Debtor's Jubilee (Darth Carnifex)

[Yasha Cadera]

Takes Place After the Events of Seven Years In The Manda.

[member="Darth Carnifex"]. ​

God-King Kaine Zambrano. ​

Yasha sat in the Captain’s Quarters of the A’den Tra’Kranak-Class Fleet Control Station hovering on the edge of Mandalorian space. One foot pressed on the viewport window, the other rested on the cold metal floor. A mug of tihaar rested half-consumed in her hand as Atrisian concert music flowed through the audio outputs into the space.

Encased in the honeycombed Mandalorian Steel space station, Katlaydr stared out to the black expanse and drank it in. World upon world, each with their own traditions, and their special abilities and their resources in excess. She arrived on board the Shereshoy, a Kad’ika Class Light Cruiser, after overseeing the fortification of Mandalorian Space between Manda’yaim and Concord Dawn. Space beat Sinner’s Rue by parsecs. She’d rather look at the stars, or the flowing highway of Hyperspace than the Blood Plains, or the desert, or the thorns.

The Epicanthix sent a call through private diplomatic channels to speak with Zambrano, in a place of Yasha’s choosing. She gave no indication of the manner of conversation, or the reason for it to take place on a space station with a skeleton crew.

Her message was as cryptic as the girl, both Force Dead and genetically immune to mentalism as she was. Someone left a pack of stims in the Captain’s desk. Yasha toyed with a deathstick, rolling it between her fingers the way she saw her father do, when he thought she wasn’t looking.

Oh, Yasha knew stims. She knew what her father’s eyes looked like, when he was strung out and vacant. He was as sick as Manda’yaim and as broken as the Sundari dome after Mia Monroe. So the valiant daughter picked up her feet and got to work. Someone had to fortify the borders, and check on the navy. Someone had to work to keep Mandalore functioning after the disappearance of Ra Vizsla.

Holding the stim in her crush gaunt-clad hand, Yasha crushed it and watched the contents inside leak over the desk.

“Can’t stand these things.” A sweep of her hand eradicated any further temptation to try the drugs, tossing them in the bin beside the desk.

Zambrano would come, and Yasha waited in the Captain’s room, where the office and meeting space nestled in the front, bedroom and refresher in the back. He hadn’t seen her since she returned, the last he saw was a thirteen year old girl standing beside Ra Vizsla, speaking to him in their shared native tongue.

“Katlaydr… you asked to be informed when the ship docked.” Kalo Farr saluted and waited for the orders of a girl who used to be her age, days before.

“Bring me the Dark Lord.”

“Aren’t you going to meet hi-“

“Now, Kalo!” Yasha barked, dunking more of the tihaar down her throat. Sliding her foot down from the window, she smirked as it left a foggy boot print on the transparisteel and sat on the top of what would have been the Captain’s wroshyr-wood desk.

“Foduil ah pomi' duembr, duomq i'ay hal vapemb. Da i'ay qmav vua I op? Teuol?”* A young woman of 20 sat on the top of a desk as Darth Carnifex was ushered in, her raven hair braided in a svelte crown atop her head. Olive skin smoothed over full, naturally plump lips, which pursed as she spoke in the lilting tones of the Panathan’s mother tongue.

Only the eyes were those of the girl Kaine met with Ra Vizsla and Aryn Spar. Warm, drowning eyes, which had seen and survived more terrors than most Sith, Jedi, Fallanassi or normal folk put together.

*”Father of many things, thank you for coming. Do you know who I am? Drink?”​

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"We're nearing the station, your excellency. Transmitting clearance codes now."

The pilot's voice was level, professional. He had served as the Crestfallen's pilot for a good long while now, and he had flown this baby through the worst combat zones you could imagine and still come out on top. Strange as it sounded he had become accustomed to the Emperor's presence behind him, he knew that in his Lord's presence there was no room for absent-mindedness -- he was always alert and fixated on his duty no matter the circumstances.

Now the station loomed ahead of them, and after receiving confirmation of the clearance codes they maneuvered in to dock with the station. As the Dark Lord exited his craft, alone, he was intercepted by a small retinue of Mandalorians who had been given the charge of escorting his Imperial Majesty to Yasha Mantis. The monolithic Epicanthix said nothing as he allowed them to take the lead, taking this time to familiarize himself with the station's layout through the Force. He didn't expect it to come into play, but it was an old habit he had yet to break; and for good reason.

You never knew when you'd need to make a quick getaway.

Finally, he was ushered into the chamber that held the Hell-Child of Mandalore, and he was totally surprised to see, not a budding girl coming into her own, but a young woman of substantial beauty who spoke to him in perfect Epicant. If there was one thing that gave away her identity, it was her eyes.

Kaine never forgot those eyes.

He bowed his head in respect, "Hav vaysk I halbid i'ay, Yasha Mantis? Im i'ayl ii'ir I rii dui ropi vesk omk heili' vuesk I rov am Idual, duaybu i'ay uozi blavm tyedi o xed remvi duari koi'r. Amk o klemq vaysk xi sazisi', duomq i'ay.*"

[member="Yasha Mantis"]​

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*How could I forget you, Yasha Mantis? In your eyes I see the same wild and fiery child I saw on Ithor, though you have grown quite a bit since those days. And a drink would be lovely, thank you.​

 

[Yasha Cadera]

Hand on the wall, Yasha closed her eyes and felt for the vibrations of the station. A’den was quaking, abuzz with the knocks and whorls of activity and generator motion to power it’s systems. If she concentrated, she could feel it. Could she concentrate hard enough to feel the footsteps coming from the docking bays? If she concentrated harder, would she know what to do?

