Familiar Faces

[Marcus Lok]

Marcus gave them both a friendly nod as they explained their familiarity. Kango was his friend, and he had reason enough to trust the man who'd fought alongside him during the crusade, but he was always a bit more on edge when there was a stranger to listen in on a conversation. He would not mind this Nikto, not for now at least, and if Kango trusted her then that probably spoke enough to her credit. He'd never truly thought that he'd be coming to much more than a hideout that the hunter had chosen to make a safe haven for his family, but here it seemed that the entire planet would be on their side. Certainly a welcome change.

"Well, everyone has a past, I'll try to remember your a dangerous one, Nahbe."

He eyed the guards that waved them through after a short inspection with some curiosity, but finding them to be a quick distraction, he turned his focus back to his hunter friend who sat next to him. His wounds were still pretty severe, but he knew that they were on their way to a place where he might receive proper care. It was a wonder he hadn't died in the facility, really. Had the guards been given enough time, that might well have been different.

"So we're going to see your family... And how did you come to set all this up after the war? Haven't seen you much since that assault on... Kashyyyk? It's been a long time."

[member="Kango Fett"]

 

[Kangofett]

"Well, everyone has a past, I'll try to remember your a dangerous one, Nahbe." [member="Marcus Lok"]

She smiled at this. She might not look like much in this uniform. She never believed that this is where she'd end up. Looking ahead she continued to drive but stayed in tuned to what her boss and the other man said.

"So we're going to see your family... And how did you come to set all this up after the war? Haven't seen you much since that assault on... Kashyyyk? It's been a long time."

"Sigh... Well it's not a great story but I owe you an explanation."

Sitting back in the seat and allowing the muscle relaxers to set in better.

"After the war I decided to take a break from war. I'd been away from wife and kid for too long. They were living in my apartment on Coruscant. I came home to them and spent time with them but I've never liked Coruscant, too crowded and unpredictable. So I contacted a few of my friends who'd settled down and thats where Nahbe came in. As I said earlier she used to be a pirate aboard a small freighter years ago. They would find ships in either distress or traveling alone that don't appear to have too many defenses. They'd board the ships and kill everyone on board. Afterwards they'd loot the ship bare, panels and all. If they could they'd steal the whole ship and sell it to other pirates. Her friends tried to raid my ship and I killed a lot them before they realized it wasn't worth it and ran off leaving there dead and wounded Nahbe behind. I patched her up and helped her get her life sorted out. Well she ended up here as a chofer and told me a property opened up. After looking it over I filled out all the paperwork and spent about half of everything I own. But I easily made all that back in the first three months from just that property."

He paused and took a sip of the drink he'd pored himself while he was talking.

"I already told you about after that. I got contracted to train there soldiers, and I picked up a lot more property . It took about six months to train a little over three platoons of trainers. After that I started taking a squad or two and we'll run OP4 raids against the bases, outposts and patrols. Both sides use stun rounds but we do all carry lethal too. That's also why you saw those guards so on edge. They're always prepared and that's how I like to keep it running around here. I've been doin that for the majority of the last two years. Well before this whole incident."

He points to his face and sighs. He took another sip then looked at his friend.

"What about you?"

 

[Marcus Lok]

Marcus nodded as he took in his friend's story. It seemed as though he'd made the right choice in taking his family away from Coruscant. Coruscant had always seemed like too much of a hotbed to settle down on, what, with all of the invading armies and changing of hands that had taken place in recent history. It had been largely the reason he'd chosen to settle on Nar Shaddaa instead of the core world.

"Well, lets see... I left the clans just about the time the disaster hit... It was a weird thing to experience, something like a personal hit on me. Left everyone behind really..."

He wasn't too proud of what he'd done after the disaster, making his way around the planet to save a few clansmen before ultimately flying off into the outer rim to lose himself, but he'd come to terms with it. He was always seeing advertisements on the holonet that called for Mandalorians to rally back up and reform their once powerful empire, but he always flipped right across the headlines. They were just like any other advertisement to him now, and he doubted that he might ever feel so connected to the culture again.

"I disappeared on Nar for a long time, odd jobs and stuff just to keep the food coming. The Hutts saw what I could do and I helped them out for a while, made a name for myself in the underworld. People like slicers, especially when they're discreet. Eventually started getting enough chits to feel comfortable, bought a nice place on the moon and that's where I'm at right now. It's comfortable, y'know?"

He wondered if his friend would truly approve of his decision to back away from the rest of the clans... But of course, he hadn't been there when Mandalore had succumb to the disastrous quakes. The scenes still flickered into his mind now and again, but he shoved them out best he could. He looked away from the beat up mercenary, more content to look at the blurred countryside that passed them by as the mood became a bit somber.


[member="Kango Fett"]

 

[Kangofett]

He felt rage at [member="Marcus Lok"]'s cowerdness, fleeing from his home to save himself. He looked at the man with a fire in his eyes, the patriotism of the Mandalorians visible in them. But the fire was quickly diminished, replaced with shamed as a single thought crossed his mind. What if it was his family on the world? Would he be able to leave them to die to save his people?

