Private End of the Line

[Koda Fett]

His duties became numerous, as numerous as their demands had been exact in their criteria for success. From the Sith to the Order, the infamous Bounty Hunter had secured his contracts and missions at the behest of their officers. The ISB wished for their nasties on Yinchorr to be discreet, undertaken by another. The Sith involved themselves in the Force, as Fett consistently assumed of them, and that of a Force Dyad - the Dark Lord offered some sliver of details, but said details had minimal worth to Fett. His mind moved elsewhere at the mention, at the memories, and it ensured a constant silence from the Mandalorian that flew the craft.

Missions of his own formed soon after. But none knew of which occurred beneath all that armour.

Scarce few sounds sent between the two, neither Teth or himself mustered much to say to one another.

He observed the man from the corner of his sockets, some bitter amusement to disconnect the other interal muses. Both those men started as mortal enemies that had seen fit to ensure the other one suffered a worse fate than themselves, and rather than see it become true, elected to found a beneficial alliance in order to aid the former-Jedi become acclimated to the new environment that surrounded him. Favour or not, all the time the two had either shot, throttled, or slashed the other had not left Fett. But all of that was then, and this was now; Fett and Teth, both, needed to understand all that surrounded them.

Do so or die, it so often seemed.

But amidst all his internal remarks, the system neared. In the absence of authorities, the system had become rather burdened by those that the Mandalorian had often ruthlessly searched for, had seen fit to turn them over to the authorities (whether ash or a corpse) for credits, or whatever else assumed the role of would-be order in the area. But that had not been now, and instead Teth had a final destination to see their time come to an end.

For the best, the man surmised, whether it was true or not. He could not say, would not say.

His craft neared the surface even more until it had been able to settle onto the manufactured surface, one of the cities that let itself float over the sea - the nearest one to himself, for Koda found little concern as for which one Teth desired in the moment. Yet, neither had Teth. His descent towards the rear had come soon afterwards, able to then see the traffic of the native inhabitants and those that had not been, the markets roared in the distance, and the few droids seen had lived better lives.

Fett reached overhead and held onto the frame, his armoured self continued to watch as the once-Jedi collected his items.

"You best move on," his voice said, as if a command, the T-visor surrounded by a scuffed scheme maintained the stare, "I'm not of much use should your Alliance arrive."

He knew Teth was loathe to hear it said as such; old habits die hard.

-----

Aryn Teth

 

[Aryn Teth]

​

Koda Fett​

​

To say it had been an interesting experience traveling alongside Koda Fett may have been an understatement. Since he had appeared to rescue the stranded Spear III, Aryn had travelled and lived alongside the Mandalorian who had once been his greatest enemy. In a past life, the two had sought for nothing more than the suffering of the other - whether for profit, as was most often the case with Fett - or simply for their own anger and frustration towards one another. They had each, many times left the other near-death only to do it all over again the next time they, unfortunately, crossed paths.​

​

Yet now they had formed something of an alliance. They had travelled and worked together, and Fett had more than repaid the debt he might have owed the former-Jedi by carting him across the galaxy to those major points he had needed to visit for himself. But Aryn had made his visits, he had learned what he had needed to, and it had been mutually accepted that the pair's arrangement was a temporary one. At least for now.​

​

Thus, Teth had reached out to a few contacts, some from his own memory, others from Fett's own suggestion, and it had led them here, to a system on the verge of Alliance incursion. The trail of a particular ship had led him there, and it would serve as a reasonable enough place for the pair to part.​

​

Thus, as the Spear III came in to land on one of the floating pads, Aryn set about gathering his things. He did not have much, enough that it mostly rolled together into a simple pack. He carried no weapons still, content with the power of the force and what techniques he had learned in his years of hand-to-hand training. As the Mandalorian spoke up, he turned his gaze towards the T-visor and chuckled softly. "Worry not, I don't plan to have you stranded here when the cavalry comes calling, though they are hardly my Alliance anymore." He explained softly as he slung the bag over his shoulder.

There was never particularly much to say. For all the vague camaraderie they now shared, the past remained between them.​

​

Thus, he let a few steps take him towards the back of the ship where the ramp to the outside lay, halting by the control to open it for a moment as he'd peer back towards the Mandalorian. "If you've need of my assistance, or if I can repay the favour of carting me around the galaxy like a Bantha-herder, don't hesitate."​

​

​

 

[Koda Fett]

"To some, it is." Fett commonly made mention of Teth as a Jedi, as a Sith, as one or the other. He was remembered as the former, and if to deny the former, then to be the latter. But as the Mandalorian remembered Teth as a Jedi, others remembered him as the Supreme Commander. Teth had his run-ins, his close calls, his immediate issues, but most had remembered that face.

The Bounty Hunter reached beside the crate and tossed forwards an item- a mask, one made from a dense albeit far from the heaviest. He refused to mention his reuinion with Carnfex, less so the reward for that. If Aryn had spied into the crate before now, Fett had not known. Neither much cared, he realised. "You have one of those faces. Best cover it."

"Consider us even now."

-----

Aryn Teth

 

[Aryn Teth]

​

Koda Fett​

​

The once-dead Supreme Commander's hand came up slowly, entirely too slow to catch the object that was thrown in his direction. Yet, the mask slowed and came to a halt in mid-air about a foot from Aryn, shifting and spinning in the air until it faced properly in Aryn's own direction, his gaze drifting over it. He was not wont to go through Fett's things in the time he had been aboard the Spear III, and he had not seen the mask before. Slowly, he let it drift towards him further, slipping his hands under its base to take hold of it properly.

There was a heft to it that made Aryn presume it had some protective qualities, but he had never been a smith. As far as he assumed, it was simple durasteel, enough to stop a vibroblade from carving his eyes out - a thought that made him somewhat appreciative. It was strange, letting his gaze wander over it. For now he had been recognised a few times, but those meetings had been fleeting and minor, were he to return to the galactic stage more significantly, he would always just be the Supreme Commander, a man who had failed. With this..? Perhaps he could be something more.

Reaching up, Teth turned the mask around in both his hands, settling it upon his head and clicking it carefully into place so he could see clearly from the visor. It was remarkably well-made, more comfortable than he expected and exceptionally ergonomic. He supposed a man that was defined by his own iconic helmet would have some insight into these things.​

​

Turning his visored gaze back up to meet Fett's own, Teth dipped his head in a nod. "And so we are made even." Reaching out, Teth pressed the button to open the ramp, feeling the sea breeze blow in as it lowered slowly and he shifted the pack over his shoulder. Taking a few steps down the ramp, his gaze drifted back to the Mandalorian.​

​

"Until next we meet, Koda Fett."​

​

​

 

[Koda Fett]

"Until then." His voice was ice, the harsh chords of his throat as callous and cruel in their sound as ever before. It was a constant for Fett, his own manner of talk that had determined none are to believe in his dare to care. But as his slow strides forwards had soon seen to the closure of the exit, the slow mechanical movements that ensured the two had left the view of the other, his focus turned elsewhere and it was there that it stayed.

It was the crate. It was no more than that, or so it seemed, as not one mark remained on the exterior. He shifted closer towards it until the same lid revealed to him, had been torn off once more. It was stacked to his torso, row after row, the stain of the Sith Empire brandished on the iron as if to mark it as their own.

He made a vow once, an oath, and so soon had it been broken. He could never be one of them, but maybe some small fraction of himself could rest easier if those mistakes had been corrected.

Last Teth had seen of Fett was the Spear III as it faded into the skies, into the stars.

-----

Aryn Teth