The third bounty had been on an icy outpost on an otherwise temperate planet, and Andora simply stayed on the ship, a comm link for use only in absolute emergency from either of them. She was not interested in weather extremes. He had taken a few days to finish the hunt, dragging back a body with him to the ship. The man had given him no choice. He had told her to take the kid up into the cockpit via the comm link, not wanting the kid to see the bloody mess he was bringing back to the ship. The kid had been through battles but this was different. Din didn't want the kid to see him dragging a mangled corpse. He froze the corpse to prevent the smell. Covering it with a sheet, not wanting his charges to see what he did to the bounty.
"Mando...do you want any help cleaning?" She asked him through the comm link, and he sighed.
"No. Just...Just keep him up there till I finish. I don't want him to see this." He said from down below, not bothering with the link now that he was on the ship again. "It wasn't a clean kill."
"Are you hurt?" She called out, thankfully keeping the kid busy up there by showing him pictures on the data pad.
"Bic b shi aaray." (It's only pain.) She swore she could hear some cockiness in his voice, deciding that if he was going to write it off, she shouldn't waste time worrying about it. "It took longer than I expected. You and the kid okay?"
"Other than being a bit cold we were fine. I saved you a couple of slices of the fruit I bought back on the planet your Armorer was on." He was wiping off the blood from the ship, using the cleaning agent without water since that could cause it to freeze. He worked thoroughly, but with a bit more speed since he knew that the cold air was filling the ship, her and the kid not having the same protection he did in his layers. Once he finished he closed the door. Using his wrist controls he turned the heating system up on the ship, wanting the kid to be comfortable. Andora popped her head down, seeing the blood that coated his fabric layers and frozen smears of it on his armor. The smile she had turned a bit sad. "Did he deserve it?"
"Yes." Din couldn't help the anger in his voice as he thought on what he had seen. In his youth he would have enjoyed that he tortured the man, like when he and Xi'an had been an item, but now...he had taken no pleasure in it. In his youth he would have done it for himself, but now...those girls had suffered greatly, and he made sure their pain was repaid in full. Their fathers would never be able to get the justice those girls had deserved, so his knife had done it for them. He wanted to wash the blood off, to have the terrible event gone. "I'm going to finish cleaning up."
"Of course, take all the time you need." Andora locked the hatch to give him privacy, picking up her flute and playing her scales, knowing she needed practice. Settled into the scales she started on the fight of the mythosaur again. Pirpak watched her fingers and the way the end of the instrument bobbed with her playing, wide eyes following the glistening metal. Din was grateful for her playing the music, letting him focus on it as he striped down his armor, cleaning the blood from his beskar, and removing the blood soaked layers of fabric. He stood there completely bare, putting all the fabrics into a laundry tub, dumping in the cleaning agent in with some water to eat at the blood. Satisfied that he would have clean clothes he went to shower, allowing himself a moment to reflect on what he did, not sorry for what he had done, but sorry it had been necessary. Taking those thoughts and emotions, he allowed the shower to wash the event away, letting it go. He had won the battle, it was time to let it go and start fresh for the next battle. Her music moved to a new song, one he hadn't heard before, but it was uplifting in its own way. Din pulled on some fresh underclothes and a simple brown shirt and pants, his helmet back on. It would take a while for his things to be ready. Knocking on the hatch he heard her stop the music and shift to open it. A set of innocent brown eyes looked at him.
"Uir! Uir!" Din picked up the kid, glad his helmet hid his smile at the sound of the kid calling him dad. The kid was picking up on words faster than he had expected. The vowel sounds picked up very easy, but the starting consiensenats needed more work. Andora made a point of talking to the kid all the time the last couple days they had been alone, reading all the time from her documents on the data pad when she ran out of conversation. Din had needed that little boost from the kid to help finish dispelling the dark cloud. Andora had been about to come down, but upon seeing him so undressed she had politely turned around.
"It's fine Andora, come down." He had used her name twice now, and it made her feel so...warm. She came down, seeing the bin of his wash and the metal pieces laid out carefully inside his open bed bunk. "Thank you for watching him."
"It's fine, I like kids." She said evenly, looking at everything not him since he was so naked and vulnerable.
