Private Mucking Out The Roba Pen

[Sergeant Omen]

Location: Ukio, The Yaim'la Homestead

The Sun beat down on the Clone's head as he slogged through the mud enclosure, using a farming staff to steady himself as his boots squished through the muck. The scarred man wearing overalls over a basic set of tan shirt and pants with a straw hat to keep the sun off his head. Omen glanced at a bucket of slop made out of yesterday's leftovers, rotten fruit that had to ripen too early and had fallen from the ground where the insects had eaten away til the fruit was only hollow husks of its past selves. Even Tihaar production can't use these remains... And the smell... Well, the smell left much to be desired... Still, if the old warrior could deal with blaster bolts coming at his crooked nose, he could deal with a horrible scent assaulting his nose for the Roba's sake.

As he spread out the rotten bounty inside the feeding trough, his force senses strained as he sensed 8 sizable force signatures erupt from the mire and rush towards the food. The pigs were hungry indeed as he just managed to sidestep the rampaging beasts as they fought for supremacy to get first dibs. Of course like always, Ori, the biggest of the lot, muscled past his brothers and sisters in order to get his fill. "Greedy Jari'eyc Vheh'ad" He couldn't blame the beast too much though. The brute was only answering his instinct to survive, an instinct that he knew all too well. Sometimes to survive, you needed to shed the dead weight and adapt or die. The now farmer had done that exact thing when he left Kestri and had come taken direct control of this farm. The events of Kestri had been too much to come back from unscathed so here he was feeding pigs while others of his race trained for war. Still, he was alive, and being alive was always better than being dead. Ask the howling ghosts of the Netherworld that question, you would probably get the willowy "yes".

Jos Krayt

 

[Shai Maji]

The last thing Shai expected to hear was that Omen not only burnt down a sister's home and business, but went on to open fire on a brother in hopes of silencing him. It was a miracle that Saul survived the injury to his neck, though a cybernetic replacement was needed for his spine. She knew it wasn't an easy adjustment for the Vizsla from personal experience. Luckily he still had the rest of his body.

But that presented a new problem.

Omen blatantly attacked his vode for reasons nobody in the Enclave knew. He was a traitor... just like her. As much as she argued that her reasons and actions were beyond her control, she still consciously, and willingly, killed and injured numerous of her brothers and sisters. So who better to hunt down another traitor? After all, with her new work as a Karjr, this was right up her alley. It took some time to follow the incredibly faint trail, only to lead her to an unimpressive planet just outside of Enclave space. She had a few thoughts on why he chose it out of all other options? Longing? Staging area to try and extract information? His past actions of insubordination and borderline treason sullied his name in the Enclave. Breaking into the Mind Forge, going to the Jedi rather than talking to the Enclave heads about matters of security concerns... now this.

Her approach of the homestead was careful and quiet. She didn't know what she was walking into, and with nothing other than flat ground and grass as cover, scouting the area was difficult. But eventually the Wardog reached the barn, where she found Omen feeding his pigs. It was odd to see him outside of his armour, looking like a farmer rather than a warrior.

"Don't worry, he'll make for some good bacon real soon at this rate." She spoke up as she leaned against a wall, carefully watching him and her surroundings through her visor. "This the best escape you can think of, copy-paste?" She quipped with a smirk as her hands rested on her belt. "Don't worry, if I wanted you dead I'd just clip you from a mile away. I'm here to talk." She reassured as she held her hands up, pushing off the wall as she faced him.

Sergeant Omen

 

[Sergeant Omen]

He felt her sooner than he saw her. Shai... God, he didn't know whether he just wanted to throw the pitchfork in here or just throttle her. But she had come in good faith and so he would too for now... until she tried to suck his blood that is. Gingerly putting his pitchfork up against the fence, the clone turn to face her with his hands on his hips only to shake his head and look at her with dead eyes when he heard her new name for him. "Copy-paste huh? Is that my nickname now? How original... If I really wanted to escape badly I would have. This place is just where I choose to die." What Omen said was the truth. He wanted this place to be his final resting place. His people would bury him up in the meadows as he had instructed. At least he could create some sort of beauty that way.

The Clone let out a cackle as Shai said she could she could shoot him from a mile away. At this rate, it would have been better if he had let her put a bullet in his brain. It would have saved them both some time. "Oh, how thankful am I that the great goddess Shai has decided to pity me and grace me with her presence on this day! Stop it with the jehaats and the passive aggressiveness you Ori'jagyc. You would have torn me apart limb from limb if you really wanted to kill me, just like the other vod that you've killed on the battlefield. And we both know what you want to talk about." Omen gave a tired sigh as he took out a cloth from his shirt pocket and wiped the sweat from his face. If farm work tired out the mind, "talking" or whatever this was with Shai tired him out even more. Still, she deserved the truth. "I've got reasoning for what I did. The only question is if you're going to let me change or if you want me to keep talking to you from this muddy pen."

