaxy to not only put up a spirited defense against the ancient Mandalorian Crusaders but defeated them. Since then as a political entity, they have become an isolationist state keeping to themselves on their own little planet and you only really saw the giants off their Planet when they were acting as Mercenaries.
It was unfortunate that they were not part of the system as they had the only green planet in the system which could be useful in freeing us from relying on Concord Dawn completely.
"I'll do my best, my Duchess." Jerec said with a smile.
"Is there anything else we need to discuss today?" I asked moving to end the conversation. I had to get home sometime today after all and check on how Tanya had done with Bo.
"Kalevala has nothing that needs to be spoken of." Jerec said
"Mandalore at peace." Almec added.
"Nothing that needs to be brought up in an official manner." Pre said, piquing my interest about what he wanted to talk to me in a private matter for.
"Then I believe this meeting is adjourned. We will meet again in a month's time," I said with a smile before turning to Pre. "Please stay a moment and we will discuss what you wanted to talk about, Governor Vizsla."
The other two got up and left the room, Quietly leaving me with the governor of Mandalore's moon. Pre stood up in front of me as I sat on the throne of Mandalore.
"I have heard from Bo-Katan that you are allowing her to train your ward in matters of self-defense." That raised an eyebrow from me, I was unaware that those two talked.
"Oh, and why has she informed you about this?" I asked pointedly.
"We're old friends, and she thought I could help in this training. More importantly she knows that if word got out that you were allowing your ward to be taught some of the older ways it could disturb the more fanatical of the pacifist. She was shopping around for somewhere where she could take your ward so they could train on some of those things in safety. There are plenty of abandoned old mines miles from prying eyes on Concordia who would not know a Kryze from a Vizsla. I just wanted you to know that they are at your disposal." Pre explained, giving a bow to me.
It was worth considering, Pre is a trustworthy Governor and if Tanya ever trained on a jet pack, that would be better to happen off-world. "You raise a fair point, Vizsla. I'm not sure if Tanya will progress far enough in her training that she will need such an environment but if she ever does I will tell Bo-Katan of your offer."
Pre nodded and said, "If I can be of use to you my Duchess, just let me know and I shall be there."
"Thank you, Pre Vizsla" I responded with a smile, happy to have such loyal ministers.
Writers note: This is the new chapter 2 I created due to the issue that was present in the original chapter 2, with hopes it makes the new chapter 3 work better. Anyway, Satine sure seems to have capable staff. anyways hope you enjoyed the read, and here question for you folk should i have chapter titles? and if so any suggestion course I'm drawing a blank.
Edited by: Lord Feunoyr: WrandmWaffles, Warmach1ne32
Community edited by:
Community editable doc (Chapter 2) No story suggestions in the community editing document, Keep all story suggestions and comments in the thread
Last edited:
Chapter 3
Princess of Mandalore 3
708 FNM (30 BBY)
Month 4
Tanya Kryze
Mandalore, Sundari, Royal Palace
Indoctrination, a simple method of controlling the youth by making sure that they grow up believing what you want them to believe. Religion and governments have been using that since time immemorial. It was such an effective method of control that it would often outlive the governments and religions that spawned its existence. And the Mandalorians had it in spades.
Oh, sure, there was no official religion on Mandalore anymore; from my research, I knew that. The three gods of their religion had basically fallen out of favor with popular beliefs of centuries before. Said religions have been replaced by more of spiritualism or mysticism, the belief in an afterlife, yes, but less of a Valhalla and more of a collective oversoul where all Mandalorians go when they die.
I personally was not very familiar with the concept of an oversoul, but it sounded better than being reincarnated by an entity proclaiming himself to be a god so they can conduct experiments on the human condition.
But those gods are still part of the culture in a way and things created under their influence still affect their society. And now that I was training under one of the moderate believers of those tenets, I was being forced to learn those tenants. Or to be, more exact, I was being indoctrinated or attempted to be, at least.
Knowing someone's trying to indoctrinate you is usually a good defense against such behaviors. Oh, I will admit, said indoctrination was not the worst kind I had ever come across. Apparently, the first thing my new teacher Bo Katan wanted me to become enthralled in and understand was the Resol'nare, or the six cultural tenets that made a person a Mandalorian. I would say to put it simply, but someone had already done that millennia ago, as the Resol'nare was taught by using a simple statement, one sentence: "Education and armor, self-defense, our tribe, our language, our leader—all help us survive." And in its natural language, it came off more as a rhyme.
I had run across mentions of this particular statement once or twice before in my readings, but I had never given it much time, but now I was coming to a quick understanding of its importance in Mandalorian society and I was a bit shocked that I had not been informed about this sooner.
Granted, I could see why I had not been informed; the New Mandalorians were trying to forge a new path and the Resol'nare were a distinctive artifact of their time. However, I did not believe that it was an artifact that needed to be completely forgotten. In fact, it probably could have been used to successfully control the political situation more than Duchess Satine was now.
To break it down though, what did the six actions imply a person must do and how could they have been used to better deal with the situation?
Education, this part of the was rather simple, a parent must educate their child, in the ways of the Mandalorian, something as my adopted parent Satine had not really done. Understandable as the New Mandalorians were trying to reject the warrior ways of the past, but this was a society building tool to create loyalty between father-son daughter-mother so on and so forth rejecting it was to reject the society itself, and it was no surprise that there would be people unhappy with that particular take. I suspected that if I asked a few questions around, I would find parents who had lived outside the city weren't exactly happy with the public school systems that the new Mandalorians had set up over the last decade.
Armor like the preceding element were cultural hand-me-downs, something a parent and child shared. Though there were other materials used in the creation of Mandalorian armor other than the most famous beskar, the idea was that the fallen warriors of a clan or family would contribute their armor to the protection of the next generation. Besides the Royal Guards and police, I had never seen a new Mandalorian wear any armor, and the reason behind this is simple - pacifists didn't need to fight. It was another cultural touchstone meant for keeping generations close together, thrown out for absolute pacifism.
Self-defense follows the same path. Why do you need to defend yourself when you're trying to create a non-violent pacifist society? However, this was the one that was the major issue that could have been used in their favor. Training for self-defense is not a point against pacifism, rather it's a way to protecting yourself; if they were to recontextualize the armor and self-defense into simply protecting oneself instead of focusing on the aggressive elements from their past they could have easily won over more of the nomadic clans.
Tribe, of course, got a little bit more muddled as it seems to be used in places to mean clan or house, but the general idea was working together for the welfare of society, and thankfully that had not been attacked by the pacifist.
Language, of course, referred to Mando'a, the ancient tongue that was the language of the first Mandalorians, and though I had been told my pronunciations of it were absolutely terrible, I had been given a good education and knew how to speak it, so another point for the pacifist is that they hadn't completely abandoned their culture.
The final cultural touchstone was the leader, or the Mand'alor: a Genghis Khan-like figure who would rally the nomadic tribes for war. Duchess Satine had stepped away from using that title in favor of Duchess, which was a more common title from her homeworld of Kalevala, and the homeworld of the New Mandalorian movement. It was not a complete betrayal of the cultural touchstone that had supported their leader in times of war, but then again, this new Duchess title had not been tested.
As long as everything remained peaceful, the society should progress without issue and my safety was secured, but if anything ever happened well, building a stable society on a cracked foundation tended to not go well when something major happened.
As a result, over the last four months, I did put myself into learning everything Bo-Katan was teaching when it came to self-defense. I was a bit rusty compared to my last life and I didn't have my magic to help stabilize some of my shooting, but I was performing within my expectations. She mainly taught me on the weekends, as the public schools I was attending took up the week. In fact, if not for her taking me on the weekends, my school life would be rather mundane and somewhat similar to my first life, dedication to studying and learning as well as self-improvement. Just with talks of space travel and lasers being real in the background instead of kids talking about the latest anime.
That mundane existence would be changed on the weekends and after school. On the weekends Bo would take me out to shooting ranges that have been set up by Mandalorians who were not keen on giving up their weapons but still wanted to keep training their kids in the ways of self-defense. And during the weekdays, as long as I keep my homework well and truly down to zero, something that I take pride in doing nonetheless, Bo quizzes me and tell stories about how the Mandalorians used to be and how they had once ruled a good portion of the Galaxy in their longstanding feud with the Jedi. Reveling in the ancient times when Mandalorians had been a main political force in the galaxy.
All this really meant nothing; as of 700 years ago the Mandalorians had stopped being a such a force when the Republic had bombed most of the planets of the Mandalorian sector into compliance, and considering they had sent ships to cause smaller bombardments as recent as twenty years ago things have not improved for them.
I would have been tempted to point this out, but I was not in the mood to rock the boat, and it was better to let her believe I was falling for this revanchism schlock. After all, I was simply a tool being used to keep Bo-Katan from being more politically active. If Bo believed I was not being swayed by her arguments, she'd most likely renege on her deal with her sister and I would have to deal with the fact that I was not learning how to defend myself should the need arise.
Of course, I quickly realized that if I didn't show more than a passing interest in the subject she was forcing me to learn, that too could also imply that she was failing in her ultimately doomed attempts to indoctrinate me. Which is why I eventually came up with a plan of asking the right questions at the right time to try and stimulate her into giving me information that I was someone interested in but didn't really need to complete the task.
Today was the first day of the two-day weekend, and Aunt Bo took me out to the desert for a practical with explosives. Obviously, Satine did not know this. I was going to keep that to myself, but even I thought this was a rather insane thing to be doing with a ten-year-old. Frankly, Bo was lucky that I was more experienced than my ten years in this world would have given me.
Said explosives were grenades and thankfully she had started me with dummy ones, at first but I saw some real ones underneath the dummy ones so she most likely planned to teach me how to throw a grenade before showing me the devastation they can unveil.
Bo was wearing her characteristic Mandalorian armor, a black bodysuit with gray and crimson plates, with some yellow markings. I hadn't gotten too deep into the tradition of what colors meant yet in my studies, but I suspected some colors were picked to annoy Aunt Satine, considering her constant use of them. For me, I was wearing a simple set of clothing, tan pants, and a white shirt. Nothing too fancy, since we were going to be out in the wasteland and wouldn't run into any of the higher-ups in society. Though air quality was not great, it felt good to be out of the dresses I was forced to wear in the palace.
As I stood looking at the empty desert for miles all around, we had used a speeder car to get out of here, so there was no one who could interfere or run onto the field and cause a problem. I turned to see Bo walking over with a dummy grenade talking to me, she had left her helmet over on a spreader letting the wind catch her red hair.
"All right, kid, show me that the palace hasn't spoiled your Mandalorian heritage. Show me that you can throw better than the faithless."
I raised an eyebrow at that insult for the New Mandalorians, another thing I had found in my research. Then I shrugged and took the grenade, giving it the wimpiest throw I could. As much as I would like to be seen as superior right off the bat, I needed to work up to it in order to make Bo think she was having a noticeable effect on my form. That would help to be more open in conversations with me. The dummy sailed through the air and landed about twenty-five feet away, not a great distance but minimum safe.
"Well if you started running you'd probably do that better than Satine at your age." Bo complimented while backhanding her own sister. Under other circumstances, I might have ignored that comment, but today that served well as my tool to start the conversation I was interested in having.
"You and Aunt Satine used to train with each other?" I said to show interest in this little nugget of information.
"Yeah, back in the day before she went to Coruscant, she was a better Mandalorian than she is today and father allowed her to train with me quite often." Bo said, picking up a couple of grenades from the box she brought over.
"Then the Clan War started and well she wasn't a good fighter and second in line for succession, so father thought it would be best that she was not in the Mandalorian sector while everyone was trying to kill each other. I bet if he'd known that she would have been converted to the new Mandalorians he probably never would have let her off-world." She said, shaking her head, tossed me a new dummy grenade and then attempted to show me how to throw one by throwing one herself.
Following her example a little, to a point, I threw one and increased the range a bit more. I wouldn't have to run away if that one went off.
"Better," Bo said matter of factly reaching into the case near the ground and picking out another dummy grenade.
"In a way though wasn't grandfather right in sending Satine away, I mean from what I've read he was a skilled warlord, and he did die from being part of the clan wars. Not to mention Korkie and my parents." I said the last part a little lower than I was actually feeling, I've never known them and so I didn't actually feel anything for them. However, emotions were a strong thing to play upon, both for me and for Bo.
For me, showing an emotional weakness may encourage Bo to be more open-minded and communicative about things, perhaps more willing to listen to another point of view who knows. And for Bo, well if she took the bait she may think this is an opportunity to warm her way further into my heart and mind for the indoctrination process, perhaps even separate me from Satine's course. Whatever move she made, I would be able to operate to take the most advantage of it, since I'd be thinking with the clearest head of the two of us.
Bo for her part simply let out a tired sign before she said "Yeah, I guess from that perspective you are kind of right, Satine's alliance with the Jedi and the New Mandalorians did bring about the end of then clan wars quicker. Well, personally I like to think your father, Adonai Junior, would have been able to have won the war eventually if he hadn't been taken out like he was.'
"Was my father a good Mandalorian?" I asked to play up the emotions a bit.
Bo simply smiled and said, "One of the best, brave and talented in a fight and smart and charismatic in public." She reached through the dummy grenade in her hand as far as she could. "If I had to guess, you'd probably have been able to toss a grenade from one trench line to the next with an arm like that."
Nodding my head in understanding, I did my best mimic of her and through it about as half as far as she had.
"A much better improvement," Bo said, sounding very satisfied by the throw. "Think it's time we move on to the live grenades."
"Are you sure that's safe, Aunty Bo?" I asked, severely concerned about this exercise.
"Oh yeah, completely safe, Satine was throwing grenades when she was ten, you should be fine."
"Yes, but didn't you say she was a good Mandalorian, doesn't that mean she had a set of armor to wear with this kind of practice? I mean, you're wearing armor after all?" I pointed out the layer of defense she was wearing in case something went wrong.
This seemed to stop her as she looked down at herself and then said, "That's a valid point I hadn't considered…"
It took great effort, not to call her out on this easiest mistake she could make. But then Bo took a knee. And speaking rather conspiratorially, she said in a low tone "this could be rectified, if you don't mind keeping secrets from Satine?"
Ah a sell, frankly I knew I probably shouldn't engage this but, part of me was interested in where this is going. "I can keep a secret," I said, letting a little bit of a lisp slip in, cuteness was always a good way to disarm your opponent.
Smiling, Bo said, "That's good. Well, then it will take me a week or so to get a little field trip for us together, if Satine asks we're simply going to our homeworld to check out the old estates, got it?"
I nodded, quite interested in what the plan was.
Satine Kryze
Mandalore, Sundari, Royal Palace
Sitting at my desk in the Royal Palace, I wondered what kind of game Bo was playing at. I could tell that she was up to something from the moment she had offered to take Tanya to Kalevala, but what she was playing at I wasn't exactly sure. Oh sure, it was the homeworld of clan Kryze and the original estates were located there. Though I personally hadn't been back to the planet in nearly seven years. I suspected that some of the members of her clan, those that still thought that siding with the New Mandalorians had been a massive mistake, had probably turned the old estate into a reliquary for her father.
The old warlord of Kalevala had been a major political figure of the planet, and much of the damage from the Clan Wars had been avoided through his tactical acumen.
Really the peace that Mandalore now enjoyed was a joint effort between her and her father in a way. He was fighting to keep Kalevala safe and secure from the worst of the war, ensuring the New Mandalorians were left with a large portion of power. And when the New Mandalorians combined with House Kryze victory was only a matter of time.
Perhaps Bo thought that her little Tanya would be easily swayed by the majesty and the history of the old estates and the stories of her grandfather. Possibly that's what Bo was thinking, but I doubted that would be very successful.
Tanya was strong-headed and smart, she may be more interested in the old ways than I would prefer, but I doubted she would fall for whatever Bo tried to sell her. Over the last four months Tanya had been more than willing to share what Bo had been teaching her and so far it was well within expected ranges. Literally in some cases.
So if Bo did attempt anything too much, Tanya would tell her as she trusted her to do, But I thought I'd better know for sure that this situation was still under my control. I didn't want Bo turning Tanya into a Martial Traditionalist. I'd summoned her for a meeting in my office, to get a good explanation of what she thought Bo was up to.
As if on cue of her thoughts, Tanya opened the door entering the office, the guard slowly closing it behind her. "Tanya, good to see you, please take a seat." she said, indicating the seats in front of her desk.
Tanya nodded her head and walked over to the offered seats, "good to see you as well, Aunt Satine." A small smile on her face, her blonde hair is so much like my own, framing it.
"We haven't had a good talk in a while, and I was wondering how your lessons with Bo are going?" I asked.
"Oh, they're proceeding quite well, a lot of exercises and fresh air, practicing the blaster, and some close-quarters training, though she's hesitant to do too much of that until I'm older. She's mostly letting me fight some training droids set to their easiest settings."
I nodded, understanding the necessity of the particular training Bo wanted to insure Tanya knew. However, that didn't exactly answer my question on why Bo wanted to take her off-world.
"Has she talked to you about anything else while training?" I asked poking for more information.
Tanya smiled. I took a moment to respond, it wasn't long, but she noticed it. "Well, we talked about grandfather and father. What kind of Mandalorians they were."
Ah, so that was the game, Bo was trying to play 'Your parents are real Mandalorians card'. I doubted that would be very effective, though Tanya may have an interest in the old ways. From what I had observed of citations in school reports over the years, Tanya had the general issues of why peace was important and a collection of books on the economics of the Mandalorian sector on her datapad. Finding out more about her "father" would not sway her from her path.
I trusted my sister to try to convert Tanya, but I also trusted Tanya to be strong-headed enough that she wouldn't fall for it, but the situation was complicated enough that I had to keep an eye on it. Maybe I should look into getting someone to go along with Tanya training, Bo may not like that addition unless she found a good cover story… handmaiden perhaps, or maybe one of the royal guard kids would be willing to play guard for Tanya? I would have to think about it.
"You know your Aunt Bo wants to take you to Kalevala, I personally can't go myself because matters of the state require my attention, so it would just be you and your aunt. Knowing that, do you feel safe going off-world with her on a field trip?"
Tanya simply nodded and said, "I've never been off-world before. I'd be quite interested in the experience, and Kalevala is your homeworld and I kind of want to see what that's like."
That emotionally stung a bit, Tanya wanted to go to my homeworld to see what it was like. Granted, Kalevala was not too different than Mandalore, also a desert world just with more life outside the cities but the idea that Tanya was interested simply because it was where Satine had come from, well it hurt a bit. Not for the first time, I wish I had gone with my gut and not listened to my counsel about handling that difficult situation 10 years ago.
Biting her lip for a moment as I calmed myself and simply said "Alright then, I'll see to it that everything's arranged, perhaps even Korkie would be interested in going with you?" Just because I was willing to entertain the idea of letting Tanya go alone with both doesn't mean I wasn't going to try and make sure someone was there she can trust to tell her if anything weird happened.
Tanya smiled and agreed, "I bet he would like that, I will ask Bo if she's willing to take him along as well."
Tanya Kryze
Mandalore, Sundari, Royal Palace
Well, that went better than I had expected, I had almost assumed at the moment I had been called up to Satine's office I was about to receive bad news and would not be going off-world, an experience I was quite enthralled with the opportunity of.
After all, in my last life, I had been sent back fifty years before the start of the space race. In the life before that, going to space was the domain of government organizations and the extremely rich. This would be a new experience that I was going to enjoy, even if it was probably going to be diminished by artificial gravity.
The only real issue was Bo's plans for the trip would possibly be hindered by having to bring Korkie along, and though I was sure whatever the plans were they were going to be troublesome, I was interested in finding out what her plans were. And I didn't want Korkie to interfere too greatly, he was a good kid and would run to Satine the moment he felt something was wrong.
Thus, I needed to come up with a way to prevent his interference. And really it wasn't that hard at all once I set my mind to do it.
Wandering through the palace, I quickly found my way to his room and knocked rather loudly, waiting a bit before I knocked again before entering his room.
Inside I found him deep at work on his homework, as a possible successor it was not surprising that he was getting a little bit more work than me when it came to his schooling, that and he was a few years ahead of me in the curriculum.
"Hey Korkie," I said loudly, hoping to get his attention. It took me a moment to realize that he had earphones on, probably listening to whatever teenagers of this universe listen to. I found most of it uninteresting, I couldn't tell a Jizz band from a Gliz band, so I sighed in annoyance. I walked up closer and tapped his shoulder, trying to keep my thoughts about how a few employees had tested my patience over the years doing something similar.
Taken by surprise, my brother who had been leaning over his desk jumped up in his chair looking around confused. "Tanya, what are you doing here?" He said when he finally spotted me.
"Trying to get your attention at the moment", I said shaking my head, "but if you mean generally why have I entered your room after I've knocked several times, well Aunty Bo has offered to take me to Kalevala to see the family estates and Aunt Satine was wondering if you were interested in joining us. I'm sure Bo would not mind taking you along if you're not too busy with your schoolwork."
Korkie smiled then looked at his schoolwork before signing heavily. "I would love to come, but mathematics is kicking my ass this week. If you can get Bo to hold off this little trip, maybe I can make it next week, but right now I'm going to have to hope Satine can can spare some time to help my studies for the coming test.
"I will see what I can do," I said fully intending not to, I have been hearing that he was having trouble with his mathematics, so I was not surprised by the answer I received, and it would work perfectly for what I had planned.
I could prevent him from coming on this first trip and then arrange a second one with Bo in a couple of weeks, so that Aunt Satine would be appeased, Bo would get to show me what she wanted to show me, and Korkie could have a moment of thought while visiting our homeworld, and everything would work out in my favor.
Smiling with a victorious grin, I said, "I'll talk to her tomorrow about it, and will see what happens."
Writers note: And here is chapter 3 of this take, let hear what you folks think about this,i worked to improve flow and grammar drops on this. I think I may still be looking for edited not sure, at the moment I'm in contact with one person but I have not heard from them in while so that is the state of things.
Edited by: Lord Feunoyr, BlueBezerk, Warmach1ne32
Community edited by:Afforess
Community editable doc (Chapter 3) No story suggestions in the community editing document, Keep all story suggestions and comments in the thread
708 FNM (30 BBY)
Month 4
Tanya Kryze
Mandalore, Sundari, Royal Palace
Indoctrination, a simple method of controlling the youth by making sure that they grow up believing what you want them to believe. Religion and governments have been using that since time immemorial. It was such an effective method of control that it would often outlive the governments and religions that spawned its existence. And the Mandalorians had it in spades.
Oh, sure, there was no official religion on Mandalore anymore; from my research, I knew that. The three gods of their religion had basically fallen out of favor with popular beliefs of centuries before. Said religions have been replaced by more of spiritualism or mysticism, the belief in an afterlife, yes, but less of a Valhalla and more of a collective oversoul where all Mandalorians go when they die.
I personally was not very familiar with the concept of an oversoul, but it sounded better than being reincarnated by an entity proclaiming himself to be a god so they can conduct experiments on the human condition.
But those gods are still part of the culture in a way and things created under their influence still affect their society. And now that I was training under one of the moderate believers of those tenets, I was being forced to learn those tenants. Or to be, more exact, I was being indoctrinated or attempted to be, at least.
Knowing someone's trying to indoctrinate you is usually a good defense against such behaviors. Oh, I will admit, said indoctrination was not the worst kind I had ever come across. Apparently, the first thing my new teacher Bo Katan wanted me to become enthralled in and understand was the Resol'nare, or the six cultural tenets that made a person a Mandalorian. I would say to put it simply, but someone had already done that millennia ago, as the Resol'nare was taught by using a simple statement, one sentence: "Education and armor, self-defense, our tribe, our language, our leader—all help us survive." And in its natural language, it came off more as a rhyme.
I had run across mentions of this particular statement once or twice before in my readings, but I had never given it much time, but now I was coming to a quick understanding of its importance in Mandalorian society and I was a bit shocked that I had not been informed about this sooner.
Granted, I could see why I had not been informed; the New Mandalorians were trying to forge a new path and the Resol'nare were a distinctive artifact of their time. However, I did not believe that it was an artifact that needed to be completely forgotten. In fact, it probably could have been used to successfully control the political situation more than Duchess Satine was now.
To break it down though, what did the six actions imply a person must do and how could they have been used to better deal with the situation?
Education, this part of the was rather simple, a parent must educate their child, in the ways of the Mandalorian, something as my adopted parent Satine had not really done. Understandable as the New Mandalorians were trying to reject the warrior ways of the past, but this was a society building tool to create loyalty between father-son daughter-mother so on and so forth rejecting it was to reject the society itself, and it was no surprise that there would be people unhappy with that particular take. I suspected that if I asked a few questions around, I would find parents who had lived outside the city weren't exactly happy with the public school systems that the new Mandalorians had set up over the last decade.
Armor like the preceding element were cultural hand-me-downs, something a parent and child shared. Though there were other materials used in the creation of Mandalorian armor other than the most famous beskar, the idea was that the fallen warriors of a clan or family would contribute their armor to the protection of the next generation. Besides the Royal Guards and police, I had never seen a new Mandalorian wear any armor, and the reason behind this is simple - pacifists didn't need to fight. It was another cultural touchstone meant for keeping generations close together, thrown out for absolute pacifism.
Self-defense follows the same path. Why do you need to defend yourself when you're trying to create a non-violent pacifist society? However, this was the one that was the major issue that could have been used in their favor. Training for self-defense is not a point against pacifism, rather it's a way to protecting yourself; if they were to recontextualize the armor and self-defense into simply protecting oneself instead of focusing on the aggressive elements from their past they could have easily won over more of the nomadic clans.
Tribe, of course, got a little bit more muddled as it seems to be used in places to mean clan or house, but the general idea was working together for the welfare of society, and thankfully that had not been attacked by the pacifist.
Language, of course, referred to Mando'a, the ancient tongue that was the language of the first Mandalorians, and though I had been told my pronunciations of it were absolutely terrible, I had been given a good education and knew how to speak it, so another point for the pacifist is that they hadn't completely abandoned their culture.
The final cultural touchstone was the leader, or the Mand'alor: a Genghis Khan-like figure who would rally the nomadic tribes for war. Duchess Satine had stepped away from using that title in favor of Duchess, which was a more common title from her homeworld of Kalevala, and the homeworld of the New Mandalorian movement. It was not a complete betrayal of the cultural touchstone that had supported their leader in times of war, but then again, this new Duchess title had not been tested.
As long as everything remained peaceful, the society should progress without issue and my safety was secured, but if anything ever happened well, building a stable society on a cracked foundation tended to not go well when something major happened.
As a result, over the last four months, I did put myself into learning everything Bo-Katan was teaching when it came to self-defense. I was a bit rusty compared to my last life and I didn't have my magic to help stabilize some of my shooting, but I was performing within my expectations. She mainly taught me on the weekends, as the public schools I was attending took up the week. In fact, if not for her taking me on the weekends, my school life would be rather mundane and somewhat similar to my first life, dedication to studying and learning as well as self-improvement. Just with talks of space travel and lasers being real in the background instead of kids talking about the latest anime.
That mundane existence would be changed on the weekends and after school. On the weekends Bo would take me out to shooting ranges that have been set up by Mandalorians who were not keen on giving up their weapons but still wanted to keep training their kids in the ways of self-defense. And during the weekdays, as long as I keep my homework well and truly down to zero, something that I take pride in doing nonetheless, Bo quizzes me and tell stories about how the Mandalorians used to be and how they had once ruled a good portion of the Galaxy in their longstanding feud with the Jedi. Reveling in the ancient times when Mandalorians had been a main political force in the galaxy.
All this really meant nothing; as of 700 years ago the Mandalorians had stopped being a such a force when the Republic had bombed most of the planets of the Mandalorian sector into compliance, and considering they had sent ships to cause smaller bombardments as recent as twenty years ago things have not improved for them.
I would have been tempted to point this out, but I was not in the mood to rock the boat, and it was better to let her believe I was falling for this revanchism schlock. After all, I was simply a tool being used to keep Bo-Katan from being more politically active. If Bo believed I was not being swayed by her arguments, she'd most likely renege on her deal with her sister and I would have to deal with the fact that I was not learning how to defend myself should the need arise.
Of course, I quickly realized that if I didn't show more than a passing interest in the subject she was forcing me to learn, that too could also imply that she was failing in her ultimately doomed attempts to indoctrinate me. Which is why I eventually came up with a plan of asking the right questions at the right time to try and stimulate her into giving me information that I was someone interested in but didn't really need to complete the task.
Today was the first day of the two-day weekend, and Aunt Bo took me out to the desert for a practical with explosives. Obviously, Satine did not know this. I was going to keep that to myself, but even I thought this was a rather insane thing to be doing with a ten-year-old. Frankly, Bo was lucky that I was more experienced than my ten years in this world would have given me.
Said explosives were grenades and thankfully she had started me with dummy ones, at first but I saw some real ones underneath the dummy ones so she most likely planned to teach me how to throw a grenade before showing me the devastation they can unveil.
Bo was wearing her characteristic Mandalorian armor, a black bodysuit with gray and crimson plates, with some yellow markings. I hadn't gotten too deep into the tradition of what colors meant yet in my studies, but I suspected some colors were picked to annoy Aunt Satine, considering her constant use of them. For me, I was wearing a simple set of clothing, tan pants, and a white shirt. Nothing too fancy, since we were going to be out in the wasteland and wouldn't run into any of the higher-ups in society. Though air quality was not great, it felt good to be out of the dresses I was forced to wear in the palace.
As I stood looking at the empty desert for miles all around, we had used a speeder car to get out of here, so there was no one who could interfere or run onto the field and cause a problem. I turned to see Bo walking over with a dummy grenade talking to me, she had left her helmet over on a spreader letting the wind catch her red hair.
"All right, kid, show me that the palace hasn't spoiled your Mandalorian heritage. Show me that you can throw better than the faithless."
I raised an eyebrow at that insult for the New Mandalorians, another thing I had found in my research. Then I shrugged and took the grenade, giving it the wimpiest throw I could. As much as I would like to be seen as superior right off the bat, I needed to work up to it in order to make Bo think she was having a noticeable effect on my form. That would help to be more open in conversations with me. The dummy sailed through the air and landed about twenty-five feet away, not a great distance but minimum safe.
"Well if you started running you'd probably do that better than Satine at your age." Bo complimented while backhanding her own sister. Under other circumstances, I might have ignored that comment, but today that served well as my tool to start the conversation I was interested in having.
"You and Aunt Satine used to train with each other?" I said to show interest in this little nugget of information.
"Yeah, back in the day before she went to Coruscant, she was a better Mandalorian than she is today and father allowed her to train with me quite often." Bo said, picking up a couple of grenades from the box she brought over.
"Then the Clan War started and well she wasn't a good fighter and second in line for succession, so father thought it would be best that she was not in the Mandalorian sector while everyone was trying to kill each other. I bet if he'd known that she would have been converted to the new Mandalorians he probably never would have let her off-world." She said, shaking her head, tossed me a new dummy grenade and then attempted to show me how to throw one by throwing one herself.
Following her example a little, to a point, I threw one and increased the range a bit more. I wouldn't have to run away if that one went off.
"Better," Bo said matter of factly reaching into the case near the ground and picking out another dummy grenade.
"In a way though wasn't grandfather right in sending Satine away, I mean from what I've read he was a skilled warlord, and he did die from being part of the clan wars. Not to mention Korkie and my parents." I said the last part a little lower than I was actually feeling, I've never known them and so I didn't actually feel anything for them. However, emotions were a strong thing to play upon, both for me and for Bo.
For me, showing an emotional weakness may encourage Bo to be more open-minded and communicative about things, perhaps more willing to listen to another point of view who knows. And for Bo, well if she took the bait she may think this is an opportunity to warm her way further into my heart and mind for the indoctrination process, perhaps even separate me from Satine's course. Whatever move she made, I would be able to operate to take the most advantage of it, since I'd be thinking with the clearest head of the two of us.
Bo for her part simply let out a tired sign before she said "Yeah, I guess from that perspective you are kind of right, Satine's alliance with the Jedi and the New Mandalorians did bring about the end of then clan wars quicker. Well, personally I like to think your father, Adonai Junior, would have been able to have won the war eventually if he hadn't been taken out like he was.'
"Was my father a good Mandalorian?" I asked to play up the emotions a bit.
Bo simply smiled and said, "One of the best, brave and talented in a fight and smart and charismatic in public." She reached through the dummy grenade in her hand as far as she could. "If I had to guess, you'd probably have been able to toss a grenade from one trench line to the next with an arm like that."
Nodding my head in understanding, I did my best mimic of her and through it about as half as far as she had.
"A much better improvement," Bo said, sounding very satisfied by the throw. "Think it's time we move on to the live grenades."
"Are you sure that's safe, Aunty Bo?" I asked, severely concerned about this exercise.
"Oh yeah, completely safe, Satine was throwing grenades when she was ten, you should be fine."
"Yes, but didn't you say she was a good Mandalorian, doesn't that mean she had a set of armor to wear with this kind of practice? I mean, you're wearing armor after all?" I pointed out the layer of defense she was wearing in case something went wrong.
This seemed to stop her as she looked down at herself and then said, "That's a valid point I hadn't considered…"
It took great effort, not to call her out on this easiest mistake she could make. But then Bo took a knee. And speaking rather conspiratorially, she said in a low tone "this could be rectified, if you don't mind keeping secrets from Satine?"
Ah a sell, frankly I knew I probably shouldn't engage this but, part of me was interested in where this is going. "I can keep a secret," I said, letting a little bit of a lisp slip in, cuteness was always a good way to disarm your opponent.
Smiling, Bo said, "That's good. Well, then it will take me a week or so to get a little field trip for us together, if Satine asks we're simply going to our homeworld to check out the old estates, got it?"
I nodded, quite interested in what the plan was.
Satine Kryze
Mandalore, Sundari, Royal Palace
Sitting at my desk in the Royal Palace, I wondered what kind of game Bo was playing at. I could tell that she was up to something from the moment she had offered to take Tanya to Kalevala, but what she was playing at I wasn't exactly sure. Oh sure, it was the homeworld of clan Kryze and the original estates were located there. Though I personally hadn't been back to the planet in nearly seven years. I suspected that some of the members of her clan, those that still thought that siding with the New Mandalorians had been a massive mistake, had probably turned the old estate into a reliquary for her father.
The old warlord of Kalevala had been a major political figure of the planet, and much of the damage from the Clan Wars had been avoided through his tactical acumen.
Really the peace that Mandalore now enjoyed was a joint effort between her and her father in a way. He was fighting to keep Kalevala safe and secure from the worst of the war, ensuring the New Mandalorians were left with a large portion of power. And when the New Mandalorians combined with House Kryze victory was only a matter of time.
Perhaps Bo thought that her little Tanya would be easily swayed by the majesty and the history of the old estates and the stories of her grandfather. Possibly that's what Bo was thinking, but I doubted that would be very successful.
Tanya was strong-headed and smart, she may be more interested in the old ways than I would prefer, but I doubted she would fall for whatever Bo tried to sell her. Over the last four months Tanya had been more than willing to share what Bo had been teaching her and so far it was well within expected ranges. Literally in some cases.
So if Bo did attempt anything too much, Tanya would tell her as she trusted her to do, But I thought I'd better know for sure that this situation was still under my control. I didn't want Bo turning Tanya into a Martial Traditionalist. I'd summoned her for a meeting in my office, to get a good explanation of what she thought Bo was up to.