"How come you don't have your own?" He sat down on the floor, letting the kid climb him, the kid excited by the lack of layers between him and his father figure.
"It's kind of a two person thing."
"No one in your life?" It was unusual for what she knew of him to make this kind of small talk, but his energy had been so dark when he came in, she was fine with the chatter if it helped him from being so brooding.
"No. Once upon a time when I was 16 I thought I found someone I could be happy with...back on Barab 1. That obviously hasn't worked out. Some relationships since then but...well...my history tends to scare people away."
"You had a relationship with a Barabel?" Din was trying to understand how that could have possibly worked. He had seen a few images of Barabels, to him they were less than appealing.
"Yeah...Tokor, he was really wonderful. We hunted together a lot, spared all the time, he even brought me trophies for my 'nest'. Being captured and sent back to Mandalore put an end to it though." She still missed him but they had been too different for it to be more than a deep bond anyway. "Boys on Mandalore were conscripted to the Imperial military academy at age 16, so by the time I came back home...my interest in them was really rock bottom low. Dated a lot of the conscription dodgers." She heard him chuckle a bit, the sound warming her more than the heated air.
"Never dated any of the Stormtroopers?" He teased her.
"Mandalorians didn't become stormtroopers. They went on to be higher specialized forces, quite a few were Death Troopers. Even in those awful helmets our guys are great at fighting."
"That wasn't an answer." He watched her take a deep breath and sigh. The slight pout of her lips told him it was not something she wanted to say.
"My father used to say it's not wise to talk about things you want to avoid, it's like an invitation for it to enter your life." Her voice was dripping with a cautionary tone. That made Din pause, thinking back on the day he had his beskar armor made. The others had mentioned strength in numbers, and the great purge. Later they had shown their full strength, only to be slaughtered. Maybe her father had a point. "He would have liked you." That comment caught Din off guard, turning to look at her as the kid climbed up into the bed bunk to start tapping on the plates of armor like other children would slap pots and pans. Looking at her she took the tilt of his head as permission to continue. "You're an honorable man. He said that if someone was to walk the Way, then it had to honorable. He was a big believer in Mand'alor Mereel's supercommando codex. You can't imagine my father's shame in learning it was Tor Vizsla that killed Mand'alor Mereel. He worked his whole life trying to be honorable to wipe away that stain, only for Pre Vizsla to deepen the sins of our clan."
"I thought your father was a pacifist." He knew the codex, he had read it as well. Keeping a very worn field guide copy of it in his personal belongings. It explained much more about her own beliefs now, Mereel had been trying to bridge the two ways of Mandalorian life too. He watched her vibrant blue hair move as she shook her head.
"He was a Protector. He lost his leg while on a diplomatic mission as an escort for the officials to Concord Dawn when they were attacked by Death Watch. He was forced to reassignment of training security forces in the capital after that." There was a lot of pride in that title based on the tone of her voice and the smile on her lips. "Took his time in 'retirement lite' as he called it to start his family."
"He missed being out on missions." Din concluded, watching the kid studying himself in the reflection of the beskar. Din held his tongue about Death Watch. Seems her family had lost a lot to the terrorist sect. Their honor and more personally her father's pride as a warrior in action. It would not be a good time to argue the merits of the other sects of the clan.
"I was his second child, so by the time I could know him, he was more focused on keeping my brother and I safe while everything was being thrown into uncertainty by the wars." There was a thunderous crashing sound as Pirpak tried to pick up the chest plate, it too heavy and it had fallen on the floor from the bed bunk. His ears curled in and he started crying, the sound seemed to scare him. Their discussion tossed to the side as Din picked him up and tried to calm him down. He wasn't worried about his armor, the floor was probably worse off.
"Hey calm down now, we've heard worse noises than that and you never let out a peep" Din said, trying to reason with the kid to calm down, the little one burying his face in Din's shoulder and gripping handfuls of his shirt. He picked up the chest piece and put it back, gently bouncing the kid in his other hand. Andora wanted to reach out and help, but it wasn't her place anymore. He was home to care for his son. "Look, it's okay, everything is okay. No one is hurt. It was just noise. Sayr cuyir olar. Nayc sto be ibic." (Dad is here. No more of this.) It took a few moments to ease the child into calmness. Pirpak had small batch of hiccups from crying so hard. Wiping the kids eyes dry with his shirt Din sighed. "Any news on leads for him?"