Once the gargantuan God-King and Emperor stepped into the room, Yasha called off the Mandalorians. No, she would do this alone. She bowed her head in tandem with the Dark Lord, and curled her fingers more tightly around her glass.

He hadn’t been expecting a woman. She watched his dark red pupils in black eyes, a momentary pulse at the sight of what should have been a little girl.

"I rnimd rizim i'iolr em dui Niduilvalsk em livapnimri hal Doduapel, Gak-Kemb. Sizim i'iolr vodvuemb pi' paduil’r buard hoki o seddsi holduil iovu koi', or rui vsovik od izili' rivamk vi uok xivoyri rui keik vuim I vor iebud omk duer vor dui sord I’k izil rii ah uil. Sizim i'iolr vodvuemb pi' xird hleimk [member="Kaden Mantis"]’r uiold xivapi uolk or xirqol, hiisemb dui byesd ah uep blavemb emda o pom klimvuik em nedvu omk xsaak, vuesi [member="Shia Kryze"] klavmik em dui Niduilvalsk’r hoxlev omk xivopi o nri'vuanapn. Ass xivoyri I uok da qmav. I uok da doqi dui Wolsavq Godi hal Momkosali. I uok da qmav.."*

Yasha poured [member="Darth Carnifex"] a healthy glass of Tihar and walked to him as she talked. For the most part being 6’2” meant she looked up to relatively few people. Kaine was another two feet taller than she was. A wall of Epicanthix muscle and Sith danger. She handed him his drink and looked fearless up into his eyes. Her mother had Kaine’s same eyes.

“I uok da qmav uav Ra vopi xovq da yr. Taaq i'iolr hal [member="Ember Rekali"] da emzedi pi emda uer haldlirr omk diovu pi vuod ui qmiv... I kam’d qmav uav ui kek ed, xyd dui Godi xlaybud pi xovq em depi da dui papimd I sihd, ra I vaysk hlii dui Wedvuir.”** Standing within reach of Darth Carnifex was one of the worst ideas Yasha could think up in her young mind. Yet, a slim voice in the back of her head reminded her the Epicanthix never hurt her before, and she survived worse, oh yes, even worse than Kaine Zambrano and a strong libation.

The Netherworld expunged her fear and left the young woman instead driven with an internal fire which would wash upon the Mandalorians, and potentially the Galaxy at large. Pity she was Force Dead. Yet in that she knew answers too.

“Wuili er pi' Momk’osal, Kaine? Dek i'ay doqi uep? Wui' kek i'ay xlemb uep xovq eh amsi' hal uep da keronniol? I miik da qmav vui'.”*** The young beauty sat on the couch between the desk and doorway, a rash of naïveté convincing her that he would sit in the chair, they would talk, she hadn’t provoked the dragon and his Sith Empire.

A war princess and a dragon talked over drinks in a room. Her cheeks flushed from the liquor, doleful eyes searching for clarity to the answers she learned in Rekali’s council.

* “I spent seven years in the Netherworld in recompense for Dathomir, God-King. Seven years watching my mother’s ghost fade a little farther each day, as she clawed at every second we had because she died when I was eight and this was the last I’d ever see of her. Seven years watching my best friend [member="Kaden Mantis"]’s heart become hard as beskar, feeling the guilt of him growing into a man drenched in pitch and blood, while [member="Shia Kryze"] drowned in the Netherworld’s fabric and became a psychopomp. All because I had to know. I had to take the Warlock Gate for Mandalore. I had to know...”​

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** "I had to know how Ra came back to us. Took years for [member="Ember Rekali"] to invite me into his fortress and teach me what he knew... I don’t know how he did it, but the Gate brought me back in time to the moment I left, so I could free the Witches."​

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*** Where is my Mand’alor, Kaine? Did you take him? Why did you bring him back if only for him to disappear? I need to know why."​

 

[Darth Carnifex]

He accepted the Tihar, his eyes never wavering from Yasha's own.

She was brave, braver than most to pursue this line of conversation with the Scourge of a Hundred Worlds. He allowed her to finish, his eyes never shifting focus as he drank in both the offered drink and the words in which she spoke in their native tongue. Kaine expected this to happen eventually, especially when the interests of the Hell-Child were fixated on the Warlock Gate on Dathomir; though he never expected her to actually delve into its depths in quite the manner that she had done.

Which revealed the reason for her matureness.

If she were any other Mandalorian, Kaine would have already dashed her head against the wall and made sure there was nothing left to be recognized of her corpse. But here... Here he spotted an opportunity to further his own aims, and perhaps even strength the ties that bound his Empire to hers. "Com i'ay lipipxil vuod dui Momkosaleomr vili seqi xihali Ra Vizsla? Yayl niansi rtyoxxsik vedu iovu aduil vuesi duiel pard uasi' valsk xylmik em dui helir ah dliovuili'. Ra Vizsla nyd om imk da duod rvuerp, ui vord kavm dui yrylnilr omk halbik om Epneli hal uer niansi.*"

He downed the rest of the drink Yasha had given him, and set the glass neatly on the narest table or countertop.