As if on cue of her thoughts, Tanya opened the door entering the office, the guard slowly closing it behind her. "Tanya, good to see you, please take a seat." she said, indicating the seats in front of her desk.
Tanya nodded her head and walked over to the offered seats, "good to see you as well, Aunt Satine." A small smile on her face, her blonde hair is so much like my own, framing it.
"We haven't had a good talk in a while, and I was wondering how your lessons with Bo are going?" I asked.
"Oh, they're proceeding quite well, a lot of exercises and fresh air, practicing the blaster, and some close-quarters training, though she's hesitant to do too much of that until I'm older. She's mostly letting me fight some training droids set to their easiest settings."
I nodded, understanding the necessity of the particular training Bo wanted to insure Tanya knew. However, that didn't exactly answer my question on why Bo wanted to take her off-world.
"Has she talked to you about anything else while training?" I asked poking for more information.
Tanya smiled. I took a moment to respond, it wasn't long, but she noticed it. "Well, we talked about grandfather and father. What kind of Mandalorians they were."
Ah, so that was the game, Bo was trying to play 'Your parents are real Mandalorians card'. I doubted that would be very effective, though Tanya may have an interest in the old ways. From what I had observed of citations in school reports over the years, Tanya had the general issues of why peace was important and a collection of books on the economics of the Mandalorian sector on her datapad. Finding out more about her "father" would not sway her from her path.
I trusted my sister to try to convert Tanya, but I also trusted Tanya to be strong-headed enough that she wouldn't fall for it, but the situation was complicated enough that I had to keep an eye on it. Maybe I should look into getting someone to go along with Tanya training, Bo may not like that addition unless she found a good cover story… handmaiden perhaps, or maybe one of the royal guard kids would be willing to play guard for Tanya? I would have to think about it.
"You know your Aunt Bo wants to take you to Kalevala, I personally can't go myself because matters of the state require my attention, so it would just be you and your aunt. Knowing that, do you feel safe going off-world with her on a field trip?"
Tanya simply nodded and said, "I've never been off-world before. I'd be quite interested in the experience, and Kalevala is your homeworld and I kind of want to see what that's like."
That emotionally stung a bit, Tanya wanted to go to my homeworld to see what it was like. Granted, Kalevala was not too different than Mandalore, also a desert world just with more life outside the cities but the idea that Tanya was interested simply because it was where Satine had come from, well it hurt a bit. Not for the first time, I wish I had gone with my gut and not listened to my counsel about handling that difficult situation 10 years ago.
Biting her lip for a moment as I calmed myself and simply said "Alright then, I'll see to it that everything's arranged, perhaps even Korkie would be interested in going with you?" Just because I was willing to entertain the idea of letting Tanya go alone with both doesn't mean I wasn't going to try and make sure someone was there she can trust to tell her if anything weird happened.
Tanya smiled and agreed, "I bet he would like that, I will ask Bo if she's willing to take him along as well."
Tanya Kryze
Mandalore, Sundari, Royal Palace
Well, that went better than I had expected, I had almost assumed at the moment I had been called up to Satine's office I was about to receive bad news and would not be going off-world, an experience I was quite enthralled with the opportunity of.
After all, in my last life, I had been sent back fifty years before the start of the space race. In the life before that, going to space was the domain of government organizations and the extremely rich. This would be a new experience that I was going to enjoy, even if it was probably going to be diminished by artificial gravity.
The only real issue was Bo's plans for the trip would possibly be hindered by having to bring Korkie along, and though I was sure whatever the plans were they were going to be troublesome, I was interested in finding out what her plans were. And I didn't want Korkie to interfere too greatly, he was a good kid and would run to Satine the moment he felt something was wrong.
Thus, I needed to come up with a way to prevent his interference. And really it wasn't that hard at all once I set my mind to do it.
Wandering through the palace, I quickly found my way to his room and knocked rather loudly, waiting a bit before I knocked again before entering his room.
Inside I found him deep at work on his homework, as a possible successor it was not surprising that he was getting a little bit more work than me when it came to his schooling, that and he was a few years ahead of me in the curriculum.
"Hey Korkie," I said loudly, hoping to get his attention. It took me a moment to realize that he had earphones on, probably listening to whatever teenagers of this universe listen to. I found most of it uninteresting, I couldn't tell a Jizz band from a Gliz band, so I sighed in annoyance. I walked up closer and tapped his shoulder, trying to keep my thoughts about how a few employees had tested my patience over the years doing something similar.
Taken by surprise, my brother who had been leaning over his desk jumped up in his chair looking around confused. "Tanya, what are you doing here?" He said when he finally spotted me.
"Trying to get your attention at the moment", I said shaking my head, "but if you mean generally why have I entered your room after I've knocked several times, well Aunty Bo has offered to take me to Kalevala to see the family estates and Aunt Satine was wondering if you were interested in joining us. I'm sure Bo would not mind taking you along if you're not too busy with your schoolwork."
Korkie smiled then looked at his schoolwork before signing heavily. "I would love to come, but mathematics is kicking my ass this week. If you can get Bo to hold off this little trip, maybe I can make it next week, but right now I'm going to have to hope Satine can can spare some time to help my studies for the coming test.
"I will see what I can do," I said fully intending not to, I have been hearing that he was having trouble with his mathematics, so I was not surprised by the answer I received, and it would work perfectly for what I had planned.
I could prevent him from coming on this first trip and then arrange a second one with Bo in a couple of weeks, so that Aunt Satine would be appeased, Bo would get to show me what she wanted to show me, and Korkie could have a moment of thought while visiting our homeworld, and everything would work out in my favor.
Smiling with a victorious grin, I said, "I'll talk to her tomorrow about it, and will see what happens."
Writers note: And here is chapter 3 of this take, let hear what you folks think about this,i worked to improve flow and grammar drops on this. I think I may still be looking for edited not sure, at the moment I'm in contact with one person but I have not heard from them in while so that is the state of things.
Edited by: Lord Feunoyr, BlueBezerk, Warmach1ne32
Community edited by:Afforess
Community editable doc (Chapter 3) No story suggestions in the community editing document, Keep all story suggestions and comments in the thread
Last edited:
JmonsterNEO
Spouter of nonsense
- Location
- The quest forums
This is really great, but there are a few things that were bugging me, mainly that the Satine segment in chapter three keeps switching between first and third person almost at random.
I will put the other minor bits in quotes
I will put the other minor bits in quotes
Delete red, add green
Same as before
- Location
- USA
Chapter 2 had a lot of odd capitolizations, several times you used touchdown instead of touchstone which I think fit better.
fixed the one you spotted in the main documents whenever I get a beta, and he does look thrue of it all, it come out.
Chapter 4
Chapter 4
708 FNM (30 BBY)
Month 4
Tanya Kryze
Mandalore, orbit
Space, the final frontier for human exploration in my life as a salaryman, and the domain of penny and dime novels in my second. I never thought I would get to leave earth in either life In my first life, even with some of my most optimistic projections for how my retirement may go, I assumed that space travel would remain the domain of the ultra-wealthy, and as for my second life, well, unless Schugel had come up with rocket to get me from Europe to the Americas(even then I doubted I even leave low orbit), space travel was a fantasy.
But here I was, it took nearly 100 years and jumping three different lives, but I was in space, and though it was somewhat hampered by the artificial gravity of the Aka'jor-class shuttle, space without atmospheric interference was something I had never seen.
Though I do admit I was at first mesmerized with these new experiences, the spell did not hold too long. After all, I was just looking at the blackness of space with twinkling lights, nothing particularly spectacular about it.
That being said, this was the first time I left the solid ground in this life, so I put on a good show for Bo-Katan, asking questions about the satellites and other orbital debris we passed on our way out of Mandalor's orbit. She seemed to enjoy answering my question so I counted this strategy as working.
The operation was proceeding as envisioned, I had managed to prevent my brother from coming along, which meant it was just me and my dear aunty Bo. A perfect opportunity for her to brainwash me into their cult… if I was a dumb child. Instead, this became a perfect opportunity for me to ingratiate myself deeper into Bo's inner circle. Making her believe I was falling for her schtick would allow me to find out if her goal was less than noble when it came to training me. If she attempted to push me to sign in to anything, I would have something to bring Satine and have her removed from this program. If Bo instead continued to only try to entice me with old ways, then she was a fine teacher, and I could let this little training continue without issues.
Besides, it was unlikely that anything too dangerous would even happen. if Bo had wanted me dead or to harm her sister through me she had ample opportunities, at the range and when she had me tossing grenades, an accident could have happened at either time and she could get away with it. Of course, she would be hounded about the affair and be forced to flee Mandalore, sure, but if the goal was to harm Satine through me that would be accomplished. Since neither of those happened I was sure I was safe with Bo on a physical level.
Plus I really wanted to know what was on the planet Kalevala that had immediately sprung to Bo's mind when I asked about protection. I had a theory, but a theory is not worth much, until you can test it.
Looking out the windows, were they windows? I had to look into the details of ship construction when I had more time, but anyways, looking out the windows, I was able to watch the sand yellow planet shrink as we flew away from my "homeworld". It really was in a sorry state, centuries of warfare had left nothing living outside the domes and cubes that dotted the surface, and when compared to Concordia, the planet's green and brown moon, you could see the extent of the damage: complete and utter ecological collapse.
If I was not tied to the royalty of the planet, I would most likely be looking into pulling up stakes and finding somewhere greener to live. This harsh death world was not for the weak and faint of heart. If something went wrong with the life-support systems of a dome or cube, your chances of survival dropped to near-zero fast.
But I was connected, so I would have to deal with that desert world. Though I questioned why there was no attempt to rebuild the world quicker. If they have spaceships and access to trade markets across the galaxy it should not be that hard to turn back the clock a bit. And with the tech base I had seen since I arrived in this world, I did not believe they could not terraform a planet if they wanted to.
Perhaps there was something I was overlooking, but locking everyone up in the cities and centralizing... oh… the new Mandalorian doctrine relied heavily on the premise that pacificism should be the goal, that their people should not need to fight, and that they needed to join the galaxy in peaceful cooperation. A lofty goal, but when your populations were made up of nomadic clans and tribes, that was hard to achieve.
Being out on the frontier had a tendency to breed hardy people, people who wanted nothing more than to be left alone (often with violent deterrence), so how do you get such a population to sign up with your overarching government, instead of just moving on to another planet? You hold power and provide the only safe place on the planet.
Everyone who could leave the decimated world had, all that was left were the stubborn and those who could not, and so their only hope was the New Mandalorians, who promised peace and safety. Most likely when they realized just how bad the state of the planet was, they decided to focus on domes and cube projects to get people hooked on the New Mandalorian government projects. Similar things had happened in my first life, China and Russia having some stellar examples of the failure of such wide-reaching projects. But those being about forcing industrialization and urbanization, power was already in those governments' hands. This most likely was a simple way to make sure new Mandalorian culture stayed in power until they were considered as mainstream Mandalorian culture.
It was a devious plot, and to implement it would take some iron determination since you were technically prolonging the damage of the planet and any pain that caused for your benefit... the question was did Satine know about this? Presumably, she would be the one implementing this plan, however, considering she was willing to break bread with her sister on the other side of the political scale, I doubted she would be willing to punish the planet in such a way, even if it limited the area for rebellion. I would have to look into the politics of the situation more. Perhaps I was looking too deep into it (something I would admit I did too often), which had gotten me in trouble more times than I would like as an aerial mage.
Tanya Kryze
Kalevala, orbit
Kalevala was alive, that was the best way to start to describe its difference from Mandalore Prime. From orbit, you could see the greens of planet life, mixed with the yellow of the desert sand. From what I knew of Kalevala, unlike Mandalore, which was dealing with complete ecological collapse, Kalevala was still somewhat livable, and though it was dealing with similar issues. it was thriving under New Mandalorian rule, with even fine wines and silks were produced on this half dessert world.
Without knowing the economics of the entire galaxy, an undertaking which I doubted anyone could succeed at, I could only guess based on my understanding of the basics of the sector economy as to how much of the national income came from those products.
This provided a nice possible alternate reason why Mandalore seemed to be slower in coming back. Why spend money to get one planet up running again when you could just improve the income of the one that worked fine?
But those were thought for another time, at the moment I belted myself into the shuttle seats as we began our descent towards the planet. Looking over to my left I noted Bo-Katan had not belted herself in as we came into the upper orbit.
I shook my head at her risk-taking. We had seat belts and we might as well use them.
Bo, for her part, noticed me looking her way and chuckled "Don't worry kid we won't crash, besides, seat belts won't really do anything unless you are in the atmosphere, if we start crashing up here we burn up long before we hit the ground."
"A lovely thought," I muttered before pointing out, "but what if something happens once we're in the atmosphere?"
"Well if there is no reason to just ditch the ship and jet pack away then, then that's the time to put the belt on."
'How could I have forgotten personal flight?' I thought, shaking my head "Well let's hope we don't need to do that, as I don't have a jetpack." I said matter of factly.
"Yet." Bo responded, causing me to turn my head, to see a sly smile on her face. She was up to something to do with jet packs? Well, now that was an interesting piece to the puzzle.
I didn't have too much time to ponder this though, as the ship cut its way through the atmosphere. I expected a lot more turbulence than I got, though I still held on tight to the armrest. The transition from space to another planet was too smooth in the end, my preconceptions of pilots fighting to maintain control were tossed out by something that felt as smooth as a train ride. It's not a great loss, really, but I imagine I looked very silly holding the armrest in a death grip down from orbit to the planet below. Thankfully, Bo didn't notice or didn't care, as she said nothing on the matter as the ship leveled out and started flying west(at least I believed it was west, hard to tell when to change planets).
"See? Nothing to worry about, perfectly safe," Bo said as she laid out a course in the control panel, "we should be seeing the old estate any moment now, look right there."
Looking where she was pointing, I saw a white structure rising from the sands around it. Looking closely, I first thought it was one of the cubes cities that dotted Mandalore surfaces, but it had some features that reminded me of something older. What I was looking at was a mix of castle and cube, the estate they had been referring to was not some manor, it was a fortress, and now it made sense why Satine hadn't been there in years.
Castles and fortresses were military installations, no matter if they also could serve as homes, the pacifist leader had to stay far away from such structures unless necessary.
"Fortress Kryze, one of the last standing house castles on Kalevala and in my opinion one of the greatest." Bo said as she sat back in her seat. "You will not find one as beautiful anywhere in the system, most fortress homes that could compete for that honor got blown up and bombarded from orbit over the last century, but even before then, most folk only used them for their intended purposes, and left them at that. Granddad, I mean your great grandfather, believed that home should, no matter the intended purposes, have an air of splendor to it." She supplied as we got closer, taking the ship on a long loop around the building so I could get a look at it.
It was rather a beautiful thing to look upon, the white wall of the cube-like castle glimmered in the sun and was very functional. If I had to guess, there were five levels of building set above the sand, but who knows how deep it went?
"Father, your granddad conquered of course and kept the paint job up, even added a few towered over the years, more for a look than what they could do for defense. Your father wanted to add on to the building himself, leave his mark on the old family house, but things did not end up going that way." Bo commented, sounding tired. "Since the end of the Clan Wars, the place has been basically abandoned and left to itself. Some of the minor clans that part of house Kryze contribute money to keep the place looking in good condition, but no one lives here really.
"So in a sense, it has become a family vault that contains our past, a monument to old times for our extended family to visit once in while?" I said as I looked the building over. This was useful, I could run with this, "Being left alone is a sad fate for such a grand building, but as long as people still care for it, the house can still serve to protect the history of the family that built it." I attempted to signal my interest in protecting history, which I figured would earn me points with Bo, and as I turned to look at her face, and saw the smile I knew, I hit my target.
Bo turned the ship around and came to landing on the platform that hung outside of the tower, being stickler details I noted we parked in such a way to minimize the time we would spend outside. This piqued my interest but before I got a chance to ask about it, Bo was already out of her seat and heading to the back of the ship. Unbuckling myself I got up and followed behind the armored woman, she was at the back of the ship grabbing her helmet and putting it on. That seemed odd. We were in the middle of nowhere, why would she need a helmet I thought.
"Here catch" my thoughts were interrupted by Bo tossing a full-face covering glass mask to me. Grabbing it out mid-air and looking at it before asking the question that came to my mind first. "Aunty Bo? Why do I need a gas mask?"
"Not a gas mask, more of atmofilter mask, desert around here got bombed a lot over the years, one of the wars used chemical weapons and that left the sand toxic. We have equipment that can clean us off inside, and technically the chemical is nothing too bad but it is best to minimize your contact with the stuff." Bo said as she pressed some button on her wrist guard coughing slight hiss from her helmet.
I blinked a couple of times then shook my head at just how to matter a fact that had been dropped on me, I might reconsider this whole deal if I knew I was going nuclear bomb site. Well, not much to for it now, I was here, and it would just look suspect if I attempted to pull out now. Pulling my hair back I fixed the mask to my head, slight hiss signaling it was secured.
"Ready to go!" I said with a more chipper tone than I was really feeling, as I looked up at Bo. Nodding her head she pressed a button and stepped outside, quickly walking across the landing pad towered a pair of doors. I followed right after looking back to see the ship's doors auto close behind us.
Bo moved a bit faster than me and got to the door pressing a code into the wall panel. The door responded and she stepped inside a darkened room sealed off by another set of doors, from the rest of the building. Wasting no time I stepped inside, which apparently singled the doors to close. The moment that happened, the room blew down with air most likely removing any sand particles that would be stuck on us in that short time we had been outside. Soon as that was done Bo pulled off her helmet and placed it on a shelf of the far left wall. I followed her example and took off my mask, placing it next to her helmet.
"So are we going to need to decontaminate when we get back on the ship?" I asked, noting there was no such system on transport craft.
"Yes, not really up to you. Decom really for those who walked or flew but everyone has to go through the same door so might well Decom everyone as free service. If you are worried about toxic sand though there is a shower near the back of the craft." Bo said, placing her guns beside her helmet, "any blaster stays here if you got them?"
I looked at her then looked at myself and my lack of any weapons "don't think that something we need to worry about." I mentioned before I continued. "I didn't see a shower, on the ship?"
"Left side, behind the blaster rack, and yeah old rule dad had he only wanted family carrying blades in the house, weapons stayed stowed unless times of war. " Bo responded by answering both questions as she walked toward the second door and began to type in a code.
"Sensible.." I began before the location of the shower hit me, there was an empty closet next to the blaster rack, that I assumed had been for an armor storage area. I had to admit I was impressed by the space usage of Mandalorian design.
The door opened revealing a well-decorated entryway pillar of marble lining the hallway before splitting off in several directions. Bo took a few steps in before looking to her right and smiling, stepping through after her I looked up to the wall she was looking at and tripped up a bit.
On the wall was a painted mural of an older bearded white-haired man in bronze and pine colored Mandalorian armor, mirror seemed to tell the story of some defense the cuibish art simplifying the story a bit but seemed to show two forces fighting, with the man and his force standing in middle one leg up on edge of battlement as he carried his helmet in the crook of his arm, and held a silver sword aloft as if challenging all comers.
It was ridiculous looking and reminded me of a bit of European artwork from the 18th century in how grandiose it looked. I was stumped on how to respond to this thing.
"Ah right, well Tanya meet your granddad, Adonai Kryze senior, warlord of and protector of Kalevala." Bo said with a bemused tone bringing me back to reality. I was related to a man who had propaganda painted on the wall entryway.
I could only really hope that whatever had inspired that power move was not genetic. "He really sprung for something that would leave an impression didn't he?" I said, taking my eyes away from the affront to humbleness.
Bo let out a laugh before saying "Yeah he was one for dramatics." before she turned and started walking down the hallway. "He wanted people to know why Kalevala was not doomed to ruin like Mandalore was during the most recent civil war, that it was his force of arms and diplomatic tack, not the new Mandalorian pretty words, that kept the planet secure."
"Was he against the new Mandalorians?" I asked, trying to get a sense of the man who seemed to be Bo's role model from the way she talked about him.
"Nope, but he never thought they would grow further than minor power in the system, said'' she changed her voice perhaps trying to mimic her father "'they paid their taxes and help clean up the mess from the older generation,' as long as they do that he had no issue with them, and had several friends among their number. Which is why he trusted they would be able to keep Satine safe on Coruscant during the clan wars."
Leading the way furth into the building we passed several other paintings of various family members, I assumed most of them were older than grandfather though few of the artworks seemed to show split off families and other clans loyal to our house, their symbols being shown somewhere on the painted wall.
I would continue on without issue before I stopped at what looked like a painting to a younger version of the grander father a blond man who stood across from a dark-blond-haired woman in what looked to be in some kinda wedding ceremony, he also looked a bit like what Korkie would look like when he was older I thought.
"Oh yeah, figured you spot that," Bo said she stopped before coming back standing next to her, " Adonai Kryze junior and Tanya Keldau."
"Father and mother." the cubist artwork was not to my liking, but I could see the resemblance to some photos I had seen before, I really did not feel much for those people on the wall, they were technically my parents but I had never known them, they died before I really come to consciousness again, but I attempted to look suitable intrigued and sad for Bo, I had to keep up the appearances after all.
"My father had this commission on their marriage day, wanted it to be immortalized, Adonai thought he looked stupid in it but it was father's house, so he decided what goes on the walls." Bo said with a smile.
"What about mother?' I asked more for formality than any real interest.
"Ah, she was fine with it, didn't care much for pomp, but was just happy to have a family again," Bo said, shaking her head. "The Keldau were already a nearly non-existent clan in the last civil war, and said civil war did not do them any favors, she believed she was the last."
I nodded my head, not really sure what to say to the information. Being X script had put her as an orphan of another orphan… he needed to hire a better writing staff.
My silences seemed to be taking as morning as Bo patted me on the head, and said "Let go see what I came here to get your, that should improve the mood." she began walking towards the east side of the building heading for an entryway to a tower by the looks of it.
I followed behind her as she led the way up the stairway. We went up three or four floors. It felt like before we came to a set of doors. Bo stopped at the Door and turned toward me. "Alright, you're ready to keep this secret right?"
I nodded my head, "Of course."
Smiling Bo turned toward the door, pulled out a knife and slipped it in to crack off the door, she jiggled it a bit with the air of someone who had done this before, and a moment later the door sprung open."And we're in", Bo said, stepping inside, motioning me to follow.
Stepping in after her I saw we were in a room not too dissimilar from my own back on Mandalore, a bit more decorated than I had mine but basically the same comfortable bed, good work desk, closet full clothes only real big differences were the armor stand in the corner. The armor in question was small looking to have been made for a female in her early teens, painted in bronze and light green. "Bo whose room is this?"
Walking over towered armor, Bo picked up the helmet from the stand and looked it over before tossing it to me. I caught it as she began, saying "Satine's, she left her armor behind when she went to Coruscant and as far as I know never bothered coming back here to do anything with, still sized for when she was 14, so it should fit your no problem."
"Isn't this stealing?" I pointed out as I looked over the helmet, the helmet looked a bit like Bo favoring the almost Y-shaped visor over the standard T I have seen in most of the artwork.
"Nope, Satine abandoned the armor, and as Kryze you have the right to pick it up." Bo said, taking the armor off the stand and putting it on the bed.
"Okay but I'm not going to be able to walk in my room and keep this secret, aunt Satine is going to notice a pair of armor showing up in my room."
"We'll keep it aboard my ship for now, and will figure out what to do about a permanent home later. Besides you need it for jet pack training anyways, the armor and helmet set up is better than not having them. It is also cheaper in the long run than renting out part of the armor every time we want to train you how to fly.
"That is a good point." I granted as I looked down at the visor, as much as I dislike how close to the line of criminality this is, she made several good points, and there was no reason to say no to this. If Satine ever found out, I could play dumb and just say I didn't know the details of its acquisition.
Looking at the helmet, I tried to pick my brain about what paint job to put on the helmet. I started looking into Mandalorian color theory, each color means something, and since understanding what that means could give me a better idea of what a person was looking for in life as well as being a way to easily signal what I wanted from other Mandalorians if I ever needed it. Light green was related to the search for peace, something that fell well inside the Satine charter, and bronze was a sign of nobility, the overall meaning of the armor was Noble search for peace. She lived up to that armor color really.
Looking up I saw the Bo was loading the armor into a bag she found under the bed, her armor colors gray, dark red, and yellow, messaging of that was in mourning, defiance, and remembrance, the overall messaging then was something like standing for the last I would assume which would explain why Satine was annoyed by Bo color scheme.
"Alright all loaded up let's get going kid." Bo said, hefting the bag over her shoulder. " There are few other things we can check out around the castle before we have to get back to Mandalore, and we don't have a lot of time to do it."
Nodding my agreement I followed along behind carrying the helmet in my hands as we went.
Writers note: Alright, so what we got, going on here today, a little bit of family history, that had fun making up, a little bit of grand larceny, don't worry about that. And a bit of understanding of Mandalorian color theory.
And finally, hope everyone enjoys and comments and likes keep this going so tell me what you think.
Edited by: Lord Feunoyr, Wrandm Waffles, Warmach1ne32
Community edited by:
Community editable doc (Chapter 4) No story suggestions in the community editing document, Keep all story suggestions and comments in the thread
708 FNM (30 BBY)
Month 4
Tanya Kryze
Mandalore, orbit
Space, the final frontier for human exploration in my life as a salaryman, and the domain of penny and dime novels in my second. I never thought I would get to leave earth in either life In my first life, even with some of my most optimistic projections for how my retirement may go, I assumed that space travel would remain the domain of the ultra-wealthy, and as for my second life, well, unless Schugel had come up with rocket to get me from Europe to the Americas(even then I doubted I even leave low orbit), space travel was a fantasy.
But here I was, it took nearly 100 years and jumping three different lives, but I was in space, and though it was somewhat hampered by the artificial gravity of the Aka'jor-class shuttle, space without atmospheric interference was something I had never seen.
Though I do admit I was at first mesmerized with these new experiences, the spell did not hold too long. After all, I was just looking at the blackness of space with twinkling lights, nothing particularly spectacular about it.
That being said, this was the first time I left the solid ground in this life, so I put on a good show for Bo-Katan, asking questions about the satellites and other orbital debris we passed on our way out of Mandalor's orbit. She seemed to enjoy answering my question so I counted this strategy as working.
The operation was proceeding as envisioned, I had managed to prevent my brother from coming along, which meant it was just me and my dear aunty Bo. A perfect opportunity for her to brainwash me into their cult… if I was a dumb child. Instead, this became a perfect opportunity for me to ingratiate myself deeper into Bo's inner circle. Making her believe I was falling for her schtick would allow me to find out if her goal was less than noble when it came to training me. If she attempted to push me to sign in to anything, I would have something to bring Satine and have her removed from this program. If Bo instead continued to only try to entice me with old ways, then she was a fine teacher, and I could let this little training continue without issues.
Besides, it was unlikely that anything too dangerous would even happen. if Bo had wanted me dead or to harm her sister through me she had ample opportunities, at the range and when she had me tossing grenades, an accident could have happened at either time and she could get away with it. Of course, she would be hounded about the affair and be forced to flee Mandalore, sure, but if the goal was to harm Satine through me that would be accomplished. Since neither of those happened I was sure I was safe with Bo on a physical level.
Plus I really wanted to know what was on the planet Kalevala that had immediately sprung to Bo's mind when I asked about protection. I had a theory, but a theory is not worth much, until you can test it.
Looking out the windows, were they windows? I had to look into the details of ship construction when I had more time, but anyways, looking out the windows, I was able to watch the sand yellow planet shrink as we flew away from my "homeworld". It really was in a sorry state, centuries of warfare had left nothing living outside the domes and cubes that dotted the surface, and when compared to Concordia, the planet's green and brown moon, you could see the extent of the damage: complete and utter ecological collapse.
If I was not tied to the royalty of the planet, I would most likely be looking into pulling up stakes and finding somewhere greener to live. This harsh death world was not for the weak and faint of heart. If something went wrong with the life-support systems of a dome or cube, your chances of survival dropped to near-zero fast.
But I was connected, so I would have to deal with that desert world. Though I questioned why there was no attempt to rebuild the world quicker. If they have spaceships and access to trade markets across the galaxy it should not be that hard to turn back the clock a bit. And with the tech base I had seen since I arrived in this world, I did not believe they could not terraform a planet if they wanted to.
Perhaps there was something I was overlooking, but locking everyone up in the cities and centralizing... oh… the new Mandalorian doctrine relied heavily on the premise that pacificism should be the goal, that their people should not need to fight, and that they needed to join the galaxy in peaceful cooperation. A lofty goal, but when your populations were made up of nomadic clans and tribes, that was hard to achieve.
Being out on the frontier had a tendency to breed hardy people, people who wanted nothing more than to be left alone (often with violent deterrence), so how do you get such a population to sign up with your overarching government, instead of just moving on to another planet? You hold power and provide the only safe place on the planet.
Everyone who could leave the decimated world had, all that was left were the stubborn and those who could not, and so their only hope was the New Mandalorians, who promised peace and safety. Most likely when they realized just how bad the state of the planet was, they decided to focus on domes and cube projects to get people hooked on the New Mandalorian government projects. Similar things had happened in my first life, China and Russia having some stellar examples of the failure of such wide-reaching projects. But those being about forcing industrialization and urbanization, power was already in those governments' hands. This most likely was a simple way to make sure new Mandalorian culture stayed in power until they were considered as mainstream Mandalorian culture.
It was a devious plot, and to implement it would take some iron determination since you were technically prolonging the damage of the planet and any pain that caused for your benefit... the question was did Satine know about this? Presumably, she would be the one implementing this plan, however, considering she was willing to break bread with her sister on the other side of the political scale, I doubted she would be willing to punish the planet in such a way, even if it limited the area for rebellion. I would have to look into the politics of the situation more. Perhaps I was looking too deep into it (something I would admit I did too often), which had gotten me in trouble more times than I would like as an aerial mage.
Tanya Kryze
Kalevala, orbit
Kalevala was alive, that was the best way to start to describe its difference from Mandalore Prime. From orbit, you could see the greens of planet life, mixed with the yellow of the desert sand. From what I knew of Kalevala, unlike Mandalore, which was dealing with complete ecological collapse, Kalevala was still somewhat livable, and though it was dealing with similar issues. it was thriving under New Mandalorian rule, with even fine wines and silks were produced on this half dessert world.
Without knowing the economics of the entire galaxy, an undertaking which I doubted anyone could succeed at, I could only guess based on my understanding of the basics of the sector economy as to how much of the national income came from those products.
This provided a nice possible alternate reason why Mandalore seemed to be slower in coming back. Why spend money to get one planet up running again when you could just improve the income of the one that worked fine?
But those were thought for another time, at the moment I belted myself into the shuttle seats as we began our descent towards the planet. Looking over to my left I noted Bo-Katan had not belted herself in as we came into the upper orbit.
I shook my head at her risk-taking. We had seat belts and we might as well use them.
Bo, for her part, noticed me looking her way and chuckled "Don't worry kid we won't crash, besides, seat belts won't really do anything unless you are in the atmosphere, if we start crashing up here we burn up long before we hit the ground."
"A lovely thought," I muttered before pointing out, "but what if something happens once we're in the atmosphere?"
"Well if there is no reason to just ditch the ship and jet pack away then, then that's the time to put the belt on."
'How could I have forgotten personal flight?' I thought, shaking my head "Well let's hope we don't need to do that, as I don't have a jetpack." I said matter of factly.
"Yet." Bo responded, causing me to turn my head, to see a sly smile on her face. She was up to something to do with jet packs? Well, now that was an interesting piece to the puzzle.
I didn't have too much time to ponder this though, as the ship cut its way through the atmosphere. I expected a lot more turbulence than I got, though I still held on tight to the armrest. The transition from space to another planet was too smooth in the end, my preconceptions of pilots fighting to maintain control were tossed out by something that felt as smooth as a train ride. It's not a great loss, really, but I imagine I looked very silly holding the armrest in a death grip down from orbit to the planet below. Thankfully, Bo didn't notice or didn't care, as she said nothing on the matter as the ship leveled out and started flying west(at least I believed it was west, hard to tell when to change planets).
"See? Nothing to worry about, perfectly safe," Bo said as she laid out a course in the control panel, "we should be seeing the old estate any moment now, look right there."
Looking where she was pointing, I saw a white structure rising from the sands around it. Looking closely, I first thought it was one of the cubes cities that dotted Mandalore surfaces, but it had some features that reminded me of something older. What I was looking at was a mix of castle and cube, the estate they had been referring to was not some manor, it was a fortress, and now it made sense why Satine hadn't been there in years.
Castles and fortresses were military installations, no matter if they also could serve as homes, the pacifist leader had to stay far away from such structures unless necessary.
"Fortress Kryze, one of the last standing house castles on Kalevala and in my opinion one of the greatest." Bo said as she sat back in her seat. "You will not find one as beautiful anywhere in the system, most fortress homes that could compete for that honor got blown up and bombarded from orbit over the last century, but even before then, most folk only used them for their intended purposes, and left them at that. Granddad, I mean your great grandfather, believed that home should, no matter the intended purposes, have an air of splendor to it." She supplied as we got closer, taking the ship on a long loop around the building so I could get a look at it.
It was rather a beautiful thing to look upon, the white wall of the cube-like castle glimmered in the sun and was very functional. If I had to guess, there were five levels of building set above the sand, but who knows how deep it went?
"Father, your granddad conquered of course and kept the paint job up, even added a few towered over the years, more for a look than what they could do for defense. Your father wanted to add on to the building himself, leave his mark on the old family house, but things did not end up going that way." Bo commented, sounding tired. "Since the end of the Clan Wars, the place has been basically abandoned and left to itself. Some of the minor clans that part of house Kryze contribute money to keep the place looking in good condition, but no one lives here really.
"So in a sense, it has become a family vault that contains our past, a monument to old times for our extended family to visit once in while?" I said as I looked the building over. This was useful, I could run with this, "Being left alone is a sad fate for such a grand building, but as long as people still care for it, the house can still serve to protect the history of the family that built it." I attempted to signal my interest in protecting history, which I figured would earn me points with Bo, and as I turned to look at her face, and saw the smile I knew, I hit my target.
Bo turned the ship around and came to landing on the platform that hung outside of the tower, being stickler details I noted we parked in such a way to minimize the time we would spend outside. This piqued my interest but before I got a chance to ask about it, Bo was already out of her seat and heading to the back of the ship. Unbuckling myself I got up and followed behind the armored woman, she was at the back of the ship grabbing her helmet and putting it on. That seemed odd. We were in the middle of nowhere, why would she need a helmet I thought.
"Here catch" my thoughts were interrupted by Bo tossing a full-face covering glass mask to me. Grabbing it out mid-air and looking at it before asking the question that came to my mind first. "Aunty Bo? Why do I need a gas mask?"
"Not a gas mask, more of atmofilter mask, desert around here got bombed a lot over the years, one of the wars used chemical weapons and that left the sand toxic. We have equipment that can clean us off inside, and technically the chemical is nothing too bad but it is best to minimize your contact with the stuff." Bo said as she pressed some button on her wrist guard coughing slight hiss from her helmet.