"If it was my family stuck on our homeworld among that chaos would I be able to put them aside for the thousands of Mandalorians? Sadly no, I would save them before everything else. Even if that meant having to watch my home being destroyed along with everyone on it."

He sighed and stared out the window with his friend. Watching the blissful farmland pass by. He'd always felt out of place here.

"Honestly, I've always had a hard time calling this home. It's a great world, safe and calming. Plus it's made me a very wealthy man. But it's too peaceful for someone like me. I yearn for the feel of battle. The buzz of bolts around you. The intensity of adrenaline and fear flowing through your blood. The heat of a explosion and the air in your lungs becoming hot as it burns wind itself. There's nothing like it anywhere but on the field of battle."

His eyes twinkled of all the battles in his past. But that look faded as he looked to the shadows remembering all the brothers and sisters lost. The heroes and good vods who'd he'd held in his arms in there dieing moments unable to save them. Hearing the bravest vods calling for there mothers and fathers. Or the ones who would be in so much pain that they'd scream until death took there soul from what was left of there mortal bodies. He knew how they felt all too well.

Having been both the man screaming or crying for his loved ones as he lay in someones arms. Always sure that the helm he was looking at would be the last thing he'd ever saw in this lifetime. His vision would fade to black everything around him fading to one spot in his vision, like the light to the end. His voice would become weak until the words themselves would be trapped in his silent mouth. The sounds around him dull to the sound of his heartbeat gradually becoming slower. Everything would disappear as he lost consciousness. The world and weight of everything falling away and him becoming weightless in the emptiness void.

But he'd never truly died. He'd wake either seconds or hours later. It was always hard to tell when your soul had left its body. The only way he'd know is if he'd wake back on the field of battle being carried to safety or in an infirmary in worse condition than what he was the day before.

Running his hand through his disheveled hair and tracing the scars across his head. The sighs of battles won and lost criss crossed his body. His survival told by the scars, replacements, and cybernetics that covered him. There was so little left of him not touched by war. How long would it be till his wife had to barry him? For him to finally close his eyes for the final time in this body?

"I came here for peace but I run from here for war. I can't put down my weapons and I don't think I ever will. I have the soul of a warrior but the heart of a father. I'm always torn between being with my family or fighting on the field of battle."

 

[Marcus Lok]

Marcus could see the brief flash of anger from within his friends eyes, though he made no motion to indicate that he thought his friend might act on anger alone. He had every right to be angry, as it turned out. Marcus had done his best to assist with the initial efforts to help the stranded families of Mandalore and provide short range transport for them. It had been the only action that had kept him sane in the months following his departure from Clan's space. Those months had been some of the most grueling in his life. He had thought of the battles long since fought, drinking himself into unconsciousness on more than a dozen occasions while he grappled with his new reality. He'd gotten himself together eventually, though the thoughts of the former capital still bit at him now and again.

In listening to Kango's observations, he could only nod in agreement. He had no true family left on the world when it was destroyed, but from what it seemed, there had been little time to think of others initially. The destruction had been so sudden, and without warning many families perished in the huge upheavals of earth and stone. His want to be free of any more death and destruction would give reason to him bringing his family to a seemingly safe world such as this, though he could see why the man still sought violence. There was no denying that blood and blasters had always brought a rise out of most Mandalorians, and Marcus was no different. The adrenaline of combat was something he could never quite come upon again after leaving the clans, but he had no great desire to rejoin the massive invasions and mindless slaughtering just at the moment. Life for him was good, and he sought to keep it that way.

In hearing his friend's final statement on his great dilemma, Marcus could offer only a gentle pat on the shoulder.

"Strange times we live in, Friend. But in the end, you'll have to choose which you desire more. I don't have a family to come home to, so I won't speak about it much, but every time you leave this place, you'll have to accept that there might be a day when you don't come back."

The very notion was quite real to Marcus, for it was the fate that his father had suffered. It had been horrible news, the death of his father, but he never had found the time to quite clearly think about what his death had meant for him and his mother. Perhaps things would have been different, should he have lived. He would never know for sure.



[member="Kango Fett"]

 

[Kangofett]

"Strange times we live in, Friend. But in the end, you'll have to choose which you desire more. I don't have a family to come home to, so I won't speak about it much, but every time you leave this place, you'll have to accept that there might be a day when you don't come back." [member="Marcus Lok"]

He nodded in agreement. His profession guaranteed that he will die on the field of battle one day. His luck at surviving would run out one day.

"Aye. I'll talk it over with my wife but I'm goin to help as much as I can to help our people. Maybe I can build a settlement here and maybe start the Fett clan up again. I don't know. The future is unpredictable."

Nahbe held a hand up to her ear and spoke. After a few words she turned to the two men.

"Sirs we are about twenty minutes till arrival. Mr. Fett, you're wife is waiting and she sounds angry."

"Nothing new. Marcus, once we get to my home you are welcome to stay and treat yourself to anything you like."