Hello again, Specter7 here. I'm happy for all the positive reviews I'm getting :) Thanks guys!
I put a lot of work into this chapter, combing it for flaws and making it better and better. I officially liked the outcome and gave it my unofficial stamp of approval! Read and...
May the manda be with you.
The New Mand'alor: Chapter 3: Solving Problems
"As much as I may hate to admit it, the Death Watch is as much a part of our culture as we Mando'ade ourselves. We're flip sides of the same coin, twin aspects of the same existence. That's why we can't get rid of them: no matter how many times we beat them back or they beat us away, we'll always be fighting each other. Honestly, I'm just surprised it took them this long to get organized."
–Lilith Allia
Sabine looked around wildly, glad her helmet was hiding her face so that the stern, hearts-of-steel Mandalorians couldn't see her silently panicking.
Clan Caladon? she exclaimed mentally. I'm never leaving this place alive!
"Calm down," Ezra muttered discretely to her as the Mandalorians started to form a circle around them.
"I am calm!" she hissed back. "You have no idea what we just got ourselves into!"
Clan Caladon was considered a 'pure blood' among Mandalorians, rivaled only by Clan Vizsla. The clan had many, many members and produced the best warriors, even by Mandalorian standards. They were known for their aggressiveness and elite skills in battle, and every Mandalorian strove to be like the Caladons, who were the ultimate warriors. So the fact that Clan Caladon was running the Death Watch now…
Sabine was mentally kicking herself. I should have known the Caladons would be making a power grab, she thought, her jaw clenched with the sudden truth. Sabine was lucky if they didn't give her an immediate execution on the spot for being a traitor.
Sabine suddenly whirled around to see someone pushing the Mandos aside. He was obviously a person that was of some leadership in Death Watch, due to the jet-black, twin stripes painted across his dark green chest plate and his cocky, confident stance.
"Give me one reason I shouldn't order my men to gun you down and carry your bodies out," the Mandalorian growled with a Core world accent from underneath his weathered, green and gray helmet.
Sabine squared her shoulders, her panic dying. She couldn't show any fear—not that she was really even afraid. Death Watch wouldn't slaughter her just yet.
"I need to meet with your leader," Sabine announced to the man in front of her and the other Mandalorians glanced at each other.
She could just see Ezra frown out of the corner of her eye. "He's not the leader?" Ezra breathed, nearly inaudible.
Sabine gave a slight grin under her helmet. "No cape," she answered just as quietly.
The man suddenly took his WESTAR blaster from its holster, spun it on his finger, and leveled it to at Sabine's heart.
"State your name and House," the man snarled.
She took a deep breath and casually spread her feet apart, ready in case the Mandalorian tried to shoot her.
"I'm Sabine Wren of Clan Wren," she announced, projecting her voice.
"House Vizsla."
The man reared back in shock and the crowd of Death Watch members started murmuring amongst themselves. The man who was pointing the blaster at her seemed to grow angry and instantly twitched his finger, pulling the trigger. But Sabine was ready and had already moved out of the line of fire as the red laser zoomed inches away from her chest. Sabine suddenly whirled around, heart pounding, and whipped out the Darksaber. The ancient black blade sliced through the WESTAR blaster like it was flimsi.
The Death Watch camp was dead silent.
"Have I got your attention, now?" Sabine yelled out to the crowd, raising the Darksaber above her head. When there was no answer, Sabine walked onto a makeshift stage that Death Watch had conveniently placed in the middle of the valley, taking off her helmet and tossing it aside. "I am Sabine Wren," she repeated, retracting the Darksaber's blade and looking down at the crowd. "The last loyal survivor of Clan Wren, House Vizsla."
"Loyal?" one of the Mandalorians spat. "We remember you, Wren. You were the one who single-handedly managed to get the Empire to launch a kill sentence on all House Vizsla!"
"And Clan Kryze!" another added.
Other Death Watch members, masked and unmasked, nodded in agreement.