I blinked a couple of times then shook my head at just how to matter a fact that had been dropped on me, I might reconsider this whole deal if I knew I was going nuclear bomb site. Well, not much to for it now, I was here, and it would just look suspect if I attempted to pull out now. Pulling my hair back I fixed the mask to my head, slight hiss signaling it was secured.
"Ready to go!" I said with a more chipper tone than I was really feeling, as I looked up at Bo. Nodding her head she pressed a button and stepped outside, quickly walking across the landing pad towered a pair of doors. I followed right after looking back to see the ship's doors auto close behind us.
Bo moved a bit faster than me and got to the door pressing a code into the wall panel. The door responded and she stepped inside a darkened room sealed off by another set of doors, from the rest of the building. Wasting no time I stepped inside, which apparently singled the doors to close. The moment that happened, the room blew down with air most likely removing any sand particles that would be stuck on us in that short time we had been outside. Soon as that was done Bo pulled off her helmet and placed it on a shelf of the far left wall. I followed her example and took off my mask, placing it next to her helmet.
"So are we going to need to decontaminate when we get back on the ship?" I asked, noting there was no such system on transport craft.
"Yes, not really up to you. Decom really for those who walked or flew but everyone has to go through the same door so might well Decom everyone as free service. If you are worried about toxic sand though there is a shower near the back of the craft." Bo said, placing her guns beside her helmet, "any blaster stays here if you got them?"
I looked at her then looked at myself and my lack of any weapons "don't think that something we need to worry about." I mentioned before I continued. "I didn't see a shower, on the ship?"
"Left side, behind the blaster rack, and yeah old rule dad had he only wanted family carrying blades in the house, weapons stayed stowed unless times of war. " Bo responded by answering both questions as she walked toward the second door and began to type in a code.
"Sensible.." I began before the location of the shower hit me, there was an empty closet next to the blaster rack, that I assumed had been for an armor storage area. I had to admit I was impressed by the space usage of Mandalorian design.
The door opened revealing a well-decorated entryway pillar of marble lining the hallway before splitting off in several directions. Bo took a few steps in before looking to her right and smiling, stepping through after her I looked up to the wall she was looking at and tripped up a bit.
On the wall was a painted mural of an older bearded white-haired man in bronze and pine colored Mandalorian armor, mirror seemed to tell the story of some defense the cuibish art simplifying the story a bit but seemed to show two forces fighting, with the man and his force standing in middle one leg up on edge of battlement as he carried his helmet in the crook of his arm, and held a silver sword aloft as if challenging all comers.
It was ridiculous looking and reminded me of a bit of European artwork from the 18th century in how grandiose it looked. I was stumped on how to respond to this thing.
"Ah right, well Tanya meet your granddad, Adonai Kryze senior, warlord of and protector of Kalevala." Bo said with a bemused tone bringing me back to reality. I was related to a man who had propaganda painted on the wall entryway.
I could only really hope that whatever had inspired that power move was not genetic. "He really sprung for something that would leave an impression didn't he?" I said, taking my eyes away from the affront to humbleness.
Bo let out a laugh before saying "Yeah he was one for dramatics." before she turned and started walking down the hallway. "He wanted people to know why Kalevala was not doomed to ruin like Mandalore was during the most recent civil war, that it was his force of arms and diplomatic tack, not the new Mandalorian pretty words, that kept the planet secure."
"Was he against the new Mandalorians?" I asked, trying to get a sense of the man who seemed to be Bo's role model from the way she talked about him.
"Nope, but he never thought they would grow further than minor power in the system, said'' she changed her voice perhaps trying to mimic her father "'they paid their taxes and help clean up the mess from the older generation,' as long as they do that he had no issue with them, and had several friends among their number. Which is why he trusted they would be able to keep Satine safe on Coruscant during the clan wars."
Leading the way furth into the building we passed several other paintings of various family members, I assumed most of them were older than grandfather though few of the artworks seemed to show split off families and other clans loyal to our house, their symbols being shown somewhere on the painted wall.
I would continue on without issue before I stopped at what looked like a painting to a younger version of the grander father a blond man who stood across from a dark-blond-haired woman in what looked to be in some kinda wedding ceremony, he also looked a bit like what Korkie would look like when he was older I thought.
"Oh yeah, figured you spot that," Bo said she stopped before coming back standing next to her, " Adonai Kryze junior and Tanya Keldau."
"Father and mother." the cubist artwork was not to my liking, but I could see the resemblance to some photos I had seen before, I really did not feel much for those people on the wall, they were technically my parents but I had never known them, they died before I really come to consciousness again, but I attempted to look suitable intrigued and sad for Bo, I had to keep up the appearances after all.
"My father had this commission on their marriage day, wanted it to be immortalized, Adonai thought he looked stupid in it but it was father's house, so he decided what goes on the walls." Bo said with a smile.
"What about mother?' I asked more for formality than any real interest.
"Ah, she was fine with it, didn't care much for pomp, but was just happy to have a family again," Bo said, shaking her head. "The Keldau were already a nearly non-existent clan in the last civil war, and said civil war did not do them any favors, she believed she was the last."
I nodded my head, not really sure what to say to the information. Being X script had put her as an orphan of another orphan… he needed to hire a better writing staff.
My silences seemed to be taking as morning as Bo patted me on the head, and said "Let go see what I came here to get your, that should improve the mood." she began walking towards the east side of the building heading for an entryway to a tower by the looks of it.
I followed behind her as she led the way up the stairway. We went up three or four floors. It felt like before we came to a set of doors. Bo stopped at the Door and turned toward me. "Alright, you're ready to keep this secret right?"
I nodded my head, "Of course."
Smiling Bo turned toward the door, pulled out a knife and slipped it in to crack off the door, she jiggled it a bit with the air of someone who had done this before, and a moment later the door sprung open."And we're in", Bo said, stepping inside, motioning me to follow.
Stepping in after her I saw we were in a room not too dissimilar from my own back on Mandalore, a bit more decorated than I had mine but basically the same comfortable bed, good work desk, closet full clothes only real big differences were the armor stand in the corner. The armor in question was small looking to have been made for a female in her early teens, painted in bronze and light green. "Bo whose room is this?"
Walking over towered armor, Bo picked up the helmet from the stand and looked it over before tossing it to me. I caught it as she began, saying "Satine's, she left her armor behind when she went to Coruscant and as far as I know never bothered coming back here to do anything with, still sized for when she was 14, so it should fit your no problem."
"Isn't this stealing?" I pointed out as I looked over the helmet, the helmet looked a bit like Bo favoring the almost Y-shaped visor over the standard T I have seen in most of the artwork.
"Nope, Satine abandoned the armor, and as Kryze you have the right to pick it up." Bo said, taking the armor off the stand and putting it on the bed.
"Okay but I'm not going to be able to walk in my room and keep this secret, aunt Satine is going to notice a pair of armor showing up in my room."
"We'll keep it aboard my ship for now, and will figure out what to do about a permanent home later. Besides you need it for jet pack training anyways, the armor and helmet set up is better than not having them. It is also cheaper in the long run than renting out part of the armor every time we want to train you how to fly.
"That is a good point." I granted as I looked down at the visor, as much as I dislike how close to the line of criminality this is, she made several good points, and there was no reason to say no to this. If Satine ever found out, I could play dumb and just say I didn't know the details of its acquisition.
Looking at the helmet, I tried to pick my brain about what paint job to put on the helmet. I started looking into Mandalorian color theory, each color means something, and since understanding what that means could give me a better idea of what a person was looking for in life as well as being a way to easily signal what I wanted from other Mandalorians if I ever needed it. Light green was related to the search for peace, something that fell well inside the Satine charter, and bronze was a sign of nobility, the overall meaning of the armor was Noble search for peace. She lived up to that armor color really.
Looking up I saw the Bo was loading the armor into a bag she found under the bed, her armor colors gray, dark red, and yellow, messaging of that was in mourning, defiance, and remembrance, the overall messaging then was something like standing for the last I would assume which would explain why Satine was annoyed by Bo color scheme.
"Alright all loaded up let's get going kid." Bo said, hefting the bag over her shoulder. " There are few other things we can check out around the castle before we have to get back to Mandalore, and we don't have a lot of time to do it."
Nodding my agreement I followed along behind carrying the helmet in my hands as we went.
Writers note: Alright, so what we got, going on here today, a little bit of family history, that had fun making up, a little bit of grand larceny, don't worry about that. And a bit of understanding of Mandalorian color theory.
And finally, hope everyone enjoys and comments and likes keep this going so tell me what you think.
Edited by: Lord Feunoyr, Wrandm Waffles, Warmach1ne32
Community edited by:
Community editable doc (Chapter 4) No story suggestions in the community editing document, Keep all story suggestions and comments in the thread
Last edited:
Warmach1ne32
Machine of War and Quests
- Location
- Indonesia
I volunteer as tribute
Woo chapter 1 through 4 has been updated with correction thank to the help of Warmach1ne32!
Warmach1ne32
Machine of War and Quests
- Location
- Indonesia
Happy to be of service
o7
o7
- Location
- UK
- Pronouns
- He/Him/They
Long live Isekai Queen Tanya.
Long may she reign.
Long may she reign.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I rather like reading about Tanya taking the time to really appreciate being in space.
Chapter 5
Chapter 5
708 FNM (30 BBY)
Month 5
Tanya Kryze
Mandalore,
Keeping the armor secret was easier than I would have suspected, Aunt Satine only asked for the barest information about what we got up to while at the old estate, I didn't even need to lie. She asked what we had been up to and I told her that it had basically been a museum tour, looking at a lot of the wall paintings, and hearing stories about why they existed. It was what we mostly did, so that was no lie. I simply neglected to mention the grand robbery we did in the middle section of the painting tour.
I did feel a bit bad about the fact I had stolen from my aunt like that, but having a full set of Beskar armor was something I could not deny, it would increase my survivability if things ever hit the fan. And with Mandalorian history being a series of wars and civil wars, mix that with an over-aggressive warrior spirit and the New Mandalorian's pacifism ideology, with what could be best called radical pacifism, well chances of something popping off were greater than them not.
After the brief meeting in her study I headed up to my room wondering if I should bring up my worries to my aunt, she was in a way my superior, but I was simply a kid, to her eye most likely, Satine didn't need to know my worries if she even cared. She was the leader of the radical movement, and a planetary system, technically a sector, since there were no other governments represented in the Republic Senate in the region besides Kalevala.
Taking a seat at my desk in my room I pulled up my pad and started going over the political situation of the region. I had recently been going over how exactly our government was represented in the Republic, as part of my extracurricular school in electives. Being that I was marked to join the senatorial delegation to the Republic, I figured I needed to understand what exactly that would mean and what I would be expected to do. From my research it looked like I was nothing but a jumped-up secretary for the first decade, if I stayed longer, I might cast votes when the Senator was not well or in the system, and maybe work out diplomatic action with other delegations.
Not a terrible position, it sounded rather peaceful really, and a better place to be if things popped off on Mandalore. But not exactly a quick and easy path to retirement. At the moment though that could be ignored. In my last life, I thought I would have a nice peaceful retirement, after the war, and although it was peaceful… I never got over the combat high.
I didn't like to think about that life very much, mainly because a lot of it was muddled, but what I did remember, I didn't like what I saw. I was addicted to war, most likely years of abusing spellcraft to stimulate chemical production in my brain had allowed my second existence to become blind to that addiction. Or perhaps my loyal subordinates and friends had allowed me to not worry about what that chemical cocktail was doing to my perception of the world.
Though whatever happened in that life may be somewhat mysterious to me, I was glad I didn't have magic in this universe. Things were simpler without it, and frankly, I was not sure I could trust myself that I would not become addicted to magic-fueled combat in this life if it was here. Though I did somewhat miss those loyal subordinates, finding people you can trust in the world who would go to hell for you. Perhaps I should see about finding myself someone like that in this life. Thoughts for another time in the future I decided.
But back on the subject, the senatorial delegation was led by Prince Tal Merrik Senator of Kalevala, not Mandalore, Mandalore did not have a senator, no Mandalorian sector planet had a senator, Except Kalevala, and they only got one by embracing New Mandalorian culture over the older one.
This was a massive carrot and stick approach to diplomacy, having access to the new Republic senates gave you access to the galactic trade network. Without it, planets in the Mandalorian sector had to depend on themselves, their neighbors, and systems near their sector. This massively incentivized planets in the Mandalorian sector to fall in line with the New Mandalorians, due to the recent history of the sector.
The Mandalorian sector was nothing special when it came to what it produced; it's greatest assistance was its people and warrior tradition, but that was also why that was their greatest folly. Before I was born, the system was finishing up their second Civil War in as many decades, The Mandalorian Civil War, raged for nearly 20 years across the sector, ideological war between a group called Deathwatch who wanted to return to the ancient ways of total war to fix the sector's problems and the True Mandalorians who correctly diagnosed that the strength of the sector is that, they had wished to organize mercenary companies from what I had been able to dig up. The conflict ended with both sides destroying each other's leadership to the point that the current ruling party at the time, the Martial Traditionalists, were able to hang on to control.
There were interesting side rumors about what exactly happened to both factions at the end of that war, including slavery, and Jedi, but it sounded like crazy conspiracy theories to me. The only thing I could confirm was that the True Mandalorians had gone into exile outside the sector, while Deathwatch shriveled up on the vine and neither mattered in sector politics.
What mattered was the sector had been in a bad way, and when martial Traditionalist under Governor Vrox attempted to seize wealth from the Mandalore sector at the barrel of a gun for rebuilding efforts on the planet Mandalore, the whole sector exploded into the Clan Wars. Leaving an opening for the Republic to take a battle fleet into the Mandalorian solar system and destroy the old capital of Mandalore, Keldabe. This Chaos was what finally put the martial Traditionalists out of business and without their firm hand on the sector, the clan fought clan for resources, wealth, and glory. Which ended a few years later with my aunt joining the New Mandalorians in political alliances. The whole sector needed to be rebuilt, and the New Mandalorian senatorial delegation represented an inroad from planets of the sector to the rest of the galaxy.
The importance to me may not be too much but to the sector, it was a massive value. I did not doubt, I would come across a situation where someone would attempt to bribe me in some way. Not only would I be the niece of the ruler of Mandalore, but I would also have the ear of the senator, and being that I will be 16 when I arrive at the senate, no doubt they would assume I will be an easy mark to fulfill their objectives. Either by one of the planets in my sector asking me to speak up for them in the discussion, or interstellar business wishing to set up shop.
I would need to be careful dealing with the sharks that swam in the senatorial building. No doubt, a few would be good at economics and would have nothing but the best intentions for themselves. But as a representative for Mandalore, I would need to tread carefully with whatever meeting I had while there. Factions across the Mandalorian sector could take any mistake I made as justification for assassination, and I wanted to live a good long life. Longer than the one I had in my last life, which was one of the reasons I made sure to eat a good diet in this life. Even now while working hard, I had the chef bring up a nutritious meal for me to pick while I worked.
But back on the subject, considering there were organizations like the Trade Federation in the galaxy out there I would need to tread carefully with non-Mandalorians as well. Two years ago they attempted to force their will on the planet with blockade and an invasion when that failed. I didn't want to accidentally unleash an interstellar version of an East Indies Trading Company on my homeworld, that was sure to get a bounty on my head.
Sitting at my desk as I read up on the history of the Naboo crisis and the taxation of Free trade zones that precipitated that whole affair, I wondered if I should attempt to get out of politics now. They seemed to be a dangerous and dirty game as the best of time, and to be thrown to the shark as I was going to be in 6 years, well I understood military combat better than dealing with politics. Though there wasn't much for it really, if I attempted to get out of politics now Satine could take that implication that Bo Katan was attempting to subvert me to her cause and it was working. Which meant I would lose out on the training and gear I needed to survive if the political job fell through.
I was not a genius, but I am good at getting the job done, and the fact of the matter was I needed a political job to get to a safe and quiet life. So I would stick with what my aunt wanted for me for now. And who knows, maybe an opportunity for the very safe post in the Senate would open up, they would have to let in a few other Mandalorian worlds at some point.
708 FNM (30 BBY)
Satine Kryze
Mandalore, orbit
Sitting back in my chair, I checked the clock above my fireplace. The afternoon sunlight came through the glass windows bringing a rich light to my office. And telling me the day was going to be turning to night soon. It had been a few days since I let Tanya go with Bo to the old estate. And in that time I had been thinking, perhaps too much, about what Bo had told her. I knew my interpretation of the end of the Clan Wars was a bit biased, I have had several clans try to murder me after all, but Bo had her own pro-old ways bias, and perhaps I should take a more active role in proving a counterpoint.
It won't hurt after all, and it will give me an excuse to spend more time with Tanya, something I have been robbed of by my work. She was a growing girl and needed a mother figure in her life, and Bo… well I rather her not take on that role if I could help it. Besides, I had the golden opportunity to bring up a talk with her.
Before me was a list of potential handmaidens that I had got together, all from clans I knew were loyal and would work well, all about her age. Handmaidens were not something from Mandalorian culture, it had been used by some of the clans on Kalevala but not on our own, to any real effect. It was something New Mandalorian had brought with them when they adopted ideas from the more peaceful factions around the galaxy, such as Alderaan and Naboo. However, I believed it could be imported for many issues in this situation. It would allow Tanya to have friends who could attain the same training as her and be there for her, to keep an eye on Bo.
Hopefully, it would work out on the first try but there are more options, and Tanya from what I heard from Korkie didn't have any friends at school. Finding a friend she could count on could be an important way to make sure she felt satisfied in life, maybe she loses interest in old ways if she had someone to be there for her more than I could.
Either way, I used a call button to have a member of the staff sent up to Tanya's room, I wasn't going to choose one for I let her make that choice, and while that was happening maybe I could talk to her for a bit find out what she was thinking about what she learned from Bo.
As I was sorting the list of girls into some sensible order, I heard a knock on my door.
"Come in" I called with a smile as Tanya opened the door and walked into the room. She was wearing a simple dress today. I really needed to take her shopping, she seemed to only ever pick out the plainest of clothing, granted she didn't need some extraordinary attire around the palaces, but still, her lack of color just set the wrong tone. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail, her short blond hair going down the back of her neck before terminating at her shoulders.
"Tanya takes a seat," I said with a smile waving my hand to the chair in front of my desk. "I'm looking into hiring a Handmaiden for you and I thought I'd let you have the final say on the matter."
"A Handmaiden? Like the one that helped the queen of Naboo 2 years ago?" Tanya said as she walked across the tile floor of the room.
I tilted my head at that, I hadn't known she heard about that situation, the event had been big news but not really on Mandalore. I had to know about it because the Mandalore sector was in the free trade zones and there was always the possibility that the trade federation could try something like what they attempted on Naboo in our region. A small possibility, it was small enough that could safely be ignored by the majority of the population. "Yes, kind of like them, where did you hear about that situation?'
"I'm reading up on current affairs for when I'm sent to be a member of the Mandalore delegation," she said, taking the seat in front of me. "I like reading about current affairs, and comparing it to stuff in history books, I feel like it gives me perspective."
I tilled my head then asked, "And is that why you like to learn about Old Mandalorian? ways for the perspective?" had I allowed some massive misunderstanding to take root here? Had her worries about the future and past caused her to make rash decisions about how Tanya should be taught?
Tanya seemed to freeze up as if she felt she made some mistake, then carefully said, "Yes, and no. Having perspective on Old Mandalorian culture is important for understanding where we are and where we are going, but I also like training with Bo. I don't get out much, and it's nice to get exercise."
I nodded my head to her points. I knew she spent too much time in the palace grounds, so perhaps I overreacted to the idea that she wanted to learn about the Old Mandalorians. But this might be alright, in the long run getting her some self-defense training would be for the best. "How has your time with Bo-Katan given you any perspective on Old Mandalorians? Anything you would like to share?
Tanya bit her lip before she said "May I speak freely about that matter Duchess?"
My eyebrow perked at that. I had gone from Aunt to Duchess in the course of this conversation. That was interesting, perhaps she had been giving this a lot of thought and was worried about what I might think as her aunt? I had done something simpler with my father back before the Clan Wars. Nodding my head I said, "Yes, feel free, I'm interested in hearing what the youth thinks about the world they're growing up in."
Tanya smiled at that then sighed and said "The History of Mandalore is civil war, someone will obtain power for the time, bring an age of peace such with the Clan Awaud or Clan Ordo, but over time, they will lose power, when that happens a civil war of some scale will break out, and all old rivalries and grudges will come to the fore. It seems like an inevitable cycle, and I don't think complete rejection of the old way and the embracing of pacifism will prevent it from happening."
I nodded her thought echoing my own on the matter really, I put up a good face and stayed true to the New Mandalorian ways, but I could see that most of the Mandalorian sector just tolerated my rule, for one reason or another. "I have thought the same from time to time, though the fact of the matter is there is no clear road to bring peace to our sector of space. If there were, the other clans you mentioned would have figured it out long before we got a chance at it."
"True, true, but perhaps the answer to the problem is not a top-down one answer solution, as they have all tried before," Tanya said
"Hmm go on?" I was intrigued by the idea though I doubted Tanya would come up with something I never thought about before.
"The Old Mandalorian mindset is one that depends heavily on the ability to defend oneself, yes there is rampant militarism and era of war based on the belief that they have a divine right to conquer, a 'the strong should control the weak' perspective, but, this mindset has been tempered by the last 10,000 years of survival on the clan-based level. If someone were to unite the Mandalorian clans, they could be a great military force, but it is because of said clans that this is true. And it is this power of the clans that which both reasons attempt to top-down a rule, can not work and why the Old Mandalorian will persist well into the next 10,000 years. If the rulers of Mandalore lose the support of enough Mandalorians, civil war is inevitable, and being that any faction on Mandalore can call on support throughout the sector for resources any conflict will be prolonged unless leadership takes drastic action, that thought will lead to rest of clans breaking with said lead Mandalore leadership in most cases through our history."
I nodded along a bit surprised by how well thought out Tanya's argument was, most of what she said were issues that had even plagued my rule, keeping the clan who are loyal happy was key to maintaining peace in the Mandalorian sector. Those that didn't, I was not above sending the Royal Guard to deal with situations off-world, and on Mandalore well, the Mandalorian Guard were issued Baskar shields for a reason.
"There are two outcomes than for any civil war that happens, weakened rulership or new rulership. So, the outcome to avoid civil war as long as possible is that the New Mandalorian idea is integrated into the culture of Old Mandalorians. The problem of course is, New Mandalorians step too heavily on the toes of the Old Mandalorians in their pursuit for peace. New Mandalorian peace at the cost of disarmament will never be accepted in that environment, with 10,000 years of history to point to for instances of why weapons must be maintained. They will simply look at the attempt as foolhardy at best or foreign occupation at worst. That is the outcome of a top-down approach."
"And the bottom-up approach?" I asked, sitting back in my seat as I listened to her. She seemed fearful of that outcome, was she concerned the most about that possibility? I needed to spend more time with her, find out what she was thinking more than I was.
"The primmest example of bottom-up movement succeeding is the Supercommando codex." She said sheepishly, my eyebrows raised a bit at the mention of the old document, it's been a decade since I even had to think about that work, and the so-called True Mandalorian moment. The only True Mandalorian I knew was, Tanya Keldau, and she had not talked about her life before joining our clan. "Though the movement ultimately failed in the civil war, elements of their doctrine have influenced later works throughout the sector. House Ordo has implemented it heavily into their planetary defenses force training, Clan Eldar has taken several implementations from the codex when it comes to dealing with Mercenary companies they operate outside of the Mandalore sector, Clan Rook made a section on bounty hunting mandatory reading for any of their clan that takes up that trade."
Clan Eldar and Rook were clans that were part of the greater House of Kryze and though I knew they were only loyal to my reign due to family tiles, I gave them a bit of a freehand as long as they stayed loyal, House Ordo, on the other hand, was a Major power in the sector, and an Old One, their loyalty was something that was assured as they tended to be the more easy-going Mandalorian in the sector. I noted how Tanya had chosen her examples well, they were loyal and respectful of the New Mandalorian way. Which was another one of the reasons I allowed them to get away with being a bit more militarized than what was allowed in the Mandalorian system.
"Tanya, do you believe that the Supercommando Codex is more long-lasting than the New Mandalorian way?" I asked, trying to come to an understanding of why that text had come to her mind.
"Yes, but not because it's better than the New Mandalorian way." She said so matter of fact I was forced to sit forward in my chair, wanting to hear her reasoning on this subject. "The Codex is more long-lasting because it does not reject what makes a Mandalorian, a Mandalorian. It reinterprets, for the modern world. It takes the old Code of Honors, and instead of blindly following it, takes the meaning at the base of the older work and recontextualizes that meaning for the time. It provides a different view that the average Mandalorian can read, understand, and make up their own mind about. I don't know if it will be longer-lasting than older interpretations but it has made a definitive mark, and showed the way to deal with the issue of the clans."
"You think we need our own version of the SuperCommando Codex, something that uses the old codes of honors but interpreted from a New Mandalorian perspective?" I asked to see the logic in the argument she was presenting.
Tanya for her part simply nodded. "Rejecting the waring ways of the Ancient Mandalorians is a step toward making peace, but by rejecting everything we simple isolate ourselves amongst all the other clans, and we can't force them to take our ways, so the best tool for this job, is to find what we're willing to accept in our fellow Mandalorians, and to propagate that."
I sat back thinking, the option she presented was intriguing, to say the least, but I wasn't sure how one would go about implementing such an idea. I would need time to consider, and maybe bring this up at the next council to get their opinion on this matter, off the book of course. Bringing up the subject of fighting, among the New Mandalorians could be just as dangerous as old commandos under the right situation. And what Tanya was talking about in that situation.
"You have given me a lot to think about Tanya." I said to try to put a cap on that conversation, for now, I would have to talk to her more on this at another time, she seemed far more intelligent than I had been told. And perhaps take her shopping as well. If she had done all this research into possible ways to prolong the New Mandalorian rule and ways to make it more long-lasting, she deserved a treat.
"But it's time to get back on the subject of what I called you down here for." I handed her a list of names and faces. "These girls are potential handmaidens that several clans had put forward when I mentioned this prospect so they already meet my standards. It's really up to you on who you choose, though whoever it is you will spend a lot of time with and will most likely lead any other handmaiden you take on, so I hope you can become friends with her."
Tanya nodded and took the tablet looking it over rather quickly before, her mouth curled in a smile, "This one will do.'' She said with such assurity in her choice I didn't feel the need to question the little time she took as she handed the tablet back to me. Looking down I saw a little blonde-haired girl with a smile no older than Tanya I guessed, a strange name most Mandalorians only had surname and first name. This girl had a middle one, perhaps she had been adopted into the clan? Hard to tell. "Alright I will let Clan Vizla know that Vai-Viktis has been chosen.'' Pre Vizsla would be smug for a few days, he had suggested Vizla join my search after all.
708 FNM (30 BBY)
Korkie Kryze
Mandalore, orbit
"You really need to get more sun, Tanya." Lagos Rook said as she walked at the front of their little group through the Sundari Grand Mall of Mandalore. It was a nice bright day, and I thought it would be a great idea to make good on an idea I had to bring Tanya along with my friend on one of our trips to the arcade, here at the mall. Sure that wouldn't totally solve the issues of how pale she was, but along with some window shopping we had planned I promised to use my allowance to buy her whatever ice cream she wanted at Soft Serve Mandalore 35.
My attempt so far had gone over well, she agreed to leave the house with me and my friends, though she did seem rather disinterested in everything we looked at as we walked by. While girls were taken by everything nick nack and dresses we passed, she just ignored them and seemed to be rather bored.
Well, she seemed bored, till Lagos had mentioned her paleness, now she was looking at Lagos with an upturned eyebrow as said. "I don't believe I'm that pale, I do get out in the sun when necessary, and I'm not much paler than you?" She wasn't wrong, the two of them could pass for sisters from distances both having blond hair, blue eyes, and ponytails.
"Tanya, there are ghosts and there are people, and you are dangerously close to ghost looking, heck, if I didn't know you I think you were some recent convert from those cults on Concordia who finally took off her helmet," Lagos said, shaking her head as she turned to face the group, walking backwards.
"Do you have to say things that mean Lagos?" Soniee Carid said as she held her computer pad close to her side. "She needs a little sun sure but most of the population of the dome does." she offered a reassuring smile in Tanya's direction.
"True but the point stands she needs to get out more. Korkie, invite her more often or I'll accuse you of being a bad brother to her." Lagos said, shaking her fist in my general direction."Will do," I said, rolling my eyes. I planned on doing that anyway, before asking "as long as you promise not to use the opportunity to turn Tanya into your personal doll for cute clothes."
"No promises!" Lagos said, stopping her fist-shaking to point at me. "A girl that is sheltered needs to hang out with us and dress in cute things, you're a bad influence on her! Look how plain she dresses! Only bad brothers would stop me!" she said pointing at the guy shirt and pants Tanya was wearing.
"Actually I think a good brother would stick up for his sister's personal freedom to make her own choices on such matters," Tanya spoke up from where she walked and gave me a smile.
I smiled back and gave her thumbs up "That they do, Tanya I got your back on this."
"Oh my Ha'rangir will you three knock it off, I get very few chances away from studying to get out here and hang out with you guys, I'm not going to spend any more of that time sitting around waiting for you three girls to play dress up. If you want to set something up, go ask Duchess Satine to take her out on your own time." Amis Tenau said shaking his head at the girls before he walked by them heading into the game center
"Hmm, not a bad idea," Lagos said while Tanya stared daggers into his back.
Shaking my own head I walked up next to Tanya and pointed to the towered ice cream shop that was part of the arcade. "Want to get the ice cream now, so we don't have to worry about forgetting later?"
"Sure that sounds reasonable." She said before turning her back on Lagos and heading into the shop to look at the choices.
Before I followed her in I walked over to Lagos and said "Take a bit easy on Tanya, she just doesn't get that kinda stuff."
"If she doesn't get how girly stuff works that's a problem." Lagos shot back.
"Not what I meant," I said with an annoyed sigh before heading into the shop.
Tanya was already looking through the options but stopped in front of the dark brown-colored section of the 35 ice cream offered this month. Looking over her shoulder I noticed she was looking at some chocolate coffee concoction which was not for me "Not that one, Coffee will stunt your growth."
Tanya seemed to twitch and freeze up for a moment before she turned toward me and said. "I thought you said, whatever ice cream I like?"
"Within reason, Satine doesn't let me have coffee. I'm not going to let you have coffee."
"It's coffee-flavored, not coffee itself" She offered to try to find the loophole I assumed.
"How much caffeine is listed in the ingredients," I asked as I folded my arms over my chess.
She looked back at the little paper with ingredients before saying "35%"
"1% means it is not just flavoring so that's a no. If you want a chocolate option that is fine, just no coffee."
"Fine, then I'll take a double scoop of this one," she said pointing to the one next to the coffee flavor. The one in question was a chocolate thing called a five-flavored concussion from off-world.
"Alright get a table for the others, I'll pay for it," I said shaking my head, the chocolates were more expensive than coffee options but she already got me. Couldn't exactly say no now after saying no to coffee.
By the time I and the others were done getting our ice creams, five minutes had passed and we found Tanya by one of the windows sitting in her chair looking dreamily out the window at one of the attractions near the back of the arcade.
Sitting the bowl down in front of her I took a seat and was about to ask what the plan was on today when Lagos noted what Tanya was looking at. "Hey Tanya, do you want to do that Lazer tag attraction?"
Tanya's head moved quickly towered Lagos and her eyebrow raised as she picked up her spoon to take a bite of the ice cream. "Perhaps".
"Well, I will be willing to pay for a game or two, if you are willing to accept a little trip to the clothes section of the mall with me and Soniee sometime this week."
Tanya took the spoon of ice cream into her mouth and seemed to enjoy it greatly before opening her eyes and saying "Your terms are acceptable."
Writers note: Alright, so what do we have in this chapter, bit Tanya's mindset on her future, a bit of Satine and Tanya's interaction about Mandalore and the future, and my second attempt to write about Tanya's brother as well as my first attempt at his circle of friends. Yes, the thing I raised at the end is possible storylines I might run within a chapter or two. So give me your thought on this chapter and thought on where this is going as this helps me write stuff. Sirius, I was going to keep coming up with reasons Tanya never brought up her concerns till saw folks were interested in seeing that plotline develop so now it developing.
Edited by: Lord Feunoyr, Wrandm Waffles, Warmach1ne32
Community edited by:Afforess
Community editable doc (Chapter 5) No story suggestions in the community editing document, Keep all story suggestions and comments in the thread
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708 FNM (30 BBY)
Month 5
Tanya Kryze
Mandalore,
Keeping the armor secret was easier than I would have suspected, Aunt Satine only asked for the barest information about what we got up to while at the old estate, I didn't even need to lie. She asked what we had been up to and I told her that it had basically been a museum tour, looking at a lot of the wall paintings, and hearing stories about why they existed. It was what we mostly did, so that was no lie. I simply neglected to mention the grand robbery we did in the middle section of the painting tour.
I did feel a bit bad about the fact I had stolen from my aunt like that, but having a full set of Beskar armor was something I could not deny, it would increase my survivability if things ever hit the fan. And with Mandalorian history being a series of wars and civil wars, mix that with an over-aggressive warrior spirit and the New Mandalorian's pacifism ideology, with what could be best called radical pacifism, well chances of something popping off were greater than them not.
After the brief meeting in her study I headed up to my room wondering if I should bring up my worries to my aunt, she was in a way my superior, but I was simply a kid, to her eye most likely, Satine didn't need to know my worries if she even cared. She was the leader of the radical movement, and a planetary system, technically a sector, since there were no other governments represented in the Republic Senate in the region besides Kalevala.
Taking a seat at my desk in my room I pulled up my pad and started going over the political situation of the region. I had recently been going over how exactly our government was represented in the Republic, as part of my extracurricular school in electives. Being that I was marked to join the senatorial delegation to the Republic, I figured I needed to understand what exactly that would mean and what I would be expected to do. From my research it looked like I was nothing but a jumped-up secretary for the first decade, if I stayed longer, I might cast votes when the Senator was not well or in the system, and maybe work out diplomatic action with other delegations.
Not a terrible position, it sounded rather peaceful really, and a better place to be if things popped off on Mandalore. But not exactly a quick and easy path to retirement. At the moment though that could be ignored. In my last life, I thought I would have a nice peaceful retirement, after the war, and although it was peaceful… I never got over the combat high.
I didn't like to think about that life very much, mainly because a lot of it was muddled, but what I did remember, I didn't like what I saw. I was addicted to war, most likely years of abusing spellcraft to stimulate chemical production in my brain had allowed my second existence to become blind to that addiction. Or perhaps my loyal subordinates and friends had allowed me to not worry about what that chemical cocktail was doing to my perception of the world.
Though whatever happened in that life may be somewhat mysterious to me, I was glad I didn't have magic in this universe. Things were simpler without it, and frankly, I was not sure I could trust myself that I would not become addicted to magic-fueled combat in this life if it was here. Though I did somewhat miss those loyal subordinates, finding people you can trust in the world who would go to hell for you. Perhaps I should see about finding myself someone like that in this life. Thoughts for another time in the future I decided.
But back on the subject, the senatorial delegation was led by Prince Tal Merrik Senator of Kalevala, not Mandalore, Mandalore did not have a senator, no Mandalorian sector planet had a senator, Except Kalevala, and they only got one by embracing New Mandalorian culture over the older one.
