Son of Mandalore
As the son of legendary Mandalorian Bounty Hunter/ Mercenary Vrom Ordo and heir to the leadership of Clan Ordo, Kandosii has always been faced with high expectations. Trained from birth to inherit the title of his forefathers, the decisions he makes will change the course of the galaxy and the fate of his people. In an era on the eve of rebellion, he must choose his side. (Set just after season one going into season two for those who wanted to know)
Chapter two:
Previously
Well the aruetii emerges; the difficulty she had caused to his mother's operations was astounding causing the once death watch to hide on his home world not that he minded much, he saw his mother Bo-Katan Kryze.
This was a great opportunity indeed; he could collect a huge pay check and additionally bring back a traitor to the clan who might oppose him crowning himself Mand'alor in the future. This was almost too easy he smiled to himself…
It appeared that it was not going to be as easy as it seemed to find the rebel crew as he had first thought, they had lain low after the death of the grand inquisitor, this made Kandosii's job harder. With few leads to follow, it was becoming more of waiting game than trying to locate the rebels he knew they would come out of hiding soon, with the people of Tarkin town near breaking point he was sure that they would run a relief mission soon. There compassion was a weakness he would exploit, all he'd need to do was keep his ears out for Intel regarding stolen imperial supplies and then he would move his ship and his base of operations closer to the refugee camp.
News came of a small skirmish between the rebel cell and an imperial supply convoy just as he'd predicted. He had read up on the rebels looking to see if there was a method to their operations and he'd found that shortly after every successful attack they would try and give as much as could be spared to the refugees and people of Lothal or close outer rim planets under the empires control, a noble and honourable cause he thought.
He departed from the imperial HQ leaving Kallus and Vader to scheme with the poor minister who undoubtedly was doomed for a fate worse than death; he had no time to think about her though. He needed to set up his camp and hide the ship from prying eyes out in the plains; he boarded the vessel deep in thought. There was a chance that they might not even return to Lothal, he knew he wouldn't but they weren't like him. Noble and self-righteous, he was certain of this annoyingly the force was showing him his spot in his dreams.
The plains were on fire, ablaze the smoke could be seen for klicks around he reckoned. There was a legion of refugees being forced marched towards the grand factory on Lothal… the empire had once again shown its true colours. Once when Kandosii was younger he had heard other Mandalorians claim that the empire was a good thing, they brought stability and control to the galaxy and to Mandalore, he grew up around other families whose children had been sent to the Imperial Academy either willingly or not. He didn't have to attend primarily due to his clan making a deal with the imperials to not act against the empire in return for 'liberties' Clan Ordo and its minor houses were notable warriors and bounty hunters. In return for more freedom Clan Ordo protected the Imperial mid rim-outer rim trade route from Hutt and pirate ships, Vrom his father valued the traditions of Death Watch which meant that despite receiving this respite he would still attack 'traitors' to the Resol'nare. Clans such as Varad, Bralor and Sharratt who had fully declared for the Imperials, family and soldiers becoming Stormtroopers had been attacked by both Clan Ordo and the remnants of Death Watch had been wiped out. Warriors which proved themselves were accepted into the clan but held lower status and had to prove themselves through trials and combat. 'te ara be te Mando'ade and Aliit ori'shya tal'din were the words of Clan Ordo and were taken extremely seriously by all in the clan.
He saw what the Imperials did to people who didn't agree with them, on the planet of Kashyyyk. The Wookies, a proud warrior people who were now used as slaves from birth till death, Mandalore was lucky but our time will come where we will have to choose a side… He didn't know what side to choose, his people couldn't fight the empire alone much less with the clans fractured. The time of change is now he thought coming back forgetting the burning plains and the column of slaves that the empire had now claimed.
Meanwhile…
"My lord, our scans have indicated that the stolen shuttle has not attempted to leave the system" Kallus informed coming into the former governors' office.
"Fear has driven them to ground… there is a refugee camp the rebels have provided aid to in the past" Vader spoke in a dark, cruel and calculated tone.
"Yes Tarkin town they call it; you suspect that the rebels are in hiding there?" Kallus questioned wondering if by some miracle that he knew where the rebels were, they had proven to be adept at hiding from the empire when they chose to.
"No… but I want you to burn it. The compassion of the rebels is a weakness, one that we will exploit"
"Yes my lord" this was something which would rile up the rebels causing them to come out of hiding Kallus thought, there compassion would be there undoing, he set off to order the burning of Tarkin town himself.
From the HoloNet update he had learned that the rebels had indeed returned to Lothal and had 'assassinated' the governor, fat chance they did that he thought. If they were assassins then he was a Hutt, it didn't fit any of their MO's this would undoubtedly cause the rebels to leave their hideouts in the city and come out into the wilderness just as he had seen all he needed now was to be patient.