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

A faint chuckle escaped from her maw as she listened to Omen, lightly shaking her head. She was certainly expecting this kind of interaction with their history. They hated each other's guts. No amount of glory, triumph or exemplary achievements could change that. If things had played out differently, she wouldn't have been surprised if a feud broke out between her clan and his. "Not so much a goddess, sadly. But hey, the Sith I karked up on Argovia gave me a catchy new title. You can call me 'Darth Hetzen' if you wanna." She quipped with a hollow snicker as she removed her helmet and rested it on a nearby post, the visor facing both of them like some silent gargoyle. "Gotta give it to the Sith, their arrogance can go places."

It was certainly not the time for bad jokes or small talk. Omen wanted to pop her and she wanted to pop Omen. He knew why she was there. "You ain't goin' nowhere. I ain't some politician comin' to visit you. Like you said, I could tear you limb from limb if I wanted. Whether you die in work clothes or in armour don't really matter." Her voice was cold as a hand hovered against the side of her holster against her thigh, ready to draw at the drop of a hat.

However, her hand shifted away and gestured to another part of the farm ground for them to talk, away from the animals and muck around them. She took her helmet and followed after him with a careful gaze. If there was one thing she learned, it was to never underestimate the clone. "Why did you do it?" She asked as she set her helmet down again and leaned against the wall of the barn. "We both got our reasons for what we did, Omen. I got my brain karked up and twisted against y'all. I did what I did 'cause I wasn't myself." She pulled a cigarette from a pouch and lit it with her vambrace's plasmacutter before she extended the packet to him in offering.

"What's your reason for blowing up one Vizsla's home and shooting the other in the back of the neck? You got a grudge against Kranak and his clan or something?" She spoke calmly as she took a long puff of her smoke. Luckily she made sure to stamp out any ash or embers that fell from the cigarette.

Sergeant Omen

 

[Sergeant Omen]

No, she wasn't a goddess, she was his most annoying nightmare. "Darth Hetzen... I'll keep it in mind." Omen just rolled his eyes as her hand hovered over her holster. "Fine, shoot me, an unarmed man down so we can just be done with this conversation. Prove to me and everyone else what a bloodthirsty monster you are. Don't matter to me none."

After a couple of seconds of having a stare-off, Shia gestured to a fresh piece of ground and he nodded in agreement. Climbing over the fence and following her over to the barn, he just shook his head as he heard her say that her brain had been turned against her family. Maybe it had been, maybe it hadn't... It is not like he talked to her on the daily basis... For all he knew, she was still giving her dark masters information. "Sure..." He raised his hand, saying no to the cig before stepping away from her. He couldn't talk as if he was coughing his lungs out now could he?

Well, at least they were finally getting to the meat and potatoes. He snorted as she mentioned him hating Kranak."The only grudge I have against Kranak is that he hasn't talked to me in months. As for the others, it is a long story so bear with me. About maybe... a month or two ago, a guy and a sithspawn female with blue hair came into my bar gunning for me and killing a lot of people in the process. Both escaped into the night, the guy with serious injuries, and haven't been caught as far as I know. The guy I haven't got any leads on but the blue-haired girl is another story. When my guys went to check the hospital to see if the guy was there instead, they found out the girl had been in there talking to a Hilal Vizila while she was in there. A Hilal Vizila that is also a law officer... What I'm getting at is this. If they really had been chummy as the nurse had said they were, she would know where all of these woman's hiding spots were and caught her already. Instead, nothing has happened... So, I think she sheltered Blue Hair and got her off-world. Maybe tampered with the police database to get the law off her trail and help her disappear. That's why I bombed her shop...

The Clone sighed as he leaned up against the barn facing her. He looked tired like he had been shouldering this wait for a long time. The train had already left the tracks when he decided that bomb the mechanic's shop. Now it was time to see how big that explosion really was. I guess I just got fed up with the bad dreams of people screaming in pain and horror with holes in their stomachs. I wanted to just take something of theirs back and that something was the only thing that could have sheltered that blue hair devil... The Mechanics shop. Closing his eyes, he continued to speak. It was time for the full story of that day to come out. As for the other one, it was just the wrong place wrong time. I tried to get away from him and he shot first. After a scuffle where both of us went down for a little while, I manage to paralyze him and get away. It was the only way I was getting out of there at all. I don't kill without purpose Shai. If I wanted him dead, he would be dead but he's not. He's alive and well to do his tavern crawls. He opened his eyes and returned his worn-out gaze to his armored "vod", ready for whatever happened next. "So you know the truth. What are you gonna do with it?"

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

Shai listened closely as Omen told his side of the story. It was not at all what the Shistavanen was expecting to hear, but in a way, she understood where he was coming from. "I heard about that shooting, yeah..." She muttered with a nod, not wanting to interrupt him as he poured it all out for her.

He finally finished, and Shai's face darkened at his words. "Omen... Saul's statement declares that he was facing a masked individual with only a body glove and vambraces, who proceeded to shoot a stun current at him. His helmet recorder confirms that. Don't matter if you wanted him dead or not, you fired on your brother out of your own volition." She explained with a concerned voice.

