Saying Goodbye

[Miss Blonde]

The Crusade was gone, Isley was gone. Blonde hated that her close friends had all but vanished from the galaxy and her Mandalorian allies were either dead or missing. But she had to keep moving, she had to keep creating, and most importantly she needed to keep advancing the frontier of weaponry and specialty items of what the force and technology could make. When it came to blending tech and the force, she was on the cutting edge of the field. And for her next project she needed Beskar, and plenty of it. More than just the standard amount to make a suit of armor, with the projects she had planned Echoy'lya wasn't going to cut it.

She had to go to the place of Isley's death. She needed to go to Mandalore, and while it hurt to be there, it was a necessity. She needed to go see her friend, and she needed to collect the Beskar for her upcoming projects. This was an emotional two birds one stone situation for her. She'd need to be strong and face it head on.

When she arrived on the burnt out ruin of a planet, she didn't go to any of the once popular mining sites. Before breaking volcanic earth, before the thought of making money or building tech even crossed her mind, she went to go see him. Isley Verd ( [member="Malok"] ) her close friend.

Her ship would touch down on the burnt ruins of Isley's home and when the ramp dropped down, the crime lord stepped out wearing her gas mask and black business suit and gazed out at the field of destruction before her. Ash fell like snow and she sat down on the ramp to just soak it all in, and despite the heartache, and the pain she felt for his loss, she spoke.

"Hey Isley, long time no see huh?" Blonde let out a sigh and hung her head as ash mixed into her hair.

"What am I doing? You probably can't even hear me? I'm talking to volcanic rock." She said in a skeptical voice towards life after death and the force.

"But I ah... I miss you. A lot really." Feeling a lump starting to build in her throat she paused for a moment.

"You had this talent of just walking into a room and being the center of everything, you know? I wanted to be like you so bad when I was young. Command that kind of respect whether people hated you or loved you. I never got to ask you how you did that, and I regret that. I regret a lot of things we never did. I regret not telling you that you were my idol, and that I'd of done anything for you." A small tear ran down her eye from behind the visor as she carried on.

"It's just kind of Karked up in a way. I've amassed that power, and I command that respect. But in a way, even in death. You're better at what I do without even trying." Letting out a chuckle mixed with a cry, she placed her head into her knees and let a tear or two slide down her cheek.

A few moments would pass and she'd look up at Isley's destroyed home once more.

"Goodbye, Isley. You take care of yourself." Standing up the woman smiled a bit and took a deep breath to calm herself from all the emotion running rampant behind the mask.

"Also kark you for leaving me out of your will, dick." With that last remark she stepped down onto the surface of Mandalore and her feet crunched under the volcanic glass and ash.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

"Master DragonsFlame, you might want to see this."​

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"Mmm?"​

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"Immediately."​

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"Where am I heading then?"​

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"Mandalore. I'll give you the coordinates once you land."​

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Would you believe him if he told you that he had never been to Mandalore before?

Josh had dealt with many interactions with the Mandalorians. He'd fought alongside [member="Ordo"] as well as [member="Tracyn"] in battles years past, and had also fought against the Mandalorians during their strife with the Republic in years gone by. He was a bit older now, a bit wiser... Well, much older now, he supposed. He was only a young one then, barely out of his teens when he had been the Grandmaster that had stormed the ship of the Mandalorian leaders for negotiations. But now... He had no links, he was his own man, away from the Republic, and able to be free to do the job as it should be done.

And yet, despite his past, he'd never been to Mandalore.

He didn't know why he had been called here. And yet, part of him... Felt like it called to him. Not just because of the message, but as he came near the planet, it just... Called to him with a sense of familiarity that he had never imagined he could feel from a planet that he'd never been to. He felt... Nostalgic, somehow. The Final Dragon would touch down on Mandalore, and the forests that were a clear defining factor of the world immediately reminded him of his homeworld, Naboo. And yet they felt... Rougher somehow. Battle-hardened, if that was a way to describe a forest, or any biome... The ship would touch down, and he would make his way out. He wasn't garbed in the traditional Jedi wear. Instead he wore a black leather jacket over a blue t-shirt, with black pants and boots under them. Long blonde hair blew through the wind as he would walk down the ramp, motioning for R4 to watch the ship as he would walk out of the spaceport.

