So, I'm back with the next chapter in this story.
Though I am enjoying the challenge of writing this story, I do wish that some of the chapters would come more easily to me; anyway, you're not here to hear my misgivings. Let's get to the main reason as to why you're all here!
And as always, the original idea for this story goes to Worldwander2.0 and as always, all rights go to their owners as I own nothing!
It had been close to a stander week since Valerie and her brother had their violent encounter with the armoured stranger. At that time no one from their Clan had been able to find out any more information about him, other than the images from Valerie's helmet. This only confirmed that fact that the armour that he was wearing was not of a Mandalorian make.
Also in that week, she and her brother had been forced to keep a low profile after what had taken place at the local relay.
Needless to say, most of the local Clans were chopping at the bit to blast the 'Kriffing Barve,' that had knocked out the relay. Needless to say, Valerie expected things to move quickly if word of their involvement got out.
As she fully expected Nars to be spaced if he was lucky, blasted to bits of he wasn't. As for her, however… well Valerie didn't want to think about it, as she then entered the town's only real permanent establishment.
But as she entered through the doorway, one of the doors hit her on her side. Normally this wouldn't have bothered Valerie too much.
If it weren't for the fact that the door had happened to hit where the Bacta patch was currently applied to her bruised ribs, having suffered some injuries from the grenade blast.
"Stang," Valerie muttered as she forced herself to continue walking despite the pain.
As Valerie knew full well that she couldn't afford people asking questions about her injury. Thankfully, Valerie managed to get herself to the nearest seat without drawing any unwelcome attention to her.
Well not fully as a familiar voice called out to her.
"Su cuy'gar Valerie," The manager of the small tap café called out to her once he caught sight of her.
He was an older gentleman; his aged face made it rather obvious for all to see. As he had forgone his helmet for comfort in his heated kitchen, still Goran the one-time metal smith turned restaurant owner still looked like the older robust man that he was without his helmet.
Still, despite looking almost the same as when Valerie had first met him all those years ago. She could still make out more gray hairs overtaking his black scalp.
"Su cuy'gar Goran," Valerie greeted him back in kind as she took off her bucket.
Valerie then watched as Goran finished up with a couple of his other customers, as he then made his way over to her.
"Haven't seen your troan in a while Valerie. So, what do you want?" Goran asked casually, as he started making his way back to the kitchen.
"The usual," The response was completely automatic from her.
At this point, Valerie watched as Goran disappeared into the kitchen to get her order. All the while her side continued to still bother her. Even so, Valerie was more than willing to deal with a little pain compared to what Nars was currently going through; thanks in large part due to the injuries he had received at the hands of the stranger's weapons.
Because once they had gotten back to the homestead; she and her Clan mates quickly figured out that Nars had internal bleeding alongside a nasty burn from where he had been hit by the giants' unknown energy weapon.
So far, they hadn't found a match for the energy weapon anyway they had looked. This fact alone only added to her growing sense of unease, as Goran then approached her with her cup of Caf in hand her some food in the other.
At this point, Valerie pushed any thoughts of what had taken place a week earlier out of her head, as she then took the cup that Goran offered to her. While he placed the plate in front of her and returned to behind the bar.
"So... What's new?" Valerie finally asked, all the while trying to sound casual as she spoke.
Though Valerie felt as if her nervousness was showing through her façade; if Goran saw this, he chose to ignore this as he started readying another cup of Caf.
"Well..." Goran trailed off, as if he was trying hard to remember something important, "There's the rather obvious news about the relay tower." Goran said drawing a chuckle out of Valerie, as she responded.
"Every Hutt and their grub mother know about that," Valerie rolled her eyes as she said this, "Still have they figured out who was the Barve response for this?" She then asked.
As the Clan head wanted to know whether they should leave the planet for a couple of weeks until this all died down.
"No; but it isn't for a lack of trying, that much I can tell you," Goran replied as he then handed another cup of Caf to her.