This was a massive carrot and stick approach to diplomacy, having access to the new Republic senates gave you access to the galactic trade network. Without it, planets in the Mandalorian sector had to depend on themselves, their neighbors, and systems near their sector. This massively incentivized planets in the Mandalorian sector to fall in line with the New Mandalorians, due to the recent history of the sector.
The Mandalorian sector was nothing special when it came to what it produced; it's greatest assistance was its people and warrior tradition, but that was also why that was their greatest folly. Before I was born, the system was finishing up their second Civil War in as many decades, The Mandalorian Civil War, raged for nearly 20 years across the sector, ideological war between a group called Deathwatch who wanted to return to the ancient ways of total war to fix the sector's problems and the True Mandalorians who correctly diagnosed that the strength of the sector is that, they had wished to organize mercenary companies from what I had been able to dig up. The conflict ended with both sides destroying each other's leadership to the point that the current ruling party at the time, the Martial Traditionalists, were able to hang on to control.
There were interesting side rumors about what exactly happened to both factions at the end of that war, including slavery, and Jedi, but it sounded like crazy conspiracy theories to me. The only thing I could confirm was that the True Mandalorians had gone into exile outside the sector, while Deathwatch shriveled up on the vine and neither mattered in sector politics.
What mattered was the sector had been in a bad way, and when martial Traditionalist under Governor Vrox attempted to seize wealth from the Mandalore sector at the barrel of a gun for rebuilding efforts on the planet Mandalore, the whole sector exploded into the Clan Wars. Leaving an opening for the Republic to take a battle fleet into the Mandalorian solar system and destroy the old capital of Mandalore, Keldabe. This Chaos was what finally put the martial Traditionalists out of business and without their firm hand on the sector, the clan fought clan for resources, wealth, and glory. Which ended a few years later with my aunt joining the New Mandalorians in political alliances. The whole sector needed to be rebuilt, and the New Mandalorian senatorial delegation represented an inroad from planets of the sector to the rest of the galaxy.
The importance to me may not be too much but to the sector, it was a massive value. I did not doubt, I would come across a situation where someone would attempt to bribe me in some way. Not only would I be the niece of the ruler of Mandalore, but I would also have the ear of the senator, and being that I will be 16 when I arrive at the senate, no doubt they would assume I will be an easy mark to fulfill their objectives. Either by one of the planets in my sector asking me to speak up for them in the discussion, or interstellar business wishing to set up shop.
I would need to be careful dealing with the sharks that swam in the senatorial building. No doubt, a few would be good at economics and would have nothing but the best intentions for themselves. But as a representative for Mandalore, I would need to tread carefully with whatever meeting I had while there. Factions across the Mandalorian sector could take any mistake I made as justification for assassination, and I wanted to live a good long life. Longer than the one I had in my last life, which was one of the reasons I made sure to eat a good diet in this life. Even now while working hard, I had the chef bring up a nutritious meal for me to pick while I worked.
But back on the subject, considering there were organizations like the Trade Federation in the galaxy out there I would need to tread carefully with non-Mandalorians as well. Two years ago they attempted to force their will on the planet with blockade and an invasion when that failed. I didn't want to accidentally unleash an interstellar version of an East Indies Trading Company on my homeworld, that was sure to get a bounty on my head.
Sitting at my desk as I read up on the history of the Naboo crisis and the taxation of Free trade zones that precipitated that whole affair, I wondered if I should attempt to get out of politics now. They seemed to be a dangerous and dirty game as the best of time, and to be thrown to the shark as I was going to be in 6 years, well I understood military combat better than dealing with politics. Though there wasn't much for it really, if I attempted to get out of politics now Satine could take that implication that Bo Katan was attempting to subvert me to her cause and it was working. Which meant I would lose out on the training and gear I needed to survive if the political job fell through.
I was not a genius, but I am good at getting the job done, and the fact of the matter was I needed a political job to get to a safe and quiet life. So I would stick with what my aunt wanted for me for now. And who knows, maybe an opportunity for the very safe post in the Senate would open up, they would have to let in a few other Mandalorian worlds at some point.
708 FNM (30 BBY)
Satine Kryze
Mandalore, orbit
Sitting back in my chair, I checked the clock above my fireplace. The afternoon sunlight came through the glass windows bringing a rich light to my office. And telling me the day was going to be turning to night soon. It had been a few days since I let Tanya go with Bo to the old estate. And in that time I had been thinking, perhaps too much, about what Bo had told her. I knew my interpretation of the end of the Clan Wars was a bit biased, I have had several clans try to murder me after all, but Bo had her own pro-old ways bias, and perhaps I should take a more active role in proving a counterpoint.
It won't hurt after all, and it will give me an excuse to spend more time with Tanya, something I have been robbed of by my work. She was a growing girl and needed a mother figure in her life, and Bo… well I rather her not take on that role if I could help it. Besides, I had the golden opportunity to bring up a talk with her.
Before me was a list of potential handmaidens that I had got together, all from clans I knew were loyal and would work well, all about her age. Handmaidens were not something from Mandalorian culture, it had been used by some of the clans on Kalevala but not on our own, to any real effect. It was something New Mandalorian had brought with them when they adopted ideas from the more peaceful factions around the galaxy, such as Alderaan and Naboo. However, I believed it could be imported for many issues in this situation. It would allow Tanya to have friends who could attain the same training as her and be there for her, to keep an eye on Bo.
Hopefully, it would work out on the first try but there are more options, and Tanya from what I heard from Korkie didn't have any friends at school. Finding a friend she could count on could be an important way to make sure she felt satisfied in life, maybe she loses interest in old ways if she had someone to be there for her more than I could.
Either way, I used a call button to have a member of the staff sent up to Tanya's room, I wasn't going to choose one for I let her make that choice, and while that was happening maybe I could talk to her for a bit find out what she was thinking about what she learned from Bo.
As I was sorting the list of girls into some sensible order, I heard a knock on my door.
"Come in" I called with a smile as Tanya opened the door and walked into the room. She was wearing a simple dress today. I really needed to take her shopping, she seemed to only ever pick out the plainest of clothing, granted she didn't need some extraordinary attire around the palaces, but still, her lack of color just set the wrong tone. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail, her short blond hair going down the back of her neck before terminating at her shoulders.
"Tanya takes a seat," I said with a smile waving my hand to the chair in front of my desk. "I'm looking into hiring a Handmaiden for you and I thought I'd let you have the final say on the matter."
"A Handmaiden? Like the one that helped the queen of Naboo 2 years ago?" Tanya said as she walked across the tile floor of the room.
I tilted my head at that, I hadn't known she heard about that situation, the event had been big news but not really on Mandalore. I had to know about it because the Mandalore sector was in the free trade zones and there was always the possibility that the trade federation could try something like what they attempted on Naboo in our region. A small possibility, it was small enough that could safely be ignored by the majority of the population. "Yes, kind of like them, where did you hear about that situation?'
"I'm reading up on current affairs for when I'm sent to be a member of the Mandalore delegation," she said, taking the seat in front of me. "I like reading about current affairs, and comparing it to stuff in history books, I feel like it gives me perspective."
I tilled my head then asked, "And is that why you like to learn about Old Mandalorian? ways for the perspective?" had I allowed some massive misunderstanding to take root here? Had her worries about the future and past caused her to make rash decisions about how Tanya should be taught?
Tanya seemed to freeze up as if she felt she made some mistake, then carefully said, "Yes, and no. Having perspective on Old Mandalorian culture is important for understanding where we are and where we are going, but I also like training with Bo. I don't get out much, and it's nice to get exercise."
I nodded my head to her points. I knew she spent too much time in the palace grounds, so perhaps I overreacted to the idea that she wanted to learn about the Old Mandalorians. But this might be alright, in the long run getting her some self-defense training would be for the best. "How has your time with Bo-Katan given you any perspective on Old Mandalorians? Anything you would like to share?
Tanya bit her lip before she said "May I speak freely about that matter Duchess?"
My eyebrow perked at that. I had gone from Aunt to Duchess in the course of this conversation. That was interesting, perhaps she had been giving this a lot of thought and was worried about what I might think as her aunt? I had done something simpler with my father back before the Clan Wars. Nodding my head I said, "Yes, feel free, I'm interested in hearing what the youth thinks about the world they're growing up in."
Tanya smiled at that then sighed and said "The History of Mandalore is civil war, someone will obtain power for the time, bring an age of peace such with the Clan Awaud or Clan Ordo, but over time, they will lose power, when that happens a civil war of some scale will break out, and all old rivalries and grudges will come to the fore. It seems like an inevitable cycle, and I don't think complete rejection of the old way and the embracing of pacifism will prevent it from happening."
I nodded her thought echoing my own on the matter really, I put up a good face and stayed true to the New Mandalorian ways, but I could see that most of the Mandalorian sector just tolerated my rule, for one reason or another. "I have thought the same from time to time, though the fact of the matter is there is no clear road to bring peace to our sector of space. If there were, the other clans you mentioned would have figured it out long before we got a chance at it."
"True, true, but perhaps the answer to the problem is not a top-down one answer solution, as they have all tried before," Tanya said
"Hmm go on?" I was intrigued by the idea though I doubted Tanya would come up with something I never thought about before.
"The Old Mandalorian mindset is one that depends heavily on the ability to defend oneself, yes there is rampant militarism and era of war based on the belief that they have a divine right to conquer, a 'the strong should control the weak' perspective, but, this mindset has been tempered by the last 10,000 years of survival on the clan-based level. If someone were to unite the Mandalorian clans, they could be a great military force, but it is because of said clans that this is true. And it is this power of the clans that which both reasons attempt to top-down a rule, can not work and why the Old Mandalorian will persist well into the next 10,000 years. If the rulers of Mandalore lose the support of enough Mandalorians, civil war is inevitable, and being that any faction on Mandalore can call on support throughout the sector for resources any conflict will be prolonged unless leadership takes drastic action, that thought will lead to rest of clans breaking with said lead Mandalore leadership in most cases through our history."
I nodded along a bit surprised by how well thought out Tanya's argument was, most of what she said were issues that had even plagued my rule, keeping the clan who are loyal happy was key to maintaining peace in the Mandalorian sector. Those that didn't, I was not above sending the Royal Guard to deal with situations off-world, and on Mandalore well, the Mandalorian Guard were issued Baskar shields for a reason.
"There are two outcomes than for any civil war that happens, weakened rulership or new rulership. So, the outcome to avoid civil war as long as possible is that the New Mandalorian idea is integrated into the culture of Old Mandalorians. The problem of course is, New Mandalorians step too heavily on the toes of the Old Mandalorians in their pursuit for peace. New Mandalorian peace at the cost of disarmament will never be accepted in that environment, with 10,000 years of history to point to for instances of why weapons must be maintained. They will simply look at the attempt as foolhardy at best or foreign occupation at worst. That is the outcome of a top-down approach."
"And the bottom-up approach?" I asked, sitting back in my seat as I listened to her. She seemed fearful of that outcome, was she concerned the most about that possibility? I needed to spend more time with her, find out what she was thinking more than I was.
"The primmest example of bottom-up movement succeeding is the Supercommando codex." She said sheepishly, my eyebrows raised a bit at the mention of the old document, it's been a decade since I even had to think about that work, and the so-called True Mandalorian moment. The only True Mandalorian I knew was, Tanya Keldau, and she had not talked about her life before joining our clan. "Though the movement ultimately failed in the civil war, elements of their doctrine have influenced later works throughout the sector. House Ordo has implemented it heavily into their planetary defenses force training, Clan Eldar has taken several implementations from the codex when it comes to dealing with Mercenary companies they operate outside of the Mandalore sector, Clan Rook made a section on bounty hunting mandatory reading for any of their clan that takes up that trade."
Clan Eldar and Rook were clans that were part of the greater House of Kryze and though I knew they were only loyal to my reign due to family tiles, I gave them a bit of a freehand as long as they stayed loyal, House Ordo, on the other hand, was a Major power in the sector, and an Old One, their loyalty was something that was assured as they tended to be the more easy-going Mandalorian in the sector. I noted how Tanya had chosen her examples well, they were loyal and respectful of the New Mandalorian way. Which was another one of the reasons I allowed them to get away with being a bit more militarized than what was allowed in the Mandalorian system.
"Tanya, do you believe that the Supercommando Codex is more long-lasting than the New Mandalorian way?" I asked, trying to come to an understanding of why that text had come to her mind.
"Yes, but not because it's better than the New Mandalorian way." She said so matter of fact I was forced to sit forward in my chair, wanting to hear her reasoning on this subject. "The Codex is more long-lasting because it does not reject what makes a Mandalorian, a Mandalorian. It reinterprets, for the modern world. It takes the old Code of Honors, and instead of blindly following it, takes the meaning at the base of the older work and recontextualizes that meaning for the time. It provides a different view that the average Mandalorian can read, understand, and make up their own mind about. I don't know if it will be longer-lasting than older interpretations but it has made a definitive mark, and showed the way to deal with the issue of the clans."
"You think we need our own version of the SuperCommando Codex, something that uses the old codes of honors but interpreted from a New Mandalorian perspective?" I asked to see the logic in the argument she was presenting.
Tanya for her part simply nodded. "Rejecting the waring ways of the Ancient Mandalorians is a step toward making peace, but by rejecting everything we simple isolate ourselves amongst all the other clans, and we can't force them to take our ways, so the best tool for this job, is to find what we're willing to accept in our fellow Mandalorians, and to propagate that."
I sat back thinking, the option she presented was intriguing, to say the least, but I wasn't sure how one would go about implementing such an idea. I would need time to consider, and maybe bring this up at the next council to get their opinion on this matter, off the book of course. Bringing up the subject of fighting, among the New Mandalorians could be just as dangerous as old commandos under the right situation. And what Tanya was talking about in that situation.
"You have given me a lot to think about Tanya." I said to try to put a cap on that conversation, for now, I would have to talk to her more on this at another time, she seemed far more intelligent than I had been told. And perhaps take her shopping as well. If she had done all this research into possible ways to prolong the New Mandalorian rule and ways to make it more long-lasting, she deserved a treat.
"But it's time to get back on the subject of what I called you down here for." I handed her a list of names and faces. "These girls are potential handmaidens that several clans had put forward when I mentioned this prospect so they already meet my standards. It's really up to you on who you choose, though whoever it is you will spend a lot of time with and will most likely lead any other handmaiden you take on, so I hope you can become friends with her."
Tanya nodded and took the tablet looking it over rather quickly before, her mouth curled in a smile, "This one will do.'' She said with such assurity in her choice I didn't feel the need to question the little time she took as she handed the tablet back to me. Looking down I saw a little blonde-haired girl with a smile no older than Tanya I guessed, a strange name most Mandalorians only had surname and first name. This girl had a middle one, perhaps she had been adopted into the clan? Hard to tell. "Alright I will let Clan Vizla know that Vai-Viktis has been chosen.'' Pre Vizsla would be smug for a few days, he had suggested Vizla join my search after all.
708 FNM (30 BBY)
Korkie Kryze
Mandalore, orbit
"You really need to get more sun, Tanya." Lagos Rook said as she walked at the front of their little group through the Sundari Grand Mall of Mandalore. It was a nice bright day, and I thought it would be a great idea to make good on an idea I had to bring Tanya along with my friend on one of our trips to the arcade, here at the mall. Sure that wouldn't totally solve the issues of how pale she was, but along with some window shopping we had planned I promised to use my allowance to buy her whatever ice cream she wanted at Soft Serve Mandalore 35.
My attempt so far had gone over well, she agreed to leave the house with me and my friends, though she did seem rather disinterested in everything we looked at as we walked by. While girls were taken by everything nick nack and dresses we passed, she just ignored them and seemed to be rather bored.
Well, she seemed bored, till Lagos had mentioned her paleness, now she was looking at Lagos with an upturned eyebrow as said. "I don't believe I'm that pale, I do get out in the sun when necessary, and I'm not much paler than you?" She wasn't wrong, the two of them could pass for sisters from distances both having blond hair, blue eyes, and ponytails.
"Tanya, there are ghosts and there are people, and you are dangerously close to ghost looking, heck, if I didn't know you I think you were some recent convert from those cults on Concordia who finally took off her helmet," Lagos said, shaking her head as she turned to face the group, walking backwards.
"Do you have to say things that mean Lagos?" Soniee Carid said as she held her computer pad close to her side. "She needs a little sun sure but most of the population of the dome does." she offered a reassuring smile in Tanya's direction.
"True but the point stands she needs to get out more. Korkie, invite her more often or I'll accuse you of being a bad brother to her." Lagos said, shaking her fist in my general direction."Will do," I said, rolling my eyes. I planned on doing that anyway, before asking "as long as you promise not to use the opportunity to turn Tanya into your personal doll for cute clothes."
"No promises!" Lagos said, stopping her fist-shaking to point at me. "A girl that is sheltered needs to hang out with us and dress in cute things, you're a bad influence on her! Look how plain she dresses! Only bad brothers would stop me!" she said pointing at the guy shirt and pants Tanya was wearing.
"Actually I think a good brother would stick up for his sister's personal freedom to make her own choices on such matters," Tanya spoke up from where she walked and gave me a smile.
I smiled back and gave her thumbs up "That they do, Tanya I got your back on this."
"Oh my Ha'rangir will you three knock it off, I get very few chances away from studying to get out here and hang out with you guys, I'm not going to spend any more of that time sitting around waiting for you three girls to play dress up. If you want to set something up, go ask Duchess Satine to take her out on your own time." Amis Tenau said shaking his head at the girls before he walked by them heading into the game center
"Hmm, not a bad idea," Lagos said while Tanya stared daggers into his back.
Shaking my own head I walked up next to Tanya and pointed to the towered ice cream shop that was part of the arcade. "Want to get the ice cream now, so we don't have to worry about forgetting later?"
"Sure that sounds reasonable." She said before turning her back on Lagos and heading into the shop to look at the choices.
Before I followed her in I walked over to Lagos and said "Take a bit easy on Tanya, she just doesn't get that kinda stuff."
"If she doesn't get how girly stuff works that's a problem." Lagos shot back.
"Not what I meant," I said with an annoyed sigh before heading into the shop.
Tanya was already looking through the options but stopped in front of the dark brown-colored section of the 35 ice cream offered this month. Looking over her shoulder I noticed she was looking at some chocolate coffee concoction which was not for me "Not that one, Coffee will stunt your growth."
Tanya seemed to twitch and freeze up for a moment before she turned toward me and said. "I thought you said, whatever ice cream I like?"
"Within reason, Satine doesn't let me have coffee. I'm not going to let you have coffee."
"It's coffee-flavored, not coffee itself" She offered to try to find the loophole I assumed.
"How much caffeine is listed in the ingredients," I asked as I folded my arms over my chess.
She looked back at the little paper with ingredients before saying "35%"
"1% means it is not just flavoring so that's a no. If you want a chocolate option that is fine, just no coffee."
"Fine, then I'll take a double scoop of this one," she said pointing to the one next to the coffee flavor. The one in question was a chocolate thing called a five-flavored concussion from off-world.
"Alright get a table for the others, I'll pay for it," I said shaking my head, the chocolates were more expensive than coffee options but she already got me. Couldn't exactly say no now after saying no to coffee.
By the time I and the others were done getting our ice creams, five minutes had passed and we found Tanya by one of the windows sitting in her chair looking dreamily out the window at one of the attractions near the back of the arcade.
Sitting the bowl down in front of her I took a seat and was about to ask what the plan was on today when Lagos noted what Tanya was looking at. "Hey Tanya, do you want to do that Lazer tag attraction?"
Tanya's head moved quickly towered Lagos and her eyebrow raised as she picked up her spoon to take a bite of the ice cream. "Perhaps".
"Well, I will be willing to pay for a game or two, if you are willing to accept a little trip to the clothes section of the mall with me and Soniee sometime this week."
Tanya took the spoon of ice cream into her mouth and seemed to enjoy it greatly before opening her eyes and saying "Your terms are acceptable."
Writers note: Alright, so what do we have in this chapter, bit Tanya's mindset on her future, a bit of Satine and Tanya's interaction about Mandalore and the future, and my second attempt to write about Tanya's brother as well as my first attempt at his circle of friends. Yes, the thing I raised at the end is possible storylines I might run within a chapter or two. So give me your thought on this chapter and thought on where this is going as this helps me write stuff. Sirius, I was going to keep coming up with reasons Tanya never brought up her concerns till saw folks were interested in seeing that plotline develop so now it developing.
Edited by: Lord Feunoyr, Wrandm Waffles, Warmach1ne32
Community edited by:Afforess
Community editable doc (Chapter 5) No story suggestions in the community editing document, Keep all story suggestions and comments in the thread
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No magic? I find it hard to believe Tanya hasn't studied up on the Jedi/Sith, and wouldn't equate the Force with magic.
Here are some possible suggestions though they might sound like weird if Tanya suggests or implements them as they would be drawn from her knowledge of Japan than anything in the Star Wars history.
Tanya might want to analyze the current economic structures and possible future economic structures for the various territories and with respect the larger galaxy including logistics, industries, and resources (limited and renewable) and how they can be leveraged against each other. Then present possible plans to Satine to achieve the optimum goals and counter any possible setbacks (like piracy). Connected with this is whether technology is stagnant and whether it can be improved and to what extent.
With regards to her armor, would anyone object if she made the coatings to be more stealthy with camouflage and anti-energy weapons or alternatively look very artistic but actually be very combat capable (maybe also concealed armor and weapons that look like what a person of her standing would have)? As for any hand-maidens, would anyone object to having them in armor too (this depends on how literally cut-throat politics is with assassination attempts on political representatives like say on Coruscant)?
Regarding the military and those who want militaristic society Tanya might have her own perspectives as it does apply to what Japan had to go through after World War 2. For personal combat, there is the path of emphasizing the historic and artistic side and ritualistic stuff that the samurai and ninja went through and portrayed in the media and restoration of castles and fortifications into museums and tourist traps and where makers of traditional arts can get certified as "living treasures" that could sell their stuff on the open market like sword and other artists are for the real world Japan. For the military side, there are the "self-defense forces" in history with the change in culture over the Imperial forces are among the better changes and the despite things like the names of vehicles classes and acting as juniors for military exercises, they are actually becoming pretty advanced technologically and in capability and she suggest a similar approach for them. Likewise whether the damaged areas could be restored and include monuments/museums like Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Maybe even encouraging an entertainment industry (with merchandising) that makes their culture more accessible and sympathetic to the rest of the galaxy that also provides income for their system.
Tanya might want to analyze the current economic structures and possible future economic structures for the various territories and with respect the larger galaxy including logistics, industries, and resources (limited and renewable) and how they can be leveraged against each other. Then present possible plans to Satine to achieve the optimum goals and counter any possible setbacks (like piracy). Connected with this is whether technology is stagnant and whether it can be improved and to what extent.
With regards to her armor, would anyone object if she made the coatings to be more stealthy with camouflage and anti-energy weapons or alternatively look very artistic but actually be very combat capable (maybe also concealed armor and weapons that look like what a person of her standing would have)? As for any hand-maidens, would anyone object to having them in armor too (this depends on how literally cut-throat politics is with assassination attempts on political representatives like say on Coruscant)?
Regarding the military and those who want militaristic society Tanya might have her own perspectives as it does apply to what Japan had to go through after World War 2. For personal combat, there is the path of emphasizing the historic and artistic side and ritualistic stuff that the samurai and ninja went through and portrayed in the media and restoration of castles and fortifications into museums and tourist traps and where makers of traditional arts can get certified as "living treasures" that could sell their stuff on the open market like sword and other artists are for the real world Japan. For the military side, there are the "self-defense forces" in history with the change in culture over the Imperial forces are among the better changes and the despite things like the names of vehicles classes and acting as juniors for military exercises, they are actually becoming pretty advanced technologically and in capability and she suggest a similar approach for them. Likewise whether the damaged areas could be restored and include monuments/museums like Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Maybe even encouraging an entertainment industry (with merchandising) that makes their culture more accessible and sympathetic to the rest of the galaxy that also provides income for their system.
hmm, that point I do plan to go into in the future.
that is the issue, after all, how do you take information that does not exist in this universe create some sorta way to get that information out there for people to decide for them selfies without, biased of it just some kid with weird ideas over showing it. basically it two-step thing what do you put in Codex Silver that people will be willing to accept, and how do you propagate Codex Silver. I'm still thinking about that.
no, I don't think anyone would, the Mandalorian walks around in unpainted silver so I don't think anyone would care. and we know from deathwatch shared colors, clans wearing the same colors in rebels, and simler colors that true mando wore in the comics that leaders can implement colors format for their forces.
oh... I like this I like this a lot.
Chapter 6
Chapter 6
708 FNM (30 BBY)
Month 7
Mandalore, Sundari, Sundari Grand Mall
Vai-Viktis Vizla
This was stupid, this whole idea was dumber than an attempt to organize a peace conference between Wookies and Trandoshans, though I doubted there would be as much arm ripping. "Now remember dear, You are to keep an eye on the Duchess's ward and feel her out." came the calm voice of her mother from the front seat of the hovercar.
"Yes mother." I said not really having anyways to say no, my family had an obligation to do what House Vizsla wanted. And what they wanted was someone near their New Mando welp, to 'Guide' her back to their old ways. I was still young and learning of the breath of the house's machinations but from what I knew House Vizsla was playing a long game when it came to the rulership of New Mandalore.
I knew there were various schemes at work being worked on to place Pre Vizsla on the throne, he even secured the votes of 55% of exiled clans and had taken the title of 'Secret Mandalore'. The only one who came close to taking that title was Bo-Katan who I heard was in the running at one point with something like 25% of the exiled clan approval of her. But with how careful he tended to be I doubt he ever really spring that whole rebellion scheme. That is why I was here after all, why fight the doomed Anti-Mandalore when you could assure the next anti-Mandalore was favorable. And with Bo-Katan removed from succession due to the pro-Mandalore ways that meant there were two options to replace the Duchess when she finally kicked the bucket.
Korkie and Tanya Kryze, the children of Clan Kryze, a clan that held the current political paradigm, and Clan Keldau, the greatest Mandalorian warrior from 10000 years ago. I assumed Pre wanted to go from secret Mandalore to straight-up Mandalore, but if he could arrange one of those two to take up the old ways after the Duchess's death and becoming the Mandalore, he would consider that a win.
Which is where my part in the plan came in, I didn't know if he had any plans to go after Korkie, I was just a kid, I wasn't supposed to know anything too important, I just knew what I knew from listening in on my parents when they thought I was asleep. But from what I overheard in the little chat Pre mom had a few days ago, I was to try to guide the girl Tanya to warrior ways. He said Bo-Katan was making similar plays and though their goal aligned he liked to have his own agents in the field.
"Remember, this girl has no friends so it should be fairly easy to get her to befriend you, just secure her trust. And push her to question the new Mandalore ways secretly." Mother said from the front of the hovercar watching the skyway.
"Yes mother," I said from the back seat, keeping my tone even though I would rather be anywhere but here. I wanted to be with my friends not rolled up in the political machinations of Clan Viszla or as Dad would call them 'those house stealers' . My dad was proud of his heritage and loved to research family history, and unlike mom hadn't bought into the idea Clan Viszla's path was the correct one, he'd rather stay out of politics. And to hear him tell the story, Clan Viszla was an offshoot of her clan, Clan Vizla, and was once part of their house since. But they hadn't been politically relevant in a millennia; they found it easy to take over leadership when they took that Jedi Mandalorian's lightsaber from the temple in the last great raid on the Old Republic, millennia ago.
Anyways the point is I would rather be anywhere but here, but here I was, looking out the window at the passing cityscape, wondering if mother's blind loyalty to the 'secret Mandalore' was going to rob me of what little of my childhood I had left. I was 12! I should have a few more years before I need to worry about politico shit! Instead, I'm going to spend next who knows how many years shadowing some mousy-looking 10-year-old New Mando girl who's going through her old Mando phase.
" Here we are!" mother said from the front seat as the royal palace came into view. A little too excited in my opinion, it was just a big building at the center of the city to me. Mother carefully brought the hovercar down on the platform. Then she set it to park and stepped out, having no other choices I stepped out after her. A chore since I was forced to wear an elegant-looking blue dress with pink styling marks going up the sleeves and down the sides of the dress. I hated the dress, didn't mind color too much, but my mother was a big fan of presenting an appearance through proper uses of color and clothing.
"Now remember to be on your best behavior," mother said, leading the way with her own blue dress having simple styles in bronze instead of pink, doing more to highlight her brown hair.
I was tired of agreeing with her, so I simply nodded my head and hoped she wouldn't notice. Considering that she didn't say anything, I assumed I was in the clear or mother was too busy taking in the sights of the palace. She sure seemed to be living up to the fact that she is going to meet the 'anti-Mandalore'.
We walked up to the front door and mother introduced us to the guards, they nodded and called upon the helmet-mounted radio to someone. A minute or two later they nodded and opened the door, one of them leading them further into the building.
Following the guard, we were led out back to the main garden plaza where the duchess was sitting on a stone bench with a little blond girl by her side. My target had appeared and she looked just as weak as the few times she ended up in the press.
A short girl, she was pale and thin-looking like she didn't get enough sun and didn't eat enough. Looking at her sideways should probably blend her into the background. Her bearing made her look very meek and subservient to her guardian sitting close with her shoulder slumped in direction of the duchess.
The only remarkable thing about her was her unruly mop of blond hair, that she seemed to keep short. And the dress she wore looked just a bit fancier than mine being a mainly green color with blue stitching on the arms and around the waist, with bronze stitching going around the wrist and the bottom edges of the dress.
"Duchess Kryze" my mother said giving a curtsy to the anti-Mandalore, I followed her example a moment later.
"Abi Vizla, wonderful to meet you," the blond royal said with a smile, as she stood up from the bench with some grace. "and Tanya has been quite excited to meet your daughter, little Vai-Viktis."
Oh great, she was excited, probably going to ask hundreds of inane questions, this was going to be a repeat of that one playdate she had with the New Mando moron when she was 7 wasn't it? I thought before I noted that the blond girl had rolled her eyes at her guardian comment.
My mother didn't notice what I did, seeming more interested in the Duchess. "My Vai feels the same way, she's been talking about meeting Little Tanya here all week."
The Duchess chuckled "Good, good well let them meet and talk, the best way for them to get to know each other is to let them talk. I have my staff prepare some food and drink in the main hall if you walk with me Miss Abi." she said pointing toward a nearby door.
"That sounds like a wonderful idea, I'm sure the two of them don't want us intruding on their first meeting anyways." Mother said, taking a step toward the door.
"Then let's leave them to it, gardens completely safe-" the conversation continued as the two older women talked but I stopped paying attention to what they were saying just watching them go till I saw them step inside. I turned my head back to look at Tanya and blink. Her bearing changed.
Where once she had been sitting by the duchess's side very meekly, she now stood at her full height, though that wasn't much, and the face looked colder, less emotion on it.
Presenting a curtsy she said, "Tanya Kryze, I hope we can be good coworkers in our future endeavors."
I tilled my head a bit confused by the way Tanya had introduced herself before I remembered the manners Mother had forced me to read. Curtsying back though I wasn't really sure if I was supposed to do that every time an introduction happened, I said. "Vai-Viktis Vizla, a pleasure meeting you, Princess."
Tanya chuckled at that comment then said "Please, Tanya is fine, we're both just children, besides if we went around calling anyone with a noble background a princess, half the population of the sector would be related to one Mandalore or another. In fact, if memory serves the Vizla have one as well, Mandalore the Avenger I believe, I am sure you find it odd if I started calling you Princess."
I raised my eyebrow, not exactly sure how to react to that. "I guess you're right, though I think that's not exactly how that works Princess?"
"Perhaps Princess, but that is subject for another time," Tanya smiled, at me then said "Miss Vizla you are attempting to take a position as my closest confidant and protector. Can I trust you to keep anything you see secret, Even if Duchess Satine asked?"
Both my eyebrows were up at that, she wanted to hide stuff from her guardian? Was Bo-Katan further along than Vizsla believed? Well, she wasn't going to find out by saying no.
"Yes princess, I promise to keep anything you want a secret." It's not like my mission would interfere with keeping secrets, after all.
"Good, I'd hate to have your position terminated after such a statement. So keep to that promise and I'm sure we will have a good working relationship."
Did she just threaten to have me killed? Mother, what have you gotten me into?
"Now then let's go somewhere where we can chat till the adults are done. I don't know about you but I find this dress completely ridiculous and I would rather arrange something much less formal." Tanya said walking toward the edge of the garden which looked out onto the capital city.
"I can agree to that," I said, following behind her.
"Not that I'm against wearing dresses too long, enough to get over that hang-up, I just prefer something I can actually run in, in an emergency. Especially when you factor in the bit of heel on these shoes." Tanya said, taking a seat looking out over the city. She patted the bench next to her and I took the offered seat.
"Yeah, I'd rather just wear something practical and doesn't make the biggest target in the crowd."
"Yes, but as royalty, I have a duty to look professional. So no matter my distaste for it and your own, we will have to suffer these dresses for public appearances. On the other hand, while not making appearances for the public we can wear what we want. That of course is an acceptable situation for your employment as my handmaiden of course?" Tanya asked with her eyebrow crooked.
"That's acceptable," I said, not sure what else to say.
"Now onto the next subject-" she continued on asking questions and presenting situations. All I could do was wonder what was going on and why was she being so thorough in the discussion of employment? Wait, was mother getting paid for this? Had I been sold as a slave!
Concordia, orbit
Tanya Kryze
My first handmaiden met my requirements well enough and she had promised to keep my secret which was a good sign. But it is better to feel her out carefully, find out where her loyalties truly lie before I let her tag along on what Bo was training if I could help it. Thankfully Vai-Viktis didn't have an interplanetary passport, something I had gone out my way to get the moment Aunt Bo brought up the prospect of leaving Mandalore.
Without it, she couldn't leave Mandalore, which gave me time to feel her out, see how she could be of use to me. Based on how long it took mine to come through, I had about a week. Though considering my connection, the bureaucracy may have been sped up so I may have more time to feel out the girl before I allow her to come along on Bo's training trips.
On one hand, I valued my privacy greatly, and having someone staying close to me at all times, would be detrimental to that. On the other, well in my last life, I had a close call after the war while crossing the border from Kanada where someone had recognized me while at a stoplight, and this insane man apparently blamed me for the death of his brother, as well as happened to carry a grenade in his glove box. I had been rusty with my magic and ended up having to walk with a cane for the rest of that life I believe.
Having someone watching your back was necessary for survival, assassination didn't have to be well planned, they could be a spur of the moment. As for Vai-Viktis well, I would need to assess her competence and bring them up to my acceptable standard level. That was one of the reasons I had agreed to Korkie's friend's little deal about me wearing dresses as if I was a doll, so I could get laser tag. Though I would not mind the adrenaline rush of having a situation where I could see how my new handmaiden reacted, while under pressure to my orders, would give me a better understanding of.
Just wish I didn't have to throw the first game, Korkie friends were not great, thinking them being bigger meant they were faster and able to hunt me down. If I had wanted I could remove that delusion, but then I doubt they would agree to another match again if I had. In-fight experiences could be just as important as training and tech advantage, and well I had a lot of experiences at this point.