"What am I looking for exactly?"

"Our scouts were going through Mandalore on a separate mission, and happened to chance upon something that... Well, it lines up with something you mentioned before. About your father, and what he did, to honour her..."

He stopped.

"... I'm listening."

"Please, just follow the coordinates. It might be better for you to see it yourself."

"... Alright."

The Jedi Master let out a sigh and shook his head as he would look over the map he had, punching in the coordinates of where he was to head to.

"Huh... Is... Is that a graveyard?"

It was rare that his contacts were wrong on something... But this seemed so vague, and they didn't seem to detail it as a mission. What in the world was going on? He had left [member="Shmi Labooda"] at home to pursue what he was told was an immediate matter, but he couldn't help but feel uneasy at just how vague this was.

But this graveyard was a ways away, still... And who knew who he'd bump into on the way there?

[member="Miss Blonde"]

 

[Miss Blonde]

Once she had paid her respect to her old friend, Blonde was ready to get this over with. And while it was selfish of her, she knew Isley well enough that he wouldn't want his home to remain like this. Some burnt out shell of its former glory that stood on ruin and destruction. So she did what any good friend or emotionally distraught woman would do. She would send it out with a bang.

"I don't want to look at this anymore. Send her off." She ordered her men in a very calm manner and it would soon be carried out.

Stepping down from the ramp with anti-walker rocket launchers, a firing squad of war dogs aimed at the main house then fired. The rockets quickly left the barrels of the launchers and in a bright display of fire and destruction, the remnants of the home exploded into tiny pieces of metal and obsidian leaving only a smoldering hole where it once stood. The bright fires and light flashed off her visors and the crime lord simply snapped her fingers once the act was done to start the digging process.

Even in death Isley always impressed Blonde, he had built his house on a very decently sized Beskar vein. She'd take that ore and do two things with it, erect a monument of her friend, and create weapons that she knew he'd be proud of.

Once things had begun to settle, the other shuttles with the mining equipment came down and started to unload various worker droids and vehicles to run themselves over to the giant crater in the earth and start digging. Blonde still caught up in the moment had no idea that [member="Joshua DragonsFlame"] was on his way over to Mandalore and quite frankly even if she did know, she didn't care. The Mandalorians were all but scattered and while she wouldn't fight them out of respect for her late friend, she had no qualms with fighting a Jedi if he started something.

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLQ-rCSbFeQ​

He wanted to walk. Part of him just wanted to walk, for some reason... He deigned not to take a speeder, and just walked through Mandalore's open forest landscape with a calm, brisk manner. The feeling of nostalgia, like it felt familiar to him, flooded his very being and he just wanted to feel that feeling, if it made sense... Feel it's warm embrace for just a little while longer. He hadn't been here before, and yet... That feeling of nostalgia called to him and made him want to see, and feel the planet.

Perhaps he had been here before after all? Long ago?

It was faint... But he could make out something in his head. And then it was gone. Letting out a sigh, he would continue his pursuit of whatever it was he had been asked to see. The sound of rockets shot him out of his daze, and he would look over at something he'd missed before. A structure, that he only had a few moments to look at before it was blown to bits. And just like that, the house was down, and mining would begin.

Curious, he would slowly make his way toward it, wanting to get a closer look at what was going on...

[member="Miss Blonde"]

 

[Miss Blonde]

Ash continued to fall as dozens of droids now covered in soot and ash hammered away at the earth. This was Mandalore now, a volcanic wasteland unfit for life. And at the edge of the site was Miss Blonde, this was an important affair that needed her hand to personally attend to. It wasn't every day she was on Mandalore, she had only ever been a handful of times and sadly she lamented seeing it so. But the heart of what made Mandalore survived, the Beskar within the earth under layers of obsidian volcanic glass still remained, and as long as the mandalorians had that they could rebuild. They were an industrious people in that regard, but before they got down to that Blonde would borrow some for good measure.