"I rvaylik Cuoar hal o uymklik i'iolr riolvuemb hal Ra Vizsla, omk vuim I haymk uep ui vor ruovqsik omk dalpimdik. Hi nsiokik hal lisiori, xyd I qmiv xiddil duom pard duod ui vaysk mad hemk lirnedi em duer nsovi. Sa I daaq uer rays, omk I livazilik uer xaki' hlap Castameer, omk liymedik duip. I lipazik dui pipali' ah uer kiodu omk pi' emzaszipimd hlap uer pemk, ra duod ui vaysk ba haldu omk hemeru vuod ui uok rdoldik xihali dui Omega War.**"

It was a damning confession, but the Dark Lord seemed certain in his actions. "I ka mad qmav vui' ui uor bami, seddsi Yasha, xyd I vom orryli i'ay I kek mad uozi o nold em ed.***"

*Can you remember what the Mandalorians were like before Ra Vizsla? Your people squabbled with each other while their most holy world burned in the fires of treachery. Ra Vizsla put an end to that schism, he cast down the usurpers and forged an Empire for his people.​

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**I scoured Chaos for a hundred years searching for Ra Vizsla, and when I found him he was shackled and tormented. He pleaded for release, but I knew better than most that he would not find respite in this place. So I took his soul, and I recovered his body from Castameer, and reunited them. I removed the memory of his death and my involvement from his mind, so that he would go forth and finish what he had started before the Omega War.​

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***I do not know why he has gone, little Yasha, but I can assure you I did not have a part in it.​

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[member="Yasha Mantis"]​

 

[Yasha Cadera]

Black and red eyes shone grim on Yasha’s olive skin. She met the challenge in his eyes, the blank hate and devastating power of [member="Darth Carnifex"] with a backbone of beskar and the calm security of knowing absolutely that in this, as with all other challenges, Yasha would overcome.

“Mi' paduil qind pi am Atrisia, ymdes Dokki' vossik uil uapi… I vor iebud, Kaine, vuim dui Lexilodal sid saari dui vodovsi'rp. I kekm’d qmav vuod uonnimik ymdes Ra lidylmik omk I rod am Johanes Quez’ ruayskilr da hemk pi' sard Dok.”* Her will was as indomitable as the metal the Mando’ade revered. Hard as phrik, as unwavering as the block of blank stone, which constructed the Warlock Gate. “I uok da gypn da somk pi' dapouovq em dui mivq ah o Lexilodal’r pom, duod helrd xoddsi… lyru omk dulav pi' viebud ra ui’k hoss azil… I rdess lipipxil uer hovi, pi' dapouovq uovqemb kavm or eh ui osami qessik pi' paduil omk xoxi' xladuil… vuim Strider Garon saaqr od i'ay vedu ualleheik ovi, i'ay qmav rapivuili rapiduemb vimd vlamb.”**

The child was the consequence to actions the Dark Lord, the Mandalorians and the Netherworld itself plied over centuries, decades and days. Her Force Death was but a layer of her independence, another piece of the struggle, which defined her… yet… now Yasha wondered what she was missing by being shunted from the lifeblood of the universe. Separated from Life itself. As Rekali called it, she could ‘take anti-depressants, find an Ithorian Priest and be healed’… was that her new purpose? Would she one day discover that cognizance of the Force which seemed to spin round her, the last vestiges of a sun seeping into the singularity inside her soul?

“Sa I op da duomq i'ay hal nlazekemb pi' rivamk hoduil… Ra vaysk vallivd pi hal vossemb uep duod, xyd da o bels vuari hoduil vor rdlymb ayd am rdepr omk kiosemb vedu uer avm obami', o blyhh ask Gylsomem keruemb ayd kervensemi omk nylnari vor dui xird I uok… Ra liymedik yr, xyd vedu uep bami? Wuod baak kek i'ay ijhnivd hlap xlembemb xovq o pom vua uodik dui Falvi or o keriori? Csiolsi' ed vamhsevdr vedu i'ayl Epneli. Wuod kek i'ay boem xi' lizezemb Ra?”***

Deliberate movements trained by her Atrisian Governess, and her Panathan Citizen mother had Yasha act with the protocol and substance of a woman of quality. She refilled the Dark Lord’s glass, finishing hers and pouring more into her own cup to match. It was only polite to follow the pace of the person one drank with. Yasha’s amber eyes refused to back down from Kaine’s.

No way but forward. No retreat. Never surrender.

“Tuer er pi' xylkim, Gak-Kemb. Wuim Ro sihd, Momko poki ed pemi. Ih mad hal Ro, I vaysk uozi xiim om Adlereom Loki' komvemb am o rdobi. Tui Momka’oki oli pi' niansi mav, or pyvu or hal o papimd… I vomd da lym xovq da Adlereo al Pomoduo, xi dui Cedecim vedu vammivdeamr. I vommad oxeki dui kisebud ah duod sehi, vedu pi' niansi siokilsirr… kek i'ayl kolq dlomrhilimvi vliodi o papimd ah baak em duer bosojhi'? Dek dui Dolq Lalk ah dui Sedu dylm o deki ah vuoar da o vozi ah alkil? Com i'ay xi dui osdlyerd i'ay vsoep? Wui' op I izim rnioqemb ah duer da i'ay!? Ap I duod rdolzik hal osseir? Yay… ed uok da xi i'ay kekm’d ed? Yay, vua pi' paduil rov irvoni dui Niduilvalsk, omk mizil sard uani duod vi vaysk, daa. Yay, vua lidylmik Ro da dui sezemb, da lebud dui Lexilodal’r vlambr omk bezi Momkosali ayl kebmedi' omk pebud… uav er ed ami emrebmehevomd Enevomduejh bels vaysk ximihed dvevi hlap dui Dolq Lalk ah dui Sedu? Wuod vor i'ayl vess hal dui Momkosaleomr? Ta lisiori yr am dui Gosojhi' omk vsiomri dui Falvi hlap oss xyd i'ay? Ta uozi o rivyli ossi' osamb i'ayl xalkil xidviim i'ay omk dui bosovdev povuemi? Wuod zosyi ka vi uozi duod i'ay vaysk ka duer!?”****

The great failing of Yasha Mantis was not in courage, or talents of war. She was impetuous, mouldable by figures of authority and kindness. A girl searching for security and place. Katlaydr’s moral compass only pointed toward survival, yet she was growing quickly, losing the naiveté of childhood with every second. Kaine Zambrano had one chance to steer the girl. Her soul called in the dark for the missing piece, ripped apart in the Netherworld. Perhaps it was her caution residing there?