But those were thoughts for another time. Today was another one of Bo's training trips, she apparently had secured a facility on Concordia for us to train in private, which would be useful in many ways. If the facility was worth a damn, I have yet to see it myself so for all I knew this faculty was a hole in a mountain somewhere without even a proper door. Which wasn't the worst place to train out, it would give me a place to store my armor so Satine didn't freak out when she realized I had gotten it or that it was hers.
I guess I would find out soon enough as Bo's shuttle was fast enough that the trip from Mandalore really only took a half-hour. Looking out the window I observed the green and brown ball of dirt and let myself have a moment of wonder at this.
This was after all only my second trip off-world, but beyond that this was the moon, earth's moon was a lifeless ball of dust and rock, visiting that would be like visiting a tombstone to possibilities compared to Concordia. A moon with its own independent ecosystem from its orbital home, that people could live on. It was remarkable in its own way.
"We're coming up to our destination, look out the right side towered that red mountain." Looking where Bo indicated, I saw the mountain in question, it was, beat up to say least, there was evidence of minor installations up and down the sides of the mountain and I would not be surprised to hear that it was a hollowed-out nest of tunnels.
Just from the look of it, I would not be surprised that it has also been used as a military compound at some point as I could see what looked like a broken down and beaten up Anti-Aircraft Artillery gun poking out of what looked like a bunker over the main entrances. Judging by the bent barrel I would say it had been knocked out of combat.
"Are you sure this place is safe? Looked a bit… destroyed?" I asked out of concern for my safety.
"Yeah this place is clean, as soon as Viszla offered the place I had a few friends of mine come out here check it over for-" she paused and looked like thought better of what she was going to say before contingent "safety concerns".
I looked at her eyebrow raised before saying "Clean is an odd choice of words".
"Ah inter-clan rivalries, Don't worry about it, Tanya," Bo said as if that was not itself a bit concerning, but I would let pass, for now, if Bo was worried enough to have people she trusted to look the place over then more likely than not she was already on top of this situation.
The ship slowly came down from the sky landing on an open pad along the west side of the mountain facility. I noted there were several other open pads lined up along the west side of the mountain, most are empty except one.
The filled landing pad had a very beaten up and old-looking ship. And make no mistake it was a ship not subtle, it even looked like it was meant for water landings with the lower hull vaguely resembling that of some old mariner airplane just with a pair of giant jet engines strapped beneath a pair of shortened wings. Besides that, I noted the craft was painted in two tones blue along the main hull with green covering the over the wing, with purple stripes running along the edges and down its back.
"Ah, good he's here," Bo said, flipping a few buttons and turning off the shuttle's engines. Before she stood up and walked towards the back of the ship.
"Who's here?" I asked unbuckling myself from my seat and getting up to follow her. She moved quickly with her longer legs to the back of the ship reminding me of how I missed not being small. Without saying anything she reached into the shower stall and pulled out the bag full of Satine's armor, before saying. "Old friend of the family, he has a set of skills that I just don't have and can help us with getting this," she held up the bag with one hand "in order." She reached out with her free hand and opened the back door of the ship.
She didn't even wait for me to catch up and simply started walking over to the other ship, the sack of armor over her shoulder, forcing me to jog to catch up to her.
"Hey, Zum! Zum Muduuc! Are you in there?" Bo called looking into the open landing bay ramp of the larger transport ship. Catching up to her I was able to get a look inside the ship and noted some fairly militaristic design to the craft. Just above the landing way was a gun turret position for a rear gunner. Looking closer inside, the way I noted under large swaths of metal junk and other debris, I saw rows of seats lining the walls of the bay.
I was looking at an old landing ship if I had to guess, and going by old military gear and weapons in various states of deconstruction "Old military surplus dealer?" I questioned looking up and to my right at Bo.
"Ha good guess Kid." came a deep male voice from behind me, prompting me to jump a bit in surprise as I had not heard anyone come up behind me. Turning around I saw a very tall and well-built rough-looking dark-skinned man with unkempt black hair and a goatee, on the right side of his face, was a cybernetic implant where his eye used to be while the left bore a friendly-looking purple iris eye. Beyond that description, he was wearing similar colored armor to his ship, blue being the main color with dashes of green here and there with purple shoulder pads. Besides his surprise appearance, he seemed to be smiling as he hauled a large crate in his hands.
Behind him, several insects looking droids followed behind him caring their own crates all of them sealed
"Damn It Zum! How do you do that every time!" Bo said, having apparently jumped a bit as well.
"I walked, you're just too busy rushing to notice me." I was going to put a doubt on that, though I was still coming to learn of all the features Mandalorian armor could have, something tells me the number of blinking lights would have made him easy to spot if he could be spotted.
Considering my last life had magic that allowed you to project images you wanted your enemies to see, I did not discount the idea that such an effect could be replicated through technology.
"Likely story," Bo said with a smile before she moved forward and hugged the older man. "Good to see you Zum, how's the wife and kids?"
"Fine, they're living a good life in Sundari now," he said, waiting for the hug to end before walking past me into the ship and placing the crate on the ground.
"What about you? moved into the new capital? Thought you hated new Mandos?" Bo asked, sounding confused.
"I said I hated their new Mando domes and their cubes, they ain't natural." Turning he took a crate from one of the insect droids and started looking for a secure place to put as he continued. "But I'm not going to stop my family from moving into them just because I have a hang-up about architecture. Their places are safe and I'm too busy flying about the sector selling my skill to look after the homestead 19/7 a week." He found a safe place and put the crate down. "I'll tell you what Satine may've put my family through hard times with her anti-military bullshit but she did bring some damn order to the system, made things safer."
Turning to face he said "Now, mind explaining why you decided to look me up 11 years after our last contact? And why do you have a Kryze kid? Someone finally gets the balls to try to marry you while you're out there finding yourself?"
"What?! No!" Bo said sounding fairly shocked "This Tanya, and she is not Kryze she is just a friend of the-" Bo was caught off as Zum folded his arms over his chest looking unimpressed.
"Bo how long have you known me?"
"All my life?"
"And how long have I worked for the Kryze family?"
"Longer than I know?" she admitted.
"The correct answer is 50 years, ever since I was 10, and my dad brought me to help work the Beskar, I worked for Clan Kryze and her allies. And let me tell you something about Kryze, they all start off blond and they either get old and turn white or have their hair change color to father or mother's hair color around age 13 like you did. She's a Kryze, I recognize one anywhere, going by the name I would assume she's a child of Adonai?"
"Yeah-"
"Does Satine know she's here and what you two are up to?"
"Yes," Zum proceeded to give her a death glare, "mostly".
"Right, well this was a waste of time, not going to risk my family being banished for whatever scheme you're pulling," he said, starting to turn.
"Excuse me! Sir." watching this drama play out had been… entertaining but now whatever Bo was up to appeared to be falling apart. "I am not aware of any scheme that you believe my Aunt is up to but I can tell you that you will not be banished for helping me, Satine has okayed my training in self-defense under Bo, she is simply unaware of some of the supplies we acquired."
"And these supplies are?" Zum asked, looking at Bo, she reached into the back and pulled out the helmet of Satine armor. Zum's one good eye widened showing some recognition.
"You liberated Satine's Armor?" He said, stepping forward to take the helmet from her hands, "I thought she would have it melted down to make more of those damned riot shields or maybe some armor for her royal guard."
"I think she forgot it exists," Bo said, only to be stared down by Zum.
"She forgot her Beskar armor, forged from the armor of her grandfather... I doubt that" he looked into the helmet before saying.
"Good Beskar like this should not be left to age in some closet somewhere and be forgotten. This was a stupid thing to do Bo, but the gods would be proud so I'm going to cut you deal. I'll help, but you keep my name out of it, got it!" Zum thundered.
"Yes sir!" Bo said, nodding her head like a bobblehead.
"Now how about you do this the right way and actually introduce us, Bo."
"Right, yes," turning to look at me, Bo said "Tanya this is Zum Muduuc Armorer of House Kryze," turning back to Zum ", this is Tanya Kryze, My niece."
"That's better, nice to meet you little Tanya." Zum said, taking the armor out of Bo's hands.
"Bug 3 get a scan of her measurements for me," he said walking further into the ship. One of the bug-like robots came up and scanned me with something before moving into the ship and placed the crate down while saying something in chittering language. "Yeah yeah you're a protocol droid, not tailor not grunt, you're also cheap and I don't care what you look like, so do your job droid, or I'll buy one to replace you, and drop you off somewhere you will never be able to be repowered again."
"The droid chitter something then plugged it hand into wall sockets transferring data to the ship I assumed.
"Bo help me clear the forge over here," he said, pulling a large crate of guns off the circular pedestal, which I assumed was his forge.
I was unsure exactly what I was to do while they cleaned up the area around the forge but Zum answered that for me. "Hey kid it's your armor, help move some of the junk out of the ship, so I have a clear work area," he said with the cadences of a drill sergeant, and instinct took over.
"Sir Yes Sir," I said, moving over to help clean the pathway around the forge.
"Hmm already got military instinct, good," he said, pulling a large crate off the forge and setting it down at the side of the ship. "You know if you told me you had Beskar that needed to be worked, I would clean this up before I got here Bo. Hell would have dug up the hole I hid the family beskar".
"You hid Beskar?" Bo asked as she moved a large sniper rifle off a nearby metal work table.
"What? Do you think I hear that your sister confiscates Beskar and I'm just going to hand the scraps I have hanging about? Nah, hid them in several large caches of Beskar, in case they were needed." He flipped a few buttons and I heard the engine of the ship startup followed by humming from the forge before it started up. "There you go old girl, now let's get to work." he pressed a button and a screen came up mounted on the left wall.
"Hmm, the helmet can stay the same size really only needed to adjust it internally so it could fit snug to your neck, the chest plate's old, but you're too small for that, we okay with flak jacket arrangement till she has fully grown?"
"You are the expert in this, I believe you are the one with the best call?" I said, not sure what exactly he meant.
"Right, New Mando." he hit his chest with his arm, "This is an old plate of Beskar. It is heavy but it will save your ass from direct hits of some more nastier weapon in the galaxy, but you lose some mobility. Bo and most folks prefer flak jacket arrangements or Beskar panels, it depends on who you ask. It is light and preferred as training armor for children since the panel can be popped out and melted down and reworked as you grow."
Nodding my head I said, "Panel arrangement is more than fine, for me."
"Good, we'll go with some light shoulder pads integrated into the jacket, and as for everything else... uh, how much live firefights are you planning to be involved in before you are 16?"
"Hopefully none sir" I responded matter of factly.
"Then won't worry about leg and arm armor, for now. If we're lucky, those parts won't need to be worked until you reach the proper age. If not, well Bo knows how to contact me." Zum pressed a few buttons and the readout changed quickly till a technical readout of what plates should be made and how large in order to best fit me.
"Sounds reasonable," I said, nodding along with what he said. I knew when to let experts take over and do their work.
"Right, now which god?" he said, turning towards me.
"Excuse me?" I said sidetracked by the word god.
"Right, New Mando and not really from Kalevala." he sighed then said "Okay quick run down, in my forge I dedicate armor to ancient gods for good luck, so do you want Kad Ha'rangir God of Rapid Change and Ferocity, Arasuum God of Reliability and Grand Strategy, or Hod Ha'ran God of Tricks and Illusions," he said as he turned to make some final adjustments.
"I would rather not take one really." I began but his point drew an interesting thought to me in my mind so I asked, "Mister Muduuc do you have access to some sort of stealth or illusion tech?"
Zum stopped what he was doing looked at me then smiled "Hod Ha'ran it is then." he said before, he put the metal plates into the forge to heat.
Confused, I looked at Bo to find out if she knew why he avoided the question, Bo, however, was staring drop-jawed at Zum.
Writers note: Alright, what do we got this chapter, Tanya meats her new friend a person blessed with 3 Vs for initial, and then we meet here new south african gun runners… I mean armorer, armorer yes… and she getting her armored adjusted. Don't worry about the AIAT/i filled with guns.
Edited by: Lord Feunoyr, Warmach1ne32
Community edited by:
Community editable doc (Chapter 6) No story suggestions in the community editing document, Keep all story suggestions and comments in the thread
Supporters: Markus
708 FNM (30 BBY)
Month 7
Mandalore, Sundari, Sundari Grand Mall
Vai-Viktis Vizla
This was stupid, this whole idea was dumber than an attempt to organize a peace conference between Wookies and Trandoshans, though I doubted there would be as much arm ripping. "Now remember dear, You are to keep an eye on the Duchess's ward and feel her out." came the calm voice of her mother from the front seat of the hovercar.
"Yes mother." I said not really having anyways to say no, my family had an obligation to do what House Vizsla wanted. And what they wanted was someone near their New Mando welp, to 'Guide' her back to their old ways. I was still young and learning of the breath of the house's machinations but from what I knew House Vizsla was playing a long game when it came to the rulership of New Mandalore.
I knew there were various schemes at work being worked on to place Pre Vizsla on the throne, he even secured the votes of 55% of exiled clans and had taken the title of 'Secret Mandalore'. The only one who came close to taking that title was Bo-Katan who I heard was in the running at one point with something like 25% of the exiled clan approval of her. But with how careful he tended to be I doubt he ever really spring that whole rebellion scheme. That is why I was here after all, why fight the doomed Anti-Mandalore when you could assure the next anti-Mandalore was favorable. And with Bo-Katan removed from succession due to the pro-Mandalore ways that meant there were two options to replace the Duchess when she finally kicked the bucket.
Korkie and Tanya Kryze, the children of Clan Kryze, a clan that held the current political paradigm, and Clan Keldau, the greatest Mandalorian warrior from 10000 years ago. I assumed Pre wanted to go from secret Mandalore to straight-up Mandalore, but if he could arrange one of those two to take up the old ways after the Duchess's death and becoming the Mandalore, he would consider that a win.
Which is where my part in the plan came in, I didn't know if he had any plans to go after Korkie, I was just a kid, I wasn't supposed to know anything too important, I just knew what I knew from listening in on my parents when they thought I was asleep. But from what I overheard in the little chat Pre mom had a few days ago, I was to try to guide the girl Tanya to warrior ways. He said Bo-Katan was making similar plays and though their goal aligned he liked to have his own agents in the field.
"Remember, this girl has no friends so it should be fairly easy to get her to befriend you, just secure her trust. And push her to question the new Mandalore ways secretly." Mother said from the front of the hovercar watching the skyway.
"Yes mother," I said from the back seat, keeping my tone even though I would rather be anywhere but here. I wanted to be with my friends not rolled up in the political machinations of Clan Viszla or as Dad would call them 'those house stealers' . My dad was proud of his heritage and loved to research family history, and unlike mom hadn't bought into the idea Clan Viszla's path was the correct one, he'd rather stay out of politics. And to hear him tell the story, Clan Viszla was an offshoot of her clan, Clan Vizla, and was once part of their house since. But they hadn't been politically relevant in a millennia; they found it easy to take over leadership when they took that Jedi Mandalorian's lightsaber from the temple in the last great raid on the Old Republic, millennia ago.
Anyways the point is I would rather be anywhere but here, but here I was, looking out the window at the passing cityscape, wondering if mother's blind loyalty to the 'secret Mandalore' was going to rob me of what little of my childhood I had left. I was 12! I should have a few more years before I need to worry about politico shit! Instead, I'm going to spend next who knows how many years shadowing some mousy-looking 10-year-old New Mando girl who's going through her old Mando phase.
" Here we are!" mother said from the front seat as the royal palace came into view. A little too excited in my opinion, it was just a big building at the center of the city to me. Mother carefully brought the hovercar down on the platform. Then she set it to park and stepped out, having no other choices I stepped out after her. A chore since I was forced to wear an elegant-looking blue dress with pink styling marks going up the sleeves and down the sides of the dress. I hated the dress, didn't mind color too much, but my mother was a big fan of presenting an appearance through proper uses of color and clothing.
"Now remember to be on your best behavior," mother said, leading the way with her own blue dress having simple styles in bronze instead of pink, doing more to highlight her brown hair.
I was tired of agreeing with her, so I simply nodded my head and hoped she wouldn't notice. Considering that she didn't say anything, I assumed I was in the clear or mother was too busy taking in the sights of the palace. She sure seemed to be living up to the fact that she is going to meet the 'anti-Mandalore'.
We walked up to the front door and mother introduced us to the guards, they nodded and called upon the helmet-mounted radio to someone. A minute or two later they nodded and opened the door, one of them leading them further into the building.
Following the guard, we were led out back to the main garden plaza where the duchess was sitting on a stone bench with a little blond girl by her side. My target had appeared and she looked just as weak as the few times she ended up in the press.
A short girl, she was pale and thin-looking like she didn't get enough sun and didn't eat enough. Looking at her sideways should probably blend her into the background. Her bearing made her look very meek and subservient to her guardian sitting close with her shoulder slumped in direction of the duchess.
The only remarkable thing about her was her unruly mop of blond hair, that she seemed to keep short. And the dress she wore looked just a bit fancier than mine being a mainly green color with blue stitching on the arms and around the waist, with bronze stitching going around the wrist and the bottom edges of the dress.
"Duchess Kryze" my mother said giving a curtsy to the anti-Mandalore, I followed her example a moment later.
"Abi Vizla, wonderful to meet you," the blond royal said with a smile, as she stood up from the bench with some grace. "and Tanya has been quite excited to meet your daughter, little Vai-Viktis."
Oh great, she was excited, probably going to ask hundreds of inane questions, this was going to be a repeat of that one playdate she had with the New Mando moron when she was 7 wasn't it? I thought before I noted that the blond girl had rolled her eyes at her guardian comment.
My mother didn't notice what I did, seeming more interested in the Duchess. "My Vai feels the same way, she's been talking about meeting Little Tanya here all week."
The Duchess chuckled "Good, good well let them meet and talk, the best way for them to get to know each other is to let them talk. I have my staff prepare some food and drink in the main hall if you walk with me Miss Abi." she said pointing toward a nearby door.
"That sounds like a wonderful idea, I'm sure the two of them don't want us intruding on their first meeting anyways." Mother said, taking a step toward the door.
"Then let's leave them to it, gardens completely safe-" the conversation continued as the two older women talked but I stopped paying attention to what they were saying just watching them go till I saw them step inside. I turned my head back to look at Tanya and blink. Her bearing changed.
Where once she had been sitting by the duchess's side very meekly, she now stood at her full height, though that wasn't much, and the face looked colder, less emotion on it.
Presenting a curtsy she said, "Tanya Kryze, I hope we can be good coworkers in our future endeavors."
I tilled my head a bit confused by the way Tanya had introduced herself before I remembered the manners Mother had forced me to read. Curtsying back though I wasn't really sure if I was supposed to do that every time an introduction happened, I said. "Vai-Viktis Vizla, a pleasure meeting you, Princess."
Tanya chuckled at that comment then said "Please, Tanya is fine, we're both just children, besides if we went around calling anyone with a noble background a princess, half the population of the sector would be related to one Mandalore or another. In fact, if memory serves the Vizla have one as well, Mandalore the Avenger I believe, I am sure you find it odd if I started calling you Princess."
I raised my eyebrow, not exactly sure how to react to that. "I guess you're right, though I think that's not exactly how that works Princess?"
"Perhaps Princess, but that is subject for another time," Tanya smiled, at me then said "Miss Vizla you are attempting to take a position as my closest confidant and protector. Can I trust you to keep anything you see secret, Even if Duchess Satine asked?"
Both my eyebrows were up at that, she wanted to hide stuff from her guardian? Was Bo-Katan further along than Vizsla believed? Well, she wasn't going to find out by saying no.
"Yes princess, I promise to keep anything you want a secret." It's not like my mission would interfere with keeping secrets, after all.
"Good, I'd hate to have your position terminated after such a statement. So keep to that promise and I'm sure we will have a good working relationship."
Did she just threaten to have me killed? Mother, what have you gotten me into?
"Now then let's go somewhere where we can chat till the adults are done. I don't know about you but I find this dress completely ridiculous and I would rather arrange something much less formal." Tanya said walking toward the edge of the garden which looked out onto the capital city.
"I can agree to that," I said, following behind her.
"Not that I'm against wearing dresses too long, enough to get over that hang-up, I just prefer something I can actually run in, in an emergency. Especially when you factor in the bit of heel on these shoes." Tanya said, taking a seat looking out over the city. She patted the bench next to her and I took the offered seat.
"Yeah, I'd rather just wear something practical and doesn't make the biggest target in the crowd."
"Yes, but as royalty, I have a duty to look professional. So no matter my distaste for it and your own, we will have to suffer these dresses for public appearances. On the other hand, while not making appearances for the public we can wear what we want. That of course is an acceptable situation for your employment as my handmaiden of course?" Tanya asked with her eyebrow crooked.
"That's acceptable," I said, not sure what else to say.
"Now onto the next subject-" she continued on asking questions and presenting situations. All I could do was wonder what was going on and why was she being so thorough in the discussion of employment? Wait, was mother getting paid for this? Had I been sold as a slave!
Concordia, orbit
Tanya Kryze
My first handmaiden met my requirements well enough and she had promised to keep my secret which was a good sign. But it is better to feel her out carefully, find out where her loyalties truly lie before I let her tag along on what Bo was training if I could help it. Thankfully Vai-Viktis didn't have an interplanetary passport, something I had gone out my way to get the moment Aunt Bo brought up the prospect of leaving Mandalore.
Without it, she couldn't leave Mandalore, which gave me time to feel her out, see how she could be of use to me. Based on how long it took mine to come through, I had about a week. Though considering my connection, the bureaucracy may have been sped up so I may have more time to feel out the girl before I allow her to come along on Bo's training trips.
On one hand, I valued my privacy greatly, and having someone staying close to me at all times, would be detrimental to that. On the other, well in my last life, I had a close call after the war while crossing the border from Kanada where someone had recognized me while at a stoplight, and this insane man apparently blamed me for the death of his brother, as well as happened to carry a grenade in his glove box. I had been rusty with my magic and ended up having to walk with a cane for the rest of that life I believe.
Having someone watching your back was necessary for survival, assassination didn't have to be well planned, they could be a spur of the moment. As for Vai-Viktis well, I would need to assess her competence and bring them up to my acceptable standard level. That was one of the reasons I had agreed to Korkie's friend's little deal about me wearing dresses as if I was a doll, so I could get laser tag. Though I would not mind the adrenaline rush of having a situation where I could see how my new handmaiden reacted, while under pressure to my orders, would give me a better understanding of.
Just wish I didn't have to throw the first game, Korkie friends were not great, thinking them being bigger meant they were faster and able to hunt me down. If I had wanted I could remove that delusion, but then I doubt they would agree to another match again if I had. In-fight experiences could be just as important as training and tech advantage, and well I had a lot of experiences at this point.
But those were thoughts for another time. Today was another one of Bo's training trips, she apparently had secured a facility on Concordia for us to train in private, which would be useful in many ways. If the facility was worth a damn, I have yet to see it myself so for all I knew this faculty was a hole in a mountain somewhere without even a proper door. Which wasn't the worst place to train out, it would give me a place to store my armor so Satine didn't freak out when she realized I had gotten it or that it was hers.
I guess I would find out soon enough as Bo's shuttle was fast enough that the trip from Mandalore really only took a half-hour. Looking out the window I observed the green and brown ball of dirt and let myself have a moment of wonder at this.
This was after all only my second trip off-world, but beyond that this was the moon, earth's moon was a lifeless ball of dust and rock, visiting that would be like visiting a tombstone to possibilities compared to Concordia. A moon with its own independent ecosystem from its orbital home, that people could live on. It was remarkable in its own way.
"We're coming up to our destination, look out the right side towered that red mountain." Looking where Bo indicated, I saw the mountain in question, it was, beat up to say least, there was evidence of minor installations up and down the sides of the mountain and I would not be surprised to hear that it was a hollowed-out nest of tunnels.
Just from the look of it, I would not be surprised that it has also been used as a military compound at some point as I could see what looked like a broken down and beaten up Anti-Aircraft Artillery gun poking out of what looked like a bunker over the main entrances. Judging by the bent barrel I would say it had been knocked out of combat.
"Are you sure this place is safe? Looked a bit… destroyed?" I asked out of concern for my safety.
"Yeah this place is clean, as soon as Viszla offered the place I had a few friends of mine come out here check it over for-" she paused and looked like thought better of what she was going to say before contingent "safety concerns".
I looked at her eyebrow raised before saying "Clean is an odd choice of words".
"Ah inter-clan rivalries, Don't worry about it, Tanya," Bo said as if that was not itself a bit concerning, but I would let pass, for now, if Bo was worried enough to have people she trusted to look the place over then more likely than not she was already on top of this situation.
The ship slowly came down from the sky landing on an open pad along the west side of the mountain facility. I noted there were several other open pads lined up along the west side of the mountain, most are empty except one.
The filled landing pad had a very beaten up and old-looking ship. And make no mistake it was a ship not subtle, it even looked like it was meant for water landings with the lower hull vaguely resembling that of some old mariner airplane just with a pair of giant jet engines strapped beneath a pair of shortened wings. Besides that, I noted the craft was painted in two tones blue along the main hull with green covering the over the wing, with purple stripes running along the edges and down its back.
"Ah, good he's here," Bo said, flipping a few buttons and turning off the shuttle's engines. Before she stood up and walked towards the back of the ship.
"Who's here?" I asked unbuckling myself from my seat and getting up to follow her. She moved quickly with her longer legs to the back of the ship reminding me of how I missed not being small. Without saying anything she reached into the shower stall and pulled out the bag full of Satine's armor, before saying. "Old friend of the family, he has a set of skills that I just don't have and can help us with getting this," she held up the bag with one hand "in order." She reached out with her free hand and opened the back door of the ship.
She didn't even wait for me to catch up and simply started walking over to the other ship, the sack of armor over her shoulder, forcing me to jog to catch up to her.
"Hey, Zum! Zum Muduuc! Are you in there?" Bo called looking into the open landing bay ramp of the larger transport ship. Catching up to her I was able to get a look inside the ship and noted some fairly militaristic design to the craft. Just above the landing way was a gun turret position for a rear gunner. Looking closer inside, the way I noted under large swaths of metal junk and other debris, I saw rows of seats lining the walls of the bay.
I was looking at an old landing ship if I had to guess, and going by old military gear and weapons in various states of deconstruction "Old military surplus dealer?" I questioned looking up and to my right at Bo.
"Ha good guess Kid." came a deep male voice from behind me, prompting me to jump a bit in surprise as I had not heard anyone come up behind me. Turning around I saw a very tall and well-built rough-looking dark-skinned man with unkempt black hair and a goatee, on the right side of his face, was a cybernetic implant where his eye used to be while the left bore a friendly-looking purple iris eye. Beyond that description, he was wearing similar colored armor to his ship, blue being the main color with dashes of green here and there with purple shoulder pads. Besides his surprise appearance, he seemed to be smiling as he hauled a large crate in his hands.
Behind him, several insects looking droids followed behind him caring their own crates all of them sealed
"Damn It Zum! How do you do that every time!" Bo said, having apparently jumped a bit as well.
"I walked, you're just too busy rushing to notice me." I was going to put a doubt on that, though I was still coming to learn of all the features Mandalorian armor could have, something tells me the number of blinking lights would have made him easy to spot if he could be spotted.
Considering my last life had magic that allowed you to project images you wanted your enemies to see, I did not discount the idea that such an effect could be replicated through technology.
"Likely story," Bo said with a smile before she moved forward and hugged the older man. "Good to see you Zum, how's the wife and kids?"
"Fine, they're living a good life in Sundari now," he said, waiting for the hug to end before walking past me into the ship and placing the crate on the ground.
"What about you? moved into the new capital? Thought you hated new Mandos?" Bo asked, sounding confused.
"I said I hated their new Mando domes and their cubes, they ain't natural." Turning he took a crate from one of the insect droids and started looking for a secure place to put as he continued. "But I'm not going to stop my family from moving into them just because I have a hang-up about architecture. Their places are safe and I'm too busy flying about the sector selling my skill to look after the homestead 19/7 a week." He found a safe place and put the crate down. "I'll tell you what Satine may've put my family through hard times with her anti-military bullshit but she did bring some damn order to the system, made things safer."
Turning to face he said "Now, mind explaining why you decided to look me up 11 years after our last contact? And why do you have a Kryze kid? Someone finally gets the balls to try to marry you while you're out there finding yourself?"
"What?! No!" Bo said sounding fairly shocked "This Tanya, and she is not Kryze she is just a friend of the-" Bo was caught off as Zum folded his arms over his chest looking unimpressed.
"Bo how long have you known me?"
"All my life?"
"And how long have I worked for the Kryze family?"
"Longer than I know?" she admitted.
"The correct answer is 50 years, ever since I was 10, and my dad brought me to help work the Beskar, I worked for Clan Kryze and her allies. And let me tell you something about Kryze, they all start off blond and they either get old and turn white or have their hair change color to father or mother's hair color around age 13 like you did. She's a Kryze, I recognize one anywhere, going by the name I would assume she's a child of Adonai?"
"Yeah-"
"Does Satine know she's here and what you two are up to?"
"Yes," Zum proceeded to give her a death glare, "mostly".
"Right, well this was a waste of time, not going to risk my family being banished for whatever scheme you're pulling," he said, starting to turn.
"Excuse me! Sir." watching this drama play out had been… entertaining but now whatever Bo was up to appeared to be falling apart. "I am not aware of any scheme that you believe my Aunt is up to but I can tell you that you will not be banished for helping me, Satine has okayed my training in self-defense under Bo, she is simply unaware of some of the supplies we acquired."
"And these supplies are?" Zum asked, looking at Bo, she reached into the back and pulled out the helmet of Satine armor. Zum's one good eye widened showing some recognition.
"You liberated Satine's Armor?" He said, stepping forward to take the helmet from her hands, "I thought she would have it melted down to make more of those damned riot shields or maybe some armor for her royal guard."
"I think she forgot it exists," Bo said, only to be stared down by Zum.
"She forgot her Beskar armor, forged from the armor of her grandfather... I doubt that" he looked into the helmet before saying.
"Good Beskar like this should not be left to age in some closet somewhere and be forgotten. This was a stupid thing to do Bo, but the gods would be proud so I'm going to cut you deal. I'll help, but you keep my name out of it, got it!" Zum thundered.
"Yes sir!" Bo said, nodding her head like a bobblehead.
"Now how about you do this the right way and actually introduce us, Bo."
"Right, yes," turning to look at me, Bo said "Tanya this is Zum Muduuc Armorer of House Kryze," turning back to Zum ", this is Tanya Kryze, My niece."
"That's better, nice to meet you little Tanya." Zum said, taking the armor out of Bo's hands.
"Bug 3 get a scan of her measurements for me," he said walking further into the ship. One of the bug-like robots came up and scanned me with something before moving into the ship and placed the crate down while saying something in chittering language. "Yeah yeah you're a protocol droid, not tailor not grunt, you're also cheap and I don't care what you look like, so do your job droid, or I'll buy one to replace you, and drop you off somewhere you will never be able to be repowered again."
"The droid chitter something then plugged it hand into wall sockets transferring data to the ship I assumed.
"Bo help me clear the forge over here," he said, pulling a large crate of guns off the circular pedestal, which I assumed was his forge.
I was unsure exactly what I was to do while they cleaned up the area around the forge but Zum answered that for me. "Hey kid it's your armor, help move some of the junk out of the ship, so I have a clear work area," he said with the cadences of a drill sergeant, and instinct took over.
"Sir Yes Sir," I said, moving over to help clean the pathway around the forge.
"Hmm already got military instinct, good," he said, pulling a large crate off the forge and setting it down at the side of the ship. "You know if you told me you had Beskar that needed to be worked, I would clean this up before I got here Bo. Hell would have dug up the hole I hid the family beskar".
"You hid Beskar?" Bo asked as she moved a large sniper rifle off a nearby metal work table.
"What? Do you think I hear that your sister confiscates Beskar and I'm just going to hand the scraps I have hanging about? Nah, hid them in several large caches of Beskar, in case they were needed." He flipped a few buttons and I heard the engine of the ship startup followed by humming from the forge before it started up. "There you go old girl, now let's get to work." he pressed a button and a screen came up mounted on the left wall.
"Hmm, the helmet can stay the same size really only needed to adjust it internally so it could fit snug to your neck, the chest plate's old, but you're too small for that, we okay with flak jacket arrangement till she has fully grown?"
"You are the expert in this, I believe you are the one with the best call?" I said, not sure what exactly he meant.
"Right, New Mando." he hit his chest with his arm, "This is an old plate of Beskar. It is heavy but it will save your ass from direct hits of some more nastier weapon in the galaxy, but you lose some mobility. Bo and most folks prefer flak jacket arrangements or Beskar panels, it depends on who you ask. It is light and preferred as training armor for children since the panel can be popped out and melted down and reworked as you grow."
Nodding my head I said, "Panel arrangement is more than fine, for me."
"Good, we'll go with some light shoulder pads integrated into the jacket, and as for everything else... uh, how much live firefights are you planning to be involved in before you are 16?"
"Hopefully none sir" I responded matter of factly.
"Then won't worry about leg and arm armor, for now. If we're lucky, those parts won't need to be worked until you reach the proper age. If not, well Bo knows how to contact me." Zum pressed a few buttons and the readout changed quickly till a technical readout of what plates should be made and how large in order to best fit me.
"Sounds reasonable," I said, nodding along with what he said. I knew when to let experts take over and do their work.
"Right, now which god?" he said, turning towards me.
"Excuse me?" I said sidetracked by the word god.
"Right, New Mando and not really from Kalevala." he sighed then said "Okay quick run down, in my forge I dedicate armor to ancient gods for good luck, so do you want Kad Ha'rangir God of Rapid Change and Ferocity, Arasuum God of Reliability and Grand Strategy, or Hod Ha'ran God of Tricks and Illusions," he said as he turned to make some final adjustments.
"I would rather not take one really." I began but his point drew an interesting thought to me in my mind so I asked, "Mister Muduuc do you have access to some sort of stealth or illusion tech?"
Zum stopped what he was doing looked at me then smiled "Hod Ha'ran it is then." he said before, he put the metal plates into the forge to heat.
Confused, I looked at Bo to find out if she knew why he avoided the question, Bo, however, was staring drop-jawed at Zum.
Writers note: Alright, what do we got this chapter, Tanya meats her new friend a person blessed with 3 Vs for initial, and then we meet here new south african gun runners… I mean armorer, armorer yes… and she getting her armored adjusted. Don't worry about the AIAT/i filled with guns.
Edited by: Lord Feunoyr, Warmach1ne32
Community edited by:
Community editable doc (Chapter 6) No story suggestions in the community editing document, Keep all story suggestions and comments in the thread
Supporters: Markus
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Trickster god and "an agent of the fickle nature of fortune".
Appropriate, I suppose.
Warmach1ne32
Machine of War and Quests
- Location
- Indonesia
I thought I fixed this. Found a couple more after a 3rd read through.
I was tired of agreeing with her, so I simply nodded my head and hoped she wouldn't notice. Considering that she didn't say anything, I assumed I was in the clear or mother was too busy taking in the sights of the palace. She sure seemed to be living up to the fact that she is going to meet the 'anti-Mandalore'.
I tilled my head a bit confused by the way Tanya had introduced herself before I remembered the manners Mother had forced me to read. Curtsying back though I wasn't really sure if I was supposed to do that every time an introduction happened, I said. "Vai-Viktis Vizla, a pleasure meeting you, Princess."
