You New Here?

[Revenchent]

The man went down relatively quickly. He didn't put up much of a fight, though it wasn't for lack of trying. When his fellow warriors fell, he brought his sidearm up to bare. Cal was too quick. He was already rushing out of the tree line before the Deathwatch soldier could managed to reach for his weapon.

Shoulder checking a man wearing full beskar'gam was not Cal's most intelligent decision. The blow caught his opponent right in the chest and sent him reeling; sending a terrible shock of pain through Cal's arm at the same time. A howl of anguish and outrage escape the Chieftain, though he kept his wits about him. His shatter gun aimed right for the downed man's chest and fired point-blank into him. The first shot killed him. The second shell destroyed the remains of his armor.

Chest rising and falling heavily, Cal turned to face Mel, his shattergun hanging limply in his left hand.

"Clear." He echoed her, slumping his shoulders to try and reduce some of the pain in his arm. It relieved some of the pressure, but the feeling of pins and needles where his arm met the socket was still present.

"I might have to keep you around," he snickered through a pained expression. "We should search the camp. See what we can find."

[member="Melina Tervho"]

 

[Melina Tervho]

Cal moved pretty quickly for there being a fairly heavy snowfall, and he managed to take down the armored one post haste. Three confirmed kills. Mel holstered one of the pistols, laying the other on the chest of the dead man while she rifled through his pockets. Nothing incriminating, just some creds, lint, scraps of trash and a piece of candy. The contents of the other one she hit were similar. She chuckled as she was flipping the one corpse over to check pockets.

"Well, it might be nice to be needed."

There was a smirk as she glanced over at him. There were a couple of low tents set back from the fire and she headed to the closet one, raising the flap, her blaster raised in her right. The ache of her earlier burn was still in the arm and the pain caused her to wince a moment before she noted the tent was empty and went in to retrieve the packs that were sitting in the back.

Hauling them back out to the light, she dropped them next to the fire, and started to rummage through them. It was mostly clothes and some small ration packs but in the bottom of one of the pack, there was a comlink and a datapad.

"Pay dirt. We've got some devices here. You any good at slicing?"

She didn't have the stuff she would need to really check them out but at this rate, she didn't think anyone in Rikatal would either. This might have to go back to Kurs'taylir to be of any use to the Tal'verda clan leaders.

[member="Calico Tal'verda"]

 

[Revenchent]

Cal didn't pay the corpses much mind. He had long since lost his taste for anything particularly morbid. Though the bodies were not particularly marred, the open stare of their eyes was still haunting in a way. In the past, such had not affected Calico in such a way. These days, the little horrors were beginning to add up. You could see a man lose his soul in the final moments before death. The moments afterword were always particularly somber.

"Don't start. I might get used to you. You'll be in for a horrid time," Cal opined with grim humor. His lips pressed into a thin smile. They worked well together, for whatever that was worth. Perhaps he might see to it that she remained near - - the Manda knew he needed the company these days.

His brow furrowed as she produced the commlink and datapad. With hope, one of those items would be the first piece to a trail. A trail that Cal found himself hoping to be very short, though knew in his bones that it would not be so. If the Death Watch were truly on Mandalore, they would be careful. They wouldn't just leave the coordinates to their operations out for all to see.

But then, wasn't that exactly what the men back in Rikital had done?

"Afraid not. That was always my brother's things. I just make nice speeches and shoot things."

He strolled over toward Mel and knelt over the corpses. The men would receive no rites. Their bodies would not be burned and delivered to the Manda. Their souls would not be freed from their mortal prisons. They would be left here for the carrion. Perhaps the Dire Wolves would find them. At the very least, the local population would not go hungry.

"We'll have to take them to Kurs'taylir. I know a man who might be able to help." He pushed up to his feet and offered a calloused hand, "Speeder's a ways away. Out here any longer and I'll get tired. You'll have to carry men - - we don't want that, do we?"

[member="Melina Tervho"]

 

[Melina Tervho]

Mel grabbed their weapons, datapads, the comlinks and anything else that looked like it was lead was thrown into one of the bags from the dead men. She chuckled at him as she cinched the bag up and holstered her weapons again.

"I'm good at horrid times. I mean, come on. We met, had a drink, destroyed a Deathwatch cell and I've been here a whole two hours. Imagine what I can get into if I actually plan something."

She took his hand to help her up and carefully went around to start kicking snow into the fire, quenching the flames and darkening the circle of tents and bins in the wilderness. They walked quickly back through the deepening darkness back to the speeder. Once the rifle, the bag and her holster were stowed in the back seat, she slipped her warm bright green coat on and slid into the front seat. She leaned on the door, facing over to him as the speeder got underway, trying to figure him out. And smiling a little that Kad was opening a path to her to remember life and not weigh so heavily with Taung's death.

