The Trials of Mand'alor

Chapter 5

I Don't Think That's How It Works

The following week was an eventful one. Mandalorians from all over the galaxy turned up to witness the Mand'alor Competition. Everyone rooted for members of their own clan, of course. The several different events included; gladiator-style matches, hunts out on the white-sand deserts of Mandalore, and the piloting of various vessels. All these meant to demonstrate their skill, prowess, and strength. Anything to prove that they were the best. Both Xerxes and Galbon had done extremely well to have stayed in the competition this long. However, today was proving to be difficult for Xerxes.

Xerxes was currently in a Swoop Bike race, on a bike he had built himself. Swoop Bike races were different from Pod races in that one raced against the fastest time set on the course rather than against other riders. Xerxes easily bested the tracks official record, but it hadn't been long until someone else beat his time. Not by much, but just enough. According to the rules, Xerxes was allowed three chances to try and beat the new time set against him, otherwise, he would be cut from the competition and so far, no one had been able to beat the new time.

Akiza watched from the sidelines in anticipation as Xerxes veered around the course and sped across the straightaways. He was doing well, but would it be fast enough? His first attempt hadn't been. From what she could see, Xerxes was losing too much time on some of the incredibly tight turns. She had begun pacing, hoping that Xerxes could pull out a win. She was so preoccupied with her own thoughts that she didn't notice the Jedi Master who had walked up next to her.

"Excuse me, Akiza?"

Akiza nearly jumped out of her skin. "Gah! Tai, you startled me!"

"I apologize." he offered, bowing his head to her. "That was not my intent."

"It's alright. You just caught me unaware. Was there something you needed?"

"Yes, there is." Tai turned his head towards the race track and watched as he spoke, "I was hoping you could tell me more about Xerxes. Your relationship with him growing up, his leadership skills, those sorts of things. I'd also like to know about that Swoop Bike of his."

Akiza turned to look at the young Mandalorian in question as he raced. "Well," she began, "Xerxes and I have been best friends since I can remember. He's always been a bit different from others, but I think it's been for his benefit. His father always said he didn't have to be the best as long as he was his best." A small frown formed on her lips. "He was really devastated when Dad came back that night and had to tell him that his father was gone."

Tai looked over at Akiza. She had felt so helpless to cheer Xerxes up during that time. "His father meant everything to him. Xerxes always felt like he never had to be perfect for him, at a time when a lot of people would say he wasn't good enough. After losing that support, Xerxes became distant. Even to me." Akiza felt the tears begin to well up as she recalled how the light had begun to fade in Xerxes' eyes and his cheerful personality became so quiet.

"I'm sorry, Akiza." Tai had looked down as if he were unsure of what to say.

Akiza quickly wiped away the tears. "It's not your fault," she said. "We all know that and no one blames you. Besides, he didn't stay like that."

"What changed?"

Akiza smiled remembering how Xerxes had first started working on his Swoop Bike. "He did." Akiza gazed out at the black and red Swoop Bike Xerxes was riding and told Tai the story behind it. "It was about a month after his father's death when Xerxes found a broken-down Swoop Bike in his father's old shed. It didn't really work and could barely rise off the ground, but something about it made Xerxes want to ride it. That was when he found a joy in mechanics. Xerxes would save whatever money he could to buy parts or he would build the parts himself with whatever pieces he could find. He'd spend hours tinkering with it, just trying to get one system to operate properly, becoming ecstatic when he got positive results. I was so glad he'd found something to do with his hands."

"So that's where that bike went," Tai commented.

Akiza turned her head towards Tai in confusion. "You see," Tai explained, "Abram bought that busted up Swoop Bike from a junk dealer on Tatooine years ago. He was confident that he could not only fix it but make it better than any other out on the market. He never did get the chance to start working on it. I'm glad to see his son took an interest in it. In a way, it's sort of kept a part of Abram alive."

Akiza smiled. "I think that's how Xerxes always looked at it too. Almost everything about that bike has to do with his father. He even named it Ca'tra a'den."

