Private The Weight of the Hammer

[Mia Monroe]

Smoke caught in the wind obscuring the now still battlefield for a breath, the ringing of a hammer striking nails through flesh was loud, jarring through the quiet aftermath of a fight. Somov Rit had fallen, not just to the Mandalorian Empire, but they had fallen prey to something much worse.

Mia picked her way towards it, pausing as she passed soldiers, checking in offering quiet words of encouragement, pulling them to their feet and sending them on their way, towards quickly erected medial tents. The battle had been short, but it had been bloody. The insurgent lightsiders that had bent Somov Rit’s ears had taken more than their share of mandalorians with them.

The ring of the hammer stopped as she stepped up behind Aether, her black and gold armour dulled and pockmarked from the fight, blood smears shimmering in the fading afternoon light.

For a moment, she said nothing, not wanting to intrude on Aether. She knew the weight that rested on his shoulders better than anyone who followed him.

“The outlying settlements have fallen in line.” she said finally “Casualties are low and most of the wounded will be back on their feet within a few weeks at worst.”

She let her words settle before moving to stand beside him, her eyes scanning the faces of those hanging before her. There was no disgust or regret about their position. They had made their choice, and Aether had made his.

“Are you alright?” those words were softer, not of a Warmaster reporting to her Mand’alor, but of an aunt, checking in on her nephew.

Aether Verd

 

[Aether Verd]

Wearing:
Armor - Darksaber - Mask of Mandalore
.​

SOMOV RIT

The Mand'alor's gaze was upon the cross.

With helm tucked under his arm, Aether looked upon the broken form of a Jedi. Her arms were outstretched upon a plank of wood. Spikes had been savagely driven through her flesh. Yet, in a fact that would surprise those unaware, life yet clung to her. The weight of her body pulled her down, pressing the air from her lungs.

To rest meant to suffocate.

To rest meant to die.

Thus, she pulled against the spikes, forcing her form upward until the weight was finally extinguished. The agony fell from her lips as fresh air kissed her lungs. Only then did her strength falter. Only then did she lower once more and that hard-fought breath perish immediately. Over and over she would fight. Until, at last, her strength would give out and death would claim her.

This was a fitting consequence for the Lightbearers who forced Mandalore's hand. A fitting consequence for all who denied the Mandalorians their birthright. The cross was a physical manifestation of the futility of their struggle. They would fight for each breath - and maybe even secure a mouthful of air...but in the end, it was futile. In the end, there was only death.

The Mand'alor eventually turned when his Warmaster arrived. His eyes were focused and angry, yet softened at the sight of her. He nodded as the report was made...then pondered the answer to her question.

"I knew this day would come, I just...thought we had more time." came his admission. There was a weariness there, a sadness laced between each syllable. "What we must do...what I must do...Mandalore will make an enemy of the Light for generations. It will bloody. It will hurt. But it must be done."

Mia Monroe

 

[Mia Monroe]

Mia exhaled a sigh at his answer, sadness settling in her own chest. He didn’t have the luxury of choice, when she had first come to him when he’d taken the mantle, she had asked him why.

“I want this Empire to outlive me. My kids. Their kids. Not for my glory. Not for statues. Just so our people have something stable. Something real. Mandalore deserves that much.”

For a moment she said nothing, she let Aether’s words settle between them before reaching to lift her own helmet from her head and settling it under her arm. Sapphire eyes studied Aether, weariness was showing beneath his eyes and for a moment Mia cursed herself for not seeing it before.

But they had been busy. Things did not fall silent just because Mandalore’s enemies collapsed, there had been remnants to chase ever since Yaga Minor, Imperial Lords that had hammered supply lines and then there was this.

“That is our curse.” she replied finally “There is never enough time, there is always another fight.”

She paused.

“Whatever decision you are thinking of making, you do not have to make it alone, Aether. It doesn’t have to be you who swings the hammer. I am not just here to command your armies, I am here for you.”

Aether Verd

 

[Aether Verd]

Wearing:
Armor - Darksaber - Mask of Mandalore
.​

SOMOV RIT

His gaze studied her for a few moments.

