'Sup, Specter7 here. This here chapter is dedicated to Mandalore the Freedom, who has helped me with all things Mandalorian :) thanks pal. I also want to publicly thank StormyOceans for being the virtual shoulder I can cry on when discussing Star Wars Rebels :P thanks friend!
To everyone else who is reading this, thanks for sticking it out till chapter two! Read and enjoy :)
May the manda be with you.
The New Mand'alor: Chapter 2: Clan Caladon
"A leader of Mandalorians is a curious person. He takes command with reluctance, rules with no power, and dies the most beloved soldier of all his companions."
-Fenn Shysa
"So, walk me through this whole Mandalorian thing one more time."
Sabine gave an aggravated sigh at Ezra's cluelessness to her culture. "Okay, listen up," she said. "The Mandalorians are warriors. Right?"
"Right," Ezra confirmed, following along.
"And all warriors are bound to a code, right?"
"Right."
"Well, our code of honor is the Resol'nare. It has six rules all Mandalorians have to follow or they're considered worse than dead—their considered soulless."
"And that's bad," Ezra stated.
"Very bad," Sabine reiterated, nodding. "The worse fate a Mandalorian could wish on another."
"Got it."
"And so," Sabine continued, "one of the six rules is when called upon by the Mand'alor, all Mandalorians must rally to their cause."
She watched as Ezra slowly frowned. "And what's the Mand'alor again? Isn't that your homeworld?"
Manda help her, she wanted strangle Ezra right now.
"No…" Sabine said evenly with the little patience she had left. "Mandalore is a planet. The Mand'alor is the leader of the people on Mandalore."
"Oh," Ezra said finally and his eyes seemed to clear. "Okay. So being Mand'alor is like being leader of your people."
"Exactly," Sabine sighed. Finally, he was getting this.
She watched as Ezra leaned back in his seat and propped up his legs. "So who's the Mand'alor now?"
Sabine looked out at the brilliant blue wormhole as they traveled through hyperspace, sighing.
Chopper rolled in between them and beeped out a series of binary words.
"Yeah," Sabine agreed with the astromech. "There isn't a Mand'alor right now and there hasn't been since Pre Vizsla took over."
Chopper beeped again and Sabine arched an eyebrow. "Gar Saxon doesn't count," she objected. "He's the viceroy of Mandalore—not the sole ruler. Put into office by the Empire, too."
She glanced at Ezra, watching the teen nod slowly. Sabine hesitantly took the Darksaber off the back of her belt and held it in her hand, testing its weight.
For something so small, its worth was close to immeasurable. The blade had been passed down from generation to generation of House Vizsla members. That was, until Darth Maul won the Darksaber in combat and used it to turn the Mandalorians against each other, throwing Mandalore into a state of civil war.
People who had once been friends, comrades in arms, were suddenly thrust against the other. It had been brother against brother, father against child and wife against husband when Maul tried to claim himself Mand'alor by force. War broke out and while some considered him to have been the Mand'alor… others, like Sabine, thought he was a disgrace to their heritage and had never been the Mand'alor in the first place.
But now, she had the Darksaber. She had the chance to be the new Mand'alor. Yet it all depended on whether or not the Clans accepted her and accepted giving her the title. Being Mand'alor required the person to be a gifted warrior, respected by many, and have one heck of a reputation—something Sabine intended to build up in Death Watch.
I'll unite the clans, Sabine thought determinedly. They'll rally to my cause. They have to.
"The only question is who's in charge of Death Watch now," she muttered to herself.
"What?" Ezra asked suddenly and Sabine jerked up.
"I, uh… just talking to myself," she said.
Sabine watched as Ezra leaned back against his chair, as if not realizing the weight of what she murmured.
"What'd you say?" the teen asked her leisurely. "'Death Watch?' I think Kanan mentioned that a few times in Jedi training."
Sabine bit her lip. "Death Watch was a group of rebels back in the Clone Wars. They wanted Mandalore to go back to its warrior ways and were very… aggressive about it."
"Hmm," Ezra nodded, closing his eyes. "That does sound like you."
Sabine smirked at his cheeky comment that was in some way, almost a compliment. But for a group as notorious as the Death Watch, Sabine wanted to be nothing like them. However, she didn't know who was in charge of the rebel group these days. Maybe they would be less violent now than how her mother described it.
Sabine knew she was teetering on a very dangerous, very thin line by going to Death Watch. They were a hated group of infamous rebels, abhorred by all True Mandalorians. Others might hate Sabine as well, for aligned herself with them. But this was a new age. The Clone Wars had been over two decades ago, and the Mandalorian Civil War, six. It was time for people to simply let some things go and 'bury the vibro-knife' as they say.
Sabine mentally shook away the thoughts. "A-Anyway," she said, "The Death Watch fight the Empire now for the freedom of Mandalore—"
"—So you're going to try to convince them to be our ally," Ezra finished. "And fight the Empire in the attack on Lothal's factories."
"Exactly," Sabine confirmed. But that wasn't the only reason she had chosen to go to Death Watch first to recruit Mandalorians. The real reason was so she could build up a reputation with them and maybe even proclaim herself Mand'alor. With a group like the Death Watch, she had a better chance of gaining supporters than if she went anywhere else.
Chopper suddenly let off a series of beeps and Sabine hurriedly pressed a few buttons on the console and gently pulled the yoke back.
"Coming out of hyperspace," she announced as the blinding blue tunnel faded and the stars became dots of twinkling light.
The Phantom II slowed and Sabine looked out the window at the gigantic orb in front of them. The planet was downright gorgeous, covered in yellow and white, with the occasional break of continents to reveal water. Its surface was dotted with fluffy, sweeping clouds and Sabine couldn't help but think of its beauty.