"Night sky rage?"

"His exact words were night fury, but yes. He named it after the night his father died."

"Hmm." Tai folded his arms and continued watching Xerxes. "To be able to overcome such emotional adversities is difficult, especially at that young of an age. Xerxes must have a strong heart and a sound mind to have allowed those hardships to build him up the way they did. He is a fine young man and I can't help but feel proud of the way Abram's son has turned out."

Akiza unknowingly sighed in agreement, watching the lean young man ride over the race track in his tight body suit. "He certainly is."

A smile could be seen spreading underneath Tai's rebreather mask. "You know, Akiza. I'm almost certain that Xerxes would like to hear you say how you feel about him."

Akiza's eyes widened in realization of the implications Tai was referring to. She could feel the heat rise in her cheeks and her heart jump in embarrassment. Not that she was embarrassed about Xerxes, but that Tai had so easily figured out how she was feeling. She began to stammer, "I don't… I mean, that is…" Her face growing redder with each passing second.

"Ha ha ha ha ha." Tai's jovial laughter reverberated through his mask. "It's nothing to be ashamed of Akiza. If anything, I'd encourage it."

Akiza's embarrassment was replaced with confusion. "But I thought that the Jedi taught that…"

"Attachments lead to the dark side?" Tai finished. "Yes, we do. It is the Jedi way of life, but it's not a way of life that I'd preach is for everybody. And while it goes against the Jedi Code, it certainly doesn't go against my own moral code." He turned to face Akiza, who stood astonished by the Jedi Master's declaration. "Besides, I'd say that the bond you two share is something that helped to pull Xerxes out of a very dark time in his life. He relies on you more than you give yourself credit for."

Akiza's heart swelled with gratitude at the kindness Tai was showing. She could see why not only her father but also Xerxes and his father had come to like Tai so much. He was nothing like what they had thought the Jedi would be like. She smiled at the Jedi Master. "Thank you, Tai. You're such a good friend and I think you're right. Xerxes should know how I feel, but not right now. The last thing he needs is to get distracted."

She was glad the conversation had ended at that time. Xerxes was riding up to them and came to a stop as he finished his second attempt to beat the current track record.

Xerxes took off his helmet and shook the sweat from his hair. He began smiling when he noticed Tai and Akiza walking over to him. Tai spoke as he admired Xerxes' Swoop Bike. "This is quite an impressive vehicle, Xerxes, and from what I've heard you built it yourself."

"Well, I wouldn't say built, more like heavily modified." Xerxes ran his hand along the dashboard, acknowledging his work. "As far as I can tell though it should be the fastest bike out there. I just hope it was fast enough." Xerxes gaze went up to the time clock as he sat waiting for the results. The time changed to show that he was still short by .40 seconds. "Damn it!" he yelled, pounding his fist in frustration. "I've only got one more chance to beat that time or I can say goodbye to the title of Mand'alor."

Tai held his gaze on the time clock before asking Xerxes, "Where is it you feel you are losing time?"

"At the sharp turns. They're right after the straightaways so I need to slow down to avoid crashing. But because I slow down, I need to get back up to speed which is what is eating up my time."

"What if," Akiza suggested, "you tried drifting through the turns so you wouldn't have to slow down?"

Xerxes looked up at her. "Well, sure, if this were a different kind of vehicle I could. The fact that Swoop Bikes hover though, means that there is no traction available to drift with. I think they were originally designed just for speed." Xerxes glanced at the Jedi Master, hoping that he may have a suggestion.

Tai finally pulled his eyes away for the time clock and steadily held Xerxes gaze before speaking. "These sorts of races are about more than just skill and going really fast, Xerxes. There is also a small level of intuition involved. Some of the best pilots are able to see things before they happen and instinctively know how to react." Tai placed a hand on Xerxes' shoulder. "My advice to you is this. Feel, don't think. Use your instincts."

Xerxes wasn't sure why, but he felt like he could trust Tai's advice. "Alright, let's give it one more shot then." Xerxes grabbed his helmet and shoved it back on his head before moving his Swoop Bike into position at the starting line.

