From Ashes, We Rise

[Mia Monroe]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Beskar’yaim[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.6667px]Mandalore[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.6667px]The [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px]Liberty’s Veil[/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px] streamlined hull, slipped around the top of the volcano the [member="Ijaat Mereel"] had chosen to make his home. Sunlight glinted off its rear panels as it shifted its path east, lowering as it passed over the green belt of land that stretched around its base and crept slowly up the volcano’s curves. It was beautiful, if you didn’t mind the idea that said volcano was still active. The ship came to a halt over a thin sliver of sand the stretched across the east of the volcanic island, shifting under the control of expert hands, it lowered onto the shore.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]A shudder ran through the ship as the landing gears ground to a halt and Mia sat back in the pilots chair, asking herself, if not for the hundredth time, if this was the right path. As it had a hundred times before, the answer was swift and without any of the doubt she kept trying to scare out of herself. Words had failed, as they always had, and there was no other action that would convey such a message.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Her hands ran automatically over the panels, flicking switches without looking and powering the veil down before opening the hanger door at the rear of the ship. She rose and swept out of the control centre, snatching up her jacket along the way. Se could have gone to Rel, but she feared his reaction. So she sought out the only person she thought might hear her without looking at her like she had fallen beyond help.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]If her approach in the skies had not alerted Ijaat to her presence, than the [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px]Landspeeder [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px]certainly would. Slipping into the seat she flicked the repulsor engines into life and smiled slightly as it shot out of the back of the Veil and into the beaten track of the jungle.[/SIZE]

 

[Julius Sedaire]

He had felt Mia, sure, and smiled. The presence wasn't familiar, but it was known. Ijaats senses were fast becoming unparallelled as he studied the holocrons he and [member="Draco Vereen"] had uncovered on Myrkr that had once belonged to Jacen Solo. Someday, maybe, he would be something to be feared in the department. For the moment, he had made a beeline for the jungles where one would need to traverse to pierce the ring of the volcano's shell and enter his sanctum. Overly done and comical, some took it, but it bore no such silliness to Ijaat. When a blacksmith wanted a forge, what was more fitting than a magma powered stronghold?

Beating her by mere minutes, he put himself squarely in her path, next to a tree. He was in armor, but the buc'ye of his gear rested clipped to his belt. A battered hat rested on his head, shading his face from all but the glow of a cigarra chomped in his teeth. Puffing on it incessantly had wreathed him in smoke, and at his side sat a juvenile Te'r Rekr pup from Concord Dawn. Only a few months old and big as most hunting hounds or a miniature pony. It's presence in the Force showed the two had a mingling of auras. Both belonged to the other, and were content in companionship. Currently the pup was amusing itself by chewing on a nearby tree branch that was almost as thick as Ijaat's forearm. The Gar'buir shuddered to think of the power it would hold when full grown, the bright orange furred beast growling.

And he waited, sipping from a bottle of whiskey, for the visitor to arrive, making no pretense to conceal himself now that he was in position.

[member="Mia Monroe"]

 

[Mia Monroe]

Mia paid no heed to the greenery that past her in a blur, so focused on her task at hand she had no time to observe the clouds of brightly coloured birds that squeaked in alarm as she passed, nor study the jungle cat that slunk through the low undergrowth its head risings she zipped past.

She could feel [member="Ijaat Mereel"]'s presence in the force, not a powerful buzzing aura but it was there nonetheless. She dialled down the speed as she drew nearer spotting the small plume of cigarra smoke before she saw him and his hound. The speeder rolled to a halt and for a moment, Mia sat back and looked at him, a twinge of jealousy at the bond he shared with his four legged companion.

"Su cuy'gar, Ijaat." She said finally with an incline of her head. Now she was here she wasn't sure how to begin. She frowned slightly and glanced down at her hands, before disembarking. "I need your help."

 

[Julius Sedaire]

An arched brow was the only reply at first as Mia spoke, but he nodded. Of course, no one like her would come to someone like him unless they needed help. [member="Draco Vereen"] was the only one of his people who really paid him any heed beyond his talents in the Forge or Field. So this instance with her? While not unexpected, it was still disappointing he supposed. One always hoped. But regardless, he straiightened, sliding the bottle of his home made tihaar into his sling-bag at his side.

Scratching the ear on his pup, which growled in the back of it's throat in satisfaction, heat shimmers wafting from it and smoke from the foilage under it, he drew his mind to him.

"I figured it wasn't a social call. Rarely is these days. What is it you need, walk with me and talk..."

