Chapter Seven: Par Ijaat
It took a few days for Visla and his crew to reach Concord time. During which Jango had repainted his armor, going for a similar paint scheme to his sister's armor. The only difference was his armor was more white and omits the gray and goes more for the black and gold highlights. He also made sure for that his jetpack was fine tuned and fueled up.
He also managed to acquire some weapons. His carbine from his days as Jaster Mereel's pupil was unaccounted after his capture but thankfully, he was able to get a spare one from Kal Skirata. It was a DL-18, not his first choice, (he always favored heavier hitting WESTAR blasters), it was still a versatile and all-around decent sidearm. Equipped to his wrists were a pair of BlastTech Dur-24 wrist launchers. He also managed to acquire a dagger from Vhonte Tervho. It was designed like a beskad with the only difference was it being a meter-long instead of the two and a half.
Which led him to the present, standing in front his childhood home as he watching the ship of his nemesis descend for a landing in the fallow field. Everyone who rescued him from the spice runners, both Mando'a and Jetii, were here spectating. They were also joined some Journeyman Protectors, who apparently knew the rescue team from their efforts to locate him.
Once the corvette sized ship landed and the ramp descended, Jango got a glimpse of Tor Visla. He looked about the same as he did when he last saw him. Same ugly face that was burn scarred on the left side, same matted and long black hairs and the same black and read armor he wore when he killed his parents, killed Jaster and ambushed him on Galadraan. A blaster pistol was on his right hip and a beskad magnetically clamped to his back.
Flanking the Death Watch leader on each side was a dozen of his followers, all armored up and armed to the teeth. Trailing behind them was half a dozen slaves, including four adult female Twi'leks, two Rutian, one Udeeni and one Bletan, two male Humans, one an adult and one an adolescent, two adult male Duros, one adult male Weequay, one adult female Human with black skin and two young female Humanoids, both crimson skinned and horned.
"Well well," Tor Visla said curtly, "It seems that message wasn't fake."
"Oh what's the matter Visla, disappointed?" Jango asked wryly as he put his helmet and assumed a battle stance, "Better get used to it."
"We'll see about that," Visla replied as he donned his helmet and assumed a battle stance of his own, "One of us will die today."
The two combatants squared up for a few seconds before grabbing their blaster pistols and firing at each other. Both scored direct hits, Jango taking a hit in the cuirass, tanking most of the blow, while Tor got grazed on the right thigh. This forced the Death Watch leader on his knee, taking the opportunity to preform a jetpack boosted charge straight at Jango. The Manda'lor managed to score a shot on Tor's left shoulder and the side of his helmet before Tor collided with him, knocking his DL-18 out of his hands and lifted him into the air.
Thinking fast before he was skewered by the Death Watch leader's wrist blades, Jango used his wrist blasters to blast at his opponent's jetpack. One of the thruster went out, causing it to spark and fail and lose altitude. To remedy this, Jango ignited his own jetpack and slipped out of Tor's grasps. As for Tor, he fell to the ground and discarded it before the sparking got to the fuel cell and exploded. Now that Jango had the height advantage, he pressed it with his wrist blasters, harrying his opponent. Tor returned fire with his own blaster pistol, landing another hit on Jango's torso and knocking him of balance.
Seizing the opportunity, Tor shot an ascension cable from his gauntlets at Jango and wrapped around his torso, allowing the Manda'lor to be pulled to the ground. Drawing his beskad, the Death Watch leader charged in hopes to perform an over-head slash. Jango rolled left to dodge the strike.
Jumping to his feet, the Manda'lor drew his dagger and made a jet pack-boosted charge. Tor managed to dodge so only managed to get a slash on his upper arm. Not a bad injury but it did knock his blade out of his hand. This also left Tor open to use his ascension to retrieve his blaster pistol and Jango's DL-18. Now with two blasters, Tor was able to lay down some heavy firepower.
The Manda'lor was able to barely keep ahead of the blaster shots thanks to his jet pack but it wouldn't last long as the pack was about to run out of fuel. Looping back towards the Death Watch leader's blade, the Manda'lor killed his jet pack before the fuel cell went empty. Jango hit the ground with a tuck and roll, snatching the blade in the middle of the landing and tanking most of the blast. Coming out of the roll, Jango hurled his dagger at Tor Visla's head.
The blade didn't manage to puncture the helm but the hilt did smash the T-visor. This caused the helmet's wearer to growl in pain stumble back disoriented. Seeing an opportunity, Jango used the last bit of fuel in his jet pack to close the distance and strike Tor with his own blade. Tor Visla had managed to pry his broken helmet of of his head to get his bearings and face his opponent.
That was a mistake however, as it gave his opponent an opening on his head.
Jango Fett didn't know what Tor's face would look like when he killed him. The Death Watch's leader had a look of surprise on his face as he looked at the Manda'lor as blood poured out of his broken nose, courtesy of the dagger that shattered his visor. He tried to say something but could only gurgle and coughed up some blood as his eye's dimmed.
Jango pulled the blade from Tor's neck and retrieved his blaster from the ground and holstered it. The Mando'ade began to cheer and chant "Oya." The Manda'lor turned and walked towards the stunned Death Watch entourage, still in disbelief that there leader lost.
