(A/N Not gonna lie, I really enjoyed writing this chapter. I continue to suck at action-esk scenes, but the interactions here are a lot of fun... Probably moreso in my head than in writing, so I apologize for that...
Have fun!)
She was being followed. By Din, yes, but he also watched a number of others take an interest in the dar'manda and watch her heading. No one stopped her, she posed little visible threat, and they were curious about her intentions.
She walked with a focused purpose, drawing even more attention than she might have otherwise. Din, on the other hand, shied from view and melted into the background. He didn't want to alert the ship that 'Mand'alor' was back and he was mildly surprised he succeeded. The curiosity over Teena obviously helped his cause.
She made it all the way to the blast doors of the command deck until she was stopped, a crowd just on the outskirts of her conversation. Most with their hands hovering over their weapon of choice.
Din was impressed that so many had accumulated in the time he'd been away.
"I've come to speak to your clan leaders," Teena's declaration rang out, followed by murmurs of discontent.
"Tion'cuy?" said the guard with disgust at her audacity. [Who are you? (a challenge)]
"I am Teena Kenobi, daughter of Korkie Kryze-Kenobi, son of Satine Kryze, House Kryze Clan Kryze, Duchess of Mandalore!"
Din felt himself gasp, but his own surprise was masked by the crowd's. Some were calling her a liar, some were challenging her, some were murmuring astonishments and comparing her features. Din waited and watched at the back of the crowd as one finally stepped forward. From his siget, Din recognised he was the son of a clan leader.
"Gar cuyir naas," the boy said. "A pretender." [You are nothing.]
"I have been dar'tome, but I am ready to come home." She didn't even blink at his challenge. [apart]
He drew a vibroblade and a blaster in response.
"Leave before I stain the walls with your tal." [blood]
She smiled at him.
In the time it took him to get off two shots she extended and flung her electro-whip forward to ensnare his blaster while dodging the blaster bolts in the same motion. She pulled him forward by the hand as the blaster was ripped from his grip. She sidestepped his stumbling form, dropped her electro-whip, and grabbed his helmet from behind. She yanked it from his head and when he turned back to face her she punched him in the face with his own helmet, a loud crunch echoing around the room. He dropped unconscious at her feet with a broken and bloody nose. She dropped the helmet on his gut.
Din chuckled to himself as more outrage cropped up around him. He was familiar with that tactic, but hadn't seen such an outcome. Apparently she had a habit of targeting helmets.
"You make a fine heir for the pacifist," a voice rose from the ranks sarcastically.
"Here to take the throne from the reluctant one?"
"Fighting a boy does not make you a Mandalorian."
The voices rang out, but no one else stepped forward to challenge her.
"My bracers are decorated and disguised, but I wear the armor. When I am alone and when I am with my foundlings I speak the language. I have no clan, so I support those travelers who pass through my care. I will defend myself and those around me to my last breath. I have no right as a Mandalorian to name my foundlings such, but they know the history, the language, and how to defend themselves. But there is no Mand'alor for me to pledge allegiance to. I want to go home. I will help you take home back. You only need to make the call, and hope the others answer."
"Lady Kenobi," said the guard with an uncertain voice. He removed his helmet to show a pinched expression. "No matter your alleged background, you have no say here or among the alore." [leaders]
"She's not 'lady,' Struujait, she would be duchess," Bo Katan explained, exiting the blast door with a severe scowl. "But really, I suppose she is neither." She schooled her features into a practiced neutral while Teena's composure fell apart.
"Ba'vodu Bo! Gar're oyayc!" Teena practically leapt at the woman for a hug and was met with a fist to the face. Everyone flinched and it took Din a great deal of self control to keep from coming to her defence. [Aunt Bo! You're alive!]
"Where were you?!" Bo Katan spit out while Teena rubbed her jaw. "Where?!"
"I thought you were dead!" Teena growled in response, setting into a defensive stance. "I waited at the rendezvous for days! And then returned every month for a year! Where were you?!"
"Trying to wage a war! With no help from you, aruetyc hut'uun!" [traitorous coward]
"Ne shab'rud'niÖ, ba'vodu. You've aged while I've learned." [Don't mess with me, aunt]
"Gev," Din commanded through the ranks. He felt some degree of satisfaction that his voice carried without needing to raise his volume too much and the crowd split to give him access to the confrontation. It was a nice trick he'd picked up from watching the Armorer. [stop]
Bo Katan straightened her posture and crossed her arms, unwillingly complying. Teena turned a murderous glare on him and he fought the urge to laugh. It would be perfect, almost poetic, if she challenged him.
"Family matters can wait," he said with an even voice. "We have more important things to discuss." He passed through the doors and turned to see neither had followed. "K'olar," he commanded and Kryze let out a frustrated sigh as she strode in while Teena looked at him with suspicion. Her rage had not died and, lucky him, he'd just given her a new outlet. [come on]
.