"Break the earth, gather the ore, Isley would want us to fight on. He never saw this metal as some holy divine substance, he was a man of business. He sold it just as he wielded it, it was an means to an end. So through his lessons and sacrifice we will have our means. His vision and his goals shall live on through the weapons we forge from this metal and his legacy." Giving her little speech to her various worker droids and organic employees she would raise up the volume this time around.

"SO PICK UP THE GOD DAMM PACE BEFORE I START TAKING FINGERS!!" Despite her kindness she was still Miss Blonde, and she was still fairly ruthless.

With the threat of losing precious digits now in their heads, the droids and humans alike unloaded equipment faster, dug harder, and pushed themselves to continue their work. Blonde of course had matters to attend to herself. Such as getting security set up and a perimeter established. They were after all on Mandalore, which was now a completely lawless planet. Raiders and bandits could strike at any moment and she wasn't about to let her mining operation go undefended.

"Unit 56-2. Come here." Blonde said to one of the tall war dog battle droids nearby.

The droid promptly nodded and walked over to its master in a hurry before standing at attention by her side.

"Ma'am." The droid said in a deep robust tone.

"Establish a perimeter, dig small foxholes and establish kill zones every fifty meters with mobile machine guns." After giving her order the war dog gave a salute and ran off to make it so.

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

It was funny... Despite the condition of Mandalore now, he still felt at home somehow. It was like the planet hadn't become a wasteland, in his mind... Even if in his eyes, he could see it. It was a weird feeling. Nostalgia. Nostalgia for a planet you'd never even visited.

But... Why?

His nostalgic daze was broken when the sounds of explosives had brought him back to his senses. His curiousity piqued, he made his way over soon enough to see what had been left of the home. He had no clue the context, so he didn't intervene unless the context was made quite clear and he had reason to do so. It was funny, really... The sense he felt here was familiar too, but not the same as what he felt upon touching down on Mandalore. It was as though someone he knew and knew well had spent a considerable amount of time here. Perhaps that was what had drawn him to this particular spot, off the beaten path from where he had been heading?

He had known Isley, he was pretty sure. Or had he known him under another name? Of course, he couldn't piece together what familiar presence he was sensing, but if he could, and knew the name behind the home... He'd wonder which number name this was? And then he'd laugh, had he known. Of course, he did not know of the death of his friend. When a name changed his name many times, even his friends could not keep track without reminder. He hadn't seen his friend in a long time, and the trail had gone cold.

He would mourn him, if he knew.

He stopped at a distance, watching the remains of the home turn into a mining operation on the fly. He had to wonder why, for a moment... But with the lawlessness of Mandalore now, was there truly a reason to intervene? They weren't breaking any laws, were they raiders... And he didn't see any people fighting it. If there were, they were probably already dead. There was a woman, he noted, giving orders - and loud ones at that. Her shrill calls reminded him of a drill sergeant and it was quite clear who was the leader of the operation.

From a distance, he watched this operation, curious about the going-ons as he would lean against what was left of a nearby tree, his arms folded as he watched in silence... Almost as if wondering if observing would bring him answers. Granted, he was also watching in case the former homeowners returned and made a fuss. If that broke out into fisticuffs, he would intervene more on moral principal then what was legal or illegal on this planet.

Of course... Something deep down told him that whoever had owned the place wasn't coming back. But he did make note of the order, in that loud voice of hers, to establish kill zones.

He knew that observing meant he played a dangerous game, one he'd have to be cautious about.

[member="Miss Blonde"]

 

[Talmass Erillett]

'Sir, we have a confirmed position on Miss blonde. Should we engage?' One of Charles's aid ran to hhelp m, handing him a data pad. Mandalore. What's more it was her and not many war dogs.

"Engage. Send strike team Sc-f1, Erin in command."

With a short nod the aid ran off. This time we could bring her down. She was practically alone, but she would undoubtedly ready for an attack. We had to strike hard and fast.

 

[Erin Thranost]

"Right sir. Moving to engage." Erin said into his comlink. He gathered his force. Twelve men. All in a-wings, with the expection of arics with her Tie advanced. This time, Miss blonde would be taken in. "All units take off." He said again, this time to his unit. "We better not screw this up."