Keldabe

As the group made their way to the sewer tunnels, one of them keyed into frequencies that they tapped into prior. Their group didn't have much, in terms of resources, but the Faithful had dedicated and talented persons in their ranks. The individual, who was listening in on the frequencies, was a Mandalorian by the name of Brus. Brus had grown up on the lower levels of Keldabe, but that didn't stop him. Somehow, he had a knack for transmitters, comms, and a lot of electronics. His handiwork, in monitoring and tapping frequencies, was quite helpful for this mission. People wondered what he had done before, but Brus always said 'odd jobs for the average folk' and left it at that.

Brus, having remained by one of their escape points, moved a dial on his wrist, listening in on the frequencies. They hadn't been able to tap into the newer military comms for the Mandalorian Defense Corps yet, but still had access to the police, the Mandalorian Guard. The Mandalorian then turns another dial, smaller than the one before, adjusting appropriately as he listened in.

tzzzzzt... tzzzt... All units of Sector 57, report to the blast zone! Sectors 54, 55, and 56 report outages as well. We are working on getting full reports to respective officers and departments. Get to the zone, immediately!....

Brus grins, under his helmet, as he saw the group filing in. He turns to the female leader of the mission.

=Brus=
The Commander is gonna be pleased, Sia. Looks like you kicked up quite the hornets nest.

Sia pats his armored shoulder as she begins heading down the manhole.

=Sia=
Hoping the Tihaar will be on him tonight.

She says as she disappears below. Brus remains, a moment longer, before dipping onto the ladder and heading below. A resounding success!

[ Mandy | Keldabe Spaceport | Mandalore ] Attn: Damocles Ordo [RETIRED]

“Gonna level with ya, kid,” said Markas as he finished his scan of Mandy's vitals, “Those fumes did some irreparable damage to yer lungs. Every breath would be sheer hell to take without specialized aid.”

She'd gazed up at him wonderingly. Why did he care so much about her well-being? Her masters made it clear if she fell behind, she was dead. If her master fell, she was dead. She was meant to die at the droid's hands. But Markas was a conundrum. He was doing everything in his power not only to save her life, but he treated her...she didn't know the word for it, but she supposed the simplest descriptor was he treated in the opposite way she had been treated her whole life up until then.

“Well, fortunately for you, we're headed for the Red Dawn Medical Center,” said Markas, “One'a the best in the galaxy. Whatever I couldn't take care of, they will.”

He leaned heavily on the table she lay on, “But ya gotta want it, kid. Somethin' tells me you didn't plan to survive that fight. So...do you wanna keep goin'?”

Mandy's eyes snapped up to the woman addressing her now. The woman's words were familiar, but she was having a harder time than normal understanding. She could hear Markas' voice, urging her to wake up. She said so little to him during the formative first year she shared with the older man. So much about what she'd learned was contradicted by everything she saw since.

She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to reorient herself and focus on the now. Markas would want that. She needed to answer the woman.

“H-he was...my...father...” said Mandy, “...must return him...to Mandalore...have...no purpose...couldn't reach him in time...couldn't...too many pirates. He was alone...I failed...”

She began to remove the only bits of Beskar on her, namely the vambraces. They felt too heavy for her right then. As the left gauntlet clattered to the ground, the holo-terminal on it activated and began to show Markas Yedron's family credentials, along with Mandy's inserted into it, but Mandy paid it no heed, and it continued playing by itself. She let her Echani and Duraplate armour fall off as well, and anyone nearby could see her untended injuries from her last battle.

She'd been so fixated on deciphering Markas' final request, and pondering for days; in all that time, she did not once think to look after herself. “What...is my mission?” She asked.

shortly after, her eyes rolled up into the back of her head and she collapsed.

“Wake up, kid...ya gotta wake up...too young to go out like this.”

“Wake up, kid...”

[ Mandy | Keldabe Medical Center | Mandalore ] Attn: Damocles Ordo [RETIRED]

“So, Jedi, hmm?” said Markas, “Reckon your masters would want you safely returned to them.”