Sabine swallowed, frowning hard. "Are you forgetting who enslaved you?" she shouted to the crowd. "The Empire took over Mandalore—not me!"
But they didn't know that Sabine had done just that. Maybe not directly, but Sabine had designed the weapons that enslaved the thousands of worlds under Mandalorian control.
"The Wrens are a disgrace!" one countered. "They sided with the Empire! What makes you any different?"
The Mandalorians continued to shout and scream at Sabine, yelling at her to get off the stage. Some hands even went to their blasters, preparing for her immediate execution.
Sabine's heart was racing and her throat felt dry. This is getting out of hand, she thought frantically. The crowd pushed against the stage, making it shake. Sabine could see the hate in their eyes. They were all remembering the people they lost due to the Empire's takeover.
Her eyes suddenly caught one particular person, standing off to the side. It was the twin-striped man, the one who had almost shot her. He had his arms crossed and helmet still on, surveying the scene while barely rotating his head.
Sabine gritted her teeth. The Death Watch members would listen to him. She knew they would. But he still made no move to calm the angry mob.
Sabine's mind whirled, thinking quick. All it took was for one Mandalorian to take a shot at her and the valley would explode in a firefight.
"Wren!" Someone screamed. "Traitor!"
"Traitor!" another shouted and others took up the cry.
"Traitor! Traitor! TRAITOR!"
A Mando hiked his boot up on the stage, his hand going to the blaster.
Sabine instantly whipped out the Darksaber, igniting its pulsing blade, ran to the edge of the stage and…
…Slashed it across the trunk of the pole holding the Death Watch and Clan Caladon banner. It was located right next to the stage and the Darksaber sliced through the broad, thick, wooden pole instantly, as if it were flimsi. The wood sizzled and smoldered, slowly sliding down from its trunk. The banners whipped in the air as it seemed to fall in slow motion, the tip of the pole looked as if it scraped the sky.
True to the Mandalorian name, not a single scream emitted from any of the Death Watch member's mouths, yet they all scrambled, fleeing from the descending pole. Sabine heard a strangled yelp from the Mando who had tried to climb onto the stage, as he now slipped in the snow. The man threw himself away from the pole as it finally fell to the Mandalore earth, crashing just inches away the Mando with a resounding THUD that vibrated Sabine's insides.
Sabine gripped the Darksaber in her hand, watching with narrowed eyes as the Death Watch all stared up at her, unblinkingly, dead quiet. Sabine retracted the Darksaber's blade and placed it on the back of her belt, hopping off the stage. The sea of Mandalorians parted for her as she walked straight up to the twin-striped man. He slowly looked down at her, his arms still crossed.
"So this is how you solve your problems?" Sabine asked quietly. "Letting others do your work? Because you not jumping in is defiling the code, no matter how much you want me dead."
The man stayed silent.
Sabine got closer, her voice dangerously low. "This," she said, gesturing behind her to the fallen pole and shaken Mandalorians. "This is how I solve my problems. When you don't do your job."
The twin-striped Mandalorian looked past her and to the ruined pole, in splinters on the ground. The Clan Caladon banner that had once waved so valiantly in the sky, was now tattered and ripped to shreds. The double V emblem that was embroidered on the banner, which was a symbol of power, was based off the legends of the Caladonian Dragon. The banner itself wasn't important, but what it stood for was. And it had been brought down, succumbed by Sabine.
The twin-striped man watched as the Death Watch members helped one another off the ground and as a child ran to its mother.
"I see," the man said finally. "When you solve your problems, the outcome seems to be rather… disastrous."
Sabine held her chin high. "I prefer the term 'explosive.'"
He tilted his head, seeming to cast her a sidelong glance from his visor. Finally, he uncrossed his arms with a sigh and keyed something into his gauntlet. "I'll take you to the leader of Death Watch," he said eventually. "…Follow me,"
Sabine watched the Mandalorian walk away, the crowd of Death Watch members parting instantly and Sabine mentally bet fifty credits he was the second-in-command.