There was never a single shred of doubt that the Warmaster's words held true. She knew the burden of ruling the people of Mandalore. She knew the burden of looking past the present day and staring reality in the eye. What they had now? It was comfortable. The Empire was stable. Mercenary work was plentiful. With each conquest, Mandalore grew stronger, wiser, and deadlier. The dream of having something concrete for the next generation became realer with each passing moment.

But he could see it on the horizon.

And he knew, of all people, that Mand'alor the Liberator had seen it too.

A sigh fell from his lips after long last. He had not spoken these thoughts to anyone. He had not divulged what had driven him to these extremes...until now.

"I saw what awaits us." he began. "I communed with the Living Waters...And in those depths, Mandalore showed me what so many of us refused to acknowledge."

"The Force will be our salvation...or it will be our demise."

He let the words linger for a moment before continuing.

"My predecessors attempted to cull the Force from Mandalore. Ra's cure. The civil wars. Scraping Mykyr for every Ysalamir possible. All of it was an attempt to circumvent the doom that crawls ever closer. They thought that, by mastering the tools that silence the Force, the end would be defeated. And I wish - gods do I wish - that they had it right. That finding voidstone and injecting biots into the blood would preserve us..."

"But it won't."

"The day will come when Srina is no longer Empress of the Sith. The day will come when Quinn, after her, is no longer Empress of the Sith. What happens to Mandalore then? And as is the damned cycle of the Galaxy, the day will come when the Light makes its resurgence across the stars. When it, under the guise of righteousness, genocides anything that dares to oppose it. What happens to Mandalore then? Biots and voidstone didn't save our homeworld from being razed to a cinder. Cures and superstition did not stop the bleeding."

Aether shook his head. Another sigh escaped him.

"Only our strength will save us. The strength that comes from truly being the greatest warriors in all the cosmos. The strength that hails from embracing every weapon at our disposal. Now, I hunt the Light to cull their number. I take their children and make them Mandalorian. For when that day comes when the Light rampages across the stars? We will be armed, ready, and furious. When that day comes when Quinn's descendants forget their kinship with Mandalore? We will be armed, ready, and furious."

The Mand'alor then reached for his belt and tugged free a rugged tool. It seemed out of place...but here, before the cross, it belonged. It was the bloodstained hammer which had first driven nails into Diarchy flesh. Now, it was held aloft for her to take.

"Take this, for soon we will have many nails to drive. The Light will Fall. And if the Dark marches upon us, we will not falter."

Mia Monroe

 

[Mia Monroe]

Tags: Aether Verd

Mia listened, her jaw tightening at the mention of Ra and the cure that had followed in the wake of her demise. If she had won… She brushed the thought aside. She punished herself enough in her own time, she would not do it on Aether’s.

He spoke all the questions she had asked herself. What happened when House Talon no longer held power over the Sith? When all these carefully crafted contracts that granted them some semblance of immunity collapsed? Mia had seen every version of war. War against the Light, War against the Dark, war against her own people. The future held no version of history that she had not already stood within.

The Diarchy had been little more than a nuisance, the Imperials too disorganised to form any army that had the capability to stand against them. But if the Jedi moved against them? If the sith remember they were an enemy worth fighting?

Aether was right. Only their strength would save them.

But there was more to ensuring their foundations did not waver, there was more work required within. Her hand reached, taking the blood stained hammer from his hand, the handle worn beneath her fingers, she let its head rest in her other hand, her eyes studying it for a moment.

“I have not, and nor will I ever, shy away from a heavy hand.” Mia said, finally looking up from the weight in her hands. “But there are those in your inner circle that will question this. You can cull Jedi, you can make foundlings of their children and we can mould an Empire like nothing the galaxy had ever seen. But if the core of it falters, Aether…”

Her hand tightened around the hammer, lifting it to her belt.

“Empire’s have collapsed over night because the people who held it together were not on the same page. They are loyal and they love you, but love will only take them so far. Tell them what you have seen, take them to the Living Waters so they can see it themselves. Trust them to make the right decision after they have all the information.”