The Ghost crew landed at lando's base of operations on Lothal and began to disembark the shuttle, Hera leading followed shortly by Sabine and chopper.
"Well you must be lando's droid" Hera said jovially finally on the receiving end of good news for today.
"Yes ma'am, I have prepared everything as per Calrissians' instructions. Is one of you a mechanic?" the droid replied
"That would be me" Sabine stated out loud receiving a disgruntled clanging from chopper.
"Definitely not you" she huffed.
Ezra came off the shuttle and saw the rising smoke of Tarkin town in the distance, his facial features turned from carefree to sympathetic. He ran to the nearest speeder quickly mounting and began heading straight for the ruins of the refugee camp.
"Ezra wait!" Kanaan quickly followed on the adjacent speeder.
Ezra arrived at the smoking remains at was once a large camp filled with people, children running through the camp laughing despite the horrible situation and people making the most of what they had. Now it was all gone. He desperately brought out the binoculars to try and see if anyone needed help, if he could do anything… he couldn't they were far too late to fight for the people here.
Kanaan pulled up alongside him, coming off the speeder and moving to comfort his padawan. He knew this would have a huge impact on the impressionable teen and decided to offer what little advice and comfort he could, just like what he'd do for anyone on the crew.
"They're all gone… all I sense is evil" Ezra spoke with such disbelief.
"They're prisoners of the empire now" Kanaan stated
"Why would they burn Tarkin town?"
"To spread fear, make us afraid… people who lived here just got caught in the middle"
"This happened because of us?"
"There's a cost for every action we take now Ezra, things are getting worse just like when I was your age but back then there were ten thousand Jedi knights protecting the galaxy now…"
"there's just you and me" Ezra finished solemnly
"Against an empire"
"Ten thousand Jedi Knights would have made for an honourable fight against my people. What do we have here? a Jedi and a padawan who both have bounties on their heads looks like I'm in luck, hand over the boy and I'll let you both live" Kandosii interrupted.
Both shocked turned around to see a Mandalorian in full Beskar armour, with four lightsabers on his belt. His armour… coloured dark blue with fiery embers of purple with Jet black blending with the two colours to make it look like the paint was constantly flickering like a fire. With two of the same kind of blasters that Sabine wielded in holsters he looked like a one-man army with the vast amount of weaponry on his person, he had a mark painted in white like one that Ezra noticed Sabine had on hers, it was a unique.
"Since when did Mandalorians do the bidding of the empire? Surprised you aren't flying their banner or wearing their colours or marching in their parades" Kanaan taunted out of habit, he saw he'd obviously annoyed the very proud Mandalorian who was visibly shaking in anger.
"This isn't personal but you are starting to make it personal Jedi, this is your last chance give the boy to me or you die, I trust you know who I am? I have killed your kind before and much better warriors than you have tried"
"What happens if I don't want to go with you?" Ezra shouted to him, gaining the bounty hunters attention for the first time in this meeting.
"I won't give him up without a fight" Kanaan stated igniting his lightsaber the blue coming to life instantaneously flickering in the sunlight.
Kandosii ignites his primary blade making a show of it before getting into his fighting stance "This lightsaber was taken from your fallen temple by my clan thousands of years ago and has claimed the lives of countless Jedi; you shall become one of those, prepare to die Jetiise duse"
Kanaan decides to go on the offence trying to overwhelm the Mandalorian but was swiftly countered with several perfectly timed parries, he began backing away from his foe wary now but not giving up, Ezra tries to assist coming to engage from the flank. Kandosii switches lightsaber form and acrobatically flips and kicks Kanaan away and begins toying with Ezra quickly disarming him after a close shave almost receiving a strike.
"Your master has hardly taught you much, shame that you weren't born Mandalorian, you've got fighting spirit. Now surrender before I give you to the Sith lord dead" he spoke respect in his voice before returning serious.
"Not if I have anything to say about it" Kanaan yells after recovering from the Beskar boot to the face and once more begins fighting, Kandosii quickly takes control of the fight pushing the Jedi back he Knicks the armoured shoulder pad and manages to put a significant dent in it and quickly follows by slashing across Kanaan's leg who manages to quickly pull back but not fast enough to avoid a burn across his leg, Kanaan cries out in pain. Kandosii tries to aim a jetpack rocket at him to quickly finish the fight off but the rocket was redirected blowing up one of the speeders. Kanaan begins to slow and the blows from the Mandalorian are becoming too much for him to stop with force, managing to duck and dodge whilst stepping back until he trips on a stone falling back and dropping his blade. Kandosii quickly closes the gap Kanaan and kicks his lightsaber away before sauntering towards the defeated Jedi
"Any last words Jetiise?" Kandosii begins striding up to Kanaan cockily who is holding his leg in pain now that the adrenaline is fading from his system and the fatigue of the fight is now settling in.