She quickly turned, grabbed her helmet off the stage, and craned her neck to try to locate Ezra in the sea of dark green helmets. Finally spotting him and him her, the two ran up to each other.
"You did good," Ezra said breathlessly.
"Thanks," Sabine sighed and glanced around for the twin-striped man. Pulling Ezra along with her, she jogged to the particular Mandalorian warrior and Chopper rolled after the two teens.
Sabine let go of Ezra's wrist and fell in pace next to the man, Ezra at her side. "Hey," she said lightly. "Are you some kind of lieutenant here? The people seem to almost listen to you."
"'Almost?'" he growled, tilting his helmet towards Sabine. "I'm their second-in-command, Wren."
Sabacc, Sabine thought victoriously. I woulda won my bet. That definitely explained the air of leadership around the twin-striped man and the way the other Mandalorians seemed to flinch away from him and his confident, brazen stance.
He suddenly stopped and looked around, motioning to a couple of his men. He turned to Sabine. "I'll take you to our leader. But your boyfriend over there," he said, gesturing to Ezra, "and the droid will stay behind with two of my men. Got it?"
Sabine frowned. "Me and Ezra aren't—"
"Hold up," Ezra cut in. Sabine could tell he was almost smiling because of the second-in-command's misread of their relationship, but he got right up in the man's helmet, and jammed his finger on his chest plate.
Sabine stiffened. Manda, Ezra had a death wish, being aggressive with a Mando like that.
"We all stay together," Ezra said, seeming like he as trying to sound intimidating. "We aren't separating—"
The second-in-command picked Ezra up by his orange sweater and threw him down into the snow.
"You're dealing with Mandalorians now, boy!" the twin-striped man snarled. "What I say, goes!"
Usually, Sabine would have gone over to Ezra and helped him up. …Or clocked the person who threw him. But, she was in Mando country now. She couldn't show any compassion or softness.
So, she turned from Ezra (who was spitting out pieces of dirt and snow) and looked up at the second-in-command. "…Fine," she said eventually. "I'll meet the leader alone."
"Sabine!" Ezra protested, getting to his feet.
She gestured for him to be quiet.
"Ronan," the second-in-command said to one of the two Mandalorians that had come to stand in front of him. "Luc," he said to the other. "Take the outsider and Wren's droid… show them what Mandalorians do to entertain their guests."
Sabine rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything until Ronan and Luc left, ushering an angry Ezra in between ahead of them.
"That was petty," Sabine growled to the twin-striped man. "And you're going to regret trying to push Ezra around."
The second-in-command shrugged and started walking forward. "They're just keeping your friend busy while we meet."
Sabine trailed behind the Mandalorian and looked back to see Ronan and Luc shove Ezra into one of the tents, and kick Chopper in as well.
"Hey!" the twin-striped man called to her. He stood in front of a massive dark green tent that was at least five or six meters high and held the flap open for her. "She's in here."
Sabine took a deep breath, steeling her nerves. With her blasters on her side, her pockets loaded with charges, her helmet under her arm, and the Darksaber on the back of her belt, she almost felt like nothing could stop her.
But then, Kanan's prophecy rang in her ears.
"One day," Kanan had said gravely, "Your blasters will fail you. You will run out of charges. And your own skills will not be up to the task. And when that day comes, the Force will be the only thing able to spare you from the inevitable."
Sabine narrowed her eyes as she remembered his words and spun her helmet around in her hand before placing it firmly on her head. The young Mandalorian followed the twin-striped man into the tent…
…Ominously wondering how long it would be before that day came.
Phew. A little intense, eh? A bit ominous, like an omen of sorts?
Anyway, stay tuned. I've got big plans for this story and I have a feeling you guys are going to love it. The next chapter is going to be called, "A Plot's Arc," which is kind of a play on words- as you'll find out later :P
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Specter7 out.