Chapter 24: Penitence

The sun was warming Jarek's shoulders as he drove into town. Curious gazes followed him until the speeder parked across the street from the Security Office. Recognizing Jarek, the one deputy on guard called a warning through the open door. Before Jarek had disembarked the Marshal stepped outside flanked by the remaining deputies. Tucked into his belt was the sheathed kal.

Once at his back the sun now glared in from the left, forcing Jarek to squint. Despite his hampered vision, he saw no sign of Len. They must've been holding him inside. He stared hard at the four men, wearing every dark emotion he could muster on his face. "Let the kid go," Jarek ordered.

The Marshal smirked just as he had at the farm, full of arrogance. With three armed men at his back and beneath the shelter of the law Gown had every reason to be. "What kid?" Jarek's eyes narrowed, but the Marshal remained unfazed. "All I got is a prisoner who assaulted a duly appointed deputy." Nervous citizens eyed the tense exchange between the lawmen and the stranger.

Just then from inside a familiar voice called out, "Jaegar! Its Jaegar! I told you he'd come!" One of the deputies snarled an order and Len fell silent.

Jarek continued to stare at the Marshal. "Let…the kid…go," he repeated his temper growing.

Gown's smile melted into a frown. "Just who do ya think ya are, outlander," he growled in a low venomous tone, "telling me what to do in my own town?"

"Doesn't matter who I am," Jarek replied anger flaring to match his pulse, "But I know who you are." He scoffed looking at each of the deputies in turn. "You're not lawmen. You're thugs. Parasites abusing your power. Mostly over women and kids." A silent crowd was gathering, Shai amongst them, as the lawmen exchanged bewildered glances. "You don't want to punish Len for breaking the law. You want to punish him for making you look weak." Jarek's emerald eyes settled on the Marshal's tense scowl. "Your sick cowards messing with those to good and decent to stand up to you."

The Marshals glower deepened. The implications of Jarek's words were clear. He wasn't the 'good or decent' type. A bit to Jarek's surprise, Gown sighed in displeasure. "Outlander…I warned ya the penalty for loitering's a lot steeper than ya can afford." The stun blast hit Jarek from his sunward side. Before his blaster could clear the holster he'd buckled over as currents of pain coursed through his body. Groaning and cursing himself he struggled to stay conscious. He'd been so focused on the Marshal he hadn't noticed once of his deputies going for a weapon.

Jarek looked up in time to see the Marshal nod to his men. One after the other they come at Jarek raining blows down upon him. A fist connected with the side of his head, a foot pummeled his side, followed by a baton across his shoulders. Somehow Jarek's mind pushed through the pain and he rose, only to find himself staring down the barrel of the Marshal's blaster. He has just enough time to realize Len had been pulled outside to witness his beating before the trigger is squeezed.

An over-powered stun blast hit Jarek square in the chest just as Len screamed in terror. Orange and red-tinted sky wheeled overhead as his feet left the ground. His supplies and bags scattered as he crashed over the back of his speeder, slamming into the ground on the opposite side. Jarek lay on the hard-packed earth amidst his strewn possessions. Every breath sent waves of agony through his body. His vision blurred as a dark haze curled around him. Somewhere in the distance, he could hear Len shouting, but the Marshal's voice carried further. "Is there anybody else wanting to test me today?"

Jarek grimaced in pain and frustration. Mainly at himself. He'd rushed in against superior numbers without a plan and it'd cost him. Len would still be punished, and his family and the town would suffer. All because he'd let his pride and anger dictate his actions.

I'm so stupid. None of this was my business. I should've kept moving. Now I've only made things worse. I'm such a fool. No… I'm a coward. Karst was right. I let my worst instincts take over. I fled when I should've fought and I fought when I should've talked. I failed everyone… Len… Karst… Myler… Jilo… everyone…

As the shadows reached for him, dusk-light caught on something. Reflexively he focused on the glint of brightness and found himself staring into the visor of his helmet-his buy'ce. The very helm he'd forged with his father in that tiny dwelling in the mountains. Shame filled him and Jarek tried to look away but couldn't. Jarek could almost feel the paternal hand on the side of his face making him look directly at the visor. In it, he saw his father's face and it was like they were back on the ridge overlooking the valley… so long ago. "The strength to stand alone is the strength to make a stand. To serve a purpose greater than yourself." Through the visor, Jarek could feel the sincerity and how deeply Myler-his father-was trying to impress upon him the importance of his words. Their gravity seemed to anchor his heart.

Weak hands curled into fists.

"If I told ya once I've told ya all a thousand times." The Marshal shouted at the flinching crowd, "This…is…my…town!" The three deputies stood by looking smug. Through his tears, Len lay curled on the ground glaring hatefully up at Gown. The Marshal paid him no mind as he focused on the gathered masses. "And no vagabond outlander," he finally looks around at Len who can't help the shiver of fear that ran up his spine, "or upstart kid is gonna change that!"

