A Test of Spirit

[Preliat Mantis]

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"One of the more important, and defining moments in Mandalorian history, came with the days of the Old Republic....and the legends that came from that time."

Such was the way of the Mando'ade, that there would come a time of great upheaval, discord and strife. He just never hoped it would be the fault of his daughter, of his bloodline. But he had to correct it. He had to set things right.​

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It started with a group, but they needed a leader. They needed a Mandalore.​

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The fires had been lit for quite some time, stoked with wood and burning brightly in the temple. Flames flickered, adding a sense of ambiance to the room. He stood in the center, patiently waiting. He had been waiting for quite some time. He heard the light footsteps, the measured pace of a calculating man. He only turned his head halfway to face him. He spoke, his voice like gravel, deep and commanding. He had the presence, the air of a man in control of everything around him. He carried with him the weight and atmosphere of a killer, a man who's only profession in his life was death and the application of it. He had been an artist, and his work had been the battlefields.

But now, he had set his sights on a new purpose. His people.

And they needed a leader. They needed someone who was not the Infernal, and her insufferable attempts to appease the puppetmasters she so proudly wrapped her supposed people in. And her conspirators, the ones that had allowed themselves to be transfixed with promises of grandeur, only for them to suffer weakness, suffer the inability for her to rally her people. And now, the Veman held the strongest Mandalorians. There was no equal left under the Infernal.

There was only one anomaly, one contingency that was not accounted for. There was a man he hoped to inspire, to change the way that he perceived the Mandalorians. But he lacked the ability to do so with words. So, beneath the Iron Tree, Preliat Mantis, hoped to inspire a singular Mandalorian, to spur him into action.

[member="Koda Fett"], was one such vode that he needed to convince.

"Look upon this tree, brother. Tell me, what do you see?"​

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[Koda Fett]

Hesitation.

​The Mandalorian- the Bounty Hunter had felt it. The Imperial Ball had been the last time, before now, that he had interacted with Preliat Mantis; he felt rage, he felt fury, he felt pressure of a responsibility he did not want. It was for that reason Fett had done the only thing he had truly known, and turned his back on those people that claimed to need him most. Yet, it inspired​ introspection. He had spoken to few, but that was more than the usual. Each had provoked thought- thought as to who he truly was. Fett had only been a Bounty Hunter, bound to a creed that was not his own in an attempt to be something greater. Although, he may very well reached the peak, become beyond compare, and so now he sought something else. Something greater.

​Koda had stood within the lit temple, flames flickered in the reflection of his visor, casting him in an orange hue. His neck had craned, looking upwards towards the tree. What he had he seen? "A tree." He answered. There was nothing entirely mystical in his opinion, for he had travelled from one side to the galaxy to the other. There were all too many things to marvel, it had all become blended together.

​Could he truly of become a leader for these Mandalorians, a smaller sect that desired their liberation? Fett didn't know, and it wasn't a question he really asked himself as of now. His concern? All too many things to list.

"I see a tree, Mantis."

[member="Preliat Mantis"]

 

[Preliat Mantis]

"A tree, it is. But look closely." ​

He stepped forward, gesturing to one of the inscriptions. It was the inscription and symbol of the Ordo clan, etched into the Beskar with such craftsmanship that it made Preliat envious with the artistic ability that the ancient Mando'ade who created it had. He ran his fingers along it, before turning to the younger man.​

"This is the tree that our ancient brothers and sisters left for us- crafted from a great crystal. The inscriptions on the wall-"

He pointed to the ancient carvings made into the stone. The crystals were alight, bathed in the fire- brilliantly illuminating the temple they were in.

"Say this is the place where both the Indomitable and the Ultimate had their visions, had their revelations. I do not know if that is true."

He let his hand fall down to his side, before he turned to face Koda. He removed his helmet, letting it rest on the altar beneath the temple.

"I do know one thing, this tree- has notches on it, built to last not for only for the time that it was built, but for generations to come. And here we are, beneath the great Iron Tree."

He tapped his foot on the great stone beneath him, rolling his shoulders before speaking again.

"What is on your mind, brother? What troubles you so?"

[member="Koda Fett"]

 

[Koda Fett]

​His gaze had redirected itself towards the tree where it had narrowed, become more focused in an attempt to witness all that Preliat discussed. It had been more than a mere tree, and something of significance. If what he had heard of Shogun had been true, perhaps it were mystical within it's nature. Fett had knowledge on Mandalorian Clans, as well as many other things from all kinds of cultures and histories. He had been well-read, but he kept such a thing at bay. The preconceived notion that he was nothing more than a barbaric brute had certainly been beneficial in the past.

Fett had turned to face Preliat after 'troubles' had become a focus. Koda held his burdens, and whilst he believed himself adept at concealing them all, perhaps few could see straight through him; or nobody had bothered to ask in the past, and he could never truly blame one for it.

