Mandalorian Favour

Posted on Sat Sep 8th, 2018 @ 2:59pm by Bomoor Thort & Amare & Klav Thurn

1,980 words; about a 10 minute read

Chapter: Chapter V: Unbound
Location: Red Raptor, Strategy Room
Timeline: 0800 Hours, Day Two
Tags: Red Raptor, Coda, Bomoor, Ysalamiri, Klav, Thurn, Mandalorians, Jericho, subspace, strategy room

OLD

A thought occurred to the Ithorian, “The ysalamiri… They could be just what we need to avoid detection. Of course, we wouldn’t be able to show our faces either but it might be just enough to hide during an inspection.”

He turned back to Thane, with a glint of hope in his eyes, “What do you think? Do you think one of Sev’s Exiles might be able to acquire a couple more for us?”

Thane thought for a moment before speaking again. Even the briefest consideration of those creatures unsettled him, reminding of him of that dreadful sense of vulnerability and defeat that so deeply struck at his core. He had thought hard on whether the death of Loren had been as a result of an actual decision by his rational mind, or one born of his tortured spirit.

"It is worthwhile asking," he replied, having crossed his arms in thought. "Whilst I have no desire to experience nullification of the Force again, it might work to help us get past the checkpoint, so long as they do not board and find themselves afflicted, and by the time we are planetside, the natural dark side presence of Korriban itself will conceal our presence."

NEW

The Red Raptor hung silently in the black of space, drifting in a far orbit from a small orange star in a largely empty system. This region of space was not completely untouched by spacefaring hands however, as orbiting with the Raptor was an old-fashioned subspace array; slower than hyperwave transceivers, but with the advantage of being separate from the HoloNet and therefore more secure. While the Raptor had a smaller array fitted, this orbital one had the required range to contact Jericho over this distance.

The ship itself was down a crew member; Thane had elected to disembark a short while ago to work on his part of the Korriban infiltration, while Bomoor was tasked with reaching out to the Mandalorian Exiles, with Coda’s technical assistance. The Ithorian stood watching the Nautolan work on the comm panel with his arms crossed, wondering if he should be allowing modification of the incredibly new hardware Thane had purchased.

"Uplink in five seconds," Coda announced to Bomoor while she had one hand on the comm terminal, and the other pressing a small wired earpiece to the side of her head. Her legs were crossed casually, and she was feeling more at ease in the Raptor's cockpit. She wondered if in another life she could have been a comms officer in the Republic Navy reporting to a suave starship captain with a campy, yet charismatic flair for the dramatic.

It had taken more than a few minutes for the electronic handshake to be returned, and even longer for the beeps of confirmation to reverberate out of the communication console's unseen speakers to indicate the establishment of the two-way transmission.

As it was programmed to do, the holoprojector sought to astrologically plot the destination of the transmission within its galactic map. Usually, it would slide across the billions of stars in their home galaxy and dramatically zoom in upon the star system in question. However, courtesy of the various mechanics being used to conceal both parties' locations, this effort was a failure. Instead, Bomoor and his Nautolan companion were treated to a cascade of aggressive crimson aurebesh lettering, before the holographic display finally shifted to reveal a shimmering blue humanoid figure, clad entirely in armour that was instantly recognisable to the Ithorian.

Despite the addition of couple of as-yet-unrepaired dents and scrapes, probably earned courtesy of the Battle of Jericho itself, Klav Thurn's armour was in the same fine condition it had been when the Jedi and Mandalorian exiles last saw one another.

"Jedi Knight Thort," Thurn greeted the Ithorian with a nod imbued with practised military precision, a gesture saved only for a sentient that had earned the Mando's hard-won respect. "You have found yourself a new companion," he observed simply, now inclining his head towards Coda.

Coda chose to return only a slight silent nod to Thurn whilst keeping her expression as blank and poker-faced as possible. She previously had to deal with the confusing Lorrdian culture of body language, and how even an otherwise harmless or well-meaning gesture or look could send the wrong signal and cause offense.

“Al'verde Thurn, thank you for accepting our call,” Bomoor acknowledged the man with his best reproduction of the Mandalorian title and his own respectful nod, “You needn’t call me a ‘Knight’ anymore; I have resigned from the Order since we last spoke.”

Bomoor wondered if it mattered to most people whether he was in the Order or not, so long as he was not a Dark Jedi. Carrying on, he gestured towards Coda, “Regardless, this is Zaracoda Wolph, who has been travelling with us as a student and occasional technical assistant. I do not want to take up any more of your time than is necessary but I must ask: how have things been on Jericho since Sev returned?”

"Different," Thurn replied simply, his poise and armoured face revealing little of the man beneath's true feelings on the matter. "Sev is not his cousin. Jericho is not the same rusur - land... people - you left behind. Speak plainly, whether you are jetii or not; what is it you desire?"