"Well my colleague is actually away on an artifact dig, so they haven't been able to respond back. Their assistant sent me the coordinates to their dig site. Said that they would love to send me the logs but apparently the data logs are highly encrypted and need a password that only a few people have, and the assistant does not have clearance. Everyone else that has the password is either New Republic officials or Imperial." Andora had been less than happy about the news, not because she wanted Pirpak to leave but because she didn't like the idea of trying to hunt down her colleague for something that could be done over the net.
"Which planet?" Din was hoping this wouldn't be too expensive. She opened the data pad, checking the message for the coordinates. "A planet called Zeffo." As Din moved up to the cockpit she followed, trading the data pad for Pirpak, trying to control the intake of breath as his calloused hand brushed against her hand, her eyes dazed for a moment as Pirpak clung to her. Pirpak was gazing at her curiously, feeling the force flurry around their hands for a moment before she was gazing without her eyes. She pulled back as quickly as she could, her hand tingling. Andora looked away from him with her cheeks bright red. He tilted his head at her, knowing she couldn't see his raised brow. He was confused by her reaction to the simple touch. "I...it's..the Force...when we touched...it...I could...I...I didn't think it would do that. It's...it's nothing. Just...do what you need." Slowly Din turned back to the console and marked the planet on his star chart from it's coordinates, it was not too far from a guild spaceport where he could unload.
Andora felt horrible. It honestly had not been her intent to use the Force, but it was like a wild tenderal of her own curiosity had lashed out without her permission. Pirpak pulled on her blue hair gently, demanding her attention, his eyes looking up at her, asking with his look what he had felt her do. He reached to touch her, trying to mimic the power he had just seen. He kept putting his hand on her when it failed to happen. She couldn't look at Mando right now. He had been so willing to be so vulnerable to her right now without his armor, but this was absolutely beyond what he had meant to share with her. She put Pirpak in his seat, going back down the ladder to give herself a moment. Touching his hand had been a huge mistake. His face had been shown to her clearly. She knew what he looked like. Allowing herself to sink to the floor, head on her knees as she contemplated how to approach this. Did it matter? To her no, she thought it was stupid that he had to hide his face just because he was a foundling. He was one of them, helm or not. His mask didn't give him his training or skill. But to him it was so important. She hadn't removed his mask, but effectively it had been taken from him by her seeing what he looked like. Andora allowed herself to slip into a meditative state, hoping that she could figure this out. Pirpak followed after her, sitting next to her, drawn out of curiosity to the feeling of the Force moving. Her emotions were turbulent, but not on the dark side. She was probing the problem for solutions. Watching her meditate Pirpak waited for her to come back.
Senator Ordot was looking over the schematics for the armor Moff Gideon was demanding the Beskar for. It was heavy battle armor, and troops wearing it would be able to siege cities easily. The mines were operational again, but the amount of beskar was barely enough for ingots. They needed a new source of it to keep the Moff happy. Vizsla had so far not been reported anywhere, and he was starting to worry that maybe she was already beyond their reach. Surely the woman wouldn't be so reckless as to end herself? No, it had only been a little over a two standard weeks he needed to keep hope. Half a million credits would get leads somewhere, and the galaxy was very large.
He was alone in his chambers, still recovering from the blaster shot from the assassination. Rubbing his temples in frustration he contemplated what to do. The cities were all on high alert, extra security patrols and increased recruitment and citizen watches.
He was going to go back to Hosnian Prime for the new budget session, feeling like it was insult to injury. The inner planets always took the largest portion of the budget, and many of the outer rim worlds had been basically left to rot with the aftermath of Imperial control. When outer rim planets even mentioned the damage still being done to them by the Remnants of the Imperial Armies fighting under different Moffs the issue was hushed up and turned towards trade routes. Mandalore was too weak as it was now to do more than bow to this Moff.
