Fowl Weather On Dantooine | Zef Halo

[Ra Vizsla]

D A N T O O I N E​

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Operation Gobble​

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[member="Zef Halo"]​

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Ra stood behind the monitors of one of the first of many surveillance stations created with Clan' Vizsla's money on Dantooine. He leaned in, close, as the operator moved his chair to the side a bit to allow the Mand'alor more room. The Iron Wolf seemed very intent on studying these animals - the Dantooine Turkey. He had purchased 10,000 of them from Clan Verd and by association, the sovereign nation of the Crusaders. Relations seemed amicable amid percieved growing tensions between Isley Verd and newcomer Ra Vizsla, with one of them standing down as Mand'alor and both of them declaring themselves allies.

After Ra had declared [member="Isley Verd"] Warmaster in spite of the Clans Alors, the absolute highest title any Mandalorian could give another, the two nations had grown even closer. Where Civil War was once the only answer to resolve their differences in the Clans, now Ra stood on one of the first physical representations of their peace and stability - the first built Turkey Ranch on Dantooine. It had been a few months since they had been ordered to be constructed, and Ra was now here to see what he had bought.

And the Mand'alor was very happy. It seemed that the Crusaders prided themselves farmers as well as warriors - the turkeys were in abundance. Numbers were up, growth rate was up. The quantity would not be an issue - within six months time, they would easily pass the quota Ra had asked for. But the Goliath Vizsla wasn't just here for that.

He had come to meet one of the higher ranking Crusaders. Vod Halo.

Ra was surrounded by tour guides and advisors. He hated this part of the mantle he had been given.

"He's on his way, Mand'alor."

The Iron Wolf nodded, and continued watching the turkeys graze.

 

[Zef Halo]

The larger than average speeder bike roared through the plains of Dantooine as Zef Halo navigated it towards the ranches filled with Dantooine Turkeys that could be seen on the horizon. He was not on his way to check on the turkeys themselves but to meet with none other than Mand'alor - Ra Vizsla. The scoundrel found it hilarious that a simple ranch was one of the foundation that built up the recently wounded ties with the Mandalorian Clans.

Of course, it was not only that.

His only friend - Isley Verd - had renounced the title of Mand'alor to prevent an outright civil war that would've brought the Mandalorians to their knees. It would've decapitated the Mandalorians more than anyone can imagine. Something only beneficial for their enemies.

They had to stand united.

To survive.

To bring back the fearsome reputation that the Mandalorians had forged eons ago during the famed Mandalorian Wars.

Zef halted the speeder a hundred yards from the ranches. He had been told that newborn turkeys would react badly to loud and stressful noises such as those that the speeder produced. The rest of the yards until the ranch the ex-smuggler took on walking. His beskar'gam's system regulated the temperature within his body so he had nothing to fear about the unusually hot sun of Dantooine.

The doors of the ranch were manned by two Mandalorian warriors. By their insignia he would recognize them as Vizslas. Zef tapped his helmet with two of his fingers acknowledging the men as he entered the building.

"Right this way." A black armored Vizsla gestured to him the way towards a door that guessing by the signs was a surveillance room.

The scoundrel pushed the controls of the door sliding them open to reveal the wide back of Mand'alor surrounde by a couple of advisors, Zef presumed.

"Mand'alor." Zef nodded his head as he spoke through his helmet's annunciator. Afterwards, he nodded his head at the advisors. "Men."

"How's it goin' ?" He asked with a smile, the man's Corellian accent ever evident even through the annunciator.


[member="Ra Vizsla"]

 

[Ra Vizsla]

D A N T O O I N E​

Ra smiled in return, holding his gaze on the monitors, fixated on a herd of birds moving through the plains before turning towards Zef. Isley had told him a great deal about this man, but Ra had never had the pleasure of meeting him. Though, that had a lot to do with the fact that Ra was just now meeting many of the Mandalorians for his first time in what had been decades. The Vizsla goliath had been in the Unknown Regions, doing mercenary work with the Iron Wolves for as long as he could remember. He had abstained from the politics of Mandalore, and all but abandoned his Clan before now coming back and challenging the Council for the right to Mand'alor. Someone had to set things right. Someone had to honor the Gods. And the first applicant had been found unworthy by the Council.

The same applicant that now stood tall as Warmaster, most honorable and glorious of the Clans, Ra's first lieutenant and Alor of Clan Verd. And this man... Zef Halo... was one of his most trusted advisors.