"Good luck, Xerxes!" Akiza cheered. "I believe in you!"

Xerxes revved the engine as he waited for the starting signal. He began repeating in his mind what Tai had said. Feel, don't think. Feel, don't think. The signal turned from red to green. Xerxes immediately hit the accelerator.

He sped across the course, keeping a firm hold on the handlebars in each hand. As he banked around curves and dodged obstacles on the course, Xerxes could feel the thrumming of the engine through his thighs. His mind becoming razor focused with the thrill of the race, almost to the point of losing himself in the sensation.

The first sharp right turn was coming up. Xerxes again began repeating Tai's advice. Feel, don't think. Feel, don't think. Xerxes took a deep breath and refocused.

He suddenly felt a calming sensation come over him. His mind began racing as he began to recall all the things he knew about what his bike was capable of, all the things hovering vehicles were capable of. The turn was almost upon him. Instead of slowing down Xerxes continued going at full speed.

It was time. At the very last moment, he turned. Kicking his left leg out, Xerxes threw his weight in the opposite direction. He smirked to himself as he felt the Swoop Bike respond in the way that he felt it would. He had cleared the turn handily. Without slowing down, Xerxes continued barreling down the race course, shaving seconds off his time.

"Wait, what did he just do?!" Akiza asked. Xerxes hadn't slowed down at all. She had felt her heart stop, thinking he was going to crash, but at the last second, he had made the turn somehow. Her mind must've been playing tricks on her.

"He's figured it out." Tai mused. Akiza looked at him in bewilderment. "Watch the change in his body's balance as he hits those turns."

She turned her attention back to Xerxes. As he came up to the turns she had to hold back her instinct to scream as Xerxes came incredibly close to seriously injuring himself. He would kick a leg out as he reached the turn and moved his body in the opposite direction. He would do it, again and again, each time a turn came up. Akiza continued looking on in confusion, asking aloud, "But why would he do that? I mean yes, it's working. But why?"

"It's the solution to your drifting theory." Akiza continued to stare at the race track, unsure of what Tai meant. "Think of it this way, Akiza. Knowing that he couldn't get any resistance from the race track in order to drift, Xerxes somehow realized he could create resistance with his own body weight. Similar to the way someone wearing a jetpack would in order to steer."

Akiza clapped her hands together as understanding dawned on her. "Oh, of course. Why didn't I think of that?" There was still one thing, however, that she didn't understand. "But how did you know that Xerxes would figure that out in time?"

Tai smiled to himself as he continued watching Xerxes finish his run. "Just call it a hunch," he assured her.

Strange. Xerxes had said the exact same thing about Tai a few days ago. She decided to chalk it up to coincidence as Xerxes pulled into the pit after he crossed the finish line.

Xerxes immediately took off his helmet, his hands still tingling with adrenaline. With sweat pouring down his face, he looked up waiting for the results of his final attempt. This was it. Would he still be able to continue? His time came up. He had beaten the best time by an entire 5.10 seconds. Xerxes threw his fists into the air in a triumphant cheer, "Yeah!"

Just then, Xerxes nearly lost his balance as Akiza threw her arms around his neck and was squealing in his ear at his success. "Whoa, hey! I'm gonna fall over!" he cried out. Akiza quickly withdrew to give him some space.

"I'm sorry, Xerxes," she said still bursting with excitement. "I just… Eeek! That was amazing. You did it! How did you know that was going to work?"

"I'm not really sure." He admitted "It just sort of came to me, I guess. It felt right."

"Well done, Xerxes." Tai had walked up to Xerxes and clapped a hand on his shoulder, "That was quite an impressive feat. No one is going to be able to beat that time."

And no one did. Having secured the best time and eliminated the other racers, they returned to Clan Beskad's village to discuss the next step in the competition. Xerxes was so happy to still have a shot at becoming Mand'alor. He was sure that he would've lost if not for Tai's insight. L'gann had been especially ecstatic upon finding out Xerxes had won.

