Old Republic RPG (Page 11 of 12)

No, I don't want you too quit. The only thing I want you to quit is GMing my game.

Shion pressed a finger to the girl's forehead and threatened to push her over with it, causing her to stagger back a bit. "I'm sure you will," she said knowingly, and decided to just let her ponder what she meant by it. She tilted her head in the direction of the armory, a gesture for her to follow.

"We can find you a decent vibroblade no problem," Shion said, strolling up and down the lines of weapons until she came upon a rack of every melee weapon known to man and some that weren't. "The armor might be different. See, Mandalorian children wear their armor from the time they're ten years old. But it's usually the same stuff we wear, beskar. The lighter stuff you don't see so much..."

She began to rifle through racks of armor, confidently turning her back to the child. It was not that she underestimated her, but that it would be stupid to try to kill a Mandalorian in their own base.

"That depends entierly on the Mando'ad in question," she said. "Our armor is easy to customize and can be modified for most conditions. Aha! Here!"

She pulled out what appeared to be a quite durable combat suit. She tossed it to Xondra. "Recovered from Iridonia- Zabrak made, for a smaller warrior."

She began handling the vibroblades, trying to find one suitable for the girl. "Think it'll fit you?"

The question caught her unprepared. She didn't reply at first... just stared at the girl. Nobody in Mandalorian society (if such a thing existed) ever asked about such things. Like she had always been one of their warriors. Had she made a mistake telling the Jedi this? Nevertheless...

"It's difficult to explain," she said ponderously, choosing her words carefully. "So I will let the story speak for itself." She pulled up a crate with various blade hilts and rifle scopes in it and sat down, gesturing for Xondra to do the same if she wished.

"It began when my family moved to Dantooine from Coruscant," she began. "We were dirt poor there, and a farming world was our chance to escape. We were pioneers. But then the exhange, slavers, pirates, thugs... they tried to get a foothold there, and we had to fight them off. The Republic sent the Jedi to build an enclave, and we thought we were saved. But they just meditated all day... they never came out. Finally the attacks got more brutal, until dishonored Mandalorians, no better than thugs came to wring money and blood out of us. Their kin came to end their shame, but all I saw was the same armor. That armor shot my parents and burned my home. I was fourteen. I killed them."

"Then they took me prisoner. I thought I was to be sold, or killed, or worse. But instead I was taken into the home of a man, and he bandaged my wounds and fed me. He promised that he would take care of me. And when the exchange came to retaliate, he slew them without mercy. That man was my father... my real father."

Shion wiped her eyes with the heel of her palm, staring at the ground. "He took care of me. When I had nothing left, he gave me a new life. He did what the Jedi and the Republic would not: defended me when I was weak. I loved the life he and his people lived, and so I embraced it. Within the year he adopted me. I never looked back.

Her dark eyes came back to the moment slowly, and she wiped the dampness from them again. "I left, Xondra," she said quietly, meeting her gaze, "because as a Mandalorian I am what I choose to make myself. Because the Mandalorians showed me the care I never knew in the Republic. And because there is one thing we revere as much war, and that is family. And if you live with us long enough you'll come to see that."

Her armor gave a small creaking complaint as she sat upright again, then stood, the warrior again. She watched Xonrda cycle through her different forms and stances, none of which Shion was familiar with. But that made her look even closer so that she could learn.

"Tomorrow morning we leave to scout," she said, a grin spreading slowly over her face. "When that's done, we rest a bit, and then we bring Onderon to its knees. You should sleep now. I'll find you in the morning."

Shion showed her to the barracks that had been adapted for the use of the prisoners. They had all been disarmed, of course, and to escape into the jungle, or to try to attack the Mandalorians in their own camp, with nothing but their bare hands would be suicide. Only one solitary guard stood at the entry, and he didn't even question Shion. Figuring that Xondra could handle herself from here on, she took her leave.

She knew that Territ would be in his tank, so she made a point to up security on the hangar before she went to bed. Tomorrow, that droid died...

After that she no longer had an excuse to stay awake. Making for her own room, she passed into a dark, dreamless sleep.

~~~(Morning)~~~

Shion went through the usual routine of her morning- she got up, washed breifly annd dressed, then suited up in the armor that was more like her skin. But this morning she deviated from her course.

The sun was just beginning to raise its long, gold fingers up toward the horizon, leaving fine silver streak over the trees. By the little light there was, Shion dashed through the mess hall and snatched up a cup of stim tea for Territ. He didn't like to rely on them, she knew, but Mandalore needed them up and out, and he would need the help with his injury. He'd drink it if he knew what was good for him.

Plus I'll beat him into submission if he doesn't, she resolved. Musing about how best to fight Territ in his own tank, she grabbed a cup of tea for herself and entered the hangar.

She paused only a minute to admire her basilisk again and gulp down the last of her drink. Then she crept in perfect silence up to the hatch of the tank. It was shut tight, just as it had been.

"Right where I left you," a smile crossed her face, quickly becoming a smirk as she realized what she had to do: knock.

"Territ," she called, rapping lightly on the hatch, "wake up, let me in."

Funny, she thought. Even after the long talk with Xondra, her Mando'a still came more naturally than Basic. Maybe there was some hope after all.

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger," she said, shoving Territ aside with enough force to make room for herself on the bed, but not enough to hurt him further. "That... and it's better than caffa."

There was a long pause. "How are you feeling?" she asked finally.

((Ack! Vil, I thought you died or something!))

She smiled, a real smile, not the cynical one she often wore. "Then maybe you should be Mandalore," she said simply. "Today is a good day- I won't let that droid ruin it."

A little worry showed through as she took his wrist and pulled it gently aside to have another look at the wound. It seems a little better, she thought...

"The Jedi aren't happy about it either..." Shion trailed off, staring pensively at the floor of the tank as she remembered her conversation with Xondra the night before. Come to think of it, she realized, nobody had ever asked how she came to be Mando. Too late she realized her Mando'a had slipped, but hoped Territ would either miss it or not care.

"Maybe a dunk in a kolto tank would do you good," she reflected, shaking her head. "I know you'll recover, you always do, but the wait in between makes me uneasy."

Shion climbed out of the tank and began to head to the barracks to wake Xondra. She paused, though, and turned back to Territ.

"I swear, if you don't finish patching yourself up this time I'll leave you behind!" she shouted. Her expression was one of pure frustration. But it was true- if he wasn't fit, or at least doing a better job of acting like it, she'd have to go without him. Back-to-back with a Jetti... she didn't like that idea.

((Yes, I did!! Stick around for awhile, will you?))

((Yeah, true. Rev, jump back in here- this thing's gonna die if Vil keeps disappearing.))

name:Spartan
race: human
alliance: solo
occupation: Bounty Hunter
Armor: padded Battle Armor similar to Boba Fett's only a little different...
color is Black and Red, with a red cape/ cloak
Weapons: Vibro Spear and Shield with a Blaster rifle on my back...and a vibro Falcata