No Mando is the Same

[Long Gone]

Concord Dawn​

​

The Last One Standing​

It was a decent establishment, atleast for a drink when all things were said and done. Mira had stopped here once before – with Fiore, when they were headed to Ruusan to check out the Valley of the Jedi. In the end, they never went to the Valley and they had to go their separate ways. Mira fled to go train and immerse herself in her training while Fiore went back to the Order. She had to admit to herself that it was more her doing than Fiore’s, the death of her mother had taken a toll and she couldn’t emotionally handle the situation despite the assistance of the other woman. That was all the past though and this was now – she hadn’t spoken to Fiore since she returned, and she didn’t know what she had been doing. Did she trust her to remain faithful during her leave of absence? Yes, but she didn’t trust the people she worked for. Perhaps that was something else that bothered Mira deep down inside and caused her to be constantly distracted.

Mira shrugged out of nowhere, writing it off as if it didn’t matter. If Fiore had moved on or something had happened – it was her own fault, not the fault of Fiore. *No clue why I’m so caught up on it.* She muttered softly beneath the buy’ce, staring at the glass of ale before her. Both hands would rise up and gently remove the helmet from her head, placing it down upon the bar infront of her. Her head shook, loosening the locks of chestnut brown hair from their tight knit ponytail behind her head. A gloved hand would rise up, letting go of the helmet and push through her hair – shaking loose what remained tied together. “Ugh, I swear.” The same hand would drop to the glass before her, gripping it gently. “Sometimes I don’t even know what’s going on in my own life.” She raised the glass as she spoke, bringing it to her pinkish lips before taking a sip of the harsh alcohol. Mira grimaced as the liquid hit the back of her throat, making her bring her forearm to her mouth to cover the cough that followed shortly after.

It had been a while since she had a solid drink.

Maybe too long.

[member="Kima Betna"]

 

[Kima Betna]

Stars erupted behind her eyes as the blow struck into Kima's temple. It was only a glancing hit, but the force behind it told her that a direct hit would end things very quickly. She ducked under the next swing and retaliated with a quick one-two to her opponent's ribs, sending him dancing backwards and out of range. He had the advantage in size, but she was faster and he knew it.

The young warrior dragged a hand across her mouth, wiping off most of the blood from her lips courtesy of an earlier blow. Thankfully, she'd been giving as good as she'd been getting and the other Mando warrior was just as bloodied from the fight. She shook out her right arm to relieve some of the tensed up muscles, stopping only to snag a glass of ale off the bar. It wasn't exactly her's, but no one said a word as she tossed most of it back to clear the coppery taste from her mouth. Returning the tankard to the counter top, she glanced at a few members of the crowd that had gathered around to watch.

"We're at, what? Two to one odds still?" she asked with a laugh. "In his favor, right?"

When the individuals taking bets didn't respond, Kima laughed and shook her head. Mando bars were mostly for drinking, but occasionally fights broke out. Those that started breaking things quickly found those involved tossed outside. Those that kept the furniture out of it were left to their own devices usually. In this case, Kima was pretty sure that even the bartender had some credits riding on the outcome.

"Gupu sto, besom," she taunted, sending the other warrior flying forward in a rage. As she turned away a solid punch from her face, she couldn't help but laugh. Here she was taunting the other fighter, making him angry, and she was the Berserker.

[member="Mira Rekali"]

 

[Long Gone]

Her ale would be snatched out from infront of her, causing an eyebrow to raise. Mira shifted where she stood against the bar but as she shifted an errant punch that was meant for someone else clearly smacked her in the jaw, sending her backwards a bit and into a trio of drinkers from off-world. A barrage of colorful language would ensue as they shoved Mira off of them, the mixture of blood and various beverages filling her nostrils as a hand came up to touch the soreness of her jaw.

An armored hand slapped against the bar, as she angrily pulled herself upright and stared at the blonde berserker who was taunting the very same man who punched her. “Well, ain’t that something…” She felt her blood boil and the anger rush into her veins as she approached and brought a swift boot up to the backside of [member="Kima Betna"]. It would be a simple kick, swift and not overly powered but enough to send a message. One that if contacted with the lower back, would send her flying into the men she taunted and perhaps even divert her attention to the same woman who she stole the ale from.

Yeah, it was like that.

 

[Kima Betna]

The sudden, swift boot to her posterior caught her by surprise, eliciting a short yelp as she was suddenly sent staggering forwards. Neither she nor her opponent expected the sudden movement, but between the two, Kima's reactions were just a hair faster.

She caught the wild swing in one arm, using her weight to push the man back a step and to stop her forward momentum. She twisted and pulled, locking the arm and easily spraining muscles. Before she could do much more, stars erupted from behind her eyes as the man's other hand swung up and around, catching her across the temple. Thankfully, the swing was short and sapped much of the strength from the strike, but it still dazed to an extent.

Her response was to pull as hard as she could on the man's already injured arm, dragging him forward and around before he could swing again. Letting reflexes take over, she snapped a booted foot out in a vicious kick that connected with the back of the man's knee, sending him down to a single knee. The lights receding from her sight, she relinquished her grip on the man's arm and brought a knee up to connect with his jaw. Off balance, injured, and in a position of vulnerability, her opponent tried desperately to gain distance from the Mandalorian woman, but Kima wasn't finished.

She snatched up a fistful of the man's hair before he could do more than shift his weight and slammed her free hand into the side of his face. The first blow dazed him, the second sent him into a stupor as his cheekbone collapsed and the flesh above split. The third blow spattered blood across his face and Kima's while the fourth and final strike rendered him comatose and limp.

She let his hair fall from her grasp and turned to the men behind, her bloody right hand held out and open. Her own knuckles were split and bleeding freely, but she seemed to not feel the injury.

"I know you, Krugr," she spat, ignoring the trickle of blood running down her cheek from the blow her opponent had landed moments before. "You set it at least three to one, if not higher. Pay up."

Knowing that pulling a fast one would render him unconscious alongside his friend, the Mandalorian in question fished out a small datapad and deftly tapped a few sequences into the device, calculating the payout. The numbers run, he mutely placed a few high denomination credit chips into the open palm of Kima's hand. The money paid, he quickly decided somewhere else was a better place to be and left, prudent survival giving way to a desire for profit in the process.

Kima counted the credit chips at a glance and nodded once before pocketing the money. The pressing matters now over, it was now time to figure out who, precisely, thought it was a good idea to put a bootprint on her backside in the middle of a wagered fight.

"Alright, which one of you lowlifes kicked me?" came the demand as she turned to the bar patrons.

[member="Mira Rekali"]

 

[Long Gone]

Mira wasn’t the only one facing the crazed drink thief, but she was the first one to speak up.

“It was me.”

A bold and simple statement and one to which she knew would draw a punch, or perhaps something else. “Maybe next time you’ll look and consider the fact you’re swiping drinks off the bar without paying for them...." And then would come the horrible wait. What would Kima do? Who knew? Not even Mira could predict the actions of the woman before her. She had been so erratic before, there was no telling. An arm would remain rested upon the top of her buy’ce as she leaned on it a bit more, her other hand was still rubbing her sore jaw. "And maybe have some level of decency to see if they belong to someone..."

“Then again, something tells me you won’t…” Mira cocked a slight smile and dropped her hand, gesturing towards Kima.

[member="Kima Betna"]