Murmurs of ascent and dread rippled through the crowd. No one seemed willing to make eye-contact with the lawmen or undermine him. None said so much as a word to help Len either.

"Look!" The Marshal wheeled around at the warning only to gasp in surprise. Where the outlander's stunned body should've been rose a new figure. Behind the speeder stood an armored warrior, steel plates glaring in the setting sun. Within the T-shaped visor of the helmet, his own expression of shock and fear was reflected. Was that…the outlander?

The nearest deputy cursed and raised his blaster, but before he could get a shot off the outlander raised his gauntlet. A grappling hook shot out snaring the front of the man duster staggering him. The attached cable went taught jerking the man across the speeder. Just as the other two deputies opened fire the outlander pulled the man in front of him. Multiple stun blasts struck his torso.

Suddenly the warrior pivoted and tossed the limp deputy back across the speeder and into one of his companions. As the pair sprawled in the dirt the outlander used the distraction to leap over the vehicle and kick the third deputy in the chest. With a grunt, the man flew backward. The back of his skull cracked off the wall as he slammed into the side of the office. The one remaining deputy was struggling to remove the dead weight of his partner. Before he could rise he found himself staring up into the treads of a descending boot.

Gown was stunned. All of his men were incapacitated, and it had only taken seconds. As the T-shaped visor turned towards him, the Marshal snarled and raised his blaster. Too late he realized his hesitation would cost him dearly. Faster than what he thought was possible the outlander snatched his gunhand and twisted. The sounds of breaking tendons echoed louder than his curse. Next Gown's scream shook the air as an upward palm strike snapped his elbow.

He fell to his knees, pain the only thing keeping him from blacking out or going into shock. Anguish the likes of which he had never known coursed up through his arm. The outlander loomed over him, eclipsing the sun. The anonymous visor projected a total lack of regard. Within its black surface, he could only see his broken body and shattered aspirations. Through the fog of agony Gown barely managed to form the one question he should've asked a long time ago. "W-who…who are ya?"

In a voice as deep and unforgiving as the visor the outlander declared, "I am Jarek…son of Myler…warrior of Clan Orion," the cold edge of pride entered his tone as he added, "And I am a Mandalorian."

The crowds could only stand in astonishment as the Marshal collapsed to his knees cradling his ruined extremity. The warrior's words bewildered them. For a moment only the breeze and heat rays filled the air, then the voices began. Murmurs of awe, shock, and fear echoed through the crowd, as the mass tried to figure out what was happening. Some of them had just witnessed an outlander rescue a child from a corrupt official, while others saw a stranger standing over three unconscious deputies and a Marshal.

"Mando?" an elderly man suddenly cried out, pointing at the bulletin board, "That's the same guy who was robbing people around Salem!" Quickly the mood of the crowd shifted, and the mumblings of discontent soon became shouts of outrage.

"Yer just a bandit!"

"Yer no Mandalorian!"

"Yer just a mercenary!"

"Yer a thief and a thug!"

"Yer no better than them!"

Despite the verbal abuse, Jarek made to attempt to claim innocence to contradict the mob. His pride as well as his sins were now free for all to witness. "I am what I am," he sighed.

The Marshal flinched as Jarek removed the Kal from his belt. Jarek ignored him in favor of checking on the kid. At some point, Shai had separated from the crowd and was removing the binders from her son's wrists. As Jarek approached the woman pushed the boy behind her. Len offered no resistance. She stared hard at the warrior, not intimidated in the least. "Not a step closer…whoever you are." Her voice was low and even, but with a cold undercurrent. Whatever gratitude she may have had was overshadowed by the realization that what the crowd said was true. It called into question everything she knew about him…even his name.

Len peaked out from behind his mother. Fear filled his eyes beneath a cloud of uncertainty. Taking a knee, Jarek held the sheathed knife out to the boy. "It yours," he said in a low voice, "You'll need it to protect your home."

Len looked from the kal to Jarek. Suddenly he stepped out from behind his mother and glared at the warrior. "No," Len said, back straight and feet still. "Pa said a man's past is his own, but ya…ya robbed and hurt people." Jarek cringed beneath his helmet unable to look the child in the eye. Len's gaze narrowed. "Yer just like them," he stated, pointing at broken and unconscious lawmen who'd tormented his friends and family.

Sighing Jarek stood. Looking back at the marshal and his men, he said, "Maybe." But at least now I know who I am, and what comes next.

Tucking the kal back into his belt Jarek policed up his supplies, ignoring the hateful stares of the citizens. Though they cursed him and occasionally spat at him, none moved to stop him from mounting his speeder. Not even a 1000 credit bounty was enough for a mob to have a go at the warrior.

Just like with Karst Jarek never bothered to look back. A town lost on the edge of civilization and Len's hate-filled eyes faded in the twilight. Before him, beyond the dawn, Jarek Orion's true goal now resided.

No more running…