Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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Private If You Give a Mando a Beer


Dantooine
Tags: Saram Kote Saram Kote
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Lightsaber, Refuge, Respite, Jedi Outcasts, Grafted into Stone
Jasper was a man who made good on his word. When he said that he owed someone a drink, that was a debt he intended to pay back. Fortunately there was a small dive bar in the area that he had been to before. They had some Vaschean Rye in reserve last he had been there, and he was hoping that they still had some in their store. The joint itself wasn't anything special, low hanging lights and an open ceiling. It was purposefully kept dark to either enhance the mood or hide the lack of cleaning in regards to the floor. It was made up of a small bar and no more than five booths tucked away in the corner, a real hole-in-the-wall establishment if their ever was one. The Jedi Master would hold the door open for Saram before he made his way over to the bar and slipped onto a stool.

"You know, this place actually looks cleaner than the last time I was here," he noted with some amusement before he turned to the bartender. "Any Vaschean in the back?"

"Aye, got two at least."


"I'll take a glass of that," Jasper quickly decided.

The Jedi Master wasted very little time making himself comfortable, leaning against the bartop before he let out an exhale.

"I imagine I come off as quite strange, yeah?" he remarked, though not with any edge in his tone. In fact he seemed rather jovial. "Don't imagine a Jedi's ever bought you a drink before. Then again, I think I've been a bit separated from the traditionalists of the Core for a while now."


 

Saram Kote

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Drinking with a Jetii. Haar'chak, next thing she knew she would be hanging around them with out beskar'gan. She'd clipped her buy'ce to her belt earlier. She'd considered letting her hair down, but if she needed her buy'ce in hurry, that was going to be a mess.

She looked around the bar. She'd definitely been to worse, though she'd definitely been to better. She was pretty sure the one on the Morut was cleaner, and that thing had a far larger clientele. That, and Mandalorians were pretty rowdy drunks, and she knew from experience that alcohol and enhanced strength made for a pretty bad combination.

"You know, this place actually looks cleaner than the last time I was here," he noted with some amusement before he turned to the bartender.

"You know, I'm still processing that you, a Jedi, were here at a bar," she remarked with a smirk plastered across her features. Of course, everyone knew the rumors of the Jetii on Coruscants frequenting nightclubs and all manner of other osik. She couldn't be caught dead at one of those, didn't understand the premise. What was the point of an outfit you couldn't move in while wearing, in any case?

"I'll take a glass of that," Jasper quickly decided.

"Well I came all this way to try that, so to rangir, I'll take one of those too," she told the bartender with almost no hesitation.

"I imagine I come off as quite strange, yeah?" he remarked, though not with any edge in his tone. In fact he seemed rather jovial. "Don't imagine a Jedi's ever bought you a drink before. Then again, I think I've been a bit separated from the traditionalists of the Core for a while now."

"None that wanted to keep their teeth," she half-murmured, raising her eyebrows in faux exasperation. "Then again, couple years ago, I wouldn't be drinking with one. Hanging around with you lot is making me change my mind. Just you guys though, then, wider Jedi community still shabuire?" She didn't seem to mind Odom Orzmod Odom Orzmod even if she was exactly the sort of stick in the mud she expected most Jedi to be.
 
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Just you guys though, then, wider Jedi community still shabuire?

"Wider Jedi community is a mystery to me these days," Jasper admitted with an exhale. "We used to go to war to fight the battles the everyday person couldn't fight themselves. Now I don't know what we do anymore..."

When the Rye arrived, Jasper moved his cup in such a way that the large ice cube in the center could activate the drink. Then he took a sip, clearly admiring the taste. It was rich with clove and had an earthiness that grounded it, bitter even compared to most other drinks. It was smooth, though, and left a warmth in the back of the throat.

"It's aged quite well," he noted. "Barrel they did it in must've seen a hundred years of use. I think they fired the barrel when whatever they coated it in was cured. The taste is a bit smokey..."

Jasper wasn't an alcoholic. No, he was a man who savored the palette of drink and admired the craftsmanship.

His high tolerance also helped to stave off any hangovers.

"Glad hanging around us has made you feel welcome, at least," he decided. "I think I'm sort of at the point where community building is taking precedent over my Jedi duties. Suppose you can take that as you will."