Tanya chuckled at that comment then said "Please, Tanya is fine, we're both just children, besides if we went around calling anyone with a noble background a princess, half the population of the sector would be related to one Mandalore or another. In fact, if memory serves the Vizla have one as well, Mandalore the Avenger I believe, I am sure you find it odd if I started calling you Princess."
In Tanya's PoV in Concordia, only needed an extra line of spacing to make everything consistent.
Just from the look of it, I would not be surprised that it has also been used as a military compound at some point as I could see what looked like a broken down and beaten up Anti-Aircraft Artillery gun poking out of what looked like a bunker over the main entrances. Judging by the bent barrel I would say it had been knocked out of combat.
The filled landing pad had a very beaten up and old-looking ship. And make no mistake it was a ship not subtle, it even looked like it was meant for water landings with the lower hull vaguely resembling that of some old mariner airplane just with a pair of giant jet engines strapped beneath a pair of shortened wings. Besides that, I noted the craft was painted in two tones blue along the main hull with green covering the over the wing, with purple stripes running along the edges and down its back.
Considering my last life had magic that allowed you to project images you wanted your enemies to see, I did not discount the idea that such an effect could be replicated through technology.
I was tired of agreeing with her, so I simply nodded my head and hoped she wouldn't notice. Considering that she didn't say anything, I assumed I was in the clear or mother was too busy taking in the sights of the palace. She sure seemed to be living up to the fact that she is going to meet the 'anti-Mandalore'.
We walked up to the front door and mother introduced us to the guards, they nodded and called upon the helmet-mounted radio to someone. A minute or two later they nodded and opened the door, one of them leading them further into the building.
A short girl, she was pale and thin-looking like she didn't get enough sun and didn't eat enough. Looking at her sideways should probably blend her into the background. Her bearing made her look very meek and subservient to her guardian sitting close with her shoulder slumped in direction of the duchess.
Presenting a curtsy she said, "Tanya Kryze, I hope we can be good coworkers in our future endeavors."
I tilled my head a bit confused by the way Tanya had introduced herself before I remembered the manners Mother had forced me to read. Curtsying back though I wasn't really sure if I was supposed to do that every time an introduction happened, I said. "Vai-Viktis Vizla, a pleasure meeting you, Princess."
Tanya chuckled at that comment then said "Please, Tanya is fine, we're both just children, besides if we went around calling anyone with a noble background a princess, half the population of the sector would be related to one Mandalore or another. In fact, if memory serves the Vizla have one as well, Mandalore the Avenger I believe, I am sure you find it odd if I started calling you Princess."
"Yes princess, I promise to keep anything you want a secret." It's not like my mission would interfere with keeping secrets, after all.
"Now then let's go somewhere where we can chat till the adults are done. I don't know about you but I find this dress completely ridiculous and I would rather arrange something much less formal." Tanya said walking toward the edge of the garden which looked out onto the capital city.
"Now onto the next subject-" she continued on asking questions and presenting situations. All I could do was wonder what was going on and why was she being so thorough in the discussion of employment? Wait, was mother getting paid for this? Had I been sold as a slave!
In Tanya's PoV in Concordia, only needed an extra line of spacing to make everything consistent.
"We're coming up to our destination, look out the right side towered that red mountain." Looking where Bo inundated I saw the mountain in question, it was, beat up to say least, there was evidence of minor installations up and down the sides of the mountain and I would not be surprised to hear that it was a hollowed-out nest of tunnels.
Just from the look of it, I would not be surprised that it has also been used as a military compound at some point as I could see what looked like a broken down and beaten up Anti-Aircraft Artillery gun poking out of what looked like a bunker over the main entrances. Judging by the bent barrel I would say it had been knocked out of combat.
The ship slowly came down from the sky landing on an open pad along the west side of the mountain facility. I noted there were several other open pads lined up along the west side of the mountain, most are empty except one.
The filled landing pad had a very beaten up and old-looking ship. And make no mistake it was a ship not subtle, it even looked like it was meant for water landings with the lower hull vaguely resembling that of some old mariner airplane just with a pair of giant jet engines strapped beneath a pair of shortened wings. Besides that, I noted the craft was painted in two tones blue along the main hull with green covering the over the wing, with purple stripes running along the edges and down its back.
"I walked, you're just too busy rushing to notice me." I was going to put a doubt on that, though I was still coming to learn of all the features Mandalorian armor could have, something tells me the number of blinking lights would have made him easy to spot if he could be spotted.
Considering my last life had magic that allowed you to project images you wanted your enemies to see, I did not discount the idea that such an effect could be replicated through technology.
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huh strange i have gone through master and fixed up the something but anything that was just spacing issues is not on the master, don't know why but i'll look in to get an update later to fix it here
chapter 7
Chapter 7
708 FNM (30 BBY)
Month 8
Mandalore, Sundari, Sundari Grand Mall
Lagos Rook
"Where'd she GO! Where'd she go! where'd she GO!!!" Came the near hyperventilating voice of Soniee Carid as she held the Laser gun tight to her chest.
"I don't know! She was right here earlier, I swear I had my sights on her," I said as I looked through the scope of the Laser rifle, trying to spot the blond-haired menace.
How did things come to this, last month I had paid for a laser tag match with Tanya and though I heard she had been training with Bo Katan through Korkie I had been not very impressed. She was not aggressive enough and too passive for such a game, and even Soniee had been able to get a few shots on her, during the match.
Victory had been as sweet as the clothing shopping they had done. Finally, Tanya had a cute red dress, and not the bland and boring clothes she usually wears. But she could always have more, so I proposed the same deal this week. And after getting her to buy a blue sundress, she had added that her new friend/ handmaiden, Vai-Viktis Vizla, would also take part in the match. Which meant a little more money out of my wallet but hey she's done so badly, letting her have someone trained to come along sounded reasonable.
That was until the match started. The passiveness was gone, Tanya and her little blond Minion had popped from angles they had not expected multiple times and ambushed them several times. Every time I thought I had a handle on her tactic she would shift it up. There were 20 other kids in this place trying to shoot her and so far she was more scared of the pair of blond menaces that seemed to pop in simply to scare the hell out of her.
"We can't stay here, she's hunting us in particular." I said, standing up from where I had been leaning over the railing with the rifle.
"You should have never forced her into a dress, Lagos. I think she took it personally." Soniee said as she looked over her shoulder downstairs that led to the main floor of the arena.
"You're imagining things, she loved the dress. Most likely she works well with Vai, having an Old Mando like her coaching probably helps her keep her aggression up, this is all luck."
"She's dominating the scoreboard!" Soniee proclaimed pointing at said scoreboards, which after looking, I did note that Tanya and her friend were the two highest-scorers on the other team. There were enough kills on both that they were outright targeting them and only them, they took chances to get kills elsewhere, it would seem.
"That she is, good for her, now let's get moving before she finds us, I would rather surprise her for once and get an easy kill." I said stepping further away, we've been up in this tower for too long anyway, sure I got a lot of 'kills' with this long rifle from up here and was coming in first for our team, even though this tower is a good spot where I could shoot anyone who tried to leave the starting zone.
"Afternoon ladies." came a familiar voice from behind me filled to the brim with malice, raising my hackles, turning slowly I saw Tanya sitting on the banister I had just been leaning on, the short little blond girl was dressed in the dull gray pants and shirt she preferred with a back sensor vest over her chest. She had a wide smile on her face and appeared to be holding something in her left hand as her right held the laser rifle at ready.
'How did she get there?' Was first thought that ran through my mind was that the banister was 10 feet up and it was not like Tanya could fly; the arena didn't rent jetpacks. Looking past her I saw several kids forming a human pyramid. Somehow she organized the kids to work for her, but why when how?
Smiling Tanya said, "It's amazing what you can do when you prove your competence to your fellow Mandalorians is it not? It comes with such wonderful gifts." she tossed something on the ground in front of me. "Goodbye" then rolled back off the railing most likely being caught by her handmaiden and the two other kids that formed that pyramid.
The item bounced a couple of times before it rolled face up showing the timer.
Then went off and I was temporarily blinded by a flash of light, my vest rumbling as it registered my virtual death. Where had she gotten a grenade? Those were expensive as all hell and I didn't pay for one.
Half-blind I stumbled back to the banister and looked down. Giving each other congratulatory slaps on the back were Tanya, Vai, some black-haired boy with glasses, and a girl with white-lekku. Blinking a couple of times I realized Tanya had gotten one of those two to buy that for her or convince them to hand it over. What kinda charisma and battle understanding does that girl have?
"We better get going Lagos, the ref is looking this way," Soniee said, pulling at the sleeve of my shirt.
"Yeah yeah let go." I said, whilst shaking my head. I would get those little menaces back for that flashbang, without breaking my bank. I stepped after Soniee who seemed more relieved now that we weren't actively being hunted.
"Well, I say she made some new friends from this, so that's probably good right?" Soniee said as we walked back to the starting area.
"Yeah yeah, that is a good thing," I said sure I've been handed a defeat but Tanya had talked to and worked with people her own age for a shared goal, which meant she was opening up, right?
Mandalore, Sundari, Sundari Grand Mall
Vai-Viktis Vizla
I admit it I was wrong about the Princess, over the last month, I had expected to have to deal with stupid questions and a lazy girl that would expect me to do everything. Instead, I found her to be generally well taught in a large field of military matters. She asked no questions and the few times I came to her room early, expecting her to be asleep, I found her exercising, so she was not lazy.
And once I got my passport and was allowed to go with her and Bo-Katan, i found her to be a crack shot as well. If Tanya was going through a phase, she was dedicated to that phase to a level I didn't think most Old Mandalorians would be.
Hell, one could say what Tanya was undergoing was a lot closer to Verd'goten, the traditional rite of passage, with Bo-Katan acting as her teacher. I was a year older than her and though I had been trained by my parents, I was under no delusion that I was being tough by Verd'goten standards. Most of my schooling had come from New Mandalorian public education with my parents taking me shooting every now and again with a or two fistfights with other Old Mando kids because "it builds character" as my mother would say.
All things considered, if I was going to be stuck as someone's servant for who knows how long, Tanya was not the worst person to be stuck with. And well, an add-in that she was going to be part of the senatorial delegation to the Republic, well Tanya represented an easy and quick way to get away from Mother. Sure I still have to tell her what Tanya was up to but I could stretch that quite a bit, just keep saying Tanya was a New Mando Girl going through a phase long enough mother would stop asking.
It's not like the movement I was spying for was ever really going to go anywhere, New Mandos was in charge and they probably were going to stay in charge for a good long time.
The only real issue I had with Tanya was her dedication to her training seemed to hold me to her standard, the times I walked in her exercising had ended with me doing a push-up next to her. We'd go to the range, she shares tips and pushes for me to shoot better. I had no doubt when she eventually started close combat training she would not rest till both of us were beaten to the point where we were leaning against each other for support. I like fighting as much as the next Mando, but I also enjoyed my morning sleep which I no longer got because Tanya now checked in on me in the morning and if I was a bit awake, I ended up training with her.
Today had not been one of those days thankfully, today was a weird day frankly in Tanya's schedule. Soniee and Lagos, two of Tanya's brother's friends, had wanted to take her out shopping, no big deal, apparently they had done this before. The thing that got weird was when Duchess Satine had tagged along, she apparently was trying to spend more time with Tanya and decided a shopping trip was a perfect way to do that.
So they spent three hours with other girls and the Duchess picking out dresses and clothing. Tanya had ended up getting a blue sundress and a few other things on Satine's dime. I have even been pushed to pick up a few other civilian clothing before we were done. Then after that, we went to laser tag which had been a lot more fun than the dresses. During that match, I had seen another side of Tanya I had not known she had, a determination to win. She pushed herself and others hard in order to get victory in a simple fun game and managed to organize a couple of other kids to work with her when Lagos had become a spawn-killing bitch.
After that moment, the team worked from their small group with the rest of the team and started listening to her during the match, and as a result, our team had come out with nearly double the kills as the other team.
Tanya had a rather smug smile on her face as we had left the Laser tag area, but the moment we came into sight of Soniee and Lagos, it vanished from her face. She had then gone on to claim it was beginner's luck and she was sure those two would win next time. Something I doubted greatly, Tanya had hunted down some rich kid who rented a bandolier of grenades, lured him into an area where the staff could not see what was happening, and 'convinced' him to hand over one of the grenades or the staff would find him after the game passed out from lack of oxygen.
It had all been very underhanded and showed she was willing to go further than most New Mandalorians when it came to winning simple games. And considering the kid was paying out for battlefield advantages I approved, paying to win had no real honor in it, and those who engaged in it deserved what they got.
I had a feeling Tanya played down her skill so she could have opportunities to win against those two again. Why did she choose those two for the targets of her ire? I suspected the dress was the issue, the more time I spent around her the more I was convinced she was a tomboy trapped in a position where she had to look cute for the cameras.
I would have to broach the subject one of these days to get the real answer from the horse's mouth, but right now at this moment, I wanted to not rock the boat too much. This life was a hell of a lot better than my mother's plan for my future, a lot more fun, and maybe free.
Now that the match was over we were walking across the courtyard towards one of the shops that lined the side, it was a tea and treat shop and we probably would not have headed in there on a normal day. But the two royal guards standing by the entrances to the shop were reminded this was not a normal day.
Following Tanya and the other girls inside, I saw Duchess Satine in plain clothing, not her duchess dress sitting at one of the tables enjoying a cup of tea. By the look of it she had seen us coming as a waitress was setting the round table with a couple of extra cups for us all.
Smiling, the Dutchess waves us over and we all take seats at the table with Tanya sitting across from Satine, me between those two, and Soniee and Lagos across from me next to each other.
"That was a fun time." Lagos said as she checked her hair ribbon.
"Yes, quite entertaining." Tanya said, picking up the cup and sipping it gingerly before smiling.
"Fun?" Soniee scuffed as reached for her drink, her hand shaking, "more like nerve-racking, I swear for the first half of the match we couldn't go five minutes without you two ambushing us."
"Don't be a sore loser Soniee." Lagos said, hitting her shoulder.
"Ow, am not..." She grumbled a bit as she sipped her tea.
"Huh laser tag, I wasn't aware that something like that was so successful. I would have thought I would get complaints about that coming across my desk for being too violent." The duchess said, causing a stir from girls and myself. 'Oh great, we're about to see the death of laser tag.' I thought, shaking my head.
"Oh that's not surprising really," Tanya said, first interpreting the other two who seemed to be having some sort of minor freak out. "The pursuit for peace seemed to have entered a purity spiral and things like that tend to affect high society harder. Laser tag, though pricey, was created for the lower middle class. The people who would complain about it, adults in higher parts of society, are not the target market. Their children most likely are aware of it, but I would assume they keep what exactly they are spending their money on a secret." she said glancing towered Soniee and Lagos.
Soniee looked sheepishly and said "I may not have mentioned exactly what game I was playing here."
Lagos shrugged, "My parents don't care how I entertain myself as long as I stay on budget."
Tanya nodded as if that was what she expected then continued "I imagine you'd find similar stories if you got a cross-section of all the kids who were at the arena. It's really quite shameful when you think about it, the purity spiral is preventing a proper post-war economy from taking shape."
The Duchess nodded her head a bit at the first part then stopped when Tanya continued and then asked "proper post-war economy?"
Tanya seemed to freeze up as she was holding the cup to her lip to take a drink, and I swear I saw her pupils shrink to pinpoints. She held herself there, paused for a moment, her eyes darting to others at the table before she seemed to calm down and ended her rather long sip.
"What I mean to say is the purity spiral has created a situation where all of the past is seen from an angle where we were always the aggressors, and for the most part that is true but there were always moments where we stood on a different side of conflicts. Sometimes our skills in the fighting were used for the better of the galaxy, those moments could be used for uniting, but those moments are ignored, as those who are in favor of the purity spiral want us to be like Naboo or some other planet that did not have our history".
"This in my mind is preventing the creation of a proper post-war economy, one that celebrates the good our people have done with the entertainment industry and creates opportunities for a segment of the society that are having trouble with switching over from a war economy to a peace-based one." Tanya said, putting her cup down on the little dish in front of her as the waitress brought over several types of cookies on a plate.
The duchess leaned back in her chair and sipped her tea, seeming to be thinking on what Tanya said as Soniee spoke up, "What segments of society are having trouble switching over?'
"Well for one, those who spent all their lives fighting for one cause or another. They, for the most part, moved out of Mandalorian space, taking on jobs as mercenaries as they feel they are not welcomed here. Any profits they would make are often lost with them as you can't tax nomads very effectively. Have you been watching that recent holo drama from Coruscant, what was its name again?" Tanya held her chin with her hand as she thought for a moment before she seemed to remember the name. "Right, the Silver Ranger."
"I don't think I have." Soniee said, shaking her head.
Lagos looked at her friend stunned "How have you not seen the Silver Ranger? Have you not seen the pics of Threir Satre shirtless?" causing me to scoff at that. I watch the show too but I was more into the action scenes.
"I have school work to do, Lagos." Soniee said deadpan, causing Lagos to shake her head.
"Were you aware Threir is a Mandalorian from Concord Dawn?" Tanya said, sipping her drink.
"What? No way, Threir is not a Mando name, and he doesn't wear the armor." Lagos said and waved Tanya off as if she thought Tanya was lying.
"Thrik Wron, that is his birth name, he was born on Concord dawn 29 years ago and his family was a member of the True Mandalorian movement. He joined up with the local militia at 13 and after the war, left with his family to find a life away from Mandalore. He somehow ended up on Coruscant, details are a bit low on the fan sites I visited." Tanya stopped noting how everyone was looking at her, then said "I came across that info while looking for Mandalorians in the entertainment industry."
'Wait… hold the comms, was that an excuse?' I thought, noting her cheeks were a bit redder than normal.
"Anyways, the show is a violent action fest, and from what I have been able to dig up, he allows himself to be thrown around a lot more than his fellow actors, claiming that his time in the civil war gave him a greater understanding of his limits. A show like that would never get green-lit on Mandalore because of the purity spiral in high society. And as a result, an unknown number of Thrik Wron's are left with few options, most turning to bounty hunting, and mercenary work.
"Why don't they just join the police force though?" Soniee asked.
"The police aren't hiring in the numbers necessary for a post-war economy. Maybe 1 in 10 former soldiers will take that road, but that's just the young ones, the men and women who have a chance to change their life. The older soldiers aren't wanted by the police as they're a bad long-term investment. They will take their knowledge on how to fight and any other secret that they may know from the civil war era and go elsewhere."
The Duchess looked like she was about to ask a question when a royal guard came in and leaned in to whisper something to her. "Damn." she muttered before turning to us "Look like the council needs some hand-holding, I'm going to have to cut this short." she said standing up, "See you later girls. Oh and Tanya, we need to have a talk when you get home." she said before accepting well wishes from the other and leaving.
"Tanya… are you in trouble?" Lagos asked, looking at her as she nibbled on a cookie.
"No, why would you think that?" she replied putting the cookie down.
"Well you did just say that the New Mandalorian way is a purity spiral." Soniee said matter of factly.
"That is not an issue, I presented a logical argument on the reason why Mandalore is experiencing a drain on her resources, and how to get those Mandalorian resources back. If you present things logically to the Duchess she is more than willing to hear you out." she said with a shrug.
"I don't know about that, I heard stories that she was rather… uncompromising during the clan wars." Soniee said. Looking at me.
"Perhaps but it was a war, and a war footing is not the same peace footing." I said with a shrug. "A lot of clans that sided against Satine were never going to accept her rule even before she joined the New Mandos, and you were only ever going to get them to go along with New Mando style of peace through prolonged force."
"Hmm," Tanya made a thinking noise before she continued, "prolonged force is never truly effective, economic forces, in my mind, would serve us better than attempting to keep people down through force. Give people more opportunities and options but I can see why force would be applied, New Mandos are just Old Mando of a different stripe if you look deeper, they have the same failings in thought processes about war."
"And that failing is?" I asked, my interest peaked.
She looked me dead in the eye and said, "Might makes right, both Old and New believes whoever wields the power is the one in right. When in reality 'right' is whoever can give people the most positive economic options in the long run."
"You have some… weird thoughts Tanya." Lagos said looking at her thoughtfully before she said, "So anyways this fansite of Threir, were there any good pictures of him… you know shirtless."
I snickered as I watched Tanya face go red.
711 FNM (27BBY)
Month 1
Mandalore, Sundari, Royal Palace
Tanya Kryze
13… who would think I have to live through a third 13th birthday, though I have to say this one was fairly less bottle-ridden than my last 13 birthday, so that was an improvement. Though dresses… not so much…
I was standing in front of the mirror as Vai-Viktis helped get this ridiculous outfit on me, oh how I wished I could be anywhere but here. Apparently, it was an ancient Mandalorian custom that a child becomes a warrior when they turn 13, child soldiers were the default. Thank goodness I lived in an age of peace because I had a bad feeling that without magic I would not survive. Though if I survive the embarrassment of this… DRESS… was yet to be seen.
The New Mandalorian had updated this ancient custom the Verd'goten, no longer did it mean you were a warrior, instead, it meant that you are now of age to start taking control of your life. Dating, business opportunities, banking, I could even get a job if I wanted after today. A parent could still advise but was under no obligation to bail their child out if they got themselves in debt. A bit of freedom for most, though for me it was just another day. Sure I would now have opportunities to invest and build for my future going forward, but my path was currently set by my guardian and social norm expecting me to respect the leader of my Clan and my House's wishes. Not that i minded, my current path here has quite a few possible investments possibilities that I could get my hands on by my current road to the Senate.
"Breath in Tanya, it is going to be tight." Vai warned, giving me a moment to take in a breath as the corset-like part of the dress was set. Stang! That was something new, I never had to deal with a corset in my last life, I used my military uniform the few times I had been forced to go to any formal events that might require dressing up, such excuses were lost to me now.
The dress was painfully noble, the only element I had really in the design process was color choices, but otherwise, it was prepared by some madwomen who made the Duchess' dresses for her. The majority of the dress was light green from my hips to just above my ankles in the back and my shins in the front. Apparently the current fad was to have the dress flare out a bit more at the hips while showing off a little leg so I was walking with a lot of fabric. Along the lower edges of the dress were several diamonds or iron hearts in bronze, and from the shins down people would be able to see white stockings and black shoes that had a bit of heel.
The core of the dress was dark green with several cubic flourishes in bronze running along seam lines with another iron heart located over the center of my chest. The shoulders of the dress had been made from some puffy material that made me feel like I was walking around with pauldrons. And then there were the bows, at the small of my back sat a massive green and bronze bow. It served two purposes: it hid several strings that needed to be tightened so the dress fit properly and it "looked cute" according to the dressmaker herself.
I might not have as much problem with the bow… if they were not part of a set. Two smaller bows came with it, the first was meant for my hair to help it stay in a ponytail I thought… till I found out that the second bow went at the end of my hair.
The dressmaker had told me I needed to grow my hair out past my shoulder blades for the "proper affect". And being that The Duchess was paying good money for this thing I could not really say no without risking insulting her. So over the last year, I let my hair grow out for this event and was forced to let Vai put in a braid for me. I looked and felt like a knock-off magical girl. Though I would have the last laugh it would seem when it came to bows. About six months ago my hair had started to go to Auburn, by now my hair was an interesting mix of yellow and red and the trend was definitely heading to Auburn.
I was unfamiliar with genetics at the best of times, adding that a large amount of what I would consider alien in this galaxy was from what I dug up looking in genetics. With the many subspecies of humans, my chances of figuring out genetics now were not great. So why my hair color was shifting, I had no idea, but the fact the bow had been designed with color balances of blond, was a satisfying victory in my book.
"There, I think it's good," Vai said as she finished tightening the string hidden by the bow.
Breathing out I turned and said, "Thank you Vai, do you need me to check your dress?" I offered.
"I think I'm good," She said with a smile, her dress, besides favoring blues, to my great dismay was less complex. No bow, no corset-like section, or anything of the such. I would have to ask how she managed that with the mad seamstress when I got the chance. Though perhaps it was just down to position, she was meant to be handmaiden, perhaps ease of use had been considered in her dress and not in mine.
Vai has proven herself a competent aid, as one of the older Mandalorian clans she didn't need much more additional training when it came to fighting, and she quickly met my standard of practice for self-defense. She had also proven to be faithful enough, she came with me on Bo's training missions so she had seen the armor I had been using for my training, and Vai had never reported it to Satine. So she won herself a great deal of trust. It would seem that flight of fancy on why I had chosen her was turning out to be a good move.
Really, picking a girl with V in her name just because my last adjutant had turned out to be one of my most reliable and effective employees I had in both lives was a foolish thing, but I had had a good feeling about it at the time. Though I will admit one of the original purposes of me having a handmaid around me was so I could switch out with her in an emergency was unlikely to work now due to the hair color change. I wasn't about to send her away solely for that reason. I put too much work in to make sure she could fight and pass for me, and she showed her loyalty in keeping secrets. Those factors kept this from being a sunk cost fallacy that needed to be dealt with. If I did end up needing her for that original purpose, hair dyes were not that expensive and could be dealt with as needed.
Smiling, I turned towards the door and muttered, "Well time to get this over with." Just down the hall, my 13th birthday party was going on. I would have to deal with who knows how many clans trying to get their sons to get my favor, a nightmare. But one I would have to start dealing with in the future. Hopefully, I would not have many parties like this to deal with when I would meet the Senators because I felt ridiculous enough just attending this one party. But that is future Tanya's problem, today I just had to survive this party.
Taking a deep breath I walked to the door and opened it.
Concordia, Bo-Katan Training ground
Tanya Kryze
"Ahaha Tanya you looked ridiculous yesterday." Bo chuckled as she sat across from me on a bench leaning back. We were inside an old hollowed-out mountain mining center turned training camp.
I was not one to let time pass without getting the most use out of it, so even though I have been through social hell yesterday, I was not going to skip out on Bo's training today. As a result, I was sitting inside the area we designated as the armory for our training equipment. I had hoped to forget about yesterday, and that I would be able to relax with some simple training.
Instead, I was being reminded of yesterday for literal giggles. "How did you see the dress when you didn't even come to the party?" I asked as fastened safety knee pads to my leg.
"Oh Satine had pictures taken of you, sent them along, wanted to show you off I guess." She mussed.
"Well it is her right I guess, she did pay for the dress." I said, turning from her to open the old miner locker I had been using to stash my armor. Without much fanfare, I pulled on the plate-covered flak jacket, feeling somewhat more secure to have a layer of Beskar over my chest. The paint job on this set was all my own, if this armor was meant for combat I would sprung for optical paints so I could better blend into any environment I found myself in, but it was not. This was simply meant to take a hit in case someone tried to assassinate me, and to have a place for a jet pack when I finally got a chance to own one. So I sprung for shades of green, no bronze though, I liked that enough for my civilian garb but it also marked me either as someone who thought their actions were noble or were a noble. So going for just green, dark green, and light green made me look like any other Mandalorian. Not sticking out is a useful thing for such armor.
After finishing pulling some straps into place, I turned to the right seeing that Vai was just finishing her final steps. She favored blue on the color spectrum I noted, if it was just the color she liked or if she was using the Mandalorian color theory I never really bothered to ask. It wasn't important so I let that be.
Turning around, I expected to see Bo ready a pair of practice blasters, instead she left the bench she was sitting on and walked into the center of the room. She reached under a central table that we used for weapon cleaning and maintenance and pulled out three cups and a bottle.
Without saying much she put the cups down and poured something clear into each cup. She said, "Alright girls come here, I got something special today." I started walking towards her although Vai seemed a bit shocked and did not move. "You and Vai worked your ass off enough for this, even though it's a year late from what I heard." Once Vai and I were standing at the table, Bo slid the two extra glasses to us.
"Tanya I assume you're familiar with Verd'goten?" Bo asked as she held up the cup in her hand to look through the clear liquid.
"It's the day Mandalorian comes of age, of course," I said holding up the glass she passed my way looking into it with a crooked eyebrow.
"And what does that mean for Non-New Mandalorians?" Bo asked.
"It means they are ready to be trusted to fight by their parent's or guardian's side," I responded, starting to smile, as I realized what was in the cup.
"And the way you show that you feel your charge is ready is to share a drink with them." Bo said as she held up the cup. "Now when I came of age, we were all using Mando laws so that didn't matter, but now we're using the Republic age practices for drinking. So we can't go too heavy on the drinks, plus I have another gift to give you too. I'm pretty sure Satine would kill me if I gave you more than this little taste and ended up breaking your backs, so enjoy a little sip with me. I got this from a trader from Ordo last year and their stuff is pretty good in my opinion."
I held up the cup and so did Vai, then all three of us drank the brew… it was just a sip, but it hit a spot I have not filled in 13 years, and probably would not be able to fill for another five to eight. So I savored the taste as it went down.
"STARS! This stuff is great!" Vai said, looking down at her cup.
"Ordo makes a good drink, they do a lot of weird things there but I will not complain about the results." Bo said as she walked around the table to get our glasses from our hands then moved to stash the bottle under the table again.
"Now go open those lockers at the end over there." She pointed to a set of lockers by the door that led outside to landing pads. I looked at Vai as she looked at me. We both shrugged and walked over to the lockers popping them open with no issues.
"No way." Vai said, seeing an unpainted jet pack lying against the locker wall. I had a much more reserved look on my face but I was no less intrigued by my own jet pack laying inside of the locker.
I have had few training flights by this point, but always in the safety of ranges specially built for their purposes on Sundari, and they ended up being more like those indoor skydiving places than actual flights. I took a moment to try to think of the proper way to say this. With this jet pack, I would finally be able to live back my days as an Aerial mage, at least the flying part. That segment of my life was the best part of my time in the military. Being able to dance through the sky was freeing like nothing else. Finally, I selected the proper word to convey how I felt. Turning to Bo with a smile, I said, "This is Wizard Aunt Bo!" The smile I got back in return was proof enough I chose correctly.
Writers note: And thus tanya ages 3 years in chapter, said i start spreading up and here where it starts, to add to this we also have a nice little story hear the tope that' I'm sure has no big meaning, bit discussion about here fashion since near the end. And I'm sure no one will spot something that have them sit straight up and go Hey Wait a moment… especially since I hinted at that possibility in the last chapter.
I tried doing a couple of experimental things in this chapter pushing to see what folk would like to see, make sure to let me know what you all liked so I know what people thought. Rember folk's comments help me figure out what the hell I'm doing.
Fan Art provided my Maryon
Edited by: Lord Feunoyr, Warmach1ne32
Community edited by: Kangaroo, Kayne
Community editable doc (Chapter 7) No story suggestions in the community editing document, Keep all story suggestions and comments in the thread
Supporters: Markus
708 FNM (30 BBY)
Month 8
Mandalore, Sundari, Sundari Grand Mall
Lagos Rook
"Where'd she GO! Where'd she go! where'd she GO!!!" Came the near hyperventilating voice of Soniee Carid as she held the Laser gun tight to her chest.
"I don't know! She was right here earlier, I swear I had my sights on her," I said as I looked through the scope of the Laser rifle, trying to spot the blond-haired menace.
How did things come to this, last month I had paid for a laser tag match with Tanya and though I heard she had been training with Bo Katan through Korkie I had been not very impressed. She was not aggressive enough and too passive for such a game, and even Soniee had been able to get a few shots on her, during the match.
Victory had been as sweet as the clothing shopping they had done. Finally, Tanya had a cute red dress, and not the bland and boring clothes she usually wears. But she could always have more, so I proposed the same deal this week. And after getting her to buy a blue sundress, she had added that her new friend/ handmaiden, Vai-Viktis Vizla, would also take part in the match. Which meant a little more money out of my wallet but hey she's done so badly, letting her have someone trained to come along sounded reasonable.
That was until the match started. The passiveness was gone, Tanya and her little blond Minion had popped from angles they had not expected multiple times and ambushed them several times. Every time I thought I had a handle on her tactic she would shift it up. There were 20 other kids in this place trying to shoot her and so far she was more scared of the pair of blond menaces that seemed to pop in simply to scare the hell out of her.
"We can't stay here, she's hunting us in particular." I said, standing up from where I had been leaning over the railing with the rifle.
"You should have never forced her into a dress, Lagos. I think she took it personally." Soniee said as she looked over her shoulder downstairs that led to the main floor of the arena.
"You're imagining things, she loved the dress. Most likely she works well with Vai, having an Old Mando like her coaching probably helps her keep her aggression up, this is all luck."
"She's dominating the scoreboard!" Soniee proclaimed pointing at said scoreboards, which after looking, I did note that Tanya and her friend were the two highest-scorers on the other team. There were enough kills on both that they were outright targeting them and only them, they took chances to get kills elsewhere, it would seem.
"That she is, good for her, now let's get moving before she finds us, I would rather surprise her for once and get an easy kill." I said stepping further away, we've been up in this tower for too long anyway, sure I got a lot of 'kills' with this long rifle from up here and was coming in first for our team, even though this tower is a good spot where I could shoot anyone who tried to leave the starting zone.
"Afternoon ladies." came a familiar voice from behind me filled to the brim with malice, raising my hackles, turning slowly I saw Tanya sitting on the banister I had just been leaning on, the short little blond girl was dressed in the dull gray pants and shirt she preferred with a back sensor vest over her chest. She had a wide smile on her face and appeared to be holding something in her left hand as her right held the laser rifle at ready.
'How did she get there?' Was first thought that ran through my mind was that the banister was 10 feet up and it was not like Tanya could fly; the arena didn't rent jetpacks. Looking past her I saw several kids forming a human pyramid. Somehow she organized the kids to work for her, but why when how?
Smiling Tanya said, "It's amazing what you can do when you prove your competence to your fellow Mandalorians is it not? It comes with such wonderful gifts." she tossed something on the ground in front of me. "Goodbye" then rolled back off the railing most likely being caught by her handmaiden and the two other kids that formed that pyramid.
The item bounced a couple of times before it rolled face up showing the timer.
Then went off and I was temporarily blinded by a flash of light, my vest rumbling as it registered my virtual death. Where had she gotten a grenade? Those were expensive as all hell and I didn't pay for one.
Half-blind I stumbled back to the banister and looked down. Giving each other congratulatory slaps on the back were Tanya, Vai, some black-haired boy with glasses, and a girl with white-lekku. Blinking a couple of times I realized Tanya had gotten one of those two to buy that for her or convince them to hand it over. What kinda charisma and battle understanding does that girl have?
"We better get going Lagos, the ref is looking this way," Soniee said, pulling at the sleeve of my shirt.
"Yeah yeah let go." I said, whilst shaking my head. I would get those little menaces back for that flashbang, without breaking my bank. I stepped after Soniee who seemed more relieved now that we weren't actively being hunted.
"Well, I say she made some new friends from this, so that's probably good right?" Soniee said as we walked back to the starting area.
"Yeah yeah, that is a good thing," I said sure I've been handed a defeat but Tanya had talked to and worked with people her own age for a shared goal, which meant she was opening up, right?
Mandalore, Sundari, Sundari Grand Mall
Vai-Viktis Vizla
I admit it I was wrong about the Princess, over the last month, I had expected to have to deal with stupid questions and a lazy girl that would expect me to do everything. Instead, I found her to be generally well taught in a large field of military matters. She asked no questions and the few times I came to her room early, expecting her to be asleep, I found her exercising, so she was not lazy.