And with that, he was sauntering through the undergrowth in his white-bronze armor, waiting for her to follow.

[member="Mia Monroe"]

 

[Mia Monroe]

Mia smiled sadly. If she'd time for social calls perhaps the relationship with her clan wouldn't be so fractured. Though, if she really tried, she probably find time for them and anyone else who might need it. Like [member="Rel Connory"] for example. She exhaled a forlorn sigh and fell into step next to Ijaat.

"First, this conversation is not to be repeated. I am trusting you with something that will change...well everything...or so I hope." She also hoped that he was not stupid enough to break her trust, because if she did she would spend a great deal of time making sure he suffered for it.

"Am I correct in believing that your are not happy with the way things are? That we waste too much time bickering about what we should do next instead of simply doing?"

[member="Ijaat Mereel"]

 

[Julius Sedaire]

"Not to be repeated. Of course. I don't talk to many anyhow. Forgework takes a lot of my time, as does the research for it"..

Broken trust, no matter who or what, was not his way. If what she said was reprehensible, he would do his best to solve it himself, or in the event he couldn't.. Well... He'd die trying he supposed. Regardless though, Mia would need to know he could be trusted utterly. So he would do his best to emphasize that. Puffing on the cigarra he casually moved leaves aside from his path with the Force, the Te'r Rekr pup trundling alongside him like an absurdly colored and "vicious" guard dog, snapping at dragonflies.

"I won't go off to run and tell anyone. And yes, you are correct. It's largely the reason behind my incosistent involvement in the greater affairs. I can't stomach the Council and it's politics."

 

[Mia Monroe]

Mia gave a low chuckle. "Yes, well, unfortunately for you and I, the council and its politics are the least of our worries. Ra did well to drag them from decay, but his rule was brief and already they are slipping back into it. But its goes beyond the council. It's become so deep seated among the people that, if we are to have another Mand'alor, I am not certain they will be enough to put us back under pressure."

She paused for a moment, chewing the inside of her cheek in thought as her brow creased slightly. "When I was a girl, my father and I found some of our crop had become diseases, the fruit rotting on its stems before it had become ripe. The only way to be rid of it was to burn the entire crop. I was so angry with him, I didn't speak to him for days, I couldn't believe he'd thrown away a whole years work. The following year though? It was the best harvest I ever remembered having." She stopped and touched Ijaat's arm to make him stop too, his armour cool beneath her fingers.

"I know I sound like a philosophical old fool, but I truly believe that it is the same with our people. For us to survive, we must first be destroyed."

[member="Ijaat Mereel"]

 

[Julius Sedaire]

He listened. Face considering. What she had said? There was truth to it. Wisdom as well, which wasn't surprising. And if thinking of all possible futures made one an old fool, and philosophical, then... Well... He was doomed. Simply put, pending her methods, separating the wheat from the chaff was something his people had given up doing. It bred idleness and contempt. Politics took the place of action by clear tenets. Things like this Council became common, and the true drive. So his next words were slow, but heavy as they stepped into the shadows of an entrance.

"And how do we do as you suggest?"

[member="Mia Monroe"]

 

[Mia Monroe]

Mia knew the answer to the question, for some reason she could not bring herself to say it. She had thought about it, even dreamt of it and woke shaking tangled in the sheets for she knew the pain it would cause. It wold be like Keldabe and the space station combined and multiplied tenfold. Millions would perish,and she would be forced to slip back into the shadows, the name dar'manda hanging over her again. For a moment, she couldn't look at it Ijaat.

But this was the right path. This was the only path. She looked up.

"We raze Mandalore." her voice trembled slightly.

[member="Ijaat Mereel"]

 

[Julius Sedaire]

Raze Mandalore? Seemed a bit excessive at first thought. But the more thought he put into it, it made a certain sense. There was a rot at the heart of their people. They would need to be united, without the divisiveness of politics and debate. He had tried, and they would not listen to his vision and pleas. So perhaps drastic action would need to be taken. And he thought he knew the way. When the Crusaders had threatened to invade Mandalore, he had taken the time and effort to have a last-ditch denial made for them. A way to ensure the planet they took was not that which they had started out to conquer. That the taste of their victory would be as if ash in their mouths.

"I have a way... It is likely not the way you are thinking.... But will work better... Will you come with me to see it? We can discuss why on the way to my forge..."