 

Saram Kote

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"Wider Jedi community is a mystery to me these days," Jasper admitted with an exhale. "We used to go to war to fight the battles the everyday person couldn't fight themselves. Now I don't know what we do anymore..."
"It's aged quite well," he noted. "Barrel they did it in must've seen a hundred years of use. I think they fired the barrel when whatever they coated it in was cured. The taste is a bit smokey..."

"Well shab, if its a mystery to you, then I don't have any hope of getting them," she laughed, taking a sup of her drink. That was far better than she was immediately prepared to acknowledge. "That's some good gal," she exclaimed, eyebrows raised in appreciation. She listened to what he explained about why it had a smoky taste, absorbing the information. She'd be lying if she said that she really understood how any of that worked.

"Glad hanging around us has made you feel welcome, at least," he decided. "I think I'm sort of at the point where community building is taking precedent over my Jedi duties. Suppose you can take that as you will."

"I get what you mean, though," she admitted. "I don't really understand many of the other Mandalorians out there. I thought I understood the Enclave while they were around. Didn't agree with them, understood, but didn't agree. The Crusaders were too caught up in trying to recreate the glories of our past I think they just missed the point. Don't even get me started on the Empire, don't know what the shab all that's about. Didn't even know we had a word for that."

"I don't really know what to say,"
she admitted, glancing off into the distance for a moment. "It's like you've said, I've never felt so welcomed by Jedi before. Usually they see the armor and that's all they need to know." It wasn't just Jedi, but they were generally no exception to his rule. "So thank you, I guess, for letting me in here. Both you and the ad'ika. All my opinions on Jedi before that were based on history or gossip." Her mother would be driven into an early grave if she knew what she was up to. Which was precisely why she didn't.

 

"It's like you've said, I've never felt so welcomed by Jedi before. Usually they see the armor and that's all they need to know." It wasn't just Jedi, but they were generally no exception to his rule. "So thank you, I guess, for letting me in here. Both you and the ad'ika. All my opinions on Jedi before that were based on history or gossip."

"Well, then I can take solace in having done something right," Jasper noted with a chuckle. "Seems like something very few people care about doing these days."

Jasper couldn't help but wear his intentions on his non-existent sleeves. He wanted, above all else, to do right by people. Improve the places he left rather than leaving them in turmoil. What he wanted to do was the right thing. Perhaps that was why his patience had grown so thin with the High Republic. Last he had spoken with their Order it was to prepare to fight the Sith.

What good did that do? Nothing happened.

"I wonder if my standards are just too high," he admitted. "Y'know, spending your entire life in a war kind of twists your perception of reality. I never really knew a Jedi Order in peace time until the Maw fell. Did the conflict just bring out our best and brightest because anyone who couldn't compete wound up dead? Did we become complacent when the war ended? Before long I was spending less time with folks like me and more with those who remembered the war. Makes me wonder if I would've done well as a soldier, but it's a bit too late down the road to unlearn my training."


 

Saram Kote

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"Well, then I can take solace in having done something right," Jasper noted with a chuckle. "Seems like something very few people care about doing these days."

Something right. It stunned her for a moment to process Jasper's words. Even Jetiiweren't so sure about their decisions it seemed. She thought their faith in the Jetii'dral or whatever made them more sure about things than other people. Here she thought she would have been among a few who doubted that they were on the right path. "You know," she started, "I used to worry about the same thing." She punctuated the admission with an amused snort.

"I wonder if my standards are just too high," he admitted. "Y'know, spending your entire life in a war kind of twists your perception of reality. I never really knew a Jedi Order in peace time until the Maw fell. Did the conflict just bring out our best and brightest because anyone who couldn't compete wound up dead? Did we become complacent when the war ended? Before long I was spending less time with folks like me and more with those who remembered the war. Makes me wonder if I would've done well as a soldier, but it's a bit too late down the road to unlearn my training."

She considered Jasper's words as he spoke. "We Mandalorians believe that conflict helps you keep your edge, both as a society as well as an individual. Keeps your technology cutting edge and your skills sharp, and that keeps you from letting yourself slip into complacency. Complacency slips into stagnation and stagnation will be the death of us all. So, there's some truth to what you say. For what it's worth, it's never too late. There's a soldier in us all, just have to find a war worth fighting."

