My Brother's Keeper

[Laira Darkhold]

Draco looked through the reports, the data his ship and his people had gathered from the raid. Not a lot. Hardly anything to go on.

One hyperspace jump in and out of system without communicating with anyone. Minor atmospheric distortions that could have been a drop. Could have been nothing.

Security footage of a few things, but a lot of the security holocameras had been wiped or distorted during the attack. There was very little to go on, but the fact that her cell had been distorted specifically indicated someone on the inside, and that she was blatantly the target of the rescue attempt.

"I think its time to pay her a visit. And figure out who the heck she is." The warlord stood up and made his way from the control center of the prison, the barren walls looming over him. Dim light filled every hallway, casting shadows, giving the arctic prison an eerie appearance. It was a fortress, complete with some internal defenses, ysalamiri fields spread throughout the complex. A pair of black armored warriors followed him as they walked through the winding corridors.

Without the Force, Draco couldn't feel the other prisoners, he was hampered. Without the Force, he was not whole, he lacked a valuable weapon and power source he had trained hard to refine. Without it, he was still a warrior, still capable, but not complete. It felt odd not having that connection, and with its loss, so too did his connection and bonds to Faith and his children leave him.

He stopped before a plain cell, devoid of all decoration, darkened to intimidate its occupant. Having been in solitary since the attack, but now that the pieces had been put together and Draco cared enough to look into it, he was ready to see who she was and why she was important to anyone. He pulled his buy'ce off and clicked a few buttons on the access panel, letting his musings dissipate for now. The outer door opened, leaving a ray shielded, red translucent barrier between him and the prisoner, a younger human woman that had caused the Clans a few problems in the time she had been held in the prison.

"Caused quite a ruckus didn't you?"

[member="Calina Ovmar"] [member="Ordo"] [member="Velok the Younger"] [member="Davon Karr"]

 

[Velok the Younger]

There'd actually been at least three concurrent rescue attempts, some of them more professional than others. The only one that hadn't been detected had involved a solitary Whiphid, a multi-week Arctic hike, and a lot of fur. Irritated that the other attempts had obstructed his work, Velok had withdrawn, evading probe droids. By this point, he was long gone.

The probe droids, however, would eventually have found something of note: a Mandalorian dragonbear's skull perched on an upright, eight-foot spear. Crosswise in its jaws, the skull held a scroll of primitively tanned hide, quill-inked with bird-blood and sealed in tallow-wax. The whole thing overlooked the prison from one of the rocky ridges, a good two klicks from the outer perimeter.

Perhaps it had been ignored, torched as suspicious, or thrown away. You never could tell with Mandalorians.

[member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Davon Karr"]

 

[Mia Monroe]

Calina had become quite accustomed to being alone, she'd stopped counting the days when it become impossible to count after they had moved her. After her conversation with Not Ordo. She understood a rescuse had been attempted, and had been driven back. But truth be told, she knew nothing beyond Not Ordo and Odium's clear desire to reach her. She was sat cross legged in the middle of the cell when the door slid aside, burning her eyes, even through closed eyelids, with a sudden burst of light.

She could hear the hum of a shield, a burning desire to retreat out of the light that now spilled into her cell and hide in a corner made her tense. She would not run. She would not hide. Fear crept up her spine but she held fast, squinting against the light she tried to see who was talking, gave up and shut her eyes again, letting them adjust slowly.

"Did I?" she replied innocently. "I wasn't aware."

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Freynk Porkins]

[member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Velok the Younger"] [member="Calina Ovmar"]

The medical freighter that dropped oug of hyperspace above Mandalore was not new in the least but it was equipped well enough for passenger transport, licensed to a hospital on Ord Mantel and legitimate for all intents and purposes. It hadn't been cheap but it was a mere fraction of what he had on hand. The man at the controls was a licensed orderly from said hospital and a pilot, Freynk was not. In fact he was better at flying flimsi ships in his office than he was at real ships but one thing he was good at, leg work, and for this he'd done a lot of it.

He had aquired pictures of his target and had her certified as one "Margaret Thorne", a resident schizophrenic with delusions of grandeur that had escaped from an Ord Mantel mental hospital. She may not be actually crazy but from his perspective, if she came here on purpose she was crazy enough for the plan to work.