[member="Mia Monroe"]

 

[Mia Monroe]

Mia nodded, following Ijaat into his lair. Although she had known that Ijaat was the right person to discuss this with, she had expected more...fight, more doubt from him. Part of her had even hoped that, perhaps, as radical as he was, that he would be able to plant doubt in her mind and bring an end to this madness, or at the very least, force her to consider an alternative. But he did neither, for the pure and simple fact that he saw the truth as she did.

He saw what they all needed to see.

As the moved through corridors carved from volcanic rock, Mia couldn't help but notice the increase in temperature, the further in they went. It wasn't unpleasant, mind, it was oddly comforting, like a warm blanket being wrapped around you. She cast a sideways glance at Ijaat.

"Tell me of your idea."

[member="Ijaat Mereel"]

 

[Julius Sedaire]

"I'm an arms and armor hound. I make peace through superior firepower. I make contingencies for everything. When the Crusaders threatened here, I made contingent plans in case we failed to repel them. We set on a volcano, connected to shafts that lead to the planets core... Tell me... What could two minds such as us do with such a connection?"

Here he fell silent, seeing the interior of the volcano. Thank the Manda security had been maintained tightly. Maybe a few dozen people tops knew where they were at, if that. And even then, it had been made to hide inside the volcano, so to the naked eye it was just another island in the wide blue sea. Determined sensor sweeps would notice anomalies. But heart and infrared would be interfered with by the volcano. And you couldn't land more than a few ships at a time. Which, before they could find their way in and to through the complex, he could wall things off, set up choke points, and enact his mad idea anyway.

This would lead to his ruin.... For now... But maybe in the future they would see what he intended. And know he was right. Maybe.

[member="Mia Monroe"]

 

[Verz Horak]

[member="Ijaat Mereel"] [member="Mia Monroe"]

The rented airspeeder thrummed as its repulsorlift engines pushed it through the atmosphere of Manda'yaim, with it's pilot listening to some music and possibly drinking some tihaar despite driving an airspeeder. Next to him sat a small bundle of metal. Verz had known that Ijaat was a good smith for a while now, and wanted the man's advice about the metal. Next to that bundle sat an unopened bottle of tihaar and a box of cigarras as a gift. The island home of his friend and fellow warrior soon came into view, and within a couple minutes, Verz had landed.

He popped the top of the airspeeder, climbing out with the two bundles in hand. There was already another nearby. Verz wondered who Ijaat's other guest could be.

 

[Mia Monroe]

Mia let out a low whistle at his suggestion. "One big boom and a whole lot of trouble. The explosion would set off every volcano on the planet, the ash cloud alone will be enough to devastate Mandalore, never mind the rest of the seismic activity." She fell into a thoughtful silence. It was a far better plan than she could have come up with. It would force their people to turn their eyes homewards, force them to toughen up and snap into action. A challenge of survival like they had never faced before.

"You know they will call us dar'manda for this." she said quietly "They will hate and hunt us like they do the sith. Are you prepared for that, Ijaat?"

She stopped suddenly, feeling a presence on the island that she'd not run into for a long time. "Did you have other company inbound?"

[member="Verz Horak"] [member="Ijaat Mereel"]

 

[Julius Sedaire]

"I did not pass through fire and death to bandy words with crooked politicians. They will be silent. I will not let them climb upon the backs of dead warriors while they grow fat and indolent. We must, and this is imperative, return to what we were. Not a homgenous people, but the stain of political corruption needs be purged. This is the best way. Thousands may die, or may not. But everyone will be changed. Everyone will be challenged."

Stiffening at the presence, he nodded. It was Verz he suspected, come for help with forging a glaive. He had mistracked time and its passage. Easy enough to do inside a volcano away from the sun. But regardless, he walked up to a smelting supervisor and stopped, smiling to the man and enquiring about a little one named 'Analiese', which turned to be his daughter. Ijaat smiled, calmly discussing the work day, and then asked to see 'the Last Room'... and for it to be prepped. The supervisor nodded and turned to walk, with hesitancy in his manners for the first time since being talked to.

"Right, follow me... That may be Verz. I told him i'd help him with a weapon. If I bar him entry, suspicions will be raised. He'll be escorted to us in the pit. May be that we can sway him, or lock him in. Something. It will give us time, and it only takes a quarter of an hour for prep anyhow. As for dar'manda? If it saves my people, I will be the sinner amongst false saints."

[member="Mia Monroe"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

YAVIN IV

Deep in an old Sith temple, Oren's eyes snapped open. He'd been kneeling on stone, meditating with pelko bugs affixed to his forearms and neck. His drew a long, hard breath and held it as a possible future scrolled across his mind.