She looked questioningly at the man, then shook her head. They wouldn't want her back. And she wasn't sure she wanted to go back. The last few days spent with Markas was...strange, but not unpleasant. Moreover, she had not been punished or tormented for every slight or misunderstanding. It was...odd. She didn't feel unhappy about this change, but there was also a strange feeling of emptiness within her.

She frequently watched her surroundings, expecting the masters to reappear without warning.

“Use words, kid,” said Markas, giving her a sharp look, at her habitual minimal use of verbal communication, “it'd be hard to know what you're saying if I'm not looking at you.”

Mandy frowned. The man could be so perplexing at times, “You are...looking at me...now.”

It was hard to talk, she had learned. She was quite few with words most times, but now, since her injury, she was even less inclined to talk than ever, but Markas seemed to prefer that she spoke whenever possible. It troubled her, but she had been taught to obey her elders without question...most times. She was not above pointing out flaws when she saw them, though such acts brought mixed results she was not sure about.

“Fair point,” said Markas with a small smile, and he looked down at something he was working on, “So, why won't your masters want you back?”

“My master...is dead.” said Mandy, “I...failed. If I return...I will die.”

Markas' head snapped up at that, and he gazed intently at her, and it was the girl's turn to look down, feeling odd, and there was a warm sensation in her cheeks.

“Explain, kid,” ordered Markas, “Why would you die? Just because your master died before you.”

Mandy fidgeted with her fingers, finding it hard to lock eyes with the man now, “The other masters...they will read my mind...they will decide if I...if I served my master...or got him killed. I did not...adequately...assist my master...he is dead. My sentence...is death.”

She turned her eyes up to look at Markas when he was silent for a long time, and then saw that he was staring at her.

“Are you Jedi, or Sith?”

“J-Jedi.” Why would the man ask her that? The distinction between Jedi and Sith were many and easy to spot.

“Well, as I understand it, from what you've told me, what happened to your master was not your fault in the least. You tellin' me your other masters can't make that distinction of the fact???”

She blinked owlishly at him and his question. “This is the way.” Was all she said.

Markas barked a mirthless laugh, “Amazing.”

He stood up and paced about a moment, muttering to himself, then turned to regard her, “I ain't sendin' you back to that lot, that's for sure. You got someplace you fancy headin'?”

Mandy tilted her head, curious, “I go...where you go.”

“It's a hard life, if ya want that, kid,” Markas had a grave look, but the girl sensed some form of approval in her choice, “can't be harder than what you've been through already, though. Guess the last person to hug you were your parents, hmm?”

“What is a hug?”

“......”

The look on his face made Mandy want to avert her eyes once more. She felt like she had said something foolish.

“Ye're jokin', right?”

At her blank stare, something shifted in the man. Mandy could sense it, but she did not understand it or the significance. “C'mere, kid. C'mon, get up.”

Obediently, she rose from the chair she'd been sitting on and stood before him.

“Don't be alarmed,” he said, as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. Being hugged to a man wearing thick metal armour wasn't the most comfortable sensation, but it was a sensation nonetheless. One she had never experienced before.

“Imitate the position of your arms like mine,” he instructed, and she did, finding it increased the binding to one another. After a moment, he released his hold and stepped back, and the girl found herself displeased at the breaking of contact, “That, kid, is a hug.”

“C-can...we...hug again?”

Markas learnt how starved she was for affection or contact of any kind, and he made some remarks under his breath about what he'd like to do to those "blasted monsters", whoever they were.

As the memory began to fade, Mandy found herself grasping empty...water? No, she was in a bacta tank again. Her eyes widened suddenly. She was not in the Green Purrgil. She looked around in alarm, her hands splaying against the thick glass. Where was Markas' body? Why was she in a bacta tank anyway? She wasn't that badly hurt.

There was a woman nearby and she gazed intently at her. Maybe she could explain why she was placed in bacta. She reached out with the Force, gently nudging the woman's thoughts and mind.

<< Hello...where am I? Where is Markas Yedron's body? I must bury him. >>

[ Mandy | Keldabe Medical Center | keldabe | Mandalore ] Attn: Damocles Ordo [RETIRED]

Mandy's face flushed as she heard the woman's words. She had gotten so emotionally compromised that she had forgotten some of Markas' most basic teachings about survival. She withdrew her hands from the glass surface and closed her eyes. The slight nod of her head the only indication that she had heard anything the woman told her.