Din set aside her data pad as he lifted off planet, still having a half tank of fuel so they could easily make it back to the guild headquarters on the space station city along the trade route before heading off to Zeffo. The planet would also work as a place for them to park and him to train up her skills. The feel of her fingers had been nice, but the way she reacted definitely was unusual. It was hours later when he heard her finally move from where she had sat down. It was the longest she had been quiet without being asleep. The kid had even been silent too, but normally the kid would come and take the metal orb to play with. Instead he was still firmly in place. He put the ship on auto, needing to go down and finish with the armor, the blood should be fully dissolved by now.
Andora had moved to kneel as her emotions settled, slipping into a more calm meditation than her emotional turmoil. The kid was still watching her, feeling better now that she felt calmer. Din let her be as she mediated while he checked on his fabric, finding it blood free once more. He hung it up to dry along the back, not wanting to leave it up over where she normally slept in her cot. Closing the bin, he would recycle the water at the space port. With that chore done he considered taking this time to clean his weapons, wondering if maybe Andora would enjoy helping him with the task.
"Mando…" Her voice was hesitant, almost fearful of him. That was new, he had never heard her like that. "I have to explain about earlier." Her eyes opened, turned towards him and he could see the richness of her blue green eyes. He hadn't noticed that before. He joined her in kneeling on the floor, his hands resting on his thighs with his legs spaced for him to rapidly rise and begin fighting, and he noticed her own position matched. Her father must have taught her this proper position, and thinking back to the Armorer's forge she had been in this position as well. "I have done a great wrong to you. The Force has shown me something about you that you have not chosen to share with me. I cannot unlearn what I have learned, and I know of no way to equalize this imbalance. I will not tell you what was shared with me, but know it does not change my trust in you, or in my willingness to continue our agreement." Her voice was timid, but well rehearsed, and overly wordy for his liking.
"So your sorcery allows you to control others minds to your will and to invade them as well." Din had noticed the strange behavior of others when she spoke with a certain cadence in her voice, the evidence piling up. She bowed her head to him in a show of admission.
"I did not try to invade your mind. Our hands touched, and it just...happened." He saw the pink rise in her cheeks even as she remained bowed to him. "Normally when you touch me it's with your gloves, and I get flashes of the events you have just been in or what will possibly happen to you next. If anything at all, most of the time it's nothing." Her warning about the ambush no longer seemed so cryptic, but now far more invasive.
"Visions are...difficult. Sometimes they are crystal clear and fixed, able to be viewed like a mirror. Other times they are water, rushing wildly without direction and unable to be stopped. It's a power I have the hardest time controlling, especially as I get older." She slowly looked up at him, taking his unchanged position as permission to continue. "I wish to make this right with you Mando. I accept my fault. I am truly sorry." Andora lowered her head further, bowing to him now.
"Have you controlled my mind?" His voice gave away nothing of how he was feeling.
"No...I couldn't even if I wanted to. The ability to sway minds is only effective on people who have a weaker will. I will give someone a suggestion, or like the boy at the beach a command, but I can't remove freewill. It's why the Twi'lek broke free of my hold. His desire to escape was stronger than the suggestion I gave him to act honorably."
"So you have learned something intimate about me, that you can't tell me, through a lack of control of a power you have." His tone was almost angry, and she lowered her head till she was nearly touching the floor to show him her humility. "Why did you wait so long to tell me?"
"Because...I don't know how to feel about what I learned. You never intended to share it with me, and I understand why. It's not something that you would feel able to share with me but know...for me…" Her voice was shaky as she took a breath, looking up at him from her prone position. "Ni narir va ceoa gar de meg gar buir cuyir, Ni ceoa gar de buir gar cuyir." (I don't judge you by who your father was, I judge you by the father you are.) She lowered her gaze again. "Is there a way to mend this with you Mando?" He watched her stay in her humbled position, waiting on his judgement of her. Her words made him sure that she knew of his connection to Death Watch, and she must have been trying to come to terms with it.
"Death Watch, you will hold your words about them. If you need to mention individuals I understand, but don't paint all their warriors with the same brush. You want a Mand'alor that would unite all Mandalorians right. They are Madnalorians too." He watched her flinch, but she nodded her head in agreement. Andora didn't want to agree, but he was right. She couldn't be a hypocrite. If it would earn his forgiveness then she had to accept it.
Chapter end