By the Grace of the Gods [ Mandalorian Empire ]

[Darth Metus]

Breathe in.

The Mandalorian people had found themselves in an unprecedented situation as of late. What had began as a number of clans doing their best for survival had resulted in something contrary to the Old Ways. Stagnation had taken root within the people: a sin that was soon exploited by an explosive civil conflict. The lands recovered after Akala's rampage had been broken: torn asunder by brothers fighting brothers. After returning home to this turbulence, Isley resolved to do something about it. He rallied like-minded souls and embarked on a Crusade: to recover the lost and to restore the Old Ways.

The Gods were with this movement. Kad Ha'rangir had blessed their cause.

Only when Isley laid claim to a title and made the transition from movement to nation did things begin to shift. Lines were drawn, blades were sharpened, and an already divided people began to divide more. T'was in this turbulence that the Old Ways were honored. T'was in this time that [member="Ra Vizsla"] soared from soldier to Mand'alor. It was fate that the two men, alike in countless ways, would sit down with one another; and in that meeting were intentions laid bare. For peace...For their people had Isley surrendered his claim.

And the Gods were pleased.

An accord was struck: terms handed from one to another in order for peace to reign. Isley grappled with these terms, but in the end the will of Ha'rangir would not be denied. For the work of his hands to become blessed once more, the Empire would need to change. The movement was ordained by the Gods: a whirlwind of battle hellbent on defeating Arasuum. The nation that challenged the foundation of everything...that would need to be changed.

And thus did Isley sit upon the throne of Little Sundari: the largest of Echoy'la's sky-stations. Whilst still grappling with what he had agreed to, a transmission was launched: a missive across all Imperial and Clans channels.

"The Gods...were with us once."

"As Crusaders, our movement was blessed. Kad Ha'rangir stood by us with every step. Victory was a certainty – our people would be reclaimed. Only when I allowed sin to blind my eyes did things begin to change. When I elevated the Crusaders into an Empire, and laid claim to a title without adhering to the Old Ways, I drew lines in an already divided house."

"The Gods were not pleased. And because of that was civil war on the horizon: a war that would weaken our people and muddy the cause I had championed from the beginning. I never sought out to bring glory to myself, nor to divide our people. My concern was, is, and always shall be those souls lost to Akala and lost to war."

"And because of this – because I recognize my sin – do I lay down my claim to Mand'alor and acknowledge [member="Ra Vizsla"] as Sole Ruler."

He paused, knowing this would displease many among his ranks. However, this needed to be done.

"Furthermore...the time to build an Empire has come to an end. But. The time to build a War Machine is at hand. I do not claim myself to be Emperor, despite the name I bestowed upon our work. Rather, I am but the guiding hand to our Crusade. We are the Crusade. We are the flame of change, blessed of Kad Ha'rangir. Our banner will reflect this truth, as will our ways and our nation. From this day forward, the territory that we have gathered will be known as thus."

"We are the Mandalorian Crusaders."

And with this did the transmission come to a close. But the work had just begun.

"Bring me [member="Aedan Miles"]."

The Black Ties would have to wait for just a moment. Isley had to set in order his own House first.

Spoiler

[member="Aedan Miles"], [member="Akkest Yiun"], [member="Alar Brokarra"], [member="Alexandra Feanor"], [member="Alicia Drey"], [member="Alkor Centaris"], [member="Anastasia Verd"], [member="Belis Verd"], [member="Celiana"], [member="Cennika Hawk"], [member="Corvus Detta"], [member="Darth Ayra"], [member="Darth Prazutis"], [member="Deneve Verd"], [member="Dralos"], [member="Elaesanne Araeris"], [member="Faust"], [member="Gael bar Ammon"], [member="Glade"], [member="Goran"], [member="Goros the Hutt"], [member="Gray Raxis"], [member="Isiah Reeval"], [member="Ithiel Verd"], [member="Izevel Zambrano"], [member="Jack Raxis"], [member="Jansal Corego"], [member="Jericho"], [member="Jevar Xolius"], [member="Jori Varad"], [member="Joza Perl"], [member="Juwiela Melec"], [member="Kadala Skirata"], [member="Kalyr Alor"], [member="Kas Varad"], [member="Keira Ticon"], [member="Khia Varad"], [member="Kor Rekr"], [member="Krest"], [member="Lan"] Portaga, [member="Lily Hex-Volsh"], [member="Linalia Soft"], [member="Lunasi Vizsla"], [member="Malrik Durante"], [member="Marcus Itera"], [member="Maya Carrick"], [member="Miss Blonde"], @Mordecai Tal'cyr, [member="Mortarion Zambrano"], [member="Naimes Ahn-Dross"], @Nauren Oricon, [member="Nicair Claden"], [member="Nikole Vizsla"], [member="Nyx"], [member="Oddball"], [member="Oozak"], [member="Oron Verd"], [member="Owed"], [member="Pollux"], [member="Project Uriel"], @Prosecutor, [member="Queen Sovereign"], [member="Rohlan Verd"], [member="Ryanin Kor"], [member="Samuel Baelor"], [member="Satine Detta"], [member="Seanna Vel"], [member="Sinoca"], [member="Sol"]'yic Ramikad, [member="Solan Charr"], [member="Stardust Raxis"], [member="Tadietti Tann"], [member="Tel Rekr"], [member="Teles Knight"], [member="Tempist"], [member="Thresco"], [member="Titan Verd"], [member="TK-0743 Kage"], [member="Tor Rekr"], [member="Triss"], [member="Varian of Myrkr"], [member="Vax'ildan"], @Veila Vella, @Ves Ne, [member="Vesphira So'Kil"], [member="Xander Carrick"], [member="Zef Halo"], [member="Zephyr Carrick"], [member="Zoey Marix"], [member="Zeradias Maekar"]