* "My mother kept me on Atrisia, until Daddy called her home… I was eight, Kaine, when the Liberator let loose the cataclysm. I didn’t know what happened until Ra returned and I sat on Johanes Quez’ shoulders to find my lost Dad."​

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** “I had to jump to land my tomahawk in the neck of a Liberator’s man, that first battle… rush and throw my weight so he’d fall over… I still remember his face, my tomahawk hacking down as if he alone killed my mother and baby brother… when Strider Garon looks at you with horrified awe, you know somewhere something went wrong.” ​

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***“So I am to thank you for providing my second father… Ra would correct me for calling him that, but to a girl whose father was strung out on stims and dealing with his own agony, a gruff old Gurlanin dishing out discipline and purpose was the best I had… Ra reunited us, but with him gone? What good did you expect from bringing back a man who hated the Force as a disease? Clearly it conflicts with your Empire. What did you gain by reviving Ra?”​

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****“This is my burden, God-King. When Ra left, Manda made it mine. If not for Ra, I would have been an Atrisian Lady dancing on a stage. The Mando’ade are my people now, as much as for a moment… I want to run to Panatha, be the Citizen with connections. I cannot abide the delight of that life, with my people leaderless… did your dark transference create a moment of good in this galaxy? Did the Dark Lord of the Sith turn a tide of chaos to a wave of order? Can you be the altruist you claim? Why am I speaking of this to you!? Am I that starved for allies? You… it had to be you didn’t it? You, who my mother saw escape the Netherworld, and never lost hope that we could, too. You, who returned Ra to the living, to right the Liberator’s wrongs and give Mandalore our dignity and might… how is it one insignificant Epicanthix girl could benefit twice from the Dark Lord of the Sith? What was your will for the Mandalorians? To release us on the Galaxy and cleanse the Force from all but you? To have a secure ally along your border between you and the galactic machine? What value do we have that you would do this!?”​

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Kaine's jaw moved every slightly, as if he were grinding his teeth in thought. Then he spoke, his voice an octave lower than what it had been previously; it sounded like stone breaking against an iron sledgehammer.

"Wuod kair om omepos ka eh edr sib er voybud em o dlon, Yasha? Id vuivr ed ahh da irvoni loduil duom lerq om emizedoxsi kiodu, xyd mav duod sib er xsiikemb nlahyrisi'. Am omepos vaysk rdess kei omi'voi'r hlap xsaak sarr, xyd vuod kair o pom ka? A pom voydilecir dui vaymk vedu heli. Momkosali vor o xsiikemb vaymk rnivemb ayd edr sehi irrimvi emda dui rdolr, omk mami ah i'ayl siokilr vili vonoxsi ah kaemb omi'duemb da ossizeodi ed. Yay vaysk uozi oss keik o rsav omk noemhys kiodu uok Ra Vizsla mad voydilecik dui vaymk, qessemb dui yrylnilr omk omi'ami vua nardik o duliod da uep omk uer libepi. Tui vsiomremb ah dui Falvi vor om ymhaliriim vamrityimvi, xyd ysdepodisi' dui Umki'emb dipnilik uer avm ijhdliperp da uer avm niansi; o veri kiveream.*"

He had been keeping tabs on recent events that had plagued the Mandalorian Empire since the disappearance of Ra, and it seemed that his successors were not as wise as the Undying had been regarding those gifted with the Force. "Doduapel kekm'd dylm ayd dui voi' i'ay nsommik, kek ed? Ir duod vuili i'ay lidylmik da dui Niduilvalsk ah dui Falvi da bsiop omrvilr da dui tyirdeamr duod xylmik veduem i'ayl uiold?**" He didn't know the full scale of where she went or who she talked to, but there were many talkative souls within the Nether that were willing to talk if the price was right.

The drink found its way back into the Dark Lord's hand, and let took another drink. "Nav duod i'ay qmav, vuod ka i'ay nsom da ka vedu duer emhalpodeam? Ipobemi vuod vaysk dlomrneli ruaysk i'ay sid ed xi qmavm duod Ro dui Umki'emb'r lidylm uok xiim pordilpemkik xi' dui Dolq Lalk ah dui Sedu. Ass vauiream vaysk xi sard.***"

*What does an animal do if its leg is caught in a trap, Yasha? It chews it off to escape rather than risk an inevitable death, but now that leg is bleeding profusely. An animal would still die anyways from blood loss, but what does a man do? A man cauterizes the wound with fire. Mandalore was a bleeding wound spewing out its life essence into the stars, and none of your leaders were capable of doing anything to alleviate it. You would have all died a slow and painful death had Ra Vizsla not cauterized the wound, killing the usurpers and anyone who posted a threat to him and his regime. The cleansing of the Force was an unforeseen consequence, but ultimately the Undying tempered his own extremism to his own people; a wise decision.​

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**Dathomir didn't turn out the way you planned, did it? Is that where you returned to the Netherworld of the Force to gleam answers to the questions that burned within your heart? ​

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***Now that you know, what do you plan to do with this information? Imagine what would transpire should you let it be known that Ra the Undying's return had been masterminded by the Dark Lord of the Sith. All cohesion would be lost.​

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[member="Yasha Mantis"]​

 

[Yasha Cadera]

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ3AJ65FnXs[/video]​

The grinding of [member="Darth Carnifex"]’ teeth were Yasha’s first indication that she was bantering with a coiled snake. Caution called to her like a faint dream. The lines of Kaine Zambrano’s restraints had limits, and like the hell child she was, Yasha’s instinct was to see how far that restraint pulled.