"Me? Shab no, just need something that gets the adrenaline pumping,"
she laughedm mostly at the half-truth she had just told. "Good cause help though," she added, pensively, remembering the good causes the company had done discounted work for in the past. Good causes didn't always pay the bills though. Nowadays those decisions were on her to an extent, she could ill-afford to hope that someone else made the right call on the balance between making enough to stay fighting another day and knowing there was a meaning to that fight.

 

Complacency slips into stagnation and stagnation will be the death of us all. So, there's some truth to what you say. For what it's worth, it's never too late. There's a soldier in us all, just have to find a war worth fighting.

"That's a poetic way of thinking about it," Jasper mused as he took a sip of his drink.

He wondered how true that was for those Mandalorians in power that let the Sith sit idly as though the past never happened. Jasper knew very well what they had done to his kind. And yet, those who genocide their people and still walked amongst the living? What consequences did they have to show for their actions?

Just another tally added to his list of frustrations.

"Maybe that's my issue," he decided. "Y'know, it's hard to sit around and wait when you've found a war worth fighting and everyone else decides that they wanna be squeamish all of a sudden. It's like they've forgotten that they're staring down a beast that will tear out their throats if given the chance."

Jasper shrugged a little.


"But here I go beating a dead horse again," the man chuckled. "It's not like whingeing will change what was decided, yeah? It can just be hard to move on from something when it's more satisfying to be frustrated."

Even if it wasn't productive.


 

Saram Kote

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"That's a poetic way of thinking about it," Jasper mused as he took a sip of his drink.

"That's the way it's been for millennia," she said confidently. "Stubborn shabuire notwithstanding," she added, punctuating her sentence with a sup of her drink. She had no idea what made others that called themselves Mandalorians do what they did, but she had long given up on trying to find an explanation. Shabuire were always going to be just that, that was no reflection on her and hers. As for her and her aliit they followed the codex and the ancient wisdom, just not hard learned from mistakes of their past.

"Maybe that's my issue," he decided. "Y'know, it's hard to sit around and wait when you've found a war worth fighting and everyone else decides that they wanna be squeamish all of a sudden. It's like they've forgotten that they're staring down a beast that will tear out their throats if given the chance."

Jasper shrugged a little.

"Then maybe there's hope for you yet," she laughed , nor mirthfully, but a bitter tinged, sarcastic laugh. "When I was growing up, we were always taught you Jetii abhorred conflict. Shab, you just need a cause. Sometimes, just living another day is enough of a cause. Spite those that would see you dead and forgotten," she added, remembering the days they had spent bouncing between employers and planets.

"I long learned it was impossible to understand why my people insisted on trying what had already proven to be a losing proposition," she said, mouthing the word out to see if it seemed right to her, Basic being a second language for her. "Maybe it's just good enough to fight the dark or whatever it is you Jetii call it wherever it appears. Set a good example for your ad'ika, show him you never stopped fighting, even when others did."

"We have a saying; 'Nobody cares who your father was, only the father you'll be.' He's an adult now, but he still needs you,"
she said, looking past him as she finished. "That's just my two credits. I don't have kids, so take my advice on parenting advice with salt or whatever it is you aruetii say. I have lived through a lot, like you, just different osik, so maybe take my life advice a little more seriously," she concluded, taking a long sip from her drink.

"But here I go beating a dead horse again," the man chuckled. "It's not like whingeing will change what was decided, yeah? It can just be hard to move on from something when it's more satisfying to be frustrated."

"No," she agreed with a shake of her head. "Feels good though, like you said, doesn't it?" She then thought about the analogy, chuckling a little despite the general lack of humor in that statement, "Killed a few of those once, still don't get that one." Living cavalry hadn't been a part of the Breshig clans culture zeitgeist for so long she'd forgotten even the vague mentions of a time when it was.

 

"Maybe it's just good enough to fight the dark or whatever it is you Jetii call it wherever it appears. Set a good example for your ad'ika, show him you never stopped fighting, even when others did."