 

[Aedan Miles]

Aedan had been on planet drinking in a bar when two of the Mando'ade from House Verd walked in looking around till their eyes landed on the now confirmed Pirate King. Looking up he sighed seeing them walk over he calmly stood up and turned towards them gesturing a bit. "Gentlemen what can I do for you today?" He was hoping they weren't here for trouble he had just purchased the bar and was wanting to keep everything intact. He blinked when one of them gestured towards the door and spoke rather bluntly clearly seeming to think Aedan was in trouble. "Alor Verd has summoned you pirate lets go and face your justice." The man smirked behind his helmet as Aedan shrugged and called out calmly. "Akaata keep this place in order while I am gone." To their surprise almost every patron of the bar spoke up calling back to him. "As you say Alor Miles." He walked out of the bar with them smirking darkly back at the man behind him calmly. "Don't think just cause I am not in my Beskar'gam I am not vod remember this lesson now lets go and meet with Alor Verd I feel as if today will be interesting especially from his last transmission." Aedan strode forward calmly the ships he ahd stolen back at the border and joining the patrol fleets three new separate patrol groups formed to deal with any incursions.

[member="Isley Verd"]

 

[Dezoti]

Krest was probably one of the few watching all of this from within a cantina. On a big holoscreen none other than [member="Isley Verd"] and his announcement. A new Mandalore huh? All for peace between the clans. Probably for the best, given infighting was a quick way to kill any organized group. So with a mug of ale in hand the Zabrak watched, curious on what would happen next. And it seemed there'd be an execution.

"Well, lets see where this goes then, eh barkeep?"

 

[Bolt]

Tempist sat quietly as the words were spoken, her grandfather did what she had not believed he ever would. He had bowed to the demands of another, of a man that no one knew. She though was young, to young to understand the issues he had faced, whether it was proper or not, if this was a means to protect or give in. So she did not judge, rather contemplated.

"Alright, Grandfather." She murmured, reclining her seat within her home on Tera Lush.

 

[Miss Blonde]

Change was mostly a good thing. Hell, dropping down and going back to the basics was a great form of it. But that was when it was upon your own terms, not someone else's. And if there was one thing Blonde didn't do it was live on someone else's terms and surrender to live a life of command and structure. She had lived that part of her life and she had come out of it as a product of her environment, and that would be a tired, merciless, and vicious crime lord who had lost their already shaken morale compass. If it meant some hostages had to die then so be it, and if it meant a child had to watch their mother OD in a single bedroom apartment, then so be it. People made their choices in life and her and her people's choice was to live free, die young, and do what they wanted to.

Were they criminals? Yes. Were they all bad people? Maybe not. But one thing was damn certain was that whoever the new Mand'alor was could take his title and shove it so far up his own ass so that he could be the first person to know what words tasted like. The Black Ties killed innocent people, they gunned them down like dogs in the street, and you know what? They'd do it again, for Isley and for the Empire. They were the evil necessity in the Empire, the dark shadows that could go where they couldn't and do the things they couldn't so they could hold on to what they called honor. But it was just another day for the syndicate, there was no honor among thieves.

"That's priceless." Blonde said as she held a tropical drink with a tiny umbrella in it.

She was at some seedy bar with her fellow criminals having a drink when everything was going down, she didn't know what the future held but under new management she figured there wasn't going to be places for the darker element of the criminal underground.

"Round for the house." Blonde said to the barkeep.

The drinks were soon distributed among her men and the crowd, and when everyone had a drink in their hand she raised her own and toasted.

"To steady gigs and loyal friends, they can be so hard to find these days." and with that everyone Frank.