"So, we gotta move quickly on this, I'd wager. You wanna stop by the cantina, we'll grab my things. This property ain't going anywhere. And it sounds like you need the help."

She had pulled her knee up on the seat, turned sideways, although her boot was still hanging over the edge of the seat so she was not dripping snow onto the upholstery. The speeder was really nice. The way people looked at him. The quip about making speeches.

She let him play commoner a little while longer. He sounded like he needed a friend, someone who wasn't looking at him like the weight of world rested on his shoulders. She could understand that, at least a little.

[member="Calico Tal'verda"]

 

[Revenchent]

"Yeah, I s'pose that's true," Cal quipped as they hovered over the forest. He settled back into his chair, content to let the speeder pilot itself toward Rikital for the moment. "You're right. I could use the help. I cant let this get out anymore than it already has, and you're a better shot than me."

He flashed her a wicked smirk, "Well, to a certain degree anyway. Funnily enough, snow isn't my element for this sort of things." His datapad began to ring. "Odd, I know. Just didn't click with me, but this place is good for the people. So we chose it."

He peeled his eyes away from the lands below to gaze at Mel. He hadn't taken the time before hand to really get a good look at her. She was a woman of beauty, though there was a hardness in her eyes that belied the kind of elegance one would associate with such a face. He chose not to let his gaze linger, instead turning his attentions to the datapad in his lap.

The message was a short one. Cal cursed loud enough to make himself flinch.

"More of them. Not far from here - - on the way to Rikital."

His smile morphed into a frown; voice laced with displeasure. "We should check it out. Then we head for Rikital. I'll buy you a drink afterword. Promise."

[member="Melina Tervho"]

 

[Melina Tervho]

She watched him go from a little relaxed having dealt with that cell, to a more serious expression as the comlink chimed. She was a little cold still from trudging through the woods. She had wrapped herself in the green coat again, the obnoxious bright color definitely hard to miss in a crowd.

As he checked his message and swore, she pulled her eyes away from the snow whirling past the windows. The back windows of the speeder were fogging up from their breath, but the front was clear out in the night storm.

More good news.

"I'm gonna hold you to that. The brochure said there was good hunting up here, but this isn't what I had in mind."

She shook her head at her joke but she was in for the haul now. It wasn't like she had anything else to do. The speeder turned towards the reported trouble. Whatever they might have thought, Deathwatch had this a Long Time Coming.

[member="Calico Tal'verda"]

 

[Revenchent]

...and then.

The threat of Deathwatch had been quelled for now. Cal knew they would return eventually, but he would allow himself a brief respite of peace before returning to the hunt. He had, after all, promised Mel a drink.

The speeder limped back into Rikital sometime around midnight. Most of the town was asleep around now, save for the guards. The dire wolves prowled at tis time of night. Though the great durasteel walls kept them out of the village, the guard were still wary. Drunks occasionally wandered beyond the walls. It would not be the first time that an inebriated man was scooped up by one of the massive predators.

Cal watched with vague interest as the en and women patrolled. When the speeder finish its self-diagnostic, something was wrong with the engine, he cast Mel a look.

"I still owe you that drink." He murmured, cracking a thin, albeit exhausted smile. His chest still ached from where he had been shot. "Bar doesn't close until three. Most of the working folks have gone home."

He set his shattergun beneath the speeder's seat. He would have no use for it now, and the blaster pack was almost dry anyway. With a grunt, he pushed himself up out of the speeder and drew his coat about him, shivering in the momentary cold. He wasted no time in hurrying inside, and into the encompassing warmth.

The cantina was, as Cal had stated mostly empty. Two patrons sat in the corner chatting away, but things were otherwise quiet. A fire burned in the hearth at the center of the room and provided heat for those within. Cal strode through the doors and drank it in, content to let the warmth bring him back to life.

"You pick. I'll pay."

[member="Melina Tervho"]

 

[Melina Tervho]

In the light of the cantina, the evening's carnage became gruesomely visible. Mel's hands and black thermal jacket were caked with dried blood, the coppery smell of it in her nose. Her weapons were spent, the pack of datapads, comlinks and confiscated guns was left in the speeder but she knew she had more gas packs in her bag which was waiting behind the bar. She took it back gratefully and headed for the refresher.

The warm water on her hands felt too hot as she tried to warm up her fingers. The water ran red, then pink and finally clear as she washed away the evening's work. She peeled out of her clothes and changed into something clean, something not soaked in the blood of murderers. A brush through her hair, and washcloth to the face and she was finally just Mel again, staring at tired eyes in the mirror.