"Hear me Death Watch," he began, "You have two choices now. If you recognize me as the Manda'lor, I will let you live and fight with me. Refuse, and you will be forever be known as a Dar'manda and stripped of your armor. The choice is yours."
This caused a wave of hesitation in most of the Death Watch ranks. Watching their leader get killed and his killer demands your loyalty or you exile was a tall order. Jango also was taking a huge risk himself. He was not in any shape to take on a dozen armed warriors at the moment, both from his wounds and the fact most of his arsenal was used up.
The sound of a gauntlet wearing fist hitting a cuirass broke the Manda'lor's train of thought. He looked to find one of the Death Watch members had put her fist to her chest, as if to salute him. Four more members of the small band had joined her in the gesture.
"Oya Manda'lor," they said in unison, "We will follow to battle and death."
"I accept you're oaths of loyalty," Jango answered before turning to the remaining members of Tor's Death Watch entourage, "And of what of the rest of you?"
All he got was the remaining seven warriors responded by removing their armor and piling it before the Manda'lor, voicelessly agreeing to his demands to become Dar'manda.
"Very well," the Manda'lor answered, "My associates here will escort you to the space port and you will leave."
And so they left, leaving just the slaves. All of them looked terrified at Jango, fearing he may be as cruel as they last master.
"Don't worry," he said as he removed his helmet, "After spending two years as a slave, I don't planning to subject you to the same thing. Weather you leave on your own accord or stay, it is up to you."
This calmed the slaves, especially when Jango rifled through Tor's ship, a Shriek-hawk gunship, and found enough money to charter a ride of Concord Dawn. The only people who stayed were one of the Rutian Twi'leks, the black skinned Human and the two crimson Humanoids.
"Staying huh?"
"Don't have a choice," the Human answered, "Those bastards destroyed my ship after they caught me."
"Understandable," Jango said before turning to the Twi'lek and the children, "What about you three?"
"Purchased by these guys a year ago," the Twi'lek answered, "They weren't very kind, specially to these two." She then gestured to the frightened girls, looking terrified at Manda'lor.
"The Boss tried to have his way with these two before I offered myself up in their place," she explained, "Guess he decided to he liked me more than them."
"Can they speak?"
"Not basic, no."
"Master Jedi, come over here," Jango said, motioning for the older man to come over.
"Ever seen a being like these two before?"
"Not in person no," the older man answered, "I have seen a holo picture from another Jedi. They're from a world that became known to the Galaxy. They're apparently called Oni.
"So I doubt you know how to talk to them."
"No, but I'm sure I could get in contact with the Jedi overseeing the Republic's diplomatic mission there."
The meeting over the hologram with the Jedi and Oni people proved very enlightening. According to the Arkanian Jedi Knight leading leading the Republic's diplomatic mission, the Oni people had been suffering from pirate attacks left over from a flash point conflict a couple years ago. During that time, the pirates had taken to raiding the locals and selling them to slavery. That was the fate of the two girls, named Hirari and Miho. Their village was attacked by these pirates, killing their parents and taken to Nar Shaddaa until they were purchased by Tor Visla and Death Watch.
"Lord Yari wishes to know what will happen to the girls now," the Jedi inquired.
"I intend to adopt them both," Jango answered, "I'm trying to find a way to translate my language into theirs."
As the Jedi explained this to the Oni nobleman, he had a confused look on his face before speaking to the Jedi again.
"Lord Yari is confused by this by what you mean by adoption."
"My people, the Mandalorians, have a tradition of adopting orphans and training them as our own," Jango explained, "We call it, 'gai bal manda.' Part of this process is teaching them the Mandalorian language, Mando'a."
After the explanation, Lord Yari calmed down and took on a thoughtful expression as he ruminated on this information. Clearly he wanted his people to be returned home and safe. As for the girls, they looked at the Manda'lor with admiration. Not hard, considering they witnessed the man that had bested their tormentor tends to make an impression. Eventually the Oni Daimyo spoke again, with the Jedi translating.
"He agrees to this, as long as he gets to witness this."
Satisfied, Jango turns to Hirari and with determination and confidence, tells her the words Jaster Mereel had told him years ago.
"Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad," The Manda'lor then turned to Miho and told her the same thing. With that, Hirari and Miho were Mandalorians.
"We'll have that program to within a week."
The hologram winked out. Jango motioned the girls to follow him as he gave them off to Sheeka Tull, the Human woman that was freed from Death Watch.
"Ahem," The Jedi Master coughed, "I take it our business is concluded?"
"They are indeed," Jango Fett acknowledged, "Hopefully we never have to see each other again."
"Do you honestly believe that will happen?"
"Probably not," Jango admitted, "You probably have some ideas of another team up don't you?"
"Think of it as a mending of Jedi and Mandalorian relations after Galadraan," the Jedi Master answered, "If I or the Jedi Council need elite warriors, we know who to call."
As the Jedi master turned to leave, Jango realized something.
"I never got your name," he said, causing the older man to stop in his tracks.
"Alucard," the Jedi replied, "Alucard Dooku."