"I don't know what you want from me." The Bounty Hunter had plainly put it. "You say I'm more than a Bounty Hunter, but I've done nothing to prove it." There was a rather stern tone to his speech. "And you bring me here. Why?" He had all too many questions, not enough answers, and even then he wasn't sure if he wanted them.

[member="Preliat Mantis"]

 

[Preliat Mantis]

Mystical, was not the correct term, or rather, the term that Preliat would use, Shogun was in fact- prophecy personified. It was, where the Mandalorians became a force in the galaxy. It was because of this planet, and it's dreamscapes, that the Mando'ade became a reckoning of the Old Republic, and nearly brought the galaxy to it's knees. It was here that the Mandalorians became a culture, an identity. Not a nomadic warrior-cult, but rather, something that welcomed all, and all that it required was the tenets of the Mando'ade to be followed. A fair trade, if you asked Preliat.​

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"I don't want anything from you, Koda."​

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Preliat ran his hands along the tree again, before turning to the younger Mandalorian before him.​

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"I need something from you. Your potential is exactly that- potential. And I see much within you. I see a future for our people." ​

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He gestured to the great stone statue of the Unyielding, who was entombed somewhere within the temple, but the inscriptions on the walls were so worn and faded that it was hard to tell exactly where in the temple the Unyielding lay for all eternity. Preliat resonated with the Unyielding, in more ways than one. He faced enemies from within, and stood firm against them all.​

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"You deny your heritage, or at best, run from it. Why?"​

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[member="Koda Fett"]​

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[Koda Fett]

"It isn't my heritage." Koda had stated, and it was the truth. His hands had risen, both of the, up towards his helmet. They grasped either side and lifted upwards even further whilst he bowed his head. Fett had truly revealed his face, and Preliat had been the first to see it. His skin was tanned, and it ran deep with scars- a line that hooked to the left from the cleft in his chin, ran around his left eye. His face, however, remained clean shaven, but if it were to contain facial hair it was sure to resemble the jet black hair that rest at the top of his head.

"I'm only a Clone." Fett commented, his brown eyes staring upwards towards Preliat's own.

[member="Preliat Mantis"]

 

[Preliat Mantis]

Theme​

A single hand rested on Koda's weary shoulders. It gave him a reassuring squeeze. He locked eyes with the young man, the clone. He was many things, but he was not expendable. He was not forgettable. Besides, Preliat knew the dangers of clones. There were millions upon millions of him, drifting this and that way in the galaxy. He knew all too well what it meant for someone to be expendable, to be... forgotten.​

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But he would not let that fate befall the man before him. Koda needed to know he mattered.​

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"The circumstances of one's birth have little to do with the decisions they can make. You have made the choice to be a part, and yet- keep yourself distant from your heritage. It is your heritage because you, yourself, will it to be so. Not because a tall, gray-skinned Kaminoan decided your fate for you."​

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The hand fell away from the man's shoulders. It served it's reassuring purpose.​

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"You, being a clone, does not matter. Myself, being a Epicanthix, does not matter. Me, having a cybernetic leg, does not matter. None of where you came from, matters in the Mandalorians." He walked over to his helmet, etched on the visor, was the symbol of the Te Veman, the Iron Tree with the Wolves underneath it. "This is all that matters. The Mandalorians. I know you can be great. In fact, I have been offered a vision- an understanding, that I have not had in quite some time." He turned his body to face the statue of the Unyielding.​

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"The statue- do you know who it's for? It is fine if you do not."​

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[member="Koda Fett"] ​

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[Koda Fett]

He never wanted this comfort; this reassurance. He felt weak, pathetic, as if he had been nothing but a child. Ironic, however, considering he was, chronologically, only seventeen. It had forced some anger, something he despised and that thing was himself. Maybe Preliat was right, maybe Ronan was right, maybe Teth was right. Had Fett only ever been this Bounty Hunter, this Clone, limiting himself to preconceived notions of his own limitations? It certainly seemed as if that was the truth, no? Of course, through all his bravado was a man so entangled in his own identity he prevented himself from excelling where he very well could. For what? The approval of a dead-man, one that may very well approve of crafting the Mandalorians within his image.

​Fett's gaze shifted, falling upon the metallic tree that held such significance. "No." He replied, his helmet tucked beneath his armoured arms. There had been a great many things that Koda hadn't known of his own heritage, if he could truly call it that. It may take time, an inability to accept or to understand, but with was sure to come greatness. A triumph.