She walked back out after a few minutes, dropping her bag next to where Cal had sat next to the fire. It was time for that drink.

"A mug of hot shig and tihaar." She glanced over her shoulder. "And whatever he's drinking."

She needed to relax, get warm, and try to talk herself of thinking that she might have actually felt pretty good about the things she did tonight. She took out the targets, she protected the innocents. She did the thing that Taung would have done.

As the glass of tihaar was placed in front of her, she curled her fingers around it and murmured to herself. "Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum. Taung H'rel."

She took a long pull on the tihaar as the mug of shig was set down with the liquor. Scooping them both up, she headed back for the fire and a comfortable chair. She was starting to feel her age, even though her face didn't dare show how old she was.

[member="Calico Tal'verda"]

 

[Revenchent]

The chieftain had a moment to himself to ponder current events. The Deathwatch was back, though in what force he did not know. What he did know was that worlds on the fringes of Mandalorian space had been seceding rapidly in the last few months. There were rumors that this was due to Deathwatch's efforts, and that the worlds lost now owed their allegiance to a new Mandalore. One who considered himself supreme among the Mando'ade. The man, whomever he might be, did not lack confidence, at the very least.

Now his agents were popping up in Tal'verda territory. Cal had not expected such. Kurs'taylir was a formidable outpost, but the fortress-city had little strategic significance other than its defensive capabilities. The surrounding town were of a similar kind. In hindsight, he should have planned for this. There was an element of the Tal'verda that was angered with the Alore Council. There was an element that craved battle and glory once again.

In the past, Calico might have been one of them. These days, he was content to file reports and drink his hot chocolate. The fire within him had not gone out; its focus had simply shifted to the more mundane parts of leadership. There was a time for speeches and warmongering, and a time to let things sit still and enjoy a momentary peace.

Melina's presence drew him from his private thoughts. He had no change of clothes, nor any means of cleaning himself. His hair hung from his face in messy tangles. His clothing was covered in detritus from their struggle in the snow, and he smelled of burning ozone. Firing a Verpine weapon did that to you.

"Su cuy," he waved a hand in mock greeting, "You clean up nice." He flashed the woman a smile and held his hands out toward the fire. His fingers were still shaking.

"I'm sure you've figured out who I am by now," the smile faded, "I never liked introducing myself as the Chieftain. Always seemed needless and arrogant. Only took the job because no one else would."

Except for you, Ga'ika, rest your soul.

Blue eyes shifted to the raven haired woman. "Like to let people form their own opinions without titles shifting their perspective. What's the verdict?"

[member="Melina Tervho"]

 

[Melina Tervho]

"The verdict?" She looked into the fire, the warm glow making her skin appear golden. "Everyone needs a hobby."

There was a grin on her lips as she raised the glass of tihaar, and let the pungent liquor pour over her tongue. She had never really gotten a taste for tihaar until recently, and even now, she really only liked it when she could have shig with it. Mel was generally a bourbon drinker but she was also picky as hell with her chosen vice so if the place didn't look like it would carry the bottle she favored, she wouldn't even bother asking.

She considered her next words carefully, although she knew that having seen her in action, he probably had a clue about her just as she had about him. There was always an outlier chance that in admitting her past that it would sour her current position of good standing but she had lived under too many secrets for too long already. She was not that woman anymore.

"If we're being completely honest, I kinda had you pegged for someone a little more important, just from the way people treat you and the way you carry yourself. Just as I'm sure you pegged me for an assassin from the way some other things have gone down here tonight. I am retired, I did not come to Mandalore to shed blood."

She blew out a sigh as she set the shig mug on her lap, pulling her eyes away from the fire to look at him.

"I'm a widow. My Taung bought a place up here where we could raise a family, I was just coming up to take a look at it and figure out what to do with it but it looks like Kad has other plans for me."

Her brow furrowed in thought as she weighed her options.

"I'm not cut out for a quiet life on a farm. But, if you keep me around, I swear anyone gunning for you will have to go through me first. So you tell me, Chieftan, do I make the cut?"

[member="Calico Tal'verda"]

 

[Revenchent]

He had surmised something of the sort, that much was true. Calico was a careful man, one had be to live as long as he had given his occupation, and did not allow for the company of relative strangers lightly. Mel had been a convenience; there was trouble and the woman was present. Keeping her around any longer was...