Mandalore.
Sabine smiled to herself as her heart suddenly ached. Finally, she reflected. So, now I get homesick.
"Wow," Ezra breathed. "This is it, huh?'
She took in a shaky breath. "Welcome home, I guess," Sabine said uncertainly and eased the yoke forward.
No turning back now, she thought to herself.
…..
Sabine had tracked the Death Watch down to a remote part of Mandalore, surrounded by huge, ominous, craggy-topped mountains. She craned her neck to see makeshift tents in the snowy valley below them as Sabine lowered the Phantom II down. She was unsurprised to find Mandalorians already gathered, waiting for the newcomers.
"Did you tell them we were coming?" Ezra asked nervously.
"I told them I was a Mandalorian and gave them the code phrase for entry," Sabine answered, inhaling a shaky breath.
"But…" Ezra said suspiciously.
She shot him a glare. "But I didn't tell them I was a Wren. They probably would've shot us down."
Sabine looked down at her hands, rubbing them nervously against her legs.
Ezra frowned. "Shoot us down? Why?"
She closed her eyes, wincing at a painful memory. Even after Sabine had ran away to save her people, she was still enslaving them.
In an incident with Clan Kryze when she was fifteen, Sabine had unknowingly led the Empire right to the surviving Mandalorian clan. As a result, nearly all the people had been wiped out. Men, women and children all fell to stormtrooper fire.
And Sabine had watched it happen.
Ketsu was there too, but she hadn't cared worth bantha fodder and had simply ran away from the scene. Sabine had tried to help the Mandalorians, really, she had. But the leader of Clan Kryze, some man named Korkie, had put the traitor's brand to her name and alerted the rest of the clans of her "treachery."
Sabine Wren wasn't welcomed anywhere, not even on all of Mandalore. So how Death Watch would react to her name… Well, it probably wouldn't be pretty.
"Sabine, why?" Ezra repeated.
She mentally shook herself out of her thoughts and glanced at the teen. His brilliant, electric blue eyes seemed mildly interested.
"Like you said before," Sabine murmured. "Mandalorians are crazy."
She glanced at Ezra and spun around on her heel, grabbing her helmet from out her bag and promptly sliding it onto her head.
Sabine was nervous as she stood before the Phantom II's entrance.
"Let's do this," Ezra said determinedly, cracking his knuckles.
"Whoah, there," Sabine reigned in. "Remember Mandos hate Jedi?"
Ezra frowned. "Oh, yeah."
"…Give your lightsaber to Chop," she advised. "He has a secret compartment he can stash it in 'till the coast is clear."
Ezra looked surprised as he turned to the rusty orange astromech droid. "Really?" he asked him.
Chopper let off a serious of prideful beeps as Ezra handed him the lightsaber handle.
Sabine gave a slight, disbelieving laugh at Chop's binary words. "Yeah, right," she huffed. "You're about as profound as a meek nerf, Chop."
"Just minus the meek," Ezra added and the two laughed as the droid cursed at them in several different languages.
"You're lucky Hera's not here to wash out your circuits," Sabine scolded.
Chopper's probably inappropriate response was cut off by the sound of someone pounding on the Phantom II's hull.
"Open up!" someone growled from the outside.
Sabine grew somber as she glanced at the Phantom II's hatch. I can't do this, she thought suddenly. I don't even know which clan is leading Death Watch anymore. They'd all probably kill me on sight.
She took the Darksaber off the back of her belt and looked regretfully down at it. Why had she found it? Kanan had said he didn't believe it was a coincidence the ancient black sword had came into her possession. But why her? It wasn't like Sabine was the last member of House Vizsla. There were others who could lead in her place.
Sabine gripped the Darksaber tight in her hands. She couldn't do this! She couldn't rally the Mandalorians! Why would they even follow her after everything she did? After everything she was responsible of?
"Sabine," Ezra said, interrupting her thoughts. His eyes that were usually twinkling with laughter were now serious. "You can do it…
"I trust you."
With those three words, Sabine immediately squared her shoulders, put the Darksaber on the back of her belt, and slammed a fist down on the button next to the hatch. With a few puffs of air and a squeal of rusty joints, the ramp lowered and Sabine, Ezra and Chopper went out to meet the Mandalorians.
As she saw the familiar T-shaped visors, WESTAR blasters, and battered, weathered helmets, Sabine instantly felt a wave of longing overtake her.
She was finally home.
Ezra and Chopper trailed behind her as Sabine walked confidently out among the warriors. That was, until she realized just who's banner was waving right under the Death Watch's.
"Karabast," she breathed from underneath her helmet.
"What? Ezra asked quietly.
Sabine couldn't keep her eyes off of the dark green flag that had the signature small V above a larger, arced V.
"I should've known they'd be running the Death Watch," she murmured.
"Who?" Ezra pressed as Sabine looked around, just now realizing the double V logo on nearly every Death Watch member's helmet. And not only that, but the tell-tale twin stripes on their shoulder armor. Oh, she should've seen it!
"Who's running Death Watch?" Ezra pressed again.
Sabine swallowed before she answered back. This was about to get a lot harder than they once thought.
"Clan Caladon."
You people interested yet? Stay tuned for the next chapter :) And if you're wondering what on earth Clan Caladon is… great! I've got you hooked. Remember, all good things come to those who wait and it will be revealed very soon.
BTW, Clan Caladon is pronounced Clan Cal-uh-DONUT (just without the UT :) Follow/Fav and Review!
Specter7 out.