[member="Keira Ticon"] [member="Krest"] [member="Aedan Miles"] [member="Isley Verd"]

 

[Goran]

Goran listened to the holofeed impassively, its metal shell incapable of showing emotion.

The Shard did not believe in gods. It didn't believe in the dogma of fate, or Chosen Ones, or any of that other crap that had been spewed over the years. It had watched Empires rise and fall, and had given them a helping hand on both ends. It had killed silently from the shadows, and it had fought on the frontlines. Its history was one of bloodshed and violence, and it knew, in its cold crystal heart, that violence was the only thing worth believing in.

Violence, naked aggression, was the fount from which all authority flowed.

Goran's fellow Shards often wondered, both behind its back and occasionally to its face, why it didn't join the Sith with a philosophy like that. Well, the answer was simple: Sith were idiots. They understood that force and power were connected, but by and large, they didn't understand the deeper meaning. Society is but a thin veneer of order wrapped around the cruelest instincts of sentient beings. Thou shalt not always carried the hidden threat of or else. Thou shalt not kill meant thou shalt not kill or else thine ass will find armed beings willing to do violence on thine doorstep. That same threat of violence was tacked onto every law, all the way down to thou shalt not park on this corner between the hours of 0800 and 2000. Sith got that part just fine, but what they didn't understand was the most important law of governing: thou shalt not impose on the people more than they are willing to put up with. When they karked that up, they almost always ended up engineering their own demise.

Mandalorians though, they got it. Their laws were simple, easy to swallow, and always back by the threat of extreme force. They didn't try to legislate morality, or much of anything really. They had what they needed to survive as an anachronistic warrior society in a galaxy that cried for peace while it tore itself asunder with war. Nothing less, nothing more.

Perhaps that's why it so often chose to work with Mandalorians. It would never truly be one of them; even their manic willingness to adopt strays and orphans had limits. But through the years, they had reached a mutual understanding and respect, enough that it was often a party to their decisions, even if it didn't necessarily get a say.

This current situation was yet another example of Mandalorian pragmatism. There was no honor in starting a civil war for the sake of pride. Though open conflict with the Clans was not a fight they had no hope of winning, it wasn't a fight that needed to happen in the first place, and [member="Isley Verd"] had seen that. Goran could respect that.

The old Iron Knight was less sure about this whole crusade business. Crusade was a dirty word to historians. Some had gone better than others, but rarely were crusades the glorious affairs that leaders made them out to be. The stench of zealotry had a way of overpowering everything else. For now, Goran would watch, wait, and listen. It wasn't time for it to vanish just yet. But it decided right then and there that it would rather spend a few more centuries in obscurity than be a party to atrocity. Violence might be the ultimate hammer, but a hammer in the hands of an idiot was little more than a liability.

 

[Darth Metus]

"Isley."

"Hmm?"

"We've got him."

"Send him in."

It was no secret that [member="Aedan Miles"] had a rather storied reputation. He was a Pirate King, seemingly self-proclaimed, yet his actions over the years had earned Isley's regarding him as thus. In fact, in a small corner of his mind, Aedan had earned the middle name "motherkarking:" a rare honor shared only by Ket "Motherkarking" Van-Derveld and Zef "Motherkarking" Halo. Nonetheless, the Pirate King's actions during the Battle of Mimban had seen something relatively unexpected transpire. Well, unexpected in that Aedan requested amnesty and membership within the nation.

Someone in the Republic was getting fired over that.

While managing to pilfer a literal fleet of vessels from the glorified rump state was impressive, it was one of the realities of trusting a Pirate. However, despite his previous faults, and despite his calling in life, there was the potential for Honor to characterized Aedan Miles. And if the man could see that for himself, then maybe a future within the Crusade could be at hand.

Upon being escorted in, Isley would rise and greet the man with open arms. It was hard not to grin: the theft of that many vessels was unprecedented. Damn near legendary. Pirate King indeed.

"Aedan Miles." Isley had to try real hard not to slip "Motherkarking" in there. "Following Mimban, you asked for amnesty within the Empire; and thus far we have allowed you to stay and to use your prize to patrol and defend our borders. I praise that exploit of yours, it showed cunning befitting a Pirate King."

"However, this current arrangement will not last forever. And as such, here is what I offer you: a place within my House, for you and your Clan. The Akaata will sit at my table. You will have a lifetime home within our borders."

"But."

"I will require Honor of you, and adherence to the Resol'nare. Snatching the militant assets of our enemies is not something new to our people; in fact, it is something looked upon...rather well, if we use Carida for an example. However. Preying upon the weak and defenseless is not. If you accept that which I offer, then I require a vow of you here and now. Your loyalty. Dedication to the Resol'nare. And that your prowls will not target the innocent."

