AN: Thank you, Muffin!
Chapter 12 - Consumed by War
"Your Ka'ra is very direct," Padawan Depa said.
"What do you mean?" Satine asked, still smarting from having her delusions about the Jedi shattered.
"Well these soul marks aren't indications of soul mates," the Padawan explained.
"Then what the hells are they?" Myles asked, wondering how correct Jaster was to be worried.
"There are two people who have been recognized by the Force, or your Ka'ra who have the potential to meditate peace between two warring factions," the Padawan explained. "I'm amused that your Ka'ra has to be that direct, to literally mark your enemy with a revival sigil to get the point across."
Myles reread the original file. His Basic was fine but old Basic that was a rough translation of ancient Mando'a? Yeah, no, that was a stretch. Still, he agreed that what Depa said would match the translation.
"What about the marks with the Jedi?"
Depa scrolled down, eyes flicking across the page before she pointed at the screen, "Looks like it never panned out well. The ancient Mandalorians seemed tolerant, mostly, of Force sensitives, but not of religions that came from it. The Ka'ra seems to be a word interchangeable with fate or victory, might makes right. So when a Jedi or a Mandalorian shared marks, the Jedi either submitted to the Mandalorian culture or was executed as an outsider dabbling in witchcraft. If they got that far. Jedi, even that far back, seemed to be referred to as animals to be tamed or hunted."
Myles grimaced, he knew, intellectually that Force sensitives have always been coveted on the black market, and he knew that modern clans of Mandalorians still preyed upon the Jettiese. But it seemed more real, more insidious, that nearly six thousand years ago his ancestors had always viewed another people of diverse heritages as beasts to be hunted.
That the Jedi were in a way a religious order, made it somehow worse, somehow more disgusting that his culture hadn't, or perhaps didn't, view the Jedi as a rival group of elite warriors but abominations to be exterminated.
It didn't really matter what the Jedi had done to them in turn when the proof was in the records.
The Order respected Mandalore enough to keep track of their history, to document the bad and the good of them as they did to other systems, nations, and species. The Jedi acknowledged Mandalore's history and right to sentience, whereas, in these documents, it seemed a great number of Mandalorians had not believed the same of the Jetiiese.
No, Myles didn't like that history. He didn't like it at all.
"And the Sith?" he asked them.
"The Sith are not our opposites," Dooku said. "Though on the surface it appears that they are. The Jedi befriend the Force, we seek to make ourselves its allies, to follow where it leads. But the Sith try to conquer it, they take what should be given freely. They, in a sense, try to enslave the Force, and in the process become its slave."
"If that is the end result, then why become a Sith?"
"Power," Dooku said. "And arrogance that you will succeed where others failed. To become a Sith, means more than to be wary of attachment, to be a Sith, it requires absolute sacrifice."
Myles didn't like the sound of that, "Sacrifice of what?"
"Everything," Depa said seriously. "Everything you knew to love and everything you did not know to value."
Myles shook his head, "I'm not sure I follow. To me, it is the Jedi who sacrifice everything. You give up your families, give up your chances of marriage, abstain from power—"
Dooku held up a hand, "The Order was not always as it is today, and truthfully, it is only the Knight's Corps that has gotten so inflexible in regards to proper conduct and formal acknowledgements of unions. Jedi have in the past stayed with their birth families, have married, raised their children, been allowed to hold office on a planetary scale, but even now, the Knight Corps isn't as rigid as it appears. Many of our families come from people who are not able to care for us, or, as was the case with my own family, did not want us. True, we aren't allowed to rule planets ourselves, but being a Jedi Knight or Master is not a title without weight. And I can promise that we are not a celebate people."
Myles blinked, "Oh, I…"
He had no idea what to say about that.
"Then why not be more open about your culture?" Satine interjected.
Master Jocasta Nu answered, "Because our fighting numbers are small enough, and there are enough solo missions around the galaxy that our air of mystery is what stays a number of hands striking out against us. There are reasons why mere Force sensitives are always targeted and Jedi are not."
"Then why tell us?" Myles asked.
"Because we believe that the Jedi and Mandalorians will become intertwined in the coming future and we would rather work with some of you than be enemies of all of you."
Myles couldn't help but agree and yet…
And yet he sensed deception. Someone in their Order had marked Jango, and they knew who it was and were using this veneer of openness to lie about it.
Of course, if Myles was understanding these documents correctly he could understand why.
Those Jetiiese marked by the Ka'ra were either made to become Mandalorians or executed.
"What about the Sith who were marked by the Ka'ra?" Myles asked.
Padawan Depa sat back, "I don't think I have access to those files."
"But I do," Jocasta said.
Myles was not excited about what he would learn.
oOo
Between Obi-Wan and Tahl, they were able to to chase off the pirates. Mostly because a blind woman led by the Force is quite the menace to anyone's sanity. The pirates's ship was much smaller than the freighter and they retreated, abandoning the gangway between their two ships. The freighter was able to jump to lightspeed and Obi-Wan's mistake was trying to do the same.
Their starship was able to make the jump, it was not able to complete it.
Obi-Wan stared at the galactic compasses, paling before one of the engines blew and they spun into a very painful barrel role.
"Obi-Wan!" Tahl called.
