† Vendetta Squad †
Salvador grimly watched various inhabitants of Manaan pass by his shadowed table. He and Abhay had found a local cantina that served human food and had a view of the platform's small plaza. The mediocre establishment attracted only a few customers, most of which looked like regulars as they sat at the counter, chatting with the sole waiter on duty. Most of the wandering figures that despondently strolled the area were either human or Selkath - the humans mostly dressed in mercenary and traveler clothing, while the Selkath donned nearly identical blue and brown uniforms.
A cold glass of water was shifted from one hand to the other as Salvador mindlessly observed his surroundings. They sat closest to the open front of the cantina in a corner booth. The plain metal benches and polished grey table were raised above the ground a few inches by a platform that lined the back of the cantina, giving them a broad view of the mostly open plaza. A small fountain puttered right outside the cantina, offering a soothing sound to relax troubled minds.
Salvador was stiffly reclined back on his bench, elbows propped on the edge of the table as his right foot tapped agitatedly on the dull metal floor, boots clicking quietly in the silence. Abhay watched Salvador's sweating glass of untouched water slide back and forth across the tabletop as he mechanically took a sip of his own chilled drink. It was the first time in days that they had the opportunity to relax, but even though they had changed out of their armor and into casual garb, they both felt unable to unclench their weary muscles. Their mission was complete, and this was normally the time to enjoy the credits they had earned.
But this time was different. Not only were they using what little savings they had to pay for a squad mate's expensive medical treatment, but their last client - the same one who had sent them to Kashyyyk in the first place - had disappeared, final payment in hand. They were short on credits and short on leadership.
"...We're going to need to take another job soon in order to keep Boss here. Our savings are drying up fast."
Salvador didn't stop obsessively sliding his cup back and forth, looking as if he hadn't heard what his companion had said. His eyes kept scanning the thin, almost non-existent crowd that shuffled around in the open plaza.
"We're lucky Iasha took so well to Saam and was able to cut the expenses down, but she's just a nurse. Knowing how the Selkath run things, they won't let us keep alor here much longer unless we pay up. In the end the doctors are going to stop the treatments, regardless of Iasha's insistence," Abhay said firmly. His words, as serious as they were, seemed to leave Salvador unfazed. "We need credits, and fast."
The two lapsed into silence. After several minutes passed by, the stillness unchanging, Abhay hunched over his glass, closing in on himself. His thoughts wandered to when he had carried Jatne's limp body into the medical bay two days ago. He had stoically walked through the cold metal halls of Manaan with Ladimir following close behind. The boy's face was pale and his hands trembled violently as they gripped the rolls of bandages and bloody cloth that had been shoved in his arms by a frantic Abhay. The squad medic had tried to keep his distress from showing on his face, as he knew that Ladimir was watching him. In an effort to keep the boy from worrying himself crazy, Abhay was acting as if everything was completely under control.
But as he felt the wet warmth of blood seep through the bandages on Jatne's lower back and soak his gloves, he knew that everything was spiraling out of his grasp. Her injuries were far from anything he could take care of, and Abhay doubted that the few credits he had stashed away would be enough.
He couldn't bring himself to believe what had happened. The idea that Jatne might die from anything other than old age was simply incomprehensible. A stray piece of shrapnel might be the end of her, and it was frightening, to say the least.
It didn't help matters that Saam had knocked himself out with drexl sedatives. Abhay had quickly looked at him, wanting to get back to Jatne to redress her wounds. Aside from being unable to wake up, Saam seemed fine. But after sleeping through a day and a half with no end in sight, Salvador had then carried him to the medical bay.
The beautiful and gentle Iasha had greeted them on both occasions - first quickly redirecting them to the doctors who would perform Jatne's surgery, then to the patient's quarters where she personally tended to Saam.
So here they were now, a day after arriving on Manaan and waiting for news on
Jatne. Saam had decided to stay at the medical bay, no doubt for the company of the beautiful and doting Iasha. Ladimir - having been the one to find Saam passed out on his bunk - felt it was his duty to stay close to the still dazed Saam. And Abhay had searched out a place to get a drink, Salvador trudging silently behind.
"He'll come."
Surprised by the sudden statement, Abhay looked up at his comrade. There was no need to clarify who he was talking about. There was one man in this universe who would be able to help them, but that person had long since disappeared and wasn't likely to come back any time soon. Deciding it was unwise to upset Salvador further, Abhay kept his opinions to himself.
"I'm heading back to check on Saam," Salvador said, still not looking at Abhay. He shifted out of the booth and stood, stretching his limbs and back after sitting quietly for hours.
Abhay watched his friend from over the rim of his glass as he took another sip. As Salvador turned to leave he called out, "Send Ladimir over. Poor kid's been guarding Saam like a loyal pup for the last three hours. Tell'm I'll buy him something to eat."
