KEYnote: I'm also going to post a new chapter of my Zuko fic for Avatar the Last Airbender, The Boy With the Dragon Tattoo. Please check it out?
AN: I've often been posed the question of what do I do with all the animals given to me; I do not eat them. I'm a lifelong vegetarian and the only one in my family who was born not liking meat. So, no, they go to live in my 'mind palace' which is more like a nature reserve at this point that is more or less the size of Pandora ;D
Chapter 26 - Sons of the Riduur'alor
They were in hyperspace and Obi-Wan wasn't certain if he slept or not, but his ade stirring dragged him from his waking nightmare.
Jango stood over him, offering him a hand up.
Obi-Wan glared at him, but after some deliberation, accepted it.
"No one touch any of the buttons," Jango said as led him toward the upper hatch.
Technically, they had about ten ade to near three hundred ships. But a lot of those ships were single seat fighters, armed to the teeth but could only take a maximum of two or three ade if they sat on the pilot's lap.
The hatch was not necessarily safe, flip a switch and hit a button and they would be sucked out to space. But there was nowhere left private on the ship.
Knowing his ade would find some way to bring him back from the dead to torment him, Obi-Wan wasn't quite ready for a joint murder-suicide.
Although, if Obi-Wan killed Jango here, the clean up would be simple.
"I can see the violence in your eyes, ner Riduur'alor," Jango said cautiously.
"Don't call me that," Obi-Wan snarled.
Jango opened his palms, "What happened?"
"Did you know?" Obi-Wan asked again, fisting his hands.
"Did I know what?" Jango repeated, worried enough that he was hard to read through the Force.
"Did you know about the chips?" Obi-Wan asked, each word deepening as the darkness of his emotions seethed inside of him.
"What chips?" Jango asked.
"The biometric chips."
Jango paled, "The ade are chipped? Like slave chips? I thought Fay oversaw the scans!?"
Obi-Wan took a breath, pushing his excess emotions into the Force, shielding against the darkness. "What was your plan? What convinced you to side with the Sith? What was your plan to genocide the Jedi?"
Jango gaped at him, "Genocide? No, I wanted to destroy the Order, I knew that kill some of them —you— but I wouldn't have signed on for a straight genocide. I would never purposely aim for the Jetiiese younglings. None of the vode would have either."
"Then what was your plan?"
"Dooku came to me and sent me and another bounty hunter after Kamori Vosa."
"His old apprentice, his youngest," Obi-Wan said, still afraid to trust.
"Yes, the one that fell in love with him. I disagree with your Temple's views on attachment, but I suppose she is an example of how emotions can go wrong."
Obi-Wan spoke numbly, "Obsession. If you give into the dark, it magnifies the galaxy's darkness through you. If you fear, if you hate, if you love selfishly, then the Force will magnify it, and if you take that energy from the Force, it will channel every hope, anger, and greed that exists in the Force."
Jango shook his head, "Right, well, she joined a Dark side cult, she was… unwell. But she was there on Galidraan and I put her down. Dooku offered me a deal to help destroy the Order."
"How?" Obi-Wan demanded.
Jango held his gaze with obvious effort. "Dooku said the Order was lost, that what happened on Galidraan was not uncommon. I was already aware of the Separatist movement but without dealing with the Jedi, the Republic would not fall. The plan was to make the Jedi choose.
"Give the Republic an army that would force the Jedi's hand. The Order didn't have the numbers to go to war, but with the vode, it might have shaken them out of their slumber. Make them act against the corruption of the Senate. If not, if the Jedi choose to participate in a war against the Separatists, then no matter how the war ended, the Jedi would be blamed either for supporting a corrupt system or pose enough of a threat to the Senate and be expelled from the Republic."
"Assuming the Separatists remained the moral side," Obi-Wan said dryly.
"Of course, millions of vode —Mandalorian soldiers— were pitted against the Outer Rim sporadic forces," Jango said. "That's not a competition. If the Jedi organised that, it would be a public disaster."
Images of the Clone Wars flooded Obi-Wan's mind and he sank to the ground, "That's not what happened, Jan'ika. Millions upon millions of the vode died and the Jedi lost over half our population in two years."
Jango remained, wisely, where he was, "Dooku doesn't have that many allies."
"The Trade Federation joins him, and the Zygerrians end up backing him."
Jango seemed uncertain, "I wouldn't be opposed to the Jedi and the vode crushing the Zygerrians."
Obi-Wan covered his face with his hands, "I wouldn't mind doing that now, however, how much do you know about the Federation's battle droids?"
"The ones easily dispensed with by the Gunguns on Naboo?"
"They get better, droids against clones and Jedi. After so many centuries of being glorified ambassadors, the Jedi didn't adjust quick enough to be thrown back into galactic warfare. The losses were staggering. After the Jedi fell, the vode were slowly decommissioned, and any escaped Jedi or any Force sensitive were hunted down. Youngling, Padawan, elderly, all were met with torture and execution."
Jango approached him slowly, sitting beside him, in reach but not touching, "You lived this? You are a time traveller."
Obi-Wan nodded, "They killed the younglings, Jango."
"Who?" Jango asked.