Blue eyes narrowed as she made the offer clear. Calloused fingers tapped against the wooden arms of his chair. His gaze flitted over her, from the tihaar to her face, and back to the drink. There would be murmurings among the elders. They would not approve - - not after Zandra had taken her leave from his side. They would assume he was taking on a pretty face to help distract himself from current grievances. Their respect for him might diminish. Problems would abound.

And yet, Mel was entirely capable of doing what she had suggested. It was good to bring on fresh faces every now and then to keep the elders' grating, and often highly traditional advice, from being the only suggestions he heard everyday. He could not deny that the raven haired woman carried herself well, and truthfully, they were both in very similar situations. The only difference therein being that Calico had a responsibility to the clan; to his position as Chieftain. He could fall back on that when everything in his personal life fell apart.

For Mel? That didn't seem to be the case.

He would have to give that to her.

"I've had bitter old men and women telling me how to run things for the past few years now. Bringing on a fresh, unbiased face would be healthy." He leaned back into the chair. "You do, Mel, and I'm sorry to hear about your husband. Ni kar'taylir bic enteyor cuyir urakto."

He fell silent as the Mando'a spilled from his lips. Just seemed like the right thing to say. "I was retired to, believe it or not. Funny how life kicks you in the teeth when you just want to sit down." He smiled. "You can work with me until you get tired of it. We can find something productive for you to do once you do get tired of it, and I assure you, you will."

[member="Melina Tervho"]

 

[Melina Tervho]

She relaxed a bit and the tension held in her shoulders slumped into the chair. She stretched her legs out in front of her, crossing one ankle over the other. She could feel the warmth of the fire through the soles of her boots and it was helping to dry her treads out. She let her thoughts play over Taung for a second, the ghost of a smile brightening her eyes a moment.

"Taung was my only failed mission. I fell for my target because when I got close enough to do the job, I learned they wanted him eliminated for the wrong reasons. He was a threat because he put life of his workers, his people over profits and it was causing too much headaches for the bureaucrats. I flipped sides."

The strong citrus flavor of shig helped to calm the harsh aftertaste of the tihaar.

"Feth, I'm not going to tell you how to run things, I'm not the kind for it. I'm the one who watches your six in a fight and makes sure people like Deathwatch don't get close enough to be a knife in the dark. I'm good at eliminating threats. Deathwatch seems like a pretty karking big one."

She wasn't concerned over how it was going to look because it wasn't something she would care about. She had no intentions towards Cal, just taking the lifelong experience and training she had and putting it to better use. Maybe she could help train some of the younger clan. She didn't care as long as she was doing something. The last year had been empty. She was no longer an asset to a clandestine organization, and she was no longer a wife. It was time to figure out who and what she was when she was the one with the power to choose.

"It's late and I'm exhausted. Is there a place to stay around here for the night?"

[member="Calico Tal'verda"]

 

[Revenchent]

Truly, that was all he needed. Manda knew the Tal'verda needed more guns in general. He was in no position to turn Mel away, not that he wanted to.

"Consider yourself hired then," he snickered, his hand falling to his datapad. He typed in a quick message to the spymaster and sent it away. The old man would want to know about the developments with Deathwatch. "Sounds like a good man. We might have got along."

With luck, Strask would be prepared to look over the spoils of the battle with Deathwatch. The Bothan was a smart man; more capable with this sort of thing than Cal was. He had an eye for things that the Chieftain did not. Ten years of running the Spynet and keeping the Confederacy, Cal thought, would do that to you. He'd have to bring the guy a treat in exchange for his efforts. Ujj cake, maybe?

"Jinny has a few backrooms for special guests. I don't feel like flying all the way back to Kurs'taylir, so we'll have adjacent rooms. I'll need to speak with my men on the morrow, figure out the situation in the other villages." He frowned. "Odds are there are more popping up. Might have to talk to the other clans, see how they feel about things."

Shab.

"My daughter karked up relations. Too much of her mother in her. My wife, Zandra, was an Echani. Bad match from the start, honestly," he chuckled, "I went off to fight in the war. The elders were supposed to take charge. My kid was the one who did it. Caused a big mess, and ran off toward the fringes of the galaxy. She's seventeen now."

I'm droning on.

"But enough of me. Let me speak to Jenni, make sure the rooms haven't been taken." The chieftain pushed up his feet and strolled up to the bar, entering a rather animated conversation with a tiny old woman. A few moments later and he returned, a mug of hot chocolate in his hand. "We're clear."

[member="Melina Tervho"]

 

[Melina Tervho]

"Kids do that. I karked up my parent's. They had a plot of land picked out for me, and a boy in mind. You can see how well that turned out."