The ship sent a hail complete with a photo image and a diagnosis of the "patient" to the Mandalorian flight control. If it worked they could cross reference it with their records and he would have a chance for extraction. If it didn't well, he was screwed. Let's hope it works.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"Oh yes. It appears quite a few people would like to see you out of here. Whether they want you alive, want to kill you to keep you quiet, or just want to cause a distraction for something else I don't know. But I'd like to." Draco offered her a smile, not exactly trying to upset her. She was young and had been left to rot in a cold arctic prison cell for sometime, and as far as she knew, no one cared enough to actually free her or look in on her for that matter.

It wasn't uncommon for young Force Sensitives to struggle with the Dark Side, or to fall for that matter. Especially left without guidance from those that would like to see them raised well. Draco knew that well, the Dark Side had its time and place, as did the Light. In the Mandalorian's mind, there was a difference between the corrupting, all encompassing black maw of the Dark Side of the Force, and a person's Dark Side. Everyone had a darker side to themselves, it was knowing how to use it to the proper ends, what means to pass over and what means were allowable. Restraint was an important part of a warrior's training, and without it, they would never be truly complete.

With a flick of his wrist, he pulled the crushgaunt off his hand, the chill in the air noticeable from the cozy climate control of his armor. He pressed his bare hand to the controls, letting it take a quick finger print and biometric scan of the Shukalar before the shield disengaged, leaving the cell bathed in darkness. "So, who are you and why does anyone care?" the warlord's voice asked, quietly, calmly as he stood in the doorway of the cell. Was she even worth talking to?

The Tra'kranak received the files on one Margaret Thorne sent from a medical freighter entering Mandalorian space. "Hold positions please." The files began cycling through the station's computer banks as it looked for the legitimacy of the patient and ship. Since the terrorist attack on the planet just before Mand'alor Vizsla ascended, security had been tightened. That wasn't to say some vagabonds didn't make it in, only that vessels were scrutinized a bit more than previously. The vessel quickly checked out while the records began cycling around looking for matches.

[member="Calina Ovmar"] [member="Davon Karr"] [member="Velok the Younger"] [member="Freynk Porkins"]

 

[Arla Ordo]

Clan Ordo had the watch this month supplying guards so that the others could have a reprieve and go home for a month see their families, get away from the daily grind and sounds of the prison.

She had to admit the prison wasn't her favorite duty but at this time she loved it, quiet for the most part, controlled for the most part, and it gave her time to think. She needed to think. She knew from her time on the Omega. Arla walked along the hall looking into cells making sure everyone was neatly tucked inside. She knew her armor needed an upgrade, an increase of space she had been caught short on weapons and it nearly had cost her and others their lives.

She sighed heavily, Verz had returned, well she and Star had rescued him from a prison. Wasn't quite like this one, feth they treated their prisoners better than the Sith, dar'jetti cruel in more ways than one.

She could hear voices it sounded like Alor Vereen questioning someone, Arla paused and waited. She'd listen at this moment, while she contemplated events.

Alert came that deliveries were coming in Arla ordered guards down there, to keep an eye out. An open bay in the hangar area, good time for someone to try to get in.

[member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Freynk Porkins"] [member="Calina Ovmar"] [member="Velok the Younger"]

 

[Davon Karr]

"So, what you're saying is that you think they made this in the hope that we'd believe it was some weird shamanistic dark magic...thing and so leave it alone?"

The junior officer looked up and shifted awkwardly under Davon's glare "Perhaps not?"

"Seems a little far fetched doesn't it? No, more likely it is some Force nonsense. Send some droids to dismantle whatever it is. Record the whole thing, see what the scroll says then have a bomb disposal droid incinerate it all in space." Davon didn't trust the Force, he didn't like the notion of people being able to play with thoughts and emotions. But mostly he was grumpy that they hadn't buried or captured any of the Sith who came to rescue the girl. It was why the little arrangement hadn't been discovered at first. The probes had been turned to search for survivors.

"Why did she end up here anyway?"

"She was sent by some Sith to Ra. Made an offer to help with the One Sith as long as the girl could stay close to Ra. Hr decided that no sith is better than One Sith it any Sith. They likely wanted the girls next to our Mand'alor to influence him. Anyway, how long is this thing going to stay lodged on place?"

"Couple of months."

"That should do it," Davon's growled. "I'm going to need that long range missile cruiser and a strike team. I'm going to see what Draco is discussing."