Or so he had heard.

"It's Ra, here, vod Zef." The Gurlanin soldier responded, turning back to the monitors. Mand'alor was such a title held in high regards, but Ra would only exercise it on the battlefield or in the Citadel on Mandalore. It was more a need of the men to call him Mand'alor than it was for Ra to honor the traditions of the title. He had worked so hard in returning them to the old ways... declaring the Clans sovereign, individuals. Reclaiming Mand'alors status as only the ruler of Mandalore and leader of the Clans in war. Still, Ra understood.

"I see the ranches are coming along nicely. I wish to again thank the Crusaders for being so kind in opening trade routes along the Atrivius Sector, on behalf of Mandalore. It pleases me greatly that the Clans are once more embracing the power of..."

Turkeys...

"...commerce and trade. Though, I must admit, I did not come here to see the ranches. I came all this way to meet you, Zef."

Ra's smile dropped and his waved the soldiers and operators out of the room. Much could be said of Ra, but all were certain he wasted no time it getting to a point.

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"....Who are you, Zef Halo?"​

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It was apparent Ra knew who he was. This question was much deeper than that.​

[member="Zef Halo"]

 

[Zef Halo]

The scoundrel would nod as the large figure of Ra before him spoke of the benefits of economy, he would also follow the Vizsla's gaze at the monitors and observe the animals himself. Yet, all of his senses were focused on the man before him and his build-up. Where was he leading to ? What would he want ? Questions that Zef attempted to answer prematurely so he could be well prepared. A lifetime old habit of predicting the future with the goal to have better chances at surviving. A smuggler's habit.

Gesturing for the advisors to leave, the Mandalorian knew that the talk had been over and he felt prepared for what he was to be asked.

He was surprised.

Who are you, Zef Halo ?

The simple question rang in his head for a moment. What was the answer to that ? Definitely not simple.

"Just another old man in a heavy set of beskar'gam." He replied remembering the day his freighter was impounded by the Mandalorians which led to his indoctrination to the culture. Hard to resist indoctrination when death was the other choice. The irony of it all was that his mother, the parent he had never seen, was a Mandalorian herself.

Zef gave it a moment before he continued with a rather more serious tone.

"But I guess that answer might not be enough now, would it ?" The ex-smuggler asked rhetorically then proceeded on. "Isley and I used to be Mandos back two decades ago at a time where he wanted so badly to be a Mandalorian and I wanted so badly not to be a Mandalorian. Eventually, I got my ticket to escape and went back smugglin' in Wild Space and the furthest reaches of the galaxy. No war, no nothing. The only things that chased me were debts."

The Corellian paused as he took a breath, his helmeted gaze fixated on Mand'alor before him.

"Yet blood is thicker than water, I guess. So here I am. A Warmarshal." He was never the lover of titles. He also assumed that was the case with Ra judging by his insistence on using their names rather than titles. The scoundrel then also assumed that Mand'alor was a man that would get directly to the point. Just like him.

Hence, he asked a simple question.

"What really brings you here, Ra ?"​

[member="Ra Vizsla"]

 

[Ra Vizsla]

D A N T O O I N E​

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Turkey Ranch​

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[member="Zef Halo"]

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"What really brings you here, Ra ?"​

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"...Turkeys,"

Ra smiled, looking back at the monitor and then moving over to the desk. One of his soldiers had made sure to leave a gift basket behind - Isley Verd's favorite ale, E'choylan. He motioned it to Zef in passing, taking up two glasses and setting them on the console. He slowly poured himself a drink, and then lay the bottle on the console for Zef to pour his own. Ra took a look out the thick paneled glass to see the horizon of Dantooine. It was such a lush, beautiful world.

"I came here for you, Zef. I wanted to meet you. To hear your words, to lay my eyes on yours. To measure the man," He leaned against one of the handrails in front of the panels, swirling the drink around in his glass. "And to let you judge me, your glorious Mand'alor, here in the flesh." The words sounded off his tongue almost as if he resented the title. Mand'alor's jovial attitude began to dissipate, his gaze returning to his glass for a moment of reflection before they came back up to meet Zef's own.

"Are you found satisfied with the rumors, the gossip, the wives tales - or are you found wanting more and expecting less."

Oddly rhetorical.

"I can still feel them... those tense moments, even here on this planet. Those moments of... distrust. Abjudication. The dehumanization of an abstract foreign figure that oppresses and tyrannizes. The boiling point of war."