She let her words settle. It was not a tail to induce paranoia or to encourage Aether to see enemies within, it was a reminder that their foundation started with the people he surrounded himself with, and they needed transparency.

“Let me be the hammer, while you tend to our home. I will not fail you.”

 

[Aether Verd]

Wearing:
Armor - Darksaber - Mask of Mandalore
.​

MANDALORE

The Liberator had the right of it.

Up until now, the truth behind Aether's shift had been something closely-guarded. Of his siblings? Only one knew where his heart and mind lay. Of his inner circle? As of this moment, only one truly knew. Thus, when Mia reached out and took the hammer in hand, the wisdom she offered resonated. His shoulders rose and fell as a sigh escaped his lips. She was right. He couldn't march his people down this path without laying the truth bare.

"I'm grateful that you stand with me, Mia. Your wisdom is worth more than a mountain of gold." he said finally, gratitude lacing his words. "I will gather the War Council and share the truth of this direction. As you said, Empires have fallen due to the core being misaligned. I have no desire for Mandalore to falter in such a manner."

He then motioned towards the hammer within her grasp.

"As for you, I charge you with overseeing the recent acquisitions. We have brought many younglings and padawans into the fold. Ensure they are rehomed and re-educated. Consult the Clans and ensure that our history and pain are conveyed in the best manner. These children have spent years being indoctrinated by the Light, it will take time and a diligent hand to ensure they are raised Mandalorian."

Mia Monroe

 

[Mia Monroe]

Tags: Aether Verd

Mia let out a breath of a laugh, eyes drifting past Aether to the crosses behind him, the Jedi still struggling for their last breath. Never in a hundred years had anyone suggested her to be wise. She was merely experienced and dedicated to giving Aether everything he needed to ensure his dream didn’t falter. To make sure he could not make the same mistakes she did.

She took a breath, feeling the weight of the task settling on her shoulders. Re-education of Jedi younglings was no small feat, some of them would struggle to forget what was done here today, it would eat through them like rot tainting everything if it was not handled carefully. Mia would need someone with a softer hand to help her there, someone who understood the ways of the Jedi better than she.

Adelle Bastiel was going to hate her after this.

Her gaze settled back on Aether and she smiled, reaching to rest a hand on his shoulder.

“This is the Way.”

Mia was rapidly making herself a nuisance to the healers of Sundari’s hospital.

She had tried to leave twice, itching to get back to the work that waited her beyond the four stark white walls, had it not been for the way Itzhal had looked at her she would have likely ignored their protests, but something in that sharp blue gaze made her stay. He had endured enough without her making things worse.

Tessa, at least, had been a saving grace, bringing her data pads of reports and sitting with her as they discussed the redesign of rebuilding of their home, along with the repairs A’den would need. She sat at the foot of the bed, legs crossed a holoimage hovering between them of the schematics of the old droid.

Allyson Locke had undone a great deal of progress her daughter had already made and though Tessa was far better at controlling her emotions than Mia was, she could still see the anger at the edges of her demeanour when her gaze flicked over partially healed wounds and the stump that remained of her left hand. She itched at it idly, listening to Tessa as she laid out her plans on how to get A'den working again, but her gaze shifted towards the door, sensing Aether approaching.

Gingerly she swung her legs off the bed, settling them against the floor as she let out a breath, feeling the still healing muscles in her thigh protesting. Pride would not have her laying in her bed before her Mand'alor, be it her nephew or not.

"Buir! You're not supposed to-"

The door hissed open, cutting her off as Aether stepped through.

“Aether!” she greeted with a smile before her gaze flicked to her mother. She rolled her eyes unfolding from her perch and hopping down from the bed, the holoimage collapsing at her command.

“I’m gonna go grab some caff.” she told them, pausing as she reached Aether "Don't let her stay on her feet for too long."

Then she was gone, and silence settled in her wake. There were a thousand excuses and explanations ready in her arsenal, but in the moment, she had nothing.

"It looks worse than it is." she said finally.