Beside him, a young witch stirred from her vigil. "What did you see?"

"Write," he rasped. She scrambled for her datapad, an incongruous detail in this arcane setting but easily the fastest way to transcribe what he was about to say.

***​

​

I know five things that are cold​

The heart of a traitor, a brother once trusted​

The gap between home and the uncaring stars​

The dusk to fall upon Manda'yaim​

The long years in midnight's heart​

The consequences, implacable​

​

I know five things that are hot​

The heart of a brother wronged​

The pressing fire beneath stone and earth​

The scorch of shame​

The ash which shall fill the skies​

The consequences, unforgiving​

​

***​

​

"Keep writing."

 

[Mia Monroe]

The passion with which Ijaat spoke, moved her own and she felt her respect for him increase. Even in the face of damnation by his people, he would do what he believed right. She was glad to have him on her side for this, even if the odds were against them and they were likely to meet their ends. It was nice to konw she was not alone in her thoughts.

"It is Verz." she confirmed, following his brisk steps to the 'pit'. "Verz is loyal to a fault, but I doubt his loyalty will allow him to turn a blind eye or even agree to the massacre we are about to create." There was not point deluding themselves, people would die and that was that, but it was also half the point of the idea. "He was the first to accept me as Mand'alor, in his own way I think he still sees me as such. I'll handle him, one way or another."

If he disagreed and tried to stop them, she would have no choice but to drop him and take him with them, even if it was only to the nearest space station to dump him off. There would at least be someone to carry the message as to why they were doing this.

[member="Ijaat Mereel"] [member="Verz Horak"] [member="Oren Rekali"]

 

[Julius Sedaire]

Nodding, Ijaat reigned the fire in his blood back in, trying to even his breathing. Calm flooded him as he found harmony in his purpose. It was not perhaps as the Force would will it. But the end result would be the best for his people. Shunned, hunted and hated he would be. And that was just fine. May they never have to face or understand the decisions he had made this day. That was, in his mind, why he did what he did. So they wouldn't decay into oblivion like so many before, and so that none would bear the weight his shoulders did.

Fingers traced along the kyr'bes detailing on the clasps of his cloak as they approached a massive magma chamber. No one had seen this place besides the supervisor he had indicated. And Ijaat. Stepping up to the walk way he strode across it, meditative. Calm. From without workers looked in wonder as they brought in the equipment needed. The hour approached. But he remained silent. For now, there was nothing to say really.

[member="Mia Monroe"] | [member="Verz Horak"] | [member="Oren Rekali"]

 

[Mia Monroe]

The magma chamber was several degrees hotter than the rest of the tunnels they'd been through. Mia instinctively shrugged off her jacket and hung it over her forearm. Her face set in grim determination as she stood back and watched the scene unfold before her. She studied the faces of the workers, committing them to memory. If they died to day, she wanted to remember their sacrifice, because there would be faceless thousands too easy to forget.

She closed her eyes and thought about what lie ahead of them. Beyond the task off getting off planet in time, she had to think about where to go. Perhaps she'd give Jorus a call, he'd sheltered her before, though she suspected he wouldn't do so under such circumstances again. No, she would have to wander...they would have to wonder. She opened her eyes and watched Ijaat. She had brought him into this, willing or unwilling, he would be her responsibility.

As he always did when she was planning something off the sane scale, Rel crept into her mind again. She would need to send him a message, something to make him understand. She prayed to manda that he would. She could not lose him, not now.

[member="Ijaat Mereel"] [member="Verz Horak"] [member="Oren Rekali"]

 

[Verz Horak]

[member="Mia Monroe"] [member="Ijaat Mereel"]

Verz walked around a bit, trying to find the entrance to Ijaat's home or forge or whatever the hell this place was. He certainly hadn't expected the island to be so bright, a fact that hurt his eyes a bit.

He was a bit surprised when a worker appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. Well, seemingly because he walked out of a small building that Verz hadn't seen before. He blamed the glare.

The worker beckoned Verz to follow, leading him through the tunnels of the complex. Verz wondered when Ijaat's had the time to build this place. It certainly wasn't cheap. Within a few moments Verz had been brought to Ijaat's personal forge, where it was significantly warmer than outside. Verz pulled off his helmet, trying to cool off a bit. Maybe the tihaar was a bad idea.

Well, all he had to do was wait for Ijaat to get over here, which the worker wordlessly left to go do.

Verz wondered what was bothering that guy.