Valerie was about to say something before she realized that she had already drained her first cup. At which point she slid the empty cup to Goran and reached out for the other one he was offering.
"Any idea if my ori'vod is on the list of suspects?" Valerie then asked.
As there wasn't any harm in asking this, considering Nars own reputation with the local Clans.
"Well..." Goran muttered as he thought, "You vod isn't exactly the most beloved star of Coruscant. Most see him as a chakaar. So probably," He said; restating the obvious for her.
As it wasn't like she or her Clan mates weren't aware of this fact. As Nars had always been this way, even since he had lost his birth parents during the Civil War; he hadn't been the same person since they had been taken away from him.
Valerie had never known what her ori'vod had been for that. As she had been adopted by the Clan after that had taken place. As such Valerie would never know what Nars was like before the loss of his parents.
Even so, Valerie did wonder as to how her Vod had been before the loss of his aliit. But she could wonder about this another time, as she still had to respond to what Goran had said.
"I'm being serious Goran. Because if something happens to him then-." Valerie started to say before the tap Caf owner cut her off.
"I get it, Valerie. But all I can tell you is that the Clans are looking for someone to take the blame for this. So, I would advise you Vod to keep his shebs out of sight; if he knows what's good for him." Goran said as he took the now empty cup from her.
Valerie then sighed to herself. As she knew that was a much conformation to what they had all expected.
"I'll let my ba'buir know," Valerie stated simply.
As there wasn't anything else that she needed to know on this matter. So, she could drop this conversation and get on to business.
"Good," Goran started to say before his face lit up as if he had seen something that had reminded him of something, "Oh, shab I can't believe I forgot to mention this. There is something new!" Goran sounded a bit embarrassed by this fact.
Still, this caught Valerie's interest, as it wasn't often that something happened in this small mining town.
"So, what is it?" Valerie asked, intrigued by Goran's sudden excitement.
"There's someone new in town." Goran started explaining as Valerie suddenly started to feel an edge of unease creeping in as she then asked the next question.
"A stranger from out of town," Valerie asked as she started to get a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, "From which of the local Clan?" She asked, continuing her line of questioning.
To which Goran simply shrugged in response to her questions.
"No Clan, aruetii," Goran informed her, as Valerie's stomach then twisted itself into a knot.
As she was hoping that it wasn't who she suspected it to be.
"So, what do they look like?" Valerie then asked, all the while trying to keep her voice under control.
"Take a look for yourself, Valarie," Goran said as he then pointed a thumb into a part of the café.
Valerie then followed as to where Goran's thumb was pointing hoping that she was wrong about what she would find. But once she laid eyes upon the man Goran was pointing out she knew that she couldn't deny it.
As it was him!
Valerie couldn't believe it, nor did she want to. But currently standing in a corner of the tap café was the armoured giant from the relay site. Where she had her Vod had ended up getting into a completely unnecessary firefight with him.
"You know him?" The unhelpful voice of the Goran asked.
Immediately realizing that she was staring at the stranger, Valerie immediately turned to face Goran giving him a stern look.
"In a way…" Valerie said, trying her best not to draw any unwanted attention to herself.
"Ah… I see, so your brother I assume." The older Mando said, as once again he was right on the mark.
For a moment Valerie thought about denying it, but she knew that there was no point in doing so.
"Yes," Valerie stated simply, as she didn't even try to hide it.
"Shab, guess that explains some things," Goran then muttered under his breath.
Valerie then debated as to whether she should ask what he meant, but Valerie thought better of it. As it was best if everyone didn't ask any questions. So, trying to act casually, Valerie tried to take a sip of her Caf as if nothing was amidst.
Still, curiosity got the better of her. At which point Valerie asked Goran one of the foremost questions on her mind.
"So, what has he been doing in town?" Valerie then inquired.
As she was interested in knowing what the giant had been doing in the town for the last week. And more importantly, as to whether he had been trying to find the two of them. Because she could imagine that he would want a piece of them, especially considering that Nars had fired a disrupter at him.