And once I got my passport and was allowed to go with her and Bo-Katan, i found her to be a crack shot as well. If Tanya was going through a phase, she was dedicated to that phase to a level I didn't think most Old Mandalorians would be.
Hell, one could say what Tanya was undergoing was a lot closer to Verd'goten, the traditional rite of passage, with Bo-Katan acting as her teacher. I was a year older than her and though I had been trained by my parents, I was under no delusion that I was being tough by Verd'goten standards. Most of my schooling had come from New Mandalorian public education with my parents taking me shooting every now and again with a or two fistfights with other Old Mando kids because "it builds character" as my mother would say.
All things considered, if I was going to be stuck as someone's servant for who knows how long, Tanya was not the worst person to be stuck with. And well, an add-in that she was going to be part of the senatorial delegation to the Republic, well Tanya represented an easy and quick way to get away from Mother. Sure I still have to tell her what Tanya was up to but I could stretch that quite a bit, just keep saying Tanya was a New Mando Girl going through a phase long enough mother would stop asking.
It's not like the movement I was spying for was ever really going to go anywhere, New Mandos was in charge and they probably were going to stay in charge for a good long time.
The only real issue I had with Tanya was her dedication to her training seemed to hold me to her standard, the times I walked in her exercising had ended with me doing a push-up next to her. We'd go to the range, she shares tips and pushes for me to shoot better. I had no doubt when she eventually started close combat training she would not rest till both of us were beaten to the point where we were leaning against each other for support. I like fighting as much as the next Mando, but I also enjoyed my morning sleep which I no longer got because Tanya now checked in on me in the morning and if I was a bit awake, I ended up training with her.
Today had not been one of those days thankfully, today was a weird day frankly in Tanya's schedule. Soniee and Lagos, two of Tanya's brother's friends, had wanted to take her out shopping, no big deal, apparently they had done this before. The thing that got weird was when Duchess Satine had tagged along, she apparently was trying to spend more time with Tanya and decided a shopping trip was a perfect way to do that.
So they spent three hours with other girls and the Duchess picking out dresses and clothing. Tanya had ended up getting a blue sundress and a few other things on Satine's dime. I have even been pushed to pick up a few other civilian clothing before we were done. Then after that, we went to laser tag which had been a lot more fun than the dresses. During that match, I had seen another side of Tanya I had not known she had, a determination to win. She pushed herself and others hard in order to get victory in a simple fun game and managed to organize a couple of other kids to work with her when Lagos had become a spawn-killing bitch.
After that moment, the team worked from their small group with the rest of the team and started listening to her during the match, and as a result, our team had come out with nearly double the kills as the other team.
Tanya had a rather smug smile on her face as we had left the Laser tag area, but the moment we came into sight of Soniee and Lagos, it vanished from her face. She had then gone on to claim it was beginner's luck and she was sure those two would win next time. Something I doubted greatly, Tanya had hunted down some rich kid who rented a bandolier of grenades, lured him into an area where the staff could not see what was happening, and 'convinced' him to hand over one of the grenades or the staff would find him after the game passed out from lack of oxygen.
It had all been very underhanded and showed she was willing to go further than most New Mandalorians when it came to winning simple games. And considering the kid was paying out for battlefield advantages I approved, paying to win had no real honor in it, and those who engaged in it deserved what they got.
I had a feeling Tanya played down her skill so she could have opportunities to win against those two again. Why did she choose those two for the targets of her ire? I suspected the dress was the issue, the more time I spent around her the more I was convinced she was a tomboy trapped in a position where she had to look cute for the cameras.
I would have to broach the subject one of these days to get the real answer from the horse's mouth, but right now at this moment, I wanted to not rock the boat too much. This life was a hell of a lot better than my mother's plan for my future, a lot more fun, and maybe free.
Now that the match was over we were walking across the courtyard towards one of the shops that lined the side, it was a tea and treat shop and we probably would not have headed in there on a normal day. But the two royal guards standing by the entrances to the shop were reminded this was not a normal day.
Following Tanya and the other girls inside, I saw Duchess Satine in plain clothing, not her duchess dress sitting at one of the tables enjoying a cup of tea. By the look of it she had seen us coming as a waitress was setting the round table with a couple of extra cups for us all.
Smiling, the Dutchess waves us over and we all take seats at the table with Tanya sitting across from Satine, me between those two, and Soniee and Lagos across from me next to each other.
"That was a fun time." Lagos said as she checked her hair ribbon.
"Yes, quite entertaining." Tanya said, picking up the cup and sipping it gingerly before smiling.
"Fun?" Soniee scuffed as reached for her drink, her hand shaking, "more like nerve-racking, I swear for the first half of the match we couldn't go five minutes without you two ambushing us."
"Don't be a sore loser Soniee." Lagos said, hitting her shoulder.
"Ow, am not..." She grumbled a bit as she sipped her tea.
"Huh laser tag, I wasn't aware that something like that was so successful. I would have thought I would get complaints about that coming across my desk for being too violent." The duchess said, causing a stir from girls and myself. 'Oh great, we're about to see the death of laser tag.' I thought, shaking my head.
"Oh that's not surprising really," Tanya said, first interpreting the other two who seemed to be having some sort of minor freak out. "The pursuit for peace seemed to have entered a purity spiral and things like that tend to affect high society harder. Laser tag, though pricey, was created for the lower middle class. The people who would complain about it, adults in higher parts of society, are not the target market. Their children most likely are aware of it, but I would assume they keep what exactly they are spending their money on a secret." she said glancing towered Soniee and Lagos.
Soniee looked sheepishly and said "I may not have mentioned exactly what game I was playing here."
Lagos shrugged, "My parents don't care how I entertain myself as long as I stay on budget."
Tanya nodded as if that was what she expected then continued "I imagine you'd find similar stories if you got a cross-section of all the kids who were at the arena. It's really quite shameful when you think about it, the purity spiral is preventing a proper post-war economy from taking shape."
The Duchess nodded her head a bit at the first part then stopped when Tanya continued and then asked "proper post-war economy?"
Tanya seemed to freeze up as she was holding the cup to her lip to take a drink, and I swear I saw her pupils shrink to pinpoints. She held herself there, paused for a moment, her eyes darting to others at the table before she seemed to calm down and ended her rather long sip.
"What I mean to say is the purity spiral has created a situation where all of the past is seen from an angle where we were always the aggressors, and for the most part that is true but there were always moments where we stood on a different side of conflicts. Sometimes our skills in the fighting were used for the better of the galaxy, those moments could be used for uniting, but those moments are ignored, as those who are in favor of the purity spiral want us to be like Naboo or some other planet that did not have our history".
"This in my mind is preventing the creation of a proper post-war economy, one that celebrates the good our people have done with the entertainment industry and creates opportunities for a segment of the society that are having trouble with switching over from a war economy to a peace-based one." Tanya said, putting her cup down on the little dish in front of her as the waitress brought over several types of cookies on a plate.
The duchess leaned back in her chair and sipped her tea, seeming to be thinking on what Tanya said as Soniee spoke up, "What segments of society are having trouble switching over?'
"Well for one, those who spent all their lives fighting for one cause or another. They, for the most part, moved out of Mandalorian space, taking on jobs as mercenaries as they feel they are not welcomed here. Any profits they would make are often lost with them as you can't tax nomads very effectively. Have you been watching that recent holo drama from Coruscant, what was its name again?" Tanya held her chin with her hand as she thought for a moment before she seemed to remember the name. "Right, the Silver Ranger."
"I don't think I have." Soniee said, shaking her head.
Lagos looked at her friend stunned "How have you not seen the Silver Ranger? Have you not seen the pics of Threir Satre shirtless?" causing me to scoff at that. I watch the show too but I was more into the action scenes.
"I have school work to do, Lagos." Soniee said deadpan, causing Lagos to shake her head.
"Were you aware Threir is a Mandalorian from Concord Dawn?" Tanya said, sipping her drink.
"What? No way, Threir is not a Mando name, and he doesn't wear the armor." Lagos said and waved Tanya off as if she thought Tanya was lying.
"Thrik Wron, that is his birth name, he was born on Concord dawn 29 years ago and his family was a member of the True Mandalorian movement. He joined up with the local militia at 13 and after the war, left with his family to find a life away from Mandalore. He somehow ended up on Coruscant, details are a bit low on the fan sites I visited." Tanya stopped noting how everyone was looking at her, then said "I came across that info while looking for Mandalorians in the entertainment industry."
'Wait… hold the comms, was that an excuse?' I thought, noting her cheeks were a bit redder than normal.
"Anyways, the show is a violent action fest, and from what I have been able to dig up, he allows himself to be thrown around a lot more than his fellow actors, claiming that his time in the civil war gave him a greater understanding of his limits. A show like that would never get green-lit on Mandalore because of the purity spiral in high society. And as a result, an unknown number of Thrik Wron's are left with few options, most turning to bounty hunting, and mercenary work.
"Why don't they just join the police force though?" Soniee asked.
"The police aren't hiring in the numbers necessary for a post-war economy. Maybe 1 in 10 former soldiers will take that road, but that's just the young ones, the men and women who have a chance to change their life. The older soldiers aren't wanted by the police as they're a bad long-term investment. They will take their knowledge on how to fight and any other secret that they may know from the civil war era and go elsewhere."
The Duchess looked like she was about to ask a question when a royal guard came in and leaned in to whisper something to her. "Damn." she muttered before turning to us "Look like the council needs some hand-holding, I'm going to have to cut this short." she said standing up, "See you later girls. Oh and Tanya, we need to have a talk when you get home." she said before accepting well wishes from the other and leaving.
"Tanya… are you in trouble?" Lagos asked, looking at her as she nibbled on a cookie.
"No, why would you think that?" she replied putting the cookie down.
"Well you did just say that the New Mandalorian way is a purity spiral." Soniee said matter of factly.
"That is not an issue, I presented a logical argument on the reason why Mandalore is experiencing a drain on her resources, and how to get those Mandalorian resources back. If you present things logically to the Duchess she is more than willing to hear you out." she said with a shrug.
"I don't know about that, I heard stories that she was rather… uncompromising during the clan wars." Soniee said. Looking at me.
"Perhaps but it was a war, and a war footing is not the same peace footing." I said with a shrug. "A lot of clans that sided against Satine were never going to accept her rule even before she joined the New Mandos, and you were only ever going to get them to go along with New Mando style of peace through prolonged force."
"Hmm," Tanya made a thinking noise before she continued, "prolonged force is never truly effective, economic forces, in my mind, would serve us better than attempting to keep people down through force. Give people more opportunities and options but I can see why force would be applied, New Mandos are just Old Mando of a different stripe if you look deeper, they have the same failings in thought processes about war."
"And that failing is?" I asked, my interest peaked.
She looked me dead in the eye and said, "Might makes right, both Old and New believes whoever wields the power is the one in right. When in reality 'right' is whoever can give people the most positive economic options in the long run."
"You have some… weird thoughts Tanya." Lagos said looking at her thoughtfully before she said, "So anyways this fansite of Threir, were there any good pictures of him… you know shirtless."
I snickered as I watched Tanya face go red.
711 FNM (27BBY)
Month 1
Mandalore, Sundari, Royal Palace
Tanya Kryze
13… who would think I have to live through a third 13th birthday, though I have to say this one was fairly less bottle-ridden than my last 13 birthday, so that was an improvement. Though dresses… not so much…
I was standing in front of the mirror as Vai-Viktis helped get this ridiculous outfit on me, oh how I wished I could be anywhere but here. Apparently, it was an ancient Mandalorian custom that a child becomes a warrior when they turn 13, child soldiers were the default. Thank goodness I lived in an age of peace because I had a bad feeling that without magic I would not survive. Though if I survive the embarrassment of this… DRESS… was yet to be seen.
The New Mandalorian had updated this ancient custom the Verd'goten, no longer did it mean you were a warrior, instead, it meant that you are now of age to start taking control of your life. Dating, business opportunities, banking, I could even get a job if I wanted after today. A parent could still advise but was under no obligation to bail their child out if they got themselves in debt. A bit of freedom for most, though for me it was just another day. Sure I would now have opportunities to invest and build for my future going forward, but my path was currently set by my guardian and social norm expecting me to respect the leader of my Clan and my House's wishes. Not that i minded, my current path here has quite a few possible investments possibilities that I could get my hands on by my current road to the Senate.
"Breath in Tanya, it is going to be tight." Vai warned, giving me a moment to take in a breath as the corset-like part of the dress was set. Stang! That was something new, I never had to deal with a corset in my last life, I used my military uniform the few times I had been forced to go to any formal events that might require dressing up, such excuses were lost to me now.
The dress was painfully noble, the only element I had really in the design process was color choices, but otherwise, it was prepared by some madwomen who made the Duchess' dresses for her. The majority of the dress was light green from my hips to just above my ankles in the back and my shins in the front. Apparently the current fad was to have the dress flare out a bit more at the hips while showing off a little leg so I was walking with a lot of fabric. Along the lower edges of the dress were several diamonds or iron hearts in bronze, and from the shins down people would be able to see white stockings and black shoes that had a bit of heel.
The core of the dress was dark green with several cubic flourishes in bronze running along seam lines with another iron heart located over the center of my chest. The shoulders of the dress had been made from some puffy material that made me feel like I was walking around with pauldrons. And then there were the bows, at the small of my back sat a massive green and bronze bow. It served two purposes: it hid several strings that needed to be tightened so the dress fit properly and it "looked cute" according to the dressmaker herself.
I might not have as much problem with the bow… if they were not part of a set. Two smaller bows came with it, the first was meant for my hair to help it stay in a ponytail I thought… till I found out that the second bow went at the end of my hair.
The dressmaker had told me I needed to grow my hair out past my shoulder blades for the "proper affect". And being that The Duchess was paying good money for this thing I could not really say no without risking insulting her. So over the last year, I let my hair grow out for this event and was forced to let Vai put in a braid for me. I looked and felt like a knock-off magical girl. Though I would have the last laugh it would seem when it came to bows. About six months ago my hair had started to go to Auburn, by now my hair was an interesting mix of yellow and red and the trend was definitely heading to Auburn.
I was unfamiliar with genetics at the best of times, adding that a large amount of what I would consider alien in this galaxy was from what I dug up looking in genetics. With the many subspecies of humans, my chances of figuring out genetics now were not great. So why my hair color was shifting, I had no idea, but the fact the bow had been designed with color balances of blond, was a satisfying victory in my book.
"There, I think it's good," Vai said as she finished tightening the string hidden by the bow.
Breathing out I turned and said, "Thank you Vai, do you need me to check your dress?" I offered.
"I think I'm good," She said with a smile, her dress, besides favoring blues, to my great dismay was less complex. No bow, no corset-like section, or anything of the such. I would have to ask how she managed that with the mad seamstress when I got the chance. Though perhaps it was just down to position, she was meant to be handmaiden, perhaps ease of use had been considered in her dress and not in mine.
Vai has proven herself a competent aid, as one of the older Mandalorian clans she didn't need much more additional training when it came to fighting, and she quickly met my standard of practice for self-defense. She had also proven to be faithful enough, she came with me on Bo's training missions so she had seen the armor I had been using for my training, and Vai had never reported it to Satine. So she won herself a great deal of trust. It would seem that flight of fancy on why I had chosen her was turning out to be a good move.
Really, picking a girl with V in her name just because my last adjutant had turned out to be one of my most reliable and effective employees I had in both lives was a foolish thing, but I had had a good feeling about it at the time. Though I will admit one of the original purposes of me having a handmaid around me was so I could switch out with her in an emergency was unlikely to work now due to the hair color change. I wasn't about to send her away solely for that reason. I put too much work in to make sure she could fight and pass for me, and she showed her loyalty in keeping secrets. Those factors kept this from being a sunk cost fallacy that needed to be dealt with. If I did end up needing her for that original purpose, hair dyes were not that expensive and could be dealt with as needed.
Smiling, I turned towards the door and muttered, "Well time to get this over with." Just down the hall, my 13th birthday party was going on. I would have to deal with who knows how many clans trying to get their sons to get my favor, a nightmare. But one I would have to start dealing with in the future. Hopefully, I would not have many parties like this to deal with when I would meet the Senators because I felt ridiculous enough just attending this one party. But that is future Tanya's problem, today I just had to survive this party.
Taking a deep breath I walked to the door and opened it.
Concordia, Bo-Katan Training ground
Tanya Kryze
"Ahaha Tanya you looked ridiculous yesterday." Bo chuckled as she sat across from me on a bench leaning back. We were inside an old hollowed-out mountain mining center turned training camp.
I was not one to let time pass without getting the most use out of it, so even though I have been through social hell yesterday, I was not going to skip out on Bo's training today. As a result, I was sitting inside the area we designated as the armory for our training equipment. I had hoped to forget about yesterday, and that I would be able to relax with some simple training.
Instead, I was being reminded of yesterday for literal giggles. "How did you see the dress when you didn't even come to the party?" I asked as fastened safety knee pads to my leg.
"Oh Satine had pictures taken of you, sent them along, wanted to show you off I guess." She mussed.
"Well it is her right I guess, she did pay for the dress." I said, turning from her to open the old miner locker I had been using to stash my armor. Without much fanfare, I pulled on the plate-covered flak jacket, feeling somewhat more secure to have a layer of Beskar over my chest. The paint job on this set was all my own, if this armor was meant for combat I would sprung for optical paints so I could better blend into any environment I found myself in, but it was not. This was simply meant to take a hit in case someone tried to assassinate me, and to have a place for a jet pack when I finally got a chance to own one. So I sprung for shades of green, no bronze though, I liked that enough for my civilian garb but it also marked me either as someone who thought their actions were noble or were a noble. So going for just green, dark green, and light green made me look like any other Mandalorian. Not sticking out is a useful thing for such armor.
After finishing pulling some straps into place, I turned to the right seeing that Vai was just finishing her final steps. She favored blue on the color spectrum I noted, if it was just the color she liked or if she was using the Mandalorian color theory I never really bothered to ask. It wasn't important so I let that be.
Turning around, I expected to see Bo ready a pair of practice blasters, instead she left the bench she was sitting on and walked into the center of the room. She reached under a central table that we used for weapon cleaning and maintenance and pulled out three cups and a bottle.
Without saying much she put the cups down and poured something clear into each cup. She said, "Alright girls come here, I got something special today." I started walking towards her although Vai seemed a bit shocked and did not move. "You and Vai worked your ass off enough for this, even though it's a year late from what I heard." Once Vai and I were standing at the table, Bo slid the two extra glasses to us.
"Tanya I assume you're familiar with Verd'goten?" Bo asked as she held up the cup in her hand to look through the clear liquid.
"It's the day Mandalorian comes of age, of course," I said holding up the glass she passed my way looking into it with a crooked eyebrow.
"And what does that mean for Non-New Mandalorians?" Bo asked.
"It means they are ready to be trusted to fight by their parent's or guardian's side," I responded, starting to smile, as I realized what was in the cup.
"And the way you show that you feel your charge is ready is to share a drink with them." Bo said as she held up the cup. "Now when I came of age, we were all using Mando laws so that didn't matter, but now we're using the Republic age practices for drinking. So we can't go too heavy on the drinks, plus I have another gift to give you too. I'm pretty sure Satine would kill me if I gave you more than this little taste and ended up breaking your backs, so enjoy a little sip with me. I got this from a trader from Ordo last year and their stuff is pretty good in my opinion."
I held up the cup and so did Vai, then all three of us drank the brew… it was just a sip, but it hit a spot I have not filled in 13 years, and probably would not be able to fill for another five to eight. So I savored the taste as it went down.
"STARS! This stuff is great!" Vai said, looking down at her cup.
"Ordo makes a good drink, they do a lot of weird things there but I will not complain about the results." Bo said as she walked around the table to get our glasses from our hands then moved to stash the bottle under the table again.
"Now go open those lockers at the end over there." She pointed to a set of lockers by the door that led outside to landing pads. I looked at Vai as she looked at me. We both shrugged and walked over to the lockers popping them open with no issues.
"No way." Vai said, seeing an unpainted jet pack lying against the locker wall. I had a much more reserved look on my face but I was no less intrigued by my own jet pack laying inside of the locker.
I have had few training flights by this point, but always in the safety of ranges specially built for their purposes on Sundari, and they ended up being more like those indoor skydiving places than actual flights. I took a moment to try to think of the proper way to say this. With this jet pack, I would finally be able to live back my days as an Aerial mage, at least the flying part. That segment of my life was the best part of my time in the military. Being able to dance through the sky was freeing like nothing else. Finally, I selected the proper word to convey how I felt. Turning to Bo with a smile, I said, "This is Wizard Aunt Bo!" The smile I got back in return was proof enough I chose correctly.
Writers note: And thus tanya ages 3 years in chapter, said i start spreading up and here where it starts, to add to this we also have a nice little story hear the tope that' I'm sure has no big meaning, bit discussion about here fashion since near the end. And I'm sure no one will spot something that have them sit straight up and go Hey Wait a moment… especially since I hinted at that possibility in the last chapter.
I tried doing a couple of experimental things in this chapter pushing to see what folk would like to see, make sure to let me know what you all liked so I know what people thought. Rember folk's comments help me figure out what the hell I'm doing.
Fan Art provided my Maryon
Edited by: Lord Feunoyr, Warmach1ne32
Community edited by: Kangaroo, Kayne
Community editable doc (Chapter 7) No story suggestions in the community editing document, Keep all story suggestions and comments in the thread
Supporters: Markus
Last edited:
well shit, fixed it on the main document next time I go thrue and update stuff it be fixed here.
Chapter 8
Chapter's 8
711 FNM (27BBY)
Month 1
Mandalore, Sundari, Royal Palace
Satine Kryze
I smiled as I watched Tanya from a distance interacting with others her own age. It was her 13th birthday and though it didn't have as much meaning as it did with the Old Mandalorians, it was still a special day. And the dress I had commissioned for her looked gorgeous on her.
Besides celebrating her birthday, the main goal of today was to get her interacting with more children of other clans who supported my reign. In order to preserve the peace, it is best for everyone that our children are friendly with each other and it was hoped that this friendship would go onto their adult lives, ensuring that the peace would go on for another generation, maybe more.
At the moment, Tanya was having what looked to be having a lovely chat with a dark-haired boy with glasses that I am trying to place who he is. I swear I'd seen him before but I couldn't recall the exact location. That was until one of my guests came up beside me.
"Well those two seem to be getting along quite well. Was half sure little Engiz was making it up that he met your ward before, I guess he has a better eye for details than I do." The dark-haired and bearded man said as he stood next to me.
Turning to the familiar man I smiled and said "Patriarch Raz, it's been too long since I've seen you."
The patriarch of Clan Ordo and the governor of the planet Ordo simply smiled and chuckled, "Yes, well running a planet is not as busy as running a sector, but I imagine you would understand the complexities as well as anyone."
I nodded my agreement asking "So I can assume that Engiz is a member of your house? How does he know of Tanya?"
The older man shrugged before he continued "My late sister's boy, she got wrapped up as a Die Hard True Mandalorian even after the majority of them had fled the sector. After she passed I took him in, to make sure he had a good life. As for how he knows Tanya, I'm not particularly sure, all I know is a few years ago he seemed to become enthralled by her after I visited Mandalore on a business trip. I assume they must have met at one of the malls I dropped him off at to keep him entertained."
"The wonders of the Mandalore Mall, we never had anything like that when we were younger. If you can bring two people together who would never have met each other otherwise that's a vast improvement over how things used to be." I said with a smile. In the old days, clan rivalries were used heavily by the military traditionalists. If clans couldn't unite against them, the better for their own rule, so preventing the possibility of something like an Ordo and a Kryze becoming friends, was one of their main goals.
"That I can agree on, the Mandalorian Sector would do well to have more interconnected families with friendships and such. Divided as we were, we are easily played against each other, something our history teaches us the enemies of Mandalore will always do." He said as he looked across the ballroom at Tanya and Engiz. A large group of young adults had started to form around the two so it was hard to see them but they all seemed to be having a good time chatting. I could recognize a few other clan symbols embedded in some of the dresses and suits Varad, Carid, Gedyc as well as a few from my own political house Eldar and Rook.
"Mandalore doesn't have many enemies, I would believe." I said, noting his rather daring assumption to bring something like this up to the leader of the most pacifist faction in Mandalore's history. But he got some leeway when it came to making such statements as Clan Ordo had long been different compared to the other clans, more willing to work with the Republic and find peaceful solutions.
"Aye, that is true. But things seem to be changing outside the Mandalorian Sector. Feels like we're trying to become more peaceful and stable while the rest of the Galaxy is trying to fall apart sometimes." The patriarch of Clan Ordo said matter of factly before he continued, "And if you don't mind me being a bit more daring than normal, I would say I believe you have a similar opinion or at least are considering the possibility. After all, why would you have ended the official banishment of Mandalorians outside of the sector that were not willing to comply with New Mandalorian policies."
Ah yes that. Officially, 13 years ago I had banished a traditionalist to the Moon of Concordia, this had also been followed up by a less enforceable order that technically banished anyone who was refusing to lay down arms after the Clan Wars to outside the sector. I had recently rescinded both because of my talks with Tanya, she had made good points over the years on how having a resource of, as you like to call them, action fueled heroes could be used for non-military means.
Politically ending the official banishment didn't cost me anything, New Mandalorians fear the rise of militarism but I was not inviting the Old Mandalorian's back, I was simply allowing them to visit their families who had decided the other way around. Besides a few local Mayors raising a fuss about the potential of arms movements, I hadn't seen anything outright dangerous happen and the Mandalorian Police Force had not found any evidence of shipments of arms to the planet. So as it stood, it was not a massive change in policy, just a slight amendment. Nothing that should be looked too deeply into it but I could see how others could mistake my actions for something else.
"The Clan Wars and the Civil War were a terrible time in our history, in order to bring peace certain actions had to be taken to stabilize the sector. We now have that peace and stabilization so those actions can be brought back." I said giving the official statement I had given a hundred times on the whole situation.
"Of course Duchess. However I would simply say if you study our history, whenever the Galaxy enters a period of chaos, as it seems to be going towards now, there's usually some Mastermind behind it. Those masterminds now tend to enjoy Mandalore being aligned with their goals, I simply say that if we want peace you may need to be ready to defend it as Ordo has done for centuries." The patriarch said presenting a theory I had heard from him before. He was a believer in a galactic rhyme, as it were, that things tended to echo each other more than most people like to admit. I wasn't exactly enthralled with such ideas but I could understand where he was coming from and being prepared is why our planets still remain firmly in our hands after taking hold of it nearly 4,000 years ago.
"I will keep that in mind Raz." more out of politeness than actual worry of some Grand conspiracy going on in the dark corners of the universe. Ordo had been divided in the Mandalorian Civil War but was a firm supporter of myself during the Clan Wars so I saw no reason to anger their patriarch by discounting his theories outright.
"That is all I ask." he said with a smile as he swished a liquid around in his cup before giving it a sip, "Which reminds me, is Governor Vizsla coming to this little party? I was kind of hoping to have a discussion on the matter of trade between our two planets. I've heard that the new trees growing on Concordia are some of the strongest in the sector and I was wondering if we could use some of their lumber for housing developments on Ordo."
"I'm afraid I don't think he'll be showing up tonight or anytime in the next week or two. I've given him time off after the recent tragedy he experienced." I said, shaking my head at the memories of the situation.
"Tragedy? Last I heard he was expecting a child, his first born son, did something go wrong?"
"The son was born, healthy and happy but there was some sort of complication and Oori did not survive." I hadn't had an opportunity to ask any more details than that and frankly I didn't want to. It was a sad story and you didn't need to know the details, you just needed to be there for the person going through the problems. Pre seems to have a different opinion in mind, preferring to stay away from Mandalore for the past week. Everyone deals with tragedy differently, I suppose. Locking yourself inside a Castle Fortress on an entirely different planet seemed like a mistake to me.
The patriarch of Clan Ordo shook his head, "Damn, Oori was such a nice lass." Whatever other thoughts he had he simply shook his head and kept himself before he said. "Well, best not to focus on such news today, I'll have to look into sending my regards another time." before he looked at me and nodded "Take care Satine."
"Take care Raz." I said, responding and kind as he started to walk away.
Mandalore, Sundari, Royal Palace
Satine Kryze
Sitting at my desk I heard a knock from the door to my office. It had been several days since Tanya's 13th birthday and life had gone back to it's normal standard of excitement.
Which meant a lot of paperwork and dealing with local matters. So when someone knocked on my door I was more than willing to entertain whoever it was though I already suspected I knew who was about to step through my door.
"Come in Tanya." I called hoping I wasn't about to make a slight fool of myself. I was rewarded with the brunette girl stepping through the door with a computer pad in her hand and a smile on her face. She was back in her normal fancy garb that she preferred. Today she was wearing a simple green top and long skirt. She had stopped wearing beige and tan color clothing a long time ago preferring instead the color green ever since she became enamored with some of the more cultural elements of Mandalorian culture such as the color theory.
I suspected she grasped the importance of color theory far more than most people and that's why she chose colors that indicated a willingness for guarding or protecting peace. Which was a very Noble cause and something I wholeheartedly support.
"Good morning Duchess," Tanya said with her standard formal way of addressing people. I'm not sure where she'd pick that up but it seemed to have stuck over the years, intended to be a sign she is willing to discuss something important. If she just wanted to have a light chat she would go use my name, if she wanted to have a chat about the fundamentals of mandalorian society it was always Duchess. Well today I wasn't exactly interested in discussing business but I would humor her eventually.
"Good morning, Tanya. Please take a seat." I said, indicating the chair in front of my desk. Nodding, the brunette haired girl walked over and took a seat laying the pad across her lap as she did. "We haven't had much time to talk since your birthday night and I wanted to ask you something."
"Ask away." Tanya said with a smile.
"Do you know that boy with glasses and dark hair at the party? it's just that you seem to be getting on very well and his guardian mentioned that you two have met before and I couldn't figure out when that could have happened."
Tanya took a moment before saying in a careful tone, "Ah Engiz, yes we've met a few years ago at laser tag, we happened to share a lot of hobbies in common, when it comes to historical research, apparently there's an entire section of the planet of Ordo dedicated to museums, located far away from population centers as possible in case of any outbreaks of conflicts."
"Really? I didn't know that," I said. I only ever visited Ordo once years ago and that particular situation had been a little too tense for a lovely trip to what sounded like a city built of museums.
"The Ordo seem to be a clan who have taken the idea that if you do not know your history you are doomed to repeat it to heart, which is a respectful stance to take in my opinion. Engiz and I had a very long and fruitful conversation about the nature of historical cyclicals cycles in Mandalorian history. And it was during that part of the conversation where he brought up the museum section of his planet and he even offered to show it to me if I ever visited Ordo." Tanya explained.
"Would you like to visit Ordo?" I asked this question instead of the one I was wanting to ask because I doubt I would get an answer for the one I did want. Tanya seemed quite taken by this Engiz. Perhaps it was nothing, just her natural state of not being open with others resulting in you looking this way or perhaps she found a new friend, and if so I suspect that she'd be a bit embarrassed to admit it so I asked a question that was a lot easier for her to answer.
Tanya took a moment to think before she finally said "Perhaps someday I would like to visit the museums. The knowledge contained there could be useful for what I've been working on recently."
"Oh yes, your secret document you've been working on. Are you ever going to show me what you've been working on?" Tanya had been working on the general ideas of whatever this was for a while now but I only really learned about it in the last 6 months. Most of its content was unknown to me though I suspected it was filled with examples such as the entertainment industry's use of former Mandalorian warriors that Tanya had expounded on many years before.
"Actually yes." Tanya said, holding up the pad and then placing it on my desk. Picking it up I started to peruse it.
"It is a lengthy document but the core of the argument presented is a way of viewing Mandalorian history in a defensive manner in order to create a doctrine that would be acceptable to both pacifists and warriors."
Tanya explained as I began looking through a section about the components of the Resol'nare and how they could be reinterpreted for the modern day.
"A self-defense force that is constitutionally prevented from leaving the planet?" I said skeptical while reading the section on self-defense. "I can see the logic here, this would give a way for warriors who are out of work to find work again. I'm not sure how this would be passed by the Royal Council though.
"As I've explained, there is a slight purity spiral with the upper echelons of our society and the only way to break something like this would be to distribute this amongst regular folks who would then pressure the upper echelons which would result in people asking you for a self-defense force with such restrictions instead of you mandating it." Tanya said matter of factly.
"Wouldn't it be seen as mandated just by having this document distributed with your name on it?" I pointed out only to have Tanya shrug.
"If the idea fails it's best to have our names nowhere near it so I've gone ahead and created a false identity for the author if you check the top." She said,
Going to the top I read the author's name which I just skipped over the first time. "White Silver?" I asked questionly.
"In color theorem, white is the representation of purity, silver is the representation of 'search for redemption'. Pure redemption seemed thematic and worked as a workable false name. I've also run it from the perspective of an Old Mandalorian in order to throw off exactly who had created this document."
I nodded my head and looked further down the document. Skipping past all the other elements of the Resol'nare. Rather lengthy section on the economic benefits of letting armorers create armor on contracts for other planets self-defense forces, as well as a section on turning old fortresses into museums, which raised my eyebrow.
"Are you sure turning fortresses into museums will be accepted amongst the older mandalorians? I'm quite sure that would be seen as a way of disarming their fortresses and bringing down readiness level."
Tanya leaned back and put her hand on her chin, in a way that reminded me of someone I once knew, appearing to be thinking of the best way to explain her point. "A fortress with a museum is still a fortress, it just has a section where the civilian population are allowed to look around. I would argue that if anything it would bring preparedness levels up as many of the fortresses are broken down and falling apart without the funding to support and maintain them. With a proper museum selling knick knacks and charging for visits, the funding would roll in and allow various sections to be rebuilt and restored even if they're not fully functional, it's still something better than it was."
I nodded in agreement as there was some solid logic in that idea, "Is this the final version of the document or are you still working on it? "
"I suspect I'll have it completed in 4 months, at that time we'll need to find someone reliable to produce a couple copies and get it distributed to places where the idea could be spread around. From there we just simply wait and see what happens, at worst it's a failed venture that costs us nothing but time, best case scenario is that the ideas take off enough that some of these reforms are proposed to you and you can help them move it along into a favorable position. "
Nodding my head I handed the computer back and said "I think you have something here Tanya, at the bare minimum the idea of creating a constitution to restrict war making capabilities might be more favorable than leaving it to the council."
"This also creates a favorable situation with the Jedi." Tanya said matter of factly.
"Oh, how so?" I asked out of curiosity.
"From my research the Jedi and the Mandalorians have had run-ins whenever Mandalorians have gone overly aggressive, however, whenever Mandalorians and Jedi work together for defensive situations it usually works out well in the Mandolorian's favor, creating a doctrine based around being a defensive power will insure that we are always on the Jedi's side, at least in most conflicts."
"That makes sense," I said before continuing by asking "Have you created a name for this document yet?"
Tanya shook her head and said "Not particularly, better to let the reader base create their own name from it than trying to force the name on a document like this. It will be seen as a way to force your point of view toward others and we don't want that, we want this to be seen as a real rational argument for a defensive stance. Let the readers come up with their own name. I'm sure they'll settle on something fine." She said, waved off the idea of naming it.