Mandalore was bleeding out on Manda’yaim’s floor, when Ra Vizsla came, the marauding saviour, and cauterized it. Flashes of the past linked Yasha’s kills in her mind. The Civil War… the great cauterization. Saving [member="Silas Mantis"]’ life… the last time her mother helped her in a battle. “Yay vsarik em am Ra, xlaybud yr o klobam da rid heli da ayl vaymkr… oli i'ay baemb da poqi pi xsiik? Com vi ossav iovu aduil ayl siximrloyp?”*

At mention of Dathomir, Yasha’s elegant face skewed. Her muscles clenched and she drowned her glass down her throat. The twenty year old gasped at the burn of tihar down her esophagus and pushed off the couch, walking to grip the desk with her hands. “Nam-siduos laymkr. Tui andeam da siozi vuasirosi, al rdoi' omk xi vylik… ed dylmik emda ami nold xsaakxodu, ami nold norrezi olbypimd vedu lomvalr em dui pekksi… Ember Rekali kekm’d seqi pi' nsomr hal Doduapel pyvu, ui vuolbik dulaybu dui Godi… oss I vomdik vor dui Godi… oss I vomdik… vor da hyshess dui dorqr Ra bozi da yr.”**

She tried to stare out of the viewport to the stars, but saw only her reflection in the transparisteel. A beautiful scowl on a lovely face, and behind her, the behemoth framed in his dark majesty.

The light stung her eyes, and she shut them. ​

“Dek i'ay bid duari papimdr em Chaos, vuili i'ay hovik o voss i'ay qmiv vaysk imk i'ay, eh i'ay kekm’d hemk dui savq omk qii'? I rdolik emda dui hovi ah Ember Rekali, omk liosecik izili' aymvi ah kihimvir I xlaybud da nladivd dui Godi vaysk xi seqi nonil em dui Wolsavq’r uomkr… xyd duod vor dui naemd, vorm’d ed, Koemi? I vomdik da layri… rapiduemb… ayd ah edr’ rsiin. I miikik da qmav vuod uonnimik da Ra. Id vor osvoi'r pi' nsom da rdalp dui Niduilvalsk omk kervazil ed, xyd Ember rozik pi hlap rnsoruemb oxayd… rizim i'iolr, Kaine… xovq da dui mebudpolir ah pi' vueskuaak. Id kairm’d xiod i'ayl uymklik, xyd… Rekali nyssik pi emda dui Niduilvalsk vedu uer valkr, vedu dui rimrodeam duod ui uok vuod I miikik da… vuod I miikik…”*** Yasha opened her eyes and stared at Kaine’s reflection in the glass.

“Ta xivapi Momk’osal.”**** Her heart fluctuated in her chest, bashing against ribs and armour with the force of a krayt dragon breaking free of a wooden cage. The little rekr turned and stared at Darth Carnifex with perilous eyes, swelling with the emotions her bloodline released at all quarters and every turn.

Yasha Mantis would have made one Hell of a Sith.

She faced the Dark Lord, her shoulders proud and chin tilted up to stare unabashed in his pale, elegant face. “Yay kios vedu pi, mav. Nad Ra. Mi' niansi siom am pi' ruayskilr, mav. Nad Ra. Her doqemb pi or uer Wolk vor o hodi xii'amk oss ayl ymkilrdomkemb, xyd Momko… omk I vess uask da pi' nsovi od dui rnioluiok ah pi' niansi omk ka vuod er em duiel xird emdilird. Asvoi'r. Weduayd lirdloemd. Amk ra I vess sid Ro’r pipali' hoki or ed rdomkr. I vess ma sambil xib dui tyirdeam xi omrvilik, hal I qmav ed’r omrvil… omk duod vor oss I miikik.”***** A courage built on defeating strife, conquering Sinner’s Rue and the Garden of Thorns, and the peace of the valley, and the burning sands of the great desert. Rekali’s call created a bulwark. Kaine’s revival of Ra set in motion the upswing of Mandalore’s new and redeeming fate.

“I vess vuossimbi hal Momk’osal, omk ed vess xi raam. Yay, vua uozi xiim ayl hleimk, vom vuaari da rdomk xireki pi veduayd rmoqemb em pi' voi', al vi vom nold. Ar aydlobiayr or ed raymkr, dui Sith Empire uor xiim o xaam da yr… I vess mad nymeru pi' niansi xi' kimi'emb dui oeki i'ay bezi… i'ay’zi mizil uyld pi. I lirnivd i'ayl nsovi imaybu da rnioq vedu i'ay uamirdsi' omk vsiol. I op mad Ra. I ka mad nlidimk da xi om ityos, vuesi xiemb xidviim i'ayl moes omk i'ayl duypx. I op i'ayl ityos. Wi vess noi' iovu aduil dui lirnivd vi kirilzi.”

Consequences to actions.

Had Kaine known his resurrection game would create a consequence so shapely and so indomitable? An Epicanthix beauty with equal will and resolve as a litany of Kings stood in her gold and black armour, once a replication of her hero, now worn without irony, as her own. The consequence of action held open her hand, in the small space between the Butcher King and the Hell Wolf.