"What say you?"

 

[Aedan Miles]

Aedan looked around calmly as he walked in his violet eyes gleaming as his wild midnight blue hair gleaming in the light. Nodding to Isley Aedan politely bowed listening to the man's speech Aedan grinned lightly crossing his arms as he seemed to think almost absently. This was a major step for Clan Akaata and it would help the farther growth of his clan they had various sources of income ranging from piracy even to ship wright work. Looking around the room calmly his eyes roving over the guards that stood nearby sensing in the force their shock at this turn of events Aedan had to agree with them he had not expected this move either but... Finally he turned to Isley and nodded his head calmly looking into the man's eyes. "My clan has always followed the Resol'nare even when exiled. Now that House Verd is giving us purpose and our honor back I can happily agree to these terms. I have never made a habit of stealing from those who don't deserve it and I will make a point of pushing this home with my Clan. Clan Akaata stands behind House Verd at all times when you go to war we go to war." Finally a small grin crossed Aedans lips as he chuckled stretching a bit as he sighed. "I suppose I should look into getting a new set of Beskar'gam I gave my old set to my son when he came of age."

[member="Isley Verd"]

 

[Titan]

Abraxis stood in his command ship, man he needed to get a new one soon, watching the scene unfold on his holoscreen. When he had first exited the grid, it had been Aedan Miles who had offered him a place in the galaxy. And now after nearly 10 years, Abraxis had gathered resources, all while answering the call of Clan Akaata and had been proud to do so. Now his adopted clan had rejoined the Mando'ade, and, though he was somewhat new around here, it meant much to Abraxis to see this happen. But now that [member="Isley Verd"] had renounced the title of Manda'lor in order to give it to another, did that mean that Abraxis belonged in the Mandalorian Clans rather than the Empire? But no matter that, today was a good day.

 

[Keira Priest]

Keira was not impressed.

Of course, that wasn't saying overly much altogether, but within the past few weeks it seemed as if everything had been engulfed in nothing but chaos. And now it had come to this. Her brother had given up his claim to the title of Mand'alor to another, one that had risen through the ranks and become Sole Ruler of the Mandalorians in a matter of weeks. A nobody, as far as she was concerned. But his claim had been accepted, and after speaking with Isley it seemed agreeable terms had been reached. And so came this message, across all channels and for the eyes and ears of the Mando'ade alone. He was giving up his title. Mand'alor the Reclaimer was to be no more.

There was strategic value in his choice, she knew. As a soldier and one who had retained a position of command over the years and through a handful of affiliations, she understood perfectly just why he had made this decision, and that it wasn't one made lightly. This was for the betterment of their people as a whole, and to avoid a long and drawn out conflict no one had really wanted in the first place. As much as Mandalorians pined for war, the last thing they wanted was further division within their people. More than anything, she saw the sense in that, and had she been in her brother's position, would have made the same choice. It was what was right.

It was her pride that was hard to swallow, but that had always been her downfall. She wanted to accept this, and she did, but the chances of her bending the knee or pledging any sort of loyalty to this new Mand'alor were slim. There would be a period of discontent for him and his, but it would likely pass as it always did. And then perhaps she would be a touch more lenient in her acceptance of the power this newcomer held. Until that day he deserved nothing from her, and she would continue to follow Isley just as she always had. Nothing would change that.

Releasing a quiet sigh, she glanced down the hall towards the throne room, having departed the cafeteria shortly after the message was delivered. It was tempting to enter and demand to know all that had happened, but it could wait. For now she settled for the bond they shared via the Force, and telepathy, imparting a message directly to [member="Isley Verd"], "I understand."

 

[Nolan Detta]

Whilst setting the stools down for service, Nolan listened to the transmission as it came across his holopad, from the Imperial Manda'lor [member="Isley Verd"]. It was a message to his people, all of them. A message of the story the Empire had told, one of rebuilding that which had fallen into disrepair. The reason Detta's left Keldabe and settle elsewhere. The very reason Nolan now was only mostly human.

The tavern Nolan had opened on Serreno was now part of his income, aside from the military pension, he thrilled on the battlefield, and to the Mand'a he was thankful. The true calling of a Mandalorian was to combat, born and bred. When the Clans fell from this, and looked inward, Nolan did not stand for it, and he was cast out for standing up for the culture he was raised to know. Pure Mandalorians knew of the Sin the Clans made, but none spoke save Him. When he'd found the Empire in its beginning, he jumped on the chance for redemption, to become great again, show the Galaxy that he did not fall into contention with a life of quiet peace. Rather he returned to a life of glory and prosperity by victory over his enemies.