"As for Hilal, if all of that is true, then she's gonna get hunted down and questioned as well. But Omen... why didn't you say anything? When your bar got shot up, when you found out about Hilal's relationship with this Sithspawn... you didn't say nothin'. You didn't talk to Siv, Vren or any of the Karjr. You didn't let Kranak or Romul know about the security breach, you didn't even go to Jos, hell even Runi!" She shook her head as her shoulders slumped. As much as she hated his guts and wanted to smash his face into a wall, having to be talking about this with one of her vode was gut-wrenching.

A heavy sigh escaped her as she drew her pistol, letting it hang against her thigh. "You committed treason, Omen. I need to bring you in." She admitted as the barrel of her gun idly tapped against her thigh armour. "So I'm givin' you a choice. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. I don't want to gun you down, but I will if you try to resist." She explained to him as she faced him fully.

Sergeant Omen

 

[Sergeant Omen]

Omen just looked ahead passively at the blue sky as Shai read out his charges. There was no arguing out of this. He knew what he was doing when he went to burn down the garage and he knew the consequences. "You are going to do what you have to do no matter what I say and I'm too tired to argue. As for why I didn't tell Siv, Vren, and the rest... Well, I didn't think it was worth the time... I don't know them and all they have heard about me is that I'm some crazy crackpot who has outlived his time and laps at their heels. To be honest, they would be right... Besides, I'm not the best at talking anyway. I think you've noticed that..."

As Shai laid out his choices and got her gun menacingly, Omen just looked at her with a stare devoid of life before starting to walk towards her. His arms hung limp as he walked past her and he gestured for her to follow. If she chose to, he would lead her down the road and out to a meadow a couple of minutes outside the farm's gates. There she would look upon a Namana Tree in full bloom and as she looked closer she would see a 3-foot tall simple gravestone with a pit in front of it saying the words:

"Omen: A Soldier to the End"
​

The man from another time slowly sat down at the pit's edge before his gaze turned to back up to the tree as his eyes traced the branches. "Nice spot to die, isn't it? Well, Shai... You got your answer... I'm not staring at a stone wall for the rest of my life and I'm definitely not going in one of those cryo pods so... this is what's left to me...This is my choice" His hand moved along the grass edge for a moment before taking a clump out of the grass and slowly sifting through it like he didn't have any trouble in the world. "It's funny... To think when I got out of my cryotube I thought I had escaped being a lamb to the slaughter. And yet here I am standing in my own grave... Ha... Ha ha ha..." His short sad laugh and one single teardrop dripping down his face was the only emotion he showed before he shut his eyes and prepare to be... gone... "I'm... I'm sorry we weren't friends Shai. You're a really okay person minus the blood-drinking stuff. Now I'm forgetting something... What was it... Oh, if my sister comes around, tell her that I'm sorry that I couldn't save myself from my mistakes and that I love her... That I thank her for being the best big sister I could ask for. As for Valery... Tell her I'm sorry I let my crazy brain get the best of me and that I'm sorry I couldn't lift her burdens by babysitting Vera or coming to a family dinner before Kal died... And I'm rambling again like always..." His ears pricked out as he listened to the wind go through the leaves, trying to savor the last sounds he would ever hear before saying his last words as he held his head up high. "I'm ready to go..."

 

[Shai Maji]

Shai had a feeling of what was coming. He was going to do something drastic. "It ain't about knowin' someone, Omen... it's about doin' what's right. Your reputation don't matter when evidence is there to help clear your name... otherwise we ain't better than the people that hunted us down." She tried to reason with him. But it was no use.

He passed her and motioned to follow. She quickly slid her helmet back on and followed after him to the outer edge of the homestead, where a lone tree waited for them... along with a grave and a name that confirmed her suspicions. He was definitely doing something drastic.

Her heart sank as he began to speak.

But he was right. Something like this was going to earn him a serious sentence, a crime for any Mandalorian to live through. She would have done the same if their roles were reversed. He made his choice, and now the Wardog was the executioner. What could she say? What could be said to anyone wanting to go out like this? The silver-tongued Shistavanen stood mute with her pistol in hand, trembling slightly as she stared at the back of his head. "May the Manda watch over your soul, Omen Mereel." She muttered.

The heavy blaster levelled with his back, right where the heart sat. A quick and painless death. A shaky breath exhaled as her finger curled tighter around the trigger, until finally the powerful weapon went off... except, the immense power of a heavy blaster bolt never found its way into Omen's back. Instead, a stun bolt knocked into him with enough power to knock a bantha out. "You can pop your own brains if you wanna take the easy way out." She grumbled as she holstered her weapon.

After a few minutes, Omen was neatly restrained in the back seat of her Basalisk, while his armour was tossed into the cargo compartment. With that, Shai was off back to Kestri with her quarry.

Sergeant Omen