If you did that to any Mandalorian it pretty much marked, you as shot on sight sort of thing. As the Clans did have certain unwritten rules and conduct that they followed. And taking a potshot at them with a disrupter was oftentimes seen as a personal attack on the Clan as a whole.
"Well... for the most part, he's been mostly trading with other Mando'a in town. But that's not the only thing he's doing, as for the most part he's been simply asking about things." Goran explained as he then went over to serve another of the patients before coming back to Valerie.
"So, what has he been asking about?" Valerie asked Goran.
As she was truly curious as to what the green-armoured man was asking about. Needless to say, Valerie was a little surprised when Goran snorted in response to her question. It was the closest thing that passed for laughter from old Mando as he then replied.
"Well, that's the thing. He's been asking about well, everything." The amusement was plain to hear in his voice.
"What do you mean by 'Everything'?" Valerie asked.
As it wasn't very often that Valerie heard Goran in this way.
"Well, that's the thing. As the aruetii been tionir every Mando'ade he can pin down." Goran said simply.
This raised a lot of questions in Valerie's mind, as no one used tionir without implying its secondary meaning. Still, before she could inquire further, a hint of movement caught Valerie's eye.
As her attention was then drawn to one of the corners of the tap café, in which two Mandalorians were seemingly eyeing the armoured giant.
"Trouble," Goran then muttered under his breath.
As he knew it the moment, he saw the two Mandos enter his establishment they would be an issue. Even so, Goran had let them be, as they had bought something from him, and Goran wasn't simply going to lose credits because of a feeling.
Especially considering what the New Mandalorians had done to the system's economy. Even so, he could feel his trigger figure itching as he watched the two men stand up and start making their way towards the stranger.
All the while he could see their hands reaching for what he presumed to be weapons.
But before Goran could call out to them, it was already too late. As the sound of a blaster blot discharge made everyone in the Tap Café dive for cover, while they started reaching for their weapons.
Cursing under his breath, Goran knew that he had to stop this fight before it turned into a full-on shot out inside his establishment.
But just as Goran had finally brought up his blaster and was about to send a couple of stun bolts the way of the troublemakers. He was then surprised to find that the confrontation was already over. And the two Mando'a that had started it were now sprawled out on the floor in front of the green giant.
Taken aback by how fast this had all transpired: Goran struggled to find his voice as the giant started to leave with both men in hand.
"Hay, big guy," The Stranger turned to face the voice, "Leave one of the Barves for me to deal with. You can take whichever one you want." The Goran said as he hoped that strange man would listen to him.
Because Goran wasn't entirely sure that this would be the case; mostly because he wasn't sure as to how this aruetiise would react to his demand. But Goran didn't care, as all he cared about at that moment was ensuring that he could personally enforce his policy of no open blasters usage in his Tapcaf.
As such things could easily get a fellow Mando'a banned from his place.
Then without so much as a word, the green giant walked over to the counter. All the while every patient in the Tap Caf was eyeing him, but he didn't seem to care. As once he got to the counter, without so much as a word, he then dropped one of the men in front of the owner before making his way to the doorway with the other one in hand.
But as he left out the doorway, he hadn't noticed the man that was now trailing him.
Chief was getting annoyed as to how many times he had been attacked with any sort of provocation.
But at this point he kind of come to expect it; irritating as this was Chief then throw one of the men that had attacked him onto the ground in front of him.
At which point he started his interrogation of his assailant.
"Why did you attack me?" John asked the question that had become rather familiar in this last week.
As this wasn't the first time that John had asked this question. Nor did he suspect that it would be the last at any rate, even so, each time it had happened he had always gotten an answer as to why they had done so.
"You disrespect, Barve." The man spat out, as Chief grabbed him and raised him.
"I won't ask again." The threat was clear in the Chief's voice.