“Of course,” Bomoor nodded, “Well then, our continuing hunt for the Kaiburr crystals has turned our attention to Korriban, which we hope will be our next destination. However, whether we are ‘Jetii’ or ‘dar’Jetii’, our Force sensitivity makes it a difficult task to evade the Reborn Order’s strict monitoring of traffic to and from the surface.”

Bomoor tapped a key to send the details of the Jedi orbital station to Thurn, should he be interested and not already aware of the station. He watched the man briefly glance down at the readout before the Ithorian carried on, “Thane is working on getting us to the station without questions but what we required from you is the means to acquire a small supply of the ysalamiri you had throughout Jericho to make it easier for us to hide our Force presence. Would it be too much to hope that some survived our last visit?”

"That is a tall ask, considering you did indeed kill so many of them and my kin during your time aboard," the projection of Thurn said, although no anger tinged his words.

Bomoor had, after all, been captured and tortured during his time on Jericho, and Thurn himself had switched allegiances during the final battle itself, when Zrad's madness was ultimately exposed. Whilst changes on the Mandalorian Exile station were to be expected, there were no doubt numerous warriors on board who were not so happy with the shift in leadership and would not take kindly to the notion of assisting the very people who had contributed to that upheaval.

"Alor'aan Sev has indicated we are to support you in your hunt for the devil Axion and his cult," the Exile went on, "but even such favours cannot be for free. He is leader to a war party now, and Jericho demands tribute for its part in any moves, even against one such as Axion. What would you offer us?"

Bomoor clenched his tough gums together; he was concerned that their favour with Sev would only get them so far and here it was: a price was still to be paid and, at the present time, he did not know what the three Force-users could offer a band of Mandalorians.

“In terms of material goods to offer, I fear we have little,” Bomoor replied, knowingly excluding their valuable holocrons and Thane’s funds, which he would never consider offering up, “But I can offer you my services as an experienced Force-user should you need me in any capacity in the future. I would be honoured to work beside you once again in crafting a better future for your people.”

He wondered as to the truth in his words when coming face to face with the men who had tortured him once again. Whether he would truly put that aside to save their lives in combat was untested. Still, he happily pledged that support to Sev and Thurn, who he felt he could trust with his life, despite their vastly different background from his own.

Although his face remained obscured by his blue helmet and dark visor, Thurn's head appeared to twitch, almost imperceptibly, and his body seemed to tense. "Be mindful of what you pledge, Bomoor Thort," he said in a tone carrying a depth of heavy warning. "Mando do not take such vows lightly, and a jetii of your warrior's standing would be deeply coveted. Jericho will hold you to your promise, Ithorian, and I fear your rich offer leaves us in greater debt to you than you imagine. Await our signal. You will have your lizards."

The Mandalorian second did not wait for Bomoor's reply, instead offering only a curt nod to an unknown individual beyond his and Coda's view, and his blurred blue image cut away in an instant.

"Well, on the bright side," Coda said with a smirk, "at least indentured servitude is better than slavery. I hope these ysalamiri are worth it."

Bomoor kept looking forwards into the middle-distance, “They will be. They were our downfall the last time we entered Jericho.”

The former Jedi thought about his dedication to becoming stronger before Darth Krayt’s gatekeeper, “I allowed that Mandalorian slime to reduce me to nothing in that place but it seems somewhat fitting we should use those very same creatures to our own advantage now, just as we have taken his people as our allies. It seems there is merit to the Mandalorian way; to conquer, rather than to destroy. One gains power by accumulating the strengths of our enemies.”

He turned off the projection before him, which had failed to return to the swirling galactic map after the call was terminated, but rather had shown an unpleasant looking error message, which Bomoor did not care to examine. Coda’s relayed subspace signal seemed to have overridden the normal protocols. He turned back to the young woman, “Still, we have what we wanted. Thank you for arranging the call; perhaps you could ensure everything is back as it was while I speak with G2 about getting the next destination programmed in.”

"Aye, captain," Coda said to Bomoor in a mock professional tone turning back to the console. Inwardly, she was 'fangirling' over her favorite holo-drama series, 'Galaxy Hearts'. The ebony-skinned human princess-turned communications officer of the fictional battlecruiser, Galatine, was one of Coda's childhood heroines, especially knowing the actress was also from Glee Anselm.

Bomoor examined the Nautolan as she began fiddling with the console, seemingly back within her own thoughts as she expertly worked. Since her strange experience in the Bacta tank after Yavin IV, he had observed a deliberate softening in her demeanour. Whether it was a facade, particularly in front of the more-kindly Ithorian, or a genuine result of her pulling back from the darkness she had indulged during her journeys on Lorrd, it was encouraging to see.

Now they planned to travel to what was arguably the most-powerful Dark side world in the galaxy with her. Yet, this time, she would not be alone and that darkness would not overtake them all together. Taking a page from the Mandalorians, they would conquer that darkness; once the preparations were complete, Korriban would surrender its strength to them.

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