"The vode. The chips weren't kill chips. The biometric chips inserted into their brains that could override their will, their personalities, and all their freedoms. They turned on the Jedi, and after three years, we loved them, we trusted them. The majority of us were slain in a day."
Jango was quiet, his horror echoing Obi-Wan's.
Finally, Jango spoke, "I didn't know, Obi-Wan. I swear to you, I didn't know."
"They don't have the chips, any of the vode who had them died or were killed. They were going to wait until late puberty before performing the surgery.
Jango let out a large breath of relief.
Obi-Wan closed his eyes, "Cody shot me off a cliff. I thought I deserved it, but I never understood the attack on the Temple. Dooku was killed and the Republic became an Empire. The light was lost that day."
Jango touched him carefully, "Mesh'la…"
Obi-Wan turned into him.
Jango held him and Obi-Wan let himself cry as Jango pulled him close.
"I'm sorry," Jango said over and over again as Obi-Wan clung to him. "I'm sorry."
Minutes or hours past and Jango watched with disturbed fascination as Obi-Wan put himself back together. Back to his serene and charming self.
As if nothing had happened.
As if nothing were wrong.
As if there wasn't an open wound in his heart bleeding out life's blood from his soul.
A Jedi's reserve wasn't just for their relationship to the Force, it was their shield against anyone who would attempt to use their empathy against them.
oOo
Ponds had generally content to observe, allowing his twin to take most of the limelight, the General seemed to be particularly fond of Cody.
But that didn't mean Ponds felt unloved or unnoticed by the General.
The Prime's ship barely fit all of them. All of them being; Ponds, Cody, Alpha, Appo, Gregor, Rex, Fives, Helix, Omega, and Boba.
Ten ade and two buire, on a ship that was meant to fit a maximum of four adults.
Ponds had already done this math and been looking at ships that were similar to the Prime's ship that would work for all of them.
They were Clan Fett, the rest of the vode having been adopted by others were now House Fett.
Ponds was pretty set on ensuring their clan stayed together, which meant they needed a ship that could fit bunks that they would all fit in, especially for when they got bigger.
Ponds was flipping through schematics while sitting back to back with Codes as Rex integrated Omega on what she knew about the General's strange behaviour.
Strange being a euphemism for losing his kriff and the Prime needing to drug him before they fought to the death in a middle of an evacuation.
Helix and Fives were distracting Boba stopping Rex from speaking and upsetting his twin sister.
Meanwhile, Appo and Gregor were snooping around the ship's controls. They didn't touch anything but they were clearly dissecting the purpose every button and light.
Alpha was standing guard to where their buire had disappeared to.
Ponds wasn't really sure where the buire were given the one sleep cabin was filled to the brink with bacta reserves.
"When do you think they'll be out," Cody asked Ponds.
Ponds shrugged, he was just hoping they both came out.
As if his thoughts had summoned them, their buire emerged, speaking quietly to each other in Huttese.
Ponds had figured out a long while ago that Huttese was the language they used to speak over them. It was difficult to learn without first hand experience. Huttese wasn't a language that was easily found on the holonet and the written language was mainly numbers and oddly complicated mathematics.
"Buire?" Omega asked, side-stepping Rex. "You okay?"
The Prime nodded, "We're alright, Om'ika."
She smiled.
The General, however, sighed, "Ponds, Cody, come here, we have some debriefing to run through."
The Prime raised a brow as he took the pilot's seat, scooping Gregor up in his arms, "Not the little ones?"
The General shook his head, "Rex isn't ready to be thrown to the wolves, nor Fives, and this will never be Helix's duty."
"Why not Gregor and me?" Appo demanded.
The Prime reached under the dash and pulled a plexi-pad with the ships engineering out, immediately distracting both Gregor and Appo as Appo tried to hold his gaze on the General.
"I don't think you have any natural tolerance from a bombardment of stupid questions," the General answered.
Ponds exchanged a look with Cody, What did that mean?
The Prime made a disgusted sound, "Politics? You want to teach our ade, politics?"
"They are the ade of the Mand'alor of the Mand'alor Clan, it can't be avoided," the General said.
"You don't expect them to talk to reporters?" the Prime countered.
"We are going to Naboo, are we not?" the General answered with a question.
"So?"
The General smiled wanly, "So, they will be speaking to queens. But I think it would inadvisable to reveal the topic of cloning."
"Which means not all of us can be at your side," Ponds said.
"Why not Alpha?" Cody asked.
Alpha had planted himself between the General and the Prime, and seemed unruffled by Cody's question.
The General spoke with a false lightness to his voice, "Alpha's natural is aggression. No matter what we do, Jedi and Mandalorians are often accused of raising child soldiers, I want to avoid that prejudice as much as possible. At least, to begin with."
"We are child soldiers," Alpha said.
The General ruffled his hair, "You are still our ad'ika."
Alpha glared up at their buire, but Ponds didn't miss how his ori'vod leaned into the touch.
"Why can't we go?" Rex asked.
"Why do you have blonde hair?" the General countered.
Rex flinched.
The General continued, "You look so much like your brothers, you could be triplets."