"Sure, I'll let him know." Salvador stopped and stood still for a moment before turning to look over his should, and said quietly, "And I'll ask Saam if he's up to another job yet."
† Vendetta Squad †
"So, baby, what do you want to eat? I'll make you anything you want."
Saam grinned lazily up at the beautiful Falleen. If it wasn't for Ladimir glaring at him from the door and his sister close to death, he would've been in heaven. "I'll love anything you give me, cyar'ika."
"Shireeka?" Iasha looked down at Saam from her datapad where she was taking notes of his condition. "What's that mean?"
He chuckled and rubbed his eyes, just starting to wake up from his short nap. "It's cyar'ika. Shar-ee-ka, it means sweetheart in Mando'a."
She giggled at him, the quiet noise sounding like music to his ears. She waved her hand gracefully, motioning for him to move over so she could sit beside him on the bunk. "And what, baby, is Mando'a?"
"It's the language of the Mandalorians. I don't know it fluently yet - at least not as well as Jatne does - but I've got the general vocabulary," he said, fingers now playing with the strands of dark hair that fell over her left shoulder.
Her eyebrow rose quizzically. "You don't know your own race's language? And I thought you were human..."
"Would it bother you if I wasn't?"
She smiled sweetly and lifted a long finger to tap the end of his nose. "It wouldn't bother me one bit."
He grinned up at her for a few moments as his hand moved to cup her cheek. She leaned into his palm, waiting patiently. "Well, Mandalorians are generally human, but there have been a few exceptions. And I've only been a Mandalorian for a handful of years, not my entire life."
"That... that doesn't make any sense, baby..."
"Of course it does. To become a Mandalorian you just have to be adopted by another Mandalorian through gai bal manda, then pass a few... err, tests, I guess you could say..." He thought for a moment, arranging his next words as Iasha absorbed the new information. "While you can be born a Mandalorian, you don't have to be. And just because your parent is a Mandalorian doesn't mean you can claim to be one. You have to at least respect certain traditions, like the manda and Resol'nare," he said, still running his fingers through the green woman's hair.
"So... you weren't born a Mandalorian?" she inquired, deciding that asking about manda and the Resol'nare should be saved for another time. While she enjoyed Saam's company, she did have other patients to check on. She didn't want to get sucked into a species whole history and culture.
"Nope, Jatne brought me into her family using the "name and soul" - the gai bal manda - a while back. It's kind of like getting adopted, but it's more than that to Mandalorians. It's promising to abide by the Six Actions and living your life for the family." He smiled at her when he noticed her puzzled look. "It's a big deal to us. I was born an only child, and ended up with a bunch of siblings to watch over me thanks to the Mandalorian culture. I couldn't ask for a better family."
She knew that she would be behind schedule if she kept this conversation up much longer, but it was too good to pass up. "The man that brought you in is your brother then?"
"Yes, Abhay was adopted about the same time I was. We are considered close in age, by Mandalorian terms. Salvador - the one that was here earlier - is a bit older than me and Abhay, but his adoption was more like mine, which means something too. This sort of thing is extremely important to us." Saam chuckled quietly as Iasha shook her head, clearly not comprehending the weight of the topic. "Family is everything to Mandalorians. Bloodlines mean next to nothing. What's important is who you are to the family in your heart - those you swear to protect and serve with your very being," Saam murmured, his words sounding like a precious lullaby, the verses having been memorized since birth.
You could see in Iasha's eyes that a thought was forming. "Who was the woman that your brothers brought in?"
Saam quickly became grave, the comfortable and relaxed look on his face soon disappearing. "That's my older sister, Jatne. She's the one that started our little family. She did all of our gai bal manda, her and Vadim. She is the leader of our makeshift family and a Mandalorian by blood. Not only is she the best versed in the Mandalorian culture, she lives it, day in and day out." Saam fell into a disturbed silence, his hand dropping from Iasha's hair to forcefully rub his forehead in frustration. "She truly lives her life for the family. Manda will wait for her on the other side, when her time comes. I just know it."
"Couldn't of said it better myself," a new voice said from the entrance. Saam raised his head enough to look toward the wide archway that led out into the medical bay halls. There, beside where Ladimir was leaning against the doorframe, stood Salvador. His expression was grim, and his limbs were rigid. He looked awkward as he stiffly walked over to Saam's bunk. His eyes were downcast as he raised his hand, palm down, and froze. For a moment he stood still and stared at something unforeseen on the floor, or perhaps the edge of the blanket, before firmly patting Saam's calf. "So... are you going to be alright, ner vod? Me'vaar ti gar?"