Green eyes flared as he took a swig of his drink.

They turned to settle on Zef.

"Do you trust me?"​

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Ra paused.​

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He corrected himself.​

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"Could you trust me?"​

 

[Zef Halo]

[member="Ra Vizsla"]

The scoundrel scoffed at the larger man's initial response to his question. At least the man had a sense of humor to some degree. Zef hated authority, he always found people with authority to have absolutely no humor or any emotional expressions apart from arrogance. The Mandalorian before him seemed to be far from that considering the tone he used when mentioned his title. Yet, this did not mean that the man before him was a laid back and relaxed fellow.

Throughout his lifetime career of smuggling and riding solo, he had built up a very essential ability - to read people. That ability was often the deciding factor whether he would survive an encounter or not. And now gazing at the unusually green eyes of Mand'alor, the ex-smuggler saw...zealotry. Determination.

He took a sip from the Echoy'lan ale directly from the bottle to quench his thirst and refresh his mind. Ra had an interesting way to accommodate his guests.

The Mandalorian scoundrel put the bottle back down on the console carefully and was about to speak when Ra changed the course of conversation into very recent events to which Zef responded with a grimace on his face. His eyes squinted when Mand'alor settled his gaze upon him and asked a set of surprising questions.

"Could you trust me?"​

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Trust.

Trust was a commodity with a very heavy price tag attached to it.

The ex-smuggler's mind shifted from acknowledging the surprising and unpredictable nature of the man before him to figuring out an answer to the question. Could he really trust him ? Could Zef even completely trust anyone ? He had lived his life trusting himself only, trusting others in his career meant a higher chance of death. He had grown with that trait, he was molded by distrust. Even as a Mandalorian where the dogma of 'I've got your back.' was heavily followed, Zef felt a stranger to that.

A few seconds of silence would occur in which time would slow down as his thoughts wandered from different events from his life. Lying to the woman he bore a child with that he would stay and be with her, only to hit the road when she became pregnant. Abandoning his unborn child - [member="Joza Perl"] - only to be reunited with her two decades later after she had been the one looking for him rather than the opposite. He felt responsible for her and he would give his life for her but could he trust her ? The scoundrel bit his lip. He was unsure.

His mind wandered then to [member="Keira Ticon"], son of James Ticon. The criminal leader of one of the most notorious and dangerous criminal families on Corellia who had kickstarted his life as a smuggler and had given him the benefit of sharing a table as a family with them. What did Zef do after the Ticon family was murdered ? Did he keep his promise of safeguarding James' children ? No. He fled. And now he was repaying those debts with a heavy interest. Zef would be fully protective of Keira, despite not showing it as much and the fact that she was capable enough of taking care of herself. She, like him, had been molded by life to become a solid and unbreakable wall against all waves of life. Could he trust her completely though ? Perhaps not.


A rolling stone.

And now the stone had stopped rolling.

The winds of change had torn him apart from within turning him into the opposite of what he was - from a selfish and greedy egoist to an aegis of his people. From a leader of himself he had transformed to a leader of others surprisingly as he now stood before Ra.

Yet one thing the wind of change had trouble with shifting was his issues with trust.

"You ask a hard question for a man as myself." Zef replied, his voice lower and his face fixated upon the unnatural green eyes of Mand'alor. He paused for a moment before he continued.

Maybe it was time for the winds of change to pick up once again within him. Maybe it was time for that stone to finally settle. Maybe it was time to learn from the only man he considered a friend and a brother - [member="Isley Verd"].

The scoundrel hung his arm before him for an ancient warrior's greeting in the form of a lower arm grasp. He finally uttered the answer to Ra's question.

"Show me that I can."​

 

[Ra Vizsla]

D A N T O O I N E​

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Turkey Ranch​

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[member="Zef Halo"]


The scoundrel hung his arm before him for an ancient warrior's greeting in the form of a lower arm grasp. He finally uttered the answer to Ra's question.

"Show me that I can."

Ra's arm met Zef's and his hand clutched the man's forearm tightly.

"I will, vod."

He paused, Ra's green eyes emblazoned, glaring into Zef's own.

"And you will."


Ra released himself from the greeting and turned to leave. Those few words, that small moment, was all that Ra had traveled so far for.

Oh, wait.

He stopped and turned.

"You should come by sometime, take a stroll, stretch your legs."​

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"...Keldabe is beautiful this time of year."​

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Ra smiled and disappeared out the corridor.