711 FNM (27BBY)
Month 3
Mandalore, Sundari
Tanya Kryze
I'm starting to suspect that I'm cursed, things seem to be going well for my life. I was learning to fly again, I had stashed the armor I had in a safe position, my role as assistant in the Senate is coming up soon, everything seemed to be working out perfectly.
What you meant, of course, is that life decided to throw a few curve balls my way. The one that was annoying me the most today was how chained I was to my brother's social group.
I had gone along with Vai on another one of the trips to the mall that had become quite frequent. Hey the chance at laser tag was worth dealing with the two girls trying to find cute dresses to stuff me into you. And I had to admit, over the years, they had found a few clothes that I found reasonably tolerable of that worked fine as casual wear and made me look less out of place among the higher society of Mandalore.
But today my torturous dressing up and vengeful laser tag would not take place. Today my torture would include karaoke. I might have been told in my last life that I was a good singer, of course being forced to take part in orphanage choir tended to result in such matters, so when Soniee challenged us to a Sing-Off under an assumption that she would win, obviously as recompense for her defeats in the laser tag arena, I really had no other option but to agree to it.
Oh sure, normally I would not take part in such behavior but Soniee was the kind of person who annoyed me and so I had left my better judgment of the situation at the door and agreed.
I have been concerned about Vai participation in this two on two Sing-Off thing Soniee had suggested and dragged Lagos into as well. But those concerns were unfounded as she apparently was a good singer as well, and working together we had managed to come out on top three out of four times who had been originally two out of three but Soniee had refused her first failure and attempted to change it near the end.
Well, that did not go well for her and as a result I and Vai had been rewarded with some of the most expensive ice creams you could get from Soft Serve Mandalore 35. Not caffeine unfortunately, there was still an embargo on that until I turned 16, at least I hoped it was only 16, even though this body had not been exposed to the wonders of caffeine, I still remembered and was a bit prickly about the fact that I had not had one in nearly 13 years with three more to go.
But that wasn't exactly what was annoying me, no what was annoying me was that both Soniee and Lagos had both agreed that I must really like singing and that I should carry on into a full career. That was a hard no, I doubted that Mandalore could achieve anything close to the Idol industry of Japan but on the off chance it could, I did not want to be worked to the bone for this job.
The problem was it wasn't just those two, my brother Korkie, had also suggested that if I was to go to become a professional singer, I should look into other prospects. And worst of all Vai had betrayed me and agreed with the growing consensus. I had a perfectly safe job waiting for me in 3 years at the Senate. Why in the world would I want to leave the potential incoming leverage I could achieve through that position for a singing career.
I finally managed to get the other teens to drop the idea by saying I would consider it enough that they either believed me or gave up.
But it left me rather annoyed and frustrated as I tried to enjoy what was left on my ice cream. Hoping that I could get through the rest of the day without any other incidents.
Amis Tenau had to speak up the "So anyone check out that SuperCommando Codex version 2 that's been going around online." I just barely prevented myself from biting down in shock on the metal spoon.
The document I created had only been released for about 2 weeks. There was no way they were talking about my little test project right?
Best to let the others talk for now. I'm not going to get too emotional about anything they say about it.
"Why would you read that trash?" Korkie said, wounding me a bit, "SuperCommando Codex is just another failed ideology, one that's probably responsible for our mother's death. Auntie Satine has the right of it when it comes to how we should deal with the militarist."
That somewhat stung. I didn't realize he was so deeply trapped down the purity spiral of ideology. If he knew that Satine had okayed the distribution of the document, his head would probably explode.
"That's a little harsh man." before shrugging, not sure what to say after that apparently.
Looking around I quickly noted that the other two were not calling them out on being a little bit thick headed as well. This would not do, fact of the matter was unless Satine married and had children Korkie was the next in line to rule mandalore and as I would probably be the Senator by then, we would need to have a working relationship and he would need to be able to think for himself and not depend on doctrine laid down by wrathful Satine at the end of the Clan Wars.
Which meant there was really only one step I could take in this matter and that was to push that thick headedness of his.
"I took a look at it, there's some sound logic buried in it about becoming a more defensive focused force in the universe and less of an expanding force. Nothing in it is exactly at odds with Satine's goals." I said matter of factly.
There was a brief moment of quiet before Korkie said "If its reference is the SuperCommando Codex, it's at odds with Satine' goals".
"It references it in a capacity that it might be useful for Mandalorians outside of the Mandalorian sector, not for the Mandalorians within the sector." I said taking a spoon of ice cream to my mouth. "Having a Code of Honor is nothing terrible or anti-peaceful, it just means having a set of rules that you will obey and follow. Those rules can be effective in you're social status and allows you to maybe one day reenter the Mandalorian sector without having to worry about being hunted down by other Mandalorians for committing mass murder, genocide, or any other monstrous crimes that military minded people can get up to once left to stew in their barbarianism."
"The Codex is barbarism, it is simply another one of the old ways that led to the destruction of Mandalore." Korkie shot back apparently not well informed of the history of the situation.
My eyebrow raised, I said "Last I checked the SuperCommando Codex was created on Concord Dawn, and most of the fighting about it compared it to the Deathwatch Doctrine that took place outside the Mandalorian system. Though I agree that militarism left unchecked led to the destruction of much of Mandalore's surface, let us at least be honest here the True Mandalorians were not involved; that was the failures of the military traditionalists."
"Military Traditionalist, True Mandalorian, Deathwatch, they're all the same thing." Korkie said, crossing his arms.
"You are aware that our mother was a True Mandalorian before marrying our father, right?" I asked, designed to poke a hole in that little line of logic he just threw out.
Though the reaction I got was not one I expected as Korkie sat up. "Wait what, that's not true, who told you that nonsense."
"Bo-Katan, she's mentioned it once or twice during our conversations on family history." I said taking another spoon of ice cream to my lips.
"That's not true, there's no way-"
"And our grandfather wasn't exactly a peacenik either, he was called the Warlord of Kalevala for a reason, but that reason was about protecting what little peace there was in the Mandalorian sector on Kalevala. A defensive Force, if you will, using military power for the betterment of the sector." Finally Korky seemed to be thinking so it was time to strike the final blow to the thickheadedness he had been showing.
"Mandalorian history is complex, there are a lot of villains but they're also a few heroes. But to throw all the heroes out with the villains would simply be foolhardy and asking for trouble down the line. That's most likely why Satine ended the official banishment to Concordia of the Military Traditionalists."
Korkie sighed heavily and rubbed his forehead before then saying "This is getting a little too political, we should be having fun and I'm talking about stuff like this." I shrugged and nodded my agreement feeling I had completed the task I'd set out at the very least he was thinking about it and hopefully Satine would be able to push him the rest of the way into being more logical about the situation.
But that was something for another time right now I had a bowl of ice cream to finish.
711 FNM (27BBY)
Month 5
Concordia, 5 miles away from Bo-Katan Training ground
Vai-Viktis Vizla
Poking at a fire with a stick I wondered why exactly we were out here. In the three years I've known Tanya I've come to understand a lot of aspects of her. She was dedicated to being the best at whatever she chose to set her mind to be and seemed to want to have a variety of skills in case of emergency.
That being said I didn't see why we were roughing it on a 3 day trip through the hills around the training area with nothing but our armored jetpacks and blasters that were permanently set to stun as our only companions.
We had sleeping bags and tents but there was no other modern technology, which seemed odd to me. Tanya may be focused on improving herself but when she had the option for technology she seemed to always go for the technology. There were devices we could use to heat our camp that wouldn't have weighed too much but she decided to bring only a fire starter kit. And so the list of equipment went, there were modern technologies that would work better but Tanya had chosen a set of equipment that was light and would take up less room while also being more primitive.
It was frankly out of character and finally it just annoyed me enough that I had to ask. "So why didn't we bring any modern equipment?"
Tanya simply shrugged tilted her head to the side and shrugged, she was currently looking up at the sky using the function of the helmets for magnification as a telescope so she could look at the stars at least that's what she told me, "More technology you carry around, the more points of failure, as well more energy emissions you put out, which if we are being tracked in the woods you don't want to do, and finally having knowledge of how to do something the old way is important if something were to break."
"So we're out here learning to survive without technology because you like having backup plans." I asked just trying to confirm my understanding.
"Well that about sums it up, yeah." Tanya said with a very relaxed tone.
"So is that why you made the sequel to the SuperCommando code?" I asked.
I had been suspecting it for a while now, but really had no proof. Watching Tanya immediately freeze up was as good a sign as any in the direction that I suspected.
Tanya remained quiet for a moment before she shrugged "Figures you'd figure that out, I did bounce some of the ideas off of you."
"Ah ha I knew it! So spill it, why did you make it?" I asked.
"I made that thing because the current system is set up for failure when the road map to success is frankly right there and it just needed to be pointed out. I understand there are parties who do not like the New Mandalorians or my aunt Satine and that those factions will grow in power as the years go on unless something is done to stem the anti-military pacifism of the New Mandalorians as well as present a reasonable and open economy for the Old Mandalorians. That document is simply my first attempt and I'll probably release another down the line, maybe under a different name, maybe under the same name, just to keep the target off our backs."
"Huh." was really all I could say to this, she was spot on with her identification of the situation she didn't even know that I was technically spying on her for said other party. So her general idea of creating a better economic situation for people to prosper by pulling back on the Extreme pacifism of the New Mandalorians sounded perfectly fine to me. So fine I will probably be keeping this little conversation to myself and not letting my mother know. Her take on new codex had been dumb and reactionary. No that probably had mainly been because Tanya had taken a shot at the founding documents of Deathwatch in her codex.
After some time though I did come up with something to ask. "So you don't plan to try and take control of any organization that pops out of the reading of your codex?"
It was a simple but understandable question: every other leader who has ever written up a document like that had taken control and ended up claiming the role of Mandalore at one point or another and I was a bit curious if she had similar plans.
"Nah, I am perfectly fine with going to the Senate, it should be a safe enough career move. And those that read that document and started their own movement could be leaderless for a better chance at democracy to come out of it if there's no strong man leader leading it." Tanya said, waving off the idea.
Well that was good, at least I wasn't destined to be around some megalomaniac trying to take over the galaxy, though I did find it funny that she thought the Senate would be the safer option in her future. "Sure you'd rather not try singing, I think that'd be a lot safer than the Senate."
That at least got a chuckle out of her, "I'm sure it's not that bad, and besides if it does turn out to be something I can't handle, being known as a person who left the Senate to start a singing career is a good way to start such careers with positive buzz. So the option will remain open as a backup plan."
I laughed at the idea of a failed political career turning into a successful singing career but wasn't a terrible plan and I was game, would probably tick my mother off quite a bit.
Writers note:Alight what we got here well family drama, meating the ordos, possible other roads tanya could take, and document you can read right now below!
Let me know what you folks think!
Edited by: Lord Feunoyr, Warmach1ne32
Community edited by:
Community editable doc (Chapter 8) No story suggestions in the community editing document, Keep all story suggestions and comments in the thread
Supporters: Markus
711 FNM (27BBY)
Month 1
Mandalore, Sundari, Royal Palace
Satine Kryze
I smiled as I watched Tanya from a distance interacting with others her own age. It was her 13th birthday and though it didn't have as much meaning as it did with the Old Mandalorians, it was still a special day. And the dress I had commissioned for her looked gorgeous on her.
Besides celebrating her birthday, the main goal of today was to get her interacting with more children of other clans who supported my reign. In order to preserve the peace, it is best for everyone that our children are friendly with each other and it was hoped that this friendship would go onto their adult lives, ensuring that the peace would go on for another generation, maybe more.
At the moment, Tanya was having what looked to be having a lovely chat with a dark-haired boy with glasses that I am trying to place who he is. I swear I'd seen him before but I couldn't recall the exact location. That was until one of my guests came up beside me.
"Well those two seem to be getting along quite well. Was half sure little Engiz was making it up that he met your ward before, I guess he has a better eye for details than I do." The dark-haired and bearded man said as he stood next to me.
Turning to the familiar man I smiled and said "Patriarch Raz, it's been too long since I've seen you."
The patriarch of Clan Ordo and the governor of the planet Ordo simply smiled and chuckled, "Yes, well running a planet is not as busy as running a sector, but I imagine you would understand the complexities as well as anyone."
I nodded my agreement asking "So I can assume that Engiz is a member of your house? How does he know of Tanya?"
The older man shrugged before he continued "My late sister's boy, she got wrapped up as a Die Hard True Mandalorian even after the majority of them had fled the sector. After she passed I took him in, to make sure he had a good life. As for how he knows Tanya, I'm not particularly sure, all I know is a few years ago he seemed to become enthralled by her after I visited Mandalore on a business trip. I assume they must have met at one of the malls I dropped him off at to keep him entertained."
"The wonders of the Mandalore Mall, we never had anything like that when we were younger. If you can bring two people together who would never have met each other otherwise that's a vast improvement over how things used to be." I said with a smile. In the old days, clan rivalries were used heavily by the military traditionalists. If clans couldn't unite against them, the better for their own rule, so preventing the possibility of something like an Ordo and a Kryze becoming friends, was one of their main goals.
"That I can agree on, the Mandalorian Sector would do well to have more interconnected families with friendships and such. Divided as we were, we are easily played against each other, something our history teaches us the enemies of Mandalore will always do." He said as he looked across the ballroom at Tanya and Engiz. A large group of young adults had started to form around the two so it was hard to see them but they all seemed to be having a good time chatting. I could recognize a few other clan symbols embedded in some of the dresses and suits Varad, Carid, Gedyc as well as a few from my own political house Eldar and Rook.
"Mandalore doesn't have many enemies, I would believe." I said, noting his rather daring assumption to bring something like this up to the leader of the most pacifist faction in Mandalore's history. But he got some leeway when it came to making such statements as Clan Ordo had long been different compared to the other clans, more willing to work with the Republic and find peaceful solutions.
"Aye, that is true. But things seem to be changing outside the Mandalorian Sector. Feels like we're trying to become more peaceful and stable while the rest of the Galaxy is trying to fall apart sometimes." The patriarch of Clan Ordo said matter of factly before he continued, "And if you don't mind me being a bit more daring than normal, I would say I believe you have a similar opinion or at least are considering the possibility. After all, why would you have ended the official banishment of Mandalorians outside of the sector that were not willing to comply with New Mandalorian policies."
Ah yes that. Officially, 13 years ago I had banished a traditionalist to the Moon of Concordia, this had also been followed up by a less enforceable order that technically banished anyone who was refusing to lay down arms after the Clan Wars to outside the sector. I had recently rescinded both because of my talks with Tanya, she had made good points over the years on how having a resource of, as you like to call them, action fueled heroes could be used for non-military means.
Politically ending the official banishment didn't cost me anything, New Mandalorians fear the rise of militarism but I was not inviting the Old Mandalorian's back, I was simply allowing them to visit their families who had decided the other way around. Besides a few local Mayors raising a fuss about the potential of arms movements, I hadn't seen anything outright dangerous happen and the Mandalorian Police Force had not found any evidence of shipments of arms to the planet. So as it stood, it was not a massive change in policy, just a slight amendment. Nothing that should be looked too deeply into it but I could see how others could mistake my actions for something else.
"The Clan Wars and the Civil War were a terrible time in our history, in order to bring peace certain actions had to be taken to stabilize the sector. We now have that peace and stabilization so those actions can be brought back." I said giving the official statement I had given a hundred times on the whole situation.
"Of course Duchess. However I would simply say if you study our history, whenever the Galaxy enters a period of chaos, as it seems to be going towards now, there's usually some Mastermind behind it. Those masterminds now tend to enjoy Mandalore being aligned with their goals, I simply say that if we want peace you may need to be ready to defend it as Ordo has done for centuries." The patriarch said presenting a theory I had heard from him before. He was a believer in a galactic rhyme, as it were, that things tended to echo each other more than most people like to admit. I wasn't exactly enthralled with such ideas but I could understand where he was coming from and being prepared is why our planets still remain firmly in our hands after taking hold of it nearly 4,000 years ago.
"I will keep that in mind Raz." more out of politeness than actual worry of some Grand conspiracy going on in the dark corners of the universe. Ordo had been divided in the Mandalorian Civil War but was a firm supporter of myself during the Clan Wars so I saw no reason to anger their patriarch by discounting his theories outright.
"That is all I ask." he said with a smile as he swished a liquid around in his cup before giving it a sip, "Which reminds me, is Governor Vizsla coming to this little party? I was kind of hoping to have a discussion on the matter of trade between our two planets. I've heard that the new trees growing on Concordia are some of the strongest in the sector and I was wondering if we could use some of their lumber for housing developments on Ordo."
"I'm afraid I don't think he'll be showing up tonight or anytime in the next week or two. I've given him time off after the recent tragedy he experienced." I said, shaking my head at the memories of the situation.
"Tragedy? Last I heard he was expecting a child, his first born son, did something go wrong?"
"The son was born, healthy and happy but there was some sort of complication and Oori did not survive." I hadn't had an opportunity to ask any more details than that and frankly I didn't want to. It was a sad story and you didn't need to know the details, you just needed to be there for the person going through the problems. Pre seems to have a different opinion in mind, preferring to stay away from Mandalore for the past week. Everyone deals with tragedy differently, I suppose. Locking yourself inside a Castle Fortress on an entirely different planet seemed like a mistake to me.
The patriarch of Clan Ordo shook his head, "Damn, Oori was such a nice lass." Whatever other thoughts he had he simply shook his head and kept himself before he said. "Well, best not to focus on such news today, I'll have to look into sending my regards another time." before he looked at me and nodded "Take care Satine."
"Take care Raz." I said, responding and kind as he started to walk away.
Mandalore, Sundari, Royal Palace
Satine Kryze
Sitting at my desk I heard a knock from the door to my office. It had been several days since Tanya's 13th birthday and life had gone back to it's normal standard of excitement.
Which meant a lot of paperwork and dealing with local matters. So when someone knocked on my door I was more than willing to entertain whoever it was though I already suspected I knew who was about to step through my door.
"Come in Tanya." I called hoping I wasn't about to make a slight fool of myself. I was rewarded with the brunette girl stepping through the door with a computer pad in her hand and a smile on her face. She was back in her normal fancy garb that she preferred. Today she was wearing a simple green top and long skirt. She had stopped wearing beige and tan color clothing a long time ago preferring instead the color green ever since she became enamored with some of the more cultural elements of Mandalorian culture such as the color theory.
I suspected she grasped the importance of color theory far more than most people and that's why she chose colors that indicated a willingness for guarding or protecting peace. Which was a very Noble cause and something I wholeheartedly support.
"Good morning Duchess," Tanya said with her standard formal way of addressing people. I'm not sure where she'd pick that up but it seemed to have stuck over the years, intended to be a sign she is willing to discuss something important. If she just wanted to have a light chat she would go use my name, if she wanted to have a chat about the fundamentals of mandalorian society it was always Duchess. Well today I wasn't exactly interested in discussing business but I would humor her eventually.
"Good morning, Tanya. Please take a seat." I said, indicating the chair in front of my desk. Nodding, the brunette haired girl walked over and took a seat laying the pad across her lap as she did. "We haven't had much time to talk since your birthday night and I wanted to ask you something."
"Ask away." Tanya said with a smile.
"Do you know that boy with glasses and dark hair at the party? it's just that you seem to be getting on very well and his guardian mentioned that you two have met before and I couldn't figure out when that could have happened."
Tanya took a moment before saying in a careful tone, "Ah Engiz, yes we've met a few years ago at laser tag, we happened to share a lot of hobbies in common, when it comes to historical research, apparently there's an entire section of the planet of Ordo dedicated to museums, located far away from population centers as possible in case of any outbreaks of conflicts."
"Really? I didn't know that," I said. I only ever visited Ordo once years ago and that particular situation had been a little too tense for a lovely trip to what sounded like a city built of museums.
"The Ordo seem to be a clan who have taken the idea that if you do not know your history you are doomed to repeat it to heart, which is a respectful stance to take in my opinion. Engiz and I had a very long and fruitful conversation about the nature of historical cyclicals cycles in Mandalorian history. And it was during that part of the conversation where he brought up the museum section of his planet and he even offered to show it to me if I ever visited Ordo." Tanya explained.
"Would you like to visit Ordo?" I asked this question instead of the one I was wanting to ask because I doubt I would get an answer for the one I did want. Tanya seemed quite taken by this Engiz. Perhaps it was nothing, just her natural state of not being open with others resulting in you looking this way or perhaps she found a new friend, and if so I suspect that she'd be a bit embarrassed to admit it so I asked a question that was a lot easier for her to answer.
Tanya took a moment to think before she finally said "Perhaps someday I would like to visit the museums. The knowledge contained there could be useful for what I've been working on recently."
"Oh yes, your secret document you've been working on. Are you ever going to show me what you've been working on?" Tanya had been working on the general ideas of whatever this was for a while now but I only really learned about it in the last 6 months. Most of its content was unknown to me though I suspected it was filled with examples such as the entertainment industry's use of former Mandalorian warriors that Tanya had expounded on many years before.
"Actually yes." Tanya said, holding up the pad and then placing it on my desk. Picking it up I started to peruse it.
"It is a lengthy document but the core of the argument presented is a way of viewing Mandalorian history in a defensive manner in order to create a doctrine that would be acceptable to both pacifists and warriors."
Tanya explained as I began looking through a section about the components of the Resol'nare and how they could be reinterpreted for the modern day.
"A self-defense force that is constitutionally prevented from leaving the planet?" I said skeptical while reading the section on self-defense. "I can see the logic here, this would give a way for warriors who are out of work to find work again. I'm not sure how this would be passed by the Royal Council though.
"As I've explained, there is a slight purity spiral with the upper echelons of our society and the only way to break something like this would be to distribute this amongst regular folks who would then pressure the upper echelons which would result in people asking you for a self-defense force with such restrictions instead of you mandating it." Tanya said matter of factly.
"Wouldn't it be seen as mandated just by having this document distributed with your name on it?" I pointed out only to have Tanya shrug.
"If the idea fails it's best to have our names nowhere near it so I've gone ahead and created a false identity for the author if you check the top." She said,
Going to the top I read the author's name which I just skipped over the first time. "White Silver?" I asked questionly.
"In color theorem, white is the representation of purity, silver is the representation of 'search for redemption'. Pure redemption seemed thematic and worked as a workable false name. I've also run it from the perspective of an Old Mandalorian in order to throw off exactly who had created this document."
I nodded my head and looked further down the document. Skipping past all the other elements of the Resol'nare. Rather lengthy section on the economic benefits of letting armorers create armor on contracts for other planets self-defense forces, as well as a section on turning old fortresses into museums, which raised my eyebrow.
"Are you sure turning fortresses into museums will be accepted amongst the older mandalorians? I'm quite sure that would be seen as a way of disarming their fortresses and bringing down readiness level."
Tanya leaned back and put her hand on her chin, in a way that reminded me of someone I once knew, appearing to be thinking of the best way to explain her point. "A fortress with a museum is still a fortress, it just has a section where the civilian population are allowed to look around. I would argue that if anything it would bring preparedness levels up as many of the fortresses are broken down and falling apart without the funding to support and maintain them. With a proper museum selling knick knacks and charging for visits, the funding would roll in and allow various sections to be rebuilt and restored even if they're not fully functional, it's still something better than it was."
I nodded in agreement as there was some solid logic in that idea, "Is this the final version of the document or are you still working on it? "
"I suspect I'll have it completed in 4 months, at that time we'll need to find someone reliable to produce a couple copies and get it distributed to places where the idea could be spread around. From there we just simply wait and see what happens, at worst it's a failed venture that costs us nothing but time, best case scenario is that the ideas take off enough that some of these reforms are proposed to you and you can help them move it along into a favorable position. "
Nodding my head I handed the computer back and said "I think you have something here Tanya, at the bare minimum the idea of creating a constitution to restrict war making capabilities might be more favorable than leaving it to the council."
"This also creates a favorable situation with the Jedi." Tanya said matter of factly.
"Oh, how so?" I asked out of curiosity.
"From my research the Jedi and the Mandalorians have had run-ins whenever Mandalorians have gone overly aggressive, however, whenever Mandalorians and Jedi work together for defensive situations it usually works out well in the Mandolorian's favor, creating a doctrine based around being a defensive power will insure that we are always on the Jedi's side, at least in most conflicts."
"That makes sense," I said before continuing by asking "Have you created a name for this document yet?"
Tanya shook her head and said "Not particularly, better to let the reader base create their own name from it than trying to force the name on a document like this. It will be seen as a way to force your point of view toward others and we don't want that, we want this to be seen as a real rational argument for a defensive stance. Let the readers come up with their own name. I'm sure they'll settle on something fine." She said, waved off the idea of naming it.
711 FNM (27BBY)
Month 3
Mandalore, Sundari
Tanya Kryze
I'm starting to suspect that I'm cursed, things seem to be going well for my life. I was learning to fly again, I had stashed the armor I had in a safe position, my role as assistant in the Senate is coming up soon, everything seemed to be working out perfectly.
What you meant, of course, is that life decided to throw a few curve balls my way. The one that was annoying me the most today was how chained I was to my brother's social group.
I had gone along with Vai on another one of the trips to the mall that had become quite frequent. Hey the chance at laser tag was worth dealing with the two girls trying to find cute dresses to stuff me into you. And I had to admit, over the years, they had found a few clothes that I found reasonably tolerable of that worked fine as casual wear and made me look less out of place among the higher society of Mandalore.
But today my torturous dressing up and vengeful laser tag would not take place. Today my torture would include karaoke. I might have been told in my last life that I was a good singer, of course being forced to take part in orphanage choir tended to result in such matters, so when Soniee challenged us to a Sing-Off under an assumption that she would win, obviously as recompense for her defeats in the laser tag arena, I really had no other option but to agree to it.
Oh sure, normally I would not take part in such behavior but Soniee was the kind of person who annoyed me and so I had left my better judgment of the situation at the door and agreed.
I have been concerned about Vai participation in this two on two Sing-Off thing Soniee had suggested and dragged Lagos into as well. But those concerns were unfounded as she apparently was a good singer as well, and working together we had managed to come out on top three out of four times who had been originally two out of three but Soniee had refused her first failure and attempted to change it near the end.
Well, that did not go well for her and as a result I and Vai had been rewarded with some of the most expensive ice creams you could get from Soft Serve Mandalore 35. Not caffeine unfortunately, there was still an embargo on that until I turned 16, at least I hoped it was only 16, even though this body had not been exposed to the wonders of caffeine, I still remembered and was a bit prickly about the fact that I had not had one in nearly 13 years with three more to go.
But that wasn't exactly what was annoying me, no what was annoying me was that both Soniee and Lagos had both agreed that I must really like singing and that I should carry on into a full career. That was a hard no, I doubted that Mandalore could achieve anything close to the Idol industry of Japan but on the off chance it could, I did not want to be worked to the bone for this job.
The problem was it wasn't just those two, my brother Korkie, had also suggested that if I was to go to become a professional singer, I should look into other prospects. And worst of all Vai had betrayed me and agreed with the growing consensus. I had a perfectly safe job waiting for me in 3 years at the Senate. Why in the world would I want to leave the potential incoming leverage I could achieve through that position for a singing career.
I finally managed to get the other teens to drop the idea by saying I would consider it enough that they either believed me or gave up.
But it left me rather annoyed and frustrated as I tried to enjoy what was left on my ice cream. Hoping that I could get through the rest of the day without any other incidents.
Amis Tenau had to speak up the "So anyone check out that SuperCommando Codex version 2 that's been going around online." I just barely prevented myself from biting down in shock on the metal spoon.
The document I created had only been released for about 2 weeks. There was no way they were talking about my little test project right?
Best to let the others talk for now. I'm not going to get too emotional about anything they say about it.
"Why would you read that trash?" Korkie said, wounding me a bit, "SuperCommando Codex is just another failed ideology, one that's probably responsible for our mother's death. Auntie Satine has the right of it when it comes to how we should deal with the militarist."
That somewhat stung. I didn't realize he was so deeply trapped down the purity spiral of ideology. If he knew that Satine had okayed the distribution of the document, his head would probably explode.
"That's a little harsh man." before shrugging, not sure what to say after that apparently.
Looking around I quickly noted that the other two were not calling them out on being a little bit thick headed as well. This would not do, fact of the matter was unless Satine married and had children Korkie was the next in line to rule mandalore and as I would probably be the Senator by then, we would need to have a working relationship and he would need to be able to think for himself and not depend on doctrine laid down by wrathful Satine at the end of the Clan Wars.
Which meant there was really only one step I could take in this matter and that was to push that thick headedness of his.
"I took a look at it, there's some sound logic buried in it about becoming a more defensive focused force in the universe and less of an expanding force. Nothing in it is exactly at odds with Satine's goals." I said matter of factly.
There was a brief moment of quiet before Korkie said "If its reference is the SuperCommando Codex, it's at odds with Satine' goals".
"It references it in a capacity that it might be useful for Mandalorians outside of the Mandalorian sector, not for the Mandalorians within the sector." I said taking a spoon of ice cream to my mouth. "Having a Code of Honor is nothing terrible or anti-peaceful, it just means having a set of rules that you will obey and follow. Those rules can be effective in you're social status and allows you to maybe one day reenter the Mandalorian sector without having to worry about being hunted down by other Mandalorians for committing mass murder, genocide, or any other monstrous crimes that military minded people can get up to once left to stew in their barbarianism."
"The Codex is barbarism, it is simply another one of the old ways that led to the destruction of Mandalore." Korkie shot back apparently not well informed of the history of the situation.
My eyebrow raised, I said "Last I checked the SuperCommando Codex was created on Concord Dawn, and most of the fighting about it compared it to the Deathwatch Doctrine that took place outside the Mandalorian system. Though I agree that militarism left unchecked led to the destruction of much of Mandalore's surface, let us at least be honest here the True Mandalorians were not involved; that was the failures of the military traditionalists."
"Military Traditionalist, True Mandalorian, Deathwatch, they're all the same thing." Korkie said, crossing his arms.
"You are aware that our mother was a True Mandalorian before marrying our father, right?" I asked, designed to poke a hole in that little line of logic he just threw out.
Though the reaction I got was not one I expected as Korkie sat up. "Wait what, that's not true, who told you that nonsense."
"Bo-Katan, she's mentioned it once or twice during our conversations on family history." I said taking another spoon of ice cream to my lips.
"That's not true, there's no way-"
"And our grandfather wasn't exactly a peacenik either, he was called the Warlord of Kalevala for a reason, but that reason was about protecting what little peace there was in the Mandalorian sector on Kalevala. A defensive Force, if you will, using military power for the betterment of the sector." Finally Korky seemed to be thinking so it was time to strike the final blow to the thickheadedness he had been showing.
"Mandalorian history is complex, there are a lot of villains but they're also a few heroes. But to throw all the heroes out with the villains would simply be foolhardy and asking for trouble down the line. That's most likely why Satine ended the official banishment to Concordia of the Military Traditionalists."
Korkie sighed heavily and rubbed his forehead before then saying "This is getting a little too political, we should be having fun and I'm talking about stuff like this." I shrugged and nodded my agreement feeling I had completed the task I'd set out at the very least he was thinking about it and hopefully Satine would be able to push him the rest of the way into being more logical about the situation.
But that was something for another time right now I had a bowl of ice cream to finish.
711 FNM (27BBY)
Month 5
Concordia, 5 miles away from Bo-Katan Training ground
Vai-Viktis Vizla
Poking at a fire with a stick I wondered why exactly we were out here. In the three years I've known Tanya I've come to understand a lot of aspects of her. She was dedicated to being the best at whatever she chose to set her mind to be and seemed to want to have a variety of skills in case of emergency.
That being said I didn't see why we were roughing it on a 3 day trip through the hills around the training area with nothing but our armored jetpacks and blasters that were permanently set to stun as our only companions.
We had sleeping bags and tents but there was no other modern technology, which seemed odd to me. Tanya may be focused on improving herself but when she had the option for technology she seemed to always go for the technology. There were devices we could use to heat our camp that wouldn't have weighed too much but she decided to bring only a fire starter kit. And so the list of equipment went, there were modern technologies that would work better but Tanya had chosen a set of equipment that was light and would take up less room while also being more primitive.
It was frankly out of character and finally it just annoyed me enough that I had to ask. "So why didn't we bring any modern equipment?"
Tanya simply shrugged tilted her head to the side and shrugged, she was currently looking up at the sky using the function of the helmets for magnification as a telescope so she could look at the stars at least that's what she told me, "More technology you carry around, the more points of failure, as well more energy emissions you put out, which if we are being tracked in the woods you don't want to do, and finally having knowledge of how to do something the old way is important if something were to break."
"So we're out here learning to survive without technology because you like having backup plans." I asked just trying to confirm my understanding.
"Well that about sums it up, yeah." Tanya said with a very relaxed tone.
"So is that why you made the sequel to the SuperCommando code?" I asked.
I had been suspecting it for a while now, but really had no proof. Watching Tanya immediately freeze up was as good a sign as any in the direction that I suspected.
Tanya remained quiet for a moment before she shrugged "Figures you'd figure that out, I did bounce some of the ideas off of you."
"Ah ha I knew it! So spill it, why did you make it?" I asked.
"I made that thing because the current system is set up for failure when the road map to success is frankly right there and it just needed to be pointed out. I understand there are parties who do not like the New Mandalorians or my aunt Satine and that those factions will grow in power as the years go on unless something is done to stem the anti-military pacifism of the New Mandalorians as well as present a reasonable and open economy for the Old Mandalorians. That document is simply my first attempt and I'll probably release another down the line, maybe under a different name, maybe under the same name, just to keep the target off our backs."
"Huh." was really all I could say to this, she was spot on with her identification of the situation she didn't even know that I was technically spying on her for said other party. So her general idea of creating a better economic situation for people to prosper by pulling back on the Extreme pacifism of the New Mandalorians sounded perfectly fine to me. So fine I will probably be keeping this little conversation to myself and not letting my mother know. Her take on new codex had been dumb and reactionary. No that probably had mainly been because Tanya had taken a shot at the founding documents of Deathwatch in her codex.
After some time though I did come up with something to ask. "So you don't plan to try and take control of any organization that pops out of the reading of your codex?"
It was a simple but understandable question: every other leader who has ever written up a document like that had taken control and ended up claiming the role of Mandalore at one point or another and I was a bit curious if she had similar plans.
"Nah, I am perfectly fine with going to the Senate, it should be a safe enough career move. And those that read that document and started their own movement could be leaderless for a better chance at democracy to come out of it if there's no strong man leader leading it." Tanya said, waving off the idea.
Well that was good, at least I wasn't destined to be around some megalomaniac trying to take over the galaxy, though I did find it funny that she thought the Senate would be the safer option in her future. "Sure you'd rather not try singing, I think that'd be a lot safer than the Senate."
That at least got a chuckle out of her, "I'm sure it's not that bad, and besides if it does turn out to be something I can't handle, being known as a person who left the Senate to start a singing career is a good way to start such careers with positive buzz. So the option will remain open as a backup plan."
I laughed at the idea of a failed political career turning into a successful singing career but wasn't a terrible plan and I was game, would probably tick my mother off quite a bit.
Writers note:Alight what we got here well family drama, meating the ordos, possible other roads tanya could take, and document you can read right now below!
Let me know what you folks think!
Edited by: Lord Feunoyr, Warmach1ne32
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