"We have a saying; 'Nobody cares who your father was, only the father you'll be.' He's an adult now, but he still needs you,"

Jasper set down his drink for a moment and gazed into the amber fluid that lay within. The reflection of the man inside was... not anything he ever expected, really. The eyes at least looked the same, still attached to that lonely kid who was never as good as his peers. The boy who ran away from the Order that raised him because he thought he wasn't good enough, only to get dragged back in when things got real. Then when that boy finally made friends... he lost them. One by one. What sort of man did all of that make? Was he someone worth setting an example for others?

Or just some stubborn fool.

"Suppose people are weird, aren't they?" Jasper mused. "Lots don't see that their life is an anchor point for others, y'know? Can't wrap their head around what might happen if they wound up dead somewhere. I've... found myself the anchor for a lot of people. But, I suppose the truth of the matter is that folks who go out expecting some kind of responsibility aren't really in it for the right reasons. Sometimes you just gotta do what life throws onto your shoulders. I suppose to that end, stopping has never been an option."

Even when he tried to get away from it all. Jasper couldn't help it. It all sort of just had a way of winding up back in his lap again, ready to resume where he had left off.

How strange life was sometimes.


"Killed a few of those once, still don't get that one."

"Ah, well that one is simple," the Jedi answered, shaking off his previous reflective funk. "Creatures don't respond in the same way as machines. They move in ways speeders can't, sometimes act in ways that save you from something you never saw coming. A lot of the satisfaction, I think, comes from the bond you share with it. Going out to battle alone can be a terrible thing... I can understand why armored beasts are still used, but I'd hate to have any more lives that I'm responsible for on the battlefield. I don't mind leaving that to others who have more experience at it."

 

Saram Kote

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"Suppose people are weird, aren't they?" Jasper mused. "Lots don't see that their life is an anchor point for others, y'know? Can't wrap their head around what might happen if they wound up dead somewhere. I've... found myself the anchor for a lot of people. But, I suppose the truth of the matter is that folks who go out expecting some kind of responsibility aren't really in it for the right reasons. Sometimes you just gotta do what life throws onto your shoulders. I suppose to that end, stopping has never been an option."

"People are weird," she agreed with an emphatic nod, taking a large sip from her drink. "I suppose message behind that is supposed to be that it doesn't matter what others do, it only matters how we carry outslves." Perosnal responsibility was a very important for most Mandalorians. No matter what selse theyh believed in, she was willing to bet her not insubstantial paycheck on that being the case.

She considered the rest of his statement carefully. "People who go out into the galaxy expecting the burden of responsibility? I think the Basic word for that is tyrant. I'm not sure if we even have a word in Mando'a for it, might be because we're expected to shoot any shabuir who tries to lead like that. Hasn't always happened though universally, though I can tell you about the last shabuire like that from the clans of Breshig?"

"Ah, well that one is simple," the Jedi answered, shaking off his previous reflective funk. "Creatures don't respond in the same way as machines. They move in ways speeders can't, sometimes act in ways that save you from something you never saw coming. A lot of the satisfaction, I think, comes from the bond you share with it. Going out to battle alone can be a terrible thing... I can understand why armored beasts are still used, but I'd hate to have any more lives that I'm responsible for on the battlefield. I don't mind leaving that to others who have more experience at it."

"Shab, that mnakes so much sense," she said barely moments after listening to his explanation. "We haven't done that, if the stories are to be believed in...hundreds of yeares, the clans of Breshig that is," she added, finally remembering the stories passed down to children training fo their verd'goten. "We do still use animals though, just not in high-intensity combat units. The Corp Sec units use Vonskr, Strill and Akk Dogs," she clarified.

 

People who go out into the galaxy expecting the burden of responsibility? I think the Basic word for that is tyrant.

"That's the right word," Jasper agreed.

He knew the word Tyrant well. It was the sort of people that he dedicated his life to fighting. Maybe it hadn't gone well, but he wasn't dead and could keep swinging from the fence. That was enough motivation to keep at it. After all, freedom was the most organic feeling in the Galaxy. There was nothing more that he truly wanted.


The Corp Sec units use Vonskr, Strill and Akk Dogs,

"Ah, trackers," he noted. "That makes sense. I suppose y'all have been building tech for long enough to move away from mounts, but it's hard to replicate a good bloodhound, yeah? But hey, maybe if you wanna reconnect with that past heritage and wanna pick up a hobby, beast riding might be fun."

Jasper took a sip of his drink before speaking again.