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Davon Karr"]

The scroll read as follows:

By now you know that the Sith who sent Calina Ovmar have no firm interest in her return or rescue. Not firm enough to stay the course, at any rate.

I would like her released for my own reasons. In exchange I offer information on two Sith Lords operating within or near the Mandalorian territories.

I recognize that you have no reason to trust this proposal. If you express interest, I can provide proof that my offer is of legitimate quality. Its worth is up to you to determine.

I can be reached at the comm number written below.

Cordially,

Velok

 

[Davon Karr]

"What an elegant scrawl," Davon remarked, looking down at the image on his datapad. "He could have sent a holomail though..."

"Velok."

"I think that one died Sam," Davon replied into his comm. He had been close to the cell when his comm had buzzed. The girl could wait. She had been fed and watered well after all.

"A vet I was talking to the other day thought you'd died. Said it had to be a different Davon Karr, not that Davon Karr and I told..."

"This is an age joke isn't it Samotin?" Davon interrupted his great grandson.

There was a sigh.

"Just patch me through to that comm number. He's got a point. If the Sith who sent Calina come back, they'll come back with enough force to roll us over." Besides, Davon's plans didn't negate the possibility of selling the girl for more information. A two for one deal.

"You know you can do that yourself right? I can show you how you just..."

"Sam..."

"Patching you through now."

The connection was made, the other end of the line rang.

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Davon Karr"]

Promptly, the call connected. Though traceable with effort, it would wind up at a private line in the Tion Trade Nexus, deep in Silver Jedi space. The busiest find-anything port in the universe, by some estimates.

"Hello? Hello? Gharruk, is this thing on?"

"You hafta hold it the other way." Later analysis, if any, would identify the voice as coming from the vocal cords of an adolescent Whiphid, albeit one raised to colloquial Basic.

"Shut up." A sound of fur rasping on metal and plastoid. "Hello? Yes, this is Velok. To whom am I speaking? May I presume a Mandalorian officer in some position of authority over the imprisonment and potential release of one Calina Ovmar? Because that would make my day."

 

[Mia Monroe]

Calina opened her eyes as the light retreated, allowing her to open them easily. She frowned slightly, tipping her head to one side and surveying the mandalorian in front of her. He wasn't as large as Ordo had been, but her was still formidable, but then they all were when you were a teenage girl who was wasting away in a prison. She might have fancied her chances against him early on, but now after...so long...

She blinked at the question. Recalling the confidence with which she had told Ra that she pitied the chaos that would descend upon him for imprisoning her for she was the daughter of the infamous Anaya Fen and her equally infamous lover, Jared Ovmar. Sith both known for their power, yet Anaya's was somewhat waning in her determination to remain isolated from the galaxy. Parents who, she had believed, would have doe anything to protect her. She had expected them to rain hell down upon this world in order to retrieve their precious daughter.

A wave of bitterness washed over her and she looked away from the mandalorian. "You've got my name. Beyond that, I am nobody. I thought I was someones child, but evidently, one rescue attempt is all they can muster up for me." She smiled a smile that didn't reach her eyes as she looked back up at him. "Anaya Fen has obviously found a new pet to play with."

She got to her feet, turning her back on him and padding quietly to her cot. "Surely, you could have gained intelligence about my lineage from [member="Ordo"] though. After all, he was here. In fact, he knows both my parents personally. Why come to bother me? No one else has."

[member="Arla Balor"] [member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"Anaya who?" Draco asked. He wasn't as strongly in the know about the old school players as some were. He'd heard some whispers about some of them, the Taliths, the Varanins, he'd heard stories about the old Omega hitters, but had never met them. But in the end, he was born and raised a poor kid on an outer rim world deep in Omega Protectorate space. He hadn't gotten good and out in the galaxy until after the Netherworld crisis, and while he'd heard some things, he was far from omniscient.

"They've got you listed as a Calina Ovmar. Beyond that, I don't know anything about you. Why were you important enough to bother risking a rescue attempt on Manda'yaim herself, the most secure planet in the sector, but not enough to try again and again? We didn't get any of the would be heroes as far as we know. So that means they hit security and they bolted." Draco heard people approaching and glanced away from the girl in the dark cell to the new arrivals. Ramaanar Davon Kar and Arla Balor.

"Ramaanar. Alor Balor." Draco said giving them both a nod. "She's not very cooperative right now."