He and Galbon had just returned from the hunt out on the white sand deserts, where Galbon had shown exceptional skill with a sniper rifle and emerged victorious. The Fett brothers were still in it to win. After exchanging stories of their wins, Galbon began to relay to Xerxes the information he had gathered about the Sith.

"Hunting on the deserts was a perfect opportunity to ask them if the deserts of Korriban were the same as ours. They're not, by the way, but it looks like only a few of the Sith here have been to Korriban, including Darth Avarus. So, that at least narrows down our list."

"Great work, Galbon," Xerxes whispered so that no one knew what they were up to. "Do you think you can get any more specific details out of the Sith?"

"I think I can get them to talk, with the right drinks," Galbon smirked while waggling his eyebrows.

"Alright everyone, listen up!" L'gann was standing with his hands on his hips and addressing the rest of the competitors that were left. Xerxes scanned the crowd. It looked like there were only a couple dozen left. He didn't recognize any of them. Good. That meant that he wouldn't feel the need to hold back. "So, since there aren't that many of you left, tomorrow we're having an all in." Xerxes looked up as L'gann began explaining what would happen.

"We are going to be splitting you up into teams of two based on your clans, so that's twelve teams each. You'll be going through the wilderness following the path of Mand'alor the First to the skeleton of the first Mythosaur he killed. Along the way, your task will be to eliminate the other teams. If you or your teammate gets knocked out or injured to the point where you can't defend yourselves, you're out, so watch each other's backs. Furthermore, no killing. This is a competition, not a purge. You kill, you're out. Any teams that make it to the Mythosaur skeleton will be continuing to the next round. Other than those rules, anything goes." L'gann finished by clapping his hands together, "Now get some rest. Tomorrow's going to kick you in the shebs."

"No killing, huh?" Ru-benn Jinn remarked. "I'd have figured your kind would've taken any chance they could get for a little bloodshed."

"What?" Galbon countered. "Send a bunch of young people into the wilderness, tell all them to kill each other and the last man standing wins?"

Xerxes folded his arms and looked at the Jedi Knight coldly, "We're Mandalorians, not savages."

Ru-benn merely scoffed at the Fett brothers. "Same thing to me." He said beginning to walk away from them. "Guess we'll see if you're the hot stuff that Master Zhan thinks you are."

"Oh, we will!" Galbon yelled back at him. "In fact, come tomorrow night, you're going to be eating your words, cause this thing is going to be easy!"

It was anything but easy. The next day had proven to be crazier than anyone had expected. What should have been a simple trek through the forest with some guerrilla fighting had quickly become chaotic when the local wildlife decided to get involved. As if they didn't have enough to worry about.

In the most recent incident, Xerxes had used up almost all of his shotgun ammo taking down an enraged Nexu cat that another team had unwittingly led their way. Unfortunately, Galbon was the one who had been trampled by the creature in the confusion. He was currently holding his left leg and doing his best not to move it. Xerxes had called for a medic to come and look at his brother's leg. Thankfully, Akiza had volunteered to be Clan Beskad's medic. Xerxes trusted her skills. She, L'gann and Tai had shown up as quickly as possible to assess whether or not the young men could continue.

Akiza placed her hands on Galbon's leg and began examining him. He grit his teeth and hissed in pain as she felt along his calf. "Yep, you've gone and broken it." she sighed. Akiza began setting the bone and wrapping the injury. "You're lucky that Nexu didn't get a chance to sink its claws into you or a broken leg would be the least of your worries."

"Yes, mom," Galbon remarked sarcastically, trying to relive some of the pain.

Akiza smacked the back of his head. "If I were your mother, believe me, I'd be saying much worse."

Galbon looked up at Xerxes and gave him a look that Xerxes interpreted as, "And this is the girl you want to end up with?" Xerxes could only shrug his shoulders.

"That'll have to do for now." Akiza finished wrapping Galbon's leg. "You shouldn't stand on it or you could make it worse."