"Gods know I've been chit at making free-time. Might've benefited from a hobby or two."

 

Saram Kote

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"That's the right word," Jasper agreed.

"Fought plenty of those," she said, relfecting for a moment on her time spent doing just that. "I've fought for those too," she added regretfully. "I worked for a Hutt before I worked for the company. We all have to start somewhere, and mine was with a mistake," she clarified, thinking back on her service to said Hutt and the enemiers she made during her service.

"Ah, trackers," he noted. "That makes sense. I suppose y'all have been building tech for long enough to move away from mounts, but it's hard to replicate a good bloodhound, yeah? But hey, maybe if you wanna reconnect with that past heritage and wanna pick up a hobby, beast riding might be fun."

She tapped the abdomen plate of her armor, "Company has something they call the Iron Strill in here," she started. "It's supposed to be just as good as having an actual Strill with you, I'm not so sure about that. Pity we haven't figuured out how to train Strills to be better suited to special operations, or Vornskr for that matter."

Saram was also reminded of Okuma Milogen Okuma Milogen 's Vornskr that Braze Braze had adopted. Now that was a good animal, just had a series of unfortunate circumstances before he finally was afforded a good home. "Do you know about the one your ad'ika keeps around? Has this whole story about how he 'inherited' it from that shabuire who caused all the problems. Okuma Millo-somethingortheother. Shab I forget how much I prefer clan names, one less name to have to remember," she joked, chuckling at her own joke.

"Hobbies? You're out of luck with that one, I'm the wrong person to talk to. There's a long list of people who keep telling me to get one. Most I've got is I cook here and there, keep my buir's recipes alive. One of her ad'ike has to," she admitted, though not as begrudgingly as she had to Ran when he'd called her on it. Maybe she was 'coming to terms' with it or whatever other osik it was that people called it.

 

"Do you know about the one your ad'ika keeps around? Has this whole story about how he 'inherited' it from that shabuire who caused all the problems. Okuma Millo-somethingortheother. Shab I forget how much I prefer clan names, one less name to have to remember,"

"Right, the one from the bounty hunter," Jasper nodded. "He seems a fine creature, yeah? Braze says he weeps at night. Misses his master. Loyalty is hard to come by in people. What makes us worthy of it from other creatures?"

The question was more rhetorical. Just a stream of words from his own thoughts.


"Hobbies? You're out of luck with that one, I'm the wrong person to talk to. There's a long list of people who keep telling me to get one. Most I've got is I cook here and there, keep my buir's recipes alive. One of her ad'ike has to,"

"No time like the present," Jasper noted. "We could all die tomorrow after all."

Jasper knew that it was difficult to make time for other things. In a way they were similar. Their work had been their lives, albeit different lines of work. More orthodox Jedi liked to see obsessions as things like love or greed, but they were blind to the truth. Their work as Jedi were obsessions. Things that blinded them to living in reality, where the Force actually dwelled. In that way he had been blinded by his own obsession as well.


 

Saram Kote

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"Right, the one from the bounty hunter," Jasper nodded. "He seems a fine creature, yeah? Braze says he weeps at night. Misses his master. Loyalty is hard to come by in people. What makes us worthy of it from other creatures?"

Saram nodded understandingly, the loyalty diplayed by these creatures was nothing less than remarkable. Jasper had raised a good point, whast did trhey do to deserve it. "We don't," she said at last. "But they believe that the food, comfort, comparnionship and shelter we provide is enough." Her tone implied that she believed it wasn't, but that was the way of things it seemed, sad as it was.

"No time like the present," Jasper noted. "We could all die tomorrow after all."

"Shab, that was morbid," she said, looking him over once, draining temnants of her glass in one go in shock. "I mean, accurate, but har'chaak. So question is, how do two warriors like us find something else to do?" she asked pointedly, catching the bartender's gaze and signing for another drink.

Now that she thought about it, perhaps she should finish her flight training by taking a combat flight training course. Learn what her buir could never teach her despitre all the times she tried. That way she'd have more than rude words to resort to when she ran into trouble while flying.

That's when the thought occured to her. "You know your way around a dogfight right? I mean between two starfighters, not the other one," she said, clarifying her point as she realized how her verbiage could be confused given their last conversation topic.

 

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