* “You closed in on Ra, brought us a dragon to set fire to our wounds… are you going to make me bleed? Can we allow each other our lebensraum?”​

​

**“Non-lethal rounds. The option to leave wholesale, or stay and be cured… it turned into one part bloodbath, one part passive argument with rancors in the middle… [member="Ember Rekali"] didn’t like my plans for Dathomir much, he charged through the Gate… all I wanted was the Gate… all I wanted… was to fulfill the tasks Ra gave to us.”​

​

***“Did you get those moments in Chaos, where you faced a wall you knew would end you, if you didn’t find the lock and key? I stared into the face of Ember Rekali, and realized every ounce of defences I brought to protect the Gate would be like paper in the Warlock’s hands… but that was the point, wasn’t it, Kaine? I wanted to rouse… something… out of its’ sleep. I needed to know what happened to Ra. It was always my plan to storm the Netherworld and discover it, but Ember saved me from splashing about… seven years, Kaine… back to the nightmares of my childhood. It doesn’t beat your hundred, but… Rekali pulled me into the Netherworld with his words, with the sensation that he had what I needed to… what I needed…”​

​

****”To become Mand’alor.”​

​

*****“You deal with me, now. Not Ra. My people lean on my shoulders, now. Not Ra. His taking me as his Ward was a fate beyond all our understanding, but Manda… and I will hold to my place at the spearhead of my people and do what is in their best interest. Always. Without restraint. And so I will let Ra’s memory fade as it stands. I will no longer beg the question be answered, for I know it’s answer… and that was all I needed.”​

​

******“I will challenge for Mand’alor, and it will be soon. You, who have been our friend, can choose to stand beside me without snaking in my way, or we can part. As outrageous as it sounds, the Sith Empire has been a boon to us… I will not punish my people by denying the aide you give… you’ve never hurt me. I respect your place enough to speak with you honestly and clear. I am not Ra. I do not pretend to be an equal, while being between your nail and your thumb. I am your equal. We will pay each other the respect we deserve.”​

 

[Darth Carnifex]

His eyes narrowed, his mind hearkening back to his own experiences in the turbulent realm of Chaos. The first plunge into the Netherworld had been a traumatic experience for him, as he had actually died during the Akala Crisis and was forcefully dragged into the abyss. There he faced the vindictive revenants of his mother and father, plus the other horrors of the Fields of Blade and beyond. Yet he had proven resilient and unwilling to succumb to his torment, breaking free of his shackles and clawing his way out of the Netherworld through one of the rifts created by Akala.

"Mi' liraszi mizil vozilik, I uok dui Dolq Seki da bezi pi rdlimbdu.*"

And the Dark Side still gave him strength, for he was the Dark Lord of the Sith and ultimate master of the darkness. He existed now as a being of pure dark energy occupying a form of flesh and blood that served as his anchor to the material world, yet it could not contain his power indefinitely. He would need to assume another, and another, and another on through eternity as his power grew beyond all comprehension.

Then Yasha spoke of her intentions, and he could not help but smile. "Ih i'ay oli da xi Momk'osal, duim I vess rdomk vedu i'ay. Yay oli i'aymb, ymdipnilik xi' dui nligykevir ah dui nord, ymxylkimik xi' nlizeayr dlomrblirreamr. Lid ayl dva Epnelir xi dui xysvolq oboemrd duari duod vaysk riiq ayl kirdlyvdeam.**" He extended a hand, intent on cementing this renewed alliance between the Sith and the Mandalorians with the future ascension of Yasha Mantis.

Mand'alor the Hell-Forged.

​

*My resolve never wavered, I had the Dark Side to give me strength.​

​

**If you are to be Mand'alor, then I will stand with you. You are young, untempered by the prejudices of the past, unburdened by previous transgressions. Let our two Empires be the bulwark against those that would seek our destruction.​

​

[member="Yasha Mantis"]​

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“You shall count off seven Sabbaths of years. On the Day of Atonement ​

you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. ​

You shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. ​

It shall be a jubilee to you; and each of you shall return to his own property, ​

and each of you shall return to his family. For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. ​

In this Year of Jubilee each of you shall return…” ​

Leviticus 25:8 - 13 (in pieces)​

​

​

[member="Darth Carnifex"] relied on the Dark Side of the Force as his guide and companion to surviving Akala’s crisis. As strange as it was, Kaine was a kindred spirit to the girl, who survived many similar torments. While she had no vindictive parents to scourge her, the Blood Plains, Sinner’s Rue, the Garden of Thorns and Field of Blades held their own tortures for the child. Twice she conquered them. This last seven years were far worse than her protected childhood experience. Looking into his eyes, the same as her mother’s eyes, she realized intrinsically that their mutual experiences formed them wholesale into the hard and imposing figures they became. The Dark Lord expanded and unfurled, Emperor of his Domain and the hard-soled boot of the Evil presence in the galaxy. The Hell Wolf remained insular, quiet and foreboding. A silent death upon those who opened her rage in their cacophony. Horror upon horror, banded around and used as fuel to prevent further pain.

“I uok amsi' pi' paduil, omk dui xlaqim uiok ah o rniol.”* Their terrors marked them, as only the few survivors could understand the shared impulses granted after the fact. Yasha Mantis defeated the Netherworld with no abilities to the Force that the girl knew, but the truth was a far deeper and less known thing.

Perhaps it was her stripped piece, this Force Death upon her which gave Yasha the courage to stand with shoulders back and chin up in refusal of fear. Had she the ability to sense the darkness in Kaine Zambrano, would she remain unafraid?

To her, he was a man with black and red eyes. He was imposing and daunting from his physical presence alone.

“Ember Rekali vossik pi uer imipi'. Hi vor qemk, kademb seqi I epobemi o hoduil er rynnarik da xi. I xiol uep ma ess vess… xyd eh ui er pi' imipi'… Momkosali lityelir navilhys hleimkr.” Skin slid on skin as Yasha Mantis took Kaine Zambrano’s hand. Her digits were dwarfed in his. Upon contact with Yasha’s skin, flashes of the Netherworld sliced and clawed at Kaine. A surge only one versed in the Netherworld and the Force could sense.

‘No more. ​

Get her out. ​

Keep her back. ​

No more. ​

Keep her out.’
​

The Netherworld expelled the Mantis Scion. It bit and clawed and threatened in a bid to keep the girl away, keep her out, not to return… a perilous potential swathed the young beauty.