Rex's shoulders were tense as he snapped back, "We're clones!"
The General's normally passive face showed astonishment, and said nearly conspiratorily, "Are you the same person? Or is it like… a hive mind?"
"No! You know that's not true!" Rex was so angry he was practically in tears.
The others had stopped what they were doing to glare at the General too.
Ponds exchanged a look with Cody and Alpha.
The Prime reached out to swat the General who caught the offending wrist, "What the reporters ask will be even more offensive, the politicians crueller."
"We aren't bringing them before any reporters," the Prime argued.
"We are going to Naboo," the General countered. "The Queen's handmaidens subscribe to the True Mandalorian Codex. They are going to want to meet with you. Especially, I suspect, as you avoided that meeting last time you were here."
"And that gives you the excuse to pick on ner ade?" the Prime demanded.
The General rolled his eyes, turning his attention back on Ponds who straightened his shoulders, "What did you think about my questions, Pon'ika?"
Ponds tilted his head, "I was wondering why you were asking."
"Were you offended or upset?" the General asked.
"No," Ponds answered. "The questions were stupid and ignorant. You were insulting yourself."
The General smiled, and ruffled his hair, "Ner ad."
Ponds tried not to preen.
The Prime made a disgusted sound, "You're going to train them in diplomacy?"
"The idea is to win the war, ner Riduur, not wage war forever."
"That doesn't mean they have to learn politics."
"You are aiming to take over Mandalore as king, yes, it very much does mean they need to learn politics. Not because they have to follow in your footsteps but because there are those who will attempt to take advantage of them."
"No one would dare," the Prime snarled.
The General gave him a look, "They will not be under our wings forever, and even as they are, unless we isolate them completely they will be targeted."
"Fuuuun," Alpha said bitterly.
"I don't want to learn politics," Boba said, crossing his arm.
The General snorted, "I didn't expect you to."
"But you thought Cody and Ponds would be?" Appo asked.
The General tilted his head, "You know they were both tapped for leadership roles after the isolation trials."
Ponds didn't flinch but the memory made him slightly ill.
The CCs were basically all from the same year but not the same months. Appo and Gregor were younger and had missed the preliminary training that had been phased out.
The lost nearly half the Nulls, a third of the Alpha-Class and fourth of the older CCs.
Cody, Ponds, and Wolffe were the only ones out of their batch of ten to survive.
Appo bowed his head, "What does that have to do with politics?"
"Well, let me put it this way, most media doesn't interview Mandolarians and the system itself hasn't been conflict free for a decade as far back as his history can account for. As Jetiiese are known for their patience, the Mandalorians are known for the reverse."
"I resent that," the Prime said. "I'm plenty patient in a hunt."
"Please," the General scoffed. "Historically what happens when recorders and cameras are shoved in front of Mandalorians?"
The Prime made a face, "The reporters lose said recorders, and typically their limbs."
"We need to make friends. Legitimizing ourselves and delegitimizing Satine as well as the Watch is important. The Senate is against us but if the majority of Republic citizens are for us, it will limit to some extent of the resources they can devote against us."
The Prime narrowed his eyes at the General, "Obi-Wan, how many wars have you fought in?"
The General shrugged, "That depends on if you count the wars I was brought in to negotiate at the end."
The Prime sighed, "You're going to rain down hellfire on the Nandos, aren't you?"
The General smirked, "Disabalizing a nation is easier than building one. Satine's weaknesses are numerous, the Republic behind her is a bit more troublesome. However, if we get the media on our side, the Republic won't be able to use the Jedi to interfere with Mandalorian problems."
"Which means training our ade in politics?" the Prime hounded.
The General looked at them, finally landing on Ponds.
"We will not allow you to fight in any capacity until you are thirteen, which for Alpha, is seven years from now. How much you participate in rebuilding Mandalore and its culture is up to you. As the ade of the Mand'alor, the opportunities will be quite numerous."
Ponds shrugged, "As sons of the Riduur'alor, I'm willing to do as much as you'll allows us too, Buir."
The General smiled at him, "Very well then, the most important thing for you to remember is if you are overwhelmed or don't think you have a civil answer just tuck your head, and or heard your face against Jango or I. You can also hide behind our legs."
Alpha made a disgusted noise, "You want us to hide?"
"I want you to pretend to hide. People will think it's cute."
"Cute?" Rex repeated.
Appo smirked, putting an arm around Rex's shoulders, "Are you kidding? We are adorable. I've seen the youngest use it to get more stories during rec hours before bed."
"You're going to teach them to flirt, aren't you?" the Prime asked.
The General smiled, "It worked on you, didn't it?"
The Prime glared at him.
Gregor tugged on the Prime's hand and asked sweetly, "Buir, can you show me how the propellers work, please?"
The Prime turned that glare on Gregor who looked up at him pleadingly.
The Prime lasted all of five seconds before he folded and switched the datapad to the right diagram.
Ponds allowed himself a small smile he shared with the General.
This felt like the beginning, not just of the vode and House Fett.
But of Clan Kenobi Fett, their family.
Their aliit.
oOo
AN: Thoughts, sky-bison, or feedback, pretty please?