Turning his attention back to the young woman he smiled. "You should be a little happier. The three of us are hear to decide whether we should let you go or not, so call it a parole hearing. If we like what we hear, you come with us when we leave. If not, the door closes and no one else bothers you again, while I remove your name and info from the records. Just a nice, pretty do not disturb sign on your door."

Up in space, the records found only one match, to a mug shot of a young woman on the planet. "Medical Freighter. Stand by for full scan. Once cleared you may land at the transmitted coordinates. Do not deviate from transmitted flight path. Someone will be along to speak with you about the status of your patient." The Mandalorians tapped a few buttons and turned on the life sign, electromagnetic, x-ray, and full spectrum scans into the freighter before transmitting a flight path that put it in the prison's hangar until someone in the know could tell them to Feth Off or not. So long as there wasn't an army of droids or special ops forces sitting in the medical bay, there wouldn't be much problems. The data on one Margaret Thorne was transmitted to the Arctic prison so that it could be sent to the Cuir Rekr that were there interviewing the prisoner in question.

[member="Calina Ovmar"] [member="Velok the Younger"] [member="Davon Karr"] [member="Arla Balor"]

 

[Davon Karr]

[member="Velok the Younger"]

Muting his comm, Davon addressed Draco: "I'll be back in a few moments just one call to take." He moved out of earshot of Calina.

"This is Davon Karr, Aloe of Clan Karr, of House Betna and I answer to the Mand'alor himself. So yes, apparently I have made your day.

"I presume - given that you left a scroll on a stick instead of a message with an embassy - that you're one of the rescue team that managed to avoid being buried in the snow?"

In the end he'd only launched one light torpedo into the mountains. Really a very minor avalanche on the scale of things, but apparently enough to get the point across.

 

[Mia Monroe]

Calina's eyes widened at the question of Anaya. She really had been out of the game too long. If she's named a few of Anaya's associates she'd bet her life that this mandalorian would know them. Kaine Zambrano, for example.

She settled herself onto the cot and fixed her gaze upon him again, eyes flashing at the threat. She'd rather not die young, in a mandalorian prison, from starvation and dehydration. "Fen." She repeated, choosing to ignore everything and continue answering his first question. "Anaya Fen. My mother...or creator, depending on how you look at it. She is a Sith Lord. Used to be apprentice to Emperor Moridin, back when there was a sith empire on your doorstep and slaughtering mandalorians was their favourite sport." She smiled coldly. "She created me, I suppose you could call me a clone but I look more like my father than that twi'lek queen. A deliberate move on her part, I think. She can't bear children you see, too twisted by the dark side, she is barren. So, she made one instead."

She paused, battling against the rising anger in her chest. "She created me against my fathers wishes and has dragged me, in hiding across the Galaxy, to escape him. He, is Jared Ovmar. A powerful mentalist and entrepreneur, among other things. He was trained, if I remember correctly, by Spencer Jacobs. He likes to pretend he's a caring father but really, I'm just another piece in his sick little game."

Her tone, despite the anger balled in her chest, was calm, perhaps even bored. "As I said, I thought I was somebody's child. Someone that would be valued by their parents. Parents with connections that go back to the days of the Sith Empire and the Lords of the Fringe. And yet, it would seem, that they have forsaken me. Therefore, I am nobody."

She laid down on the cot and stared at the only black ceiling. "Is that a more cooperative answer for you, sir?"

[member="Davon Karr"] [member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Arla Balor"]

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Davon Karr"]

A snort. "With that volume of terrain to cover, Alor Karr? You should have given in to your bestial nature and launched more than a single warhead. The probe droids, I admit, proved difficult to circumvent."

A grunt, as of a heavy, aged person taking a seat and rubbing his knees.

"There were, in fact, three concurrent rescue attempts, all operating independently. I work alone, and believe you me, I was deeply irritated to find my work obstructed by enthusiastic amateurs who failed to stay the course. Breaking into your prison would have been a challenge. Doing so while it was already alerted and your trap primed? Impossible. Doing so now? Plausible, but less so than it was during the long months of her isolation. Hence my decision to offer the bargain I did.

"In principle, are you open to bargaining for Calina Ovmar's freedom?"

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Draco shrugged at the young woman. "Its better, not the smartest thing to try and upset the person threatening to lock the door and forget about you though. Smacks of self-destructive tendencies." Abandoned by her family, or at least she felt that way. They had made a rescue attempt for her sake, though it fell apart pretty quickly. Especially considering it was a bunch of Sith.