Salvador gave his leg a quick squeeze as if reassuring himself of Saam's existence. From the corner of Saam's eye he could see Iasha glance between the two. Salvador's gloomy mood must have been apparent to her as well, for she took that moment to stand up and return to her duties, whispering a quick goodbye.
"Lek, naas, ner vod." Saam grinned up at Salvador. "Iasha has taken good care of me."
Salvador took Iasha's old place on the bed beside Saam. "So I can see. Try not to get too cozy. We're going to need to leave soon for another job."
"Already?" Saam asked. His smile had flipped to a frown. "But... what about alor?"
"Exactly, Saam, we're boracyk, and we need more credits to pay for her treatments. If we want to keep her here to recover we're going to need to take another job."
Saam thought for a moment, thinking whether or not it was wise to dare saying the words floating in his mind. Throwing caution to the wind, he said what was on everyone's mind.
"When is Vadim going to get here? He is coming, isn't he?"
It was instantaneous. Salvador's eyes stopped flickering between the other patients in the room and snapped to Saam's face. The look was cold, and he could feel Salvador's muscles tense. The restless tapping of his foot ceased, and after a few perfectly silent moments of staring, Salvador adjusted himself on the bed to better face Saam.
"What makes you think he's coming? He's been missing for a while now, Saam," Salvador whispered harshly, almost under his breath. "As far as I know, not even Jatne has had contact with him since he disappeared."
Saam stared up at his comrade's face, trying to pick out and sort all the emotions that were flashing through his brother's mind.
"But you... you think he'll come. He has to, it's Jatne..." His voice was the closest it could get to pleading and still allow him to keep his pride. "It's his first sibling in there... He, he wouldn't leave her, not really..."
"That's what I thought at first, but..." Salvador sighed and twisted back around to view the far side of the large patients' quarters, and to possibly hide his face. "I did some thinking while walking over here. As much as his return would make sense to me, I realize that it's unrealistic. He had his reasons for leaving, and nothing has changed since then, so I figure he still has reasons for staying away. And if our aliit and the manda meant so little to him that he would leave in the first place... no, he won't be coming back. Not now."
"Do you think they might've had an argument?"
"Vadim and Jatne? Nayc, they are too similar, and have been siblings for too long. I don't think they'd have a falling-out that bad."
"But it's possible. Everybody fights sometime, especially with family. They aren't perfect and it's the only thing that makes sense. You didn't say anything to him, did you?" Salvador shook his head mechanically, eyes unfocused and staring unseeingly at the ground. "Yeah, so it must've been a disagreement they had."
The two brothers sat silently for a while. Salvador had resumed tapping his heel on the metal floor. The clacking sound was obnoxiously loud in the quiet quarters.
"So are you feeling well enough to come with me? We have to go over some options with Abhay. He seems to have an idea of what to do, so he's temporarily making the decisions. That and he's the one paying the bills."
Saam's gaze drifted over to Iasha. "Well..." Jatne's empty helmet resting on a bed of flowers flashed before his mind's eye. "Yeah, I'm all set to go."
"If it makes you feel any better, we'll be back quite a bit to check on Jatne and you can spend some time with your besom."
"What? She is the most charming person I ever met! She's so sweet and kind... and she's always so gentle... Iasha is very cyare around here."
"Ha, you mean copikla? I think you need to work on your Mando'a, vod."
Salvador's cocky grin broke into an all out smirk as Saam threw a feeble punch at his shoulder. Moving quickly out of the way, Salvador dodged the strike and pranced away. Grabbing Ladimir by the elbow, he maneuvered them out of the room. He called out behind him to Saam, "Hurry up and say goodbye, then meet up with us at the epar'yaim. Tayli'bac?"
"Elek, ori'vod."
† Vendetta Squad †
Translations for Chapter 9:
Alor - Leader, Boss
Cyar'ika - Darling, Sweetheart (haha, in case you didn't get it the first time)
Gai Bal Manda - Mandalorian form of 'adoption' strictly translated as "name and soul"
Manda - Being Mandalorian in mind, body, and spirit; also the collective soul or heaven (how it's used the second time Saam brings it up)
Resol'nare - Six Actions
Ner vod - My brother
Me'vaar ti gar? - How are you?
Lek - Yeah (Slang or short version for elek)
Naas - Nothing (appropriate response to Me'vaar ti gar?)
Boracyk - Broke, Penniless, literally 'between jobs'
Aliit - clan name, family
Nayc - No
Besom - Someone with no manners, Unhygienic person
Cyare - Beloved, Loved, Popular
Copikla - Charming and Cute (but only in terms of babies etc. it's an insult if referencing a woman)
Epar'yaim - Restaurant, Canteen
Tayli'bac? - Okay?
Elek - Yes
Ori'vod - Older Brother