Her mind drifted back to when Markas told her this very simple lesson.

“I ain't sayin' ya need to fear death, kid,” said Markas, “I'm sayin' be smart about it. You ain't gonna be much use to nobody, least of all, yerself, if you kick it. One'a yer first priorities, if ya get hit bad, ya gotta look after it, fast as ya can, 'fore ya try chargin' on back.”

She had nodded at him and then looked down when he gestured to the first aid kit between them, “Now, remember what to use, and when to use them. This kit is your lifeline on the field...”

She had blanked out when he died...the villagers helped her pack her things and she just numbly marched up the boarding ramp, not looking back. She failed him again. It was a good thing she was in a bacta tank, as her tears could not be seen. Slowly looking at the woman again, she reached out once more, << What will happen with me...after I have buried him? >>

[ Mandy | Keldabe Medical Center | keldabe | Mandalore ] Attn: Damocles Ordo [RETIRED]

Mandy's eyes flashed with alarm when she heard the suggestion of being returned to her people. Her alarm and even panic bled over in the Force, through the connection she'd established with the woman in front of her.

<< I have no people... >> said the girl, her hair dancing wildly around her head in the bacta, << Truly...I can join the Mandalorians? He...he promised me, that I would see Mandalore some day...that I will earn my own Beskar'gam. The vambraces...he said that would be part of it. >>

She glanced around the room, searching for signs of the items she spoke of. When she'd first been given them, she'd frowned at it. Confused as to why he was even bothering to make anything for her. She had to scrape together bits and pieces as she travelled, to build her own lightsaber. It had been an arduous task, and one she did not enjoy. The white blade she had, earned her weapon the name 'Whitesaber'.

“This is made from Beskar,” Markas had explained, “Your lightsaber won't be able to cut through this. It's all I can make right now.”

He fitted the device to her wrist. It was small, and more like a wristband, but he explained that too, “Ye're still growin', kid, no point making this until you're about done, but you should have some things anyway. That has a holocomm on it.”

She gave up searching the room for the time being and focused back on the woman again, << When we met, I stole his kill. A rogue Imperial War Droid. Its corrosive fumes did permanent damage to my lungs. I was Aoife Qal-Dragoran. Now I am Mandy. I wish to know your name. >>

Konig dodged Syren's question, covering for the fact he had no idea. He suspected it would be average, Mandalore wasn't your galactic capital world with billions of dollars funding Coruscant Security. The police won't get in the way of a military response if it's called for.

Silently he made a command decision to look into the emergency, better not to waste time. He tipped his helmeted head to one side, and put one hand to his ear, the unspoken signal that he was on comms, and opened a secure channel to the Clan's battle network.

::Lion to base. Request airborne:: The acknowlegement clicks came back almost immediately. As he had suspected, the Clan had already been alerted to the potential threat. Clan Intelligence had taken feeds from civilian holocams in the area and had relative positions of the targets. This wasn't strictly legal, but they were using military methods against criminals, as they saw it, and if the criminals didn't like it, they were free to sue the Clan in a civil court. Those details were networked through the battle network, giving the Clan's forces accurate intelligence on the incident.

Two gunships lifted off from the nearby MandalArms facility and headed for Konig's position. His HUD overlay showed the incoming transports.

Seems like there's a hunt on. I'm going to see what's up. You're welcome to come participate if you can handle yourself. He shrugged as the whine of approaching gunships came into easy hearing range. One of them swooped low, its bay open, and Konig jumped up into the LAAT to join the Australis commandos.

::Lion, last location has the targets heading underground. Hurry or you will lose them.:: The voice came in from Command. Konig clicked the acknowledgement. Syren's call to come or not would need to come quickly, because in a few seconds, his shebs was out of there, and to the hunt.


@gedycdone Syren

Aden had been on the streets since he could remember. Here on Mandalore he could survive the streets. The people here, the Mando, at least had a code hey lived by. Aden was only 10, but he already knew much about the harsh realities of life. He stood in the shadows of the market, waiting for an opportunity...