The power to tear down even the Bastions of Hell. A piece of the Netherworld shuddered and bucked. No. Keep her out. Yet, that piece of the Nether contained a single sliver of the little girl. Aditya’s soul clung to it, sliding through the Netherworld without the chance to become One with the Force.

If she stormed the Netherworld again, Mand’alor the Hell-Forged could empty it. The Death of the Force she experienced had been no event of natural development, but a full throttle decision to prevent power wrapped around the beskar’kandar of an indomitable will.

She tugged her hand off Kaine’s, and the sensations stopped abruptly. The payment for Mandalore’s freedom from Kaine’s meddling of Ra Vizsla was seven years of three sacrificial youths. Yasha. [member="Kaden Mantis"]. [member="Shia Kryze"]. Now, the hidden dark was ended. Now is was truly the reign…

“Tuomq i'ay hal vapemb… I veru i'ay o rohi dlen uapi.”***

… of Mand’alor Haran Nau’ur Kad.​

​

The Hell Forged. ​

*“I had only my mother, and the broken head of a spear.” ​

​

**“Ember Rekali called me his enemy. He was kind, doting like a father with a lost child. I bear him no ill will… but if he is my enemy… Mandalore requires powerful friends.”​

​

***”Thank you for coming… I wish you a safe trip home.”​

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The visions passed as quickly as they came, but they bore an ill omen.

Where one might balk and recoil from such sensations, the Dark Lord drank them in as a man dying of thirst drained a fountain. He often relied on his personal oracle for such divinations of what could be, and now he saw the threads of fate wind tightly around Yasha Mantis for the first time since they had met.

There was a destiny to this girl, but was it one of greatness or one of destruction and ruin?

"Amk I veru i'ay o bsaleayr hydyli, Yasha Mantis. Moi' vi piid oboem.*" With that the Emperor of the Sith Empire departed, boarding his shuttle to make the journey back to his capital to inform his council of the re-strengthened alliance between the two Empires.

*And I wish you a glorious future, Yasha Mantis. May we meet again.​

[member="Yasha Mantis"]​

 

[Kaden Farr]

Kaden was never far. She asked for a private meeting, as private as Kaden would allow, and Yasha could tolerate. He was there the entire time, just invisible. The station's security office had allowed Kaden a good view of what was taking place. Should the Dark Lord have tried anything the weapons which had been trained on him would have bought Yasha the time she needed to make an escape.

He looked at the man... HATED him. Yasha knew why.

The departure had allowed Kaden to let go of the air he had been holding in his lungs for what seemed the entire meeting. His Epicant was good, but there some things he had missed in their conversation. Baiko was still helping Kaden become fluent in Yasha's native language. In fact, Baiko would not address Kaden in Mando'a anymore.

Gloved hands pushed the wheeled chair back from the security pannel. Kaden stood to his full height and caused a couple of the guards to flinch. His black, pitch sealed armor was imposing even without the full effect of his helmet which rest on the console. Kaden attached it to his belt with a grin as the other men quivered in fear. He would never have trusted them to keep his Yasha safe.

The door parted, opening for him as Kaden walked toward it. The sound of his heavy boots hitting the floor echoed through the corridor as he made his way to the Captain's Quarters which Yasha had commandeered for the meeting. There was less then five minutes between Kaine's departure and Kaden's arrival. He'd ensured he would not be seen, being force dead as result of his time in the Netherworld, Kaden would never have been sensed by the Epicant.

Kaden appeared through the door.

"It is over then," he stated with hope they would never have to see him again. Though Kaden's intuition told him otherwise. "What now? What remains on this quest for advice?"

[member="Yasha Mantis"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

The Dark Lord of the Sith departed, and the second the door whirred shut, Yasha poured and consumed another drink. The indomitable young woman might be fearless, but the tension of pushing forward was daunting on its own.

Visions played at her mind. She counted the seconds before [member="Kaden Mantis"] entered the Captain’s Quarters, and counted the vibrations of the Station, as the crew began to once again file around, back to their work.

With the Dark Lord, Yasha took no quarter. If it had, as it could have, turned into a battle, she would not let the Mando’ade take the brunt of what was a personal demon. Hearing Kaden’s boots at the door before the young man entered, Yasha prepared and vaulted over the couch. She pounced on Kaden, the only one who could without a violent response.

Her legs hugged around his waist, arms about his neck. Yasha kissed him, long and innocent and honey sweet. Pressing her cheek to his pauldron, Yasha remained cuddled in Kaden’s arms.

“… he did it, Kade. [member="Darth Carnifex"] brought Ra back to life… I know I knew, but after… after hearing it from his own mouth… He had us wrapped around his pinkie. I can’t do this without him, Kaden.” Yasha spoke slow and deliberately, deep amber eyes softening and going feminine and wide for the only man left in her life who mattered.

Daddy left. Uncle Silas was brooding. Ra was gone… “We need Kaine. Mandalore needs the Sith Empire to watch our backs as long as we can afford to keep them… I know you’re uneasy, but this isn’t about me… it’s Mandalore.”

Yasha exhaled with a shiver. She hit the maglock of her armour, and it shed off her body to the ground. No doubt Kaden wouldn’t mind the doffing of her extra armoured weight. She clung and let the conversation flood past her conscious mind. Kaden heard it. He understood.

“I need to take control, Kaden… Mandalore won’t last if I don’t… he’s gone… you.. you can take off your armour if you like, Kade’ika. Please?” The woman usually didn’t ask for anything. Usually, Yasha took what she wanted, or already knew. Yet at the moment, with the light stinging her eyes, she dipped in and nuzzled into his neck.