L'gann sat on his haunches, eyeing Galbon's leg as he asked, "Do you think you can still go on?"

"I can still shoot," Galbon replied. "I can still fight. If I need to, Xerxes can carry me on his back." L'gann, however, was not impressed with this strategy.

"You'll be at a severe disadvantage if you do."

"Then we won't go looking for a fight." Xerxes offered as a counter strategy. "All we need to do is make it to the Myhtosaur skull and we are still able to go on, right?"

"That's what the rules say."

"Then that's what we'll do."

Akiza, L'gann, and Tai began making their way towards the skiff they'd traveled on when Galbon called for the Jedi's attention. "Hey, Tai!" The Jedi master returned to the young men and crouched down, "Is there any chance you could, you know, heal my leg?"

Xerxes cocked an eyebrow at his brother. Where had that idea come from? Tai's voice was calm, but he had a very serious look on his face. "Unfortunately, I cannot. The first reason is that that is not an ability I possess. Secondly, it would go against my promise not to interfere with the competition as an impartial judge." Galbon looked down in defeat. "This is something the two of you will need to deal with yourselves."

Tai stood up and started walking away, but not before giving one last piece of advice, "Remember, feel, don't think. Use your instincts." Tai then jumped on the skiff as it began to lift into the air.

"Keep him off that leg, Xerxes!" Akiza yelled over the whine of the skiff's engine.

"Yes, dear." Xerxes quietly sighed under his breath, not seeing Akiza's face turn bright red as she had heard him over her headset. As the skiff speed away, Xerxes surveyed their surroundings. Realizing they were dangerously exposed, Xerxes hauled his brother onto his back. "We need to find some cover fast," Xerxes said. "Any remaining teams will be heading to the last place the skiff was at, looking for us." They began to make their way towards the Mythosaur skeleton. The pace was slow going since Xerxes was carrying his brother. It wasn't very long before Galbon noticed this and pointed to an old building among the trees.

"We can hold up in that old barn for a bit," he said to Xerxes.

After putting his brother down and setting up a defensible position, Xerxes took stock of their situation. His shotgun didn't have very many rounds left in it. Galbon's leg was broken and he wouldn't be able to move from where he was at if things went bad. It didn't look good. Xerxes felt that this barn was going to be their last stand. Another team could show up any minute and they would be sitting Jawas. Just as he was about to give in to despair, Galbon spoke up. "Hey, bro. Come here I have an idea."

Xerxes walked over to him and knelt down on one knee with his arm resting on his leg. "Alright. What's the plan?"

Doing his best to stay upright, Galbon spoke quietly, perhaps hoping no one would overhear them, "First things first, we need to heal my leg."

"…Right, and how do we do that?"

"We need to follow our instincts like Tai Zhan said. We'll use the Force."

Xerxes brow furrowed in concern. This was the second time Galbon had suggested using the Force, but they couldn't use the Force. "Look, Galbon. I'm all for being optimistic here, but I'm pretty sure that's not how it works."

"But why would he say it like that if we couldn't do it in the first place? Besides my instincts are telling me that this will work."

"Even if we could do that, don't you think using the Force would be cheating?"

Galbon put his arm on Xerxes' shoulder and gave him a very serious look, "It's not cheating if it's our own natural abilities" Xerxes still wasn't sure how he felt about it even though his gut was telling him otherwise. "Look, Xerxes. One of three things are going to happen. Either we try it, it works and we still have a shot at making this a Fett victory. Or we try it, it doesn't work, but we can still say we gave it our all. Or we don't and we always look back saying 'what if'."

Galbon did have a point. They stood to lose nothing at this point and had everything to gain. Plus, Tai's advice had never let Xerxes down so far and Xerxes hated the idea of losing now. Somewhere in the back of Xerxes mind, his instincts were telling him that this was what he should be doing. Xerxes relented. "Alright, fine. Let's give this a try."

The two brothers both put their hands on Galbon's leg before stopping to realize they had no idea what they were doing. "So…how do we do this?" Xerxes asked. "Do we pray or something?"