"You, think, that just wearing beskar'gam, makes you a Mando'ade, *Gasp!* Then, your; Wrong!" This last part came out in a crock, as the man was finding it hard to breathe under Chief's grip.
Even so, he had given Chief want he wanted. As it had been the same answer he had been given by the other. At which point Chief knew that he wasn't going to get anything useful from this man.
Then without as much as a word: Chief dropped the man from his grip, and he fell onto a heap onto the ground below.
But that didn't mean that the Mandalorian wasn't about to give up, as he then prepared himself to lash out at the Spartan. But he then looked up only to find himself looking down at the barrel of his already-drawn weapon.
At this point, he took the smart decision and ran off.
"That went well." Cortana then commented as the man ran out of sight.
It of course hadn't. As Chief was finding it rather difficult not to draw attention to himself, as it was really hard for him not to do so; especially considering the size of the local community he was currently based in.
And if this was the baseline that would follow him into one of the bigger settlements then he was in trouble.
"No, it didn't," Chief stated this fact rather bluntly.
That wasn't the only thing that he meant as well. As he knew that their current strategy wasn't working. As they were drawing too much attention to themselves, as a result of which the local inhabitants were starting to ask too many questions. This was something Chief knew that he couldn't keep doing; as sooner or later he would attract the wrong kind of attention.
A preview of what John had been expecting over the last week since they had gotten here, and considering how many times he had been attacked, both physically and verbally. The first he could deal with easily and he ignored the latter.
Even so he knew that if he didn't change his current approach, then they could find themselves surrounded by angry locals sporting a fight. Something that would end badly for all parties involved.
"At least we managed to close the deal before we got interrupted." Cortana pointed this out to him.
The deal she was referring to was something that she and John had been working on for a while. As they had found early on that they didn't have enough equipment on hand to complete the beacon that Cortana had originally planned.
As such, they had turned to the locals to supply them with the parts they needed. And after a good amount of barging, trading, and our right theft the Spartan and his AI companion now had everything they needed to set up their beacon so that the UNSC could find them in this galaxy.
Though the problem for them now was to secure some land to build it. As Chief wasn't sure what the laws were surrounding property on this moon, nor had Cortana managed to gather that information while she had been briefly connected to the Holonet.
As such their only way of learning how they could secure land rights would require a great deal more talking with the locals. Something, though necessary Chief had come to loathe in the past week.
Thankfully, it seemed that the universe wasn't going to allow him to dwell on those feelings as a voice then called out to him.
"You're making quite the impression." The voice of an older man came from behind Chief.
Still, this didn't come as a surprise to the Chief, as his monition sensor had detected him. Even so Chief wasn't sure what he wanted from him.
But given the fact that he was talking to him instead of what he assumed was cursing him out in the native language was a good sign. As Chief then turned to find another man wearing the same armour as most others, he had encountered on this planet so far.
Though this man was slightly different from the others; instead of the usual greens, blues, and gray armour colours of the other people that the Chief had come across. This man's armour was instead coloured black with yellow and silver details that probably were culturally significant in some way.
Not that Chief or Cortana would know mind you.
"..." Chief didn't say anything as he slipped into a combat stance.
"If I was going to do that, I wouldn't have waited until you finished your business." The older man said as if he had read Chief's mind.
Not that it was a challenge to do so, as he could easily guess what he was expecting from the Chief's posture. As this Mandalorian had been on enough battlefields to know when someone was ready to attack.
Even so, the stranger could tell that Chief wouldn't do so without a good reason. So, he planned on keeping this conversation short, as Chief finally responded to him.
"What do you want?" Chief then asked, getting straight to the point.
Because John wasn't here to play games, if this man wanted something from him it was best for him to simply tell him. At which point John would decide as to where his request was worth his time.
"Honestly, I just to speak with you." That man stated simply.
For a moment Chief tried to figure out if there was any hidden meaning behind those words. But he couldn't seem to pick up any; still, he ticked his outgoing Mic so that he could consult with Cortana in private.
"What do you think?" Chief asked his faithful companion.