So, Din is a clan leader? Brilliant. Teena kept thinking of all their past interactions and tried to pinpoint any moment that she should have been able to figure it out. He wasn't an ori'jagyc, and he didn't command her when it was her place to lead, like she would imagine most young clan leaders to be. But, he did lead the jail break well enough, and he was good at putting others at ease, despite his demeanor and appearance. These didn't exclusively add up to being a clan leader though. [bully/big mouth]
Besides, he had called Nala his matriarch. She seemed more like an alore. She carried the weight of decision and responsibility.
Teena studied Din now. She should be paying closer attention to the debriefing, but they were mainly speaking about which clans had arrived and pledged themselves to the cause, as well as the numbers they brought with them. Much was lost to the blood pounding through her ears. The only voices that clearly broke through were Din's and her aunt's.
Her aunt. She seethed thinking of Bo Katan's declarations. Teena had not abandoned her. If anything it was the other way around! Bo could have sent word that she was busy with the efforts put into protecting Mandalore! She could have announced her discontent at their arrangement! But, no. She abandoned Teena to think House Kryze had fallen.
"The clans' support so far is more than I'd hoped for," Din said and she focused on him again, trying to better take in the room. "Do you believe more will rally when we send out the call?"
"The clans will only answer to Mand'alor," Bo answered coldly.
Din sighed.
"Make the call." His resigned voice was barely a whisper.
"So, you're going to lead us now?" Bo asked it like a challenge.
Din reached behind his back and pulled out a weapon Teena had never seen him stow. She openly gaped at the broad bladed lightsaber. The symbol of Death Watch's Secret Mand'alor.
"Are you going to challenge me, Kryze?" he asked. It very much sounded like he wanted her to say yes.
Bo Katan only grunted in response.
"Kenobi?" he turned to her.
She only blinked at him, still gaping. More eyes turned to her and she barely composed herself enough to glare at him.
"Well, Duchess?" he taunted.
She ground her teeth and clenched her hands, willing her ire to cool.
"I make no claim to that title and I will inform you of my choice after I've made it," she grit out.
"If you have something to discuss, now might be a good time," he suggested, nodding at the gathered leaders around the table. She could practically hear his smile as he enjoyed irking her.
She thought back on Ahsoka's teachings and better composed herself after a moment. Her emotions were still hot, but not the inferno they'd been.
"When your army is amassed, Mand'alor, what will you do with those who have claimed your home?" She sneered his title. He had no right to the name yet and she was more than a little upset he'd been able to hide this from her.
"I intend to eradicate them."
"I'm shocked," she deadpanned sarcastically. "Are those farmers and scientists your enemy, Djarin?" He held her gaze, waiting. "Is there any glory in killing civilians? I don't doubt more than one here would raze one of those settlements and declare it a great victory for morale's sake. But what will you do?"
This was what she needed to know. Would she allow him to keep that saber?
He was slow in formulating his response and she felt her own energy mounting as she anticipated another fight.
"I will offer a choice," he finally spoke softly. She inclined her head, waiting for him to clarify. "They can leave, they can join, or they can die."
Teena allowed the fight in her to deflate a little as she processed his words.
"Admirable, but inefficient. Likely ineffective as well," she kept her voice even.
Din tilted his head in question.
"Would you have us run again," Bo Katan spat beside her.
Teena steeled her nerves and ignored her aunt.
"Who is your enemy in this?" she asked the table. The alore looked to one another, mumbling to themselves.
"The New Republic," a young boy finally spoke up.
"Tion'ad?" she asked as softly as she could manage. [who are you?]
"Zorr Croust," he answered with false bravado. "My mother was injured and my brother… is unconscious." The kid seemed to lose a little color as he explained, so Teena left well enough alone.
"Well, Zorr Croust, you may be the smartest alore in the room," she winked at him and he flushed. "Attack the settlements and you incite the wrath of the New Republic, which is still riding on the high of the Empire's downfall," she spoke to the table again.
"We can't take on the New Republic at our current strength," Din confessed.
"We can't heal aboard this ship," Bo pointed out, the fight seemingly gone for now aas frustration took over.
"So," Zorr spoke softly and slowly, like he was afraid he might be overstepping his bounds, "we need to figure out how to strike at the Republic without them striking back?"
Teena grinned while Din straightened and Bo's eyebrows raised.
The three looked at one another.
"Mandalorians have always bred fear," Teena shrugged and stretched, feigning nonchalance. She needed to leave soon, or she may never get the chance again.
"Teena." She paused to look at Din in answer. "How far do your connections reach?"
"I have contacts in every sector. Why?"
"Can you find out who is governing Mandalore now?"
She pulled out a holopad (getting everyone in the room except Bo, Zorr, and Din to aim a weapon at her) and tossed it to him.
"I've been dar'tome but I still kept tabs on home," she shrugged, not meeting anyone's eye.
Din analyzed the info quickly and then threw an image up on the table of the senator's ship.
"Kryze, how difficult was it to reach this bridge?"
"Laughable. Why?"
"Think you could do it with stunners only?"
Silence met him as everyone took a moment to let his idea sink in.