Draco smiled at her, trying to be a little nicer than just a jailer. "They did a good job of it. We just obliterated their capital planet and broke two of their empires over our knee. They must be mighty conquerors who work so well together. The rescue attempt for you proved how well they work as a unit, I believe." He grinned and made his way into the cell, sitting down on the bed, taking a lighter tone than before. "I know of Spencer, but the others I've only heard the simplest rumors."

Draco didn't like the idea of leaving some teenager in a cell, leaving her to her fate for the rest of her days. "Well, besides threats of having your parents kill me, why should I let you out of here?" He could believe one of them might bother to look into him, but would be more likely to go after Ra. After all, only the three Mandalorians knew he was even talking to her, no one she had contact with would have any reasonable way of knowing who was there to condemn or exhortation her.

"What do you think Alor Balor?"

[member="Arla Balor"] [member="Velok the Younger"] [member="Davon Karr"] [member="Calina Ovmar"]

 

[Freynk Porkins]

[member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Velok the Younger"] [member="Calina Ovmar"] [member="Davon Karr"]

"Copy that Mandalorian control." Freynk said into the comm, "We are submitting to scans. Be advised we have one security station with two stun blasters on board and two medical droids. No other personnel aside from the pilot and myself."

He felt full disclosure now, was better than a string of questions later. He leaned back and put his feet up on the comm station as the pilot began moving to the outlined vector. He popped open a can of cold caff from a cooler beside the seat and spilled some on his shirt on its way to his mouth. A few curses later he sat back quietly waiting while drinking his caff. He hoped they didn't still have files from the old sith empire and his days as a storm trooper but even if they did, one discharged trooper armed with stun cuffs was hardly anything worth worrying about, or so he told himself. With luck he could get paid by the end of the day. If he wasn't lucky, he could be heading to his new home.

 

[Davon Karr]

[member="Velok the Younger"]

"Sounds like attempting to get several clans to act as one military," Davon grunted. He thought back to several operations ruined by clans refusing to work together, or even put their coms on the same frequency.

"I was rather hoping to capture some alive rather than bury them. The little fish was only ever their to bait the big game. Which is perhaps revealing too much on my part, but then negotiations are always quicker when both parties are aware of what the other is after.

"I am interested, but it depends how big a fish you're offering. I'm also going to stop the ice fishing talk now. On the other hand the poor girl is feeling quite abandoned now. I had half a mind to keep her and show her our way. An honourable way."

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Davon Karr"]

"Fair comparison," said Velok with a snort. "The Sith and the Mandalorians have that much in common, certainly: leading both is like herding cats. Still, it could be worse. We could be leaders of Jedi.

"As for Calina Ovmar, I suspect the time to teach her your ways might have been several bouts of hypothermia ago.

"Here's what I'm prepared to offer, immediately. Some of my people have worked with a certain Sith Master. Ancient, omnipotent, wealthy beyond mortal ken, believed dead by an oblivious galaxy: the usual nonsense. This Sith Lord is no friend to me. He or she operates within Mandalorian territory. I can give you a name and corporate locations, both inside your territory and across the galaxy. You would find the information verifiable within a sufficiently short time that recapturing Calina would be quite plausible, if you were to discover I'd lied."

 

[Arla Ordo]

What did she think? He might not like what she said course the girl might not either. She stepped closer her green eyes swept over Calina. Arla did not recognize the names she gave.

But what Arla heard when she spoke well that Arla tried to recognize. The emotions behind the words, was it disappointment that they had not come again or tried harder to get her, or anger that she expected more from parents who dropped her off, no wait that was her story not Calina's. Arla was drawing parallels.

So what did she think she looked carefully there was no outer hint of what Calina thought or felt. Arla would have to go off instinct and her own assumptions.A young girl alone would say a lot of things to protect herself and give off enough attitude to make others stay away less hurt that way. Add in that she was in a cell, for what reason? Had Ra put her here just because of whose daughter she was.

"What she gain by telling a lie? Alor Vereen surely remembers what its like to be around strangers and confined. Whats her crime again, she committed what terrible offense on the Mando'ade"

They all had stories before they became mandalorians.

[member="Draco Vereen"]
[member="Davon Karr"]
[member="Freynk Porkins"]
[member="Calina Ovmar"]
[member="Velok the Younger"]