"You lack focus, Ezra now" Kanaan replies force pushing Kandosii back with Ezra's help, they escape on the speeder leaving Kandosii trying to re-balance himself in the air with his jetpack. They were long gone when the Mandalorian was back on the ground staring at their retreating figures with a grudgingly respectful gaze before flying back towards his ship.
"Who was that?" Ezra replied again shocked that they had been easily outmatched again in one day.
"I don't know Ezra; whoever he is… he is well trained in lightsaber combat, he's even better than the inquisitor but he's not a dark force user. We are lucky to have made it out with our lives" Kanaan spoke in uneven breaths still tired.
"The armour is the same as Sabine's that must mean he's Mandalorian, maybe she'll know who he is".
"Maybe" he replied sceptically another enemy for them to fight, he was beginning to understand the inquisitor's final words to him now. He shook his head and noticed that they were pulling into the compound.
"What happened out there?" Hera asked
"The empire burnt Tarkin town and we were engaged by a Mandalorian wielding a lightsaber" Kanaan replied whilst walking towards the crew clearly favouring his left leg, when Hera noticed the burns she told Zeb to help him who supported Kanaan's weight whilst the group were talking. They noticed Sabine's face drastically change colour and change in attitude.
"Did anyone survive?" Sabine asked with little hope knowing what the empire was like from past experiences.
"The population's been taken captive" Zeb growled after hearing Ezra before continuing onwards looking for his bo-rifle
"Well what are waiting for let's go bust em out" enclosing his fists around Kanaan which would have been comical if weren't for the dire situation that they were in.
"No they'd be waiting, we couldn't fight both Vader and the Mandalorian" he glances towards Hera "You were right we have no choice, we have to leave…"
"for the good of Lothal" Hera finished.
"So what's the plan for getting out of here" Ezra spoke trying to change the subject which was greatly appreciated by the rest of the crew.
"Lando had these old transponders lying around, Sabine's going to tune their signature codes to match the shuttle's"
"Sounds like a lousy Lando plan" Kanaan joked elbowing Zeb
"No its Lando's gear, it was my plan with these transponders beaming out the same frequency as the shuttles we should be able to slip by unnoticed" Sabine spoke up sheepishly for the first-time about the plan to get off Lothal.
"Sounds like a lousy 'Sabine' plan" Zeb knocked Kanaan with his shoulder almost knocking him to the floor.
"Better than Lando's"
The ghost crew escaped into hyperspace after pulling off the 'lousy Sabine plan' all were now sitting in the passenger chairs on the shuttle before being joined by Hera.
"Never thought I'd say this but thank you Lando Calrissian" Hera speaks out loud, Kanaan begins grumbling about not wanting to be part of the rebellion asking if everyone in the crew was sure they wanted to be a part of it.
"Maybe we could grab the ghost and lay low for a while, lose the attention of the imps and get back out there" Sabine suggested.
"I like fighting with phoenix squadron reminds me of the honour guard, and besides they are counting on us wouldn't be right to turn our backs on them now" Zeb stated with a passionate look in his eyes.
"What about you Ezra? What do you think?" Hera asks in a motherly tone.
"we can't help Lothal now but I think the rebels can help us get stronger, plus with the empire looking for us we could do with people watching our backs, I think we should stay with the rebel fleet" Ezra finishes.
"Sabine do you know who the Mandalorian who attacked us could be?" Ezra asked wanting to gain Sabine's attention who was busy cleaning her helmet which still had the blaster mark that Vader had reflected at her.
"I have a suspicion but I need more info on him"
Ezra began explaining all the details he could about the mysterious Mandalorian, his helmet, his armour, colours, lightsaber and then the strange marking that Ezra had noticed on his. Sabine's face dropped at the lightsaber comment but she knew who he was it was confirmed when Ezra told her about the pattern or rather the clan symbol.
"His name is Kandosii Ordo, the Jedi Killer. His family are directly linked to death watch, he's a rumoured fanatic just like his parents. They knew my mother even headed up death watch elite strike force. He's extremely well trained in swordsmanship, even rumoured to be better than Mandalore the Ultimate who fought against countless Jedi in the last Mandalorian attempt to conquer the galaxy. He's never been beaten and he views those who side with Imperials as traitors to all Mando'ade in other words someone like me" She finished looking down knowing that if she was caught by him it would end in her death.
"We'll protect you though, it's what we do" Ezra tried to comfort Sabine who smiled in response, the boy could be endearing when he wanted to.
Is Sabine in danger and what is Kando's next move against the rebel crew?
Thank you guys for reviewing and following/favouriting. Still wanting to know who people's favourite mandos are : D and what you like about them or the culture. Any questions are welcome about Ill either answer them in a PM or at the beginning of the next chapter depending if you want to wait for the answer or not :P
'te ara be te Mando'ade'= The way of the Mandalorians
Aliit ori'shya tal'din= Family means more than blood
Duse= trash/ scum
Jetiise= Jedi