She nodded to him about the rooms, and as he went to speak with Jenni, she was left alone by the fire with her thoughts. Yeah, Cal and Taung might have gotten along swimmingly. It felt right to help him now, to be the one what would take over those shoes even though she didn't know how to truly walk in them. Her parents had raised her to be fair and to take care of others, but a very long time behind the scope as a pawn of the game had eroded it away.

He came back with a mug of hot chocolate, and she grinned. The tihaar was gone and there was a warm sensation in her veins from the alcohol working its way through her system. She cocked her head at his drink of choice, her own fingers curled around a steaming mug of shig.

"You better slow down, hitting the hard stuff like that."

She picked her mug up as she stood, reaching down for her bag.

"I'm catching some sleep. See you in the morning."

She sauntered off, thankful to have a place to rest for the night. She laid down, tried to sleep and for a while, it was fine but as the dawn rays started to filter through the window, she had hoisted herself out of the bed and stopped pretending to sleep. She showered and dressed, cleaning some of the dried blood off her coat as best she could. Between the bloodstains and the scorch marks from the shot to the arm, she'd torn it up and she had owned it for about a day.

"This is why I can't have nice things." She muttered to herself as she repacked her bag. She cleaned and reloaded her blasters and took care of her rifle, making sure she was ready for another engagement should they find themselves in one. Mel drug everything back out to the barroom and ordered some eggs and toast from a very matronly Jenni. She looked at Mel hard and nodded and poured her a cup of caf. Shig was fine for later in the day but she needed a pick me up in the morning.

She was sitting in a back corner of the room, her back to the wall, clear line of sight to the guest rooms, the front door and an unobstructed egress. Some habits die hard. As far as she was concerned, she worked for the chieftain now. She had a datapad, reading news from around the galaxy and waiting to hear what their moves were that day.

[member="Calico Tal'verda"]

 

[Revenchent]

Cal hadn't slept much.

Like it or not, he was a copy of another man. A man who had lived centuries ago; his story long since ended. This brought about physical complications. While the accelerated aging had been treated, and his failing organs summarily replaced by the cloners on Kamino, the psychological problems were ever-present. He'd had insomnia since the age of seven. Galaar had always helped him find rest one way or another; usually by talking his brother into a stupor until sleep took him by surprise. Zandra had used other methods.

These days, he spent his evenings with only his thoughts for company. They didn't help much. After three hours of staring up at the ceiling, he'd opted to send a message to one of his old contacts within the Confederacy. The reply had come rather quickly. Death Watch was indeed present beyond Mandalorian territory now; claiming planets for their own. They were shadow games, as his contact called them, conquering worlds and cutting them off from the rest of the galaxy. As such, news of Death Watch's spread went largely unnoticed. The only sign that they were still about in the galaxy had been the very recent attack on Mandalore itself.

"Stubborn d'ikuts."

Sleep finally found him in the wee hours of the morning, though his body only allowed him to remain in slumber until the first light of dawn dripped in from beyond the curtains. Groaning, Cal forced himself up to his feet. He hadn't bothered with showering, having to slip into the same dirty clothes anyway. Instead, he strolled over to the fresher and washed his hair and face off in the water basin. He was, at the very least, somewhat presentable.

Sleepy eyed, Cal made his way out into the main room, taking a mug filled with steamed water from Jenni. Cal had some rather weird habits, and the older woman seemed to know every one of them.

"Morning," he grumbled as he took a seat alongside Mel, "Hope you slept better than I did."

He took a sip of the water. It was hot enough to be scalding to some, though the brief displeasure helped him perk up somewhat. "Received a comm from the Rekali's last evening. Seems they're looking for allies in a planet-taming endeavor. The opportunity is too good to pass up - - I'm taking a team to assist."

Some sense of lucidity returned to him as he tried to meet Mel's gaze. "It'll be in a few days. You'll have time to get used to Kurs'taylir and Rikital."

He didn't ask the question. Mel had volunteered to join his detail. It was only fitting she joined him.

[member="Melina Tervho"]

 

[Melina Tervho]

"Makes sense, from the things I've been reading. The dark net is full of sighting and whispers of them. They've been recruiting for a while through back channels."

She motioned the screen of her datapad to him, a sheepish look on her face.

"Old habits. I have some contacts that didn't get burned when I was so we trade favors. I just wanted to know mundane things they could tell me. It's pretty tame so far. If I want him to dig, that's when he starts talking about cases of obscure whiskey."

She pushed the last bits of egg on a piece of toast and squinched her eyes up to read the clock behind the bar.

"As long as I can get some proper tactical gear and swing back by Keldabe to pick up Nola, we're fine. I'll worry about a place to live later. There's things to do."

[member="Calico Tal'verda"]