[member="Preliat Mantis"]

 

[Preliat Mantis]

Preliat sensed how Koda felt about being...spoken to. Not like an equal, but like a father to his child. Which, Preliat was welcoming the idea of more and more- besides, his other child wasn't exactly a model Mandalorian. Or even someone he wanted to remain tethered to the realm of the living. But Koda- he saw a future. Potential for his people to advance, to prosper. All Koda needed- was guidance and understanding.​

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"This is Mandalore the Unyielding. After the Ultimate and the Indomitable came here, the Unyielding too came here- and had a vision. He was surrounded by enemies. By traitors. By weakness. Yet he was unmoving. He came to power- he became Mand'alor, by popularity, as I can tell. He stood alone, against a horde of enemies. As far as I can tell from the inscriptions, they were slavers on Concord Dawn, when the Mandalorians were weak. He saved an entire village, by himself it would seem." ​

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He looked outwardly, at the inscriptions on the wall. The Unyielding's deeds were not limited to his beginnings.​

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"He took the Mantle because the Mandalorians were weak, and in need of guidance. They needed to be reminded of what it meant to be a Mandalorian, to be..." He looked at the tree. "To be strong. To be together. We will remind them. But they need inspiration. They need strength. They need resolve. They need a leader who is tenacious. They need a leader who will never leave them. They need a man like you, Koda. They need an inexorable man. I have seen your work, from one end of the galaxy to the next. That is why I think you're worthy, Koda. Because there is no greater enemy than one who will hunt a single person down, across the known galaxy."​

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[member="Koda Fett"]​

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[Koda Fett]

It seemed as if the Bounty Hunter had no intention of remaining so... naked. His false-face, the one that was truly real, had been exposed for longer than he was willing to have it. His real face, that helmet of his, had been returned over his features. It had provided such a degree of comfort, not only physically but mentally too. Fett truly did have issues regarding his identity as a Clone, concerned of only ever being seen as a copy of something once great; never an individual that could be more. His issues were pathetic, but they were everything to himself. This Mandalorian had been too far out of his element for mere moments, but that was enough.

​If there was anything he gathered from Preliat's speech, whilst certainly informational, was that he desired Fett to take up that mantle. He hadn't any true interest in that, and he was hesitant even now to do anything with them at all. It may be for the best, though, right? Move beyond this Bounty Hunter facade, for he had reached the pinnacle of such a career- he was the greatest, and he may very well be for a long, long time to come. It was time become a Mandalorian.

"You want me to take the mantle?" Fett questioned in disbelief. Surely not.

[member="Preliat Mantis"]

 

[Preliat Mantis]

Preliat set his cloak down on the altar, a green piece of firm cloth, embedded with the Veman symbol, adorned with fur at the top. It was a powerful cloak, for a powerful man. He ran a hand over his helmet, before finally turning to Koda after a moment of silence. "I have flown under many banners, Koda. I have served many great leaders, I have been a victim, I have been the assailant. I have been the danger- I have been the enemy. But I have never been a leader. They would not unite under me. I dreamed of it, but- once you get to my age, you realize a few things. One of the things I realized, that in order for my people to succeed, I could not be their symbol. I could not be Mandalore. But you-"

He narrowed his eyes at Koda.

"I do not want you to take the mantle, Koda. I want you to seize it. I want you to seize it and become great. Become...." He looked over at the statue of the Unyielding. "Become a symbol. Become something of hope for our people..." His head turned back to Koda.

"The Infernal, and the Empire are a disease, affecting our people- we, the Veman. Are the fever."

He walked close to Koda, standing face to face with him- albeit, that the Wolf had to look down at Koda.

"We will burn away the Empire's weakness."

[member="Koda Fett"]

 

[Koda Fett]

Perhaps he felt an inclination, an obligation of servitude. Fett had never yearned for such titles of positions within a society, a culture, even one that may very well be so very prestigious to himself and that legacy​. That is, after all, where everything laid. As far as Fett had known, Jango was certainly to approve, as it would his mentor; Jaster. Koda had never believed in a Mandalore so free for himself, as it had been nothing but a place to him. It didn't hold that much significance, truth be told. It had been for the others, for duty. Suppose the green his armour had been painted in was fitting for someone such as himself.

"I cannot be your Mand'alor." Fett had said calmly. "Not now." His T-Visor gaze had turned to that of the tree, watching and following the embers as that flickered and the symbols etched into it's metallic material. Suppose this had simply been something he had to do, no? It definitely felt as if that was the case, now more than ever. "But I will lead them." Fett turned back to Preliat, looking upwards at the man considerably larger than himself.

He had never been one for prolonged decisions, even if they were very important. Instinct was a thing that he trusted.

[member="Preliat Mantis"]

 

[Preliat Mantis]

"The Veman are behind you, brother. Lead us to greatness. And let's start with a fire, with the fever. There will be strife. There will be conflict. And we will face it. Together." He smiled down at the younger man.

"We will build a future for our people. We will build a foundation so that we may never know struggle like we have with the Infernal and her insufferable, conniving ways." He put both hands on Koda's shoulder.

​"Koda Fett- the Inexorable."

[member="Koda Fett"]