"I don't think they do that. Maybe we just need to focus our energy on the bone and getting it to heal."

"Okay." Xerxes and Galbon closed their eyes. Focusing all their energy on Galbon's leg, they concentrated. Imagining the bone resetting and mending itself.

Two large and gruff men walked up to the old barn. "I'll bet they'd hold up in here." the taller of the two reasoned.

The shorter man nodded in agreement, "We take these two down and becoming Mand'alor will be smooth sailing from there."

They crept into the barn. It was dark, and it appeared that no one was inside. But they knew better than to trust the dark. The two men continued making their way inside, walking back to back with their weapons in front of them. All was quiet as they scanned their surroundings until they heard a creak from the rafters above. Galbon leapt down onto the back of the shorter man and caught him by surprise. The man crumpled to the ground having the wind knocked out of him.

The taller man whirled around raising his weapon at Galbon. Galbon quickly retaliated with a spinning kick to the tall man's jaw. Galbon then shoved him to the ground and wrestled the weapon away from the would-be attacker. "Let me guess, kid, you faked an injury? To lure us here?"

Galbon paused, taking in the idea before lying. "Uh, yes. All to get you to lower your guard." He then grabbed the tall man by the collar and bashed his head against the man's skull, effectively knocking the man unconscious.

The shorter man had regained his wind and was towering over Galbon. "I'll make you pay for that," he said threateningly. But before he could do anything, a shotgun barrel was pressed against the temple of the man's skull. Glancing to the side, he saw that the weapon was being held by Xerxes Fett.

With a calm and serious voice, Xerxes said. "I don't think so."

For a moment they just stood like that. No one moving. The tension causing the man to shift uneasily. "So, are you gonna shoot me or what?"

Xerxes pondered the man's question. "No."

He then whipped his shotgun around and smacked the guy in the back of the head with the butt of his gun. Xerxes watched as he fell to the ground, as unconscious as his friend. "But I have no problem with knocking you out."

The Fett brothers stood over the fallen victims, admiring their work. Galbon chuckled, "Nice one, bro."

"Thanks. I'm just glad all of that actually worked." Xerxes said looking down at Galbon's leg. He wasn't quite sure why, but somehow, they had managed to heal his leg with the Force. They had both agreed not to mention it to anybody. They weren't quite sure how people would take the revelation of them being Force-sensitive. "Come on, then." Xerxes strode out of the barn holstering his gun over his shoulder. "We've still got a competition to win."

The rest of the trip to the Mythosaur skeleton was surprisingly uneventful. Xerxes and Galbon ran up the hills at a full sprint, never once looking back. No one had tried to stop them. No one was there standing at the large sun-bleached skeleton when they arrived. While he was glad to have made it first, Xerxes couldn't help but wonder where everyone else was.

Before long, L'gann showed up and made his way over to the Fett brothers with his hands in his pockets. "Well, look what we have here. A faked injury, all so you could be the only ones to make it to the Mythosaur." Xerxes started sweating a bit, fearing that they had done something wrong. "It's probably just as well though. You two are the only ones left."

"What?"

Folding his arms L'gann continued, "Yeah. Most of the teams either took each other out or the wildlife got to them. Thankfully no one died, although some of them wish they had after the injuries they got."

Xerxes wasn't quite sure how to take the news. He and Galbon were the only ones left? But then that meant…

"Which means," L'gann smiled broadly as he put an arm around each of their shoulders. "that tomorrow one of you will become the new Mand'alor! You've impressed the clan leaders and our foreign guests quite a bit. So much so, that we've decided to throw a feast together, tonight at the Beskad village and I couldn't be prouder of you two. Now let's get going. I'm starved."

Xerxes and Galbon silently looked at each other and agreed to just roll with the situation at hand. It seemed that fate had smiled upon them that day. The Jedi might say it was the will of the Force. Others would say coincidence. No matter what the reason, they had come out on top. But Xerxes felt deep down that they had started down a path that would twist back on itself before they found their way out and that things were just getting started.