"Well, it can't hurt. And besides, we need to change our approach." Cortana stated simply.
That much Chief could agree with, even so, he didn't like the fact that he was dealing with an unknown in doing so. But he didn't have any other choice. As he was alone out here, unable to make contact with any of his superiors.
So that left Chief with one option available to him. One that he had been trained to do since he had been taken into the Spartan II program was: Adapt and overcome.
Even if that meant working with someone from outside of UEG-controlled space.
As the Chief then flicked on his Mic and responded.
"On what?" The Chief inquired.
As he wanted a bit more information before he committed himself to anything this man might propose.
"Well for starters, I don't know of any Mando'a with that kind of armour." The older gentleman pointed out what was the Chiefs' biggest giveaway.
Despite trying to lie about it, Chief knew that any sort of lie that he and Cortana tried to come up with could easily be disproven.
"Also," The armoured figure continued, "There's the obvious fact you've been asking a lot of questions. Questions that make things rather obvious as to what you are aruetii." He then stated rather bluntly.
At this point, John knew that he had to deal with this situation. As he simply couldn't let this man go, at least if he wanted to know where he had got this information on his activities at the very least.
"..." Chief didn't respond to him right away as silently as he weighed his options.
But as Cortana and he had concluded earlier, they needed to change their strategy if they were going to survive until rescue. And that meant getting allies, even if they were unwitting ones.
"Why does this concern you?" John then inquired as he tried to fish for some information.
But it seemed that the man in front of him knew what he was doing. So, he responded in a way that wouldn't give the Spartan anything other than a choice.
"The answers to those questions can be explained; but only if you're willing to do the same." The man spoke simply frankly.
At which point Chief knew that he had to take a chance. Still, he wanted to get Cortana's opinion before he committed them to anything, but before he could mute the outgoing Mic to speak with her. A single message then flashed across his HUD.
Do it.
"Where do you want to meet?" Chief said with his usual bluntness.
"I have a place we can talk in private. Though it's a couple of hours away from here, I can arrange transport if you want." The Mandalorian then offered.
John took a moment to think it over and found that his answer was still the same. As he was confident that he could extract himself should this turn out to be a setup on this man's part.
"Understood, I can provide my way there. I need time and location?" John said stated simply, as it would make things easier if he handled those things himself.
"I'll send you the details; just give me your contact information. Also, what should I call you?" The Mando then inquired.
As old Mandalorian had heard many rumours about the SPARTAN. But he didn't want to use any of them, mostly out of respect for the man currently standing in front of him. Well, he was mostly sure it was a man and not a droid, mostly...
"Chief'" He kept it short, as the stranger didn't need to know more than necessary.
"Well, Chief. As for me, simply call me the Historian." The old man replied as he offered out his hand.
Mando'a dictionary:
Su cuy'gar - Short for Su cuy'gar which translates into Hello and literally means *You're still alive.*
Troan - face
Ori'vod - big brother, older brother, special friend
Vod - brother, comrade, *mate*, sister
Chakaar - corpse robber, thief, petty criminal - general term of abuse
Aliit - family (Clan)
Shebs - backside, rear, buttocks (also rear of building etc)
Ba'buir - Grandfather, Grandmother depending on context
Shab - Short for shabiir, meaning screw up or screwed up
Tionir - can mean question, interrogate depending on context
Aruetiise - traitor, foreigner, outsider
Beskar'gam - armor
Mando'ade - Mandalorians (Pl) - sons and/ or daughters of Mandalore
Mando'a - The primary language spoken by the Mandalorian people
Aruetii - traitor, foreigner, outsider
And that is all she wrote, anyway I hoped that you enjoyed the chapter.
Sorry if the passing seems a bit fast but I could not really figure out a good way of doing this next part.
Also, the newest Halo infinite trailer drop, I'm rather happy with how it seems to be shaping so far, I hope that they can deliver on the game!
Anyway, that is it for me and until next time have a good one