“I don’t know what to do next.”

 

[Kaden Farr]

Kaden nodded. Of course Kaine had done it. This may not have been about what happened to them in the Netherworld, but this Sith was eerily connected to all of it. He was very right to be cautious, hateful even. That didn’t matter now, not when Yasha kissed him the way she did. Her legs wrapped around his waist and their lips pressed together. He welcomed her kiss as though they had been parted for an eternity. Where Kaine Zambrano was involved it always would be.

”Of course he did...” Kaden put voice to his thoughts.

He sighed when Yasha put his head on her shoulder. His arms no longer burned when holding Yasha in his arms. The muscles he bore were the ones built from the battles they had fought and won in the Netherworld. They were part of him, but Yasha had been the prize. She shed her armor and brought relief to Kaden’s arms. They were strained but didn’t burn. His eyes dipped as all that remained was her armorweave. It hugged her body in ways which brought an excitement out of Kaden’s eyes. He looked back up to her.

”I don’t want to have his help, but if we must...” he sighed as he let her down.

He wanted to join her, and he was about to take his armor off. Then she said a word she never said.

Please.

Kaden looked at her and quirked a brow.

”Please,” he questioned with a look.

He reached up to his shoulders and tugged on what connected his chest plate to the back plate. They hit the floor with a thud. His eyes never left hers as each piece of armor fell. Kaden stood in front of her in nothing but his armorweave. Kaden reached for Yasha once more and pulled her into his arms. He hugged her tight, then brought her lips to his. He held the kiss for some time.

”Rest... that’s what you need next.”

Kaden picked her up and walked over to the couch and sat down with her across his lap.

[member="Yasha Mantis"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“Rest... but rest is...” her eyelids burned from fatigue. Yasha melted in Kaden’s arms, head splayed on his shoulder as he sat them both down on the couch.

“I have to save Manda’yaim, Kade’ika. I have to save... I have... I.... I.... Kaine’s always been good to me... I stood my ground... I stood and stared back in his eyes...” Yasha began to babble, her voice thinning and growing higher of pitch, as she nuzzled in. “... like Mama’s eyes... he’s never hurt me... never... without him, I’d have nothing.”

Yasha choked and her eyelids began to close. “I wouldn’t even have you... not even you... I’d never have left the Netherworld. Never would have had Ra. Been a little Atrisian Lady... you’d never have found us. We wouldn’t have become a family if Ra hadn’t... I don’t know what to do, but sleep…”

The kiss brought her back to the crux of their matters. Aliit. Family. “There’s no time for sleep… I can’t afford to be on Kaine’s leash… don’t go? If I rest, don’t go.”

[member="Kaden Mantis"]

 

[Kaden Farr]

"You do not have to save Manda'yaim this second, Yash'ika. Kaine's leash is no place for you, but for now you need your rest. You work so hard, and have been since we returned. Tonight... just rest."

Kaden didn't want to stop her from saving their world, but he did want to slow her down before she did something she might regret. There was one thing that bothered him about what she said beyond her urgency. Kaine had NOT always been good to her. What did she mean that she would have nothing without Kaine. It was the foolish babble of a tired girl. Her mother had married Preliat. She had been born because of it. Yes, Ra would not have come back had it not been for Kaine, but that had not been what fueled their meeting. Kaden shook his head. He had to speak. He had to be heard.

"I will say this once, ner cyare, so listen to me. Kaine Zambrano has never been good to you. He has not been violent, but good? His actions manipulated our people. The man only cares for what puts him ahead. Your motivation for revenge as well as mine is what brought us together. Kaine was not there when we struck MandalMotors. You were there, Silas was there, I was there. Kaine Zambrano did not save you when Manda'yaim was destroyed. Jonas Quez did. Not only can you ill afford to be on Zambrano's leash, but to save our people you must free the Mando'ade from it."

Kaden paused and let his words sink in. There was a passion to them. It was not born of what he had seen in the Netherworld either. Yasha would hopefully know this. Many would disagree on what was in the best interest for the Mandalorian Empire, but Kaden was certain Kaine Zambrano was not. The alliance was necessary for now, but the day would come when it would not be. When the time came... Manda'yaim needed to cast him aside like an unwanted mutt that was only capable of creating an offensive stench.

"Kaine has never been good to you... and you owe him nothing. Do you hear me?"

He curled her up into his arms. There was a new life to her after the realization she could end up on Kaine's leash as Ra had been. Kaden could no longer see it any other way. She didn't want him to leave. Kaden wasn't going to.

"Never... I will never leave. You know I won't. I need you as much as you need me."

There was the truth of it. It wasn't that Yasha was the spear head and Kaden the shaft which guided it, but rather they both held each other up. It would always be that way. Even when the nightmares stopped, they would always be found holding each other up.

[member="Yasha Mantis"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“Only if you rest, too, over-protector.” Yasha narrowed her amber eyes at [member="Kaden Mantis"] and let her lips turn up at the corners. It was hard to be over protective when one guarded a hell-bound young woman, but Kaden made a way of it all the same.

Bundled up in Kaden’s lap, Yasha watched the passionate and serious plea that she give Zambrano less due. Complications beyond complications. “Free us? The leather on that leash is thicker than our plasma torches, Kade… but eventually it won’t be.”

For a moment Yasha wanted to buck up against Kaden’s commanding tone, to tell him he was meant to be one step behind her so get in line, but that… that wasn’t her thinking. Far from it. “I hear you.”

Snorting out a timid chuckle, Yasha shook her head and let her braided hair down around her shoulders. “Of course you do. You take such looking after. Almost as much as Manda'yaim... sometimes more.”

Amber eyes shutting, Yasha fell asleep in Kaden’s arms.