He couldn't move, the centripetal force was too much.
His Master did not have the same problem. The metal buckles holding them in their safety belts snapped. They didn't fall out because they were being crushed into their seats.
"What are you doing?" he asked, or tried to.
She didn't answer whether because she couldn't hear him or because she was too focused to respond.
Using the Force to move against the laws of motion, Master Tahl climbed over her seat and tucked herself against his side.
"Hold on," she said just before his ears popped.
Obi-Wan shut his eyes, reaching out to hold onto her tabards. He sensed her reaching out with the Force and he immediately lent his strength to hers.
Master Tahl slowed the descent of the ship, not by much, but she managed to change the angle of descent.
Obi-Wan managed to reach out a hand to flip the engine off which slowed them further and eased the spinning.
When the breached atmosphere, Master Tahl hugged him closer and spoke into his ear, "We need to jump."
He nodded against her shoulder.
The ship's engine was already off, so he reached for the ejection cord.
He waited, every second flashing by and yet lasted forever.
His head felt as if it was being crushed, even though he knew that their descent was controlled enough that they wouldn't have any permanent injury.
Hopefully.
Tahl tensed, beginning to release her control of the ship and before she could ask, he pulled the cord.
The canopy ripped off before it could even begin to open.
Cheap ship.
Obi-Wan and his Master were also sucked out. Tahl held him close and they worked together to slow their descent.
They heard their ship crash before they were close to the surface, but it wasn't the ship or the coming fall that filled Obi-Wan with dread.
The Force he was was dark. Filled with sorrow, vengeance, and the stench of apathy and desperation.
They were about to be stranded on a planet consumed by war.
oOo
"Alor!" Mij yelled, running up to Jaster's side with a datapad in hand.
As he did, the alarms of the palace went off.
Jango pressed into Jaster's side as he accepted the pad, neither Duke Kryze nor his son were willing to cross his personal space. So they didn't see the image of a cloaked figure striding down the hall, knocking New Mandalorian guards and aids aside with a gesture.
"Mij, take the ade–"
"Buir, I can fight," Jango protested.
Jaster knew his own son would not be cowed by a look, so he directed his displeasure at Silas as he gathered his thoughts.
He wanted none of the ade near a Force sensitive.
Silas ducked behind her buir's side and the Duke sent his son to go to his youngest sister's side.
Jaster glanced at Jango while Mij took the datapad, giving a hand signal that meant he was going for the heavy artillery.
"When I say go, you go," Jaster said in Mando'a, allowing his accent to indicate how serious he was. Jango was a full-fledged warrior, even if he would always be Jaster's ad'ika.
"Lek, ner Alor," Jango said, raising a fist to his chest.
Still, Jaster glared at him, "If you don't listen, you'll be training the ade for a decade."
Jaster turned on his ear piece, Mij giving updates on where in the palace the maybe-Jedi intruder was.
Jango nodded and they all broke into a jog. In five minutes, they had reached their ships and changed into their armour.
Mij and Silas took off into low orbit. Regrettably, the intruder was too deep in the palace for long-range attack.
Montross exited his own ship with a flamethrower.
Jaster felt good about his second.
The dar'Jetii arrived in the hanger, and to his dismay, was headed straight for Jango.
The Duke and his son tried to be diplomatic, stepping forward with the air of inconvenienced politicians. They were thrown to the stone wall with a wave of the hand.
Both men dropped to the ground and didn't get back up.
If they had been wearing armour, they likely would have been alright.
Jaster's men started firing, and the Jetii activated his saber, deflecting the shots with frightening ease.
Jaster motioned and his men cornered the Force user who seemed to vibrate with malice. He held out his hand and fucking lightning sparked from his fingers.
"Montross! Get Jango out of here!" Jaster shouted into their internal com system.
Montross grabbed Jango as one of the remaining New Mandalorians guards stepped before them taking the blast of lightning that would have hit Jaster's ad.
The lightning hit him a second later.
It burned. It was a type of pain that was all consuming, his every neuron lit up like a star imploding.
Then it stopped.
Jaster was pulling himself up as he saw Mij in his fighter fire a warning shot at the cliffside.
The Jetii might have lightning, but they still had him surrounded.
Jaster prepared himself to charge the man, but the cloaked figure stepped back, raising his head enough for them to see yellow eyes.
"I will return."
Jaster activated the external audio channel on his helmet, "We have you surrounded. Surrender and you will be shown justice."
The yellowed eyed freak held his empty palm in answer.
Jaster was confused until he felt two of his grednades lifted from his belt.
His eyes widened as he shouted a warning.
Throwing himself back he saw what followed in snatches.
The cloaked man stepping back off the side of the platform as if the plummet was of no concern and several other grenades floating and lit suspended in the air.
Jaster turned on his stomach, protecting his middle as several explosions went off.
The sound buffeted him, chunks of stones pinging off his armour.
His under armour protected him from piercing blows but he knew he would at the very least be bruised.
When the smoke cleared and his ears stopped ringing, he looked up sending out a ping, everyone responded, including Montross and Jango.
Thank the Ka'ra.
But what he saw wasn't good.
If the Jetiiese wanted to declare war, he could think of few clearer declarations.
oOo
AN: Thoughts, bengal tigers, or feedback, pretty please?